Randy Pausch Stumble Upon Viral Video
Viral video gives you a 2nd chance to watch what you’ve heard about and read about but never saw. I have read about Randy’s speech. I have heard many people talking about Randy’s speech and I was inspired by the story told to me 2nd hand. However, I never created the time and sought out Randy’s speech for first hand inspiration.
Well, Nancy, my awesome wife, just forwarded a stumbleupon link to me with his speech. I’d go more into detail about how great stumbleupon is for finding great content on the web but the inspirational message of Randy’s presentation takes front and center stage on this one.
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Getting the right thumbnail on YouTube
YouTube certainly does not have the best quality video out there (not by a longshot), but if you want to post a video for viral distribution and search optimization, you have to upload your video to it. Anybody who has uploaded a few videos to YouTube knows that the thumbnails YouTube picks for you can be quite lame.
As far as video search optimization goes, the thumbnail (the still image they see before your movie runs) is an extremely important tool in compelling people to click on your video. It’s no different that choosing the magazine with the better cover at a newsstand.
Most other video serving sites let’s you pick your own image…not YouTube. YouTube generates three seemingly random thumbnails to chose from. However, after a lot of debate about how they choose the thumbnail, “thecro” did a simple, smart experiment to end the debate. Thumbnails on YouTube are generated at the frame exactly 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 throughout the movie. See 32 second test vid to see how he solve the puzzle.
So now you know the secret to YouTube’s puzzle. Use smartly and responsibly. I have a feeling that many, many savvy/seedy folks are already starting to put 1 frame of a sexy woman at the exact center point of the video. That is actually classified as subliminal advertising and is illegal on broadcast/cable TV. That’s a whole ‘nother story.
LEGO Millenium Falcon Viral Video
I watched this 3 times and before I realized…I need to post this immediately. Was this created by LEGO employees or is this just the most awesome, cool thing two LEGO die-hard fans put together? From the ending, we know it took them 38 hours to make this stop-motion video. I can watch this one over and over.
Paul and Greg-Whether you are LEGO employees or not, I salute you. 1.5 million views…not too shabby.
Bravia Superballs Viral Web Video - Bravo!
Viral web video comes in all shapes and forms. The very best entertain AND drive home a key attribute about the brand. The Sony Bravia “Superball” viral video is one of my recent favorites and it just nails this point right on the head. The video is 2:26 in length and all but 5 seconds (the last 5) are dedicated to a very catchy song and 300,000 colorful superballs bouncing every which way down a San Francisco street. When we watch this video for the first 2 minutes 21 seconds we aren’t thinking about who made it or what company is trying to push what product. We don’t think about it because we are so enthralled by sixty camera angles of superballs bouncing.
So in the last five seconds, when the music begins to fade and “Colour…Like no other” flashes on the screen before the 2 second Bravia TV (Sony) product shot…we applaud.
What is the moral of the story? There are many from this example, but the one that stands out the most is: Don’t be afraid to be subtle and simple with your branding statement. Let the experience speak for itself.
-ether
Tiger Buick Ad - Authentic Video
I am the last person who is going to applaud anything Buick does since they make such lousy cars, but this viral campaign is good. It’s real, it’s authentic. Watching real people get to play a hole with Tiger with the chance to win a Buick is really smart. Tiger looks like he is having fun and you get to see the real reactions of these people and how stoked they are to meet him. Add a bunch of free Buick’s in there and you’ve got a good spot. Maybe Buick isn’t so bad anymore.
The 5 minute clip received 1.5 mil views. Not too shabby.
