Heinz Top This TV Challenge

Time is running out to enter the latest user generated ad contest. The deadline is August 6th. The top 15 will be voted on by the public starting August 26th. The top 5 will be seen on TV and the winner will receive $57,000. Is the user generated ad just a trend, or is it on its way to becoming a standard advertising practice?

At this point there doesn’t seem to be a lot of online buzz around this campaign unless of course you visit youTube. So far the original contest video has been viewed 1,167,834 times, 2197 people have submitted videos and from what I’ve seen, each of those user generated ads have been seen an average of 200 times for an addition 500,000 brand impressions. If you take these vewing numbers and compare them with the average $20 cost per thousand TV viewing impressions, Heinz has so far earned itself the price of a $33,000 media buy.

While these numbers would be great for a small company wanting to generate some cheap viral buzz, for a company like Heinz a $33,000 media buy is pretty insignificant and doesn’t even cover the cost of the prize money. What I’d like to argue, is what matters most to Heinz is not the 1.6 million brand impressions, but the 2197 newly created young infuential brand ambassadors that youTube has handed to them on a silver platter.

Technorati Tags: Heinz, Online Video, Advertising, User Generated Content

Spread the word:

If you like this post, then consider subscribing to our full feed RSS.

I saw it advertised on the back of the ketchup bottle the other night, right next to the ingredient list. Someone should do a video that explains to people exactly whats in ketchup: mainly high fructose corn syrup and your regular plain corn syrup. Some pretty nasty stuff. A good truth video…

Looks like the exact same things as the Dorito’s and Chevy Super Bowl “User Generated Ad Campaigns”, except they got to ride the Super Bowl PR train.

Great Article, It amazing to see the numbers.

In the new world of advertising and marketing with the internet changing so much in the last five years it seems like everyone is trying anything to keep up. I don’t think I’m alone when I thought Google was crazy for spending 1.65 Billion for You Tube. But now only one year later I think it’s a bargon.

I cant count how many times I visit you tube either to reference joke I saw on TV, a Commercial or a friend send me a comic link.

Viral Marketing, Extensive promotional sites, Contest with video submission seems to be a growing trend because of it’s success and ability to track he results. Almost everywhere you look there is another web site promotion popping up.

With the success rates and ability to track results I don’t think these site’s will be a passing faze, look how long we’ve had to deal with Reality Television. Thank god they’ve actually come up with a few that are decent.

If you haven’t read these past articles on VMB you may want to take a look.

hip-hop-promotion-is-on-the-rise-with-youtube
http://www.virtualmarketingblo.....h-youtube/

using-tubemogul-to-track-your-online-videos
http://www.virtualmarketingblo.....ne-videos/

As a working animator and a participant in this contest I can say that these campaigns provide great opportunity for people out there to create, which is always a very positive thing. This fact alone makes me a big fan of this type of marketing. seeing what’s out there, sometimes created by little kids with zero professional experience, is nothing short of inspiring. And it gets the rest of us to roll off of our a##’s and make something just for fun. The positive nature of campaigns such as this one HAS GOT to be valuable to the sponsor, numbers aside, because it leaves a lot of people out there associating their product with fun and creativity.

Hi Adam, thanks for the great comment. Many people have looked at the numbers I posted for this Heinz campaign and said “I’m surprised they are doing so poorly”. But one thing I should clarify is that the numbers I used were comparing it to Television CPM, and the Heinz YouTube campaign is a lot closer to experiential marketing than simple TV ad campaign. While most experiential marketing is about getting consumers to interact with a product at a live event, Heinz has harnessed YouTube to do this very same thing. Here is a great quote from a book I’m reading, Watch This Listen Up Click Here, that I think really nails what Heinz is actually achieving with this contest.

“While audiences for brand experiences are relatively small, they’re very deep. After people spend real time with you… they move up the relationship ladder from regular user or even loyalist to brand ambassador”

[...] Vía | Virtual Marketing blog [...]

The Heinz Top This TV Challenge has disqualified over 2,000 video entries, claiming the videos were not submitted properly. I properly submitted my video only to find out my entry has not been accepted. This is not right and something went very wrong with Heinz.

http://unfairtopthistvchallenge.blogspot.com/

Well, sometimes proper and improper can be something as simple as seeing a logo in the corner which is not endorsed by Heinz, or the music, or sound effects, or something that “grandma” would be offended by, or poor display of the product… oh so many things to look for.

If I could watch your commercial, I would try to spot what might have been the reason, but I don’t guarantee anything.

Cheers!

Yes those are good points George. However, I did not include any logos for another brand, only used their music/sound effects and it would definitely not offend grandma. Trust me, I have entered many, many video contests (and won a couple) and the first thing I always do is read the rules several times to make sure I don’t get dq’ed for things such as that.

Heinz messed up and had some obvious technical difficulties. One representative said they received over half the submissions on the final day of the contest. Now they’re offering a second contest for another $57,000 to try and smooth things over with all the upset people. That’s great, but Heinz is refusing to take any of the blame for the screw up.

http://www.petitiononline.com/.....ition.html
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07229/810137-28.stm

I’m disgusted with this. We too entered a great commercial, but when I looked at the top 15, I saw pro-looking commercial after pro-looking commercial.

In my humble opinion, having a contest like this shouldn’t be JUST for the people with a budget.

I feel like it was a farce to suggest any average person had a chance of winning if ONLY those with money, actors, budget, lighting, makeup, etc were even considered.

[...] who had trouble uploading their videos and were not accepted into the first contest. On our initial post about the contest we heard from several unhappy participants. Heinz said it received, 8000 videos, [...]

I can understand the frustration of that some people have experienced. I had a problem uploading the first time, but the second time was fine.

As far as professional submissions, nothing in the rules prohibit pros from entering unless they’re connected with the contest in some way. Heinz states full disclosure very clearly in the rules, so there are no surprises.

Compared to other contests, the prizes are quite generous.

The Heinz Top This TV Challenge has disqualified over 2,000 video entries, claiming the videos were not submitted properly. I properly submitted my video only to find out my entry has not been accepted.