The popularity of auto-tune (that robotic voice effect that is all Cher’s fault) has been a disgrace to modern music. Until now.

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Anyone who has rubbed shoulders with the world of corporate heirachy will enjoy this viral video – it actually reminds me a lot of dudes from Flight of the Conchords.  This vid has been around a while, 32 million views is nothing to sneeze at. Happy Friday….enjoy.

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Now’s here’s a video with viral appeal…..an unfortunate Australian bloke who picked up a nasty strain of tuberculosis from a trip through South America has become the world’s first recording artist to write, record and release a hip-hop song from a hospital quarantine ward.

After being stuck in quarantine for nearly two months, Aussie battler Christiaan Van Vuuren  decided to make good use of his ‘fully sick’ status and record a few entertaining rap videos, like the one below which has already reached 300,000 views on YouTube.

Just imagine how much trouble (or entertainment) guys like this would have caused in hospitals before Apple Macs and wireless internet were invented.  Nurses these days have it way too easy!

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A new British public service movie aimed at young drivers is currently receiving hordes of viral attention. The movie, shot in a countryside setting in the UK, shows the dangers of sending text messages while driving (you can view the movie at the end of this article).

Despite being a little graphic, I found this movie to be highly watchable, and it is certainly effective in communicating the tragic consequences of careless mobile phone usage while driving, at any speed.

As part of my current role with JSA Digital’s Middle Eastern office, I currently live in Dubai, and commute to Abu Dhabi along one of the world’s most dangerous motorways each day (there was a 200 car pile up last year, with over 300 people inured). I see the wreckage from many accidents on most trips, and firmly believe that many of these accidents could be avoided with the appropriate educational campaigns such as this (particularly since this region of the world is renowned for their extremely high mobile phone usage).

This movie is a great case study for several reasons, as it manages to provide a service to the community using simple online technology.  It also further illustrates that it is important to find out where your target audience is ‘hanging out’ online (in this case, younger audiences who are inclined to use SMS message a lot, are also inclined to use YouTube frequently).

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Microsoft recently held a competition aimed at promoting their new “Google-killer” search engine, Bing.

The competition required entrants to write a jingle, with an accompanying movie clip, about Bing.  All entries were posted to Bing’s YouTube channel (which is a bit of a slap in the face for Google, since Google owns YouTube!).  The movie with highest number of views and rates was deemed the winner.

….ahem….can you believe that the below movie, by Jonathan Mann, is now the official jingle for Bing?

Terrible isn’t it?

But also terribly viral, particularly since it has already been deemed “worst commercial ever” by a couple of large and extremely influential technology blogs.

Hats of Microsoft, you’ve done really well to create some viral stir for Bing, while also introducing some long overdue light-heartedness to your marketing message. This campaign also goes to show that your own marketing department really don’t need to lift a finger (and can get back to more important things, like their game of solitaire

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I’ve started to notice a trend in YouTube based websites.   And no, I don’t mean websites that contain YouTube movies.

I mean Youtube movies that are actually functioning websites, in their own right.

These movies are based upon a multi-level website architecture, just like a normal website.

The front-end design (otherwise known as ‘the movie’)  is embedded with navigational elements, just like a normal website.  For example, “About Us” and “Contact Us” buttons are built into the movie itself, which link to other ‘pages’ within the YouTube-based website (these ‘pages’ are actually other movies uploaded to YouTube).

And the end result, is that you can watch, an interact with the YouTube movie, just like a normal website!

If you’re still a little confused, as I was, check out the new YouTube-based ‘website’ for online marketing agency Boone Oakley at the end of this post. Yes, this movie as actually what appears when you key their domain, booneoakley.com, into your browser.

The benefits of using YouTube based websites to communicate your marketing message?

1. Free web-hosting – Uploading movies to YouTube is free

2. Alternative source of  high-quality traffic – YouTube is considered the second biggest search engine…second of course, to Google…however the ‘type’ of traffic on YouTube is generally more engaged than your typical Google web surfer

3. Viral potential – People are more  likely to embed YouTube movie links into their online social portals, such as their Facebook profiles, their Twitter accounts,  and blogs

4. Optimisation and streaming - In comparison to other animated website techniques (such as Flash animations), YouTube movies are optimised during upload to stream as efficiently as possible, so that the end viewer has a pleasant viewing experience

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If you are involved in the client services industry, or perhaps sales or business development role, the movie below may make you smile just a little!

It’s probably a good time to mention that niche viral campaigns, such as this, can be just as successful as viral campaigns targetted at the masses.

If you can reach and appeal to 90% of your niche through a viral campaign, it could end up being a much better result for you than reaching 10% of a much broader (and therefore more difficult to target) audience.

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In a previous post, I showed a clip which received a tremendous amount of traffic on YouTube.

It was a clip of a young chap singing a karaoke version of a popular song called Touch My Body (not a song of my taste, yet nevertheless, very entertaining), with subtitled adaptation of the lyrics included in the clip. The YouTube clip has over 1,5 million views to date, so it seems the appeal is widespread.

If you have been reading Bread Milk Digital for some time, you will have noticed that retro style digital marketing (that is, mixing old favourites with new technology) is really taking off.  The reason for this, is that using familiar content that is considered ‘retro’ , ‘vintage’ or ‘old school’, holds instant appeal to an audience.

Here is a retro classic, Joe Cocker’s With a Little Help From My Friends, with a similar twist. It’s a highly entertaining adaptation of Cocker’s Woodstock performance – it seems that Joe may have had a little help from not only his friends before he went onstage!

Click on the link below to view the movie:

Joe Cocker – With a little help from my friends

If you’re looking for something a little different for your next online campaign, and have access to some retro footage or imagery from company’s marketing archives, perhaps you could adapt a similar technique?

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It’s often hard to communicate dry and uninteresting information to a disinterested audience.  For example, have you ever tried telling a 13 year old kid who’d rather be surfing how compound interest and mortgage payments work?  

I recently came across this animated presentation (by talented multimedia designer Jonathan Jarvis) explaining the reasoning for the occurence of the current credit crisis.

Admittedly, I know I should care about the credit crisis , but to be honest, with everything else going on in my own life the whole idea of sitting down and trying to digest the over-abundance of media hype and financial jargon in the newspapers and on tv, I simply haven’t been bothered.

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Until now! Watching Jonathan’s entertaining animated account of the credit crisis (above), left me not only with a better understanding of our current economic climate, but also the with a small smile on my face.  

It seems, even the most dull and grim stories can be delivered in a captivating way. And with a bit of thought, adding a splash of colour, by simplifying jargon, and by putting the story into the context of the average Joe, you have a lot better chance of reaching your audience.

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Viral marketing campaigns don’t always have to be high quality in order to be effective.

Despite many major corporations forking out hundreds of thousands of dollars to create ‘unique’ viral videos, some of the best viral content on the internet is created on virtually no budget.

Take this TVC for the Red House furniture store (below) for example. When I checked it had just under one million hits on You Tube – a figure which would make most interactive campaigners green with envy.

If you’re trying to create viral content to boost your company profile, remember -you don’t always need to spend top dollar to get noticed.

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Did you know:

• If Myspace were a country, it would be the 5th largest in the world?
• The number one country in Broadband Internet Penetration is Bermuda?
• The number of text messages sent and received each day exceeds the total population of the planet?

Well neither did I,  until I watched this excellent video which focuses upon the progression of technology and the frightening speed at which it is taking place.  

It’s well worth a few minutes of your time…. enjoy!

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I recently wrote an article describing the potential viral traffic that can be gleaned from time lapse photography of cityscapes and large open areas (such as beaches, harbours, and major construction areas).

At the time, I hadn’t considered the potential for personal timelapse photography.  That is, timelapse photography with an individual who changes over time as the subject.  A great example of this can be viewed in the YouTube movie below.

It seems, that regardless of the topic, if executed, time lapse photography is highly entertaining and captivating. 

I suppose it is because of it’s ability to visually summarise a huge amount of time, in a short space of time.  A perfect viral medium for those who have short attention spans, or who a short on time – which seems to be most of us in the digital age!

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People respond so well to online movies. It makes sense, as by nature, online movies are very visual and quite short, thus appealling to those with short attention spans (which I hate to say it, is a trait common to most of the internet-using population).

I often reveal the latest viral moves on Bread Milk Digital, but today I’ve found something a little different…and highly viral!

It’s a type of video footage known as time lapse photography. I’m yet to do some research into cost effective methods of creating time lapse movies (if anyone has any ideas, please post a comment), but I am certain there are ways to create this effect ‘on the cheap’ and use this as an alternative viral movie to promote your own organisation….or just to vent a little creativity.

I not long ago came back from a short stay in Istanbul, Turkey, so was quite excited to see this time lapse footage of the Bosphorous passage,  a large body of water frequented by large ocean-going vessels (which are a perfect subject for time lapse photography due to the relatively slow speed at which they travel):

Currently, I live in Dubai, just a kilometre or two from where this camera is positioned on Jumeira Beach.  Time lapse movies are fascinating when beaches and people are involved.  Beach-goers appear to be running around like ants, chasing their children, running from waves,  and continuously rolling to re-position themselves for the perfect sun tan:

And next week, I have the fortune of visiting London, so whet my appetite with this great little motion time lapse movie of the River Thames:

All these movies are hosted on Earth TV, a captivating online movie service displaying movies related to the evolution and monitoring of beautiful cities across the globe.  If you have a few spare moments, it’s well worth checking out.

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If you work in the web development arena, you’ll appreciate this one.

Auto Tuning from Casey D on Vimeo.

This is just one of the many short online episodes created by budding Film & TV student Casey D , all of which are viewable on Vimeo.com.  

Casey D is just one member of the ever expanding Vimeo community.  If you have not come across Vimeo before, check it out – it’s a great online portal for budding movie producers and script writers to upload share their creativity with the world, where viewers can also add commentary to the movies, which in turn provides movie producers with real-world feedback on their movie creations.

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Nestlé, the producers of that super-tasty bubbly chocolate treat we all know as the Aero Bar , have teamed up with Rio-born and world famous skater Bob Burnquist, to create an equally appetising viral video that will hit the sweet spot of skate fans across the globe.

The movie is already experiencing some serious viral attention,  and features skater-Bob carving  up the concrete covered in chocolaty bubbly goodness.  

Not only is the video a pleasure to watch, but it also achieves it purposes… I am craving an Aero Bar right now just thinking about all those bouncy bubbles floating around. Nice work Nestle.  

Click on the link below to check out the Aero Bar viral skate movie. Enjoy!

Aero Bar skate movie

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At the end of this article, is yet another great example of a viral YouTube movie concept – a spoof on a YouTube movie genre that seems to be increasing rapidly at the moment – the genre of home recorded  ‘how-to’ or ‘instructional’ movies.  

But firstly, why are these “How-to” movies increasing in prominence?

Put simply, the ‘how-to’ genre is continuing to increase, due to the an increase in home users shooting video footage and their increased willingness to upload it to the internet (and namely, YouTube). There have been noticable increases in the generation of  vlogging(video blogging), which are becoming more commonplace because for the first time in history, 2008 marked an historical even in which notebook PC sales exceeded desktop PC sales…..and most laptops these days come with WebCams and Microphones inbuilt and ‘ready to shoot’!  

Not only that, but almost every person has a digital camera or mobile phone capable of shooting home movies, so now everyone is a budding cinematographer!

So we will continue to see more ‘home’ style YouTube footage, whether it be vlogging, instructional videos, or crazy backyard stunts, as the general public become even more comfortable with uploading their video content through sites such as YouTube.

I’d go even so far as to say a video version of Twitter (I’ve just noticed that the domain tvitter.com has already been registered…interesting!) might be on the cards in the not too distant future.   Instead of a 160 character text micro-blog, imagine recording a 10 second video micro blog!

Now here is the important point directed at the online marketers amongst us: Whenever trends such as video blogging and amateur ‘how-to’ videoing take off, there is always a secondary opportunity for online marketers to get on board and take advantage of the trend in order to reach (and hopefully engage) the masses.

Below is a great example a viral movie, a spoof of the ‘how-to’ movie genre at work. I’m sure it will bring a smile to your face.  Click play below and relax for a minute or two…and then think how you might apply a similar concept to your own industry or business.

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I can’t say it enough – real world examples of awesomeness or ridiculousness are always the most viral. I’ll let you  decide for yourself what this is…

Yet another great example of a potential viral YouTube marketing campaign waiting to happen.

If you’re involved in marketing a product or service and are after a cheap and cheerful approach to your next campaign, keep your ear to the ground (or rather, your eyes on YouTube) for movies such as this that you might be able to license for your own use. Heck, the guy in this clip would be chaffed to be offered a few bucks for his singing prowess!

If humorous online marketing campaigns appeal to you,  you should also read this great article I came across earlier today 14 Hilariously Effective Online Marketing Campaigns.  A great collection of diverse case studies of recent campaigns that have proved successful in the online arena.

Ok, the temptation is too much, I’m going to watch that “If there’s a camel up a hill” clip one more time…

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One of the tackiest music apps that Microsoft has released yet, is Microsoft Songsmith.  Honestly, check out the TV ad for it below and you will have no option but to agree that it oozes more tackiness than an overloaded pin-board.

Songsmith is an application which allows you to add a backing track to put behind your pre-recorded vocals. Interesting concept, pretty lame execution.

But just when we thought this tack-lication (that’s my new word for tacky applications) was bound for the ever growing heap of Microsoft software flops…. the unthinkable happened.

Songsmith suddenly became cool. Virally. And definitely unintentionally.

What exactly happened to make Songsmith cool? Well just watch the movie below for a hint…

What the heck? Above, you have just witness the results of an inquisitive young chap, who extracted the lyrics from an already popular track and then fed them into Songsmith to write the ‘appropriate’ backing track.  Hilarious. And very addictive – type Songsmith into YouTube and you will be inundated with Songsmith remixes of Britney Spears, Radiohead, Sting, Nirvana, the Beastie Boys and Metallica, just to name a few.

If you want to join the fun (or musical carnage, whatever you like to call it), you can download the trial version SongSmith from the Microsoft website.

Warning, I told you this was addictive…here’s a few more shockers!
Oasis Wonderwall

…or maybe if you’re more of a Beastie Boys fan…

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Those of you who are familiar with The Simpsons, will appreciate the light-hearted entertainment that the satirical cartoon duo Itchy & Scratchy.

For those of you who are not quite up to speed with The Simpsons, Itchy & Scratchy are a cat and mouse who are ’sub-characters’ within The Simpsons. They are the stars of the Itchy & Scratchy Show which Lisa and Bart (the children and main characters within The Simpson’s family) what religiously every day.  The Itchy & Scratchy show is completely politically incorrect, grotesque, and I’m quite certain a small and ever-present reminder that the show’s creator Matt Groening has created to remind as a tongue-in-cheek reminder of how violence in television is often used inappropriately.  Nevertheless, Itchy & Scratchy has proved very popular to the masses.

I came a small animated show that is based on a similar concept to Itchy & Scratchy on You Tube, called Happy Tree Friends.  You can view a YouTube clip of one Happy Tree Friends episode below, this one called Flippin Burgers.

I received a link to this particular clip via e-mail, and consequently forwarded it on to a few of my appreciative friends. It seems, that this type of short, sharp and (as far as society goes), completely politically incorrect video entertainment is very VIRAL!

Why not capatilise on this viral concepts for your own company. If you have the inhouse resources, you can get to work right away on creating a light-hearted weekly or monthly video that creates some hype and traffic in the direction of your company’s website.  If you have a company mascot, or company logo, you may already have a likely candidate for the main character of your show.  Just be sure to insert your company logo or a URL at the end of each episode, linking your audience back to a website where they can view similar material, while also pushing the viewers towards your products and services in a subtle way.

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Another great viral video case study, this time for the well known sports apparel corporation, Nike.

It looks like a video shot by Los Angeles Lakers start Kobe Bryant and a few of his mates. It was actually a thoroughly planned, professionally developed video by Nike. The ‘home-video’ feel was created in order to engage the target audience, generally young males from early teens through to late 20s. This demographic are frequent users of video, both recording and viewing, as a means of entertainment and capturing (sometimes not so sensible) antics on the street.

This viral video is yet another example illustrating just how ideal the web is for reaching a target audience of any demographic. The bounds are limitless. The real challenge for online marketers, is reaching a level of engagement and trust through the use of an appropriate conversational and experience style that will appeal to the target demographic.

……and for those of you wondering whether the stunt was actually real, you can read all about it here.

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