In August this year it hit the 1 million subscriber mark for its YouTube channel, with individual videos receiving view tallies well over 20 million each.

It made the current Bloomberg Business Week “Popularity Issue” as the Top Web Series. And it was recently discovered by my family during our annual beach vacation. Ugh! Why the ugh? It’s the Annoying Orange.

And it’s exactly that. Annoying Orange is the wisecracking, purposely irritating punster who stars in his own YouTube web series.

The videos feature a real orange with superimposed human eyes and lips.  The plot line for each video is simple: Annoying Orange meets his episode’s co-star(s): another fruit, vegetable, object, or even other YouTube “celebs.”  Annoying Orange tells jokes, laughs a lot, makes fun of and annoys the co-star, who ends up being eliminated, whether it’s by knife (the demise of most fruits and veggies), or by some other physical comedy.

Having had to listen to and/or watch the videos again and again during my vacation, and looking to make lemons out of lemonade (or orange juice out of oranges), the videos got me thinking about what’s making this series so amazingly popular, and what marketers can learn from it in attracting an audience.

It’s simple, basic, and consistently updated – Seriously, no big budgets here.  It’s just a talking orange with a little bit of editing magic and other household props.  The plot lines are mindless, easy for anyone of any age to get, and pure shtick.  And the videos are refreshed every Friday – a good reason to subscribe and/or return to the site.

It’s quick – The videos are less than three minutes each.  No attention span needed.  A great video “snack” for anyone surfing through YouTube. It’s appropriate for the channel – According to eMarketer, videos shot by consumers and uploaded to YouTube (i.e., user generated) are the most frequently watched type of online video.  (May 2010 stat)

It leverages partners – A few of the videos feature other YouTube “celebs” as the targets of Annoying Orange’s antics.  At the end, you can click and go to these stars’ specific YouTube channels.  It’s an interesting means of cross-selling these “brands” within the YouTube community.

It has lots of engagement opportunities – The Annoying Orange YouTube channel features, and each of the videos end with, lots and lots of engagement opportunities.  Calls to action include: follow on Twitter, Facebook, answer a question relevant to the video in the comments section, buy a shirt, download a ringtone, subscribe to the channel, or just click to watch another episode.  Annoying Orange truly is its own brand looking for ongoing loyalty.

Now, I’m not suggesting that marketers use third-grade boy level jokes, bodily function noises, nor any type of produce in their creative approaches in order to achieve success.  Rather, Annoying Orange is an interesting case in how to deliver content and sell a brand, without letting a consumer know that you’re really selling a brand.  It’s the right content, in the proper amount, delivered in the perfect channel, and given support, ongoing attention, and engagement opportunities that make it work.

Interesting to note that despite its popularity, very little has been written about the Annoying Orange.  CNN.com – one of the few press sites that has picked it up – said that the current Nabisco Cheez-Its “Mature Cheese” is probably the closest creative rip-off of the series.

Hey…hey reader.  Hey reader.  Orange you glad I shared these insights?  *rimshot*  Ugh.

No one loves snacking on great videos more than the folks at Sigma (BTW, we call ourselves “Sigmites”).  To us, it’s both an inspiration and a great escape—fresh thoughts to fuel new ideas, and as refreshing as a brisk walk on a spring morning.  So this week, we are rounding-up some of our favorites that we found during the past week.  See more in our Video Snacking lounge.

Death Cab For Cutie’s Little Bribes - We first found this video on Twitter.  @RossChing sent out this tweet and three days later, it’s been picked as Vimeo Staff Favorite and been viewed over 23K times. Good luck @RossChing, no need to “bribe” when you can crank out this kind of awesome work.

Blame it on Ringo - They say there are 4.2 million CCTV cameras in the UK and an average person is caught on camera 300 times per day (so they say…).  For the CCTV camera on Abbey Road, blame it on Ringo.

Obscura Mint Plaza Building – Projections are in 2D but when combined with 7 HD projectors, it’s sensational.

YouTube Mosaic – Made with 1.4 million tiles and thousands of unique YouTube video stills.  It’s definitely a one of a kind, maxing out YouTube’s annotation editor.

San Francisco Zoo’s Critter Quest – What a smart way to re-connect with locals and visitors, perfectly blending traditional media with digital.

Let it Shine – We’ve all seen Honda’s light show videos, but we really like the version on Vimeo. To get the perfect integration experience, view this one on Vimeo.

Thanks for tuning in… now get back to work and have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!