For the last two months Sinnott Productions has been involved in producing a live event called CoffeeCON 2012, the first-ever consumer coffee conference for consumers by consumers. So what is a video production doing producing a live event. Well coffee needs to be experience live. However will be shooting lots of video on just about every brew technique ever invented.

We have created a mini coffee university with all the brewing classes, all the top experts and all the best roasters. Some people in the coffee industry have said why bother there are plenty of industry events like the SCAA (Speciality Coffee Association of America) or CoffeeFest why do another show? Well because not everyone wants to open a coffee shop. Most people want to learn how to brew a better cup of coffee and at CoffeeCON they can learn. So here’s a comparison of why CoffeeCON is different from coffee trade shows.

Coffee-Trade shows are bigger – They will have de-stoning machines, bagging machines, cup manufactures just about everything to open a coffee shop but of very little interest to the consumer.
CoffeeCON is going to be smaller with roasters to sample,food samples and interesting coffee makers to try out.

Coffee-Trade shows may allow consumers on to the show floor – The vendors give you samples but mostly they will be looking over your shoulder trying to make eye contact a business customer. The vendors get very skilled look at your badge color.
CoffeeCON is all about the consumer – Everyone here wants to meet and talk to you.

Coffee-Trade show education classes are only for people that paid hundreds of dollars to get into the classes – Consumers can’t get in and will be removed by security if they wander in. It happened to me.
CoffeeCON will have classes on every brewing method – All classes are free and many are hands-on in-depth labs like Home roasting, Home Espresso, French Press, Syphon, Turkish – every brewing method available as we are a mini coffee university.

Coffee-Trade shows rarely pays for top speakers.
CoffeeCON is bringing in top speakers in the industry Geoff Watts, Jim Schulman, George Howell and others –

Coffee-Trade shows charge a fee and you still have give them your information.
CoffeeCON is free with pre-registration so its true you have to give your information but hey its free or $10 at the door without registration.

Coffee-Trade shows are status quo estabished and run the coffee industry or a festival company.
CoffeeCON is a true Indie show created by real people who are coffee obsessives like you.

We will be shooting lots of video coming to this website soon and live streaming on the internet.

So if you’re in the Chicago area on February 25, 2012 I hope you come and please spread the word so we can do it again next year.

Mission Coffee Can Web-Series

Our televisions and our computers are all on a collision course, and in the future there won’t be any differentiation between “internet” and “TV.” Traditional ads are already being ignored. It’s already getting harder to get peoples attention with commercials. Then “internet” and “TV” are combined it will be almost impossible. People want content that enriches their lives with something compelling/amazing. That’s what a reality web series should do.

BUNN allowed us to create a series that wasn’t about product placement. They decided to take the course that the big brands like Coke are heading down and allowed us to create content that was about entertainment not the push of product. They also backed a small company like ours to do it rather than a large agency, another instance of BUNN understanding the future. We were able to produce something for a low-cost that was unique because we were not stuck in a traditional belief about creating video.

Here’s the two main take-aways from the article below. Video ads as we know them are going to die… replaced by original content from brands of all sizes… every brand and company becomes a studio or publisher… publishers have become brands… soon enough, everyone who wants to matter in the business world will be making original video content. That advice is for the brands and companies out there. They need advertise so that people don’t think they are just getting a reminder to buy a product. The idea will always be to use the product in such a way that an emotional connection is made with the story.

Second, if you’re creating video and not making any money yet don’t give up. You’re training for a future that’s less than five years off. The demand for video professionals with be higher than the people available to do it. We might see a day soon where having training, experience, and talent in video could be as important in finding a job as having a college degree has been for 50 years.

By Jeremy Scott Source: Every Brand Will Be A Studio: Philosophical Musings On The Future Of Video http://www.reelseo.com/every-brand-will-be-a-studio/#ixzz1jdVClDCK ©2008-2011 ReelSEO.com Online Video Guide

I think I’m going to write an e-book… call it “Drop Out Of College & Learn Video.” I had this revelation after an email chain with ReelSEO writer, Chris Atkinson. See, Chris and I are not only co-workers, but we’ve been friends for more than a decade. And one of the things that defines our friendship is great conversation. Sometimes it’s theoretical. Sometimes it’s overly argumentative. But almost always… it’s tons of fun.

When our friendship and our work lives intersect, we end up with really long email chain discussions about life and online video. And one recent chat led to a few ideas and concepts that I thought were worth sharing. I thought perhaps a few of you, perhaps those looking for any excuse at all to avoid doing real work, might enjoy seeing our train of thought. So now I present, with minimal editing only for length, two online video nerds speculating about how big video’s future really could be:

A Rambling Email Discussion On The Future Of Video Ads

Jeremy: I’m thinking about that article you wrote today, about how BMW basically created the blueprint for branded web series way back before YouTube existed. And I’m thinking about Greg Jarboe’s piece on Coke, and their liquid content strategy for the future of advertising/content… And it hits me… this is the future. All brands making entertainment content. What if advertising disappears completely?

Chris: In many ways, product placement and entertainment is becoming indistinguishable. I think of just last year, where we had ads for movies that seemed just like any other YouTube video, like “Ape With AK-47,” which was an ad for Rise of the Planet of the Apes. What advertisers are realizing is that traditional commercials are losing their impact more than ever before. We’re in the era of DVR, On Demand, and streaming, and we don’t pay attention to commercials much anymore, and the ones that we do pay attention to are getting more and more ridiculous. Advertisers know now that they have to make compelling content, something that stands on its own as entertainment, and still advertises the product.

Jeremy: That’s a good point about the traditional ads getting more ridiculous. Way beyond just Old Spice Guy… ads are getting weird. And the only explanation is they’re desperate to get your attention. That trend of increasingly ridiculous ads… that can’t last forever. There’s a cap at some point where the weirdness will lose any and all effectiveness at creating a memorable viewing experience. And even with the weird stuff that works… it only works once, right? How many wanna-be Old Spice men have we seen in the last year? They’re nowhere near as funny or memorable… because they’re not original. The only thing that’s original is… well, originality. Like original content.

Chris: Yeah, how are ads going to get our attention and sell the product anymore? They are clearly the most important thing funding entertainment, and we’re rejecting traditional ads as viewers. So now there’s only one solution. Force people to watch by enriching our lives with something compelling/amazing.

This is something I think GoPro has absolutely crushed recently. Their ads focus on dynamic, free-as-a-bird, risk-takers, and they shoot some of the most breathtaking video ever. And now, almost, they don’t even have to make their own ads because the camera is so popular, people are using them in their own videos and they have a product that basically keeps selling itself.

Jeremy: So then aren’t we moving toward a future where there aren’t any more ads–not as as we know them at least? Plenty of brands, like Coke, have already moved beyond that thinking, embracing this era of new media and engagement. But even the stubborn brands will eventually find their traditional TV ad dollars wholly useless… right? Audiences are numb to that kind of message… hence things like BMW’s series, or Dentyne’s series last year.

Back when House of Cards was announced, I made a pretty big deal out of the fact that Netflix was going to start creating their own content instead of just distributing the content of others. I talked about how HBO had made the same transition and thrived at it, producing some of the finest television of the last 12 years. But you know what? That’s nothing. Screw Netflix making their own content… soon enough, everyone will be. Every brand will be a studio, producing their own video content. Some will have more branding/product-placement than others, but isn’t this what we’re hurtling towards… an end to traditional ads… an end to traditional studios and production houses… and a new era where every brand creates content designed to entertain and engage first… sell second?

Chris: That idea isn’t far-fetched at all: Somebody like Coke decides to create content like a network does or like Netflix is doing now. I can’t help but think that’s not only a possibility, but a certainty. We’ve seen so many fantastic TV shows over the years somehow fail in the ratings–Friday Night Lights and Arrested Development were critical darlings but the networks didn’t know how to make them succeed, and there are whispers of Community, one of the best comedies on TV, possibly getting the ax at some point. Maybe some of these critically-acclaimed, audience-lacking shows get picked up by a company like Coke, retaining all the creative people involved, and they find a way to incorporate the product into the show, or at the very least, simply have people watch new episodes on The Coca-Cola Channel. Big huge Coke logo surrounds a media player of some sort, and they just let the show be. If picking up shows like that work, who’s to stop them from making their own programs?

I think there’s no doubt brands are going to be their own studios. They’ll always have to remind themselves, though, that content comes first, which is what the Coke strategy in the videos Greg posted appears to lay out. What I think we might see is, long-form content (episodes) on a particular brand’s website/channel, and short-form content (ads) on traditional TV directing people to the website/channel. That’s nothing new, but I think we’re going to see more of it. The short-form content will be the length of regular commercials, but there will be a cinematic quality, or story, that will make people want to see the longer version. The ultimate goal is to make it so that people don’t think they are just getting a reminder to buy a product. The idea will always be to use the product in such a way that an emotional connection is made with the story.

The ideas we’re talking about aren’t that different from traditional product placement. The difference is that the advertiser/brand is in control of the content rather than a bunch of Hollywood producers. But I like to think back to the movie E.T. for a second because it is one of the most memorable uses of product placement in the history of film. Hershey’s Reese’s Pieces got into the movie after Mars decided that they didn’t want M & M’s to used. The Reese’s Pieces are used to lure E.T. to Elliott. It’s a plot device, never saying “Buy Reese’s Pieces” or “Hey, look…Reese’s Pieces!” which is what most product placement does. It’s an emotional connection, of course with Steven Spielberg at the height of his legendary skill, showing how Elliott makes friends with a mysterious creature. Hershey, of course, saw ridiculous sales increases for the candy once the movie became a cultural icon. This is exactly what brands need to do with their product in content they make on their own. Feature the product in a way that makes sense in the plot, and don’t insult the audience.

Jeremy: I still think my favorite product placement ever is Taco Bell and Demolition Man–a movie that is terrible but that I still love, where the fast food wars have ended and every restaurant in the future is a Taco Bell. That’s the kind of clumsy product placement that simply isn’t going to work moving forward in this new era of brands as studios.
Coke seems to really get it, and seems to know that what’s required is an entirely new way to think about marketing… not just a slight adjustment. This is a pretty huge deal that Coke is going in this direction, because their American Idol sponsorships have long been one of the most obvious and easy product placement instances around. Now, however, it seems that the new philosophy would have them creating their own singing competition content, rather than looking for another entertainment property to slap their brand on top of. It’s still product placement, but because the brand becomes the producer… the content itself is likely going to be largely messaging-free.

I’m also curious to know if this is a natural evolution or a forced one. Like… does the Internet require a new way of thinking with ads because it’s a new technology with new uses? Or did the Internet–and online video–only help us see what was a problem with TV ads all along: that they’re not very engaging? Maybe we didn’t know a better, more engaging form of advertising was out there until the Internet showed us the possibilities? Maybe traditional TV ads have been losing effectiveness for decades but it took the online video boom to really show us what true consumer engagement really is?

Chris: Ads have lost effectiveness, I feel, simply through our ability to record. And now ads are made so that when you forward through them, weird or “amazing” stands out, like we talked about with Old Spice Guy. It’s definitely evolution from the VCR to the DVR to On Demand that have made ads desperate. Even when you didn’t have recording devices for shows, what was the metric that advertisers could use that said definitively anyone watched them? They’re playing a percentages game, sure, but commercial breaks are bathroom breaks for so many people.

Now, if you make content that has buried advertisement into the plot, you know people are watching. View counters will equal actual engagement with the audience, and giving the audience calls-to-action. And if these brands really know what they’re doing, like Coke lays out in those videos, they’ll also respond back to the audience through comments and social media, and figure out how to keep them engaged with content, contests, and the like.

Advertisers, much like the amateurs who try to find success on YouTube, will have to follow The YouTube Creator Playbook model, whether they use YouTube or not (which is growing more and more unlikely if you do any kind of branded content).

Jeremy: And it’s pretty clear that our televisions and our computers are all on a collision course, and in the future there probably won’t be any differentiation between “internet” and “TV.” Which is why the old advertising format is so much dying, as much as it’s merging with new media advertising… evolving. Once my traditional network programming and my Internet are side by side on my one same device… it’ll all just be “advertising,” and it won’t look like anything we’ve come to know it as.

Chris: I do wonder what the branded content movement we’re talking about will do for local businesses. But as we’ve seen through the Internet, even they can get in on the act. We’ve seen what happens when Rhett and Link get onto a project, their stuff is great, very humorous–the Chuck Testa ad is a great model. That video probably cost a roll of quarters.

Jeremy: I think Local businesses will become like local television–only with better content. They’ll make original video content that is not traditional ad content… but it will be viewed by a lot fewer people than the Coke content will. But success for a local business video isn’t defined the same way success is defined for Coke–a lot fewer viewers can still translate into a huge boost.

But they’ll face the same thing big brands face with traditional TV ads… viewer apathy. If they viewers are turned off on traditional TV ads, then they’re turned off on the concept… not the individual advertisers.
Think about how many local businesses still advertise on television. Sooner or later, they’ll lose their power just like branded TV ads are. So even local businesses will begin to move into the creation of original content. And thankfully the technology is affordable now for them to do that.

Chris: What you’re saying is, there’s no excuse for not getting into this branded content form of advertisement. And that’s exactly right. You can get cameras so cheap now. The aforementioned Go Pro shoots incredible HD video for $300. My iPhone has a camera on it, and most next-gen phones have them. You don’t need to have all the bells and whistles. And this is what a lot of businesses are going to try to balk at when it comes to making this effort. They think it’s going to cost them so much money, and it really doesn’t have to. Also, you have this never-ending source of people who want to make videos and break into the business, which is something you were talking about in your Poptent/Dell article. You don’t need to go out and get Steven Spielberg. You need to go out and get a guy who wants to be Steven Spielberg.

Jeremy: I think we’re also going to see a sweeping change in the landscape of creative agencies too. Just stay with me here for a minute… Realizing that I’m exaggerating a little…Video ads as we know them are going to die… replaced by original content from brands of all sizes… every brand and company becomes a studio or publisher… publishers have become brands… soon enough, everyone who wants to matter in the business world will be making original video content. That’s a HUGE surge in the already-insane amount of video.

If suddenly there’s 100X more work for creative agencies than they’re used to… there won’t be nearly enough of them. Even if “do it yourself” weren’t a trend already, it would become a necessity simply because there aren’t enough good ad agencies in the world to handle the tsunami of video projects that are coming down the pipeline.

So we might see a new breed of lean agencies… where it’s just a couple guys shoe-stringing it. We might see fewer of the mega agencies, as demand for top talent pulls away their best people.

Think about this: We might see a day soon where having training, experience, and talent in video could be as important in finding a job as having a college degree has been for 50 years. That’s mindblowing, and totally possible. If I’m a college student today, no matter what my field of study, I’m doing self-study like crazy on how to shoot, edit, and promote online video, because there’s about to be a hell of a lot of demand for those folks with very little supply.

Chris: That thought seems mind-blowing to me. But yeah, how would businesses be able to keep up if they weren’t self-sufficient? And when you learn this, you’ll have to learn it well because there will be millions of videos vying for attention.
The idea is that a lot of these businesses need to start now. They need to figure out the mistakes, learn from those who have succeeded, because in, I don’t know…5 years? online video and its ads are going to be exploding at levels we haven’t seen yet, and those who have done the hard work, to figure out what works and what doesn’t, will come out ahead. You don’t want to start figuring it out after it becomes a necessity. There are all sorts of ways to learn how to shoot and edit video, the best is to just try it out, mess around, show it to your closest friends, and then start improving, working towards a goal of something that’s going to be potentially seen by millions. And you have handy shows like Film Riot on Revision3 that tell you how to do the fun stuff on the cheap.

That’s what great about 2012…there is still room to learn and grow and be prepared for when online video advertising is nearly as important as traditional, professionally-produced, TV ads.

A Video Gold Rush?

And yesterday, as I was putting these emails together for this article, YouTube announced they believe that soon 90% of all web traffic will be video, and that 75% of the new content channels created in the next decade will be born online. Which only seems to bolster some of the points made in the discussion above. There’s a video gold rush coming… a stampede. And I think it’s going to change… everything.

So there you have it, two guys with plenty of theories and zero crystal balls, guessing at exactly how big online video could get. Could it become such an important marketing tool that we’re in for a real shortage of professionally-trained consultants and service people? Will that lead to more DIY video marketing or more young people studying video? Could video skills become as important as a college degree? Feel free to discuss in the comments below.

All I really know for sure is this: if I were in college, I would definitely drop out and learn video… unless it was a film school of course.

Source: Every Brand Will Be A Studio: Philosophical Musings On The Future Of Video http://www.reelseo.com/every-brand-will-be-a-studio/#ixzz1jdUmKG8C
©2008-2011 ReelSEO.com Online Video Guide

CoffeeCon 2012

On February 25, 2012 in our hometown of Warrenville, IL consumers will have a chance to meet the renowned experts, experience hands-on brewing techniques and taste the world’s best speciality coffee. It’s a free event but we need you to register now if you’re planning to attend as space is limited. http://coffee-con.com/

So, if you live in the area it’s important to register especially since the first 500 folks that do will get a swag bag filled with coffee goodies including wonderful coffee beans.

Please like CoffeeCon on Facebook too as new information about who is going to appear and registration for the various classes will be announced. I mean do you know how to make Turkish Coffee? Wait until you impress your friends with your mad coffee making skills.

For those of you that can’t make the journey we’ll be live streaming from the show floor. Plus, you’ll have a chance to win coffeemakers even from your computer. So, join in person or by computer but don’t forget to register and like us today!

Video is arguably the most powerful of all online media choices we have today for persuasion. Last year I had the opportunity to cover the affect of persuasion in online video with Dr. BJ Fogg, experimental psychologist and Director of Stanford University’s Persuasive Technology Lab. That’s why I was especially glad to find a fellow user experience colleague of mine and long-time leader in the professional user experience (UX community) Susan Weinshenk, cover this issue in her recent column on theBrainLady blog titled, “5 Reasons Why Online Video is So Persuasive, which all video marketers should read and learn from.

5 Reasons Why Online Video is So Persuasive
by Susan Weinschenk, PhD

Susan Weinschenk

#2 — Speakers and listener’s brains sync up – published research shows that the brain patterns of listeners synch up with the brain patterns of the speaker they are listening to. This means that a video of someone talking is going to be more powerful than just reading words on a page. (More on this in Susan’s blog article, “…Speaker and Listener Brains Sync.”)

#3 — Video compensates (somewhat) for the asynchronous problem – other published research explains how synchronous behavior bonds people together. “A lot of online communication is asynchronous — the communication is not occurring simultaneously in real time,” said Susan. “Emails, Facebook posts, twitter posts, are asynchronous. Chat is synchronous. Synchronous communication is, in general, more persuasive. Video can be synchronous (think Skype) or asynchronous (think TED talk or YouTube). But video does have the advantage of allowing you to hear and see an actual person, rather than the more removed reading of text. In this regard it is the most powerful of the asynchronous media. (More on this in her blog article, “Synchronous activity bonds the group.”)

#4 — Video can convey emotional information, not just factual – In Susan’s book, Neuro Web Design: What makes them click?, she talks about how important it is to speak to the emotional “mid-brain” if you want to get your message across and have your message be remembered. Video has the advantage (over just reading text) of communicating social and emotional information, not just facts.

#5 — Video combine all the powerful elements together – “The technology for video is finally getting easier and easier to create and integrate online,” says Susan. She mentioned that she’s a big fan of Video Genie , who’s new technology platform allows customers to easily make a video testimonial and post it to your site (you get to moderate it, i.e. watch it before it gets posted). “I’ve talked a lot (in books and other posts) about why testimonials and reviews are so powerful (it’s the principle of social validation),” she says. “Video testimonials are social validation on steroids. Social validation, brain syncing, emotional content… you just can’t beat this for persuasion.” Another interesting example to Susan is Vokle.com: “It allows anyone to host their own video talk show, live, with people calling in.”

Bonus Coverage: How You Can Improve Your Own Web Video User Experience
I also recommend checking out my companion article over at the Video Commerce Consortium blog, “How to Improve User Experience with Web Video In E-Commerce.” I interview Susan about the need for better understanding and application of online video by the professional UX community, and some valuable tips for improving customer and target audience experience with web video for your own business.

Source: What Makes Them Click – 5 Reasons Online Video Is So Persuasive http://www.reelseo.com/5-reasons-online-video-is-so-persuasive/#ixzz1gzl8o6Td
©2008-2011 ReelSEO.com Online Video Guide

Film Look Video

Shooting at 24p frame rate can give your video a film look. In film 24p means that there are 24 frames per second. Video captures at 30 frames per second which is why video looks more real. By changing the frame rate to 24 on your video camera the footage will look more film like.

Another trick to get a film look is to create a shallow depth of field. You can do this by zooming all the way in on your subject/object. Then open up the iris up all the way to decrease the depth of field. This will cause the background to soften highlighting the subject.

Finally some video cameras have a setting adjust the stutter speed which you should double. So for 24 it should go to 48.

This informative video by Videomaker will show you how to do this.

Good Shooting!

YouTube Analytics Infographic

YouTube users have been able to discover key stats on who’s watching their videos for a while now, using Insight. But now it’s replacing Insight with YouTube Analytics, which will be released to everyone over the course of today.

The new features will include a new overview section which provides the key information quickly, while also enabling easy access to more detailed information. Ted Hamilton, Product Manager, also announced the following enhancements in a blog post today:

More Detailed Reports: Analytics now includes more detailed statistics so that you can have a more precise understanding of your content and audiences.

Audience Builders: Discover which videos are driving the most views and subscriptions.

Audience Retention: See how far viewers are watching through your video in the new audience retention report.

It’s worth noting that YouTube Analytics reports will be generated using the same data that people are used to with Insight, but the plan here is to present the data in a more useful and interactive way.

The Summary report shows some top-level performance metrics for YouTube videos, and clicking on the title of each widget will take users to that specific report:

All reports will be unified with a Data Filter, and this tool will be displayed at the top of each report. This lets you filter by Content, Geography, and Date.

Most reports will have a Line Chart by default, covering the distribution of a metric over a specified date range, but you can also add Date granularity and Compare metric, the latter of which could let you compare different viewer-types:

Furthermore, most reports will have an interactive Map, outlining the geographic distribution of the metric reported over a specified date range. You can hover over one of the countries this with your mouse to see the data for this particular country.

Google-owned YouTube first launched its insights service back in March 2008, giving users information such as video-views in specific geographic regions and its popularity relative to other videos in a market over a set period of time. And in September 2009, we reported on YouTube’s new Insights for Audience tool, which applied analytics to the whole YouTube audience rather than just to specific videos.

by Bryan Boettger

Web Video

I don’t believe you can make a “viral video.” There. I said it.

However, you can game the system. In a media landscape where earned media continues to gain greater and greater importance, we find ourselves consulting brands on analytical ways to judge a qualitative product. A way to judge propensity.

And, sometimes, you can do it by analyzing 10 factors…

1. Authenticity

Viral videos must have a sense of real-ness. It can be planned out, but the video must feel in-the-moment. No one wants to be a shill for your blatant marketing.

2. Irreproducible

A video can be irreproducible in three ways. First, if the video captures a moment in time that cannot be recreated. Second, if the video shows someone doing something so painful, embarrassing, etc. that the general population of viewers would not try it. Third, if the video shows someone doing something the general population of viewers could not do themselves — this is the one with most opportunity for brands.

3. Odd

This is one of the hardest to define and most subjective. When a video has the quality of oddness, it often elicits a reaction of “huh?” or “what?” Find the weirdest person in your office, put him or her in the video.

4. Funny

Quite simply, will the video make people laugh? But, very importantly: not just you! Will it make a general, broader audience laugh?

5: Musical

Musical doesn’t just mean some background music. It might include the primary subject singing, someone dancing to music, or music setting the scene for the video.

6. Surprising

This might occur through an unforeseen twist, an event people haven’t seen before, or something that happens that scares the viewers.

7. Impressive

A video is impressive if it elicits a reaction of “wow.” There are a few reasons it might do this — an exhibition of an extreme talent, someone doing something so crazy it is hard to believe, or something being done that must have taken an extreme amount of time to make happen. Often, “impressive,” “surprising” and “odd” can go hand-in-hand.

8. Parodied or Copied

Of all the traits, this is probably the most difficult to accurately assess ahead of time. But, you can ask yourself some questions to help better assess its potential for being parodied or copied. Is there a person with such overt personality characteristics that people will be inclined to mimic them? Are you teaching or showing something that people will want to try themselves?

9. Painful or Embarrassing

As sad as it might be, if someone gets hurt or embarrassed in the video, it is going to help the video’s viral potential. NOTE: I AM IN NO WAY CONDONING OR SUGGESTING PEOPLE SHOULD INTENTIONALLY HURT OR EMBARRASS OTHERS. But, sometimes you catch this accidentally. Always keep the camera rolling!

10. Pop Culture Timeliness

This attribute has the potential for two additional benefits for your video.

Jumpstart: Having a video tied to a timely pop culture event can help kick-start the viral growth of your video. It will instantly have more relevance because it is tied to an event that is already at the forefront of popular interest.

Longevity: Not only can Pop Culture Timeliness jumpstart a video, but it can also make a video’s relevance last longer. The video does not have to create a lasting relevance of its own, but can instead piggyback on the lasting relevance of the pop culture event.

Final Words of Advice

However, as much as you may try to break it down scientifically, remember that it is still much more art than science. It’s just a matter of applying some science to your art.

by Daisy Whitney

NBC-owned iVillage has steadily grown the frequency and amount of video across its site and is now generating more than 4 million video views each month, with plans to expand the video on its site in 2012. Kelly Wallace, the site’s head of video and chief correspondent, said advertisers are keen on integrations into the content, and that viewers like daily franchises. Look for more of that in the year ahead, with more details in this week’s New Media Minute.

Web Video

I had the chance to speak with the site’s chief correspondent and head of video, Kelly Wallace, and she said that iVillage is going to be expanding the amount of video it has on the site next year.

She also has several tips for any site or brand that wants to start doing more video:

Advertisers are extremely interested in video, but want to make sure they’re engaging consumers–engagement within the video itself. If a video comes off as advertorial, it’s not viewed in the same way.

iVillage has seen great success creating franchises–special programs for every day of the week–like a television network.

Make sure your video content is connected to your brand. Consider it an extension of your brand.

Start small. Video is more expensive than writing articles or putting together slideshows. Also, do as much shooting as you can in one day to save on the budget.

Source: Online Video Marketing Tips For Brands & Websites From iVillage http://www.reelseo.com/online-video-marketing-tips/#ixzz1eM1CPLmL
©2008-2011 ReelSEO.com Online Video Guide

It’s video tips and tricks Wednesday again. I love this day because it’s when I comb the web looking for the very best cheap production tips. Not only do I get to share them with you but I also get to use them myself.

Todays video is about building a zero cost steadicam. Every production company wants to have a steadicam for smooth moving shots. This one adapts a cheap tripod and is from Will Merrick and Sundog Pictures.

Follow the directions on his video and you will be shooting like a pro in no time at all. Thanks Will.

Viral Video

Building a successful video virus requires more than clever creative, panelists said during an Advertising Week talk on Thursday entitled “The Viral Business: How Brands Can Create Online Video Hit Machines.”

Buying a TV spot delivers a big crowd of consumers all at once, for example, but audiences for web video take time to accumulate as pass-along and social media build. So patience is often a necessary virtue in planning and gauging branded video endeavors, said George Smith, senior manager-social activation strategy and execution for PepsiCo. The company’s first video with the humor site Funny or Die to promote Pepsi Max in Australia and the U.K. generated fewer than 100,000 views, but the audience had doubled by the 10th video, he said.”You need to build audience and train your audience,” he said, noting that music videos have a formula that audiences have come to understand, which heightens their enjoyment of them.

Panelists also pushed for investment in distribution. Even good creative — like a current Method Man-fronted spot for Sour Patch Kids — can’t be expected to distribute itself, they said. “If we’re going to invest $150,000, $200,000 in creative, we should invest at least that in media,” Mr. Smith said. “What a lot of people forget about Old Spice is it was a Super Bowl commercial.”

Marketers and agencies also need to remember that they’re not necessarily controlling the order in which consumers watch installments of a multi-part series. Adam Pincus, a managing partner and director of content at media agency MediaCom, discussed “Untitled Jersey City Project,” an Audi campaign his agency distributed in which short episodes emulate TV storytelling in a compressed format. It’s a thriller currently airing over four weeks on FX and available online, working in political intrigue, conspiratorial fat cats and a body mysteriously falling from a construction site — as well as prominent placement for Audi, with scenes shot on location. Each episode ends with a cliffhanger, but Mr. Pincus said it’s not designed to be viewed in a linear manner. “In the digital environment, you’re going to encounter any episode pretty much at random,” he said.

Jackson Jeyanayagam, VP-digital strategy at Taylor, talked about the success of a 2010 effort he worked on for Dentyne Pure gum. The brand wanted the product to exude confidence, so a video featured the comedy duo Rhett and Link finishing dinner at a pizzeria and getting up the nerve to ask out their waitress after chewing a piece of Dentyne and freshening their breath. (Then they start a rap battle to outdo each other.) The campaign got 4 million views in its first week, Mr. Jeyanayagam recalled. More remarkably, in his view, a fake voicemail set up for the fictional waitress that was eventually integrated into the campaign got 2,000 messages in its first day. The spot’s success was at least partially attributable to Rhett and Link’s inherent audience, Mr. Jeyanayagam said.

Brand managers are often too risk-averse to advocate a branded video endeavor, fearing that a failure could tarnish their careers, Mr. Jeyanayagam said. Others try it once but stop there unless they get a runaway hit. “I think a lot of time brands fail and never go back to [branded video], which is frustrating for us,” he said. Diageo’s director of marketing for rums, Tom Herbst, showed a Captain Morgan spot entitled “To Life, Love and Loot,” set in 1661 Santo Domingo and showing a banquet that culminates in the guests — including the eponymous captain himself — festively smashing their dishes and glassware. Mr. Herbst noted that while his team was happy with the couple million views the spot racked up, they were even more pleased with the fact that it drove 150,000 new fans to Captain Morgan’s Facebook page.