This is the briefing I presented to the European film school for the project kick off

1. Toshiba Viral Promo Competition 2011
Flavio Fabiani

2. background
after the success of the pilot scheme run at the National Film
and Television School in UK last year the Toshiba Viral Promo
Competition is being launched Europe-wide in 2010.
This year the scheme is open to students from Germany, UK,
Belgium and Poland
kickoff days
November 8th | Lodz Film School (Poland)
(14:00-16:00) www.filmschool.lodz.pl
November 9th | National Film and Television School (UK)
(18:00-20:00) www.nftsfilm-tv.ac.uk
November 18th | Hochschule für Fernsehen und Film München (Germany)
(14:00-16:00) www.hff-muenchen.de
November 22nd | RITS School for Audiovisual and Performing Arts (Belgium)
(11:00-13:00) www.rits.be

3. some rules and conditions
how to apply
team
budget
submission
judging
promos production
sanity check
project pack
prizes
the amateur leverage

4. how to apply
attend the briefing session to hear full details of the scheme
from Toshiba
study the briefs supplied by Toshiba
put together a team
come up with a brilliant idea, achievable within assigned
budget

5. team
at least 4 team members - students and/or graduates – should
work on each production
a typical team make up could be
producer
director
cinematographer
sound designer
production designer
production manager

6. budget
€5500 budget will be provided by Toshiba to the best 6
proposals. This budget should include any school
contingency and cover the use of the equipment
six promos will be produced. One production from each of the
film schools will be granted, the other two will be from the two
best ideas out of all the submissions received
finalists not members of NFTS, Rits, Lodz or Munich film
schools who are chosen to produce a promo will win a
prize of a short course at the NFTS! Sponsored by Toshiba

7. submission
students must submit their proposals as well as the contact
details of all team members by Monday the 17th of January 2010
students need provide both a hard copy and an e-mail version
of their proposal suitable to be uploaded on the website
references of past works done by the team members are also
welcome
all proposals will be uploaded on a dedicated website by the
students/schools and be accessible for voting.

8. Toshiba Viral Promo Competition 2009
This area will contain
Toshiba Viral Promo Competition 2009
videos alongside additional material background:
storyboarding, interviews etc.
- Submission details
- Social media integration
- Download details
- Interview with key people
- Blog
- Details of how to maximise virality
PROMOTE TO STUDENTS

9. Toshiba Viral Promo Competition 2010/2011
This area of the site will host the
Toshiba Viral Video Competition 2010/2011
- Contestants will submit their ideas
- Public will vote submitted ideas
- Voting mechanism will utilise social media and
maximise viral spread.
WEBSITES
REUSED ON
CONTENT
Winner promoted
back through social media

10. How contestants submit their entries
1. Information, Entry form A page for each
Download entry details
rules and regs. entry is created
which embeds the
support material
from the social
sites
4.
3.
2.

11. How public can vote
The finalists will 2.
be selected by a
combination of Each entry has
its own page
judges decision Contestants are
and public voting. encouraged to share
and get as many of
The more votes their friends to share
in order to improve
their chances of
the better the being selected.
chance a 1.
submission has. In addition to voting on
Tweets, votes page, every Tweet or
Facebook ‘Like’ will be
counted for each individual
and Facebook submission
likes all count. Public

12. judging
taking into account public votes cast on the website, Toshiba
and the film schools representatives (the jury) will select 6
finalists who will make a viral promo based on the idea they
submitted.
proposals will be judged according to
online public vote
strength of the idea
relevance to the brief
the announcement of the 6 winning proposals will be made on
the website on Friday the 31st of January

13. promos production
after confirming their ability to deliver ideas to budget, the
producers of each selected team must complete and have
signed a personal project form before starting production or
being able to access the budget
each promo is to be between 30 and 120 seconds long and
can also be made up of shorter pieces (max 6 episodes)
the promo must be shot 16:9 full HD
Toshiba will own the content of the finished promos so it is
important that everything in the promo is copyright free.
the 6 selected proposals must be produced by Tuesday the
3rd of May

14. sanity check
when reviewing your proposals please make sure one
important condition has been met:
the audience positive emotions to the Toshiba brand (like, desire, appeal, etc.) have
been increased by your promo

15. project pack – be generous
online videos can dramatically increase their reach and viewer
engagement with behind-the-scenes clips and interviews with
the cast, writers, and directors.
from the idea conception, through the team formation, the
proposal submission, the casting, the shooting, until the post
production and the final wrapping many interesting and funny
things happen.
we are interesting in setting the context of your work as much
as possible to give an overview of the making the promo. It
could include a bit of text, maybe some storyboards and
sketches if you have them, pictures and videos taken behind
the scenes also any background info on the making, including
obstacles you may have overcome.

16. prizes
on by the end of May the winner of the Toshiba Viral Promo
Competition will be announced on the dedicated website
winners will receive a cash prize from Toshiba
the prizes are €5000 for first place, € 3000 for second place
and €2000 for third place
promos will be judged according to
relevance to the brief
viral potential / social media amplification
ability to entertain the audience
ability to positively engage people with the content
delivery of extra content / richness of project pack

17. Toshiba Viral Promo Competition 2010
briefing information

18. some info you need to know
about Toshiba
latest products
branding
project objectives
target audience
what‘s working

19. about Toshiba
Toshiba is a world leader and innovator in pioneering high technology, a
diversified manufacturer and marketer of advanced electronic and electrical
products spanning information & communications systems; digital consumer
products; electronic devices and components; power systems, including nuclear
energy; industrial and social infrastructure systems; and home appliances.
Toshiba was founded in 1875, and today operates a global network of more than
740 companies, with 204,000 employees worldwide
Toshiba Europe GmbH headquartered in Germany, is comprised of 4 business
divisions: Computer Systems, Storage Device Products, Visual Products and
Electronic Systems Operations.
as the headquarters for the EMEA region, TEG provides support and assistance
to its local branch offices
together, these divisions provide product offerings including industry leading
portable and tablet computers, hard disk drives, camcorders and set-up boxes

20. latest products

21. branding
our culture is characterised by its restlessness, by the constant
need to improve, transform and build. Innovation is a constant
feeling of constructive dissatisfaction, it is about moving forward
relentlessly.
at Toshiba, innovation is a journey, not a destination.
we have a simple expression of our brand statement, an idea
that applies to everything we do and everything we say.
this Toshiba brand idea runs as a consistent thread through all of
our communication. Each piece of communication demonstrates
Toshiba’s “relentless innovation” by talking about how and why
our products are developed.
each message describes an individual journey that we have made.
That can be about, innovating product, innovating design or
improving quality.

22. project objectives
work with highly motivated and innovative teams
get fresh perspectives on company’s core values
produce creative viral videos for online use

23. target audience
customer or potential customers of Toshiba
people passionate and curious about tech products
film making students and fans
bloggers dealing with viral video marketing

24. what‘s working
all videos should have one common aim:
entertain and engage the audience with the content
some features seems to work on online viral videos
encourage interaction
be playful
integrate online and offline
allow users to customize treatments

25. encourage interaction
find inventive ways to involve viewers with your content.
Most online video series generate the majority of their views
from original content, but reach can be extended by more
than 30% with help from viewers copying and sharing your
clips.
the best example of interactive video is given by the Tippex
campaign that featured the video “Hunter Shoots a Bear”.
Viewers are invited to write whatever they want into the
whited-out area of the interface and click play to watch as
the hunter does what they say.
www.youtube.com/tippexperience

26. be playful
what makes an viral video more likely to succeed is the properly
created playful environment.
the “Play” element is usually effective because:
Motivation: we need no motivation to play: we love playing.
Engagement: play is an activity that we engage in for enjoyment. A game produces flow. When
we play, we are deeply involved
a playful element interrupts the user in his browsing to make him
want to engage in the process and share it further on.
Samsung HD phone campaign is a brilliant example of optical
illusion that challenges the viewer to find out how it was made.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_8BZLhBNyU
www.dothetest.co.uk a social campaign by the Mayor of London is
another good example
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ahg6qcgoay4&

27. integrate online and offline
engage people during their daily life, involve them in a disruptive /
unexpected process and make a viral video out of it, has proven to be
successful in many cases
the best example is given by the T-Mobile Dance. In a busy
London rail station, something unexpected happened. Music
began to play over the loudspeakers. Someone began to dance.
The beat changed and 'by-passers' joined in.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ3d3KigPQM
another good example is given by the Volkswagen campaign
‘The Fun Theory’. The concept of the campaign is that the easiest
way to change people's behaviour for the better is by making it fun
to do it. According with this motto they create a virtual piano to convince
people to use stairs instead of the escalator
www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lXh2n0aPyw

28. allow users to customize treatments
many examples seen so far would improve their sharing and
engagement potential if they added an element of customization
through their consumption
these videos become different and personal according to the
viewer interaction with them. This aspect is can often be found in
those digital artistic works which are by definition incomplete until
the very moment when the viewer is approaching it.
a very popular example is the Swedish Hero Campaign. The
campaign is by Radiotjanst, the organisation behind collecting the
license fee for TV and radio in Sweden. In an effort to encourage
young metropolitans to pay the fee they came up with a ‘thank
you’ video praising the subscribers http://en.tackfilm2.se/

29. the amateur leverage