YouTube Live! Streams its First Event
3:00am - London Time
Youtube Live! is currently streaming its first event from San Francisco, CA. Amazing [idea]… I’m watching it right now. Check it out!
11:14am - London Time
YOUTUBE LIVE! JAPAN
There seems to be a lot of confusion about when YouTube Live! Japan was to be on, but as stated on the channel it would be on at 3pm Japanese Standard Time. It is now 8:50pm there, so I think they are just about wrapping up. You can watch the replay here. Acts to watch out for is BoA, IQ and Blue Man Group. I love BoA! A multilingual Korean singer-songwriter pop-star who can speak and sing in Japanese too. Here’s a video of Boa’s collaboration with M-flo (my favorite Japanese hip-hop group).
SET DESIGN
The set design in Japan is awesome.
RECAP ON YOUTUBE LIVE! SAN FRANCISCO
So just what did I think of last night’s YouTube Live! event?
The idea of having such an event is brilliant, but I say this with a disclaimer. I thought that the program was trying to do too much and I found it more like a party among YouTube maniacs in the process of trying to be a talent show. YouTube Live! can definitely be improved and the organizers should now keep their eyes and eyes open to the Blogosphere, even on YouTube itself. There will be some thumbs up reviews but for most part I think many people will slag off the program as leaning on the boring side and suggest improvements.
There were quite a few talented acts doing some amazing things. I particularly liked the B-boys, Parkour peops, cup stackers and the DJ for the event did some interesting mixes on the turntable and mixers. Some people were annoying; actually very annoying. It was clear that their fame is attributed to how much attention they feigned on YouTube. I’m beginning to think that an event like this could hurt some YouTube broadcasters who have had the good fortune of many viewers to their videos and have a strong subscriber base. When people are shown to be trying “too hard” in person, their appeal disappears. Fred was actually the least annoying one out of the chatterboxers.
I love the idea, YouTube should continue bringing YouTube stars together but I definitely think the program should be planned and executed differently.
For more information on YouTube Live!, here’s an AFP article about the event.
Ad Tactics from Japan: Tissue Flyers
What is the best way to prevent people from throwing your flyers seconds after you’ve handed it out to them? Give them something they need — tissue wipes! These tissue paper packets that my friend brought back from Tokyo have advertising content either printed directly onto the plastic wrapping or come with a printed flyer insert placed at the base of the packet below the stack of tissue wipes.
YOUR AUDIENCE, THE RECEIVER
Consider the fact that every time someone takes out the tissue pack to get a sheet or two to use, they are exposed to the ad again and again until they finish using the tissues. Based on common sense, most people will keep these tissue packets for as long as there are still clean sheets of tissues in there that haven’t been used yet. On a subliminal level these ads are presented to the naked eye as it navigates through to find the opening of the packet. The ad presentation process is cleverly placed within the natural engagement process of a person getting a sheet of tissue. On an attentive level, people who are inquisitive would naturally let their eyes roam and analyze the literature of the products they interact with, thus allowing you that opening to send your message across.
SECONDARY ATTENTION, THE RECEIVER’S IMMEDIATE NETWORK
Here’s another possible scenario. If a tissue pack makes it around a post-meal table, other people are also exposed to these ads. I imagine some of the more attractive and creative ads would act as conversation triggers, and what better way to get people to talk about your products, services, and brand. What a smart, cost-effective, and practical way to advertise!
There are many other scenarios where such a tissue flyer may work very well for some. Everyone needs to wipe their mouths, sweat, and goo off of their faces and skin. Why haven’t western businesses caught on to this yet? I’m just waiting to see the western world get creative and adopt this smart little tactic to communicate their products and services to an audience that are just waiting to hoard some free packets of tissue paper for daily use.
COMPELLING AVENUE OF OPPORTUNITY
But of course, I would not bother discussing this little-known avenue if I did not believe there is a compelling potential for success behind it. I do however believe marketing has to be relevant or it is akin to flushing your money down the toilet. Retailers and restaurants will probably benefit from the tissue flyer the most because of its relevance. People need to wipe after they eat, mothers need to wipe their babies constantly, and women need to soak oil off of their t-zone, and people generally need tissue paper to maintain personal hygiene.
LIFE, INTERCEPTED
In any economic climate (not limited to a recessive or depressive one) businesses have to be creative and work smart to avoid sinking. That acumen should reach a breadth that is not confined to a design canvas alone. Businesses need to seek ways to appeal to an audience that are more resistant to traditional advertising, and a very controversial but promising place to start is to embrace the way of life of your target audience. By intercepting the process in which they carry out the necessary steps to complete a task, you have automatically created an awareness of your message, however effective. In the case of the tissue flyer, the goal for the user is to remove a lingering discomfort by way of drying and cleaning the body and its immediate environment of undesired particles. In order to execute that task successfully, people would need to look at the tissue wrapper’s surface to find the opening in order to reach the holy whiteness of a solution to their problems, which is tucked inside the glory that is your ad message.
I think it is an absolutely brilliant idea. What do you think?
Free Project Management Templates from BERR
Today, as I was doing a feasibility study for a business idea I have, I came across some project management templates in WORD format from the (British) Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR). I think this set of templates is very practical for small business owners, consultants, and also looks like a great tool for use on smaller* projects. You can download these templates here.
* For larger projects that have multimillion dollar budgets and larger scopes, a dynamic tool like @task would be more practical to avoid from volumes and volumes of manual documentation.
Change.gov: Obama Continues To Use the Web
Ladies and gentleman, check out http://www.change.gov. I am officially rendered speechless for the rest of the night, but I thought I’d share this with you. I am especially impressed that Obama has put his agenda out for all to track. That is so incredibly professional of him. Kudos to him and his team for even bothering!
I admire the fact that the site was all done in anticipation of Obama’s victory because it shows that a lot of pre-work was done before he was even elected president. I’ll bet you ten dollars there’s a PMI or PRINCE2 certified programme manager behind Obama internet projects. This is exciting stuff, so very exciting!
CNN: How Obama Used the Web
This is proof you really cannot ignore the Internet. Barack Obama used Youtube, Twitter, Facebook, and relied on viral marketing to further his campaign.
Who?
JACKIE MIAO
Digital Consultant
PRINCE2 Project Manager
Location: London, U.K.-
