Evian Roller Babies

Here's a video ad that went viral quickly. Interestingly, Evian displays a gentle product slide at the start and then the end of the video, leaving the viewer with just a slight reminder that the entertainment is associated with a product ad. The downside of this relatively effective technique of course, is that companies need to invest heavily to develop entertaining content like this, for the consumer market. 



How can your company create entertaining video content for the consumer market, while still getting your product in there?

How to Market a Hoover Creatively over YouTube

We're back, having been away for the first 2 months of 2009. We were busy opening a new line of business (making everyone at Brave Boat Studios certifiably crazy, I suppose.)

Here's an innovative video ad from China, with a surprise twist at the end. Somehow it isn't quite what you'd expect, which is probably why it was so popular on YouTube:

Hoover Marketing Ad Popular on YouTube

Well, we're back. We've been away for the first few months of 2009, opening a new line of business. (Yes, we're all certifiably crazy here at Brave Boat Studios.)

This is an ad from China which kind of transcends the language barrier. With a surprise ending, you can see why it was so popular on YouTube:

Unique Market Niche

We've been closed down for a week due to a severe ice storm. So here we are, back in Studio, with more interesting video marketing for you.

Here's a most unusual line of business:

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This is one of those product lines for which web video is ideally suited, don't you agree? Can you think of any other unusual product lines that would be best served by streaming video web marketing?

Amazing Jellyfish-like Simulation - Smart Technology

Here's our favorite of the week. It's from Festo, a German technology firm. Can you imagine having simulated so perfectly the movements of a jellyfish?




What will they use this technology for? Without video, wouldn't it be hard to explain what they'd accomplished?

Giant Flipper - Don't Litter Campaign

Against Litter's 2007 campaign in Belgium. Wow. This'll teach him:




This is an example of using extreme video. Do you think it'd work for you company's product line? (We understand this was a very successful and well-received ad in Belgium late last year. )

Market Research via In-the-Street-Video

Here's one entrepreneur who takes his market research right to the customer, on the street, on video. Watch his technique and think about the amount of valuable market research he captures:



We think this sponteneous form of video makes a great web marketing tool - it's like a video testimonial to the uniquely desirable attributes of the product. Does your firm do this? Why or why not? Is it harder or somewhat different, if your product is a service?

Really Serious Eats - Japan Dairy Council

This is some teacher!


An ad for dairy - what do you think of the special effects? We think they somewhat overwhelm the marketing message. What do you think the actual message is?

Seth Godin again: Ideas That Spread, Win!

Food for thought, literally!
Do you know what TV THINKING is? Watch:


PAY ATTENTION (and start actively blogging with us. We'll look forward to hearing what you think.)

Microsoft's Shoe Circus- Bill Gates & Jerry Seinfeld

We love this series from Microsoft. In this one, Jerry and Bill meet at Shoe Circus and the point of the Ad is subtly made at the very end. Really cute:



Is this Marketing Genius or is it just silly? What's so compelling about this Ad?

The Klondike Contest - This Guy Won $100,000!

Check this out: Klondike sponsored a contest in which the best Klondike video wins $100,000 as a grand prize. Here's Joel Levinson, who won. He literally took himself on a POLAR TREK, ending at the Arctic Circle:



Would a contest like this promote your firm's product well? We're trying to see if it'd work for us, (although the prize would likely be more like a hefty $2.00. )

Question to our (still silent, ever-lurking) minions of viewers: Why do you think these contests have such widespread public appeal? There were multiple top contenders for this contest prize and the traffic to their videos is astounding. Klondike got some great press out of this one. Why do people watch or participate in video contests like this?

Bitter Beer Reinforces its Brand with an Unusual Rendering of its Theme Song

Here's a great video ad from Australia. They've got the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra playing the theme song for Bitter Beer, on beer bottles, no less! Ingenious and very well done:




Creating video ads to run on the web is an interesting marketing exercise, as long as you're thinking outside the box. In fact, we suggest you try giving the assignment to the IT folk, or some group that isn't generally charged with responsibility for marketing at all. Sometimes those are the people with the best ideas. What's your product or service, and what might you do to get creative, inexpensively?

Schweppes Beautiful Video Ad

Here's an example of a video ad that applied imagination and beautiful presentation to get its message across. This is a 2008 Ad which used slow motion cameras capturing at 10k frames/second:




Let's hear it, what do you think of this? Could you imagine your product presented similarly?

Our GURU - Seth, on Social Networking & Small Business

Don't you just love this guy? Carol reads/watches/lurks incessantly... The Crew's getting sick of watching her hunt down every book he ever wrote, etc.

Here Seth tells us what's worth it and what isn't, about social networking for small business:



We at Brave Boat Studios have a really good habit of actively participating in the forums and blogs that are relevant to our business, but we won't "friend" you just because you need another link in your profile. Wouldn't you think by now, social networking in an effective fashion would be more well-understood than it is today? We often encounter clients who don't know what social networking is, and who are literally afraid of it. What's been your experience? (C'mon, quit lurking. Speak up... we won't shove you overboard !)

Carol