Neil had an article published on the popular marketing website iMedia Connection today:

8 Secrets for Viral Video Gold

As a brand marketer, you have wisely decided to tap into the ever-growing online pool of consumer talent for consumer-generated video production. But now what? Where do you start?

Before you dive in blindly, it is vital to understand the nature of this new creative world. Consumer-generated video production has evolved to engage the prowess of independent, semi-professional and professional videographers. These can be the guys who do video montages for weddings and bar mitzvahs, but in their spare time, they create high-quality, low-cost video productions. Often, their hobby turns into a desire to grow their expertise and eventually land a full-time job as a commercial producer.

This group of semi-pros is joined by boutique creative shops that are also tapping into the success of consumer-generated video production. They are often trying to break into securing gigs with big brands but haven’t yet had success breaking down the barriers-to-entry imposed by marketing departments and big ad agencies. One of the keys to consumer-generated video success is to listen to and take into account the varying motives of consumer ad creators and videographers to maximize the potential of the channel.

read more…

Tags: imedia, neil perry, viral, video, advertising, how to

Man, crazy stunts. You just can’t go wrong with them! Yes, this is totally fake. But how cool is it?

It’s actually a ‘viral video’ for Gatorade. Not sure how the drink fits into this, but I just love watching it again and again. And sharing with you. Ergo - she’s viral, baby!

[Thanks, AdPulp!]

Tags: viral, video, advertising, gatorade, funny

This video was all the rage around the Interwebs last week. Turns out, it was a fake. It’s a commercial to promote the director, Timur Bekmambetov’s new film! Crazy, huh?

But man, it sure got me thinkin’… I bet you could to a lot of neat stuff with that ’security camera’ look. Which reminds me, this band made an entire music video with other people’s actual security cameras!

Tags: viral, video, commercial, creative inspiration

No, this isn’t about online video, but it is about advertising! And man, this is cool.

A tour of Times Square from Keyframe on Vimeo.

Tags: advertising, times square, video, new york

This music video for The Bird and The Bee goes to show, you don’t even need a camera these days to make a cool video. Oh, I know, I know, they used their web cam, but still…

Tags: creative inspiration, video, music, mac, viral

Who doesn’t love a good musical? And a bit of family drama. Well, if Meat Loaf is in it, you can’t go wrong! That dude’s a barrel of laughs. But if you can’t get him, the musical-cum-commercial is always a hit.

[Thanks for the tip, Leah!]

Tags: creative inspiration, commercial, advertising, meat loaf, go phone

Man, I’m a huge fan of stop motion animation. Especially the pixilation (or ‘live action’) videos made with a still camera. Using a digital camera for this effect is super easy, though setting it up and making the final product look smooth is something else.

Check out Nokia’s new ‘viral’ ad. It’s a really great example of the form (but no, this one was not easy to make):

[hat tip, NewTeeVee]

Tags: nokia, xlntads, creative inspiration, stop motion, animation, commercial, viral

I just can’t help myself from sharing this with you guys:

I guess my point here is that in this day in age you can make ads out of anything. It’s all about the mashup these days - taking bits and pieces of culture and media and slapping them together in a whole new way. Awesome.

Tags: viral, video, advertising, creative inspiration, mashup, barack obama, bollywood

This is a pretty cool ad for eBay. I found it while watching videos on Firebrand, a new site that hosts a whole gallery of agency-created commercials. It’s an interesting site, showcasing some of the best new ads out there. Most are big-budget, pro-made ads. Have a look around, I’m sure you’ll find something to be inspired by! Just because they use lots of money to make ‘em doesn’t mean you can’t pull of something similar for much less.

Tags: creativity, advertising, firebrand, video

Anheuser-Busch’s Bud Light is working on an interesting new twist to their already legendary Super Bowl commercial hype (Bud Bowl, anyone?). They are using a YouTube channel to set up jokes that’ll get a pay-off when you see the punch-line during the Big Game. I dig the idea, it could work, but as Chris Albrecht of NewTeeVee points out, by making people wait a week, “Those had better be pretty freaking hilarious punch-lines.” Here’s one set up. What do you think?

Tags: bud light, advertising, super bowl, youtube, video

Leave it up to our buddy Nalts to create one of the funniest ad parodies I’ve seen in a long while. Like many a Mac fanboy, I was glued to the live blogging from yesterday’s Steve Jobs speech at MacWorld. Then I went to the Apple site and watched all the videos they had, one of which is the new commercial for the MacBook Air, “The world’s thinnest notebook.” Here’s Nalts’ old, clunky laptop trying to get thin. So funny! (Oh, and that reminds me, don’t forget to head over and join our Slim-Fast assignment going on now!)

Tags: nalts, macbook air, commercial, advertising, funny, parody

Armed with a user-made fan video with over a million views on YouTube, McDonald’s enters the wild world of consumer-generated advertising with this brilliant little piece of work promoting the wonders of Chicken McNuggets:

We’re very excited to see one of the world’s top brands using this kind of advertisement. Sure it’s raw, but so cool and funny! This piece is getting airtime on major networks all over the country. If it’s good promotion for McDonald’s, folks, it will be good promotion for your brand, too. CGA, FTW!

Tags: video, viral, advertising, mcdonalds, funny, success, mcnuggets

Hey everyone. We hope you had an enjoyable holiday season! We sure did. We were busy launching out three new ad campaigns, Nestle’s 100 GRAND, Slim-Fast and ZorbEEZ. If you haven’t already, you should definitely head on over and see what’s up. You won’t be disappointed.

In the news from around the web video advertising this past couple weeks has been interesting. Just this week, Silicon Alley Insider has started the discussion about whether it’s possible to make a living with your YouTube channel. Of course, we think it doesn’t matter because you can always make money with your video skills with us! But having millions of views on YouTube might not monetize directly, but it can do wonders for your brand. Just ask the Will it Blend? guys!

Also on the radar, Pete Blackshaw’s Consumer Generated Media blog is rapping about buzz surrounding popular user-generated Super Bowl ads and how they fit into a ‘holisitic marketing‘ approach. He’ll be holding a webinar on January 3rd on the subject. Click through to learn more about that.

And finally, Advertising for Peanuts makes their 2008 Advertising Industry Resolutions. Among my favorite: #5: We’ll stop creating faux-amateur looking viral videos. and #6: We will stop calling web films “viral videos”.

We’re really excited about what 2008 is going to bring! Come join the fun with us and many wishes for happiness and good fortune in the coming year.

Tags: news, consumer generated media, youtube, videos, advertising, xlntads

Everyone wants ‘em, but are they just a fad? Christina Goodman mulls over the prospects for viral video campaigns in the future over at MediaPost. She’s fairly confident the trend will continue in light of the current user-generated video world, but does suggest proceeding with caution.

In this age where consumers have more and more choices, content and advertising are being controlled by what consumers want, how and when they want it, forcing marketers to rethink their old ways of communication. In some respects, viral advertising is a way of reaching consumers that gives them ultimate creation and viewing control — including the media platform they choose to watch it on, whether it is viewed on the Internet, or using their iPod or mobile device. Shifting focus and control to the consumer does not guarantee a promising outcome, particularly where viral videos are concerned, and marketers need to consider both the positives and negatives of launching a viral marketing campaign.

I think she’s got a lot of great points in this piece. However, I also believe that our cultural consumption gravitates increasingly to the current fluidity of media sharing and this fervent hurricane of portable video cultural conversation. The urge to inject brand messages into this chaotic mediasphere is too strong now to resist and will continue getting stronger the more eyeballs are drawn to it. The fact is ‘viral video’ is the way it’s done, and it’s no fad.

Tags: viral, marketing, advertising, video, trends

These have to be some of the simplest, cleanest spots I have seen in a while. And short! Perfect for pre-roll or mid-roll ad placement. And really, anyone could make videos like these. So simple!

[thanks, Duncan's TV Ad Land]

Tags: creative, advertising, ikea, xlntads, inspiration