The concept isn’t exactly a ‘new’ one, YouTube has been gathering user data for quite a while now and anyone familiar with YouTube Insights will probably recognise a lot of the information in these reports, but there are a couple of handy improvements worth a mention.

So what’s new?

The first things you’ll notice are the cosmetic changes, a more intuitive layout, nice simple colour scheme, new buttons and titles for reports. But YouTube Analytics is more than just a prettier version of insights. The new overview gives an instant summary of your overall channel performance and engagement, with easy access to detailed information about individual videos that offers a more precise understanding of your audience. The data filter allows you to break down reports by content, geography, and date. Also you can now discover which videos are driving the most views and subscriptions, allowing you to focus your marketing on the most popular types of content.

The YouTube Analytics Overview breaks down the full details of all the options available but I’ve outlined some of my favorite features below.

Audience Retention: Formerly called Hot Spots, this report shows how far viewers watch through your video, really useful stuff if you want to understand how engaged people really are.

It measures the number of views for every moment of the video, so you can see where people have skipped forward, replayed a section or switched off. (Pay close attention to the first 15 seconds of every clip as according to YouTube that’s when your viewers are most likely to drop-off.)

YouTube even allow you to play back your video in the report to see exactly how it corresponds to the peaks and valleys of the graph. It’s a great way to work out the parts of your video that work best and identify any points where people start to get bored – that way you can focus on making the kind of content that your audience appears to enjoy.

Estimated earnings: This is useful if you’re interested in making money from your YouTube channel. You can see your total estimated earnings from the net revenue from Google-sold advertising, the estimated earnings from auction sold advertising via AdSense for Video and the estimated earnings from Doubleclick advertising and any other YouTube-sold sources.

Playback Location / Traffic Sources Report: Formally called Discovery, this report helps distinguish between how viewers found a video, i.e. through a YouTube search, Twitter link etc and where a video is being watched. It’s quite useful if you’re embedding your video on sites other than YouTube.

Why is it important to measure video performance?

If you are serious about using YouTube as a marketing tool it’s essential to set some goals, do you want it to drive traffic to your website? Generate ad revenue? Raise brand awareness? Whatever your targets are, the reporting data from analytics will help you to develop a deeper understanding of your audience and strategies and make well informed decisions when creating new content.

So if you’ve never explored the monitoring stats behind your content then this is the time to start!

El Espectáculo de Sombras Chinescas Más Impresionante del Mundo

The world’s largest shadow puppet show – filmed at a live football match in Valencia.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The video is part of a Europe-wide integrated campaign that we’re seeding for the agency JWT to advertise Trident Gum. How does a video of giant shadow puppet chickens playing football advertise chewing gum? I hear you ask… Well the clip is just one of a whole bizarre series from The Pointless Collective, designed to spread the word that ‘chewing Trident Senses Gum is pointless yet fun’.

The campaign features a collection of films, events, quirky artwork and funny stories that follow the adventures of three masked super heroes as they come up with elaborate ways to bring pointless fun to the world. Check out their website and Facebook page if you want to read more about their various crazy escapades.

Diversity | Street Dance For Change

Now, any Britain’s Got Talent fans out there will remember the 2009 wining dance group, Diversity. Well they’ve teamed up with insurance firm Aviva to make the Street Dance For Change video as part of the Street to School programme, committed to raising awareness of the 100,000 young people who run away every year in the UK.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Through the initiative, Aviva are supporting street children projects in the UK and around the world, with the aim of helping half a million street children get back in to education or training by 2015. In the UK, their charity partner Railway Children is dedicated to supporting vulnerable children living alone on the streets, where they suffer abuse and exploitation.

If you fancy yourself as a bit of a ‘Mover-groover’ why not have a go and upload your own 30 second dance video, not only will Aviva donate £2 to the charity every time the video is watched but you might also be in for a chance to win tickets to Diversity’s 2012 tour and meet Diversity themselves!!

Check out the official Facebook page for more information on how you can get involved and watch some of the best uploaded dance clips.

It’s nothing new for promotional stunts to take place in busy public spaces, but London’s Victoria railway station was recently the site of an ad campaign that takes viral marketing to a whole new level. Commuters found themselves in the middle of a campaign for Lynx Body Spray, which blurred the boundaries between fantasy and reality as angels began falling to Earth!

Unilever-owned brand Lynx (also known as Axe in some markets) staged the “Angel Ambush” to promote Lynx Excite, the newest Lynx scent for men. Londoners at the Victoria station noticed large Lynx-branded markers on the floor, instructing them to look up; when they did, they were met with the sight of a large digital video billboard overhead, where they could see one of the beautiful Excite Angels land right next to them. They could even see themselves interact with the fallen angel until she vanished.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Lynx Excite Angels were first introduced a month earlier in a TV spot, where a number of beautiful angels crash to the Earth and seek out a young man using Lynx Excite; the ethereal ladies are so enchanted by his scent that they abandon their halos to win his affection. As adverts go, it was attractive and well-crafted to hit home with the target market, but hardly the most original thing seen on TV.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Fortunately BBH London, the agency in charge of the national campaign, had some other tricks up their sleeve. This included the experiential Angel Ambush, and a social media campaign on Facebook. The social campaign asks users to play an online game with the purpose of freeing the Lynx Archangel, played by the beautiful Kelly Brook.

Lynx Excite has proved hugely popular, and it seems consumer interest will only grow stronger as the creative campaign continues. Looks like a match made in advertising heaven!

If you’re an advertising fanatic, you’ll no doubt be familiar with the sensational SuperBowl commercial for Volkswagen, featuring a little boy in a Darth Vader costume trying in vain to use the Force, finally reacting with surprise and delight when his attempt on his dad’s new VW Passat finally pay off. The ad was cute and clever, and unsurprisingly generated widespread viral sharing and a lot of positive PR for VW. However, the tables could soon be turning as the result of the latest campaign by Greenpeace – in which the environmentalists tackle the “Dark Side” of Volkswagen.

Greenpeace has constructed an elaborate viral campaign centred on Volkswagen’s Star Wars theme, highlighting the auto company’s opposition to CO2 emission cuts. The campaign website – titled Volkswagen, The Dark Side – calls aspiring Jedi to “Join the Rebellion” and convince VW to change their ways by signing a petition online.

The activists have also created a viral video parody of VW’s wildly popular viral campaign, in which a team of Star Wars “good guys” – a including a pint-sized Yoda, Chewbacca and C3P0 – confront little Darth and try to turn him away from the Dark Side. Meanwhile, in space, an ominous Death Star replica emblazoned with the VW logo readies its lasers to destroy the Earth.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Greenpeace’s next step involved some guerrilla tactics; a group of activists in London covered a number of billboards throughout the city with banners of their own design, featuring an image of the iconic Vader helmet with the VW logo in place of the mouth. The Rebellion continued as Greenpeace environmentalists dressed up as Stormtroopers took to the streets of London to spread the message.

VW responded to Greenpeace’s accusations of a poor environmental record with refreshing candour; Volkswagen’s head of press, Paul Buckett, has stated that the company will give their full attention to the issues raised by Greenpeace. Mr Buckett’s message to the public was honest and straightforward; “If you want green fuel, then we can give it to you” he stated; “But you’ll need to pay more. Still want it?”

The Greenpeace guerrilla campaign has set the social media world abuzz, with the Dark Side video boasting more than 507 078 views within three days of launching. The campaign has gathered a huge Facebook following, and led to #VW as a trending Twitter topic. However, Volkswagen’s open attitude and gracious response to a difficult PR situation has been every bit as impressive as the campaign targeting the company; the “Dark Side” ads may be extremely popular, but they may not have the effect on VW’s reputation that Greenpeace activists are hoping for…

Here is a little video we are currently seeding for the project. My favourite bit is when she is wearing the pink wellies…

Click here to view the embedded video.

Here’s a few quick tips to maximise the effectiveness of your Viral video campaign.

Bigger isn’t always better.

People have a short attention span online, so keeping your video short is the best tactic. By all means have a long version of the Viral that the most engaged viewers can seek out, but use a concise version to take to the masses. We reckon a minute is a good target to aim for.

Be entertaining / interesting

If your content interests people, they’re far more likely to keep watching and ultimately engage with your brand. Seems obvious, but it’s amazing how many people will create a ‘viral’ that is actually just a dry sales message. Whilst this approach can work for TV advertising, online viewers will just stop watching if they aren’t engaged. Online video campaigns generally work better for branding campaigns rather than explaining your newest product’s features.

Start with a BANG!

Get your key message across in the first 10 seconds of the video. People will make up their mind pretty quickly if they are gonna keep watching, so its key to grab their attention from the start. You should also plan for a drop out towards the end of the video.

Leverage the Love

If people have enjoyed your video they will be more open to engaging with other marketing content. Include a call to action at the end of your video – drive traffic to your FB page, YT channel or website. You can also offer a click through link in the video description (or as part of the VAN viral player)

(image via http://thingsthataretotallyawesome.wordpress.com/)

As grime took over, the mainstays of the UK hip hop scene must have hit hard times. Here is a video posted back in February of someone who was convinced that Jehst was their postman!

Click here to view the embedded video.

But like every (sometimes embarassing) trend it will almost certainly have a come back, and maybe Jehst is onto something. He seems to have embraced the internet and launched his own viral campaign for the launch of his new album, and to be fair the response so far on Youtube seems to have been quite good…

Here’s the follow up video, the scallywag:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I don’t really know what else to say….

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(via StintonDesign on Youtube)

Click here to view the embedded video.

Qatar’s crazy new 2022 World Cup stadiums is a notable new entry at no. 2

Click here to view the embedded video.

Check out the NMA Viral Brand Chart for more.

In the NMA UGC chart, Black Eyed Peas are new at no.1

Click here to view the embedded video.

My personal favourite is no. 8

Click here to view the embedded video.

Check out the NMA UGC Chart for more.