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Internet Marketing today revolves around the creation and distribution of viral content. “Must create viral content…must publish viral content…must distribute viral content…must promote viral content…” It seems like a never ending broken record playing in the minds of the marketing world these days. In an ideal world, a company would be in complete control over the viral content circulating the web in reference to their brand. We don’t live in an ideal world – we live in the real world.

Information spreads throughout the Internet at a rate that most could never have anticipated thanks to the increasing popularity of social sites like Digg, StumbleUpon and Twitter. While general information spreads quickly, negative information spreads like a 10,000 acre wide wildfire across drought stricken plains doused in lighter fluid.

Free Press For Microsoft

One of the most popular pieces of negative viral content in recent memory came at Microsoft’s expense. With almost 3.5 million views, the “Vista install in 2 minutes” video created by the frustrated YouTube user “opantxm” was wildly popular and certainly a significant blemish on Microsoft’s latest attempt to release an OS that would rival the stability of Apple’s OSX.  This was not the kind of exposure they wanted surrounding the release of what, at the time, was their latest operating system – Windows Vista.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVbf9tOGwno[/youtube]

Moms Give Motrin A Migraine

While Microsoft clearly didn’t have a hand in creating the negative viral content above, sometimes companies have no one to blame but themselves when viral content goes awry. Motrin experienced first-hand the public relations nightmare that ensues following a poorly conceived ad campaign that goes viral on a powerful platform like Twitter.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmykFKjNpdY[/youtube]

Within hours of the ad’s launch, the Twittersphere was buzzing and moms across the country were outraged by what they perceived to be a condescending and patronizing ad that couldn’t have fallen further short of the mark with their target audience if it had been released on Mars.

It didn’t take long for bloggers to hop on the viral content wave and take their shots at Motrin, too. Mashable got in on it with “Motrin Moms: Social Media Fail Whale”. The controversy was newsworthy enough to garner coverage by Reuters – “Motrin moms and the perils of social media marketing”. Not to be left out, the New York Times chimed in with “Moms and Motrin” and USA Today with “Offended moms get tweet revenge over Motrin ads”. Even Scientific American hopped on the Motrin-craps-on-its-target-market bandwagon with “Motrin moms, a-Twitter over ad, take on Big Pharma–And win”.

Motrin learned an important lesson about Social Media that day – an expensive lesson, no doubt – and a lesson they’ll likely remember for some time. What’s the moral of the story for Motrin and what can other companies learn from their mistake? Understand your target market, or at the very least have some concept of the potential social media fallout from not understanding your target market.

Kryptonite’s Kryptonite? A Ball Point Pen…

While not nearly as far reaching or grand in scale as Microsoft’s and Motrin’s viral debacles, this viral story was probably no less embarrassing or costly to Ingersoll-Rand Company – the makers of the Kryptonite lock. This story began to circulate several years ago, but unlike the story of Vista installation woes and the attack of the Motrin Moms, which both passed relatively quickly, the story of the vulnerability issues of Kryptonite locks lives on.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8XxcOj3Seo[/youtube]

Among Google’s top 10 results for Kryptonite lock are a Wikipedia entry, which highlights the lock’s vulnerability issues; a Wired article, entitled “Twist a Pen, Open a Lock”; and this 2007 follow up article from What’s Next Blog: “Kryptonite Lock: You’ve (Ever So Slowly) Come a Long Way Baby!” – which isn’t quite as glowing an article as the title implies.

Cyclists that depended on the popular U-Lock to keep their precious, and often pricey, two-wheeled transportation safe & secure were outraged when they learned that what they believed to be a “state-of-the-art” bike lock could be picked in seconds with nothing more than a ball point pen. Ironic that a lock costing between $50 & $75 could be picked with a pen that costs about $0.09.

Negative Information Can Last Forever

The lesson here is that ignoring negative press, even when you’ve fixed the the problem, won’t make the memory of it disappear from the Internet. I assume at this point that the issue with the Kryptonite locks has been resolved, but I don’t know for sure. I’m not going to go past the first page of the search results to find out what they did to solve the problem – and neither is someone shopping for a bike lock. Therein lies the issue for Ingersoll-Rand…this story is still alive and well on the Internet. If I were in the market for a bike lock, this story is the image of Kryptonite locks.

Let’s say I’ve never heard the Kryptonite lock story and that I’m shopping for a bike lock. I have narrowed my choices down to an OnGuard brand lock or a Kryptonite brand lock. My next step would naturally be to do a little research on each brand. 6 out of the 10 results on page one of Google for “kryptonite lock” reference the now infamous vulnerability of their product. Guess what that means? It means a Kryptonite brand bike lock is immediately eliminated from my shopping list. I’m sure it has been a deal-breaker for many a potential customer.

From an online reputation management standpoint, the fact that this story began to circulate nearly 5 years ago and still occupies 60% of the first page results in a keyword search for their brand is absolutely inexcusable. From a business standpoint, it’s simply asinine. Their brand continues to be tarnished – and likely tens of thousands of dollars in sales lost annually – as a result of this negative viral content continuing to appear prominently in the search results.

If those in charge of the marketing and PR departments at Kryptonite knew anything about social media or online reputation management, any reference to this embarrassing story would be buried under mounds of new, positive information published since 2004 when this story first began to circulate.

In order to avoid this kind of online reputation management disaster and mitigate the damage from negative viral content a company must create fresh and flattering content that will replace any negative and dated information in the search results. Actively monitoring a brand’s online reputation using tools like Google Alerts is also essential. Negative information will likely live on forever…the only question is will it show up on page 1 or page 21?

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When Viral Content Takes A Negative Turn

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Take a look at modern video games and you’ll see they’re heading in one very distinct direction, virtual reality.  Now sure, that’s an obnoxious term thrown mostly because it sounds cool.  “Virtual reality… wow… edgy.”  But the fact remains that video games are more or less striving to give their audience an ever more realistic (even if fantastic) world to play in.  Why does this matter to us in Viral Marketing?  Simple.  The real world has ads.  So to accurately portray the real world many games now need ads too.  We’re not talking splash screens when the game boots up, we’re talking virtual billboards hovering over virtual buildings in a virtual world.

Barak Obama advertising for the 2008 presidential election

There’s one other uncanny aspect of advertising (and this goes for movies and TV too).  Fake ads obnoxiously draw the eye.  Two character’s drinking “Coca-Cola”?  Big deal.  Now I’m thirsty for a coke.  Two characters drinking “Koo-Koo Cola”, though?  Koo-Koo Cola?  What the hell is that?  Fake products break the immersion storytellers strive for.  So yes, we’re actually in a position where even the storytellers themselves need our advertising to accomplish their goals.  Some advertisers are already ahead of the game.

Barrack Obama, Burnout Paradise – In early October of 2008, rumors began to fly that presidential nominee Barrack Obama was advertising in a video game.  People had known for some time that Obama’s campaign was courting the youth vote, but a move like this would be unprecedented.  Finally it was confirmed.  In the XBOX 360 game “Burnout Paradise” Barrack Obama was indeed advertising his campaign on billboards throughout the game’s race tracks.  To many in the coveted youth demographic, this marked Barrack Obama as a true 21st century candidate embracing the newest technologies for reaching the voters.  To heck with YouTube, THIS was the bleeding edge.  Beyond that, it also sounded a wake up call for anyone who refused to accept that video games weren’t just for kids anymore.  Obviously, we know the outcome.  Barrack Obama won the presidency and scored huge with the youth vote.

Drinking a can of Red Bull

Red Bull, Worms 3D – Virtual billboards are fine and all, but what’s even more impressive is when the advertising is built into the game itself.  In 2003, Sega Europe signed a deal with Red Bull for their energy drink to actually be a power-up within the game Worms 3D.  Obviously for this to be fully organic, the product and game must match, and fortunately for Red Bull, the Worms franchise was the exact kind of off-the-wall game series that could pull this off.  The drawback of something like this for advertisers is it requires them to get in on the ground floor, and at that point in development there really is no indicator as to whether or not the game will be successful.  Red Bull was smart enough in that they chose an already tried and true franchise to slap their brand onto.  Too bad there wasn’t a company in the early 80’s who sold red and green mushrooms that could slide across the floor.

Tony Hawk Special Edition Jeep Wrangler

Jeep, Tony Hawk’s Project 8 – Probably one of the most clever uses of hard-coded video game advertising would be Jeep’s participation in the successful Tony Hawk skateboarding franchise.  As an advertiser, it’s obvious Jeep sat down and asked, “What can we offer our target demographic for free that they would actually enjoy and use?”  The answer turned out to be quite original.  They had a virtual Jeep factory created that gamers could skateboard around in to their heart’s desire.  Even better, Jeep obviously knew when to step aside and let the game designers do their job, as the Jeep factory is one of the best areas in the entire game.  You know you’ve hit a bulls-eye when the audience you’re advertising to are actually glad you came to the party.  The game would have been less without you, and you actually contributed to the fun (an area, where as we’ll see, other advertisers tend to detract).

Puma, Wipeout Pure – So is that it?  Are video games the end-all cure-all for all of our advertising needs?  Oh gosh no.  You can definitely get it wrong…  Very, very wrong.  There’s a line that can be crossed.  Don’t know what it is?  Well you can probably go ask the nearest teenager or twenty-something year old, but here’s an easy credo to follow: “Don’t be disruptive.”  The gamers will hate you for it.  Coming across an ad for Nike while traversing the world of Hyboria as Conan the Barbarian is not going to endear the gamer to the Nike brand.  There’s also the issue of saturation.  Yes, the world is covered with billboards, but those billboards aren’t all advertising the exact SAME thing.  In games, staring at the same billboard wherever one looks has the effect of making one want to rip their own eyes out.  This mistake was made by Puma when they sponsored the European edition of the downloadable bonus pack for the game, “Wipeout Pure”.  It’s a racing game in which every possible billboard surface, the loading screens, and even your own vehicle are covered with the Puma brand.  The effect leaves you hating Puma for ruining what could have been a great bonus pack.  When advertising in video games, remember that the desire of the gamer is a semblance of realism, even in a fantasy game.  Don’t disrupt that.  And even better, try to come up with an idea so clever and fun that the gamers don’t even mind they’re being advertised to in the first place.

Games are not the entertainment medium of the future.  If it is, then the future is already here.  Among the uber-consuming yet hard to reach 18-34 year old male demographic, games have already been supplanting movies and TV as their entertainment of choice for quite some time.  Sure, there are those in the advertising industry who may still scream, “Video games are for kids!” and they can keep screaming until they’re extinct with all of the other dinosaurs.  Video games are here to stay, the gamer culture lives, and it’s where your hard earned advertising dollars should be aimed.

photo credit: Manky Maxblack

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In the world of Internet advertising as a whole, Facebook is the new kid on the block, so to speak.  To put Internet advertising into perspective, Facebook is a toddler, whereas Google is the grad student who has already started a successful entrepreneurial venture at this point.

That said, Facebook shows a great deal of potential to help businesses across the country – and around the world, to some extent – generate additional revenue and connect with prospective customers directly on their personal Facebook profile pages.

One of Facebook’s biggest challenges at this point is that while its network of users is huge and its practically a household name, the paid advertising division of Facebook is still in the “start-up” phase and they’re certainly still working out the kinks – dealing with scaling up their operations to meet advertiser demands.

In a recent WebmasterRadio interview with Jeremy Schoemaker from www.shoemoney.com, Tim Kendall – the Director of Monetization for Facebook – discussed a number of topics, including the future, direction and challenges facing Facebook’s ad network.

It was an enlightening interview and I certainly recommend that anyone wanting to learn more about the future and direction of Facebook’s ad network take the time to listen to the show.

Burger King’s Viral Magic

Perhaps the most well known viral campaign carried out using Facebook thus far has been Burger King’s “Whopper Sacrifice” campaign.  From the somewhat creepy “King” character, to the family of Whoppers, to the recent “Whopper Virgins”, Burger King is known for taking a “think outside the box” and “push the envelope” approach to advertising.  The same holds true of their recent foray into Facebook advertising.

The basis of the campaign was that Facebook users were asked to delete 10 friends from their profile in order to earn a free Whopper.  Once deleted, the activity would be reported on your profile’s activity feed as follows, “Alysson sacrificed Josh Garner for a free Whopper.”  While the campaign itself was somewhat controversial and ultimately ticked off Facebook a bit in the long run, this is certainly the epitome of a viral advertising campaign.

It became so viral, with over 230,000 “severed friendships”, that Facebook ultimately disabled the application’s ability to publish the aforementioned blurb on profiles.  Burger King subsequently put an end to the campaign, dubbing it a success and stating that users’ “…love for the Whopper sandwich proved to be stronger than 233,906 friendships.”

For further proof of the stunt’s viral nature, you need look no further than the coverage it received from some of the Internet’s most highly trafficked news sources, including CNET, The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal and TechCrunch.

Profit Doesn’t Corner the Viral Market

While companies like Burger King can clearly create a great deal of buzz about their products and use Facebook to increase sales and customer loyalty, creating viral applications on Facebook isn’t just an “advertise, sell, advertise, sell…” game.  There are several applications that use Facebook to promote not-for-profit causes and environmental issues, as well.

One such application is (Lil) Green Patch, which encourages its users to send virtual plants to one another.  What makes this viral is certainly the act of sending a virtual plant to other Facebook friends and them not only sending a plant back to you, but on to their other Facebook friends, as well.

What’s the point?  Well, for one, you create a virtual garden on your profile made up of the virtual plants sent by friends.  While that may not serve as a huge incentive to participate, there is a greater good to be served.  After all, there’s nothing wrong with adding a little color and panache to a Facebook profile, right?

By using the (Lil) Green Patch to send virtual plants to your friends, you have a direct impact on saving the rainforest.  Sponsors of the application contribute money to the cause based on participation, so the more plants you send, the more square footage of rainforest is saved.

(Lil) Green Patch isn’t the only application using Facebook in this way.  FooPets (formerly Pokey!), an application that lets people adopt a virtual dog or cat, encourages greater participation from animal lovers by donating money to the ASPCA.

The Sea Garden application donates money to save the world’s oceans based on users sending one another sea creatures.  And the African Safari application helps to fund Malaria prevention with the money raised through the use of that application.

While this certainly doesn’t fall under the traditional definition of viral advertising, since no actual products are being advertised or sold, these applications certainly do fall under the umbrella of viral content.  Not only do the applications encourage ongoing participation of their current users, but they also give Facebook members the chance to invite more of their friends to use these fun and easy applications as a means of contributing something worthwhile to these causes.

There are clearly as many uses for Facebook advertising as there are companies and causes that stand to gain from using it.  Moving forward the ad network is bound to become more user-friendly and more profitable for advertisers, as well as more intuitive and more beneficial to Facebook’s users.  As Facebook’s popularity continues to grow, so will the opportunity to use it to turn a profit or generate revenue for a favorite charity or not-for-profit organization.

photo credit: demi-brooke

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Product placement doesn’t have to be, well, BAD.  Movies more often than not take place in the real modern world, and to portray that world without familiar brands and products can just come across as strange to the audience.  At its best, product placement adds to the story.  It improves the immersion.  And like directing, editing, and every other aspect of film making, product placement is most successful when it doesn’t disrupt the story.

Pizza Hut, Reebok, etc., Wayne’s World

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R22qigXhFjk[/youtube]

Quite possibly the most consciously well known product placement scene of all time, because the film went all out and embraced it.  The scene portrays the lead characters protesting they would never stoop to something as low as product placement, while at the same time doing all out commercials for various products.  While this joke had been done before (Return of the Killer Tomatoes), the filmmakers of  Wayne’s World did it with such panache that it became one of the best scenes in the movie.

Reese’s Pieces, E.T. the Extra Terrestrial

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfAzUAxWELU[/youtube]

If a candy ever had a supporting role in a film this is it.  Not only did E.T. and Reese’s Pieces become forever associated with one another, even the peanut butter flavor itself became associated to the lovable alien with all sorts of peanut butter flavored “E.T.” products appearing in supermarkets.

Windex, My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Clever.  Provide a character with a quirk in which he or she uses a product for all sorts of zany purposes.  Make that product something we as the audience can all buy in stores and you have yourself a great commercial.

FedEx, Cast Away

Film characters often need careers as part of their back-story.  If so, then why not have them work for a company we’ve actually heard of?  Cast Away did this very well with FedEx not only being the lead character’s employer, but also his reason for becoming stranded, and as a symbol of his refusal to give up hope through the one package he refused to open.

Coca-Cola, Blade Runner

When portraying the near but advanced future, the filmmaker has the difficult job of creating a world that is both alien, but also familiar.  As Blade Runner proved, one way to do this is with familiar advertising.  To see a futuristic billboard for Coca-Cola, it reminds us that no matter how alien the landscape may seem, it is still our world.

DeLorean, Back to the Future

You can’t top this.  You simply can’t.  DeLoreans would be a footnote in automotive history if it weren’t for the Back to the Future trilogy.  Face it, people initially began wanting one when they first saw them in the films.  The car’s only fault was it lacked one heavily requested option… a flux-capacitor, of course.

Aston Martin, James Bond

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKDE0cZUcIQ[/youtube]

Remember when James Bond drove a BMW for a few years?  Felt weird, didn’t it?  Strangely, that’s great product placement for Aston Martin.  There was actually applause when it was announced James Bond would be back behind the wheel of  his beloved British sports car.  James Bond and Aston Martin is the kind of product placement relationship advertisers dream about.

Nintendo, The Wizard

Yes, it’s an awful movie, but let’s all admit… If you were into Nintendo in 1989 then you probably went and saw this movie anyway and left wondering if you should reconsider buying a power glove.  Super Mario Brothers 3, which premiered in the movie, would go on to be one of the highest rated, best selling video games of all time.

Various Ads – Blades of Glory, Talladega Nights – What are ice-skating rinks and race tracks surrounded with?  That’s right, ads!  The fact of the matter is some places just don’t look right without ads covering everything.  Times Square, Sports Arenas, etc.  Obviously, this is great for product placement.  The ads actually improve the scene.  And while I’m sure artistic filmmakers would hate to admit it, it’s a valid argument for shooting films in these types of locations.

GM, Transformers

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4XHtIuGvF4[/youtube]

This is a great example of knowing where the line is and not crossing it.  The GM product placement was able to stretched slightly when the character of Bumble Bee was changed from a VW Beetle into a Chevrolet Camaro.  Since at his heart, Bumble Bee should transform into a teenager’s beloved first car, this angle worked.  When it came to Optimus Prime, however, the filmmakers bulls-eyed the limit of how far things would stretch and kept him as not only a full-sized big-rig, but also the only Autobot who was not a GM car.

American Express, Batman/Batman & Robin

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5wcxnUcgDw[/youtube]

We bring these two up as it’s a perfect example of how to and NOT to do product placement.  In 1989’s Batman a mugger goes through a victim’s wallet while mocking its contents.  This works; the scene moves on.  It comes across as something a mugger might actually do and say.  In 1997’s Batman & Robin, however, we have Batman (not Bruce Wayne, but Batman) pulling out his own American Express card, complete with Bat-Logo, and saying, “Don’t leave the Bat-Cave without it!”  This scene makes you want to throw your drink at the screen.  Heck if you’re a Batman fan it makes you want to pull out your own American Express card and cut it in half.  It’d be challenging to come up with an example of even worse product placement.

There’s a phrase in story development known as “organic”.  When an element of a story is “organic” that means it flows with the rest of the story.  It works, and it’d be hard to imagine its removal.  In other words, the element doesn’t feel tacked on.  This is what product placement should shoot for.  Consider what some of our favorite movies would be if Marty McFly didn’t have his DeLorean, James Bond his Aston Martin, or E.T. his Reese’s Pieces.  They would each be a different, possibly lesser, film.

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Successful Product Placement In Movies

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When you consider how quickly a fast food advertising gimmick spreads, it is pretty ironic that fast food clogs arteries and slows the flow of blood to our essential organs.  Fast food chains from Hardee’s to KFC have relied on catchy phrases and unforgettable characters to peddle the latest, greatest thing that can be tossed into a bag and handed to you out a drive-thru window for decades.  In fact, the idea of viral advertising was common to the fast food industry long before “viral content” as we know it today even existed.

Wendy’s – “Where’s The Beef?”

I challenge you to find anyone over the age of 30 who doesn’t automatically flash back to 1984 when they hear the phrase “Where’s The Beef?”  This commercial certainly fits all of the criteria for viral content today – a memorable character, a caricature-like supporting player (the giant bun) and an absolute gem of a catch phrase in “Where’s The Beef?”.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aISkVvi5iI8[/youtube]

This commercial revolutionized fast food advertising and changed the face of Wendy’s forever.  In a world dominated by heat lamps and proud proclamations of “billions sold…” by McDonald’s – 1984’s unrivaled fast food giant – Wendy’s set out to change the way that people viewed fast food.  Wendy’s hoped to make a parody out of all other fast food burger joints by illustrating what set them apart – the fact that their burgers were not only bigger, but better… period.

Couple that with an elderly woman yelling something as inherently amusing as, “Where’s The Beef?” and you wind up with advertising gold that is as recognizable and amusing today as it was 25 years ago.  Wendy’s continued that trend with future slogans including: “Quality Is Our Recipe”, “Eat Great, Even Late”, “It’s Better Here”, “Do What Tastes Right”, and most recently, “It’s Not Just Fast Food, It’s Wendy’s”.

Taco Bell – “Yo Queiro Taco Bell”

Animals play in advertising, even for fast food.  Animals doing something they don’t normally do…like talking, also plays in advertising.  When you add in the fact that it’s a Chihuahua speaking a combination of Spanish and English with a thick Spanish accent, you have Taco Bell’s infamous 1997 viral contribution to the fast food advertising realm – “Yo Quiero Taco Bell”.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8sZ1DWsAHE[/youtube]

This commercial was naturally viral and was bound for the fast food commercial hall of fame from the moment it was launched.  First, there’s “the cute factor”…or, for some, the “so ugly, he’s cute factor”.  People like dogs.  People like the idea that their dogs possess certain human qualities – like the ability to communicate.  “Aww…look, – Pepe wants some of my taco…”  Just then the dog utters the phrase, “Yo Queiro Taco Bell”.  Amusing…unexpected…catchy – and most of all – destined to be repeated by kids, adolescents and drunken college students hundreds of thousands of times a day.

The Taco Bell Chihuahua was so popular that it remained a part of Taco Bell’s advertising campaigns for years following its initial release.  Perhaps you’ll recall these gems:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYk4N9ZmvYE[/youtube] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LONtNt9at_k[/youtube]

The campaign was so successful and had such longevity that Taco Bell even released a line of stuffed Chihuahuas, Chihuahua keychains, and toys that are still being sold on eBay, Amazon.com and countless other online retailers.

McDonald’s – Beanie Babies Happy Meal Toys

While Wendy’s set out to tout the quality of their food with “Where’s The Beef” and Taco Bell set out to ratchet up the cute and/or funny meter with “Yo Quiero Taco Bell”, McDonald’s took a different approach – to call no attention to the food whatsoever.  Some of the most successful McDonald’s advertising campaigns actually have nothing to with their food or anyone wanting their food, but with “stuff”.  One very popular and reoccurring McDonald’s advertising campaign is their annual “Monopoly” game, which ultimately results in millions of prizes being given away that vary from cars to vacations to cash – and yes, they give away a lot of their food, too.

McDonald’s, more so than perhaps any other fast food chain, understands its target market – kids.  It all started with Ronald McDonald – a character that most adults find a bit creepy, yet children seem to adore.  What McDonald’s learned from Ronald is that no matter how the parents feel about a restaurant chain, its food or its iconic character, the demands of their children more often than not win in the end.  So – at least until recently – rather than of improving the quality of their food to cater to the more sophisticated adult taste buds, they simply targeted a market lower expectations on the quality of the food, but an incredibly and unrelenting demand for TOYS!

Happy Meal toys are always a draw for kids, but absolutely nothing comes close to the demand and utter lunacy that ensues with each release of the latest Ty Teenie Beanie Babies that can only be found at McDonalds.  The viral nature of this campaign isn’t just about kids, though.  Beanie Babies are a crossover item – hailed by kids as a cute toy animal and by adults as a collectible.  While the fascination with these toys completely eludes me, there are literally thousands of Beanie Baby crazed collectors across the country that will elbow one another in the face at their local Hallmark just to get their hands on the latest release.  Sets of retired Beanie Babies have been reportedly sold for hundreds of dollars.

The real genius of McDonald’s campaign was that the toys were only available from them.  This is the kicker – you couldn’t buy them outright…they came only as a Happy Meal toy, a new Beanie was released each week for several weeks and once they were gone, they were gone.  So, not only was this an advertising campaign that got people talking, it was a viral campaign that kept people talking – and coming back – week, after week, after week.  Advertising genius!

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1. How to Integrate Web Videos into your Marketing Plan Marketing is involved with making contact with prospects and customers...

Marketing is involved with making contact with prospects and customers so that you maximize the chance that they will select products and/or services from your company.  If they are willing to watch a video that shows what your product or service can do, then this is almost as good as having a face-to-face meeting with them.

That is why it was so intriguing in October 2006 when Google acquired YouTube for the princely sum of $1.65 Billion in Stock.

Google Inc. announced that it has agreed to acquire YouTube, the consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos through a Web experience, for $1.65 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction.  Following the acquisition, YouTube will operate independently to preserve its successful brand and passionate community.

The acquisition combines one of the largest and fastest growing online video entertainment communities with Google’s expertise in organizing information and creating new models for advertising on the Internet.

Google had identified the power of the video medium and intended to leverage this purchase.  So not surprisingly in May 2007 they announce a different way of presenting information to searches.  This was what they dubbed Universal Search.  This would provide the most relevant information to searches and that could include videos.

Google Inc.announced its critical first steps toward a universal search model that will offer users a more integrated and comprehensive way to search for and view information online. The ultimate goal of universal search is to break down the silos of information that exist on the web and provide the very best answer every time a user enters a query.

Google’s vision for universal search is to ultimately search across all its content sources, compare and rank all the information in real time, and deliver a single, integrated set of search results that offers users precisely what they are looking for. Beginning today, the company will incorporate information from a variety of previously separate sources – including videos, images, news, maps, books, and websites – into a single set of results.

In practice where videos were an appropriate answer to the query, they would often appear as the fifth and sixth entries in a typical case.  By having a video, you could almost be guaranteed to have a result that would show in this position and be above the fold, in other words displayed in the first screen the searcher sees.

Unless one paid to have a sponsored result, it was almost impossible to have such a guarantee about where your entry would appear.  Naturally everyone flocked to the idea of making videos to describe their products and services.

Why Videos Are Easy To Make And Publicize

The other attraction to showing videos was that they were relatively easy to make.  Using a readily available and relatively inexpensive video camera, a video could be produced in very little time and uploaded.  Initially Google Video was accepting such uploads but are now encouraging everyone to upload their videos to YouTube instead.  However they still offer advice to Video Publishers on how best to get their videos indexed with Google as mentioned on the Google Video blog on January 20.

We are refocusing our attention on building a more comprehensive video search engine (in case you’re wondering, Google Video search algorithms power YouTube as well as “universal search” from Google.com). We want to make it possible for people searching Google.com or Google Video to find any video, at any time, from any site.

Indexing video presents some unique challenges.  The more information you make available, the easier it is for us to crawl your videos. Here are a few simple things you can include in your Sitemaps to make your videos easier to find:

1. Landing page URL: This is the page where the video is hosted. It is better to have a unique landing page for each video on your site.
2. Video thumbnail URL: Thumbnails provide a strong visual cue to the user. Your video thumbnail should be representative of a snapshot from the video, and should not be misleading in any way.
3. Title & Description: If these are accurate and descriptive, they not only help Google understand your video, but also help users choose the best video search result. Providing information about category, keyword tags and duration is always helpful.

An important factor in getting visibility in Google is to submit a transcript of the video content.  This requires some effort but this effort is usually well repaid in terms of visibility in video searches.

Users will be able to find your video more easily if you add a transcript to each video file you have uploaded via your Video Status page. We prefer it if the format of the transcript is time-coded and saved as a .txt file. A time-coded transcript breaks the script of the video into segments. Each segment includes the time the words in the script are being said in the video followed by the actual words of the script.

What used to be a relatively simple process of shooting and submitting to YouTube is suddenly becoming somewhat more complicated.  Even then a word of caution is appropriate.  People are now used to seeing good-quality videos and one with inferior quality may well do more harm than good.

Developing A Good Video

Developing a high quality video is not difficult but you should plan carefully exactly what you will do.  Usually the video quality with most video cameras will be adequate, provided appropriate lighting is arranged.  The audio may be more of a problem but Barry Schwartz for example finds the Samson C01U USB Microphone works very well for him.

There are a number of factors to consider and a very professional approach is to be encouraged.  For example it is probably appropriate to have background music at the start and at the end of the video.  High quality caption pages should also be used.

Here are some more resources if you need further information on producing good-quality videos.

• Create Home Movies Effortlessly with Windows Movie Maker 2 – Microsoft
• Creating Videos with Movie Maker 2, the video editing program that comes with the Microsoft XP operating system – Pembina Trails
• Tips for Creating Videos – A comprehensive guide to everything you need to know about video. Terminology, creating videos, how to edit them and shine your diamond in the rough – Metacafe

What Some Experts Are Saying About Videos

So you have produced your great video.  What’s next?

Well unfortunately there are further challenges to be faced.  Perhaps Google’s Universal Search will not bring the audience you’re hoping for.  Just see what Steve Rubel highlighted in his blog explaining Why Text Remains King of the Web.

My friend Robert Scoble has a problem. He produces terrific videos on technology companies for Fast Company. They’re a little long sometimes, but they’re almost always interesting.

So what’s Scoble’s problem? Well a lot. The videos don’t generate a lot of in-bound links from bloggers, conversations on Twitter or mentions on aggregators like Techmeme. “None of my 1,000+ videos has ever made it to Techmeme,” Scoble said.

That sentiment is also reflected in an article by Nicole Ferraro entitled: Unprofitable Video: At Least It’s Cheap to Make.  She noted that at the Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) conference in New York City three video experts spent more time diverting people’s attention to how very low-cost all of this video stuff is – versus how it will generate profits.

Why Are Good Videos Challenging?

The reason why videos are a tough sell is that they demand an act of faith from their viewers.  Time is the most valuable asset you have and yet you are required to spend some time on seeing something, because someone else feels it is worth showing to you.  The whole essence of the Internet is fast interaction.  Normally within seconds if you don’t like what you’re seeing, then you can click away.  Not so with a video.  Unless you have great respect for the person who produced that video, you may be unwilling to take the chance and spend time looking at it.

Of course another way you may be willing to give up some of your valuable time is if someone you respect has encouraged you to look at it.  Indeed for most videos, this is the only way they will be viewed.  When it comes from a friend or a friend of a friend, then you are already partially hooked.

Viral Videos

Given the above, the only worthwhile advice is perhaps to concentrate on videos that have the chance of going viral.  They should be so good that people want to encourage their friends to look at them.  If you feel you have content that can justify that support, then this may be a very powerful way of communicating with your audiences.  If not, it may just languish and remain unseen.

Integrating Web Videos Into The Marketing Plan

Summarizing what has been said above, it is probably wise to think of integrating Web videos into your marketing plan only when you have something that is buzz worthy.  If you feel that the response could go ballistic, then that is exactly the type of video that can perform well for you.  Otherwise you would be better off using your energy and cash in other ways of connecting with your prospects and customers.

Of course we should not forget that with a little effort on your video it will be visible in Google’s Universal Search.  That should not be discounted.  However the effort to prepare a video is many times more than an equivalent text blog post.  The latter, provided it is well constructed, will do at least as well as the video.  Remember that a video will normally appear only at position 5 or 6 unless the keyword query suggested a video would be the right response.  On the other hand, your text blog post can get to the first or second positions and be much more visible.

If you are doing a series of videos, then hopefully at least one can be buzz worthy and then you can put the right efforts into making it highly visible.  What you need are friends telling friends.  This is sometimes glorified with the title ’social media marketing’.  We are all now familiar with how well President Obama’s team orchestrated this process through the presidential selection process.

A great deal of care must be used if a large corporation is to use social media marketing.  The essence of social media is people talking to people and if they feel they are being manipulated there may well be a strong adverse reaction.

It may be possible to market the video through social media solely in order to get numerous prospects contacting the company.  However it is probably more effective if one is creative in linking the video with other activities that may give the company visibility. Perhaps it is sufficient to mention Super Bowl 43 ad: Denny’s Free Grand Slam Breakfast to everyone in America on Tuesday Feb 3.  Denny’s may have had problems in keeping up with the crowds but the effectiveness of this publicity cannot be questioned.

The Bottom Line

In summary, despite that initial enthusiasm for videos generated by Google’s move to Universal Search, the use of videos should be approached with caution.  They need to be professional and this involves skill and effort.

Even with good videos, the job is not over.  Unlike a text blog post there is no easy way to get the traffic via only the search engines.  An effective social media marketing program must be in place.  This requires creativity since people will not wish to be overtly manipulated.

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How to Integrate Web Videos into your Marketing Plan

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These are 11 of the top Superbowl commercials of all time. There are a number of qualities that are common to all viral video advertising, not the least of which is a basic connection on a very fundamental level. Whether the concept plays on a common fear, humor or an attempt to provoke, these 11 videos are among the most popular and most highly viewed Superbowl commercials of all time – the most popular of which has been viewed over 8 million times.

1984 by Apple Computer

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxShzoUjiAQ[/youtube]

In typical Apple fashion, they created what would become a great viral video 25 years ago with the release of their Superbowl commercial, “1984”. At the time, such a thing as “viral content” didn’t exist, nor did the Internet…at least not in the form we are familiar with today. Nonetheless, the appeal of this commercial was its ability to appeal to an individual’s desire to buck the system and escape the status quo. In the years that followed, Apple became known as the “anti-establishment” personal computing choice that appealed many who believed that you didn’t need to wear a suit & tie to need a computer.

“I really underestimated the creepiness…” by E-Trade

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-QU3fFvMj4[/youtube]

Kids play well in advertising. This offering from E-Trade, though, takes that appeal a step further. It marries a cute kid, advanced animation techniques and a deep-seeded fear that many people don’t even admit to – the fear of clowns. I wish I had a nickel from every person who has seen that commercial and said, either out loud or to themselves, “Yeah…I hate clowns…”

Broadcast Censorship Committee by GoDaddy

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IEh4K9uVHUE[/youtube]

Well, this video pretty much speaks for itself. It doesn’t speak to me, but it certainly does speak to GoDaddy’s target market. Why? Because sex sells, that’s why. There’s no way around it and that will likely never change. As long as there are straight men inhabiting the Earth, sex will be used to sell products and services to them. The end.

“What Is Love?” by Pepsi

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVYzxxgKXTY[/youtube]

Pepsi’s Superbowl commercials rarely fall short of pure advertising genius. This one certainly hits the mark. First, it includes a host of celebrities with whom a wide variety of demographic groups will identify. Second, it capitalizes on the success of what was at the time a blockbuster movie starring Chris Kattan and Will Ferrell, called “Night at the Roxbury”. Third, the song that plays throughout that movie and the commercial is one of those incessantly annoying songs that grabs hold of your subconscious mind and just won’t let go. This video is everything that viral content should be.

The Cavemen by FedEx

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=148dowDhkVY[/youtube]

We’ve all had those days at the office where nothing seems to go right. Those always seem to be the days our bosses choose to come down on us and hold us responsible for things over which no one has control…like outside vendors not showing up on time, phone systems going down or, say, having your chosen courier be eaten by a Tyrannosaurus Rex. I particularly enjoy the Karmic irony of the end of the commercial. After having been fired, the caveman walks out and kicks a small dinosaur – misdirecting his frustration and anger in much the same way his boss just did – and is promptly crushed by a Brontosaurus.

Talking Stain by Tide

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgtfC5LBAW4[/youtube]

This commercial is funny in large part due to its sheer lunacy. Many of us identify with having something out of place in a job interview…be it our hair, having something in our teeth or, as in this case, having spilled coffee on our shirt on the way to the interview. It is a commercial that speaks to our tendency to focus on, be easily distracted by and even lose a job because of something as small as a coffee stain. How can you stop such a thing from happening? Well, by making sure you always have a “Tide To Go” pen handy, of course.

Fist Bump Is Out by Bud Light

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxC8zycxa4g[/youtube]

Sometimes a cultural gesture becomes so overused that it becomes almost a caricature of itself. When that happens, it is never long before the opportunity to parody that gesture presents itself. While the fist bump is universally recognized, that doesn’t mean we fully understand where it came from or how it has so completely infiltrated pop culture. What we don’t fully understand, we often parody. This commercial is a perfect example of a hilarious look at what might come after the now infamous “fist bump”. Why is it so popular? It’s hysterical…and we can all imagine how funny it would be to be standing in a bar or at a sporting event watching grown men slap one another across the face as a gesture of thanks or camaraderie.

Rock Paper Scissors by Bud Light

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wV0B3maUK0E[/youtube]

What makes this viral? Again, it’s “the funny factor”. The commercial features a classic childhood problem solving technique – rock, paper, scissors. Often when we reach an impasse as kids (and sometimes even as adults), we turn to this classic method of deciding who will win out in the end. We all searched for the ultimate strategy to ensure we would always win. This commercial definitely highlights the ultimate strategy for success in rock, paper, scissors. What makes this funny? Some of the funniest commercials feature characters doing something outrageous or unexpected. This would certainly cover both of those criteria.

The Kiss by Snickers

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHkoZ7ngAM0[/youtube]

Do you see a pattern forming here? I do…and it’s funny. Humor is universal. Humor sells. Humor works. This commercial is funny because it’s just wrong. I don’t be wrong as in offensive or illegal. I mean wrong in the sense that two burly mechanics kissing is unexpected. I mean wrong in the sense that two men ripping out huge chunks of chest hair is unusual and disturbing. Once you see it, you never forget it and you can’t help but laugh out loud.

Skinny-dipping by Bud Light

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnUEcG4iH34[/youtube]

Several of the most popular Superbowl ads are from Bud Light. And that’s no accident. Again, the humor is a huge draw. This commercial plays on the funny factor, but also incorporates an element of embarrassment. This ad was actually banned from television, but remains one of most popular Superbowl commercial videos on YouTube with almost 4 million views. Even if you’ve never had the dream yourself, you’ve heard tell of the “going to the grocery store naked” or “going to school naked” dreams and how disturbing they are. For whatever reason, being naked in America is considered taboo and reason to be embarrassed. This commercial takes advantage of that in a fresh and surprising way. Have I mentioned it’s also hilarious?

Evolution by Dove

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYhCn0jf46U[/youtube]

While the previous videos employ humor, drama and even sex, this commercial by Dove is very different. You might be surprised to learn that of all of the Superbowl videos available through YouTube, this is the single most popular with over 8 million views – more than Pepsi’s Britney Spears commercial…more than Ali Landry scarfing down Doritos and more than Candice Michelle’s “bow chica bow bow” commercials for GoDaddy. Why? Because it is provocative and unlike any Superbowl commercial we had ever seen. This commercial is not outrageous…not funny…not sexual. In a word, it isn’t simple. The very concept seems to go against the grain of the atmosphere created by the Superbowl itself…the flash, the pageantry and the show. What made this commercial so provocative and so unexpected is not only its content, but the company that created it.

These are just 11 of the top viral Superbowl commercials. Superbowl commercials are, in and of themselves, viral by nature. Corporations spend millions in an attempt to create the year’s number one Superbowl commercial. If you’re trying to figure out how to create your own viral videos, take a lesson from the big dogs. Watch their videos. You may not have their big-time budgets, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn from their tactics and incorporate some of those basics into your own attempts to create viral content.

Post from: Viral Conversations

Superbowl Commercials – The Ultimate Stage for Viral Advertising

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