The Supercool Creative blog covers topics relevant to online video marketing, social media marketing, viral marketing, online marketing trends and anything else we think you may find interesting.
I came across a banner ad today for “gum that tastes just like strawberry shortcake.” Who wouldn’t want that? So, with expectations high, I clicked, expecting to be taken to a colorful page bursting with strawberry shortcake excitement, maybe videos and ways to share my delicious-looking new find with my friends. Instead, I was whisked away to a home page that showed me posed, stock-looking photos with people holding other things made by that company. If I click on them, I am promised, I can learn things like how their brands are “woven into the fabric of everyday life.” I don’t want to know that. I want to know more about that amazing strawberry shortcake gum I clicked on!
Eagerly, I scan the rest of the page and find that I can put custom photos on a pack of gum — or I can learn more about their new blah-blahTM packaging that saves the planet through environmentally responsible sustainability practices. Ugh. Sigh. Where’s the gum I clicked on? Oh, there it is — at the bottom, in the slider right next to “Careers.”
Branded entertainment, online video, creative, production, viral and social media marketing (the list goes on) is what Supercool Creative does, and apparently we’re darn good at it too… good enough to be listed as one of the 25 “key agencies that have advanced interactive marketing through big ideas, brilliant creative, cutting-edge technology, and the passionate pursuit of excellence in the digital space” according to iMedia (/blush).
Supercool is absolutely honored by the recognition and owes this to our incredible cast of creatives, content creators, social media experts and digital marketing pros. We’ve been fortunate to work with great brands such as Atari, Pizza Hut, T-Mobile, THQ and IBM, among others, and are truly enjoying the ride.
With each project, Supercool tries to one-up ourselves through concepts and executions that are each more innovative than the last. “It can always be better,” is an unspoken motto in the office. We refuse to just do the minimum. We pride ourselves on being creative, edgy, forward-thinking and we are indeed problem-solvers. We assess each project from a new angle and determine the best creative, production and media strategy to reach our clients’ audiences and goals.
Online video and social media marketing seem to be obvious choices for those tasked with marketing new video game titles, but I’m consistently surprised at how those strategies are misused, underused or used not at all.
Following are ways that video game marketing directors, brand managers and social media managers can help launch titles using video and social media marketing:
1. Keep your balls in the air. Just because a new title demands your attention, don’t let go of titles that are still being actively discussed. In fact, the social media presence you spark on one title could be fertile ground for seeding your next title. Stay engaged and involved with fans rather than moving on. Rather than thinking with a one-and-done mentality, focus on making each video and social media marketing initiative build upon the next.
2. Seek co-branding for video and social initiatives. What other brands and products appeal to your game’s demographics? Consider launching video and social media marketing initiatives that highlight both in a creative and engaging way. Co-branding helps your game reach new audiences and effectively requires less budget participation per partner, since two or more brands/products are involved in sharing the costs.
I attended the (sold out) American Idol Live Concert this past Friday at Nokia Live in Los Angeles courtesy of Samatha and Jennifer at Interscope/Geffen/A&G Records. I didn’t follow American Idol this season (10 seasons strong), but after the concert my plus one and I certainly wish we did. The Top 11 are a very talented bunch with winner, country crooner Scotty McCreery, heartfelt runner-up Lauren Alaina, the sultry Haley Reinhart, the full-of-personality Jacob Lusk, the unexpected Casey Abram (my fav) and many more!
See if the all this talent of American Idol is coming to a city near you!
Video, Viral & Social Media Marketing Advice For Marketing Executives
I recently took my two nieces ice skating for the first time and observed the distinct ways they approached the problem of staying up, moving forward and not falling on their butts. The six year old took a cautious yet determined approach, going steadily from the walker gizmo to holding my hand, to going solo for longer distances until she could skate by herself.
The four year old, while achieving roughly the same result, quickly tossed away the walker and went on a 10-yard kamikaze skate that ended with a head-first slam into the boards. She couldn’t stop laughing. They were both afraid of falling down, getting hurt and looking silly in the process but they overcame these fears and moved themselves forward.
Fear of slipping up, falling down and looking bad can keep people from trying anything that seems new and challenging and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that many CMOs, marketing directors, PR directors, brand managers, product managers and social media managers can be big, fat chickens when it comes to integrating and mastering new marketing approaches. There are some very good reasons not to try something new and they all work really well up until the point where “something new” becomes mainstream and the old way isn’t enough to be competitive anymore.
If you are a marketing executive reading this article, you may have just taken your first step so here are 11 pieces of advice for moving forward into online video and social media marketing in 2011.
Co-branding (cross branding, brand partnership) is a marketing initiative between two or more companies to raise brand awareness through association with one another forming a marketing synergy. Examples can be as simple and modest as display packaging, as seen in the image to the right, or more detailed as seen in this video:
Butterfinger and The Simpsons, not the most obvious of marriages, but it worked somehow. Could it be the yellowish-orange color of the candy bar that’s similar to the skin tone of America’s favorite animated family? Possibly the ridges of the packaging mirroring Bart Simpson’s hair? Or maybe it’s because both brands’ demographics share a big overlap. It’s debatable, but we’ll examine the last option a bit.
If you’ve been on Twitter recently, you may have noticed that one of the top trending topics has been “Nigel Thornberry.” Kids and parents of the 90s and early 2000s recognize this name as the father character on Nickelodeon’s The Wild Thornberrys (1998-2004), but what could bring such popularity to a character from a show that ended seven years ago?
The answer: Sam Antonioli, a 17-year-old high schooler from a small northwestern town, also known as BitCrunch on YouTube. As he explains in the video below, earlier this weekend, he and some Internet friends found an amusing sound clip on Tumblr from The Wild Thornberrys of Nigel Thornberry (voiced by Tim Curry) incoherently grumbling. He was inspired to remix Katy Perry’s hit “Firework” with the sound clip, posted the video to Tumblr, and a meme was born. The original Tumblr post has since been reblogged tens of thousands of times, “Nigel Thornberry” has been trending on Twitter for more than 23 hours so far, many have gotten in on the meme with their remixes of popular songs, and tons of animated gifs and image macros are flooding the web. In just a few days, it’s become a hugely popular meme, taking the online world by storm.
ICANN (the corporation that controls top-level domain names) announced today that they will be introducing new domain suffixes, in addition to the 22 that exist currently, but unlike current suffixes, these will be commercial suffixes. Between January and April 2012, companies will be able to apply for individualized suffixes, anything from .mcdonalds to .burgers. The application fee alone is $185,000, and the annual fee is expected to be $25,000.
This change is bound to have a big impact on the web and particularly on online marketing. Although it will take time for Internet-users to get used to these suffixes, it’s a marketing dream for major companies. It boosts name recognition and enhances companies’ potential to carve out their little corner of the web.
ICANN isn’t clear yet on how domain sales for these suffixes will work, but imagine
Originally published on MediaPost, written by Supercool Creative Director David Murdico
I’ve often argued that video is a tool of social media. So as many social media responsibilities are being taken on by PR departments, we are seeing public relations teams becoming more actively involved in the creation and deployment of social video content. Viral videos, branded entertainment, web series videos and video game trailers top the list along with original, entertaining product launch videos. This new breed of video content, rather than simply supplementing the efforts of PR teams, is often spearheading them.
My creative agency has been working with some of the more innovative PR agencies and internal PR teams over the past couple of years, and here’s a list of the top 10 ways video is being used by PR professionals to help brands, businesses, organizations and individuals tell their stories.
1. Product launches. Viral videos and branded entertainment are high-profile ways to announce new products or refresh old ones. Video gives PR teams a visual, entertaining and engaging tool around which to center campaigns. We were recently involved in creating a video for a pizza chain in which large amounts of cash were stuffed in the crust of their new pizza. The content was used not only as a stand-alone video, but as part of a funny promo on a late-night comedy talk show.
2. Social media marketing. If social media is UPS, video is the package. If social media is the rocket launcher, video is the rocket. Video can be branded as heavily or as lightly as the creative and messaging dictate, and the larger story can be shared and developed via social media. Having a PR message go viral across Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other video sites and social outlets creates a new story that can then be pitched to, or organically picked up by, mainstream media outlets — enabling the message to reach TV, radio and print audiences as well.
Originally published on ReelSEO, written by Supercool Creative Director David Murdico
Over the last couple of years I’ve become a bit of a political junkie. And like any good junkie, I spend half my time dosing up on Fox, MSNBC, Politico and Huffpo and half my time looking for my next fix. With ever-increasing frequency, I’m seeing one politician after another get bitten and mauled by video and social media. Just like you’re supposed to hold out your hand and let a strange dog sniff you out before you make it go fetch a stick, politicians still have a lot to learn about both respecting and harnessing the power of video and social media.
I came across a banner ad today for “gum that tastes just like strawberry shortcake.” Who wouldn’t want that? So, with expectations high, I clicked, expecting to be taken to a colorful page bursting with strawberry shortcake excitement, maybe videos and ways to share my delicious-looking new find with my friends. Instead, I was whisked away to a home page that showed me posed, stock-looking photos with people holding other things made by that company. If I click on them, I am promised, I can learn things like how their brands are “woven into the fabric of everyday life.” I don’t want to know that. I want to know more about that amazing strawberry shortcake gum I clicked on!
If you’ve been on Twitter recently, you may have noticed that one of the top trending topics has been “Nigel Thornberry.” Kids and parents of the 90s and early 2000s recognize this name as the father character on Nickelodeon’s The Wild Thornberrys (1998-2004), but what could bring such popularity to a character from a show that ended seven years ago?
