Your Cell Phone Can Name That Tune
Try this immediately: 1. Play some music in your office (fairly loudly), 2. Get out your cell phone and dial 888-SONG-411 (that's 888-766-4411), 3. Hold the phone up to a speaker for at least 15 seconds (Don't hang up, the service will cut off automatically when its got enough audio), 4. In less than a minute, you'll receive a text message with the song title & artist's name.
The service is provided by 411 Song; see their very corny demo here.
Let's be clear: This is Internet technology at work here. Not some cell phone wizardry. Ask me for a simplified description if you like.
Marketing Opportunity - DualDisc
Bruce Springsteen's new release, Devils & Dust on Sony/Columbia, is the first to be sold exclusively on the DualDisc format. It's an audio CD on one side, and a DVD on the other. You play it on regular, standard disc players. The CD side's got the audio. On the DVD side, you find a 5.1 channel surround-sound mix of the audio plus about 30 minutes of video.
Major multi-platinum-selling artists' albums are already on DualDisc including Los Lonely Boys, Mariah Carey (number one this week!), Rob Thomas, Jennifer Lopez, John Mayer, Averil Levigne, Destiny's Child, Velvet Revolver and many more.
Why aren't we using this as an advertising channel?
Sony PSP 'Must Have' Gadget of 2005
I couldn't agree more. Riding the train home a week ago, I saw one of these up close. It's phenomenal. An amazingly clear color screen. Plays nearly-Playstation-level games and videos. And Podcasts, too! This BBC story details the iPod as number two choice. (Look for an iPod implosion in the next 18 months as digital music moves to cell phones and gaming portables like the PSP.)
Outlook on "must have" gadgets for 2006? XBox 360, HDTVs (prices keep coming down) and MP3 mobile phones.
Think the Internet's Not on Your Cell Phone? Think Again!
I just got this junk e-mail from a MySpace/Friendster-style service for cell phones --
"You now have 1 friend(s) that invited you to join SMS.ac, the largest mobile community in the world!
With SMS.ac you can send messages via the Web or your mobile phone to your friends and family, flirt with millions of people around the world, or receive Mobile Alerts on whatever topics you choose right to your mobile phone."
Go to http://www.sms.ac/ to check it out ... or "flirt" if that's your thing.
Bloggers Become Famous, Too
Just not in the USA ... YET
Suitman is a filmmaker and creative director I worked for years ago. Read the Manifesto page of the Website to see how he became Suitman. There are now gallery exhibits, action figures and assorted emphemeral accessories ... even television appearances ... of Suitman. And it all started as a photo travelogue.
GM's Blogging, Why Aren't YOU?!?!
http://www.gmblogs.com/
Go into Fastlane Blogs and visit the G6 Corvette blog. You can listen to a Podcast produced for Vette enthusiasts.
What?!? A PODCAST from GM ... Let's see, GM, Boeing, hmm ... What is YOUR CLIENT waiting for?!?!
Sometimes Multimedia Innovation is ... Dorky
But That's O-Kay
The Case for DVD in Direct Mail
A Cambridge Associates study shows that long-form video/interactive links via DVD/CD in DM increases response and recall.
- 3x greater response ... some with a 600 percent boost
- 50-60 percent increased recall vs. print alone
- Discs can be cheaper to produce vs. catalogs or brochures
- Reduced weight of discs saves postage costs
- Built-in Internet links improves sales source tracking (like DVD extras)
- Recipients consider DVDs to be "valuable" estimating a $15 value
- Discs are more likely to be retained or passed along (word of mouth)
So ... why relegate "long form" commercials to poor old TV? Shoot long form and mail it! Go ahead, have media compare costs (millions to buy air time vs. "millions"(?) to mail).
Why Use Direct Mail Anymore?
According to the DMA 2005 Postal & E-Mail Marketing Report marketers use DM/DeM for:
51.7% - Generate Orders
25.8% - Generate Leads
8.1% - Build Loyalty/Retention
5.6% - Drive Retail Traffic
4.5% - Drive Site Traffic
2.2% - Obtain E-Mail Addresses
Re-assess your media/marketing mix accordingly. Buy the full report here.
DMA (Direct Marketing Association) Absorbs Association for Interactive Marketing
Not in and of itself an exciting news blurb, I'll admit. Here's the scratch -- 80 percent of the DMA's membership (agencies such as FCBi, Arc WW (Burnett), Draft, Wunderman (Y&R), OgilvyOne, etc.) is in fact practicing interactive media tactics and ideas. Hold the phone ... So are We!?!?!
The "convergence" isn't just about the media. It's changing agency services. With the growth of TiVO and video on demand and home media centers that show Vlogs and Webcasts on the plasma hanging on your living room wall, interactivity becomes an every-time deal.
The question is no longer whether to make a component of your campaign interactive. It's how "deep" should the interactivity go? Think about DVD extras. If the bonus features are great, you look. If not, you watch the movie. (Hint: we're in the bonus features business.) So, the OFFER had better be compelling, or else.
Web Schmebb!!! The INTERNET is Everywhere! Especially on your phone!
News Junkies Need It Now c/o Wired News
"FreeNews, one of the latest mobile newsreaders, lets the headline hungry use a mobile phone to digest their favorite blogs or websites efficiently in a matter of minutes ... A new generation of newsreaders foregoes images and delivers just text formatted for RSS feeds ... It is available for Motorola and Nokia phones, among others, as well as for BlackBerry and Windows Mobile OS devices and the palmOne Treo ... FreeNews itself displays full articles, automatically stripping out the graphics and HTML."
It's really just an RSS News Reader for your cell phone vs. your computer (see RSS entry below). See? The Internet is everywhere!
Radio Wakes Up & Smells the Podcast courtesy Wired News
"Less than a year after podcasting caught the public imagination, the radio industry is beginning to wake up and smell the money. Earlier this month, talk-show host Rush Limbaugh began offering podcasts of his shows for $50 a year, and competitors like The Dr. Laura Schlessinger Program may follow his lead.
... WNYC's podcasts of its nationally syndicated show On the Media are being downloaded 15,000 to 18,000 times a week.
... Washington all-news station WTOP, a sister station of WWZZ, has its own podcast -- a special 15- to 30-minute daily news update for commuters
... But at least one U.S. commercial radio station -- KFMB-FM/100.7 Jack in San Diego -- is testing the pay waters. It's charging listeners $5 a month to download its top-rated morning show.
... In Los Angeles, public radio station KCRW-FM, which podcasts a whopping 22 shows and features, has found a potential solution to the moneymaking question. You know those underwriting announcements on public radio that sound like commercials? KCRW's podcasts soon will have their very own faux ads, courtesy of local Lexus dealers.
How to Start Your Own Blog
The two biggest free blog sites are TypePad and Blogger. You are, in fact, reading a free Blogger-dot-com blog (written via Blogger then published on Blogspot).
For DIY "power-bloggers" who make "pro-level" blogs (such as pundit Andrew Sullivan) there's blogging software programs like Movable Type.
From a favorite advertising industry blog, Brand Autopsy:
How Is Blogging Helping?
"No, really... What is blogging doing to help marketing? Customer communications? Innovative ideas? How is it helping tell the story? What types of marketing advances are being accomplished? How are we helping ourselves?
THE POSITIVES
- INFORMATION SHARING
- ONLINE NEWSLETTERS
- BROADER PEER BASE
THE QUESTIONS
- TALKING TO OURSELVES
- ARE WE MAKING A DIFFERENCE?"
Plus there are great links to other articles on Word Of Mouth marketing ...
Who are the MP3 Bloggers? The record labels love these guys!
"Mp3 blogs (or audio blogs or music blogs) are the newest frontier in online music-sharing—a groundswell has appeared in the last year of people posting mp3 files of songs they love, free of charge on personal web sites (but only available for a short period of time), and usually annotated with biographical and contextual notes about the artist and the music."
The major music labels now supply the most popular MP3 Bloggers with free advance CDs. They've acknowledged the influence and effect on sales of these "influencers"/"gatekeepers" via word of mouth. See what I see? A shift for recording companies and artists away from the captivity of the music press to get buzz. Rolling Stone magazine just took one more step closer to the cliff.
Here's another article on Playlist magazine's site. A great overview.
What is a BitTorrent? And why does the MPAA *hate* it so, so much?
BitTorrent is a P2P [illicit file sharing] system that makes transfering large files (or groups of files) [like entire movies] amongst a large group of people easy, fast and efficient.
The BitTorrent network is set up in a way that is a little different than a normal P2P ["peer to peer"] network [like Kazaa or the old Napster]. With this network, you really don't do any searching for files that the other users have using the client as you would with traditional clients like Kazaa [or the old Napster].
... Instead you find a listing of "Torrents" which are simply links on a Web site, a Blog or a Newsgroup. You use a small, free application that converts that "Torrent"/link into a download "stream" from the "Torrent" network, which is itself composed solely of the PCs of the other users on the network ... locally, nationally and globally.
[I understand that you are now glazed over in the stupor of hearing too much tech speak ... sorry 'bout that but there is no other way around this.]
So the MPAA can't shut the network down. Unlike the RIAA's successful eradication of the original Napster. Why? Because the network is distributed among all the users. There is NO centralized "server" where, presumably, some person or persons could be raided, loaded into court and prosecuted.
It's a totally democratic file sharing system that is literally composed of its constituent parts. AND it's far faster than the MP3 file trading networks (such as Kazaa, Gnutella and Limewire, etc.). SO people are swapping MOVIES all over this sucker. And the MPAA is going bonkers.
Oh yeah, and the FCC can't do anything about it. Remember ... no central servers = no culprits.
Share this with your favorite account planner! It's called Blog Pulse and it's got charts, graphs and data on emerging trends in the "blogosphere."
Link reference: http://www.blogpulse.com/index.html
http://www.suntimes.com/output/tech/cst-fin-iptv08.html
*IPTV will deliver juiced-up video on demand. Rather than the limited library of movies and premium programming now available on cable, IPTV promises to provide virtually any program whenever you want. You'll be able to watch the programs on any device on which you have access to the Internet -- your notebook computer in an Internet cafe, on a cell phone in an airport writing area or on a city street on your Web-enabled PDA.
IPTV is being phased in starting next year in SBC's service area. Prices haven't been announced.
More details on CNET's News-dot-com site
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