May 30, 2006

New Media Playbook - 5 "Rules"

Back in March, I gave a talk entitled “5 Rules for Marketing in a New Media World”
at the Economist Branding Summit in Shanghai. It was how to cope, as a marketer, with all growing choices and complexity of new media. The talk also draws on a venture capitalist perspective in both the US and China from working with entrepreneurs much more plugged in and creative than me.

Since giving the talk I have gotten a number of requests to see it posted. So here it is - download file. Also if you want it in Chinese, click here.

More to come on each of the 5 rules shortly.

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February 16, 2006

If Nothing Else, Ads Can Be Entertaining

Despite all our commentary about how questionable the impact of big ad dollars might be, I have to admit commercials can still be a a heck of a lot of fun to watch. We loved the Big Ad.

We recently met with Flixpo, "The Internet's largest collection of free iPod and PSP downloads." They are doing interesting stuff. Worth checking out.

One thing to note is the clips they have lots of ads. Some are hilarious, others are downright obscene (but of course you will check them out anyway - esp. the IKEA one - who said sex doesn't sell)

(Of course, note, we also recently met with some folks from AOL - and let me tell you their SuperBowl ad site was just as important as the SuperBowl game itself - and that's not just because I'm a bitter Seahawks fan).

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November 04, 2005

Advertising in the toilet - not down necessarily "down the tubes"

More on this topic of media/ad ubiquity in China. One of the things my kids really noted was the - ehem - toilets in China. They were fascinated by the rating system of stars for toilets. Click here for a wonderful guide to beijing toilets and their ratings:

Don't go to China fearing the toilets. This may make it sound bad but really its not. Another good idea is to go into five-star hotels or restaurants to use the facilities - they are generally up to or above western standards.

You don't need to hear about my kid's jokes of what a one star toilet is, but wow were they impressed with what they call the 6 star bathrooms. A bathroom with a TV? "Dad, why don't we have TVs in our bathrooms at home?"

Next thing you know you will be connected with broadband internet so you can shop with eBay (or AliBaba) or do a little blogging while you - ehem - wait.

For more on this important topic check out the China daily:

• Beijing's public toilet staff to learn English
• Smelly latrines make way for clean toilets
• Public toilets face another revolution
• Shanghai to make better public toilets
• Talking Dutch toilets flush with comments

And much more.

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November 03, 2005

Advertising on my mind (or the back of my head...)

Just getting back from China and continue to be incredibly impressed by the ever increasing ubiquity of advertising there. Take the airport. Last year when I went there I noted the baggage claim and the telephones.

This year, it's even more. First, I noted that there were ads on the trays for your watch, blackberry and change as you go through security. Wish I could have gotten a photo. Then, I go to rest my head on a flight to Xian and what do I find but an ad for Maxxis. Maxxis is a tire company (very strong in bicycle tires). Another interesting Chinese juxtiposition - flying and riding a bike.

I really wonder how they measure this one...

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August 26, 2005

Small Stunt - Big Laugh

We really liked the Big Ad. Not only did we laugh at it but it provoked very big, very deep, very profound (and we wished, very expensive) thoughts.

But amongst the folks at Studio Muscle, it provoked an outbreak of sarcastic creativity. According to them:

"What can you do with an idea that is so good, it is impossible to make it better? Make it worse…"

You have to check it out - it's called small ad and it's funny.

Via Scoble:

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August 24, 2005

Big Ad. Big Budget. Big Laugh. Big Sales?

I recently joined the ranks of millions, billions, trillions, maybe kazillions who are raving about this ad (click here to view) for Carlton Draught.

If you haven't already seen you should. It is not only just plain funny, it has also become a bit of phenomenon in it's own right. It pokes fun and the whole concept of big ads with big budgets trying to capture people's attention for stuff that isn't really that exciting by itself. And doing so on the internet generate huge buzz - and actually tons of impressions (and blog entries, see below for a selection) - before it even aired on TV.

I don't mean to be a stick in the mud - I love the ad - but what does it really accomplish? I get that it broke through and generated attention, but what does it say about the brand, beyond it being playful? What does it say about the product? Yeah, it's "made from beer" which is a heck of a lot more honest than lots of other beer ads but beyond that? And what does it do for real demand - although I loved the ad and was tempted to give the beer a try just for the heck of it - I can't buy it in Washington. And finally, what does this whole thing say about the state of marketing today?

This got me puzzling on multiple levels. This whole thing feels very zen:

• If the medium is the message - which is the medium? expensive broadreach TV or the relatively free web/blogsphere?
• But is the marketing of marketing actually marketing?
• This is a stunt about how silly marketing can be (and I think about how incredibly hard it has become to do packaged goods marketing). But is the stunt the substance? (speaking of substance - I love the tagline "Made from Beer")
• Beyond the stunt what does this really say about the product? Are high production values the same as real product value?

No answers from me but a lot to think about.

Here's a selection of some of other sources and opinions:

• The Business Network highlights how the ad is already viral (this post a case in point) although it only recently aired.
• Brand Republic lauds how "Carlton & United Beverages has broken the rules of advertising spend secrecy"
• Ad Rag highlights all the classic elements and shares our hope that "this big big ad sells many many pints of Carlton Draught."
• Chris Busch and Blog that shouldnt be are a few of the places I found this in the first place.
• Whirlpool.net has a whole forum on this, with a great statement: GO ALCOHOL
• Duncan's TV Ad Land gives great background on the directors
• Polaine highlights how viral works.
• Charles highlights two more Carlton ads that are very funny

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February 11, 2005

If it's in the Economist it must be true

For some time now, I've been telling everyone I know that Robert Scoble has single handedly done more for Microsoft's public image than the all the zillions of dollars I spent on advertising while I was there.

Well now the Economist writes of him as the harbinger of the end of marketing communications as we know it. Actually, it's a very good article. Not only does it highlight the value of "such disarming honesty" but also the rise of the corporate blog. Interesting that "Microsoft's official PR boss will not even comment at all on the subject" while Sun's Jonathan Schwartz says “It's not the end of PR but the end of the old PR department. The clarifying force will be credibility and reputation.”

Finally, they highlight that, in the world of Sarbanes-Oxley, it's probably “only a matter of time” before a serious blogging embarrassment leads to litigation," prompting internal compliance lawyers to cast an eye on their firm's bloggers. I recently gave a talk to the Washington State Bar walking through the ups and downs of our own blogging experience with the playbook and much of the talk turned to this kind of exposure.

Nonetheless, I really hope that Scoble keeps on Scobleizing. It's good for everyone. And I hope that more companies realize that smart people saying the truth is good for them. And besides, he even liked our book ;-)

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November 28, 2004

Funding Releases: When to Pull the Trigger

"PR builds brands. Advertising maintains them."

Given their limited resources and early stage, most venture backed start-ups try to heed this sage advice from Laura Ries. They recognize that PR is the most practical way to help them get on the map, get noticed and even to stoke up the moral of their teams. Start ups, even those so smart about product releases can be a bit simplistic when it comes to PR: i.e. PR = press, press = news, news = press relases, a press release of something important to me = news, press releases = good PR.

This especially comes into play when deciding when, if, how to announce an event very important to them - their funding. As a start up CEO or marketing person, when you read daily announcements in Venture Wire of other companies getting funded, it can be really, really tempting to let the world know that you made it too, especially after going through all those annoying pitches and due diligence.

But just because you got funded, even from the best VC in the world ;-), doesn't mean that annoucing it is going to do you any good. I know we are always harping on putting the strategy horse before the tactics cart, but without a clear overall strategy, a sound press plan, and the right timing, a premature announcement could have the opposite of the desired impact. So here are some things to consider before making the vaunted funding announcement:

• The value of stealth. This is the play we most often recommend to start ups - and for good reason. Few resources, few defenses, the need for time. And stealth means stealth - staying under the radar is inconsistent with proactive press. Before you lift your head above the radar, make sure you are ready. Ready for the attention, for the customers, the competitors, the criticism. Be sure you know which play you will be moving to next. Remember, your funding is news just between you and your funder, and it really can stay that way until you both chose otherwise.
• Keeping your goals in mind. If you really are ready to decloak make sure you know what are you trying to accomplish. Who is the target of your PR? Is it other investors? Can you get to them otherwise? Is it prospects? Where do they get their news? Potential partners? Same question? Will you be there? Is it potential recruits? Same question. Competitors, market entrants? What are you trying to signal to them? Are you aiming high enough? Do you have what it takes to get there?
• The difference between annoucement and coverage. Given all the questions above, is the announcement of your funding enough to accomplish any of these goals? Frankly, not usually. Sure you will likely get a mention in the daily issue of Venture Wire, but does that reach any of your important constituents? Does simply saying that you got funding mean much to anyone else? Does a simple press release mean that you will get covered at all by the press? No. While writing a great press release is a great excercise in getting your positioning and messaging down, the press is unlikely to use any of the quotes in it even if they feel like covering your story.
• Three legs to the early coverage stool. If in fact you are going to go out, you ought to make sure that what you get is good. I have a long standing bias that you ought to keep your powder dry until you can do a really great "launch". And that one piece of news alone is not enough to really get started. It is usually best to have three. Funding is fine as one of them but not enough. If you really want to look substantial, to generate interest and look promising, you ought to have three different announcements in one. How about signing a referencable customer or partner who will be quoted? How about hiring a recognized industry big wig? Even the news of releasing your first product, even a beta can work if you have a few other stools.
• Making the most out of what you get. In addition to making sure you have three legs to your stool, make sure you have warmed up the press you intend to target. Make sure you get noticed enough (see this post on press releases and search engine optimization)
• Keeping it going. And make sure you think about both the short term press and the long leads. It's great to have three legs but if you want to be more than a flash in the pan you have to have a plan to keep the momentum or at least perceived momentum going. Build a plan for the proof you will need to support this momentum and to grow your status over time. This will make all the news you later try to get easier.
• Dealing with the Unforseen. The story you want to write is not always the same one that the press wants to write. Remember this. Coverage comes with risk. That is why it is better to be proactive than reactive. No matter how tight lipped you and your VC, there may be leaks. Local press is especially pushy to find out what's going on. But no comment can still be a fine response. An unsubstantiated leak most often will not blow your cover for when you launch later. Whatever the case, make sure you really do your rude Q&A and rehearse.

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November 08, 2004

The King is Dead, Long Live the King

Pheedo’s post on Blogging as Serial Killer got me thinking that creative destruction is alive and well and what is rising from the PR, advertising, media grave are not Zombies but more challenged and hopefully challenging offering for media and message consumers. (See also article in Economist about how sex isn’t selling anymore – people are too burned out. Whether blogging itself or other more direct, ongoing and engaging media, people are turning to them and away from the same old.)

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Market Leadership, Thought Leadership and Blog Addiction

The recent post from David Young is another example of how smart marketing people are really digesting the importance of blogs as a not just a new medium but as part of a new marketing strategy. One that inherently forces creativity to the fore. We have long believed that capturing the mantel of thought leadership is key to gaining market momentum (especially if it is coupled with approachable, practical offereing(s)). Blogs are a great way to keep the process of creating and communicating that thought leadership alive.

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October 24, 2004

Bits, Books, Blogs and Brands - Living Beings, Not Dead Objects

Recently, I talked to two bloggers I respect a ton (Scoble and MacLeod) about our book. Sure it was flattering that they both liked the book but what was really interesting was that these seperate conversations both launched into parallel, very intesting discussions about where technology, media and brands are going. And that these same themes seem reflected in numerous synchronous discussions around the blogsphere.

What am I talking about? I'm talking about a common theme of dynamism. Of the whole being more than the sum, of involvement, of interaction, of creative destruction that keeps things alive. Embracing this - or dying if you don't - seems to be something cutting across a number of dimensions lately - companies, technology, communications, brands (and, what the heck, books too).

* Companies: Maybe it's just because I've become a venture capitalist but it seems to me that a great way to drive an industry and build a great business is not just as a huge monolith, but as a community of smaller companies founded on a great idea, all working hard to push their own form of change, all moving quickly, nimbly, responding, growing, evolving... or dying and being replaced. Maybe this has always been true but lately it feels like the pace (not just hype around "internet time", the flexibility, and the dynamism has increased. Technology has definately played a part in this.

* Technology: One of the things that Scoble and I talked about (and that we talk about at Ignition all the time) was how software has changed. How it is no longer this relatively static thing that you bought in a box, installed, learned, customized and then lived with for as many years as you could. Because of the internet, because of the improvements in the core hardware, because of web services, and, at least in part, because of what the idea of open source represents, our expectations of softare have changed. We want it to be a living thing, something we can make our own, something that can keep changing, something that is, well more like a service, a relationship than just some static stuff on disk. The movement in this direction has had a huge impact on business, in the enterprise and the small/home business. There is still a long way to go to make this easier. But it is interesting. Blogs themselves are maybe both a sympton and a stimulous to this change (I can tell you that software companies big and small track what is being said in their space on the blogsphere - it is a key part of the new playingfield).

* Blogs: Robert gave Rich a bit of a hard time for saying that blogging is the only way to market, but heck blogging truly has become serious marketing. And it is (and it should) changing the way companies think of how to interact with customers. From Scoble, blogs are important because "watching blogs gives you an indication of what the greater society is doing and talking about... blogs can feed the conversation and amplify it... if you integrate bloggers into product development they feel ownership of the product or service as it comes out... word-of-mouth networks are becoming more and more efficient... blogging is cheap... blogs build much stronger relationships between customers and the company." Sounds right to me (this is definately what has happened with this blog - but blogs are also a responsibility - don't have one unless you are willing to embrace it).

* Brands: Blogs are becoming important, even critical, to brands and, heck are becoming brands in their own right. So it is especially pointed to hear, amidst all this, it turns out Scoble and MacLeod are having a dialogue of their own - about you guessed it - brands. MacLeod (and Doc Searl) both assert that branding is dead. Scoble disagrees. He says that now "branding is about starting, keeping, and capitalizing on, word of mouth." Johnnie Moore, who was listening in, highlights that we should avoid playing semantics. He makes the apt distinction between the notion of "branding" as just this abstract art of logos etc exclusive to experts, marketers and other such charlatans and the notion of "brands" as useful shorthands for ideas that we can all circle around, pro or con. Well, good points all, and here's my two (or actually five) cents, based on what seem like key aspects or qualities that brands need and how they are behaving today:

** Extensibility/Dynamism - Branding is more alive than ever and if it isn’t alive then it’s a dead brand. I could not agree more that that products/brands/companies are converstations but this whole process is making branding more accountable than ever. Companies are learning this. I guess branding is now inclusive of all the formal ID stuff but much more than that. It always has been but folks just didn’t really pay enough attention

** Identity/Personality: Scoble and Gapingvoid, and tons of other blogs are brands. They are people. You get a sense of who they are by experiencing and interacting with thier output. Consumers now expect this. They are rewarding blogs for doing this by turning them into brands. Company brands can do this too. When they become split personalities, or manic depressive, they need either to go on medication or committ suicide.

** Authenticity: No one likes a fake, and when you see one it is obvious. So be yourself. You'll feel better this way and so will the people trying to get to know you. Blogs are informal, personal. More brands need to be this way they should be honest and when it makes sense they can even be informal (Decker does a nice job of highlighting this), but it has to be you.

** Relevance/Welcome: Brands (messages, products, companies)have to matter, to someone. We you put a brand out there it doesn’t matter how loud it is. It can’t be noise (thanks Evelyn), has to be music, at least to your target's ears. Recently re-watching Ken Burns' Jazz made me think of this powerful quality - he called it "Welcome." Jazz was music originally by African America but inherently is was welcoming to all America. Brands need to say "Welcome, come on in, be a part of it."

** Value/Substance: Finally, brands have to be worth it. We don't have a lot of time or patience. For all the marketing jargon and "branding principles", even the ones I just spouted above, cannot be left in the abstract (agree with you Alain). They have to be made concrete, real and valueable for the true situation and goals you face.

* Books: Finally, what does any of this have to do with book publishing. Strangely enough, a lot. Of course we want everyone to buy our book, and of course we are proud of it. But it is also the symptom and result and a case for all of the above. In the conversations with Scoble and MacLeod, it struck me that writing the book was a continuation of a set of ongoing learning conversations we've had for years. That the blog, which started as marketing of the book became part of what the heart of the book is all about anyway. That whatever brand it has or will have is the result of both of these things. And that all of this is about dynamism, interaction, real values, learning and evolution.

Boy, it is fun to be in busines today!

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October 08, 2004

Corporate Blogs - Are You Ready for One

Corporate Engagement: Corporate speak and corporate blogging Very good input from Trevor Cook on how to think about corporate blogs. Take a look again also at Scoble's "manefesto" on the topic.

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October 04, 2004

As blog readership grows, will revenues?

The Media Drop: As blog readership grows, will revenues? Great question? Been spending some time thinking about this. When the web first started people wondered how it would ever become a commercial medium. People wanted it to remain the wild west. And then huge consolodation and the entry of big players happened. Wonder if this is in store for the blogsphere to meet "mainstreet"?

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October 03, 2004

Radio Situation and Outlook Discussion - Part II

Here is the second part of our interview with Mark Ramsey of Radio Marketing Nexus about the situation and future of radio as a medium. Interesting stuff (for part one click here).

Marketing Playbook: We were talking about the playing field for radio. What about from the perspective of radio's customers - listeners and advertisers? What are their ABCs? What is missing for them and how can/could radio fill this gap? What about the much talked about shift away from broadcast, how can radio be positioned to fit in this purported trend?

Mark Ramsey:
For advertisers, Radio is spontaneous. It’s point-of-purchase if you’re in your car with a McDonalds on your left and a Best Buy on your right. In that case, we have a simple positioning - we’re the only media (X) which can drive potential customers to their door (Y) while they’re on the road and in need of what the message is selling (Z).

For listeners, Radio is the only source of music, entertainment, and information (X) which is mobile – it can go in the car and make the drive easier – or it can go to your office and make you more productive at work (Y) at times you need a laugh, a soothing background, information, or companionship on a long drive or while working (Z).

Marketing Playbook: What about the competitors for these targets' attention and dollars? The web, TV, print, heck blogs. What are their strengths, weaknesses, gaps? How can radio fit in?

Mark Ramsey:
Radio is still a MASS medium. In fact, Radio’s “reach” is nearly 100% of us all. The web, print, blogs, satellite radio, iPods, streaming audio – none of these media can say that.

Radio is also predominantly LOCAL. That is, despite similarities across the country, every radio station in your town is broadcast from your town. The studios and the talent may be elsewhere, but the sales staff and others are right there in your community. Radio is keenly aware that local connection – through information and community involvement – is key to its long-term success.

Radio is also MOBILE. Satellite Radio is in the car, but not usually in the home or on your belt. iPods are mobile, but your music collection is not the same as your community connection.

Finally, Radio is EASY. No technical experience is required. No special equipment. No heavy lifting. No retraining. It’s familiar, it’s convenient, it’s everywhere.

In terms of content, it will be the non-music elements that really help Radio to stand out in the long run. Back in the 40’s, Radio was primarily comprised of comedy or dramatic programs. Then along came TV and Radio became more music-oriented. Today, as music-only choices begin to proliferate, we’ll see Radio’s personality strengths move to the fore. For example, Howard Stern could not have become famous on the web or on Satellite Radio. Only conventional Radio has the penetration and the frequency to build that kind of an audio brand.

Marketing Playbook: What do radio station owners, programmers etc. need to do to make this happen? What play do you think makes most sense?

Mark Ramsey:
Station owners are taking a wait-and-see attitude relative to these evolving technologies, and that’s prudent. After all, Radio is much bigger than many of these technologies at present. For example, for all its hype Satellite Radio has only a few million subscribers nationwide. Radio has that many listeners in a single mid-sized market!

As time goes on, we’ll have to consider what our competitive advantages are, and chances are they will be related to things like comfort and tradition, convenience and ease of use, local connection and information, and the power of unique and compelling personalities.

Marketing Playbook: Finally, what do see as the relationship between radio and the web or blogs?

Mark Ramsey:
Radio stations tend to view the web as a destination for advertising, although in Radio terminology that tends to be code for “thrown in for free with a spot buy.”

My view – which is not yet widely shared – is that the web (a station’s own site in particular) has one primary purpose: To attract listeners and boomerang them back to the station. You see, one hour of radio listening is SIGNIFICANTLY more valuable to the station than any number of hits on their website. Such are the economics of Radio.

I would like to see every station with a high personality morning show maintain a blog for that show – the background “behind-the-scenes” stuff that can serve as A) an audience magnet for the website and B) fodder for conversation on the air. Then you have the station pushing listeners to the blog and vice versa.

I also feel that the station’s website is its primary engine to generate buzz – but very few stations exploit this power sufficiently.

Marketing Playbook: Mark, what about Mercury Radio Research?
Tell me your story.

Mark Ramsey:
Mercury Radio Research was founded three years ago to apply some of the marketing and branding smarts cutting edge companies everywhere are using to radio stations in particular. We do strategic research and marketing consultation for many of America’s largest stations and broadcast groups, such as Infinity Broadcasting, Clear Channel, and many others. We also work for SIRIUS Satellite Radio.

Marketing Playbook: Thanks so much for your time and insight. We'll be staying tuned.

Mark Ramsey: Thank you John! And I can’t wait to buy your book!

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October 02, 2004

Radio as a Medium - Personalization vs. Simplicity/Cost?

With the growth of satelite radio and mp3, there have been a lot of entries lately on the web, in print and in the blogsphere about the decline and fall of radio as a medium. Personally, I love radio and I always liked it as an ad medium both for its rich and the type of creative it could force you to. But, hey, I'm getting old so rather than trust my opinion I thought we ought to talk to someone who really knows what they are talking about.

Mark Ramsey of the Radio Marketing Nexus was nice enough to give us his take of both the current playing field for the Radio industry and what he sees as the right play or plays for the media owners/stations as well as the media buying universe. Here's a summary of our discussion in two installments:

Marketing Playbook: So what is all this about the decline of radio?

Mark Ramsey:
The reports of Radio’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Despite some of the dire predictions from recent publications like Barrons and Fortune, here are the facts, courtesy of Arbitron Ratings:
Radio reaches about 94% of all persons age 12 and over, and that percentage is down only about 2% overall in the past five years.
What IS true is that people are spending less time with Radio than they used to. In any given quarter-hour listenership is down an average of 17% - rocketing to 30% among 18-24’s.
The reasons for this are many – from the rise of Hispanics and Spanish-Language tastes which broadcasters have yet to catch up with to the splintering of tastes in general. It should not surprise us that as media options of all kinds increase the share of attention received by any given one (whether radio, TV, newspaper, or whatever) should decrease. Radio is not at all unique in this regard. In fact, it would be remarkable if Radio didn’t follow the same trends as other media. Nonetheless, none of the new options are gaining the kind of massive audience traction that Radio continues to enjoy. The markets have a fixed number of competitors and a comparatively robust advertising market. What’s more, Radio is an ideal vehicle especially for the local business who is promotionally active and for whom a mobile, active audience is the primary target. All this adds up to an enviable business.

So what’s wrong?

Radio has dramatically consolidated recently. A few companies own vast numbers of stations (although, I should add, vast numbers of stations are also owned by many small companies, too). With size and consolidation comes the temptation to make big promises to Wall Street – promises which may at some point become unsustainable. Such aggressive promises to Wall Street can make any performance look mediocre.

Strike one.

The easiest way to increase revenue is to bulk up on spots. That is, until you reach the point where both clients and listeners start screaming – as they are doing now.

Strike two.

The biggest criticism of Radio is perceived “sameness” across the dial and across the country. While true to some extent, I’m seeing a lot more risk-taking now than I saw in the years before consolidation, because in the old days one radio station was the entire portfolio – today it’s only a very small corner of a portfolio, so risk can be spread much more thinly. Now is the time ripe for innovation. Nevertheless, the popular bias says: Big + Consolidated = Little Variety.

Strike three.

Fortunately, Radio is by no means “out.”

Marketing Playbook: What do you see as the overall ABCs (current situation, desired future, gap that needs to be bridged between the two) of the radio industry?

Mark Ramsey:
A. Today: Radio is current with audiences everywhere: in their cars, on their hips, in their homes, and we’re aiming for a future where we will always be their number one source for convenient information, music, connection, and entertainment.

B. The gap in my mind is the degree to which we can continue to innovate and grow talent in our industry at a time when many other industries are much more attractive to talent at all levels.

C. The challenge is: How do you make Radio cool again?

Marketing Playbook: Let's go further with this assessment on a few other dimensions. First, what is the effect of bigger market or technology factors on the use and economics of radio?

Mark Ramsey:
Technology personalizes audio – but at the cost of complexity.

That is, you can design your own radio station (which is what an iPod is) with some degree of effort. But it will always be the station you design and nothing more. Nothing on it will ever surprise or delight you. And doing the designing will always take a non-trivial fraction of your time – more of a problem for folks past their student years who are time-poor.

Radio, conversely, has to navigate in a music world where folks can always hear a music mix they like better than what the radio’s playing out of their own home-grown station. Well, Radio’s passive and easy – but also not quite your favorite mix. So it’s a trade-off.

What Radio will always have that your home mix won’t have is distinctive personalities. Growing our talent base is, I suspect, one of our most formidable challenges – particularly at a time when a very vocal minority spend their abundant free time plotting to rid the airwaves of some of our most compelling entertainers.

As for economics, that remains to be seen. As you know, lots of these technologies are not advertiser based, they’re consumer-based. That is, you pay for them or subscribe to them. Perhaps the greatest competitive advantage of all for Radio is this: Radio is FREE.

More soon...

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September 28, 2004

MyYahoo's next move - an open medium?

Today MyYahoo launched it's refresh, including RSS feeds. For a long time MyYahoo was basically personalization that was "anything you want, as long as it's on the list of My Yahoo content." I used it and still do, but because it was so closed now it's moved from being my place for everything to my place for weather, driving directions and my horoscope.

Davenetics notes that this is about time. Blogs/rss have become the newsletter writer's remedy for spam and having a name like Yahoo can really help.

What I would love is for all these things to be able to merge with each other. Wouldn't it be great if MyYahoo had a Bloglines export/import function?

More on this here and here (for a historical view of myyahoo too.)

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September 10, 2004

Ads in Subway Tunnels -

From Venture Wire today, "Sidetrack Technologies Inc., a newcomer in the alternative advertising market, has made its first U.S. installation of a subway tunnel commercial [in Boston], as it makes plans to raise a $3 million to $5 million venture capital round."

Although advertising in subways is not new (check out video advertiser SubMedia in NYC, or any number of Asian and international countries where ad and screens are more and more ubiquitous), Sidetrack has a twist. The campaign, for Royal Caribbean, is not on a screen at all it is actually a series of still images that look like a movie. When the T accelerates, it breaks an infrared beam that turns on lights over 400 such images running along the tunnel wall for about 1,000 feet. Kind of making the train itself the film projector with no screen installation required.

Only question - will I ever be able to just zone out in the train again?

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August 19, 2004

Talk about reach and frequency...

One thing that cannot fail to impress you in Shanghai and Beijing is the presence of advertising. Going beyond broadcast seem like a passion in this country. Anywhere, I mean anywhere you find yourself waiting, you will be reached with ads.

While waiting for your bags

While waiting for the elevator

While waiting for someone to answer your call.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Outside subways, inside subway trains, inside cabs. And it's not just static. This is 15-30 second quality spots. Everywhere.

One of the companies leading the charge is Focus Media. Interestingly, they don't do anything fancy like refresh the ads over wireless or anything. They just have fleets of people on bicycles driving around swapping out DVDs. It may seem primitive but it's working enough for them to think about going public soon.

What's next, ads in your hotel shower?

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August 01, 2004

Are �Boys� lost to advertisers...

Perception Analyser highlights a recent Wired Article "The Lost Boys." Read the whole thing but there is a great little summary called �Gone in 30 Seconds.� Basically:
� "Young men (18 to 34) are tuning out broadcast TV �
� as they turn to games and the Internet �
� where porn, music, and auctions are top draws.
� As audiences shift away from network TV �
� the networks still raise their rates �
� and advertisers turn to cable and the Net.
� Five companies haved 'changed channels' " (Anheuser Busch, Coca-Cola, Ford, GM, and McDonalds)

Interesting ABCs according to David Raines, the Coke VP in charge of divvying up ad money:
A: Yes, 18-34 year old males are a critical target
B: But, although they haven't stopped watching TV, they're doing a lot of other stuff, too, going online, watching DVDs, playing videogames.
C: So, ad dollars have to follow them where they go.

"Of course, some media are more immersive than others. As young males drift away from the tube, advertisers are trying to focus on entertainment that grabs their attention and holds it. Tops on that list is videogames." Example, last year Coke followed them into The Matrix Reloaded and Atari's Enter the Matrix videogame. So much so that Jeff Brown a VP at Entertainment Arts said, "We're eating the networks' lunch!" Maybe a bit early to claim this but interesting.

Also, look at Atom films. The cult political online clip they distribute, This Land by JibJab, starts with a Toyata spot that looks like a video game.

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July 01, 2004

Billg Blog

The BlogFather: Bill Gates may be launching a personal blog! Can't wait to see it. Talk about blogs as marketing. When/if Bill does this he will have a terrific ongoing pulpit to drive Microsoft thought leadership. If he does it well and does not sanitize it too much. Who cares if lots of people disagree with what he says. Controversy will be great. The thing could end up being more closely watched than American Idol.

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June 20, 2004

McDonalds: WHO'S Loving It, Really?

McDonald�s CMO, Larry Light's recent comments in AdAge about McDonald�s move to �Brand Journalism� have set off a large flurry of blogmentary. (Hey, if he can push a new phrase why can�t we?) Across all these comments there seem to be three basic threads: The Death of Mass Media � Buzz Machine sees that McDonalds is only now catching on to what has long been inevitable. McDonalds is just one more of the big brands to shift away from broadcast. � Pheedo agrees and sees finding these niches in blogs (look for an at least semi-official golden arches blog soon?) The validity of McDonalds' message/real value proposition � As usual Hugh Macleod of Gaping Void, cuts through a lot of this and just wonders what the heck the Brand Journalism buzzword really means. � AdRants shares this confusion, notes that this really adds up to abandoning the whole concept of a unique selling proposition and doubts whether adding hiphop music to the I'm Loving It campaign is going to make McDonalds any more relevant. � Seth Godin, as always, challenges us to think a bit deeper and look at the real value. Taking a page from Starbucks book he suggests moving the Golden Arches from just the home of the Big Mac to a real meeting place. � Robert McLaws/The Bleeding Edge agrees but kinda wonders why, if "you can get a Sausage McMuffin with Egg, hash browns and a cup of OJ for the same price as a Tall White Chocolate Mocha," that more people hanging out there. � Finally, Planet Brand, also agrees but gives Larry Light some credit for progressive thinking. Our two cents: � First, seems like diversification away from mass media, just makes sense. So here here. Just because it's inevitable doesn't mean it's not hard to do. � Second, all the buzzwords aside, the real issues all seem to center around Positioning. What the heck are their XYZs? � What's their Category X? Is it a fast food place? Or is it a meeting place? Which is more relevant, which is their strength? � Who is their Customer Y? Yuppies who want to hang out or budget conscious families? � What is their uniqueness Z? Their menu?? Their decor? Or their happy meals? Seems to me that for all the talk about trying to target, to adapt and evolve, it might make sense for them to look to and to refresh their strengths. Maybe I'm dating myself too much but I really remember the jingle "McDonald's is our kind of place." It was a great expression of thier value. Which went way beyond burgers. It was a fast, clean, affordable place for families who didn't want to cook at home. And it was so memorble that the take-offs on it were endless and fun. Maybe they should look back to that simple target, understand their wants and desires (I've got kids and they still love to go, get their happy meals and play on the indoor playground). Maybe rather than a place for business people to meet, it should be a place for parents and kids to meet. Maybe, instead of starbucks they need to study folks like Chucky Cheese and offer conference rooms, support groups, massages for parents, and the equivalent of slot machines for the kids. Just a thought.

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June 09, 2004

Sorting through the clutter

the media drop: Having difficulty reading all your news and feeds? Media drop notes that Microsoft is working on something that will sort through all the media feeds you get and pull out just what you are interested in. Hmmm.... We'll see. Meantime, it's hard enough just on blogs. If you are trying just to do key word search, we use BlogPulse. It's also got some cool tools. For tracking the blogs you know you look at Bloglines is pretty darn cool. But what if there are just subjects and themes you want to stay up on? Boy, that still seems hard. Searching is easy, intelligent, focused browsing, not. Well, today, had an interesting chat with the folks from ThinkTank23. They created some thing called Nav4 which does great info retrieval and they are working on a whole bunch of fun blog search, and browse stuff in thier labs at Waypath. Mostly still beta, and not fully indexed but worth checking out. They also have 2 blogs: Blog23 and Waypath Weblog. Always on the lookout for other good tools. Let us know if you have any suggestions.

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June 03, 2004

More about truth...

the media drop: Truth Be Told Great exposition by the folks at The Media Drop on our Jefferson quote about truth in advertising. They clearly note that in some ways ads are forced to be more truthly both by law and by what they describe. Where news and other media have to make tons of choices about what they cover and don't cover, face the biases of their reporters, owners, advertisers etc. Really interesting. Makes me feel less bad about being a marketing shill.

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June 02, 2004

Advertising: a three legged stool?

John Battelle's Searchblog: Toward the Endemic: What's missing in PPC/Behavioral/Contextual Ad Nets John Battelle was at AdTech Forum too. His entry - on Endemic Advertising and what's missing from all the behavioral, contextual ad targeting - sparks an interesting discussion. A highlight is the reminder that traditional advertising really involved three groups who all basically knew that they were in a relationship with each other: the publisher, the advertiser and the reader/viewer. Battelle asks what has happened to this relationship. And what is the impact of the ad content and readership/viewership experience now that everything is driven by machine observation of the click actions of the viewer/reader and the content choices of the publisher. I know when I was an advertiser that the publication itself, what it stood for, what kind of content and editorial it had mattered a lot, at least in part of my media buying choices. Blogs are an interesting topic here. They have an editorial spirit and personality and they enjoin the reader to participate in a kind of "conversation." But (with some exceptions) blogs are still hard to deal with as a major advertiser. (Remember in the old days, one of the most important parts of this three way relationship was the awesome parties that media reps would throw for advertisers. Well, one party in this discussion notes that maybe this is what is needed for blogs too, a new class of salesman: The BlogRep.) Meanwhile, there is a ton of debate around sorting fact from fiction in blogs. Maybe, as Jefferson said, here too the ads will be the most truthful thing.

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May 27, 2004

AdTech Forum - Is the bubble back?

Just got back from AdTech Forum. Was supposedly much bigger, hypier and more well funded, and attended than before. But hey, at least I brought home some nice tchotchkes. My kids especially liked the flashing bouncing ball from Who�s Calliing, the weird belt clip light from Atlas Search and the frisbee thing from Digital Envoy. The little flashing light thingee from Google was cool but too sharp for play. And honestly the little sticky-note book from AOL was not good enough, they should do better. Oh, yeah, and I didn�t win ANY of the many raffles for free iPods and TiVos. What a rip. (Strange, I got much better swag from an insurance industry conference I went to recently) Oh, but I guess that was not what I was there for. Sorry. I�ll get to the actual content now. Who was there? Tons of vendors like DoubleClick, Revenue Science, GoToast, CasaleMedia, Atlas DMT. Consultants and agencies like SBI Razorfish and Advertising.com. Media owners, aggregators, brokers etc like Claria, Tribal Fusion, Fastclick, and Kanoodle, and of course, the company everyone wanted to be like, Google. Just to name a very few. The Big themes: accountability, integration, the death of TV, contextual vs. behaviorial targeting, pay for performance, measurement, measurement, measurement - CPA vs. CPM vs. ROI vs. eieio, other stuff like promotional and other marketing vehicles. And most importantly, why is online still such a small % of the total ad spend? What�s Hot supposedly: analytics, consulting $, SMS marketing, DVRs shaking up the world, metrics, mixed media schedules and planning, broad-reach/interactive integration and planning, local, email, search and more search What�s Not supposedly: interactive TV, streaming ads, promotions. See the VC discussion for more on this. Everyone of course wanted to know what Mark Kvamme of Sequoia (Yahoo and Google of course) had to say. Which was really good, but the other panelists had a bunch of other observations. Like deal prices are starting to get scarey again, also that we've really only seen the beginning of the shift to online ad spend, about how important local is but how high the cost/advertiser acquired. About how wireless is super cool and could leapfrog PC/internet for streaming video. Biggest Gap: strangest thing to me at least was how little attention blogging as a business opportunity got, even after all the Billg talk. Most pooh poohed it as not investable, needing an ad model, and needing editorial quality control. Humph. Well, at least Mary Hodder found some enthusiasm about blogs there. Other, final impressions: Lots of buzz words like �new information economy� �hyper-changing� �leverage.� Lot's more optomism and excitement but I sensed an undertone of Vienna before the Anschluss, waiting to see if the shoe drops. Really nice to see a guy like Mike Windsor take the whammy out of a bunch of the claptrapier stuff said. Favorite quotes are from him. "It's about money. Remember that. So then we have to go where the money is. The billion dollar not million dollar budgets. And they are with broad reach clients not interactive clients. Until interactive is a significant and regular part of the ad program we will always be fighting an uphill battle." Also "Online represents less than 10% of the budget but more than 90% of the analysis. Why, because it can be analysed. Not because the analysis really tells you any more about the true ROI of the effort or how it performs relative to anything else."

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May 15, 2004

Really Good Summary Article

ANA Marketing Musings: Great (Not Just Good) Times Are Ahead for Marketers About what is happening in the marketing and ad playing field. Again the ABCs of a. economy growing, marketing spend increasing but b. less and less tolerance of "half of my $ wasted, but which half?" and increasing need for accountability c. so see lots of upside for smart marketers, the internet and things like ad id, addressable TV, and outdoor.

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Slippery slope? Google Banner Ads?

Adrants: Google to Offer Banner Ads What is the world coming to? Just when you thought Google was the last safe place on the web. Maybe they too expect to suffer from the same problems all the other media are suffering from?

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May 12, 2004

More on why broad reach is suffering

What's Your Brand Mantra?: Advertising Overload See the previous entries on this (ABCs of big media buyers, more on lost youth) decline in the power of mass media. But we can all agree that their power is declining and that advertising is becoming less effective. Why though? This entry on Brand Mantra is really intriguing. One simple view - or at least a contributing factor - is that ads are just too boring. They all look alike and they don't grab you with anything memorable... "I am one who believes that one of the greatest dangers of advertising is not that of misleading people, but that of boring them to death." - Leo Burnett "People screen out a lot of commercials because they open with something dull ... When you advertise fire-extinguishers, open with the fire." - David Ogilvy

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May 06, 2004

More on lost youth...

Brands too Square for Teens � MarketingVOX|NEWS Lots of Bs (remember the ABCs) here on this topic. B. Problem - current brands are not hip and don't relate to young people. C. What to do about it. One person's opinion is that reaching them via new media is necessary but not sufficient. Need to inject new life in the core value proposition. Hmmm... Big challenge.

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A slightly different view on BIG TV

Fresh Perspectives: Idol Chat From a person I respect a ton. Christopher Ireland. From her perspective there is a slightly different set of ABCs: A: Yes, broadcasters are having a hard time B: But, they (if you include cable) still provide a barometer of the pulse and tastes of a good chunk of this country. C: So, ignore them at your peril. Especially if you are trying to get votes.

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The ABCs of Big Media Buyers

Adrants: Advertising and Media News With Commentary, Gossip and Opinion by Steve Hall ----------------- Really interesting to see big, traditional buyers like packaged goods and auto moving at least partially away from broadcast. The Marketing ABC logic here is simple. A. Yes, we need to reach big audiences B. But, current broadcast media is struggling and our younger audiences are moving to new outlets C. So, we have to find some new ways to get out the brand. What is that other way? Outdoor, online? What about blogs? Well, they must be getting legit. AdAge is finally writing about them.

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