Aliens power YouTube.
Posted by TheEmergingTimes on Tuesday, Feb 09, 2010
-Can your brand compete with this?
I know today’s article seems a little goofy. Well, it is. But hold on, there might also be some important stuff in here…
Now that we have rounded a decade, I think we should all agree that aliens power YouTube. The success of the following links and video content should prove be proof enough for you to believe this to be true.
The Top 100 Videos of 2000-2010
What makes most of this stuff successful it that it’s all real. Meaning an average person made it with their own hands—it was not made in a studio. Sometimes all this user-generated content is really…stupid. While other times it’s really funny. Either way I’m sure we can all agree that most of it’s completely foreign (from typical television) and completely alien.
The success of this content and the fact that people actually ‘tuned into’ this on their own free will, should be enough proof for you and your client to believe that aliens in fact power YouTube.
If you think that your commercial can compete on YouTube you need to be more honest with yourself and your idea. And most importantly you need to be honest about your projected results. The first thing you can do is start learning more about the new alien arena you’re competing in.
Oh, and don’t worry if your juicy YouTube idea will spread. Remember that it will—just as long as it’s it’s alien. They’ll hunt it down, chew it up, then blog about it, then remix it, then rate it. It will just happen.
My suggestions for agencies and clients attempting to battle in the YouTube entertainment arena:
-Don’t try to promise success on YouTube.
-Don’t promise 1 million views.
-Don’t promise a client that 30,000 fans will suddenly create videos for your brand.
No you probably can’t sell the whole “alien” concept to your client, but who’s stopping you from grabbing a few of these successful links and using them as working consumer or cultural examples for your work and your clients?
Once you take out the actual content on YouTube such as news stories, music videos, and TV and movie content what your left with is the alien stuff. If we categorized the alien content using specific “traits” that have consistently lead to success (high viewership and overall passing-power) on YouTube.
Some of those traits would be:
Sexy.
Bizarre.
Stupid.
Painful.
Remixed.
Magical.
How can your brand or idea fit into this list?
*Suggestions don’t apply to those who speak alien.
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About the author
Michael Ferrare is the author of The Emerging Times and the founder of Agency Magma, a full-service creative content and marketing agency. He also worked at Crispin, Porter + Bogusky, where he went...
