Click Here for a Ride on the Emotional Roller Coaster Amigo

Let's look at some videos and then examine the emotions they create, as well as which are most memorable.  We'll start with some funny stuff.  You'll see why soon.

The first two are a little racy friends.  The first one is built off an old joke.    Keep Your Trojanz in the Car

No surprise that this one  -- a contraception commercial -- was banned.  DUREX

This one will tear your heart out.  I am reluctant to share it for fear that viewers will 'kill' the messenger, but here it is.  NEWBORN -- I think this one is for a life insurance company, just like the next one.

WARNING, this one's another heart wrencher.   More Time - Japanese Life Insurance Spot

Let's finish with a lighter piece to drive the point home.  Levis - High Speed Change (UK)

So, are you tired? Which of these commercials was most memorable?  Probably not the funny, lighter videos.  The heavy ones are really draining.  I have seen them probably six times now and it doesn't get any easier.  They exhaust me.   The emotional roller coaster is one name for the ride you just took if you watched the NEWBORN or MORE TIME.  That doesn't mean your brand needs to take a heavy, emotional ride, but remember, emotion is what works on film and video... not PowerPoint slides. 

Feeling Good & Great Golf - sketchy video

Every once in a while the commercial gods come up with a spot that makes you proud to be an Amercian.  Look for a lot more of this during the Olympics.  Anyway, I ran across this old favorite in my archives... it's called the "Quiet Commerical" created the much embattled beer maker, Anheuser-Busch.  It's pure beauty.

If you watched the U.S. Open yesterday playoff this past Monday between Rocco Mediate and Tiger Woods, you were gifted with an amazing match.  The big question is what did you actually see on the web?  For most of my watching time the video and sound were dramatically out of sync by as much as 30 seconds or more!  Clearly MSNBC could not handle the viewing burden, although the PGA site fared a lot better keeping the video and sound in sync in real time.  It will be interesting to see the traffic numbers for the site...  not everyone could take the day off yesterday. 

For golf lovers make sure to check out some technique PGA video tips on the site....  good stuff.  I hope to put them to work this weekend!

It's all about the Message: From the creator of Harry Potter

You may be tired of hearing about the Harry Potter phenomenon and the incredible success of the tale's creator, JK Rowling.  Well before your eyes glaze over and you  click on to the next story, watch her commencement address to the Harvard graduating class of '08 and tell me you are not inspired.   Watch Part II on the additional clip as well!

So what does this tell you?  First off there's more to this lady than I understood, and secondly inspiration is the message.   Her words, your words, my words -- speaking from the heart -- that's how we make video and film special.  Capturing those special moments and translating them into powerful, inspirational video.  The magic of the words is at the heart of great video, and then the reinforcing layers come from great pictures, sound and the skill a great editor brings to the game by assembling them all seamlessly.

Ad Dropoff at Print Newsweeklies

An interesting sidebar to the growth of Online Video Viewing (see earlier Blog Posting) is the dramatic slide in ad dollar spending at newsweekly magazines.  The numbers are grim -- ad page dropoff from January to May of '08 was 23.7% at Newsweek, 27.2% at Time and 32.7% at U.S. News and World Report, according to recent numbers from Media Industry Newsletter.  Beginning next year U.S. News announced it will become a bi-weekly publication.  Overall sales for all three publciations have fell last year with newstand sales (a portion of overall sales) falling around 13% overall. 

Where are they Watching Online VIDEO?

So who scored more than 50% of online video viewing sessions in April of '08?  It should come as no surprise that they are flocking to Google's YouTube, but 50.4% of the market?  That's a BIG number.  Perhaps not as much as the +70% of ads in the online universe that are served up by Google.  Anyway, as Google gains in month to month figures over March of '08 (up from 48.1% in March of '08), who are the also-rans in this universe, and what kind of viewing numbers are they pulling down?   In the #2 spot in online video viewing sessions is Yahoo with 8.2% of the market (April of '08), down from 8.5% in March.  Then comes Fox Interactive Media at 6.6%, Microsoft at 4.1% and TimeWarner at 3.6%. 

What amazes me is that only one of the networks even ranks in the top 5!  ABC was #7, CBS Interactive #11 and Hulu (NBC and FOX) at #14.  No doubt about the fact that the online video universe is not run by the traditional TV media world.