Volkswagen Germany just launched a rather unique employee contest: the scirocco song contest. Out of the ca. 100.000 Volkswagen employees, more than 100 opted in take part in the contest and sent in their version of the scirocco song. A Jury put up the best 25 songs for a vote by all web users on a voting microsite.
A pre-produced clip of what these versions could sound like:
So, click here and vote! (There even is a sweepstake!) Sorry my readers from abroad, but the site is in German…
The scirocco song was written by Leslie Mandoki – one of the most successful german producers, in Germany well known through songs like Dschinghis Khan,. But he also worked with internationally known artists like Phil Collins, denNo Angels, Jennifer Rush, Lionel Richie and German rapper Sido.
The Jury consists of Leslie Mandoki, as well as Volkswagen head of PR Stephan Grühsem, head of marketing Jochen Sengpiehl, Felix Magath and starlett Mina.
disclaimer: this is a project of my agency, in which I also take part. So far, I have not blogged about work related projects, because this blog is a hobby of mine. But I wanted this blog to support this particular project and the Volkswagen employees taking part in it…
(PS: yes, I do have a favourit, but I don’t want to influence the vote 😉 )
Doritos has already made some experiences with user generated content – asking users to submit their homemade ads with the chance of having it aired during the superbowl. We all know how the story ended: a $13 video was put infront of an audience of 90 million people.
In true 2.0 fashion, people can then rate the videos. And of course the videos are hosted on Google Video (why not YouTube?), so they can be spread. Like I am spreading this one here which really looks user generated, yet it is one of the highest ranking videos on the site (no video got more than three stars sofar):
The music is actually the same as in Carltons „Big Ad“. Was that chosen on purpose?
There is a new prediction market leveraging the crowds wisdom: Media Predict.
Here’s how it works: when users register, they get 5,000 virtual dollars to begin investing. They can scan the markets for book proposals, up-and-coming musical acts, script treatments and TV pilots. Each is valued in virtual dollars per share based on perceived potential. If shares of a particular book proposal are going for 55 dollars, for instance, the book has about a 55% chance of being published. If a project seems like it might take off, a wise investor can put his or her money behind it. Or, conversely, he or she can sell if stock seems like it might plummet. In doing so, players drive the market value—and those who have a keen eye for the next big blockbuster get rewarded for it. When a deal goes through—for instance, if a book proposal gets signed to a publisher—shares pay off at USD 100 each. And on the flipside, when a venture doesn’t succeed, share value bottoms out at USD 0.
I doubt this mechanism will really display the true future potential of a book/movie. The danger of having typical stockmarket ralleyes is too high.
People putting money against movies, not because they might actually succeed, but only because they can potentially earn some money through the speculation on the Media Predict Website.
In the end, there will be people voting for movies they don’t actually consider worth watching in the first place. This would obviously contradict the purpose of this website.
Wo ich sonst so bin...