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Hello and welcome to the QMAC Blog! We are so excited to bring this forum to all you marketing enthusiasts out there. Our objective for this site is to facilitate a discussion on pressing marketing issues.


The QMAC Blog features entries from QMAC Executive members, QMAC Sponsors, and QMAC Speakers but comments can be made by anyone – most importantly YOU!

***NEW: The QMAC BLOG BLITZ***
January 12th-January 15th
Featuring Blog posts written by QMAC Sponsors! Please check daily for updates.

Monday, January 12th - Kate Morantz, B.Com 2008 - QMAC Alumni
Tuesday, January 13th - Sean Dainty, B.Com 2008 - QMAC Alumni
Wednesday, January 14th - Jesse Jones - QMAC 2009 Speaker
Thursday, January 15th - Chris Henry - QMAC 2009 Delegates Coordinator

The QMAC delegate with the most insightful comments will be announced at Friday's dinner and the prizes are as follows:
Grand Prize: WIN your QMAC delegate fees!
Runners Up: Sit with one of the participating QMAC sponsor of your choice!

Please feel free to comment and sign your name, faculty, school, and year. We are hoping for a wide range of opinions from a diverse group of people.

If you have any topics that you wish to see on the blog, please email me at katharine.berger@qmac.ca


 

The YouTube Era

Posted On 2009-01-15 08:33:41 By Chris Henry

By now, many of you may have seen a certain video floating around featuring a Kevin, a part-time McDonald’s employee from Fort Wayne. In it, he bikes through his neighbourhood with the notes of a song from the new Guitar Hero: World Tour mapped out along his path. He hits each of the notes in time with the music, and lights on his handlebars light up correspondingly. You can check it out here:

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

            When you watch it, it seems like a nearly impossible feat to pull off. That’s because it is. The video was actually created by Droga5, a production company that has had experience with viral gags in the past. The video was put together using a series of shots, not a continuous take as it appears in the video, and incorporated elements of CGI.

Activision, the company behind Guitar Hero, said that the goal was not to deceive the audience – they knew that smart viewers would realize that it wasn’t what it seemed. Instead they wanted to start a conversation, and get people talking about the video, trying to figure out where the cuts were or where CGI might have been used. So far, that sort of dialogue hasn’t been seen, aside from commenters pointing out that it is fake.

It has, however, elicited a different type of reaction. Three days after it’s release, another video was posted online, featuring a ‘professional Guitar Hero player’ playing Dragonforce’s “Through the Fire and Flames” on expert, while riding his bike down the street (the song is generally regarded to by the most difficult Guitar Hero song ever). Watch the video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbMKbykr2Ec&feature=related

            The Guitar Hero brand has a dedicated and loyal following, and there have been many GH-related videos posted in the past. Activision was able to take advantage of this trend and produce their own content, which in turn has inspired further user-generated content. Their video has received 1.5 million YouTube hits within 10 days of its release – 10 times more views than the Risky Business-inspired commercial featuring Kobe Bryant, A-Rod, Tony Hawk, AND Michael Phelps. In terms of pure marketing ROI, this is a remarkable feat.

This move does raise some ethical questions that need to be addressed, however. As companies rely more and more on viral videos, the line between what is advertising and what is user-generated content is becoming increasingly blurry. Is this taking advantage of consumers, or is it a legit marketing play?


Comments


Ronald Hae
January 15th, 2009 - 2:53 pm

First of all, from a Western student to a Queens student, I'm pretty impressed with what you have all put up so far. Nice city, nice people, and a sweet hotel with free stuff. Can't complain. Pretty excited for the next 3 days. To answer your question about weather or not these videos are taking advantage of consumers or not...I personally 100% don't think so. I think youtube is just another medium of communication to the consumers, and it's great that companies or people can post videos up! We consumers choose to watch the video or not...they aren't forced upon us like we see in newspapers or tv. Advertising is just another way of saying "getting the word out", and these videos do a great job of getting the word out to consumers. The youtube era is great! Another great thing about youtube is they have a little section where you can comment on videos. This goes back to Jesse blog about Brand Control. I can't remember if this was in Jesse blog or an article I read but consumers now purchase products based on other peoples comments and review that are online. So companies aren't really taking advantage of anyone. There are smart consumers out there who will look at other peoples comments on videos and see what they think. - Ronald Hae, Ivey School of Business 2010
Andrew Sartori
January 15th, 2009 - 4:45 pm

Hi Chris. Great blog topic, we covered something very similar in Marketing Strategy (C.333) last term. Here are my thoughts: This is 100% legitimate and a brilliant marketing play. What this sort of marketing speaks to is the culture created by the brand. Guitar Hero has amassed such a phenomenal following over the past few years because of its innovative and unique game play. It's possible to see Guitar Hero in every res building, sometimes multiple times on a single floor. The fact that a company created a fictitious advertisement for GH that was copied by a professional GH player just shows that there is something special here. Brand loyalty is a great thing. Neversoft doesn't have to pay for any user generated content, and unless the content is obvious slanderous or harmful to the brand, I see no reason to stop Youtubers from creating more content. It works well because prominent Youtubers can actually get a slice of the advertisement revenue that Youtube receives for posting ads. on videos. Thus, if you create a couple of awesome "spoof" videos that just happen to feature a brand name (ie GH in this case) then everyone wins: Never soft gets free, widely accessible and widely replicated advertising, and Youtubers get some cash. I don't see a downside.
Heriacerrymom
April 19th, 2009 - 9:01 am

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