One of the smartest, most insightful books I’ve ever read about the Web is The Cluetrain Manifesto. This book, subtitled The End of Business As Usual, was written by a group of Web pioneers way back in 2000, but it is still as fresh and smart today as it was when I first read it seven years ago. That’s a small miracle in the digital age, because most books about the Web written more than a year or two ago are now irrelevant or just plain wrong. The Cluetrain Manifesto is not only still vital, but just about everything predicted…
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Adgabber points us to a funny spot from McDonalds who is continuing their aggressive push into the high end coffee market. It does a good job of taking the coffee shop experience to the every day Joe in an attempt to change the perception that high-end coffee is only for Philosophy majors. This is an interesting entry in the constant battle between the likes of Starbucks, McD’s and Dunkin Donuts.
I have to admit, I love a Starbucks Mocha but I haven’t been brave enough to try McDonalds version. Anyone out there who can vouch for…
Tide to Go has taken their talking stain to the people. To support the talking stain commercials, they’ve created a contest for user generated commercials. The contenders can be viewed at their site as part of the three areas where users can engage with the brand and provide content: Real Stories, User Generated Commercials and Be the Stain. The winning commercial aired during the Office series premiere on 9/25. Personally, I get a kick out of the section that allows users to become the stain by uploading a picture and audio to create a funny spot you can send out.
What do you think,…
Okay, sadly, I admit that I know the words to several New Kids On The Block songs. Imagine my surprise when I saw a NKOTB video playing on VH1 the other day. At first I thought it was a flash back piece but noticed the date at the end as 2008. What?! A comeback.
The boys are back and have debuted at #1 on the Billboard pop charts. In this day of choreographed dance steps and enhanced voices is this too little too late or is the timing right for these guys to reach out their audience and revitalize their careers? What do…
Michael Moore
Micheal Moore continues to develop his personal brand in innovative ways. He’s been working on a new movie called “Slacker Uprising” which revists content that he collected during the 2004 election. In a unique move similar to Radiohead and other music acts, he’ll be releasing the film online for free on September 23. The free release is designed to coincide with the elections and hopefully drive voters to the polls in November. What do you think, old and tired technique or unique approach for a controversial brand?
The second Microsoft ad has arrived with Bill and Jerry moving in with a family in suburbia. The spot is long at 4:30 and quirky to say the least. I’m curious to see how this unfolds as we see more spots. It’s going to take Microsoft a long time to change the perception they have and it’s going to take a lot more than off the wall commercials. I’m interested to see if they ultimate message they deliver through the spots is carried throughout the brand with innovative products, service and down to the employees. I’m curious to see where this…
It’s not an ideal tool for all brands but if it’s used in…
His name is Bob Thacker and he’s the guy who tirelessly worked to transform Target from a little known discount store in Minnesota, to the much loved retailer it is today.
Now he’s working just as hard for OfficeMax and, given how smart a client he is, I have no doubt he’ll do just what he set out to do.
Why’s Bob a dream client? Because he understands that:
Bob has gotten off to a pretty great start for OfficeMax. So…
I’m not sure this has any branding value other than the fact that with the internet as a distribution channel, almost any idea can be produced and made available to a niche audience. Whether it’s the long tail, or purely marketing to a niche, no idea is necessarily a bad one.
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Is there hope for Palm? Palm recently announced the Treo Pro smartphone as the next evolution of it’s very popular Treo smartphone. Palm as been floundering of late and their brand has seen as old school and failing. The company was once the leader in PDA/Smartphone technology and innovation and basically launched the pda market.
EA Sports and Tiger Woods have created a little spot to promote the 2009 Tiger Woods golf game that appears to be in response to monitoring the social media space. The background story is that an avid gamer, Levinator25 posted on what he thought was a glitch/feature in the game that allowed Tiger Woods to walk on water to hit a golf shot. EA came across the post and responded with the following video with Tiger that is being used to promote the 2009 Tiger Woods Golf game.
The debate is still out on whether this was all orchestrated or if EA is actually…
I’ve been without my laptop for over a week because of a catastrophic failure with my hard drive. I ordered a new one and have spent the last six hours installing the operating system and tracking down updates, software and tools that I used every day. I’m half way there at this point. It has definitely been a lesson in not knowing what you’ve got till it’s gone.
So, what have I learned. Two things.
1. Back up regularly. Thank goodness, I backed up everything two days before the crash.
2. IT staff don’t get enough respect. I have a new appreciation for…
ZDNET is reporting that the Securities and Exchange Commission provided unanimous approval today for corporations to use Corporate Blogs as a means to release information that meets public disclosure requirements.
I don’t know that you’ll see many corporation taking advantage of this medium but there are some who have successful corporate blogs that could use this to provide information to the public. In those instances, there is the opportunity for unique conversation to develop around content usually reserved for faxed releases and obscure postings. This can position a corporate blog in a whole new way for some brands.
It’s additional proof that Social Media…
I’m a big fan of the CommonCraft videos. CommonCraft has established itself as a unique communications organization that brands come to for help to explain the features and benefits of their products. The video below is for LinkedIn. They asked CommonCraft to take the assumption that LinkedIn is about building connections and turn it on it’s side to explain how it can make you more productive. Using a simple two minute video, CommonCraft has helped LinkedIn to explain how it can expand the role it plays in our everyday lives.
Can your brand communicate in such a simple way to help people…
I was watching a TED Presentation with Jonathan Harris, an artist and computer scientist, about his passion for collecting stories. One of the projects that Jonathan shares during the presentation is We Feel Fine which he developed with Sep Kamvar.
We Feel Fine scans the worlds blogs to collect snippets of peoples feelings. The information is then rolled together and presented using visual cues that allow you to review and even search for feelings. It’s a mesmerizing, amazing and frightening look into the emotions and experiences that people are sharing online.
Have a look when you get a chance and explore the snippets…
While I was reviewing my RSS feeds this week, Adfreak pointed me to this YouTube Choose Your Own Adventure idea being put together by a guy name Cory Williams. Cory is asking you to help him find his cat, Sparta. The concept is very interesting in that you can use the YouTube set up to choose from one of four available choices that leads you to the next video.
Now, the storyline is a bit weak but the concept is sound. I never did find Cory’s cat, lost interest. I’ll be curious to see if a brand picks up on this idea. Get a good story…
The success of a movie is not judged by box office success any more. The DVD market for movies gives studios a second chance to rake in the dough on new release. Horton Hears a Who grossed nearly $300 million while in theaters. Now Twentieth Century Fox is backing the release of the DVD with a monstrous campaign intended to generate 200 million consumer impressions. The campaign includes a float in the Macy’s Day parade as well as odd partnerships with L’Oreal and the Energy Star organization.
My question is this, what does 200 million impressions mean? The hope is that…
The Muppets seem to be staging a comeback. In an effort to promote an upcoming Disney Channel special, several of our Muppet friends have set up their own YouTube channels. Beeker gets it going with a nice rendition of Ode to Joy. This is an interesting approach to revive the Muppet brand and bring back the variety show approach that brought the show success in the past.
Disney is once again putting their marketing force behind something and finding new ways to integrate the old and the new. The YouTube campaign is an interesting way to use a new medium to revive a brand that…
