"Youtube"- The Starmaker

In class, we talked about the power of Youtube as both a marketing tool, and as an overall buzz-generator. Our book, "The New Influencers" , devotes a special section to the importance of Youtube, and it's counterpart, Myspace, in the emerging world of Web 2.0.

The book discusses the success of several different youtube-rs, such as the incredibly popular "lonelygirl15", and, as we watched in class, the Mentos example. These are of course really powerful examples of how a video can be distributed virally, and essentially become a sensation on the web. More than that, Youtube has the power to turn the average joe-schmo into an internet star.

For example, take William Sledd. Sledd, a 24 year old Kentucky native, worked at the Gap. He purchased a Mac, and with the help of his new computer, made a youtube profile, and started uploading videos. In time, he came to be a Youtube sensation. To this day, he has 3,534,187 channel views on his youtube profile, and that doesn't count the views of his individual videos. Due to his buzz, Sledd has been offered television deals, was asked to participate in New York fashion week, and, was offered a chance to interview Issac Mizrahi:



What I'm getting at here is that anyone can become a viral sensation these days. Like the book says, Youtube is an excellent way for marketers to reach coveted demographics. Just as importantly, it serves as a marketing tool for individuals to market themselves. In the movie Ratatouille, Chef Gusteau claims that anyone can be a chef. Thanks to youtube, if the content is worthy, anyone can be a star.

'LOST' finds Viral Marketing

'LOST', the cryptic ABC hit show, has come back for a new season. In the ever dwindling selection of television programming, it seems that there is a light at the end of the bad reality tv tunnel. In order to generate buzz for its new season, it seems that the minds behind LOST are employing some viral marketing techniques. In many cities connected to the show, interesting connections have been popping up in the last week or so.

There's the Oceanic Airlines billboard located in Sydney (the destination of doomed Oceanic flight 815) , complete with a seemingly grassroots message scrawled on it:

Travelers in the Los Angeles area noticed this van driving around LAX airport: Oceanic Airlines, mind you, does not exist.

ABC also sent out the following press release in anticipation of LOST's premiere:
"Oceanic Airlines is excited to announce your chance to get the Golden Pass. The Golden Pass truly is an adventure of a lifetime, allowing you to fly anywhere in the world, anytime you want, and as many times as you want. For more information on how to get your Golden Pass, tune-in to the premiere of Eli Stone on ABC."



The show is no stranger to unorthodox marketing techniques. In the past, commercials for the show's "Dharma Initiative" have played during breaks, adding more mystery to the already confusing programming. This new initiative (pardon the pun) adds much to the show. It seems that in the drought of new and interesting primetime television, ABC is looking to make "LOST" a more interactive experience, rather than a simple television program. By adding more facets to the "LOST" concept, viewers create a community in which they discuss the show and increase their intrigue.

"The Dark Knight" in Danger?

The viral marketing campaign for "The Dark Knight", the latest installment of the 'Batman' franchise, is in need of a makeover. In light of the tragic death of actor Heath Ledger, the film's 'Joker', Warner Brothers is looking to rework the campaign to put less emphasis on the late star.

The campaign, started nearly a year before the film's July 2008 release, is perhaps the strongest viral marketing campaign for a film to date. It began in the summer of 2007, in which a cryptic website, www.whysoserious.com, sent websurfers on a wild goose chase for small clues pertaining to the film. It also revealed, upon much tooling, early photos of Ledger as Joker, a much anticipated role. Other aspects of the campaign included sending out promotional copies of the fictional newspaper, "the Gotham Gazette", to members of the press, and which led them on a quest to discover a hidden cell phone, which led to a press pass, which then took them to a press conference, all pertaining to the film's plot and ultimate release. If not evident in my description, this is a viral marketing campaign unlike any other. The extent to which the movie studio is relying on the hype that viral campaigns build is astounding.

The blog circuit anticipates that the campaign will be re-worked to emphasize the heroic role of Batman, building off of clues from the studio. While the nature of Ledger's role in the film is nothing short of disturbing, to keep emphasis of the marketing campaign on him provides the role with an even more chilling basis. The poster pictured above is the latest for the film, with obvious emphasis on the big reveal of the Joker. It is being pulled as promotional material for the time being, according to Variety. The release date for the film is still on track, and much of the campaign has already gone underway, but it seems that "The Dark Knight" might be going in a new direction.

Thoughts? I personally was shocked to hear about Ledger's death, and think that the buzz on his role in the Batman film will become even more deafening as we get closer to the summer.

Save 'The 4400', Save The World

Pardon the "Heroes" pun, but fans of the 4400 have a situation as rash as that of poor Peter Petrelli.

Our textbook, "Citizen Marketers", opens with a case study on the almost-doomed third album of Fiona Apple. Sony, Apple's label, was hesitant to release the album, entitled "Extraordinary Machine" after they were less than pleased with the results of the recording sessions. Dave Muscato, a musician from Missouri, was enraged by the label's discrimination against Apple, and on November 20, 2004, began the website www.freefiona.com, in which he solicited petitioners to help encourage the album's release. He went so far as to engrave petitioner's names onto plastic apples, mailing them to the studio along with the paper petition, signed by thousands of people. His efforts worked, and the album was released in September of 2005.

A similar situation is popping up today. The USA Network's television program, "The 4400", has been announced as canceled. The series had developed a devout cult following during it's four seasons on the air, and fans are fighting to keep the show around, or at least get a season finale which would serve to tie up loose ends. At www.savethe4400.net, fans can electronically sign a petition to save the show. Along with the petition, those in charge of the site are asking viewers to buy packages of sunflower seeds to send to the network, a concept pertaining to the show. A Youtube video and a myspace page, have been created in conjunction with the campaign.