A very clever little video tapping into the mystique and fantasy of the FIFA World Cup, which is due to start on 11th June, 2010 in South Africa.

This is very clever.

I’m more than a little ashamed to admit that I laughed =). Also has an absolutely awesome preview image on YouTube.

You can choose to look at this as a view into a scary dystopian future or just another technologically-inspired convenience. Either way it’s still likely to be inevitable. It’s just a matter of when and how.

The traditional view of how to advertise on television (and subsequently through online video ) is the mini-story. Usually these are short pieces dealing with one subject in a superficial but psychologically attractive way. Sure, the story may have a dominating, but catchy, jingle and the narrative may be non-existent – but essentially that is what a commercial is to most people. However, online video offers some interesting alternatives that not only move away from this traditional mini-story concept but also allow you to build a dynamic and engaging community.

Showing Not Telling

Everyone wants to see how a product works before they lay down their hard-earned cash. By providing a video demonstration of your products you can satisfy that need. There’s nothing really new in that idea, however by turning the demonstration into a form of entertainment you can make the demo far more appealing not only to your existing customer base, but also to people that have never heard of you – potential customers that don’t have a need now but may in the future. Here is a world class example of turning a demonstration into an appealing, form of entertainment advertising:

The Will It Blend series of online videos has been running since 2006 and has generated over 100 million views. As a result Blendtec has seen a dramatic increase in retail sales for their products. By demonstrating their product in such an unusual way they’re not only providing a wonderfully entertaining strange attractor – blending up items that aren’t supposed to be blended – but also demonstrate just how good their products are – if it blends an iPad it must be awesome at making a banana smoothie.

Also by allowing its audience to write-in and request items to blend, Blendtec are encouraging user participation and laying the foundation for other forms of two-way communication. They are forming a goodwill bond between themselves and the users. Forming the beginnings of a community.

Making It Personal

The old saying that your people are your best asset still rings true. You can use your staff to advertise your company and all they have to do is be themselves.

All business is based around the idea of trust. We’re at best hesitant about entering a deal with people that we don’t trust. By providing an online video of your people, showing them as personable humans rather than faceless drones you are setting the basis for a trust to be formed.

One idea for the format of these videos is a series of interviews in which your staff tell us a little about themselves – nothing overtly personal but enough so we can a feel of what this person is like. They can reveal what they do and maybe relate a story of an event that happened at the company. It is important to let them be themselves and to not try to force them to advertise the company. Let them be real.

Google has a range of these staff videos and after watching a few you get a real feel of the vibe that Google must have. There’s an undertone that the people of Google feel they are doing massively important work. Their passion is unmistakable.

While Google is undoubtedly a great place to work, and chooses the best people to work there, your company must also have exciting, passionate people that you can use as well. By using your staff in this way you make your company more friendly to clients and begin to form a foundation of trust, thereby opening up the lines of communication.

Beginner’s Guide or Master Class

Many products and services could benefit from a video or series of video tutorials explaining in detail just how to use them. Text instructions – even with diagrams – can be ambiguous. By providing a video tutorial for your products you lessen the problems associated with learning how to use the product.

Alternatively, you can construct master classes that provide professional-level knowledge on how to use a product. It doesn’t even have to be a tutorial about using your own product. If you are selling something that is ancillary to another product then a video tutorial about how to use that product offers you an opportunity to tap into that their established market.

One of the best examples of this technique is Andrew Kramer’s Video Copilot (unfortunately the videos are unavailable to be embedded). The site caters to users of the motion artistry and video compositing software After Effects. Andrew is one of the leading video artists in Hollywood and provides a range of tutorials catering to both the beginner right up to seasoned professionals looking for new techniques and tricks. Not only do the tutorials show off his expertise – advertising to prospective clients – but he also offers a range of add-ons for sale that improve the After Effects experience. The site has generated a strong community attracting 2.5 million hits per month.

Using these techniques to create video sites (or sub-sites) allows you to foster a community. It offers your consumers a chance to talk directly to you and allows you an opportunity to test new ideas, offer incentives and to receive feedback. In many ways it becomes your own personalised market research group the only costs involving the upkeep of the site and the production of the videos themselves. That’s got to be a great return on your investment.

I am currently in Singapore, which has one of the most modern mass transit systems (trains to us old folks) in the world. Passengers are even treated to a video entertainment system while onboard. What a great way to advertise to a captive audience! But just how do you advertise using video on a train?

It’s really tempting to reuse commercials designed for other mediums, like television. In fact the commercial embedded above is one of those being shown aboard the trains currently. Now watch again with the sound muted. The MRT’s video system uses no sound so the perfectly worded narration and enchanting music that worked so well on tv are completely lost. Clearly, when watched this way, the commercial has less impact and any advertising messages are muted. So, while you may believe that re-utilising commercials for other mediums can save money, in fact what you’re doing is missing a valuable opportunity.

Also, as anyone who has ever travelled on a peak-hour train will know, your audience is most likely uncomfortable, unhappy and distracted. Television viewers are a captive audience, who are generally at home, relaxed and focused – at least peripherally on the TV. It’s a very different situation and you need to rethink your advertising strategy.

So what do you do? Our world is filled with distractions. Attracting the interest of the consumer is becoming harder. Now, you could try to scream louder than your competitors but that invariably leads to an arms war, with each participant trying to out do the other. Consumers very quickly tune out and turn away from louder, faster bigger advertising. Another method is to use a strange attractor to catch the eye of passengers and hold it. Be entertaining. Offer the viewer a reason to watch. Don’t preach. A wise woman once said that you can attract more flies with honey than with vinegar. And do it all visually, without sound.

If that all sounds too hard then it’s time that you refamiliarise yourself with the techniques used in the silent film era. While their world was of much slower pace and their audiences more captive the likes of Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd have much to teach modern advertisers. Like them we are exploring new mediums and many of the same issues that they developed techniques to solve can be used today. Check out this example:

Now imagine using the same techniques to create a commercial for Lynx Deodorant and that in the ending he actually gets the girl. Cue brand logo. You’ve just provided train commuters with 3 minutes of entertainment and advertised your product in a memorable way to boot.

As new mediums and situations arise advertisers must adjust their techniques in order to reach out and make a connection with consumers. There is one approach, however, that will likely always work: create great stories featuring great characters. The greats like Lloyd, Chaplin and Keaton all utilised that method repeatedly, and that’s why we’re still watching them almost a century on.

Attribution: Slider image by AIM Neutron

Blink and you’ll miss the tweet sent to me. BTW Microsoft, send me a copy of ultimate please. Just cos you’re nice like that =).

This is our latest machinima commercial. It’s for SkyView Home Rentals which offers luxury homes within Second Life. We used a different technique for lip-syncing which we haven’t released publicly before. It works very effectively and increases our productivity over previous methods. What do you think?