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.

Video on the Internet is seen by 78 percent of male Web users and 66 percent of female Web users, according the research firm eMarketer. In this podcast, we’ll hear from the senior analyst on video on the ‘Net for eMarketer, David Hallerman, about how is video being used in both the B2C and B2B environments.

It’s not just about pre-roll advertising or viral funnies passed around on by the YouTube crowd. Video is being used as yet another information tool for all kinds of communication. Video case studies, equipment demonstrations, emotional story telling and more.

A B2B video example is below. This is a video case study for an enterprise software company, SoftBrands, whose technology helps run the operations at Tedia, a chemical manufacturer. While SoftBrands is an international player in the enterprise software industry and a key partner of software giant SAP, their story is best told through the experiences of their customers. You can show screenshots all day long and have the best software engineers to walk you through the product, but video used in this context provides a powerful connection to the real-life benefits of the product.

Also in this podcast, we are holding two giveaways. Here they are:

“The Dip” by Seth Godin

We are giving away another copy of Seth Godin’s latest book, called “The Dip.” It’s about successful business people who knew when to quit walking down dead-end paths and start taking the road to fulfilled dreams. Just e-mail us at marketingedge@providentpartners.net with the words “The Dip” in the subject line. If you’re the first, you win. If not, we’ll make a donation to a local food shelter on your behalf.

Business Smart Tools Conference

I’m speaking at the Business Smart Tools conference on May 15 in Stamford, Connecticut. This is a great day of sessions with wonderful panels of speakers, including new media executives from General Motors, Digitas and Xerox.

We are giving away three passes to this conference, one to each of the first three e-mails we get. Only one free registration per company, so don’t try to pile on. Just e-mail marketingedge@providentpartners.net with the words “Business Smart Tools” in the subject line. Hurry –- we’re only taking the first three, and of course, we’ll donate one food item per e-mail we receive regardless of who wins the giveaway.

Any questions? Contact me, Albert Maruggi, at amaruggi@providentpartners.net or call 651-695-0174. We’re on Skype, too: screen name providentpartners.

Podcast length: 9:17