Kitten Videos: Sometimes Popular, Always Inspiring

It's always fun to watch the popularity cycle of YouTube videos. Like how The Office brought another wave of interest in the JK Wedding Dance after Jim & Pam's wedding episode.

We saw today that we have 32K views on our 8 month old video interview with Maddie from Kittens Inspired by Kittens. So why the uptick in views?




We think it's from an Entertainment Weekly article that was published at the end of August recapping Notable Kitty Videos, with Maddie's video earning (only?!) a B+ on the kitten funny grading scale. With all the internet meme costumes (and parties!) that are going to hit the streets this weekend, it will be interesting to see which videos take off again and which ones can finally be put to rest.

In other news, YouTube now wants to make some cash on the video and help us take home some change. I think this is a great idea to help Alicia get some extra cash to move out of her parent's house, don't you?

There's that word again.... VIRAL

With YouTube videos like the recently popular St. Paul Wedding Entrance (over 9 million views!) exploding into VIRAL status, it's no wonder communications clients are clamoring to create their own viral videos. Nine million views? That's a HUGE measure. In digital content such as social media it can sometimes be hard to measure the return on investment, which is why viral videos are so appealing to communications clients.

Viral videos can't be created out of thin air, however. Local video expert Jake Nyberg states in WCCO's recent Good Question segment, "I often tell people who want to go viral: viral is not a strategy, it's an outcome. Can you make a good attempt? Certainly." Nyberg is a partner at Three Volts, a Minneapolis video production and marketing firm, and has been enlisted to create many of these attempts in his career.

Nyberg makes a great point, viral isn't a strategy. Often, people assume slapping a branded video together and uploading it to YouTube makes it "viral." In fact, viral can't be promised to any client. Libby Issendorf put it this way: "I still use the word viral, but I'm careful to say it 'could have viral potential'"

That's not to say we in the communications biz should stop trying. "You have to do something authentic that you had no intention of going viral," Nyberg said in his WCCO interview, and it's good advice. Online video can be great exposure to a brand, even without the viral status. And every so often, a viral attempt succeeds.

But we have to realize that in the end, we might get outshined by videos that are very real and human, and tug at the heartstrings ever so slightly.

Happy Earth Day!

The Yaybia Crew loves the earth! Hell, we ALWAYS recycle our beer cans (though mostly to get rid of evidence that we actually bought a case of Keystone Light).


There are lots of ways to celebrate Earth Day today using my favorite medium, Social Media.


Facebook: Join in the green efforts AND win awesome prizes by adding the Hot Dish application


Twitter: After only one minute of viewing the "Happy Earth Day" search on Twitter, I was notified that 44 new posts just appeared in the last 5 seconds! Join the trend and tweet your support!


YouTube: YouTube's spotlight videos all feature green news and tips, and to check out even MORE green online videos, check out the YouTube LiveGreen channel!



Blogs: One of my favorite social media blogs, Mashable, has posted 5 Inspirational Earth Day Videos, including the trailer for the newest Disney-produced movie "Earth," which opens today.



Happy Earth Day!!!

Twitter and YouTube for Crisis Control? Interesting..

Most of you savvy communicators have probably caught wind of the Dominos YouTube video incident. In case you didn't: two employees of a Norh Carolina Dominos store created an online video while doing disgusting things to the food they then supposedly served up to unknowing customers. Cheese in the nose and then on my pizza? Vom.




Anyways, Dominos obviously had a public relations crisis on their hands after the video became popular knowledge. I mean, afterall, I wouldn't be too quick to order a pizza from there after seeing that, even if I knew that MY Dominos probably was clean and law-abiding.

Dominos launched the usual crisis measures by reaching out to those who were aware of the video, and firing the employees responsible for this fiasco. They even filed for the arrest of the two offendors. The pizza franchise was criticized by some after this, for not taking a full-blown PR course of action. However, it seems as though Dominos was considering a different approach to the crisis.


Dominos seemed to recognize that an online crisis may be better handled with an online response. In the days after the incident, Dominos launched its first corporate Twitter account (dpzinfo) and vowed to "listen" to consumer's concerns regarding the video and other issues. They also posted information on the incident to its corporate Web site, and released its own YouTube video featuring the company's president Patrick Doyle. Doyle apologized to consumers for the incident and explained what the company would do to rectify the situation.


Using social media and online tactics, Dominos has responded to a crisis in a more direct way, allowing for direct feedback. I'm very curious to see how well this pans out for them!

You Tube gets Educational

Yesterday, YouTube launched a new facet of their popular online video site, creating a new forum for colleges and universities to be heard.  YouTube Edu allows higher learning establishments to create channels and upload videos highlighting the schools' activities, research, and achievements.  Public relations score!  

My head is spinning with all the amazing ways this new addition can be utilized.  You Tube is one of the top five popular sites among people ages 18-34, and now with Edu it can be a great source of pride for students and recruitment for potential students.  Additionally, isn't an online video highlighting major research efforts and breakthroughs much more interesting that a formal press release?  The site is an easy hub to direct journalists to, who are interested in learning more about any university or college's major achievements.

Currently (and I'm really proud to say this) the University of Minnesota is one of the most popular channels among over 100 institutions creating channels as of yesterday.  The U of M's channel already hosts 95 videos ranging from highlights of U of M research to tours of the new TCF Stadium.  Way to be a leader, U of M.  First Twitter, now You Tube.  Universities, especially the U of M, are taking a head first leap into the world of social media, and people are paying attention.  

Happy Friday from Yaybia! We interviewed "Kittens Inspired by Kittens" girl Maddie Kelly

UPDATE: we have taken down the other video for further editing, it will be back up on Monday!

Kittens Inspired by Kittens has racked up over 5 million views on the Internet in the last week. We got the sneak peak of the upcoming videos that she'll be making!

And yes, she is really that adorable and energetic in real life!

Cute Video!

Small social experiment:

Watch this YouTube video:

http://tinyurl.com/kittensyoutube

and leave a comment. Thanks!

And the Award Goes To...

Not since Wario's Shake It has there been such an awesome use of YouTube: An interactive photo hunt for the Academy Awards (if anyone can tell me the difference between the pictures from the reader, you get a medal. Even after they showed me I couldn't figure it out).



Not to mention a great time-waster. Enjoy!

Any other You Tube examples?

If There Were a YouTube Series of Chimps on Segways, This Post Would Be Different

There's been a lot of talk this week about online video series statistics and how viewers are likely to skip it after the first episode (wait, we're not still saying "webisode"?  Woo-hoo!).  AdAge reports that viewership is generally down 64% from Episode 1 to 2, and they attribute this to a fickle online audience.  Dirk chimed in earlier today, saying that even though there might only be a small audience left after episode 10, it's still a loyal and engaged group.  

I agree, but I'm curious why online video series aren't doing well.  I think at this point, it has to do with content.  Personally, even though I love clips from series like You Suck at Photoshop, I'm  not a loyal viewer because:

• The novelty wears off.   A lot of web series are built on a simple gag that just gets old after the first storyline.  The Landlord is a good example--I know there's a sequel called Good Cop, Baby Cop, but I have no desire to watch it.  I understand that this makes it easier for audiences to jump in at any time, but I get sick of it fast.
• Because of that, I don't have a reason to care.  We've been programmed to consume online video in 3-minute chunks (and that's pushing it), and most series can't develop compelling characters or storylines in that amount of time.  
• I'm lazy.  Typing a site into my address bar is too much work.  I'm not going to remember to check back for the latest YSaP unless someone forwards it to me.

The two online series that I do view on a regular basis are Best Night Ever and The Office webisodes (dammit, there's that word again).  BNE is distributed as a podcast and The Office is heavily promoted on TV, so they both overcome my laziness.  As far as content, I watch both shows because they complement series that I'm watching on TV or reading daily in blog form.

Maybe brands should experiment with providing a video series as a supplement to something that exists in another form, or maybe they should embrace the way SNL skits are re-watched online...but until they really solve the dilemma of devoting time to developed characters and stories vs. making clips easily digestible in 3 minutes or less, I don't think recurring series are going to gain traction.

I bet there are some awesome psychological reasons why we expect web series to be short, but we're also willing to watch entire TV episodes and even some movies on Hulu.  John Eighmey, any ideas?  And for everyone else, are there any web series you can't live without?  How do they overcome these obstacles?

Profitting From Being Free

Today on my beloved Google Reader, Susan shared an article from Mashable about a band's website that had an embedded music video from YouTube that was later removed due to copyright violations. So, to summarize, they had a copyright violation of their own video on their own website. FAIL. I also loved Susan's accompanying quote: "HA. I'm so sick of seeing those copywrite claims. Not being able to see a YouTube of a music video is not going to make me rush over to iTunes and buy it for $1.99.”

This is also a pet peeve of mine (I tried to find an old classic Campbell's commercial the other day, and the only copies had been removed due to copyrights. What?! You are preventing me from seeing your commercial somewhere other than TV even though I am seeking you out? What's that about?).

Anyway, today I read an interesting article on MediaPost (unfortunately subscription required, but I've included a screenshot of the article below). The main point of the article: Making entertainment available for free increases demand, which ultimately results in sales. This includes both officially sponsored content and pirated content. The article cites successful examples of this theory such as the Monty Python YouTube Channel and the RadioHead "pay what you want" online campaign.

This follows the same theory as free samples. Maybe people who would never buy your album would after hearing a song or two for free on YouTube. Why? They don't know if they like your music and won't pay until they do. But, once they like it, they won't want to go back to YouTube and hit play and search over and over again. It's not convenient. You can't automatically have playlists or upload them to your iPod for on the go convenience. Same reason you should be on Pandora, let people discover you, remember you, and appreciate you for allowing them to have free content. After all, I didn't respect Campbell's right to be copyrighted in some rational inner battle, rather, I was annoyed I couldn't share the commercial I loved.

What are your opinions?

MediaPost Article (click through to zoom in)

Off-road right on track

On November 3rd, 2007 a massive hailstorm erupted over Bogota. Within minutes, the capital of Colombia was flodded with more than four feet of water and ice. It was brought to a complete standstill.

An almost complete standstill. Some things were still moving:



In a felicious example of reverse cross-media, Chevrolet used existing news footage for a beautifully simple spot. Normally, I am not a fan of in-you-face product benefits, but this ad for me shows that the letter U actually deserves its place in SUV. Sure enough, there isn't a rainstorm every day, but there isn't a rocky desert to drive through or a jagged mountain to pass every day, either.

Anti-climate? Anticlimax!

There are two ways to truly successful irony. The first one is exaggeration. Subtlety is for sissies, real pros push it. Include every available stereotype and as much blunt generalization as you possibly can. Use obvious visuals and straightforward language and one to explain the other. A single extreme example is not gonna do it, one cheesy comment doesn't get your point across - remember to take it to the limit. And then one step further.

The second key to savvy sarcasm is of course to tell your audience that they have just been punked. Don't take a risk, don't let your irony pass unnoticed. Not everybody is as smart as you are, some folks just need a bit of support so make sure you draw the conclusions for them. Ensure everybody knows what a witty wag you are by telling them what a witty wag you are.

See, its really easy. After all, its irony, not rocket science.



PS: In case you didn't notice: This was ironic. The video. The viral site.
And the above paragraph. Just to make sure...

Now go and turn of your PC (or Mac for that matter) and every single one of your 50 light switches and save the earth. Cause thats pretty damn serious.