Creating event offline and leveraging it online: the ultimate strategy to create “buzz” and spread the word. Many examples are proven succesfful: the Free Hug campaign, Freeze, and the U2 rooftop concert. Regarding the U2 event, it’s the most impressive viral marketing I know, happening 20 years ago gathering that many people in a city and still being viewed by that many people on youtube. Nobody has been able to do so. Read More

Engagement isn’t the real value of social media. Loyalty, increase of product purchase, and reputation are the objectives of social media. Aiming at these objectives generate stickiness when you achieve them. That’s what OfficeMax may achieve if they leverage well the video EepyBird, the creative team that had the idea of the Trevise fountain using Mentos and Coke, produced for them. Read More

TV spots have always been the must in terms of visibility and reputation. The reason to that is company willing to generate a huge image had just to pay for it. There was (and finally still is) only one major communication channel to reach consumers, the TV, and the way to create engagement was/ is to leverage public personalities images. Look at famous TV spots for Pepsi, Nike, L’Oreal, and other brand of the Fortune 500. And now there’s the Internet brands assume they can use that new communication channel to improve their visibility and reputation by creating and spreading video ads so that they become artificially viral. They’re right, they can achieve that goal. But not the way Christine Beardsell, Vice President, creative director of Digitas’s brand content group, The Third Act, explains it in a Clickz Article. Read More

Sometimes visuals are more efficient than words. Especially if you want to share a feeling. And if you’re to create a geniune community, enabling you to become the most famous company out there, aim at the feeling the following video makes you feel (not speaking of the dark side, but the intensity and the stickiness you get). Read More

You know the rock band Kiss. You should also know what means K.I.S.S. It’s a bit old fashion but that’s exactly what messages should be to spread over the Internet: Keep It Simple, Stupid (for more info, click here). 2 important info to push in the message: what’s in it for the user and why is it worth sahring with others. Can’t you (or your agency) do it? See the following videos to get examples of what (not) to do.


Read More

How does a marketing or communication campaign turns viral? That’s the question all the communication agencies are trying to answer when their clients call them saying as a strategic brief: “I want you to make the next Coke + Mentos viral video”. When I think of not so old time I had to face my boss telling him: “there’s no sense making a video, they should care more on their mediocre products than on their marketing for the moment” (yes I know it’s a cheap answer). But after been forced to watch so many lame self labeled “Viral videos”, and fortunately for me lots of amazing, hilarious, engaging videos, I’ve to say there’s some common points to videos going viral. Here’s the list. Read More

First seen on Chris Brogan’s blog. Read More

Every day tons of information, personal thoughts, ideas, feedbacks, and content generated by consumers are spread, discussed, linked, digged, and commented. Stories become mainstream because of quality, innovative approach, but mainly because it’s about brands, brand customer relationship management, and ultimately about brand infinite ability not to respond users questions and cut down communication when asked to join the conversation. In that status lies an interesting opportunity to generate a competitive advantage. By observing social media users you can quickly learn how to address relevant answers to social media users, how to use the right channel according to the user’s request, and how to efficiently monitor social media channels/ users. Read More

We’ve already been noticed a few of the “amateurs” aren’t real ones but hidden pro. See what I mean? LonelyGirl15 has unveiled she’s an actress and not an amateur a long time ago. Many others are semi-pro and wannabee, working hard to become famous (honor to them) like Marie Digby, a young US songwriter, or Esmee Denters who’s got one of the most interesting story thanks to Youtube (see her history on Wikipedia). And some (many?) viral videos are released by communication agencies. Here the sarcastical point of view of Dan Ackerman Greenberg regarding what’s feeding the “amateur” online video channel. Really a great piece of humour about the viral video business on Youtube. Read More

Stats show Facebook is still in the loop for being the place to be in consumer advertising. After being the hippest place, the still growing community (see the official stats here) is moving forward adding tools to make advertising efficient and targeted. Read More