Archive for the ‘Success Stories’ Category

Blendtec Has Viewers Waiting.

On May 26, 2011 Blendtec put out another video. And they have subscribers just waiting for them (I’m one of those people). As of 4:00 PM on May 27th the video had been viewed 51,612 times.

They’ve added entertainment to the promotion of their product. The work on a KISS basis (Keep It Simple Stupid). And the videos are short and sweet.

Here’s another video from one of YouTube’s greatest success stories.

 

Another social media success.

Popularity: 23% [?]

Toyota is promoting their Sienna SE on YouTube with a series of videos. As I am writing this article there are over 30 videos on the site. The primary one has been viewed over 8 million times. The video has generated 1787 comments. And the comments range from “Can I get a swagga wagon sign for my sienna?” to “Terrible”.

Cross Culture

The primary video is 2 minutes and 36 seconds. It features what looks like a conservative white family doing a rap video. And if you look at the comments and follow the links to the viewers making the comments you will develop an image of what a wide range of people these videos are reaching.

The video has a hint of risque flavor to it. An that makes it notable. As I noted above, one of the viewers responded to the video by sending a message that said “Terrible”. But I must admire companies that will work outside the conservative box. And YouTube allows them to do exactly that. People view YouTube videos because they want to, not because they are on a TV show they are currently watching.

Click here to see the video and tell us what you think about it. What are some of your favorite YouTube “outside the box” videos?

Popularity: 32% [?]

WOW!

Make sure you are keeping your eye on this one.

The Hallelujah video has been viewed over 16 million times and it is only 23 days old.

Click here to read my initial post about this video.

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Popularity: 36% [?]

An Unknown Band Goes Viral

Singer-songwriter Dave Carroll of the “Sons of Maxwell” Canadian pop-folk band was frustrated with United Airlines after getting no response on a request to fix his damaged Taylor guitar. He turned that frustration into a YouTube video. His life will never be the same.

When traveling on United Airways at the airport in Chicago on March 31, 2008, Dave heard a woman in a window seat say, “My God, they’re throwing guitars out there.” Dave knew they were his bands guitars. When arriving at their final destination in Omaha, Dave opened his hard-shell case and found that his $3,500 Taylor guitar had been broken. The United Airlines Staff in Omaha refused to take responsibility.

A Dissatisfied Customer Turns To Social Media

Over a year later , Dave had made no headway in getting United to pay for his guitar. So he decided to write a song about it and puts it on YouTube. He posted it on July 6, 2009. In just four days the video had been viewed over 1 million times.

Within days, Dave was being interviewed by media companies like The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, CNN and FOX. The YouTube view went viral.

Taylor Guitars Sees An Opportunity

When Social Media opportunities present themselves two things can happen. They can be seized quickly or lost forever.

During the interviews Dave was talking over and over again about his wonderful Taylor guitar. Taylor Guitars was getting incredible exposure. Within days of the video being posted, Taylor Guitars posted their own YouTube video advising traveling musicians on how to pack their equipment. They saw an opportunity and they acted quickly. As a result, Taylor is now making a record number of guitars.

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Carlton Cases Acts

Carlton Cases makes durable cases for musical instruments. Within three days of the incident they had entered into a contract with Dave Carrol to introduce and market the Dave Carroll Traveler’s Edition Guitar Case. They did little more than take their current case and change the label on it.

The Exposure Continues

It’s been more than a year since the video was posted and it has been viewed over 9 million times. Song 2 and song 3 have been posted and have over 1.3 million views combined.

Here’s Dave’s original video:

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United Airline Does Nothing

While United Airlines was coming into this situation from a different angle, they question is whether or not they should have tried to respond to the the social media explosion. Should they have posted their own video? If they did how should they have approached it? What do you think?

Popularity: 35% [?]

A Simple Expression Of Love Goes Viral

One of the coolest stories in social media today is that of Matt Harding. He was born on September 27, 1976. As a video game developer in Westport, Connecticut, he was not enthused by his career prospects. Matt quit his job and started traveling. One of Matt’s trademarks among his friends was a dance that he was known for. So, while traveling in Vietnam, a friend suggested he do his dance and they put it on video to upload and show his friends at home. So they did it. His friends loved it when they saw it on the web.

He recorded the dance at many more locations on his trip and ended up creating a video containing nothing more than dance scenes. The video was passed around the internet. Matt’s video was being viewed thousands of times a day, prior to YouTube. Once YouTube came into being, Matt uploaded it there. It had gone “viral”.

Stride Gum Sees an Opportunity

After the video was uploaded on YouTube, viewership exploded. When Stride Gum saw the viewership the videos were getting, they saw an opportunity. They approached Matt and offered to sponsor his trips. So, with Stride’s sponsorship, Matt was able to organize another trip and completed a second video. This consisted of Matt dancing alone in from of famous monuments around the world.

In the middle of the second trip, while Matt was in Rwanda, the idea of dancing with people from the area presented itself. So he decided to do a third video, this time dancing with people. The video took 14 months to create and involved travelling to 42 different countries. It contains shots from 70 different locations. This trip was far more complicated because it involved much more organization. But it was well worth it.

A Viral Video

On September 26, 2009, I wrote my first article about this video for my BusinessAndSocialMedia.com site. It had been viewed 23,795,433 times and ranked by 98,051 people. As I update the article, in November of 2010, it has been seen 32,500,284 times and ranked by 107,536 people. It is still being viewed almost 23,000 times a day!

A Subtle Promotion

When you watch the video the first thing you see is a black screen and then the word “Dancing” appears. From there the cut goes to an alleyway in Mumbai, India. And Matt begins to dance. The video cuts from location to location with music and other audio from the scenes. At the 4 minute 25 second mark of a 4 minute 29 second video, a special thanks to Stride Gum appears with their web address. Five seconds of exposure! And Matt didn’t even wear a Stride t-shirt!

Take a look:

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The video has generated all kinds of spin offs. Just Google “Matt” and you will see many links related to his videos. Most of those take you to YouTube, where there are more videos related to the project.

You can click here to get to his website ( http://wherethehellismatt.com/ ) and view his latest video.

This is prime example of a viral video and what viral marketing can do.

Popularity: 49% [?]

Creating A YouTube Presence

One of the coolest stories about YouTube marketing comes from a company in Orem, Utah. Blendtec makes high performance commercial blenders. Their primary market has been commercial. But, in part thanks to YouTube, they are creating and selling high end versions for the home market.

Blendtech’s “Will It Blend?” YouTube Advertising Campaign

As a regular practice, Blendtec has put its blenders through destructive testing for years. Sometime in 2006 Blendtec’s marketing director, George Wright, came upon the company owner, Tom Dickson, putting a blender through one of these tests. He was testing the blenders with heavy chunks of wood.  When Wright saw this he came up with an idea that would change the company. Record the testings and post them on YouTube.

Blendtec created five videos to post on YouTube. In those videos they attempted to blend marbles, a rake handle, a McDonald’s Big Mac Value Meal, and the combination of Chicken and Coke. The videos were a hit and within the first week of the campaign they had been viewed over 6 million times. That is what they call a “Viral Video” on YouTube, because it spreads like a virus.

Blendtec now has over 100 YouTube videos. They have been viewed over 120 million times. And their sales have increased over 700% since the start of the campaign.

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To see more videos click here.

Popularity: 44% [?]

Old Spice And The Blender

The Old Spice videos have been the classic example of “viral” videos. They won an Emmy, doubled sales, and started a TV career for the star. BlendTec blenders has created videos that have led a marketing campaign that increased sales five fold. Two of their 102 videos are approaching 9 million hits each.

Will It Blend? – Old Spice

Today a video was posted featuring both products. I am writing this article at 10:30 pm and it has been viewed over 44,000 times already.

With this video BlendTec and Old Spice are cutting new trails. They are combining their products and marketing to both their audiences. While I’m sure there is some overlap in their markets, I am willing to bet that this video will set records.

Who Will Follow?

It will be interesting to see what other marketing campaigns combine their popularity and create joint videos. Who would be two companies that could create a joint video campaign comparable to this one?

Popularity: 31% [?]

Huck Huckabee

The Old Spice Guy

Here is a follow up on my July 30th post:

One of the most popular social media campaigns of all time is that by The Old Spice Guy. Old Spice made a video with former National Football League wid receiver Isaiah Mustafa. As I am writing this the initial video has been viewed 19,584,150 times. Click here to go to the YouTube page with the initial video on it.

The Campaign Expanded

After the initial video was created, Isaiah made several more in response to Twitter fans. Within weeks Old Spice had 199 videos posted. This interaction is a prime example of what exchanges in social media can lead to.

Click here to go to Old Spice’s YouTube page. I have a good time looking a them on occasion.

The Unique Farewell

The campaign could have gone on indefinitely. Then on July 14 they created the farewell video:

These videos will be viewed for many years. What is your favorite viral campaign?

Popularity: 31% [?]

Old Spice has taken it’s YouTube campaign VIRAL!

Sales doubled in one month for Old Spice. And a major part of the reason is the incredibly successful social media marketing campaign they have been putting on. Sales increased 107% over last month.

110 Million Requests To See Their Ads And Videos

The ads began on TV. But, when they hit YouTube, they went viral. Social media word of mouth (SOME WOM) has taken the number of views of the videos to over 110 million. That is more viewership than they get from a traditional broadcast on TV. And when people are viewing on YouTube, they are watching the video because they requested it.

This single video has over 16 million views:

When an ad comes on TV with 110 million viewers how many people do you think are watching it?

Popularity: 32% [?]

From the St. Petersburg Times, Sunday, August 23, 2009:

Memory. • It’s Halloween, and Michelle Phan is 5 years old. • Her classmates have come to school in glamorous princess costumes that cascade and billow. One girl, she remembers, is beautiful in a saffron Belle gown from Beauty and the Beast. • But Michelle’s family is on food stamps. No princess dress for her. Instead, she finds a paper plate and a red lipstick. She smooshes a crimson nose center and sketches a face around it. • A lion. A strong cat. • She wears it like a mask. • The princesses laugh. For Michelle Phan, the stomach-pit pain that comes with inadequacy never quite goes away. But lessons last longer. • Now, she understands, she did what others couldn’t. • “I made something out of nothing.”

Chasing A Dream

Michelle was born in Massachusetts on April 11, 1987. Both of her parents were born in Vietnam.  They divorced when she was a child and Michelle was raised by her mother.

At the age of 18 Michelle was studying dermatology at Tampa Bay Technical High School. Her mother wanted her to become a doctor. The two were struggling to make ends meet. But Michelle wanted to do something else. Her passion was art. And makeup was her art. Several months later Michelle applied for a behind the counter job at a department store selling Lancome beauty products. She was turned down for the job.

Blogging and YouTubing

Michelle began blogging at the age of 16. Then in 2007 she made her first makeup video for her friends.  Jump ahead to 2009. Michelle quits her job at a sushi restaurant to concentrate on creating YouTube videos. She becomes a web star. He new status gains the attention of an investor. The two teamed with a doctor and a scientist to start a skin care company called IQQU Beauty.

In February of 2010 Michelle announced that she had signed a deal with Lancome to be their video makeup artist. This was the first such contract for a YouTube video creator. Here is her announcement:

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The Most Subscribed YouTuber

On January 26, 2010, Michelle Phan became the most subscribed YouTube Guru of all time. Her most famous video, the “Lady GaGa Poker Face Tutorial” has 17,951,652 views as I am writing this blog.  Her videos are noted for a unique style that incorporates her voice over instruction, music and text subtitles.

Here is her Lady GaGa video:

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To visit Michelle’s YouTube Channel go to http://www.youtube.com/michellephan. If you’re like me, you’ll want to check in on this one occasionally. This dream has just started!

Popularity: 34% [?]