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29
Oct
In April this year, I produced the main promo video and short documentary for the launch of Nikon’s new D5000 camera ( a pretty cool toy, might I add!). We then blasted it onto …. Youtube. We’ve had a respectable 145,000 views since and heaps of comments/hits/sales/the lot). And most importantly a happy client. Not bad you say. Not bad.
However if I knew then what I know now, this video would have reached at least 500,000 eyeballs. And it would have blown open Nikon’s D5000 advertisng and marketing strategy, both online and offline.
Here’s what I’ve learnt about producing and distributing successful viral videos since :
- Generally, a concept should not be forced because it fits a brand. Rather, a brand should be fit into a great concept. Content is not always KING.
- Don’t make an outright TVC: if a video feels like an ad, viewers won’t share it. The Nikon video I did was soft, but nonetheless, we did pump the product. It worked. But it could have been better. How? We could have been a little less polished … yes, it seems viral videos thrive on that slightly rough security cam look. As a creative producer I shiver in horror, as a marketer, I shrug my shoulders – the customer always wins!
- The core concept of video marketing on YouTube is to harness the power of the site’s traffic. To drive traffic to see your video. From other sources, like blogs and forums and social media. Dang!
- Tag the videos! Give people what they want by placing the keyword tags of what they’re looking for when you upload your video. It’s elementary, ain’t it?
Again … If I knew then, what I know now … Nikon’s D5000 would be out of stock. Sigh … There’s always next time and I never live in regret. I did a great job and like I said, I have a happy client. And an even happier Nikon fanbase. Peace out!
For more of my musings and adventures in media, visit www.influenceinmedia.com
On lazy days I dream about long, deep conversations with Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, Johnny Depp and the weird wonderful mind of film director Guillermo del Toro.
When I’m not fantasizing, I produce TVCs and digital media campaigns to pay the bills – and I’ve had alot of fun pulling together crazy-hot concept ideas for clients like Fairfax Media, Gloria Jeans Coffees, Toyota, Lexus, Optus, NineMSN, E*Trade and most recently HP, Virgin, Fiat, Etihad, Alfa Romeo and Advil.
And when I get itchy feet, I direct films – three so far … each a hard hitting, let’s-save-the-world kinda documentary shot in Colombia, Kenya and India (www.inherfootsteps). They’re definitely not in the vein of ’The September Issue’, but I loved making them anyway. Someone must’a thought they were alright. They played on cinemas across Australia and one of them debuts on Australian TV later in 2009.
That’s me, in a nutshell. A human being with a passion for storytelling that actually resonates with people and helps them change their world! www.influenceinmedia.com
