WTF Blanket

Warning: Colorful language

LunchBreak Viral Video: 2009 No Pants Subway Ride

Thousands Apply For Part Time Receptionist Job

From Consumerist:

White Paper Wednesdays: TV Viewing Online

I love SRG reports because they give you the whole enchilada on a topic. And this one, about the extent to which Americans are watching TV via PC in a time shifted manner, is a great example of the quality insights they offer.



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White Paper Wednesdays: VIdeo TIme Projections

A great report from the whizzes at SRG abou the expected changes in video usage -- in toto and by platform. Find it here.



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White Paper Wednesdays; Chief Community Officer

A compelling case for the creation of a Chief Community Officer is made in this yellowpaper from DDB. Check it out. No reg required.

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White Paper Wednesdays: Brand Personality

A great DDB "Yellow Paper" on how to communicate brand personality in digital is available here. Hey, it appears to be DDB week, eeh?

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White Paper Wednesdays: Communications Trends

A great and brief summary of trends in communications platform (telephony, etc.) usage is not available from Nielsen/Claritas. Download it here (reg required.)

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Unquestionably Horrible Taste

A doll inspired by Caylee, the homicide victim. Thankfully, the project has been shelved. Good intentions, but a bad idea.



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RNC Chair Candidate Saltsman The Magic Idiot

From Talking Points Memo.

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You Have To See It To Believe It

From Tech Crunch:



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Finally Some Good Economic News

Netflix smoked past their Q4 projections, according the the WSJ. From the piece:

Fourth-quarter profit rose 45% as the DVD-rental company enjoyed a subscriber boost and spent less on acquiring new customers.

The company, which lets members rent DVDs via the mail or online, posted net income of $22.7 million, or 38 cents a share, up from $15.7 million, or 23 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue increased 19% to $359.6 million.

In October, the company lowered its outlook, forecasting earnings of 30 cents to 38 cents a share on revenue of $351 million to $357 million.

Subscriber-acquisition costs, a closely watched measure for Netflix investors, fell 23% to $26.67 per gross subscriber addition. Meanwhile the churn rate, or the rate of customer cancellations, rose to 4.2% from 4.1% a year earlier.

Netflix ended the quarter with about 9.39 million total subscribers, exceeding the company's estimate from October for 8.85 million to 9.15 million subscribers. Net new subscribers in the fourth quarter increased by 718,000, compared with a 451,000 increase a year earlier.
Looking ahead, the company expects to end the first quarter with 10.1 million to 10.3 million subscribers. Netflix expects first-quarter earnings of 25 cents to 33 cents a share on revenue of $387 million to $393 million.

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Microsoft Remains Zuney

Hollywood Reporter is...reporting...that Microsoft remains committed to the Zune brand despite a 54% sales drop in holiday sales versus the previous year.

From their article:

Zune revenue falls 54% in fourth quarter
Microsoft remains committed to brand, spokesman says
By Antony Bruno, Billboard
Jan 26, 2009, 04:05 PM ET
DENVER -- It seems that Microsoft's Zune just can't catch a break. Despite a holiday ad blitz and introduction of new services -- including a feature that lets subscribers keep 10 free songs a week -- revenue for the Zune division fell 54% in the fourth quarter from the previous year.That's a drop of about $100 million, according to a recent Microsoft regulatory filing. However, a company spokesman said any rumors pointing to the demise of the brand or the service are patently false. The company remains firmly behind the Zune music strategy.

While Microsoft won't break down exactly how it is divvying up the 5,000 layoffs it announced last week, some in the Zune group are expected to be affected, but not more than any other division. That the Zune division remains intact after such a massive workforce reduction indicates the company's dedication to the strategy remains intact.However, expect some changes in the year ahead. Microsoft has always been more of a software/services company than a hardware one, despite the anomaly of the Xbox. Company executives, including CEO Steve Ballmer, said to look for an expansion of the Zune service into other Microsoft-run products like the Windows Mobile technology for mobile phones, and at some point into the Xbox Live Marketplace.

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Coming Soon: A REAL Barbie Fashion Show

It isn't often that supermodels are 50. But that's exactly what's going to happen with Brbie's upcoming retrospective fashion show, developed in partnership with Bloomies and Stila Cosmetics.

From MediaPost:

The El Segundo, Calif.-based toy marketer is kicking off the party at Bloomingdale's New York flagship, with a month-long exhibit including store windows along Third Avenue and a display of 120 historic Barbies. There's also a Barbie boutique, with apparel, accessories and dolls.

That's timed to open with New York's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, with 50 designers--who will be revealed early next month--providing life-sized Barbie looks for the runway. An additional retail exhibit is scheduled for Collette, in Paris, which will include such items as trench coats, dresses and tees in Barbie patterns, plus a mobile phone, luxury jewelry, stationery, candles and cosmetics. And in Shanghai, the company will open its first-ever Barbie store, with six stories and a spa.

On March 9, the doll's actual birthday, there's a birthday bash for the Piscean princess. Organized by event-planner-to-the-stars Colin Cowie, the party will take place in a beachfront Malibu Dream House, decorated by interior designer Jonathan Adler, who also has a line of Barbie-branded home décor items.

Other partnerships include a "Barbie Loves Stila" cosmetic collection and a T3 Barbie Hair Dryer, available at Sephora, and an "all girl candy line" with Dylan's Candy Bar--which will include a pair of chocolate high heels, for those who have always admired Barbie's exceedingly pointy feet. And in July, there's a Barbie convention in Washington, D.C., which has already sold out.

Barbie is, of course, celebratin', especially since those Bratz bitches were killed off in court last Fall. That gives the boxom yet skinny diva a chance to reintroduce herself to the next generation of young girls.

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Google, Can You Spare a Dime...

Well, the recession seems to be hitting Mountain View as it is everywhere else. Here;s a clip from the SF Chronicle:

Google recently started placing ads on its image search and finance properties, both of which were previously free of marketing messages. Tests on the news area are under way.

As it increases ad coverage, Google has also lifted restrictions on the kinds of ads that can appear. Over the past few months, beer, wine and hard alcohol ads have been allowed in the United States, along with gambling ads in the United Kingdom.

I suppose these moves shouldn't surprise us, but the sense that even Google is feeling pain should give us all some pause. When the ad vehicle widely believed to be the most effective in the US -- and perhaps the world -- can't get the numbers it wants, we are definitely in tough times.

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Pepsi's Inaugural Genius

There's been a lot of big change as regards the marketing of Pepsi. Something I never expected to see happen - the shifting of ad responsibilities away from BBDO which had handled the business for about 50 years, is a very real indicator of how Pepsi wants to renew itself.


How so?


Pepsi's always stood for youth and vitality -- at least throughout my lifetime. Witness this walk down advertising memory lane:











My suspicion is that there isn't a person in America that doesn't get it that Pepsi is for those who think young. But decades of using superstars to borrow relevance for reinforcing that positioning may have taken their toll. With any soft drink brand, there needs to be a strong visceral link between the consumer and the product, and I suspect that that link has been weakened over time with all this celeb stuff.


Pepsi's newest campaign is a radical departure from the past. With the central idea of "Refresh Everything," the brand is redoing its graphics and creating a populist campaign centered around rekindling brand connections. Here's a vid from the effort.





And their promotion surrounding the ascendance of Barack Obama, entitled Refresh America, is nothing short of genius. The program itself, which is HQed here online as well as on a dedicated YouTube channel, invites people from around the world to video their congrats, gripes, and ideas to the youthful new President. Here's the promo video for the event, and an online video enjoining people to send in their videos:








And here is one of the bazillions of video entries that have come in since the program broke.





This campaign is pure genius, and will go a long way to reconnecting people to Pepsi. Or, indeed, connecting young people to Pepsi for the first time.


Political associations are always a bit risky for brands, but this program really seems to transcend partisanship while continuing to project the "for those that think young" message that BBDO put Pepsi on the map with.

Worthless Piece of Crap Hall of Fame Inductee: HugMePillow

From Consumerist:



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Schering-Plough: Digital OOH Record!

MediaWeek is reporting that Schering-Plough, maker of such venerable consumer brands as Coppertone, Clartin, and Dr. Scholl's, is going to spend some $10MM in digital OOH in 09 to get their messages closer to the point of purchase. Find out more here.

Nielsen PRISM Instore Advertising Effectiveness Service: RIP

Nielsen Prism, the service with the ambitious goal of tracking the audiences and effectiveness of in store media, is dead, at least for the moment. The decision from Nielsen came down after Wal-Mart pulled out of the experiment. Find out more at Ad Age.

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From TNS Survey: Top New Products of 2009

TNS did a survey of 100,000 consumers to identify the top new products of 2009. And the winners are:

AIR CARE: Oust Surface Disinfectant & Air Sanitizer (SC Johnson)

BEVERAGES: Canada Dry Green Tea Ginger Ale (Dr. Pepper Snapple Group)

BODY CARE: Olay Spa Exfoliating Ribbons Body Wash (Procter & Gamble)

CHILD CARE: Similac SimplePac (Abbot Nutrition)

COSMETICS: COVERGIRL LashBlast Mascara (Procter & Gamble)

FROZEN FOODS: O Organics Four Cheese Stone Baked Pizza (Better Living Brands/Lucerne Foods)

HAIR CARE: Pantene Pro-V Beautiful Lengths (Procter & Gamble)

HOME TECHNOLOGY: Duracell Color Mini Charger (Procter & Gamble)

HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS: PUR Flavor Options (Procter & Gamble)

INSECT REPELLENT: OFF! Smooth & Dry Aerosol (SC Johnson)

KID’S NUTRITION: Mott’s For Tots (Dr. Pepper Snapple Group)

MEN’S DEODORANT: Degree Men Absolute Protection (Unilever)

OTC MEDICINE: Zyrtec (Johnson & Johnson)

OUTDOOR PRODUCTS: Kelsyus Original Canopy Chair (Swimways Corporation)

PROFESSIONAL HAIR CARE: Wella System Professional Gloss On (Procter & Gamble)

WOMEN’S DEODORANT: Degree Women Ultra Clear (Unilever)

Find out more about the survey and results at Convenience Store News!

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Digital Marketing Factoid Of The Day: Stats On Social Participation

From a Forrester presentation on social media trends, this chart shows the incredibly high levels of social participation occuring today, and how much participation levels have grown since just a year ago.



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A-B InBev: No More Exclusive Sports Sponsorships

In what is widely believed to be a cost cutting move, A-B is changing the terms of its deals with major sports teams and leagues to eliminate costly exclusivity provisions. This represents a profound shift in their corporate strategy and one that may have reverbs throughout sports marketing. It appears that sports markeitng is moving to a world of spendign smarter rather than bigger.

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Hot Soup! The New Campbell's

Great article in USA Today on the transformation of Campbell Soup Company into a hot business far outperforming the CPG industry. Check it out.

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Inaugural Gigapan -Must See

Need to see the Inauguration REALLY up close? Check this out! Make sure you do some zoomin'.