Article Highlights:

* At ad:tech SF, Broitman, along with other industry experts, will seek to dispel the notion that innovation requires new technology
* The notion of “media as a social affair” has caused one of the most profound climate changes for marketers in the last 50 years
* We are at a crossroads where marketers must ensure that all communications can be accessed everywhere, in a way that makes sense for the way it is accessed

Go have a look. Hope to see you in San Fran next month. I will be around all week.

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Would you like a new outlet to talk about your media property or technology?

Of course you would!

Would you like this outlet to be outside of your own domain to reach new audiences?

Once again, of course

(I know I am answering for you; I am taking stabs in the dark)

Well, we have created a way to help out!

That is right, we will feature your media property or technology, and you don’t even have to pay us (you certainly can, but it won’t get you preferential treatment other than having us totally pimp you to the biggest media buyers on the planet ).

Here at AMediaCirc.us HQ, we believe that agency/brand/publisher relationships ought to be partnerships. We feel that, in order to create successful initiatives, you need to have the right information about the entire media landscape; and all of the players that make it up. As such, we have decided to create a portion of the site where publishers/vendors and technology providers are highlighted–for free (we tend to favor new publishers with fresh ideas, but that does not mean we won’t include your stodgy old media property. Just kidding–we love you all).

In order to take part, go to this section of the blog and follow the instructions:

Yes, it is really that simple!

My initial reaction to the new Snickers campaign that is gracing the sidewalks and subways of New York City was, “wow, this is REALLY corny!”

As I began to see more executions of the campaign on New York City Subways, the campaign began to grow on me a little bit (I realize that this is not actually the first time that this campaign has run, but it is the first time that it has caught my attention) after all, how many ways can you make people care about a candy bar on a NYC subway?

In thinking about this particular execution, the term culture jamming comes to mind. While this campaign does not fit the exact definition of culture jamming, it does poke fun at pop culture in an artful way (I guess “artful”  is open for debate). More than simply addressing pop culture, this campaign addresses a specific segment of pop culture that may only be fun for NYC subway riders. NYC subway riders have long seen silly, redundant ads from the infamous Dr. Zizmor; so in  looking more at this ad, as I was packed like a sardine in an NYC subway car, I had to smile.

This campaign may not exactly be brilliance in action (and it may not sell candy bars) but it did pass the time.

Upon entering my apartment, I transferred my photos from my iPhone to my computer and began to complete this post (which was almost complete on the subway ride–thank you iPhone). I did a search for, “doctor feedzmore” in order to find out who created this campaign and came up with one search result, one!!! No paid ads, nuthin!

This was the perfect opportunity to begin a dialog between a brand and a consumer. Sure, I am not your everyday consumer, as my interests were in the advertising campaign. Still, I wonder how many people went to Google to continue the conversation after seeing these ads. In my opinion, the nominal cost required to continue this conversation (via search) is nothing in comparison to the opportunity for a continuation of the overall engagement.

Unfortunately things of this nature continue to happen; the minute I begin to think that traditionally minded agencies are starting to understand, and leverage new media channels to create true integrated initiatives, I am let down. I realize that often times there is a bottleneck when it comes to budget and other practical matters, but it is the media strategists job to present a comprehensive strategy in the conception phase, and search/conversation can no longer be bolted on as an after thought.

If you are not versed in search marketing, allow me to show you the reason that the Snickers site is not showing up in the organic results. The first image is what a user sees (full flash goodness) and the second is what Google sees (hmmmm…what is that?!)

Looks a bit different, huh!?

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Dear Hulu,

Our love affair started shortly after you launched into this world. You were everything I ever wanted in streaming video, and more;

• An angelic player that caressed me as I leaned back to watch online video
  • All the others are so brash–making me lean forward all the time
  • Also, you knew exactly when to turn the lights low
• Ample programming
• Sexy and sleek interface
• Reasonable commercial slots,  that clearly stated how long they were to run for
  • generally under 15 seconds if I remember correctly

It seemed that you really understood the my nature, and the nature of online video. You seemed to know exactly where we were headed.  You catered to the wants and needs of an online man; and baby, I was your online man (and one who was in the ever-so-lucrative, hard to reach demographic- 25-34 male)!

I hooked up my mac to my plasma for you. I even canceled my dates with premium cable services, as I knew you were the only one for me.

But, oh Hulu; times have changed!

Maybe it is your parents (NBC) that are trying to rip us apart by placing the same, gut wrenchingly annoying ads three times in 20 minutes (have you seen the one for Edge Gel–”Lube Moistricants”!!! I may kill myself if I ever see that thing again; and you can bet I will never buy that product). If only your parents knew that I am happy to trade my time for our love; but a man can only stand so much!

..and another thing Hulu; where is your sense of adventure. You and your friends (the advertisers) could learn to try news things. I have thought of a few:

• Sequenced messaging
  • I don’t need you to yell the same things at me all the time. I heard you the first time. I feel like you don’t listen; and the more you shout the same thing, the less I hear it.
• In ad experiences
  • hey it is interactive, don’t just show me that car, take me for a ride and drop me back in my show when we are done
• Choose your sponsor
  • hey, it is working for Weatherbug
• Hulu currency
  • skip ads if you take a quick survey–there are a lot of people out there looking for lead gen opportunities
  • build up currency, trade with friends
  • use currency to buy product
• Conversational ads
  • show me a few elements of a product, and ask me what I want to know more about
• If all else fails, charge me! I may just be willing to pay money to skip the torture that ensues when you remind me of my 30 second spot childhood

I am not the only one who sees the rift in this relationship. I was talking with my girls about us, and they had this to say:

“I agree 1000% percent. How did they miss the ad model boat on such a great product?” -Erin Wilson

“the worst part is that the ads are usually 300% louder than the movies (especially if you are watching something that is old) and it’s just not a great experience all in all. Luckily, my laptop comes with a remote so I just mute the stuff from the comfort of my bed, but still: annoying. I’d rather pay a little for the service than have those ads…you can say that I bought netflix to make it thru my knee surgery instead of using them too. Part of that is selection but part is the noise thing.” -Kate Bessiere

Well Hulu, I cannot deny the fact that I still love you and I know it is wrong to ask a partner to change; but if anything I have said here makes sense to you, and you feel we are meant to be together–well, it would make me the happiest geek on the planet.

I LOVE YOU HULU

Love,

your lil’ hunny bunny bear

Adam

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The digital age has been difficult for many marketers. All too often, marketers put the technological cart before the strategic horse. Facebook (and other social networks) is a breeding ground for campaigns that focus on the features of the platform, without telling a story.This is certainly not the fault of Facebook, rather it is the fault of marketers, who have not taken the time to internalize the meaning of community and conversation. It is the fault of those that thing technology, in and of itself, is the answer.

We must not forget that, in order to compel consumers, we must offer value–and that value needs to be delivered in the form of a story; advertising 101.

A few weeks ago Palm launched a campaign for it’s Centro line call; Claüs. The campaign is unique for a number of reasons:

• While the campaign has applications, they are not the centerpiece. Palm is not relying on the ever popular “viral nature of the social graph”
  • This campaign appears to be a viral success, as there are over 60k fans, and nearly a thousand wall posts–but it is apparent that the creators of this campaign new that it takes more than a one trick pony to ensure virality
    • Some of the content is good, come of the content is not as good, but overall, this is a fun campaign
  • The two applications that are offered, are not front and center
• There is very little branding on the page (there is some, but it is not overwhelming)
  • see my article about Branding without Brands for more on this topic
• Through various multimedia aspects, the brand tells a story in a nonlinear fashion
  • this gives people a reason to poke around the page and look for more pieces of the puzzle
• Free downloadable music (I strongly recommend, Samba Dreidel)

Overall this is a fun and refreshing campaign. At a time when many marketers are already dismissing Facebook as a viable option, it is nice to see a truly creative effort that shows us, it is not the platform per se, it is how you use it!

Overall Scores:

Creativity: B+

Execution: A

Conversational Strategy: B

General Strategy: A-

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All successful brands tell a story. Apple tells us a story about people who “think different.” Pepsi tells us the tale of a new generation and Disney tells a story about imagination and childhood. These are classic American brand stories — cultivated through traditional channels and originated (to a large degree) by the brands themselves.

This is the way the world used to work. There is, however, a new world order when it comes to brand storytelling.

The notion that brand managers ever had total control over how their brands were perceived is a farce. Still, there was a time when brand managers had a greater degree of control. The rise of social computing and other emerging channels has led to the origination of brand lore in the most unlikely places. “Dell Hell” was not a story cooked up in the offices of Dell — it originated on a blog. On the flip side, tales of remarkable yet atypical customer service performed by Zappos employees would have been less effective if spread solely by the mouths of Zappos execs. These exceptional yarns were spun (again, to a large degree) by consumers and then amplified by mainstream media (with a little help from Zappos PR, of course).

The bottom line is that brands have less control than ever before — but that does not make them powerless. Creative strategies can get brands in front of audiences that were previously unreachable, and in a way that could endear consumers to a brand like never before. Brands do not always have to be front and center for an initiative to have an impact. In fact, sometimes it is best if a brand is not front and center. This allows consumers to tell stories to other consumers. And at a time when consumer belief in advertising is at an all-time low, C to C marketing is essential.

Read On at iMediaconnection

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No one knows everything (I am getting pretty close though ) and everyone has something to teach.

• If you are a brand manager and think you know everything about your brand, think again
• If you are a brand manager and think you know everything about your consumer base, you are in even worse shape

Brands are living entities; changing shape and composition in the minds of consumers all the time. These changes are taking place all the time, and are different in every consumer. That said, knowledge communities tend to share brand perceptions, and it is easier to target one consumercommunity at a time.

The questions is, how do you garner information in order to best message a consumer segment.You can:

1. Create what you think consumers want to hear
2. Hold scientifically engineered focus groups
3. Ask consumers to show you how they would like to be messaged

Number three has been very popular over the past few years. User Generated Content has surfaced and hit the mainstream–but letting consumers do the job of the marketer is not necessarily the answer. I have said this many times before; the answer lies in collaboration and co-creation.

Recently, Scion began a campaign that takes advantage of point three. According to Marketing Daily, Scion challenged high school students to create marketing campaigns on their behalf–but here is the kicker; Scion does not plan to use these campaigns. This is not a strict UGC effort where consumer work will be paraded around as advertising. This effort is an exercise in collaboration and co-creation, done in a very strategic manner.

Next time you find yourself in a planning cycle and trying to find the voice of the consumer, I suggest going right to the source.

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You need to learn how to use Twitter because all of the young people are using it, right? Um, no way!

I don’t have the usage stats (kudos to anyone who can get them for me) but I don’t know anyone under twenty who uses Twitter (and yes, I do know people under twenty). In fact, most people I know who use Twitter are older than twenty-five. Still, if you are a marketer learning to use Twitter in order to learn how the next generation will communicate, you are doing the right thing.

When I opened up Twittelator today, I noticed that there was a new menu item; movies. I clicked on it, and had one of those, “ah ha” moments. The underlying value of this function was not the technology (Twitter), it was how the technology was being used to parse information, and get it to me in a more relevant manner. This is, in my opinion where this space is moving. It is not about mass/micro chatter. It is about finding relevant communities of micro chatter that can give you the info you want/need–when and where you want it.

Every once in a while I have a moment of zen, where a technology reveals an underlying something that is a signifier of fundamental, sociological changes.These moments of zen only come when I let my mind wander–you don’t always have to focus very hard to get your mind to interesting places.

Language is technology, and how we use language and information accelerates our culture.

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The above is the title I would have given my latest article over at iMedia–alas, they know best what brings in the traffic, and I love them for it

I bring up a number of topics that I plan on expanding upon on this blog. All of the marketing mistakes that I spell out are part of larger issues that I think about on an ongoing basis. I would love to hear which topics are most pressing for readers of this blog. I would be happy to do a deeper dive into any of these topics:

• Twitter is not a one-way megaphone, so don’t treat it like one
• Create buzz, but don’t let the bee get away
• Existing sites cannot be “SEOed.” Stop trying
• Feel free to stay at home in your walled garden — just don’t be surprised when no one shows up for the tea party
• Social media is a commitment, not a campaign
• When did things referred to as “viral” become a good thing?

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