How long should a viral video be?
Feb 7, 2012
We presented a video to some clients recently and one of them made an interesting comment. He was an analytics guy and he said, “I like the video, but it’s too long. All our data shows that people stop watching videos after 30 seconds.”
Really? 30 seconds? We’d never heard that before. (Incidentally, this video was 1:15.) Thing is, you can’t question an analytics guy’s data without data of your own. So we went looking for data.
How long should an online video be?
Others have asked this question and we’ve answered that it’s not a question of length, it’s a question of content. If it’s good, people will watch. If it sucks, they’ll turn it off. But still, how long will they watch? Is there an end point that’s triggered regardless of emotional engagement?
We consulted 3 pretty rock solid sources: Reel SEO, which specializes in analytics and measurement for online video marketing. Ad Age, which publishes and tracks the Top 10 Viral Videos across multiple categories every week. And Tube Mogul, the analytics company that measures views and tracks data and analytics for those Ad Age Viral Videos.
What we found was pretty consistent: successful viral videos, almost across the board, are longer than one minute and up to 5 and 6 minutes.
If you look at the top 10 viral videos every week, which Ad Age lists every Thursday, you find that few are less than 30 seconds and the majority are between one minute and 5 minutes pretty consistently every week.
Tube Mogul does the analytics for Ad Age and according to them, “The completion rate for video ads between 30 and 90 seconds are the highest.”
Reel SEO adds that length doesn’t matter. Interesting content does. “There isn’t any direct correlation between length-of-video and viral success…Length is largely unimportant so long as the content is engaging.”
30 seconds, in fact, seems to be the minimum length a video should be, not the maximum. Great brands seem to know this and use the medium to their advantage. Brands like LG, Fiat, Levis, Apple, Carlsberg, Sony Play Station, Nike and tons of others take advantage of the extra time online video affords to build an emotional appeal and tell a story, beyond the 30-second commercial.
In the end, the data seem to back up our purely emotional belief that online video affords you the time to tell stories, make jokes, suck people in and entertain them with your message, so you might as well take advantage of it.
New Rules of Work – The Book?
Jan 2, 2012
The New Rules of Work made their way around the internet in a blur. Hundreds of sets of posters were sold (thank you very much) and the final press run is currently available on the fabulous Fab.com. So what’s a bunch of greedy capitalists, designers and writers to do after that?
Write a book, naturally.
Certain to be a NY Times bestseller, maybe, The New Rules of Work Book will be out by the end of the month.
Check back soon or follow us on twitter for more details.
Roku Hires Division of Labor
Nov 29, 2011
Roku Hires Division of Labor
If you haven’t heard of Roku yet, you will soon. The company, founded by Anthony Wood as the original streaming device for Netflix, spun off into an independent company early in 2010. And Roku has just hired Division of Labor to develop a brand and retail advertising campaign.
As the leader in streaming digital entertainment, Roku is stepping up its marketing in an effort to get the word out beyond tech-minded early adopters. The company recently hired a new Director of Marketing, Eric Lachter, to explore marketing efforts on all levels. Mr. Lachter led the review of agencies that culminated in the hiring of Division of Labor.
Division of Labor’s first assignment was to create a holiday campaign to position Roku as the perfect holiday gift now that Roku is available in electronics stores and big-box retailers as well as online. (Yahoo has already listed Roku in their Top 10 Most in Demand Gadgets.)
While Roku has used banner advertising and other digital channels to promote its products, this will be the first effort to incorporate social, digital and traditional mediums in a more integrated approach.
The campaign uses the line, “Happy Streaming Holidays” and launched in San Francisco and Chicago. An outdoor and radio blitz accompanies digital banners and social promotions giving away Rokus.
The center of the San Francisco campaign is a takeover of the Embarcadero Station with over 100 boards. The holiday theme runs through the campaign with billboards saying things like, “Spend less time talking to the in-laws this Christmas.” And “Give the gift of Glenn Beck. Or the curse of Glenn Beck. Whichever.”
Streaming has been in the news quite a bit lately with a number of high-profile content deals. Roku leads the market in devices that stream content like Netflix, Hulu and Pandora, wirelessly from the internet to any TV.
Check out the campaign here.
Good ideas win, no matter the form.
Nov 22, 2011
We’ve been watching something very interesting play out the past few weeks at Division of Labor. And it lies at the heart of everything going on in the advertising world the past few years.
We made a series of letterpress posters. A pretty simple series highlighting the New Rules of Work. Then we hung them in our studio window and used Twitter and Tumblr to push out a new poster per day. Now, there’s nothing revolutionary in using Twitter and Tumblr to promote something. Nor is there anything revolutionary in printing a bunch of posters.
But what was interesting is how this old-school media idea caught on within the new-school media world. From a few initial tweets, the New Rules of Work posters have been re-tweeted and re-posted more times than we can count. They have been picked up by Fast Company, Dwell, Buzzfeed, Trend Hunter, Laughing Squid, SwissMiss and on and on, including a really nice email from Justine Bateman. (Thanks Justine.) And to date, we’ve sold and shipped posters all over the U.S. and to nearly 15 countries around the world. (Though, sorry for the delays to Brazil. We have certainly learned the limitations of the USPS.)
And what all this proves, to us at least, is the power of a simple idea. When an idea strikes a chord, when it resonates inside and makes people laugh or cry or think, they’ll remember it and pass it on, no matter what form it’s in. That will never change.
The technology that delivers an idea? That will all evolve faster than any of us. But as we’re assaulted with more and more things from more and more places, the importance of a simple, good idea will be more apparent than ever.
No one will ever see your pyramid.
Nov 9, 2011
When we talk to potential clients about how we work, we like to show this slightly modified brand strategy pyramid. Not just because it’s a good way to test for sense of humor. But because it gets people thinking about the purpose of a great strategy.
Used properly, no one outside the company will ever see your strategy. They shouldn’t see it. All people should see is your product, your people and the content you create to promote it.
And our only point, really, is that if you don’t come up with provocative ideas, your strategy doesn’t really mean anything. If your ideas merely repeat the adjectives on your pyramid, no one will pay any attention.
Great strategies yield great creative, and done right, the strategy will get no credit what-so-ever. Bummer, but that’s the way it is. No one ever said, “I love that brand, they have such awesome Powerpoint decks.”
Blurry is the new focused
Nov 7, 2011
Lytro is now taking orders for its brilliant new camera, which is nothing like any camera out there. It shoots without focusing. (Raw images look like a drunk guy was shooting.) You choose focus in post. Anything in the foreground or background can become the focal point.
Check out these examples. Just click around the photograph and the focus changes. It’s the procrastinating photographer’s dream. Make no decisions and have endless options.
We could try to explain all the how it works details, but their site does a pretty good job of it and to be honest, we don’t really care. The design is simple and beautiful and $399 get’s you 8 gigs of storage on a camera that’s sorta shaped like a stick of butter. We’re putting in an order. Thanks, Lytro.
Stop Tweeting Boring Shit.
Sep 20, 2011
We just finished this series of limited edition posters. They’re sort of like new rules of the workplace for today’s companies. Except, we did them old-school and letterpressed them on card stock that either makes them looks like old Bomb-Pops or as if they fell out of a pack of Life Savers.
It seems the thoughts are pretty universal and extend way beyond the world of advertising and production. (When your mom asks you whether she should have an account on “the Twitter” you know the new media has crept far outside of Cupertino, Saratoga and Palo Alto.)
Since we hung them in our windows, people have come in asking how much they cost, so we started selling them in sets of 5, which totally messed up our business manager because she had to fill out a whole new set of tax forms now that we’re technically operating a retail store.
Special thanks to the fine folks at Tribune Showprint in Earl Park, Indiana for helping us print these the old fashioned way – with bourbon drinking printers pulling type out of drawers and swearing at us every time we made changes. And of course thanks to the talented Mark Likosky for photography.
If you want to purchase a set, check out the newly created store.
Klout Battle: Josh vs Paul
Sep 14, 2011
When we first started working with Klout, one of us had a respectable Klout score of 38. While the other had a less than stellar but still OK score of 24. Needless to say, the 38 got a bit obsessed and started working it, so to speak. Linking YouTube and LinkedIn to Klout. Doling out +K’s and using Klout Perks until his score shot up toward 48. Feeling pretty cocky about breaking 50, Mr. 48 settled into a social media process that seemed to be working OK.
Then Klout tied in to Tumblr. And Mr. 24 shot through the roof. The Division of Labor Tumblr blog, called Parts and Labor, has pieces culled mostly from our cameras and flat files that are constantly reposted and commented on all across Tumblr. It’s truly amazing how people react and pass along the things on the blog. Consequentially, yesterday Mr. 24 broke into the 50 club. Well done, Paul and let me say from the bottom of my heart, F%#k you.
Division of Labor goes international.
Sep 13, 2011
We recently finished 6 new films for Microsoft Office. Three were shot on location in Denmark and three in Brazil. The challenge was figuring out how to shoot in languages we don’t speak. We also had to figure out how to shoot while jetlagged and how to swear in Danish and Portuguese.
We partnered with Conspiracy films in Brazil and The Kompany in Denmark and had two separate crews shooting simultaneously. We wrote in English but then shot and cut in the local languages using translators on set and bilingual DP’s and editors.
The above tells the story of a journalist determined to make women’s soccer as important as men’s soccer in Brazil. She’s a champion of the girls and women who play and writes a blog dedicated to the game.
Note: the crew that went to Brazil spent more money on booze than those of us in Denmark. Just saying.
DoL in Communication Arts
Sep 7, 2011
There’s something about seeing your work in Communication Arts that never grows old. CA has been a staple in the industry for years. Though we admit, we no longer have our shelves lined with old issues, the online collection of work is fantastic. And we’re honored to have our identity featured in this years design annual. Huge thank you to Mikey Burton and of course to the judges of CA 2011.
Willie Does Coldplay. Chipotle Does Content.
Aug 31, 2011
This new film from Chipotle is a really nice piece of content that makes us like their burritos even more. It has so many things going for it. First you have Willie, which is awesome. Then you have Willie doing Coldplay. Plus a simple, emotional story without uttering a word and little, fat, animated farmers from filmmaker Johnny Kelly.
It’s a great example of a piece of content that works as a cross-promotion benefiting both sides. The Willie track is available on iTunes. And the Chipotle signoff at the end nicely sets them apart from everyone else out there. The whole thing really works well to make their point without pounding a message down people’s throats. Well done, Chipotle. So nice to see brands we like doing work like this.
Our friends at Duotone Audio worked to make the music happen. So congrats to them and all involved. Think we’ll have burritos for lunch.
OK Go, the Muppets and branded content
Aug 25, 2011
The new OK GO Muppets video is more than just a fun remake or nostalgic romp down the outskirts of Sesame Street. This thing is really smart, not to mention funny. It’s an amazing example of branded content and seamless cross promotion where it’s hard to tell who benefits more.
There’s also no overt logos or mention of a Muppets Movie or the Green Album, which is out now and is the next wave of promotion for the Muppets Movie which comes out Thanksgiving. But the Green Album is an event in itself. Bands like Weezer, My Morning Jacket, Sondre Lerche and others cover classic Muppets Songs like Movin’ Right Along, Rainbow Connection and It’s Not Easy Being Green by Andrew Bird. Even Threadless is involved with an exclusive T Shirt as part of the music package.
Soon the Muppets will be everywhere. Parents will play the music for their kids and talk of Jim Henson’s characters and his brilliant mind will build a ton of excitement for the movie.
Now it’s certainly worth pointing out that it’s easier to remove all logos and direct messaging when you’re promoting something like The Muppets. Much harder if you’re pushing a new piece of technology or software or canned soup. But if you have a plan that allows the branded content to get out there first and you get it to the right people, you’re more direct messages will be more likely to find a nice, soft spot in people’s minds.
Oh, and make sure you hang around for the end of the video. Self-deprecating to the final frame. Looking forward to the album and now, even the movie.
Shooting for Klout
Aug 22, 2011
Spent the weekend on the streets of North Beach shooting a film for our friends over at Klout. And we just want to say thank you. Thank you North Beach, for being so full of freaks and nut jobs. We couldn’t have cast it better if we had a month instead of a day. Thanks European tourists and transvestite locals. Thanks old ladies in the park. Thanks guys with facial hair and woman in low cut blouses. Thanks Russian sailors hanging around strip clubs. Can’t wait to edit this thing, get the final film out there and help spread the Klout gospel. Stay tuned.
Lou, Josh and the Adult Superstore.
Ynze explaining something and Katelin, wisely, questioning every word.
Paul giving direction to Russian Sailors who appear in the film courtesy of the Russian Navy.
Also check out Ben Ramirez’ Flickr Stream. Thanks, Ben and Katelin.
Fire at People’s Café
Aug 11, 2011
We just found out that our office away from office caught fire early this morning. People’s Café on Haight and Masonic was badly damaged after a fire broke out next door and then spread.
No one was hurt, but now a lot of street punks, old hippies, Euro tourists and trust-fund kids are gonna have to find somewhere else to hang out. And so are we.
People’s Cafe is an institution in the neighborhood and we often worked there for hours at a time. The grub was good, coffee good enough and the shit we’d see inside and out the front windows was brilliant.
Drug deals, suburban runaways pan handling, shell-shocked holdouts from the Summer of Love still wondering when Kesey is gonna have another acid test. All mixed with tourists taking pictures and vacationing families wondering how they ended up there and if they read the guidebook correctly.
Honestly, we wish them the best of luck and a speedy recovery. And maybe they can use the insurance money to clean up the bathroom just a bit. A selection of pics from People’s Cafe follows.
This guy was a regular.
Great Graffiti in the head.
Wonder if they knew the fire was coming?
Deep thoughts on the bathroom wall.
Art In The Streets
Aug 2, 2011
Not sure if it’s just us, but right now there seems to be a ton of attention on graffiti. In NYC the tome “History of American Graffiti” gets released and TAKI 183 shows up to sign it. And in LA, Art In The Streets at MOMA is causing a stir. Not a bad month to be a writer or in our case, admirers. Here are some recent local sightings.
