Top 5 custom video contests on the Internet

Going to hold the next popular science video contest on my website, I studied several user video contests of recent years. I present to you a small review of the most notable and interesting of them, as well as a couple of thoughts about amateur videos and their use in online advertising!

There is more and more talk that online video is gradually “killing” television. Short, memorable videos of Youtube format sometimes in a couple of days gain the number of views, comparable to the audience of the largest TV channel.

And it's not just about the format, the majority of people are attracted by the element of interactivity: you can comment on the video, join the discussion with the author, and even add your video response!

The largest international and Russian brands, of course, also caught this trend. And they often carry out advertising campaigns, using video not of television, but of Internet format.
')
We all saw viral commercials shot to order by professionals. But in this review I would like to look at some of the most vivid examples of user video contests of recent years, show the best work and at the end try to highlight the features and advantages of this type of promotional activities on the Internet!


Competition "Remove in 60 seconds" from the brand Jameson and the magazine Empire

The Jameson brand is a sponsor of the world famous contest of parodies of famous films “Shoot in 60 Seconds” . About 250 film lovers took part in the 2011 contest from Russia. Of these, the professional jury selected 5 finalists for the trip to London to compete for the main award of the Jameson Empire Awards ceremony in the relevant category.

A huge response from the audience this year received a video "Avatar". He was not only awarded by the jury in the nomination "The best special effects", but also won the audience award following an open vote!




Competition "Theory of Fun" from Volkswagen

Swedish creatives have come up with a contest called “The Fun Theory,” the meaning of which is that the best way to get people to change their habits is to add a little fun to familiar things.

The number of bids exceeded 700. Among the applicants for the main prize (2500 Euro) were the authors of the sounding piano ladder, the deepest trash bin in the world and the garbage-machine for games.

The winner was an American Kevin Richardson, who proposed the idea of ​​the speed camera lottery, which captures not only speed violators, but also those who follow the rules, and then among the exemplary drivers a lottery is held, the main prize of which is money paid by unscrupulous drivers for speeding.





Competition "Mood improves" company "Euroset"

Participants had to remove and mount the video, in accordance with the established rules and using the logo of the cellular retailer. The authors chose their own strategy for promoting their video on the Internet. All this was given two and a half months.

More than 50 works were submitted to the competition, and the total number of videos viewed was 2,107,824. The first prize in the amount of 175,000 rubles went to Andrei Potapov (Stavropol) for the movie “Be with the Phone”, which received 327,243 views!





The song contest “Big Mac - do not stand in any way!” From McDonalds

The contestants were asked to post their audio or video version of the famous advertising Big Mac song about a sesame bun. It was not necessary to be a professional musician, the main thing is to show desire, talent, sense of rhythm and sense of humor!

The contest lasted exactly one month. The best versions of the song at the first stage were determined by open voting, and the winners from 10 finalists were chosen by the jury, which included the leading MTV. The main prize was hit on the air MTV and 5 tickets to the ceremony MTV Russia Music Awards.





Competition "Cuban Mood" by Havana Club

You can see how this contest works in action , since the call for applications has not yet ended. The authors of the brightest and incendiary videos about how they have fun in the Cuban style, will receive a ticket to Cuba and many other prizes from the brand of Cuban rum Havana Club.

Especially popular is a funny amateur video about how “Cubans” entertain subway passengers with songs with a guitar. To participate in the competition, you do not need to have directing or acting skills, but in order to shoot a video clip, you can use anything you want - a video camera, a camera, a telephone. Only a few weeks have passed since the start of the contest, and there have already been about fifty participants, and the total number of views of their videos on Youtube was several tens of thousands!

So, if you want, you can still win a trip to Cuba or a camera. Contest rules here - video.havanaclub.ru/rules/ .



-

As you can see, it is often the format of custom video contests that sometimes allows you to get real Youtube hits!

What else is more remarkable about this format? I highlighted the following points:

1) Such contests contribute to a much deeper involvement of people in the life and ideology of the brand than ordinary advertising. Friends and relatives of the contest participants are also covered: they help to make videos, actively vote on sites, agitate their friends (including in social networks) to vote, etc.

2) The brand becomes more popular. People see that it is advertised not only by high-priced, high-priced agencies, but by a real guy from a neighboring yard!

3) Due to the large number of participants, often the company gets an extremely WIDE REACH for its promotional campaign. Attendance is growing due to the number of ordinary viewers who follow the development of events, support the videos they like and discuss the works on the contest website.

4) Sometimes REAL MASTERPIECES and truly creative solutions are born that not every professional will figure out!

Know other interesting examples of such custom contests? Leave links in the comments!