You can see a company logo in this clip several times, but it is not too obvious. Only once you see this clip, you get a URL that provides more info about who’s behind it:
Once you visit the website mentioned at the end of this clip, you can see it’s done by Allianz, a German insurance company. It’s nicely done, but I am still surprised to see an insurance company go through all this effort to show their logo. But since it’s very entertaining, I won’t ask any more questions 😉
Just when you thought that everybody who wants to use a (corporate) blog in their communication has tried (and sometimes failed miserably), Becks opens the bottle and starts a blogger casting.
Here is what they want:
You live by the blog. You have a way with words that hold people captive. And you don’t shy away from being in the public eye. Then we want you. Give your two cents worth, and we’ll give you a handsome salary and other bright perks. Your name and blogs will be seen by many around the world. Others have 365 days, you have 365 entries in a year. You get to work with Beck’s and a congenial creative team in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You might even relocate to a greener pasture. Sounds too good to be true?
„Our consumers actively seek out links to new trends and genuine material from around the globe. They have a desire to learn about people who share the same values as they do. The Beck’s new columnist will help uncover and highlight relevant and exciting topics for our consumers, enabling us to better connect with them.“
The idea is not new, but it could work well for becks, if the blogger manages to connect will with the becks consumer. But there are several possible negative outcomes:
The blogger will blog too much in favour of becks undertakings: it might not be sufficiently authentic and people might stop reading.
The blogger will blog very independently and could soon be a ‚celebrity‘, successful even when disconnected from the becks brand. Hence the image transfer to becks might decrease over time.
The blogging could turn out to be extremely boring regardless of the being authentic or not. Again people might stop reading it.
In either case it is a comparatively small investment (at the cost of probably only a few TV commercials) with a large possible upside to it.
Googletube just announced a new mechanism through which advertisers can book preroll ads precisely on those ads, that are on their way to become viral. Sounds great, considering the fact that there are around 150.000 new clips uploaded to youtube everyday.
YouTube buzz targeting works on an algorithm that looks at a number of viewer activities, including how many times a video is chosen as a favorite, how favorably it’s rated, and how quickly it picks up views, to determine which clips are about to „go viral.“
Advertisers can capitalize on the momentum by choosing to run overlay ads on these videos, with the possibility of combining buzz targeting with other options like time of day, gender and category targeting. As with all YouTube products, the ads only run on partner videos–or content from professional, semi-professional and even amateur producers that fit the targeting criteria, and have their express consent. (from here)
In the same article from which I got the quote above, Eric Schmidt ist quoted saying that the best youtube products will come out this year. This is one of them – some others might concern the tracking and measurement offerings, which have also greatly improved over the last couple of weeks!
Just found this now, even thought it was posted a few weeks ago: Mashable features a list of 15 free Social Media eBooks. I know some of them already, but it’s worth taking a look at that list. For some reason, it appears to me, that free ebooks are becoming ever more popular. Not so much as a true means of spreading knowledge, but rather as a marketing/pr instrument for individuals and companies. Don’t you think?
This one has been roaming the net in the last few days:
It has more than 2 Million views already. Who would have thought that this is actually a viral clip for Levi’s? Amazingly well done – both in terms of content as well as spreading it on the net. Who was the agency – does anyone know?
Volkswagen Germany just launched a rather unique employee contest: the scirocco song contest. Out of the ca. 100.000 Volkswagen employees, more than 100 opted in take part in the contest and sent in their version of the scirocco song. A Jury put up the best 25 songs for a vote by all web users on a voting microsite.
A pre-produced clip of what these versions could sound like:
So, click here and vote! (There even is a sweepstake!) Sorry my readers from abroad, but the site is in German…
The scirocco song was written by Leslie Mandoki – one of the most successful german producers, in Germany well known through songs like Dschinghis Khan,. But he also worked with internationally known artists like Phil Collins, denNo Angels, Jennifer Rush, Lionel Richie and German rapper Sido.
The Jury consists of Leslie Mandoki, as well as Volkswagen head of PR Stephan Grühsem, head of marketing Jochen Sengpiehl, Felix Magath and starlett Mina.
disclaimer: this is a project of my agency, in which I also take part. So far, I have not blogged about work related projects, because this blog is a hobby of mine. But I wanted this blog to support this particular project and the Volkswagen employees taking part in it…
(PS: yes, I do have a favourit, but I don’t want to influence the vote 😉 )
Wo ich sonst so bin...