Looks good. Someone should offer fake branded nails as advertising freebies to loyal customers. The pictures also go well with an earlier story on the stenographer who was selling ad space on her own nails. These pics come from Brand Infection.
Advertising on Nails
Looks good. Someone should offer fake branded nails as advertising freebies to loyal customers. The pictures also go well with an earlier story on the stenographer who was selling ad space on her own nails. These pics come from Brand Infection.
Newspaper Ad Circulars to Extend Online
"Gannett, one of the nation's biggest newspaper publishers, said it would introduce a new service on its newspaper Web sites next month that displays banner ads that readers can expand into a virtual version of the weekly local circulars so familiar to offline newspaper readers.
Industry executives said the service, called PaperBoy, devised by a unit of Gannett called PointRoll, would give national advertisers a way to reach online readers in local markets with promotions tied to neighborhood stores."
-- NY Times via AdPulp
First Informecial Hits Video iPod
"Last week, a group of users of print and online publishing software maker Adobe Systems' Photoshop software launched what may be the first iPod infomercial, a half-hour guided tour of Adobe's Photoshop dubbed "Photoshop TV". The video podcast, sponsored and distributed by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, was released on Oct. 24, and immediately began climbing the charts of Apple's iTunes podcasts to hit No. 2 on Oct. 28. The video podcast drew more than 6,200 subscribers in its first 72 hours. The free video podcast offers viewers tutorials and quick tips for mastering Photoshop, as well as industry news and interviews involving the digital photo and imaging software."
-- Media Post
Today, Apple issued a press release boasting 1 million video downloads from its iTunes service within the first 20 days of the video iPod launch (via i4u).
More Illusions in Advertising
A quick follow-up to an earlier post on the use of optical illusions in advertising. This 2004 commercial (.mov) for Audi by Bartle Bogle Hegarty pays tribute to M.C.Escher's Print Gallery, Convex and Concave and Relativity. Here's a making-of article.
-- via Advertising for Peanuts
Study: Packaging Design Patterns
"Armed with digital cameras and notepads, R.Bird's designers visit retail outlets and observe product packaging in its natural habitat. We then purchase a selection of examples and bring them back to R.BIRD for closer study. The packages are photographed and analyzed by the team in search of common design threads and patterns of opportunity throughout the category.
Each [free] report exposes design patterns recognized in a specific product category, revealing opportunities for your product to compete for consumer attention in a real-world scenario, whether through integration or differentiation."
The image above is from their report on the energy drink sector.
Million Dollar Screenshot
The Million Dollar Screenshot adds a nice and imaginative twist to the ad-pixel craze. "When you buy an icon, you can then display an image/ad/logo of your choice in the space you have purchased. You can also have the image click through to your own website. The icon you buy will be displayed permanently on my desktop and so on the screenshot. While I may change things on my desktop, for example the background, the icons will stay and their relative position won't change.
This is the first time someone is selling space on his computer desktop and you will have own a piece of it!"
Future: Self-Contained Music
"FM3's latest release, Buddha Machine, is not a CD or a download. It's a self contained FM3 loop player -- a small soundbox made in China which comes with an integrated speaker, a volume control, mini jack-out and a switch to choose between nine different loops which are stored on a small chip and can be directly played by this mini soundsystem. A number of other artists will continue this series soon." Available for $23 at Forced Exposure."
-- via Boing Boing and Almost Cool
Earlier:
Converting bits back into atoms
Telex Phone Ready for Local Search, Pay-Per-Call Ads
"Teledex has introduced a Local Search readied telephone iPhone IP for the hotel industry which lets hotel guests search YellowPage local search services by Commoca. The iPhone includes a touchscreen where hotel guests can press the Yellow Pages walking fingers icon to access local restaurants, services, shopping and businesses." Features a 5.6" color touchscreen. Suddenly those pay-per-call ads make much more sense.
-- Search Engine Journal via Engadget
Earlier:
Verizon One Landline Phone Displays Content, Maybe Ads
Interview With Leo Burnett's Media Futurist
Business Week runs an interview with Rishad Tobaccowala, Starcom MediaVest Group's top media strategist:
"He is less than impressed with some of the supposed solutions offered by others on Madison Avenue. One example: product placements in movies and TV, a common tactic advertisers are using to combat the popularity of DVRs. Tobaccowala dismisses most of them as "lazy" and then adds an expletive that can't be printed in a family magazine. "The spine of our business has collapsed, and what we are looking at are the organs, blood, and connective tissue on the floor in a pile of goo," he says. "We have to imagine what the new structure is going to look like."
"He is less than impressed with some of the supposed solutions offered by others on Madison Avenue. One example: product placements in movies and TV, a common tactic advertisers are using to combat the popularity of DVRs. Tobaccowala dismisses most of them as "lazy" and then adds an expletive that can't be printed in a family magazine. "The spine of our business has collapsed, and what we are looking at are the organs, blood, and connective tissue on the floor in a pile of goo," he says. "We have to imagine what the new structure is going to look like."
WWE Pushed Viewers Online During Ad Breaks
"In an unusual maneuver that one media agency executive described as a dangerous precedent for advertisers, World Wrestling Entertainment has started pushing viewers to its Web site during commercial breaks in "Monday Night Raw" on USA Network.
Rather than halting the event when USA cuts to commercial, WWE shifts its live wrestling coverage to its Web site. Several times throughout each "Raw" telecast, viewers are prompted by graphics and comments from on-air talent to use the commercial breaks to go to WWE's Web site and view "WWE Unlimited," where they'll find an exclusive online feed of continuing "Raw" coverage."
-- TV Week (free pass) via Lost Remote
UPDATE: My friend and co-labman Sam Ford argues that the WWE initiative is actually a good thing for the advertisers because it will at least keep those who would otherwise veer off to bathroom or kitchen during commercial breaks in the same room. It would also keep people busy and less likely to channel-surf, increasing their exposure to commercial messages. Here's Sam's letter to the editor that will run on TV Week early next week.
Rather than halting the event when USA cuts to commercial, WWE shifts its live wrestling coverage to its Web site. Several times throughout each "Raw" telecast, viewers are prompted by graphics and comments from on-air talent to use the commercial breaks to go to WWE's Web site and view "WWE Unlimited," where they'll find an exclusive online feed of continuing "Raw" coverage."
-- TV Week (free pass) via Lost Remote
UPDATE: My friend and co-labman Sam Ford argues that the WWE initiative is actually a good thing for the advertisers because it will at least keep those who would otherwise veer off to bathroom or kitchen during commercial breaks in the same room. It would also keep people busy and less likely to channel-surf, increasing their exposure to commercial messages. Here's Sam's letter to the editor that will run on TV Week early next week.
Commentary: Ad-Supported Phone Service Is Bad
EWeek:
"eBay CEO Meg Whitman, apparently still under the influence of whatever caused her to invest $4 billion in Skype last week, says that within years voice telephone calls will be "free", subsidized by advertising and transaction fees. Further, there will be so much free service that it might become impossible to sell voice telephony minutes.
That a service as vital as voice telephony could soon be "made possible by our sponsor" is capitalism run amok and endangers the quality and reliability of our voice network. Worse, it may not save us any money if broadband charges rise in response to the death of wired telephony."
"eBay CEO Meg Whitman, apparently still under the influence of whatever caused her to invest $4 billion in Skype last week, says that within years voice telephone calls will be "free", subsidized by advertising and transaction fees. Further, there will be so much free service that it might become impossible to sell voice telephony minutes.
That a service as vital as voice telephony could soon be "made possible by our sponsor" is capitalism run amok and endangers the quality and reliability of our voice network. Worse, it may not save us any money if broadband charges rise in response to the death of wired telephony."
Bloggers Up In Arms Over Forbes Article
Forbes courageously (or idiotically, depending on where you stand) just published an article (article here, password here) that pretty much ruins everyone's prolonged honeymoon with the blogosphere. Verbatim: "Web logs are the prized platform of an online lynch mob spouting liberty but spewing lies, libel and invective." The rest of the article is written in the same entertaining key. What were they thinking? That bloggers don't read magazines? The mob is already up in arms and the torches are burning:
"A fear-mongering, blatantly inaccurate Forbes cover story." - What's Next
"Forbes must be made to pay a reputational price for this in the internet community." -- It Should Be Noted
"There will be much ridicule coming the way of Forbes for this nonsense." -- Gumby Fresh
"What a pile of trash from Forbes Magazine, which uses its cover to go on the attack against bloggers in the new issue." -- Dan Gillmor
"It is probably the worst article ever." -- AmericaBlog
"It comes off as a poorly-reported, slimy attack rank on the entire blogosphere." -- Rex Hammock
"Once again, Wall Street is trying to trample Main Street." -- Psychosy
"I'm guessing your next story will be about the poor quality of the millions of emails you are about to receive." -- You Know What Part
"C'mon, take the gloves off, you pussies!" -- Boing Boing
I say, right on, Forbes. Enough kissing up to the blogger proletariat. Find some copyrighted text that bloggers have lifted from your Web site and threaten to sue their Internet service providers under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Oh, wait, this advice is lifted from your article.
If the author is forced to resign or apologize, it will only prove his point (the way he sees it, anyway). This is going to be so much fun to watch.
Storyboard Notebook
This £9.75 pocket storyboard moleskin notebook still qualifies as advertising technology, no? Here's a Christmas gift idea for your favorite creative mind.
CAPTCHA Advertising
How come it hasn't occured to anyone to require people to type in brand names instead of those mangled verification words, better known as a "completely automated public Turing test to tell computers and humans apart" (CAPTCHA)?
How Much Is Language Worth?
Offtopic.
"Alice thought to herself, 'Then there's no use in speaking." The voices didn't join in this time, as she hadn't spoken, but to her great surprise, they all THOUGHT in chorus (I hope you understand what THINKING IN CHORUS means -- for I must confess that I don't), 'Better say nothing at all. Language is worth a thousand pounds a word!'"
Poor writing cost the American economy $3 billion this year. That in addition to the $77B in productivity lost to blogging, the damage the blogosphere has been quietly enjoying throughout the week.
Google Considers TV Ad Brokering
"Google, already dabbling in print ads, recently confirmed that it's "mulling" ways to extend its ad-brokering system to television spots as well."
-- NY Post (get free pass at BugMeNot)
-- NY Post (get free pass at BugMeNot)
Branding Avatars
Adidas and FCUK are dressing Yahoo users' avatars in branded clothing. From the pitch: "And now you can make your Avatar just as stylish as you - with the very latest FCUK Spring & Summer 2005 Collection of clothes."
-- via Ad Land
Earlier:
Paper: Virtual World Business Brands
Interactive Print Revisited
Some time ago, I posted a link to Structural Graphics, the people who breathe live into print ads. Here are some more ads that invite people to do something fun with them.
A Starbucks puzzle ad in The Times (ad-rag)
The BMW site in Thailand invites people to download, print out and fold paper models of their cars. Note the Compaq logo on this racer left intact.
An older MINI ad complete with peel-off stickers (library of motoring).
A Starbucks puzzle ad in The Times (ad-rag)
The BMW site in Thailand invites people to download, print out and fold paper models of their cars. Note the Compaq logo on this racer left intact.
An older MINI ad complete with peel-off stickers (library of motoring).
Advertising and Episodic Gaming
For a while now, the Lab has been considering the potential impact of in-game advertising on the gaming industry itself, looking for precedents in the history of television and other media. One of the things we have been expecting to happen is the emergence of serialized or episodic gaming, where the games come out in smaller but regularly scheduled installments instead of the boxed five-CD lumps. The advantages for the publishers and the advertisers are many. Episodic gaming would mean higher flexibility to the publisher, a lower risk of commitment to the consumer, a potentially longer shelf life for the game, and a production schedule more friendly to advertisers' demands.
Well, the episodic gaming that has been explored in the past is expected to come to life with the release of the new Xbox. Thomas Hawk writes: "In an interview with MTV earlier this month, Peter Moore, one of the chief architects of the new XBOX 360 talked about some of the new features and programs that will be available for the new console. In the interview, he announces the introduction of an XBOX 360 marketplace, where gamers will be "able to sell machinima or character avatars on the service", as well as the introduction of episodic gaming.
Well, the episodic gaming that has been explored in the past is expected to come to life with the release of the new Xbox. Thomas Hawk writes: "In an interview with MTV earlier this month, Peter Moore, one of the chief architects of the new XBOX 360 talked about some of the new features and programs that will be available for the new console. In the interview, he announces the introduction of an XBOX 360 marketplace, where gamers will be "able to sell machinima or character avatars on the service", as well as the introduction of episodic gaming.
Future: Remotely Controlled Humans
I don't know why this story that Forbes ran in April and I linked to in August hits Associated Press just now, but the picture is too good to miss, so here it is again.
"Nippon Telegraph & Telephone Corp., Japans top telephone company, says it is developing the technology to perhaps make video games more realistic. But more sinister applications also come to mind. The technology is called galvanic vestibular stimulation — essentially, electricity messes with the delicate nerves inside the ear that help maintain balance. I felt a mysterious, irresistible urge to start walking to the right whenever the researcher turned the switch to the right. I was convinced — mistakenly — that this was the only way to maintain my balance."
The Email Time Capsule
Forbes came out with a huge special feature on communication that includes just about everyone whose opinion on the subject you'd care to hear. As a special treat, the magazine offers a free email time capsule:
"Most time capsules involve cramming stuff into a metal box and burying it in a hole in the ground. It's a method that works --but it's so primitive. What if you could write an email to yourself, and be assured of receiving it twenty years in the future?
That's what we've done with this email time capsule. Simply fill out the fields below, decide how long you want the capsule to be sealed for, and hit send. We'll do our best to make sure the message gets delivered."
"Most time capsules involve cramming stuff into a metal box and burying it in a hole in the ground. It's a method that works --but it's so primitive. What if you could write an email to yourself, and be assured of receiving it twenty years in the future?
That's what we've done with this email time capsule. Simply fill out the fields below, decide how long you want the capsule to be sealed for, and hit send. We'll do our best to make sure the message gets delivered."
Toshiba Matsushita Sigma E-Book
This Sigma E-book reader from Toshiba is fairly old news, but the picture from the product site is lovely. Currently runs on Japanese only and costs $229.
-- via Sascha's
Verifone Taxi Payment Terminal Doubles As Ad Screen
"Multimedia ads are coming to taxi cabs in New York City and elsewhere. Secure electronic payment expert Verifone and NYC taxicab fleet management specialist TaxiTronic have formed a joint venture around Verifone's MX870, a Linux-based PIN-entry pad that doubles as an advertising kiosk."
-- Linux Devices
Earlier:
Closed Spaces: Taxi
Context-Sensitive Taxi Advertising
Flickr Set of Out-of-Context AdWords
Flickr user Merlin created a photoset of those weird eBay ads that show up on Google from time to time.
Optical Illusions in Advertising
If you, like many other ad guys, dig the optical illusion in this ad (and in at least eight others), or similar illusions of spinning wheels (seven different ads) or cog wheels, you will love the ones brought to you by MIT's Computation Visual Cognition Lab . They are much less known than the ones above by Akiyoshi Kitaoka, are arguably more visually stunning and lend themselves to advertising.
Click on the image to zoom in, and move back to see the faces change places. If you want to sound impressive when showing this off to your friends, here's the schpiel: "This illusion illustrates the ability of the visual system to separate information coming from different spatial frequency channels." Here. Now you know.
UPDATE (27 OCT 05): BoingBoing runs a how-to about making your own illusions in Photoshop and apply them to t-shirts, for example.
Subservient Chicken Guy
This seems to be the guy who played the Subservient Chicken:
Update (26 OCT 05): No, he isn't. - Hansiana
From the site of a photographer Phillip Toledano.
Update (26 OCT 05): No, he isn't. - Hansiana
From the site of a photographer Phillip Toledano.
Context-Sensitive Ads on MSN Messenger
Search Engine Journal points out that MSN Messenger is serving text ads in the chat window and that those ads may be sensitive to the context of your conversation. So I pulled out my laptop and after talking for a few minutes to myself over two different computers, here's what I found. The ads do appear to be context sensitive. I figured if there are ads for anything, that's mortgages, so I pumped some "refinance", "money" and "mortgage" words into my chat. The text ad eventually switched from a generic promo for MSN's own wares (MSN video conversation) to the one you see above - "Need cash? Use the equity in your home..." (click the image to zoom in). The ads were different on two ends of the conversation - on the other client with a newer account and no demographic info, I got a link to download emoticons from Blue Mountain.
This may be different in MSN Messenger 8 Beta as someone at the Search Engine Watch forum pointed out. I used the 7.5 version; have to wait for the 8 to see for myself and there are no relevant screenshots on the web yet.
UPDATE (26 OCT 05): "An MSN executive is disputing that MSN Messenger is running contextual ads based on the users' instant messaging conversations, as recent reports suggest. MSN Messenger is, however, serving up text ads based on its users' age, gender, and other demographic information. -- DMNews
Advertising on BSOD
It's a slow day. All found today was a three-year-old joke about a Bud ad on the Blue Screen of Death.
"In an effort to boost sagging revenue growth, Microsoft today announced it will begin selling advertising space on the company's world famous Blue Screen of Death. Displayed more than a billion times a day globally, the blue screen has a captive audience, with over 90 percent of the computer desktops in the world. This makes it an excellent platform for advertisers, comparable only to the Super Bowl and makes watching the blue screen just about as exciting."
Kind of clever, actually. The numbers definitely add up.
Verizon One Landline Phone Displays Content, Maybe Ads
Here's another idea brought back from the dot-com morgue. "Verizon One is a 5.8 GHz cordless telephone, high-speed DSL modem, 4-port wired and 802.11g wireless router with a colorful touch-screen display. It's got news, sports, weather, stocks, even local movie listings and showtimes" (via MocoNews).
The golden rule of advertising - if something has a screen, it can display ads. This one should be able to display contextual ads, too, like the 411 guys. Imagine calling a restaurant on this thing and seeing an ad for a cab service or for a competing establishment.
Below is Cidco's iPhone circa 1998, already featured on this blog.
Future: Advertising on Remote Control?
From the very beginning the remote control was positioned at least in part as a device that fights ads (the image below is from a 1957 ad for Zenith remote; full image here) .
PrismSales launched a pad that nags you when the remote control is misplaced (via i4u). We also have voice-activated and talking remote controls. More fancy remote controls come with color screens.
With all this technology, can we turn the remote control from an ad zapper into an ad delivery device? Get it to remember phone numbers or URLs from the informecials? Scroll info on products featured in a show? What if cell phones (or even regular phones) will be used to surf teh channels?
Earlier:
NY 1 TV Viewers Vote with Remote Controls
Programming DVR with Cell Phone
PrismSales launched a pad that nags you when the remote control is misplaced (via i4u). We also have voice-activated and talking remote controls. More fancy remote controls come with color screens.
With all this technology, can we turn the remote control from an ad zapper into an ad delivery device? Get it to remember phone numbers or URLs from the informecials? Scroll info on products featured in a show? What if cell phones (or even regular phones) will be used to surf teh channels?
Earlier:
NY 1 TV Viewers Vote with Remote Controls
Programming DVR with Cell Phone
Programming DVR from Cell Phone
Another indication of what's coming to the TV world. " Swisscom Fixnet’s electronic TV guide for Bluewin TV 300 can now also be accessed via mobile phone. The Bluewin TV 300 hard disk recorder (with up to 200 hours recording time) can thus be programmed while on the move."
-- Digital Media Europe via Smart Mobs
ASCII Movie Player
This little Mac application takes QuickTime movies and converts them into a stream of Matrix-line simbols, a bit like the image-to-ascii converter from a while ago. The schreenshot is from O'Reilly, that has more detailed instructions.
T-Shirts with 3D Prints
Puma's new catalog features a t-shirt with a 3D print. The t-shirt comes with a pair of anaglyph glasses. You'll need those to watch the 3D episode of the "Medium" on NBC in a few weeks. I agree with AdJab, the catalog loads very slowly and the navigation is fancy but far from intuitive. But the shirts are nifty.
BMW Brands Online Content, Again
Last May, BMW replaced at "e's" with "3's" on a Yahoo page to promote it's new 3 Series. Apparently, the campaign must have worked because they are now doing the same trick on a Ukranian edition of Russian-language site of a business newspaper Kommersant, highlighting the X's that link to a "send me more info" form for XDrive.
Future: Peer to Peer Television
You might have heard of Cybersky-TV, a free software application for sharing live television feeds on the Internet that was shut down by the German court earlier this year (here's some info, news of the court action) . To illustrate the potential power of the peer-to-peer live TV distribution, I just took a snapshot of a friend in my Boston room watching a live broadcast from Sofia of a Bulgarian soccer match through a similar Chinese service on his laptop.
Pre-Testing Effectiveness of Ad Campaigns
"Millward Brown's Dynamic Logic, is to launch DigitalLink, a new online copy testing tool. DigitalLink will allow clients and their agencies to review the effectiveness of their online advertising creative before they launch a campaign." (press release).
Speaking of testing. In the past, I've posted about Taguchi method for multivariable testing of advertising creative (first post, online Taguchi optimizer). Earlier this week, Kowalick Direct, a company that uses Taguchi method to analyze thousands of ad combinations, offered me a glimpse of their work for Dell:
"Dell Employee Purchase Program was an email advertising campaign targeted to 450,000 individuals: 250,000 employees of companies that use Dell computers, 150,000 government employees that use Dell computers at work and 50,000 professors at schools or universities that also use Dell computers at work." The company claims to have increased the open rate from 3.1% to 16.4%, increasing the sales 7.1 times. Here's the Word file with the case study, 560Kb.
Speaking of testing. In the past, I've posted about Taguchi method for multivariable testing of advertising creative (first post, online Taguchi optimizer). Earlier this week, Kowalick Direct, a company that uses Taguchi method to analyze thousands of ad combinations, offered me a glimpse of their work for Dell:
"Dell Employee Purchase Program was an email advertising campaign targeted to 450,000 individuals: 250,000 employees of companies that use Dell computers, 150,000 government employees that use Dell computers at work and 50,000 professors at schools or universities that also use Dell computers at work." The company claims to have increased the open rate from 3.1% to 16.4%, increasing the sales 7.1 times. Here's the Word file with the case study, 560Kb.
Henry Jenkins on In-Game Advertising
Prof. Jenkins, who among other things heads an MIT research consortium that focuses on branding cultures, gave a presentation yesterday on in-game advertising. MediaPost runs an outline of the presentation. If you would like a copy of the PowerPoint slides, write to vedrashko at hotmail and I'll be glad to send you the file.
"Advertisers have started to buy billboards in racing, sports, and action games, but these aren't the only branding opportunities, said Henry Jenkins, a comparative media studies professor at MIT. He pointed out that characters in the "Grand Theft Auto" series interact with different media. For example, fake magazines are sprinkled in offices throughout its virtual cities; players also interact with different radio stations when driving a car. In fact, Jenkins noted that a few record labels have used these radio channels to promote new artists to "Grand Theft Auto"'s predominantly male 18-34 crowd. Many games, like Tom Clancy's "Splinter Cell," have TV monitors in the backgrounds of their virtual department stores and office buildings--and Jenkins said there's no reason these couldn't be showing commercials."
More on Lexus's High Tech Campaign
I've already posted on the new outdoor campaign for Lexus IS that was done all in high-tech 3D. Here's a short film from Vizoo who did the pseudo-holographic installation for tha campaign. CGI footage by Imaginary Forces. Thanks to Team One, the agency behind the effort, for the pointer.
Round Up: Comments on the Meaning Of Video iPod
Here are some of the comments made in the first week after the launch of video iPod:
Engadget: How to get TV shows off TiVo onto video iPods.
Reuters: Users of Apple's new video iPod can expect a deluge of outspoken commentary, religious sermons and pornography.
MocoNews: Peter Bazalgette of Endemol predicted that in 2010 there will be 3 billion TV viewers and 3 billion users of mobile devices, so the potential for mobile TV is obvious. Bazalgette also confirmed that Endemol is definitely looking at P2P mobile file sharing of TV shows which would be advertiser sponsored, thereby cutting out the operators.
USA Today: Jobs didn't launch the video iPod as a way to watch video blogs about life as a Porta-John delivery guy or music videos made in someone's garage. He launched it as a way to carry around big mass-market hits — the kind that, with few exceptions, are made by major studios with A-list talent.
AdRants: Current appointment television viewing as we know it will disappear. Current rating systems will become irrelevant. And the buying of "TV advertising" simply won't be the same
Reuters: Apple has said it won't allow advertising on its iPod platform, but some experts wonder how long it would hold off on a lucrative new revenue stream.
ClickZ: Sure, Apple's going to try to sell their new hardware. And that's fine. But it won't take consumers long to figure out this is video. They can watch it on other devices. This is convergence. This is pay-per-view.
Wall Street Journal (quoted at Broadband Reports): Irked by the loss of ad dollars, one local affiliate writes ABC: "It is both disappointing and unsettling that ABC would embark on a new -- and competitive -- network program distribution partnership without the fundamental courtesy of consultation.
Steve Rubel: Marketers will also jump feet first into advercasting. And why not? They already have vast libraries of video available at their disposal from years of TV and rich media advertising.
Beyond PR: Companies will be keen to trial bypassing TV networks and produce commercials or short clips ready to podcasts. Ad agency and media buyers will compete with viral marketing specialists to produce these pilots.
NY Times: At first blush, the video iPod is not about to revolutionize Hollywood in the way the iPod revolutionized music.
Here's a current list of best personal video players (yes, there's life beyond iPod).
Engadget: How to get TV shows off TiVo onto video iPods.
Reuters: Users of Apple's new video iPod can expect a deluge of outspoken commentary, religious sermons and pornography.
MocoNews: Peter Bazalgette of Endemol predicted that in 2010 there will be 3 billion TV viewers and 3 billion users of mobile devices, so the potential for mobile TV is obvious. Bazalgette also confirmed that Endemol is definitely looking at P2P mobile file sharing of TV shows which would be advertiser sponsored, thereby cutting out the operators.
USA Today: Jobs didn't launch the video iPod as a way to watch video blogs about life as a Porta-John delivery guy or music videos made in someone's garage. He launched it as a way to carry around big mass-market hits — the kind that, with few exceptions, are made by major studios with A-list talent.
AdRants: Current appointment television viewing as we know it will disappear. Current rating systems will become irrelevant. And the buying of "TV advertising" simply won't be the same
Reuters: Apple has said it won't allow advertising on its iPod platform, but some experts wonder how long it would hold off on a lucrative new revenue stream.
ClickZ: Sure, Apple's going to try to sell their new hardware. And that's fine. But it won't take consumers long to figure out this is video. They can watch it on other devices. This is convergence. This is pay-per-view.
Wall Street Journal (quoted at Broadband Reports): Irked by the loss of ad dollars, one local affiliate writes ABC: "It is both disappointing and unsettling that ABC would embark on a new -- and competitive -- network program distribution partnership without the fundamental courtesy of consultation.
Steve Rubel: Marketers will also jump feet first into advercasting. And why not? They already have vast libraries of video available at their disposal from years of TV and rich media advertising.
Beyond PR: Companies will be keen to trial bypassing TV networks and produce commercials or short clips ready to podcasts. Ad agency and media buyers will compete with viral marketing specialists to produce these pilots.
NY Times: At first blush, the video iPod is not about to revolutionize Hollywood in the way the iPod revolutionized music.
Here's a current list of best personal video players (yes, there's life beyond iPod).
Inflatable Robots
It moves, it is rubbery and it can be huge. Meet babot, the balloon-shaped animated robot:
"The balloon-shaped robot operates on the principle that air is sent inside a cloth using a sensor and computer system. It has a light, smooth movement and a high degree of freedom in terms of technique. According to the method for the pneumatic sculpture, a gigantic mobile formative object can be designed and produced only by desk work."
-- via We Make Money Not Art
Mug With Heat-Sensitive Text
This mug has text on it and part of it dissapears when you fill the mug with hot liquid. The text doesn't have to be the Bill of Rights or relate to politics in any other way; you can plop your advertising message on it all the same.
-- via AdJab
Geeks Can Dance: DDR For Calculators
"Some Texas Instruments graphing calculator enthusiast has ported the dancing videogame Dance Dance Revolution to the pocket calculator. Instead of dancing as instructed on a dance-mat, you have to hit the correct keyboard keys in the correct order."
-- Boing Boing
Earlier:
Calculators as Gaming Platforms
Study: Readers Prefer Branded Editorials Over Ads
"A new study conducted by Roper Public Affairs, a GfK Group market research firm, says that most consumers prefer receiving information from companies through editorial content rather than ads. The study measures consumer response to custom publications, a marketing vehicle whereby consumers receive free magazines from companies they have bought something from in the past."
-- Media Post
-- Media Post
Alternate Reality Gaming: Xbox Promo
The beginning is nigh and the signs are cropping up everywhere indicating the new season of the promos done in the alternate reality gaming style. This one is said to be for the new Xbox 360 gaming console.
Pulled Eminem Ad for iPod
Offtopic: Here's the iPod ad featuring Eminem that Apple pulled off its website hours after it was premiered to the analysts and media.
Digital Cameras as Video Playback Devices?
With all the attention to the new video iPod, I am wondering whether anyone has (or, rather, why no one has) considered digital cameras as a portable media device capable of more than just picture-taking? Cameras such as this Kodak EasyShare V530 have video and audio playback, a USB connection, a video-out, expandable (although still meager) memory and a 2.5" color screen. They have a wide and organically growing install base. If the portable video-media devices are designed to be used by the traveling crowd, then these people are already carrying the very same cameras. Is this a form-factor problem? A memory problem? An image thing? After all, some digital cameras are already running Doom. Or am I totally off mark and everybody is already watching the Lost episodes on their Canons and Kodaks? I would really appreciate your thoughts on this and am leaving the comment section wide open.
Evolution of Performance Advertising
Dave Taylor talks about how the "pay for performance" advertising model has evolved from online's "pay-per-click" into other media, such as RevshareTV.
Contextual Phone Advertising
Very, very evil and ingenious at once:
"Let’s say you own a plumbing business called Steve’s Plumbing. When a caller dials 1-800-FREE411 to ask for the number of Joe’s Plumbing (your competitor), we’ll play a short audio message advertising one of our sponsors — you! For example, that message might be, “While we search for your listing, let me tell you about a great offer from Steve’s Plumbing. Connect now and receive 30% off your first service.”
--Free411.com
"Let’s say you own a plumbing business called Steve’s Plumbing. When a caller dials 1-800-FREE411 to ask for the number of Joe’s Plumbing (your competitor), we’ll play a short audio message advertising one of our sponsors — you! For example, that message might be, “While we search for your listing, let me tell you about a great offer from Steve’s Plumbing. Connect now and receive 30% off your first service.”
--Free411.com
Cheap Paper-Thin TV Screens
"Cheap, paper-thin TV screens that can be used in newspapers and magazines have been unveiled by German electronics giant Siemens. The firm says the low production costs could see the magazine shelves in newsagents come alive with moving images vying for the customers' attention as they move along the aisle. The new technology caused a sensation when it was first made public this week at the Plastics Electronics trade fair in Frankfurt.
The company believes there will also be a market for using them for simple computer games which could be printed on the side of a package or given away free in magazines. The Siemens spokesman said that one square metre of the material costs around £30, and scientists working on the screens said they should be available by 2007." Pics and press release.
-- Guardian
This Week in Billboardom
This week in Billboardom (here's last week, too):
Bus shelter turned massage parlor.
Cars in cages.
Cars on the ceilings.
Cars on the walls.
Bus shelter turned massage parlor.
Cars in cages.
Cars on the ceilings.
Cars on the walls.
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