If you like this video, we are sure you’ll enjoy Wayne Sutton’s video interview on the Role of Video in Corporate Marketing.
The Green Buzz Agency Blog provides insight for Marketing Decision Makers and other fun people
Learn more about Washington DC based GBA and our video production prowess!
Gregory Ng, the Creative Director & Vice President at Brooks Bell Interactive, describes a unique and effective way for large corporations to employ video as part of their marketing plan. We interviewed Gregory at SXSW Interactive Conference in Austin, Texas. Greg was on a panel discussing blogging and web video.
If you like this video, we are sure you’ll enjoy Gregory Ng’s video interview on an Effective Way to Use Video in the Marketing Plan.
We couldn’t agree more with Wayne’s thoughts on video, which is why moving forward we are going to showcase lots of videos on the GBA blog, starting with this one.
The Green Buzz Agency Blog provides insight for Marketing Decision Makers and other fun people
We interviewed Wayne last week at the SXSW Interactive Conference in Austin, Texas. Wayne was leading a panel discussion on Blogging and Web Video.
Wayne Sutton is an entrepreneur, strategist, and producer with a passion for video blogging and social media. With nearly 10 years experience in the technology and social media sector, he’s provided counsel to business leaders ranging from founders of small start-ups and representatives of non-profit organizations to CEOs of large andsmall corporations. Follow Wayne on twitter @waynesutton or visit his website.
The marketing mavens at GoDaddy.com had their work cut out for them. It’s getting harder and harder to achieve the real Super Bowl prize: having the network reject your ad.
But CBS handed them their touchdown this year, rejecting Lola. In a press release quickly posted on their website, GoDaddy CEO and Founder Bob Parsons said, “Of the five commercial concepts we submitted for approval this year, this never would’ve been my pick for the one that would not be approved. This is about a guy who starts an online business and hits the jackpot. I just don’t think ‘Lola’ is offensive, in fact we didn’t see this one coming –were absolutely blindsided!”
Here’s some insight: national marketers do not produce five commercials in the hopes that the network will approve one of them. They shoot five commercials hoping the network will REJECT one of them.
GoDaddy became the second Super Bowl ad declined this year, and the third to stir public debate.
Mancrunch, a dating site catering to gay men, was also rejected. Evidently, the CBS sales department additionally questioned the company’s ability to pay for the ad time, calling into question whether it was ever considered a viable option to air, or if the folks at ManCrunch were hoping for the wave of publicity that accompanies rejection, and the viral activity that follows. Rejection-pioneer PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) enjoyed a viral bonanza when their 2009 spot, Veggie Love, was given a pass by NBC. Other rejects from the class of 2009 included Airborn’s entry, featuring a gratuitous shot of Mickey Rooney’s butt, and a particularly repugnant effort from AshleyMadison.com, a website aimed at promoting extramarital affairs.
This year, many observers were stunned when Focus on the Family, a conservative religious organization that opposes abortion – as well as homosexuality, gambling (including church bingo) and premarital sex – got a green light from CBS for their Super Bowl ad entry, featuring Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow. The spot reportedly tells the story of Tebow’s mother, Pam, whose doctors recommended that she have an abortion while serving as a missionary in the Philippines. Experts have questioned the veracity of the story, pointing to the fact that physicians and midwives who perform abortions in the Philippines face six years in prison, and may have their licenses suspended or revoked, and that women who receive abortions – no matter the reason – may be punished with imprisonment for two to six years. A coalition of more than 30 women’s and advocacy groups have called on CBS to pull the ad.
The Green Buzz Agency Blog provides insight for Marketing Decision Makers and other fun people
Why all the hoopla about commercials in the big game? It may be because the commercials are bigger than the game.
According to recent research from Nielsen on trends and effectiveness of paid Super Bowl advertising, more than half of those who tune in are watching for the commercials, not the game itself. Add in those who are watching primarily for the on-field action, but admit to an interest in the commercials as well, and you’ve got the attention of a significant percentage of the nearly 100 million Super Bowl viewers.
And with Super Bowl ads, viewership translates directly to consumer action. Super Bowl ads can boost the web traffic of the companies that run them, especially in the short term. Among all Super Bowl XLIII advertisers in 2009, overnight web traffic as measured by unique audience grew an average of 63%. Growth in unique audience from January to February 2009 grew an average of 6%.
It’s ironic, though, that the ads that are deemed the most offensive are the ones that generate the most buzz and drive the most web traffic. These are the spots that do the best job of demeaning, insulting, stereotyping and shocking. These are the spots you don’t want your kids to see.
The “Catch-22” for the networks is that by rejecting the ads (and foregoing the $2.5–3 million revenue that each spot generates), they contribute to the viral value. Online news articles and blogs that link to rejected ads generate unparalleled click-through.
The proof point? How many ads did you watch here? I know…me too.
Kim Hennig is an award-winning consumer marketing veteran of well-known brands, including McDonald’s, 1-800-Flowers and Subway. She also conducts social media seminars and facilitates social media workshops for corporations and ad agencies. Kim can be reached at kim@kimhennig.com or @KimHennig on Twitter.
In the early days of television, people basically watched long commercials that led to what we know today as sitcoms.
The same thing is about to happen to the Web, thanks to FedEx (FDX 64.98 ↑1.15%)’s new campaign that uses short, entertaining Web videos as ads. The “1-2-3 Succeed!” videos (starring Fred Willard as host of infomercials) are a strong step in the evolution of entertainment from TV to the Web.
It’s yet another indication that someone, somewhere, is busy building a media empire based off this new frontier.
That makes these FedEx videos harbingers of things to come is that they’re not just ads. I mean, they technically are, but their created as a form of entertainment, brought to you by FedEx. Just like the early days of television, when Americans were entertained while being relentlessly marketed to.
Except the FedEx videos were made for the Web. And they come on the heel of FedEx raising eyebrows by not advertising in the Super Bowl. As the New York Times’ article linked to above discusses, FedEx tends to be at the forefront of new endeavors in advertising. If the company opts not to advertise during the largest television event of the year, instead putting its resources to creating made-for-the-Web videos, what does that say?
It says we will see more companies generating entertainment for the Web that can double as ads. Even if FedEx’s videos aren’t viewed as successful (meaning views and FedEx revenue are low), I suspect other companies will give it a shot. The Web is too lucrative a platform to not try capitalizing off of it, and online video is gaining immensely in popularity.
That these Web-specific videos will do is increase the public’s comfort with shorter, scripted, produced videos. Right now the most popular video content on the Web is that which is less than a minute and amateur produced (YouTube) or that which existed offline first (Hulu).
The videos FedEx has created are hybrids. They combine the shorter, punchier aspects of YouTube-like videos, with the polished, acted made-for-TV content found on Hulu.
Is these hybrid videos grow in number on the Web, and they will, viewers will grow accustomed to this type of content. This will provide the right person, or media company, with a welcoming audience for these hybrid videos.
The launch of FedEx’s “1-2-3 Succeed!” videos is no small thing. It’s another step toward turning the Web into an entertainment platform from which tomorrow’s media giants can make money, and build an empire.
- Nick Barron, Green Buzz Agency Social Media Consultant
