Everybody wants us females, courtesy of our tendency to plunk down bucks for whatever grabs us. Now Yahoo enters the select market fray with ‘Shine,’ a new website devoted to the usual suspect temptations—beauty, celebs, entertainment, and among other topics, the always reliable ‘Love + Sex’ and the predictable ‘Work + Money.’ There’s an upfront interview with Kate Bosworth whose new movie ‘21’ has been trashed by many critics but is popular with viewers. There’s a sub-story about Al Gore’s climate change platform and sidebar tips on how to be good to your body this week.
At the moment the brand…
OK, the first part of that headline is not true, but the second part is. Clorox, the company known for its cleaning products, has put out its first album, called The Blue Sky Project: A Clorox Charity Collection.
The project contains seven songs, five of which were created for the company’s TV advertising campaign. In contrast to older Clorox ads that used upbeat jingles, the “new ads use ethereal orchestral music and pop tunes to sell the company’s line of bleaches, disinfectants and other home-cleaning products,” says the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal goes on to say that Clorox is not the only company to…
I’m a huge fan of cancer walks. Years ago I worked for the American Cancer Society as a Relay For Life specialist. I’ve also participated in Komen Race For The Cure walks, both as a volunteer and walker.
I just learned about a walk that may put all others to shame, at least in so far as distance is concerned. In April, Olivia Newton John will be joined by international stars and cancer survivors to walk 228kms along the Great Wall of China in just 21 days. The event, called The Great Walk to Beijing, will raise funds to build the Olivia Newton-John Cancer…
This is the usual bathroom related humor that makes for a funny commercial. I stumbled across this while doing some research on communication devices. The line at the end is always good for a laugh. There’s real chemistry here.
The life span of the pager was short to say the least but it was an interesting communication device nonetheless. The pager is one of those one way push devices that people could use to stay accessible. Not necessarily connected, just accessible. Communication devices have come a long way to allow people to become constantly connected. We have the opportunity to…
I’ve heard several of the Bud spots for real men of genius on the radio and usually get a good chuckle out of them. The spots are entertaining and the background singer reminds me of some of the late seventies, early eighties rock bands. I finally stumbled across one of the TV the spots. The visuals match up perfect to what was in my head. Bad hair singer and some guy making a fool out of himself.
My only question is this: Does this make you buy more Bud Light? I suppose these do help with brand awareness, or unaided…
LONG have I waited for the place where urban music, advertising and artist relations converge.
With the creation of Translation Advertising, the brainchild of Hip-hop and business mogul Jay-Z, 38, and entrepreneur Steve Stoute, 37, this fantasy is finally realized.
Translation Advertising will be a part of Translation Consultation and Brand Imaging which last year Stoute sold to Interpublic, the third largest agency company, for an estimated 15 million.
Interpublic has a 49 percent stake in Translation Advertising while Stoute and Jay-Z maintain 51 percent.
According to a NY Times article, the Interpublic venture is indicative of the intensifying interest on Madison Avenue in…
Greg Verdino points us to a little game called Crayon Graphics by KlooniGames. There’s also a write up over at slate which explains the background a bit more. This game sits in stark contrast to the high definition gaming that is so popular today. It’s simplistic yet thought provoking and incredibly engaging. With the right idea, and good delivery, an idea can be powerful without all the bells and whistles.
I’ve downloaded the demo and look forward to playing around with it. My Xbox is off right now while I go exploring the physics of the crayon.
I’ve been a big fan of the UPS whiteboard commercials. They have a clean simplistic approach that illustrates the point that is being made. UPS has a new spot out that upgrades the simple whiteboard to interactive touch display. It’s an interesting upgrade to the campaign, but I think it is distracting and causes you to lose focus on what’s being talked about. The previous approach was simple and played well with the dialog. It communicated that although shipping can be complicated, UPS knows its stuff and can make it easy for you.
I think the new approach may actually take…
ABC says “It’s time to dream again.” NBC is welcoming everyone back with a familiar 70’s theme song. CBS showcases a large African antelope called the ‘gnu’ saying that it has all “gnu” shows. (Weird, I know.)
As scripted shows return to television following the end of the three month writer’s strike, the big 3 seem to be in a celebratory mood and hopefully optimistic. There is a sense that viewers are hungry for new episodes of their favorite shows and, as such, they should do well in the ratings.
They have reason to be. The landscape of shows - mostly reruns and reality shows…
I really didn’t need to read it to know it. I’ve counted various newspapers among my clients since becoming self-employed. When my freelance assignments slow down, I know ad money is down. But the picture painted by an article in Editor & Publisher is murkier than I thought. E&P says, according to new data released by the Newspaper Association of America, “…total print advertising revenue in 2007 plunged 9.4% to $42 billion compared to 2006—the most severe percent decline since the association started measuring advertising expenditures in 1950.”
The newspaper used to be the best place to get noticed. Now the…
When I was growing up my hometown’s sole television station offered airtime to local politicians in the days ahead of elections. Each would get a few minutes to stump for themselves with segments running one after the other for what seemed like hours. It was quintessential small market television. And whether the airtime was contributed by the station as a public service or paid for I don’t know. I do know that, as a boy, I hated election time because it messed up my TV viewing habits.
As television advertising got more expensive, fewer local politicians could afford to budget for spots. Now,…
I’m easy to please about most matters, but there are some matters I won’t compromise. Among those are the detergent we use (I despise doing laundry), the wines we drink (expensive does not always mean pleasing), and perfume (to avoid that funeral parlor scent). With the perfume, I see I’m in great company because Nicole Kidman is classy. Why do some brands earn a place of reverence?
Chef Paul Prudhomme does have some magic.
The legendary Louisiana chef and restauranteur was setting up a cooking tent at the Zuirch Classic of New Orleans golf tournament last Tuesday morning when he felt a sting on his right arm just above the elbow. Prudhomme thought he’d been stung by a bee, but after shaking out his clothing, found a .22 caliber bullet fall out of his shirt!
A Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s spokesman said it appears Prudhomme was struck by the falling bullet and speculated that it was fired within a 1 1/2 mile radius of the golf course. Though the bullet grazed the skin on Prudhomme’s arm and left a…
Imagine this: Dell launches a crowdsourcing initiative and wins a PR Innovation of the Year 2008 award and when Starbucks uses the EXACT SAME software from Salesforce.com, people start dumping on them.
Only on the web.
It seems that many bloggers and mainstream media love to hate Starbucks right now. Social Media Insider on Mediapost carried a post titled “Ewww….What’s That Smell? It’s MyStarbucksIdea.com” and judging by the comments, the readers have a better understanding of the goal of the site than the writer (I like Mediapost and this new blog by the way, just disappointed with this post).
At least the recent post…
Mitch Joel points to an article in media planner that outlines the details of how GM is shifting half of it’s $3 Billion ad spend to digital marketing efforts. As the 3rd largest ad spender this is a significant move that will set the tone for the industry.
It will be interesting to see if this is a tipping point for digital marketing. Will other major players follow suit and focus efforts in digital or is this just a natural fit for GM considering that many car buyers lean heavily on online research.
I work at a digital agency and in the…
Are you a bit let down now that the writers’ strike is over? I am. I figured when the Writers Guild of America West announced approval of the proposed contract in February, things would go back to normal. I might actually find 1 or 2 hours on TV. You’d think studios and sitcoms and everybody else would rush to get new content up. One of my favorite shows is Two and a Half Men and all I’m seeing are re-runs. Even the news is boring. I am really tired of the presidential election, complete with descriptions of blue dresses, fired up…
I studied marketing in business school and one of the most important things that has always stuck with me was the 5 P’s of Marketing – People, Place, Product, Promotion and Price. I later realized that some people were taught less than 5 and I personally came to believe that there should be 6 – Profit should matter as well.
More companies are realizing that SEM is a valid and important strategy, but many of them are not approaching it in the same way that they approach traditional marketing. People working in the SEM/SEO industry blog about these kinds of clients all the time…
Years ago I worked as a house parent at a group home for emotionally disturbed children in New Orleans. One afternoon, several of the kids and I were watching television when one asked, “Is that real?” I wasn’t sure what they were referring to, so they pointed to the television. I realized that this child didn’t know the difference between make-believe and reality, at least insofar as where the line was drawn on TV.
Had that child asked that question today, I’d have to possibly answer in the affirmative because, in the case of channels like Bravo, “reality” television is what it’s…
There’s something about Easter that brings Peeps to mind. Spend a little time looking for Peeps videos at YouTube and it’s evident people like to do way more than eat the sticky marshmallows. Peeps are shaped for every holiday, but Easter is the time many thoughts turn to those multi-colored chicks and rabbits casting a sort of brain dead look from cellophane packages. The video sharing network seems to have more than its share of people who deliver some pretty harsh fates to Peeps. There are videos with Peeps fighting wars, both by figurative nuclear and actual hand-to-hand methods. Toothpicks are…
Starbucks has opened the door to the community. They have taken their first step into social media and have invited the community to share at My Starbucks Idea. The site creates an opportunity for fans to provide direct input to {hopefully} influence the company.
The foray into the social media space is similar to the Dell’s approach of engaging the community. This followed the Dell Hell experience and has actually resulted in products being delivered based on customer requests.
The key to watch is how aggressively Starbucks supports the site and engages in the dialog to keep the community involved. The…
