We all get the occasional video link forwarded to us, which either leads to an inquisitive click or an “I’ve seen that” reply. For those of us on social video sites, such as YouTube, we see “top videos” float by from day to day. Many of these videos are simply people showing off silly stunts or funny moments, others may be amusing or interesting commercials produced by marketers.

Then there are the attempts at fusing the two, such as Logitech’s “My Webcam” campaign, which they had nothing to do with, according to the webcam manufacturer. (The jury is still out on that one)

Another notable fictitious “vlog” series involving “lonelygirl15” gave rise to the possibility of actually scripting a series of videos and hiring actors. Just how much control a marketer should and can have over the content and creation of online videos is something that most people in the interactive space are trying to find out.

Recently, Dove has been pushing this fusion to new levels by empowering users to create and display their videos; and even integrating the initiatives into their on and offline marketing strategy which focuses on the natural (and sometimes overlooked) beauty in every woman. You may have seen the “Campaign for Real Beauty” that was initially launched with great pass-along success. Now I see they are taking things to the next level by asking women to “turn their shirt inside out” - a campaign with extreme viral potential and happens to completely tie into their clear antiperspirant product line.

By guiding user generated content and then giving users a platform beyond a social video site (and in this case beyond the online space), Dove has taken viral video to the next level. I am excited to see what they will do next and what marketers will take this model and expand upon it further.

Last night, along with millions of other viewers, I was glued to the tube for the Super Bowl.

Every year we hear about how much focus (and money) is put on the advertising time available and I’m usually surprised by the shortcomings of these multi-million dollar spots. In the past, extremely creative and often humorous commercials meant to get people talking fell short with brand connectivity. This is still an issue to some degree, such as a 4th quarter spot with Jay Z and Don Shula orchestrating the game using a holographic game board…although the post production effects were “neat” (and reminiscent of the rappers “CEO of Hiphop” spot that he did for HP last year)…will anyone recall that this was a promotion for Bud Select?

What really surprised me this year was the lack of URL references for some campaigns that had a high potential for attracting additional information seekers. One good example is Revlon, who I had read would be going out on a limb this year by promoting their “Not Fade Away” campaign featuring Sheryl Crow. For some reason, this spot failed to provide any reference to an online destination. In fact, by visiting their site, the only mention of the campaign is a link to iTunes, where you can download a song by Crow. From the looks of the commercial spot, I would imagine that there is a wealth of tour footage, out-takes and other content that hungry consumers would garble up and spread throughout the web.