Truth awareness and transparency is opening the doors of our homes.
Some examples:
HGTV, the home and garden cable channel owned by Scripps Networks, launched a social network this week called Rate My Room.
The idea is self-explanatory: it’s a Flickr or YouTube for rooms, allowing users to upload photos of their rooms, tag them, and have them rated and commented on. You can then find the top rated, most viewed and most recent rooms. There are profile pages, too, but these simply aggregate all the rooms you’ve submitted.
The site is a bit plonky now, but interesting thinking with loads of potential presuming improvements are ongoing. The brand connection to HGTV is intuitive and smart, too.
*One slight confusion I have is the relation to Ratemyroom.net, which seems to be the same idea, and name, created by an interior designer from Atlanta. I can only assume HGTV has covered this potential conflict?
Anyways, another interesting (and similar) house share community is Curbly, "a community of people who love their neighborhoods."
And finally there is Zillow which is about a year-old and headed by the founders of Expedia. Consider it the E*Trade/Expedia/Craigslist/MLS of Real Estate. House values are valued for all to see (harvested from local municipality data), with useful trending data to aid users' search and decisionmaking. Though there are some early-stage flaws with coverage and up-to-date accuracy Fortune magazine reports that 4 million visitors a month are checking out Zillow's 52 million house valuations, making it one the internet's biggest real estate destinations. 
And, not surprisingly, it is the real estate agents (protecting a $27 trillion industry) who are the loudest critics of Zillow, perhaps fearful of suffering the same disintermediation that travel agents endured when sites like Expedia came on strong.
Zillowblog here
via Mashable, Marketing Vox and CNN Money
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Mass Interactive: Open Houses
Unbanked: Banking America's Undocumented Immigrants Redux
According to this recent story on NPR, MasterCard and a group of wireless companies are developing a way to allow migrant workers to send money back home, using mobile phones.
By one estimate, U.S. workers sent $45 billion to their native countries in Latin America in 2006.
Other Unbanked Immigrants posts here
Monday, February 19, 2007
Rumor Mill: MLS Zidane The Verge of Tipping
Friday, February 16, 2007
PSFK Conference New York
PSFK Conference New York
Tuesday, Mar 6, 2007 8:30 am - 6:30 pm
New York, NY
“Planting Seeds”
Mike Byrne of Anomaly
Scott Campbell
Kacy Coll of Naked
Wendy Dembo
Josh Deutsch of Downtown Records (tbc)
Jill Fehrenbacher of Inhabitat
Doug Jaeger of TheHappyCorp
John Lee & Jiae Kim of Theme Magazine
Floyd Hayes of Cunning
Grant McCracken
Sascha Lewis of Flavorpill
George Murphy of Fitch
George Parker
Peter Rojas of Engadget
David Rosenberg of JWT
Lauren Rosenwald
Elizabeth Spiers of Dead Horse Media
Ken Rother of Treehugger
Kevin Slavin of AreaCode
Scott Witt of Droga5
Simon Sinek of Sinek Partners
Steve Hardwick of StawberryFrog
Rony Zibara of Fahrenheit 212
Inbox of Immaturity
Valentine's Day isn't so sweet after all... below is a little bit of love and a lot of anger.
First, for the love of ladies like Marisa Miller to Beyonce SI-gh.
Those are some serious heart-breakers, but here's proof love hurts: UNC's version of The Break-Up.
That kind of hurt somtimes leads to violence, and it's possible these 3 guys were feeling a little Lonely when they went on the offensive/attack:
Shark Attacked! by drunk Aussie.
Young Wrestler Attacked! by dad.
Reporter Attacked! by eye doctor.
But remember it doesn't have to come to that (breaking up). Here are some potentially relationship-saving man cards.
Anyway, with V-Day dunzo, now it's time to Wake up, get back to reality, and start to worry a little less about love and a little more about taxes.
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Ad Agency Deathwatch: Anamoly
CNN Money reports on plucky 2-year-old start-up, Anamoly.
Regarding their recent win of Virgin America, "Anamoly brought a pitch that sounded more like a takeover bid: Carl Johnson, Anomaly's 48-year-old co-founder, hauled out plans to design the interiors of Virgin's new A320s, fashion the flight attendants' uniforms, and create the content for a pay-per-view seat-back entertainment system."
"Anomaly didn't want the usual hourly fees, either. 'This is an investment where we get a cut of sales,' Johnson told Virgin's marketing chief, Spence Kramer. One month later Johnson's no-name firm got the nod, to the astonishment of many in the industry. 'The pitch was unlike all the rest,' Kramer says. 'They never even mentioned ads. They were telling us how we could make more money.'"
CNN Money further outlines what separates Anomaly from the rest of the pack...
1. Creative compensation
2. Product design
3. Mobile marketing platform
via CNN Money
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Culture: Generation Unmotivated
Ok. Now this is probably going to make me sound like an old man, but I really do worry about the future of this country when I think about the youth today. I was watching an episode of My Super Sweet 16 on MTV the other night (insomnia causes strange behaviors, its true) and it got me thinking.
The show is a perverse display of wealth, with 15 and 16 year old boys and girls enjoying parties on their birthdays that rival royal ceremonies in other lands.
I started thinking about how the show is a sign that America may be becoming an entirely different country than the one envisioned by the fore fathers. The "American Dream" revolves around the idea of being a do-it-yourself, hard working, striving individual, who fights to achieve success and prosperity for themselves.
Now, such wealthy parents in this country are providing their kids with the world on a platter before they even hit age 18. So what is the incentive for these kids to be motivated- to study hard and get good grades, a good job, and make money when they already have it all? I struggle with the fact that the parents, who obviously busted their respective asses to get where they are, would not want to instill that same drive in their offspring by making them work hard for at least some of the finer things in life. It seems that these wealthy people are breeding a generation that will add no value or contribution to society because they never had to work for anything, so how will they magically start one day?
Now, I will say that I by no means struggled in life and was given a lot by my parents. But I was still raised with the belief that to "make it" in this world, it took hard work. If I had been given a $100,000 birthday party, a $90,000 Benz and a list of other goods on my 15th birthday, honestly what's my motivation to work hard- be it school, career?
I admit I'm going on a rant due in part to one particularly obnoxious show, and this is not representative of an entire generation. But this is what's on TV, and it influences the opinions of a broader audience. If this is what appeals to today's youth, does it signal that they do not wish to work hard and achieve success for themselves the way their parents did, and that the hard working entrepreneurial spirit that drives this country may be fading in future generations?
Bringing this back around to thoughts on branding, what might this imply for marketers? Today many brands seek to achieve status and prestige, and be a symbol of strivers and go-getters- take Nike for example. How might this affect their standing? A generation that wants everything handed to them certainly doesn't see the value in putting blood, sweat, and tears into becoming a better athlete.
Closing thought and then I'm done with my rant: MTV pisses me off, and yet like a car-wreck I just help but watch. Ugh...
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Black Sheep of Advertising: SalesGenie.com
Figured I'd take Seth and my discussions public and take a look at Salesgenie.com post-Superbowl.
I quote from USA Today (who ranked Salesgenie.com's SuperBowl ad dead last creatively):
"The sales-lead website generated more than 10,000 new customer subscriptions by late Monday, far more than the 700 it said it needed to break even on its ad cost. "Our ad wasn't supposed to be funny or clever," InfoUSA CEO Vin Gupta says. "It was supposed to bring in subscribers, and it's been successful beyond our wildest dreams. We're already working on next year's ad."
It ain't exactly a pillar of creativity...but one has to ask: "well, didn't it work?". And if it worked, well, to again quote that statesman Bishop Don "Magic" Juan, "Don't hate, congratulate."
I do agree with Seth, though, that surely there is a CHEAPER MEANS TO GET THESE SAME RESULTS...AFTERALL, SALESGENIE SUPPOSEDLY CHAMPIONS SMART AUDIENCE TARGETING. "I don't work hard. I work smart," proclaims Pierce so smugly.
A true Black Sheep of Advertising, such as Ron Popeil, champions THRIFT ABOVE ALL ELSE. Black Sheep Orthodoxy typically endorses anti-advertising in lieu of more POP, or economy/weakened judgement effects of late-nite media flights, or :10-only buys, cluster flights of 2 or 3 :10 or :15 TV ads ganged up to pummel the senses and/or co-promote multiple products, strong mnemonic jingles and repetition (ie "you bet your sweet Aspercreme!"), or just plain smarter audience targeting with their media money.
It is somewhat ironic that SalesGenie didn't get their 10K subscribers more smartly than with this very mass blast at America during SuperBowl.
On an unrelated note...I've been working on a SuperBowl assessment and some of you may find the following figures interesting for SalesGenie.com:
SalesGenie.com Suprbowl XLI AftrBuzz
Social Media Metrix
v.Tue13Feb/4:40pm CST
Topline Highlights
Total Social Media =655,236 Views @ YouTube+MySpace+iFilm
@ YouTube
:30 Spot =224,023 Views @ YouTube
@ MySpace
:30 Spot =343,847 Views @ MySpace
@ iFilm
:30 Spot = 87,361 Page Views @ iFilm
Some of the online sentiment included: Fervent disapproval, Violated, Not relevant, Disengaged...
To quote a few respondents...
"Biggest piece of shit commercial ever.”
"Douche-baggery”
"umm... that was crap”
"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOO…DELETE THAT BULL"
"i want my 30 seconds back..."
“poor"
”suckness
"positive side to this commercial? gives you time to run to the bathroom"
Of course, SalesGenie would say phooey to this mass sentiment...afterall, the 10,000 marks he needed were engaged enough to activate whether you liked it or not.
Unbanked: Banking America's Undocumented Immigrants
According to the FDIC, an estimated 10 million American households are "unbanked" or "underbanked" (the Economist estimates 12 million) -- they do not have accounts at banks and other mainstream financial institutions. 
According to a Aug 2006 study by BearingPoint and Visa, approximately 84 million people are un- and underbanked, representing $1.1 trillion in income. Assuming these consumers spend 1% of their income to pay for financial services, that amounts to $11 billion.
These cash consumers pay excessive fees for basic financial services, are susceptible to high-cost predatory lenders, or have difficulties buying a home or otherwise acquiring assets.
Undocumented immigrants — 10 million to 20 million in the USA, depending on estimates — blended long ago into the mainstream Hispanic market, which corporations are increasingly courting. +
Figures on how much undocumented workers spend are hard, if not impossible, to come by. But researchers from the Federal Reserve to PricewaterhouseCoopers predict that the Hispanic and immigrant economy will grow rapidly as those populations soar in the coming years.
The University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth projects that Hispanics' spending power — personal income after taxes — will rise from $490 billion in 2000 to $1 trillion in 2010.
In recent years, banks across the country have been offering checking accounts and even mortgages to the nation's fast-growing ranks of undocumented immigrants, most of whom are Hispanic, and many are generally unable to get major credit cards.
Bank of America, for example, has begun offering credit cards to customers without Social Security numbers, typically illegal immigrants, the Wall Street Journal recently reported. The new Bank of America card is open to people who lack both a Social Security number and a credit history, as long as they have held a checking account with the bank for three months without an overdraft, the Journal said. BoA tested the program last year at five branches in Los Angeles, and last week expanded it to 51 branches in Los Angeles County, home to the largest concentration of illegal immigrants in the U.S., the Journal said.
The bank hopes to roll out the program nationally later this year, claims WSJ.
Why?
-In 2005, Bank of America opened more than 1 million checking accounts for Hispanic customers, equivalent to the customer growth of a big Latin American bank.
-48% of U.S Hispanic households use at least one Bank of America financial product, from checking accounts to mortgages.
Nearly half of Bank of America's new hires last year were bilingual Spanish speakers. Bank literature and signs in many branches are printed in Spanish. And the company makes strong showings at Hispanic community events such as Fiesta Broadway, a Cinco de Mayo celebration in Los Angeles that draws a half-million Latinos.
Bank of America also puts on "financial literacy" seminars at Mexican consulate offices to educate immigrants about banking services, including SafeSend, a remittance service that's free if customers also open a checking account.
"We want to establish a good and solid financial relationship with the Hispanic population," Wagner says. "We know they want to save and put their money in a safe place."
The impact on these markets with regard to loyalty may hold huge potential for banks who can help people get over the economic handicap of first-time credit access. Read this recent testimony from an undocumented immigrant who states, the "credit card is the real ID in America". 
And then there is the global picture of the unbanked...
I quote from a Oct 2006 Economist article, “Most South Africans do not have bank accounts. But most do have mobile phones”.
"In most of Africa, for example, only a fraction of people have bank accounts—but there is huge demand for cheap and convenient ways to send money and buy prepaid services such as airtime. Many Africans, having skipped landlines and jumped to mobiles, already use prepaid airtime as a way of transferring money. They could now leap from a world of cash to cellular banking.
Heretofore, the problem has been that the cost of customer acquisition and maintenance has been higher than the expected revenues and so these markets lay fallow (or were priced - from the consumers’ point of view - prohibitively expensively).
Check out upstarts like Wizzit which offers a view at just how we may get the world's unbanked onto the grid thru cell phones. 
And South Africa is certainly not exclusive to mobile-phone banking: countries such as Japan, South Korea and the Philippines are dialing in their unbanked thru mobile technology.
via Reuters, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, and Economist
Black Sheep of Advertising: Lowermybills.com
Perhaps it is my checkered past and tough upbringing in the mean streets of schlocky advertising, but I am
just as fascinated by the lords of bad advertising, the black sheep like Ronco, Tom Vu, Girls Gone Wild and Head On who keep our economy going with their school-of-hard-knocks theories that, frankly, can be hard to refute at times. 
NYTimes speaks to those shameless, but seemingly profitable guys at lowermybills.com (don't act like you don't know...those online banner ads with the hypnotizing dancing silhouettes).
The company, one of the Internet’s biggest advertisers, routinely festoons Web sites large and small with its ads, spending $74.6 million on them in the first 11 months of 2006, according to TNS Media Intelligence. The surprising success of the ads led LowerMyBills to a significant payday: the credit agency Experian bought the eight-year-old company for $400 million in 2005.
Internet companies like LowerMyBills are called lead generators because they take loan applications filled out by customers who click the ads and give them to actual lenders like Citibank, which pay them for the referrals. The company’s success hinges on buying lots of low-cost ad space on Web sites and then persuading users to click.
Matt R. Coffin, the co-founder and chief executive of LowerMyBills, said the company’s ad campaign represented a return to traditional advertising principles rather than an embrace of the latest conventional wisdom.
“Building a brand is often about being different, and we are always looking for new and innovative ways to attract the attention of consumers interested in lowering their bills,” he said.
When asked about what the ads have to do with home equity loans or debt consolidation, Mr. Coffin said: “Our view is that people are crazy about saving money, and when they do save money they are very happy.”
And there you have it. Simple creative brief if I ever heard one.
Jennifer Uhll, graphic designer and creator of the campaigns said her online advertisements for financial companies, including ones she created before and after she worked for LowerMyBills, typically earn around $4 in lender referral fees for each dollar spent on the ad. The average for most lead-generation companies is less than $2 earned for each dollar spent on Web ads.
Timothy Hanlon, a senior vice president at the Starcom MediaVest Group, a media communications firm, called the company a “bottom feeder,” but he added: “The last time I checked, advertising was designed to draw people’s attention. On that level, LowerMyBills succeeds with a gold star.”
An archive at Adverlicio.us logs the creative executions (surely these are going in your next presentation decks).
And a blog that (wtf?) tracks their creative executions, too!
As that great American poet, pimp and statesman Bishop Don "Magic" Juan states, "don't hate the player, hate the game."
via MIT AdLab and NYTimes
Friendly Competition?
Read an interesting post on Gaping Void recently, which, among other things, hit on the idea of embracing (or at least considering) your competitors as your best advocate. From his Stormhoek road trip, Hugh MacLeod notes:
"Believe it or not, I'm actually a big fan of our competitors. Why? Because experience has taught me, if you can get your competitors talking about you, they suddenly transform themselves into your most powerful and efficient advertising medium."
While he calls this thinking "evil" (right pinky up to the corner of his mouth I'm sure), it did make me think about how we sometime view our competition as "the enemy" (other ad agencies, that bad food company, etc.). It also made me think about how sometimes you can team up with your competitors (most often if you find another enemy) to grow a category or change its perceptions—though, it would seem to make most sense for (and is sometimes done solo by) the market leader who'd expect to see the greatest benefit (i.e. "This is beer." "This is Budweiser." vs. vodka and other spirits).
Speaking of Budweiser and competition, I was just passed an article from The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, detailing a bet issued by Miller Lite to Budweiser (apparently in a letter from CEO Tom Long to August Busch IV).
“According to the challenge, if the Miller Lite car finishes ahead of the Budweiser car, Busch Stadium (home of the St. Louis Cardinals) will be renamed Miller Lite stadium for a to-be-determined 2008 series in St. Louis between the Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers. If the Budweiser car finishes the NASCAR season ahead of the Miller Lite car, Miller Park will be renamed Budweiser Park for a 2008 series in Milwaukee.”
Apparently it's the second year Miller has issued the bet and last year Budweiser didn't bite. It doesn't look like Bud's up for the challenge this year either as Dale E. has issued a statement about how he takes his job seriously and the goal is to get points...blah, blah, blah...
While I can't say I blame them for the response, I do wonder what they're trying to prove. After their Super Bowl commercials, they can't be trying to take the high road, right? Or would it be a completely different issue if it was the Bud Light car? Could it be that Budweiser CEO has more at stake because his name is on the stadium (vs. Long)? Or does he see there's no reason to put Budweiser's leadership on the line? (Though I think Miller Lite's the #1 beer, so that's perceived leadership.)
Could it be that he's afraid of losing?!? Of losing what? Imagine he took the bet or better yet countered with something more interesting/meaningful/funny or raised the stakes. Imagine what that would do for corporate culture. Imagine what that would do to Coors (irrelevant much?).
Trying to tie this together, I'd suggest as brands become more and more transparent, they/we remember they're/we're not really at war. In fact, there many cases of one brand paving the way for another in a category. And there are many people who aren't 1000% brand loyal and just want brands to be realistic about the role they play in their lives. I'd also remember the importance of internal PR and how it is more and more closely aligned with (directly related to, even) to external PR. What could this bet do for the internal culture (enthusiasm) at each company? How can this top mgmt spirit work its way down to employees and how can it work its way out to the public?
Can both brands win from practicing The Art of Fun?
Monday, February 12, 2007
Politics 2.0: Barack Obama Goes Completely Social Media
Presidential candidate Barack Obama turned his site into a social network this weekend, hoping to create a venue for his supporters to connect. Obama is already leveraging social media using Facebook, MySpace and Flickr.
Users may organize fundraising, create events, find Obama events near you, build a network of friends, send messages, join groups and write a blog about how you’re helping Obama, or how you feel about the Obama campaign. Groups are the way to connect to strangers on the network, since there doesn’t seem to be a browse feature (you can, however, search by name or zipcode). In many regards, it’s more like Facebook than MySpace or YouTube - simple, text-based and focused on connecting with people you know or those around you. 
AKI COMMENT: And I like his logo, too! Beats that same shiesty wavy flag graphic (or worse) that politicians have been retreading for 30 years. A simple and refreshing icon harkens to a new day dawning in politics. Though the letter "O" is somewhat predictable (probably the client call), this is played in a rather clever and unexpected treatment. Obama gets my consideration just for adopting an intriguing design ethic that speaks more than "politics as usual". Funny how most politicians just don't consider graphic identity as a relevant and influential piece of the presentation and package. For all intents and purposes, the candidates graphic identity is the very start of the conversation between voter and candidate.
via Mashable.com
Friday, February 09, 2007
Wanted: Senior Planner @ Fallon
Looking for Senior Planner
Are you interested in working at a great planning agency?
Fallon needs a senior planner with at least 5-8 years of experience . We're looking for someone who has the confidence and character to take a lead role in working closely with strong client marketing and research departments, directing the day-to-day responsibilities on multiple brands, and ultimately inspiring effective creative work.
If you're interested, send your resume as well as a response of no more than 150 words explaining why you've got what it takes to Mary Weber, Director of Talent Resources, at mary.weber@fallon.com.
Inbox of Immaturity
Picture from the archives of my new favorite site
Kick it!
At least Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim isn’t “pissing” anyone off with MC Pee Pants. Thanks avin.
If you need a last-minute romantic idea for Valentine’s Day, look no further. Thanks Noah.
Here’s an Angry German boy - that’s all I have to say about it.
Watch out for these American kids with guns . Thanks Aki (I think) for that and for this Tarantino Gem.
Not related to the Super Bowl, Chicago’s given the title of Top binge drinking city.
Lastly, those lucky peeps at JT’s MSG concert got a special gift. Thanks Meg.
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Cameos and Connections
It all started last week whilst watching 106 and Park. #4 on the countdown was Ludacris’ video (ft. Mary J. Blige) for his song “Runaway Love.” Watch it here. Solid beat, typically tight Luda flow and Mary belting out the hooks while 3 stories of young girls with reasons to runaway play out. I was pretty hooked. Then, the final verse/scenario hit the screen. What? Is that Namond Brice from HBO’s The Wire (Julito McCullum) in the car with his pregnant girlfriend? Yup. I thought, “Good call Luda. Good call Namond.” Not only that, but each “star’s” star started to rise in my mind; their more positive images and association led to an overall enhancement of the video, which made me seek out the song on iTunes the next day. 
As you’d probably expect, neither guy is the first. In fact, The Wire characters/actors are a pretty popular choice for rappers. However, when you give people the opportunity to make this connection themselves, you give them the opportunity to feel a stronger connection with you (often, your brand). In this case, resulting in a song purchase. This is no small feat—I hadn’t bought a new song on iTunes in a month (a weak moment where I couldn’t imagine life without Snow Patrol’s Chasing Cars).
I’ve been waiting to have time to develop a more focused and interesting hypothesis. Certainly, I can’t prove that surprise and delight always leads to sale. Yet, it seems that the more you surprise and delight a person, the deeper relationship they’ll form with you. And as brands strive to become more multi-dimensional (and human), they look to expand their personalities and increase their connections. Cameos are one way to surprise and delight by showing/proving you’ve got other (outside) connections. In essence, you’re adding a friend.
It’s really like a brand is making famous friends (in the form of people and other brands). This is different from paid endorsement. They are giving love because they have similar beliefs. (See Kevin Bacon’s new social charity network , which should really have its own post.) Is this the new elasticity? (I can see Apple and Nike together, but Home Depot and VitaminWater? – that’s ridiculous!) Or Kumar on 24!!! – what the!?!
Of course, advertising and TV shows and music and other entertainment are different. But whether it’s people or brands, when two “likeables”/”believables” come together it can increase the likeability and credibility of both! It can help them reinvent themselves together like Old Spice and Bruce Campbell. Is a connection between Emerald Nuts and Robert Goulet mutually beneficial? (That could have its own post as well.) Finally, can feel less ad-y and more fun, like Burger King, Milk, and Hersheys.
But cameos are not the only way to surprise and delight; not the only way to make a deeper and more meaning connection with your viewer/customer/enthusiast. You can show you have similar interests, backgrounds, goals, and cultural knowledge. Don’t think that MTV’s latest promo for Maui Fever that connected Rupaul’s “Supermodel” with main character, Chaunte, didn’t make me more loyal!
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Mass Interactive: Facebook Diaries
Comcast and Facebook team up on reality series.
Users can submit videos they create in Facebook or Comcast's Ziddio.com for a new reality-TV series, under a partnership between the two companies. Filmmaker R.J. Cutler, whose credits include "The War Room" and "American High," will sift through the video submissions to create the series, called "Facebook Diaries.
The companies will begin taking submissions next month but have not set a date for the series premiere.
Cutler said he will organize Facebook Diaries around themes such as "Heartbreak," or "Who am I?" for the half-hour episodes.
"You build these things with dramatic structure and flow," Cutler said. "They'll tell their stories and send them to us and we'll put together thematically driven episodes for the series, which will be featured on-demand as well as on the Internet."
Jupiter Research analyst Todd Chanko said the partnership could help Comcast build a new audience. With 24 million cable subscribers already, Comcast can't expect to add significant revenues by signing up more customers to watch television.
Both Comcast and Facebook executives said they were seeking ways to create content that will bridge the gap between the Internet and television. As popular shows have made repeats available for viewing on web sites and Internet content gains the attention of bigger media firms, companies are trying to stake a claim in both worlds.
Revenues will come from advertising, though the companies have not announced any sponsors or said how they will share those dollars.
via Philadelphia Inquirer
New Media: Marketers Starting to See the Light (Maybe)
A recent article in AdWeek relays the findings of a survey by the American Advertising Association, which states that marketers seem to be realizing the huge potential of new media vehicles such as Second Life and You Tube, and allocating up to 15% of their marketing budgets to new media intitiatives. Further, the study states that roughly 73% of survey respondents are putting 20% of budgets to new or emerging media.
I hope that the skeptic in me will be proven wrong, and that we'll see marketers committing to their words and coming up big on new media, but that remains to be seen. Comes back to an earlier post of mine, in which I cited a survey from Prophet that states almost 40% of marketers say that their companies only adopt new/innovative marketing techniques after the success has been proven in the market place. The real winners in new media will be the ones who swing for the fences early, establish themselves as pioneers of emerging and innovative ways to talk to people, and committ to it in the long term.
Nike is a company that seems to be committing to new forms of media. I'm sure you've all seen their new spot for The Second Coming. As fucking cool as the spot is, they took that to the next level by having a microsite for it (Nike Mash Up) which allows visitors to remix the spot and create their own. I myself spent a good 2 hours messing around with this, its engaging and provides true interaction between me and Nike. That's what I like to see.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Culture: Truth Magazine
An interactive magazine. Sorta. Dunno how to classify it, really...but it is good reading/listening/gandering/wondering. Eclectic interviews, street art, graphics, and photography with a truly global urban youth perspective (uh, no not "urban youth" like pictures of 50 Cent posing with a cognac in Vibe magazine).
Get some Truth
Culture: VBS.TV
Dem bwoys at Vice Magazine have launched a full-on broadband network, VBS.TV which reflects a welcome progression from the tired "cool stylings" of the chic and celebrity, and more towards the unique and understated reflections of culture around the globe. 
It is also worth nothing that as most mainstream mags are only now catching up to late advancements like articles on RSS Feed and "User-Created" Contests, Vice is onto the next. Peep the "Mission Statement". Nice start, will stay tuned.
The channel is creative directed by Spike Jonze with a host of global contributors.
User-Created: ComicSpace.com
Consider it the YouTube of comics...ComicSpace is a community of 11,890 comic fans and creators hosting 1,765 comic galleries!
And while I am on a streak this week with rants about undervalued pots o' gold, consider the following factoids about comic books from Mediapost's Media Technology Futures blog
--The U.S. comic book business (publishing only) was approximately $550 million in 2005. -- Marvel Entertainment publishes approximately 70 different comic book titles per month, primarily distributed to consumers through three main channels -- direct market retailers, mass-market retailers, and through subscription. Revenue is also derived from the sale of advertising within the core comic book product of approximately ten pages -- specifically, three glossy cover pages (the inside front cover and both the inside and outside back cover), and seven interior non-glossy pages. Gross profit margins in the business are in the mid-50% range!
--Virgin Comics retains an 86% male, 14% female readership, with a median age of 23 and age concentration from 16 to 29, with a median household income of $50.69k. Some of the brands that have used comics to deliver their brand message include Dannon, Coke Classic, L'Oreal, and Nautica (not to mention the usual suspects Nokia, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, etc.).
--John Woo, Guy Ritchie, Rosario Dawson, Dave Stewart -- just a handful of the celebrities who have taken to using this form as a way to create new vehicles for more traditional media channels.
--The purpose of most publishers is to license titles for new distribution platforms, like movies. And if you think that these movies are just for "fans," well, let the box office speak for itself: Marvel Entertainment alone, through titles such as "Blade," "Spider-Man," "X-Men," "Elektra," "Fantastic Four," "The Hulk" and "Daredevil" generated over $4 billion in eight years over 14 films. And you don't build an audience like that without a base -- a base that is simply, the comic book reader.
via USA Today's Pop Candy blog and from Mediapost's Media Technology Futures blog
"Don't Panic": Global Warming is "Unequivocal"
According to the NY Times...Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the leading international network of climate scientists, has concluded for the first time that global warming is “unequivocal” and that human activity is the main driver, “very likely” causing most of the rise in temperatures since 1950.
They said the world was in for centuries of climbing temperatures, rising seas and shifting weather patterns — unavoidable results of the buildup of heat-trapping gases in the atmosphere.
On the bright side, their report says warming and its harmful consequences could be substantially blunted by prompt action. But I guess that is all up to us, huh?
Download the smoking gun
via NYTimes
Monday, February 05, 2007
Advergaming: Burger King Games Redux
We noted before about the BK Advergame units sold...now some actual burger sales numbers are in from South Florida Sun-Sentinel...
"Since the fast-food chain launched a limited-edition collection of three Xbox games in November -- Pocketbike Racer, Big Bumpin', Sneak King -- sales of BK Value Meals have spiked to bring home meaty profits during the company's second quarter.
The world's second-largest burger chain said Tuesday its fiscal second-quarter profit jumped 41 percent to $38 million. Company officials cited consistently strong Value Meal sales and the video-game giveaway program for the positive report. Total revenues in the second quarter climbed 9 percent to $559 million from $512 million.
BK's games ranked with other XBox heavy-hitters with over 3.2 million copies sold.
via Sun Sentinel and MIT AdLabs
New Media Ethics: Wikipedia Warns P/R Professionals
New technology, mo' problems...Another of those pesky ethical issues to contend with...According to the front page of UK PR Week, the founder of Wikipedia warns PR agencies against writing about companies they represent in the popular online encyclopedia. "If it persists they will be banned".
Associated Press asks: "What's to say contributors who get paid have a harder time sticking to the golden path of neutrality? And doesn't Wikipedia have a built-in defense mechanism - the volunteer editors and moderators who can quickly obliterate public relations fluff, vanity pages and junk?"
Yeah, that's what I'm sayin'! I don't see a big issue with advertisers and marketers submitting Wikipedia entries...as long as it's factual and not salesy and disruptive. Ok, so salesy and disruptive is prob what we do...but still.
When I have ethical quandries, I look to the Simpsons for guidance...
Postcards from Second Life: Legality of Virtual Sales
I was just noting the other day about the virtual gold in them thar hills in Second Life and the opportunities it may present for payment systems.
Shankar Gupta of Gaming Online/MediaPost, reports on various legal issues that plague virtual sales:
Online auction house eBay banned the sale of "virtual goods" such as currency or avatars used by players in massively multiplayer online games like "World of Warcraft," "Everquest," and "Neopets."
Exempted from eBay's ban is sale of virtual goods+services of Second Life property, meaning that islands, housing or fursuits can continue to be sold on this, and other, secondary markets.
eBay spokesman Hani Durzy said the move stemmed from growing legal concerns surrounding the sale of virtual property. "Because of those legal complexities, we felt the most prudent thing to do at this point was to ban them from sale for the site," he said.
The taxability of online assets also remains unresolved. In October, the congressional Joint Economic Committee launched a probe investigating how virtual property and income should be taxed. Nearly every game's terms of service state explicitly that all in-game property is actually the property of the game developer or publisher, and not the player in question.
EBay likely could have put off this decision until the legal complexities were resolved and not come out any the worse for wear, but it is very, very likely that the company has been under pressure from game developers to end the secondary market for virtual goods. Why? Developers hate this market, especially when it creates entire companies (like here and here) dedicated to making money by "farming" virtual worlds for in-game cash and rare items. It's such a huge business that workers in Korea who spend hours a day doing nothing but farming virtual goods have attempted to form a trade union, claiming that virtual farming is a $1-billion-per-year industry.
MMO developers, obviously, don't see a cut of this money, and on a more fundamental level, secondary trading of items and currency can destroy a finely balanced virtual economy by causing massive inflation. Professional farmers spend hours collecting money and rare items. They can then put the rare items up for sale in-game, for in-game currency. Then, all the currency they've received is sold outside the game for real cash. Players then use the cash they buy to buy in-game goods, putting that virtual currency back into the pockets of the pros, who can then resell the currency out-of-game again. Over and over again.
Second Life gets a pass because it's not really a game -- it's a virtual world. Second Life has no game rules to speak of, other than the limitations of the platform and the rules set up on individual islands, and no goals, other than the goals that users set for themselves. And the process of people buying and selling virtual items in- and out-of-game is part of the appeal of the virtual world.
EBay's move to ban the sale of virtual goods is a boon for game developers, who recognize that buying and selling virtual goods online is the equivalent of offering your friend $50 for the Park Place card in a game of Monopoly. The exemption of Second Life helps draw a distinction between virtual worlds and simple online gaming.
Keep tabs on the economic state in 2L here
or read SL Business for the latest goings on.
via Gaming Insider and Online Media Daily
Friday, February 02, 2007
Wanted: Senior Planner @ Fallon
Looking for Senior Planner
Are you interested in working at a great planning agency?
Fallon needs a senior planner with at least 5-8 years of experience . We're looking for someone who has the confidence and character to take a lead role in working closely with strong client marketing and research departments, directing the day-to-day responsibilities on multiple brands, and ultimately inspiring effective creative work.
Fluency in Spanish and/or Portuguese is an advantage but not essential.
If you're interested, send your resume as well as a response of no more than 150 words explaining why you've got what it takes to Mary Weber, Director of Talent Resources, at mary.weber@fallon.com.
Inbox of Immaturity
You know how wrong it feels to move Aki's great post down on the page for this nonsense? So wrong...but oh, so right! It's Friday. Get your cash-ius clay out and drop that card like it's hot on some overpriced lychee martinis or default to Amstel Light bottles (if you ask me, still one of the few gender-neutral beers even with the tag "The beer drinker's light beer."
Anyway, this week's IOI would not exist with AKI SYSTEMS 2600, so you can and should thank him for this classic installment (though he may not thank me for the shout-out).
Starting with a Thriller Wedding and then Thrillist Story via PSFK
If you want to adopt a child, here's how not to go about it. But if you're still playing the field, there's hope for you to be yet another guy that's OVERCHICKED
And finishing with a tight International rapper, with which this Translator will not help.
Enjoy the Super Bowl. Look out for our Garmin spot...
Cashless Society: Mobile Payment Meets Social Networking
It has been a minute since I have posted a Cashless Society update...
Found this quiet and clever bit about OboPay, a US mobile payments company which has acquired BillMonk, a Website that helps people to keep track of the money they owe each other.
Seattle, Washington-based BillMonk's Website is aimed at social groups such as roommates who share bills, friends going on a trip together or dining out, or co-workers raising funds for a group present.
Obopay's acquisition of BillMonk means that BillMonk users can not only keep track of the money they owe each other, but also settle their bills using Obopay's text messaging service. They can use BillMonk to generate a running statement of exactly who owes what to whom. BillMonk users input their spending via text messages or directly onto the Website.
Oh, did I mention that BillMonk works seamlessly with/thru Facebook?
Obopay's payment service enables subscribers to send money to each other via mobile phone text messages. The recipient has to register at the Obopay Website to gain access to the money they have been sent.
An Obopay spokesperson says that BillMonk plans to support virtual currencies that are used in online worlds such as Second Life and World of Warcraft.
AKI RANT: I am beginning to feel vindicated about my crusade around here for getting in on the virtual cash economies (flashback and flashback).
Virtual gold is simply an untapped opportunity (stay tuned for updated $numbers i've dug up on this, soon). This is a no-brainer, services cost (from the fresh rims on my Grand Theft Auto to some "companionship" in the champagne rooms on 2L, to the designer sword for my ogre on World of Warcraft). Or if you don't like that, then you'll need increased branded sponsorship (Maybe free rims to all visitors at the Napa Parts Store on 2L? Free trial weoponry by Remington at the Cabela's on 2L? Free condoms from Durex on 2L?). Trust and security and exchange systems for money will be key in virtuality! OboPay+BillMonk are smellin' that pot o' e-gold over the rainbow.
But let's check into more about this OboPay...
Obopay has signed up the first U.S wireless operator to support its mobile payment service. Service is now live on all Amp'd Mobile handsets. Amp'd Mobile phones all contain embedded Obopay application software.
Mobile phone users who have registered with Obopay's Website can send money via SMS text message to another mobile phone user. The recipient has to register at the Obopay Website to gain access to the money they have been sent. As an alternative to text messaging, a mobile phone user can use their handset's Web browser to send money to a third-party.
Obopay offers a stored-value account which comes with an Obopay-branded prepaid MasterCard debit card. Users can spend money in their Obopay account by using the card at ATMs or merchants which accept MasterCard. The prepaid card, which is issued by First Premier Bank, is linked in real-time to the Obopay stored-value account.
Los Angeles, California-based Amp'd operates a broadband wireless network that offers 3G voice and mobile entertainment services in the U.S. Obopay users can check their account balance and transaction history on their Amp'd mobile phone.
Initially, the main uses of Obopay are likely to be sharing money with friends, but the company envisages the service being used to pay merchants. Ultimately, Obopay wants to take advantage of Near-Field Communications (NFC) technology, which enables mobile phones to make contactless payments, a spokesperson says. Obopay last week signed a deal with VivoTech, the Santa Clara, California-based contactless card reader vendor, to allow Obopay users to access the ViVOwallet software to pay for purchases by waving their NFC phone at a VivoTech POS reader.
AKI RANT #2: The first rounds are fired for disintermediating banks and, in someways the traditional payment systems like Visa+Mastercard+Amex+Discover from the mobile payment sphere. At what point might the phone company provide me with all I really need to buy, sell and trade?
OboPay
BillMonk
via ePay News
Seed Newsvine
