Licence to Roam

I consistently find Three Minds@Organic a great pointer towards cool marketing stuff on the web. This time they have linked to a great spoof of the Sony Bravia “balls bouncing downhill”, but this time with fruit. See if you can guess the brand before the tag line. And make sure you take a look round the site to see the ‘damage’ the filming caused. The ’send to a friend’ component sends a great message asking you to sign a petition against nasty advertisement makers who traumatise innocent streets and don’t clear up after themselves.

Another good copy/spoof/parody (call it what you will) is by 118, again redoing some of W&K’s Honda ads. This time they took on the Choir Ad . The original can be found here (again on YouTube, as you can’t link direct to the ad on the Honda Civic site but have to go through Flash flashiness first).

Via Mit Advertsing lab, In what I assume is a tie in with the US version of The Apprentice, Chevrolet have opened a competition to make your own advertisement. In a very nice website, it allows you to combine video shots and music and text however you wish. I can’t work out the way to get to the ads online, but you obviously can…so some have been grabbed for your viewing pleasure.

Whilst many will be complimentary, funny or just plain bad, the competition has also opened the doors to those who do not agreee with big cars. There’s a series over on YouTube (for the while at least) and some more here on Eco-Geek..

These things were inevitable - they would have (at least I hoped they were) covered in all of the preparation for the campaign. The acid test will be what do Chevy do next. Leave the negative ads out there, not go chasing to have them taken down, whilst. hopefully, listen to what they are saying and learn something? Or prove that they are still, really, a command and control marketer, don’t want to listen to their customers and not really interested. I guess we’ll see next week - assuming the lawyers aren’t working the weekend

I’ve been following the back and forth between Amazon’s CTO Werner Vogels, Robert Scoble and Shel Israel. An interesting challenge - provide hard numbers about the benefits of blogging. It’s far easier with websites to understand traffic, how many people have seen it, than any of the other methods of indirect marketing (ie those that are not experiential when you actually count people), but understanding monetary value of an any marketing can be a challenge, especially when it is one part in many. Teasing out the effect of one part of marketing from another, when you are trying to change people’s perceptions, is a difficult art. So providing hard numbers for blogging, especially when it is part of the marketing and communication effort, may not be possible. Or needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. I’ve developed pretty comprehensible, logical, spreadsheet based calculations for the RoI on consumer-facing, product based websites (had to follow the process, don’t you know). But I know that the accuracy was suspect - but I had numbers and a great RoI!

You may not be able to get detailed numbers, and in a lot of cases I think it is too soon to tell, but there is a definite need for some more rigorous case studies to to supplement the change stories (which is to me the greatest benefit of opening up companies) (Update: Shel’s posted more here)

PS - see Hugh’s cartoon for one take on it.

Marketing Map

Originally uploaded by miss_rogue.

Tara posted this earlier, folloing up on here posts about Pinko Marketing. Love it!

Advertsing 2 post

My first panel today was entitled ‘Beyond the Banner: Advertising on the Web and where it is going’. The panel comprised:

David Jakubowski - Microsoft (Facilitator)
Jason Rapp NYT
Ron Belanger - Yahoo
Jennifer Slegg - JenStar
Jed Nahum - Microsoft Adcentre
Jeff Lanctot - Avenue A
Bant Breeen Interpublic group

The quick answer, if you don’t want to read the rest of the post, is that the panel really don’t know where digital advertising is going but have a lot of ideas.

Key points:

• tracking needs to be sorted. Currently, there is a tolerance of emerging opportunities and the lack of tracking but this will draw to a close and a method of measuring and reporting needs to be worked out.
• need to address accountability and assess the difference between direct response marketing and branding
• standardising the offers from the tech companies would be nice from teh advertisers perpsective, make it easier to manage and compare campaigns consistently, but the competition between them drives innovation and can show the way
• Behavioural targeting does help with ads, but can be viewed with suspicion. It can get a bad press, but agregating tools do help in managing campaigns. One audience member even asked for more permission based spyware to show him relevant ads (ie he was from New Zealand..so it would be good to get ads that show him bargains in Las Vegas as he is here)
• the solutions could be software (as envisioned by the tech companies)…need to build into platforms ways to deliver target ads.
• the advertisers have to get the right balance between advertising and content. Recently the creative agencies have been poor in creative..to attract the desentisised pople need to increase the ads that are relevant, engaging and inviting.
• a number of the advertisers in the audience asked questions about tracking viral/Word of mouth. There are agencies that do perception and feeling measurement and the advice was to start tracking before you try and do viral marketing. But is is critical that the brand stays honest - seeding discussions is not a smart move!
• looking to get dynamic ads in podcasting and videoblogging to really drive this space.
• mobile devices will be big! (errr…yep) there was some discusssion about video to mobile, 2D bar codes, event ticketing etc as being..although they are only really new to US..a dive to make the phone/mobile device a bridge across other platforms.

There was nothing new in this panel at all for me, but it was interesting to see the same questions keep coming up from yesterday (localisatiojn etc)- so there is more of a need to educate and inform about what is happening here for all the advertisers.

Mix06

In one of those co-incidences, I arrived at the airport lounge yesterday and smiled and said hello to someone I recognised. Nothing unusual in that, I’m used to seeing people all the time on the NYC flight - there was usually at least one person from Diageo on the flight. This time though it turned out to be one of the people who catch the same train as me every morning - so he looked at me very weirdly as I greeted him as though I knew him.

But this post is not about that kind of localisation, where the world is getting smaller (or is that globalisation), it’s more about the kind of localisation that puts an independently owned motorway service station at the top of a Which Poll (I can’t find a decent link to the story this morning). Many services in the UK are owned by chains, they’re dull, plastic, too expensive for what you get but Westmorland has always provided something different. Started by the landowner when the motorway was built across his land, the services foucs on providing local produce and employment for locals. People go out of their way to visit the farm shop and restaurant, it does not jsut rely on passing trade.

So here you have an occasion where staying true to initial values and focusing on excellence provides a service that consistently comes out top in polls such as this.

As an advertising campaign, Mastercard’s Priceless appears to strike chords and I’ve seen it replicated many times, such as the one that was circulated after London got the 2012 Olympics. Finally, Mastercard have cottoned on to this and are running a competition to get us to write the copy for the ad. Adrants have an interesting twist on it….”We have to wonder, though, how many industry creatives will anonymously go after this and then gleefully add the ad to their portfolio once it airs.”

Talking about Microsoft (well, sort of) they had a particularly lame attempt yesterday at marketing the new Office Suite in Waterloo Station. The station has been decked out in banners and posters and great big floor stickers with the Dinosaur campaign all over it. (It’s big in the papers as well) And to bring this home, some experiential ad agency decided that having people with big dino masks wandering round the station handing out cards full of stickers. Yes, little stickers of people with dino heads on and the various slogans. All I need the the picture book with scenes in that you just stick the stickers into.

Of course, the campaign is working in one way - I’m talking about it. But I’m thinking about why, if it is as good a product as they are trying to say, isn’t the marketing better? And I won’t get to try the features either - won’t work on the set up we have here.

Annie over on London Underground reports on the interface between corporates and self-impression. Underground buskers are being paid by companies to play music. The buskers are being paid a reported £40/day to play Johnny Cash songs, to support the release of the new movie Walk the Line and its associated release of albums.

There appears to be a mixed reaction from the buskers - are they compromising themselves and being a corporate schill? For some, the money is too good an opportunity; others feel they could not do it. A good marketing test, getting the songs in front of an estimated 3 million people for a cost that would be far cheaper than a set of tube posters. I think the buskers need to put their prices up!

Last night I went to a business networking event. Unlike some I’ve been to, where it is a ‘come along and chat’ night, this one was more structured in that there were a number of experts who provide free 30 minute sessions during the night on their specialised subject. Even though they are trying to convince you to use their services going forward, the selling was pretty light and the sessions are no obligation with some pretty good advice given out. Last night there was an emarketing expert, a Management consultant, a voice coach and a lifestyle coach.

In conversations with the attendees I spent a lot of time talking about blogging. There was a lot of interest from people who were aware of it but did not understand if and how it could help them in their business. A lot of people had websites, often because ‘they had to have them’ but were not leveraging them to drive business. One person there was getting their website rewritten, unbeknownst to them it was going to become a blog - but the word had never been mentioned, it was just being described as an easy site to update and get comments on. By the end of the evening I had a number of people to whom I need to send out a load of links. (which I can use as a post in my new blog about my new business…). I was also busy recommending Naked Conversations as a good starting point as the book is out in the UK at the end of January.

Looking for the book, I found a weird glitch. Using the search term ‘Naked Conversation’, Amazon came back and told me there was nothing that matched the term ‘naget’…I’d love to know why it does that.

Resolutions were on display in the canteen at lunchtime. The first day back at work found a far larger than usual number of people choosing salad for their lunch instead of any other offering. Walking into Waterstones, another favourite resolution was being encouraged - giving up smoking - with this highly visible display of half-price books to support you in giving up the easy way.

Rick Segal has posted a few business tips for 2006. I especially like this one and can so see the advantages into trying it.

Forward your phone to a responsible person.

Let’s face it, you need the personal touch of a responsible assistant but, as a start up, you can’t afford it. Simple. Forward your phone to a responsible friend. You know the one that keeps the desk neat, remembers people’s birthdays and never seems to have any fast food wrappers tossed in the back of their car. It works brilliantly and you don’t even have to tell them because, being all responsible -n- such, they will handle the calls. A live call gets a responsible person who will take a message for you after the “uh, I’m looking for Rick” stuff. A voice mail gets done with “this is, uh, a message for Rick” which, of course, gets dutifully transcribed by your responsible friend. Try to get the one not particularly tech savvy so you can blame this on the phone call company with a reasonable shot of getting away with it. As a start up, these costs savings will add up.

A survey conducted by Women in Technology of around 1200 current and former members of the WiT group found that they like buying technology and gadgets for Christmas presents. The top 10 were:

(1) Digital Camera,
(2) iPod,
(3) iPod Accessories,
(4) Laptop Computer,
(5) HDTV,
(6) Videogame Console,
(7) Camera Phone,
(8) Desktop Computer,
(9) Smartphone
(10) Handheld Videogame Player.

The survey is picked up by the BBC here. They pick up the point about women being the silent influencer behind many joint purchases.

Women are the silent majority when it comes to influencing and making consumer electronics purchases.

They influence around 80% of consumer electronics purchases, according to figures from manufacturers and trade groups such as the Consumer Electronics Association.

But until recently the industry did not pay attention to this.

And we can see the changes from the consumer electronics industry - a colleague at work has a pink phone which appears to make a feature of having a biorythm tracker. But the women’s market does not just mean colouring everything pink; designing smaller and lighter goods can be important (just look at Maryam’s experience with a new laptop) but also lowering the entry barriers - reduce the fiddleliness in setting things up. That’s a complaint I’ve heard from friends - too many things needed to get things working, it’s not just turn on and go. Although I have to admit given I’ve seen many men just turn on the stuff and never even attempt to read manuals I’m surprised that it is being bought up as a need for designing for women ;o)

Anyway, back to list. I’d go with the HDTV as first choice for me - and I’ll definitely have to be buying it myself. But why was anyone surprised that women who work with technology buy technology?

Bore Me are listing the top 10 viral downloads for the year, for both commercial ads and for more fun videos. Interestingly Volkswagon top both the polls. In the ads section, their Singin’ in the Rain mashup ad came out on top. The marketeers would be pleased with that result, but rather less pleased that in the general downloads the spoof VW ad about suicide bombers being contained by VW’s strength came out on top.

I’ve got all these open tabs that I need to close…posting them is the best way.

Scott Adams wants to adopt - an embryo. Does not need a lot of space (keep. it in the freezer), cheap (no toys or clothes) and no issue with a terror toddler or a truculent teen. It may just catch on.

Seth Godin puts some thought into why companies should be on the web - or why not

Q: Should every business use the internet to communicate? What are the basics of an internet communications strategy? A: You should only use the internet if you want your communications to be FAST and you want to reach LARGE NUMBERS with no intermediaries. If you can’t handle that, though, you shouldn’t try.

The decision to use the web as a communications tool can be seen as an obvious one - yourcompetitiors are doing it, so you should. But like all methods - it needs thought and resources behind it. It’s should not be done just becuase it’s perceived as quick and simple, but because it is the right thing to do.

In the same vein, Market Sherpa has 5 steps for corporates who want to blog. Although it misses out Robert Scoble’s first preferred step - read blogs - it’s a pretty accurate representation of what has been going on in a company I know, looking at doing a blog. It’s not always possible to just do things, however good the idea. A corporate has politics and lots of statekholders whose needs have to be addressed.

I see Typepad was down for a loooonnnng time. Niall Kennedy has a great podcast/interview transcript with Anil Dash about what happened. Jay Allen says what most of the operational guys were probably thinking “I’m looking forward to never having another day like that for the rest of the time I work at Six Apart.” Technology is not a panacea, it always goes wrong at the worst time. I’m convinced that some of the applications I work on know when I’m going to give a demonstration - because that is when they break.

Sad to see that John Spencer has died at the young age of 58. One of my favourite actors in the West Wing

Sir Tim Berners-Lee has a blog. After a week, it has one post and 258 comments.

Conferences: Mix06 looks like it would be an excuse to get to Vegas, a town that is on my list of places to visit at least once. I’m going to be in the US in March anyway, for SXSW. But it’s only going to happen if I get a very large windfall. The Future of Web Apps in London in Feb is far more in my price range.

Seems I was not alone in disliking the BBC trailer with the disembodied heads. The BBC have dropped it after recieving complaints about it being ‘ “horrific” and “disturbingly psychotic” ‘

Innocent Drinks have a seasonal campaign to raise money for Age Concern and Extra Care, by selling drinks with little woollen hats in selected stores. And just in case they did not get all 80000 of the hats made in time, they’re asking their fans to knit some as well. The instructions start off with a perfect line: 1. Tune in to Radio 4.

The magazine associated with the gadget and gear website Boys Stuff was floating around the office today. Amongst all the gadgets such as remote control cars, robots, game accessories etc areideas for Christmas presents that sound great but only get bought at this time of year, such as:

• Naughty duvet cover, with tasteful (!) pictures of naked people
• Inflatable Moose Head, for hanging on walls when you really don’t want to go out and shoot stuff
• and finally, the Candy Lingerie set, for those special moments

  But the favourite one in the team at the moment would be the Takeaway website - everything you need to build your own in a box.

Over on Heavy.com, Burger King masks are being featured in community generated videos, starring in a number of different videos including Safety dancewhere a bemasked dancer goes around gesturing rudely at BK’s competitors and Webcam Stripper where a strip tease also features the mask (surprisingly, it is safe for work).

Both of these would feature in nightmares of certain lawyers I know. It’s not the taking of the content and mixing it up that is regarded as the key problem - it’s the taking the content, mixing it up and the company getting sued because of the new content that is often bought up as a barrier. Wonder how the BK lawyers react to these videos

Absolut’s Christmas site is fun (the first time only though). Singing bottles take you through seasonal recipes and invite you to send to a friend. Those songs though - drive me insane. Bet they were fun to work on ;o)

And that’s about the only thing I;ve seen over the last few days, having spent most of them laid up with a bad cold. I hate winter!