Tag Archives: consumer

Hurricane Irene: Best and Worst of Live Online Coverage (and Puerto Rico Street Shark)

Forget FEMA and television newscasters. How’d the web do for live coverage of Irene? Surely I’m not the only guy bored by our local coverage, as Yahoo Buzz puts “Hurricane Irene” as the third-most searched term on Yahoo (after the words Facebook and YouTube).

So how are we doing? Well the online-video coverage is varying about as much as the weather in the U.S. right now… from amateur (consumer generated) weather footage and news reports to the coverage of the Puerto Rico street shark, let’s have a look…

A shark on the streets of Puerto Rico during Hurricane Irene

 

 

 

 

 

Starving Artists Take Note: Video > T-shirts

A child peddling a light was the $10K winner that brought Poptent past the $1 million mark

I was happy to hear Threadless founder and former CEO Jake Nickell on public radio’s “Markeplace” tonight, and how he was “crowdsourcing” in Threadless’ decade of business… even before there was a name for it. “Last year we paid over $1.5 million out to artists,” he told interviewer Kai Ryssdal. Designers upload their creations, and the community votes for the best… which are produced and sold with artists getting a $2K cash prize, $500K in a gift certificate, and royalties.

Then I compared it to today’s news. Philadelphia-based Poptent (www.poptent.net), which crowdsources video production for large and mid-sized brands, has given out $1 million in cash payments. That’s certainly a first for online video, and considering in no doubt went to a small sub-segment of the 20,000 Poptent videographers, it’s a pretty good sign for the online-video creator community. The million-dollar man was hit by Sean Cunningham, a NY-based freelance videographer who received $10,000 for creating this video as part of GE’s “Tag Your Green” ecomagination campaign. Disclaimer: I worked with Poptent when it was Xlntads, and also participated in the GE campaign as a YouTube creator.

It’s a wonderfully inspired “amateur” creation that could easily fit as a broadcast television ad. Community comments on the video are positive, even if some might have been from competitors. Cunningham has been a member of Poptent since October 2008 and participated in previous Poptent assignments for Becks Beer, eHealth, and Snickers.  All four of the crowdsourced GE videos can be viewed here.

What’s even more encouraging? The assignment came not directly but via a major agency’s digital arm (OMD). That tells me the market is finally understanding that while agencies won’t soon lose their seat at the creative and strategy table, there are lots of Cunninghams with bright ideas. Even if it took six versions (see screen shot).

Samsung Calls Consumer Reports “Not Honorable”

Samsung CEO Geesung Choi called Consumer Union, the non-profit product-testing organization behind Consumer Reports magazine, “not honorable.” Choi on Monday cited the October 2010 issue of the magazine, which gave Samsung low scores on high-definition and standard-definition video camcorders.

"Consumer Reporting not honorable," says Samsung CEO Geesung Choi

“American magazine making JVC and Sony best-buy awards is insult to my family and character,” said Choi at a press meeting yesterday. “Consumer Deport (sic) will caused me great suffering and humiliation,” the CEO shouted at a press meeting that is already being satired on such online-video sites as Revver and YouTube. AP News reporter David Scheyd asked Choi to identify if Consumer Reports has any conflicts of interest or missinformation, but Choi declined to speak about the unfavorable ratings of the Samsung HMX-H204 and SMX-C24.

“We people of Samsung find better reviews by cooperative publishers like Very Eager Product magazine,” said Choi. The publication, according to Washington Post writer Richard Winters, is edited by Choi’s niece, Xiuxiu Ch’eng. Ch’eng’s previous review magazines were the subject of a CNN “Bogus Review” article. “When you see merchandise or merchant ratings, or prices that look too good to be true, be cautious,” said Heather Dougherty, analyst with Nielsen/NetRatings. Very Eager Product’s September 2010 issue gave Samsung’s digital-camera line “5 eager stars” and reports Samsung’s recent camcorders are “strong to please and suiting whole family needs for easy utilization and bright leadership in electronic consumer portfolio.”

Consumer Union President Jim Guest e-mailed a statement claiming he is “not concerned about Samsung’s allegations.” “It’s quite common for a manufacturer to dispute the credibility of our publication when we review them unfavorably,” wrote Guest. “We do our best to maintain objective reviews using consistant processes, and surveys of millions of consumers regarding their experiences with products and services.” Guest found himself facing similar attacks just months ago when the magazine’s poor review of the iPhone prompted Steve Jobs to call the magazine: “Lying liars who lie.”

Consumer Reports October 2010 issue “capable camcorders” awarded CR Best Buys to JVC’s A5 and Sony’s A10, crediting such attributes as image quality, excellent battery life and autofocus. The article indicated that manufacturers have discontinued DVD and MiniDV tape models.

Samsung is opting to depart from the evolving industry-standard of flash media. Choi said Samsung’s 2011 video cameras will “pursue new waters of storage and finer horizons for image holding,” citing the Samsung CMX2’s Iomega Zip Drive camera available in February 2010. He cited Samsung’s ongoing commitment to “make better society and humans.”

Samsung to recycle Iomega Zip Drives for 2011 model

Sony USA CEO, Sir Howard Stringer, released a statement on Monday indicating that Consumer Reports maintains Sony’s respect. “We appreciate hard working Americans, and nothing says American like Consumer Reports.” Stringer asked that WillVideoForFood not use Stringer’s “Sir” title in reporting. JVC declined specific comment, but spokesperson Alice Preis acknowledged that the company was “f’ing stoked” about the magazine’s positive ratings on 5 of its JVC models.

Consumerist.com reported last week that “Samsung is not sure where Samsung apps will work,” and Technorati reported that Samsung has launched the highly anticipated Galaxy Tab claiming to be “just as good as the iPad.” Choi yesterday said the Galaxy Tab was “many appealing superiority” to the iPad, and projects 2010 sales to exceed the company’s adjusted forecast of 845 units.

Technorati reported in August that Samsung is overhauling its business model to remain competitive and innovative, and is diversifying its business. Samsung’s public list of affiliated companies, however, has no listing of what Technorati is calling Samsung’s new “Very Suspicious Supermarket” chain in the Bronx, NYC.

P.S. I’m kidding. Thanks, Slater, for pointing out this wonderful Samsung video promoting the, um, galaxy thing. Dang this is so wonderful! If you don’t smile watching this than you’re the Uncle Bus who appears in the video linked above. Appreciate the tip, Brett… I’m going to use this as a “best in class” of viral video marketing because it is.

Technorati claimed last week that Samsung is behind new chain of "Very Suspicious Supermarkets" in NYC

Media Buyers Remain Afraid of UGC & Chupacabra

Advertisers continue to fear user-generated content (aka consumer-generated media) and Chupacrabas, according to an eMarketer report. Instead of contextual ads or sponsorships, buyers are sticking with 30-second pre-roll ads that reduce purchase intent compared to control.

Media buyers prefer online video advertisements (versus sponsorships or branded entertainment) because “viewers dislike or distrust video advertising—even though they freely accept television commercials.” David Hallerman, who wrote the report, says that distrust is what wins over digital buyers who overlook the reduced intent test/control data because the CPMs (cost per 1,000) are irresistibly cheap, and media buyers can’t resist a deal.

“Even on their personal time, a good media buyer can’t overlook a sale,” eMarketer’s Hallerman said. “I have a neighbor who is a senior digital media buyer, and he purchases randomly sized dresses and skirts at Loehmans each weekend.” Hallerman added that despite his neighbor’s peanut allergy, he can’t resist the Jiffy “buy one, get the other 50% off“sales. But, Hallerman added, “He’s certainly financially disciplined enough to resist the paltry 25%-off sales.”

Chupacabra Sightings at Major Digital-Buying Agencies Have Created Near Hysteria.
Chupacabra Sightings at Major Digital-Buying Agencies Have Created Near Hysteria.

“Like last year’s study, media buyers remain afraid of the dreaded Chupacabra,” says to Hallerman. “Many of the top digital-media buyers we interviewed at such leading agencies as Digitas, Avenue-A Razorfish, OMD, UMI and even Scient and Viant are terrified of the goat-sucking beast. This is especially true of those Puerto Rican people, whose fear rose from 18% to 37% from 2008 to 2009.” Hallerman believes the Cupacabra threat may have originated via sales representatives of advertising networks and large media properties, who wished to keep their buyers safe.

“More than 78% of media buyers are taking protective measures against consumer-generated content and Chupacabra attacks,” says Hallerman. “It’s not very different from the swine flu, except that the swine flu actually exists.”

“In my country, many beautiful media buyers would having look at consumer-media,” said Marcos Sanchez of Cerebro Muerto Digital (CMD). “And they no coming back from night after Chupacabra eating their blood.” Sanchez said, under promise of anonymity, that CMD invests no less than 30% of its client’s digital media budget on low-cost inventory on websites that have not been operational in five years or more. “We finding on professional sites like “The Daily Reel” that they video prerolls get 500,000 impressions daily and viewers very, very engaged in banners with 94% recall.”

So… umm…. I’m kidding about only some of that. The preroll is all the rage,  while WVFF has showed how sponsored videos have measurable ROI. Did I ever mention on this blog that you can’t get reach without advertising near UGC (user generated content) because the VAST majority of views are of vloggers, YouTube stars, viral hits… not Hulu shows. Did I ever mention on this blog that you can actually pay a YouTube star a small amount of money to make a funny video about your product that you approve?

Anyway, some other key points for those that see online-video marketing as digital ads only:

  1. A 30-second preroll is not as effective as a 5-second preroll and lower 1/3 ad. In fact, purchase intent goes DOWN due to 30-second prerolls as compared to a control!
  2. People under 30 are far more likely to find an ad funny, emotionally touching or informative (3 proxies of purchase). Is that a function of their familiarity with the medium or the fact that many campaigns are targeting them?
  3. Below are other topics the full report hits. Feel free to send me a copy if you buy one. I can’t find a spare $700 of change in my couch. Plus they never interview me for these, so they can’t be that informative. Moo haa.

  • Why do many people distrust online video advertising?
  • What can advertisers do to overcome that obstacle?
  • Can social media and video advertising be an effective mix?
  • What ad methods are needed with short video content?
  • Is the online video audience as large as it appears?

Poor Man’s FlipCam: Sylvania DV-128

A few people have written me notes to the extent of, “I wish I could do videos, but my camera is so bad.” I usually tell them to relax, and just make sure the lighting and compression is good. The reality is that those two factors can make up for a lot if your camera is old… then I tell them to settle for a Flipcam, which is easy to use and fairly low cost.

Unfortunately, Flipcam (now owned by Cisco) has resisted providing a lower price-point, and has for years been stuck at the $150 plus level (HD versions are down to about $176, though… so splurge). Meanwhile, there are countless min-video-cam options for people with lower budgets wanting something fairly similar. But FlipCam hasn’t yet, to my knowledge, pursued the Mac strategy (as Apple did with the iPods)… innovate to maintain the higher end buyers, but produce a lower-end unit for the mass-market of $100 peeps.

Today I received a Buy.com offer for a $40 (including shipping) Sylvania DV-128 digital video camera with built in memory and an SD slot. I searched extensively for product reviews or consumer ratings, and found virtually nothing on ePinions, Google, YouTube and Amazon.com.

So I bought it, and will review it on my UncleNalts channel. If it sucks, you’ll hear about it here first. If it’s okay, then I’ll probably suggest it for the price-sensitive people… or folks that want to keep an extra camera around for backup. I expect it to be harder to use, lower picture quality, and poor sound. But at $40 shipped I’m considering it almost “disposable.” Worse case scenario I take it on a dangerous ride down the river.

Again- I like the Flipcams, but that’s because I’ve never bought one. Gotten more than my share of free ones from Google and YouTube, and it does the trick. Katie (my 9 year old) used the FlipCam for all of her 15 mini-episodes of “The Charlie Show” (see www.charlieshow.com). Certainly much better quality than the video capture that comes with some $100-$200 standard photo cameras, but the magic of FlipCam is the incredible ease of use. She chose to edit these videos in iMovie because she knew I could give her the basics. But I’ve played with the FlipCam editing software, and it’s not bad. Comes free with the device, and old cameras automatically prompt you for new firmware.

Hey, Flip cam peeps (and we know you’re reading). Happy to review the new HD one here and on my YouTube channel if you want to send one along. I got a little HD envy seeing Shaycarl’s.

Here’s the source for that Flip HD… buy it so I can make a penny on my Amazon affiliate program. Hah. Flip MinoHD Camcorder, 60 Minutes (Black)

Quit Day Job: Full-Time Online Video & Marketing

Today I quit my day job as Consumer Product Director at Merck, where I marketed Propecia. Thanks to all of my Merck friends for tolerating me and teaching me so much.

Now it’s full-time to follow my passion: making videos, working with Hitviews, and starting my own consulting practice that will help brands engage in social media, especially the most visceral kind: online video. Stay tuned next week for more details.

Do what you love, peeps. I have an MBA in entrepreneurship and a passion for marketing, social media and video. Time to put it to work.

do what you love

Amateur Versus Professional Video on YouTube: What’s Next?

Slowly the top 100 YouTube “most subscribed” channels are professional content providers. But sxephil (a YouTube amateur who blogs about daily news) maintains that the amateurs “are the future” and YouTube should pay more attention to them, rather than become a Hulu.

I explore this debate in my video today… Also note a new trick I’m experimenting with at the end of the video. I run a few seconds of black and then add some links to other videos that are related or that I want to promote. You won’t see those unless you have “annotations” turned on.

A few of the links at the end of this video aren’t mine. But this technique is a smart way to keep people viewing your content, rather than selecting the random video that might appear over the player as “related.” One of the easiest things to do when you’re lost in a YouTube binge is select the next video it recommends.

So whatya think? Amateurs versus Pros. What’s ahead?

Why Taking Online-Video Polls is Important

It’s unfortunate that most online-polls don’t provide an incentive. But if you do see a poll invitation surrounding an online video (on YouTube or other sites), I encourage you to participate, and do so thoughtfully and honestly.

I’ll briefly explain how they work, and why viewer feedback is so important to sustaining online-video model.

  1. As you know, ads fund our online-video experience.
  2. Content creators and YouTube don’t make a dime from viewers, so selling viewer eyeballs back to advertisers is the only way for them to cover costs and, daresay, profit.
  3. But advertisers have to know if their ads work. Since few people click ads, we marketers are interested in if the ads changed people’s perceptions about our products or services (and if they’re more likely to buy).
  4. It’s extremely difficult to get reliable data from a consumer about what drove their decision (they can’t accurately attribute the element of the marketing mix that was most influential). For example, most of my target consumers will claim television was the most influential, and we haven’t bought a television ad in a half-dozen years. Coupons are measurable, but usually “attitude and attribute” trackers are how we determine which half of advertising is working.

Typically online-video polls (through such vendors as Insight Interactive and Dynamic Logic) survey a test and a control sample. Simply put, those who have seen the ads and those who haven’t. They’re usually too long, and I have a hard time completing them myself.

How do we use the data? If the viewers who saw the ad like the brand (or better yet have increased “intention to buy”) more than the viewers that haven’t seen the ad, then the ad presumably was effective. A big difference between these ratings and we feel more confident that we’re driving sales. Since the investment in online-video ads is relatively paltry, then the ROI is likely to be positive.

Then, and only then, is the website and creator compensated beyond a pilot. As a result, the viewer can go about watching free content (and, of course, spending on the advertisers’ products or services). If ad-supported video content languishes, then creators will eventually fatigue (unless they’re OCD like me, and don’t seem to care that their hourly rate would be better at Taco Bell).

Bottom line: I encourage you to take polls. Don’t try to trick them, because they’re pretty savvy. But spend the time on them and consider the questions. Your incentive won’t be a free gift certificate, but you’ll know that you served your part to sustain the free-viewing model. Who wants the Cable TV model (fee for select programming) to hit online? Not me.

Doritos Video Contest

doritos davideoSo there’s a galary of amateur videos (consumer-generated advertising) posted on Doritos’ UK website, including this classic Davideo hit. He’s the UK creator of the exploding Diet Pepsi Mentos girl, and one of my favorites in the use of abstract video animation (so be sure to rate it if “five sizzling chips” if you like it too).

It’s another agency produced flash site, so no direct links to the videos are provided, but it’s called “Just Can’t Wait.” So you have to go to the site, skip the intro, click “Just Can’t Wait” and vote. At least you don’t have to friggin’ register to vote. 

Dear agencies: when are we going to learn that it’s cost prohibitive and unnecessary to create a custom site with subpar video players? To its credit, Doritos also set up a YouTube channel that features “Just Can’t Wait,” but I’m not sure votes count there.

Here’s another brave entrant featuring a guy whose tongue burns off. Kinda gross (as reflected by the votes) but has the most views.

davideo doritos

Twitter: The Voluntary Human GPS Chip

Just when you thought instant messaging, cell phones and Blackberrys were the ultimate form of making yourself available 24-7… along comes Twitter. You’ll note a Twitter box in the bottom right corner of WillVideoForFood.com. We’ll see how long I decide to text message Twitter with my status (“typing blog post while bored on a conference call”).

I haven’t fact checked these, but here are some testimonials Twitter uses:”

  • Twitter is on its way to becoming the next killer app.”
    TIME Magazine
  • “It’s one of the fastest-growing phenomena on the Internet.”
    New York Times
  • “Suddenly, it seems as though all the world’s a-twitter.”
    Newsweek

So why in the world would I Twitter? I’m someone who backed into social media via video, and in fact prefers antisocial media. But I had to give it a shot because it’s gaining such notoriety. Kinda like the iPhone I finally returned on Sunday.

What does this have to do with online video? Nothing, really. Except that I think I need to do a video called the Twitter Shitter (“on third wipe”).