Posts filed under ‘Public Relations’
Interactive YouTube Videos
Thanks to Adam Turinas and Sarah Unger for turning my attention to something I’m embarrassed to admit I didn’t know about: interactive YouTube videos. Did that just blow your mind? Because it should have.
How it works: while the video plays, it offers options through links embedded in the video, which take you to a different place on the timeline or to a different video, which offers new options, and so on. Here is a look at interactive YouTube videos in the wild.
You Tube Radio
A simple but effective example is YouTube Radio:
Barack Paper Scissors
The sheer number of individual videos required to execute this simple concept (over 1,000) make Barack Paper Scissors really impressive:
Oscars Interactive Photo Challenge
The 2009 Oscars Interactive Photo Challenge also took a simple concept — photo hunt games — and YouTube-ified it to give the game a major boost of novelty.
Interactive YouTube adventures
The interactive video format gave rise to the “interactive YouTube adventure genre” which is like the Choose Your Own Adventure book genre, but for our future generations, who I imagine won’t read books. I’m sure this has huge implications for people who enjoy webseries, but I prefer my internet with more clicking. And more brand integration. So… let’s turn our attention to two of the coolest things I’ve ever seen (in the past hour) instead.
Hunter Shoots a Bear
Tip of the hat to Tipp-Ex for the Hunter Shoots a Bear video and the tippexperience.
Pardon the NSFW language and put on some headphones or something because you definitely want to watch this. It’s like a double rainbow of interactive.
Sure, Crispin Porter + Bogusky did it first with the Subservient Chicken for Burger King, but this one is on YouTube. And British — thus, better.
BoonOakley Homepage
Finally, this is the the most award-winning-est use of the interactive videos highlighted here (and it’s really funny!). Advertising agency BooneOakley traded in their regular homepage for an entirely YouTube based interactive video site. So don’t bother clicking that hyperlink; it seriously just redirects to this video below…
You totally clicked the BooneOakley link anyway, didn’t you? I know I would have.
Well, at least make sure you navigate your way to the company vision “page” (meme alert):
The Tipp-Ex and BooneOakley campaigns/websites/videos (whatever the correct term would be) are extremely creative and do a great job of utilizing this feature, but some people would argue that these sorts of campaigns are more award-bait than effective branding strategy. What do you think? Either way, do you know of other brands that are effectively using interactive YouTube videos?
Shout Your Love From the Mountaintop
Love and clever marketing campaigns are in the air this month so it’s only right that I pledge to start updating more regularly by sharing the things that I’m loving right now. First on the list: AT&T’s Shout Your Love From the Mountaintop.
- “If you have a valentines message you want shouted from a mountain, let me know! I’ll shout it!”
Your Brain: Will It Blend?
"...ooo viral smoke. Don't breathe this!"
OH. MY. GOD. I was shocked this flew under my radar for so long… but then again, I haven’t always been an avid TechCrunch or PRWeek reader.
Thank you, Forbes, for recognizing Will It Blend as one of the Best-Ever Social Media Campaigns because a. it’s potentially true and b. I was previously unfamiliar with the genius that is Will It Blend.
