The Video View
- About
- Video news elsewhere
- formats in search of audiences
- how short is short?
- Is Hulu more important that Time Warner Cable?
- last.fm and smartclip tie the knot
- MLB.com added to Little Roku
- pre-rolls to help YouTube turn a profit
- UK Commercial TV viewing shows an upswing
- what are the differences between in-stream and in-page video ads?
- why the JK wedding is a successful viral
- Why you need to be using video on your site…
- YouTube finalises revenue share for video partners
- YouTube to turn profit?
Archive for category brands
The difficult second album of car advertising
At the outset it seems like a simple brief – ‘we have a car coming to market, make it seem cool, fun and an instant classic.’ There is no doubt that the Citroen DS was a technological marvel which epitomises the flavour of cool that came out of Paris in the 50s and 60s. The DS3 is a thoroughly modern car which Citroen hopes will capture some of the chic while being a little more technologique.
Rather like the second album from many bands or the airport runway ad for Cadburys, in comparison to the Transforming C4 ad – somehow this one just doesn’t quite get there.
Don’t get me wrong – I like this ad, the soundtrack is good, the imagery is lovely, but if I wanted to know more about the car then I will have to go elsewhere and hunt for it. From watching it I can tell that it comes in a range of colours, has four wheels and probably comes with climate control. I don’t know how big it is, when it’s available, how much it will cost but I’m interested enough to go elsewhere to find out and maybe that is the point.
The car doesn’t look as cool as this original DS but it does have some of the same striking lines.
technologically cool
Recent Citroen campaigns involving transforming C4s that went on to dance or skate were pacy, well timed and had a lot of interest in the media, they generated pages of free PR and countless free views. They also delivered the message that the car was technologically advanced.
This ad for the new DS3 will generate a bit of interest but rather like The Second Coming album from The Stone Roses, some people will feel a little dissatisfied with it.
Verizon + Google = iDon’t want an iPhone
A fairly funny TV ad for two such grown up companies. First there was the ‘There’s a Map for that’ (get it) now there is the iDon’t commercial. It seems like things are going to get a little bitchy in the US smartphone market.
tested to destruction
Ever since Blendtec launched the ‘Will it blend?’ videos on an unsuspecting public in 2007 there has been a trend for professional and user-generated content which demonstrates the toughness of a product. Here is one from power tool manufacturer Craftsman in the US as seen on Creativity Online.
You can also see some quality skateboard testing over at Flexdex, which has encouraged people to go out and test their own boards by driving cars over them – see below
Seeding the idea to test products with professional content can then lead product fans to do similar videos in homage to their favourite products. As the guy in the Jeep say to his buddy Trom – ‘yeah man, we’ve got video of that’. Advertisers can get a little wary of this kind of viral content production – after all what would happen if someone tried to blend a Craftsman drill in a Blendtec blender while riding a Flexdex skateboard? Mayhem – that’s what and frankly that is a video which many fans of the genre would like to see but I doubt that the CMO of a large corporation would be thankful for.
Once video is online then people can play with it, copy it, mash it up with various other influences and generally go crazy. They don’t have to respect brand guidelines or rules from Ofcom or the FTC but if there are fans that truly believe in what the brand produces then they should be encouraged rather than limited. Engaging with them carries a greater potential than limiting them and if the occasional bad egg gets out then a quick mail to YouTube or other video sites should soon get them taken down.
I’m a big fan of tearing down some of the walls, let the creative masses get their hands on your content and see what they come up with. Judging by the number of crowsourcing headlines that have been getting attention recently – it seems that quite a few advertisers are starting to agree.
If you want people to remember your video ad – make it funny.
If you have ever been asked to do something funny, you’ll know how hard it can be. I always think of the DJ in Good Morning Vietnam who takes over from Robin Williams with a series of polkas and scripted comedy, following on from Adrian Kronkauer was never going to be an easy gig.
Funny is hard to do well bu if you go by the data from eMarketer then it is worthwhile trying, people respond better to ads that make them laugh, their recall is higher and they are more likely to share the ad with their friends. If you get funny wrong though it can get passed around and pilloried for all the wrong reasons – think about Microsoft’s recent Windows 7 launch party videos which were frankly gruesome even if they were being ironic.
There is a full report available from eMarketer called How to Market to the Online Video Audience. If you are trying to figure out how to do it then it will be worth a read. Of course – once you do decide to advertise using online video, you’ll want to make it interactive and measurable and if you aren’t sure how to do that then I may just know someone who can help.
Fighting environmental damage caused by climate change is a difficult subject. Connect 2 Earth is a campaign featuring a number of videos which attempt to use humour to cover this important but sometimes boring subject. I think that it works nicely, it’s international since no dialogue is used, it gets the message across and it makes you chuckle. Lets hope that it has an impact.
Sony Ericsson bounces into Barcelona
I came across this jolly little site today. It is part of a campaign from Sony Ericsson which centres around building your own Space Hopper. I received a space hopper for my 7th birthday and it was my main mode of transport for some time afterwards so I have a special interest in the Space Hopper. The site is simple to navigate and the campaign is visible on digital outdoor screens around London so I have no doubt that it will get some attention. The problem that I have with it is that I don’t know what they want. I didn’t register for anything, I didn’t see any products and the only reason that I know it is Sony Ericsson is by reading the small print on the site.
I attended a session this evening called ‘How was it for you?’ where talented panel members from the agency, TV, culture and content worlds bemoaned the fact that it was hard to define success and even if they had got that far then it was hard to measure it across multiple channels. It would be really interesting to see what the success metrics are for this campaign, but then again maybe it is just a teaser for something bigger. If the aim is just to create buzz for Sony Ericsson then they may need to be a bit more explicit.
As a viral piece of content it has a few of the essentials
- It is cute
- It is short
- It is set in a well-visited place which enables recognition
- It has the essential – how did they do that factor
- With the ability to create multiple versions of the hopper – you have a reason to come back
I hope that it is a success (by whatever metric they are using) but I can’t help but think that it is a bit weak as a campaign since the user doesn’t know what it is for even though it is lovely to look at. Have a look at the Hopper Invasion site for more.
p.s. in a nice twist, if you grab the embed code from the site you end up with a preview clip of their new handset, this clip was taken from their YouTube brand channel, clever huh?
The Break Up – between advertisers and consumers
This is a good educational video for advertisers to start thinking about the dialogue of social advertising. Unusually – it is for Microsoft and yet is funny, charming and informative.
Uniqlo brings the online catwalk to life
The fashion industry has long been held as one of the great opportunities for interactive video. Campaigns by Nike, Agent Provocateur and John Lewis have all demonstrated a willingness to get involved with video that allows users to see what they want to buy when it is moving or in combination with other items.
This new site from Uniqlo allows users to see certain looks on the catwalk, click them, get more information and then go through to the store to buy them. It is nicely put togehter but after a few minutes the music can get a little painful.
Give it a whirl – see what online video persuades you to buy. Even if you don’t want a pair of skinny jeans or a fake leather hoodie – I am sure that you can find something that you like and you’ll be able to see what it goes with.
(The Creative Social twitter stream brought this to my attention)
Nike SB has another good day…
Thanks to the Amazing Raisin for pointing it out over on Brand Freak.
I posted a little while ago (here) about the way that Nike SB had turned to skate video model around to provide free high quality skateboarding footage online. It seems that they are set to continue producing the same high quality feel but this time in a more conventional 1 minute slot which you can see here. The extended version is embedded above.
This ad has some great footage, a fantastic sound track, humour and above all the coverage of the shoes is as subtle as a skateboard shoe brand can be. The extended version was released after the TV version which made it an online event drawing even more viewers. Well done to Nike SB they really seem to be on a roll.
Fedex uses 1-2-3 minutes instead of 30 seconds
The North American advertising community is fascinated by what happens at half time in the SuperBowl. A 30 second spot can cost millions of dollars and act either as a springboard for a campaign or as a sumo competition for the biggest brands. When FedEx decided not to advertise in the last Superbowl it cited the fact that it would be inappropriate during the economic troubles. Instead it would focus on online video advertising.
The result has been online for just over a week now, the branded YouTube channel has four 3 minute videos which are spoof infomercials. It is a brave move, the humour may not be up to the quality of the Daily Show but it is funny-ish. Some of the comments left on the page are not very complimentary but then FedEx is getting involved with people directly and doesn’t seem to be moderating those views that are negative. One niggle that I have with the brand channel is that there doesn’t seem to be a way to get from there to the FedEx site itself which, if the ad is working, is what I should be wanting to do.
The important thing about this campaign isn’t the method of delivery or the quality of the creative, the major shift that is happening from TV to online video is the story here. Hopefully it will meet FedEx’s success criteria, hopefully they and the other brands that are watching their actions will stick with it and work with their agencies to make their online video advertising 1-2-3-Succeed!
More information and interviews can be found on The New York Times.