haleypwhi: Making Money Off Youtube

Who doesn’t love a good viral video on Youtube? It’s every brands dream to have a video that clocks up millions of views but rather than being something that is done off the cuff brands are increasingly having to spend big money on production, ad campaigns to support the videos and other props. The rewards can be massive though as the good videos spread all over sites like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube in days with most clocking up millions of views and huge interaction. As you’ll see most of these videos are made by big brands and are clearly not the sort of videos that you just pull out a camera and film in a second! Here are the top 10 Youtube viral videos from brands in 2010…

T-Mobile Arrivals Video

This is the most recent in a string of stunning viral ads from T-Mobile in which people come together to dance in a variety of places. The latest one is set in Terminal 5 at Heathrow and you can’t help but have a huge smile on your face after watching this one.

Roger Federer Gillette

Is it real or is it fake? It’s the question that you’ll be asking after you watch this video in which Roger Federer shows incredible skill. I’m pretty much in the fake camp because he would have taken the guys head off if this was real!

The Old Spice Guy

Everybody is probably familiar with this campaign but although we all know the story line it simply has to be included in the list for it’s sheer originality. Not a single video but instead 100s of personalized videos from one of the biggest ad stars on the planet.

Samsung Video Camera

So how do you create a viral video that shows off the amazing quality of a new Samsung video camera? Well you get a crazy kid who can do pretty much anything with a business card. This simply blows my mind and the kid clearly has a lot of time on his hands!

Heineken – Men with Talent

This one is Dutch but you won’t have any trouble finding the formula that they are ripping the piss out of. More of a TV advert given the production values that a Youtube specific ad but it has been shared all over the world.

Coke – Happiness Machine

If there is one thing that Coke love doing it is making people feel good with their advertising and making them happy and this simple little idea certainly ticks those boxes. Every college should have a happiness machine!

Google Chrome – Speed Test

Even the company that owns Youtube feels they have to make videos for the platform which is what Google did with this stunning video to promote the speed of their Google Chrome browser.

BMW Table Trick

Love this little video because it really gets the message of the product across in a very short period of time and takes one of the oldest tricks in the book and puts a modern spin on it. Not a lot of views but a great concept!

The Coke Zero & Mentos Rocket Car

One of the oldest tricks in the books taken to a much bigger level. You’d expect this to go at the speed of light wouldn’t you? Maybe these 2 ingredients are actually better for eating?

Honesty time: I don’t watch Dancing with the Stars, but I’m going to suck it up and try to watch for the sake of my…ahem…art. Apparently, this Maksim Chmerkovskiy guy is quite the heartthrob. He doesn’t really rock my boat, but I don’t judge. I know a lot of people don’t understand my attraction to Orlando Bloom. He’s just so pretty!

But back to Maksim. First off, he’s still on the show. His partner is Brandy. He’s not the one who’s been out and about holding hands with Bristol Palin. He was engaged to fellow DwtS dancer Karina Smirnoff for a time and reportedly hooked up with former partner Erin Andrews. I’m not sure about his relationship status now.

Bullying is a hot topic, and Maks he says he was bullied as a kid for being a dancer.

The 30-year-old was born in the USSR but his family immigrated to the US when he was 14, where he had problems making friends due to the language barrier and his love of dance.

“I was always small and skinny. I’d sit at the back of the room in school because I didn’t have many friends, because I had different interests….There was the usual sexuality-related stuff, people calling me gay. When I’d say I danced, people would act like I was diseased. Halloween sucked for me, as my windows would be egged. It hurt and was very upsetting.

I was absolutely picked on. When we moved to the U.S., my second day I was beaten up and had my roller blades stolen. I was 14. But all that was an invaluable lesson to me in determination. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!”

[From In Touch Weekly, print edition, November 15, 2010]

Maks credits his family with helping him through the bullying, but also thanks the same kids who bullied him.

“I went out a few months ago and ran into some kids I went to school with who were in cliques I didn’t belong to. The guys came up to me and said, ‘Maks, mad respect! We always knew you’d make it.’ I was like, ‘That’s funny. When you bullied me for my lunch money, it didn’t sound like you were respecting me.’ They apologized. I credit my success to the kids who beat me up!

Bullying is upsetting and shameful, but the shame is on the bully. My advice is to find a place you can go to where you feel you belong…Change your environment if you have to. Start over. Your life has too much of a price to throw it away!”

[From In Touch Weekly, print edition, November 15, 2010]

It seems like Maks is jumping on the “Famous People Who Were Also Bullied” bandwagon, basically telling kids being bullied to suck it up like he did and turn it into a positive experience. If YouTube and Facebook has existed 15 years ago when was being bullied, he may realize that bullying can be more severe when it also ends up online for everyone to see.

On the other hand, he does reinforce the “It Gets Better” message, which can be helpful to teens who think high school is the eternal ninth circle of hell. At least that’s what it was like for me, until I left for college. College didn’t change me from a geek to a swan, but like Maks said, I found other geeks like me to hang around with.

As for Maks, he competes tonight on Dancing with the Stars on ABC, where they will do the “insta-dance.” This means the couples won’t find out which song they’ll be dancing to until they’re on the dance floor.

Photos courtesy of WENN. Note by Kaiser: He has a really tiny head!

eric seiger do

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Making Money Off Youtube