Viral: Michael Phelps Flips the Bird?

Swingline Wants to Know: What Kind of Stapler Are YOU?

Swingline, that venerable stapler brand that makes the finest products available in that category, has decided to go participatory in its latest online marketing program.

You know the world has changed when a stapler company is trying to connect with its consumers through digital. Digital and the paperless world being...the antistapler if you will.

But no matter. While visiting HuffPost I saw a banner from Swingline offering me the chance to win a classic red stapler by taking a quiz that determines "What Kind of Stapler Am I?"

I clicked the banner with some trepidation. This sort of stuff can most certainly be overdone. I was expecting to answer 15 questions and then to be told that I am the Swingline XB 8000, the renegade LED electronic stapler for people who don't staple in the lines. Or the Swingline 1, the stapler for people who value classics in everything they do. Or something.

Actually it was nothing like that. They were referring to stapler as a verb, and gave me four choices as to which type of stapler (again, verb) I am. The choices are:

Slammer: Leave Stapler on Table, insert paper, bang with fist
Slider: Inserter of paper into an electric stapler
Gripper: Pick up stapler, insert paper, squeeze.
Compressor: Two handed press on a stapler sitting on a desk.



BTW, I am a gripper.

The whole thing is a clear play on the surreal popularity of the movie Office Space, which continues to hold a cult following for scenes such as this:



(Yes, that is me in a walker cameo in the first scene.)

And why not? I like the effort. I mean, I visited a stapler web site. That's pretty darned impressive. There's a contest overlay -- to win a red stapler, naturally. I'm not saying it's Subservient Chicken, but it made me smile. And that is all I want or expect from an online marketing program for a stapler. I don't want to join STAPL-R.com (imagine the royal blue reflecto logo,) the community for paper attachment enthusiasts. Thanks Acco for recognizing that. A smile is enough. And it did remind me...I need a stapler for home.

Off to Staples I suppose.

Thanks for reading and don't forget to write.

What Off Earth is Spore?

What off Earth is Spore? There are a lot of people asking this question, especially given the unusual Outdoor campaign they are running in certain areas. Which is indeed how I learned of the game.

EA's Spore is a massive multiplayer online game that in some ways defies categorization. In my virtual travels to research the game I have heard it called a Sim, a God Game, a Strategy Game, and a Resource Management game. And my understanding is that it is all of those things.



Interestingly, EA seems to be encouraging this sort of categorization confusion. There's very little text on their site that goes to the crux of what it is. Rather, there are multiple avenues to follow to experience aspects of the game.There is a bit of description on the site, and it goes like this:

CREATE Your Universe from Microscopic to Macrocosmic - From tide pool amoebas to thriving civilizations to intergalactic starships, everything is in your hands.
EVOLVE Your Creature through Five Phases - It's survival of the funnest as your choices reverberate through generations and ultimately decide the fate of your civilization.
EXPLORE Other Players' Galaxies - Will your creature rule the universe, or will your beloved planet be blasted to smithereens by a superior alien race?
SHARE with the World - Everything you make is shared with other players and vice versa, providing tons of cool creatures to meet and cool places to visit.





EA has been the most successful gaming company at broadening the appeal of shrinkwrapped software from the core action and sports gamer population to the broader general audience. The Sims is the big Mama of that crossover market, with its many permutations and styles of gameplay available.

Clearly, Spore is borrowing a great deal from the success of the Sims, but there appears to be a serious focus on providing more story and additional things to do.

This has been an area of criticism for some of the more recent Sims products, most notably the latest Sim City product, which added incredible realism to the process of building a community, but sorta forgot to bring the fun.

Spore doesn't appear to have that problem at all. Fist, you get to create really amazing creatures -- and there are a variety of ways to show off your creations and win prizes for your trouble. Second, they appear to be trying to bridge the gap between single player and massive multiplayer through an approach that lets you share your creatures and creations with the world.

The system clearly unleashes the creative spirit. Head on over to their site to see some of the ecosystems and characters people have created. It's absolutely remarkable.

Another key aspect of this title is the aggressive cultivation of online community -- EA recently had a fan site day to bring evangelists and potential evangelists in to meet the designers and get an early play. The level of buzz for this title is really rather impressive.



Check it out. It's definitely out of this world. I will be interested to see how broad the appeal of this title will be. Such fanciful characters have traditionally occupied a specific segment of the category -- and not a terribly broad one. Such games tend to be VERY male, whereas Sims was majority female.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

Boomers AntiSocial? Third Age/JWT Boom Study Says Yes

A study released about a month ago by Third Age and JWT Boom shows that Boomers have been fairly reluctant to embrace digital media like social networks and blogging. How reluctant? Well, the data show that while boomers heavily use ofther media, they are significantly underdeveloped in these social platforms.

Web Based Activity % Using
Health/Wellness Info 97%
Email 96%
Product Research 88%
Shop Online 78%
Visit Soc Nets 22%

The study also showed that most Boomers have little or no interest in blogging. But the exception proves the rule, I say as I adjust the tennis balls on my walker.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

BAIN/IAB Digital Pricing Research - Sobering Facts For Online Publishers

Last month the IAB published a study it conducted with Bain Consulting on the pricing differentials between inventory purchased from publishers directly and inventory purchased on those sites through networks.

The figures show what most of us knew all along -- that the price paid for ads on publishers are much higher if you buy direct than if you buy via a network.

But the figures are pretty amazing. Check out these couple of slides:





The key figure if you wanna focus on one is that while publisher direct CPMs were in the $12-$18 range, the price realized by the publisher for network inventory ranges from 60 cents to $1.10, or only 6-11% of the direct CPM.

For many publishers, the amount of revenue being sold via networks has climbed dramatically as they are pressured to generate more revenue per page. But this vast differential points to a number of challenges for publishers -- how long will advertisers pay such an enormous premium for inventory as networks become more and more conscious of the need to ensure quality?

Now, of course there are a lot of reasons to buy direct -- for one you can develop a presence on pubs that truly offer the best audiences and credibility. There is a difference between buying Forbes.com and buying a business channel that might conceivably include...this blog, were I offering advertising on my pages.

How do publishers respond to this differential? Well, I think there are a number of ways:

1. Ensure pub direct inventory is better -- better locations, above the fold, maybe technologically better.

2. Ensure that they can sell a reasonable amount of any incremental inventory before they create it. Adding a new banner position to a page is only so valuable if it will end up being 99% sold by networks.

3. Work with networks to help them increase the value they are getting and sharing for your pages.

4. Work with networks that will get you more revenue per placement. There really are differences and networks that offer higher quality standards, for example, are more likely to genrate more revenue.

5. Explore vertical networks as a means of driving higher CPMs. Many times verticals can get more for topical inventory.

One organization that I think can offer great lessons to publishers is the AMA. Doctors are in limited supply and thus their fees can be higher. In a sense, demand exceeds supply. Compare that to teachers, especially in state with low certification requirements, where hurdles for accreditation are low and thus wages are lower.

The IAB has a set of their own recommendations that you should check out. But this is a really groundbreaking set of info -- a wake up call for our industry that you should peruse.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

Time, McCain, and the Offline American

In the 8/25 issue of Time, there is an opinion piece that asks the question whether McCain's being essentially web illiterate should affect your decision on whether to vote for him.

Hey, I am all in for Obama. $4,600. Maxed out. So don't expect objectivity here. I am not capable of it. But actually that is not what this post is about.

What I really want to talk about is how the Internet has upended so much of what we once accepted as fact, and how that makes all of us dated with regard to our understanding of what makes business, government, the arts, and everything else operate today.

Every day we see companies grappling with the changed reality of info distribution --companies, campaigns, and old media erroneously strategizing to control their messages when the reality is that control is no longer an option. It's influence that we can hope to exercise.

How can a company address a potential PR issue if they don't understand how info gets dispersed today?

How can a government fight multinational extremist groups if they don't understand how the web works.

In each of these cases, it is certainly possible to understand how the Internet works without sending 300 Twitters a day. But it is difficult. Me, I have struggled with my own biases and beliefs about media since I made the switch to digital. I still detest the idea of consumer control. Detest it. And frankly I think it is false to believe that consumers are in control. If we pay for the web, we control it. But there are many people who tell me I am dead wrong.

And John McCain is certainly far more impressive than I am. So he may have an incredible instinctive understanding of new media. I just wonder. I am 44 and the desire to Twitter continues to baffle me. Imagine what its like if you were born in 1936!

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

Special K Finds Online Marketing...Special

Ad Age reported that Kellogg brands will be shifting increasing dollars into online as a result of a market test in which Special K saw better business results from digital than traditional media.

Now, it won't comes as a shocker to digiphiles that online works better, but there are definitely still some holdouts who are committed to spending on TV.

Here's an excerpt from Ad Age's story:

While he did not address specifics of the Special K work, the company has repeatedly touted the success of its "Special K challenge," which calls for two bowls of the cereal every day for two weeks. Dieters replace a more traditional lunch or dinner with cereal, and are told they can expect to drop a full clothing size after two weeks. CEO David Mackay has said the initiative has not only resonated with consumers, but also boosted cereal consumption outside of breakfast. A Special K website offers customized plans for consumers, sign-ups for a Yahoo e-mail group, tips from a trainer and nutritionist and a point-of-purchase link to Amazon.com. The company has added a number of products to the Special K platform in recent years, including cereal bars, flavored waters and waffles.

Good news for us 1s and 0s people!

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

JP Morgan Internet Forecast ---> Down a Bit

So, no surprise, Wall Street is lowering its 2008 forecast for Internet growth a significant amount. Specifically in this case, JP Morgan:

Specifically:

Graphical: 20% to 14%
Search: 32% to 27%

So, not cause for a party, though I point out that in most industries these kinds of growth rates would make people dance with glee.

Still, it does show signs of some maturation in our business. Read more details in MediaPost.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

New Book: Brand Digital

Allen Adamson, who you probably know as MD of Landor Associates, has just released his book entitled Brand Digital: Simple Ways Top Brands Succeed in The Digital World. I should point out that I got interviewed for the book, which makes me not entirely unbiased, but I recommend it as a read because it underscores some of the most essential truths of the digital space -- and that the principles of brand success are simply interpretations of the branding rules and best practices that have always propelled consumer facing businesses.

The perspective of the book is that of someone who comes from a long track record in branding who is now finding himself challenged by the new realities of digital media. What I appreciated about Adamson's perspective is that it dissects the issues and challenges and presents them as opportunities -- which is the sort of attitude and approach that any marketer worth her salt needs to take re the space.

And make no mistake, this is a book about BRANDING, not about what sometimes passes for branding online. As such it is a refreshing read that I think is worth your time and attention.

Pick up this baby at amazon.com.

Thanks for reading, and don't forget to write.

ALOFT: Real, and Expanding

You may remember that right about when Second Life was getting going, Starwood developed a virtual hotel concept and placed it in the virtual world for market research. I frankly thought it was a publicity stunt and the hotels would never be.

Well, I was most assuredly wrong. ALOFTs are up and operating -- 17 according to the web site.

So what is the actual ALOFT concept? Well, it appears to be a hip answer to the segment of the market DOWN from W Hotels, which is the parent brand. These properties appear to be aimed at the Courtyard by Marriott market.

I checked out pricing and avails in Bentonville Arkansas (home of Walmart) and found Aloft running at $99 and Courtyard at $129. I would expect that the ALOFT price will go up a dash over time, but clearly Starwood is not expecting the Courtyard crowd to drop more for it's hipper rooms and open spaces. Which is smart because nice space don't impress T&E accountants as worth an upcharge.

Here's how Starwood describes those spaces:

Meet & mingle with friends at our w xyz bar; grab a sweet, savory or healthy snack from re:fuel by aloft, our 24/7 pantry, or play in our re:mix lobby. Plus, you can always stay connected with complimentary hotel-wide wireless Internet access!

Breeze into one of our aloft rooms, featuring our ultra-comfortable signature bed, an oversized spa shower, custom amenities by Bliss® Spa, and more. Our plug & play connectivity station charges all your electronics and links to the 42” LCD TV to maximize work and play.

Part of the ALOFT concept is, like it says on the tin, loft like rooms. 9 foot ceilings are apparently the order of the day. I would expect that they would be deploying teams in hipster outfits as in Ws as well.

I've never been to one, but I wanna -- and that's saying something for the roadside business hotel category. The W really is a very different hotel experience than a major downtown Marriott -- or Sheraton for that matter. I wanna see if they can achieve the same different with ALOFT.

Oh, and if you are curious the virtual ALOFT website is still up and running here.