Читать книгу Marketing in the New Media - Holly Berkley - Страница 28

Online video is quickly become a standard part of the new media experience. As discussed in Chapter 1, a primary way the television industry is attempting to market its new shows to media-savvy audiences is through online video. While both men and women watch online video files, a study by comScore Networks found that males are much more engaged, watching an average of 120 minutes per month, while females watch 80 minutes per month. Males aged 25 to 34 make up the most dedicated viewers, averaging 140 minutes per month. These numbers represent an 18 percent increase from October 2005 to March 2006, showing that online video use is continuing to grow (eMarketer, May 2006e).

As more brands enter the new media market space, we will see more sophisticated video campaigns emerge. In other words, as the new media market space matures, advertisers will have to do more than simply posting television shows or commercials on the web. With so much creative and innovative content to choose from, Internet users will be looking for videos with more value — whether it’s education, humor, or simply original entertainment. As the novelty of online videos wears off, consumers need more motivation to seek out an online video or share it with friends. As marketers, if you can put together the right combination of originality, humor, and entertainment, the marketing potential of that video can be absolutely viral.

An original online video is what launched the US band OK Go! into instant stardom. It all started when the band was practicing a dance routine in a modest Chicago backyard for the song “A Million Ways.” Rather than practicing in a real dance studio, with such luxuries as a full-length mirror, the band set up a video camera to record their routine. The resulting video was absolutely hilarious! A girlfriend of one of the band members thought the practice video was so amusing that she insisted they use it as their real video. The band laughed. She was serious. As the story goes, she then stole the video, emailed it to a few friends, and 2.5 million downloads later, the band was asked to perform on The Tonight Show and Good Morning America. They eventually made their way to the MTV Music Video Awards to perform a reenactment of their follow-up video, “Here It Goes Again,” better known as the “treadmill song.”

As with any marketing plan, the goal of using new media elements should be the same as when using traditional marketing methods — to increase sales or market share. In the case of OK Go!’s viral videos, it definitely led to more direct sales. As a result of the 7 million downloads of the treadmill video for “Here It Goes Again,” the band’s album quickly became one of the top 100 on iTunes with a top 100 song. If you haven’t yet seen either of the OK Go! videos, it’s well worth a click over to YouTube to witness firsthand what all the talk is about. I guarantee you’ll mention the video to at least a few friends afterward!