Saturday, November 1, 2008
Canadian Shock Jock Prank Call To Sarah Palin - Oh My God!
This had to get someone's cookies on the fire!
Revengez of le Moose!
Thanks for listening, and don't forget to write.
Happy Belated Anniversary to HULU! 10/28/2007
It's hard to believe it has only been a year. Now that twinkle sound before every vid is a daily staple for me.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Palin Hair History
Oh yes, over at HuffPost you get to live the big hairstyles of the past 25 years.
Gimme gimme hair.
It's horribly sexist for me to post this. I am aware of this. But tell me you can resist looking. I dare ya.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write
Gimme gimme hair.
It's horribly sexist for me to post this. I am aware of this. But tell me you can resist looking. I dare ya.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write
Palin: Press Freedom Threatens First Amendment Press Freedom!
What an effin' dingbat.
ABC News reports:
In a conservative radio interview that aired in Washington, D.C. Friday morning, Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin said she fears her First Amendment rights may be threatened by "attacks" from reporters who suggest she is engaging in a negative campaign against Barack Obama.
Palin told WMAL-AM that her criticism of Obama's associations, like those with 1960s radical Bill Ayers and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, should not be considered negative attacks. Rather, for reporters or columnists to suggest that it is going negative may constitute an attack that threatens a candidate's free speech rights under the Constitution, Palin said.
"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."
ABC News reports:
In a conservative radio interview that aired in Washington, D.C. Friday morning, Republican vice presidential nominee Gov. Sarah Palin said she fears her First Amendment rights may be threatened by "attacks" from reporters who suggest she is engaging in a negative campaign against Barack Obama.
Palin told WMAL-AM that her criticism of Obama's associations, like those with 1960s radical Bill Ayers and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, should not be considered negative attacks. Rather, for reporters or columnists to suggest that it is going negative may constitute an attack that threatens a candidate's free speech rights under the Constitution, Palin said.
"If [the media] convince enough voters that that is negative campaigning, for me to call Barack Obama out on his associations," Palin told host Chris Plante, "then I don't know what the future of our country would be in terms of First Amendment rights and our ability to ask questions without fear of attacks by the mainstream media."
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Next...On a Very Special Episode of Blossom...a Rick Roll a Thon!
Making sure a great idea is burned to cinders!
Yep. Joke's on you. You been Snowed!
Yep. Joke's on you. You been Snowed!
Ignore the Teats On That 'Un And Imagine ThatUn's a Boy Pig and ThatUn's a Boy Pig
Vote for the Halibut. But vote.
Your Flight Is Now Departing. Is It To The Web, Or The Tube?
I am always a little giddy when I get a post from our Red Carpet Correspondent Steve Peace because I always learn a little something. He's one smart Fig Newman.
---
The word “flighting” has always sounded ephemeral, light, and insubstantial to me. It brings to mind an image. That of tossing a few million dollars into the wind and letting the fates scatter it across time and the media landscape. Not exactly the sort of methodology you might espouse to a client in a plan presentation about how decisions were made to apportion dollars across time. How then, do movie marketers make decisions on the flighting of dollars?
An examination of historical flighting schedules reveals that 70% to 100% of media dollars in support of theatrical releases are spent in the final three weeks before open (Source: TNS Media data). Media support for a film typically begins anywhere from 10 weeks to 3 weeks before release. The determining variable in whether a movie receives a lengthy flight or a brief one, or one that is more broadly distributed or more concentrated, seems to be an entirely subjective one. The key question is, “How big do you THINK the film will be?”
Ok, a number of you might cry foul at this point. How big a film is, how much interest can be generated in it, is not entirely subjective. One can look at objective measures such as the box office draw of the lead talent or director, whether or not it’s based on a popular book, or use the production budget as a proxy for saleability. True. But, all of those measures are incomplete. The true measure of a film’s box office potential is subjectively determined.
If a film is thought to be a blockbuster, it should receive a lengthy flighting schedule with a broader distribution of dollars over time. The idea is that a better film is able to hold attention within the marketplace for a longer period of time. And that anticipation can be maintained and built until the day of launch. This strategy can backfire pretty severely if the studio overestimates a film’s saleability. People just get sick of hearing about a movie after awhile. No matter how big. Which brings us to ramping dollars.
Almost all movie marketing campaigns are ramped over time. This ramping can be categorized into 3 broad buckets. First, information about the film is seeded into the marketplace, which acts as an introduction that the film exists, to get people comfortable with the notion of its existence and to fan any devotional flames that might exist (e.g. fans of the talent, book, director, etc.). In the build phase, weight is hiked up to increase reach across the broadest definition of the audience and to debut a rich story about the value of the movie. Finally, in the launch phase, frequencies are ratcheted to build a frenzy of anticipation and to compete with other dollars in the marketplace vying for a similar audience. During this phase, there might also be a course correction on the messaging (if tracking numbers are lower than anticipated) or a part two to the marketing story.
With very large releases, this ramp can occur over an extended period of time. With small releases, resources must be concentrated to be effective against competitive dollars. Below is a chart with a typical flighting schedule for a film with a large marketing budget:
Many of you will have noticed that Internet dollars are flighted differently than traditional dollars and might be asking yourselves, “What gives?” This is due to the distinct nature of the Internet in comparison with other traditional forms of communication. Television and Out-of-Home are great for introducing a film to a broad swath of the population. But, no one turns on the T.V. or walks outside when they want to find out what’s playing. Directed research about movies is mostly performed online (yes, there are still people that read the newspaper, but that population is declining and most everyone now augments reading the paper with going online). So, it’s a perfect medium for seeding early messaging about a film to the most rabid fans that are actively trolling for this kind of information.
There is research that was performed by Dynamic Logic that indicates that flighting dollars online 4 weeks before a release provides better results than flighting dollars more closely to the release date. One theory to explain this data is that once opinions are formed about a movie, they are communicated quickly online. Therefore, getting ahead of the rumors online about the quality of a film might be an effective way to influence perceptions.
That’s the latest news from southland. Happy marketing.
Steve
---
---
The word “flighting” has always sounded ephemeral, light, and insubstantial to me. It brings to mind an image. That of tossing a few million dollars into the wind and letting the fates scatter it across time and the media landscape. Not exactly the sort of methodology you might espouse to a client in a plan presentation about how decisions were made to apportion dollars across time
An examination of historical flighting schedules reveals that 70% to 100% of media dollars in support of theatrical releases are spent in the final three weeks before open (Source: TNS Media data). Media support for a film typically begins anywhere from 10 weeks to 3 weeks before release. The determining variable in whether a movie receives a lengthy flight or a brief one, or one that is more broadly distributed or more concentrated, seems to be an entirely subjective one. The key question is, “How big do you THINK the film will be?”
Ok, a number of you might cry foul at this point. How big a film is, how much interest can be generated in it, is not entirely subjective. One can look at objective measures such as the box office draw of the lead talent or director, whether or not it’s based on a popular book, or use the production budget as a proxy for saleability. True. But, all of those measures are incomplete. The true measure of a film’s box office potential is subjectively determined.
If a film is thought to be a blockbuster, it should receive a lengthy flighting schedule with a broader distribution of dollars over time. The idea is that a better film is able to hold attention within the marketplace for a longer period of time. And that anticipation can be maintained and built until the day of launch. This strategy can backfire pretty severely if the studio overestimates a film’s saleability. People just get sick of hearing about a movie after awhile. No matter how big. Which brings us to ramping dollars.
Almost all movie marketing campaigns are ramped over time. This ramping can be categorized into 3 broad buckets. First, information about the film is seeded into the marketplace, which acts as an introduction that the film exists, to get people comfortable with the notion of its existence and to fan any devotional flames that might exist (e.g. fans of the talent, book, director, etc.). In the build phase, weight is hiked up to increase reach across the broadest definition of the audience and to debut a rich story about the value of the movie. Finally, in the launch phase, frequencies are ratcheted to build a frenzy of anticipation and to compete with other dollars in the marketplace vying for a similar audience. During this phase, there might also be a course correction on the messaging (if tracking numbers are lower than anticipated) or a part two to the marketing story.
With very large releases, this ramp can occur over an extended period of time. With small releases, resources must be concentrated to be effective against competitive dollars. Below is a chart with a typical flighting schedule for a film with a large marketing budget:
Many of you will have noticed that Internet dollars are flighted differently than traditional dollars and might be asking yourselves, “What gives?” This is due to the distinct nature of the Internet in comparison with other traditional forms of communication. Television and Out-of-Home are great for introducing a film to a broad swath of the population. But, no one turns on the T.V. or walks outside when they want to find out what’s playing. Directed research about movies is mostly performed online (yes, there are still people that read the newspaper, but that population is declining and most everyone now augments reading the paper with going online). So, it’s a perfect medium for seeding early messaging about a film to the most rabid fans that are actively trolling for this kind of information.
There is research that was performed by Dynamic Logic that indicates that flighting dollars online 4 weeks before a release provides better results than flighting dollars more closely to the release date. One theory to explain this data is that once opinions are formed about a movie, they are communicated quickly online. Therefore, getting ahead of the rumors online about the quality of a film might be an effective way to influence perceptions.
That’s the latest news from southland. Happy marketing.
Steve
---
Q & A Thursdays: Mark Ghuneim, Founder and CEO of Wiredet and Trendrr
I love the offering at Trendrr.com, which is a site that allows you to track any topic you choose across leading properties in social media. It is of tremendous value, and the price is right: free. To find out more about this great service -- a service you should avail yourself of right at this very instant, and then quickly return here to give me another page view -- I got in touch with
Mark Ghuneim, CEO and founder of Wiredset and Trendrr. There's some great thinking behind this service!
Without further delay:
1. For the benefit of those who may not have heard of Trendrr, can you give us the elevator pitch?
Created by Wiredset, Trendrr is an online service that tracks and graphs consumption trends and activity across the digital spectrum, including social networks, blogs, torrents, Amazon, Craigslist, Twitter, Google News and dozens of leading video sites in a community setting. The platform allows users to easily track dynamic data trends over time; compare and mash up data using a virtual scratch pad, and share findings via embed codes, links and easy data exporting. Whether tracking the number of plays for a song across MySpace, the aggregate views and engagement data for a content segment on YouTube, the number of blog posts about a topic, or the buzz halo around any given company, person or term, Trendrr captures and illustrates accurate, real time market intelligence in an easy to use, digestible format. Designed as a dynamic service for individuals who want to track trends for free with an enterprise level solution for businesses, Trendrr provides holistic measurements of consumption on the web.
2. Trendrr is from Wiredset, a digital agency. Please give us the two minute drill on Wiredset, so we understand from where Trendrr came from.
Wiredset is a full-scale digital agency that provides online and mobile marketing services, strategic business consulting, market intelligence, and cutting-edge web production, all enabled by proprietary technologies and services. We founded the agency in 2004, and it is currently led by entertainment and tech industry veterans. Wiredset incubates ideas, creates technology products and executes innovative digital marketing campaigns for leading television, music, and entertainment properties, as well as established brands. Our current and former clients include Microsoft, Apple, Puma, VH1, ESPN, MTV, Comedy Central, HBO, Capitol Records, Sony Music, Coachella, and many more: http://www.wiredset.com/our_clients.php
3. How can one start Trendrring?
We aim to make it easy. Those wishing to start can sign up for a free Trendrr account in under 3 minutes, and the social web is theirs to track and trend. To start tracking your own graphs, click the “start tracking” tab in the upper left corner. To search for crowd sourced graphs, find the search box on the right hand side, type in what you are looking for, and click enter. A plethora of graphs within your search topic will appear, and they are yours to run with. The scratchpad in the upper right hand corner allows users to mash up graphs, and customize the display options.
4. I have a research background, and one of the things that one quickly learns in research is that there is “need to know” info, and “nice to know” info. What makes social media discussion “need to know” for a brand? It may help you to know that the readers of this blog are mostly brand marketers and agency folks – planners, buyers, and account people.
Great point, not all metrics are of equal value. It’s up to the brand marketers, agencies and planners etc. to determine what data sets fall into the vital category, and which are nice to know for broader industry knowledge but don’t immediately translate into actionable intelligence. There is no question brands absolutely “need to know” the buzz and velocity around their online campaigns and the campaigns of their competition before they launch their assets and while a campaign is rolling. So for instance, if a Brand is launching a web video campaign, they should be looking not just at the amount of views, they should be tracking engagement indicators such as comments, times favorited, blog buzz, search velocity and so on. Also, gaining market intelligence, not just once a month, but each day, allows marketers and brands to respond more effectively, or call an audible to adjust to what’s working and quickly scrap an idea that is not gaining traction. By doing this, marketers are creating more time for analysis and execution.
5. I am frankly amazed that you are giving away all of this value. From a business standpoint, how does this free offering “fit” into the model of Wiredset?
We don’t look at offering a free service as giving away value; quite the opposite. We created a consumer facing community site knowing that the more data that is tracked, the more trends that are identified and mashed-up, the more value everyone (including Wiredset) realizes. Keeping a portion of the site open for everyone allows us to see trends we never would have thought of or had time to track- it’s crowd sourcing metrics for the benefit of all. From a business standpoint, we also know that brands, advertisers and marketers who need the holistic view of viral buzz will eventually want the options contained in the enterprise solutions such as comparing real time data to their private in-house metrics and measuring a vast amount of data sets. (The free version is limited to tracking 20 data sets at any time)
6. Trendrr lets you select the data sets you want tracked. Can you give us a sense of the range of social media you are tracking?
Total number of video, views, views per day, number of comments, and number favorites for a specific video or tags for a topic in most cases.
· Videos sites include: You Tube, AOL Video, Veoh, MySpace, Daily Motion, Hi5, Imeem, LiveVideo, Meta Café, Revver, Spike
· Twitter: number of followers and updates for a user
· Amazon: sales rank for a product or term
· Ebay: number of auctions for a product or term
· Craigslist: job listings for a term or industry
· Monster: job listings for a term or industry
· Quantcast: overall site rank, page views and unique visitors (US)
· Netcraft: site rankings
· Compete site analysis- number of people who access a site
· Google: search results for a word or term
· Blogs: Google and Technorati Blog Search
· Flickr: number of photos posted for a specific term
· MySpace: number of Friends, number of comments, and profile views per day for a specific profile (Note: 'Profile Views' must be visible from the public profile page).
· MySpace Song Plays: number of song plays per day for a given artist on myspace.com
7. One of the things I really like about Trendrr is that it takes a quantitative approach to tracking all this qualitative info. Using Trendrr, is it possible to track both the quantity and the tone of comments? For example, if I tracked what was being said about a company, could Trendrr help me understand whether the comments are positive, neutral, or negative?
It is certainly possible to track the quantity of comments using Trendrr. However to track the positive, neutral, or negative values of a comment requires a comprehensive approach from the person(s) when they begin tracking. The tone can be tracked through the use of targeted search terms but at this point it is very hard to distinguish positivity from negativity. For instance, we know there were 30,000 new blogs containing Obama + Muslim since July, but to decipher the nature or tone of them would require a comprehensive layer of term tracking to give greater context. Short answer is, this is possible, but requires thoughtfulness from the person collecting data.
8. Lots of great ideas begin with a story. What is the story behind Trendrr? How did it come about? Anything special here?
Prior to starting Wiredset or Trendrr, I was SVP at Sony Music USA and grew frustrated that there was very little actionable intelligence to measure the effectiveness of their efforts. So after 16 years with Sony, I started digital agency Wiredset knowing that a core differentiator versus other agencies would be the ability to provide quantifiable results beyond the standard at the time (views, clicks and visitors). We set out to create a tool that showed layers of engagement and provided greater precision and context to online initiatives. Together with some incredible developers, loud music and countless late nights, we created Info-filter, a private tool for our clients. As that progressed, we realized that this should be published under creative commons to unleash its real potential. So in April of 2008, we launched Trendrr as a consumer facing service. The late nights and loud music continue and this is and might always be, a work in progress.
9. You must have info on what people are tracking, and how they are using the info. What are people doing with Trendrr?
People are using Trendrr to track anything from Twitter mojo and blogbuzz to video plays, job listings, p2p trading, product sales and so much more….Here are some examples:
· Want to know the job market trends in a city?
www.trendrr.com/tag/jobs
· Want to see how Obama is doing vs. McCain in the blogosphere? http://www.trendrr.com/tag/obama
· Want to see how Blue Ray is fairing against other formats? http://www.trendrr.com/blog/mark/entry/244
· Want to see what how Showtime’s shows and characters are doing? http://www.trendrr.com/tag/showtime
10. Can you tell us about plans for the future of Trendrr? How it will grow and evolve?
We will continue to add more data sources, expand reporting options, and add aggregate and cluster views to enable over all edge impressions.
11. Anything else you’d like to tell the readers here?
· Trendrr is very developer focused - developer.trendrr.com. So all you developers out there, join in the fun!
· We have just launched a Firefix add-on so tracking and trending on the fly is that much easier
· We are always responsive to feedback
12. A final note: Why on earth is my little avatar Dick Cheney, of all people? Did you pick him to make sure we’d upload our own photos quickly? ;-)
Yes! We like to keep a sense of humor here at Wiredset and Trendrr while also finding ways to get people to engage in a community and show their colors. So, we made the default avatar a picture of Dick Cheney as a motivator. We have since changed it because the community said, enough with Cheney! (We also listen)
Thanks so much, Mark!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Ryan Digicash and Virgin Money
Catalyst:SF hipster Adam Bergman has a wonderful post on his blog about Virgin Money. Is it time for you to hit up Aunt Martha for some green?
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
D2FT Lives Up To Its Name
My colleague and compatriot Chris Schwarze found an amazing vid featuring Terry Tate and my grrl Sarah "Kill Them Mooses" Palin. Check it awt.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
Yahoo Bias For the CornHuskers?
AP is reporting that while Yahoo employment has suddenly declined by 1500 in California due to pink slip outbreak, the company has applied for a bevy of tax breaks in another state in exchange for promising to create at least 100 jobs that pay more than $68,700. That state? Drumroll:
The office will be a data center and a customer service facility.
No reason why the industry shouldn't spread out, especially since the cost of living in Norcal is nothing short of absurd.
But as a public service to any Yahoo Sunnyvale people who may be relocated, I provide the following info about Omaha which you may find invaluable on a daily basis:
Starbucks Locations:
1 15th & Douglas
222 South 15th Street
Omaha, NE 68102
402-342-4486
2 Mutual of Omaha
3316 Farnam St
Omaha, NE 68175
3 Dillon Food Store-Omaha #319
888 Saddlecreek Rd
Omaha, NE 68106
402-551-0613
4 Hy Vee Omaha #1
5150 Center
Omaha, NE 68106
402-553-2664
5 72nd & Dodge
219 South 72nd Street
Omaha, NE 68114
402-391-3615
6 Target Omaha T-2125
7400 Dodge St
Omaha, NE 68114
402-390-8880
7 Bass Pro Shops - Council Bluffs
2911 27th Ave
Council Bluffs, IA 51501
712-325-6000
8 87th & Pacific
8734 Pacific Street
Omaha, NE 68114
402-397-1081
9 Target Omaha T-2010
6600 N 72nd St
Omaha, NE 68112
402-573-2220
10 Hy-Vee Foods-Council Bluffs #2
1745 Madison Avenue
Council Bluffs, IA 51503
712-322-9260
No sarcasm, people!
Oldest Living Digital Marketer: I'm Jim Nichols and I approve this message.
[[[Fade up martial music.]]]
Oldest Living Digital Marketer [considerably thinner than currently, blue blazer flung over left shoulder held by thumb] Personally I find it magical that we live in a country where you can buy bass fishing equipment in the same place you can get a Latte. I really do. It's why, sniff, we are not red states or blue states, we are the United States of America.
[[[Sunset fades to black behind fluttering flag.]]]
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
The office will be a data center and a customer service facility.
No reason why the industry shouldn't spread out, especially since the cost of living in Norcal is nothing short of absurd.
But as a public service to any Yahoo Sunnyvale people who may be relocated, I provide the following info about Omaha which you may find invaluable on a daily basis:
Starbucks Locations:
1 15th & Douglas
222 South 15th Street
Omaha, NE 68102
402-342-4486
2 Mutual of Omaha
3316 Farnam St
Omaha, NE 68175
3 Dillon Food Store-Omaha #319
888 Saddlecreek Rd
Omaha, NE 68106
402-551-0613
4 Hy Vee Omaha #1
5150 Center
Omaha, NE 68106
402-553-2664
5 72nd & Dodge
219 South 72nd Street
Omaha, NE 68114
402-391-3615
6 Target Omaha T-2125
7400 Dodge St
Omaha, NE 68114
402-390-8880
7 Bass Pro Shops - Council Bluffs
2911 27th Ave
Council Bluffs, IA 51501
712-325-6000
8 87th & Pacific
8734 Pacific Street
Omaha, NE 68114
402-397-1081
9 Target Omaha T-2010
6600 N 72nd St
Omaha, NE 68112
402-573-2220
10 Hy-Vee Foods-Council Bluffs #2
1745 Madison Avenue
Council Bluffs, IA 51503
712-322-9260
No sarcasm, people!
Oldest Living Digital Marketer: I'm Jim Nichols and I approve this message.
[[[Fade up martial music.]]]
Oldest Living Digital Marketer [considerably thinner than currently, blue blazer flung over left shoulder held by thumb] Personally I find it magical that we live in a country where you can buy bass fishing equipment in the same place you can get a Latte. I really do. It's why, sniff, we are not red states or blue states, we are the United States of America.
[[[Sunset fades to black behind fluttering flag.]]]
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
White Paper Wednesdays: Reaching the In Market Auto Buyer Through Horizontal Ad Networks
Like it says in the headline, ValueClick has put together a nice white paper about in market auto buyers and reaching them through BT. Download it here.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
White Paper Wednesdays: The State of Cellular In Africa
There is a very interesting article on ReadWriteWeb (you can find here) on the state of the mobile business in Africa. While not a white paper per se (and you know I use a VERY loose definition here at White Paper Wednesdays) I think it is worth your time. The state of mobile in Africa may surprise you, and is yet more evidence that the predominant image of Africa in US media (well, there are two: bloated children's bellies and archive footage of PW Botha.)
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
Snackr: Nibble On Your Feeds
I admit that I wish I more closely followed my feeds. I sign up for them, then just sort of rarely get around to them.
So I was happy to try out Snackr, a service that users the tagline "Nibble on your feeds." What Snackr does is place a ticker of content bits from your feeds along the bottom of your screen. Like a headline? Have a nibble. Here's a screen:
Pretty cool, huh? Importing an existing list of feeds is easy, just click. To add new ones, it's a little harder, but not what you'd call hard. Just a bit of manual entry at times.
Overall I am impressed and am visiting my feeds more frequently, while trawling the web for info a little less. For me it's a nice trade. Perhaps the best thing, when I need to focus I just click it closed. And here's the best bit, it's actually closed. It doesn't try to open itself, dancing purple chickens don't beg me to click it open. It's there when I want it. I like polite software!
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
So I was happy to try out Snackr, a service that users the tagline "Nibble on your feeds." What Snackr does is place a ticker of content bits from your feeds along the bottom of your screen. Like a headline? Have a nibble. Here's a screen:
Pretty cool, huh? Importing an existing list of feeds is easy, just click. To add new ones, it's a little harder, but not what you'd call hard. Just a bit of manual entry at times.
Overall I am impressed and am visiting my feeds more frequently, while trawling the web for info a little less. For me it's a nice trade. Perhaps the best thing, when I need to focus I just click it closed. And here's the best bit, it's actually closed. It doesn't try to open itself, dancing purple chickens don't beg me to click it open. It's there when I want it. I like polite software!
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
Wassup Guys On Board For Barack
I'm guessing the folks at Anheuser Busch or whatever it's called now wouldn't agree with this message. But it's pretty cleva.
Thanks to Tech Crunch for spotting it.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
Thanks to Tech Crunch for spotting it.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
White Paper Wednesdays: Trusting Strangers For Recommendations
A really thought provoking white paper from Universal McCann entitled "When did we start trusting strangers?" is available here.
The theme of the paper is how social media have transformed the way we learn and draw conclusions about products. Its quite good and worth your bandwidth.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
MySpace Signs Ioda
Ioda is an amazing distribution and marketing platform for more than 50,000 indie labels, and now it has signed to distribute via MySpace, helping Rupert's social net get even stronger on the music front. Music is the killer app for MySpace, and this addition really helps them solidify their dominance.
Wait, I'll go a little farther. Music is what keeps MySpace on top. Without it, their site really isn't competitive with Facebook or even Bebo in my book. But because music is so thoroughly integrated into the MySpace offering, thinking about it without music is really more an academic exercise.
As Facebook reportedly begins earnest development of a real music offering, it's clear that MySpace ain't gonna roll over.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
John Woo, Wes Anderson, and Kevin Smith Make Attack Ads for McCain
The leading directors join the leading attack campaign!
And Whom Do You Suppose Might Be Interested in Buying iMeem?
It'd be irresponsible for me to even hazard a guess...
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
Syndicaster: Good Fast Cheap?
It's pretty tough to go wrong with that selling message.
And Syndicaster is an offering that holds the promise of delivering just that. I am not the target audience for this product, but i like what I see and have read about them on sites like Tech Crunch, so I thought I'd offer a plug here.
The business of taking broadcast video content and putting it online would appear to be easy. I mean, after all, millions of people upload vids every day to YouTube and many other sites.
But for TV stations interested in delivering their news and other content online, most rely on a high cost offering and a station by station archive.
Syndicaster aims to change that with a no hardware and no local software web-based solution that promises to convert, catalog, and archive TV content in as little as 60 seconds. Here's how they describe the offering:
Join our broadcast partners and start today to edit, organize, catalog and immediately publish your video without having to install and maintain complex hardware or software. You can quickly create video clips, add titles, edit the fully keyword searchable transcripts and publish your video content for viral online distribution, all within 60 seconds of airtime.
The Broadcaster's Online Video Ecosystem
- Live Clip Creation From Any Location
- The Most Advanced Online Editing Tools
- Instant CMS Integration,
- Instant Distribution & Monetization
- All Your Stations Standardized On One Robust Ad Tagging Platform
- Including Full-Text Transcripts
- No Hardware, No Software
- Key Word Searchable 30-Day Archive
-On-Air to Online in Seconds
Importantly, with the consolidation of media ownership, it's natural that companies want to share feature content across stations and markets. The online archive of Syndicaster makes that very easy. Something that's sure to help companies looking to cut costs.
The website says 420 stations are already using the offering, which would seem to indicate that good, fast, cheap is a very appealing offer, indeed!
Syndicaster is an offering of Critical Media, a company focused on making broadcast video searchable and monetizable across the web.
Dedicated to making broadcast video search as ubiquitous as text search, the Company provides tools and services to content consumers, providers, distributors and advertisers that leverage its real-time media capture infrastructure. Every day, our media capture infrastructure, the largest in the world, processes in real time over 10,000 hours of broadcast content on 4 continents, making every minute of it discoverable and monetizable within 60 seconds of airtime.
One more sign of the blurring lines between broadcast and web.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
Fable II: Impressing the Critics
I am not a huge gamer, though I do have a bit of interest in RPGs. You may remember, when the XBOX 360 came out that Fable I was widely predicted to be a real broadener of its appeal. This article on ARS Technica outlines how the lack of love for Fable I ultimately limited the sales of the original XBOX, and allowed PS 2 to assume leadership of the hardware business.
But Fable II has now arrived, and appears to be pleasing a variety of critics with its beauty and the ability of every player to have a different experience. Every player.
Check out this collection of reviews.
Let's start with graphics. The game is gorgeous, as you can see in these screens I nabbed off 1up.com:
In terms of gameplay, the word is that this game really does offer a rich playing experience that offers real variances based upon the decision you make. Every player truly guides their own individual destiny. Check out this ARS Technica review excerpt:
Because of the nature of Fable II's design, the game is best discussed (to put years of otherwise-useless literary theory to use) through the school of structuralism: taking the product apart piece by piece as a composite system composed of many different sub-systems that work together to make the game function. Together, the combat system, the character development system, the questing system, the social system, and all of the game's many different aspects combine with an overall narrative to create an impressive and multi-faceted organism the breadth of which is staggering. To make it digestible, though, the game is best divided into three main super-systems: narrative, combat, and simulation.
At the top of the hierarchy is the questing system, which is largely intertwined with the overall narrative and the focal point of the adventure. The game begins with your hero as a child, and you move through what amounts to a tutorial level learning the basic mechanics of questing. You'll take on your first few quests, make some moral decisions along the way—which we'll return to later—and generally learn the flow of narrative and questing in Fable II. Once this opening section has been bested, though, the game opens up to reveal that the questing system is really the crux upon which the game as a whole turns.
It's hard to critique the actual narrative of Fable II. I can't tell you about the story, and whether it's good or bad, because there isn't one. There is only your story. That may sound like PR rhetoric, but it's the truth. How I played through the game, whom I interacted with, the decisions I made, the deaths I suffered, the victories I cherished: all of these amounted to an experience that was mine and mine alone. How yours will be is impossible to predict. But what can be discussed is the way that questing works, and the way that narrative factors in to the overall play experience of the game.
Now check out this sizzle reel about gameplay:
It appears that XBOX 360 has a winner that will help broaden the appeal of that platform.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
7 Ways To Increase Advertiser Uptake of Your Emerging Media Platform
The following ran as an In Focus feature on iMediaConnection a couple of weeks ago. But in case you didn't see it...
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Lots of emerging media companies have difficulty making those all important first sales. Here are seven steps to improving your luck.
Some of the most exciting aspects of our media environment are the number and quality of “emerging media” platforms that are being launched – new media with the capacity to drive real change in the way brands connect with audiences and tell their stories.
But if one of these incredible new opportunities is your brainchild, or if you work on the team of one of these platforms, you know it can be a real challenge to get the people with ad dollars to engage with you. Indeed, whenever two or more people from emerging media companies get together, there’s usually some discussion about how difficult it can be to make planners and buyers break old habits – and try new things.
• “They want innovative, yet proven.”
I’d like to offer a different interpretation of the buying environment. When I talk with people in the planning and buying community, I hear that they are very anxious to experiment – what they find challenging is that most emerging companies expect them to do the “heavy lifting” of creating a business relationship. I asked a few buyers about this issue, and the comments I heard back were very consistent.
• “They expect me to accommodate them. It’s like they are trying to make it difficult for me to work with them.”
• “They pitch AT me instead of listening and responding to what I need.”
• “Many try to change the chessboard, introducing some weird new way to buy, or a new payment model, or a proprietary reporting platform. It’s not that I don’t like ideas, but it shouldn’t be my job to make their job easier. They are selling to me.”
Naturally, it is any buyer’s responsibility to capitalize on great opportunities as they become available – that’s why clients engage with agencies. But it is also critical that an emerging media company understand buyer needs, and accommodate those as part of the selling and account management processes.
With that in mind, here are seven ways that emerging media platforms can succeed in getting more consideration and business from the folks with money to spend:
1. Do Some Homework on How Media are Planned, Purchased, Reported On, and Optimized.
Many emerging media companies are led by people with technical backgrounds – folks who may not know how the RFP process works, what measures matter to planners and buyers, how agencies contractually engage, what’s sorts of out clauses are necessary, etc.
Even if your platform offers incredible opportunities for a brand, you need to understand that planning and buying from you needs to meet the basic parameters by which marketers and agencies make purchases. Purchasing processes in most companies are precisely defined, and deviating from those processes may take you out of consideration immediately.
Similarly, most major brands use a third party serving and reporting solution like Dart for Publishers (DFP.) Be sure to make your trafficking, scheduling, and reporting compatible with the major platforms like DoubleClick, Atlas, and Mediaplex before you hit the ground running. A lack of such compatibility will stop you in your tracks with the vast majority of brands.
In today’s environment, it is not at all unusual for a buyer to be spending millions on behalf of three, or five, or eight brands simultaneously. They do not have time to accommodate your special needs.
Further, an unfortunate reality of the digital media business is that there is still a lot of manual reporting and optimization going on. You do NOT want to add to that time suck with obtuse processes.
2. Be Prepared with a Well Honed Elevator Pitch
In an environment where your prospects have many time and attention demands, you often only get one brief “shot” and telling your story and making people care. In an emerging media context, you have the dual challenges of explaining what you are and what needs you meet in the first 20-30 seconds people give you to make your case.
There’s actually a formula to this that works for emerging platforms. Essentially, your pitch needs to include three things:
1. Context: A message that tells the prospect how to categorize you in their head, before they hear what’s unique. Are you…
a. …A social media platform
b. …A mobile application
c. ...A widget
It’s important not to get too cute here – you need to explain yourself in the context of the buyer’s current world view. Use their language, not newspeak. For example, you are not a “cross site ad vending and distribution platform,” you are an ad network. It’s not a distributed communication platform, it’s a widget. Many emerging media companies try so hard to be different that they make themselves unintelligible.
2. Tell them what’s different from an attribute standpoint: Is yours a social media site especially for beekeepers? A mobile ad network focused specifically on iPhone applications? An embeddable game platform focused on women 35-54? Make that clear. In plain English.
3. Tell Them What It Means For Them: There is a reason why your platform exists, right? Is it to create high quality branded experiences? A way to improve conversion rates by letting people buy in a widget? A better way to provide a completely brand safe UGC video experience for mothers and children? Tell them why they should care.
By sticking to the formula of context…differentiation…meaning, you will tell a concise and coherent story that prospects will understand and value.
3. Target Truly Likely “Innovator” Prospects
If you spent a few hours researching the “charter” advertisers for emerging media, you would quickly find that a small cadre of companies dominate. There are certain brands with both the money and the orientation to try truly new things – and there are many brands that don’t.
As an example, Procter and Gamble often leads the CPG pack in media innovation. In auto, foreign automakers often move more quickly into emerging media than Detroit, which focuses more on proven DR techniques. By defining the right set of target companies you’ll be able to focus your time on A prospects.
Another consideration is budget. Many emerging media companies target “cool” brands instead of “rich” brands. In most (though not all) cases, a brand with $10 Million to spend online is a lot more likely to sign than one with $500K. The cost to participate in your platform is also a factor. Smaller brands can swing $5K, but only major brands are likely to cough up $50K on an unproven platform.
You may also wish to consider a “charter” buying program to entice brands to participate with a lower initial pricepoint. A charter program can also set appropriate expectations about reach and other metrics while you build your market footprint.
Oh, but do make them pay something. Even just a little bit. People value things they pay for. Once you start giving things away, it’s tough to rebottle that genie.
4. Make An Effort to Understand a Prospect and Their Circumstances Before You Dial or Email.
You can boil most brand needs down to one (or more) of three things – awareness, trial, or repeat. By doing even a couple of searches on the brand and category, you can ensure that when you connect with a marketer you can tailor a message more likely to resonate. In an environment where resources are at a premium, planners and buyers must focus on those opportunities most likely to address specific brand needs.
Now, it is possible that the actual needs for a brand may be different from those you surmise. But the thing is, generally people are appreciative of “homework” whether or not you reach the same conclusions as they have. Getting it right can be a welcome surprise to the buyer. But what REALLY matters in the end is that you cared enough to try – it will set you apart from about 90% of the cold calls a planner gets.
5. Deliver Selling Materials That Answer the Likely Buyer Questions – in 12 Slides or Less.
Selling materials should be concise and clear. Now there’s a chocking statement, huh? But it is truly amazing how many emerging media companies offer seemingly eternal sales kits. I recently saw a deck of 73 slides for one. While the deck truly did answer every question one could possibly have about the platform, it is absurd to expect anyone to review it all.
Another problem: many sales decks tell stories inductively versus deductively; they offer a lot of data points and then the conclusion, versus postulating the rule and taking people through examples. An inductive deck may take people through 6 to 12 “the problem” slides before getting to what they offer. Problem is, in our ADD culture, people may never get to slide 12.
Instead, it makes sense to define what you are first (first slide,) and then explain the implications through examples.
Additionally, it makes sense to provide data to back up your story. Planners and buyers expect “proof”, not suppositions. That’s not to stay that you need case studies before you launch ;-) but rather that data in support of your reason for being make your offering more compelling.
Naturally, buyers will also need to understand creative specs and requirements. Visual examples, even spec examples, go a long way here to dimensionalizing the potential appeal of a new platform.
Finally, providing next steps and contact info is critical. On more than one occasion I have seen emerging media opps lose consideration because these basic elements were omitted.
6. Make Your Buying Model “Fit” The Spreadsheet
Don’t making buying your offering difficult. Agencies and brands gain approval of resources, often with formulaic Excel spreadsheets. The models that “fit” in these spreadsheets are CPM, CPA, and CPC. That’s not to say that another model cannot be sold but rather that unusual buying model s are harder to sell.
Brands typically care a lot about impressions, clicks, and buys. Naturally, some really good ideas may not be best measured in these three manners, so don’t rule OUT serving up a new model. But only do so if it necessary, because making things harder is never a good idea.
Some emerging media offerings have introduced novel buying and reporting methodologies as a means of differentiation. While I can’t say it NEVER makes sense, I can say with certainty that a new model makes you harder to deal with. Easy = good. Hard = bad.
7. Respectfully Stay On Your Prospects’ Radar
As an unproven emerging media opportunity, you’re not going to be a top tier priority for planners and buyers. They will naturally gravitate toward spending and managing large proven programs by which they can make progress toward your goals. Now, you can tut-tut over this, thinking it demonstrates a lack of vision. Or you can recognize that the planner’s job is not to help you. Your job is to meet their needs.
As the seller of an emerging platform, you have the onus to keep the dialogue going, to answer the prospect’s questions, and drive the sale. They aren’t going to “close” themselves.
That’s not to say that you should be calling five times a day every day but rather that emerging media are likely to fall to the bottom of to-do lists. It’s ultimately on you to cultivate and grow interest politely.
Once you’ve made the sale, it’s doubly important to meet and exceed your responsibilities. Many emerging companies, for example, wait to hire operations teams until they have a bunch of charter clients disgruntled by the service they aren’t getting. When you are just beginning your relationship with a marketer, it is even more critical to ensure smooth operations. In a new relationship it’s not about responding when the chips are down but rather ensuring that the chips stay up.
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Lots of emerging media companies have difficulty making those all important first sales. Here are seven steps to improving your luck.
Some of the most exciting aspects of our media environment are the number and quality of “emerging media” platforms that are being launched – new media with the capacity to drive real change in the way brands connect with audiences and tell their stories.
But if one of these incredible new opportunities is your brainchild, or if you work on the team of one of these platforms, you know it can be a real challenge to get the people with ad dollars to engage with you. Indeed, whenever two or more people from emerging media companies get together, there’s usually some discussion about how difficult it can be to make planners and buyers break old habits – and try new things.
• “They want innovative, yet proven.”
I’d like to offer a different interpretation of the buying environment. When I talk with people in the planning and buying community, I hear that they are very anxious to experiment – what they find challenging is that most emerging companies expect them to do the “heavy lifting” of creating a business relationship. I asked a few buyers about this issue, and the comments I heard back were very consistent.
• “They expect me to accommodate them. It’s like they are trying to make it difficult for me to work with them.”
• “They pitch AT me instead of listening and responding to what I need.”
• “Many try to change the chessboard, introducing some weird new way to buy, or a new payment model, or a proprietary reporting platform. It’s not that I don’t like ideas, but it shouldn’t be my job to make their job easier. They are selling to me.”
Naturally, it is any buyer’s responsibility to capitalize on great opportunities as they become available – that’s why clients engage with agencies. But it is also critical that an emerging media company understand buyer needs, and accommodate those as part of the selling and account management processes.
With that in mind, here are seven ways that emerging media platforms can succeed in getting more consideration and business from the folks with money to spend:
1. Do Some Homework on How Media are Planned, Purchased, Reported On, and Optimized.
Many emerging media companies are led by people with technical backgrounds – folks who may not know how the RFP process works, what measures matter to planners and buyers, how agencies contractually engage, what’s sorts of out clauses are necessary, etc.
Even if your platform offers incredible opportunities for a brand, you need to understand that planning and buying from you needs to meet the basic parameters by which marketers and agencies make purchases. Purchasing processes in most companies are precisely defined, and deviating from those processes may take you out of consideration immediately.
Similarly, most major brands use a third party serving and reporting solution like Dart for Publishers (DFP.) Be sure to make your trafficking, scheduling, and reporting compatible with the major platforms like DoubleClick, Atlas, and Mediaplex before you hit the ground running. A lack of such compatibility will stop you in your tracks with the vast majority of brands.
In today’s environment, it is not at all unusual for a buyer to be spending millions on behalf of three, or five, or eight brands simultaneously. They do not have time to accommodate your special needs.
Further, an unfortunate reality of the digital media business is that there is still a lot of manual reporting and optimization going on. You do NOT want to add to that time suck with obtuse processes.
2. Be Prepared with a Well Honed Elevator Pitch
In an environment where your prospects have many time and attention demands, you often only get one brief “shot” and telling your story and making people care. In an emerging media context, you have the dual challenges of explaining what you are and what needs you meet in the first 20-30 seconds people give you to make your case.
There’s actually a formula to this that works for emerging platforms. Essentially, your pitch needs to include three things:
1. Context: A message that tells the prospect how to categorize you in their head, before they hear what’s unique. Are you…
a. …A social media platform
b. …A mobile application
c. ...A widget
It’s important not to get too cute here – you need to explain yourself in the context of the buyer’s current world view. Use their language, not newspeak. For example, you are not a “cross site ad vending and distribution platform,” you are an ad network. It’s not a distributed communication platform, it’s a widget. Many emerging media companies try so hard to be different that they make themselves unintelligible.
2. Tell them what’s different from an attribute standpoint: Is yours a social media site especially for beekeepers? A mobile ad network focused specifically on iPhone applications? An embeddable game platform focused on women 35-54? Make that clear. In plain English.
3. Tell Them What It Means For Them: There is a reason why your platform exists, right? Is it to create high quality branded experiences? A way to improve conversion rates by letting people buy in a widget? A better way to provide a completely brand safe UGC video experience for mothers and children? Tell them why they should care.
By sticking to the formula of context…differentiation…meaning, you will tell a concise and coherent story that prospects will understand and value.
3. Target Truly Likely “Innovator” Prospects
If you spent a few hours researching the “charter” advertisers for emerging media, you would quickly find that a small cadre of companies dominate. There are certain brands with both the money and the orientation to try truly new things – and there are many brands that don’t.
As an example, Procter and Gamble often leads the CPG pack in media innovation. In auto, foreign automakers often move more quickly into emerging media than Detroit, which focuses more on proven DR techniques. By defining the right set of target companies you’ll be able to focus your time on A prospects.
Another consideration is budget. Many emerging media companies target “cool” brands instead of “rich” brands. In most (though not all) cases, a brand with $10 Million to spend online is a lot more likely to sign than one with $500K. The cost to participate in your platform is also a factor. Smaller brands can swing $5K, but only major brands are likely to cough up $50K on an unproven platform.
You may also wish to consider a “charter” buying program to entice brands to participate with a lower initial pricepoint. A charter program can also set appropriate expectations about reach and other metrics while you build your market footprint.
Oh, but do make them pay something. Even just a little bit. People value things they pay for. Once you start giving things away, it’s tough to rebottle that genie.
4. Make An Effort to Understand a Prospect and Their Circumstances Before You Dial or Email.
You can boil most brand needs down to one (or more) of three things – awareness, trial, or repeat. By doing even a couple of searches on the brand and category, you can ensure that when you connect with a marketer you can tailor a message more likely to resonate. In an environment where resources are at a premium, planners and buyers must focus on those opportunities most likely to address specific brand needs.
Now, it is possible that the actual needs for a brand may be different from those you surmise. But the thing is, generally people are appreciative of “homework” whether or not you reach the same conclusions as they have. Getting it right can be a welcome surprise to the buyer. But what REALLY matters in the end is that you cared enough to try – it will set you apart from about 90% of the cold calls a planner gets.
5. Deliver Selling Materials That Answer the Likely Buyer Questions – in 12 Slides or Less.
Selling materials should be concise and clear. Now there’s a chocking statement, huh? But it is truly amazing how many emerging media companies offer seemingly eternal sales kits. I recently saw a deck of 73 slides for one. While the deck truly did answer every question one could possibly have about the platform, it is absurd to expect anyone to review it all.
Another problem: many sales decks tell stories inductively versus deductively; they offer a lot of data points and then the conclusion, versus postulating the rule and taking people through examples. An inductive deck may take people through 6 to 12 “the problem” slides before getting to what they offer. Problem is, in our ADD culture, people may never get to slide 12.
Instead, it makes sense to define what you are first (first slide,) and then explain the implications through examples.
Additionally, it makes sense to provide data to back up your story. Planners and buyers expect “proof”, not suppositions. That’s not to stay that you need case studies before you launch ;-) but rather that data in support of your reason for being make your offering more compelling.
Naturally, buyers will also need to understand creative specs and requirements. Visual examples, even spec examples, go a long way here to dimensionalizing the potential appeal of a new platform.
Finally, providing next steps and contact info is critical. On more than one occasion I have seen emerging media opps lose consideration because these basic elements were omitted.
6. Make Your Buying Model “Fit” The Spreadsheet
Don’t making buying your offering difficult. Agencies and brands gain approval of resources, often with formulaic Excel spreadsheets. The models that “fit” in these spreadsheets are CPM, CPA, and CPC. That’s not to say that another model cannot be sold but rather that unusual buying model s are harder to sell.
Brands typically care a lot about impressions, clicks, and buys. Naturally, some really good ideas may not be best measured in these three manners, so don’t rule OUT serving up a new model. But only do so if it necessary, because making things harder is never a good idea.
Some emerging media offerings have introduced novel buying and reporting methodologies as a means of differentiation. While I can’t say it NEVER makes sense, I can say with certainty that a new model makes you harder to deal with. Easy = good. Hard = bad.
7. Respectfully Stay On Your Prospects’ Radar
As an unproven emerging media opportunity, you’re not going to be a top tier priority for planners and buyers. They will naturally gravitate toward spending and managing large proven programs by which they can make progress toward your goals. Now, you can tut-tut over this, thinking it demonstrates a lack of vision. Or you can recognize that the planner’s job is not to help you. Your job is to meet their needs.
As the seller of an emerging platform, you have the onus to keep the dialogue going, to answer the prospect’s questions, and drive the sale. They aren’t going to “close” themselves.
That’s not to say that you should be calling five times a day every day but rather that emerging media are likely to fall to the bottom of to-do lists. It’s ultimately on you to cultivate and grow interest politely.
Once you’ve made the sale, it’s doubly important to meet and exceed your responsibilities. Many emerging companies, for example, wait to hire operations teams until they have a bunch of charter clients disgruntled by the service they aren’t getting. When you are just beginning your relationship with a marketer, it is even more critical to ensure smooth operations. In a new relationship it’s not about responding when the chips are down but rather ensuring that the chips stay up.
Apple Q4: Looking Good!
Apple turned in another good quarter, which appeared to surprise some financial pundits who feared that the super premium priced offerings of Cupertino would get hit on the chin given the economic slowdown. Not so.
But the different readings of product sales charts like the above, to me, show how any chart can be interpreted in diametrically opposite ways. Case in point is the one above.
What I see, and remember that i am no great Apple lover, is growth across the board, in PCs, iPods, and of course iPhones. Apple PC sales are up despite their universally higher price points. What is it? Cool factor? Design? Whatever it is, to eke out growth in this environment seems impressive. And it also causes me to reinterpret the ad campaign that they have been running for so long. I used to think it was about PCs, but now what I really think it is about is Apple the company.
iPod sales are also up, if modestly. But I am surprised they can continue to grow that business now that the memories on the iPhones are getting larger.
And of course the explosive growth of iPhone proves the underlying principle of Apple's product diversification strategy.
Others have looked at the chart and seen basically unimpressive numbers for computers and iPods. Who's right? Well, that really depends upon what YOU see in the chart.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
But the different readings of product sales charts like the above, to me, show how any chart can be interpreted in diametrically opposite ways. Case in point is the one above.
What I see, and remember that i am no great Apple lover, is growth across the board, in PCs, iPods, and of course iPhones. Apple PC sales are up despite their universally higher price points. What is it? Cool factor? Design? Whatever it is, to eke out growth in this environment seems impressive. And it also causes me to reinterpret the ad campaign that they have been running for so long. I used to think it was about PCs, but now what I really think it is about is Apple the company.
iPod sales are also up, if modestly. But I am surprised they can continue to grow that business now that the memories on the iPhones are getting larger.
And of course the explosive growth of iPhone proves the underlying principle of Apple's product diversification strategy.
Others have looked at the chart and seen basically unimpressive numbers for computers and iPods. Who's right? Well, that really depends upon what YOU see in the chart.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Is FrogMetrics The Future of Consumer Feedback?
It seems as if many retailers, especially big box outfits, are very concerned about consumer feedback. As a TV DVD junkie, I am handed a customer service survey at Best Buy almost every week, that promises me a chance at a shopping spree if I call a number or go online and tell them about my shopping experience.
I don't know what sort of response rate they get, but whatever it is, I appreciate the effort to at least solicit consumer opinion.
But any survey that requires consumers to do something at home after their purchase is going to have a limited response group. Not to say that the opinions of that group have no value, but surely compliance would be higher if they made it easier to state your opinion.
Enter Frogmetrics, a service that combines easy to use survey collection HARDWARE at point of sale to solicit a broader sample.
The center of the Frogmetrics system is a handheld surveying device.
To try the demo, click here.
As i understand it, the consumer is handed the device and asked to answer just a few questions. According to their site, compliance is typically at least 70%. That's good stuff.
But the solution is about more than just the device. The connection is secure and wireless, and results are in real time. To provide this real time feedback, Frogmetrics offers a good analytics package that can provide useful info to every person in an organization.
That last bit is frankly the part I like most about this offering. Too often, consumer research is held at arms length from the people closest to the consumer. As a platform that helps get the whole organization closer to understand what consumers really think, this is a big step forward for the usefulness of consumer response.
They also get the award for the best logo I have seen in months.
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
Newspapers Grabbing More and More Digital Eyeballs
Broadsheets and tabloids alike can take comfort in the new study from the Newspaper Association of America that indicates that 41.3% of online people in the US visit at least one newspaper site. That is a more than healthy slice, and up almost 16% versus a year ago.
Page views are up even more, 25.2% to be exact.
But why aren't the dollars following? Why are newspapers continuing to struggle revenue wise? Well, there are a couple of factors. First, there really aren't online ad units yet that local and regional advertisiers seem to value like a P4CB. Or even a PBWB. Second, I suspect that newspaper sales organizations continue to struggle with selling online, given that it probably remains easier to get that healthy commission from print sales.
But I am encouraged by the growth, because newspapers really do add tremendous value to news and politics. Value that TV will NEVER add and blogs will always color with a heavy cup of POV. So three cheers for the papers.com.
Page views are up even more, 25.2% to be exact.
But why aren't the dollars following? Why are newspapers continuing to struggle revenue wise? Well, there are a couple of factors. First, there really aren't online ad units yet that local and regional advertisiers seem to value like a P4CB. Or even a PBWB. Second, I suspect that newspaper sales organizations continue to struggle with selling online, given that it probably remains easier to get that healthy commission from print sales.
But I am encouraged by the growth, because newspapers really do add tremendous value to news and politics. Value that TV will NEVER add and blogs will always color with a heavy cup of POV. So three cheers for the papers.com.
Here's An Idea: Distributed Development, Centralized Distribution
This Ad Age article points out what more than a few people were whispering about Web 2.0 start-ups, that there may simply be not enough ad money to go around for all of them. Here’s an excerpt:
"My concern is the really great concepts that are features, not companies," said Ross Levinsohn, former CEO of Fox Interactive and partner in Velocity Interactive Partners. "There isn't enough advertising to support all those features, and in compression times, advertisers tend to flock to safe names and sites that have real traction." One could excuse the latest crop of start-ups for their undue optimism; almost all were conceived, funded and began operating in boom times.
Online advertising rebounded from three years of negative growth in 2003 and has grown at more than 20% a year (actually, more than 30% in 2004, 2005 and 2006) in the five years since. But onetime hyper-growth is coming to an end. If trends hold, online advertising will grow in the low double digits or high single digits this year, driven largely by search. While declining growth seems unlikely, the venture-capital community is preparing its portfolio companies for coming years of lesser incremental growth.
Now surely this does not shock the people who read OLDMTA. But one thing I really do want to point out is that these 2.0 companies are truly driving the lion’s share of innovation. No shocker there.
And frankly, innovation is what they are good at. What they are NOT good at is being viable businesses.
What that means, in my view, is that we may need to think about these companies in terms of more realistic multiples and valuations. As someone who started in the regular business arena – you know the kind of company, one where 12% growth would be a fine year instead of the preamble to a run on cyanide, I don’t understand how people can continue to expect everything to be worth a billion dollars.
Why can’t the model be more focused on distributed development but centralized consumer media properties; a smaller number of major properties that buy the features developed by start ups for a reasonable price that gives innovators compensation for their risk and still lets the buyers make enough money by improving service for consumers and marketers.
Or another alternative, centralized selling for a variety of innovations under a common rubric that provides the scale and convenience brands need.
One way that our space has not caught up to itself is that media fragmentation has been viewed as a problem for marketers rather than for the start-ups. But the reality is that fragmentation also significantly reduces the odds of a billion dollar payout for a feature innovation. Billions of views doesn’t necessarily translate to billions in revenue. Ask Google about YouTube.
In sum, what’s wrong with a $30,000,000 selling price, instead of a $300,000,000 one, if you can simplify your org and reduce the payout timing? You can forego the complex sales and other organizations and do what you want to do anyway – innovate and change the world.
Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to write.
WIll Oprah Double Kindle Sales?
Apparently the diva of spirit lurves the Kindle tremendously, and Amazon has responded to that love by offering those who type in the OPRAHWINFREY coupon code a $50 discount! This according to a Financial Times article that postulates that this could be the American Idol moment for e-readers.
American Idol moment, you ask? What I mean is to draw a connection between this and how SMS voting fueled the mainstreaming of texting in the US.
American Idol moment, you ask? What I mean is to draw a connection between this and how SMS voting fueled the mainstreaming of texting in the US.
An endorsement by the Big O has made millionaires of more than a few entrants in the book world. So there ya go!
"Rock on, Oprah!" Or should that be, "Read On!"
Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.
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