EMG’s Earthquake Footage Featured on CNN.com

Aug. 12, 2008 - PRLog -- IRVINE, CA – On the morning of July 29 at approximately 11:42 a.m., a magnitude 5.4 earthquake shook Earthbound Media Group’s (EMG) main offices located in historic Old Town Irvine landmark—a 110+-year-old lima bean processing facility. This newsworthy natural event brought forth a publicity opportunity, in which EMG virally distributed its in-house security camera footage of the EMG team’s reaction to the earthquake on an online newsfeed.

EMG’s Technical Operations Specialist Dave Donaldson posted the videos captured by the security cameras on the website ireport.com, an online subsidiary of CNN which equips public users to instantly post and report the latest breaking news. Remarkably, the video was picked up as news coverage by CNN.com and may have actually been featured on the live television station according to the “on CNN” graphic ireport.com applied to the video’s thumbnail image.

“I decided to put this up on CNN’s iReport because footage like this is the sort of thing that captures my attention when something like a natural disaster happens. I figured others would be looking for media like this, too, considering it’s definitely a slice of real life,” said Donaldson. “Plus, it’s hilarious seeing our team members located upstairs and downstairs react in two completely different ways during an emergency.”

“Upstairs, the team remained calm and followed earthquake drill procedures, while the downstairs group completely did the opposite of that,” Donaldson continued. “The best reaction came from Lead Art Director Lawrence Williford, who tried to keep his cool as he rushed toward the front exit to escape as the ductwork and exit signs swayed above his head.”

Additionally, the syndicated security videos included a brief description and textual content through which viewers were provided a link to visit EMG’s website to learn more about its historic office spaces. There have been more than 250 visits to the EMG homepage via this link to date.

“This attempt at publicity just shows how simple it can be to take an event like an earthquake and turn it into a launching pad for viral marketing,” added Principal and VP of Business Development Damien Navarro. “This opportunity allowed us to drive traffic to our website without cost and without a significant investment of even time or energy.”

Within less than 24 hours, the various views of the video received more than 4,600 views. To date, they have received more than 9,500 views. See the video for yourself, and visit http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-53184.

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