The Annoying Orange Web show has taken YouTube by storm. The YouTube channel has well over 1 billion views and more than 2 million subscribers. Dane Boedigheimer, the creator of the phenomenon, recently spoke with WebProNews about the viral sensation and its television deal.
Boedigheimer, who is more commonly known as “Daneboe,” told us that he had created several one-off talking food episodes prior to the launch of Annoying Orange. He expected Annoying Orange to follow the same trend, but instead, it took off.
Boedigheimer credits a large part of the success of Annoying Orange to their efforts on Facebook and Twitter. The Facebook page has over 10 million “likes” and the pages for individual characters have many fans as well. Twitter is also a key tool for the show since users can read what are, essentially, mini episodes from the various Twitter accounts set up.
What’s more, the show captured the attention of the Cartoon Network. The TV series is set to air in June, but the Web show will continue. Boedigheimer told us that he hopes the shows will work together and push traffic to each other.
He is excited about the future and said his team will continue to create consistent content.
Have you jumped onto the “Annoying Orange” bandwagon? We’d love to know.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Mar 3rd, 2012. 
Ahh, “summer reading” . . .
Who can resist the lure of a good book while sitting at the beach, lounging by the pool or jetting off for a well-deserved vacation?
If you’re like me, though, it’s difficult to leave the office completely behind, and whenever I have a bit of downtime for reading, I like to catch up on business books that can add dimension to my marketing view.
Don’t groan.
Not all business books are the dry tomes we (somehow) conquered in our Intro to Marketing class in college. Many, many are quite enjoyable; they entertain and inspire –even as they educate.
For example, let me recommend three of my recent favorites, any of which would be a valuable addition to your beach bag, pool tote or in-flight carry-on:
1. Switch: How to Drive Change When Change is Hard, by Chip Heath and Dan Heath.
Given the current dynamic of rapidly proliferating channels and variable internal constraints, marketers have no choice but to embrace change. But, let’s be honest: being the change agent isn’t always easy. In Switch, brothers Chip and Dan Heath, present an analysis of why we often fear change and what we can do to modify our behaviors to start moving in a new direction.
As the authors explain:
“In our research, we studied people trying to make difficult changes: People fighting to lose weight and keep it off. Managers trying to overhaul an entrenched bureaucracy. Activists combating seemingly intractable problems such as child malnutrition. They succeeded–and, to our surprise, we found striking similarities in the strategies they used. They seemed to share a similar game plan. We wanted, in Switch, to make that game plan available to everyone, in hopes that we could show people how to make the hard changes in life a little bit easier.”
2. Strategy Maps: Converting Intangible Assets into Tangible Outcomes, by Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton.
Strategy Maps evolved from Kaplan and Norton’s ongoing research with hundreds of Balanced Scorecard adopters across the globe, and it’s a book that has truly transformed how I set strategy. Strategy Maps is a toolkit, of sorts, and using the methods described, I find that I’m better equipped to navigate the multi-stakeholder environment that’s now commonplace for me (and all CMOs).
3. Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, by Seth Godin.
No summer reading list for marketers would be complete without a book by Seth Godin. Poke the Box was released earlier this year. But, my all-time favorite remains Tribes. I come back to this book again and again, whenever I need to be re-inspired by Godin’s unconventional take on leadership. Tribes encourages us to throw away the old rules and embrace the possibilities offered by a new world of engaging and communication.
Remember: Even marketers get to kick back a little now and then. Enjoy your summer. Relax. And, take along a few good books to help re-invigorate your approach. You’ll come back to work refreshed and ready to hurdle the challenges that inevitably lie ahead.
Filed under Internet Marketing by on Jul 22nd, 2011.
