For over ten years, I grew up side by side with Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. I remember the first time I picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, a fresh birthday present, and promptly got lost in the wizarding world. Every book holds a place of honor in my book case, much loved and well-worn since I haven’t put any of the books down since. And like so many other fans, I pretended that the owl carrying my acceptance letter from Hogwarts was merely a couple of years late.
It’s why sitting in a darkening movie theater with my best friends, awaiting the start of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2”, was such a terribly sad moment. It was truly the end of an era. With the publication of the last book, Harry Potter fans were in denial, hoping that really JK Rowling was holding out on us, and there were more books on the way. But the last movie was a final goodbye to characters that had become friends, and places like Hogwarts that had become home. Unsurprisingly, I found myself tearing up multiple times throughout the movie. Also unsurprisingly, I don’t want to say goodbye to Harry Potter.
And so I find myself looking for Harry Potter blogs where the author reminisces about how great it is to be a fan, analyzes the books or weeps about how it’s all come to an end. I find myself watching countless YouTube videos about the ten year journey Harry Potter has made. It’s become addicting, I swear. I’ve even signed up for Pottermore, the mysterious Harry Potter website that JK Rowling created to reel in her fans a little more (like she needs to). I didn’t need to turn to social media when the books were being published, because they were more than enough. But now that the last book has been published and the last movie has been revealed, I find myself looking for Harry Potter anywhere on the Internet, blogs or YouTube, to keep that connection going. And so I’ve become a participant, because I’m in agreement with the billions of other fans…it would be heartbreak to really let go of Harry Potter.
If anyone can publish a blog, create a video or launch a meme, you’d think that Twitter, Facebook and YouTube would be the empires of the new, with the latest self-made stars forever in control of the cultural conversation.
And you’d be wrong.
A recent report from HP Labs confirms the exact opposite: the most popular sources of information on Twitter are actually traditional news media outlets like CNN, ESPN and (egad, a newspaper?) The New York Times.
Why? Because people like to share information that impacts wide audiences, and because traditional media still has information-gathering resources and robust distribution platforms that “new” media can’t live without.
In other words, no matter how easy social media makes it to talk to others, people still need something to talk about.
Is that “something” your business?
It could be, if your brand is worth the buzz. But even topical companies need more than just a social media hook to catch and hold an audience’s attention.
A tweet is gone in an instant. A Facebook update crawls off the page and out of sight. A YouTube video might be shared for weeks, months or years as new viewers continue to find it… but what’s driving them to it in the first place?
Periodic fame is always the cumulative result of widespread general awareness — and that includes mainstream publicity. Is your company poised to take long-term advantage of short-term PR success?
Ask yourself:
Is your social media team working hand-in-hand with your traditional PR and marketing teams? (Or, even better, are they fully integrated?)
Do you share your brand’s mainstream media mentions with your social media audiences?
Are you trumpeting your online successes in offline media? (Don’t forget: newspapers and magazines still write about the Internet.)
Does your media contact list include reporters from all branches of journalism?
Do your print ads include icons and URLs where interested customers can find you on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.?
Remember: whether it’s physical or digital, all ink is good ink, as long as it gets people talking about you.
That’s how TV and radio got their initial push. “Program X, brought to you by Company Y.”
Or, commercials featuring the stars of everyone’s favorite programs would be planned to run during those same shows. For example:
These days, we’re more used to hearing and seeing commercials segmented to run between the entertainment itself. But the advent of view-on-demand devices like TiVo (not to mention mobile devices and the Internet) have made it quite easy for viewers to circumvent (or block out) traditional ads.
Now, enter (or, more accurately, re-enter) sponsorships, under the guise of branded entertainment. In fact, web content creators are seeing increasingly robust payouts as advertisers begin to embrace video embedded ads and branded entertainment as a new opportunity for increased brand awareness.
And while the future of branded entertainment looks rosy, it also presents a new set of questions that your company should be investigating to find a good fit for your brand. For example…
Are your customers regular consumers of mobile entertainment?
Which content creators have a track record of generating serious buzz?
Which YouTube videos are most popular with your target demographic?
How easily could your existing messaging be converted to video-ready advertising?
Is your competition creating branded entertainment?
If so, is it successful? If it isn’t, why not?
Are certain types of content (comedy, horror, sci-fi, documentary, etc.) proper or improper fits for your company’s culture?
As laptops, iPads and cell phones continue to gain critical mass (and more eyeballs every day), your opportunities to connect with those same consumers will continue to grow just as quickly.
When you’re the top specialty tea company in the United States, you reach a lot of tea lovers. Our client Bigelow Tea is using social media — from Bigelow Tea’s Facebook (and, yes, MySpace) pages to their YouTube channel, Bigelow loves to share their tea knowledge with the world. (After 65 years in busiess, they know a thing or two about tea.)
But how often do their customers have a chance to share what they know with each other? Normally, it’s not easy. Fortunately, we at Creative Concepts are helping Bigelow Tea bridge that gap.
Last month, the Bigelow Tea Twitter account asked its followers if they had any tea tips worth sharing. The results were instructive, and they formed the basis of a helpful blog post that allowed Bigelow’s fans to learn from one another.
This isn’t Bigelow’s first foray into customer connectivity. Earlier this year, they hosted their first Bigelow Tea Social in New York City, where bloggers and foodies alike came together to talk tea (and get their fill of free samples). How was that live event conceived of and managed? Why, on Bigelow’s blog and Twitter account, of course!
And while tea is obviously a communal drink to begin with, Bigelow Tea isn’t the only company finding new ways to bring their customers together. Our client Ecover celebrated their 30th anniversary of creating ecological cleaning products with a live event that united green bloggers, media-makers and innovators, all of whom swapped stories and tips until the party ended. How did we at Creative Concepts help Ecover organize this event? With a Facebook contest hosted on Ecover’s blog!
Social media: bringing companies and customers together — with the emphasis on together.
As usual, the top videos are a mixture of humor, spectacle and quality (OK Go, Antoine Dodson, “Double Rainbow”). But perhaps most surprising among the Top 10 is the inclusion of the original Old Spice Super Bowl ad that spawned the company’s ongoing TV and web campaign.
Why is that surprising?
Because, simply put, there’s no reason that anyone online ever needs to watch an ad.
Yes, you may have to watch an ad in order to get to the video you actually want or need to watch, but when you have complete control of your online time, there aren’t many cases when you’ll consciously choose to spend it being marketed to.
At best, a good web video ad is one that doesn’t aggravate us while we’re waiting for our chosen video to load.
Humor, spectacle and quality. Those traits were commonly seen in this year’s (and, really, every year‘s) most-watched videos. Old Spice happened to combine them all into one video, and did so in a way that surprised the media at large — which, as a result, couldn’t stop sharing these videos.
Because no one expected Old Spice to reinvent themselves in this manner, doing so created a series of talking points that pushed these videos to the forefront of everyone’s infostream.
Can your brand do that? Doubtful. Catching lightning in a bottle is an annual rarity. Not every ad campaign will be “the new Old Spice.” In fact, almost all of them won’t.
And that’s actually good news.
Trying to be the most popular video on the web is going to be an exercise in frustration that distracts from your company’s actual goal: to be profitable. Is Old Spice happy that they greenlit a popular ad? Sure. Are they happier that Old Spice sales skyrocketed as a result? Undoubtedly.
So instead of trying to produce the most-watched video of 2011, focus on producing videos that increase your brand’s audience awareness and drive sales. (Or, if you’re a non-profit, create videos that drive awareness and donations, as these popular videos for Toronto-based charities have done.)
And if you have a sense of humor about it, so much the better.
I say this blog entry is Part 2 because this is really a continuation from my previous blog on how not to use the internet to find a job. Here is the story: Heather finally found the previous blog entry and the following then occurred:
there was an anonymous comment made which was posted at the same time Heather emailed me personally (which lead me to believe that it was actually Heather posting the comment based on tone and timing).
Heather stated her case or fought her battle via email instead of on the blog.
Heather then sent me an additional email asking for me to take her name off the previous blog entry.
For the sake of argument, let’s replace Heather now with Company A but still use Heather’s actions to demonstrate how a company should not approach social media.
First, you must know that any content you put up on a blog, a social network, video or more is now public domain. You as a company are now subject to scrutiny and people can now voice their opinions, positive or negative, about your product or service. Always think about how you want your customers to perceive your company…are you a solid company that your customers can rely on? Do you provide entertainment for your customers? Who is your target audience and what is their voice? These are a few questions to ask yourself when you think about posting your content along with your company messaging/branding.
Second, let’s say your company has a blog, you posted your content and another blogger criticized you either for your message or your product or service. Never, never, never work in stealth mode and leave an anonymous comment. Anyone who has any kind of experience can track down who left a comment via ISP or sheer deduction like I did. If you as a company leave an anonymous comment, all credibility is lost and you now look like the guilty party who has done something wrong.
Having said all of this, use the comment section of the blog to state your case. If a blogger has something negative to say about a service, for example, use the comment section to thank them for their insights and address the problem. This allows you, in a public forum, to redeem your company. You want to show everyone interested that you care and will resolve the problem quickly. By sending an email to the blogger, you are only addressing that one indivdual (vs. all who read their blog) and can only hope that the blogger will say something positive or even mention your company at all. If you take action in the comments section, you can be proactive and control your messaging.
And finally, asking a blogger to take your company name off of their blog shows your lack of experience in the blogosphere and shows you are doing the old corporate thing by trying to hide in times of trouble. The internet tracks everything. Even if a blogger took your company name off of their blog, you could still find a previous entry on other blogs who may have quoted the original entry and of course through RSS feeds.
So, lessons learned on how to blog for any company:
Always be aware that once you put out your message, it is on the internet to stay.
Welcome criticism and learn from it!
Transparency is key for surviving all social media efforts. Always let everyone know who you are and what company you represent.
If a blogger makes a comment, positive or negative, repsond on their blog…the same goes for Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and all other social media sites.
Never ask for your company name to be taken off a site. Your company will be destined for more scrutiny and more comments or another negative blog entry!
Happy Blogging!
Where Am I?
You are currently browsing entries tagged with youtube at
Creative Concepts.
