Boomerang

Alicia Keys invited vocalists to audition to be her backup singer via video submission to MySpace. It sounds like a fantastic opportunity to leverage social networks in a new way – Keys can reach a global audience of hopefuls and can gauge, by video, the talent, appeal, and “shake-it” ability of each candidate on her own time.  

But what about that “certain something” that makes a top performer? Stage presence – a necessary ingredient for the thrill of live performance – is a quality not easily captured by video. Can the confidence and poise required for an onstage performance with a powerhouse songstress like Alicia Keys be encapsulated in a 30-second video? Maybe… maybe not. 

The Internet levels the playing field when it comes to intangibles like stage presence, charisma, interpersonal chemistry and overall people skills. MySpace and other social networks allow people to connect to opportunities that, before social media, might never have come their way.  Dancers from all over the globe can audition with Alicia Keys in the comfort of their own home – no pressure for stage presence required. 

Filmmakers can enter their work for the chance to be part of Paulho Coelho’s new social media-enabled film project – no interpersonal chemistry between collaborators necessary. Match.com members can establish clearly defined profiles designed to attract those that might not be interested if the pair were to initially meet in person – no pressure about a first impression since it’s done over e-mail! 

Social networks not only connect people to people, they connect people to opportunities. As we use online media to supplement (and often replace) what goes on in the offline world, I wonder how we will develop a virtual equivalent of physical chemistry and personal interaction – the magic of the human-to-human experience. I guess we can post a comment to Alicia’s MySpace page and get her insights once her auditions are over…

If anyone can turn a social media experiment into a cinematic mosaic of imagination, it’s Paulo Coelho. Arguably best known for his novel The Alchemist, Coelho is an internationally acclaimed author and lyricist who has sold over 100 million books. He may not have the most experience in film making and music composition, but plenty of his fans do. That idea sets the stage for The Experimental Witch Competition, a collaborative film project announced by the beloved Brazilian author last June.  

Coelho’s last novel, The Witch of Portobello, was told from the viewpoint of 15 different characters. For his film competition, Coelho asked filmmakers to choose a character from the book and shoot all of the scenes told from that character’s perspective. Filmmakers are asked to submit their movies via YouTube, while music composers will submit their contributions/theme songs through MySpace. Coelho will work with a professional editor to sew 15 winning films together to recreate the book, and will show the final version in film festivals throughout the world. He communicates this all through his blog. The Experimental Witch is, in essence, an experiment in social media. 

With his unique storytelling style and his passion for the Internet, Coelho is a huge advocate of social media - just check out his website, MySpace, Facebook, Flickr, and YouTube activity! He is also the first best-selling author to support free distribution of his own work online. Some say this makes him an advocate for piracy, but really it’s just about being “with the times” and giving readers what they want. Besides, distributing his work without cost has actually boosted his book sales.  

At the very least, the film will provide contributors, viewers and fans with a new experience and a screen capture of the plurality of interpretations on one of Coelho’s novels. The project, if pulled off successfully, has the potential to illustrate how the countless interpretations of an idea can be seamlessly woven together to illustrate fifteen visions and one story simultaneously. As Coelho states on his blog, it will be a bit of “cinematographic history” – in addition to being a social media experiment on the grandest scale. I just hope it’s as good as the book.    

With so many great internet applications built around social music, it’s only natural that the next up-and-coming music-related social network would involve at least a little “booty shaking.” DanceJam, founded by Geoffrey Arone, Anthony Young, and MC Hammer, is a community that leverages social networks, video, and people’s passion for dance. The site provides an Internet destination where users can watch and rate videos of people dancing, compete in dance-offs, and check out the latest and greatest moves from around the world. According to Wired’s recent coverage, DanceJam will offer slow-motion tutorials that will allow viewers to break down dances one move at a time.

The popularity of TV programs like “Dancing with the Stars” and “So You Think You Can Dance” illustrates how much people love to get their groove on – or at least watch other people doing it! And let’s not discount the incredibly popular YouTube videos like Soulja Boy (check out the instructional video here), the Evolution of Dance, OK Go – On Treadmills and the NBA All-Stars dancing debut. DanceJam will provide a yet another way for people to get their dancing fix.

If the site delivers on its promise, DanceJam could bring the love of dance to a much broader audience. In the same way that Dance Dance Revolution brought aerobic movement to video games – two things not usually associated with one another - I hope DanceJam increases enthusiasm for the social and physical elements of dance. DanceJam has the potential to be what social networks are meant to be – online interactions that ultimately enhance our offline lives.

Growing up, the fatherly voices of Walter Cronkite, Ted Koppel and Peter Jennings mesmerized and warmed me. No matter how shocking, sad or maddening the news of the day was, their polished, trusted delivery made everything okay. It felt good to know they were on it: uncovering every detail and source, asking hard questions, and reporting the story fairly and accurately.

As the mass media landscape continues to shift, the good old days of a mass audience glued to national nightly newscasts have been replaced by a wild west of “Dot TV” channels — a handful of which now reach audiences that rival those of national news broadcasts.

But in the famous words of the great Webmaster himself, Spider-Man: “With great power also comes great responsibility.” These new dot TVs have some big shoes to fill. Journalism is a pillar of our free and democratic society, and I’m not convinced that all newcomers feel they are beholden to a shared code of ethics, and the same level of rigorous reporting of the Jennings era.

I know there are many who share my concern and excitement about the new rules of engagement that are emerging. My friend Tom Foremski has been tracking the topic on his blog for some time now. For instance, several months ago he suggested that media sites should provide a way for sources to comment back on posts – which came to life last week on Google News.

There have been other compelling experiments lately, such as the recent CNN-Citizen Tube presidential debate. Many media pundits commented that some of the most hard-hitting, relevant questions for presidential candidates came from citizens’ video questions. Our client Friction.tv has also recently formed partnerships with Channel Five and Al Jazeera. If an informed citizenry at large can collectively rise to the challenge, the honorable profession of journalism can prevail in a new form.

When I was young, I dreamed of hitchhiking to Hollywood and working my way up from the mailroom to the executive office. The mix of drama, good screenwriting, camerawork and surround sound was like a siren call, but one that I ultimately ignored for the glamorous life of public relations. Who knew that my dream of working in the film industry would be possible as a communications pro?

The most powerful PR programs are ones that reflect popular culture, speak to human needs and emotions, and harness new technologies in creative ways. As people increasingly turn to the Web for entertainment, news, information and social networking, it’s a brave new PR 2.0 world. Like the media outlets that we pitch story angles to every day, the landscape is quickly morphing around us. Video is emerging at the forefront of it all: to engage, provoke, demonstrate and influence.

We’re proud to represent some of the most interesting Web-meets-video pioneers. For instance, U.K.-based Friction.tv has quickly become a hotbed for public debate on important issues. The video-sharing site is a Web TV platform promoting freedom of speech, no matter how controversial. As an early innovator that’s focused on social media for social change, it’s achieved a lot of traction in a short time, according to The London Times.

Another client, MixerCast, lets people blend their own user-generated content (UGC) with legal studio content from partners like ABC News, Getty Images and popular record labels to create their own custom Web TV channels. Better yet, MixerCast lets users embed branding and engaging advertising spots, hypersyndicate them on the Web, and track traffic to the money-making mashups. Robert Scoble recently interviewed MixerCast CEO Jen Cooper, formerly with Yahoo!, and the resulting video was posted to PodTech.net as an Editor’s Choice pick of the week.

Beyond new platforms that merge video impact with social media, many larger, global brands that we represent, like Panasonic Toughbooks, are using entertaining viral videos to effectively communicate core messages with key audiences through social networks and popular sites like YouTube. In fact, fans of the popular rugged notebooks have frequently posted many buzz-building videos about Toughbooks on their own.

As PR pros, we’re being called on more and more for our broadcast production talents like scripting, shooting, interviewing and editing. And I’m happy to say: “There’s no business like show business, it’s like no business I know.” A career in PR is becoming a lot like a career in broadcasting and film these days.

We’ve become spoiled by professional Hollywood movies, TV shows, and ads filled with stunning special effects and $500,000 crane shots. Don’t get me wrong – there are some compelling films from Tinseltown, and some neat TV shows and clever ads. But for every “good” Hollywood flick, I’ll show you 10 others that pit style over substance and insult their audience’s intelligence with formulaic, predictable and boring storylines.

Yes, HDTV is beautiful, and growing in popularity too. But I don’t care how beautiful content looks. If it doesn’t really connect with people and speak to some aspect of the human condition, it useless. It’s like eating cotton candy: tasty, but no nutrition.

Enter… the amateurs!! Amateur Web content, or user-generated media as some prefer, broke new ground in 2006. YouTube just announced its awards for the best user-generated videos of 2006, and amateur content will likely continue its strong growth in 2007. Why? Because we have a fundamental need to express ourselves, connect with others, and be acknowledged for our creations. The Web and social media like blogs give us an inexpensive way to do just that.

But corporate marketers have also realized the value of amateur content. Consider the 2007 Doritos Crash The Super Bowl ad contest. An amateur video by Dale Backus aired during the big game, marking the first time a major marketer entrusted a novice with a 30-second Super Bowl spot worth up to $2.6 million of air time.

Backus’ spot aired very well – it ranked fourth in USA TODAY’s Super Bowl Ad Meter. The production cost? $12. That’s about four bags of Doritos!! Not bad considering pro spots easily cost near $1 million to produce. Smart corporate marketers realize the power of enlisting amateur consumers to become, in essence, an extension of their marketing team.

And don’t think News Corp. and NBC’s new Web venture means the death of amateur content. The unnamed company may be more attractive to advertisers with its professional content and longer clips. But viewers have proven there’s still a place for amateur content so long as it speaks to them in a concrete way. Ultimately, consumers care more that their content is compelling, rather than who actually produced it.

Happy Valentine’s Day!  In the spirit of this amorous occasion, I thought I’d post about a timely viral campaign by Herbal Essences, at dumpcupid.com. The site features a video of a scantily clad, rather portly cupid walking around the streets of a big city, lamenting about how set-ups often end poorly. The message of the campaign is “When you’ve got luscious hair, who needs cupid?” 

There are a lot of great aspects to this campaign. The videos are pretty funny - one shows Cupid being chased by an angry woman shouting “He was married!”; another shows him rapping about the pitfalls of cupidom. Visitors to the site can create customized e-cards resembling magnetic poetry, or play M.A.S.H. They can even submit their own love stories (good or bad) to be posted on the site.

This is a great example of a company getting its message across in a creative and fun way. Herbal Essences understands its customer base, appeals to their spirit, and lets them spread the message. Our only criticism is that the site takes a long time to load - much too long. Let’s face it, viral messengers (people who forward these videos) are fickle and don’t have a lot of time especially when viewing them at work. We say, “More bandwidth please!” but keep the love coming.

Blog Video Podcasting News reports that the Washington Post is inviting readers to mash themselves into a video with political reporter Dana Milbank. The site provides a series of clips of Milbank asking a series of questions. The idea is that creative readers videotape themselves answering the questions. It’s an unexpected departure for a rather traditional news organization. Those of you with a political sense of humor will enjoy these immensely.