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.
Nothing is gone forever… 😉
Come on over and see for yourself
I have a mirror of it, too.
I’ve quit reading the bulletin’s online edition, so I had NO idea that the video existed until somebody emailed me.
The reason I enjoyed it? Because as somebody who’s constantly dealing with Central Oregon marketing (I work for a tourist-driven company, doing a lot of their marketing), I’m just happy to see something different. Is it tasteless? Yup. Is it attracting the wrong kind of crowd to Bend? Yup. But it was different, and I respected that. I’m so sick of seeing scenic golf course and skiers and the like that I was happy to see something unique, no matter how twisted.
Front page of the biz section says the BVCB got too many complaints and pulled it.
I’m just glad the vid is off the air…
Doesn’t matter how much we locals are all sick of seeing golf course scenes and an endless variety of shots of the Cascades – it’s the natural beauty of this area that sells and keeps those tourists (and their dollars) coming….
Oh – and here’s the link to the Bulletin article that gives details about the pulling of the ad last night …
http://bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060620/BIZ01/606200339/1011&nav_category=
I think you guys are missing the point. This was designed as a VIRAL MARKETING campaign. Viral marketing doesn’t work without the viral part. Nobody is going to circulate a run of the mill Chamber of Commerce "check out the mountains and golf courses" video.
I actually agree with Jake that we need something different as far as advertising for around here… I just don’t think poorly made and offensive necessarily qualifies as "different."
Chicken Wing- I’m totally in sync with the viral marketing idea. I think there *should* be a viral marketing campaign for Bend. But I think there’s much better ways to do it (like MySpace/YouTube, which I mentioned), AND the video being offered could have/should have been *much better.*
Much better how? From creative and technical stanpoints, the video production was outstanding. I know – I work in the ad industry. Did the content need to be different? No making fun and inside jokes? Then how do you expect it will be spread? It needs to be edgy to be effective.
All that said, I don’t know if a viral campign like this really makes sense for Bend. However, since that is what they decided to do, I think they did a decent job of it.
I’ve been in the Bend "demoting," business for a couple months, making t-shirts that point out Bend’s ironies. People laughed at some of my designs but they rarely bought them. The only time the designs got real attention was when I sparked controversies like housing or offended egotistical weather predictors.
Bold MOVE, on Glover’s part. I hate to be a Viral Marketing conspiracy theorist, but: was, popularity from controversy part of their marketing plan?
If that’s the case. I would’ve secretly put it out there and then acted like I was defending the honor of Bend, reaping the benefits from the negative hype while everyone adord me for my organization’s efforts as the image protector.
Slider- nah, that would’ve backfired even worse than it did.
Chicken Wing- For the purpose they were trying for, then yes, the content should have been different. If the purpose was in fact to mock Bend–then they did a great job of that.
As far as making fun and inside jokes, those can be done in much subtler and funnier ways. (If you think incest is a pretty funny inside joke, well…) "Edgy" is one of those subjective, tough-to-define qualities, sure. I just didn’t get "edgy" from this video at all. YMMV.
Hmmmm, maybe we should start a Bend Viral Marketing Contest… see who can come up with the best grassroots viral marketing campaign– be it video, parody, audio, graphic, game, whatever– and post the results on the blogs?
Great idea Jon. I’m in! Tell me where the starting line is and I’ll be there. We can call it an Bend’s First Annual Viral Advertising Cannonball Run.
Simone, when I saw the video, I actually thought of you because you’re big into alternative marketing methods (well, I don’t know if this counts as one because it cost so darn much). I’m surprised you didn’t like it.
They got their point across because ppl are passing it on thanks for Monkey and Jake. Two ppl have sent it to me today.
I like the idea of ya’ll doing the viral – not my tax $ on the stuff the BVC pushed out, pulled back…
Ooooooooh….. so where did all of our tax dollars go now…. right down a very black dark hole.
Property taxes are real nice and steep and we’re spending our money to invite a bunch idiots to our town. Yeahhhh for everyone.
BVC appears to get the money from the hotel room tax:
According to the City of Bend’s 2006 budget (City’s website – page 214 of the budget), the estimated revenue from the room tax is $900k and the budgeted amount from that estimate that goes to BVC is $740k.
Property taxes are technically not ‘used’ for the BVC…
the idiots are coming to your town with or without the video. I’d bet money that a lot of idiots live there already. We were full to the brim with idiots in Coos Bay, and it’s filling fast over here in Klam Falls.