Vlogs

As marketers flock to user-generated content (UGC) as the latest road to riches, the increased traffic has created some potholes. Clumsy creatives, self-absorbed spots that stray from product benefits and overtly negative brand associations are landmines that all sensible marketers should avoid. But since a UGC campaign's goals are positive and promising, advertisers must develop a strategy to harness consumer communities' energy.

StartYourTube does exactly what the name implies. You can go onto the site, create your own “tube”, customize it with colors and graphics, mask it to your own domain, invite friends, and start loading content. The tubes not only host videos but have sections for pictures, audio files, and blogs as well.

How popular is Nickelodeon's fictional webcaster Carly Shay? The Web companion to her show iCarly now accounts for a big chunk of all of Nickelodeon's Web traffic. Either 18%, according to Nickelodeon's internal numbers or 33.8%, according to comScore.

Wizzard Media has signed a content and advertising agreement with YouTube. Wizzard hosts a variety of audio and video podcasts whose quality falls closer to CBS than Joe broadcasting live from his den. Irony of ironies, even YouTube realizes that better video makes it considerably easier to sell advertising.

According to Jake Pitt, "The lifecycle of internet advertising follows traditional media advertising. First, there is no advertising, as consumers are just beginning to adopt the new technology. Once the consumers are there, the advertisers come in, throwing their ads up all over the place (commercials, infomercials, etc.). Finally, advertisers wise up and realize that product placement is more efficient, more effective, and the best way to go, especially since big traditional ads are just plain annoying."

Using entertainment via interactive marketing is a great way to get attention, create excitement and buzz, and connect with consumers. Smart marketers are using interactive media to blur the lines between traditional advertising and entertainment, engaging consumers with brands at a deeper level. Consumers understand they are being marketed to on Internet sites, but if their online brand experiences are memorable ones, they are likely to have a positive response.

Toyota is launching a new version of the old standby Corolla. How do you publicize this? One way, apparently, is to launch a comedy channel on YouTube. The video giant has created special protocols to locate the best new comedy clips on its site. The resulting "Best in Jest" will appear on Toyota's branded channel, which will also host a sketch comedy contest. Which is fine ... but what does any of that have to do with Corollas?

If the internet's the place for unfettered experimentation, why does it keep stealing its creative ideas from television? MySpaceTV will launch a video prank show, where innocent bystanders get punk'd for our pleasure. The first sponsor is Cheetos, which will enjoy product placement for the April Fools show.