When I started writing this post, the video in question actually existed… but now the link they had goes to the Visitor and Convention Bureau site… hmmmmmm.
The title of this post might as well be “How not to do viral marketing.” It concerns a new animated ad campaign, detailed in excruciating detail in this Bulletin article, launched by the Bend Visitor & Convention Bureau… I’m actually at a loss for words.
Okay, I’m not really. Nor will I mince words: at best, this video makes me embarrassed for Bend.
My wife sent me the link in the morning, without explanation. First of all, it took forever to load, which is not a good sign. Finally, it started, and I was immediately sorry it did; my first impulse was to turn it off. When I first glimpsed something that sort of resembled Pilot Butte in the background, I thought, Is this supposed to be about Bend? It couldn’t be, it doesn’t even make any sense. But lo and behold, it turned out to be about Bend after all.
My next thought was that somebody had gone out of their way—poorly, I might add—to make fun of Bend. It’s certainly not something that would ever entice me to visit.
Finally I saw the Bulletin article, and things started to make a perverse sense. Here’s a clip:
The Bend Visitor & Convention Bureau has launched an edgy, animated online marketing campaign featuring a video the bureau hopes is so entertaining that viewers will e-mail it to friends, family and colleagues.
The video is sort of like Bend meets The Simpsons.
Locals will recognize scenes in the lighthearted production and presumably chuckle at the characters and lyrics.
…
“The video is funny and entertaining,” Glover said. “But, there’s also a message that shows what we have here – the river, rafting, skiing, etc. We hope that people will be entertained, then watch it again or pass it along via e-mail.”
Ultimately, the video’s goal is to interest more people in visiting Bend.
According to Glover, the video is the first of its kind to market a destination such as Bend through an emerging form of advertising known as viral marketing.
…
Glover already considers the campaign a winner, thanks to a marketing coup that will allow friendster.com, a video downloading site popular among iPod owners, to send links to the video with endorsements to more than 1.25 million of its subscribers.
“Just through that, the campaign is a success,” Glover said.
Are you kidding me?
There’s nothing “edgy” or Simpsons-like anywhere in that video. In fact, it’s some seriously shoddy art and animation work happening there. (I know—well, I hope—the people behind it can do better.) And being a local, trust me when I say there’s no chuckling going on, and the “recognizable” scenes are barely even that.
Here’s a hint about viral marketing: it tends to work best when it’s not directed. Don’t hold it out there and proclaim it a success; either it’ll happen on its own or it won’t. You have no real control over the matter.
And they think hooking up with Friendster is a marketing coup? Really? Friendster is on the wane in a big way. They would have been far better off leveraging MySpace (with 86 million users) and YouTube. Then you’d see some real numbers.
Oh and by the way, pick a better domain name next time… “where-the-hell-are-we.com” just lacks that, how would you say, convenience and ease of use in passing around a link.
I will concede that this video is viral in an avian flu sense—it’s spreading around the local blogosphere and everybody I’ve shown it to hates it. But that’s not the kind of viral you’d hope for.
Postscript: And it’s gone… I wonder if that was intentional, or there was too much backlash?
Post-postscript: Yes, you’ll notice I didn’t actually link to the video directly… I debated it. But since it appears to be gone anyway, oh well.
