Personal Branding: The New World of Online Advertising
Personal Branding: The New World of Online Advertising
Say what?
Welcome to the new world of online advertising where companies no longer need to pay mega millions to plop a Coke can in front of a TV celebrity like Cowell. Instead, there is a new breed of celebrity out there – Web stars who go by handles like Nalts and POYKPAC.
These new-found celebs, some of whom were holding down day jobs at Kinko’s and Blockbusters, while they were posting entertaining videos online at night, have shot their way to stardom and a decent living. It’s not uncommon for these Web stars to have hundreds of thousands of fans and supporters.
I got an inkling of the power of this new world recently when I spent a little time with the folks at Hitviews, which marries Web celebrities with brands. Hitviews is the brainchild of Walter Sabo, an old-time, bigwig radio guy and self-described “analog person,” who knows how to monetize celebrities. Sabo had the vision early on to recognize that the Internet is spawning its own celebrities. “I love a great show,” is how he puts it. Two years ago, he stumbled across the funny, engaging videos of a then 18-year-old web celebrity named Caitlin Hill or as her fans know her, TheHill88. Call it the Web 2.0 version of the Hollywood-discovers-star-story. Hill, who has 69,595 fans, and on a bad day gets 50,000 views of her videos, was unemployed at the time, when Sabo recruited her to enlist talent for his new company, Hitviews.
Today, Hill, as Hitviews’ Creative Director, presides over a stable of 50 Web stars, which includes everyone from a successful pharmaceutical executive to a former Kinko’s cashier. Sabo and Caitlin had the genius to recognize that these web stars in their own quirky way could be turned into 21st century Web pitchman. For example, a recent video Nalts created for Hitviews’ client Reader’s Digest generated 700,000 views in less than a week. And despite the economy, Hitviews is chugging along quite nicely as a high-growth startup since its November 2008 launch. Today the company’s stars have cumulatively attracted over 779 Million views and 2,217,554 subscribers.
Make no mistake. This is not Madison Avenue transported to the Web. Hitviews stars are not creating slick, high-toned ads but telling engaging stories that because of their fun and spontaneity encourage a viewer to click onto a sponsor’s site.
The force propelling companies like Hitviews is the power of video. Consider that from just November 2007 to November 2008 there has been a 70% increase in viewership of online video; by 2012 Cisco forecasts that 90% of all web traffic will be for video It’s not unlikely for a video posted by a popular Web personality to be viewed 500,000 times a day. Yikes. Other Web portals such as Newsweek.com, USAToday.com, and FOXNews.com are at a little more than half that traffic.
None of this means, that you and I are going to shoot a video and ride our way to stardom. Unlike your average Joe with a video camera, these web stars like Caitlin Hill are extremely talented. They also understand that the Internet is decidedly not TV. Their videos excite interaction and get you to click.
Barton Goldenberg, president of Bethesda, Md-based ISM, a social media consultancy, in a recent USA Today article explained the new paradigm:
“The old model of an Ed McMahon-type guy pitching you something is long dead, because today people won’t listen to TV ads, but they will listen to each other on these (social media) sites. It’s all being reversed now. Ads won’t drive brand loyalty, people will.”
That bears repeating. “Ads don’t drive brand loyalty, people will.”
In a sense the Internet has done what the old hippie movement promised but never delivered on. It has returned the power to the people. Which is that it has allowed you and I to have an amplified voice. While we may not be enormous Web stars, in our own niches, our stars can shine a little brighter, and with the enormous power and reach of the Internet, anything is possible. And, for brands, companies like Hitviews have allowed them to hitch a ride on Web stars and directly reach out, touch and engage millions the old fashioned way – through celebrity, entertainment and interaction.
Roll the camera.
Personal Branding The New World of Online Advertising - To learn more about this author, visit Wendy Marx's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Move over Simon Cowell. Make way for Nalts and P0YKPAC
Say what?
Welcome to the new world of online advertising where companies no longer need to pay mega millions to plop a Coke can in front of a TV celebrity like Cowell. Instead, there is a new breed of celebrity out there – Web stars who go by handles like Nalts and POYKPAC.
These new-found celebs, some of whom were holding down day jobs at Kinko’s and Blockbusters, while they were posting entertaining videos online at night, have shot their way to stardom and a decent living. It’s not uncommon for these Web stars to have hundreds of thousands of fans and supporters.
I got an inkling of the power of this new world recently when I spent a little time with the folks at Hitviews, which marries Web celebrities with brands. Hitviews is the brainchild of Walter Sabo, an old-time, bigwig radio guy and self-described “analog person,” who knows how to monetize celebrities. Sabo had the vision early on to recognize that the Internet is spawning its own celebrities. “I love a great show,” is how he puts it. Two years ago, he stumbled across the funny, engaging videos of a then 18-year-old web celebrity named Caitlin Hill or as her fans know her, TheHill88. Call it the Web 2.0 version of the Hollywood-discovers-star-story. Hill, who has 69,595 fans, and on a bad day gets 50,000 views of her videos, was unemployed at the time, when Sabo recruited her to enlist talent for his new company, Hitviews.
Today, Hill, as Hitviews’ Creative Director, presides over a stable of 50 Web stars, which includes everyone from a successful pharmaceutical executive to a former Kinko’s cashier. Sabo and Caitlin had the genius to recognize that these web stars in their own quirky way could be turned into 21st century Web pitchman. For example, a recent video Nalts created for Hitviews’ client Reader’s Digest generated 700,000 views in less than a week. And despite the economy, Hitviews is chugging along quite nicely as a high-growth startup since its November 2008 launch. Today the company’s stars have cumulatively attracted over 779 Million views and 2,217,554 subscribers.
Make no mistake. This is not Madison Avenue transported to the Web. Hitviews stars are not creating slick, high-toned ads but telling engaging stories that because of their fun and spontaneity encourage a viewer to click onto a sponsor’s site.
The force propelling companies like Hitviews is the power of video. Consider that from just November 2007 to November 2008 there has been a 70% increase in viewership of online video; by 2012 Cisco forecasts that 90% of all web traffic will be for video It’s not unlikely for a video posted by a popular Web personality to be viewed 500,000 times a day. Yikes. Other Web portals such as Newsweek.com, USAToday.com, and FOXNews.com are at a little more than half that traffic.
None of this means, that you and I are going to shoot a video and ride our way to stardom. Unlike your average Joe with a video camera, these web stars like Caitlin Hill are extremely talented. They also understand that the Internet is decidedly not TV. Their videos excite interaction and get you to click.
Barton Goldenberg, president of Bethesda, Md-based ISM, a social media consultancy, in a recent USA Today article explained the new paradigm:
“The old model of an Ed McMahon-type guy pitching you something is long dead, because today people won’t listen to TV ads, but they will listen to each other on these (social media) sites. It’s all being reversed now. Ads won’t drive brand loyalty, people will.”
That bears repeating. “Ads don’t drive brand loyalty, people will.”
In a sense the Internet has done what the old hippie movement promised but never delivered on. It has returned the power to the people. Which is that it has allowed you and I to have an amplified voice. While we may not be enormous Web stars, in our own niches, our stars can shine a little brighter, and with the enormous power and reach of the Internet, anything is possible. And, for brands, companies like Hitviews have allowed them to hitch a ride on Web stars and directly reach out, touch and engage millions the old fashioned way – through celebrity, entertainment and interaction.
Roll the camera.
Personal Branding The New World of Online Advertising - To learn more about this author, visit Wendy Marx's Website.
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Kim CastleWith nearly two decades in the advertising and design business, with clients like Domino's Pizza, General Motors, Direct TV, Pedigree, Wolfgang Puck, Higher Octave Music, Hollywood Celebrity Products, Disney, and Paramount, as well as thousands of entrepreneurs around the world define, structure, communicate, and position their business for greater profits, BrandU(R) co-creators Kim Castle and W. Vito Montone discovered that entrepreneurs could experience the same power that big brands command for a fraction of the cost with the world's only process-based results-drive Integral approach to business creation. BrandU(R) is helping entrepreneurs grow with the power of extreme clarity from idea...to brand...to market(TM) and helping one million entrepreneurs become successful and whole so that they can make a difference in the world. Are you one of them? If you want to experience clarity all the way to the bank(TM), get started now at http://www.brandu.com. - Visit Kim Castle's Website |
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John AlexanderJohn has taught keyword research and SEO skills to small groups of business owners and Webmasters from over 80 different countries world wide since 2002. John is also the Director of Search Engine Academy ; Co-director of Training at Search Engine Workshops offering live, SEO Workshops with his partner SEO educator Robin Nobles, author of the very first comprehensive online search engine marketing courses at SEO Training Online and the SEO Workshop Resource Center. I look forward to hearing from you! - Visit John Alexander's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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