hyperempowered

Honda's Problem Playground

Googles Effective Use Of Video For Project Launches

Of the many things that Google does "right", one of my favorites is that with every new product launch, the team behind the project will record a very lo-fi, but extremely effective, video in which they personally describe the project and how it works. On the web, a conventional "how to" booklet doesn't work.  What does work is video. 

One of the things I recommend to clients all the time is to follow Google's lead and create these very simple videos in which the person who creates the work explains it to you. 

The good ones are starting to do it.

Google Maps

The Super Bowl, A Snack Food Orgy

I'm a huge fan of the videos produced by GOOD Magazine.  Their latest, on the effect the Super Bowl has on consumerism, is terrific.

I Really Like This...

Time Piece, Jim Henson's "Lost" Experimental Film

Henson's nine minute film, Time Piece, (which he wrote, directed, and acted in) premiered at the Museum of Modern Art in May of 1965 and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Brady Bunch 2.0

 

(click image to watch)

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From Digital to Analog

"Grip", a video for the band zZz, was shot all in one take, from a single angle, capturing a group of professional trampoline gymnasts who simulate different video effects.

Online Video Strategies

I didn't hear Jeremy Allaire, Brightcove's Founder and CEO, speak yesterday at the Outfront Conference, but from the report today in Mediapost, it sounds like it was a terrific presentation.  Allaire's vision for how advertisers and content owners should approach online video is exactly what we've be telling our clients for months. 

Allaire: "Reach consumers where they are, not where you want them to be. It's a "fragment or be fragmented" world and traditional media players are catching on--whether it's Scripps, with its announced plans for 30 channels or MTV Digital, with plans for 300.

Open distribution and "self-service models" where content can be created and distributed with no cost of entry are leading to an explosion of new programming outlets and niche networks because anyone can create a TV network today--production companies, publishers, or consumers."

Allaire presented a "blended distribution strategy" that includes a branded website, syndication to third party sites, and viral distribution via widgets.

"Advertising must be bound to content in this world  because consumers are more likely to be "snacking"--or clicking around and sampling multiple videos to see which they want to sit through--the existing standard 15-second pre-roll with banner is a complete turnoff, as it forces repeated viewing with a resulting negative effect."

Mediapost reports that during the conference Allaire advocated using "a three-second pre-roll "brought to you by" sponsorship followed by a 10-second midroll offering a call to action that when clicked, pauses the video, and takes over the screen--allowing for much more interactivity and true consumer engagement. Then some sponsorship unit would run at the end of the program."