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The Marketing Edge, one of the longest running marketing and public relations podcasts.
Host Albert Maruggi weaves his 25 years of marketing and PR experience across business, technology and national public affairs in interviews with newsmakers, authors and business leaders.
Maruggi is a frequent speaker and conducts workshop sessions on new media. For more information or to discuss your business challenges and goals, e-mail him.
I wonder, however, whether YouTube enhances the public’s experience of stand up comics or if the audience, having heard some of the popular bits online several times don’t respond as vocally to the familiar material. The other question is whether they contribute to the comics revenue either with DVD purchases or attending live shows. How does the comic make money in a profession that is brutally difficult. I don’t believe comic bits similar to songs. It is a different medium. Some of My favorite comic shticks are embed below. In my case, I have seen Steven Wright live. I may not have know about Mitch Hedberg or John Pinette if it was not for YouTube. I would definitely see Pinette in the future.
I’ve certainly shared links on Twitter, Facebook and other social networks to many comics I enjoy who have material on YouTube. In this case, social becomes faith and not easily measured. I suspect there is no way to track whether any of my links led to revenue for any comedians, but I engaged dozens of people specifically about these and other comics. For artists, it seems it’s really a bet on older revenue streams e.g. DVDs and live shows, and faith that the new medium is adding to, not stealing from that revenue channel.
What’s your take on whether new media is a benefit or harmful for stand up comics?
The second part of the three part conversation with Laura Fitton aka @pistachio from Hubspothttp://www.hubspot.com/pistachio/. Digital content is the ingredient for all types of digital marketing, online or off. For example, a video case study can be edited into separate clips that address a focused issue. This clip can be on YouTube, included in a sales presentation, or embeded in a blog post.
The conversation that Laura and I have centers on the best ways to integrate original content and curate content from other sources. Hubspot, a developer of marketing software platform, has a methodology to rate a company’s website on the criteria of whether its content will attract, interest, and convert readers to some action. The Marketing Grader tool provides excellent guidance on content, and its ability to be discovered and shared.
In many situations it’s a reminder to do the fundamental blocking and tackling to provide regular content that is useful to audiences with an easy way for them to share it with their networks. Your New Year’s resolution to be more disciplined is as good a reason as any to run a Marketing Grader report this month so you start 2012 off right.
Here are a couple of tactics that I found useful integrating information from a single video interview with a client’s customer customer
1) Video interview – used cover video to spice up sales presentations
2) Edited short segments from interviews that focused on single, narrow topics related to prospects’ interests. Sales used in individual emails to their contacts.
3) Used short comments on Twitter and linked back to longer video
4) Created blog posts with pull out quotes from video interview
5) Used soundbites in podcast during roundtable discussion with subject matter experts from software company.
6) Video used in waiting area in the company’s lobby
I’m not suggesting every company undertake every media and tactic, I am however, highlighting how a single event to capture content, e.g. the video interview with the customer, can be multi-purposed across a company each with a clear objective.
Below is an example of a video case study that can be repurposed for a number of objectives.
What if… No ifs about it, you can. As a corporate communications person, PR executive or marketer, you should be chomping at the bit to have your own live news truck. Just think, off to the scene of some speech by a senior executive, a product demo, major event that your company is sponsoring and you whip out a camera, throw up your antenna and upload a live feed.
Then you tap into the social commentary stream and engage in a dialogue by putting around that live video screen, a Twitter or Facebook feed with your appropriate hash tag, you know #Imageniusforthinkingofthislivestreamandchat or something shorter. It’s here and we did it on the #SxSw road trip.
Disclosure: Verizon Wireless was a client for this project and provided the devices, WIFI, and network. This was very, very cool.
Here’s what we did at a Tweet-up organized by Lisa Qualls the guest on this Marketing Edge podcast episode. We used a HTC Droid Eris for the video stream using the Ustream Broadcaster app we downloaded from the Android Market. We connected to the Verizon Wireless network on their MiFi 2200 device. That’s me holding the camera interviewing people around the table. Photo credit for the guy taking a picture of the guy taking video goes to Rick Mahn.
Then using a platform called Twitterface.com created by Qualls’ company Fresh ID we branded the event website and placed Twitter streams for our hash tage and following mentions of @albertmaruggi and my colleague @rickmahn on our way to South by Southwest. Below is a screen shot.
As a former broadcast news reporter this is nothing short of live broadcast feed capability that fits in your pocket. When you incorporate the ability to integrate social streams as you’ll hear in this conversation with Qualls, your mind starts thinking, “that would be great for…
Amanda Congdon presented about items to consider when producing your own web videos. Here are her highlights from South by Southwest. These bullet points paint the picture of the confluence of traditional media, independent journalism, and branded journalism. Amanda Congdon was a pioneer as the face of Rocketboom.com more than six years ago. Her web popularity gained her a shot at ABC doing interview shows called AC on ABC. Now she is producing Sometimesdaily with Amanda Congdon http://twitter.com/amazingamanda
Whether you are an individual producer or corporate marketer, video is growing, in demand, available on an increasing percentage of mobile devices and yes, compelling. So here is a checklist to set a foundation for how you should consider video as part of your brand or marketing mix.
Innovation is Everything – do not fear being different
(my add, being different within the context of the corporate brand is surely more difficult, but that commitment needs to exist for the video to achieve it’s objectives.
Small teams and collaboration and communications are essential
Main stream media card is important – let’s face it, the world is still based on hierarchies
Must be about to keep your niche on the web, focus, focus focus,
Mo People, Mo Money – use your own crew so the videos get the same style
THE LATEST THING
Outside of the big networks there are ample resources for independent and cost-conscious companies to produce outstanding video. Congdon offered these resources and suggestions
This podcast with the Social Media Explorer Jason Falls who is at South by Southwest highlights whether there is a new next big thing or not. Since SXSW is a place to unveil new technologies is there the next Twitter that will capture the fascination of early adopters. For Jason, his takeaways were inside the box and out in the cloud of computers sharing power around the world. He reports on exciting ways the chip manufacturer AMD is enhancing video and computer performance with new product sets.
The impact for marketers is to think visually. It’s similar to the change from dial-up to broadband. As the ability to distribute more information is available both to the desktop and the mobile device your ability to tell a more powerful story and create interactivity is enhanced.
This is an interview I found interesting with Charlie Rose and Jen-Hsun Huang, CEO Nvidia that paints, and I use that word almost literally if you can do such a thing, a future for the way society will share knowledge. It is one where the visual sense dominates and computer graphics that enhances the user experience and share greater knowledge is pushed to greater usage.
As a teenager when someone would say future, I interpreted that as a long time from the present. Today, when someone says future, especially when it involves technology, I think it’s couple of years and I’m going to have to deal with it. Now the ability to go from idea to usage is so fast that the things we are talking about in this podcast, are likely to be issues the typical marketer will need to address in the next two years.
Hope to See You at the NewComm Forum and InBound Marketing Summit
A terrific conference is scheduled for April 27-29 in San Francisco. It is a combination of the Society for New Communications Research of which I’m a senior fellow and the marketing conference produced by Chris Brogan, Jason Falls, Paul Gillin and David Meerman Scott. Here is a $100 discount code for Marketing Edge readers and listeners, SNCRFRIEND if you only want to attend the New CommForum (see agenda) or if you want to attend the New CommForum and the InBound Marketing Summit use this code NCFCOMBO2 to get $200 off the listed price.
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.
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.
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
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:
Design
Editing
Video Producing
Writers
Musicians
Government
Politics
Volunteer Organizations
Science
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.
Travel
Sports
School functions e.g. plays, band, etc
Family/Home
Hobbyists (this is any type of hobby with the premise being show off your hobby e.g. classic car enthusiasts)
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.