CYBRA's "MarkMagic" Videos Deliver Humor Plus Product Benefits
One thing I’ve had on my radar of late is whether video + YouTube fits into the B2B marketing toolbox.
Video is great for demonstrating how things work — like this printing object video by Dimatix.
But, can B2B successfully develop viral video campaigns for YouTube the way B2C companies have done? (I’m thinking here about Dove’s evolution campaign, and the Will It Blend series, to name just two.)
The answer, I’m happy to say, is yes!
Check out these lively videos from CYBRA that describe their MarkMagic bar coding software.
After watching three of the videos — and being somewhat brain dead due to numerous deadlines this week — I can tell you the product benefits from memory:
You no longer have to write your own code — the software does it for you.
The software prints out bar code labels and RFID tags — fast and easy.
CYBRA developed six MarkMagic videos which are funny, clean, easy to watch, and brief. In just two short minutes, the company is able to get its message across clearly and succinctly.
I like them! Kudos to Morty Schiller — the copywriter who developed the script.
(CYBRA should seriously consider pitching Mr. 2K as a guest for the Ellen DeGeneres show. For an old guy, he has some serious moves!)
May 18th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
Dianna,
Thanks for the thumbs up!
Just for the record, I wrote the scripts in collaboration with CYBRA’s VP for Solutions, Sheldon Reich.
One interesting hitch came up, one that anyone considering YouTube for B2B marketing should be aware of: We kept hearing from people in offices where YouTube was blocked on their computers. The offices also blocked the YouTube streams, even where a player was embedded in another website (like the one you added into your blog). We had to start giving the address of the MarkMagic landing page: http://www.markmagic.com as an alternative way for people to view the videos. Naturally, this also affected the number of page views on YouTube.
I don’t know what Google can do about it, maybe set up a separate site that filters any non-business content. How about BizTube?
May 18th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Morty,
Actually, the WSJ wrote about this very issue a few months ago. Here is my blog post on it: http://marcom-writer-blog.com/?p=215
May 18th, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Dianna,
Maybe we should launch our own business video site!
Morty
June 9th, 2008 at 12:02 pm
[...] agree with Marjorie, and as Morty Schiller has posted previously in a comment, YouTube could have a business filter or perhaps start a BizTube site for [...]
September 13th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
Like the “BizTube” angle, but seems to be taken already: http://www.BizTube.tv and trade marked!
Business video definitely the way forward to monetizing videos online. Guess though a video production model needs to be included as it is inevitable that businesses would want a more upmarket production than than a video taken on a mobile phone and put up on YouTube.