This Saturday is the Second Annual Hope Gala, the American Cancer Society's premier gala event in Seattle. We are fortunate to have been involved with the Gala since the inaugural event last year, but this year was a little more special for us.

As many of you know, our director Rich found out he had cancer shortly after last year's Gala. We were able to see the help that the ACS provides to cancer patients and their families, free of charge. We created a video to tell Rich's story, and also provide a call to action for people that want to help.

Seattle Cancer Benefit Gala - 2010 ACS Hope Gala from Martini Media on Vimeo.

The great news is that there are still tickets available for this year's event! For more information, visit the Gala homepage or keep up with the latest news on Facebook or Twitter. For last minute ticket purchase, contact Sally Bose at 206.674.4162 or reach her by email.

So YouTube has finally added a video editing capability. It's actually pretty snazzy, though its not likely to revolutionize video editing in general, but it does give you some added creative possibilities with your online videos.

Up till now, all you could do was upload to YouTube whatever video you've got, whether its something taken with a point and shoot in a dark bar or your film school magnum opus, and that's that. Hopefully you'd remember to actually title it something. In that case you were way ahead of the game compared to most. 

Now, you have the added capability of taking pieces of your uploaded videos and combining them into whatever new videos you'd like to create. Kind of like a DJ mash up, a VJ mash up if you will (Bonus points to anyone who remembers where the term VJ actually originated from). You can take cuts from a single video multiple times and just keep repeating their placements in the timeline to create a shorter, condensed, and better edited version of the video, and also combine other video footage with it. It's actually pretty cool.

Audio is a bit tricky, unless you want to replace the sound entirely from YouTube's built in library. That'll put some banner advertisements on your page, but music is definitely an added plus considering there really isn't any special audio editing you can do. So unless you like abrupt sound cuts and audio spikes, I suggest rethinking your opinion on montages. They maybe cliche, but they always work in a pinch.

Some of you maybe thinking you can now create a completely new video from scratch using this new YouTube feature as an "online video editor," but that's really not the case. In theory you could try, but it would be a pretty painstaking process, especially if you've got a lot of footage to parse and edit. But if you have only a few clips of video you'd like to string together, this new YouTube editor will do just that.

Overall, a much needed and appreciated extra perk from the folks at YouTube.

Michelle and Rich talk soccer and Martin's noticeable absence.

Nike Football "Write the Future" World Cup Ad - Martini Media Vlog from Martini Media on Vimeo.

Position: After Effects Designer
Location: Seattle, WA
Status: Contractor with possible full-time opportunity
Employment term: Per project 
Start date: Immediately
Pay: DOE

Martini Media, a full-service video production and video marketing agency based in Seattle, WA, seeks an After Effects Designer for upcoming projects. Martini Media began as the video production arm of Martini Design five years ago, creating high-concept marketing videos for clients like Microsoft, Concur, and the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce. Along with high-concept pieces, we also provide lower-concept business films that are perfect for small to mid-size businesses.

General Description: We are looking for an After Effects Designer who will work within both the design and video realm. Due to the diverse breadth of work we create, our AE designer will need to be comfortable designing a 60-second spot as well as a website comp. Frequent interaction with a collaborating team of creative directors, project managers, developers and designers will be part of day-to-day operations. Common tasks may include animating designs created by the art director, designing small animations, bouncing between straight editing in Final Cut to animating in After Effects, and completing update requests on video edits.

Software Skill Requirements (skill level):
• After Effects (intermediate/expert)
• Flash (intermediate)
• Motion (intermediate)
• Photoshop/Illustrator (intermediate/expert)
• Final Cut Pro (intermediate)

"Nice to Have" Software Skills:
• Expression Blend
• 3D tools
• Green screen software
• Soundbooth

Other Required Characteristics/Skills
• Sense of humor. We’re a small shop, and we like to have fun. You should too! 
• Desire to tell stories through their work
• Ability to interact with clients

Michelle, Martin, and Rich discuss Nike Golf's latest commercial featuring Tiger Woods and his dead father, Earl Woods.

Nike Tiger Woods Ad: Earl and Tiger - Martini Media Vlog from Martini Media on Vimeo.

Jeremy Scott wrote an excellent piece today about the importance of goal setting when creating videos that convert. In his piece, he wrote that conversions are not the same thing as sales; too often, business decision makers use these terms interchangeably, and marketers need to remind them that there are other ways to measure if a viewer converts besides an increase in sales.

In addition to sales, increasing web traffic, increasing awareness and share of voice, and changing perception are three other common forms of conversion that your video can help you increase. As Mr. Scott mentioned, a producer should not start any video project without having a clear idea of what the goals of the project are. Likewise, you should not launch a video without fully understanding where your starting position is. Key questions to ask before launch are as follows:

1. What is my current site traffic like? How are visitors interacting with my website?
2. Approximately how much traffic do my competitors get?
3. Besides my company website, what is my brand presence online? What is your competitors' online brand presence?
4. How often is my industry discussed on blogs, forums, or social networks? Who is doing the talking?
5. How often are my competitors discussed on blogs, forums, or social networks? Is the sentiment positive, negative, or a mixture of both?
6. How often is my business discussed on blogs, forums, or social networks? Is the sentiment positive, negative, or a mixture of both?

Web traffic is the easiest metric to measure. If you have analytics installed on your site, you can easily see where your traffic is coming from and what paths the users take once on your site. Using Google Analytics, you can set up goals and funnels to see how many people perform a certain action on your site (like sign up for a newsletter or submit a form), then see how they got to that point with funnel visualization. By connecting the entrance source to the goal, you can see how many people not only came to your site from the video, but if those visitors performed a desirable action.

Using sites like compete.com and quantcast.com, you can obtain some basic information about your competitors' sites as well. Although not completely accurate, this data can give you a good gauge for how you stack up against your competitors, and if your video marketing efforts are helping you increase your share of voice.

If you a new company, and your goal is to merely get some brand recognition and establish differentiation. Creating a memorable and relevant video is an easy way to increase awareness for your brand. Because video is compact and transferable, you can post video content in multiple sites and increase your exposure.

We recommend posting content to multiple video shares, posting on your social networks, and submitting to social bookmarking sites. Track your awareness by views on these sites. There are several free tools to monitor your mentions, including Google Alerts, Twitter search, and Social Mention. There are also several tools that are available for a low monthly fee and offer more robust ways to monitor the web.

How do you measure if you've changed the way a person thinks about your brand? Perception or sentiment can be measured by listening to your audience. Often, when your brand awareness increases through video, people will begin to talk about your content and your brand. Listen to them and interact. Use social networks as a customer service channel to respond to advocates and critics. Interact with viewers in the comments section on your video shares. You can create conversations in the comments that will extend your brand's message beyond the video.

Traffic, awareness, and perception often do lead to sales, but if increased sales is the only conversion rate you are measuring, you are probably missing opportunities to build your brand and create advocates. By starting a video project with clear goals, establishing a starting point for measurement, measuring your results, and acting upon those results, you can create a successful video campaign to increase your conversion rates, whatever they may be.

Michelle, Rich, and Martin discuss Lady Gaga's latest video "Telephone," featuring Beyonce and a LOT of product placement.

Lady Gaga - Telephone ft. Beyonce - Martini Media Vlog from Martini Media on Vimeo.

Thanks to everyone that came to our presentation at the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce yesterday. For those that missed it, you can watch the Ustream video or view the presentation below.

SlideShare does not allow for embedded videos; view those below.

Seattle Computer Whisperer from Martini Media on Vimeo.


Heavy lifting tool for do-it-yourself gardeners, landscapers from Martini Media on Vimeo.

This time of year seems to bring out the sporty in everyone. Maybe that's why this month's most infectious viral videos so far seem to be sports themed, minus the jerseys. That's right: a little sun break from winter and all the sudden nakedness is in full bloom. You can thank your lucky sneakers for it, provided they're Reeboks.

First up is the infamous Chuck Lidell naked workout video: Chuck Liddell Naked Workout I doubt anyone was ever really fooled, but does it matter? It's the best of the best, all the infamy of a leaked sex video without the shame and bad night vision shots. Actually there may be some shame involved, but nothing that fat endorsement check from Reebok can't wash away faster than any cold shower ever could. Speaking of a cold shower, if Chuck's girlfriend ran any longer on that treadmill most viewers would be forced to take one themselves.

But if she wasn't enough to sell shoes, Reebok closes the deal with this next ad, featuring talking female body parts: Reebok Easy Tone Shoes Obviously targeted to both sexes, the ad messages well. If you buy a new pair of shoes, your body improves. In fact, parts of your body may even begin talking. Maybe that's not such a good thing, especially considering how caddy a pair of scorned breasts could be. But nonetheless, who doesn't like self-improvement? The only silent body part seemed to be the butt. Maybe THAT is a good thing.

What the ads also say is that Reebok is going all in. They don't seem to mind offending someone/anyone. Sooner or later nudity is bound to make someone uncomfortable, and I don't just mean guys worrying about Chuck's junk getting smashed on squat rack during a awkward forced rep. No, we mean there are bound to be women's groups in an uproar over both ads, angry at the objectification of women. Point taken. Of course, life on the internet is full of opportunities for offending, which is precisely why Reebok chose the internet for these ads. People who get offended tend to voice their opinions in the comments field. Which of course lead to...you guessed it; more hits.

The internet offers a lot of leeway broadcast media doesn't, in terms of production values, product messaging, etc. Unfortunately nothing is sacred, any YouTube comment will tell you that. If the goal is to get attention, Reebok certainly scored. As far as brand presence and image goes, well...Reebok is taking a chance, flying by the seat of their pants. That is...if they're wearing any pants. Only time and the almighty hit counter will tell if it was indeed worth the risks taken.