Tag Archives: kyle

Amateur YouTuber Does Integrated Promotion for Take180. Too Bad Site Flounders Technically.

Another popular YouTube artist has been tapped for a comprehensive promotion that involves a sponsored video, significant promotion on the client’s website, and even online-media ads promoting the YouTuber. Kelly, the shoe-loving persona of Liam Kyle Sullivan, posted a recent video interviewing her Aunt Sarah (another Sullivan persona). The video mentions Take180, a website where viewers interact with serial web shows and compete in challenges to develop plots.

As a raving fan of Kelly, I was stopped right in my tracks. When I later saw a display ad for Take180 (featuring Kelly), I was quick to visit, register and even TRY entering a contest (more on that in a minute).

This is a great use of a known Internet icon to promote an unknown website. The promotion wasn’t just a YouTube video promoting a sponsor, but a full partnership that’s the web’s equivalent of William Shatner and Priceline. Kelly fit the persona of Take180, and they’ve embraced her on their site and in digital promotions. This is a win-win since many of us wouldn’t have looked at Take180 without her endorsement, and Kelly’s getting some exposure to people that may not know her yet.

I would expect Liam took a modest stock grant as well as a decent paycheck for his participation. We can’t have Kelly pimping any old website and becoming the Internet’s version of Ed McMahon, can we?

Now the bad news (see clarification post 24 hours later). The site is a technical disaster. It didn’t know I had confirmed my e-mail address until I logged out and in again. It logged me off without explanation. The interface was graphic heavy and non-intuitive. Worse of all, when I tried to upload a video (I had shot, edited, titled and scored… it rejected each format). Will I be back again? Not likely.

It’s usually the other way around. Great technology with lousy marketing. In this case, it may be time Kelly took those technical Betches outside and showed their ass the back of her heel.

Southpark on Monetization of Digital Content

Kyle from Southpark puts it well in this 30-second clip from “Canada on Strike.” The clip’s called “The Promise of Future Revenue.” Thanks to Jan for finding it.

Kyle Southpark Canada StrikeBoy I’m sure glad that’s over with. Me too. Yeah, but you know I learned something today. We thought we could make money on the Internet. But while the Internet is new and exciting for creative people, it hasn’t matured as a distribution mechanism to the extent that one should trade real and immediate opportunities for income for the promise of future online revenue. It will be a few years before digital distribution of media on the Internet can be monetized to an extent that necessitates content producers to forgo their fair value in more traditional media.

In this part of “Canada on Strike,” the Southpark folks meet some YouTube weblebrities (the cliche one-hit wonders). There’s something pervursely symbolic to see all of the Internet stars — laughing baby, sneezing panda, gopher, Chris Crocker, Chocolate Rain, Tron guy, Numa Numa — end up in a bloody mess on the floor.