MrWeb2 says:

The Community Hyper Vertical can be used in many ways other than linking / integrating it into the parent website

It can also be used for:

1) Single advertisers - the CHV can be used as a mini-site for a specific content item or a specific advertiser - it can be used permanently or temporally to suit publisher / advertiser requirements

Example: A bank sponsors a sporting event and wants to have a mini-site in which it can present a combination of its products and services combined with content relative to its sponsorship of the sporting event or team

2) Publishers may want to launch a number of mini-sites which are not conceptually linked and may want to keep them each discrete from one another

Example: VH1 launches a number of community based specific music genre sites - by purposefully keeping the context and purpose of the mini-site very specific there is the benefit of creating highly targeted opt-in mailing groups and other subscription based products which are very finely targeted - better targeting = better outcomes

3)Stand alone - The CHV can be used as a stand alone site - it allows new publishers to very quickly launch and populate a community website with a great deal of interactivity -the only limitation to a stand alone community site is driving traffic to it - this is not as difficult or as costly as it once was especially if a great deal of your content is images, blogs, forums and videos
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05 Feb 2007 - 11:42 Melbourne

MrWeb2 says:

This a real-life example from MTV of a community mini-site

This site employs content from MTV and VH1 - extending the life and value of the original content and also putting it into a Web2.0 framework so that users can interact with it

This is Viacom trying to take advantage of Web2.0 and I think doing a decent job of it without trying to re-invent MySpace

The other advantage of this community site is that it is very finely targeted - so not the multi-interest colossus of MySpace - no chance of the same traffic but also absolutely no trouble attracting advertisers who understand the context and purpose of the offering

05 Feb 2007 - 11:55 Melbourne

MrWeb2 says:

I have said it elsewhere in the site but I am going to mention it here again - the CHV offers extreme speed to market capability

It would take less than 3 weeks to deploy a similarly functioned CHV, populate it with content and cross link it to the parent site as well as creating RSS linkages

The CHV gives you professional presentation and in depth administrator control on day one

05 Feb 2007 - 11:59 Melbourne

MrWeb2 says:

If you are deploying the CHV for a specific advertiser and you combine the Web2.0 product with banner impressions on the parent site or run of network, the CHV will pay for itself in one to two campaigns

Offering both the advertiser and publisher extreme ROI

05 Feb 2007 - 12:02 Melbourne

MrWeb2 says:

BMW Rolls Out Branded Video
Tuesday, Feb 20, 2007 6:00 AM ET

BMW USA DIVISION MONDAY UNVEILED the first two of six planned Web films, starring action hero "Hammer" and his car Coop (for Mini Cooper). The effort supports the 2007 Mini, the company's first major redesign since the car was re-introduced to the U.S. in 2002. The films, directed by "Starsky & Hutch" movie director Todd Phillips and star Bryan Callen, reside at www.hammerandcoop.com.

[Source: MediaPost.com]

21 Feb 2007 - 09:40 Melbourne

MrWeb2 says:

The problem with the Hammer & Coop approach is that even though it is innovative and very interactive you must get traffic to the promotion site

The URL does not have any of the keywords which would be logical to find such a promotion by searching and the site probably does not have enough content to even be indexed so a major keyword purchase would be required as well as graphic banners on major car sites or automotive enthusiast aggregator sites

With this in mind:

- I would have also put excerpts of the videos on YouTube to attract people to the main site
- I probably would have looked to get these videos hosted by a major automotive news site like Jalopnik or Edmunds
- You would think a keyword purchase would be in order
- As well as graphic banners on autosites
- Depending on budget I might also consider print and TV versions of the videos as well

In order to maximize the benefit of the campaign in terms of brand impressions translating to sales

21 Feb 2007 - 11:46 Melbourne

MrWeb2 says:  

Trading Post will use AutoCult as a way to extend the brand impression based advertising that they sell on Trading Post

AutoCult was designed and built by Venture Logic for the Trading Post

21 Feb 2007 - 16:57 Melbourne

MrWeb2 says:

Lexus Puts Out Test Drive Patch To Atari Game Players
by Karl Greenberg, Friday, Apr 13, 2007 6:00 AM ET
TAPPING INTO THE MARKETING PLATFORM of Internet-linked real-time game play, Lexus is reaching out to 18- to-34-year-old players through an arrangement with game-developer Atari, a New York-based subsidiary of Infogrames Entertainment SA, based in France.


Atari this week is launching a free, downloadable test-drive patch for its "Test Drive Unlimited" multi-player game. A "Lexus Car Pack," available at Xbox Live Marketplace, is for Xbox 360 owners who have also purchased "Test Drive Unlimited."

For Lexus, the effort--Lexus' only gaming initiative--is part of a broad push to promote the brand as a performance marque, as it prepares to roll out its first-ever performance sub-brand, "F", next year.

"The reason this was appealing was that, first of all it was quite a nice organic fit since it's truly a driving game," said Brian Bolain, national interactive and contextual marketing manager for the Torrance, Calif. division of Toyota. "We get a lot of proposals where you pay to have your vehicle in a game, but it's not--to borrow from my title--'contextual.'"

Lexus doesn't just have its cars in the game, but also a Lexus dealership, where, if a player earns enough points, he or she can go to pick up one of the Lexus vehicles. "So it involves us in multi-dimensional way." He said that, before the IS 350 went on sale last November, there were already "customers" lined up at the virtual dealership within the game.

[Excerpt Source: MediaPost.com]

14 Apr 2007 - 12:25 Melbourne