The Growing Impact of Video Marketing in Canada

It’s no surprise that online videos are playing a large role, not only in marketing and branding, but also in society as a whole. Want to listen to a new hit song? Watch the video. Missed your favourite CTV show? Turn to YouTube. Trying to learn how to “Grill the Perfect Steak” search it on Google…and watch the video.

According to comScore, Canadians viewed more than 5.1 billion videos in February 2011 alone, with the average viewer watching 232 videos. So what is it about Canada that makes video such an important aspect of our daily lives?

It may not be science, but here are my insights;

1. Wealthy developed nation with a high level of education. This one may seem like a no brainer, but as a wealthier developed nation more of our citizens have access to the technology and resources in order to watch online videos. Also, our high level of education means there are more of us seeking additional valuable information and, more importantly, in as fast a mode as possible. That’s not to say that non-educational videos don’t attract some views, such as this personal favourite of mine… "Muppets - Old Spice Spoof"
2. Limited access to some American broadcasts. While it may seem far stretched, this point has some real validity. Take, for example, the Super Bowl, where advertising has become almost as important as the game itself. With Canadian broadcasting not showing the highly promoted and astronomically expensive American ads, viewers turn to the web to catch up on what they’ve missed, and advertisers seem happy to oblige.
3. Cold winters and four seasons. While our weather is one of things that defines us as truly Canadian, the cold winters can leave us cooped up for extended periods. This just adds another opportunity to explore the web and view hundreds of videos.
   

While you can’t ignore the many other marketing mediums, promotional online videos are on the rise. If you haven’t created one yet, it’s time to start. Developing professional videos can be quite cost-effective even for small to medium-sized business and can have a large impact on your online presence.

AtlasCare, a Toronto Air Conditioner client, based in Oakville, recently launched a new video on the benefits of a SpacePak air conditioning system. To our delight, the video ranks on the first page of Google for “Toronto SpacePak,” and is being featured on the supplier website, www.spacepak.com. Other video success stories arise constantly, and, as a bare minimum, they are a great way of showcasing your products and services to potential customers in a medium that is becoming increasingly important.

Vintage Ottawa Promotional Video

Take a trip back to the 40s with this awesome video - an episode of James A. Fitzpatrick's Traveltalks devoted to our own beautiful city of Ottawa. Thank you, YouTube! What a great promotional video for Ottawa tourism. As an Ottawan myself, it hits me that the video is so summer-focused given how striking our winters are.

FAIL: Nestle's Social Media PR Blunder

One of the foremost reasons why engaging with social media can be advantageous to businesses is that they can catch customers' concerns about their company that they are sharing with their neighbours in cyberspace and address them directly before too much damage is done. Earlier this month, the people over at Nestle found themselves in some hot water (or shall I say, hot chocolate?) on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and numerous blogs.

The kerfuffle stemmed from a campaign that has been initiated by Greenpeace, accusing Nestle of "threatening the livelihoods of local people and pushing orang-utans towards extinction" due to their use of "palm oil from companies that are trashing Indonesian rainforests". Part of this campaign was a gruesome online video, which Nestle lobbied to have removed from YouTube citing copyright infringement. This probably wasn't the greatest PR move, since this stirred up even more controversy and conflict.

Round two of the battle between Greenpeace supporters and Nestle took place over on Facebook. Unfortunately for Nestle, their representative on Facebook did not keep things professional and later had to backpedal and apologize "for being rude" in his/her comments. Bridget Carey of the Miami Herald sums up the lesson of all of this pretty well:

"If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all... Companies can learn something from this moment... Companies use social media to present a voice. When people are screaming at you, it's best not to scream back."

Friday Breakthrough: Clotaire, Conan, and Stephen

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

1. Clotaire Rapaille is a fascinating character in the world of marketing. He is currently working for a "completely neurotic" "sadomaschist[ic]" client with a "primal reptilian core"... aka Quebec City. His words, not mine, I assure you. The Globe and Mail reports that Rapaille is getting a $300,000 paycheque for his analysis of the city and a resulting strategy to give its image a facelift. That's a whole lot of money, but apparently this guy gets results. Some happy customers include Dubai and Signapore. The website for his company "Archetype Discoveries Worldwide" describes his "Archetype Studies" approach: striving to find the answers to the question "why do people do what they do?" by combining "a psychiatrist's depth of analysis with a businessman's attention to practical concerns". Want more of an explanation? So do I. However, according to the Globe and Mail's article, "it can cost as much as $135,000 to get information contained in the studies has has already done". Fascinating.

2. The Internet is a buzz due to the fact that Conan O'Brien (@ConanOBrien) is randomly following one young lady named Sarah Killen (@LovelyButton) on Twitter. Her world has been turned upside down in a very short time for simply being the only person this very famous person is following: "she [now has] nearly 19,000 followers, a new iMac, a free wedding gown, wedding rings, $2,600 in donations for her cancer walk, and the chance to meet Ludacris". As you read this blog post, I believe her 15 minutes are just about up.

3. Stephen Harper is taking a page from Barack Obama's book, reaching out to younger voters and interacting with them using using social media. The TalkCanada YouTube channel enables Canadians to submit their questions for the Prime Minister. He will answer a selection of top-voted questions on YouTube next Tuesday. So far there have been 65,080 votes on 873 questions from 2,496 people.

Friday Breakthrough: Olympic Edition – Part Three

The Friday Breakthrough is Ottawa's weekly roundup of some of the Internet's best marketing and social media articles for a less-than-intense day at the office. For the duration of the Winter Olympic Games, the Friday Breakthrough will be dedicated to reviewing The Good, The Bad and The "What Were They Thinking?!" of the marketing of the Vancouver Olympics.

Part Three: What Were They Thinking?

And now, the hot mess of Olympic marketing blunders. First up, I must discuss the train wreck of Olympic uniforms that we had to endure during the Olympic ceremonies. Don’t get me wrong, I loved a lot of countries’ Olympic threads, but some were so hideous. (And yes, for any naysayers, Olympic gear has EVERYTHING to do with marketing). Germany takes the cake on the worst uniforms. Pink for girls and blue for boys – I wish I were kidding. Sure, my fashion expertise is limited to episodes of “Project Runway” and my LouLou subscription, but I mean come on! Heidi Klum must be throwing up right now. I couldn’t seem to find a pick of the German uniform disaster, but look for them during closing ceremonies. Trust me, you won’t miss team Deutschland. It’s a bad fashion wreck, you won’t be able to take your eyes off. Also, there’s a good chance you’ll feel better about your grade 8 sewing assignment in Home Ec class. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t have you walk away without viewing a most excellent Olympic fashion faux-pas, I have included a pic of the Norwegian curling team.

Next up: bandwagon jumping of provincial tourism served up with the subtlety of Kanye West. Sure, the spirit of the Olympic Games has always diluted by the onslaught of advertising, sponsorship and press, but am I the only one who finds the constant running of the B.C. and Ontario tourism ads blatant attempts to cash in? I just have one question for British Columbia Tourism: How many of them ACTUALLY call B.C. home?

So who has reached the summit of ultimate Olympic blunders? The hot mess goes to Cold FX. There are several spots featuring Canadian Olympic athletes, all touting the benefits of this cold remedy. Uber cheesy and filmed with the quality that makes you think that local community programming has a bigger budget to work with. Also, the copywriting on the Clara Hughes spot reminds me of feminine hygiene ad from 1962 or something: “I guess it’s not a secret any more.” No Clara, it’s no secret that Cold FX seriously needs to reconsider their advertising. In the words of Charlie Brown: “Good grief!”

My apologies for not attaching the soon-to-be classic Clara Hughes spot, blame it on YouTube. If you’re any Olympic fan at all, you’ve already seen it 74 times at least and if you haven’t - go watch the Olympics!

I hope you enjoyed this three part series, I sure did. Be sure to catch our post-Olympic Friday Breakthrough next week.

Friday Breakthrough: Olympic Edition Part One

The Friday Breakthough is Ottawa’s weekly roundup of some of the Internet’s best marketing and social media articles for a less-than-intense day at the office. For the duration of the Winter Olympic Games, the Friday Breakthrough will be dedicated to reviewing The Good, The Bad and The “What Were They Thinking?!” of the marketing of the Vancouver Olympics.

Part One: The Good

1. Nike’s Force Fate

Nike nails it with “Force Fate”. No commercial in recent memory better captures the attitude of our determined athletes. And what about those golden expectations? Their defiant retort: “Destiny doesn’t decide if we win. We do.” Wicked line. Pow! They hit you in the gut with that. The music is killer, too. It’s a crank-up-your-ipod-I’m-gonna-run-10miles-flat-out kind of song. Honestly, if this spot doesn’t get you psyched up for Team Canada Hockey at Olympics, I don’t know what will.

If there’s one downfall for the commercial, it’s how pretty it looks. It’s shot beautifully, which makes me wish that it wasn’t. The attitude of this spot is so gritty that it leaves me wanting imagery that matches. Give me raw footage of practice; with sweat everywhere, whistles blowing, coaches yelling, and the heavy breathing of athletes pushing themselves past their breaking point. Now that is some serious “destiny” butt kicking. That would be the ultimate “Force Fate”.

2. CTV’s Believe, narrated by Donald Sutherland and set to the music of Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore.

Now I am a self-confessed Olympic junkie who loves those touchy-feely athlete profile stories that tug at your heart strings, but I have to say CTV has done a nice job with their promo spots. Donald Sutherland has the perfect pitch to carry the tone of the Canadian Olympic dream and adding in the music from the guy who won an Oscar for his work on the Lord of The Rings trilogy isn’t too shabby either.

Although I love the spots that profile our athletes, I am not such a fan of the other “Believe” spots that feature young Canadians. The thought is right and the message is right, but somehow it doesn’t feel authentic. It doesn’t pull at my heartstrings and it seems forced, like I know those kids were fed those lines. Canadian kids do have Olympic dreams and they’ll tell you about them, but I just don’t buy that they would tell you in the way that CTV is presenting. So overall, they got it right with Donald Sutherland, but they dropped the ball on the spots featuring the kids.

3. IOC (International Olympic Committee) – The Best of Us

This IOC spot with the cartooned athletes from the different continents in their respective Olympic gear. In the spot, these enormous cartooned athletes are standing on top of their home continents and each have a rope. They pull hard until they bring all the continents together. The different continents coming together is like a visual interpretation of the Olympic rings – emphasized by the continental colours. It’s imaginative, memorable and fun to watch. Kudos to the IOC!

Stay tuned for next week’s Friday Breakthrough. It’s gonna be ugly. I mean bad. Actually, Olympic marketing bad. Ok. You get the idea.

Friday Breakthrough: Tigers and Ketchup and Comebacks, Oh My!

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

1) I have a new favourite commercial (and not surprisingly, it's a Super Bowl ad). How cute is that baby tiger? Simon Houpt of The Globe and Mail explains that Cars.com is one of many Super Bowl advertisers that are connecting their ads to social media (in this case, YouTube) to build anticipate and start a dialogue. For more on Super Bowl ads, check out this previous Daily Breakthrough post by our own Casey O'Brien: "My Most Memorable Super Bowl Commercials".

2) The Globe and Mail reports today that the ketchup geniuses over at Heinz have revolutionized the ketchup packet. 40 years after they were first invented, the packets have been redesigned so that it "has a base that's more like a cup for dipping and also a tear-off end for squeezing, plus it holds three times as much ketchup than a traditional packet", reports Sarah Skidmore. On behalf of all ketchup lovers out there, I say "hallelujah!"

3) I received an email from Club Monaco in my inbox this morning and experienced major flashbacks to grade 8. The email announced the return of their iconic crest - "back by popular demand!", available in select Canadian stores only.

They say that if you wait long enough, everything will come back in style. Back in the late 90's, every girl I knew had a Club Monaco sweatshirt with the big crest. If memory serves, mine was a dark navy blue hand-me-down from my older sister. I would hope that my fashion style has progressed since back then, but I've gotta say... the more I look at those comfy looking sweatshirts, the more nostalgic I feel. I may have to get one, just for kicks, but I promise I won't pair it with a scrunchie.

Oh Baby!

Is there anything the Internet can't teach us?

Marc Stephens of Cornwall, England would probably tell you that YouTube has got it all. Especially considering he learned how to deliver a baby from the online video site...and actually implemented what he learned on his wife!

Recently Marc stumbled upon this video
(why, I can not possibly explain):

How to Deliver a Baby in a Taxi Cab

Coincidentally, when his wife went into labour and they were unable to make it to the hospital, Marc put his online video teachings into action - and actually succeeded!

Online video tutorials are giving everyone the opportunity to be anything they want to be. Which I can not express to you how much that scares me.

Read the interesting article about Marc's experience:

Man Uses YouTube to Help Deliver Baby

"15-minutes of fame"...and for once, it's deserved.

At 47-years old, Susan Boyle of Blackburn, Scotland, lives alone, doesn't have a job, and has never been kissed.

Four days after an appearance on "Britain's Got Talent," the Internet is absolutely captivated by this unlikely story and performance.

Over 5 million hits on YouTube in 3 days...and rising. This 15-minutes of fame will surely be equally as memorable as her soon-to-be first kiss.

• Watch the YouTube VIDEO

Read the stories:

1) Susan Boyle Restores My Faith in Humanity

2) Unlikely U.K. Singing Star Susan Boyle Takes YouTube by Storm

3) Frumpy 47-year-old stuns 'Idol' judge, catapults to sudden global celebrity

Upside Down YouTube (!?)

This Matt Cutts YouTube video is pretty neat.

Matt Cutts tweeted a link to one of his many videos... except this one is upside down.

I actually haven't quite figured out why this exists. It's not on the YouTube main page or other videos, so I don't THINK it's an April Fool's joke.

Boy, I wish I was a higher up at Google and I could just prank the Internet on a whim.

Social Media Marketing Manager to the Stars

Do you love Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and MySpace? Then you can work for Britney Spears!

Seems that Britney needs a full-time Harvard grad to help manage her online network, develop web marketing campaigns, moderate community activity, and analyze web traffic and search engine results.

No doubt about it, maintaining the online marketing for one of the world's biggest stars would be more than a full-time job. Of course, that also means that Britney herself wouldn't be online -- it's just a PR firm's representation of Britney Spears.

And that's what makes the fact that Shaq himself is on Twitter so awesome ... while Britney's new web marketing guru will undoubtedly come up with lots of cool social media stuff, "The Big Aristotle" himself is actually taking time out of his own schedule to surf the Net, write crazy Twitter posts, and have real conversations with his fans.

In the end, Shaq's method is more "real", and therefore much more effective in building relationships with the online community.

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.

The Spirit of the Times, According to Google

Ah, December! It's a time for looking back on the year that was. At this time of year, there's always a 'best of' list (and a 'worst of' list) for everything imaginable and year-end montages aplenty. A time to reminisce, a time to give credit where credit's due, and a time to razz utter failures.

An interesting perspective on 2008 is provided by Google's 2008 Year-End Zeitgeist Around the World. Here you can find the Top 10 Fastest Rising Google Searches, Top 10 Most Popular Google Searches, as well as the Top 10 Poltical Parties, Celebrities, News Sources, and Personal Electronics Searched via Google.

These lists are available for 34 countries from around the world, including Canada. Our fastest rising Google search of 2008? That would be "Obama", which reflects our nation's fascination with the President-Elect (personally, I'm guilty as charged... You'll see that I've already blogged about Obama below).

You will see that the two most popular Google searches in Canada this past year were for Facebook and Youtube. Matt Hartley of the Globe & Mail raises the question "Why are Canadians using the search engine to locate sites with seemingly simple addresses, such as facebook.com, youtube.ca and google.ca?"

Google Canada spokesman Andrew Swartz provided this answer: "Apparently it's because Canadians see Google not just as a means of finding information on the Web, but also as a navigational tool that provides them with quick access to sites they frequent, similar to Internet browser bookmarks".

All the more reason to search engine optimize your website so that you don't fall off the Google map!

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.

Google Introduces Search Ads for YouTube

YouTube is now the world's second most-used search engine behind only its parent-company, Google. It surpasses competitors Yahoo and MSN.

What does this mean? Google has decided to test out the waters with some targeted advertising next to videos. I will let the New York Times explain:

So it is not surprising that YouTube’s parent, Google, is thinking of turning those searches into dollars. The company has begun testing video ads that are aimed at specific YouTube searches. The system works a lot like the hugely profitable AdWords system for search ads on Google. Type “Tina Fey” into YouTube’s search box and, along with the search results, you may find a somewhat relevant ad for the movie “W” as well as a significantly less relevant ad for the University of Phoenix. (This is a test, after all.) The “W” ad links to a trailer on YouTube for the Oliver Stone movie and the University of Phoenix ad links to that school’s YouTube channel.

The new YouTube ads were first reported at Advertising Age.

Google is already known for its unobtrusive Adwords and Adsense programs. Customers don't mind the extremely targeted advertisements, because it is often exactly what they're looking for.

The ads now being tested are in a cost-per-click format (like Adwords and Adsense), but as Aaron Zamost (a YouTube spokesperson) states in the Times article, YouTube is still trying a variety of advertising formats, and may not stick with a single option.

Even though it looks like Google is going to stick with what works - cost-per-click ads that are relevant to a user's search keywords - there will be differences.

For instance, as both Advertising Age and the New York Times article point out, people on YouTube aren't looking for product information. They want videos, and only videos. They want to be entertained. Yet even so, advertisers only pay when a user clicks the ad. The trick will be keeping those users happy once they get to the advertiser's site. That's traditionally done with landing page optimization.

It's a fresh web development to keep your eye on, especially while its in its infancy and lacks a large base of subscribed advertisers.

It might also be a spectacular business opportunity for those quick enough to take advantage of it.

Wii Fit - A Brief Look at Nintendo's Marketing Strategy (Pt. Two)

In my last post, I talked in general about the way Nintendo has been marketing the Wii, and in particular, Wii Fit. Today, I'd like to touch on one particular piece of viral marketing that has been making the rounds across the tubes.



A couple weeks ago, this video (titled "Why every guy should buy their girlfriend Wii Fit"), which shows a young woman swinging her hips while playing the hula hoop minigame in Wii Fit, took YouTube by storm. It has since garnered more than 4 million hits.

And really, there's no surprise there. Put up a video of a girl gyrating in her underwear, and it's bound to get lots of views. This is the Internet, we're talking about.

The more surprising aspect is that despite the timing and success of the video (it appeared just after Wii Fit was launched), Nintendo had absolutely nothing to do with the video (or so they claim).

"A Nintendo spokesman said: 'This has and is absolutely 100 per cent nothing to do with Nintendo ... Nintendo did not create it and were not aware of it until it was brought it to our attention.'"

Instead, it appears as though the hit video was the brainchild of Giovanny Gutierrez and Laura Bernat, both of whom conveniently work in the advertising industry -- but absolutely not for Nintendo, they say.


And while they were not paid by Nintendo, they clearly knew what they were doing when they posted the video to YouTube. In an interview with Joystick Division, Gutierrez even refers to it as a "spec viral video", no doubt in hopes that it would get his viral marketing skills noticed by somebody at a real big-time marketing agency.

Still, there's no denying that whether Nintendo had a hand in or not, The Big N is the one laughing all the way to the bank. Gutierrez said:

"I can't tell you how many blog posts and comments I've read that this video convinced them to buy Wii Fit. If we've learned anything from this, it’s that viral YouTube marketing strategies are still extremely effective and powerful."

Definitely an excellent case study in how viral marketing can be effective. The only problem is, the company benefiting from the video had absolutely no say in its creation. Not that Nintendo cares, of course. In fact, unlike a lot of other big corporations (*cough*Viacom*cough*), they're letting the video stay on YouTube, where it will continue to promote their name and product -- and it cost them absolutely nothing.

While they probably wish they had thought of something as effective as this video, at the same time, if you can get your customers to do your advertising for you, why spend more money (not that Nintendo is hard up for cash these days, but that's not the point)?

So, as a marketing company, what are we to do? Should Marketing Breakthroughs showcase clients such as Preston Hardware with a video of bikini clad babes using their BBQs and power tools? Maybe not. But if this video teaches us anything, it's that the most successful viral marketing and web marketing campaigns need to be kept simple. Really simple.