this video did not go viral
22 Jan, 2012 • posts i've written • 1 comment
Above is a video we released last week at Deutsch LA for Volkswagen.
In a matter of a few days, with only one broadcast airing, we’ve already picked up over 6 million views.
The LA Times wrote a nice complimentary article, with the headline – VW’s Super Bowl teaser video ‘The Bark Side’ goes viral.
The headline is untrue. We did not go viral.
This video is popular because people chose to spread it – not because the video shared itself.
We attempted to pack the video with cultural currency targeted at specific communities on the web that actively share content. We paid attention to the kind of content they share. And then we put the video where they would find it. But none of that guaranteed us success before hand.
You can design for popularity, but you cannot guarantee it. Popularity is a stochastic process. There is no such thing as a viral video, no matter how hard we as an industry want to believe it or try to sell it.
I’ve written on this subject before, and suggest you read this article if you want to follow me further down the rabbit hole – stop saying viral video.
the measure of our work
17 Jan, 2012 • posts i've written • 4 comments
Our new Like Sign – visit our livestream, click the Facebook Like at the bottom right corner, wait for 3-5 seconds, and see the sign trigger.
In addition to our shiny new dot-com, a small team here at Deutsch has just finished creating what we call our Like Sign. For every Facebook Like we receive on our new site, this sign lights up in the office.
For now, we’ve installed the sign directly in front of the office of our Chief Digital Officer, Winston Binch, where it nearly blinds him with every click.
Why we built the sign:
As advertisers, our mission is to engage networks of consumers, connected by shared interests, to accomplish a measurable business objective on behalf of our client.
Or, in other words, we try to make people do things while influencing their friends.
We do this, largely, by creating cultural currency – things that can be passed on and shared. These were once solely passive experiences, but now we build products, services, and utilities in addition to media.
The first challenge for all of our work, interactive or not, is how far our reach can extend beyond our paid placement. If we can’t create experiences that are actively passed along through networks of consumers, we likely won’t be successful in achieving business results.
We built this sign to be a reminder to ourselves that the measure of our work begins at how it’s passed along. It’s a physical manifestation of our goals. We thought it would be a nice touch to put the sign in front of our webcam for curious visitors to see, but the sign is really for ourselves. The idea is to build a sign for every client team in the building, to host in their section of the office (we sit in teams now, not by discipline) so that we’ll all think more consciously about designing things that people want to share. If the signs create a bit of internal competition, that wouldn’t be a bad thing either.
It even looks like our signs will travel beyond our building. The first client to get a sneak peek at the sign has already asked for their own Like Sign for their office.
Admittedly, sharing is but the first step toward achieving a business objective – but it’s a crucial one. Perhaps we need a physical manifestation of business results right next to the sign. If only sales metrics were as easily accessible as Facebook’s Open Graph … but that’s another project.
How the sign was made:
The hardware: Arduino Uno + Ethernet Shield, and a PowerSwitch Tail II.
The code: We used the Arduino development environment to create a simple web server. And then we used Javascript and Facebook to interpret the “Like” event.
The physical sign:
Frame: 3-1/2 x 3/4 pine, 1/8″ plexiglass, Wood Screws
Electrical: 18 gauge wire, 6 – plastic light socket (for standard household lamps), 6 – 25w refrigerator bulbs
Finally, a huge thank you to Mary Toves, Dan Cluff, and Bernie Santos for pulling this off so quickly.
what is beautiful design?
16 Jan, 2012 • posts i've written • No comments
Daisey interviews dozens of (former) workers who are secretly supporting a union. One group talked about using “hexane,” an iPhone screen cleaner. Hexane evaporates faster than other screen cleaners, which allows the production line to go faster. Hexane is also a neuro-toxin. The hands of the workers who tell him about it shake uncontrollably.
- Your iPhone Was Built, In Part, By 13 Year-Olds Working 16 Hours A Day For 70 Cents An Hour
I own an iPhone because I value design – but perhaps all of us, myself first of course, should question where beautiful design begins. In this case, it begins in the hands of children, working under conditions we would never condone in our own society. I believe in trade, and I understand that the issue is complex, but I know that holding this device in my hand, knowing what I know now, being confronted with it more than ever, that I wouldn’t feel right asking that worker to work in those conditions, for that wage.
My hope is that services like Kickstarter make us more conscious of how our products are made, that journalists keep asking difficult questions of complex systems, and competitors deliver products that don’t require such human sacrifice, near or long term.
fan strategies
12 Jan, 2012 • posts i've written • 3 comments
As a passionate fan of numerous media titles, I’m fascinated by how digital technologies have enabled fans to work collectively to express their passions and, when called on, to attempt rescuing those titles from oblivion.
It’s led me to write extensively on this blog about fandom and modern fan movements – and to dabble in fanon works myself. I’m also proud to be a Futures of Entertainment Fellow, as well.
For this year’s conference I pitched the idea of building an online community dedicated to collecting past fan attempts to save or resurrect their favorite shows, and to host interviews with major network executives to discuss these movements from the perspective of someone attempting to balance a complex portfolio of titles and advertisers. Unfortunately (and fortunately) there was an embarrassment of riches when it came to other panel ideas and diverse speakers. So this idea was never realized.
Today, io9 published a short list of such successful fan movements.
I still think future fans could use a centralized resource to advise or inform their decentralized movements. I think having execs from major networks take part in a site like this would help humanize the often contentious movements. Someone like Craig Engler from SyFy Networks is a perfect example of one such exec. Sabrina Caluori at HBO is another.
I know a handful of brilliant media scholars that could help moderate interviews and discussions, people like Flourish Klink, Sam Ford, Nancy Baym, or Josh Green.
Additionally, in my past consulting for a trio of media companies, I explored listening strategies that could help these organizations vet scripts and pilots of new titles based on fandom behavior. This sort of predictive analysis would make such a site a valuable place for media companies to participate as well.
For now, I’m just releasing this idea into the wild for anyone to potentially run away with. To me, an idea shared and realized always beats an idea hoarded. I’d love to hear your feedback if you have any.
By the by, SaveMyShow.tv is currently available. Just a thought.
