You'd think that would be a dream brief: sell something that you believe in so much that you actually work there already, by doing your job well. So obviously I won't mention some of the websites that still exist (although the real shockers seem to be no more) on London agency servers. Instead, have a play with this stuff from Boone Oakley, which looks like a YouTube video but seems to have some clever linking stuff going on underneath.
Well obviously it IS a YouTube video, but it is also their website, powered by YouTube Annotations which effectively hyperlink a range of different clips. To make what is basically a YouTube microsite, which is a pretty cool thing to have. The only outward link from YouTube is not to their 'real' brochureware site, but to a Zazzle merchandise site from where you can buy images from the film. Only question is when some other agency will nick the idea for a client in a Modernista/Skittles type of way. (HT to @vertico2k for the link)
Ironic that ITV launched their bizarre 'Sunshine' ad campaign the same day Britain's Got Talent launched global superstar Susan Boyle. Her YouTube clip shows everything that ITV is about as a brand - big warm mass entertainment with a feelgood factor running through the middle. I suppose that this will likely be associated more with Brand Cowell than with ITV1, but surely if they want to play 2.21 minutes of something on their own channel they should try repeats of Susan rather than the blandly weird beach spot. If you haven't seen it, don't bother with the full video play, skip straight to the vox pops kindly grabbed from BrandRepublic. As one guy being interviewed points out, it is much more likely to win awards than to change anyone's behaviour (which in my view is the most disgracefully self-indulgent thing that can be said about an ad).
I would have embedded the Susan Boyle clip here as well, not because there is anyone on the planet who hasn't seen it yet, but more to illustrate my point. But every clip on YouTube is coming up with an 'Embedding disabled by request' message. I wonder who has requested it to be viewable only on YouTube: the production company, ITV, YouTube, the singer herself? Not sure what anyone would have to gain from it.
I [try to] forget how many times I've pointed out over the last few years that viral is something that happens, not something that is. Marketers and agencies can make stuff that is interesting, but they can't naturally select the interestingness
Then something like extreme shepherding comes along.
'Inspired by' Samsung LED TVs to play with LEDs, retro arcade games, art gags, etc. 750k views and counting on YouTube in a couple of days. Genius. And probably predictable by anyone who saw the storyboard.
Not really sure what how it contributes to selling TVs, but I'm sure someone's thought of that. I'd hazard a guess that it is about TV sets = dull commodities/this = fun.
(Photo Credit - Flickr user Thomas Rosenzweig) Right, I'm going to keep this [relatively] short, as I was looking forward to having the BBC's back catalogue on tap as much as the next comedy addict. What's that? Have I heard of YouTube. Oh!
So the Competitions Commission have pulled the plug on Project Kangaroo. The idea of the 3 main broadcast content providers in the UK all distributing through the same portal whilst selling ads separately was referred to in the report as something that 'has to be stopped'. And you can see the Commission's point. After all, this is supposed to be the future of TV, not just exactly the same model as we have now. I can't see the difference between a TV screen that's been showing content from three UK-based content providers since 1982, and a computer screen doing the same. The only winners are the walled gardens that the ISPs would love to lock us into. Something like Boxee is great, but only for the few people who know that they want this type of app and go out and look for it. The sort of marketing that BBC, ITV and C4 can throw at a new technology between them would put UK internet usageitself onto a different level. Where do they go to from here? Well the market for their content isn't going anywhere. It's just the portal that they aren't allowed to collaborate on. I'd expect to see ITV.com, 4OD and iPlayer scaled up quickly, but this isn't a replacement. It was the robust aggregation platform that would have been the success of of Kangaroo - everything all in one place. If the broadcasters were brave, they would free the content: instream ad units, distributable anywhere. Don't worry too much about the actual viewing platform. Sound familiar? Because it's where we're all going to be viewing our archive UK content now. Until Hulu launches, and BBC, ITV and C4 sell them the content rights. So that 18 months of legal review has got us where exactly? The same result, but US owned.
The line between branded entertainment and branded utility is currently pretty fuzzy. There's some debate at Neil Perkin's about what Nokia actually gain from the (nevertheless very cool) Bruce Lee ping pongads that have been doing the rounds over the last couple of weeks. I think this one is an interesting take - in these sales focused days there is a clear path to purchase within the application itself, taking advantage of the device's connectivity, but still enough novelty that it will be shared and shown off.
Now what would have been really special is if Men 18-24 recommended gift had been an iPint (from CMD Global)
I've been watching this story since it broke a couple of weeks ago (or at least when I wasn't watching the Monty Python archive on YouTube itself). Obviously this has generated a huge spike in python-related chat online: (Posts that contain Monty Python per day for the last 30 days.) But it is also important because this is a high profile example of a Freemium business model that is not just put out there to see if it works. Freemium? The business model of the Long Tail. Free content for everyone who wants it builds reputation and is easy to share. Assets that are easy to share are also more likely to be remixed, rebuilt, incorporated into other good stuff with even wider appeal. So although there may not be many people that need to buy the really exclusive content that has a premium price attached, the content will reach them, and will create more of them. This isn't an ad campaign that a few milllion people [might] see: this is freely available to everyone with a computer. If 0.00001% of them buy a DVD, that's some profit margin.
And how do we know that this wasn't a test, it was guaranteed to work? Because it launched in the run up to Xmas shopping, when DVD box sets are at their most appealing. And becuase the brilliant video above directs people to pythonline to buy rather than Amazon (presumably Cleese & co.'s profits are higher on their own site).
And why did I wait till now to talk about it? Because I wanted to see some sales figures, to show that the 0.00001% is a fairly pessimistic rate. Thanks to Jemima Kiss in the Guardian for actually finding them out - Monty Python sales on Amazon since 12th November? over 1000% up.
The world's first rock video made in Excel YouTube has done 701k views in a week, never mind the ACDCrocks site itself. Actual spreadsheet is here. Can't believe that someone actually programmed this.
This looks interesting.... L Studiois the newly launched broadband TV platform from Lexus US. Billed as "a celebration of innovation in all its forms", it seems to be somewhere between a lifestyle-orientated varioation on BMW Films and a video customer mag: while it doesn't have the same level of star quality as BMW Films, there are high quality shorts starring Lisa Kudrow and Famke Janssen among others. This is the trailer from YouTube
What is interesting is the lack of obvious cars or branding: there is a clip from an artist deconstructing a Lexus car and rebuilding it as art, but then there are also clips from Japanese architect Shigeru Ban on building from pre-existing materials, about the symbolism of shoes, and on Ray Manzarek of the Doors on writing organ basslines. The Lisa Kudrow series, Web Therapy, is a 15 part comedy that is driving most of the conversation about L Studio so far according to SocialMention. According to the actress,
"Connecting with Lexus gave us a chance to develop an idea we've wanted to do for a while -- that's truly designed to be web content. It's a great opportunity to be part of such a unique experiment in entertainment" While the site has a nasty whiff of microsite about it, including a lack of any RSS or sharing tools, it is ranking 1st on Google for "L Studio" and 4th for "Lstudio". Most of the content has been uploaded to YouTube, although traffic levels are pretty low there (like between 10-250 views - top traffic referrer being Passionate Pursuit, Lexus's fan site), and there are currently 4 subscribers.
I don't think that traffic levels are really the issue at the moment - it will stand or fall by its content, and sharing tools are easy to add. What is important is that the films themselves are genuinely interesting/funny/different/etc, and they are branded content that positions the brand as a creator and distributor, rather than sponsor. If they can maintain the "creator" status, and release control over the 'distributor", then this might be worth watching
