Digital Hive

Yet another triumph for citizen marketers

Check out Ben McConnell's interesting post about MTV's upcoming online strategy. He cites an MSNBC article which explains how MTV & Comedy Central are seeking to win back "youngsters" from online sources like YouTube which have long given them the control they crave. According to the MSNBC article, "the network, which already has 150 Web sites in 162 countries, plans to build literally thousands more, hoping to draw viewers by letting them watch, contribute and even re-edit its television shows." The MSNBC article continues: "In the coming months, the company plans to open up more of its archives, allowing Internet users to take videos and post them on their own sites and also re-edit some clips."

Dove campaign - it's a global political movement, man

Check out this interesting AdAge article about the Dove campaign, which we've blogged about periodically over the past year or so (here, here, here, here, here and here - yes we love this campaign). You can view spots embedded in the AdAge article or on YouTube.

The article cites several "lessons" about the global campaign effort (I bolded AdAge's original text  to highlight what I found interesting):

• Lesson No. 1: Say what you will about globalization, but it works for idea flows. The "Real Beauty" concept originated in Ogilvy's Dusseldorf office, then rapidly made its way to London. A London newspaper article trumpeted an underlying truth about the effort: It wasn't advertising; it was politics. This was no surprise to Dove's global brand director, Silvia Lagnado. Wanting to push the $2 billion brand further, she had commissioned the research showing that only 2% of women worldwide considered themselves beautiful. The team knew from the start its concept was politically charged, and was able to test it and refine it as they took it around the world.

Ummmm, I think we better all start using Purell right away

I always love a good demonstration of a product's benefits. At Digitas we call it marketing as a service, and here Purell is trying to make it crystal clear why you should be using their product. I think the visuals pretty much speak for themselves - they're executions inside restrooms. Click to enjoy at a larger size.

It's hard to use research "factoids" in creative in a way that doesn't seem nerdy and preachy, but here it makes sense. The small yellow box says "Caution - 92% of guys said they washed, 34% were lying."

Kudos to NBC (gasp!)

NBC announced earlier this week it has created a bevy of interactive extensions for its breakout hit series Heroes.  Kudos to the traditional media outlet for embracing a "pull" approach to engaging the viewers who are as passionate about Heroes as many were initially about Lost. It also shows a solid understanding of how to engage the Heroes audience-- younger, affluent viewers who have grown up with three screens.

http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/

Dove campaign keeps on giving

According to an AdAge article (reg. req'd) the Dove campaign has chalked up another noteworthy achievement.

"With not a penny of paid media and in less than a month, "Dove Evolution," a 75-second viral film created by Ogilvy & Mather, Toronto, for the Unilever brand has reaped more than 1.7 million views on YouTube and has gotten significant play on TV talk shows "Ellen" and "The View" as well as on "Entertainment Tonight." It's also brought the biggest-ever traffic spike to CampaignForRealBeauty.com, three times more than Dove's Super Bowl ad and resulting publicity last year, according to Alexa.com."

Todd Tillemans, VP-North American skin care: "This is a great example of where we're not using the old playbook where we do a lot of TV advertising," he said. He believes the strong consumer insight behind "Campaign for Real Beauty" gave the effort "viral legs" and that the particular message was "more powerful because it came from an objective source" in the form of the TV news and entertainment programs."

Great stuff. We continue to "heart" this campaign and its extraordinary results.

TV watching online-- promising?

New numbers are out from TNS and the Conference Board regarding the number of consumers who watch TV content online.  This article couches the numbers as "only 1 in 10" web users are watching shows online.  I actually would argue that it hasn't been that long that a plethoria of programs have been available online.  Given the newness of the trend, 1 in 10 ain't that bad...

In another year, the numbers could be significantly higher. That's why these outlets are called "emerging" media.

http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=50166&Nid=24558&p=375266

Why are people watching this stuff?

Check out this interesting New York Times blog article which offers compelling rationale for the apparent "success" of certain types of user generated content (to wit, "The Evolution of Dance" - with more than 34 million views to date). It's successful - "nearly double the number of the runner-up, because it’s not in English. That’s all. No talking. No dialogue, no voice-over, no monologue. No language but lyrics.....That’s it’s secret: it’s a silent movie. With a soundtrack."

The posting continues with an interesting cultural insight (that's either cultural or just about language, I can't decide which) : "In English, people love to opine and blather, which is well-suited to blogging. By contrast, Asian blogs — the ones I’ve seen them translated from Mixi — are not polemical, and not even very wordy. They’re links and images."

Well I love to opine and blather and my first language is English so there you have it, focus group of one, validating this assertion.

The posting has an interesting conclusion: "What will make the web universal, what will turn us into one magical networked planet, what will blow our minds with how much can be said in icons and images and film — and, above all, why Google didn’t overpay for YouTube — is video."

Kind of makes sense - and what I most respond to in video (specifically the example cited above) is the easy entertainment aspect of it - you don't have to think too much, you can just let it wash over you.

If I want a lean forward experience I'll go shop for a vehicle, man.

Thoughts from the Peanut Gallery?

Meet Adam, Reuters' Second Life correspondent.

Adam Reuters (left) is Reuters' bureau chief in Second Life. In real life, he is Adam Pasick, a veteran tech and media journalist. He's already conducted interviews with Second Life movers and shakers like Ginko CEO Nicholas Portocarrero and Philip Rosedale, Linden Lab's CEO.

According to Wikipedia, "as of early October 2006, Second Life has approximately 850,000 total user accounts and 358,000 users active over the previous 60 days, relatively few compared to other virtual worlds, such as World of Warcraft's 7 million subscribers".

However, if Reuters is covering it, that tells me this Second Life thingy is catching on.

Snaps to Organic's Three Minds for the tip.

Taking local search to a whole new place

Thanks to Springwise for turning us onto this one:

"London buses will soon carry the world's first GPS advertising. Yell.com has retained 25 buses outfitted with digital LED panels that will show messages matching the bus's geographical position.

Yell.com is using the GPS panel system as part of a five-month campaign to raise awareness of its local search facility. Besides intelligent buses, the campaign (developed by AKQA) also includes knowledgeable bus shelters: interactive screens on bus shelters will highlight local shops, restaurants and bars and help users find their way."

Click on the visual to get a better look at exactly how this works.

What a cool way to give consumers exactly what they need when and where they need it. A wonderful way of bringing search functionality out of the PC and into the consumer's life on the city street.

The Long Virtual Tail

iTunes, Netflix, eBay, Amazon - we all know the value (and explicit proof) of the Long Tail by now. These online outlets have long been credited with helping feed every consumer's nuanced passions and interests, and successfully making money out of it. MySpace has become a forum for a seemingly endless number of struggling musicians to gain momentum and a loyal following scattered across continents. But I haven't yet heard murmurings about another outlet that may take niche-marketing to a whole new level....

This blog posting about fashion design in Second Life got me thinking: Are MMORPG and their avatar residents the newest form of an ultra-niche market? Think about - it's all VIRTUAL. The possibilities for dressing, feeding, housing and entertaining an online alter-ego are really only limited by the imagination and technology. And when it comes to clothing design, technology has already improved to the point where the finest shadow, texture and detailing can be rendered digitally. An avatar clothing designer can flex his or her creative muscles and gain credibility (and acclaim) as a genuinely talented creative mind. They can even get paid for it! Even American Apparel has capitalized on the opportunity, offering over 4,000 different designs in their Second Life store.  Thoughts, comments? Should we ask Chris Anderson to write us a new chapter?