I like the humor of the [GALAXY Tab] Extreme Retreat Web Video promoting the new SAMSUNG Galaxy Tablet but I’m lost as to it being a stand alone branded entertainment experiment or a new web series. I want more. I like all the features of the [GALAXY Tab] it lists and all the benefits it sells but when I finish watching the video I want to know if there’s a series here. It feels like the marketers have started a conversation that they aren’t going to finish and that concerns me.
I want Extreme Retreat to be a web series that’s a little less commercial and more “Office” on a company retreat integrating more products.
My concern with the launch of this video is that SAMSUNGmobile posted it on YouTube on Nov 6th and today is Nov 12th and it only has 63,534 views. Ouch. It has yet to become a “Viral Video.”
This video hasn’t been accepted by the YouTube Community because it’s not of the YouTube Community. Unless I’m missing something the agency or department who posted it on YouTube didn’t obey the “Cocktail Party Rules of Social Media.”
Social Media Cocktail Party Rules
What I mean by obeying “Cocktail Party Rules” boils is that in Social Media (and YouTube is a Social Media place) you need to first listen to the conversation and then when you have something interesting to say that will advance the conversation without drawing attention to yourself – you add that relevant information and move the conversation along. Just like being at a cocktail party you can’t run in and start handing out business cards and expect that you will get everyone’s attention and that people will do business with you. There are exceptions to that rule like if you ran in with a huge spectacle that supported your brand or if you had breaking information that was relevant to everyone at the cocktail party but for the most part you can’t just yell how great you are like you can on TV. Whether it’s Twitter, Facebook or YouTube think about what would work at a cocktail party and apply those same rules.
I think a much more interesting approach to the Extreme Retreat video would have been if SAMSUNGmobile or their Ad Agency had contacted members of the YouTube community and had them star in this video and turned it into a conversation about the GALAXY TAB and future SAMSUNG products. I also think that if they had worked with some YouTubers ahead of time they could have listened to what the conversation was and really hit this out of the park with 6 millions views in 6 days.
It’s interesting to me how many of the mistakes that were made in the early days of television are being made again in web and mobile video. Just like the early days of TV when radio shows were placed on TV and viewers could see stars standing in front of microphones on TV doing a radio show, many brands and media companies are taking TV Shows or what appear to be TV Shows and they are placing them on the Internet or Mobile Video. The true interactivity and engagement of the web is not yet being harness with interactive formats yet.
Beyond interactivity we are also moving past campaigns. Marketers need to be aware that we can’t just do a “Seagull” on a blog post. What’s a “Seagull” You ask? That’s when someone flies in, craps and leaves. I’m not saying that [GALAXY Tab] Extream Retreat is crap. It’s a very well produced video that would play very well on TV. I bet it will even win awards from people in the advertising world who are not part of the YouTube community. It’s just not part of the web video conversation and it so, so could be.
I’m curious, are there any other branded entertainment videos that you have seen that have worked or not worked for you?
Disclaimer: I’m a big fan of actor Brian Palermo who stars in this video and I’ve always want to work with him but just haven’t had the right project. Maybe I should write something for him. He always does a great job.
