Here is the link to our video press release for Student Computing Services. This video contains all of the information for the annual end of semester open to close. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by8DO2j-E3A
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Second Life
When I was taking a tour around second life, I came across a company called Cheil Communications in the middle of Times Square in New York City. It is an advertising agency in Second Life. The building has an interesting feeling, with big open spaces and few signs detailing what the comopany is about. I liked that the company was in Times Square, but I found it hard to navigate once I was there becuase of the lack of information posted. Maybe it is under construction, but either way it was hard to glean much information about the company with the lack of postings on the walls. There was a front desk (though no one was behind it) and some posters on the walls with different sayings. Also, there was a machine in there called the brand wizzard and it kept saying things that popped up on your screen, like "keep them coming back for more" "being in second life is not the sme as being part of second life," and "There's a fine line between creating a buzz and being told to buzz off." I thought these sayings were great because they made the person behind the screen think about advertising and how different campaigns will affect people differently.
There was not much data that could be extracted from this campaign. Except for the few sayings from the brand wizzard, there was not much information that I could gather from this company's site.
I think right now Second life is mostly hype for PR campaigns. I think this because people who are playing around on second life will not be interested in visiting pr firms. I can see them maybe going shopping or going to a club and dancing, but going into a conference room and watching a pr campaign is probubally not very fun for most people exploring second life. I think when second life gets bigger there will be ways to more cleverly disguise pr campaigns within the islands.
If I were conducting this campaign in second life, I would have more information posted, and I would have a person present at the front desk. That way if you were interested in the company, you could have a conversation with the person behind the desk. Also, there would be examples of their work and a way to get in contact with the company in real life. I think that way if people were interested in the work Cheil communications does they can contact them and contract work from them.
I also visited Text 100 in second life. I thouoght their building was interesting but hard to navigate also (or it might just be me). I could see there were several layers of the building, becuase there was a glass floor, but I could not figure out how to get to the different levels. There were also things you could click on to see tips for writing good press releases. I thought that was a very good way to bring the second life world into the real world. Also, I was greeted personally when I teleported to Text 100. I thought that was a nice touch.
There was not much data that could be extracted from this campaign. Except for the few sayings from the brand wizzard, there was not much information that I could gather from this company's site.
I think right now Second life is mostly hype for PR campaigns. I think this because people who are playing around on second life will not be interested in visiting pr firms. I can see them maybe going shopping or going to a club and dancing, but going into a conference room and watching a pr campaign is probubally not very fun for most people exploring second life. I think when second life gets bigger there will be ways to more cleverly disguise pr campaigns within the islands.
If I were conducting this campaign in second life, I would have more information posted, and I would have a person present at the front desk. That way if you were interested in the company, you could have a conversation with the person behind the desk. Also, there would be examples of their work and a way to get in contact with the company in real life. I think that way if people were interested in the work Cheil communications does they can contact them and contract work from them.
I also visited Text 100 in second life. I thouoght their building was interesting but hard to navigate also (or it might just be me). I could see there were several layers of the building, becuase there was a glass floor, but I could not figure out how to get to the different levels. There were also things you could click on to see tips for writing good press releases. I thought that was a very good way to bring the second life world into the real world. Also, I was greeted personally when I teleported to Text 100. I thought that was a nice touch.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Viral Video In-Class Assignment
The two videos I chose to analyze were the Barak Obama campaign video and the eight bucks video starring Bill Cosby.
1. I think successful viral campaign videos are hard to make. Successful viral campaigns are a combinataion of interesting topics and humor. I think most people can relate to or get sucked into something humerous. If a company decides they would rather take a more serious approach they should try and work from an issue lots of people know about. The Barkak Obama campaign used this strategy with their video, apparently using an old commercial but putting new video into it to make their point. I think this was a wise way to integrate a new issue with an old issue. However, the campaign was lost on me because I did not see the old commercial so I had no idea what the video was about or why. This is something a viral video maker needs to watch out for. The Eight Bucks video was successful in my opinion because it was funny and interesting and caught the attention of the audience. It was easy to understand and had a clear call to action. It was fun to watch because it was random, and it was brilliant because of the opportunity for audience participation. I think it was a really great idea for them to post a video with a greenscreen so people could just go nuts with thier own version. Sometimes it is hard to tell if a viral campaign is successful. If there is no call to action, then there is not a real way to measure it. The eight bucks campaign's success can be measured because they did have a call to action and they can just tally how many people sent in eight bucks. The Barak Obama campaign did not have a call to action and I think measurement is harder in this campaign. It posts on youtube how many times a video has been watched, so someone can keep track that way, but it doesn't post the reactions. I watched the video, but the point was completely lost on me. A call to action would be good because it would measure not how many people were exposed to the message, but how many understood and were impacted by it.
2. As far as the two viral videos I chose to analyze, the Barak Obama one works because it takes something that is old and familiar (the commercial) and pairs it with something new (Hillary Clinton) to make its point. It draws attention to the new because the old is being used in a new way. What doesn't work about this campaign is that it doesn't make sense to people who have never seen the commercial. It was wierd and I didn't understand the point because I didn't see the original commercial. I wasn't sure if it was a pro Hillary or pro someone else until I saw the ending credits. The Eight Bucks campaign was a lot different. It worked because it was interesting, the scenery was changing a lot and it was repetitive, with Bill Cosby repeating the message several times over. It engaged the audience because you are allowed to create your own video using their template and greenscreened footage, and it had measureable outcomes with the call to action during the video. I can see a few things not working in this video too, though. If someone has an aversion to Bill Cosby they might not like it very much. Also, if they are not interested in funding the museum for slavery they might not like the ad.
3. I would not pass any of these videos on to my friends because most of my friends are not the kind of people who watch viral marketing for fun. It is okay to watch it in class when it pertains to an assignment, but you would not find me on my computer in my free time, watching viral marketing, and my friends aren't that type either. If I had to pass one on to a friend, I would pass on the Eight Bucks one because out of the five we watched, it was the most interesting to me.
4. There is not much prominent brand placement in the videos I chose. In the Barak Obama one, it showed his logo at the end, but until then you couldn't tell what the video was for. The eight bucks video wasn't really about a brand, but it did repeat several times that they wanted eight bucks. I think the strategies were good for the each of the videos I chose. If the branding were any less in each of them a person wouldn't be able to tell what they were for. If the branding were any more I think it would diminish the credibility of the viral video.
5. I found a viral video campaign online for Sony Playstation handheld game machines. Here is the link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=0G0LlXv-nyI This was (in my opinion) a miserable attempt at viral marketing by the Sony company, placed on youtube. It was a man in his 20's in workout pants and a tee shirt with a Santa hat on dancing and singing. He was trying to rap and all he said was " All I want for Christmas is a PSP" over and over while doing rediculous dance moves and something on a ladder. This campaign was not funny and not well done. I thought it was a very unsuccessful attepmt at viral marketing.
1. I think successful viral campaign videos are hard to make. Successful viral campaigns are a combinataion of interesting topics and humor. I think most people can relate to or get sucked into something humerous. If a company decides they would rather take a more serious approach they should try and work from an issue lots of people know about. The Barkak Obama campaign used this strategy with their video, apparently using an old commercial but putting new video into it to make their point. I think this was a wise way to integrate a new issue with an old issue. However, the campaign was lost on me because I did not see the old commercial so I had no idea what the video was about or why. This is something a viral video maker needs to watch out for. The Eight Bucks video was successful in my opinion because it was funny and interesting and caught the attention of the audience. It was easy to understand and had a clear call to action. It was fun to watch because it was random, and it was brilliant because of the opportunity for audience participation. I think it was a really great idea for them to post a video with a greenscreen so people could just go nuts with thier own version. Sometimes it is hard to tell if a viral campaign is successful. If there is no call to action, then there is not a real way to measure it. The eight bucks campaign's success can be measured because they did have a call to action and they can just tally how many people sent in eight bucks. The Barak Obama campaign did not have a call to action and I think measurement is harder in this campaign. It posts on youtube how many times a video has been watched, so someone can keep track that way, but it doesn't post the reactions. I watched the video, but the point was completely lost on me. A call to action would be good because it would measure not how many people were exposed to the message, but how many understood and were impacted by it.
2. As far as the two viral videos I chose to analyze, the Barak Obama one works because it takes something that is old and familiar (the commercial) and pairs it with something new (Hillary Clinton) to make its point. It draws attention to the new because the old is being used in a new way. What doesn't work about this campaign is that it doesn't make sense to people who have never seen the commercial. It was wierd and I didn't understand the point because I didn't see the original commercial. I wasn't sure if it was a pro Hillary or pro someone else until I saw the ending credits. The Eight Bucks campaign was a lot different. It worked because it was interesting, the scenery was changing a lot and it was repetitive, with Bill Cosby repeating the message several times over. It engaged the audience because you are allowed to create your own video using their template and greenscreened footage, and it had measureable outcomes with the call to action during the video. I can see a few things not working in this video too, though. If someone has an aversion to Bill Cosby they might not like it very much. Also, if they are not interested in funding the museum for slavery they might not like the ad.
3. I would not pass any of these videos on to my friends because most of my friends are not the kind of people who watch viral marketing for fun. It is okay to watch it in class when it pertains to an assignment, but you would not find me on my computer in my free time, watching viral marketing, and my friends aren't that type either. If I had to pass one on to a friend, I would pass on the Eight Bucks one because out of the five we watched, it was the most interesting to me.
4. There is not much prominent brand placement in the videos I chose. In the Barak Obama one, it showed his logo at the end, but until then you couldn't tell what the video was for. The eight bucks video wasn't really about a brand, but it did repeat several times that they wanted eight bucks. I think the strategies were good for the each of the videos I chose. If the branding were any less in each of them a person wouldn't be able to tell what they were for. If the branding were any more I think it would diminish the credibility of the viral video.
5. I found a viral video campaign online for Sony Playstation handheld game machines. Here is the link: http://youtube.com/watch?v=0G0LlXv-nyI This was (in my opinion) a miserable attempt at viral marketing by the Sony company, placed on youtube. It was a man in his 20's in workout pants and a tee shirt with a Santa hat on dancing and singing. He was trying to rap and all he said was " All I want for Christmas is a PSP" over and over while doing rediculous dance moves and something on a ladder. This campaign was not funny and not well done. I thought it was a very unsuccessful attepmt at viral marketing.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Astroturfing project
Ever heard of Astroturfing? Learn more about this fake grassroots publicity campaign by clicking on the link below.
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Monday, February 12, 2007
Adobe Audition Assignment
Click here to listen to an Audio Press Release regarding Student Computing Services hiring for Fall 2007
https://mysite.wsu.edu/personal/kchoward/Shared%20Documents/Kelsey%27s%20Mixdown%20Final.mp3
https://mysite.wsu.edu/personal/kchoward/Shared%20Documents/Kelsey%27s%20Mixdown%20Final.mp3
Friday, February 9, 2007
Audio Press Release
Follow the link to hear an Audio Press Release for Student Computing Services.
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