One great way to use web video is to give potential clients a behind the scenes look at the inner echelons of your company. People love this stuff. It allows them to find out more about who they will be dealing with, and there’s something in us that makes us curious about how other human beings go about their day.

Channel 9 did a great job with a video diary they took of a team covering Cyclone Yasi. It was interesting to me to find out how a remote news crew operate and I hope it’ll be interesting for you too. Enjoy.

There’s some other stuff the major networks are doing now. For example, after a show finishes they give out a web address where people can go and chat live on video to the newscasters about it. I might be covering it later.

Have a good one!

Have a good one for now!

Like most aussies I like picking up newspaper on my way to work however it’s evident to most people that newspapers are on the decline. A recent article in Mashable says that for the first time, more people are getting their news online than from newspapers.

Online content from an advertising perspective is exciting. With print you’re limited to just a graphic, with online you have all kinds of possibilities – Flash and video content, games etc. This means more of an opportunity to be engaging. And of course all that is available to the content too.

As Mashable states, it’s ‘pretty much a long, slow and painful downward spiral to the point that the newspaper, like the vinyl record, is a relic for collectors and anachronists.’ Ouch.

The Future

Actually I remember attending an advertising evening for News Ltd for advertisers and had a quick chance to look around at their advertising packages; newspapers make up only a small amount of their advertising solutions these days, the rest mostly coming from their online properties. News Ltd has pretty much gone out and bought high traffic websites in Australia so they can get the same reach online that they do currently through newspapers.

At least it seems the newspaper industry is accepting of its fate and taking steps to enter new markets, like for example with Rupert Murdoch’s The Daily, the first iPad only newspaper, check out launch video below:

It’s better than the record industry that stuck to its CD distributorship model even when mp3 players were decimating Walkman sales, leaving it to Apple to corner the market for online music download sales. Now Apple gets 35% from every song and album sold through their popular iTunes platform, and all they have to do is host the music. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me, no wonder their stock price is through the roof. Then again the iPod, iPhone and iPad probably contribute too.

While newspaper may still be around for some time, it’s no doubt that the trend is moving to online content which is great news for everybody, except maybe the guys working at the printing press.

On 11th March a massive tsunami struck the coast of Japan, damaging the coastal fishing towns of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima. The tsunami was caused by an 9.0 quake in the Tohoku region.

As I write this, over 1,000 people have been killed and the death toll could reach as high as 10,000. Two nuclear reactor on the coast of Fukushima Prefecture are in meltdown, and what’s worse is that an after shock quake predicted to be in the 7.9 range is expected to hit Japan soon, though the exact time is uncertain. This after shock quake could further destabilize the two nuclear reactors on the coast of Fukushima.

If you feel you can help head over to the donation page for the American Red Cross which has staffed the area on the Japanese coast by click this link. (select ‘International Disaster Relief Fund’)

Below is footage from some of the destruction caused which was taken by survivors and uploaded to YouTube:

News article can be viewed here

Jennifer Aniston, did ad for Smart Water. A bit different, made references to various viral videos, may be a bit confusing for those that aren’t in the know. If not let me guide you through, if so here’s your chance to relieve some internet sensations:

But first Jennifer Aniston video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rc47LcvIxyI

Let me just say, having viral elements in your ad does not guarantee your video will go viral, though a novel concept, having a celebrity is a plus. Let’s go through the internet virals in the video above:

Keenan Kahill: Celebrity Lip Syncer

Keenan Cahill started lip syncing in his room to his web cam, he attracted a following, here’s one of his early videos:

However his popularity exploded when he did a duet with the rapper 50 Cent which got over 20 million views:

He is featured on the commercial, however interestingly enough 50 Cent has his own brand of health water that he promotes called Vitamin Water. Just thought I would throw that out there.

Animals

Ms. Aniston is right in saying animals are a big hit online, one of the more famous examples is the piano playing cat:

Babies

Babies are huge on YouTube too. One big video was Charlie Bit My Finger, which you can find on YouTube. However the dancing babies that Jen is referencing in this video is actually the Evian ad below…

which coincidentally enough was for another brand of water! Vitamin Water, Evian.. Am I picking up a pattern with picking water viral ads to emulate? Probably just my imagination.

Anyway…

The Rainbow Guy

This was a mock on the guy who shot a double rainbow and seemed to be having a semi-religious experience about it.

Hope you enjoyed!