Yahoo Invites Users To Yodel In Media Ad Campaign
October 13 2009 - 4:58PM
Dow Jones News
Yahoo Inc. (YHOO) hopes a shout heard around the world can help
reinvigorate its brand and drive traffic to its sites.
The Sunnyvale, Calif., company - as part of the "It's Y!ou"
brand campaign launched last month - seeks to generate buzz using
what it calls its best-known brand asset, "the Yahoo! yodel." Yahoo
invited consumers to compete for a chance to be featured in the
company's global advertising campaign and on its home page by
submitting videos of themselves online performing their own
rendition of the Yahoo yodel before Nov. 8.
The campaign reflects how major companies are attempting to
harness the explosion of user-generated content and online social
media to get consumers to tout their brands and products in the
digital marketing age.
To market the contest, Yahoo set up branded "Yodel Studios" in
New York City, London and Mumbai on Tuesday, inviting passers-by to
perform before crowds, accompanied by rock bands and
celebrities.
In New York's Times Square, Yahoo transformed an iconic military
recruiting station into a multi-story recording studio, where
crowds lined up for a chance to record their interpretation of the
Yahoo yodel while their image was projected on a nearby jumbotron
alongside a towering Yahoo billboard.
American Idol finalist Kimberly Caldwell hosted the event, while
recording artists Jewel, LeAnn Rimes, Randy Jackson and Pete Wentz
were on hand, and a house band played from a stage set up over the
entrance to the Hard Rock Cafe Restaurant.
For their background music, yodelers can choose their own genre,
like rock, bluegrass, hip-hop or funk, or they can select an
original background musical track from a list of options provided
by Yahoo.
Yahoo’s yodeling contest is part of the company’s $100 million
“It’s Y!ou” global marketing campaign designed to revive the
Internet giant’s stale image, which seems dated compared with such
hot start-ups as social network Facebook Inc. and microblogging
service Twitter Inc. The company is also counting on the campaign
to help resuscitate its online advertising business, which has
deteriorated amid the economic downturn and heightened competition
from market leader Google Inc. (GOOG).
Yahoo, which said in July its second-quarter revenue fell 13%,
is scheduled to report third-quarter results after the market close
Oct. 20.
Yahoo boasts that more than 500 million people visit the
Internet giant every month and that people spend 12% of their
online time at Yahoo sites. Yahoo hopes the marketing campaign will
help the company defend its franchise in established markets and
attract new customers in emerging economies.
Jona Thonfortes and Brandon Campbell waited in line over 30
minutes for a chance to perform their yodel together after they
happened upon the spectacle while visiting New York City from their
home in Newport News, Va. "We're going to do a quick rap snippet
and lay down some east coast hip-hop," Campbell said.
Penny Baldwin, senior vice president of global integrated
marketing and brand management for Yahoo, said the event fit
perfectly with Yahoo's new emphasis on the relevance that its Web
properties have in people's personal lives. "In that spirit, we
want to democratize the Yahoo yodel and give it back to the
people," Baldwin said.
Users can upload videos to enter into the contest from anywhere
in the world at http://yodelstudio.yahoo.com. Entrants can use
social media tools on the site to spread awareness of their
performance, and submissions that are viewed 100 times will be put
to an online vote starting Nov. 9, and winners will be announced
the week of Nov. 16.
-Nat Worden, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2472;
nat.worden@dowjones.com