• Concept Album For A Webbed World
• The Machine is Us/ing Us
• When it comes to WOMM, ABC’s not Lost
• Pirelli Video: Brevity Is The Soul Of Virality
• In-Trials: Corporate Chill Pill
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The art of the rock "concept album" is a someone controversial one in music. Done right, they're genre-busting. Done poorly, they come off as self-indulgent and over-reaching, an unsuccessful attempt by bands to punch over their weight..

Nevertheless (and in the absence of hearing the music) I'd have to say I'm impressed with the marketing behind Nine Inch Nails' upcoming opus, Year Zero. (Being a conspiracy theory buff has something to do with with my interest, I'm sure.)

Over at MTV:

Strangely enough, the story actually began on the back of a T-shirt sold on NIN's current European tour. Dates and cities are listed, with certain letters highlighted. When those letters were arranged, they spelled out the phrase "I am trying to believe," which most saw as just another statement of shattered hope from NIN mastermind Trent Reznor ... that was, until one particularly, uh, "enterprising" individual decided to Google the phrase.

What was revealed was a rather unsettling site (IAmTryingToBelieve.com) dedicated to information on "Parepin," a drug allegedly added to the water supply by the federal government at some unknown date to protect citizens from bioterror attacks.

Clearly, Reznor and Co. know how to activate a passionate audience and planned well ahead of time. For personal and professional reasons, I'll be watching this closely.

A colleague in Seattle sent me this video and after I watched it, I forwarded it on to my global team. Wolfgang responded and told me that this has been making the rounds in the German blogosphere, too.

I need to watch this a few more times to really ingest it, but I think it is one of the best explanations of Web 2.0 that I've seen. What other Web 2.0 descriptions do you use? How does this video change what you think about Web 2.0?

Credits: Michael Wesch, professor of anthropology KSU.

As if there weren’t enough word-of-mouth about Lost already (and don’t get me wrong, that’s a good thing), the hit ABC show’s producers have taken their highly addictive island adventure into the online space. Starting with the May 3, 2006 episode, a cryptic ad for “The Hanso Foundation” appeared during a commercial break. The ad directed viewers to a Web site, www.thehansofoundation.org, and a phone number, 877-HANSORG. The next week, another commercial for Hanso was broadcast, this time sending viewers to www.sublymonal.com.

Producers call this campaign “The Lost Experience,” an alternative-reality game based on the show that provides fans with a network of leads and clues to further explore the mysteries of the Lost island. And boy is this thing viral. Blogs and forums are popping up all over the world, and phone lines associated with the game are have been jammed since the minute the first commercial aired in Europe. Even ABC was unprepared for the response, telling the Chicago Tribune that they were “blown away.” I knew the frenzy had reached a new level entirely when friends who had no interest in the show before (silly them) started tuning in after stumbling upon one of the affiliated Web sites.

The geniuses behind Lost have always been ahead of the curve. Lost was one of the first network TV shows to be offered as downloads on Apple iTunes. And now, they’ve proven that the magic formula for buzz is to provide a multimedia, multi-dimensional, integrated entertainment experience. It’s about inviting fans to come along for the ride – allowing them to contribute their own ideas, be a part of the action, and live in the Lost world. It’s about hooking them early and making ongoing participation irresistible.

The icing on the cake? Just think about how easy it was for ABC to persuade advertisers to buy space on the May 3 and May 10 episodes. One sentence sums it up: “People with TIVO will be watching these commercials, trust us.”

Yeah, I know. 38.

Anyway... AdAge's Bob Garfield pans the Pirelli not-quite-viral video, which is an odd cross between The Exorcist and Christine. (The Pirelli video, that is, not Bob's panning.)

Bob writes:

The only thing that stands out in this film... is a sense of pathetic self-delusion. The idea that this link would be forwarded around the world to countless prospective tire purchasers is wishful thinking on a hallucinatory scale. And if you think we're being unkind, go online and read the viewer comments so far.

MediaBistro says "If you'd ever wondered what ten million dollars looked like when it's taken out into a field and set ablaze, here's your chance."

Forget the money and the overwrought production. For me, "viral video" means "Can be started and finished by a cubicle-dweller during work hours without the boss noticing or the viewer pausing it." If you want to watch this, it's quite an investment of time. Your boss is likely to walk by right at the denoument.

Technorati Tags:
viral video

You’ve probably seen the marketing parody video "Microsoft Designs The iPod Package." Recently, a Microsoft rep confirmed that it was a video produced internally by their packaging team to poke fun at themselves and share a bit of their self-effacing culture.

It was an internal-only video clip commissioned by our packaging [team] to humorously highlight the challenges we have faced RE: packaging and to educate marketers here about the pitfalls of packaging/branding.

We know that a good sense of humor with a little self-deprecation is well-received among friends... So could this work for Corporate America?

I'd personally love to see more big players out there willing to poke a little fun and not take their corporate selves so seriously to connect with consumers on such a personal level.

Now who knows if this was actually leaked intentionally, but even so &dmash; it shows how people appreciate some light-heartedness.

(Disclosure: Microsoft is a client of Edelman, though this post does not involve any group that the agency currently works with.)

Technorati Tags:
Video, Microsoft, iPod, Marketing, Humor

The “multi” of “multi-media” is pretty much assumed today with the lines between various mediums increasingly blurring. People are getting communications and entertainment where and when they want it. That checkout line at the grocery store doesn’t seem as long as it used to since you’re now tuned into your iPod watching the end of that “Lost” episode you missed and when that’s over, you’ll switch to a podcast on the latest in Torino.

With all this, it’s not surprising that television networks are checking out the buzz around those viral videos that make their way in and out of inboxes and IM conversations throughout your day. Of course the networks want to see if there’s a way they can cash in and take them primetime. Funny considering that these videos hit the web since there's essentially an open door policy – low entry costs. You find something funny or produce a low-budget video, share it... throw out the line and see if people bite. But as general mass convenes online throughout the day now – at home, at work, at Starbucks – these often short excerpts of mainstream news/entertainment or homegrown, amateur videos have achieved ample reach.

So now we have VH1’s “Web Junk 20” – showing the best of what’s been around the block online and then allowing people to submit their own. Whether the next generation “America’s Funniest Home Videos” meets “Jackass” concept excites you or not, this is yet another example of co-creation with consumers. Even television networks are listening – learning what was liked on the web – to determine TV programming and allowing consumers to create additional content. Is your company embracing the benefits of co-creation?

PRWeek's Erica Iacono also reported this week how "Video goes DTC." As more people look to the Internet for videos, broadcast PR (e.g., MediaLink) is seeing how they can dodge the media filters and go straight into the iPods of the people now through the likes of Google video. However, it's yet to be seen how popular corporate VNRs will be to the average consumer without the handsome voices of our favorite news anchors reporting it.

TalkShop is a blog about word-of-mouth and the Me2 Revolution, published by Edelman and hosted by Phil Gomes, the company's Senior Counsel, Online Communications. This blog pulls in thoughts and opinions from members of the worldwide Edelman network.

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