Messin With Sasquatch August 26, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : advertising , 7comments
The other day I got an alert from MySpace that Sasquatch had an update. I was reminded of a post I wrote 2 years ago about a “Messing With Sasquatch” campaign for Jack Links Beef Jerky. Unfortunately, the original 2006 videos are missing and the 2007/2008 videos are a bit over produced and make Sasquatch a little more vindictive than the first year of the campaign.
In the campaign’s infancy, the joke was based on people stumbling into Sasquatch — rather than being terribly surprised — deciding to play a harmless prank on him. In the end, he got the last laugh but it was subtle. In recent years, he chases people, smashes car windows, tosses people into trees, and knocks over golf carts. And the pranksters are less opportunistic and more mean spirited. There are hysterical moments like when he summons birds or chases bunnies. But I want to care about him not see him thrash mean prankster.
Brilliant campaign, but if it continues in 2009 I’d love to see a more human side of Sasquatch. We need to care about him, not root for his vengeance on dick pranksters. Maybe he needs a girlfriend.
Fancy Sitting Chair August 25, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Online Video , 14commentsWhy? Just because.
I give you “Fancy Sitting Chair” by PickThisCar (who was once featured on YouTube for the Compliments video).
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Topless Rights August 25, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Online Video , 14commentsGnooze reports that people demonstrated this weekend to support a woman’s right to show their breasts in public. And there wasn’t a YouTube gathering there, why???
Warning- nudity and a shot of Marquisdejolie commenting about reading the constitution. She’s also really, really loud.
Online Video Reviews Likes Me August 25, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Online Video , 9commentsI’m in the process of positive change, and I deserve the best. That’s the mantra I’ve been citing this morning from my Louise Hay “You Can Heal Your Life“) book on tape. Go buy it via my my Amazon affiliate link, or get a gift card or some kind of crap like that. I’ve made $1.05 on the Amazon affiliate program in August! Amazon gift cards
What was I saying? Oh- Online Video Reviews wrote a nice piece about me. He liked my mall pranks video. Now that my back pain seems to have subsided, I’m feeling a renewed desire to humiliate myself in public. Any suggestions?
Man I like OVR’s Wordpress template. I’ve got wordpress template envy. I deserve the best wordpress template.
Best YouTube Song Parodies August 25, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Nalts, YouTube , 13commentsI just discovered this OneProduktionFilms playlist of YouTube song parodies (ones created mostly by YouTubers — not repurposed television song parodies).
Below are videos of my two favorites Jon Lajoie (who I want to be when I grow up) in “High as F*ck.” And the classic “YouTube is My Life” by Church of Blow.
Like my favorite film comedians — Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Chevy Chase — these guys have that combination of wit and low self esteem that goes together like chocolate and peanut butter.
But I suppose my favorite actor/comedian would be the appearingly more stable Charles Grodin. He can say more with a blank stare than most can in a monologue.
Speaking of Grodin, Hughsnews asked his viewers to tell us what movie star would play certain YouTubers in a film, and someone said Grodin. I felt good about myself for about 10 solid minutes.
Other suggestions for Nalts included:
- A burrito
- Nathan Lane
- Jim Carrey on weak sleeping pills
- Larry Linville (Frank Burns)
- Charles Nelson Reilly (Match Came guy)
- Neil Flynn
- Billy Crystal
- Mike O’Malley
- Tom Hanks (no I didn’t post that through a sock account- maybe that guy was thinking about the beginning part of Cast Away).
YouTube Documentary: I Want My 3 Minutes Back August 25, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : YouTube , 18comments
Here’s a teaser for Chuck Potter’s documentary about YouTube. It’s called “I Want My 3 Minutes Back.” The original name was “YouTube Nation,” but the lawyers weren’t crazy about the first word of that title. And “Nation” just didn’t quite test well.
The release will be this fall, and I’m excited to see the interviews with fellow creators. It’s fun watching them when they’re not “on stage.” Just sitting there with Chuck Potter, who’s demeaner is so laid back you forget he’s holding a camera.
Phil DeFranco (SxePhil) conducted his interview with Potter weeks before getting scalped, but on the set of his next film (see trailer). I love that I’m sticking my photo next to the immensely more popular HappySlip and SxePhil (above).
P.S. That’s happyslip in the photo behind me. It only made Jo and Lemonette slightly jealous.
Creepy Old Spice Video Ad Wins “Worst Video Ad of 2008″ Award August 24, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Video, Video Advertising, advertising , 12comments
A Pegasus-like horse-plus-man guy is hanging out in the shower talking about how he’s two things at once. It’s a creepy video ad, topped only by a creepier website that loops his voice.
I present you with the “double-impact” campaign for Old Spice’s Red Zone Body Wash Moisturizer. It’s based on the laziest marketing proposition ever: Trying to distinguish a product as being “two things in once” is like launching a car that appeals to “emotion and logic.” We haven’t heard that before.
It’s not unique, ownable or differentiating, and it’s made worse by the painfully dull and awkward creative… Not funny, somewhat disgusting, and memorable only in how freaky it is.
We give it the “WillVideoforFood Worst Video Campaign of 2008″ award. I dare you to top it. Old Spice would have been better off maintaining its positioning as your grandfather’s deodorant.
And you have to love that the URL from the ad (which caught my eye on The Onion)…
http://www.oldspice.com/doubleimpact/?banneractuallyworked
That says a lot about the agency’s confidence in its banner redirect technology, doesn’t it? I dare the agency responsible for this to raise its hand. Anyone? Anyone?
Twitter Generates Auto Affirmations August 24, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Online Video , 27comments
Today’s day started with some reading of Louise Hay (my personal Stuart Smalley). Then I started scanning some of YouTube Creator Charles Trippy’s recent Twitter posts. The posts have become a rather transparent view into Trippy’s recent funk.
I see him as a stable, almost transcendental guy in real life. And maybe I’m seeing bird crap on my own windshield not a dirty scenery… but I’ve interpreted his recent Twitter posts (which are brief 144-character microblogs) as being somewhat sad. Poor guy needs a hug.
Then I started thinking about how cool it would be to have software monitor your e-mails, Twitters, and articles you read, and even videos you watch. It would detect what you’re feeling/thinking as a result of these choices, and serve up automated affirmations. For instance, if you were reading a lot of information about diets, you might receive an automated e-mail that would say “nourish yourself through love and exercise.” If you were searching for information on buying opiods and tranquilizers it might say “I am safe in the universe and it’s okay to express my feelings.”
If you were watching a lot of Nalts videos, it might say “you have discovered spiritual enlightenment like no other human before.”
That’d be cool. Hold on a second. I’m going to go hug my Trippy doll. There I’m back.
Seth Godin is Wrong About “Ads as Online Tip Jar” August 24, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Video Advertising, YouTube, advertising , 11commentsI’ve had a few people tell me they click on my YouTube ads to help make me some money. However the ads are mostly “CPM,” or “cost per thousand.” So the advertiser pays a fixed amount (say $20) for 1,000 InVideo ads regardless of whether people engage or not. The clicks do nothing for me. I jokingly tell them to just hang out for long enough for the InVideo ad to complete rolling (20-30 seconds).
The advertiser typically conducts research to determine if those CPMs were valuable or not — looking at interaction rate, and doing test/control studies to see if/how the ads resulted in a different view or intent.
- Did you seeing that ad make that brand more attractive to you?
- Are you more likely to buy the product?
- Did you buy the product, or planning to?
These questions are answered through studies like “Dynamic Logic” polls on YouTube or other sites. If you see one, take them seriously. Don’t lie, and recognize that it will help the advertiser determine if they’re spending their money wisely. That’s the sustainable requirement to free content online.
I really like Seth Godin’s ideas, and we once interacted when I was trying to get him to speak at Johnson & Johnson (alas our humble public relations budget couldn’t meet his justified speaking fees). His concepts have always inspired and provoked me, so I consider it interesting when the Sethinizer says something so in contraction to what I perceive as a marketing/content creation reality.
Via Online Video Watch, I found a recent Seth Godin (a marketing guru) post on “Ads are the new online tip jar.“ Had he been running Google ads (where advertisers pay Google and the website publisher a fixed amount per “click” like paid-search ads), Google might have justifiably terminated him for “click fraud.” If I had text ads based on the content of this post and used the terms “sex, lawsuit, digital camera — or other terms that advertisers bid high CPC prices” and I encouraged you to click them, then I’m gaming the system. The advertiser may get clicks, but those clicks are not likely to lead to purchase or material value.
A good advertiser will get brief euphoria about a high click rate, but an evolved marketer will look beyond them.
For instance, I judge all of my search-engine campaigns (for my marketing day job) based on the cost for 3-plus pages (a crude alternative to an overcomplicated “quality page view” method). If I paid $2 to get a visitor and they visited 3 or more pages on my brand website, I’d call that progress. We’re eventually moving to “closed loop” marketing where I can hold each media buy accountable to a “trial” purchase (as measured by unique codes on an downloadable offer). Then I won’t really care about my cost per impression or click. I can judge an ad buy based on what it cost me to generate a new trial for the product. If that’s $20-$50 I’m a happy camper (obviously my product’s lifetime value is worth more than that).
So what I’m getting at is this. The “online tip jar” will, in the short term, help web publishers make some quick money via Google Adwords and other programs. But ultimately if the clickers aren’t purchasing then the advertiser will discover that the ads are hurting them. The particular site is driving up their bid price and they’re paying for clicks that don’t result in page views, perceptions (as rated by Dynamic Logic studies) or purchase intent or transactions.
The Bottom line is this… the online tip jar is a short lived and superficial model.
What matters is that my content (written or video) attracts people that have common and somewhat predictable interests and purchase behaviors. Then I’ve got to align myself with advertisers that sell products that match my audience’s needs, wants and desires. That’s a sustainable win for me, the advertiser and the individuals that watch or read my stuff. Everything else is just “gaming the system.”
You didn’t even read this carefully, did you?
Hold on a second. I’m going to light a fart on fire. There. I’m back.
Call for Wickipedia Experts August 23, 2008
Posted by Nalts in : Online Video , 40commentsMy Wikipedia listing is one of the first things you’ll find when searching for Kevin Nalts or Kevin Nalty, and it’s all out of date and incomplete. But I’m terrified about editing my own Kevin Nalty Wikipedia entry even when I’m just updating facts.
For that matter, I don’t even know how to edit the main entry or stop the article from being stuck in dispute over neutrality (apparently there has been some NPOV quarreling between CoolKid1993 and Jake Leanard (Djjackal0509). Jake has been listing me as an assistant editor for his blog called “Politics and YouTube in Review” blog. I wrote two short posts for it in 2007. And then I kinda forgot about the blog and haven’t even read it in 2008.
Anyway there’s a lot of more newsworthy information (see Nalts News) that has occurred since this wikipedia was written. Below is a screen shot of my latest YouTube stats. And for the love of God, could someone stop returning us to this awful picture of me from 7/7/7? I look like a geeky computer technician with uneven shoulders and no fashion sense.
Anyone know how to update them? CoolKid, baby? You out there? Help a brother out?
By the way, hopefully the subscriber base improves when I appear on The Retarded Policeman (turns out it’s next Friday not yesterday as I thought). Yeyyy!
