Final Analysis

I personally tried to create additional interest from outside of Fields' target market (16-24 year olds). I emailed friends and family and I also posted a link to the video on the puppet designer's Facebook page (i.e. "Return of the Stupid Sock Creatures") to see if this would create more interest.

After one week my viral video has had over 660 viewings. On a personal level this is a very satisfying result as it is now the band's most viewed video (their previous most-watched video has had 600 viewings over a timespan of one year). Several hundred people have watched and listened to the video and this must have increased awareness of the band to some extent. However, on further analysis, my promotional item is probably not as successful as it could have been.

Thirteen people have shared the video link on the band's Facebook page. This will have helped increase the number of viewings, but thirteen shares is still a relatively small number compared to their Facebook fan base of 400. The band did ask for fans to share the link on their Facebook page but provided no further incentive to do so (e.g. win a t-shirt etc).

The  number of people who 'liked' their band page on Facebook has only gone up from 407 to 428. To maximise exposure on Facebook this is a critical measure and I think that this is disappointing. The band needs to really work hard at getting more people to like their Facebook page. They need to supply incentives that their fans would respond to (e.g. get a friend to sign up for the chance to win the puppet).

I think the band needs to encourage more interaction with their fans. The number of postings on their Facebook page is relatively low, and they probably need to tease their fans to create interest and create a sense of momentum (e.g. we have a fantastic new video about to be released, get your friends to like our page and when we hit 450 likes we will release it). I originally included opening and closing captions on the video to promote the band's Facebook page. The band asked me to remove them, I explained the reasons for including them but they still preferred them removed. I think that this was a mistake.

Finally they have chosen to remove the ability for viewers to comment on the YouTube "Troublemaker" video. I do not know why they chose to do this. Maybe they were afraid of negative comments. I think that this was a mistake as it prevents the sort of interaction which encourages a loyal following and relationship with their fans.

Overall I am very pleased with my publicity item. Although I seem to be critical of the band, it is only because I think they are personally unaware of how creating and running a successful marketing campaign is much more than just simply posting random items on Facebook. I would like to take this opportunity to wish the band every success for the future because they are a great bunch of guys, and have a distinctive and refreshing musical style.

The Video is Officially Released

Fields uploaded the video to their YouTube account last night at about 9pm. By 9am the following morning it had 200 viewings which is very encouraging. I will do a final analysis of the effectiveness of my promotional item in a couple of weeks time.

Released Video:

The final released video can be seen below:

 

Promotion for an Event Version:

The video below has a final caption promoting the live event at the Bodega venue in Nottingham where Fields were performing (please note that this video has been rendered at a low resolution for this blog):

Editing the Video and Getting Feedback

I edited the video on Thursday. I had all of the main shots that I needed but did not have as many cut-away shots as I would have liked. I therefore re-used some general footage of the classroom more than once which was not ideal. I used slow motion and speeding up effects as required to add comic effect and also to fit in with the pace of the sound track. I also used a camera shake video effect filter to dramatise the effect of turning the console volume to the maximum ('dangerous' level). I added credits at the end of the video to highlight the band's Facebook page address.

I uploaded the video to YouTube as an 'unlisted' video. This allowed the band to view it to see whether they liked it and wanted to use it. I also sent an email link to Will Jennison, our tutor, who took part in the video to ensure that he was happy appearing in the final version.

The initial feedback was very positive. The band loved the video and want to upload the video to their YouTube account. The band would prefer the video to have no closing credits as they will include them as part of the information posted with the video. I personally think that this is a mistake as I believe that the pay-off will be weakened if the video is embedded in a shared link. However I will leave the final choice to the band. The band have shown it to their friends and have got positive feedback. Over 60 viewings have occurred within 24 hours without any viral marketing.

The band intend to upload the video on Wednesday 6th March. I will then remove the existing version from my YouTube account. We will then initiate the viral campaign by linking to it from all of our Facebook accounts and encouraging other people to share the link. I will also be encouraging people to email each other to pass the YouTube video link to non-Facebook users.

Shooting the Video

The video was shot in the morning and afternoon during the two lessons I have on Wednesday. I showed my storyboard and explained the concept to Will Jennison, a tutor who was standing in for Chris Stanley in the morning lesson. He liked the concept and kindly agreed to take part in the video. I had rigged up a camera stand together with a microphone pole to hold the puppet to get all the puppet 'running' shots. The video was filmed out of sequence but this was possible due to having a prepared story board. I had also pre-prepared and printed a fake 'Band Recording' notice to pin on a door and some dummy volume labels to use to add humour to the recording console sequence. I also had some cotton thread with me to allow me to hang the puppet from an overhead projector and to animate the puppet where necessary. The video was successfully shot in one day.

My Publicity Item - Planning A Viral Video

I have decided to create a viral video. To be successful the video needs to be unusual and something that people will be be prepared to pass on to others via social networking sites such as Facebook. The video also needs to carry a payload which will actively promote the band (i.e. Fields in some concrete way).

I have chosen to create a humorous video of Field's "Trouble Maker" track. It will consist of following the adventures of an unusual looking puppet. This puppet will be a cheeky "trouble maker" who is late for lessons, wastes time in class watching Fields videos on Facebook, mucks about and gets expelled from the class. He finally manages to gate crash the bands recording session. This video will be a high risk strategy because if it is not perceived as being funny and interesting then it could have the opposite effect, that is, of making "Fields" seem 'lightweight' or silly.

I produced a storyboard shown below to enable me to be able to quickly film the whole video in one day at Confetti. The story board is pretty rough but it should be good enough to enable me to get all the shots that I want and will help prevent me overlooking some important shots.

The storyboard incorporates a scene where the puppet uses Facebook to watch the band's videos. I will ensure that the band's Facebook username is clearly shown. I will also include closing credits which will highlight the band's logo and will also include the band's Facebook address. The main objective of the video is to raise general awareness of the band, and more specifically, to get people to view and 'like' Field's Facebook page. If the video works as intended then it should ideally be used as the start of a marketing campaign to create further momentum to attract new fans and to keep existing fans interested in following the band.

I was happy with the above concept in theory but was a bit worried about whether it would work in practice, and more importantly, whether the band would like the end result and would want to show it. I planned to complete the filming of the video in one day at Confetti. I also intend to incorporate some pre-existing footage of the band that I filmed earlier when they were re-recording some of their older songs at Confetti.

Ideas for a Viral Marketing Stategy

I am thinking of producing a short video as the basis of a viral marketing stategy for fields.

Josh Bernoff in his Viral Marketing blog entry at http://forrester.typepad.com/groundswell/2008/12/viral-marketing.html states:

"When it comes to viral video, you need to make sure

1) you create something people will spread and
2) that the video carries a payload -- a message about your product.

Fail on point 1 and your video won't spread. Fail on point 2 and you'll be a hit -- but it won't help your [product]. It's a very difficult balance."

Viral marketing is therefore a difficult balancing act but if successful could provide alot of publicity at low cost.

The above research has focussed my mind on producing an unusual video which may go viral. It will be a high risk strategy though as it could easily fall flat.

Video Editing with Adobe Premier Elements

Today I experimented with video editing software. The software used was Adobe Premier Elements, Adobe's entry level video editing software. It was easy to use. I loaded some video footage of the "Fields" band practicing in Magnet studios. I experimented with different video filters to see what interesting effects could be added. The original footage is quite dark so I experimented with the brightness and contrast controls as well. The sound quality recorded by the camera's built-in microphone was quite poor due to the high sound levels. I have some better audio which was recorded using Cubase running on a laptop. The audeo was obtained directly from a stereo output feed from the live mixing desk. I intend to create a video of the live practice session using this better quality recorded sound, synchronised with the visuals from the video footage.

Viral Marketing

The power of viral marketing can be seen by the video clip shown below:

It is an advert for Cadburies chocolate aired in 2007. The visuals have nothing to do with chocolate at all except for a final tag line showing a Cadburies chocolate bar. It has been posted on YouTube and has over 7 million views. Potential customers are therefore choosing to watch this advert at no additional cost for Cadburies. Why does this advert work? The visual image is arresting and works on a subliminal level (the simple joy of beating the hell out of a drum kit perhaps?).

What is viral marketing and why is it so powerful?

Seth Godin wrote the first mainstream book about viral marketing. It's free (and can be downloaded from http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/files/2000Ideavirus.pdf)  and has been downloaded millions of times over the past 13 years. That was the viral part. The marketing part? He released a $40 souvenir hardcover edition. People knew the idea but didn't like the format or Seth's PDF design skills. So they paid a lot for a book they had already read. It went to #5 on Amazon (#4 in Japan). Seth sold the rights in dozens of languages including paperback rights.


His book can be summarised as follows:

"Marketing by interrupting people isn’t cost-effective anymore. You can’t afford to seek out people and send them unwanted marketing messages, in large groups, and hope that some will send you money."

"Instead, the future belongs to marketers who establish a foundation and process where interested people can market to each other. Ignite consumer networks and then get out of the way and let them talk."

In conclusion, I think that a viral marketing campaign could be an extremely effective way of promoting a new up-and-coming band.

What Makes a Good Poster?

Most people won’t look at a poster for more than a few seconds, so it needs to grab their attention and present just enough information for them to understand in that short time. This means that there is no room for detail in a poster, it is important to give just enough basic information to get people intrigued.

Scott Dylan, a creative consultant, outlines in his blog (http://www.scottdylan.ie/good-bad-poster-design/) some basic differences between good and bad poster design as follows:

• Good poster design will use a large, captivating image that takes up most of the poster and can be seen and understood from quite a distance away. It must be something eye catching, whether that is in a beautiful way or in a shocking way.
• Bad poster design will clutter up the space with many small images, which are hard to decipher from a distance. Also, bad poster design uses low quality images that don’t have a strong impact when blown-up to a large size.
• Good posters use typography and white space to pose an interesting question that makes the passer-by stop and think. They use unusual and unique fonts in a fun and playful way, and even use text to create artwork or an attractive design, so that the words themselves become part of the image.
• Bad posters have too much text, presented in a poorly-chosen font which is hard to read and most people simply walk past and ignore it. They also use too many fonts at once, which look cluttered and are hard on the eyes.
• Good posters only include the essential information, and a link to a website where people can go for further details.
• Bad posters try to cram in as much information as they can, confusing people and ruining the design.
• Good posters present the most important information in the largest font, and work their way down using smaller fonts for all less important words. This helps direct the eye down the page and conveys which information is most crucial.
• Bad posters use the same size font for all information, so that important pieces do not stand out.
• Good poster design uses colour theory to create attractive colour combinations which flatter each other.
• Bad poster design uses too many colours together, which clash, or no colour at all, which is boring.

Good Poster Design Example

An example of a striking poster is shown below. It meets most of the guidelines outlines above

Bad Poster Design Example

An example of a bad poster design is shown below:

The poster breaks many of the rules of good poster design, that is, too many small images, too much text, too much information, poor layout etc. It takes too much effort to understand it and so it will be ignored by most casual observers.

Initial Ideas for Promoting Fields

Their facebook page is active and contains alot of interesting information, however it does seem to be short of videos. Therefore creating one or more videos for the band and their fans seems like a good idea. We also discussed some general publicity ideas with the band:

• A 'behind the scenes' video could help fans get to 'know' the band members.
• A video could be made to accompany one or more tracks from their EP.
• Film the band in an unusual location (e.g. an acoustic set played in a chip shop)
• Record and video an acoustic version of one of their songs.
• Try to create and video some kind of publicity stunt.
• Create protional posters, t-shirts, stickers, badges etc
• Try to create a viral publicity item.

The Band - "Fields"

The band we will be promoting is "Fields." This band consists of 4 musicians: George Buchanan (vocals/guitar), Sam Walker (vocals / guitar), Alex Wright (drums) and Josh Fearn (bass). They formed a year ago although all had played in previous bands. They are an indie / rock band and have a 'Brit Pop' style similar to the 'Artic Monkeys'.

They already have a facebook page ("FieldsUK")  and have 407 likes. We met the band and they were very keen on helping us promote the band. They have a fun and relaxed attitude but are also a very motivated group of lads. They have just paid for and released their first EP at the beginning of January and are very keen to promote it.

Initial Ideas

At this stage we were not sure of what band we would be promoting. Therefore I came up with some very general initial ideas for a publicity item as follows:

• Create a master web-site or facebook page for a band.
• Try to create a common theme or logo for posters / videos etc to start to create a band promotional image.
• Use QR codes (quick response code) to allow people to quickly find the band's web site / facebook page.