video

Viral Marketing: Thinking Outside Box

Posted by Rishad Daroowala on Nov 4, 2011 in video | 0 comments

When creating a marketing campaign or commercial, there really are no creative boundaries or limits. The format and style a brand chooses  - is really up to brand itself and technically, there are no “rules” or regulations. But even though this is the case, why do most commercials or marketing campaigns seem so similar to us? How come it’s so rare that they step outside of the box and do something different or unique?

The truth is, most marketers like to play it safe. They like to follow a common formula that has worked for decades: educate customers about their product, convince them why they need it and show them how and where to make a purchase.  Marketers fear the idea of both: failure and not getting their brand or message across - And thus we usually tune them out.

But let’s think for a second. What makes a commercial or advertisement stand out? What makes you respect a company for the way they advertise? For me it’s an ad that’s: creative, less intrusive, humorous, different, something I’d want to share with a friend and something I want to watch again! And these just happen to be most of the common characteristics of a viral campaign or video.

Thinking Outside the Box:

A viral video is generally defined as a video that becomes popular through the process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email.  A perfect example would the infamous Old Spice commercial series where a man is shown exaggerating the qualities of a body wash, which received over 30 million views for its first commercial and rewrote the book on how to create a style of ad that resonates with today’s viewer. The original clip sparked a series of similar adswhich made Old Spice the number 1 most viewed branded channel on Youtube.   

In reality, there is no exact reason why a video goes viral and usually this process happens organically. In fact, those that try and create fake viral videos usually get busted and suffer the ‘eww’ face of critics and viewers alike.

And as the ‘share’ era of Youtube and Facebook continues to dominate the time of consumers – marketers are doing everything in their power to create videos that will hopefully be linked to, shared and rewatched for months to come. And while there is no formula – one thing thing marketers can do is understand that customers want to see and more importantly respect “outside the box” thinking. I believe that trying to create a “viral video” isn’t the right approach. Of course, you want the video to go-viral, but the idea should be to create something creative, thought provoking, different and non intrusive.

Take for example DC Shoes founder Ken Block who recently created the “Gymkhana” video series which sees him rally racing a street car. The video was shot on the backlots of Universal Studios by Hollywood director Ben Conrad - which soon turned into an internet sensation garnering over 20 million hits. Although DC is a skate shoe (and clothing) brand, there is no scene of either in this video. Have a look:

When the creator was asked “what makes a good viral video”, his response was:  

If there was a formula for that, and everyone knew it, it would make marketing a lot easier. I study and watch new-media marketing all the time and it’s very intriguing to me. I think as things get more and more saturated, original and new content that’s entertaining is what’s always going to work. That’s a key success of the gymkhana series. We did something in a unique and different way.

Lingerie Model Rhian Sugden Touches Herself to Raise Awareness for Cancer

Posted by Rishad Daroowala on Sep 20, 2011 in video | 1 comment

So..on my first blog post –  The Outer Circle Begins –  I mentioned  that one of the goal’s of my page was to showcase how “individuals and organizations are finding innovative, creative and effective ways to market their brands socially”.

For my first example, I didn’t think I’d be featuring how Lingerie Model Rhian Sugden is touching herself to raise awareness for the MCAC – Male Cancer Awareness Program. This ad however fits the criteria just perfectly.

This short film was shot by world renowned photographer Rankin. Check it out: 

As raunchy as it may seem, it’s hard to knock an ad that gets people talking, sharing and thinking about a brand’s message.

So…is this genius marketing or are men just easy to fool? In my opinion, it’s both!

The Importance of ‘Social’ Reviews and Activity for your Business

Posted by Rishad Daroowala on Sep 15, 2011 in seo, Social Media, Uncategorized, video | 0 comments

Customer reviews and ratings are nothing new in the 21st century.

The concept of a real person describing how they feel about a particular brand or company (or rating them in some fashion) has been taking place even before the mighty interweb began to dominate our lifestyles.

What’s different about today, is that with the increasing use of the web and social media in everyday life, it’s become easier than ever to connect, discuss and share our opinions with others around us (including a brand itself) – which ultimately means we have a stronger ability to influence onlookers and not have our experiences fall on def ears. The hottest search engines – including Google – have also taken this into consideration in their page ranking algorithms (more on that below.)

But first before I get into things…let’s take a step back so we can see the big picture.

Before…

Before the emergence of the web and  recently the social media explosion, companies would market their products to consumers and the relationship was generally a one way street. To simplify things, we would watch an advertisement or commercial and then make a decision on whether to purchase that product. To dig a bit deeper, we may base our purchasing decisions on a salesperson (not the most reliable) or if we were lucky, direct word of mouth from someone who purchased that product.  Consumer reports and magazines were handy, but  were often biased and in general, a pain in the a**.

Due to inability to screen products through trusted sources, consumer purchases oftentimes didn’t live up to the advertising – as a result leaving customers dissatisfied. Other than telling our friends and family about our experiences (good or bad) we were left with little influence or warning for others – other than direct word of mouth. Also, the ability to interact with a brand itself was almost impossible. Until…dun dun dun!

The Era of Social

Now fast forward to the age where almost everything we partake in has the ability to be seen and heard by our friends, extended network and people we’ve never met before in our lives.

We all understand that the power of social media is the ability to connect with others. From the Business to Consumer perspective – this means there’s a giant forum where potential and former consumers can discuss a particular  product or service and share their experiences (both good and bad). And in almost EVERY scenario it has been proven that a potential customer will choose the opinions of someone they know or someone in a similar situation rather than the advertisement of a product. 

Ninety percent or consumers surveyed noted that they trust recommendations from people they know, and 70 percent trusted consumer opinions posted online. – NielsonWire

Let’s put it this way, would you rather base your decision on choosing a particular restaurant from someone who just recently ate their OR the actor in the commercial who is getting paid to smile and rub his belly? Now, potential customers are able to easily find others who’ve undergone an identical purchasing decison with the exact same brand or organization. 

Some of your favorite companies are also starting to take notice about this new style of prospective purchasing behaviour – to the point where they’re almost faking the concept of a real recommendation. Take for example Gillete’s latest theme of “hitting the streets” for the  ”Gillete Pro Glide Challenge“.  (If you recall Gillete’s old commercials – they included Mr. Universe-type actors enjoying the high life). However here, the message they’re conveying is “here’s an everyday Joe from suburbia telling you that our product is superior, not just us”. Have a look:

Windows’ latest commercial theme “Windows 7 was my idea” has a similar concept –  Actors portrayed as real people simply giving you some friendly advice.

While these commercial may be smart, in my opinion the idea should be to create a product which actually leaves real customers satisfied and willing to share their positive reviews with others. If you’re already creating a product which is making your customers happy, you’re already on the right path.  The next step would be to engage with them on a meaningful and personal level and offer a forum for them to share their experiences. Believe me, when someone has an above average experience with a product they want to tell the world about it.  

Social Media and Search Engine Relevance

If this all seems hoky-poky to you, be sure to note that Google and other popular search engines recently incorporated “Social Data” into their search algorithms:

Both Bing and Google admitted in interviews that their search results are positively affected by social signals, such as Tweets, Facebook Likes, and +1s.

This is potentially great news for new businesses trying to achieve visibility in search. It’s less great news for sites that rely heavily on link buying (illegal, but hard to catch), producing huge volumes of borderline-useless content (long-tail, content farm approach), or just really old domains (previously an SEO trump card). – Shane Snow, Mashable.com

For your business, that means, the more likes, +1s, comments, RT’s and social “buzz” = higher page position.  Google pulls customer reviews from various sources and industries – all which affect the ever coveted page rank.  

In conclusion, a monumental shift is occurring in the marketing world where consumers are becoming far more savvy in researching companies and products online before making a decision to purchase. Mediums like social media are making it much easier to interact with others and discover the truth about any topic or organization. Providing an avenue for users to share their experiences with your products and services will have a stronger  influence on your potential customers and how visible your page will appear on popular search engines – ultimately affecting your bottom line.