Haiti: 8 months later

Haiti is a distant memory in the sense of media coverage. Yet people there are still struggling to get by and need the most basic item -- clean water.

Publishers with a Purpose is out to prove that the media can do more than just highlight disaster -- it can help rebuild. We are mobilizing our network to donate a collective 40,000,000+ ad impressions for the Unshaken campaign and are committed to raise $95,738 for the community of Nan Simon in Central Haiti. This project will serve almost 2,500 people.

Check out this site.

I produced a video in Haiti for the US Agency for International Development (US AID) years ago and was moved then by the people in that country and if this post can help, then I am happy to do it.

Ford uses first ever online launch for 2011 Explorer

Ford broke new ground yesterday by revealing a new vehicle, the 2011 Ford Explorer, on Facebook. Throughout the day, the company hosted live chats and rolled out exclusive photos and videos -- including Ford executive conversations with Dirty Jobs' Mike Rowe, a proud Ford spokesperson.

Lori at iMedia posted this thought and wondered what else will happen with the launch.

Brand can not live by Facebook alone ... but what happens when you can't rely on :30 and :60 television commercials to reach audiences that are less and less frequently watching traditional television? Web video, Facebook, social media, experiential tours all seem part of the answer to that. What do you think?

Why testimonial videos in healthcare?

Over 100 million people visit YouTube each month, making it the fourth most visited site on the Internet
 Health related searches are the fifth most common items searched for on YouTube (just behind music, sports, movies and cars)
 45% of all YouTube visitors are 45 years of age or older, showing that YouTube offers far more than just skateboard stunts for teenage viewers

Even more compelling is the data that shows that 93% of all health video viewers have taken some kind of action after watching an online video:
 70% went to a related website
 69% conducted more online research
 60% interacted with a medical professional
 49% forwarded the link to someone else

The educational and emotive power of video combined with the reach of YouTube is a tool health communicators can’t ignore. My thanks to Kevin Kru at Kru Research for the statistics.

Jerzify Yourself: A site that went viral and the numbers behind it ...

Hill Holiday's blog tracks their recent results with Jerzify Yourself. The site allows you to: in the words of Village Voice: ”The gist is Snooki-grade simple: upload a medium-sized jpg, scale the image to fit, choose your spraytan shade, pick your pose — and holy Freckles McGee, you’re magically recast as a human meatball.”

We all see a lot of this and wonder what impact it has on the brand, Hill Holiday shares their numbers. Worth a read. >>>

Americans love their online video.

According to eMarketer, 147.5 million of Americans, 2/3 of U.S. Internet users now watch online video at least once a month. Click through for more on its latest stats.

Whether long-form for watching their favorite show or short form for entertainment, online, video is the communication media. Your company, whether B2B or B2C, has a message to tell its customers, shouldn't that message be done in video?

Head-scratching ads for 901 Tequila from Justin Timberlake

Every now and then, there is a TV commercial or campaign worth dissecting.
Check out the ads here.

CMC Construction Services Web Video

iFilm created this simple yet effective video for local construction company, CMC Services. It will be added to their homepage soon.