How Not To Go Viral On YouTube

While again reading Ad Age this morning, I came across an article about Neiman Marcus "taking over the YouTube homepage" to celebrate its 100th Anniversary.

After a quick skim, I jumped over to YouTube for a look at the promotion. The page seemed completely normal, with a number of revolving video previews on a white background. I scrolled down the page, then back to the top. I finally returned to the article, assuming that the promotion just hadn't been launched on the site yet.

After finishing the article, I thought I'd take a second look. There it was - I found it! In the top right-hand corner, I noticed that there was a slightly larger video frame, with text including the Neiman Marcus brand name below.

Was this really the promotion? Maybe it was overstated by Ad Age, but this didn't look like taking over the page to me. Can it really be expected for people to find and play this, when it can hardly be found by a person actually looking for it?

Maybe there were other hurdles, but it appears that before the video even starts, something is needed to draw one to that portion of the page. If $250,000 or more is being spent, why not go the extra mile and actually throw some design into the mix?

Additionally, an unfamiliarity with the medium was apparent as well. Working within the already restrictive means on the site, there was one other addition that really could have helped it stand out - the first frame of the video. This first frame acts like a web banner, to make people want to click on it and play the video. Instead of inserting a frame with a large, readable company logo, or other means to entice the viewer, they stick with the first frame of the reel - which is unfortunately boring. See it for yourself below.



The clip starts with a number of people speaking about their impressions of the brand. This could have been interesting with the correct videography. Of the four minute clip, over the first minute is visually uninteresting, with no images regarding the actual store or brand - instead people just speaking about their experiences. No one has ever been able to glue someone to the screen with this type of shot, period. I wouldn't have finished the clip if it weren't for the feeling of necessity to write this blog post. YouTube audiences agree - the initial video has 2/5 stars as of this writing. And in addition, the initial installment of the video has over 75,000 views, while the second installment was only able to draw under 50 viewers. That means a staggering 1 in 1500 clicked through to see the next video - ouch!

Can the executives who made the decision to go on YouTube be blamed? Not really. The move to go on YouTube with the brand was actually a pretty solid one. They even had the numbers to prove it. The video probably looked fine to them - they're business people, not directors.

However, it appears that the ball was dropped a number of times during the design of this promotion. In the future, they may want to rethink the overall management of their viral promotions.