I am a child of the 80’s. Play some New Order, Yes, or Van Halen and you’ve got my attention. And yes, I’ll even admit that I like the power ballads, especially from Journey. I mean, really, who didn’t grow up in the 80’s and slow dance to “Open Arms?” That song was standard homecoming and prom material. Well, couple my love of 80’s music and internet marketing and this has to be one of the best stories to come out of the age of YouTube. Hattip to ClassicVinylRecord.com
The Story
The Zoo was a rock band in the Philippines that liked to upload video of their performances to YouTube. They have a solid following in the Philippines and most of their videos are from their performances at the Hard rock café in Makati. They are very well known for their covers of well-known rock songs from the 80’s and 90’s. Their lead singer, Arnel Pineda garnered a lot of the attention because of his clear tone and amazing voice.
Here is Arnel and The Zoo performing one of my favorite Journey songs, “Faithfully.” Give it a listen, you’ll see what I mean,
Did you know Journey was hiring?
Now, here is the amazing part of the story. Halfway around the world original Journey founder, Neil Schon, was trolling videos of bands on YouTube one night and finds this video. He contacted the band through YouTube, convinced them he was for real, and in short time auditioned to become the front man for Journey. It didn’t take much convincing, and he was announced on December 5th 2007.
Now Journey fans, and even those that with a passing familiarity, know Steve Perry was “the voice.” Replacing him bordered on sacrilege. However, after hearing Arnel, I am fully convinced this guy can handle the job.
So, here is your new Journey frontman, Arnel Pineda. From cover band to frontman, all via YouTube, plus some amazing vocal talent.
Is YouTube the new Broadway?
The marketing aspect of this has to be respected. YouTube has been the conduit to many contacts, contracts and discoveries. Apple’s use of a fan’s self-created commercial for the iPod Touch was one of the first YouTube sucess stories. Instead of suing the fan base, Apple realized that the user base were becoming passionate evangelists for the product and it was better to promote the evangelists than shut them down with lawyers. What better way to help people go to the next level of being a fan of the company?
Marketing via YouTube
YouTube has enabled a whole new form of discovery for artists. Singers, filmmakers, actors, designers, animators, and on and on. The new pathway to becoming discovered is much shorter and much more broad. The abilities to reach more people and distuguish yourself is easier than ever. However, the stakes are also much higher. Because the access is so easy for anyone to upload themselves, the competition has increased. There are more people uploading than ever before and creating consumer-generated video.
This is the difference that this story highlights. Even among the thousands of videos of people singing Journey songs, this is the one that got noticed. Why? because the kid has scary talent and a voice that is almost (dare I say) better than Steve Perry. He had a product that got noticed. It was better, stronger, and “stickier” than the competition.
The secret to success
Even though the access is greater, the competition will also be greater, and no amount of additional visibility on the web helps an average product. Products that kick ass and are the ones that get noticed.
Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.
As a search engine addict, and a search engine marketer, I’ve been fascinated with the evolution of the search engine ever since I started marketing online, well over a decade ago. One search engine always attracts my attention, especially over the past two years, with great innovation and features. And no, it isn’t Google. It’s Ask.com.
Multimedia is Content
Ask got people talking early last year with its breakthrough 3-D interface. I was able to enjoy this interface to the fullest a few weeks ago when my child was doing a school report on Glenn Miller. From the Ask search results, we
were able to listen to his recordings, view video, read his biography and see pictures. We didn’t even click on any of the search results for the first 10 minutes!
The 3-D interface is one of the best innovations in search since the spider. It recognizes that images, video, and audio are content as well, and they have integrated multimedia into the search results. Maybe you’ve seen the latest commercials, which I have to say are a drastic improvement over past Ask ads. (Chicks with Swords, anyone?)
The results page now allows searchers to get information handily and preview other sites before they even click on the result. It is the first interface that truly recognizes the needs of the human searcher. We are not always looking for text, and the internet contains a multitude of good information just waiting to be found. Ask makes it easier to uncover that information.
Mobile Speech Interface
The latest Ask innovation made me stand up and take notice. Ask has gone beyond the browser boundaries with the newest search feature. Typically, mobile browsing has been a stripped-down version of the web interface, usually a simple list of links.
Last month, Ask unveiled a voice-activated feature for mobile directions. This feature allows you to speak the address when searching for directions. Within seconds, you receive your directions. Even better, you can choose driving or walking directions as a list or turn-by turn.
I can’t tell you how many times I have attempted to type in directions to a mapping program or the search interface (not while I’m driving, of course), or have been in a city and just needed to know where something was.
Ask has driven the human-computer interface deeper by allowing a more immersive experience, first with the search interface, and now with the Star Trek inspired speech interface. I am very eager to see what the Ask.com team will unleash next.
One for the Privacy Advocates: Search History
Oh, and by the way, Ask not only deletes your search history after 18 months, but allows you to step up your privacy with Ask Eraser. Your search activity is deleted within hours. Now this isn’t the search history on your browser, it’s the search history that EVERY search engine keeps on you in their database. Remember when AOL accidentally released user search histories? Other search engines haven’t been as honest about your search history, and how long they keep it.
take a look at the innovation over the past year at the Ask.com Blog. I am sure that you’ll be impressed with the dedication to the user experience.
If you haven’t used Ask.com lately, I challenge you to take a test drive for a week and use Ask as your primary search engine. Try the customization features and explore. It may not be for everyone, but it may be just right for you.
Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.
There has been a proliferation of articles about using social media and how marketers see this as a vast new land of opportunity. Unfortunately, the majority of stories also feature how marketers fail miserably at establishing trust in these social media spaces, and most of that has to do with the attitude of the advertisers.
Too many times, marketer’s feel as through social media has been created for their benefit, when in reality it is a group of people with similar interests who joined into a community. A community where marketers are free to participate, but not free to overtly sell, that isn’t part of the social contract.
Users in these communities are looking for participation and contribution. And no – advertising your product and dropping links are not considered participation. Contribution is in the form of thoughts, opinions, and discussion.
Bottom line, social media networks are looking to hold hands, and not jump into bed on the first date. Marketers need to cool their jets and learn a little foreplay, otherwise, rejection is painful. To be viewed as a consumer is a little disconcerting for these contributors, and many feel just as violated, as if they were a ‘piece of meat.’
Facebook’s slap in the face
Facebook’s Beacon advertising program was the latest singles bar casualty. In promising free love for advertisers, Mark Zuckerburg forgot that romance is important. People were not using Facebook in order to give him a $15 Billion dollar valuation, they were using it to connect with friends and define themselves to the world. They didn’t want to be treated as whores for advertisers, and they spoke up vehemently. Beacon will now be a shadow of its intended purpose. All because marketers believed that consumers were there for their pleasure.
Thus, the tragic problem with marketers comes to the surface when they try social media. So many of them believe they only have to make a quick stop into the singles bar and then on to bed. However, consumers only want to hold hands.
Can We Hold Hands First?
Social Media was not created for marketing. Social Media existed before the modern internet and even preceded websites. Social Media is a creation of users for themselves to meet and connect, to think otherwise is foolish. No social media network was created for the express purpose of marketing (except for Webkinz, but that’s another story).
The image is reinforced of an overbearing bad date that cares about nothing more than getting into bed, when the consumer wants to talk and be heard. Many advertisers feign listening, some stomp off in disappointment, others are willing to become involved, maybe even commit to a long-term relationship.
But that is how marketers show themselves in many social media settings – concerned only with getting their message across. Rarely do they listening to any of the discussions or familiarize themselves with the intricacies of the social scene.
Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.
Being intimately familiar with WebKinz World, I have been fascinated with the development of this network, mainly for the standpoint of the marketing. My familiarity? Our household is directly in the target market and I searched everywhere for a pink pony WebKinz for Christmas.
In all of the hoopla that surrounds social media marketing, the virtual world of Webkinz has quietly slipped into being the fastest growing social network online. The reason why it’s been so quiet? The target audience is 7-12 year olds. Ask most parents, and they are probably familiar with the virtual pet phenomenon, at least they will be familiar with being asked to buy the Webkinz.
In the past year, visitors to Webkinz have increased by 342% to more than six million unique visitors in November 2007 (ComScore). eMarketer estimates that 20 million children will be members of a virtual world by 2011, up from 8.2 million in 2007.
Social Network Marketing
Other social networks targeted at adults have been formed mainly out of hobbies and shared interests. Social networks are formed with the intent of gathering people; Marketing in these networks is an afterthought until the drive for a buy-out creates the need for monetization.
However, when it comes to the younger audiences, the social network and virtual worlds are created by brilliant marketers as a way to further the passion for the product. The primary purpose is marketing, which is concerning to me, as a parent and a marketer.
How Webkinz Works
Webkinz plays to the idea of an exclusive club – only those who purchase the plush toy will be granted access. In fact, it is called an “adoption” rather than a purchase. Webkinz is sort of like the old cabbage patch doll phenomenon. When you bought the doll you received a birth certificate for the doll, which initiated you into a club (so to speak).
Webkinz operates on a similar principle, but the code on the Webkinz, is also the code that allows you to adopt your pet online and have access into the virtual world. Once a child has that access, they are now responsible to care for their animal that has “come to life” in this virtual world. This caters to and develops the nurturing play of children.
Interestingly, you simply cannot wander Webkinz World, you eventually have to purchase a house and furnish it for your Webkinz pet. You do this by playing games and earning money. With the money you earn, you can buy more items for your Webkinz, such a bigger house, a pool, a bed, furniture, TV, etc.
KinzChat
Social interaction in WebKinz World is limited, thank God. When my daughter told me that she made a friend and was chatting with them online – I freaked. This is what got me into learning more about Webkinz. Chatting in Webkinz World is a series of pre-programmed statements. Children choose which statement their pet will say to the other pet, and they can choose to friend each other from there. They can also choose to share recipes, such as a waffle, strawberry, and spicy pizza combination called “mizzleberry jacks.” There is no direct one-to one interaction at this point. Children feel as though they actually have real conversations and talks about them as if they were real and these new friends are real. As a parent – I like that, but it does make me wonder about the new definition of the word “friend”.
There is an additional paid service that will allow direct chat in Webkinz World, but parents have to pay for the service and choose to permit the direct chat, called KinzChat Plus. Even in the KinsChat Plus, the chat is limited, as the words must match a restricted dictionary. This prevents addresses, phone numbers, and words from entering the conversations.
Webkinz Marketing
Every marketer (and parent) knows that a child begging for a toy is one of the most powerful persuasive tactics to sell a product. Thus, the key to successfully targeting children to be your product evangelist. They have very few filters when it comes to toys, cereals, and speaking their mind. That’s a powerful combination for a marketer who would like to get their product into a household. Webkinz has been able to grab a hold of this market and reinforce itself in the process.
The interface is very easy for children to access and understand. Preschoolers are able to use Webkinz, especially if they have older siblings that can teach them. What is most concerning; however, is the advertising that is proliferates the site. Advertisements for movies and toys are constant throughout the website, and many marketers are licking their chops for the exposure to this young audience.
Webkinz has revolutionized the offline-online interaction and measurement gap and created a safe virtual playground for children. It allows them to socialize (albeit, restricted) online and have experiences that adults have never imagined or experienced. They are growing up with a virtual world, whereas most adults have never heard of or even entered Second Life.
While most social networks are looking for ways to merge on-line and off-line marketing, WebKinz took both head-on and has developed an amazing network of plush toys, trading cards, charms, body spritz, bookmarks, lip gloss, clothing, mouse pads, backpacks and purses. All purchases come with valuable codes that provide “gifts” for your adopted pet. For any analyst, the ability to track the online-to-offline purchasing and behavior would be a dream come true.
Virtual Worlds Marketing to Children
Disney is already in full swing, creating multiple virtual worlds for young audiences. Disney’s Club Penguin attracts seven more times the traffic of Second Life (NYTimes.com). Nickelodeon is spending $100 million to develop virtual worlds targeted to children.
I am fascinated, as a marketer, of the creativity that is on display for children. Most children’s sites (PBSKids.org, Noggin.com, and NickJr.com) have offered a wide range of creative, interesting and safe websites. The draw of these games and websites has reached a new, younger generation of children that are more familiar with a computer than a TV.
As both a parent and a marketer, there is a dark side to all of this. I remember growing up and seeing commercials during Saturday morning cartoons. We watched them as the portal to see all that was new and exciting. Now, children have advertising surrounding them, but very little of the rational skills that are necessary for evaluating those messages.
Consider that social networks that adults are involved with have nowhere near the advertising that these worlds have developed for children. Adult social networks are not built for marketing, but children’s social networks are being built for that express purpose.
When Facebook’s Beacon program was found to be too invasive, privacy advocates screamed. Privacy advocates are screaming for children, but not as many want to hear their concerns. Toy companies and marketers are lining up to be part of these networks aimed at kids.
Take this how you will . . .
This is where my parental role trumps that of the marketer. It is my responsibility to raise my child, not a website’s. It is ultimately the parents that need to take an active role in knowing what your child is doing online and how it can help or hurt them. Educating children about marketing and how to evaluate marketing messages will be critical as more and more marketers see children as a “gold mine” for marketing-entertainment.
Parents need to ask themselves, who is looking out for the health, welfare and best interest of their children? While virtual worlds can be entertaining and educational, parents need to be aware of the real motivations behind these networks.
“All the stars are aligning for virtual worlds to become a mass-market form of entertainment, especially for kids . . . .”
Paul Yanover, executive vice president and managing director of Disney Online.
Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.
This thought provoking article by Jennifer Laycock (Are Your Social Networking Connections Hurting YOUR Reputation?) brings to mind the saying of my grandmother’s: ” You are known by the company you keep.” While some may dispense with this as old-fashioned advice in the new socially-networked world. I find it to be true now more than ever.
Privacy not invaded, but given away
I’ve done many presentations to parents about social networking and what teens are doing online. Many are frightfully uninformed. The largest danger is the thinking that social profiles are private, when they are just the opposite. Public profiles, for teens and young adults, can be a vast repository of personal information
My favorite story is about a guest speaker that taught a class of high school students about online privacy. When the students entered the room, they were shocked to find papers taped all over the walls of the room, all of which contained their conversations, profiles, pictures, and things that they assumed were private. All of which were found by the speaker online with only a few pieces of information. None of the students realized how public, and how findable, everything they did online really was.
Everyone is a Brand
Related to this is the fact that everyone is becoming a brand. Every person is your brand, and you will have to manage your online reputation just as any company would. Earlier this year, the John Edwards campaign came under fire for hiring two bloggers that made inflammatory remarks in their blogs (NYTimes). Some of those remarks were even contradictory to the views of the Edwards’ campaign. What may have been acceptable on a personal level was not acceptable for the campaign. The two bloggers ultimately kept their new positions, but not without Edwards distancing himself from them and their views, all of which created a large distraction for the campaign.
I believe that more and more people will have their online “cybertrail” taken into account as employers, prospects, recruiters, and possibly even clients start to realize the wealth of information about people at their fingertips. At one time, private investigators were the primary means of finding out this much information about people. Now, it seems, people are very willing to let everyone know their latest escapades.
Much more than tracking someone’s profile online, I realized that most people put more information on their social profiles than employers are legally allowed to ask in an interview. This isn’t just for kids, it’s for anyone that may complain about a boss, a co-worker, or have any problems at work. It’s about your personal life available online for anyone to find and judge. Once it is posted online, it is there for anyone to see. If an employer wants to find out more about a prospective employee, they don’t have far to go.
Managing a company’s reputation takes work; negativity is usually the result of bad products, practices, mistakes, or vocal critics. However, personal reputation may take an even bigger brush to cover, especially with the broad range of social media outlets. I have a funny feeling that personal reputation management will be a lucrative business in the near future.
Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.
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Now Journey fans, and even those that with a passing familiarity, know Steve Perry was “the voice.” Replacing him bordered on sacrilege. However, after hearing Arnel, I am fully convinced this guy can handle the job.
Matt Bailey is the owner and founder of SiteLogic and has over a decade in the web marketing industry. He focuses on consulting and training to help companies take control of their websites and marketing strategies.
