Actober.com : Getting Into The Act With Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) decided to jump into the amplified word of mouth ring this year with Actober, a chance for baseball fans to reenact their favorite postseason moments by creating their own user generated content (UGC). Participants got to script, shoot, and edit their own video and upload it to MLB for a chance to win 2 tickets to this year’s World Series. MLB is even providing participants with downloadable video clips (of baseball's famous moments) ready to be edited into their own user generated videos. More on this later in the post.
How it Works Each week for 10 weeks, MLB posted a list of famous postseason moments on the website. Participants could then choose a famous moment and create their own video reenacting that moment. The 5 most compelling videos each week were chosen by MLB and posted on the site (actober.com) where fans were able to vote for their favorites. After each of the 10 weekly winners was chosen, the finalists were posted on the actober website for a final fan vote. That’s where they are now in the contest… The 3 winners will receive 2 tickets (each) to this year’s World Series. Pretty interesting concept… so I decided to check it out.
Cast Your Vote Right now, you can check out the website to view the 10 finalists as chosen by the fans. As you would expect with UGC, some clips are great and others make you cringe a little… That said, the concept for the campaign is a good one. Get people involved, make it fun, promote sharing, and give away something of worth to your targeted audience. My favorite video is definitely the Time Machine by Andrew Bradley. Now, I’m a Yankees fan (as most of my readers know already), so you better believe I wasn’t about to vote for a Red Sox video! :-) That said, the curse of A-Rod even made me laugh… Definitely check it out.
Some notes about the site and contest: * I love that MLB provided the actual video and audio for participants to download so they can use that footage in their own UGC videos. Very smart… and obviously increases the production value of the videos. The music industry should take note of this…
* The entries tab took me to a page that had links for past winners and all other entries, but I wasn’t really sure I was seeing all of the entries… It seemed that I was only allowed to view a select group. I really wanted to check out a page holding thumbnails of all the other videos (youtube-like). This might have been just a usability issue, but it’s something they should change for future video contests.
* They have a lame forward to a friend email. The process is solid on the site, but the creative that is sent to you is really flat. It’s plain text, no baseball visuals, and a one line message that yields as much excitement as watching the Royals play the Devil Rays…in May. They definitely need to improve this…
* MLB might be asking too much from its audience. For example, they might be asking too much of visitors and participants to vote on a weekly basis and then wait for a final vote up to 10 weeks later. Let’s face it, when it comes to user participation, requiring too much from your community is the kiss of death. I like the contest, but I’m not sure the process was the best one to use.
Did it Work? So, did the campaign drive more people to watch the postseason? I doubt it. I’m a huge baseball fan, but too much of the audience draw is based on factors outside of what MLB does from a marketing standpoint. For example, the team locations drive ratings, so Colorado and Arizona won’t help MLB gain much needed viewers for advertising dollars. Also, since the Yankees and Mets aren’t involved at this stage knocks out a HUGE audience in the Greater New York area. Football (both college and the NFL) are now in season, which takes away viewers from the baseball postseason. And of course, how competitive and compelling each postseason series is will help or hurt ratings… For example, if a game is 7-1 by the fourth inning, you are going to lose viewers… If a team is going to sweep another in a championship series, then you’ll lose viewers. Boston is the only team with a widespread following still in the postseason, so the ALCS is probably doing ok. However, if Cleveland wins, ratings will sink even lower… On the other hand, the NLCS is probably tanking ratings-wise, with Colorado and Arizona fighting it out. Let’s face, both are small market teams.
Anyway, definitely check out the actober website to view the top 10 clips and to cast your vote. With regard to watching the postseason, I’ll help MLB out here! Boston plays at Cleveland tonight, October 15th at 7PM on FOX. That said, the New York Giants (football) also play tonight on Monday Night Football... So, unfortunately for baseball, you can probably guess which station NY sports fans will be watching…
After you check out the actober website, let me know what you think.
Let me set the stage. Take approximately a dozen teenagers with the parents of one of the teenagers away on vacation for 10 days. Then, over 7 days, those teenagers engineered what can only be considered the best slip n slide I’ve ever seen. It sounds like a scene from Risky Business, doesn’t it? Well, the end-result was risky, since any one of the teenagers involved could have been seriously injured. But, like hundreds of thousands of other viewers on the web, I was glued to the 5 minute viral video that you can view on SpikedHumor.com, YouTube, or several other social media sites. Read on.
What is Ron’s Slip n Slide Extravaganza? You actually have to see it to believe it, but imagine a 60 foot slip and slide built on the side of a house (yes, you begin your slip and slide journey on top of a house!) Then, you slide down a 60 foot slide and hit the jump, which propels you 16-20 feet across the yard into a small inflatable pool. Sound crazy? It is...but you have to give the guys who were involved credit. It is simply amazing to watch them fly through the air after speeding down the 60 foot slip and slide. Some land perfectly in the pool, and as you can probably guess, others don’t! Shot and edited by one of the teenagers, you will be impressed with their video production. And I bet you’ll watch the entire video…I didn’t intend to and then it was over before I knew it. :) View the best slip n slide ever created here.
The Viral Video Results: As of today, there have been 256,648 views on YouTube and 57,464 views on SpikedHumor.com and my guess is that those numbers will keep going up… So I ask you, would you like 314,112 people glued to a video that you produced? Maybe something tied to one of your products or company? Yes, I’m sure you would as long as it's not negative, right?? :)
User Generated Content (UGC) Now, many of the best viral videos are not created by companies or agencies. They are produced by the average person out there who just wants to capture something funny, disturbing, amazing, etc. This is one of those cases. Actually, this video was both hilarious and disturbing at the same time. There are so many companies clamoring to create the same effect, but it’s hard to do when you stage it… You can do it, but it’s not easy.
So, have you created a viral web video that generated results like Ron’s Slip and Slide Extravaganza? And hopefully without hurting anyone? If so, post the link below. We’d love to see it.
I'm a huge fan of horror movies and Halloween ranks as one of my all time favorites. I’m referring to the original Halloween…and not the next 5 or 6 that came out after… OK, Halloween 2 was decent, but like most films, there’s nothing like the original.
So I was shocked to see the commercial for a remake of the original, this one directed by Rob Zombie. At first, I was disappointed that someone would mess with the classic film by John Carpenter, but I must admit that the trailer had me glued to the television. I immediately went to my computer and Googled Halloween 2007 and found several links to the trailer, other movies sites, etc. but not the official website. Interesting. After some digging, I found the official Halloween 2007 site and just like the commercial did, the site had me glued to my dual displays!
Flash and Web Video Marketing Definitely check out the official website to see the trailer and TV spots. There’s some nice flash work on the site… Now, the search marketer in me cringes when I see all flash and no text content (Check out the Google cache for the site here), but we all know this site will get a million links in no time. :) You can navigate around the site via a large kitchen knife, like the one good old Michael Myers uses to kill his victims! Pretty cool…and of course you hear the classic Halloween music, which makes most people shake with fear.
The Rob Zombie Halloween MySpace Page Then there’s a link at the bottom of the website to the official Rob Zombie Halloween MySpace page, which holds a lot of interesting content about the movie. You can watch the trailer, learn more about the cast, view screenshots from the film, view the official soundtrack (which will be coming out on August 21st), etc. The Rob Zombie Halloween MySpace page already has over 82,000 friends. Not bad. :)
So Can it Compete? Well, do remakes ever compete with the original?? It definitely has a fresh feel, which I really like. I need to see and hear more, and the proof is in the pudding, but they are off to a great start marketing the film. Halloween fans will probably want to at least check it out and my guess is that many will pay to see it. That said, Word of Mouth Marketing (WOM) can make or break the movie. If it doesn’t live up to the original, it could bomb…and if it brings a new view of a classic horror legend, it could make boat loads of money. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
The Mini Takes on Flash Video - How Mini Cooper is Using Amplified WOM to Drive Visitors
I am always on the lookout for interesting uses of flash video, especially for marketing purposes. So it was no surprise that the mini cooper amplified wom effort named Hammer and Coop caught my eye. Hammer, a fictional character reminiscent of Starksy and Hutch meets up with Coop, a mini cooper that ends up being his partner. Together, they take you on a whirlwind journey through six exciting webisodes where Hammer takes on criminals, ninjas, and anything else they could think up. It's quite entertaining.
First, Production Value The production value is through the roof on the site and webisodes. With lots of user generated video making news, you can see what production dollars and professional writers get you. (Not that I'm against user generated video, I love it, but check out this site to see what I mean!) The actors were excellent, the webisodes were well written, and the site worked extremely well.
Second, Video Value The site utilizes widescreen video at 575x325 and the compression was very clean. The controls were easy to identify and easy to use, including the volume control. The menu system was also easy to identify and provided some nice rollovers to identify the name of each webisode. Overall, the site provides a clean and professional interface with a focus on the video (which I would also aim to do, since I can only imagine the budget for this amplified wom campaign.) Overall, and for those of you focused on video production, your jaw will drop with some of the stunts that are part of the webisodes. As an added benefit, there is a music video you can access from the main menu to the song from Asia called Heat of the Moment. For those of you in your 30's or older, you know the song!
Third, the Marketing Value The goal of the site is to clearly generate buzz online and to send a lot of traffic to the ultra-entertaining site (at least the marketing team hopes so...) I actually think it will. And you know what, it should! I think they did a great job at incorporating the mini as a star in the actual webisodes, and with a personality no less! The car talks and has a witty english accent to boot! The site has some viral elements on it like a downloadable screensaver, wallpaper, and buddy icons. That's very smart, since people like passing elements like this around, which in turn, could bring more traffic to the site. In addition, there is an action hero name generator, which provides an interesting version of your name, but action-hero like! My name was Granite Grinder, which I may start using for my blog posts! ;-) A quick search on technorati for hammer and coop yielded 426 blog posts about it, so the word is getting out. Good luck to mini, and again, I applaud their efforts!
To check it out (and if you are a video production professional, you'll want to spend some time on the site), follow this link: http://www.hammerandcoop.com/
Reviewing the Best Super Bowl Commercials With The Help of Flash Video!
So which super bowl commercials did you like? I'm a TIVO fanatic, so during the Super Bowl is probably the only time that I won't whip through the commercials during a game! I thought the game had some great ads (mostly during the first quarter) and I wanted to mention them here, especially since AOL Sports did such as phenomenal job at creating their super bowl commercials site. Now that's a great interactive environment for viewing the video clips, commenting on each ad, rating your favorites, and then passing links around to your family and friends. To read more about aol sports and its flash video marketing, read my post on the Internet Marketing Driver (my blog about web marketing).
To the ads! 1. Doritos Crash I loved this commercial. First, it was user generated, so all of you big time creative directors should be calling Dale from NC! ;-) Why is this number 1 for me? I remembered the brand and product when the super bowl was over, which is a big challenge for many super bowl ads. Also, it left a positive memory, it was funny, and again, put Doritos front and center more than a few times during the 30 second spot. And did I already say that it was user generated??
2. Fedex Moon Office Great ad. For anyone who uses fedex, you know how incredible they are... The only time I thought they screwed up was when I screwed up!! Anyway, when watching the commercial, it hit me that if we ever advance to the point of having offices on the moon, fedex better be there! The fedex shuttle was great and the ending where the guy gets smoked by an asteroid was hilarious. Like Doritos, I remembered the ad and the brand.
3. Bud Light Face Slap OK, I had to add one really stupid commercial... but this one was hilarious! I laughed as everyone was slapping each other throughout the commercial, but what put me over the edge was the guy at the end who slapped his boss after a big meeting. The look on his boss' face was priceless! It almost looked like they really surprised him somehow. I guess you'd have to ask the director.
4. Sierra Mist Combover This goes out to anyone who's had a friend or family member with a combover. Come on people? Shave it off or keep it tight! It's not 1970 anymore... Anyway, it's a really funny commercial, but I have to say, I initially didn't remember the company or brand after the first run... That said, the web saves it for them, since I was able to see it over and over again on aol sports (or any of the other sites providing the clips...)
Overall, I'd give this year a 7 out of 10. The commercials definitely seem to be taking a hit and maybe, just maybe, it's due to the fact that billions of dollars per year in TV advertising is starting to flow elsewhere... like the web. :-) You've got to love your TIVO! But that's for another post...
Glenn Gabe focuses heavily on internet marketing and has been developing web applications using Flash for over 10 years. Glenn helps companies build online marketing campaigns that leverage the power of Rich Media, Word of Mouth, and Search Marketing.
About The Web Video Marketeer
And yes, it's marketeer, not marketer spelled incorrectly! I started this blog to cover the use of flash video and its impact on internet marketing campaigns.
Major League Baseball (MLB) decided to jump into the amplified word of mouth ring this year with Actober, a chance for baseball fans to reenact their favorite postseason moments by creating their own user generated content (UGC). Participants got to script, shoot, and edit their own video and upload it to MLB for a chance to win 2 tickets to this year’s World Series. MLB is even providing participants with downloadable video clips (of baseball's famous moments) ready to be edited into their own user generated videos. More on this later in the post.
Let me set the stage. Take approximately a dozen teenagers with the parents of one of the teenagers away on vacation for 10 days. Then, over 7 days, those teenagers engineered what can only be considered the best slip n slide I’ve ever seen. It sounds like a scene from Risky Business, doesn’t it? Well, the end-result was risky, since any one of the teenagers involved could have been seriously injured. But, like hundreds of thousands of other viewers on the web, I was glued to the 5 minute viral video that you can view on SpikedHumor.com, YouTube, or several other social media sites. Read on.
I'm a huge fan of horror movies and 
