Google Data » Kate Rose

Super Bowl XLV: fun facts about food, football, and ads

Kate Rose — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 17:39:00 +0000

You may notice the streets will be exceptionally quiet this superb 'ol Sunday afternoon, with perhaps only a few pizza delivery vehicles passing by, as Americans gather en masse around the big screen to watch our annual football, food and advertising spectacular: Super Bowl XLV. Two storied teams from the heartland - the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers - will take the field to conclude an exciting and, at times, controversial NFL season. We can only hope the quality of the game will live up to the stage and hype.

A few fun facts to keep in mind for this Sunday's big game (6:30pm ET on FOX, btw):

The Steelers have played in seven Super Bowls, winning six of them, while the Packers have been four times, winning three. (It should be noted that the Packers have won 12 total "World Championships" of professional football, eight coming before the modern NFL's playoff system)
The Super Bowl attracts a ginormous television audience that, according to Nielsen Co. peaked last year at 106.5 million viewers, topping the 1983 finale of "M-A-S-H" to become the most-watched show in U.S. television history
Nine out of 10 of the most-watched television shows of all-time were Super Bowls, but according to The Wall Street Journal, of the several hours of Super Bowl programming including the game itself, only about 11 minutes will have game action, when the ball is actually in-play
According to the Hass Avocado Board, an estimated 69.6 million pounds of avocados are expected to be consumed during the Super Bowl, and in general, Americans will eat more on Super Bowl Sunday than on any other day besides Thanksgiving, spending over $55 million dollars on food
Sunday will be among the top five pizza-ordering days of the year, with some chains accepting pre-orders for pies. Papa John's is estimating they'll travel 300,000 miles in total for deliveries.
This will also be the first Super Bowl with no cheerleaders (!), as neither the Packers nor Steelers have squads

And of course, the Super Bowl is an advertising bonanza, with many people tuning in to see the celebrity-laden ads with absurdly high production values as much as to see the game. Besides paying to produce the ads themselves, advertisers are buying airtime from FOX at a rate of around a whopping $3 million for every 30 seconds, according to MSNBC.

Is it worth it? This is a question that you can help settle, by going to our Ad Blitz channel on Super Bowl Sunday to watch and vote on Super Bowl commercials. We'll be adding commercials from participating in-game advertisers to the channel as-close-as-possible after they air, so you can watch, compare, and vote on ads to your heart's content. Your voting will help determine the champion ad, which will be rewarded with a placement in our homepage masthead ad unit, along with the four runners-up, on February 19.

If you're looking for last-minute, Super Bowl party planning tips or recipes, you can check out the channel now for a variety of Super Bowl coverage, including this awesome recipe for Clams Casino Dip, from Foodwishes:

You can also access the channel and commercials from your web-enabled mobile device: go to m.youtube.com/adblitz from your mobile browser (or enter "youtube.com/adblitz" and you should be redirected).

Enjoy the game!

Andrew Bangs, Sports Manager, recently watched “Queensryche - Silent Lucidity.”

Join Life in a Day tonight for its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival

Kate Rose — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 15:00:00 +0000

On July 24, 2010, thousands of people around the world uploaded videos of their lives to YouTube to take part in “Life in a Day,” a historic cinematic experiment to document a single day on earth. From Australia to Zambia, more than 80,000 videos, totaling 4,500 hours of footage, were submitted to the project. After months of hard work, Oscar-winning director Kevin Macdonald and a team of editors have created a 90-minute documentary film that gives a surprising, honest and entertaining self-portrait of our world.

While “Life in a Day” will be officially released later this year, tonight you have a very special opportunity to tune in to the world premiere direct from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. The premiere will be followed by a live Q&A with Kevin Macdonald and key contributors to the film. You can submit questions for the Q&A here.

Tonight’s stream begins at 5pm PT/8pm ET on the Life in a Day channel. If you’re outside of the United States, you can catch a rebroadcast on Friday, January 28, at 7pm in your local time zone, captioned and subtitled in 25 additional languages, with an additional option for audio description (AD) in English.

We hope you enjoy the film!

Tim Partridge, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched “Life in a Day: A new type of filmmaking”.

Life in a Day, now at Sundance

Kate Rose — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 03:55:00 +0000

We recently gave you a sneak peek at “Life in a Day”, and mentioned that Director Kevin Macdonald had selected a group of contributors to join him at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival for the film’s world premiere. The documentary film is a collaboration between Macdonald, Ridley Scott, YouTube, and LG about a single day on earth.

These contributors have now arrived in Park City, Utah from as far afield as Afghanistan, Egypt, Indonesia, Russia, and Japan. Many of them are travelling overseas for the first time. Starting today, you can see their Sundance journey on the Life in a Day channel, where we’ll be posting daily video updates of their experience, as well as interviews with Kevin and the Life in a Day crew.

You can tune in to the live stream of the world premiere from the Sundance Film Festival this Thursday at 8pm ET/5pm PT. There will also be an additional option for audio description (AD) in English. If you’re outside of the United States, you can also catch the rebroadcast on Friday, January 28, at 7pm in your local time zone. The rebroadcast will be closed captioned and subtitled on YouTube in 25 languages.

While the final film contains 1,025 videos that give an honest and compelling glimpse of our world, the film itself is only one part of the Life in a Day story. To celebrate the many and varied contributions from people around the world, we’ve created a special exhibition at the Sundance Film Festival to allow visitors to browse the tens of thousands of videos submitted to the project. You will be able to see the exhibition from the 'Experience Sundance' page on the channel.

Remember to subscribe to the Life in a Day channel for the latest news on the project, and tune in on January 27 for the live premiere.

Tim Partridge, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched “Life in a Day Teaser #2: Ron."

5 Questions for Jack Conte and Natalie Dawn, Pomplamoose

Kate Rose — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:00:00 +0000

What you hear is what you get with YouTube Partners Pomplamoose. Every sound you hear in their music videos is produced by an instrument you see played in their music videos. It’s a novel idea they call the “videosong”. And, in a world with so many artificial, over-produced sounds, Pomplamoose provides refreshing covers and original music. Brands are taking notice of this authenticity, too. If you've been living in a hole for the past few months, you might have missed their Hyundai commercials over the holidays.

Continuing on their quest to make music (and musicians) more accessible, we asked Jack Conte and Natalie Dawn about how they got their start, what it’s like working with brands, and buying Etsy chandeliers to create your very own mysterious aura.

You should also tune into their live webshows on Tuesdays at 6:30pm PT at www.pomplamoose.com.

Shenaz Zack, Product Manager, recently watched, “Pomplamoose - If You Think You Need Some Lovin”

What’s so funny? Submit your skit ideas for Friday’s LIVE online improv show

Kate Rose — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:01:00 +0000

This Friday, you’re in control of the action for HP ePrint Live, a two-hour live improv comedy show streaming on YouTube. Host Rob Riggle (The Hangover, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart) and actors from the Upright Citizen’s Brigade Theatre will act out skits based on viewer suggestions sent to one of the printers on stage, performing it live in front of millions of YouTube viewers.

On the day of the show (January 21) send a note, a picture, a song, a drawing (whatever strikes you!) to the HP Web-connected printer at ideas@hpeprintlive.com and actors from the UCB Theatre will use the ideas to create original comedy in real time. Maybe you want to see what would happen if humans lived underwater, or perhaps you have a great photo of your dog and you want to know what his stream of consciousness sounds like. However hilarious, twisted or downright goofy your idea is, simply ePrint it and watch www.youtube.com/hpeprintlive, on January 21, 3 p.m. ET, to see it come to life. Include your Twitter and you might just get a special shout out! If your submission is chosen, you’ll receive a link to your personal video over email. The skit will also be posted online at the HP ePrint Live YouTube channel and on HP’s Home Facebook page.

Fear not, if your submission is not selected, keep sending through January 26. Members of UCB Theatre will continue to accept ideas to create custom comedy shorts period, with a different theme and setting each day, including the home (day 1), office (day 2), school (day 3), travel (day 4) and “anything goes” (day 5). These will all be posted on the channel just as soon as they are created.

Start thinking about what scenarios you’d like to see performed on the show. ePrint them on January 21 and don’t forget to tune in LIVE.

Suzie Reider, Director Display Advertising, YouTube and GDN recently watched “Annie Leibovitz: HP Let's Do Amazing”

The ad your ads could look like: Looking back at the best YouTube ads of 2010

Kate Rose — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 20:31:00 +0000

2010 was a breakout year for video advertising, which is an unmitigated good thing for advertisers and viewers alike. As audiences, platforms, channels, and devices continue to fragment into ever-more-specific niches, earning people’s attention has become ever more challenging. To find audiences and break through all the noise, brands must create content that people seek out, love, and share with others.

On the coattails of YouTube Rewind, which highlighted the most viewed videos of 2010 - we took an informal poll of our team and reporters in the industry to find out their favorite YouTube ads of the year. Here they are, in no particular order:

1) Old Spice "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" (25M views)

2010 was Old Spice’s year. Released to YouTube a few days before the Super Bowl, Isaiah Mustafa’s shower-transcending, horse-sitting manliness had already attracted a fan base before the Saints and Colts took the field. This new franchise culminated in Old Spice’s Twitter response campaign, attracting more than 100 million views in fewer than 10 days. Smells good!

Experts say: “The challenge for advertisers in social media is keeping up with the real-time nature of it. Old Spice provided the blue print on how to do this with a video blitz that perfectly fit with how the Web operates nowadays.” - Brian Morrissey, AdWeek

Lesson learned: Old Spice spent millions developing the character, and then took advantage of this brand equity by speaking directly to key influencers, who then got their followers to tune in.... for free!

2) Nike "Write the Future" (22M views)

Who was your favorite official sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup? If you said Nike, you’re not alone. You’re also not an expert on global sports sponsorships, because Nike didn’t sponsor the Cup. All they did was hijack world soccer with a glorious, 3-minute mini-epic directed by Alejandro Iñárritu.

Lesson learned: It’s hard to imagine a 3-minute commercial running during a major sporting event, but online it attracted an enormous audience that accelerated via sharing.

3) Tipp-Ex "NSFW. A hunter shoots a bear!" (13M views)

Vaguely reminiscent of the revolutionary Burger King Subservient Chicken, this campaign for correction tape product Tipp-Ex hands control of the story to the user, with dozens of funny outcomes that reward experimentation and discovery.

Experts say: "One of 2010's greatest examples of interactive ads." - Ben Parr, mashable
Lesson learned: Interactivity + video = a truly immersive, memorable, and sharable experience.

4) Hell Pizza, “Deliver Me to Hell“ (2.5M views)

Ads are definitely content when they include interactive zombie attacks. When you feature clever product placement and a narrative viewers can participate in, it's advertising gold.

Experts say: “With the increased sophistication of YouTube annotations has come a greater number of interactive adventures, and this branded experience sponsored by the New Zealand pizza company Hell Pizza is one of the better ones I've seen. Not only is it executed well, but a zombie comedy fits perfectly with Hell Pizza's brand -- and really makes you crave a hot slice.” - Liz Shannon Miller, NewTeeVee

Lesson learned: YouTube video annotations create new opportunities for fun, turning the video viewing experience into an adventure.

5) Toyota "Swagger Wagon" (7.6M views)

Awwwww, yeah. Decidedly un-hip-hop people rapping about their un-hip-hop lives is nothing revolutionary, but the execution on this campaign for Toyota’s Sienna minivan was a cooling salve for Gen X parents struggling to embrace the cul-the-sac.

Lesson learned: Perhaps the perfect example of a brand creating content that people will seek out, love, and share.

6) Toy Story 3, “Lots-o-Huggin' Bear Commercial” (1.2M views)

Experts say: “We loved Pixar's phony retro toy ads promoting Toy Story 3. The ‘Huggin' Toys’ videos were made to resemble toy ads circa 1983 -- complete with VHS tape static crawling along the bottom of the screen.” - Zach Rodgers, ClickZ

Lesson learned: The Toy Story franchise has been the most critically and financially successful animated movie series of all time, mostly because of its ability to appeal both to kids and to parents. Kids who grew up in the Reagan Years are powerless against the nostalgia appearl of this very convincing faux-retro spot .

These are, of course, just a tiny taste of what brands and agencies did with online video in 2010, and we didn’t even touch the best creative in other languages. We’re hoping this list gets people inspired about the creative possibilities.

Eric Meyerson, Video Business Marketing Lead, recently watched "Complete History of The Soviet Union, Arranged to the Melody of Tetris."

What makes an ad worth spreading?

Kate Rose — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 17:28:00 +0000

Today we bring you a guest post from Chris Anderson, Curator of TED, a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Anderson explains how TED and YouTube are teaming up to present a challenge called 'Ads Worth Spreading'.

Video is a powerful medium for spreading ideas. Over the past four years, TED has posted over 800 TEDTalks on TED.com and on YouTube. We've been thrilled to see the world respond -- watching the videos more than 375 million times.

Our mission -- of spreading ideas around the world -- is supported in part by advertising. And we believe that advertising should evoke the same emotions a TEDTalk does -- it should make you think, make you respond, make you want to share -- a great idea, a product that makes the world better, an initiative that might change the world. Like YouTube, we want to see the same level of passion in online ads as we do in our TEDTalks. So, we’ve created a challenge called 'Ads Worth Spreading' to solicit the best ads that raise the bar, elevate the craft and invent new forms of online engagement.

We invite you to enter the competition. Entries can be hysterically funny, stunningly beautiful, or just intriguing, fascinating, ingenious and persuasive. For inspiration, check out examples of great creative on YouTube Show and Tell. It is free to enter, the submission deadline is February 7, 2011, and full contest rules are right here.

We’re excited to see your ads worth spreading!

Chris Anderson, TED Curator, recently watched "Rory Sutherland: Life lessons from an ad man."

Home sweet Homepage

Kate Rose — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 23:54:00 +0000

Starting today, you might notice a button on YouTube.com asking if you want to check out an experimental homepage we’ve been working on. It’s an opt-in experiment, offering a homepage that has a real emphasis on a personalized video browsing and watching experience.

Some of the enhancements include:

Combined list - Merges your subscriptions, friend activity, and recommendations into one easier-to-scan list (and a “Subscription uploads” tab if you only want to see subscriptions)
Don’t miss a video - If a channel uploads 4 videos in a day, you’ll see all 4 - instead of just the latest video
Delete anything - Hover over any video you don’t want to watch and click ‘x’
Or just grey it out - Videos you’ve already watched will be grayed out - so even without deleting, you’ll know where you left off
Help me re-find stuff I just watched - Your homepage will include your recent likes and favorites so you can easily get back to them
Easy inbox - Links to your inbox (personal messages & comments) are front and center
Load much more - Watch older videos - all without leaving the homepage

You can see where these features are located by clicking the thumbnail of the page below:

To give it a try, just click this link. You can always revert back to the classic homepage by clicking on the “Back to classic homepage” link that you’ll see when you’re on the new homepage. We’re hoping to learn what works best for the YouTube community, and explore ways to make you feel right at home. Please tell us what you think through this feedback form.

John Fisher, recently watched, "Crazy Oklahoma State Interception vs. Oklahoma - November 27, 2010".

Life in a Day premiere at Sundance set for January 27

Kate Rose — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 23:45:00 +0000

Imagine a momentary glimpse into 80,000 perspectives from around the world. A goat farmer in the Ukraine heads to work in the morning. Three Angolan women sing a song as they beat corn into meal at lunchtime. A young man in the United States comes out to his grandmother.

You’ll see these scenes and more in the final cut of "Life in a Day” when it premieres globally on YouTube and at the Sundance Film Festival at 8:15PM EST on Thursday, January 27.

“Life in a Day” is a unique documentary filmed by YouTube users that tells the story of a single day on earth -- July 24, 2010. For the past five months, director Kevin Macdonald, editor Joe Walker, and a team of researchers have been editing almost 5,000 hours of footage received into a feature film. Video from 192 countries were submitted and, today, a 94-minute film remains. Here’s a message from Macdonald:

To be among the first to see the film, tune in to the live broadcast from the Sundance Film Festival, which will be followed by an interactive Q&A with Macdonald. And if you can’t make the 8:15 p.m. EST showing on January 27, not to worry! We’ll repeat the broadcast shortly thereafter in different time zones around the world. An on-demand version of the film will also be available (and free) later in the year.

To stay up to date with the latest on the project, be sure to subscribe to the Life in a Day channel at http://www.youtube.com/lifeinaday. You can also browse thousands of videos submitted by users in the gallery, which is made possible by LG.

Tim Partridge, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched “John Cooper on Life in a Day."

Longboarding around the world with YouTube

Kate Rose — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 15:04:00 +0000

Today’s guest blogger is Scott Imbrie, CEO and Co-Founder of Original Skateboards. His passion is longboarding, a popular new form of skateboarding that also blends elements of surfing and snowboarding. Scott started Original with his brother, Brad, using YouTube to grow the business from scratch.

From the start, Brad and I wanted to design longboards and trucks that would allow descents of the steepest paved roads in the world. Since longboarding as a sport was relatively unknown in 2002, we saw an opportunity to grow both our sport and business through online video.

In 2005, we shot our first video, “Longboarding Cadillac Mountain,” on Cadillac Mountain in Maine. With just 12 subscribers to our channel, we uploaded the video and promoted it through our MySpace and Facebook communities. We had no idea what to expect. The next day, we came into the office and found more sales orders than we had received in the previous week, including many orders from Europe and Australia.

YouTube had provided us global reach, which drove more potential customers to the Original website. Our total sales increased roughly 40% from that night forward. Seeing the impact online video had on our sales, we began to build our business with YouTube at its core. We added Nick Patrick, the director of Cadillac Mountain, to our three-person staff to shoot, edit and produce YouTube content full time.

To stay connected with our viewers, we began to expand beyond a single video. Our next project was an episodic travel series we called “Western Sessions.” YouTube featured the first episode on its home page, and we reached over 150,000 views, which was a record for us at the time. Our sales again increased by approximately 40%. Last year’s sequel, “Puerto Rico Sessions,” received 8.9 million views, making up over 30% of our total video views in 2009.

Our strategy to achieve those viewership numbers and increase our subscriber base has been through a combination of online advertising (primarily Google AdWords and YouTube Promoted Videos), creative print advertising and word-of-mouth. We found when we produce relevant, high-quality content, one in four viewers will share that video with a friend. This viral word-of-mouth sharing greatly decreases our costs (when we pay for video advertising) and has enabled us to grow our business on a very limited budget. Additionally, we are developing YouTube-based applications to help us connect even more effectively with our viewers.

While Original has more than 105,000 subscribers around the world, it remains very much a family affair. Brad and I continue to work together every day, and our childhood best friends are key players in our business. Moreover, longboarding as a sport has grown exponentially. The sport now receives millions of views per week on YouTube and has grabbed the attention of major newspapers and television shows.

We are thankful that the YouTube community supports our artistic expression and sport. It has helped open many new opportunities for our business.

Our latest video, “Go Longboard 2010,” is our interpretation of what we feel makes longboarding different from other extreme sports out there. Our goal was to make the most visually stunning nature video on YouTube, and showcase longboarding while we were at it. We hope you like it!

Serena Satyasai, Marketing Manager, recently watched “Longboarding Boston.”

Promoted Videos hit half a billion views

Kate Rose — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:52:00 +0000

When we announced our first performance-based video ad format, Promoted Videos, nearly two years ago, the first campaign was “Penny Pranks” by Office Max.

Since that time, thousands and thousands of advertisers have taken advantage of this ad format to entice likely customers with videos about everything from smoked brisket recipes to magnetic jewelry to sneakers. Politicians and political activists have used Promoted Videos to argue for a proposition or against an issue. And large companies have reached wide audiences with movie trailers, recipes, and ideas for Halloween.

This month we served the 500,000,000th Promoted Video view. Promoted Videos average approximately three minutes in duration -- it would take a single viewer 2,853 years to watch them all. In the past year, we’ve seen a more than six-fold increase in the number of times viewers have clicked to watch a Promoted Video. And more and more, advertisers are making ads for TV and YouTube that delight and entertain. In fact, many video ads reach over 1 million video views, offering everything from solutions for bad breath to candy bars and cars – some of which have achieved increased viewership using Promoted Videos.

We’ve made several recent product improvements to help more advertisers easily set up and manage campaigns with Promoted Videos. First, we’ve expanded the ability to set up video ad campaigns on ads.youtube.com beyond the US to Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. For anyone outside the U.S., the campaign will be tied to your Google AdWords account. Secondly, we’ve added Promoted Videos into our Video Targeting tool so you can select specific videos for advertising against in addition to appearing against search results and related content on YouTube. Finally, with our Promoted Video API in AdWords in beta, agencies can now use Promoted Videos to manage campaigns across multiple clients.

We’re excited about this momentum and look forward to building on viewer choice when it comes to advertising. We talked at length this week with the guys at ReelSEO about Promoted Videos, so read on if you'd like to know more about our plans.

Jay Akkad, Product Manager, recently watched “The NeoCube 01”

Individual Video Program, one year later…

Kate Rose — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 19:00:00 +0000

What if Michelangelo had sculpted the David and that was his one and only masterpiece? What if Francis Ford Coppola had shot one scene of The Godfather, then called it quits on a film career? What if Jim Henson had only given the world Kermit the Frog, and then decided to become a plumber? Would you still want to see these hallmarks of creativity? Chances are, you would.

It’s been well over a year now since the launch of the Individual Video Program (IVP), which celebrates the very nature of rewarding the one-hit creative spark or remarkable moments caught on video. Some of the most well known videos run the gamut through rough-cut home video (“Jessica’s Daily Affirmation”), wonders of the natural world (“Praying Mantis Attacks Hummingbird”), or good old fashioned comedy clips (“Laughing Baby,” with 33M views). Here's one of our recent favorites:

What’s even more powerful than sharing these moments through video? Hearing how the lives of the people who have uploaded them have been changed. For instance, in one of the most heart-warming videos featuring a U.S. solider reunited with his dog after returning from Afghanistan, the earnings made from the video went to the local animal shelter where their pet was rescued.

Online video is evolving, and we believe there should be a place on the web where all forms of content are celebrated and brought to the masses. In fact, did you know that...

YouTube has now enabled hundreds of thousands of videos to earn money?
We’ve enabled international users from 11 markets to earn revenue from their videos?
IVP helped thousands of YouTube users to become official YouTube Partners?

We’re proud to have our Individual Videos share in our business success, and plan to find more ways to encourage a diversity of video on the site.

Lin Shi, Software Engineer, recently watched “Cows, Cows, Cows.”

Tips for partners: LockerGnome reveals how he built his brand and audience

Kate Rose — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 19:33:00 +0000

In our Tips for Partners series over the last month, we have certainly covered a lot! Beyond our suggestions, our partners have given their own tips on these topics as well. Specifically,

Hold on to your seats. For our last post in this series about engaging with your audience, we’re bringing you (drum roll please...) LockerGnome (a.k.a Chris Pirillo) who’s well versed in how to make a hit channel, get more subscribers, and interact with his audience through social media.

Chris publishes a personal blog and lifecast and joined the partner program in 2007. Technology enthusiast and self proclaimed geek extraordinaire, you can’t help but be impressed when Chris gives tips on how to make a good PowerPoint or discusses USB Hub problems. Also, in case you are in need of some pet costume ideas for Halloween, Chris can help you out.

You can also check this video out on his Watch Page. Let us know in the comments section of Chris’ video if you have great tips to share on how to build your brand and audience or if you have feedback for Chris. We’d also love to hear how your videos have been impacted once you have used some of these tips to better engage with your audience.

This post concludes our Tips for Partners series. We have covered many important topics to help you leverage and build your own hit channel and encourage you to utilize all of YouTube’s tools and features to build the best channel possible.

We enjoyed hearing from our partners to find out their optimization tips, so we will be moving this initiative to the Partner Communications Hub and posting a Partner Education Spotlight on a regular basis. If you have a great optimization tip you want to share, let us know and we would love to spotlight your video as well as your channel!

Thanks for tuning in and providing great feedback. Here on the YouTube Partnerships team, our goal is to support and educate our partners on how to use various tools to better create and share content. That, in turn, gives you the power to do what you do best: creating videos that represent the Zeitgeist of our world. So if that means funny cat videos or how to make your house more energy efficient, go forth and prosper!

Julie Kikla and Mahin Ibrahim, Account Managers, YouTube Partnerships recently watched “Wedding Thriller”.

Tips for partners: Ask and you shall receive

Kate Rose — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 01:25:00 +0000

Over the last few weeks in our 'Tips for partners" series, we’ve shown you tips on:

Our partners have given their own tips on these topics: Bettyskitchen discussed metadata, ZackScott talked about annotations and playlists, and LinusTechTips gave tips on how to find your niche. Now that you are ready for fame and fortune, for our last topic in this series, we want to focus on the YouTube community and how to build your brand and audience.

Help Them Help You

Think of YouTube as your big, extended family; a large community who wants to engage with you, share their opinion, and help you be successful. So help them help you. Use social media such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Google Buzz to engage with your audience and let them know how to keep track of your different YouTube channels, social media outlets, and ways to contact you.

Use your referral headers to see what specific sites are your top referrals. You can see your referral headers through our Insight tool by going to ‘My Videos’ and clicking on ‘Insight’ under one video. Next, click on “Discovery” and then “External Links”, and set the date range. You can only see a breakdown of external links on an individual video, so make sure to review your top videos to see if your referrals are consistent or different.

An example of referrals for a video:

Customize your interaction with your audience based on your top referrals. If your top referrals are Facebook, Twitter, or Buzz, make sure to let your audience know via those mediums when your next video is live. If your top referrals are YouTube subscribers, post a bulletin to your subscribers letting them know you’d love for them to share your video with one new person.

To Do:

Don’t be shy, push your content out there. Engage with your audience through YouTube, Twitter, Buzz, Facebook, MySpace and other social media through links to your channel and videos.
Widen your reach. A huge amount of view counts come from embedded playbacks so take advantage of this and embed your videos. Share your video with blogs/sites aimed at your audience. They may embed your video because it reaches their target audience.
Ask for subscribers! Subscribers can be the best marketers to push your content to different blogs and social media. Ask for subscribers on your channel, through your videos, or through annotations, and then ask them to share your video.
It’s free to ask for feedback (just keep a thick skin). Make a video where you ask your viewers what they liked or didn’t like or what types of videos they would like to see.
Look at your comments, see what your viewers are saying and feel free to respond. Also, through ‘Insight’ you can see the words most commonly used in comments of your videos.
Run Promoted Videos to get more eyeballs on your videos and drive community engagement.
Add your YouTube Channel to your email signature so your contacts are aware of your ongoing online presence and can easily access your channel.
Two minds really are better than one. Collaborate and network with other YouTubers and amaze us with what you can create together.

Now is a great time to log into your account and check out your top referrals and make sure viewers know how to connect with you through social media. Tune in this Thursday (our last post in this series) to hear from one of our partners who’ll discuss first-hand how he engages with his YouTube audience and uses social media to increase his audience and build loyalty.

Julie Kikla and Mahin Ibrahim, Account Managers, YouTube Partnerships recently watched "Dude Perfect™ (Amazing Basketball Shots) - HD."

Viewers say ‘You have our undivided attention’

Kate Rose — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 19:00:00 +0000

How much television did you watch yesterday? A half hour? Three? If you're anything like the average American, you watched for five hours (according to a Nielsen study). Five. Hours. For some, that's 30% of your waking day. In truth, 'watching' is a relative term. TV often provides background noise in many households, and people are rarely focused on the content alone.

Contrast that to watching YouTube or other online video, and, as an advertiser, you might think twice about where your ad dollars are best invested. You want your money where viewers are engaged. A new study that Google conducted with Next New Networks and Magid revealed that viewers of web original content (think Funny Or Die, Machinima, or Key of Awesome) are 2.5 times more likely to pay full attention to online video than they are to pay full attention to the TV show they are watching. Advertising Age discussed the research in-depth last Friday.

This type of engagement makes sense, when you consider the very social and viral nature of web original content. Let's say a friend emails you a link to something they found funny. Or you wonder if 'The Social Network' is going to live up to the hype. With web originals, you're in control of the content, and it takes a fresher, more topical format than mainstream TV. It is also a lot easier to devote your full attention to a 3 minute video than a 30 minute show. When people are engaged, they can also be educated, informed, and persuaded. They are also likely to share content with their friends. 23% of the YouTube sample said they go on to email video links to friends or post links to Facebook or MySpace. This is the new definition of word of mouth.

Similarly, when it comes to video advertising associated with web original video versus TV, web original viewing proves to be advantageous in several areas. Web original viewers are less likely to:

Fast forward through ads (compared to those who watch TV shows using a DVR)
Talk to other people
Browse the Internet while watching
Do things around the house

Furthermore, the study indicated that significant proportions of web original video viewers take advantage of the medium's interactive elements:

More than half read comments posted by others
Nearly half rate the videos
Four in ten share the videos with others
Three-quarters say they use some means to tell others about their favorite Web original videos, with significant proportions using email, social networking sites, and conversation

If you're interested in more points of the study, check out Next New Network's release. This is further evidence that, on YouTube, you have the audience’s attention. What you say to them is up to you..

Rick Silvestrini, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched "Between Two Ferns Zach Galifianakis: Ben Stiller."

Tips for partners: LinusTechTips shares how he found his niche

Kate Rose — Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:29:00 +0000

In our series of partner optimization tips, we covered metadata with Betty from BettysKitchen, how to use playlists and annotations with Zack from ZackScott, and how to find your niche and analyze the performance of your videos. Now, we’re excited to have Linus from LinusTechTips show us how he found his niche with videos on unboxing tech products and how he uses YouTube Insight to track the performance of his videos.

It took Linus some time and multiple attempts before he found his niche as a “Professional Unboxer.” When Linus started his channel, he began to use YouTube Insight to figure out which of his videos were most popular. He realized he had found his specialty when he got thousands of views on his unboxing of the Radeon 5770 Direct X11 video card, which to this day remains one of his highest viewed videos. Since Linus joined the partner program in 2009, his focus has been making videos on product unboxings and reviews. He specializes in unboxing video cards, like the GeForce GTS 450 and the Radeon 5750. He also has a great line of custom t-shirts for the unboxing enthusiast. This one is a crowd favorite.

You can also check this video out on his Watch Page. Let us know in the comments section of Linus’ video if you have great tips to share on using YouTube Insight or if you have feedback for Linus. We’d also love to hear how your videos have been impacted once you have used some of these tips to analyze the performance of your videos.

Julie Kikla and Mahin Ibrahim, Account Managers, YouTube Partnerships recently watched “Movie Trailer Proposal.”

Tips for partners: Gimme content (and then analyze it!)

Kate Rose — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0000

As promised, we’re excited to feature a series of blog posts with advice and actionable suggestions regarding what has helped partners be successful on YouTube. By now, all your videos should have lots of metadata, and you should have added annotations to at least one video, or grouped a series of videos through a playlist. Up next, our third post is on the importance of finding a niche with your videos and then analyzing data to determine how viewers are finding your content.

As always, we want your feedback. If there are things we are missing, or other optimization tips you want us to cover, let us know via the comments section in this post.

Find Your Mojo
It is easy for us to say, “make great content!” We know that is ultimately what you are are trying to do with your videos. When you first start out, experiment with different approaches and topics until you find your niche. It could be vlogging, beauty tutorials, a character sketch...really wherever your passion takes you. YouTube gets over 100 million views a day, so the world truly is your oyster. Find your mojo and then cultivate your content.

Once you create and publish your great content, are you paying attention to your Hot Spots? Are you maintaining a schedule so viewers know when to check back for more? There is actionable data you can use in your account to tweak your videos to keep your audience coming back.

To do:

Use Insight Hotspots to see if your video is hot or not. Do you see a full red thermometer in the top red corner of your Hot Spot video report? If so, great! If not and your video hovers on or below the “Average” line on the graph, you are not keeping your viewers’ attention.
Edit your videos to keep your audience engaged. See where viewers are leaving your video, and determine why (and consider using annotations to keep users engaged).
Use Insight to figure out how people are finding your content. Is it through search or related videos? To find out, go to ‘My Videos’ and click on ‘Insight’ for one video. Then click on ‘Discovery’ and under ‘Links Followed to this video,’ you’ll see top referrals. You can click on ‘YouTube Search’ to find tags viewers queried to get to your video, and then add these tags to your video to boost your ranking in the search index.

How to find more tags through the ‘Insight’ tool:

More tags to add:

Review YouTube charts to check out the most viewed videos, and how you stack up.
Use Google Analytics to understand the source of your YouTube traffic. The better you understand your audience and how they find you, the better you will be able to produce new content, promote the discovery of your videos, engage with your audience and build your brand.
Keeping a video upload schedule is important, and we encourage you to upload consistently. When you are starting out, a technique that has worked well for many successful partners is maintaining a schedule that your subscribers will remember.

Now is a great time to log into your account and analyze your data to make sure your tags are fully updated, and your top referrals are either increasing or changing for the better. Tune in this Thursday to hear from one of our partners who found his niche, and will discuss first-hand how he uses ‘Insight’ to make smart decisions.

Julie Kikla and Mahin Ibrahim, Account Managers, YouTube Partnerships recently watched “The Unseen Sea.”

Tips for partners: ZackScott tells it like it is

Kate Rose — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 16:32:00 +0000

YouTube loves random weirdness, comedy bits, and cute pets. We also love when our partners make it really easy for us to watch one video after another through playlists, and when they catch our attention with witty annotations. In our series of partner optimization tips, we covered metadata with Betty from BettysKitchen and then we covered how to use playlists and annotations to easily direct viewers to your other videos. You can search the whole series under the label, 'tips for partners'.

Zack from ZackScott, does a great job creating playlists and also using annotations to call out interesting things in his videos, or to ask for subscribers and comments. Zack joined the partner program in 2008 and he tries to capture and show off real things he finds interesting or funny. He caught our eye with his clever videos about his cats such as “Kitten still loves Puppy” or his surreal spider videos like “Giant Kitchen Spider”.

We asked Zack to tell us how he uses playlists to group his wide array of videos and to shed some light on his best tips for annotations. We think you will find Zack’s tips as entertaining and enlightening as his video on, “Amazing Nintendo Facts”.

Let us know in the comments section of Zack’s video if you have other great tips to share on using playlists or annotations or if you have any questions for Zack. We’d also love to hear how you arranged your videos through playlists after watching Zack’s video, or share some interesting use of annotations that you have found!

Julie Kikla and Mahin Ibrahim, Account Managers, YouTube Partnerships recently watched “Shark Surfer.”

Responding to the Rutgers University tragedy

Kate Rose — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 02:00:00 +0000

At YouTube, we pride ourselves on creating an accepting, open and diverse community, and consistently strive to promote these ideals — both online and off. Tyler Clementi’s death, as well as similar tragedies, have sparked questions about privacy and harassment that will only increase as access to the web grows. So let us be clear: Intolerance is not OK. We will not stand by and allow for egregious violations of user privacy to threaten a vibrant and creative online community. YouTube will always prioritize the safety of our users — we encourage you to reach out and let us know if you or someone you know is in need of help.

In the wake of this tragic event, we’d like to take a moment to remind our community of the many resources available to individuals dealing with cyberbullying and online harassment. We understand that the internet can be a very tough place to navigate, and we want you to know that you are not alone in dealing with issues of privacy and harassment. If you or someone you know is at risk, reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK. We also encourage you to visit YouTube’s Help & Safety Center to learn about tools to deal with abuse and harassment online.

Finally, check out the It Gets Better Project, a venue for individuals to share and hear stories from the LGBT community about the difficulties of coming out in what can be an often judgmental society.

We hope you take some time to think carefully about your responsibilities to yourselves and to the online community as you continue to use YouTube and other social media websites. Remember that public videos can have many unintended consequences - as a result, we encourage you to consider the possible effects your videos and comments may have on the people around you.

YouTube Policy Team recently watched "It Gets Better: Dan and Terry."

The creative process – illustrated on YouTube

Kate Rose — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 16:00:00 +0000

When most people talk about job perks and benefits, they mention insurance, retirement plans, or flexible hours. Here at YouTube, we’re lucky to count access to the world’s most entertaining videos amongst our job perks. From Double Rainbow to David After the Dentist, entertainment is in no short supply. What I’ve been surprised by, however, is how well advertisers are embracing this same idea. They’re creating video advertising that engages and delights viewers. Around YouTube’s marketing team, we’re often asked, “What makes a successful campaign? Is there a recipe for success? How can I make something go viral?”

I am certainly not alone in saying that one of my favorite campaigns in the past year is the Old Spice guy. It debuted earlier this year and has enjoyed well over 55 million views on YouTube and helped make the Old Spice channel the most subscribed sponsored channel on YouTube. It has also been parodied endlessly across the web, on tv, and on the radio. When you consider that the product in question is an everyday hygiene item, the buzz generated by their creative team is that much more impressive.

So what makes a successful campaign? And how can you make something like deodorant or magnetic jewelry appealing to the masses? As the next step for YouTube Show & Tell, our home for the best creative marketing examples on YouTube, we examined the creative process behind four great campaigns on YouTube that have taken off. Take a look for yourself below, and check out Show & Tell to see some very entertaining campaigns.

Caption: Craig Allen and Eric Kallman, creatives at Wieden + Kennedy, the men behind The Old Spice Guy

Caption: Terrence Kelleman, founder and president of Dynomighty, the man behind The Original Magnetic Plaything

Caption: Benjamin Palmer, co-founder and CEO of The Barbarian Group, the agency that helped start YouTube Show & Tell

Caption: Kevin Roddy, former CCO of BBH, the man behind Axe

Mark Sabec, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched "A Hunter Shoots A Bear"

Tips for partners: Never leave me wanting more

Kate Rose — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 19:00:00 +0000

As promised, over the next few weeks, we’re excited to feature a series of blog posts with advice and actionable suggestions regarding what has helped partners be successful on YouTube. You can search the 'tips for partners' label to find the full series. As always, we want your feedback. If there are things we are missing, or other optimization tips you want us to cover, let us know via the comments section in this post.

We kicked off our series with information on everyone’s favorite topic: metadata. Our second post is on how to use playlists and annotations to easily direct viewers to your other videos.

Make it Easy to Watch More
Keep in mind this isn’t a first date. If users liked your video, they most likely want to see more, but they may not know where to go or what to do next. Keep them on the right path by making it easy for them to watch more of your videos without having to do any work.

To do:

Annotations are notes, or call-outs you can use to direct viewers to take a specific action. Use them to link your videos together or create a menu so users can easily watch your videos without having to move to another tab.
Annotations also give you the freedom to be creative and interact with your viewers on a deeper level. Let viewers “choose their own adventure”, ask for subscribers, tell users what to watch next, or encourage feedback at the end of a video.
Create playlists. Playlists allow you to group your videos and they provide a simple way for users to be introduced to your content and re-watch classic videos. Playlists will also increase discoverability because they are indexed separately from search.

An example of an indexed playlist

When you create playlists, organize them by specific themes to help viewers find the videos they are most interested in watching. Also, keep in mind that you can embed your playlists on a web page to further capture (and keep) viewers' attention.
Finally, if you remember our metadata post, when creating or editing a playlist, make sure to add appropriate tags and use all of the character limits as this will help users find your content.

To avoid:

Though annotations are a great way to link your videos and make call to action statements, don’t go too crazy. You can add as many annotations as you like, but when starting out, 3-5 annotations per video is a good rule of thumb to follow.
Avoid being spammy. For example, if a user expects to be taken to an official music video, don’t take them to your second channel instead. Don’t mislead the viewer.

Now is a great time to log into your account and optimize your playlists if you already have them and create your first 3 annotations for your latest video. Tune in this Thursday to hear from one of our partners who’ll discuss first-hand how he uses playlists and annotations to increase views.

Julie Kikla and Mahin Ibrahim, Account Managers, YouTube Partnerships recently watched “Valentine - Kina Graniis (Official Music Video)"

In the YouTube lab, promotion works

Kate Rose — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 19:00:00 +0000

Remember high school chemistry? Beakers, test tubes, Bunsen burners...aqueous solution dilutions? Alright, so maybe the recall isn’t as strong on the last one. Hypothetically speaking, our product teams have never left that lab. They’ve been hard at work, testing away to find what’s effective in getting your videos watched – whether you’re a partner or an advertiser.

This past spring, we looked closely at our promotion tools, including Promoted Videos, to see what would happen in the ‘petri dish of promotion.’ Our team selected 20 partner videos who upload fresh videos regularly and then we drove as many views to them as possible with a cost per view (CPV) of $0.03. Guess what they found?

Conclusion #1: Promotion at $0.03 per view increases views per day by 30x when compared to two weeks prior to promotion. Thirty times? That’s a steal at three pennies for each view.

Conclusion #2: Partners in the test got 46,000 subscriptions that were directly attributed to sessions with a Promoted Video click. The cost averaged out to be between $4-$6 a subscriber. In other words, promotion of content has a direct impact on growth of subscriptions.

Conclusion #3: Promotion of newer videos is far more successful than older videos. No ‘Aha Moment,' but the lesson here is to keep your content fresh.

Conclusion #4: Users are twice as likely to watch a second video by the partner when driven to the channel page rather than the watch page. Naturally, someone will want to watch more of your videos if you can get them where they can clearly select one. Getting that user to the channel page is half the battle. Investment in the channel once you have them there is the rest.

If our experiment had begun with the hypothesis that Promoted Videos drive views at scale at a low cost, we would have been proven correct. You make great content, so promote it. Big players on YouTube didn’t find success overnight, and we’re finding that - more than ever - promotion is key to getting your videos seen and shared.

Jay Akkad, Product Manager, recently watched “The Scientific Method.”

Tips for partners: Betty’s recipe for metadata

Kate Rose — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 20:00:00 +0000

Our partners teach us something new everyday, whether it’s about science, art or cooking. Sometimes they even teach our team YouTube optimization tips and how to better promote a channel. In a series of monthly videos, we’re asking partners to talk about their top optimization tips for channels and are kicking this off with Betty from bettyskitchen. Betty joined the partner program last year and makes cooking videos with simple recipes ranging from cheddar jack whipped potatoes to healthy and natural granola bars, which all have one thing in common: they are incredibly delicious.

We asked Betty to show us how she uses metadata to increase her discoverability, choose her tags wisely, and come up with the perfect title. We hope you’ll find her recipe for metadata just as enjoyable as her steps to make buttercream frosting.

Let us know in the comments section of Betty’s video if you have great tips to share on using metadata or any other questions for Betty. We’d also love to hear how your videos have been impacted once you have used some of these tips to optimize your metadata.

Julie Kikla and Mahin Ibrahim, Account Managers, YouTube Partnerships recently watched “Baby Eating Watermelon.”

Tips for partners: Words, Words, Words!!

Kate Rose — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:08:00 +0000

As a partner, you have probably asked yourself, “How can I make my videos more discoverable?” “Is it kosher to ask for subscribers?” and “What’s the most effective way to use annotations?” Well, after almost three years since the Partner Program launched, we want to answer some of your questions and offer tips on how you can use YouTube’s arsenal of tools to become a truly great partner.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll feature a series of blog posts with advice and actionable suggestions regarding what has helped partners be successful on YouTube. As always, we want your feedback. If there are things we are missing, or other optimization tips you want us to cover, let us know via the comments section in this post.

To kick off our series, we will be covering the first and most important step to increasing awareness of your videos: metadata, which is near and dear to all of our hearts. Find out what YouTube defines as metadata and read on for ways to come up with new tags and descriptions.

Words, Words, Words

YouTube is the second largest search engine, so don’t get lost in the mix, let people find you. Our algorithms are good, but they can only read, they can’t watch your videos. So in order to properly classify your video and index it for search, we need your help.

To do:

Have a basic understanding of how we index our search results so you know how we crawl and index your video. Use our tools to your videos’ advantage.
Titles, tags and rich descriptions (all categorized as metadata) will help your discoverability and increase CPMs. Descriptions can include up to 5,000 characters, tags can be 120 characters. Make a goal to use every one of these limits for each of your videos.
The more words you include in your description, the higher your chances of being discovered by searchers, which means the larger your audience can grow, and the more potential revenue you can earn.

What YouTube defines as metadata:

Use our Keyword Tool to expand on or update your tags. It will give you good suggestions for related queries. You can also check out the Google Insights for Search tool built for online advertisers.
Don’t just include tags upon video upload. If you have a popular video that continues to get views over time, update your tags regularly to take advantage of new searches. Online search behavior is always changing, so your tags should change along with it.
If you have a transcript available, make sure to upload it and turn on captions. This can help your discoverability as it will give us more data points to index your video.

To avoid:

Users hate spam. Google hates spam. Spammy tags and thumbnails may help increase views in the very short term, but our algorithm will catch on and punish you for spam. Long term, you want your users searching for videos to find what they are looking for and to associate your channel with accurate information.
Don’t repeat words in your description or title, this will not help you. Rather use different words and variations that users might search on to find your video.

Now is a great time to log into your account and check out what your metadata looks like and add some more tags. Tune in this Thursday to hear from one of our partners who’ll discuss first-hand how she uses metadata to increase views.

Julie Kikla and Mahin Ibrahim, Account Managers, YouTube Partnerships recently watched “Triple Backflip - 60 foot Rope Swing!”

Behind the scenes of Weezer’s YouTube community invasion

Kate Rose — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 22:56:00 +0000

Editor’s Note: Today’s guest blogger is Ben Patterson. Ben is the founder of DashGo, Inc., a digital marketing and distribution platform servicing music, video and podcast content. Clients include Weezer, This American Life and Delicious Vinyl. Last week Weezer launched its new album, Hurley, with the YouTube community.

It all started at VidCon.

VidCon is an event I attended this past July. My company, DashGo, markets, distributes and manages catalogs for indie labels and bands, and the vast majority of our content is audio. VidCon was eye-opening: an army of YouTube content creators--some meeting for the first time following years of online sharing and collaboration--pumped energy into the room. In panel discussions, everyone credited their success to two entities: YouTube and other YouTube users.

One of my clients is Weezer, an alternative-rock band known for hits, including “Buddy Holly,” “Beverly Hills” and “Pork & Beans.” Weezer's always been a fan of innovation and collaboration and is no stranger to YouTube. Back in 2008, Weezer went on a Hootenanny tour, inviting fans to perform alongside them with whatever instruments they could play. Rivers Cuomo, lead singer, co-wrote a song with hundreds of YouTube content creators in a project called "Let's Write a Sawng." And, of course, Weezer invited a number of YouTube content creators to appear in their own "Pork and Beans" video, a video viewed over 20 million times.

Weezer was getting ready to launch their new album, Hurley. Our concept for the band this time was simple. Instead of inviting YouTube content creators to invade a Weezer video, we’d flip the tables. Rather than make our own video a needle in the haystack we decided to build a whole stack of needles. First we all asked our friends and co-workers about their favorite YouTube content creators. We asked fans on Twitter and Facebook who they liked on YouTube. Then I sent an email to the dozens of recommended YouTube content creators letting them know Weezer was interested in participating in their programs. Acting, performance, interview, make-up, comedy--whatever they wanted Weezer to do, Weezer was game.

The response was overwhelming, especially considering I sent the request out six days before shooting was to begin. Two weeks later, the shooting was done and each YouTube partner prepared his or her own video. Weezer wouldn't see anything until the videos went live on 9/14.

We were amazed by the range of creativity. The Gregory Brothers AutoTuned Weezer's "Memories." Weezer got to cover StSanders' "Kiss Shreds,” a band favorite, and the Magic Hugs guys brought them back to their days as a brand new band. Four of the videos made it into the Top 20 chart within 24 hours. We were also featured on YouTube’s Music Tuesday showcase.

Weezer reached more than 10 million folks if you count the aggregate number of subscribers of the participating content creators. That's more than triple the ratings of most late night talk shows. Ray William Johnson alone gets more viewers per episode than Comedy Central's Tosh.0. And best of all, the new album Hurley hit the top 10 on iTunes charts and #1 on Amazon MP3.

Of course, none of this would be possible without all of the content creators who invited Weezer into their channels. A huge thanks to them and their fans for letting Weezer into your house for the day. And we thought you’d enjoy this outtake:

Serena Satyasai, Marketing Manager, recently watched “I spanked Weezer.”

5 Questions for Jackie Pyo, LG Brand Manager

Kate Rose — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 16:00:00 +0000

The call went out. People responded. The gallery is up. Editors are editing. It’s Life in a Day, and who’s behind it? Well, you are, most importantly. Along with Ridley Scott and Kevin McDonald, of course. But the project has also been a unique sponsorship opportunity for LG, and when you’re a large brand with a plethora of sponsorship options, you want to stand behind something that reaches out and grabs people.

The Life in a Day project is entirely based on capturing a single day on earth through the eyes of thousands of different people around the world. We sat down with LG’s Brand Manager, Jackie Pyo, to talk about why LG chose to partner with Life in a Day.

LG CMO Dermot J M Boden explains what LG and Life in a Day have in common and encouraged users to upload videos on July 24th

1) Life in a Day promises to be one of YouTube's largest global experiments. How did LG come to be involved in the project?

LG is always looking out for innovative projects and ground-breaking ideas that support our company vision that technology can make life better – that it can make life good. YouTube is a company that uses technology to help people learn more about each other, build better relationships with one and other and, in doing so, ultimately enrich our lives.

When we first heard about the Life in a Day project we knew immediately that this was going to be a chance to bring our company vision to life and deliver something special to millions of people around the world. What started as just the seed of an idea has grown into one of our most exciting partnerships to date. Because we were involved at the very beginning, we’ve been able to work collaboratively with YouTube to shape the direction of the project and help to make Life in a Day a fantastic success, while staying true to the core essence of the LG brand.

2) LG has done many other sponsorships in the past, from New Year's Eve 2008 fireworks in London to Formula 1 racing. Why did this particular partnership make sense, and how does Life in a Day differ from other sponsorships you've done?

Other sponsorships we’ve done in the past, and are doing today, all associate LG with phenomenal properties – properties people love – that help us connect with people on an intimate, emotional level. Life in a Day is no exception, but the difference between Life in a Day and our other marketing activities is that it has never been done before – the journey is new both for LG and for the people who join in. In this respect, it’s a completely new path for LG and we hope we can show people what we really stand for along the way.

3) Tell us a little about LG's values as a company and how you've maintained those through other marketing efforts.

Our brand has four core values: Humanity, Pleasure, Curiosity and an Optimistic Energy. So, whenever we do any marketing we always ask ourselves, “Is it truly representative of ‘Life’s Good’?” It’s our litmus test for everything we do.

4) From the Life in a Day Gallery launch, the LG page talks about how you hope to reach YouTube users on a personal level. What kind of user engagement are you hoping to achieve?

We wanted to present the Life in a Day Gallery because we were fascinated not only by the sheer volume of entries the project received, but the way the entries were tagged. Each of the 80,000 entries has its own story, and no one story is more or less important than the next. We worked with YouTube to create the Gallery to showcase all the entries in one place. These personal, emotional stories – the entries – are important to us. It’s what excited us most about the project. The Gallery brings the stories to the users, and the users to the stories. That’s the real emotional engagement – between the people in the films and the people watching the films. Our role, in facilitating this emotional engagement, provides LG with a great opportunity to engage with both the participants and the viewers on a personal level.

What really surprised us with the tagging is that so many videos were illustrating positive messages. Thousands of people wanted to tell the world about the good things in life. To celebrate this we created the Smile Gallery, but we also want to give these people the chance to create a video about their favorite “Life’s Good When…” moment in a LG promotion we’ll be running towards the end of October. By running our own promotion, people won’t just be learning more about our brand, but they’ll actually be relating the positive experiences of their lives to our brand expression of Life’s Good – this is a really interesting prospect for our brand and something we’re very excited about.

5) Anything else to note about the project?

Like any brand, LG has always looked at YouTube almost like a window – a window to an engaged audience. We shouldn’t forget that YouTube is still only 5 years old, and lots of brands tend to rush into new platforms without thinking about how they’re actually adding value. We didn’t want to do that, so we always looked on and just wanted to wait for the right opportunity; an opportunity that worked for LG, worked for YouTube, but most importantly an opportunity that in some way would improve the lives of the YouTube community. The YouTube community has already embraced it with open arms and we’re really excited to see how Kevin interprets all the footage.

Kate Rose, Communications Associate, recently watched "DominoStudios - Life in a Day"

How-to videos put more sexy golf carts on the road

Kate Rose — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:45:00 +0000

This post is part of the “BizBlog Series". Check back each week to see articles about partners and advertisers on YouTube, or search under the label "BizBlog".

We all have a dream. America’s 25 million small business owners are making their dreams happen. But it’s never easy.

For E.C. Hundley, his dream had four wheels, an engine, and a smooth ride. As the proprietor of Everything Carts in Martinsville, Va., E.C. built a business that custom assembles souped-up, street-legal golf carts. He also sells cart accessories online, and his business now employs eight people. With your dream, some hard work, guile and a penchant for online marketing, you can do something like this, too.

Let’s see how E.C. is using YouTube to build his business.

Did you get your business online from the start?
Oddly enough, we started out as a local retail store, and we never thought about taking our business online. After the first 8 months, we were going broke with just one employee, and I figured we had to do something if we were going to survive.

So you took your business online just to keep it alive.
Yes. At that point we had maybe $1,500 in inventory sitting on the shelf, so we started putting some of it on eBay. We then got with a friend who’s a web designer, and he built our website. Since then we have revamped the site about four times to make it friendly for our customers. It saved our business.

How much of your business comes from people finding you on the web, compared to other channels?
Our direct web activity is about 70% of our sales. Most of the rest is via telephone, and we also promote our business via a print catalog.

Tell us about your YouTube channel. What kind of videos do you make, and how do they help your customers?
I help people with installation of the products we sell. Our call volume had gotten really high on some of our products, so helping people over the phone was taking a lot of time. Then I remembered watching a Photoshop tutorial on YouTube, and I thought to myself this is the answer to our problem. So we started shooting a few how-to videos and posted them on our YouTube channel, and soon those calls stopped completely.

Do the videos help you sell more, too?
Yes. The videos also help us earn new business, because our customers can see that we know the products we sell, and they can buy with confidence.

What are your future plans for online video?
With the success we’ve had with the few videos we have done, we have now built a studio just for shooting how-to videos. This way the customer can see how the products are installed and get a better idea of how it is going to look. One of the toughest parts of selling a product online is that the customer usually just gets to see a picture of what they’re interested in. With video they get a better idea of the real look and size. It is the closest thing you can get to seeing, touching, feeling the product.

That’s the real power of video, isn’t it? How hard was it to get started building a YouTube channel?
It was the easiest Internet task we had ever done. It’s pretty easy and inexpensive to make good-looking videos today, too.

What advice would you have for other business owners or managers who are considering YouTube as a marketing channel?
The main advantage of producing online videos, especially for an online business, is it makes your business real. Customers need to see that your company has real people behind the website.

Eric Meyerson, Video Business Marketing Lead recently watched "1981 primitive Internet report on KRON"

Hasbro brings Trivial Pursuit to YouTube

Kate Rose — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:16:00 +0000

This post is part of the “BizBlog Series,” which was formally its own blog. Check back each week to see articles about partners and advertisers on YouTube, or search under the label 'BizBlog'.

What do you figure the Numa Numa guy knows about arts and literature? What about Tay Zonday’s knowledge of world history? Would you be willing to bet on whether Michael Buckley knows his geography? This week, Hasbro brings the world ‘You vs. YouTube’ Trivial Pursuit experiment, which asks players to do just that.

Hasbro has upgraded the old version of Trivial Pursuit to their ‘Bet You Know It’ edition, adding an interactive element where you bet on whether or not your opponents know the answer. In the ‘You vs. YouTube’ experiment, they’ve pitted the public against YouTube stars like the Davies-Carr brothers (from ‘Charlie Bit My Finger’) in a giant online tournament.

We’re excited about this at YouTube because it gives our partners a chance to shine, it provides users a fun gaming experience, and it gives Hasbro a chance to get the word out about their new game. Hasbro's Group Executive, Jane Ritson-Parsons, said of the online competition, "We know our consumers are online and watching as many of today’s stars are discovered online -- and many through YouTube — that we felt that a partnership with the world’s most popular video site would be a natural fit. It provides us with great context and relevance for our game introduction". In our opinion, they’ve done a number of innovative things from a marketing perspective:

They evolved their product. Hasbro listened to their customers when they said the game questions were too hard or obscure, and tweaked their product accordingly. Questions were re-written, and they made the game more interactive through the ‘betting’ element.

They recognized the power of viral video. Hasbro knew that YouTube stars have built an audience that resembles their own. By teaming up with our partners, they’ve added unique voices to their campaign. For example, on Michael Buckley’s channel, he talks about his ‘Trivial Pursuit Story’. Tay Zonday wrote a special song for the game. Gary Brolsma dances in his living room with friends during their Trivial Pursuit night. And the Davies-Carr brothers warn you to challenge them, or they’ll bite your finger...

They share the love with the YouTube community. On the Trivial Pursuit channel, Hasbro has uploads of other partner videos discussing the challenge. Of particular note is mediocrefilms’ ‘REJECTED Trivial Pursuit Commercial’ By allowing other content creators to participate, they get a lot more reach into audiences they might not have considered directly targeting.Brand advertisers are starting to recognize the power of the YouTube community and popular partners.

We look forward to providing more fun and entertaining brand integration in the future. In the meantime, try out the game! ‘The People’s’ chips are down!

Margaret Healy, Strategic Partner Manager, recently watched “You vs. YouTube-EDBASSMASTER-Skippy Calls Hasbro”

5 Tips for campaigns on YouTube

Kate Rose — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:19:00 +0000

This post is part of our "BizBlog Series", which was formerly its own blog. Check back each week to see articles for partners and advertisers on YouTube, or search under the label, "BizBlog".

In this election season, we've been working with political campaigns to understand how best to take advantage of what YouTube has to offer on a free and paid basis for getting their message out. Recently, we hosted a webcast to provide some tips to candidates running for office and advocacy groups campaigning for ballot issues on ways to present your candidate or your issue and engage with your constituents on YouTube. Did you miss it? No problem, we boil it down to 5 key tips for you here:

Tip #1: Search for your candidate or issue on YouTube. What did you find? With 2 billion video views per day, YouTube is the second-largest search engine after Google. You most likely have a search engine strategy for the top search engines - is YouTube included in that plan? If not, what are the top results - is it your opponent’s message or is it one that frames your message in a positive light?

Tip #2: Master your destiny on YouTube. Set a destination for your candidate or issue by signing up for a politician channel. It’s free and enables you to present your candidate or issue using video. Most importantly, it allows voters to find out more information about your campaign and can connect you to on-going efforts (volunteering, donations, or voter information).

Check out the channels for Jerry Brown and Carly Fiorina as examples of candidates running in California.

Tip #3: Consider paid advertising on YouTube. YouTube offers various cost-effective ad formats to help amplify what you may already be doing with other media. Promote your video as a Promoted Video against search results and related videos. Extend your TV ad assets with InStream Ads on YouTube, which we covered last week. Raise broad awareness with a homepage masthead ad or a one-day mobile roadblock. Included with YouTube advertising is free reporting on how your video ads are performing so that you can fine-tune your message and placement.

Tip #4: Engage in conversation with your constituents. Use free tools such as YouTube Moderator and video responses to start your dialogue. You can ask viewers to vote on topics they would like you to address. You can also hold weekly “chats” or an online “town hall” to directly answer their questions posed via YouTube Moderator or video responses.

For example, Texas gubernatorial candidate Bill White recently used Moderator to collect supporter feedback on curriculum standards.

Tip #5: Consult www.youtube.com/youchoose for more information. This site lists the resources described above and more. Use it to decide which tools work best for your campaign objective and budget. Whatever your issue or whomever your candidate, YouTube has an audience waiting to engage with you.

Happy campaigning!

Ramya Raghavan, YouTube News and Politics, and Jen Wasson, YouTube Ads, recently watched “Senate Candidate Freilich on a Cow”

More advertiser control on YouTube

Kate Rose — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:02:00 +0000

This post is part of the “BizBlog Series,” which was formally its own blog. Check back each week to see articles about partners and advertisers on YouTube, or search under the label 'BizBlog'.

We’re constantly working to give advertisers control and flexibility over their YouTube campaigns. We place great value on this because ads are an extension of what a company represents as a business, and we want YouTube to be a place where that reputation and image can flourish.

To that end, we’ve been rolling out features to keep advertisers in control of their campaigns. We announced one such example last week, when we launched a feature that gives select advertisers the ability to voluntarily age-restrict their videos. But there’s more work to do.

To date, we’ve given advertisers the ability to pick and choose individual videos on YouTube to target using our Video Targeting Tool. But one of the most frequently requested features we’ve heard from advertisers is the ability to exclude individual videos and channels from the campaigns they run on our site. Today, we’re excited to announce video and channel exclusions, a way for advertisers to pick specific YouTube videos and channel URLs that they don’t want their ads to appear on.

Here’s an example: let’s say you run a vegan bakery. You want to strike a balance between good exposure for your baked goods online, while staying true to your company values in offering items free of animal or dairy-products. Now you can indicate which videos are not the best fit for your audience. Since your customers are probably not watching "Homewrecker Hot Dog," you can provide this video exclusion under the "Networks" tab.

Similarly, you might run a keyword-targeted campaign on bakery-related keywords and exclude whole channels that you don’t feel suit your audience. So if FoodNetworkTV has videos centered mostly around cooking meat dishes, you have the controls to prevent ads from showing on that channel and specific videos.

Alternatively, if your ads are appearing on a video that has content you deem inappropriate for your audience, or perhaps isn’t performing in terms of click-through rate or conversions, you can optimize your campaign by using this new feature to exclude it.

Google has also been investing significantly in ensuring brand safety, transparency and control for advertisers across the Google Display Network. We’re hoping that these added layers of control will make your campaign targeting even more precise. Keep sending us your feedback so we can make future product improvements.

Baljeet Singh, Senior Product Manager recently watched “AH NOM NOM: Wholesome Bakery Best Vegan Bakery Food Cart In San Francisco”

Heating up the 2010 midterm elections with In-Stream Ads

Kate Rose — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 20:02:00 +0000

This post is part of the “BizBlog Series,” which was formally its own blog. Check back each week to see articles about partners and advertisers on YouTube, or search under the label 'BizBlog'.

Getting elected to the House or Senate these days is no longer as easy as putting up some yard signs, holding babies and smiling at the local senior center. With 68% of U.S. voters heading online before they vote to do research on local ballot initiatives, being online is crucial to getting elected. For the last couple of election cycles, we have seen how important it is for politicians and issue advocacy groups to maintain channels on YouTube — but when it comes to advertising, most campaigns get their messages to constituents through online ads across search and the Google Display Network with tactics like Google Blasts.

This cycle, dozens of races in 15 battleground states are incorporating a different ad format into their campaigns: In-Stream Ads. Using In-Stream Ads, candidates and issue advocacy groups have reached millions of U.S. voters this primary season. The best part? It straddles that line between digital and TV advertising: most campaign managers and political agencies are taking their standard made-for-TV 30-second ads and simply re-purposing them to run on YouTube. Campaigns can target locations (like their state or district), as well as content categories on YouTube, allowing them to tailor their message to specific groups of constituents. For example, a candidate interested in reaching young moms might target nutrition, fitness, health and parenting categories.

Defeat the Debt, a non profit group driving issue awarenessof the national debt, has already reached over 1 million people by running In-Stream ads across the country. In some markets they have even opted to run In-Stream instead of TV ads due to their effectiveness. Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Tom Barrett has also run In-Stream Ads in conjunction with his television campaigns, reaching almost 500K potential voters in Wisconsin on YouTube. Senatorial candidates Marco Rubio (Florida) and Dino Rossi (Washington) have also implemented campaigns.

While we can’t predict how politicians will actually do once they’re elected, it’s clear that their campaigns are taking advantage of the latest ways to engage and inform voters on important issues in 2010.

Amy Barth, In-Stream Ads Specialist, Google Elections and Issue Advocacy, recently watched ”Guy Walks Across America”

YouTube Homepage: Promoted Videos advertisers can get it while it’s hot

Kate Rose — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:53:00 +0000

For big advertisers on YouTube, the YouTube homepage is often seen as the holy grail. It's the highest-profile placement on YouTube, providing marketers with the ability to deliver a big impact and drive attention to content, trailers or advertising. To give you an idea of the scale we’re talking about, the homepage has been delivering nearly 45 million impressions per day and 18 million unique visitors a day in the U.S. — that's the equivalent to the ratings of several top-rated prime-time television shows combined. While impressions and unique visitors are never guaranteed, users who visit the homepage are actively looking for the next video to watch, so advertisers naturally want to be part of the action.

A little known fact is that a few days each quarter, we open up the YouTube homepage to Promoted Video advertisers. These companies end up getting a bit of extra exposure from their campaigns. There are a couple of ways to make sure your ads show up on the homepage, should the opportunity arise. First, log into your AdWords account, and under "Campaign Settings," consider the following:

In order for Promoted Videos ads to appear on YouTube browse pages, watch pages, and on the homepage, select "Display Network"
To appear *only* on YouTube placements, select "Relevant pages only on the placements I manage" and add youtube.com as a managed placement.
To appear *only* on the homepage, select "Relevant pages only on the placements I manage" and add youtube.com::pyv-top-right-homepage as a managed placement
Set a specific bid for the homepage and keep in mind that it is a more competitive placement
Please note: this feature is only available in Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the U.K., and The U.S.

Because the dates we run Promoted Videos on the YouTube homepage vary, we unfortunately don't have a set schedule to provide to our advertisers. However, we typically know about 48 hours in advance. If you have a managed account, you can ask your Google representative to let you know when these opportunities arise so that you can increase your bids to improve your chances of showing up.

Several advertisers – large and small – have found great success showing Promoted Videos on the homepage. One YouTube advertiser, Dynomighty Design, grew their entire business by using Promoted Videos and getting placements on the YouTube homepage. Founder Terrence Kelleman says: "YouTube helps us sell our product, learn about our audience and build a strong brand image. And as a small company with a limited advertising budget, YouTube has become our main advertising strategy. Not only are costs low with Promoted Videos, but healthy conversions also make YouTube our #1 referring site in terms of traffic and revenue." To read more about Dynomighty's story, check out their original YouTube video and their feature on the Official Google Blog.

The YouTube homepage has a captive, engaged audience and it's our goal to let advertisers understand how best to reach customers that would be interested in hearing from them. For more information about advertising on YouTube, visit youtube.com/advertising, and for more information on Promoted Videos, check out ads.youtube.com.

Mark Sabec, Product Marketing Manager, recently checked out YouTube Show & Tell, home of the best creative marketing examples on YouTube.

Mission: Control (and flexibility)

Kate Rose — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 17:41:00 +0000

This is the second post in the “BizBlog Series,” which was formally its own blog. Check back each week to see articles about partners and advertisers on YouTube, or search under the label 'BizBlog'.

There is an audience for every kind of video on YouTube, from beauty videos to Ultimate Fighting. Because of this diversity, it's important that we provide advertisers with tools that give them control of where their ads are shown, and to whom. Innovations like the Video Targeting Tool and re-marketing are only two of the many ways we've given advertisers greater control of their YouTube presence and helped them get in front of the exact audience they want to reach.

While advertisers have great targeting options for their ads (like overlays and in-stream ads), sometimes they want similar controls when it comes to their videos themselves. For example, gaming companies or movie studios may wish to upload trailers to YouTube that highlight content rated for audiences above a certain age. Or, alcoholic beverage companies want to ensure that the videos they upload as part of their campaigns are only made available to registered users above the legal drinking age.

For these reasons, we're pleased to offer a new feature that allows select advertisers to voluntarily age-restrict watch pages for their videos. This is a long-requested feature by many advertisers interested in promoting their products, but who want to be sure that they comply with their own industry guidelines regulations. Advertisers have always been able to age-restrict their channels generally, but to date only users could flag specific videos that they thought should be age-restricted under our Community Guidelines. Now, advertisers can do so proactively, and can choose different ages depending on their needs. Several advertisers have already tested this new feature, including alcoholic beverage companies. Through age-restricting, companies like Pacifico have uploaded their videos to YouTube with confidence that they will only be viewed by the right target demographic.

We're constantly looking to build tools and features that make YouTube a safer place for users, partners and advertisers. We hope that voluntary age-restricting will increase advertiser flexibility and control while staying true to our responsibilities as a trusted video platform.

Advertisers wishing to age-restrict their content should reach out to their account representatives.

Alice Wu, Head of Ads Policy, recently watched “Drunkhungrybear Double KFC Drive-Thru 7-6-10."

5 Questions For Ryan Scott, CEO of Causecast.org

Kate Rose — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 00:08:00 +0000

This is the first post in the “BizBlog Series,” which was formally its own blog. Check back each week to see articles about partners and advertisers on YouTube.

When the end goal of your online marketing is philanthropy, you have to take a unique approach. We’ve tried to do our part by providing the tools needed for the task through the YouTube Nonprofit Program. One nonprofit that’s leveraged these offerings effectively is Causecast.org. We sat down with their CEO, Ryan Scott, to find out how video has amplified their work.

1) What role does video play in the development of Causecast (both the site, and in campaigns created for your clients)?
Video has always been a core component for Causecast. We covered red carpet events and fundraisers, interviewed celebrities, and created special campaigns like the "Milk" typographic piece, which was commissioned by Focus Features. We also had an ongoing video project called "State Your Change," which was a video wall created by user-generated uploads about the changes people wanted to see in the world, which was then submitted to the newly-elected President Obama. After a year and a half, we've found that we work best when focusing on individual campaigns that are directly tied to a single organization or brand that’s connected to a single website or cause. We can (and do) create content for all causes and nonprofits, but each one individually should be focused on one clear goal.

2) Can you provide an example of how you've utilized video in impactful and relevant ways for your clients? Explain why you decided to utilize video over other media and how YouTube was specifically involved in the campaign.
One of our successes was a project called STILLERSTRONG, which we helped create with Ben Stiller and his team. The campaign started as a project to build a school in the central plateau of Haiti and video was used as the main medium to drive awareness and donations to the Stillerstrong platform. Ben applied his unique brand of humor to communicate his message to engage his fellow philanthropists and celebrity friends to publicly support his cause. Lance Armstrong, Owen Wilson and former President Clinton got involved and were part of the video campaign. Ben even did a video with Robert De Niro specifically urging Ashton Kutcher to re-tweet the video, which he did.

We used YouTube annotations to incorporate buttons into the video that allowed people to perform functions, putting links directly into the video. People could donate, post to Facebook, Tweet out the video, buy the STILLERSTRONG HEADBAND, and even upload a video comment. Annotations and the benefits you get with a nonprofit account on YouTube were hugely helpful, saving us a great deal of development work.

3) How has the role of video changed in the past 10 years, with regard specifically to cause marketing?
One word: cost. Ten years ago, there were a handful of websites that had streaming video of any kind. Now there are many options (probably too many), and fortunately most of them are free and very versatile. You can get a decent video HD video camera for $150. And hosting is free. So, there are very few reasons why a nonprofit should not develop and utilize video is some way. The popularity of social networks, which has grown significantly in the last five years, has made sharing videos much easier. More people can learn about your cause through a short video than through landing onto a text-only website. Nonprofits have used video in very effective ways to ask for donations, recruit volunteers, or contact their local representatives, but sometimes the most moving videos are when we see the volunteers in action or how donations are utilized on the field. This closes the donor / volunteer / organization loop.

4) In your opinion, what are recent examples of organizations or campaigns that have utilized video in new or innovative ways?
One video uploaded by the World Food Program in this last year came up with a simple statistic: approximately 1 billion people are active online and yet over 1 billion people are chronically hungry. The video was 60 seconds long. In that amount of time, 145 million emails were sent, $43,000 was spent on eBay, 2,000 tweets were sent, and 10 children died of hunger. Pretty tough to ignore those numbers. They had a simple story to tell, and they kept it simple. They linked the video directly to their donation page, which lists how much money it takes to feed a baby, student or adult for one year.

5) How can/are nonprofits utilizing compelling videos to maximize their reach and funding? What are some tips for nonprofits struggling to create video content on their organization?
The best videos are the simplest: one idea, one cause, one action. You can upload an unlimited number of videos for free, so there's no point to throw in the kitchen sink. Also, viewers have a very short attention span, so presenting too many ideas dilutes the power of all of them. The videos we like most are when volunteers are interviewed on camera or nonprofits show the environment in the field where they are actively distributing or rebuilding. We need to see how the organization is making positive change. Charity Water makes some beautiful videos of their well drilling. Invisible People has a massive library of interviews of homeless people telling their stories. AARP made a video of very inspiring words featuring only scrolling text, and it still gets passed around (and re-made) three years later. Videos are very easy to create and very, very easy to share, and we haven't yet created as strong of a mental "spam filter" for video as we have for emails. Just be sure to keep it simple and direct.

Ramya Raghavan, Nonprofits & Activism Manager, recently watched “Lance Responds To Ben Stiller and STILLERSTRONG.”