Google Ads on YouTube

In an earlier post, I suggested companies to pay YouTube users who have viral videos in their early viral stages (while it's still spreading across the web at a very high rate) for advertising purposes. Google is now doing this. Google is using popular videos as an advertising space for online advertising.

I love this idea as they're really taking advantage of web 2.0, and making loads of money off the value that mass collaborations bring. A whole new route for online advertising has been built! I wonder how much money will Google make off this.

Random Thoughts on YouTube and E-Marketing

Top 5 Most Viewed, All Time (Official)

Two out of the top five are music videos, and the other three are obviously not professionally made. Out of these five videos, I can only find one remotely funny. Does this mean humor is an overrated factor for creating viral videos?

I am sure people and experts are more than capable of coming up with reasons for why these videos became viral, and especially after there are millions of views! The reasons can be: the dog is cute, the girls are attractive, and so on.

Can you imagine how many videos with these so called "viral videos making components" don't even get 500 views? Therefore, I have came up with a very unofficial theory. I know there are studies and researches done on how to create viral videos, but from watching these most viewed videos on YouTube, I truly believe that luck is still the single most significant determining factor.

1. Since June 12th 2008, "Sasha CHEER for Team U.S.A!!!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ribqGr-yxw


2. Since April 5th 2006, "Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXdNnw99-Ic


3. Since August 8th 2007, "Brick & Lace: Love is Wicked (OFFICIAL Video..Standard DEF)" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrQ2SvjzIOk


4. Since May 28th 2007, "Powerthirst" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRuNxHqwazs


5. Since September 17th 2006, "Bring Me To Life - Evanescence" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TILCIRspO0

Two Amazing Channels/Personality (Personal Preference)

When someone develops a great reputation (and viewers base) on YouTube, they can really start using that reputation to make some serious money. There are people on YouTube who has thousands of subscribers, and millions of views for their videos, so what's the wait..Coca Cola, let's negotiate a deal.

1. Phillip DeFranco: A great speaker who talks about current hot issues and news in a very compelling and humourous style! http://www.youtube.com/user/sxephil


2. MRirian: the exact opposite of Phillip. She looks into the camera, and makes cute expressions, while she doesn't speak much. She has made 75 videos so far, and all of these have over a million views. http://www.youtube.com/user/MRirian

Twitter believes the best of them is yet to come

I mentioned about their search service in an earlier blog post, and how they plan to make money off it, but I didn't realize how special this search service can potentially be. People and companies can use the Twitter search service to find out about the buzz on a particular issue live, which is interesting, but not quite earth shattering. What's earth shattering is their future plan, which is to allow searches to go out to other Twitter users as a query. To rephrase this, Twitter users can soon get feedbacks and answers to their tweets from millions of other Twitter users...LIVE.

Unlike Google, the biggest search engine in the world, where search results will only show pre made documents, Twitter can get live customized responses from other Twitter users LIVE. For example, when you Tweet "what's good on TV at 8pm tonight?", there will be literally thousands of people tweeting back replies like "Simpsons", "the last episode of American Idol", or "the news". Another example can be a police Tweeting "if you see a Asian man in his 30s wearing a white t-shirt, please let us know", he/she can get hundreds of responses from people who see this man in a matter of seconds.

The scary thing about this idea is we won't know how far this can go. This can go way too far where there is no privacy for anyone at anytime. Imagine if you're lying to your wife about working overtime, but you're actually at a bar chucking pints of beer down with your buddies. In the past, you'll just have to tell your buddies to keep their mouth shut, but now, you'll have to get everyone in the bar and on the streets to keep their cell phones in their pockets, because you know what? They can be replying to your wife's Tweet, "let me know if you see someone wearing a Mickey tie", as you're chucking down that Corona. This is just one of a billion other examples. Imagine what can happen when you lie in the future!

We should be really concerned about how Twitter structures this service as it can not only change corporations' branding procedures quickly, it can also change our lives dramatically!

Source: http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=135016

Skittles New Website

This new website is definitely different from ordinary websites since it doesn't even have a domain! After you type in the url http://www.skittles.com/, you will be redirected to the Skittles group on Facebook and a navigation menu will appear. There are multiple buttons on the navigation menu, and clicking the buttons will lead you to Skittles pages on different popular web 2.0 websites.

This is how the new Skittles website works. When you click:

• HOME, it leads to the Skittles group on Facebook

Update March 5th 2009: HOME now leads to Wikipedia instead

• PRODUCTS, it leads to the different products page on Wikipedia


• MEDIA, it leads to either the channel on YouTube, or the photos on Flickr


• CHATTER, it leads to the search result on Twitter


• FRIENDS, it leads to the Skittles group on Facebook


• CONTACT, it finally leads to a Skittles page with a simple contact form

If you have no clue what I am talking about, check it out yourself.

Actually a similar approach was taken a year ago when Modernista, an advertising agency, created their website. David-Michel Davies, executive director of the Webby's Award, discussed the reason behind this approach and said, "...all these great tools out there, you're just not going to be able to come up with a better way to share photos than Flickr or a better way to build community than Facebook". On top of the above reason, I guess this kind of innovative website is also saying, "I KNOW WEB 2.0".

My Thoughts

This kind of website might take a while for it to become popular (if it would become popular) as it is far from intuitive to navigate. It's also nothing I would expect to see when I go on a website to check out a new product. I personally would rather have these popular web 2.0 websites embedded nicely on an actual domain with multiple pages, which makes navigation much more easier. Because I don't know how many people will leave the website due to the unexpected and unintuitive navigation, I would much rather have this new website idea as a complimentary piece to a more traditional website. This will just make lives easier for everyone! Update March 5th 2009: This kind of website is more suitable for produts with a well structured brand, because it's hard to use this kind of website to create a solid brand since the contents are created by many different users.

Source: http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=134946

Twitter Doesn't have a Revenue Model

Yes, what the title says. Actually, Twitter has made it public that they are in no rush to come up with a revenue model.

I know their funder want Twitter to focus on growth instead of revenue, but shouldn't they at least hire a team to focus on potential revenue models. What if Twitter dies down? What if another version of Twitter emerges? You just never know what will happen, esepcially when the economy is so volatile.

Twitter! Here is my suggestion. Just do your research on the two possible revenue models you've been talking about (and hire a few more employees in the process since you only have 60 employees working on a product with 6 million users), and start collecting the cash before anything goes bad!

For those of you who are too lazy to click on the link below to read about the two potential revenue models:

1. Charge corporations or even regular users a fee to use the service.
2. Charge companies a fee to utilize the Twitter search service, which allows them to find out what Twitter users are saying about their products.

At least Twitter understands selling advertising space is not a strong revenue model anymore!

Source: http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=134954

New Gadgets!

Can you find the three new gadgets on my blog?
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Yes, it's the "I Power Blogger" logo on the top left, the stylish clock on the top right, and the wikipedia search at the bottom. Hope this enriches your experience on my blog!

Internet Is Killing Our Economy?

I am sitting at the library, and this thought just came up. It's a really interesting (or devastating) thought. Here we go, sit tight, and read on.

The internet offers us everything we can think of, for free! There is free streaming (Justin TV), free chatting softwares (msn), and even free kisses (kiss me in 3D). We are not going to get out of the economy crisis by having everyone watching TV shows, gossiping with friends, and kissing monitors at home.

Disagree? Think the websites that offer these free services will keep the economy rolling by making a lot of money? Let's look at this closely.

The common business model for web base businesses is to generate lots of users to create expensive advertising space, and rely on the sales of these advertising space as the only source of revenue.

Sounds like a good plan, but in the year 2009, this business model doesn't work anymore! Why?

First, we have to understand that these online advertising spaces are often ignored due to the excessive use in the past. Second, some of these ads might be advertising for a service that other websites are offering for free! These two reasons alone can explain why online advertising is not that effective nor attractive, and it just can't be relied on as the only source of revenue anymore.

So let's summarize this. Web base businesses that offer free services have an unattractive business model, and moreover, offline businesses are negatively affected by the free online services as well.

All these things will only slow down the economy.

Does anyone disagree? Please provide me a dose of optimism.

PS: Next time you wish for a free web base service, wish at your own risk, because more free services lead to a bad economy, and a bad economy leads to a smaller salary...for you.

Opportunity for...Guerilla Marketing!

First , the success of advertisements is almost impossible to be measured accurately. Second, advertisement's ability to draw attention is decreasing as well, because there are just too many ads from too many companies everywhere! Threfore, in the middle of an economy crisis, companies choose to cut their advertising budget.

This is an opportunity for your business! When everyone is holding their ads back, it's the perfect time for you to push your ads out. Imagine how much more attention you'll get competing with 1 ad instead of competing with 10 000 ads.

You might be saying, "I know I should advertise, but my advertising budget is 50% smaller as well". Well, you just have to be creative, and not rely on the traditional media channels like TV and Radio. Try "guerilla marketing", the unconventional and low cost advertising that grabs everyone's attention. You'll just have to keep your employees (to generate creative ideas), and don't give up on advertising!

Take advantage of this opportunity, think hard, and impress! Your ad might even end up on YouTube if it's THAT good! If you're stuck, check this video out:

Take Advantage of a Viral Video

There is an extremely popular video on YouTube recently. It features a woman "going insane after missing her flight". Insane is an understatement. The woman was simply out of control. She was screaming out displeasures, slamming her fists, and writhing on the floor. Check it out yourself:



The number of views have increased by a million in the last 21 hours! The video has drawn more than 3.1 million views ever since it was posted on YouTube 5 days ago, and edited videos (i.e. the same video, but with English subtitles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHp7tn9yfm4&feature=related) are being posted rapidly as well. This definitely qualifies as a "viral video".

This gets me thinking. A business can easily step in right now, or even a couple days earlier to take advantage of this kind of viral videos. Through a negotiation of compensation, the person who posted this video can put the name of a business on the video for advertising purposes. For example, Air Canada can pay $10, 000 to have a message that says "If this poor lady chose Air Canada, this will never happen" pop up at the end of the video. Done deal! Easy business!

There are many ways around this as well. The person who posted this video can offer different things at different price levels. For example, $20, 000 to name the video after a business, or $5, 000 to have a pop up window visible for 5 seconds.

I'm sure there can be a lot of details in a negotiation like this, but all I know is that the person who owns the video has nothing to lose by accepting the unexpected compensation (maybe a minute of work to put the message in the video), and moreover, it's an awesome deal for businesses to only pay thousands of dollars for literally millions of views.

Superbowl Commercials on Youtube

Everyone is crazy about the Superbowl commercials, because they are simply awesome! People actually turn their televisions on just to watch these commercials.

Watch this hilarious Superbowl commercial, which is voted best on YouTube:


Major brands spend millions of dollars to create and air commercials in between a Superbowl game. To be more precise, CBS charged $2.6 million for a 30 second commercial during Superbowl XLl last Sunday. These numbers won't shock anyone as these expensive commercials air time has been a tradition for years.

And for the last few years, there are millions of people (including myself) who go on YouTube to watch these Superbowl commercials. You can watch any commercials anytime. YouTube had to take a lot of these videos off due to copy rights, which then makes watching these great commercials much harder. I have to Google and search for secure websites, which is such a hassle.

Guess what?

YouTube finally figured everything out. First, major brands set up accounts on YouTube, so they can upload their commercials on Youtube. Second, there is a ballot on YouTube(http://www.youtube.com/adblitz) for viewers to both view and vote for the best Superbowl commercials. This is perfect in two perspectives as normal viewers like myself can watch these hilarious commercials anytime I want, and major brands like Doritos can gain more exposure from their commercials.

Good job YouTube!

Baby Boomers Might be the Answer!

First off, let's see if you agree on this theory:

1. Internet users are usually in their teens or 20s
   
2. This is why there are so many online advertisements targeted at these age groups

Before I've read the article "4 Tips for Marketing to Baby Boomers Online", I believe in that exact theory. Actually, there's another reason (emphasized in my marketing text books) why a lot of the online advertisements are focused on these younger age groups, and that is because of their significant influence on their household consuming habits.

However, thinking back now, I've changed my mind. I don't agree with the above theory anymore.

First, let's look at the "influence" factor. Even though the younger generation has a significant influence, I have to wonder who actually makes the final decision of buying something or not. I have to argue it's their parents (most parents are in the Baby Boomers age group). And even when the parents are not the ones purchasing, they still have a strong influence on the younger generation's consuming habits. The parents gained this strong influence through how they teach and nurture their children throughout the years. Therefore, at least for consuming habits, the parents' influence on their children is definitely stronger than the children's influence on their parents.

Second, let's look at the age groups of internet users. A research done by eMarketer shows that the biggest group of internet users within the US is the Baby Boomers (born between 1946-1964), at 29.4% of all internet users. I think we can make a safe assumption that this percentage is similar in other countries as well. Lastly, the average income of the Baby Boomers is definitely higher than the average income of younger age groups due to both their seniority and their experience in the work force. It is actually a growing trend as 62% of households head by someone 50 or older had annual income of $75, 000 or more, which is a 5% growth from 2004.

The strong influence on households consuming habits, the above average household income, and being the largest group of internet users, Baby Boomers should definitely be the focus of e-marketing. Now that we've found such a prized market, how should we focus on them? There are four tips suggested by eMarketers. A three words summary of the four tips is to keep things simple.

The Baby Boomers have the power and the income to try out products, so if they are offered products they want on the internet, they will give these products a try. However, we have to understand that they use the internet as a tool to accomplish things, and they don't see it as a lifestyle (they have developed a lifestyle throughout the years, and it is not easy to alter). Therefore, they won't spend too much time online, which is why online advertisements targeted at them should be straight to the point and easy to access (especially since some are not as good at internet navigation). And at the end of the day, the product is the most important factor, because Baby Boomers are more likely than other groups to spread the word.

So let's start making the Baby Boomers happy, and stop their feeling of neglection (70+% of Baby Boomers said online advertising is focused on younger age groups).

UPDATE Mar 2nd, 2009: an interesting article with numbers proving Facebook and other social networking websites are aging fast. It also talks about their adjustments.

Source: http://rismedia.com/wp/2009-01-19/4-tips-for-marketing-to-baby-boomers-online/

Bad Publicity?

What will you feel like when you sign on to your Facebook one day, and you see this message "You've been sacrificed!".

I guess your reaction can be anyone of the following: WHAT?, HAHAHA, Why meeee?, I'll get you back!, etc.

The reason I asked that question is because of a recent promotion on Facebook. Let's briefly explain this promotion:

• An application is created on Facebook

• Facebook users who add this application can receive a coupon for a free Whopper from Burger King if they de-friend 10 people from their friends list

or


• The 10 people who unfortunately got de-friended will receive a message that says "You got sacrificed!" (I guess a link to the application is included in the message for viral marketing purposes)

• More than 200 000 people received this message after they were de-friended for a free Whopper

• After a while, Facebook disabled the notifications (people who get de-friended would not receive a message about it) component of the application due to the site's privacy policies (Facebook users shouldn't receive notifications from applications that they didn't add)
  

• Burger King ended the promotion

This is all created by a marketing and public relations firm, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, to generate publicity for Burger King. If publicity is the only goal for this campaign, I have to agree this application was a success as 200 000+ Facebook users received the message "You got sacrificed!" from the Burger King application. On top of that, thousands of others must have found out about this promotion somewhere. This might sound good so far, but I wonder if this actually helps Burger King at the end of the day, or even worse, does it hurt Burger King.

Would the message "You've got sacrificed!" make customers or potential customers want to drop by Burger King the next time they crave for fast food? Let's look at the positives and the negatives generated for Burger King from this promotion:

The positives: I personally think this promotion doesn't change Burger King's brand by a whole lot. At most, I see this as a small promotion that generated noise in the public and reminded people about the Whopper.

The negatives: The majority of the people will see this promotion as a joke and something to laugh at (this can either generate more business or the other way around, which totally depends on how people perceive it), but others can see this as flat out offensive. People who see this as offensive can potentially stop all purchases from Burger King.

As discussed above, there are both positive and negative effects in this promotion, but the negative effects wouldn't hurt Burger King much since they are a strong company with a solid brand name.

Since the negative effects won't affect Burger King much, I guess they earned a victory in this promotion. However, this doesn't take away the fact that there is bad publicity involved. Can anyone say how bad this actually is? I don't think there is ONE correct answer to this question since the degree of negativity can vary as the judging criteria vary with a combination of many different factors.

But on top of everything else, the strength of a company's brand to begin with is a major factor that can't be ignored in any bad publicity judging criteria. For instance, a similar degree of negative effects from this promotion will change (damage) a weaker brand permanently.


Source: http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/65858.html

http://www2.warnerbros.com/friendstv/img/friends_index.jpg

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