This summer, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services launched a Flu Prevention PSA Contest. Participants were invited to create a short video and post in on YouTube. The top 10 videos will be selected from a committee, and then the public is free to vote to select the winner.
(For those who aren’t aware, “crowdsourcing” refers to the outsourcing of a task that an individual may perform to a group. In this case, the selection of the winner will be done via public voting)
In the roughly five weeks the contest was open, hundreds of entries were posted.
Using YouTube for the submission process offered the HHS several gains. Technically, they did not have to worry about receiving or storing files from entrants (video file sizes can be very large, and receiving files from unknown sources can be a security risk).
The bigger win, however, was in the promotion aspect of using YouTube. Every PSA is publicly available for people to view. There is a chance that initial posted contest entries raised awareness of the contest itself, stimulating more entries. Individuals can share, “mark as favorite” or comment on videos, becoming more invested in the contest and the individual entries.
Once the HHS narrows the field, individuals are invited to vote daily from Aug 29-Sept. 7 to decide the ultimate winner. That entry will be broadcast on television and the winner will receive $2500 for their work.
Even before the announcement has run, the issue has been studied, explored, and invested in by the public. I know I will be particularly interested to see which entry is selected as ‘the best’!
Putting the power of a message like this in the hands of the public may seem scary. We may worry about information being misrepresented or the delivery not being of the quality we’re accustomed to. A contest like this does not replace your traditional marketing and communication initiatives: it is simply one possible tactic for you to use to engage an audience and raise awareness of a specific topic. When we see a homemade video spot, we recognize it as such. As well, viewing these submissions can reveal what misconceptions are out there, and help an organization see what they need to work to clarify with the public.
A few of the hopefuls:
Visit YouTube to see all video responses.
{ 0 comments }
