Is social networking the new WOM?

We love it when the lowly consumer gets back at the big bad corporation.

Just look at the success of the “United Breaks Guitars" video on YouTube (5.4 million views and counting). Not bad for content that was posted on the 11th July 2009.

Of course the number of views is trivial compared to the viral effect of the video (like what you are reading now).

As we have seen in Iran, where there are zillions of disgruntled citizens going around with their mobiles videoing the awful violence of the fascist state, there are no hiding places.

In the UK there is great concern about the way in which older people are treated in care institutions and hospitals. This has extracted the traditional knee-jerk political reaction that will will result in a few committees and czars being appointed and no action.

What will get things changed is when hundreds, maybe thousands of people start posting videos of the terrible state of some of these institutions.

My guess is that combination of contributed content and ubiquitous video cameras will become a major force for change. Custome care departments beware. It cannot come too soon. Dick Stroud

Weird or what - viral at its best or worst?

I get a lot of “would you like to write about this” type e-mails. Some I do, some I don’t.

Last week I received one that fascinated me.

Do you think 50 year olds would like my documentary I just release online?
http://rampenfest.com/

----Jeff Schultz, DirectorBite the Bullet Productions----http://jeffschultz.wordpress.com/
http://youtube.com/user/jeffschultzusa
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Ramp/23771095713

If you have some time on your hands then give it a play – don’t you just love the teeth?

If you only have a couple of minutes then read this blog posting. It will be interesting to see how it plays to the wider audience. Dick Stroud

JVC goes viral

Promotional campaigns involving online video are an exciting development that can result in national print and web publicity, viral distribution and access to a new customers.

An example of a recent promotional campaign (contest) resulted from the collaboration between JVC and VMIX. JVC had a custom channel on VMIX for the "Create Our Commercial Contest," that encouraged individuals to submit self-produced ads.

The contest produced over 80 entries and resulted in national print and web publicity for JVC and the winner plus a new marketing campaign for JVC. The winner of the online promotional contest received $2,500 and saw his commercial aired on Spike TV. Dick Stroud

A double take or a double take too far?

This is what VW says about this campaign.

Volkswagen launches an innovative web-based campaign which continues the theme of the popular ‘midlife crisis’ adverts featuring the Passat model.

Carrying the tagline ‘When all around are losing their heads, keep yours’ the new advert invites recipients to visit the fictitious ‘Midlife Crisis Retreat.’ Here they can learn more about the Passat and, its creators hope, a little more about themselves.

Designed as a tongue-in-cheek exercise the advanced software used in the site’s creation allows it to be tailored specifically to visitors deemed by friends or family to be suffering a midlife crisis. Nominations can be made by filling out a simple online form resulting in a unique message from the fictitious clinic inviting the nominated individual to visit.

When the recipient clicks on the link contained within the email they’re guided to The Midlife Crisis Retreat site and a unique greeting from the pseudo psychiatrist.
Here they find the ‘midlife crisis test’ designed to rate their susceptibility and raise a smile as well as introducing fictional characters and scenarios based around the ‘crisis’ theme.

The microsite is damn clever. I have never seen this technique of generating a customised video message used before.

As you would expect the campaign comes with its own YouTube channel and has all of the ingredients to generate a pile of viral activity.
But, and there is a big one lurking in the wings, will it sell Passats and enhance the Passat brand?

The punch line of the ad is if you aren’t having a midlife crisis you will appreciate the lures of Passat - if you are having one and get cured you will appreciate the Passat – if you book into the VW midlife crisis you will find it full but (incidentally) VW will have captured your e-mail address.

So my take on the campaign is great use of technology – it has a high ‘smirking’ score – likely to generate buzz and viral traffic. But I am very sceptical about its business effectiveness.

My fear, if I were one of the campaign team, is that all will be remembered is that the VW Passat engenders an emotion of the excruciating male midlife crisis. Not the most positive marketing message. Dick Stroud

Social networking expanding across demographics

A rise in the number of niche services (often age related) means that social media is no longer the preserve of the young. My recent blog postings about the numerous 50-plus social networking sites is testament to this fact.

Established networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook have experienced a surge in older user levels as their offerings gain prominence in mainstream media circles. Over 40% of users, aged 18+ who visited MySpace over a four-week, period were 35+ (according to Hitwise).

Another aspect of social networking is the use of video on the Web. Over 60% of viral ads initiated by advertisers are videos, according to a new study by Competitrack. This does not include user-generated spoofs, spin-offs etc.

The number of viral videos climbs even higher when TV ads uploaded by fans are included. Media Post has more details about the study.

According to the research, videos that are produced specifically as online virals tend to be longer, much more narrowly targeted and more outrageous than those shown on TV. The study's archive of 3,000 advertiser-initiated online virals listed 8% as not safe for work (NSFW).

The definition of viral advertising varies. The study used a variant of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association's definition: entertaining or informative messages that are designed to be passed along in an exponential fashion, often electronically or by e-mail.

Besides video, the other types of viral ad types include microsites, games, social networks and multimedia viral campaigns. Dick Stroud

Power of viral video

This has nothing directly to do with the 50-plus although in the long term may a have massive impact on the care industry.

Intel has announced a new microprocessor for the UMPC (Ultra Mobile Portable PC)market. Nothing shattering about that.

What is interesting is that an Intel promotional video was released onto youtube on the 11th April. Seven days later it has clocked up 128,000 views and is referenced by countless blogs. Does anybody still need convincing about the viral power of video?

As to the video itself, I suspect we will look back at this within a couple of years and groan. A bit like the HP videos, released a decade ago, showing the “home of the future”.

Whilst we are talking about techie stuff go and have a look at these two web sites.

Twittering might just be the big thing of 2007. I am not going to bother explaining –just and have a look at the web site. Even better have a look at a global map of Twittering in action.

I wonder if Google will have competition on its hands for searching video content? Blinkx is a site that enables you to search 7 millions hours of broadcast video. Try searching for “Twitter”.

That’s it – my next post will be back to the 50-plus market.Dick Stroud