Derek Powazek - Ethics in Online Advertising

Derek Powazek - Ethics in Online Advertising.

"So there’s this video game called Guitar Hero that the kids are into these days. A few days ago, a video appeared on YouTube showing someone “playing” the game while riding a bike. Today a videogame blog found out that that the video was produced by an ad agency. (Score one for bloggers doing real journalism.) Internet impresario Ze Frank, who posted the video to his site a few days earlier, today asked his readers, “does it detract from its value?” Here’s what I think. Short answer: Yes."

Change.Gov

Change.Gov .

"I certainly hope the Obama administration applies for next year’s Groundswell awards , they’d be a fantastic case study of how institutions are embracing social technologies to connect with people. It’s really hard for anyone to be a nay-sayers about the adoption of these tools now, if the big ol’ government can start to connect with people, corporations can too."

We Can Solve It

This is a cool video interface:

We Can Solve It.

Obama Viriginia video

I posted the Wisconsin "targeted" video that the Obama campaign sent out last week to get out the vote.  Here is the one sent out in Virginia:

He Would Hate To Live In Milwaukee?

I know I've gone on and on about how much Obama's people get 2.0, and here is another example we can learn from.  This video and microsite is one of many version of this message V-Blasted out today by the Obama campaign to different cities, with different messages... microtargeted to specific voter populations all around the country.  We often talk about targeting videos based upon the interests of the recipients, not just the "message" of the marketer, and this is a great example. 

No matter what your political affiliation, you gotta admit that these guys understand how net video can be effective:  1) Micro-Targeted (narrowcast), not Mass-Targeted (broadcast); 2) multiple videos with multiple messages to specific audiences; 3) Ease of "viral" functionality and highly portable media (this one is YOUTUBE.  Obama's site uses Brightcove); 4) a clear "call to action" accompanying the message on the web page (with a "sign up to volunteer" form right next to the player); 5) a simple, clear URL with a MESSAGE not a corporate logo; 6) easily "snackable" functionality (in this case, YOUTUBE's default, but still good!); 7) a detailed HTML text field for ease of search engine SEO; and 8) a short video!!!

I would have suggested trimming about 20 seconds to keep it under two minutes, and I wish they linked to the article where the quote is from so you could see the context... as it is it leaves a bit of suspicion in ones mind that the quote is out of context... and I could have done without the Joe Biden cameo at the end (kind of like one of those evening news promos where you know that he did about ninety of them in an hour)... but other than that...

How financial marketers are staying afloat - iMediaConnection.com

How financial marketers are staying afloat - iMediaConnection.com.

"Back-to-basics marketing with an emphasis on trust is essential," said Alan C. Scott, SVP and CMO of Enterprise Media Group, Dow Jones & Company. His organization is weathering the storm by focusing on the message being sent out, rather than on ROI, clicks or other measurements. "We are focusing more on what we are saying to the marketplace, so that we can be seen as authentic, real and in it with everyone else," he said during a panel presentation at the iMedia Financial Marketing Summit in New York City.

Social media: lipstick on a pig or total makeover?

Link: Social media: lipstick on a pig or total makeover?.

What other questions would you add to the list?

CynthiaX

Video is becoming the media of choice to drive students to the Web

Colleges using new media get results, plus why it's critical to use web analytics!

Link: Video is becoming the media of choice to drive students to the Web.

The do's and don'ts of URL promotion

Here is a good summary of how to use URL's in online promotions.

"Marketers take heed! Before shelling out big bucks to procure your next domain or running an ad campaign to promote one(s) you already own, make sure you've outlined a robust URL strategy and informed all key constituents of the guidelines for use. You'd be surprised what a difference a good URL can make."

iMedia Connection: Who's doing video right?

This is a good article about who's doing online video right and who's doing it wrong. It goes through some recent video campaigns and talks about what works and what doesn't. An excerpt:

"When it comes to producing branded content, advertisers can definitely benefit from giving their target markets entertaining and relevant content. They just need to remember that the canvas they're working with is much longer than 30 seconds and that the attention level is intrinsically higher. This makes a hard sell much less appealing."