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YouTube Show & Tell – Great Examples Of Interactive Videos, Brand Channels and More…

I’ve been meaning to post this for awhile, but slipped my mind.  We’ve posted in the past on how to create effective YouTube Contests (and eventual contests winners) and how to make your video more interactive through Choose Your Own Adventure type functionality.  YouTube finally came out with a section on its site called YouTube Show & Tell where you can see for yourself some of the best in breed for different areas like Branded Channels, Home Pages and Interactive Video.  Missing are best practices and videos from effective branded YouTube contests but I imagine this might be in part to brands not wanting to release information on their campaigns.  Hopefully, it’s something that will be updated soon…otherwise you can always check out previous branded YouTube contests here.

*Note – I didn’t mention the ‘Viral Hits’ section b/c I basically don’t think it should be included here.  Viral Hits/Videos aren’t something you can create and are very hit or miss (99% more miss than hits.)  I think this continues to confuse unsuspecting brands who think someone can create a video that will definitely go viral…

What’s New in Interactive Video – 09/29/09

• DEMO: Hand Eye Technologies Lets Your Mobile Phone Watch TV With You
• YouTube Now Hawking Click To Buy Ringtones
• Katalyst HQ Is Facebook’s First Hit Series – Can It Be Copied?
• YouTube Launches The Creator’s Corner
• Netflix CEO Wants Streaming Service On All Consoles
• BMW Upgrades Site To Web/TV Platform
• Level 26: Cross Platform Digital Novel (Using Webisodes Between Chapters)
• Doritos Asylum 626 Interactive Video – Watch The Trailer Video Here
• Altoids, Fox Partner On Online and Mobile Series
• The Skier Caught In An Avalanche Video
• Recent Examples Of Brands Using Annotated Interactive Video On YouTube

Recent Examples Of Brands Using Annotated Interactive Video On YouTube

As we’ve discussed in the past, YouTube’s Annotation feature allows you to turn normal YouTube videos Interactive to create Choose Your Own Adventure Stories (CYOA), Trivia Games, and so on.  Over the last few months, we’ve seen major brands starting to embrace the CYOA format so we felt it might be worth listing a few recent efforts that are using annotated interactive video to great effect.  We’ve also listed one effort that needs some work.

In no particular order…

The U.K. Knife Adventure

Created as a PSA to educated youths on the dangers of knife crime in the U.K., this CYOA campaign uses Annotations to create an interactive experience showing the results of different paths you choose.  The key to this campaign working is the well done production values that make the experience very life-like.

Sony Ericsson – W995 Interactive Product Demonstration

This interactive CYOA product demonstration for the W995 is in German but it’s well produced and it’s very clear that it was created specifically for YouTube and Annotation interactivity.

Universal – Don’t Miss A Beat II Music Trivia Challenge

Using annotations on videos allows for interactive programs like Music Trivia Challenges and Universal has done a great job promoting their artists’ videos using this particular method.  You can view the Don’t Miss A Beat II Music Video Challenge on Universal / Interscope’s Main YouTube Page.

Norton Antivirus

I’m including this example in the hopes of pointing out a few things that you need to be careful of when producing Annotated Interactive Video.  For starters, you should allow enough time for the YouTube consumer to realize that they are in fact being asked to click on the video to choose a path.  It’s critical that you highlight your annotations and keep the annotations present for at least 12-15 seconds.  This will give your end viewer enough time (hopefully) to figure out that they should click on the video.  The other thing I wanted to point out about this video is that it feels as if it was shot for broadcast and then as an afterthought, put on YouTube with annotations.  It doesn’t have the feel of an actual CYOA video but at least the effort is there.  You can view the CYOA videos on Norton’s YouTube Page.