I came across two great examples of creatively using online video to promote a product (in both of these cases the product was a new album) that I thought I would share.

First, Sony BMG recently launched a contest to promote Bob Dylan’s new three-disc collection, Dylan, by allowing people to submit video on YouTube of themselves lip-syncing to “Like a Rolling Stone.” They will pick their favorite submissions and edit them together to make the very first video for the song. Check out the submissions so far here.

Nelly and his label also came up with a creative way to engage another popular Web site, Panraven, which allows you to create “stories.” Essentially, it allows you to meld together text, photos, audio and video to create an interactive format that tells a story. Here, Nelly posted a “story” about the making of the video for his album’s first single, “Wadsyaname.” You can watch video, see photos, read about it and more, all while listening to the song. As far as the promotional part, they created a contest where the person who brings the most new people to Panraven to view the video by clicking the “shout it out” button wins an expense paid trip to a Nelly video shoot.

So when it comes to promoting yourself and your product, get creative! Think about your target audience, what they enjoy and how they communicate and come up with a unique campaign that may not only get you some publicity, but will resonate and speak to your audience.