Marketers, here is a social media recipe with some zing. You can build an opt-in network of followers for just about any objective you want: new product launch, latest bargains, thought leadership, consumer engagement. The ingredients are all here if used with healthy amounts of honesty, transparency, and interaction. Let’s take a comprehensive look at a handful of technologies that will make a succulent dish and we’ll use one of my favorite places to shop: the outdoor recreation retailer REI. Disclaimer: I’m also an REI member, but so are thousands of other people. I don’t own stock and they don’t pay me for anything. Here’s a recipe I’d love them to try:

1) Create a Twitter profile for REI Outlet and build a following. Dell Outlet did it (http://twitter.com/delloutlet) and received an award from the Society for Ne w Communications Research. REI can build a larger following in 2008 across its wide variety of constituents: campers, cyclists, kayakers and on and on.

2) The Twitter piece can tie into a microsite with a combination REI expert- and user-generated content for REI Adventure. Right now, www.rei.com has nice photos and text, but I’m at a loss as to why they are not taking advantage of a variety of media to embrace the visitor. Give us more: more personality, more views, more experience. REI is all about outdoors — take us there.

3) Then REI Adventures (their travel packages division) can use Utterz and Flicker to create instant posts of audio, video or pictures from hikers on its Zion National Park trip, with its unique hoodoos rock formations, or other campers photographing a grizzly in Denali National Park – from a safe distance of course. Bring the trip to life for customers’ family and friends, those researching on REI.com and those following REIcamping or REIcanoeing or REIhiking on Twitter, Utterz or any other site built for easy content creation. I bet some of REI Adventures customers have twittered from a trip already. Some have posted on YouTube like this REI Costa Rica cycling trip.

4) Then, enhance the Web and in-store experience by creating “buying guide” podcasts and/or vidcasts (with RSS feeds, of course) by area of the store. These could be downloaded to portable devices or played on the Web site. I realize the REI Web site is full of great information, but are you asking the customer to print stuff and bring it in? That’s not very green. Instead, post audio and video to download, which will add even more “green” to the REI marketing effort.

5) Lastly, bring all of these aspects of REI together with a social network, either on the REI site or another location like Facebook, Ning or MySpace. At the very least, by using blogs on the REI site, enthusiasts can share their experiences together under the REI banner.

As an REI enthusiast, I’d love to see part or all of this implemented. The interesting part of social media is that people can do this themselves without REI’s blessing, but I believe the store and brand are such a strong presence, that it is missing an opportunity by not participating in social media. Now what do you think about that?

As you know social media is about sharing. Marketers are dying to figure out ways to match the ability to share with honest feedback. I think we figured this out in this video. Watch carefully how the first person, despite their inital reaction to the product encourages the next person to try it. I personally took on this project to see if Listerine would appeal to kids. These are first and second graders who just so happen to be getting ready for their first day of school. In the spirit of giving, I trust it gives you a smile.

The hollering in the background is mom making pancakes. Happy Holidays from everyone at Provident Partners. Remember every comment on this blog results in Provident Partners giving a food item to a St. Paul, Minneosta food shelter.

Time 12:27

Video use on the Web is much more than a two-minute case study or a talking head from a presentation. The numbers from an eMarketer report this summer show 86 percent of U.S. Internet users will consume online video by 2011, up from 62 percent last year — that’s 114 million people who watched video online in 2006.

Whether it’s purchasing video online from iTunes, consuming viral video from YouTube, or taking in the growing number of high-end video channels like Cigar Cinema, there are as many varieties of video technologies as there are videos on the ‘Net.

Brightcove has been a video player (and literally a player for videos) and hosting service that I have used for nearly two years. Its technology is elegant. Brightcove gave a little tremor to the user community a couple of weeks ago when it announced changes to its consumer accounts, which, as of Dec. 18, will no longer be accepting uploads to consumer or personal accounts. Instead, Brightcove is putting great emphasis on its network and platform accounts and its ad network.

In this podcast Adam Berrey, senior vice president of marketing and strategy for Brightcove, highlights how businesses can still use Brightcove’s sophisticated platform and Web-based production tools called Brightcove Console. Here’s the official Brightcove announcement.

What is striking to me is how many different ways video is being used on the Web; some technologies offer overlapping capabilities, and others are focused on a specific niche. Here are just a few examples:

Brightcove: video hosting platform with an excellent player. CBS News, the Wall Street Journal, Discovery Channel, GM and Dupont are just a few of the companies using Brightcove.

vSocial: video hosting platform used in many user-generated social media campaigns. In addition to large companies, vSocial has many options for small businesses. Examples: Amateur Golf, sponsored by Titleist, and Volleyball.com.

Blip.tv: a platform for a new kind of video show. These are a variety of comedy, drama, news and other genres that are gaining a new audience. It’s a proving ground that television can not provide. For the right company, it can be a place to explore the creative horizons of your brand.

Proclaim: a presentation platform that lets users have a presenter’s video in a portion of the screen while also showing video clips, images, PowerPoint slides and more. It can host live or recorded webcasts and is best-suited for business presentation-style videos. Here’s a sample of what it looks like. (FYI: We do communications consulting for this company and use this product regularly.)

Oovoo.com: a video conferencing platform with multiple screens that can be shared and viewed simultaneously

Seesmic.com: a tool designed for video conversations. Seesmic lets users quickly record or upload videos and reply to conversations others have started. The site is currently a “pre-alpha” release, so it’s very early in the development process, and the exclusive access has the blogging community a-buzz.

It’s a bit like me choosing ice cream: I have a few favorites, and some flavors are right for a certain mood, but most any ice cream is good to me.

Key resources for following the video streaming space include Dan Rayburn of StreamingMedia.com and a list of resources he points us to.

There are tons more video resources. Here is a longer list.

Videos on the Web are as common as Web sites, if you include all user-generated and professionally produced content. Test these leading technologies now. Evaluate which parts of your company’s message are be suited for video. Then: Lights, camera, action.

Ah! I really like Brightcove, but there model is changing which may cause users to look at other alternatives. Here’s the email they sent out this morning. Those using Brightcove need to review their videos and potentially move them before Dec 17.

Dear Brightcove.TV member,

Beginning December 18, 2007, we plan to end support of direct consumer uploads to Brightcove.TV. As a result, you will not be able to upload new videos to Brightcove.TV after December 17, 2007. But videos you have already uploaded to Brightcove.TV will remain available on the site and through your Brightcove.TV channel. Videos you have embedded in other sites and blogs will also continue to play.

If you have a Brightcove Platform or Network account, which means you use the Brightcove Console, then you will still have the option to promote videos on Brightcove.TV.

Brightcove.TV will continue to be a guide to great video from Brightcove media and business partners. The site will have new videos added to it daily from these partners and these videos can be saved as favorite videos in your channel.

If you work for a media company, marketer, non-profit, or business and are looking to purchase the Brightcove platform to publish and distribute video on your own site, please visit the Brightcove Products Overview section of our website.

We appreciate your interest in Brightcove and apologize for any disruption this change may cause you.

Sincerely,
The Brightcove Team

Added November 28, this is a great article by Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Brightcove about the current landscape for video players on the net and the 2008 for the category. http://www.brightcove.com/about_brightcove/perspectives.cfm

www.brightcove.com

Time 17:04

Many companies are trying to understand how forms of social media can be applied to achieve their business and branding objectives. This podcast features two examples of the successful use of social media and user generated videos.

On this episode of the Marketing Edge, we feature Vespa scooters’ Go Green Challenge and the UPS new product launch of Delivery Intercept. We also provide some of the elements of these very different campaigns that may help other companies determine whether they have the chance for a successful social campaign.

The technology platform used in these two cases is Vsocial www.vsocial.com . To me Vsocial is a video platform that is on the opposite end of the spectrum from YouTube. It is structured for businesses to host a video generated campaign as a complete web-based platform or with developer APIs so agencies can create the custom experience for those engaged in their campaign. Provident Partners has a vSocial site at http://www.vsocial.com/user/?d=144923

The agency work featured here is Matrixx Pictures for Vespa’s Go Green Challenge and Lbi Atlanta that created the UPS Delivery Intercept program. Side mention here, Archie Manning (old school) Peyton Manning’s dad, is the spokesperson for the Delivery Intercept program. Script and copy writers should listen to Archie’s segments, the writing is outstanding.

What Makes These Good Campaigns

Here is a general list of criteria for these two examples that I believe companies can use to evaluate their audiences as they consider similar types of campaigns. Let me underscore, these are general profiles of an audience. In some ways even trying to put people in categories goes against the grain of social media and 1-1 marketing, nonetheless, marketers like to have some semblance of structure as we describe the market we are seeking to attract. So here goes.

The Vespa campaign audience I categorize as Creative and Socially Conscience. This includes people who may be in areas including:

The creative type of audience is more likely to participate when the campaign involves producing something from scratch or interpreting a situation. Some may be in it for professional exposure so incorporating a set of judges known in that craft is also helpful. These types of campaigns involve lots of work and time on the part of those producing the content.

The UPS Delivery Intercept campaign is what I call Naturally Occurring

These are events that are part of everyday life and as such are likely to be recorded. This audience is participating for fun, hobby, 15 minutes of fame, and being part of a group.

In this category, there is less burden on the participant to be creative in building a storyline and requires less production skills. Their submission is a chronicle of an event that is potentially appealing to a similar audience. These are the characteristics of the Delivery Intercept program. In many cases, successful campaigns also have some recognition and reward, whether it is prize money for the winner or a charity of the winner’s choice.

Comments Bring Good Things

Remember any comments to this blog or emails to marketingedge@providentpartners.net will result in a food item contributed to a food shelf in St. Paul, MN. Also did you listen to the opening minutes of this podcast for the movie quote question? If you are the first two listeners to submit the correct answer you will win a $10 gift certificate to Subway, so quick hit the play button and send your email answer. What can I say, we like to see people satisfy their hunger.

Time 13:33

Viral Envy: Many marketing people and CEOs suffer from this, usually after seeing a viral video or site that is forwarded to them from a friend. “Yikes! Thousands of hits with no media buy! Little production cost! Praise Web 2.0!”

Yes, it’s an envy of mine as well. But no longer. Here’s an interview with Andrew DiFiore of answerYES Interactive on the essentials of creating a viral campaign. Before you listen, check out the Japanese Supermodel interactive on the answeryes.com Web site. This will give you a better perspective of what a cool interactive, “viral” campaign is like.

For me, eavesdropping on other people’s conversations at a social gathering is helpful. Oh, sure, I pick up on the latest gossip, but I’m listening for what people use to start a conversation. So the conversation starts with something like, “Did you see the…” What is that thing that they want to share? Funny stuff is the easy one — it’s the old ice breaker, “Did you hear the one about…?”

Today, it could be a video of a great sports play…

…or a physical accomplishment, something out of the ordinary performed by someone who looks ordinary, like Paul Potts…

Viral isn’t just about being entertained — it can also be about being informed. Whether it’s about phone rates, mortgage rates, college choices or dope, the question is, will the viral share something that is unique or not common knowledge? Take a tour of the brain on weed.

Thomas Beakdel does a wonderful job on this page with examples and rules of thumb.

Have a good example of a viral campaign? Link away in the comments below.

As usual, every comment we get to the blog will result in a food item being donated to a local charity.

Time 18:15

Audio and video content on the Web has raised the bar for search engines — consumers demand superior search capability that provides context as well as accuracy. While Google redefined search a few years ago, the next wave of search now includes video and audio, which brings into play technologies like EveryZing.

Today’s podcast features an interview with Tom Wilde, CEO of EveryZing.com. We highlight how translating formats into searchable text and providing context around those keywords will further advance the way marketers can package information.

This is about marketers having the full spectrum of media at their disposal to communicate and add to that the ability to search all of those formats. Give it a try: see the EveryZing search box to the left (if you’re reading this on providentpartners.net). Type in “viral video” — use the quotes — and make sure you choose to search the Provident Partners channel, then click “Zing It.” I bet you’ll get a results page that shows you the time code where I mention “viral video” in this podcast.

So how do you think multimedia search can be used? Use the comments box on this blog post and we’ll give a $25 Amazon e-certificate to the application we like best. Deadline for comments is August 31. The winner will be announced on Labor Day.

Also a big thank you to Mihai Banulescu, a wonderful instructor of dance that can be found at Beyond Blues. Mihai e-mailed us a question about whether Beyond Blues would be a good candidate for a vidcast or podcast.

Beyond Blues features the style of dance called Blues Dancing. It is a complex mixture of blues music with pair dancing. It’s a sophisticated, sultry combination that has some of the essential elements of a good vidcast or viral video. They are:

–an element of user generation; hell, the very nature of dance as a form of self-expression flows right into the concept of user-generated content
–beauty; you have to see some of these dancers to appreciate the grace that goes into this dance style
–folly; self-deprecating humor, after all, is what made America’s Funniest Home Videos so popular
–instruction; just like the popular vidcast Tiki Bar TV uses a mini-plot to carry the knowledge of making drinks, Beyond Blues has that same potential
–characters; video lets people make a connection with the audience, and to the extent that Mihai and his colleagues or students have an interesting story or look, that will make the vidcast more compelling and give it a loyal following.

Some examples of this include Amanda Congdon, formerly of Rocketboom, Dusty Wright of Culture Catch, and Shel and Neville from For Immediate Release. Their personalities have built a following along with the valuable content they provide.

There is also a foundation of socialness, of being together and learning. Mihai holds dance sessions around the country. Some examples can be found on his site, www.beyondblues.com.

Remember: for each comment or e-mail we get, will give a food item to people in need.

OK, YouTube is great for parties, vacation videos and has some utility for business, but is it the perfect platform for a company’s multimedia social engagement?

There are a few other video/social platforms that are better suited for an in integrated interaction with audiences. Enter vSocial, a dynamic platform that allows companies to post, share and build communities. As we uncover with vSocial CEO and co-founder Mark Sigal, other tools on the vSocial platform let you build microsites that can be filled with user-generated content.

Boston Acoustics and Denon Electronics currently have such integrated campaigns with vSocial. Denon has launched a site called the Makeshifters, where home theater enthusiasts can provide their own stories of building their home entertainment centers.

In addition to typical sharing of these personal reflections, the microsite informs users about new products, best practices, and acts as a host for other information in an entertaining way. The site was created by the interactive agency The Loomis Group.

Now take this interaction one step further because, after all, hearing is believing when it comes to audio. And the Makeshifters have an answer by tying in retail resellers like Circuit City. Now you have a comprehensive, interactive experience that entertains shares, informs and maybe even sells a few products, right at the finger tips of the users.

Sigal is also a visionary thinker on digital media applications in the social world of the Web. Other interesting items on his blog, called The Network Garden, include an article about creating a path of breadcrumbs and Sigal’s commentary on partnering with CBS Interactive.

SOCIAL MEDIA SEMINAR IN TWIN CITIES

I will be hosting a seminar on social media on Tuesday, June 26, at the Pool & Yacht Club in Lilydale, MN. My colleague Mike Keliher and I will provide an overview of the new changes in business communications while answering questions submitted by attendees at time of registration. Register at www.providentpartners.net/answers.

You know, questions are the first form of user-generated content. The seminar’s focus is to help business owners and professionals understand new media trends and how to effectively incorporate them into their business communications.

Coming from the broadcast journalism world, I find these tools amazing. We’ll tackle practical uses of these tools to help address daily challenges you face.

We invite you to comment on this posting or email us at marketingedge@providentpartners.net. Every comment generates a food item donated by Provident Partners to a local food shelter — So what’s on your mind will put food in someone’s stomach.

I spent most of the week in the New York metro area, first speaking on a panel on the issue of podcasting and blogging at the Business Smart Tools conference in Stamford, Conn., then reporting from the Streaming Media East conference in Manhattan.

Loathe the name podcasting, even though it is accepted as new word in the dictionary. Judging by some of the questions that are prevalent at these conferences, marketers may do well to not use words like “podcasting” when trying to present the idea to management.

The concept may better be positioned using terms like audio, radio, video, or something a bit more retro. I highlight some other ways to describe this wonderfully mislabeled medium in this podcast, er…Marketing Edge show.

I also spent some time at the Streaming Media East show, which was excellent. One of our clients unveiled a fun new presentation tool called Proclaim, which is one of the reasons that brought me to the show.

While there I listened to a great keynote from Martin Nisenholtz, senior VP of digital operations at the New York Times Company. He discussed how bloggers complement journalists, not replace them. Bloggers will continue to act as self-appointed watchdogs of the media, and as traditional journalists increasingly join the blogosphere, it becomes easier for the average Jane or Joe to become part of the news conversation.

Publications will continue to add more multimedia content to their Web sites. “All the news that’s fit to print” at the New York Times takes on a new meaning with the limitless space of Web site, and it also has a way to capture your heart. Check out the Manny Fernandez piece called “Johnny’s Cave.”

This piece shows how powerfully video can tell a story, and with a writer like Fernandez weaving the thread, it simply leaves you numb. This is journalism at its finest.

Sharing is good: It’s the only way to do it in this era of social media. Go ahead. Be social.

Here are links to the video services I mentioned in the podcast:
Brightcove
Feedroom
YouTube

We invite your comments. For each comment we get, we’ll donate a food item to a local food shelter.

Live blogging is cool, but is it rude when you are in the middle of someone’s presentation? Hmmm, my parents would think so. Instant reaction is great theater, but should it be the stuff thoughtful blogs are made of? Are you looking for the silver-bullet marketing tactic or the next big thing? Well, you’ve come to the right place.

In this podcast, I chat with Greg Verdino, VP of emerging channels at Digitas and digital marketing seer (yup, a thoughtful guy and it’s not because he has the same hairline as Seth Godin) about dealing with these issues.

Bottom line for Greg: Every company needs to have a deliberate social-media strategy. These venues — blogs, podcasts, and all the other next big-thing things — are not something to be treated as one-off pilot projects. They should be considered as part of a holistic approach, one that seeks first to understand how the individuals that make up a company’s market are using the new media and then to understand what benefits can be reaped by the company from using some or all of them.

Greg is the author of the informative blog found at www.gregverdino.typepad.com.

Greg and I will be speaking at the Business Smart Tools conference on May 15. So will other marketers from General Motors, Xerox, and answerYES Interactive, among others. Provident Partners is giving away two more passes to this event. E-mail us at MarketingEdge@providentpartners.net. The senders of the first two e-mails we receive will be as lucky as Scott Monty of Boston, who won a pass to the conference in last week’s drawing.

We’re also giving away Seth Godin’s latest literary gem on marketing, The Dip. We will name names of the winners soon, and the book is due out May 10. For every e-mail we receive for these giveaways, and for every comment on our blog, Provident Partners will give a food item to a local food shelter.