Splinter Cell Takes Viral Marketing To Another Level

It started with a tweet.

"www.splintercell.com has been hacked. We are trying our best to resolve the situation and will update ASAP."

Splinter Cell, a popular espionage video game franchise from game studio Ubisoft Montreal, is set to release its latest game in the first quarter of 2010, and an interesting viral marketing campaign has been launched to help promote it.

The first stage of this viral marketing campaign? Let's take down the website. While every attempt has been made to make it seem as though the video game's official website has been hacked by a third party, investigative minds have demonstrated that this is likely a ploy to hype the game. And I say it's a good one.

The website opens with Russian characters and appears to be loading a new page. Nothing happens. If you check the page source code (and I swear I'm not nerdy enough to think of doing this myself), the code says the following:

Th!s S!T3 hä¢KeD ߥ VL@d69
M3M0RY l3@K C0nfirm3d
c0nfID3N7i@L d@t@ c3r7ifi3d
Unix D@7@ f0ld3R Sc-hack/2009
http://bit.ly/6M12tE
V0r0n v2.1.f

If you click on the bit.ly link, it will lead you to an ASCII image of a raven. One supposes this is the symbol of the supposed hacker group.

While many viral web campaigns launch another website on which to toy with its audience, using the official Splinter Cell site for this purpose, and maintaining that a group of real-world hackers are responsible, adds another level of intrigue to the campaign.

The ongoing (fake) website hack is being chronicled through the Ubisoft Twitter account. A new tweet this morning says the hackers are now targeting the rest of Ubisoft.com. Interesting!

You've got my attention, Ubisoft. I really want to see how the rest of this viral marketing soap opera plays out.

Say Cheese, Ottawa! Social Media Hits the Capital!

Call me a geek, but it truly warms my heart to see people using social media in unique ways to generate mass awareness. It warms my heart even more to know its being embraced by our very own city hall!

The City of Ottawa is running their first major social media campaign/contest called: Picture it downtown. The concept intends to draw awareness for all eight of downtown Ottawa's beautiful communities (Bank Street, Byward Market, Chinatown, Downtown Rideau, Preston Street, Sparks Street, The Glebe, and Wellington West).

Go downtown. Snap a picture. Share it online. It's as simple as that!

The recent recession has resulted in the City of Ottawa looking for a way to keep the city's economy humming by keeping citizens interested in Ottawa's downtown's core. What better way to showcase all the great sights, sounds, and excitement of Ottawa than to create a contest that interacts with the people?

It's brilliant!

The contest runs from October 15, 2009 to November 19, 2009 and incorporates the use of some of the Internet's most popular social media tools.

You can see the contest's pictures on: Flicker
You can watch the contest's videos on: YouTube
You can join the conversation about Ottawa's downtown on: Twitter

What's great about the content being produced is it shows real people in Ottawa interacting in some of the city's most exciting venues. With an extensive list of contest sponsors providing some great daily prizes, there are plenty of chances to win. Including nine grand prizes consisting of gift certificates, or prize packages, with a minimum value of $500.

I'd like to think the City of Ottawa was somewhat inspired by our good friend Luigi during the successful Catch Luigi Contest this past summer. Either way, it's great to see people, businesses, and city hall recognizing the marketing power of social media.

Say Cheese, Ottawa! Get out there and snap some pics!

For more information, visit Picture It Downtown.

The Friday Breakthrough: How To Find Love, Ruin Starbucks, or Creep Around Toronto

The Friday Breakthrough is a weekly roundup of the internet's best marketing and social media articles for a less-than-intense day at the office.

Which words get you a reply to an email inquiry? Direct mail marketers need to know, and so do people looking for love online. Here's exactly what to say in a first message.

Is Starbucks making itself obsolete with its recently-launched instant coffee brand? An anonymous poster at Adrants.com thinks so… Starbucks trashing its own brand with VIA.

I didn’t see Bruno in a theatre. Is that because Twitter told me not to? This article does a good job of dispelling some of the hype around Twitter’s ability to impact box-office receipts: Forget Ebert: How Twitter makes or breaks movie marketing today.

I did not receive any free products to write this blog. Now, if I were in the United States, I would be legally required to tell you. Of course, if you have some free Nikes lying around, I would take them off your hands… FTC cracks down on blogger payola.

Canadians love Streetview. It’s only been live for a week now, but apparently, that’s all the time we need to point out some hilarious sights on the streets of Toronto... Check these out.

Don't forget to tweet your favourite online marketing articles to @marketingottawa for inclusion in next week's Friday Breakthrough.

Does online outrage hurt sales? Not if you’re Ikea

Online petitions are the norm these days. They’re so easy to distribute, sign, and present to concerned individuals that going door-to-door with a pen and paper has become as antiquated as rabbit-ear antennae on a TV.

These petitions are sometimes the result of a misstep by an organization. Citizens and consumers take to the internet to express their concern, outrage, or support for bold decisions. In Ottawa, petitions run the gamut of topics, from “More and free scooter parking downtown”, to “Virgin Radio ads must come down!”

Furniture store Ikea and its recently released 2010 catalogue present an interesting case study in online outrage. Graphic designers and typographists took to twitter and popular blogs to express their disgust with Ikea for switching their catalogue font to Verdana (a standard Microsoft font, originally made for easy on-screen reading) from its formerly synonymous artsy font, Futura.

I received the Ikea catalogue days before I came across this story on the graphic design blog. It seemed like the same furniture, and the same design philosophy to me. But it’s a big deal to a select community, and vocal few.

Blog commentors cried, “Verdana doesn't feel ‘Ikea’ at all,” and, “Instead of standing out, they try to blend in. It’s a shame.” Fans of the old font have collected more than 4,000 signatures at petitiononline.com – no small feat, but a drop in the bucket in terms of Ikea’s customers and overall sales.

An Ikea spokesperson recent stated that only experts are interested in the font change, and the average furniture-buyer won’t even notice it. In other words, they’re expecting the outrage to subside, and regular sales to continue. Graphic designers are upset, but it won’t prevent people from coming through those big blue sliding doors.

They’re trusting that their products will see them through this minor controversy. And I have a feeling that soon, even designers will be heading back to the store for a $149 VIKA on which to do their work.

Travel Destinations in Our Own Backyard

The other day, I happened upon a web banner for the "Locals Know" campaign. Since I was, at the time, planning a mini vacation to Toronto, I clicked the link to check out what the website has to offer. The main messaging of the website urges Canadians to "Discover the Canada you don't know." Is that a challenge, Canadian Tourism Commission? As their press release for the campaign explains, they aim to inspire Canadians to explore Canada's "surprises and secrets" such as "desert-like dunes in the middle of the country", "volcanoes on the verge of the Pacific", and "tropic-like waters within hours of vibrant cities." Tell me more!

Visitors to LocalsKnow.ca are encouraged to post their own "spots" - they must be in Canada and they should be places that "most people have never heard of." As I perused through the photos, I noticed that there were in fact intriguing Canadian hot spots that I was unaware of. For example, check out this photo of beautiful turquoise water. Can you believe that this is an Ontario destination? Crazy!

The website also boasts travel deals from "partners" of the campaign. Most of the deals here in Ottawa are care of Ottawa Tourism. The great thing about Ottawa is that, as Canada's Capital, there are countless tourist attractions. That said, these attractions are not just for tourists! People come from miles around to see our great museums, check out the Byward Market or Parliament Hill, attend Bluesfest or the Jazz Festival or the Casino du Lac-Leamy Sound of Light festival... I could go on forever! What's your favourite Ottawa attraction or activity? (My favourite attraction is Saunder's Farm at Halloween-time, located just outside of the city in Munster.)

Although I didn't end up finding any deals to take advantage of for my upcoming trip, I did find that the site was inspiring in that it reminded me that you don't need an expensive plane ticket to experience something new and exciting!

The Secret's Out!

This past Friday, Vito Pilieci of the Ottawa Citizen broke the news that "Apple Inc. is secretly building a new Apple Store at the Rideau Centre." The word on the street is that it will be opening next month. Pilieci reports that "Apple has refused to comment on the opening of the store, despite having numerous postings on its website giving away the shop's location and tentative opening date." Apple has allegedly "forced the Rideau Centre to sign restrictive non-disclosure agreements forbidding officials from talking about the new retail outlet."

At first, I thought "what's the big deal, Apple?" But then I did a bit of Googling and found that these openings ARE a big deal for some people. Apparently, hardcore Apple fans have been known to fly across the world to attend Apple store openings.

I will definitely be keeping an eye out for any promotion for this new Ottawa store over the next few weeks, if/once Apple decides to start putting the word out. It should be interesting to see what strategies and technology they employ!

Hockey 2.0

My boyfriend, like many hockey fans, is very excited about this whole possible-relocation-of-the-Phoenix-Coyotes-to-Southern-Ontario thing. As he was telling me the whole story over dinner last night, my interest was piqued by his mention of makeitseven.ca. Jim Balsillie (pictured here wearing a silly hat), the man behind the scheme to purchase and move the team, initiated this website, designed to be an "online community to help promote bringing Canada its seventh franchise". If you check it out, you'll see that right now there is just a splash page with messaging and the option to sign up for updates. What's interesting to me is that Balsillie has taken this web 2.0 approach, reaching out to hockey fans for support. I think it's a really smart move, considering he has a big battle with NHL bigwigs ahead of him.

Today, Balsillie issued a statement to the press, thanking the 100,000 + people that signed up to support his bid. 100,000 people... that's a lot. How can you argue with 100,000 fans??? Now, not only is the NHL battling it out with Balsillie, but also 100,000 other people on his side!

Do you think it will make a difference? I'm pretty sure that social media helped Obama in a pretty important battle last year, so maybe it will help Balsillie, too!

The Facebook ToS Group: A Lesson in Going Viral

When Facebook released their new Terms of Service, there was quite a backlash. A bunch of groups were created that were completely against them. One of these groups really went viral, and grew to be much larger than the other ones.

Why? What made one group succeed over the others?

Thankfully, the guy who made the group blogs on yojibee.com, and he has some answers to that question.

The main answer seems to be initial reach.

He didn't just use Facebook. He blogged about it. He tweeted. One idea that was really good was searching Twitter for anyone who had mentioned the new ToS. He then sent them a tweet telling them about the group. This is a good idea for two obvious reasons: 1) chances are that people on Twitter are also on Facebook and 2) people who mentioned the keyword would be very likely interested in the group.

Now, this wouldn't always work. The ToS issue was conducive to this because anyone who tweeted about it had to know about it, and in order to know about it you had to be pretty up-to-date on Facebook happenings. In short, people who tweeted about the Facebook ToS actually cared, and would respond to a tweet that mentioned something related to it. This wouldn't always work. For many things, you'd have to do multiple searches of more long tail keywords... which is still a good strategy.

Speaking of the Facebook ToS, you the vote page is up. Go vote now.

Billy Bob Thornton is viral

Is he really that much of a pompous arse? Probably.

Does he really think we'll remember him for his music, rather than his Oscar win? He probably thinks so.

Did Billy Bob Thornton (B.B.T. for short) really just make this week's most viral online content? Absolutely.

Only hours after Billy Bob Thornton appeared on CBC Radio yesterday morning did the National Post upload the most perfectly worded headline: Billy Bob Thornton makes an ass of himself on CBC.

In what started out as an excellent Joaquin Pheonix impression turned into a piece of online viral video gold. Transcripts, articles, videos, and audio clips will be uploaded and streamed all day today as people all around the world jump on the Billy Bob Thornton crazy train.

B.B.T. spent the duration of his 13-minute interview with CBC Radio's always professional host, Jian Ghomeshi, awkwardly answering questions and making his own band, The Boxmasters, appear very uncomfortable.

Neverthless, millions of people now know the name of the band... right? Whether he intentionally sacrificed his already tarnished celebrity persona, or he found an excellent way to get some viral exposure, one thing is for sure:

Billy Bob Thornton, you are an ass.

If you'd like to see why I've made such a claim, watch the video:
Billy Bob Thornton 'Blow Up' on Q TV

The Skittles Twitter Social Media Viral Campaign

Have you checked out the Skittles homepage recently? Oh you haven't? At all? Well, check it out, okay?

It's generating a lot of buzz because it's basically just a snapshot of a search for "Skittles" on Twitter. The Skittles Twitter marketing campaign is generating a fair bit of buzz online. Some of the Skittles buzz has been negative. Some of the Skittles buzz has been a bit more back and forth on its analysis. I'll aim for the latter.

Here are my thoughts:

1. What's the point of showcasing a search for Twitter on the Skittles homepage?

From the user's perspective... I can't think of much. Mostly, this Twitter viral campaign just opens itself up to pranks. Say something silly, mention the word Skittles. Easy prank.

But, then again, to be fair, I can't argue with the amount of buzz that Skittles has generated.

2. Why collect my age?

Seriously, this is really annoying. When you go to the Skittles homepage you have to put in your age. To heck with that. I'll just, you know, go to Twitter and search Skittles. My computer cookies won't even save it, so I have to do it every time. That's just annoying.

3. Does this connect me to the brand in anyway?

I don't think so. Mostly people are just spamming the word Skittles now. It's not like I'm seeing actual conversations or reviews about Skittles. I'm seeing this:

It's pretty hard for big name brands to use social media in a viral marketing campaign that works to actually connect brands to people. I certainly applaud Twitter's efforts. But I think other companies have done it more effectively (the connectivity part, that is). Jeep has user-generated photos from Flickr. That's actually pretty cool.

I think that eventually, as some of the spam and buzz dies down, the searches that the Skittles homepage shows will be more relevant. It will actually be discussion about the Skittles brand, which might be neat to show, completely unfiltered, on the Skittles home page. For now, though, there's a lot of spam and/or junk.

4. Has Skittles reached its target audience?

Skittles is supposedly targeting teens and younger adults on Social Media. So, honestly, yeah, I think they have. They're targetting people using social media, and a lot of the buzz has been on social media (Twitter, a lot of blogs, etc.).

5. Is this actually good for Skittles in the long run?

Any publicity isn't necessarily good publicity, but there is really nowhere near enough negative buzz for this to be considered "bad" for Skittles. I think this is probably a pretty great thing for Skittles' brand recognizability, overall.


In closing, I... don't actually really like the taste of Skittles. But maybe if I felt ambivalent towards them the campaign might... MIGHT influence my choice next time I'm choosing an impulse snack in the grocery line.

The Fuzzy Ethics of Twitter Marketing

A few days back, there was somewhat of a mini-controversy regarding the purported Twitter account of Brian Burke (the General Manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs).

From the viewpoint of a Leafs fan, his Twitter posts (or Tweets) are quite hilarious (even if they are unfortunately true):


Of course, it's painfully obvious that this is NOT the real Brian Burke. Although Burke is not hesitant to call out his players, Twitter would not be the medium to do so. The hockey rumour site HockeyBuzz even want as far as to contact Burke himself to get his thoughts on the Twitter account, to which Burke said that he thinks the impostor is "scum".

So, what purpose does the "fake" Brian Burke Twitter account have? Well, it's run by the same guy who write the Leafs blog "Down Goes Brown", and by getting his name out there through these funny, well-written one-liners under the "Brian Burke" persona, he's attracted a whole bunch of new people to his blog.

In my opinion, this is an example of just one way to use Twitter correctly. Let's face it ... many Tweets out there are boring and often just a rehash of a site's RSS feed. This guy stands out by delivering constantly funny material that encourages the user to read more of his stuff (and yes, his longer blog posts are just as good a read as his Tweets).

While the Brian Burke Twitter profile clearly states that it is a parody (and parodies are allowed under the current Twitter Terms of Use), this whole "impostor" issue does bring up some questions about the ethics and standards of using Twitter (and any sort of online forum, really) as a marketing device.

Under the same vein as Brian Burke, there are also fake Twitter accounts for "Bryan Murray", "Bob Gainey", "John Tortorella", "Gary Bettman", and a whole slew of NHL players and management. While it's fairly obvious when somebody is faking a celebrity or sports personality, what happens if it's on a smaller scale? What happens if somebody creates an account under your business name and starts writing ridiculous (or even slanderous) things under your name? Now you can see why Burke says this guy is "scum".

It's a fine line, and like any sort of Web 2.0 application, it's hard to say how it will evolve and be used over time. With Twitter continuing to grow at an unbelievable pace, I'm sure we'll see more and more of these situations pop up. The only question is, will this practice be shunned, outlawed, or embraced?

Christian Bale Rant - A Case Study in Viral Marketing?

By now pretty much everybody on the Internet has heard Christian Bale's expletive-filled rant from the set of Terminator Salvation, where the Dark Knight actor delivers a four-minute verbal beat down on the Director of Photography for being a distraction during a take.

Want proof that everybody and their mother has heard the Christian Bale rant?


The above chart was taken using Google Trends. Marker "A" is the People's Choice Award, which took place on January 8, where Bale took home an award for his work in the latest Batman flick. Marker "B" is February 3, the date the rant was leaked onto the Internet. See that spike? That's 10X the normal search volume for the term "Christian Bale", all because of one profanity-laced tirade.

Of course, there are some crackpot theorists that claim this is all some elaborate

viral marketing campaign

for the new Terminator movie. Given the nature of the audio clip, this is rather unlikely (but of course, not impossible). It does, however, show you just how quickly an idea can spread like wildfire across the Internet. You just have to get a few people talking, and then BAM! That's viral, baby.

Why Facebook Will Never Be a Great Advertising Platform

Well, the awesomeness of Burger King's "Whopper Sacrifice"

online advertising

campaign has come to an end. The application still exists, mind you, but it has been severely de-fanged after Facebook forced the developer to change the way it works due to "privacy concerns".

Seems Facebook had a flame-broiled beef against the way the app notified all of your friends that somebody had been dropped in favour of the almighty Whopper (normally, friends removals are not announced over the news feed).

Unfortunately, that was the whole point of the campaign -- to let your friends in on the joke, and to spread the campaign virally by alerting others about its presence.

Now, nobody will get a notification when they are sacrificed, and all of your friends will think you're a jerk for dropping them with no notice. Yay!

Well, Burger King tried (and hey, they got a lot of press out of it, so this

social marketing

campaign was undoubtedly a huge success for them), but Facebook's unwillingness to play ball with these marketing and advertising agencies isn't doing itself any favours if it still wants to pretend to be a viable advertising platform.

Could It Be ... A Facebook Advertising Campaign Done Right?

When it comes to

Web 2.0

and

Social Media

, Facebook is definitely at the top of the heap. However, despite all of its success, Facebook is still nothing more than a place where web advertising goes to die -- the futile attempts to leverage Facebook as an effective advertising medium has been well documented across the web (this recent article on Silicon Alley Insider goes into more detail as to why companies such as Proctor & Gamble are becoming more and more disillusioned with the site's ads).

But the fact of the matter is, a lot of people use Facebook a lot. So there must be some way to capture this audience, right?

The problem with most Facebook ads is that either they're nothing more than a simple banner ad, or they promote banal and predictable customer interactions such as leaving comments or submitting photos. It seems that although Facebook is supposed to be the very definition of "Web 2.0", the ads on the site are very Stone Age in nature.

That is, until Burger King came along.


Instead of using a normal Facebook ad, BK has opted to market itself through a new Facebook Application -- a program that must be actively installed onto the Facebook user's profile.

This new app, called "Whopper Sacrifice", is offering Facebook users a free Whopper ... but not by doing lame stuff like joining a group or forwarding links. Instead, you can get your free hamburger by choosing to de-friending 10 of your buddies on your Facebook account.

That's right. You have to choose between your friends or your food. And to add insult to injury, the application will also send a message to your ex-pal telling them that they were dropped from your friends list in favour of a juicy, flame-broiled burger. Harsh. As one poster on Fark commented, "Those worthless people I knew in high school are finally proving to be useful for something."

I've already touched on the cleverness of Burger King's previous marketing campaigns, and in my opinion, "Whopper Sacrifice" is nothing short of amazing.

First of all, it's getting people to actually go to Burger King to cash in their free Whopper. Second, every time you drop one of your friends, the proclamation of your burgerish loyalties is displayed on your News Feed -- for all of your other friends to see (which will likely prompt a few of them to download the app themselves, thereby repeating the process ... hmmmm ... sounds like the very definition of

viral marketing

to me).

Some people say that the app is pointless since you can just re-add your friends after claiming your burger. But guess what? That's not the point. As long as the app makes you think of Burger King (and ultimately step inside the joint for your free burger), then it's done its job. The King doesn't care what you do with your Facebook profile after the fact.

The only question is ... is this the start of something good (companies actually thinking outside the box and using clever ways to utilize Facebook), or will this launch a new era of poorly-written and annoying copycat corporate applications that will flood our Facebook profiles like so many zombie, ninja, and pirate apps have in the past? Time will tell.

Behold! The Power of Viral Videos!

Wow ... that didn't take long. TechCrunch is reporting that within 12 hours of going "viral", the YouTube video of the Iraqi journalist throwing a shoe at George W. Bush had already been viewed more than 5.5 million times -- and could reach more views after a 48 hour time period than Obama's victory speech.

Just to add a couple more views to the pile, here's the video in case you haven't seen it:



Nice reflexes on the part of W, I might add.

While it's not exactly an example of viral marketing (no subliminal advertising going on here ... but now that I think about it, I do have the sudden urge to read a lot of Associated Press wire stories), it just shows the extreme power that an online video can have.

If you produce and/or upload something that catches on with a lot of people, there's no telling how big it could be. Of course, the biggest problem is figuring what exactly that special something is -- the Internet can be such a fickle mistress.

What is Viral Marketing?

It's not just a buzz word.

According to Wikipedia, viral marketing is so named because of it's likeness to:

...self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet.^[1] Viral marketing is a marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message voluntarily.

So, viral marketing is not spamming Facebook or Twitter. That's just bad advertising.

Viral marketing is not a press release you spam to all your friends.

Viral marketing is not a Youtube version of your company's 30 second TV spot.

Viral marketing is the creation of something worth passing on, that then gets (and pay attention because this is key) passed on.

In short: it ain't viral til it is.

A good example of viral marketing is the Pomegranate Phone. What makes it viral?Well, I heard about it because Dave said, "Hey Mike, check this out." And now I'm passing it on further on this blog. It's being spread, freely, by people not associated with the Pomegranate marketing team.

Oh, and here's the original site for the Pomegranate Phone: http://www.pomegranatephone.com/

Pass it on.

The New Benefits of Video

As the old saying goes, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

In today’s media-savvy world, nothing temps and tantalizes a potential client like a well-crafted promotional video. With smart scriptwriting, captivating testimonials, sharp interviews, fantastic pictures and sound, and excellent production values, a promotional video is perhaps the most important investment a company can make to “seal the deal”.

Some Eye-Opening Statistics

Over the last year, for example, Canadians spent 1.2 billion more minutes viewing online multimedia than the year before.

In June of 2008, 81.96% of Canadian web users viewed online videos. Of those, the average viewer watched 398.7 minutes and 111.7 videos.

Statistics also show that when a web page offers streaming videos and rich media, web users stay on the page and website for a longer period of time. For a business, this means that they get a much better chance to broadcast their messages to users who are willing to listen.

In addition, distribution costs for most online digital media is zero. And if a well-crafted video goes “viral,” your customers will continue to spread your message for you.

The Future

No longer are videos only expected on the website of large Fortune 500 companies, even small- to mid-sized businesses are expected to have website videos featuring their products, services, and their unique company story. Websites that don’t include videos will soon be left behind.


For more information on the future of streaming video and viral marketing, please see the extended version of this article, which can be found on the Marketing Breakthroughs website here.

Learn Viral Marketing from the Pros in Politics

Creating a video that really goes viral (like, 10 million free views viral) is hard. It's really, really hard.

The truth is that most videos don't go viral. The people you send the video to see it, and they might send it to a friend or two, but generally it fizzles out.

So what goes into a great viral video?

Well, lots. But ones of the ways to learn is to see what works. (Duh.)

Presented in this post on Politico.com are the 10 most viral videos of the campaign (the American presidential campaign, that is).

What's interesting here is the variety between the videos. They range from simple, heartfelt talks from war veterans to silly photoshopped "dance-offs" between the candidates.

Take a look through them. They're pretty interesting viewing, to say the least.

Check Out the New Nike Ad Directed by David Fincher

Remember when David Fincher made Fight Club?

Apparently he's pretty good at making Nike ads, too.

This one is part of a series called LEAVE NOTHING



Watch it at Youtube.

There are more, too. Here's another LEAVE NOTHING Nike Ad. And another.

The theme for this one is from Ennio Morricone. In fact, it's a remixed version of the theme for "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly."

Personally, I think the video is great. It captures an emotion and ties it to Nike's brand beautifully. I enjoy most of their motivation-oriented videos. They work together extremely well. Even though I suspect that most Nike customers don't train the way the athletes in the videos do, I would bet that most of them fight to motivate themselves to train that hard, or have a serious appreciation for those who do.

Nike captures those feelings better than its competitors. It speaks to rather than at its audience. And judging by the popularity of the video on YouTube, it's doing its job virally - getting passed on from blogger to blogger and person to person, all at no extra cost to Nike.

A thank you to AdRANTS' RSS feed for pointing me to the initial link to the video.

I’m from Gen Y and these are the things I want

Hi.

My name is Mike and I’m from Generation Y. I’ve read a fair bit about what people are saying about Generaton Y, and after some introspection, I’ve realized that a fair bit of is true. So let me tell you a little bit about myself.

I’m 21-years-old and I’m university educated. Towards the end of high school, everyone told me to get a degree. Before heading off to university, I never thought about learning a trade, even though there are more and more “big money jobs” in the skilled trades.

My upbringing was pretty relaxed, actually. Both sets of my grandparents lived through the Great Depression, and they were extremely conservative in their finances and in how they raised their children. My own parents, as a consequence, were a lot more liberal in how they raised me.

In truth, like most of Gen-Y, I’ve never had it “tough.” I’ve never been extremely worried about finances. When I worked a summer at a moving company and didn’t enjoy the erratic 17 hour days followed by two hour days I didn’t grit my teeth and soldier on – I quit.

I guess because I’ve never worried about finances too much, I’m not always looking for the highest paying job there is. I’m looking for great benefits and room for growth in an awesome work environment. Provide that and I’ll be more loyal than you’d expect.

Look, my parents work long, long days. They don’t relax much. I’ve enjoyed a fair bit of material wealth because of it, but I don’t want to lead the same kind of life they do. I want to balance my career with my personal life. Guarantee me 150k/year if I work 100 hours every week in a small cubicle and I’ll tell you to get lost. Half my friends have divorced, “career-driven” parents, and I’m not walking down that path.

You might think I’m lazy, but I’m not. (No, really.) I’m willing to work hard – just not in a dead end job. I want to know my work makes a real difference at your company. Maybe it’s a bit presumptuous to want to make an impact and have a personal life, but so be it. I still think I have something to offer the right employer.

And whether you’re trying to sell me a work environment or a new cologne, please don’t try and BS me. It’s not that I can smell it a mile away – I just get so much of it these days that I ignore it. I don’t care much for random testimonials or buzz words. I care what my friends think. In one way, I’m actually very susceptible to trends - I own an iPod Touch, an iPod Shuffle, and I really want an iPhone 3G.

My ego certainly isn’t big enough to let me claim I’m immune to marketing. I just appreciate great ideas. I admit I never thought all that much of Burger King’s Subservient Chicken, but Pepsi’s Mentos videos on YouTube are pretty neat.

It would be very hard for you to repeat the sucesses of either of those unique campaigns. And the last thing you want is to look like you’re trying too hard. What I really appreciate (and what I suggest) is a bit of honesty. Show me your product’s benefits (but stay away from the hyperbole) and I’ll listen.

For example, take those Apple ads on TV with the hip Mac kid and that office drone PC guy (you know, he sort of looks like a chubby Bill Gates?). Sometimes I think that it almost seems like Apple is trying too hard with those ads, but I let it slide because:

1. They’re amusing.
2. They bring up good, salient points. Gosh, now that I think about it, I am tired of Windows asking me if I’m sure I really want to do such and such a task.

Really, all you have to do to appeal to me is get rid of the obvious fluff and buzz and give me the information related to your product that I’m looking for.

Also, everything I’ve read about “Generation Y” tells me that I want things like information fast. I guess that’s true, but all this really means is that it’s nice if your website has the relevant information I’m looking for in an organized format. Heck, I’ll even subscribe to your online newsletter and let you blatantly try and sell me stuff if the newsletter is also filled with quality information.

Oh, and about wanting things fast: you really need to offer a cheap, expedited shipping option (if you ship things).

No, really – this isn’t a joke! I order a lot online and I can’t stand having to wait more than a week. Please don’t try and make me wait. If you do, I’ll probably just find a store that does have the option.

So that’s who I am, and that’s what I want. I don’t think it’s too much. I don’t think it’s too unreasonable. Is it?