Tim Schmoyer interviews the Viral Video Genius for ReelSEO. Get smart, be entertained, watch Tim try to salvage an interview with me.
Three so far… three coming. Enjoy. They’re free. Comment below about how awesome we are.
Tim Schmoyer interviews the Viral Video Genius for ReelSEO. Get smart, be entertained, watch Tim try to salvage an interview with me.
Three so far… three coming. Enjoy. They’re free. Comment below about how awesome we are.
Time Magazine provided a rather exhaustive review of YouTube’s past, present and future. Check out the full article, titled “The Beast With a Billion Eyes” (a title, no doubt, with Shakespearean roots). Some highlights:
This is the first ever coverage of YouTube that failed to mention Shaycarl or Olgakay.
The piece cites the age-old quote that every minute that passes in real time, 60 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube, and then plays with the math (more video uploaded in past month than three big TV networks in the past 60 years).
YouTube gets 4,000,000,000 page views a day, which adds up to 1,000,000,000,000 a year.
The author creates the mock YouTube video title, “LOLOLOLOL this thing is amazeballs!!!!!!!”
YouTube recently enlarged the thumbnail images very slightly. “That change alone increased clicks to the Watch page by 2%,” said Margaret Gould Stewart, director of user experience.
On the efforts to boost channels (versus individual videos): Where there used to be two units of organization on YouTube–a single video and the 1 billion video collection–now there’s something in between.
YouTube has 800,000,000 users (about the same as Facebook) who watch 3,000,000,000 hours of video a month. But even one of the most-subscribed guys, RayWilliamJohnson, has 5.3 million subscribers. So that could suggest that the number of users who actually subscribe is in the low single digits.
Average viewing session remains a low 15 minutes (compared to hours of television binging).
You can now use Google plus to watch a YouTube video live with friends who are remote. Thanks to SFGate and Business Insider for pointing out this new feature.
Now you and up to 9 viewers can watch a YouTube video spontaneously, and see each other via webcam. Hopefully Google Plus will boost that number, and allow for many more to join even if via text only. It’s kinda like Stickam or Blog.tv but there’s no need for anyone to be interesting. You just need to find a video that’s not boring. Good luck.
Here’s how:
Want some indigestion and entertainment? Look no further than YouTube chefs. Courtesy of Mike VideoEditGuy, it’s Time magazine explores chefs — ranging from a 95-year-old lady who grew up in the depression to a head-banging vegan chef. And Harley, the EpicMealTime guy who gives “Man vs. Food” a run for its calories. Who hasn’t heard of candy pizza?
Finally don’t forget the drunk chef, Hannah Hart, who is aided by the “fiery courage” of alcohol. She tried to quit after 1, then 3, then 5. Seems it became an addiction…
Remember that video curation was supposed to be all the rage last year and 2011? I’m still not seeing it get enough attention, but that will change as online-video consumption moves from desktop to simpler devices: mobile and remote controls. Why? Sans keyboard, it’s just not as easy to self-select videos, so we’ll need simpler controls (more Roku/AppleTV, less Sony’s 400-button, 2-dial TV remote control) … and better aggregators.
The answer lies in a careful mix of three (3) important variables:
In the meantime, I’ll offer a few favorite places that are directionally close, and invite you to add yours in comments (it’s participation time). Together we can perhaps create an aggregation of aggregators. A curation of curators. Then we’ll create a big ass website that collects them all, and we’ll sell $1 CPM banners on them and become hundredairs.
Viral Video Chart
is a good way to ensure you aren’t missing anything as vital as the “si, si, si, aquí” kid.And don’t forget that if you’re a bit behind on your memes (viral ideas, behaviors, images, styles), there’s always “Know Your Meme” to catch up. It might not help you understand Jessica Black’s “Friday,” but at least provides some analysis.
P.S. If all else fails, you can check out my crap, watch “webcam girl fail,” or just piss off a few hours watching the stuff too “blue” for America’s Funniest Videos at Failblog.
As Hannibal used to say on A-Team, “I love it when a plan comes together.”
One of the most rewarding things about participating in online-video campaigns for big brands or network shows is seeing these launch simultaneously with television and print advertisements. We call it “integrated marketing,” and it’s easy in concept and difficult but wonderful in fruition. Okay, I like the payments better, but integrated marketing is still rare enough to be a pleasant surprise… especially when it involves “new media” and social. Of course, it’s difficult for a marketer or agency to time precisely a campaign’s “peak” in various mediums, given paid “insertion orders” (formal booking of space in media) often requires months of lead time. Likewise the “books” (magazines) can require months of advance notice.
I noticed that our YouTube GE Healthymagination campaign was timed well with a series of television spots, and most recently I’ve seen it on BBC America’s launch of Dr. Who (my video below was titled “Time Travel Fail, “What Year Do You Miss,” and “What Would You Do if You Had a Time Machine?” (thanks munchvids for the video response… it’s sad that those don’t get more real estate when the video plays).
I wasn’t the only part of this campaign, and I’m writing this without any inside knowledge of the agency, budget, timing or execution. Hats of to MysteryGuitarman for this epic video that was also part of the campaign. I’m especially impressed that he found a “rotary pay phone” and managed to add a LED screen. And Joe, it’s making me crazy that you’ve managed to multiply yourself with better special effects than I see in most movies (Freaky Friday, Multiplicity). Vsauce’s video actually made me think, and TheStation participated with “Waiter Takes Out Restaurant.” Check out the whole series (a link to YouTube videos tagged ifIHadaTimemachine, then ranked by views).
The very week these YouTube videos launched, I noticed a prime print advertisement in Entertainment Weekly, a NYC “out of home” component,” and some “earned” media uptake (PR). Furthermore, the YouTube “branded entertainment” video series were wrapped with display and InVideo ads.
I like these “organic” YouTube campaigns that don’t force the brand in the webstar’s videos, but let the creator carry the campaign theme in their own way. The comments I’ve read are largely positive (a contrast from campaigns that require sponsored YouTube videos to have a branded slate at the intro, which is so forceful as to scare people away).
What can producers, networks, agencies and YouTube do to make these campaigns work even harder? A few ideas, but they all have executional nuances so it’s a bit unfair for me to “Monday morning quarterback.” Again- I know nothing more than what I’ve seen as a Dr. Who fan (and the very simple directions got via YouTube to make my video).
I’m sure it was not part of the campaign that Elisabeth Sladen died this week (she’s the British actress who played intrepid investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith throughout the classic BBC series’ 30-year run). But only one Guy calls those shots, and he’s not much of a marketer (thank God).
Topping OldSpice and Evian, the most-viewed online-video advertiser is Blendtec, according to “The Top 10 Viral Ads of All Time,” by AdAge (AdvertisingAge) and VisibleMeasures.
Seriously we’re not tired of it.
Here’s the page on YouTube where you can sort videos and channels by most-viewed , most-liked, most-subscribed by day, week, month, all time. Find me a few advertisements on here and I’ll give you a piece of candy.
I think I get the first copy of my book, Beyond Viral, in a week or less. The central premise is that it’s time for advertisers to stop pinning all their hopes on going viral. Leverage popular creators and channels. When the web was new we all scrambled to create the ultimate website for our target audience… now we’re back to advertising and public relations.
With online video we can do a “Hail Mary” and maybe land on AdAge’s chart. Or we could sponsor a webstar and guaranteee a sizable audience without luck or paying for views.
But they’re amateurs! They may say something bad. Yeah, no. You sponsor them and you get to review their videos before they’re live… and still I literally got a text yesterday from an agency friend who wondered who might produce a viral video for her.
I wonder if archaic advertisers and marketers will blend? I mean I wouldn’t press the button, but if you could build a big enough blender… MAN that would go viral.
Yeah Viacom lost that lawsuit against YouTube.
Says da judge: Because Google complies with any request from copyright holders to remove infringing content from YouTube it cannot be held liable itself for those infringements. Only in specific instances of failing to remove copyright-infringing content would YouTube be unable to claim safe harbour; mere knowledge of copyright infringement occurring on its service is not enough for YouTube to be culpable for that infringement.
I’m fairly immersed in the online-video space, but would have had to “phone a friend” if you asked me some of these questions on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”
The answers may surprise you. Try to guess before peeking.
I hope you know by now I’m rather infatuated with voice characterizations (Jim Meskimen as new Mel Blanc). Meet the best new voice impressionist ever: Polly Lou Livinston, tapped by animator Pen Ward, 27.
Ward, who created the recently launched CartoonNetwork show, “Adventure Time With Finn and Jake” (a bland name for a quirky, unique and delightful cartoon series, fueled by the proven success of Producer Fred Seibert). Wait! (4/23 update): Correction: Polly Lou is not Pen Ward’s mom, but an artist from his San Antonio origin: “Pen, no doubt, has fond memories of hearing Polly Lou’s definitive drawl while growing up in San Antonio. And who can blame him? Somewhere between a hinge in quest of lubricant and Blanche Dubois as channeled by Olive Oyl, there’s no other tonality quite like it.”
“Adventure Time” creator, Ward, also does the voice of “Lumpy Princess,” a manly valleygirl princess who looks like Chowder’s pet fart. But his mom steals the show with her characterization of TreeTrunks, and you can read more about her in this San Antonio article. The tender voice, gentle whispers and Southern draw were just the beginning. The tiny unexpected speech pragmatics (for instance, oddly timed pauses) is what brings her characters new dimension. Check out this wonderful clip (depicting “old and bonkers” TreeTrunks loving a wall-of-flesh creature). Seriously- a unicorn sticker with a unicorn that doesn’t have a horn? Ward and his Southern Mama bring out the 14 year old in me. Thanks, Seibert. I read you weren’t first impressed with Ward, but thank GOD you had faith.
By way of background, my 7-year-old son Grant has always had a keen eye for quirky funny… and this goes back to his watching Baby Mozart as an infant (I think it was the frog that created a euphoric giggle). Grant can watch 20 minutes of television, and detect and replicate the single, isolated moment that is at the DNA core of hysterical. I don’t know how he does it, but he’s now our family’s comedy compass. When he cracks up and replays a moment of a cartoon or television show, the six of us are laughing simultaneously. Here’s Grant giggling from years ago that will help you understand that he’s is to comedy what a metal detector is for quarters on a beach. Who says “boring” about Goodnight Moon at that age? Seriously.
Grant’s favorite shows have one thing in common. They’re all born by Seibert (with the exception of Spongebob, a show I hated until Grant hooked me). Well this week Grant literally grabbed me and said “Dad you’re going to LOVE Adventure Time with Finn and Jake!” Then he started rolling with some quotes that I now get… “yogurt chip, yeah man (in soft, cool voice).”
He was soooo right. Yeah man. I’ve become rather obsessed with “Adventure Time” in the past week (check out a great backgrounder here, which details how BigTime Cartoon Producer Fred Seibert’s discovery of Ward is the best thing to happen to parent/kid television viewing in years). And Seibert, I’ll be sending you Grant’s resume in about 10 or 15 years, and volunteer him to act as a “litmus test” of any prospective shows.
It’s a rare show that amuses dad & kids this well (Modern Family is a recent new one but a bit blue for the kiddies). My fascination with this distinct Masterpiece called “Adventure Time” prompted me to dig and dig through YouTube, stumbling into this wonderful episode called Bravest Warriors. Wowzer is this a cross between the 60s and 10s!? Read a nice POV on this one-episode series. Sounds to me like Livingston is the alien voice, no?