More on Fake Viral Videos

Looks like others have noticed the fake viral videos produced by agencies. Sarah Perez's latest post on ReadWriteWeb.com asks "Is this good marketing?" and shares some more video hoaxes. We're attracted to these videos because they appear to be real people moments, such as as awesome bike stunts, a romantic engagement or even a tattoo job application. Once we discover these are produced moments created to sell us a product, are we left feeling disappointed or less trusting?

As marketers, I think we walk a fine line. We want to be creative and generate content that will break through the clutter and we want to be authentic and engage in a trusting relationship with consumers. On the other hand, television spots and reality TV programs are not exactly real and I do find some entertaining. How do we balance our creativity, entertainment value and authenticity with online videos? Let me know what you think.

Best Job in the World – Real or Fake?

In times of shrinking budgets and cluttered media environments, marketers are constantly looking to get a bigger bang and “buzz” for their buck. Tourism Queensland developed a unique initiative that’s captured a lot of attention. It was off to a good start, but today’s news shows that they were less than genuine.

In their latest campaign, Tourism Queensland has invited people to apply for the Best Job in the World– to be the caretaker of the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. You’ll be paid $150,000 to live in a three-bedroom villa with a pool and spend time playing on the island for six months. The workload? Just 12 hours per month to produce a video diary and blog on all of your experiences. Sounds pretty good to me. So how do you apply? Just submit a 60-second video on why you deserve the job and fill out an application. All the details can be found at the campaign site IslandReefJob.com. You can even check out some of the other video applications on their site or YouTube.

The buzz on this campaign took off like crazy. Within a few days, they had over a million visitors and a ton of applications from around the world. One woman even tattooed herself for the job. Or at least we thought she did. Today, Tourism Queensland admitted that two videos were produced by their agency and they failed to label them as examples. The videos have now been removed. As a result, there’s even more news on the "Best Job in the World", but it’s not as positive as before.

I really think it’s a good campaign and with all of the buzz generated I'm sure it will be considered a success. However, we can learn from this. As marketers, we need to create authentic experiences and communications for our consumers, not fake ones. Still interested in the Best Job in the World? You have till February 22nd to apply.

My First Week on Twitter

It’s been a week since I began to tweet and it’s not what I expected. Like others, I thought it was basically a Facebook status update, but without all of the other Facebook features. I checked it out a year ago, signed up and tweeted once:

@charno checking out twitter

Then I never went back until last week. Second tweet:

@charno is checking out twitter again

Is that all there is to this? Why do I need to do this? I’m already connected to a bunch of friends on Facebook. How is this different? After a week, I’ve found that I use both in different ways.

Facebook

• I’m connected to people I know in person – real friends and colleagues.


• Status updates are more personal and general – Diane is sick of snow.


• I share more personal stuff like photos.

Twitter

• I’m connected to some people I know in person, but most I don’t know - industry experts (social media, tourism, marketing, etc.), businesses, and news organizations.


• Tweets are less about what I’m eating for lunch and more about connecting and sharing information.


• For me, it’s less out personal play and more about business, tracking the industry, staying up to date on trends and news, as well as learning how others are using Twitter. I also wouldn’t mind getting to know some of the awesome social media mavens out there.

Getting Started

If you’re not tweeting now, maybe you want to check it out. Here are a few tips on getting started.

• Set up a Twitter profile/handle - It’s recommended you use a real photo or avatar and be honest in your bio.


• Connect with people - You can start by using the search email feature on Twitter to find your friends already tweeting. Once you’re connected to a few people, check out who they follow and connect with others you know or want to know. You can also search Twitter for topics of interest and follow those tweeting about the same things.


• Learn the language - Check out the Getting Started area on Twitter. Watch how others are tweeting.


• Manage your tweets - Check out some of the Twitter apps that help you organize your tweets. I like TweetDeck or find some others on the Twitter download page. These apps are nice for creating groups and filtering tweets.


• Start tweeting.

This is a simplified intro for an individual. A business or organization needs a more in depth Twitter strategy developed. Are you ready to tweet? Then follow me @charno on Twitter.

Here's to the New Year and a New Blog!

As tradition for many, I've made some resolutions this year. I'm going to strive to live my "Best Life" along with Oprah and improve many of the typical things like health, weight and money, but I'm also going to work on increasing my online presence via social media. So here I am with my first blog.

To be honest, I'm not very comfortable with this writing online thing, but I need to start somewhere. I think I'll just start off with sharing what's going on in my life and see how it evolves. Topics may include:

• Marketing - I work for Boelter + Lincoln Marketing Communications and manage some great campaigns and initiatives for some cool clients in the tourism, recreation, education and media industries. I've been in the industry for over 17 years and enjoy reading and sharing experiences.
• Social Media - I've been active online for years, but not as much in the social media world. To be honest, it's growing so fast that it's hard to keep up while doing everything else. I'm already an active user of Facebook and LinkedIn and as of this week, I'm using Twitter. I'll share some of my thoughts and adventures as I play in the Web 2.0 world.
• Knitting/Crochet - I love to knit and crochet, but I've never really tracked or shared my projects. I've read lots of other knitting/crochet blogs and gathered some great project ideas and tips. I'll share some of my projects here.

That's about it for now, but who knows, I may share some other musings or current events. Just remember, I'm new to this and I hope to learn and become better at blogging. Please share your comments, tips and feedback. I look forward to connecting with you all and joining the online conversation.