Darned You Philips Bodygroom!!!

Philips Bodygroom Manalogues

The third branded-content "hit" for Philips' Body Groom is a smart and entertaining twist on user-generated content in which the consumers need not appear.

MediaPost Publications - ClipBlast Partners With Clearspring For Widget Distribution - 09/29/2008

ClipBlast will use the Clearspring platform to distribute widgets that provide custom video content, channels and playlists. The widgets will feature the ClipBlast Intelligent Index, which enables users to pull video from thousands of sources and play the content from any Web page, social profile, blog or other Web location. Clearspring's real-time analytics tools will track and monetize the widgets and their activity.
MediaPost Publications - ClipBlast Partners With Clearspring For Widget Distribution - 09/29/2008

Note to self: Call them up and see what we can do together. Note to readers: There's absolutely no pain in reaching out to companies you read about in the press to start a conversation about working together. It amazes me how few businesspeople, especially agency people, actually do it. No wonder agencies are lagging behind.
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Texting Outpaces Calling On Mobile Phones

While the number of calls has remained relatively steady, text messages have shot up 450% in the last two years.

Not surprisingly, the biggest gap between calls and text messages is found among teenage mobile customers. Those ages 13 to 17 sent or received on average 1,742 text messages a month, compared to only 231 calls.

For those ages 35 to 44, the ratio was about even at 223 to 236. And for mobile users 45 and over, voice is still the preferred method of communication.

MediaPost Publications - Texting Outpaces Calling On Mobile Phones - 09/23/2008

And, as I beat this drum over and over, here is more evidence of the new generation gap.
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Tug of War - Creative vs. Media

In the continuing tug-of-war between what drives the train--creative or media--a top Unilever executive Thursday came out in favor of creative. While there is an argument that lackluster ads can still deliver a message with shrewd placement, Babs Rangaiah said if the creative does not drive demand, a strong media plan is not likely to save the day. Rangaiah, the director of global communications planning at Unilever, said if the creative appears banal, it's time to yank the media spend and use it somewhere else.
MediaPost Publications - Advertising Week: The Future Belongs To Creative - 09/26/2008

I firmly believe and will continue to believe that the new advertising era that has dawned requires that we embrace complexity, whereas the old advertising era that is lingering beyond its much ballyhooed demise worshiped at the altar of simplicity.

While a great, persuasive message must be "simple" in its singularity of focus and incisiveness, the act of developing that message and disseminating it across the mediasphere will only continue to befuddle and perplex those of us who don't ... again ... embrace complexity.

How each simplified meme is launched into that matrix; and how each grows on its own without negating its brethren in the chaos of an on-demand world, is the work of big brains and fearless intellects.

Ack ... I got on a soap box. Apologies.
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MediaPost Publications - Retailers Search Report: Use a 'Portfolio' of Search Tactics - 09/26/2008

Indeed, just 12% of searchers that converted into buyers had clicked on both branded and non-branded terms. The majority (51%) of conversions stemmed from branded terms alone, while 37% came from non-branded terms. "Most companies pick one or the other," said John McAteer, Google's industry director, retail. "Very few are spending accurately on both their branded terms and the category terms, and I think this info should be surprising to them."
MediaPost Publications - Retailers Search Report: Use a 'Portfolio' of Search Tactics - 09/26/2008

Search is the primordial ooze of advertising's future. Google clearly knows that all TV advertising will be placed dynamically to every household based on contextual and behavioral criteria. The digital changeover will enable the technological underpinnings to be built. That's why the practice of placing ad units based on consumer input is the future of all media planning and buying.
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Ahead of the Curve

File under: Shameless self-promotion. Coverage of the inaugural Chicago New Media Summit including a major mention of this self-effacing blogger, my current employer and client (whose project is called out in the segment). Shout out to Nat Jones, Ryan Page, José Rivera, John Zajac, Jeff Brown and Janet Barker-Evans.

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The Future Of Media: The Internet

"People go online to do many things," says early Internet pioneer Esther Dyson. "One of the reasons they go online is to create a presence. With Geo Cities, you had your presence in one place. With Facebook, you are distributing your presence to anyone who is your friend."

Dyson says this extends well beyond the cross-linking aspect of Facebook pages to include widgets and even real-time applications such as Twitter.

"With Twitter, people are distributing their presence incessantly. Personally, I think that is a little obsessive, but what people are really doing is collecting social interactions," she explains. "If we had a biological urge to spread our genes, now people have the means to spread their presence."
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So what's the future of the Internet? Well, technology, regulation, business models will surely be important factors, but if you look at what has really been shaping the Internet - both past and present - it is people. And some day, we may even send one over the Internet.
MediaPost Publications - The Future Of Media: The Internet - 09/23/2008

Sometimes I like to post an article just because it's good. This one's awfully good.
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Putting a Price on Digital Production - Advertising Age - Digital

Ever since the first friend-of-a-friend proposed that the first web developer build him a site (for no money), the effort and cost associated with digitally driven creativity has been a misunderstood and, sometimes, thorny issue. Unlike TV-commercial production, where there are some established cost parameters and you can typically see the budget on the screen, it's tough to price innovative web work.
Putting a Price on Digital Production - Advertising Age - Digital

The danger of undervaluing interactive services by agencies is putting downward pricing pressure on the rest of agency services as well.
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Among Mobile Marketing Techniques, Text Messaging Responded to Most Often - Media Buyer Planner

"Some 70 percent of consumers who have responded to a mobile marketing offer say they’ve responded to a marketing text message - compared with 41 percent who’ve responded to a survey and 30 percent to email offers - according to the Direct Marketing Association"

but ...

"One-third (33 percent) of the group that did not respond to any mobile marketing (76 percent) reported that they had never received an offer; lack of interest and cost of airtime was cited as the leading reasons by those who haven’t responded to mobile offers."
Among Mobile Marketing Techniques, Text Messaging Responded to Most Often - Media Buyer Planner

So, 76 percent reported they'd never even *received* an offer. Are we not trying hard enough here?! Practically every time text messaging comes up in a meeting, it dies a swift and sudden death. Maybe that's the problem. We're not trying it, people.
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13 Hours per Minute

Today, 13 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, and we believe the volume will continue to grow exponentially.
Official Google Blog: The future of online video
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Porn passed over as Web users become social

Social networking sites are the hottest attraction on the Internet, dethroning pornography and highlighting a major change in how people communicate, according to a web guru.
Porn passed over as Web users become social: author | Technology | Internet | Reuters

Pop the cork and pass the bubbly. I suppose it's safe to say the Web 2.0 era has officially arrived. When they write the history books, Web 1.0 will be remembered for spam, porn and phishing schemes. Yuck. With social media taking the Web 2.0 crown, what does Web 3.0 portend? Video? *.* on Demand?
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How and Why Adults and Youth Share... | Reuters

Adults Depend on Email as Source of Shared Content; Younger Generation Embraces Instant Messaging, Social Networking, Video Sharing and Text Messaging
New Independent Study Highlights Differences in How and Why Adults and Youth Share... | Reuters

Okay. Now this is getting to be way too obvious. There IS a digital generation gap.
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Bob Garfield: Your Data With Destiny

Assume that, in the near future, connections between marketers and consumers will not be principally forged via display advertising but will be otherwise cultivated online. Assume that technology will offer more and more highly refined means for the marketer to learn about the consumer and the consumer to enjoy a real benefit in exchange -- search and widgets being exhibits A and B.

Thank you for so stipulating. But if the lingua franca of our online future is indeed personal information, where will that come from?
Your Data With Destiny - Advertising Age - Digital

I assume most people who see this will be reading Garfield's Ad Age column. That's why I don't repost it here. But every now and then, Bob's got something big and important to say. Today's column fits that bill.
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Entertainment, tech cos. to unify digital media - Yahoo! News

Consumers will be able to use digital products they buy on cell phones, set-top boxes, computers and other devices made by a slew of manufacturers. A virtual locker will store those digital products remotely, and the system will permit some copying onto physical media like DVDs.

The technical details are still being worked out, so consumers aren't likely to see products until at least next year.
Entertainment, tech cos. to unify digital media - Yahoo! News

Well, it's about time. Jeez!
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Notes from the Digital Generation Gap - Mom X vs. Mom Y

A recent study conducted by NewMediaMetrics found a significant difference in the types of digital behavior embraced by the X and Y generations when it comes to child raising. Gen Y is much more attached to media that connects them to other moms (online communities, blogs, video-sharing sites, etc.), while Gen X moms are more likely to embrace the web for task-oriented activities like shopping online and uploading photos. The study concludes that this might signify a shift in the way that marketers should be targeting the next new generation of moms online.
Research Brief » Blog Archive » Y Moms Connect Through The Internet; X Moms Task

More evidence, if you will, for my theory of the new generation gap. The key point is it's all coming to pass very, very quickly. The changes in attitude, media behavior, shopper behavior and general worldview are quick and clearly defined.

What does this mean for marketers? We need to toss our assumptions about how interactive creative works. We need to recalibrate how we judge ideas in the early stages of planning and development. We can't fall back on yesterday's best practices, even though they still feel freshly minted.

And it means that the marketers who persist in clinging to the tried-and-true may find themselves scrambling for new structures as early as first quarter 2009. Could happen.
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Current TV to broadcast `tweets' during debates - Yahoo! News

During the debates, the network bent on viewer-created content will broadcast Twitter messages — or "tweets" — from viewers. In close to real time, Current will display comments on the screen while Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama face off.
Current TV to broadcast `tweets' during debates - Yahoo! News

Didn't see this one coming ...
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BannerBlog : Where Banners Click

Banner Blog: Where banners click
BannerBlog : Where Banners Click

Um. It's a blog. About banners. And it's one of the most useful sites to show people how far online advertising has come.

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Digital Entertainment Consortium Nears Tipping Point

How do you make digital entertainment more entertaining? A sprawling consortium of Hollywood content providers, consumer electronics companies, and Internet players said on Sept. 12 that its members are planning to develop a standard that will let consumers buy movies and other digital content once and play them almost anywhere, on any type of device, without the onerous restrictions that have hobbled the growth of digital downloads.

The consortium is called the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE). Its members have been working since May to create rules that will let consumers share their purchased content on a number of devices in the home, or stream them over the Internet to laptops, cell phones, or other electronic gear. "No matter where you are in the world, if you previously purchased Spider-Man 3, you should be able to access Spider-Man and stream it," Mitch Singer, the group's president, said in an interview.

BusinessWeek: Digital Content Wherever You Want It
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Museum Of Beauty - A Branded Content Experience

http://eternallycool.net/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/venus-4.jpg

http://museumofbeauty.biz/

This site is just stunningly lovely. It shows how Konica-Minolta used digitizing instruments to reveal the "secrets" of the Venus de Milo.

Let me restate that: It takes you on an interactive program experience that reveals the secrets of the Venus de Milo through stunning 3D renderings and visual data capture techniques. Underwritten by Konica Minolta to showcase its digitizing instruments that made the experience possible.



The brand touch is just right. Even the music is excellent; sounds like Ryuichi Sakamoto to me. And the interaction design demonstrates what I've long called Depth On Demand.

If you just watch the program straight through, it provides a beautiful experience. If you stop the program here and there -- the first degree of depth -- then you can learn a thing or two that enhance your experience.

But if you click, grab and turn the picture itself, you can control everything you view in a very deep interactive experience. In all cases, you have a wonderful experience that you control. You go as deep as you want and reap the rewards.

3M Beats Everyone to the Micro Projector Business | Popular Science



3M Beats Everyone to the Micro Projector Business | Popular Science

Why get excited over a micro-sized projector? Well it's a portable television - with a cable to our iPod Touch or iPhone (or Zune, I suppose).

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Will New Media Save Television Ads? - Mashable

So what might be a strategy going forward? As an avid watcher of television, particularly political news, complex dramas, and reality shows, I could imagine many scenarios in which incentives are created to watch shows in real time – viewers pose questions for the guest, guide alternative dramatic scenes, or decide what challenge the players have to perform. How cool would it be to watch Donald Trump, Sr. using Twitter on a BlackBerry in the middle of the live Apprentice finale? And the advertising underbelly is that you are statistically more likely to purchase paper towels, basketball sneakers, or a dream vacation cruise.
Will New Media Save Television Ads? - Mashable

What a great, original thought. In order to remain competitive in an increasingly time-shifted environment, TV content developers and the networks themselves will adapt. Of course they will. The audience can be given incentives to watch live. Only some formats will stick. But it's adaptation that drives innovation. Or vice versa.
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The Responsibility Project, Presented by Liberty Mutual

Excellent.

The Responsibility Project, Presented by Liberty Mutual

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Zune Goes Wireless, Sells Music on FM Radio - MarketingVOX


When a Zune owner hears a song on the radio that s/he likes, the user can immediately tag and download that song, or — if not connected to the internet at that moment — queue it for later purchase.
Zune Goes Wireless, Sells Music on FM Radio - MarketingVOX

Clearly the Zune is destined to play second fiddle to iPod for ... well ... forever. But this story along with another recent article about how online TV viewership is working for both more viewership and more-better promotion of viewership on - jeez - the TV itself show that the medium is looking very much like the message.
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HBOlab Rides 'Cewebrity' Coattails in New Online Drama - MarketingVOX

Hoping to win online street cred (and a n ew captive audience), HBO cobbled together a collection of popular online entertainers for a new web series, Hooking Up, which debuts this fall.

Produced by experimental department HBOlab, the first episode goes live on October 1st. It will appear on video portals like YouTube and MySpace, as well as on its own website.

HBOlab Rides 'Cewebrity' Coattails in New Online Drama - MarketingVOX
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BigStage takes the "put myself in a video" thing to several levels above the next.

Want top search results? Tread carefully | News - Digital Media - CNET News

Earlier this year, Matthew Inman had achieved the notable distinction of vaulting a Web site called JustSayHi high into the results for a search on "online dating." But after he expanded his effort to new areas, Google obliterated the site from its search results.

Inman had used an aggressive technique called widget bait to get good search results, but had to scrap a site that had been used for years and start from scratch. He was caught in a gray area in a sometimes-shady industry called search engine optimization (SEO) where it can be tough to distinguish a clever trick from a dirty trick.
Want top search results? Tread carefully | News - Digital Media - CNET News
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Data is Essentially Free

So people use data to inform their decisions. Look at intrade, the prediction market company that only came into being thanks to the Internet.







Of course, you should read Chris Anderson's Wired manifesto on this topic. It's better than mine - http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/16-03/ff_free

Boomers More Traditional Online - Not into Blogs, Social Networking

People over age 40 participate heavily in word-of-mouth and value personal recommendations and expert opinions, but they have not embraced social networking or blogs despite being heavy users of other online services, according to a ThirdAge/JWT Boom study.
Boomers More Traditional Online - Not into Blogs, Social Networking

Here's the bottom line: 96% of Boomers use Email. So, if you want to reach people age 35 and up, try Email.
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Metrics Insider » Blog Archive » In Praise of Online Advertising

As we develop new ways to dedicate on-screen real estate to delivering captivating, engaging ads, whether via banner, rich media or emerging formats, I fully expect online display advertising to become an increasingly important component of the media mix. We don’t require a click-through from a magazine ad or a TV ad or a newspaper ad or a radio ad, and all these impressions are valued by advertisers. Impressions online should have at least the same value, wholly independent of the direct linkage to a click. The opportunity to generate that action online is a profound value-add, but let’s make sure that we properly value the ad before we overlay the value-add. Advertising can have immediate effect, but it can also have quantifiable mid-term effect, and profoundly valuable long-term branding effect. And that is as true for online advertising as for any other medium.
Metrics Insider » Blog Archive » In Praise of Online Advertising

Amen brother. Click to read this article; it's got loads of great references to various online advertising formats and how well they work for a variety of outcomes: brand awareness, offline sales boosts, etc.
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The Ad Changes With the Shopper In Front of It - WSJ.com

Procter & Gamble is placing radio-frequency identification tags on products at a Metro Extra retail store in Germany so that when a customer pulls the product off the shelf, a digital screen at eye level changes its message.

...

Most of the experimentation by marketers is being done with the new digital screens that are appearing next to cash registers and in store aisles. Because cameras are embedded in many of these digital screens displaying the ads, marketers are hoping to serve up ads based on the consumer's appearance.
The Ad Changes With the Shopper In Front of It - WSJ.com

Yeah?!? Well a buddy of mine did that two years ago ... Oh. Sorry. Um. Digital screens in public spaces are getting smarter. We like that. But as the second 'graph attest, it's all still "experimentation" and it's hard to find funding for experiments in a down economy. Onward.
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Web TV producers struggle to find formula for success - International Herald Tribune

For big media companies, the revenue raised by Web shows is "not the kind of money they are used to," Herb Scannell, a former president of Nickelodeon, said.
Web TV producers struggle to find formula for success - International Herald Tribune

Everybody's trying to figure out how we're going to make any money at all ... AND THE DEADLINE IS FEB 17, 2009 !!!! (Okay, so I exaggerate a little; but really folks it's all around us.) Now that I'm using at&t's U-Verse IPTV service, I can see even more clearly how the convergence is coming along. But advertising and content development are clearly twisting in the wind.
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Controversial columnist Jay Mariotti resigns from Chicago Sun-Times -- chicagotribune.com

Jay Mariotti, the opinionated and polarizing sports columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times, has resigned after 17 years with the paper, he told the Tribune on Tuesday night.

Just back from Beijing, where he covered the Olympics, Mariotti said in a phone interview that he decided to quit after it became clear while in China that sports journalism had become "entirely a Web site business. There were not many newspapers there." He added that most of the journalists covering the Games were "there writing for Web sites."

Mariotti, whose public battles with fellow staffers, team owners, managers, coaches and rival columnists are legendary, didn't disclose any specific plans except to say he will continue doing his regular stint on ESPN's "Around the Horn."

He said he "is talking with a lot of Web sites" and added that the future of his business "sadly is not in newspapers."
Controversial columnist Jay Mariotti resigns from Chicago Sun-Times -- chicagotribune.com

Mark your calendar: Stalwart old media columnist Jay Mariotti of the Chicago Sun-Times quits because he felt surrounded by cyberjournalists while covering the Beijing Games - says he's going to work for a web site.
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Generation BUY ("boomers") keeps consumerism alive

TV Land's "Generation BUY" study also found that 40 and 50-somethings are more open to new brands and less brand loyal than people under 40 making 40-59s "Free Agent Shoppers." Twenty-six percent of Boomers said they are not at all brand loyal versus 21% of Gen X and Millennials. In fact, Gen Y are the most likely to say that once they have made a commitment to a brand, they will stick with it, no matter what. The willingness of 40 and 50 year-olds to buy new brands carries over across virtually every product category including electronics, personal care products, restaurants, automobiles and more. And when compared to the Generation who came before them these "Free Agent Shoppers" have very different spending habits. No longer will this age group buy the same products based on lifelong brand decisions and spend less as they age. This demo is redefining brand loyalty and determining purchase decisions based on the effectiveness of products. Today's 40 and 50-somethings stick with a product for as long as it's good and fulfills their complex needs. They are not afraid to change for something they feel will improve their lives.
Viacom

Read about this study from the Center for Media Research - http://www.mediapost.com/blogs/research_brief/?p=1782

There's a generation gap again. It's a theme of mine, yes. But the evidence keeps flowing in. 40 seems to be the new 30 on many fronts, but none more important to advertisers than media consumption and behavior.
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Diane Mermigas: On Media » Blog Archive » TV’s Salvation: Hyper-Local Cross-Platform Content

With the door on innovation wide open, the government-mandated switch to digital could not have come at a better time. It will prove a saving grace for TV stations that proactively seek to redefine their local agendas and utilize interactivity to benefit consumers and advertisers. KWTV’s Web site is clear in its mission to keep its Oklahoma City constituents safe with its comprehensive storm and tornado education and alerts.

The Feb. 17, 2009 switch will be a make-or-break time for local TV broadcasters that are looking to thrive in a transitioning business. The Federal Communications Commission says 97% of all commercial TV stations are on the air in digital or will be ready by the deadline. Some of the new dollars are siphoned from local-market direct mail, television and newspapers. Some of it is new spending and an infusion of marketing and advertising dollars that would not be spent, particularly in an economic downturn.

Diane Mermigas: On Media » Blog Archive » TV’s Salvation: Hyper-Local Cross-Platform Content

When all media is digital media, then all marketing will be database marketing. "Bold" "Provocative"
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The BBC Says the US is Far Behind. I Have to Agree.

"It's a country whose average broadband speed is 30 times slower than the world's leader. Some say that online video will cause its Internet service to grind to a halt. And its population lives in ignorance of the wide choices available to the rest of the world. Welcome to the United States of America."
MediaPost Publications - [In]Sight: The Great Divide - 09/02/2008

Ouch! The columnist, Graeme Hutton, goes on to temper this harsh assessment. However, anyone who's worked at a large advertising or marketing services agency must acknowledge that the pace of change here in the US is, at its best, slow.
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Super Cool Advergame from Puma



Caught wind of this on Twitter this morning. Here's a review - http://www.culture-buzz.com/Chasing-Bolt-The-New-Puma-Advergame-1800.html

MediaPost Publications - TNT Uses Tolls In TV Marketing Ploy - 08/29/2008


TNT is turning to one of the more persuasive promotional techniques to drive tune-in for a new series: a freebie. The network will cover the toll charge for drivers in four metro areas this weekend in support of the premiere of drama "Raising the Bar."

For two-hour periods in the afternoon, drivers in Chicago, Philadelphia, and Atlanta--all top-10 DMAs--and Orlando will be able to go through without having to forage for cash. The promotion runs today in Atlanta and on Monday in the other markets in advance of that night's 10 p.m. Labor Day show debut.

The booths across the toll plazas will be covered in signage. In Atlanta, drivers will sail right through. In the three other markets, they will stop and be handed a card reading, "Your free toll was courtesy of TNT and 'Raising the Bar.' 'Raising the Bar' premieres tonight on TNT."

MediaPost Publications - TNT Uses Tolls In TV Marketing Ploy - 08/29/2008

I can't begin to tell you how many times I personally have been waved off any and all promotional ideas leveraging toll booths. "We can't do it." "The authorities won't let us." "It's too complicated!"

Excuses, excuses, excuses. No more.
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