At Brandsplat, we’re all for anybody becoming the next online multi-media maven. The great thing about today’s landscape of digital media is that anyone can launch his or her own blogs and newsfeeds. With the right amount of promotion and gumption, these little blogs can become widely read and forwarded brand names in online media. So it struck us as odd when Glenn Beck, he of the ridiculously high rated Fox show and of the recent rally in Washington D.C., announced with his usual red-faced fanfare that he was launching a website a la The Huffington Post to serve as “news and opinion” (and by opinion he means his opinion) called The Blaze.

Beck, agree with him or not, is trying to establish himself as a brand name in conservative journalism — and he has the flock of sheep to prove that he’s capable of doing so. Our issue here is not with his politics but with the utterly whack name of his new website. To prove how uninspired a name The Blaze actually is, we’ve collected a few other, longer-established websites and media outlets from the Interweb that were called The Blaze first.

The Blaze, as it turns out, is a super popular moniker for radio stations. Country, alternative, hip-hop and classic rock stations all seem to favor the name. Poor Beck’s fans might be in for a surprise if they accidentally visit the wrong Blaze and wind up listening to the latest hit by T- Pain. From Tyler, Texas, to Chico, Calif., we dug up at least four radio stations dubbed “The Blaze.” Strange that Beck’s marketing folks didn’t catch this, especially seeing as he was discovered on morning radio. The biggest chuckle in the bunch definitely comes from down under, where The Blaze is a popular gay and lesbian news website. Visitors to this Blaze are greeted with a distinctly un-Red State view of a man’s behind in black underwear. And it doesn’t end there. We found a head shop, a strip club, a barbershop quartet newsletter (?) and we fondly remember it as the name of the school newspaper on the original 90210 run by that pesky Andrea Zuckerman.

We’re certainly not in the business of politics here at Brandsplat, but the lesson from The Blaze is a good one everyone, regardless of his or her field. Choosing our website and brand names is an important move that needs to be mulled over with careful consideration. Beck omitting his own name in the title somewhere in the website is a big mistake. Beck is a brand name already and leaving it out of the equation is a definite fumble. It is important to have consistent branding and thoughtful company names, especially in the era of mass Google confusion.

Now you tell us: What website names fail to hit the right marks? Blaze up our comments section below!

While we clickety-clacked on our keyboards, relentlessly checking our e-mail and social media inboxes, Internet data tracker-types noticed something strange: For the first time in its history, Facebook’s ever-dominating growth suddenly petered out. The site added a mere 320,000 new U.S. users in June, down from the nearly 8 million in May. So why the drastic drop? According to this piece at PCWorld.com, the bad press swirling around Facebook and its security issues may have scared off Facebook virgins in droves. Even more surprising is that Facebook’s bread and butter demographic — 18- to 44-year-olds — kindly said “no, thank you” to the site. This coveted group of users was down about 150,000 from the previous month. The privacy story hit like a tornado, appearing everywhere from ABC’s Good Morning America to CNN. The fear is that one day Facebook may hand over user information to potential advertisers.

According to this Wall Street Journal story, that day may be just around the corner. The article announces a new ad platform that Facebook will use to supply big companies with your information depending on whether you’ve mentioned them on your Facebook page. For example, if you love Pepsi and say so on Facebook, this new platform will customize ads to your page. Some call it a brand loyalty advertising platform, while others are saying that Facebook is crossing the line.

But what does any of this mean for marketers and small businesses? Honestly? Not much. It doesn’t really matter if you ethically agree or disagree with Facebook’s privacy policies. You can disagree with the power of the thing. But Facebook remains the one-stop social networking destination for PR, advertising, client communications and campaign launches. What does matter is protecting yourself and your business/clients. So in lieu of hoping that Facebook will stop pimping out your information (because that’s not happening. Ever.), we have to thoughtfully post on Facebook pages. Running Facebook pages for clients means that we take care of their image and don’t leave them prey to a bunch of spam. For individuals, less is more with Facebook. Leaving off your work information, what you like to eat and where you shop will prevent you from becoming demographics roadkill.

But where do you darlings stand on this debate? Will breach of privacy bring Facebook to its knees? Any nightmare social networking privacy stories you’d like to share with the class? And, lastly, should the government step in to monitor social media like the FCC does television? Debate your behinds off below!

Branding and online branding are feasts that can currently be prepared and served in a billion different ways. Like any appetizing treat, some actually have real substance while others are just filler.

An article in the New York Times on Sunday profiled the way products get placed in films and on television in today’s saggy market. It showcases how films like Up in the Air mention Hilton hotels and American Airlines in exchange for covering the costs of marketing the movie. The process of branding in films and television has to more…

Eyeballs are drawn to video like bees to honey. Not only that, interesting video content can generate a healthy amount of link juice and serve as a portal to your website. Let’s say you have a great video that you’re proud of, but you’re not sure how to optimize your opus to maximize exposure. Well, just like any content on the Internet, you’ll have to make it findable for the SERPs. But where to start? Check out this recent post on iMediaConnection for 10 SEO tips for YouTube. Good advice if you are going the YouTube route. But is YouTube the best way to publish? Third party sites like YouTube can get you the exposure you may want, but this angle may not be right for everyone. It really comes down to what the strategy for your video is. Step one is to figure out what you want the end result of your video to be. Are you driving traffic to your site? Or are you creating an online reputation for yourself?

Some things to consider when optimizing your video content:

1. Have a keyword strategy and tag your video with meta data,
2. Transcribe your video in text format so it can be seen by meta crawlers
3. Understand the effect of your hosting options (on your site vs. sites like YouTube)
4. Craft a catchy title to lure in viewers
5. Time your videos for short attention spans
6. Allow users to share and spread your video by offering the option to embed and rate your video
7. Brand your video with a logo watermark

To get a better understanding of publishing options and Tips for Optimizing Online Video Content, click on the video below that comes to us via SEOmozBlog’s Whitebroard Friday. Enjoy.

Social media is just one of many new media outlets that brands have at their disposal to communicate to loyal customers and new prospect. Trying to figure out how to get your brand in front of the right customers may be a daunting task considering the plethora of media channels available to marketers. Between traditional media like print, radio and television and new media like Twitter, Facebook and Youtube, choosing the right outlets for a brand can be massive undertaking. According to a recent survey, more marketers and brand managers are considered creating their own content and delivering it directly to their target market. The survey, conducted by custom media guru King Fish Media , was completed by 230 respondents who were either in corporate management or marketing/sales management. Among the respondents, a whopping 86% said their company was planning to create original content for their customers/prospects. The survey suggests that digital media strategies are becoming attractive to advertisers and marketers because they offer a more affordable solution than traditional media outlets do.  According to the survey,

“Structural and cultural changes are leading companies and brands increasingly toward original content in the form of their own media channels and in custom media and social media networks. These company-owned and managed media channels give them direct interactive access to customers and prospects, allowing for more measurable return on investment.”

This growing trend has produced brand engagement on a scale never seen before. Sites like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook offer brands and customers a back-and-forth type of opportunity to communicate. This can have a real effect on customer loyalty and the bottom line. More and more brands are opting to use these new media outlets because they offer a two-way conversation rather than the old one-way conversation more traditional media offers. To download a copy of the King Fish Media 2009 Survey on Marketing, Media and Measurement, click here .

As digital video is becoming more and more accessible to Joe Interweb, more websites are adding video to their user experience than ever before. Let’s say you are one of the lucky few who have figured out how to produce, edit and convert an eye-catching video to post, but you’re not really sure what is the best way to get it out there. The most common question we get here at Brandsplat is whether to post videos on YouTube or to keep it housed on the company website. The answer often relies on the strategy for having a video, the size of the company, and the budget. If the strategy is to build traffic to the company site, often times we suggest doing a bit of both by having two versions of your video; a longer format for your site and a shorter one for YouTube. Or, we encourage companies to incentivize a visit to the company’s home site in the video itself.

There are definitely pros and cons for posting your company’s video on YouTube. Check out our next blog for more on this.

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I came across an interesting video post on Business Insider discussing the subject of how traditional media and new media are after different things and how that effects relationships with independent content creators.  The gist of it is that independent content creators may shy away from networks because they want to retain the control of what they produce. This way, they own their own creation, and don’t have to give up intellectual property rights up to a big conglomerate and they can spread their content over multiple access points instead of  just one access point (e.g., a network television station). Why wouldn’t you want your opus to be found in multiple formats like embedded clips, on YouTube, on blip.tv on your own branded website, etc. While the Interweb continues to be an open format that encourages content distribution via multiple platforms, old media continues to find innovative ways to control it’s content and how and where its audience views aforementioned content, thus, in my opinion, missing out on opportunities to showcase fresh new content from people not willing to give up their intellectual property rights. On the other end of the spectrum are companies like Blip.tv which encourages the sharing of content AND offers distribution via multiple platforms. What’s ridunculously cool is that if you have a high-quality vid, blip.tv even allows you to distribute across the TiVo platform, which I find extremely cool. For more on Blip.tv and how independent content creators are taking the Internet by storm, click on  the video below for an interview with Dina Kaplan, Co-Founder of blip.tv

GAP used to be the king of cool on television commercials with lively music tracks and slick choreography against clean white backgrounds. In a recent effort to convince folks that GAP is cool again, The GAP has released a new ad campaign titled “Born to fit”. But long gone are the dancing hipsters on white backgrounds. Print, theater and outdoor ads all drive consumers to a Born To Fit Facebook page. Facebook likes this because it may get folks who aren’t Facebook members to sign up. Gap likes this because they can trace how effective their ad campaign is by who is interacting with the site. I went ahead and clicked through their Facebook page and clicked on a tiny box that played a video of what I presumed was a GAP fashion designer who was sitting on a stool facing the camera. After sitting through the piece I discovered that the designer, Patrick Robinson, is “interested in things” and was “born to explore”.  OK, I get that testimonials are good way to sell products, but what I didn’t understand was what the (insert expletive here) does that have to do with dungarees? I felt un-entertained. That is, until I scrolled down to read some of the comments posted by visitors to the branded Facebook page. They read as follows:

1. Gap Sucks.

2. Gap love you!!!!!!!!!!!!

3. Gay.

4. Very empowering.

5. I thought this was Todd Bridges.

I chuckled at number 5, so at least it wasn’t a complete waste of time. But maybe I’m not the target market for the brand. Perhaps they are targeting younger, willing-to-sit-through serious YouTube-like vids of people who want to wax on about life, or a person who likes to wear GAP jeans. It all seems so cerebral. I just want a pair of jeans that look good. Damn, I miss the dancing people on the white backgrounds throwing each other up in the air.

If you’re like me, you probably use the Internets multiple times throughout the day. Much of my time is spent seeking out engaging or entertaining content. However, what was once a search for the printed word has now turned into the hunt for great video content. So says a report in an April 2009 survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project which concludes that 62% of online adults watch video when surfing the Internet. The report also states that video viewing has doubled since 2006. Those are big numbers and they are growing. Viewing habits of television and movies are currently transforming and migrating to the Internet. More and more people are hybrid-ing their computers and their televisions so that they can enjoy on-demand type entertainment via their computer instead of via their cable or satellite option. This has also caused a decrease in demand for cable and satellite services because much of the entertainment you find on the Internet bypasses the monthly fee that is so common among cable operators. Also, sites like msnbc.com offer free streams of nightly programs like the Rachel Maddow show among others. And, you can access these shows from computer or phone via podcasts. Whether you’re a couch potato or world traveler, you can now have your video wherever you want and whenever you want.  Could this mean the beginning of the end for the boob tube? Probably not. But the Internet and television and silver screen are starting to blur.

Don’t expect people to come knocking down your door just because you have a website. The bottom line is you must have products and/or services people are interested in first and foremost. No duh, right? Let’s say you know there is a demand for what you’re offering and you are ready to attract traffic to your site. This is where Brandcasting comes in. Think of Brandcasting like casting a bag of seeds across a vast field (the Internet). Each seed that is cast will need to be nourished and watered in order to grow tall enough to have a presence. But once a presence is established, you will see many iterations of your brand sprouting up for any passerby to come across. The longer you nourish the seedling, the higher and more prominent it grows.

There are lots of ways to deploy intelligent brand marketing online. We’re just scratching the surface here. I haven’t even touched on press releases, banner ad campaigns, viral videos, ppc campaigns, newsletters, affiliate programs, email marketing and a whole slew of other tools a business or an individual can apply for effective Brandcasting.

The metaphor of scattering seeds and then nourishing them is an apt one. For example, lets say one such seed is intended to grow a branded blog for your company. Having the best blog or writing the best entries doesn’t mean diddlysquat unless someone is interested enough in what you’re offering. So it is really important that you nourish your blog with quality content and engaging information and “water” your blog daily, that is, add content to it daily.  Having a good mix of seeds is helpful too. Having a multi-level marketing strategy that employs the best combination of “seeds” may be the best way attract different niche audiences. So one set of seeds may be intended to grow the company blog variety, another seed is intended to create a presence via article marketing, another seed may be intended to give your brand a video presence, and so on. Ultimately, you want the right mix of seeds to catch the attention of the right mix of customers.

Whether you do it yourself, or hire a company like Brandsplat to deploy an intelligent online branding campaign, you have to choose a strategy and remember to manage your strategy as certain milestones are met. Brandcasting can boost your company’s visibility and over time can give your brand a lasting footprint on the Internet. Just remember that it takes time to build your presence online and don’t get frustrated if you don’t see results right away. Cast those seeds, water and feed them and watch them grow your brand into one that has a healthy presence on the web. Happy farming.