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Microsoft Windows 7 House Party: Public Relations Disaster or Video Marketing Triumph?
If you create something so bad that it goes viral, is it a public relations disaster or a video marketing triumph?
That’s the question that journalists and bloggers are asking after watching HostingYourParty, which tells you how to host a Microsoft Windows 7 House Party.
Microsoft is putting a Tupperware-style twist on the upcoming Windows 7 rollout — launching a new initiative to encourage thousands of employees, partners and technology enthusiasts to throw parties in their homes and communities to demonstrate and help spread the word about its new operating system.
People accepted as official launch party hosts will get their own copy of Windows 7 Ultimate Edition, and a chance to win a computer. But unlike the Tupperware model, there will be no literal selling. These parties are more about generating word-of-mouth buzz.
To promote this idea, Microsoft has uploaded a video to YouTube. Some journalists and bloggers think it is a public relations disaster.
Cindy Perman of CNBC writes, “You just knew that once they put the Microsoft geeks in charge of the “party,” that it wouldn’t be a 10-kegger and before long, we’d all be putting lampshades over our heads.”
Ian Douglas, a tech blogger for the Daily Telegraph in London, writes, “I’m beginning to think that no one involved with Microsoft’s advertising has ever left the house or spoken to a real person.”
And James Lileks of The Bleat writes, “If Microsoft had been put in charge of marketing sex, the human race would have ended long ago, because no one would be caught dead doing something that uncool.”
Now, you may be tempted to watch this 6-minute, 14-second video yourself — to jump to your own conclusion. But, I warn you — only serious geeks like me will watch beyond the first minute.
Now, if Microsoft really wanted to show people how to hold a Windows 7 Launch Party, they might have created a remix of the 1950s educational video below about what, in fact, makes a “good” party.
1950 – What Makes a Good Party
Not all of the reaction to Microsoft’s Windows 7 House Party has been negative. Some of it can be charitably described as “mixed.”
David Meerman Scott of Web Ink Now, asks, “Is this Microsoft Windows 7 House Party thing real? Or is it an incredibly wonderful and clever spoof on a 50s educational video that is so well done as to have fooled most observers who seem to think it is legit?”
Janice L. Brown of The Fussy Marketer also asks, “Hmm, if something goes viral because it’s so bad, does that still count as achieving the marketing goals?”
Nevertheless, Lieutenant Columbo, if he were blogging these days, would ask just one more thing: “Why did Microsoft disable ratings and adding comments on HostingYourParty?”
Is this something you’d do if you were hoping for a video marketing triumph?
Inquiring minds want to know.
How To Pimp Your YouTube Channel and Other Miscellaneous Advice
This may seem like shameless self-promotion, but if you read all the way to the bottom of this post, you’ll benefit in ways that you wouldn’t imagine. Besides, I figure that you’d want to know how to pimp your YouTube channel and get other miscellaneous advice. I could always blog about this topic, but the details have just been dished out in three videos and a podcast.
Let’s start with the interview that Mike McDonald of WebProNews did with me at SES San Jose 2009. (Actually, the video starts by itself, but don’t let that throw you.) The video is entitled, Finding Marketing Value in YouTube.
With people being increasingly drawn to video content, everyone is trying to capitalize on video sharing sites such as YouTube. I told McDonald, however, there is one problem: it isn’t always easy.
YouTube is known for funny videos of cats or children. While these videos may go viral, they will likely only produce a one-time audience. In other words, these kids and cats may not to do the same thing again, which means there would be no reason for viewers to return to that channel for more content.
To be successful on YouTube, users cannot simply upload a single video. Statistics show that in an average minute, 24 hours of video has been uploaded to YouTube. As a result of this large amount of competition, I tell McDonald that users should create a series of “compelling content” in order to bring viewers back continually.
Users have to have a reason for wanting to come back to a particular YouTube channel and it is up to the content providers to produce that desire. Is your YouTube channel creating that appeal?
Now, I should provide equal time for other views.
Over at ReelSEO, Mark R Robertson interviewed me at SES San Jose 2009 about Leveraging the Power of YouTube for Search Marketing. I told him, “One of the most important trends in search is YouTube. It is the second most popular search engine on the planet.”
But I suggested a two-pronged approach:
1. Optimize your video so that it can be found in searches
2. Involve yourself in the community, which helps breed the sharing aspects of YouTube.
I then told a story about Monty Python. I interviewed Monty Python’s producer about their YouTube efforts. The producer originally just went looking for a way to help keep pirated copies of Monty Python’s work from being uploaded all over the place. So they created their own channel and began posting their work themselves — in a higher quality.
As an afterthought, they put a click-to-buy link at the bottom of the video so that users could click and be taken straight to Amazon to purchase DVDs. A funny thing happened when they did that: sales went up a staggering 23,000%.
The point of the story, obviously, is that although YouTube is not thought of as a direct-response marketing platform, as it continues to evolve, it’s turning into a direct-response marketing solution faster than people may realize.
But wait! There’s more! Check out the YouTube video below. Mike Grehan, Senior Vice President of content for Search Engine Watch, ClickZ, and Search Engine Strategies, says my new book “won’t help you find the answer to life, the universe and everthing in it, but I guarantee it will help you get your videos found on YouTube, Google and other sites. So, read this book. It will change your life. You’ll become more wealthy, more attractive to the opposite sex.”
Mike Grehan, SVP for SEW, ClickZ and SES on YouTube Marketing: An Hour A Day
If you find this hard to believe, then check out the podcast on DishyMix.
This all started when Susan Bratton saw me dashing through the San Francisco Airport, with a new copy of my book, “YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour A Day.”
Bratton says, it “is another one of those Wiley tomes that plunges all the way to detail hell on every aspect of using web video for marketing. This book is a must-read that will get you up to date on the constant changes YouTube is putting into place so marketers and Google can milk this phenomenon for everything it’s worth.”
The random encounter at SFO got me invited on DishyMix, where Bratton has just posted her interview of me. It’s entitled, Episode 117: Greg Jarboe: Pimp My YouTube Channel, 6-Steps to SEO PR and Roosevelt’s Arena.
According to Bratton, “Start making video and let Greg tell you how to produce it, research the keywords and optimize your video so you can get found, watched and loved.”
She adds, “And in case you still want to get those press releases out there, Greg gives us his updated, freshly reformulated 6-Step Process for Optimizing Press Releases for the News Services.”
If you like those DishyMix episodes where the guest delivers how-to advice in painstaking detail, then this is the show is for you. According to DishyMix, it is “packed with great tips, insider short cuts and a level set on the world of online video marketing, banana-milkshake fueled Jarboe works his buns off for you.”
I know, I know, even I would take these comments with a grain of salt.
So, if McDonald’s video, Robertson’s video, Grehan’s video and Bratton’s podcast still don’t provide you with enough details about video optimization, then you have options.
You can attend today’s Online Publicity Workshop at Market Motive. It starts at noon Eastern, 9 a.m. Pacific and is entitled, YouTube & Video Marketing.
No, this isn’t duplicate content. I will explore the world of online video, including what it takes to be successful and how to use some of the lesser known tools to prepare and track an online video marketing campaign.
Or, can also attend SES Chicago 2009. On Day 1, Monday, Dec. 7, I’ll be speaking at a session entitled, “YouTube & Video Optimization.”
Online video marketing is crucial in today’s marketplace. More than 158 million Americans watched an average of 8.3 hours of online video during July 2009. That’s more viewers than the 151.6 million Americans who watched Super Bowl XLIII, which reached the largest television audience in U.S. history.
My solo presentation will provide you “with proven, practical guidelines for developing and implementing video marketing for your organization.” At least, that’s what the SES Chicago website says.
And if you register by this Friday, Sept. 25, you can save up to $600 with the Early Bird Rate. See, it does pay to read all the way to the bottom of these posts.
Facebook and Nielsen Team Up for New Advertising Initiative
Facebook is entering into a partnership with Nielsen for a new advertising offering on the social network. Dubbed BrandLift, the initiative will use Nielsen’s market research expertise to reach the more than 300 million members on Facebook.
“Nielsen is the leader in measurement and is an excellent partner for us as we look to provide marketers with richer ad effectiveness data,” said Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook.
Rolling out as a test to a few advertisers this week, BrandLift uses opt-in polls on Facebook’s homepage to measure consumer attitude and intent about brands. BrandLift will roll out to all advertisers in the coming months.
“Facebook is an increasingly vital link between consumers and brands,” said John Burbank, CEO of Nielsen’s online division. “We will now be able to add deep knowledge of this important social network to our unmatched media measurement and consumer insight across all three screens. Together we will be able to provide the missing elements to clients seeking better understanding of how Web content and online advertising affect consumer behavior.”
Through the partnership, Facebook and Nielsen hope to provide advertisers with more accurate market data in a more timely fashion. Additionally, the polls are easy to create and should reduce the upfront time needed to conduct campaigns.
Members have not been forgotten in the process. Polls will be spaced out so as not to bombard any individual user. Additionally, no personally identifiable information will be collected from the polls.
Let’s have a little informal poll right now. What’s your reaction to the Facebook-Nielsen partnership? Will you use BrandLift in your social marketing campaigns? Leave your survey answers below.
Google Analytics API Now Features Event Tracking, Navigation Data, and Increased Filter Length
The Google Analytics team has released new features for their API. They include event tracking, navigation data, and increased filter length.
For event tracking you can do fancy things like:
- the total number of times a white paper is downloaded
- the length of time it takes to load a video
- the number of validation errors users get when filling out a form
For navigational data, you can now create your own custom reports such as site overlays to view how traffic navigates your site.
Last but not least the filter length has been increased to 128 characters, which allows developers to make more complex requests with fewer queries.
Google Says Apple Indeed Rejected Their Voice and Latitude Applications
In the ongoing saga that is why Google Voice doesn’t have an app in the iTunes app store, Google’s perspective has been published publicly on the FCC website (pdf). Originally, portions of the letter were to remain confidential, but after Freedom of Information Act filings, it has been made public.
With the publishing, we’re learning that Google told the FCC that Apple did indeed reject the Google Voice and Google Latitude applications. Apple has maintained that they did not reject the apps.
The reason for the Google Voice app rejection was that the app duplicated core dialer functionality of the iPhone.
The Google Latitude app was rejected for three reasons
1. It could replace the preloaded Maps application on the iPhone
2. It would create confusion since Maps was a native app on the iPhone (isn’t this like #1?)
3. It would offer new features not present on the Maps application (oh, the horror!)
Google said there was no communication with AT&T on the matter. There were a series of phone calls, in-person meetings and emails between Google Senior VP of Engineering and Research Alan Eustace and Apple Senior VP of World Product Marketing Phil Schiller.
Google Supports Facebook Share and Yahoo! SearchMonkey RDFa for Videos
It’s easy to think of online video as an social media method, but they’re increasingly having search value. After all, most videos don’t go viral, but they are still useful for the niches that you’ve created them for. That’s where search comes into play.
Google is offering up help for getting your videos better indexed. The Google Webmaster Central has announced support for Facebook Share and Yahoo! SearchMonkey RDFa for video indexing. These formats offer up information about videos, such as title and description, in the HTML for a video page.
Be sure that your rich snippets are indeed included in the HTML and not executed by JavaScript or Flash in order to be indexed.
Ask.com Unveils ‘Search for the Cure’ to Raise Money for Breast Cancer Research
Ask.com is launching “Search for the Cure,” which involves a $1 million contribution to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. The investment will occur over the next year, through December 2010.
The contribution begins with the Ask.com audience. In order to contribute, simply complete tasks such as adding the Komen theme to your Ask.com homepage and then answer breast cancer-related questions during the month of October. You can, of course, use Ask.com to search for the right answer. Ask.com will donate 50 cents for every person that adds the skin and answers the questions correctly.
If you’ve played games like Mafia Wars or Yoville on Facebook, then you get the idea. Complete tasks and earn rewards. Except breast cancer research is not a game. These tasks really make a difference.
“The Ask.com Search for the Cure program seeks to empower consumers in the fight against breast cancer through an interactive, educational experience that doesn’t cost them a dime or require much time – which we hope will encourage support of this important cause regardless of financial or schedule constraints,” said Scott Garell, president of Ask Networks.
I have to admit, as a cancer survivor (though not of breast cancer), sometimes it seems like so much money is raised through races and athletic events. There’s a sentiment among some cancer survivors to diversify fundraising for cancer research. Of course, Search for the Cure is right up my personal alley.
“One of our greatest opportunities in the fight to end breast cancer lies with the many people who tell us they want to support Susan G. Komen for the Cure but don’t have the time or money to contribute,” said Hala Moddelmog, chief executive officer of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. “Ask.com has created an easy, engaging, and cost-free way for consumers to get involved and generate funding that is crucial to breast cancer research and education. We are thrilled that Ask.com has joined our cause with such an innovative program. We’re urging everyone to Search for the Cure by switching to Ask.com.”
After October, Ask.com will continue their investment in Susan G. Komen for the Cure. However, they’re not quite sure what that will look like yet. Right now, they’re primarily focused on the October activities, which, of course, coincide with Breast Cancer Awareness month.
This isn’t the first time Ask.com has paired up with a charity. Previously, Ask has teamed up with Autism Speaks for an autism advocacy effort as well.
What do you think of “Search for the Cure?” Leave us a comment and let us know.
Trade Show Exhibtors at SES San Jose 2009 Have Good Stories to Tell
A month has passed since SES San Jose 2009 — and you might think that all the good stories to tell have already been told.
But most of the press and blog coverage focused on the conference side of the Search Engine Strategies Conference & Expo. And the trade show exhibitors also had a lot of news to share over on the Expo side of the event.
Now, instead of uploading all the videos from SES San Jose to YouTube in the same week, we’ve learned that it’s better to upload a few each week to SESConferenceExpo’s Channel on YouTube. This enables viewers to digest the major stories at a reasonable rate, while also giving them a reason to subscribe to the YouTube channel to get ongoing updates more than five times a year.
Among the trade show exhibitors with good stories to tell was Jennifer Whaley of Century Interactive. John Mulligan of SEO-PR interviewed her on the exhibitor floor at SES San Jose 2009.
Century Interactive links website sessions to phone calls and tracks those phone calls, chats and clicks that result from print and web campaigns. Whaley described the types of clients that Century Interactive caters and, in particular, those clients who don’t sufficiently understand clickthroughs and bounce-rates but understand phone calls and helps them understand what key influences are driving their business such as keyword terms, referring websites, etc.
Whaley went on to describe the analytics that Century Interactive uses when servicing their clients; this includes a java script loaded on a website which captures each website session. To learn more about Century Interactive’s innovative Web technology, watch the video interview below.
Jennifer Whaley, Century Interactive, on driving phone calls to your website at SES San Jose 2009
Another trade show exhibitor with a good story to tell was Steve Wiideman, owner of Local Splash. We gave him a mic at SES San Jose 2009 and asked him to talk about SEO Expert and Local Splash.
He discussed his local search engine marketing solution for businesses that are regional or local. Local Splash has a proprietary application that helps businesses get higher ranking in the map section of Google, Yahoo and Bing. Local Splash also helps businesses by verifying their information, lock down the account and optimize it so it gets better ranking.
For example, by syndicating a client’s business information across the Web to business directories and search sites, Local Splash in turns adds new destinations to their list such as superpages and over time, ranking improves. Local Splash also looks at categories for all of your competitors to understand the best possible sequence of categories that a business can be placed in.
Steve Wiideman on Local Splash, search engine marketing solution at SES San Jose 2009
Another trade show exhibitor with a good story to tell was Tim Musgrove of Digger. We also gave him the mic at SES San Jose 2009 to tell it.
Musgrove discussed the free trial accounts that Digger gave away at the conference. He also talked about Digger’s auto-generated topic pages which auto-creates landing pages for content-rich websites.
Tim Musgrove, Digger, at SES San Jose 2009 on semantic technology and free trial software
Wendy Roe of Pixelsilk also talked about exhibiting for the first time at SES San Jose 2009. She discussed the company’s content management system.
Pixelsilk debuted Bruce Clay’s SEO toolset inside the company’s Search Advice so you can get advice and recommendations for your SEO next to the content editor.
Wendy Roe, Pixelsilk, on exhibiting for the first time at SES San Jose 2009
And last but not least, Mulligan interviewed Frank Rocco of Adfare Video Solutions in front of the exhibitor’s booth at SES San Jose 2009.
Adfare produces video ads in a short time frame and deliver them in less than $150 per video. Adfare can produce cheap video ads because it can take existing content, anything the customer or advertiser has online, and download those images or footage and build a script and produce a high powered, effective video within 48 hours.
Adfare works across a variety of platforms, including mobile. In the interview below, Rocco discussed one example of local video being used in a mobile platform.
Frank Rocco, Adfare Video Solutions discusses cheap video advertising at SES San Jose 2009
There are more good stories to tell — but I save those for another day. Hey, it’s a long time between now and SES Chicago 2009. So, come back again for an update.
SEW Webcast with Bill Hunt Tomorrow
It’s a fact of business life: big companies often face bigger challenges. Large-scale search programs, especially those involving multiple brands or multiple countries, are inherently more complex to create and manage. If you’re finding yourself in this situation, look no further than our latest Search Engine Watch webcast, “Effectively Managing a Large Scale Search Program.”
The presenter is Bill Hunt. Hunt was previously CEO of two of the largest global search marketing firms, Global Strategies and Outrider — both of which were acquired by WPP. So he knows a thing or two about running large search programs.
He’s also an internationally-recognized search marketing expert who has spoken at conferences in over 30 countries, as well as one of our SEW Experts on International SEM.
The webcast takes place from 1-2 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, September 9, 2009. Hunt will provide some proven tips and techniques for running a large-scale search marketing program, including:
• Review of best practices
• How to get more out of your tools and process
• How to identify and remove key impediments
• How to move from a tactical to strategic view of search marketing
• How to deploy a keyword arbitration plan
• How to develop a scorecard system to ensure performance
There will also be plenty of time for Q&A with Bill, so come armed with your notebook and questions. Sign up today at the SEW Webcasts page.
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