There is a new trend hitting the viral video world – it’s called “cone-ing.” And unlike Australia’s recent viral phenomenon of “planking” - the act of lying face-down for a photograph (the term planking originated from Australia, but is actually just another name for “the lying down game”) – this Australian-born trend is actually quite entertaining to watch!
So what is this “cone-ing” fad? As odd as it sounds, “cone-ing” is simply ordering an ice-cream cone at a drive-thru and, when served, picking it up from the ice-cream end (the top) instead of the cone (the bottom).
Right now, you may be asking yourself, who in their right mind would do this for fun? His name is Alki Stevens, and he has attracted over 3.5 million viewers in less than two weeks! According to Richard Smith in his Gather.com technology blog entitled “Popular Drive-Thru Fad Hits YouTube”, Alki Steven’s cone-ing video has made it to the top 10 finalists of the Unhatched Viral Video Competition; a competition run by an Australian radio network, resulting in a grand-prize of $10,000 – not a bad pay-off for the disposal of a few 50-cent vanilla cream cones - not to mention the YouTube advertising revenue he is sure to bring in.
At Fathom Online Marketing, we love staying up on the current fads and trends as well! Being an online marketing company, we’ve had quite a few trends sweep through our office: inner-office planking, full-staff Nerf-wars, life-sized Angry Birds levels, burrito-eating competitions (those usually don’t have a positive outcome) – the list goes on. This time around, we couldn’t let Alki Stevens have all the fun. We sent two of Fathom’s finest – Director of Photography Phil Hoyt, and Digital Media Specialist Chad Paul - out to experience the thrill of the video world’s newest (and possibly weirdest) viral trend. Check it out!
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Fathom Online Marketing has no shortage of confidence, but as a company it is always satisfying to receive external validation that you are moving in the right direction.
These were my thoughts when I saw that an employee-based survey conducted by The Plain Dealer and WorkplaceDynamics put Fathom among 123 other companies as one of Northeast Ohio's "Top Workplaces 2011." In the "small company" category (50-149 local employees), we ended up at #8 in a field of 60 finalists. The results were published in The Plain Dealer on June 19, where the categories were divided by the number of local employees:
- small (50-149)
- midsize (150-499)
- large (500+)
Contrary to studies where senior execs might solely contribute the feedback, this study's data is derived from employees' feelings and judgments. They rated their workplaces on a seven-point scale, showing their degrees of agreement with statements like, "I am happy with my career opportunities at this company." To arrive at the finalists, WorkPlace Dynamics whittled 235 companies down to 132 based on superior survey results. It further divided the 132 into 3 categories by size because it wanted to be fair to large businesses, knowing that small businesses tend to perform better in this type of survey. For those who really dig numbers, The PD has a more detailed look at the methodology.)
I think I speak on behalf of all Fathom employees when I say that we really appreciate this honor. So does Elizabeth Lynch, Director of Leadership Development, who said: "It is really an honor to win, because our employees are the judges." Of course, in some ways, Fathom employees shouldn't be too surprised, because they were the drivers of the bus (myself included). We knew—or at least should have had some idea—that many of us are very excited about working here, and that when asked about our feelings would respond affirmatively. This survey simply reflects what a great number of Fathomers already believe: that we like our workplace and have confidence in the company's direction.
Once again, thanks to The Plain Dealer for publishing this survey, and thanks to everyone at Fathom for making it an excellent place to work.
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Some advertisers fear the GDN- while it can be complex at times, you could be missing out on a diamond in the rough!
Neal Mohan, Vice President of Google Display Network made 6 predictions on improved display ad performance by 2015. To read more about his predictions visit: There’s a Perfect Ad for Everyone. Google obviously is investing a ton to make the GDN a $200 Billion dollar industry, hopefully this post helps calm any fears you may have because it’s not going anywhere.
The most important thing to keep in mind when deciding on the Google Display Network is user intent:
o Display drives the entire funnel from awareness -> intent ->purchase
o Search drives consideration-> intent
The ideal PPC account will have a mixture of both. Utilize Display ads to reach users who research or read reviews on a product/service across various sites around keyword themes you are targeting. Utilize Search to capture users that have an idea of what they are looking for and are further down the funnel. Allow time for Display Campaigns to build up steam before counting them out. As a best practice, 2 weeks is the minimum timeframe that should be factored in when driving strategy. The reason for this is because you need to have a large enough sample size to make strategic decisions. Be sure to visit these 5 Quick Tips for Optimization.
No Comments yet, your thoughts are welcome. »Yesterday, we had the pleasure of playing host to some folks from a little technology company called Google. Every quarter they take the time to head over to our office in Cleveland, Ohio to review client strategies, discuss company initiatives and engage in friendly revelry. During this visit they presented a PowerPoint and lead a discussion on some of their new offerings. I’ve highlighted the top four things that piqued my interest. If you are interested in learning about everything they presented us, please contact us through the website.
+1 Button
The +1 button is a Google branded version of the Facebook Like button. You must have a Google account and opt in here to participate. Once activated, Google search results will be appended with +1’s from your contacts and it may be factored into their algorithm in some crazy, complex manner. You can +1 paid search ads, organic listings and more. They announced this week that the +1 button for websites is now available.
I wish they would have added a -1 button as well. Unfortunately, this appears to be more of an effort to match Facebook’s popular feature than one of improvement. One co-worker commented that they may be trying to dilute the market so that the like button is made to be irrelevant. If you have any thoughts on this, write them in the comments section below.
Google Docs for Android
Wish you could access your Google Docs on your (potentially) carcinogenic cell phone? Now you can! Any Android phone can do this provided you download the application from the Android Market. One neat feature is that you have the ability to add photos taken from your camera and integrate them within docs. For more information, visit the Docs Blog or the Android Market. Have you been using this feature? Give us your feedback within the comments section.
NBA &NHL Scores
For the sports fans out there, checking the scores just got easier. How easy? Typing only the three letter acronym of the professional sport you are interested in will provide you with real-time scores. Go ahead and try it! Currently, they only are providing results for the NBA and NHL, but the rep told us that MLB scores may be available soon. Provided we actually have an NFL season this year, this could be a nice feature for the fantasy football crowd.
Similar Users Targeting
This is a BETA they are currently testing. In their words, “[Similar user targeting will] reach users who are browsing similar sites to yours and extend your reach by targeting new and relevant users.” It is pretty much an application of the transitive property of equality. For those of you who have no idea what that means, you can learn more about this algebraic idea here. The idea behind this type of targeting is if:
- Visitor X visits sites A, B, C and your site
AND
- Visitor Y visits sites A, B, C but not your site
THEN
- Visitor Y should be targeted for ads on the display network.
It’s about time they started implementing this type of targeting. I hope it moves out of BETA soon. If anyone reading this has tried this BETA or knows anything more about it, please leave your comments below.
No Comments yet, your thoughts are welcome. »A recent article from Clickz by Brain Massey exposes some of the false thinking that has led some businesses to pursue viral videos as their goldmine marketing strategy.
Indeed, since YouTube popped on the scene, viewers get delighted every now and again with a viral video that sweeps the Internet and is funny, touching, creepy, hilarious, poignant, etc. And then businesses want to somehow duplicate that video's formula and make a video that helps them do more business. But ask yourself this, oh wise viewers and readers - how many viral videos have YOU seen that tout a product or service you can buy from a company? That's really not what the nature and modus operandi of viral videos are about, capiche?
Instead, as Mr. Massey lays out in alchemical, formulaic glory, business owners who want to benefit from Internet video need to think about a different kind of video altogether - the conversion video. I'll save all the details for those of you who wish to read the article in its entirety, but suffice to say, the use of a video landing page is required if you really want your video to work for you as a sales and lead-gen tool.
At Fathom, we believe in viral videos for the fun of it, and conversion videos for the practicality of it. Our Internet video division makes beautiful, well-edited online videos for websites and video portals, while other departments in the company provide design expertise for landing pages and conversion strategies to get viewers buying or participating. It's a winning equation of teamwork, online marketing best practices, and technical expertise that gives us the formula to help our clients succeed in the digital marketing age.
Contact Fathom today if you're interested in a winning marketing formula involving web video and the Internet for your company's business interests. We'd love to hear from you, really.
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