Youtube (Google) and Officemax have come up with a rather creative viral youtube campaign.  Below is a screen shot of the preferential Youtube placement to generate additional views on Youtube.  The number of impressions this Youtube channel is generating must be massive (so this must have been a big advertising deal - probably worth $250,000):

Below are more pictures of the OfficeMax Youtube channel and the video with the advertisement:

The videos are rather funny and viral as the actor tries to pay for things with nothing but pennis.

It’s hard to say whether or not this is generating additional business for OfficeMax.  I would certainly hope so as it has probably cost them a lot of money to produce and place on Youtube.

If you are a fortune 500 company and interested in developing edgy viral content advertised on Youtube we would like to help you produce the marketing campaign.  Please contact us for more information.  We can only take on this project if you have a minimum of $50,000 to invest into it.  We can develop an engaging consumer based website, viral youtube campaigns, and purchase premium Youtube video placement to make the campaign go viral.  Kudos to this creative and entertaining online viral marketing campaign from Youtube (Google) and OfficeMax.

American politician’s are able to get elected because they use traditional “scare marketing” tactics to prey on the weak minded. Below is a screen shot of an advertisement put out by John McCain:

The advertisement reads, “Is it ok to unconditionally meet with anti-american foreign leaders?” You are then given the option of clicking “yes” or “no”. The advertisement appeared on Youtube under the Charlie Rose channel (which is great by the way). The advertisement was hyper-targeted probably through relevant keywords (further demonstrating google’s impressive content advertising system).  You are then directed towards this landing page:

The landing page above is a squeeze page (it doesn’t matter whether or not you agree with John McCain’s political stance) where you can give up your email; where you will probably be sent political messages and requests for donations.

It sickens me to see John McCain (2008 Republican Presidential Candidate) to phrase the “Iran Question” in this way. US political rulers need to get it through their thick heads; that just because someone doesn’t like you, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t meet with them or have no lines of communication with them.  That’s just plain stupidity and childish. It reminds of me of adolescent young boys fighting in the playground - they often end up becoming good friends later on because they “communicated” at some point.  Most countries/people mature after a few years as a result of communicating with “perceived” enemies.  American media, politicians, and the world seem to have “anger” issues with Iran for producing nuclear products; as well as making anti-zionist/Israel rhetoric. These are both serious issues that correctly piss people off. However, it is immature and potentially more harmful to American’s if people like John McCain are elected and further ruin potential relations with “trouble makers” like the Iranian President.  More dialogue and communication is the answer to increasing national security in America.

Opening lines of communication with your perceived “enemies” does not harm American’s in any way. Bullets and military weaponry harm people. Words do very little. The lack of words are the root of the problem. In all relationships - unhealthy communication is generally the biggest problem.  Governments are just like everyday people (which they actually are) - and they generally have problems because they are bad at communicating with one another.  Advertising campaigns like the one above are solely intended to empower American politicians. Instead of fostering better relations with Iran, American politicians would prefer to create more conflict, in order to empower themselves once in office.  In summation, John McCain sucks and is going to suck even more if he gets elected.  With marketing scare tactics like this - he might just do it.

Below is a picture of Universal Music Group’s YouTube channel page:

Universal Music Group already has over 4800 music videos uploaded into YouTube.  Julianne Hough was the first music video that appears on the UMG YouTube home page.  Appearing on the UMG YouTube channel is a great starting point for artists looking to explode into super stardom and massive recording success.  The UMG YouTube channel home page shows that they are are the most viewed and most subscribed out of thousands of YouTube publishers.  Surely, the recording industry is rapidly changing in both content distribution and monetization strategies.

I don’t have much time to offer my readers a thorough analysis of the rapidly changing music industry.  However, I will offer the following two suggestions for aspiring bands on how to make money from their artwork (music):

1.  Get on Youtube, and get on Youtube fast.  Get on any video sharing website you can get on.  Spreading your music through music videos is a time tested and proven method to increasing your fan base.  Hence the ever famous, “Television killed the radio star.”  Now, “Youtube killed the television star”.  In fact, that’s a great song title for some aspiring band looking to go viral online - you can have it; your welcome!

2.  Monetize through alternative methods - selling records is a joke.  Selling sponsorships, iTunes, memberships, online VIP access, signed posters, signed iPods, etc…  Be creative, you can’t sell CD’s anymore.  Only Mariah Carey can, and thats because its an experience, not because its more convenient.

I think a lot of people are angry at the large record labels for suing web users who don’t pay for music.  It seems like anyone who has used the internet has downloaded “illegal” music at some point in their lives.  But Universal Music Group is taking a step in the right direction - instead of fighting the massive consumer based movement they are empowering it through their YouTube channel.  Now the only question that remains is - how do they plan on making money through it?

I’m constantly impressed with the way that marketers and Google are creating advertising campaigns on Youtube. The example below is a marketing campaign for the upcoming summer blockbuster: Get Smart. Well, it’s not quite a block buster yet, but with marketing like this I have a feeling it will be.

Viral video marketing like this is very effective in generating brand loyalty. Over a million people have watched the Get Smart Youtube contest and thousands are uploading videos to participate. I doubt the numbers will be anything substantial, but it is certainly generating quite a bit of cognizant buzz about the movie. When the movie releases people that have seen the Youtube video will certainly recall the video they saw online and will probably opt to see Get Smart verses other movies.

This GetSmart viral video has the components of other successful online viral video marketing campaigns that Youtube has helped create: users participate in the conversation. When “users participate” by uploading videos of submitting any form of user generated content the marketing campaign is a success. Numbers, therefore, become the most important component of user generated marketing - you want as many people to participate as possible. So make it easy to participate! This Get Smart campaign is simple to be a part of; videos submitted are no more than 15 seconds.

If your company is interested in crafting an online viral video that includes user generated content - please call Banner Blindness at 843-425-3566 or email Support@BannerBlindness.com

I think this funny YouTube Gif video is going to be the next social viral video of the year. Pretty damn funny. I never though of gif’s as modern art before, certainly not pop-culture.

Call 843-425-3566 or email Support@BannerBlindness.com if you want a viral gif made of your business or just for your favorite forum.

Are you a major corporation looking to make a dent in your online marketing initiative? Well I hope so. YouTube can help your corporation take its brand to the next level. I would argue that YouTube offers one of the best branding and direct response opportunities on the web today. Youtube is the #7 website in the world and has tremendous analytical tools and budgeting capabilities to help you meet your advertising needs. You can check out YouTube’s branding and media kit to help you determine whether YouTube and its publisher partner network will help your corporate branding and advertising strategy.

I prefer to see our clients invest their advertising dollars in YouTube instead of Facebook Advertising. It seems like Facebook is dead right now. Their “ppc” advertising system is great for performance based marketers. But it has severely hurt their large corporate clients looking for unique branding opportunities. Facebook offers some interesting integrated advertising opportunities at an expensive price tag. I have only seen a few large corporate clients actually purchase the sponsored profile pages. Youtube on the other hand is being embraced by major corporations in a big way. Banner Blindness is partners with Buck Hollywood - one of the top YouTube channels - and we see how much is being spent on partnered YouTube advertising buys. Quite a bit is spent on CPC Youtube advertising. Michael Buckley is interested in more private label advertising deals for his blog if you are interested - please contact us. I’m confident that major corporations can cost effectivley make a huge impact by doing large branding campaigns across the YouTube partner network.

When conducting a branding campaign on YouTube advertisers don’t have to pay CPM rates. Since you don’t have to pay CPM rates you can easily gauge the effectiveness of your advertising campaign by determining your revenue per click. A typical click on YouTube from premium publishers will cost you around $.40 cents I believe; but of course it varies. You also have to realize that for $.40 per click, if this is more then what you typically pay for CPC advertising, you are getting a whole lot more. Our partner Michael Buckley was receiving Red Stripe beer advertisements on his latest YouTube broadcast. Red Stripe beer company is not paying for these ads to be shown - they are paying for these ads to be clicked on.

Notice in the advertisements above that Red Stripe is encouraging their audience to get involved. Beer companies, tobacco companies, auto companies, consumer product manufacturers, etc… realize that showing advertisements are not enough, you need to get your audience involved. How can you get your audience involved? Through user generated media! If you offer prize money and a platform for users to generate media, you will have more then what you know what to do with. Some of it is so good that you can actually put it on TV and have a kick-ass commercial.

If your corporation is interested in finding out how Banner Blindness Inc. can help you carry out an effective You Tube advertising campaign. Please call 843-425-3566 or email Support@BannerBlindness.com

The producer of the above video discuss how to make your viral video go “viral” on youtube and other social media properties. This item was featured on Digg, then made it onto YouTube’s most daily watched, and thus it went “viral”.

The # 1 viewed YouTube video today is Chinese propoganda. Below are screen shots:

I have to admit, the video brings out some valid points about Tibet being part of China. However, I don’t want to get into a political debate about whether or not Tibet should be a free nation or part of China. I would rather discuss the marketing and public relation aspects of using YouTube to espouse political views. To make a YouTube video one of the most watched videos, it is 99% of the time, viewed on a popular website with lots of visitors, and it becomes one of the most watched videos of the day, and then people visit the most watched videos of the day, generating even more daily views. This video receive a majority of its views from this chinese website. This video refutes all the negative press that US Media puts out about China, and hundreds of thousands of Americans have watched this. This hurts the Bush administration’s position on China and Tibet - and I think that position is pro Tibet and passively against China, as the Lama was just recently given some sort of peace prize from Bush. In short, YouTube is becoming a PR nightmare for powerful organizations and governments.

Cities and corporations need to be vigilant in what their employees are saying - as there is a good chance that it can end up on Youtube, go viral, and decimate your reputation or brand. For example: AOL and canceling over the phone, Comcast sleeping episode, and now the Baltimore Police:

At the end of the video the pig (cop) even says, “Is that camera on? If I see this on youtu….” He immediately recognized the danger of what he just did - kudo’s to the kids for protecting themselves with the power of a camera, putting it on Youtube, then getting it Dug thousands of times.

Another great example of public servants getting ratted out through user generated videos: