Was watching Paul Sagan (Akamai, CEO) comments about the future of on-line video and couldn’t agree more that online video still haven’t reached its highs, but it is nearly there. All these video services on the net like YouTube, iPlayer and others are redefining our habits, but in my opinion there is more to come. People still are getting familiar with the idea of filming themselfves or communicating through video conversations or interacting with the video itself. The technology is here (3G, Facebook video, Joost) , but it takes time to get comfortable with it as video presents new level of transparency on the net. Maybe that’s why people are still texting on each others wall’s rather than posting video comments as it is much more personal and real. I bet that’s why the video service like Joost (where you could comment on videos in the real time) didn’t grow as expected, as people were still getting familiar with idea of sharing (what and why to share?) on the net and opportunity to blog or comment live just seemed a bit frightening and came too early. But situation is changing – services like 12seconds.tv and ustream.tv proves that ordinary people want to be seen and heard online without any hiding under the keyboard.
Posts Tagged ‘adage’
I dreamed a dream.. or How to create a successful viral video?
May 7th, 2009
As Susan Boyle sings I dreamed a dream … Well I dreamed a dream too – I dreamed that this blog would become a place to hear the new changing voices of people (generally known as “consumers” 
by exploring their likes/dislikes and interactions with the world around them. Well that’s what the marketing is all about – understanding the life of the customer and tailoring products or services to make this existence experience better and more fulfilling. Anyway, back to the point, after seeing Mrs. Boyle, I have watched quite a few viral videos (well at least a few hundreds) recently in order to understand what makes them so great and what the key magic tricks of becoming viral are. So after this little research of the videos and comments about them if I have to write some keywords or to make a Top 5 list, it would be:
- Fun
- Extraordinary/Controversial
- Real life experience
- Uplifting and Hopeful
- Satisfying – after a good or bad experience
Well it’s not a genius list, but it seems that these themes (or very likely combination of these themes) are repeating themselves over and over and creates value for consumer.
As viral marketing is becoming more and more popular and going mainstream with brands like T-Mobile, Samsung and Burger King spending some serious money on it marketers begin carefully tracking theses initiatives. Here are the main viral charts on the net:
- Ad Age viral chart- http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=136338
- Guardian viral chart – http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/series/viralvideochart
- Viral video chart – http://viralvideochart.unrulymedia.com/
- Technorati viral chart – http://technorati.com/pop/youtube/
- Viral This – http://www.viralthis.com/c/4/1/commercials.html
- Viral chart – http://www.viralchart.com/
- Viral-chart.com – http://www.viral-chart.com/viral-chart-2009.php
