I wanted to make note of two public figures lately that have created a stir due to some knee-jerk retorts to their loyal disciples. Lets start with our favorite mock-turtleneck obsessed fan boy Messiah, Steven P. Jobs. Unless, you live in North Korea, you couldn’t help but notice there has been some negative reception surrounding Apple’s latest golden boy, the iPhone4. Sparing you of my whole karma theory surrounding this product since the get-go (just Google: Jason+Chen+front+door+bash), the sleek new antenna design appears to have been a move in the wrong direction, dropping calls regularly but only if you hold the phone like any normal human being since the first handset arrived in 1876. And if you can somehow manage to not touch the lower left side of the iPhone, then you might be able to make it through a call with ease. This is of course you one of the lucky few standing 5-feet from a local AT&T tower, but lets move on.

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I can’t count the number of clients wanting to know the secrets to creating and distributing a viral video.  Here’s my top-secret formula…

(Create Funny, Timely, or Interesting Video that incorporates company messaging and product visibility) + (Distribute said video to key industry influencers) x (Encourage said influencers to share video with their friends, colleagues, and fans) ^ (Cross Fingers & Pray) = Successful Viral Video

While creating a viral video is simple in theory, it is actually one of the more challenging tasks for a Marketing or PR Professional.   That said, this viral video from Grasshopper exemplifies that the formula really does work. Link here.

Watch the video- It’s a funny, timely parody of Internet Geek culture, our obsession with Internet entrepreneurs and technology.  It is well made, completely professional, and ties in an uber-popular Jay-Z song.

Now Watch again- When Grasshopper created this viral video, they seamlessly incorporated product branding without distracting the viewer.  The video was branded as “The New Dork- Entrepreneur State of Mind”.  It didn’t have flashing neon lights saying come to grasshopper.com- our products are the best!  A colleague and I watched this video several times trying to count the number of almost subliminal Grasshopper mentions.  We are still deliberating on a final number.

I would love to hear from Grasshopper’s marketing team that, as a result of the video, web traffic has increased by X%, or qualified sales leads have increased by Y%.  (Call me and let me know, okay?)  What I can see is that Twitter chatter has exploded not only for The New Dork (expected), but also for Grasshopper as a company (the point of the entire video).

Perhaps the new recipe for viral videos is to commission a professional video that makes fun of the Internet’s obsession with Cat Videos and Farmville games on Facebook, add a half-of-a-pinch of company messaging, and wait for the chatter to begin?

Agree, disagree?  Let me know! @KristinMiller

Technorati Tags: videos, viral videos

I will be the first to say that I didn’t ‘get’ Twitter for the longest time.  At first, I dismissed it as a passing fad.  Why would anyone care to read about the mundane details of my life- driving to work- going to the gym- walking the dogs.  Who cares, right?

It was only after joining Twitter, I realized that it is SO MUCH more than what I thought.  Today I realized that it wasn’t my fault for not understanding it before.  Twitter has a huge PR problem!

Barbara Walters and her fellow ladies on The View, crashed Twitter by mentioning the site on today’s show.  The problem was that Barbara described Twitter exactly the way that most others have- that Twitter is a community that answers the question ‘What are you doing’  Barbara mentioned “I’m going downstairs”, “I’m getting my hair done”.     The problem is that Twitter is MUCH more than that.

Now, I don’t blame Barbara for not understanding Twitter to its fullest extent.  After all, when you log on to Twitter, the first thing you see is “What are you doing?”.  Unfortunately the best information on twitter almost never answers that question.  I would be bored to tears if I read about what my friends are doing all day long.

The best Tweeters-  @GuyKawasaki, @Scobleizer @chrispirillo @skydiver share interesting articles they run across, industry facts, networking information- all of which I am interested in on a daily basis.  The best tweeters interact and participate with the community- they ask and answer questions.  Twitter has even become THE place for breaking news stories, beating CNN to the punch on many stories, including the recent plane crashes in New York City and Buffalo.

Perhaps the first step in overcoming Twitter’s PR problem is changing the “What are you doing?” box to “What do you want to share?”   Until people quit describing Twitter as a tool to share what you had for lunch, the problem continues.

@KristinMiller

Technorati Tags: Twitter

They’re growing like weeds. The U.S. and UK still seem to be ahead of the pack when it comes to social network media but other countries are gaining speed. While people often think of Facebook and MySpace when it comes to social networks, the truth is there are many others out there, particularly when it comes to other countries.

As of right now, MySpace and Facebook are ranked as the top two sites in the U.S. in regards to repeat traffic. Projected revenues for 2008 show MySpace at $755 million; Facebook comes in a distant second with $265 million.

A May report from ComScore supports those findings; however Facebook seems to be growing much faster in overseas markets. Trend analysts report that Facebook is making a splash in the UK, China, France, and India. Orkut is still tops in India while Bebo is a hit in the UK and other parts of Europe. Perhaps AOL wasn’t so far off when they purchased Bebo for $850 million.
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