G2: Buying Eyes for Good
Yesterday morning, while watching the Mike & Mike Show on ESPN, I saw an interesting event that G2 was hosting in collaboration with the Super Bowl. It was an actual (punny)bowling event with who I assume must be football stars. I was flipping channels and barely paying attention, but I heard one of the Mikes say that for every visitor to www.drinkG2.com, a $1 donation would be made to the United Way.
Honestly, I had no idea what G2 was, but was multitasking and it only took a second for me to hit the site so, in a Pavlovian response, I instantly typed in the address. Not only did $1 get donated to United Way (there is $100k max, it appears), but in just a few moments, I learned that G2 is the “light” version of Gatorade with only 25 calories. Shockingly enough, that’s a value proposition that interests me and I just might buy the product.
So, for $1 that went to a good cause anyway, Gatorade bought my awareness and I am now officially “likely” to try. Pretty good deal. This has been used in other campaigns and, while it is a blatant eyeball purchase, it works and doesn’t create waste. This is a great opportunity for charities & brands to partner in a mutually beneficial way and charities should not be afraid to make the first move. Think about the brands that your likely donors or activisits would appreciate, and approach them!
Sunsetting a Web Project
No one ever wants to think about the end of a project before it begins, but many web projects do and should end. It is a good practice to put some thought into how that will be handled before you launch, but little consensus on what the best practice for are for “the end”.
Option 1: Time warp – Subservient Chicken – This Burger King’s site originally launched as a way to promote their new chicken sandwich. It has not changed noticeably since the day it launched (copyright 2004). There is no dated material, just a quick, fun customer experience that could be considered “evergreen”. This is the Helen of Troy of viral marketing – the project that caused 1000 others to get greenlighted. Because of it’s significance, it is nice to be able to refer newcomers to online WOM to this site.
Option 2: Keep it live, but let it age – Clark and michael – This 10 episode series featuring man of the moment Michael Cera and friend Clark Duke ran from spring into summer of ’07, but received a surge of viewership months later when it made Time’s list of Top 10 Best Web Videos in December. While the episodes can still be viewed,
Option 3: Let the audience hijack your site – In the Motherhood – ITM was a Suave and Sprint “co-conception” that I discussed here was done around Mother’s Day 2007. While it doesn’t look like the brands involved have not done much updating since the end of the script contest, the users have hijacked that community and kept the forums alive.
Option 5: Set boundaries, honor what you accomplished – The Show with Ze Frank – ZeFrank grew a huge following of “Sportsracers” with his lightning-fast daily video podcast “show”. From the beginning, Ze set expectations that it was a 1 year gig and would end 1 year from its start date and so it did. Now, Ze has pulled together highlights of the show for those discovering it late, but refers to it in the appropriate (past) tense.
The one thing that I think can be taken away from these treatments is that how you sunset a web project makes a big difference in your future digital footprint. You can always change plans based on audience reaction, but it is important to plan not just for the next 6 months, but the artifacts that will exist in 18 or 24 months as well.
WGA Strike Ripples Extend
The WGA strike has had an impact that goes beyond late night hosts growing beards and folks like me considering spending their hard earned free time watching American Gladiators. While it may be a mild annoyance for me, the WGA/AMPTP standoff is starting to have ripple effects on a number of other online and offline endeavors.
We are working on a few ideas to keep the interest high and we are hoping to spark more conversations around Video Games (our newest category which is drawing some activity), movies, and bands.
Leading up to the Super Bowl (the most watched show on the planet traditionally), we’re enlisting some key Hey! Nielsen members to rate the ads live on super sunday — I think we’ll have a lot of fun with that. Most people like the ads more than they like the game, so… I’m eager to chat with those folks during the game.
LOST Fans Fly Oceanic Air
While watching some DVR’ed content from last night, I caught a TV commercial for Oceanic Air – the fictional airline that the Lost folks were on when their plane went down. There was a small note on the bottom of the ad that said something like “paid for by ABC” – subtle enough that only Lost insiders would notice. If you are into Lost or integrated marketing, visit flyoceanicair.com and enjoy the site that it “subliminally” links to which I amateurishly tried to capture here…
Good way to whet fan appetite for the new episodes – not that there’s much competition these days.