Cisco Miami: Examples of Successful Web 2.0 Marketing

The VAR Guy is hanging out at Cisco’s Velocity partner forum in Miami today, hearing about effective Web 2.0 marketing strategies that partners can potentially embrace. Here are five examples mentioned during the event so far.

1. Think Like Judson: Cynthia Gordon, VP of new media marketing at Universal Studios Orlando, describes how a YouTube video featuring comedian Judson Laipply had more than 65 million views. Savvy marketing companies, she noted, would pay big bucks to be the logo on Judson’s shirt.2. Will It Blend?: Use humor in your online videos to drive media and customer interest. Check out the”Will It Blend?” video, notes David Meerman Scott, author of The New Rules of Marketing and PR.3. Lower Your Guard: Invite customers and partners into your company through tools like YouTube. Show employees working behind the scenes. Show videos of prototype products that didn’t make the cut. Microsoft, for one, often talks about its key learnings from focus groups. It would be far more compelling for Microsoft to actually publish video clips from those groups — rather than just talking about lessons learned from the groups, according to David Pogue, the New York Times technology columnist.

4. Grow By Aiming Small: Universal’s Gordon notes that her marketing budget is one-fifth the size of DisneyWorld’s budget. Plus, Gordon’s budget has not grown in recent years. Instead of competing with Disney on every front, Gordon crafts her messaging to focus on specific niches — such as pursuing theme park enthusiasts via the web.

5. Adjust Your Budget: A few years ago, Universal Orlando spent 90 percent of its marketing budget on TV and 10 percent on the Web. Today, that mix is closer to 50-50.