Digital Influence Mapping Project

How to Create the Next Video on the Web: Creative Marketing Models

This post is part of a 5-part series. How can we all be successful with the next wave of video on the Web whether you are a show producer or a brand? Creative Marketing Models are one of four important priorities. 

Previous posts talked about getting the show and the audience engagement right. But none of this matters unless you have a innovative and effective advertiser model. Pre-roll, post-roll, surround banners and product integration seems to be where we are at right now. Advertisers value click throughs and impressions tied to views. But even views are open to interpretation. Revision3 recently made a higher commitment by defining views as complete views. It's likely that few other producers do that.   

Beyond Product Integration

The product integration in magazine format shows like TMI weekly  and EpicFu are the most interesting models. Still, I am not sure that product integration in narrative story is as flexible or impactful. It's one thing to put Ford vehicles in network TV shows but quite another to drop product in the background of a niche dramatic video online. We need more.

Engagement

Advertising value is changing. Some marketers understand that and are working hard to put a value on engagement. The time has come for show producers to get more creative for how they deliver engagement with the brands that support them. We need to think in terms of "marketing" not simply advertising for the brand involved in a video program. If you want to ptoduce a show or are already doing so, what is the story you tell advertisers about the ad opportunity? If it's just impressions or even click-to-action your wasting everyone's time. If you are talking about engagement via product integration than you are on the right track.

But you need to go farther. The most entrepeneurial online producers I know come from the Joss Whedon school of creating a show as multimedia brand. That means the video program is but one touchpoint and experience. Email updates and alerts, merchandise stores, related media like music and pictures, live events (like Diggnation's meetups) are all part of the the engagement. Weave sponsors in there. Show them solutions at all levels of the funnel - drive some qualified leads or relevant inquiries. Make them a friend of the show brand and therefore a potential friend of the particpants - then your getting something done.

Idea Bar #12 Next Video on the Web: Threadless Meets Next New Networks

This post is part of a 5-part series. How can we all be successful with the next wave of video on the Web whether you are a show producer or a brand? Crowdsourcing topics is one of four important priorities and is technically one of my Idea Bar posts.  

This series started with this core idea. That's what makes it part of theIdea Bar series which is full of good ideas - each driven by expertise and naivete. Ultimately this simple idea led me to want to throw out my own model on how niche video programs can succeed online.

Threadless as you all likely know is the quintessential Cinderella story for crowdsourcing. T-shirt designers post designs, the crowd votes them up (or not) and the top designs are produced and sold.

Why not do this with your show? In the previous post on Focusing on Value to Niche Communities, I covered catering to the needs of a defined, lean-forward affinity group. Why not ask them for ideas and votes on what would make a compelling show for them? What would make them want to susbcribe? Just like Threadless has the "I'd Buy That" button, our show marketplace would have a "I'd Watch That"  and an "I'd Watch That Every Week" voting buttons. The principle is the same - prove there is an audience before going into costly production. What a great way to get marketers on board  before you have actually killed yourself bootstrapping production and building an audience.

Now lest you think I am slipping into the territory of the movie, The Player, where the studio exec decrys the need of writers by saying all we have to do is pick out a story from the paper and, "bam" there's our script, let me clarify. Let the crowd tell us what they would find compelling - what topics, what participants, what format - and then let the creative juices flow. We are not talking "exquisite corpse" here.

The biggest barrier to this model is likely to be "ego." Many show creators are trying to express an idea they are personally invested in. It's tough to become open to the audience. Beyond the poor quality of many videos, this issue - which can be called "control" - might be one of the larger barriers to success. Most filmmakers I know are passionate storytellers first. To win online, you must be passionate about your audience first. Diggnation seems to do a good job of this.

Next New Networks started with the promise of a hundred online shows for all sorts of audiences. They have quite a few today but more like 15 than a hundred. What would happen if married that ambition with a crowdsourced model? 

How to Create the Next Video on the Web: 4 Priorities for Brands

I love video on the web. The part I like best is not watching "Dollhouse" on every platform under the sun from Fox to Hulu to iPhone (actually, I don't know if you can watch it on the iPhone or not). I like the diversity of the programming coming from young entrepeneurs like Zadi Diaz, new net networks like Revison3, blip.tv and Next New Networks, more personal efforts from tradiitonal "stars" like Will Farrell. Brands have a great opportunity to connect and engage via video on the Web either through partnering with content programmers - like TerraTV on blip.tv -  or becoming their own programmers. Either way, we need to adopt a new discipline to be successful with video going forward.

I just met with a group of tremendously creative show "creators" in LA who will launch a program online over the next few months. They have all been enmeshed in the entertainment business and they know where the business has been and suspect where it is going.  I love their passion, their show concept, and their smartness about making the business side work. I have a lot of heart for their project. Still , succeeding is complicated.

While there are some breakout successes like Seth MacFarlane's channel, most video shows on the Web follow the reverse hockey stick approach where the highly promoted first episode draws a big crowd followed by depressing fall off in episodes 2,3,4. This freefall leaves many programs struggling in the long, long tail. Video production has a threshold level of effort and cost that it cannot routinely dip below. We all want "quality." And while we may be willing to accept Flipcam video interviews and an occaissional clever video thrown together in the backyard by two brothers and a dog, we generally want quality represented by the thinking, creativity, and even production value of the show.

True Show Value

Challenge is that the cost of quality, value to the audience and advertising value formula has not really been cracked yet or cracked consistently enough to spell out a path to success.That is the True Show Value and every producer should know their formula before trying the sell their program.  This is broader than TubeMogul's formula for success which focuses mainly on the creation and distribution of the video and the metadata associated with it. These things are important and I presume most video producers online get this. Too many programs either struggle to build an appreciable audience (size + composition) or to define the value to the advertiser. "Sponsoring" a show that may reach 10,000 uniques of which you know so little about may not translate into a perceived value to the advertiser. I am choosing my words carefully because I believe marketing integration with great content provides great value, I just don't think everyone is great at demonstrating that value.

Many brands want to suceed by reaching their customers or their influencers via video. Brands are learning that they can succeed by becoming content creators and building relationships via that content. Consumer marketers want to create their own episodics that draw moms in for 6-12 epsiodes. B2B marketers want to build a long term relationship with buyers and opinion-formers of their services. How can brands succeed where dedicated video entrepeneurs themselves struggle?

Four Strategic Priorities

There are four strategic priorities that will help. each day this week, I will drill down into one of the four. They represent the disciplined thinking that we need in this next chapter of video on the Web. I believe niche, special interest shows will flourish and I believe brands will reap great value from being a part of or even outright creating their own shows that consumers will increasingly spend time with. One of the keys may be in letting the crowd within a commlunity tell us what they want in terms of programming. Stay tuned as I drill down into each as the week unfolds:

• Focus on the Value to Niche, Affinity Communities

• Work the "Ladder of Engagement"
• Idea Bar #12: Threadless Meets Next New Networks
• Design Creative Marketing Models

Three Social Media Updates from the Inauguration

Been on Twitter all morning with millions of others following along with the inaguration via the hashtag #inaug09. A great way to be involved. Meanwhile I wanted to post an update regarding three interesting digital & social media experiences:

1. Check out Wordle.net's view of the President's Inauguration speech (first time I wrote, "the President" meaning President Obama). Great visual way to form a text cloud.

2. Check out the new Whitehouse Web site. It just launched complete with a blog, a Contact Us page and a call to "participate" from the Office of Public Liason. A great bridge between "brand Obama" as expressed in the campaign and, later, Change.gov, and the official Presidency. 

3. Check out CNN's "the Moment" in a day or so. Using Microsoft's Photosynth and everyone's pictures snapped at 12:00 PM (or whenever the new presdient actually took oath), CNN will stitch together a crowdsourced photo experience. This takes the "Day in the LIfe..." photo projects to a new level.   

A Social Media Inauguration

Today's concert at the Lincoln Memorial was moving. President elect Obama's speech inspiring. I watched it on a free glimpse of HBO (since revoked back to paying subscribers only). The excitement is rising. I attended a friend's party last night filled with out of town revelers who are planning to attend the frigid swearing in and a few Inauguration Balls to top it off. The energy at the party was high. At the Ward 4 house in Shepherd Park, they played Dr. King's "I Have a Dream Speech" on a loop into the street to greet all of us who came. The party went till 4am and the police came when they forgot to turn "off" Dr. King.

There are many ways to participate in the Inauguration via social media:

1. Use the hashtag #inaug09 on all of your tweets. I am certian that there will be others. This one comes from Kenneth Yeung who gives credit back to NPR's Andy Carvin (in our fair city).

2. You can see this  hashtag feed via this Tweetscan

3. You can jump in with CNN via their Facebook partnership. It will lead you to an "event page" within Facebook which is essentially a promotion for the live coverage site found here. Sounds like they are planning on displaying the Facebook news feed (user's updates) adjacent to the video stream. Not sure this adds up to more than a "subscribe" outpost in Facebook but we'll. After all, CNN got an awesome write up for their digital leadership in news via the Sunday NYTimes today. 

4. You can contribute to NPR's coverage of the event at their"Inauguration Hub". The idea there does seem to be to integrate your texts, tweets, videos and images via tags and the hastag mentioned above. They also seem to have an iPhone and Android app:

Download the iPhone app from the social networking section of the iPhone app store. For the Google phone, go to the Android Market and search for "IR09."

And a shortcode for texting:

Send a text message to 66937. Begin the message with the phrase #inaug09 or #dctrip09. You can include a ZIP code or one of the location tags in the sidebar.

You can follow along in their aggregate feed widget located here. Not sure how to download or embed it which is strange since it is formatted to look like an embeddable widget.

5. You can follow PBS's NewsHour Twitter updates here. While not strickly social, they also have a handy inauguration map here.

6. Or you can simply follow Obamathon Man's blog where he promises to attend and cover the Inauguration so you don't have to.

photo: thanks to earmuffboy of Flickr and his groovy CC license.

 

We Are All Fashion Designers Now!

I love women's fashion. No, not in that weird, creepy way. I love the imagination and the style applied to a look. I have always known women with style who could put a look together beyond what a card-carrying fashion designer might do for the masses. Individual fashion. I gave my daughter (11)  a book on Japanese Street Fashion - harajuku - because she was intrigued by the extreme styles and drama of the looks. She puts her own looks together (no, that is not a picture of her)

Now there are two resources - one online and one in Beverly Hills - that tap into the personal stylist in all of us.

The social network for street style
"Street" is probably the wrong word. Personal Style is probably a better phrase overall but still we are talking about everyday fashion made for and by the people. I love Chictopia. The name comes from "chic" not "chick" so, don't worry.

Helen Zhu and her cofounders have established a social network grounded in people sharing their looks for themselves and getting ideas from the community. you can dive deep into the forums but the real action is in the photographs and the voting. This simplicity is the core of its beauty. In a time when we all belong to too many social networks, a simple structure that builds on teh one affinity - personal fashion - that brings members together is better than all the bells and whistles in the world.

Did I mention Hot Deals! Chictopia has a great business model that goes beyond targeted display advertising into deal sponsorships. If I were a retailer serving young women, i would be all over this community. (Sure, they don't have real "reach" yet, but I love this idea so much I knwo they will get there).

Fashion DIY in Beverly Hills
FashionologyLA recently launched (thanks Springwise) a new store catering to young girls who want a distinctive look at the touch of a few buttons. It's co-creation at the retail storefront. Here's how Springwise described the store experience (designed by: BigBuddhaBaba )

"Using touch-screen Design Pads, they begin by selecting what type of garment they'd like to create, choosing from an assortment of tops, bottoms and dresses. From there they select a fashion "mood" onscreen—themes include Juku, Pop, Rock, Malibu and Peace, all of which include a colourful array of graphic images. They then pick embellishments for their garments, choosing from options including Sew It, Clip It, Bling It and Pin It. Once a girl completes her design, she proceeds to the U-Bar, where a friendly Fashionologist uses a heat press to add the key design element to her new look and gives her a tray of embellishments to take to the customized Make It table. "

I am going to LA in a few weeks and hope to stop into the store to get some pics. For teh tween who wants a distinctive look - something that defines her - this could be a great choice. The looks have to be "ownable."   It cannot just be the difference between a glitter butterfly vs. an applique puppy. I serached Flickr and came up empty. But that is what they need - a gallery of customers proud in their looks (tough when your customers are so young and online privacy is a concern). Can they create a Chictopia-lite community? Will they offer looks as dramatic as the streets fo Japan? Whil ethe seocnd isn't likely, i hope they figure out the online gallery. Their store begs for user images.

I love how digital is putting the consumer in charge of fashion.

The Insiders Guide to Using Community for Marketing

We were at the Community2.0 conference in Las Vegas. Many of us are brands or marketers. We want to engage with or build community to meet some marketing goal - itself designed around a business goal. We may want more loyal customers, a way to activate brand advocates, build brand reputation and value, and even sell products and services.

For marketers at a community conference, we needed to talk about real-world practices where we have engaged with communities to get business done. We need to go beyond community 101. We accepted the folllowing:

• we need to serve the authentic needs of community members
• our solution is not simply shoe-horning display advertising into community spaces
• activating and stewarding community takes a new expertise

I had four experts on our panel and another 50 in the room  Each understands a marketer’s perspective.

Amy Dalton, Senior Director of Marketing, Topix, LLC.
Peter Friedman, Chairman and CEO, LiveWorld, Inc.
Aaron Strout, Vice President, New Media, Mzinga
Dave Carter, Founder, and CTO, Awareness, Inc.

Our session the Insider’s Guide for Marketers using “Community”  - we wanted to hear what each has learned from developing or running communities with marketers. And we got great experiences for the community of experts throughout the room (there remains a great Tweme here)

Insider’s Guide for Marketers using “Community”

1. Avoid registration as it becomes a barrier to entry that slows down or can choke the community.
2. Make the right choice about partnering vs. creating features for that community. Topix tried to create classifieds for their community when it turned out to be more efficient to partner.
3. Don't try too hard to organize the chaos. Rather use it to your advantage. The message here is don't try to over control the community.
4. It's a myth that communities don't like advertisers or advertising. If it's done right  they not only tolerate it but they actually like it.
5. Seek and embrace criticism don't simply allow it.
6. Invite them to co-create as they become "owners" and ambassadors
7. Use Twitter (there was a solid core of us at the conference "covering" our experience there via #c20 Tweme)
8. Embrace as many points of enthusiasm as possible. Wherever people are expressing themselves - the core community, Facebook groups, Twitter memes - then embrace that activity somehow.
9. Create community around brand-relevant topics that you find are already relevant to people (vs. communities directly around a product brand)
10. Know who you are inviting to dinner and actively seek them out. If you want a thoughtful PBS-like crowd then design for them and go find them.
11. Don't get lost in developing features. Spend your time getting people to express themselves and becoming engaged in dialogue.
12. Know which KPIs matter. Start by deciding which metrics from the community will indicate success and progress - there are no relevant standards.
13. Build your own ROI model. Use Charlene Li's ROI of Blogging for reference.
14. Use studies that demonstrate the business value of community members (e.g. - better customers, more likely to advocate, lifetime value, etc...)

It was a lively discussion. These points are not a complete guide by any means. They are the practical insights of a few, great experts teased out in a great collaborative session at Community 2.0.

Useful Links:

B2B Marketers Fail The Community Marketing Test
Forrester Report: Online Community Best Practices

Web Community Forum

Social Media at Verge Toronto

I spoke about Word of Mouth Marketing at this year's Verge Toronto - Ogilvy's digital confab for clients (thanks to Guy!). Paul Beck, Digital Strategist at Ogilvy and all around smart evangelist, delivered a great snapshot of innovative digital programs - many of them anchored in social media - in the B2B and B2C space. He has been a tremendous ally within Ogilvy from the advertising side and is pushing some terrific "social" programs with clients like American Express.

I shared about choosing a new coffee making solution (thanks Gerry!).

Paul shared about his "Cell Phone Experience." Paul dropped his phone in a puddle. He went online to research the right replacement. He started at Google (only customer acquisition links there), to Technorati, to YouTube. He bought the LG Envy based upon cgm videos and positive mentions from "strangers with experience." He wanted to do what many of us want to do now - hear what others have to say about their exeprience with the product. 

This category - "Strangers with Experience" - has grown as a source for product referral more than any other source from 1997-2007. This starts to speak to the idea of who we find influential amongst people we do not directly know.

Paul has a very clear and strong POV about transforming the marketing process. He describes this as "Flipping the Long Tail." It's simple really. Find and connect with your advocates and fans, engage with them, amplify what they say or do and then market around that to ultimately reach a mass audience.  This is the true promise behind word of mouth programs.

Paul's 3 point program
1. Listening as a disciplined marketing practice: Don't listen once. Don't just do focus groups. Make listening a fundamental and ongoing practice.

2. Advocacy as a deliberate marketing channel: Don't just tack on a WOMM program. Make it core and make the discipline of making it work central to your team.

3. Unlock and unleash the content: Once you have engaged consumers to create cgm - work it, merchandise it, get it into search engines

Cardmembersvoice.com
He shared a great program he leads with American Express which just launched. Cardmembersvoice.com asks members for their input and feedback. Using our 'Voice of the Customer' platform, they solicit ideas and report back to customers what they may do with that good thinking. I know this was a journey of internal evangelism and education to get to this point. It's a great program and reflective of what experts like Paul - real practitioners, not pundits - can do to transform marketing.

My favorite Paul quotes from his session:
"Open source problem solving - don't ask broad questions - invite them to help solve a specific problem."

"Community is not a place. It is a shared set of values"

He also left the audience with four related imperatives:

• try it
• experiment now
• it does not have to be pristine
• learning will lead the way

MashMeet DC & Mashable the Brand

We held a Mashmeet at our offices last night in DC. Pete Cashmore flew in from Scotland and hosted a group of 5 or so startups. First, I want to share some observations about the strtups and then a little about my feelings about the Mashable brand (disclosure: Mashable recently became an OgilvyPR client).

The "buzz" from me happened around Kluster and Mixx. Kluster was full of fun bluster as they landed from a whirlwind gig finishing their product enough that they could demo it at TED which is clearly a great venue for a young, VC-backed start-up.

A Message Platform Side-note

Each of the five startups delivered a lightening round preso in front of about 100-150 people jammed into our space. I wish I could work with each on their message platform - help them tell the crowd in a couple of compelling sentences what their service/software was all about. Each suffered from describing features without ever setting the stage as to the relevance or essential power of their idea. Part of me believes that the geekfest setting of Web 2.0 meetups is a lazy setting with a forgiving audience.  (I'm a geek, so don't get upset). Part of me believes that these presentations are a conscious program to help give the entrepeneurs behind them some experience presenting in a non-threatening environment. Anyhow, I would love to see them sharpen their story.

Kluster

Kluster is a co-creation, collaboration marketplace with a twist. Unlike Cambrian House, they encourage participants to collaborate and invite deeper investment in ideas. They do this by allowing contributors to up their stake in their idea by investing "watts". It is a wee bit complicated but it does look promising. There is a video that describes them here.  They have this age's 'black box' - an algorithm - that helps decide winning ideas (ones with "spark"). Usually, services that create a whole new vocabulary and require a glossary just to get it are annoying. Still, I know Kluster wants to carve out some of its own blue ocean strategy so why shouldn't they have their own language. You should be able to see the exercise they did for TED - The Game of Global Awareness - at their core site here >

Mixx

Mixx is a well known bookmarking aggregator feed reader thingee. By using tags, they create a segmented collection of 'what's interesting' and then display in a very clean, easy to read interface. I am sure I am shortchanging the service in terms of all its value but still I like it and plan to add their icon to our own Web site. I think of it as a tag-based Digg. 

Mashable the Brand
I have always liked Mashable and have waxed poetic here. Having interviewed Pete Cashmore, the CEO and founder, and watched him diligently meet and hand out cards at the MashMeet, I remain a fan. I appreciate that they focus on positive stories. I have never appreciated the snarky side of the Web. Part of it is that they are good - prolific coverage, tell a story via pictures (screen grabs, usually) and yet they have some sort of humility (I mean - the colors of the interface - they are charmingly weird).

I probably gravitated to them because Pete and his team have been looking from the outside of Silicon Valley in. That makes them underdogs in a space dominated by those who can hold parties in the bay area to their hearts content. Pete is from Scotland and while he has a full legion of doom in terms of employees, most are not based in SF. That is changing soon though.

The brand for me is about a relentlessly curious, optimistic group of enthusiasts who value hard work over cocktails (mostly). Pete admitted that most of the time he is holed up working. He remains surprised when he comes to the MashMeets and sees all this enthusiasm and attention from real people.

We will be seeing some interesting upgrades in the near future. Between the core blog, the Marketplace, and the bubbling social network, I think Mashable is a great source of content, community with a human soul. 

A Health Social Network With No Professionals...

Social media amplifies everyones' voice. In many cases, it has broken the dominance of traditional media and corporate communicators by empowering "citizen journalists" to break stories and challenge the traditional headlines. Moms can connect with each other and get advice versus relying on the "experts" annointed by publishing houses and media companies.

But health is one of those areas where we may bemoan the tyranny of traditional medicine and the special interest influence of pharmaceutical and insurance providers, but I still can't diagnose a major illness never mind treat it. I rely on a doctor. (regretably as mine is such an old-school, "stop-your-whining"- kind of doctor).

iMedix just won the Crunchies for Best New Startup 2007. This is annointed them by the social media tech community from the Valley (I am guessing here as there were 0ver 122K votes cast to determine the winners) where the emphasis is on "tech" and venture capital. It is not a hotbed of medical innovation.

At it's heart, iMedix is a social network for people who want to talk with other people about common conditions and health interests. If I have thyroid cancer (I don't but do have a related thyroid thingee), I can type it into their super-simple interface and recieve simple web search results from prefered, brand name sources (are they "scraping?") and a number of people who have tagged themselves as interested in 'thyroid' or 'thyroid cancer.'

Now, I will admit that I am a bit curious about what the crowd makes of this weird phenomena of thyroid malfunction. I am suspicious of some environmental condition that will reveal itself someday (my wife, myself and our cat all suffer from a related condition). Still, why would I reach out to these people?

The iMedix social network has a lot of things going for it and most of those are in the simplicity of the interface, the function and the overall ease of use. It stands as a strong testament to the strengths of a Web 2.0 mindset. Still many services are trying a social network model for healthcare issues. Some, like Revolution Health mix community content and features with professional information from trusted brands like Cleaveland Clinic, Mayoclinic.com and others. There are even "doctor bloggers'. Inspire, formerly Clinicahealth, goes a different direction by offering a social network platform to those that share a condition and want to connect with each other. It might be the Preemie social network or the Diet and Fitness community at Discovery Health.

iMedix is a broader social network driven by a front-end search interface that drives you to people who have tagged a common interest. We don't know much about each other. The service is new and most profiles are half-baked or not baked at all. Mine included. I am just not sure how much of my health interests I want to put on my profile beyond the one I have shared in this post.

Problems with iMedix:

• The management team is all tech VC and start-up folks. Not a single health professional or pyschologist.
• No clear way to assign credibility to different members. I could easily get a bunch of hooey from folks with no repercussions to the service or that member.
• The homepage is a big stock photo. Don't these startups know that stock photography telegraphs - "don't trust us, we are creating an image here."
• The dominant member (or does he work there?), Sean, appears to be represented by a wonderfully attractive...stock photo! Remember the Macwarehouse catalogs in the nineties that featured thumbnails of their customer service people that were laughably stock images? - "Hi! I'm Gretchen. Call me." Well, it's not funny when I am suffering from a condition and you want me to trust you.
• There is no critical mass of members. Right now, the service seems stocked with test accounts and staff members.

I like the technical and user experience. But that's not a good enough reason to give it the best startup award (the awards were user-voted). We'll see if they get past the weaknesses mentioned above to unlock a truly powerful health social network. To do, they will have to probably partner with some of the more trusted information providers. It's not likely enough to aggregate their search results.

Will they change? Or does iMedix just want to flip the company? Or worse, are they struck by tech hubris that won't let them see through to these weaknesses enough to fix them?