When kids dream about playing professional sports they imaging being a super star like Kobe Bryant. When professional sports stars dream of playing they dream even bigger. Nike brings the emotion of those super dreams together in yet another web clip for the World Cup that has become a new viral video that combines multiple emotions and celebrities. It also drives home the point that sometimes in life it does just come down to the PKs.

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Funny videos are great but if you can’t remember the name of the product they have failed. I don’t know if it’s because this is not a US product or if it’s a because of the way the spot was designed but I can’t remember the name of the product in this video and I’ve watched it four times while preparing this post.

I do think the video is creepy and funny and has a great chance of going viral but will it sell more products?

I’m not sure.

Wassup 2008 is on it’s way to viral gold this weekend. Online digital studio 60 Frames has create spectacle, story and moves two or more (depending on who you are) emotions with a parody / update of the “Wassup” Bud commercials.

“Its been eight long years since the boys said wassup to each other. Even with the effects of a down economy and imminent change in the White House, the boys are still able to come together and stay true to what really matters.”

This video will make you laugh, make you sad and depending on who you are it might make you angry or even cry in two different ways.

On a personal note, I wish that the events that make this video work on so many levels didn’t exist but they do and I think this video has the power to start conversations that will enable online video creators to help change things for the better.

We have some tough times ahead of us but we don’t need to let them get in our way. We need to look for the opportunities that will present themselves and we need to work together to make the best of them. The best way to do that is to share.

If we can share what we as video producers find, share what we learn, share we need and share what we have we can make our lives better and then we will be able to help others.

The video producers that are going to survive this economic downturn are producers who can create content that cuts through the clutter and delivers a return on investment for their advertisers, sponsors and investors.

Negative political videos maybe dominating the viral video charts but we don’t need to let doom and gloom ruin our online video party.

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What? Obviously ad agencies, media buyers, brand marketers and PR firms are not connecting with online video content creators who get millions of views on a regular basis or they don’t want to.

What do you mean Tim? Of course Ad agencies would want to help their clients out and connect with existing viral video series that would reach an advertiser’s targeted client.

Would they? What’s in it for them?

Tim, they would be a hero to their client saving them hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Ah, last I checked ad agencies aren’t in business to save clients money. Advertising agencies are in business to make money and if they can’t make money on the creative because some kid is making videos out of his bedroom that get millions of views and they can’t make any money on the time buy because there’s no time to buy cause you just post it on the Internet, how are advertising agencies going to make money in online video?

The way ad agencies are going to make money with Internet video is to embrace it. Embrace it like it’s their long lost cousin cause right now with the economy in the crapper they are going to have to find cost effect ways of saving their clients money in order to help their clients make more money so that when the economy recovers they can hit their clients up with higher rates and remind them of what an effective job they did for them in the lean times.

Ad agencies will have to be careful that they don’t fall into the “Smoke and Mirrors” trap that several people in the advertising and public relations industries are falling into now with online video. Where they fan a bunch of smoke about how great the creative is in their online video and then use a bunch of mirrors to talk about how effective the over all outcome of the campaign was even though their “viral video” only had 800 views on YouTube.

Ad agencies are going to need to reach outside their comfort zone of working with the “gods of media” known as commercial directors. TV commercial directors walk on water in the advertising world but TV commercials don’t play that well on the Internet. The Internet has a new bread of content creators who live on the web and understand the nuances, culture, and what it takes to emotionally engage an audience online. Sure commercial directors will learn these things but the huge day rates that they command in TV commercials won’t be there waiting for them on the Internet so they won’t be motivated to really dive in and become an online video creator.

Ad agencies are trying to create their own online videos but they will soon learn it’s easier to jump on to a moving train than it is to build your own train and lay the tracks it’s going to ride on.

How are agencies going to make money in online video? Ad agencies and public relations firms will make money in online video by buying placement on video sites that will feature their sponsored or co-branded videos so that they get millions of views. But the real way agencies are going to make money in online video is by partnering with existing content creators who have relevant content with emotionally engaged audiences already in place. In some cases we will even see ad agencies and PR firms pour money into building up the audiences of small online video shows so that their reach will make a dent both nationally and globally and be affective as well as effective in creating ROI for their clients.

Wow that sounds greatt Tim, but what the hell does that mean?

Okay, let’s take French Maid TV for example. Say there’s a SCUBA diving resort or SCUBA diving equipment manufacturer that wants to reach young men and they don’t have an online video campaign launched already. Their ad agency could go create their own SCUBA Diving viral video and hope for the best or these SCUBA people could partner with French Maid TV to do a “How To Skin Dive” episode or better yet they do a series of French Maid TV Skin Diving Tips where the French Maids explain different SCUBA or Skin diving techniques for beginners and for the pros. These videos could then be placed in an ad buy on relevant video sharing sites as well as SCUBA diving sites around the world reaching more than just the 1 to 5 million views French Maid TV episodes get. This would increase awareness for the SCUBA vacation destination or SCUBA manufacture as well as French Maid TV and be of value to everyone involved.

Are your online videos getting millions of views?

Tell us about them.

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Mashups are fun and there are a lot of views that you can get by creating a great mashup but can you ever make money from creating a a viral video mashup?

I think you can make money from mashups on a couple different levels.

First, let’s say that you create a viral video mashup that gets over 1 million views on YouTube. You won’t get any money from Google for it but if the people watching your video can easily contact you, they might hire you to create something emotionally engaging for them.

Second, if you can build a following or fan base of subscribers on YouTube and create a brand around your content you can monetize that through merchandise. You’re not going to be able to sell SpongeBob SquarePants Tshirts that say, “Leave Brittany Alone!” on them but you might be able to create a “MashUp Marv” brand that people will know you for and they will want to buy your products.

Third, if you have a big enough fan base you might be able to negotiate rights or through “parody” be able to create a compilation DVD or digital download. Be sure and check with a New Media Attorney like Colette Vogele before you do something like that.

Fourth, if you have built a big enough following you can use that audience to launch original content that you do own.

Fifth, if you already have products or services to sell you might be able to create a parody mashup that will get views and get your brands name out there. SNL makes fun of big names why can’t you?

Are there any other ways that you can think of making money with mashups?

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Here’s a short viral video story of a man trapped in an Elevator.

What emotions do you experience when you watch this video?

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I’ve spent many years producing TV Promos for television shows and working on TV Commercials and there is a big difference between what works on TV and what works on the Internet.

TV commercials do not play so well on the Internet unless those TV commercials move emotions. Watch the above BBC TV Promo and you will understand what I’m talking about.

In this video Film maker and writer Terry Jones discovers a colony of penguins, which are unlike any other penguins in the world.

If you would like to see how this video was created visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzhDsojoqk8

For the record this looks like it’s another one of those April 1 Viral Videos that got sidelined due to Rick Rolling.

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Ah this little viral video user generated gem is making it’s way through the yahoo video bloggers group today and it is quite the find. Depending on who you are you may experience some different emotions.

I felt sorry for the kid’s, happy they were getting it on video tap, scared when the cop grabbed the kid and laughed my ass off when at the end Officer Rivieri says, “I better not see this on YouTube.”

I even experienced disappointment when there was a moment when I thought the whole thing was a fake and that C. C. Chapman was playing the cop. Part of me still thinks he was and that Chris Brogan was holding the camera.

I wish skateboarding wasn’t a crime.

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According to Towleroad the Jack Nicholson / Hilary Clinton Viral Video was conceived and created by “screenwriter/director John Krokidas and producer Bruce Cohen (American Beauty, Pushing Daisies, and the currently in production Harvey Milk biopic Milk).”

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They always used to tell me KISS – Keep It Simple Stupid and this video which bores me to death does just that with old comic material that we’ve all heard a 100 times but that doesn’t stop it from climbing the charts today.

Who knows maybe it appeals to the crowd that doesn’t get out much. Nonetheless this little Starbucks’ product placement gem is getting some traction today.

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