Hi Mark,
I was seriously considering buying one earlier today because of the ease of use, price, 4.5 Mbps capture quality at 30fps, and a low aperture ~2.8 (ability to record well in low light environments).

The Amazon ratings were 4/5. But one WOM comment from Cam regarding personal experience with 2 units dying one year, plus 'issues' heard from other individuals at ad:tech, made me hold off a purchase. They're very likely isolated incidents (I don't want to be a buzzkill folks), but anyways...back to topic.

The importance is in making video capture, transfer, editing, and uploading as EASY as possible. Flip's holistic design makes this extremely approachable, which IMO is the greatest marketable asset for a technical product with normally invisible additional user process time costs.

Excellent ideas btw! Putting simplicity and fun into a user-generated video campaign would be awesome. Concerts, conferences, weddings/parties...let's keep the ideas rolling!

You raise a valid point, though, Mario. If you're going to give these to people as part of a campaign, then you'd better make sure that they work well – and can pass the test of even the harshest critic.

The last thing you'd want is for the focus of your campaign to turn negative as a result of the tool you're using.

That said, perhaps a way to deal with technical issues would be to set up some sort of direct support line for your "ambassadors", so you can deal with their campaign-related issues quickly and efficiently.

I think these are great ideas.

And I wouldn't worry too much about 1 negative review on Amazon. Yes, all products (even Macs!) have the occasional stubborn device.

I think record companies should give them out and let people make music videos to their favorite songs. They're probably a bit too stubborn for that, but one can dream, right?

Also, toy companies - give them to kids - my son loves making video reviews for Bionicles and Transformers!

I've been using the Flip for a few months now and have to say that it is the easiest way to record and get footage online as quick as possible. Great for live videoblogging of events, conferences, live music, etc.

I love the idea of handing them out to your audience and letting them capture the moment. Great thoughts!

The idea of the Flip is awesome. That's why I bought the second after the first -- thinking that my first experience was an isolated issue.

When I got to ad:tech, though, I noticed three others having problems similar to what I was having before mine died.

The first one we got was a gift anyway -- Similar to some of the purposes you listed above. The only cost on the first one was the video we lost because we couldn't get it off of the device (and when you have a toddler, you might consider that pretty steep).

For $99, I don't expect it to last forever, but it should last more than 6 months. However, to your point, at least in my experience, it's pretty assured it will last for the event you want others to record.

Great ideas all. However, let me plug RCA's Small Wonder camera. It has advantages over the Flip in terms of memory (SD card) and usability. For example, you can "flip" the view screen around (swivel actually) to see yourself in the event you need to be in front of the camera. The Flip offers neither of those options.

Also, the latest versions of the Small Wonder allow for uploading to YouTube. Plus, the price point is less, or was when I purchased mine. I carry it with me wherever I go.

Great feedback, and it's clear that the comments are divided into two camps:

1. Interesting idea

2. Technical issues

Problem is, #2 trumps #1 if you're setting people up for a frustrating experience. Ultimately, you want people to walk away feeling positive about your efforts to connect them to your brand. If they walk away from the experience with thoughts unrelated to your brand – good, bad or indifferent – then you've lost the opportunity to collect valuable feedback.

So how can we alleviate this concern? As I mentioned above, creating a support line (mechanism) for these ambassadors is one way. Now I'm thinking that having a representative from Flip on board would be valuable too. In this way, you're giving people access to a product expert who will help resolve problems.

You're also acting as a good partner with Flip, giving them a chance to respond/fix their own criticism.

The flip is great for people that want something easy to use and easy to carry, but in my opinion what's holding this device back from being a "great" product is the lack of expansion. Why not add an SD or micro-sd card slot?

Yesterday, Ragan.com posted an article about “How the Indianapolis Art Museum uses videos, blogs, Flickr, Facebook and more to attract a large audience”. Communications manager, Meg Liffick, talks about how they gave Flip Cameras to fashion designers who are designing an exhibition of contemporary fashion. The designers post movies of their design progress and the public can vote on them.
http://www.imamuseum.org/exhibitions/breakingthemode/

The Service Employees International Union has sponsored a website with a contest targeted at students to make a PSA video about credit card debit. The videos can be voted on. (no specific mention though of using Flips)
http://www.keepitinyourpants.org/

My creative juices are flowing but unfortunately, Flips are not sold in Canada yet. )0;

Mark - I wanted to play around with video, didn't want to invest a lot of money or time so the Flip seemed like a good choice. I've been using it for a series of quick, under a minute, interviews on my blog. For what it's worth I've found the quality to be good, easy to use and non intimidating .. both to me and to the people on the other side of the camera. Also love the teeny size that fits into my pocket or purse.

I've found that less than 2 minute videos can take up 20 minutes to upload to YouTube; sometimes I have to try 2-3 times. However, that could be my connection/computer. All in all it's a low-risk entree into video. Hint - the camera runs on batteries and it does not recharge when you plug it into your computer so keep a few extra batteries handy.

Great article! Seems like a little handy device certainly worth investing in and we love the idea you suggested in terms of branding/marketing for a company.

Loree: Those are some great links you point to – and I particularly like the Museum's efforts to use the Flip Video cameras in the exact way we're discussing here. Thanks!

Toby: Thanks for letting us all know the time it takes to upload. But I am curious to know what kind of computer setup you have to determine whether 20 minutes is fast, slow or average.

Brick: Thanks for the feedback!

I agree Video Testimonials are great way to pound home an internet marketing campaign . Most people already have video capability already built into their digital cameras and/or mobile phones. It is a feature that people overlooked on something they already own and a company like Flip is able to capitalize on this.

This is the post I've been meaning to write for a while. Great stuff!

The Flip Cameras are great! Sway, as an online marketing and Web 2.0 firm, uses them with our clients all the time. I can't tell you how many clients get nervous when we say "video" that they are going to have to hire a whole team and create an expensive commercial. Flips bring video to a level that just about anyone can use.

WTF is a USP connection?!?

Retards talkin' tech.

Hi Bob,

It aint that technical, it shud ideally be USB as in USB port, (m sure you must be aware about the USB) and not USP, thats what i think.

Mite be a small typo there.

Cheers..

Varun Badhwar

Thanks for the backup, Varun!

I've made the change and regret the typo – but that's all it was.

Thanks for pointing it out so eloquently, Bob!

Hey Bob,
Do you think that you should have a monopoly on retards talking tech?

It must be a sad existence for you!!