Israel PR Finds A Friend In YouTube Videos, SEO For Sderot

 

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

Jerusalem ---- March 12....(INA) - The Israel public relations machine, which has been ignored, battered, bruised, abused and sent out to committee by several Israel prime ministers, may have finally found an ally in YouTube.

Founded in February 2005, YouTube.com describes itself as "the leader in online video" and "the premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience."
People are able to see first-hand accounts of current events such as the hanging of Saddam Hussein, US F-16's as they attack Islamic terrorist bases in Iraq and today the resignation of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer.

In October 2006 Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction. Following the acquisition, YouTube has operated independently preserving its successful brand and passionate community. The YouTube Google team could not have been more powerful.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. And according to social scientists and psychologists, over seventy percent of human communication is non-verbal. We relate to the visual far better than to the written word. PR and advertising firms have recognized this for several past decades using TV shows and TV ads to get their messages across to the masses.

Today, we have YouTube. YouTube provides each and every human being the delivery system to launch their creative payload. And if the video is good, the masses will say yea. Viral marketing and Web 2.0 embraces such videos spitting them out to millions worldwide. Lastly, SEO or search engine optimization helps the global village to find these videos - whether they be of art, politics, history, science, sports, sex or of Israel being attacked by Qassam, Katusha and Grad missiles from Gaza.

Israel has always had the brain power but has lacked the funds for the delivery of public relations messages that form and shape critical public opinion. YouTube has changed this. When Saddam Hussein was hung, it was recorded by a simple telephone camera. That video was then uploaded at no cost whatsover to YouTube reaching millions worldwide.

When Britney Spears would screw up with her children or be found lacking panties - YouTube was the first place to find her. And the same went for any other celebrity and or issue such as Lisa Guerrero, George Clooney, Black Mamba Snakes, David Paterson, college basketball, the Virginia Tech shooting or Gilligan's Island.

So it was no great surprise that a few creative people in Israel were also able to see the light or rather the image.

The present Israel tourism marketing, advertising and PR campaign being waged by the Israel Ministry of Tourism and the Israel Ministry for Foreign Affairs deserves compliments for being modern, creative and professional. Professional being that some of the most powerful and creative ad agencies in Israel and the US have worked on a PR campaign using images of beautiful Israel people for close to a year. Utilizing tons of market research and dozens of scientific focus groups, the Israel Ministry of Tourism was made aware of what works and what does not.

About a year ago, Israel consular officials, Israel advertising associations and both Israel and New York advertising ad and PR organizations came up with a novel idea for changing Israel's war-torn, terrorism hit state's public image. Targeting American guys with disposable income to visit Israel.

"We have to find the right hook," consulate spokesman David Saranga told Newsweek. "And what's relevant to men under 35? Good-looking women!"
(Ah David, please be aware that good-looking women are also relevant to men over 35!)

"We found that Israel's image among men aged 18-38 is lacking," explained David Saranga, Israel consul for media and public affairs at the consulate, "so we thought we'd approach them with an image they'd find appealing."

"When you see beautiful women, good-looking people, on the beaches of Tel Aviv, you understand that Israel has to deal with the conflict, it's true, and there are religious elements in its society, but there are also other things," Saranga told the UK's Globe and Mail. "I want people to know that Israel is much more than a conflict, that people in Israel have normal lives."

The beautiful models in Israel, Saranga said, were a "Trojan horse" to present Israel as a modern country with nice beaches and pretty women. "Many Americans don't even know we have beaches," he said.

The projection of these beautiful Israel models in a fun manner used over YouTube viral marketing videos was critical to maintain and improve Israel's economy. Today, the same clever, cost-effective use of video footage is being utilized to educate public leaders from the US, England and France to India, China and Japan that Israel is once again defending herself. Defending her civilian populations in Sderot and Ashkelon, Israel from Qassam, Katusha and Grad missiles being launched by Hamas in Gaza.

 

Who are the real victims? The people of Israel or those in Gaza? Actually both are being terrorized by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al Qaeda. But it is Israel which took the peace initiative of leaving Gaza unilaterally in September 2005. But even with Israel making an exit, Hamas and other Islamic terrorists were not satisfied. They wanted and still want Tel Aviv, Hafia, Hadera, Kiryat Shomona, Tiberius and even Masada. So over 7,762 rockets have been launched at Sderot, Israel in the past few years - murdering men, women, children and Jewish babies in this small desert city which sits on the Gaza border.

But rather than condemn the murdering of innocents and supporting Israel's right to defend her borders from terror attacks, the United Nations Human Rights Council has condemned Israel's military action in Gaza at the behest of Pakistan and other Muslim states. This absurd action makes headlines in newspapers around the world and John Doe reads the headlines. They don't get the full, objective story.

Now enters an Israel video production company. They compile footage of Hamas terror attacks on Sderot. But of greater potency their creative juice starts pouring out with different approaches.

One video entitled: "What can you do in 15 seconds?" sounds very curious.
No mention of Israel, Gaza, Hamas or Sderot. But rather the video opens with a man taking a piss, then moves to a scene of a couple starting to kiss, then on to watch a glass of beer being poured, to a woman shampooing her hair, to pouring a cup of coffee, doing laundry, brushing teeth, getting dressed for work to a child playing with puzzles. Ordinary things that ordinary people all over the world do every day in every country. The twist comes at the end of the one minute and 15 second video where white words appear on a black background: "For the people of Sderot, 15 seconds are a matter of life and death."

You hear air raid sirens, people crying, screaming and rushing for cover. You witness Israel under attack - unprovoked and with civilians being traumatized.

A YouTube user named Israeligirl67 placed that video illustrating life and death in Sderot, Israel on YouTube back in early February. In just a few weeks over 112,322 people have viewed this video on YouTube.

There is no knowing whether Israelgirl67 is an Israel government employee or a Jew or Christian living somewhere in Texas, Paris or Jerusalem. But the bottom line - Israel has finally discovered an effective delivery system which is fast, creative and cost-effective to get its messages out. PR messages which form public opinion which then affect what happens on the ground in Israel and in Gaza. YouTube just might become more effective than the United Nations in educating the world population on issues such as famine in the Sudan and global warming.

YouTube.com combined with the volunteerism of a few creative, professional and dedicated YouTube video producers and a couple of Internet marketing SEO professionals in Israel may just save a few lives. Perhaps even a small, democratic nation in the Middle-East by securing public support for Israel's defense rather than being eliminated by rampant propaganda. Falsehoods and lies fueled by oil rich Arab nations and executed by their Islamic brothers who wage a media Jihad or holy war through incitement using Al-Jazeera, the BBC and several other conventional global media outlets.

They say the word is mightier than the sword. Today, we can safely state that video is mightier than the sword.
Let's pray that this new and powerful weapon is used not to show Islamic beheadings like that of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl or the support of racist neo Nazis but rather to project the naked truth of a tiny, democratic, peace seeking Israel fighting for its very existence.