Myspace launches new interactive music videos

New interactive campaign allows consumers to feature in 10 interactive music videos.

Myspace Music has launched a campaign that gives consumers the chance to appear in ten interactive videos starring musicians such as Florence and the Machine, 50 Cent and Alicia Keys.

The campaign was masterminded by creative advertising agency BBH (where I have worked :)). Myspace users upload their images from Facebook Connect or Myspace ID, and then sit back and watch as they appear in the films.

The example given by Campaign Magazine is the ad starring Florence and the Machine (see image) where a photo is pinned to a wall that will show the user's face.
Following this, anyone who personalises an ad will be entered into a competition to have their pick of the artists, who also include Kasabian, Nelly Furtado and N-Dubz, write a song about them.

The original films will be aired on TV and are also accessible via teaser banners on websites.

I think this is a really nice idea that offers a real incentive for consumers to become involved with Myspace, a social network whos popularity in the UK has deminished recently following the rise of Facebook. The competition is very exciting. It would be an amazing one-off experience for anyone. Having your favorite artist sing a song made specifically for you is something I'm sure millions of fans have dreamt about. This is one of the great things about social media - innovative campaigns that offer high rewards to 'Joe Public' in return for brand participation. This type of offer wasn't being made before the rise of digital media and companies are re-thinking how they can offer something of great value to consumers that often results in positive word of mouth and eventually sales.

Internet ad spend grows during recession

In the first half of 2009 internet advertising weathered the recession and grew by 4.6% to £1,752.1m, despite the entire advertising sector contracting by 16.6% during the same period. In doing so, online advertising has overtaken TV for the first time.

The UK remains the world leader in terms of market share for online, with the medium accounting for 23.5% in the first half of 2009. The results signal a significant restructure of marketing budgets as advertisers follow their audiences online and look to the internet for even more measurable and accountable methods (via IABUK.net).



The IABUK outlines a number of key factors for growth: (link)

1. Advertising networks boosting the market - Alongside the major portals, advertisers are increasingly turning to networks to book their online campaigns. According to Econsultancy research, 70% of online advertisers and their agencies work with three online advertising networks or more. Almost half (46%) the say they are working with more ad networks than a year ago, an average of 31% of online display advertising budget is believed to be spent on online advertising networks.

2. Online as a direct response medium - This year has seen marketing budgets being stretched to their very limits, and online has proved its worth. With improved planning and insight tools which mean more advertisers flock to the medium to take advantage of its targeting, accountability and measurability.

3. Growth of new display formats - With the proliferation of video, the internet has become a highly engaging entertainment medium. Alongside tried and tested methods such as rich media, pre and post roll online video advertising is showing strong growth (a 195% increase year-on-year). This indicates advertisers’ willingness to experiment and invest in more engaging and interactive multimedia content.

4. Ecommerce booming - In a time of recession, people buying and shopping are taking to the internet for the best deals, making online the best place to reach bargain-hungry consumers. The continued annual growth in the online retail market is evidence that online is withstanding the challenges of the economic downturn and the retailers that continue to expand and improve their online presence.

5. Faster, cheaper broadband - 92% people now have a broadband speed on over 2MB and 56% of home broadband users now have wireless broadband driving audiences online and allows advertisers to provide consumers with richer branded content (BMRB Internet Monitor May 2009).



This is some great evidence to highlight the benefits for using online marketing and advertising during a recession. The popularity of the internet amongst the public has risen vastly as we all know over the past few years or so.


A possible reason for the internet's growth above TV might be down to the TV advertisments themselves. Commercials have been shown to be the most disliked aspect of watching 'live' TV by consumers. The internet can offer programs to watch at users leisure (BBC iPlayer, 4od etc) and often shows one or two adverts maximum per show.