Videoactive Vault

I love checking out consumer-generated media contests.  As they promise both profits and peril, you just really never know how they'll go. Given that uncertainty, Heinz has got to be happy with its contest's reception. The "Top This" challenge to create a winning ketchup commercial has just passed the eight thousand submissions mark. Because it's sensible, Heinz is reviewing the uploads before posting. To date, 2500 have made it to YouTube. So will the others, no doubt, just not on the official Heinz site. Viewers start voting later this month for one of 15 semi-finalists. The winner can anticipate a $57,000 grand prize.

Writing in the August issue of Media, Adrienne Mand Lewin surveys the explosion of media across multiple channels. Though advertising tactics have yet to catch up, the opportunities are unquestionably there. For the first time, even the big content providers are getting it. Forrester's James McQuivey sums up the networks' new attitude thus: "Suddenly, instead of saying, ‘They're copying our shows,' they're saying, ‘They're forwarding our ads.' It changes the game completely."

So how many times have you run across the phrase "Joost killer." Reputation goes a pretty long way, doesn't it? The guys behind Skype are the guys behind Joost, and that's about the only reason at this point why competitors might feel compelled to destroy it. Next week we'll probably be hearing about Babelgum killers, or Veoh killers. But at no point are we likely to hear of a Miro killer. Miro hopes to provide the same internet TV functionality that the others do, so why not? Simple: Miro is open source.

The Los Angeles Times is reporting that Second Life marketing may be grinding to a virtual halt. Only four or five months ago it seemed the gold rush was on. Companies raced to buy an island, build a store, and wait for the avatars to soak up their branding. Today, an increasing number of brand stand-ins stand empty -- no virtual customers, no virtual staff. No real benefits to speak of. The Times identifies two culprits: 1) despite the huge number of sign-ups, only about 30 to 40 thousand users are active at any one time; 2) those that are active are actively naughty, and what they're buying you can't buy in a mall.