Less Hassle = More Content

by Ellis Watts - Manager, Strategic Marketing Group

Haven’t quite had your fix of cats playing piano?



Don’t worry, soon everybody’s feline savants will be able to share the limelight. As hardware and software developers create faster and easier ways to upload media, consumers as sharing that media just as fast.


Here are two mind blowing stats, courtesy of YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/blog?entry=kbaLH7fmm-g).

In the past six months, YouTube has seen uploads from mobile phones increase 1,700%. In the first six days since the new iPhone 3GS launched, YouTube has seen uploads increase by 400% per day.

What does this mean for you? Well, that depends on who you are:
Brand Managers – Expect more chatter about your brand. This is a double-edged sword. If a consumer is burned by your product, customer service, whatever – expect retaliation to come in the form of a video, profanity and all. Although if you have a great product, it’s not unreasonable to expect consumers to talk it up a bit more. Just be aware that consumers are far more likely to share a bad experience than a positive one. Bogus, I know.

Agency Folk – Barriers for participation in video promotions have been taken down considerably. Having a consumer submit a video confessional about the time they secretly switched cosmetic brands without telling friends or indulged in a new ice cream flavor, now requires a lot less legwork on behalf of the consumer.

Joe Six-Pack – Expect more noise (read: crap) on YouTube. One of the downsides of the democratization of content is that any hack with a webcam is suddenly an entertainer. Oh. Good. But there are still many “diamond-in-the-rough” videos (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZpD0btOZx8) that we can happily pass along to cube-mates during lunch.

Feline Record Label Executives – Meow.