Brett's Blog

Follow Me On Twitter

2009-04-25T19:01:00.003-04:00

I know I haven't been posting much lately, so feel free to follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/brettbarash

Social Media Eduction

2009-03-30T09:03:00.000-04:00

The British government wants to make social media a permanent part of the education system, and it is proposing teaching Twitter in primary schools to help accomplish this goal. Students will also learn blogging, podcasting, and the use of Wikipedia.

Source: “Please, Sir, How Do You Re-Tweet?” UK.TechCrunch.com, 03.25.09.

The right way to build a brand website

2009-03-20T09:56:00.002-04:00

I've been working with our traditional advertising teams a lot lately, trying sell in the idea of rich online experiences. I know...it's not 1998, but yes, I still have to sell that in to some of our teams.

The best way I've been able to approach the subject is from the consumer marketing lifecycle. A lot of our advertising, from print, ooh, tv, online, etc., is strictly awareness. Then, we drive consumers directly the retail website, asking them to make a purchase. We skip the entire "consideration" phase:

The online channel can give consumers a chance to spend more time with the brand, ultimately pulling them through consideration and into purchase. If you don't allow consumers to spend time understanding why they need your product or service, you're nothing more than a used car salesman. Here's our product...now BUY IT!!!

By leveraging the power of the web, and creating visually stunning interactive experiences that help drive your message through to consumers, you're ultimately pulling more through consideration into purchase, and I believe your marketing dollars are being put to work.

Augmented Reality is Getting Old

2009-02-16T20:39:00.003-05:00

But here's some recent examples:
http://www.boffswana.com/news/
http://www.notcot.com/archives/2009/01/legos_digital_b.php
http://ge.ecomagination.com/smartgrid/#/augmented_reality
http://vimeo.com/3039134

So far, I think Lego has the best use of AR. I'm sure we'll see more brands introduce applications over the next few months.

My agency did some research that showed us that almost 50% of consumers now have a webcam, either built into their computer, or as a stand-alone device. That number is growing everyday, as most laptops now have them built in.

Super Bowl Ads

2009-01-30T09:27:00.001-05:00

I'm particularly interested in this year's ads, not only to see some clever, witty tv spots, but how they integrate digitally. I'll be curious to see how many spots lead to an online presence so that consumers can spend more time than the :30 spot.

More to come next week...

Brands That Tweet

2009-01-12T11:28:00.000-05:00

Link Here

Twitter as a direct sales tool

2008-11-19T13:46:00.002-05:00

An article on Reuters today says that Dell has sold over $500,000 worth of refurbished PC's on Twitter. This is the first time I've really seen Twitter used as a direct sales channel, but clearly successful. Dell has numerous Twitter accounts:

Dell on Twitter link

Election Coverage

2008-11-04T22:04:00.003-05:00

A friend of mine had a good point...this is the first true election in the social web. I'm flipping my tv back and forth between CNN, CNBC, and ABC...with 4 browser windows open (Facebook, cnn.com, Twitter, and Gmail). Can you imagine a time when people had to wait until the next morning to find out any results? In a few elections, we'll be saying the same thing about not being able to hear people's comments and expressions live through social media.

When will the next big brand put together a great social media campaign?

MTV's Hulu

2008-10-29T21:45:00.002-04:00

I keep reading about how MTV's new site, mtvmusic.com is a copy off Hulu. The video player is similar, but it's really just using best practices that work on Hulu. I really like the site...and the ability to view thousands of videos, and embed them:

Ryan Adams |MTV Music

LinkedIn Applications

2008-10-29T09:02:00.003-04:00

Great idea, but doesn't work on Safari...really? Come on LinkedIn.

I tried using the MyTravel application, which could be very useful, especially considering how much travel I've been doing lately. But, I'm not willing to use another browser just for that app.

http://blog.linkedin.com/blog/2008/10/announcing-appl.html

Candidates Using the Web

2008-10-19T15:33:00.001-04:00

Not even intentional, but this video is spreading all over the web (hulu, youtube, blogs, etc.) less than 24 hours after airing. Think this will change some votes? I do...

Nike Football Does it Again

2008-10-17T09:42:00.000-04:00

Amazing:

Social Media - Who Does it Well Part 3

2008-09-15T13:54:00.003-04:00

Starbucks created an invitation to customers, allowing them to work together to craft better products, services, and experiences. My Starbucks Idea

Taking a page from Dell's Ideastorm website, they allow customers to submit their feature and product requests. With Dell, this resulted in a Linux box being introduced, which was a drastic change from their long term relationship with Microsoft.

On mystarbucksidea.com, users can:
See the top rated ideas
Submit their own ideas
See which ideas get taken up and become products on the blog

Since launching, Starbucks has seen many of these ideas put into action, and it has created an increased dialogue between them and their customers.

Hyatt's Social Media - Yatt'it

2008-09-08T10:09:00.002-04:00

When flying into NY last night, I saw a giant billboard at LaGuardia for Yatt'it. Yatt'it is Hyatt's social media platform. I haven't had a chance to review it in detail, but it's nice to see a brand spending offline media dollars to drive to an online social media site.

My Mad Men Experience

2008-09-05T09:10:00.002-04:00

I joined a new agency this week, and I'm spending the first two weeks in the New York office. The agency, one of the largest in the world, is about a block away from Madison Avenue, but it's my first true big agency/mad men experience. I don't typically write about my current work, so I'll leave our clients out of this post.

Prior to this, I've really only worked for what I would consider boutique digital shops. Even a few years ago, I worked for a shop that was acquired by Publicis, and is now over 300 people, but still is a digital only shop.

So, what's it like here? It really is similar to a slightly more modern Mad Men. The office isn't that cool...it's very old style, with cubes and offices all around. We take up 5 floors in a huge skyscraper. Not a lot of views...the offices that do have them can only really see the other buildings around them.

Account and creative sit in separate areas...separate floors really. It's not a trendy office, like you'd expect. I've worked in really cool spaces, and even visited some amazing offices, like Advertising City at Chiat/Day in LA. Those are more modern than the true Madison Avenue agencies. But, to me, what separates the big NY Madison Avenue agencies from the local boutique shops is the talent and experience. The senior execs and creatives have been in the business for a long time...and they are VERY good. They're also not cocky about what they know...they really are interested in everyone's thoughts and opinions. I met with our Creative Director yesterday. He could have totally blown me off as a new account guy, but he didn't. He was interested in my background, experience, and thoughts around what they are doing.

I'm truly excited to move forward in my career with a big integrated agency, and getting a chance to implement 360 campaigns and multi-channel strategies. More to come in the next few weeks...

Chrome from Google

2008-09-04T11:30:00.002-04:00

I've had a couple of days to play with Chrome, Google's new browser, and I really like it. My favorite thing about it...no need for URL's anymore. Why does anyone need to type "www" anyway? The "Omnibox", or "address bar" in Chrome is now for anything. Anything entered into it will deliver a webpage by looking at your historical activities, or renders Google search results. Now, you no longer need to type in URL's for the majority of tasks.
My other favorite thing about Chrome...no favorites. When you open a new tab, images of recent sites you've visited appear.
Download here.

BT for a User's Advantage

2008-08-27T19:03:00.001-04:00

This is big: IE8 to block user habits

This begs the question that most users don't understand. Would you rather see ads that are potentially relevant to you? Or, would you rather see completely random ads over and over again that have no relevance?

Social Media - Who Does it Well Part 2

2008-08-26T16:57:00.003-04:00

Here's one of my favorites, Nike +.

The Nike + site is a robust platform of virtual racing, progress tracking, motivational goals and stories, and global community comparison tools. All of these take the Nike + product experience far beyond just the shoe or an ipod. The site engages its passionate member community directly from its own website. They also have extensions, such as a twitter profile and multiple Facebook apps.

During their Investor Days, Nike discussed the shift in strategy from being a sportswear brand to becoming an enabler of customized, personal experiences. Nike's CEO, Mark Miller, called the theme "The Consumer Decides".

Social Media Cont'd

2008-08-25T11:33:00.002-04:00

In the midst of my "Social Media - Who Does it Well?" postings, I came across a great post from Peter Kim, Does social media marketing matter?
It's a great question. Does creating a great social marketing strategy really affect the consumer, their perception of the brand, and whether or not they ultimately become a customer/brand advocate?

I think it does, but it requires a much more long term, strategic approach to social marketing. Just creating a company blog or an online community doesn't automatically get you more customers. It's also not the end all marketing solution.

Social Media - Who Does it Well Part 1.5

2008-08-21T11:17:00.004-04:00

I was going to move on to another company that is getting it right. But, the other day I discovered a Twitter profile that's making its way around the Twitterers' circle. If you're on Twitter, checkout @don_draper. If you're a fan of Mad Men, you'll love the posts from him. It's a great way to keep viewers interested. Just this morning, the tweet was "about to hear who @joan_holloway has in mind to be my new secretary". Must be foreshadowing to Sunday's episode. It's getting me excited!

Last week he had about 300 followers. Today...670! Several other characters also have Twitter profiles.

Social Media - Who Does it Well?

2008-08-20T18:29:00.003-04:00

I've been writing a social media strategy over the past week. In doing so, I started looking at companies that do it well. Over the next few days, I'll post about some companies that I believe have done a good job in certain areas of social media. Let's start with a company that I loathe due to their poor service. Unfortunately, because of where I live, I'm stuck with them...Comcast.

However, they recently created a Twitter account, @comcastcares, so that they could respond to angry twitter community members. They appointed an employee, Frank Eliason, to communicate with those who complain about their Comcast service on Twitter.

This is one of the first productive uses of Twitter from a commercial company in a customer facing manner. Frank and his department have been able to help thousands of people with issues, while putting a positive spin on a struggling brand image.

More to come in the next few days...

Integrating Search Into Your Multi-Channel Strategy

2008-08-05T13:23:00.002-04:00

From ad AdAge article:
"A 2007 study found 67% of the online searchers are driven to search by offline channels and that, of those, 39% ultimately make a purchase. (Of course, this year's study showed 45% of marketers still don't integrate offline and online.)"

The article is more about Google's policy for bidding on competitors' trademarks.

I also like the quote from Tom Adams, CEO of Rosetta Stone:
"Think if you had a shop and competitors were standing outside your store, and the moment someone walks up they say 'Please come with me.'"

If you build it, they will come...

2008-08-01T14:41:00.003-04:00

I had a client today question why nobody is coming to a section of their site.

The background...My agency designed and developed a very rich, video experience for them late last year. At the time, they were driving some traffic (albeit minimal) through online media. In our latest analytics report, there was literally zero visitors to the experience. The experience is also buried 5 clicks from their extremely content rich .com. I think all online marketers need to watch Field of Dreams.

Value of Building Personas

2008-08-01T11:47:00.002-04:00

I see a lot of persona work being done in designing websites recently, but I wonder if agencies really understand the value these can provide. A recent Forrester article discusses how to use personas to design for engagement. If you have access to Forrester, I highly recommend this one for online customer experience and strategy professionals.
The main takeaway: Several companies that used personas in designing their websites properly "were all able to increase customer engagement by focusing their redesign efforts on users' needs."

Facebook Best Practices

2008-07-24T17:39:00.001-04:00

Nice article by my friend, Erik Qualman on SearchEngineWatch:

The Top 4 Best Facebook Practices

Why I Love Search

2008-07-10T16:21:00.003-04:00

My wife has an event planning company, called Eventfully Yourz. For over a year, her marketing budget has been used strictly through Google AdWords. She's doing an awesome job and become a premier event planner in Atlanta.

About two weeks ago, we noticed that she hadn't been receiving many leads...only about 3 in May. Well, we tweaked her adwords a bit, and low and behold, she's been getting 5-6 per week. Her ROI is unreal. By spending about $300/month, she gets close to $5,000 in closed business.

It's amazing how a little pay per click marketing can go such a long way for small businesses.

Replacing .com

2008-07-07T12:38:00.002-04:00

via videosift.com

ICANN has announced that starting in 2009, almost any word can replace the ".com".
Story here

People Don't Buy In Silos

2008-06-25T16:39:00.002-04:00

The online channel doesn't have to be a direct marketing medium. Sure, it can be...many companies use SEM as direct purchase paths. Some small businesses ONLY spend money in search. But, for larger organizations, there are multi-channel touchpoints that effect a consumer's purchase decision. So, why do some large organizations have so much trouble understanding this?

The reason I bring this up...I've met two people in two separate instances this week alone that have been hired by large companies to help them create a multi-channel marketing approach. They've been hired to work with their agencies to align everything from banners to mobile to tv to call-center, etc.

Ad Network Shakeout

2008-06-19T13:23:00.002-04:00

Tom Hespos writes about this on iMedia Connection today. Who knows what will happen, but he has a great point...even the bigger/better content sites, such as espn.com, can truly only sell about 60% of their inventory. So, will content sites that remove themselves from ad networks come crawling back?
On the planning/buying side, I've always believed that using ad networks was the cheap/easy way out. Good planners understand the target audience and their online habits. They use this data to buy more relevant ad placements. Sure, this can include network buys for various audiences, but only a portion of the budget should go there.

usatoday.com redesign

2008-05-19T17:01:00.005-04:00

When I logged on this morning, I scoured through iGoogle and myyahoo. I saw an interesting article on usatoday and clicked through. Well, I then realized...they redesigned their site again! Not a huge redesign...mainly just the navigation. Nowhere near the full scale they did in 2007:

But, it got me thinking...how often should publishers re-design their website? And, when they do, do they lose readers/subscribers? In today's web 2.0 world, a lot of their content is consumed outside of the site...through rss readers and portals. But, they still generate a lot of traffic...thus the ad revenue.

I looked for some best practices by scouring Forrester and some other tools. Everything I found discussed best practices for optimizing sites for advertisers, but rarely taking into account the user. Now, I'm sure that the folks at Gannett did some user testing before implementing these changes. But, it seems that all the changes they make, even web 2.0 tools such as sharing, commenting, etc., all allow for more revenue. More banners equals more ad inventory, and more revenue for the publisher. Adding videos allows for more pre and post roll ads. So, get used to more updates and changes in the near future.

Banner Creative

2008-05-06T11:32:00.003-04:00

Want to know why some agencies are production/banner farms? They have old school, traditional thinking. I really enjoyed this article on iMedia Connection today from Sean Cummings. He has some interesting thoughts and ideas around online media...banners in particular.

Comcast Using Social Media

2008-04-30T15:11:00.003-04:00

As much as I despise our Comcast for constant internet downtime, slow dvr boxes that freeze up constantly, and the worst customer service ever...I do admire them for taking action through social media.
This blog post on Social Media Insider talks about their use of twitter to help distort their negative image.

I still hate Comcast and wish I could have a better service in Atlanta.

Nike Football - Euro Style

2008-04-29T13:54:00.001-04:00

Another amazing Nike Football ad...or uh...soccer. This was directed by Guy Ritchie:

Taking Online Offline

2008-04-24T15:15:00.001-04:00

Just when I started thinking about this...Wal-Mart beats me to the punch. People are starting to understand how to search online...why not take that approach to retail?
Article Here

Travelers Ad

2008-04-04T13:57:00.003-04:00

I don't have the embed file, but click here to view the latest Travelers Insurance spot.

This is one of the most well done spots I've seen this year. The production value is amazing. They are able to tell an entire story in a 60, while embedding the brand throughout.
It's difficult for me to comment on the entire campaign, as I don't know much about the multi-channel strategy, if there is one. But, there does seem to be a disconnect between the online drive-to and the site. There might be something new waiting to be launched...if not, there should be. Regardless, the spot is just awesome.

ESPN.com

2008-03-24T21:58:00.003-04:00

ESPN.com has decided to cut off ad networks:
the article

Why is this important? Lately, ad networks have grown so large that companies are spending lots of money on cheap remnant inventory without any online media strategy. ESPN is letting advertisers know that they won’t be a part of it anymore…online media is not a commodity.

Boss Button

2008-03-21T13:56:00.002-04:00

Watching live NCAA tournament action on cbs.com is great. Checkout the "Boss Button" feature, which instantly turns your screen into a spreadsheet:

Live game on cbs.com:

Then, when you click the BOSS BUTTON:

Desparate Attempt From Sprint

2008-03-19T10:02:00.002-04:00

They are really sinking to a new low to try and catch up to AT&T and Verizon:

How to Use the Web

2008-03-17T14:33:00.001-04:00

Why are all agency websites done so poorly? Why do they all need pop-up sites? I have never been able to answer that question. Well, here's one agency that "gets it".
www.modernista.com

Doesn't matter "where you are" on the web...just that you're on it.

SEO vs SEM

2008-03-17T12:45:00.001-04:00

Great article on AdAge about the difference of SEO and SEM. In the article:
"A study from Aegis-owned search-marketing firm iProspect revealed 67% of the online search population is driven to search by offline channels."

It's time for online marketers to look at search as helping a consumer through the consideration set, and driving them to an online action. Or, guiding them to finish the story online.

Mobile to Finally Get Attention

2008-03-17T10:12:00.002-04:00

Windows Mobile just announced that they will begin to support Flash soon...as well as Silverlight. This could mean that mobile will begin to become more conversational in the digital media space. It's about time.

Reebok Leverages Giants Super Bowl Win

2008-02-07T18:04:00.000-05:00

Brilliant spot...wish they would have done more with the site:

And, apparently they had a plan for a Pats win:

More on Super Bowl Ads

2008-02-07T11:28:00.000-05:00

Yes, 30 second spots were $2.7Million this year. This is a significant amount more than they were in years past...millions more than in the 90s. But, today you get a lot more for your money. You don't just spend 2.7Million on a 30 second spot. Media consumption is more than tv...you have so many extensions that revolve around that 30 second ad. To me, the tv spot is merely the setup. I'm a web guy, so I'm biased, but by purchasing that 30 second spot, you drive your consumers to the web to tell the whole story. That's where the real consumer engagement lies. Then, you've got extensions off the web, such as widgets, blogs, youtube pages, etc. Maybe it's a better investment than it used to be.

Super Bowl Ads

2008-02-05T10:32:00.000-05:00

They were ok this year. I'd like to see some of the marketing plans that call for a $2.7Million 30 second spot. For companies like Salesgenie.com, I'm sure it's a huge chunk, if not all of their '08 ad spend. Interesting that several of the ads were driving to online businesses, such as Salesgenie.com, Careerbuilder.com, and Godaddy.com.
Some of the best spots out there today are the new Monster ads:

Why I don't use Netflix

2008-01-05T15:50:00.000-05:00

Pop-up ads on espn.com:

Ask on Weeds

2008-01-04T12:17:00.000-05:00

During my marathon watching of Seasons 1-3 of Weeds on Showtime last week, I noticed that Ask was used throughout the show. By the way, this is one of my new favorite shows. I can't wait to see what happens in Season 4.

Elf Yourself Redux

2008-01-03T14:04:00.000-05:00

You know a site went viral when nearly everyone you sent it to responded with, "I was sent this by a bunch of other people already".
Kudos to Office Depot...I mean Home Depot...I mean Office Max.

By the way, try to go to the site today, and here's what you get:

Elf Yourself

2007-12-06T12:02:00.001-05:00

Great online campaign from OfficeMax...branded content can work really well if done in a clever, creative way: ElfYourself

URL Strategy

2007-11-29T15:53:00.000-05:00

We've been doing a lot of URL strategy lately for some of our clients, and found this interesting blog: www.goodurlbadurl.com

It's an interesting delemma when launching a campaign. Do you use a sub-domain such as www.companyname.com/campaignname or www.campaignname.com? There are a ton of variables that go into the strategy. Some companies have a great approach, but the brand affects that tremendously. Other variables are the campaign name, media placement, the site, etc. Bottom line is that there is no right or wrong answer. It's more about the execution.

Here are some recent examples:
Amex Plum Card: www.plumcard.com (campaign name URL)
IBM Do Campaign: www.ibm.com/do (sub-domain)
Sprint Ahead Campaign: www.sprintahead.com (combination of both)

Apple Online Ads

2007-11-26T10:26:00.000-05:00

Checkout this ad on CNET at the Microsoft Vista page. Feels like Apple is just kicking MS when they're down.

My take on Hulu

2007-10-31T11:50:00.000-04:00

Hulu is going to be big...huge. I think this is going to revolutionize the way people watch television. In an article on adweek today, they announced that Hulu will NOT be running pre-roll spots, which is great. It really annoys me to sit through 30 second pre-rolls when trying to watch a 1-2 minute clip on cnn.com or espn.com. I'm glad that they are innovating, much like Google with the youtube overlays.

A Great Online Experience

2007-10-26T16:17:00.001-04:00

If you haven't tried out hotels.com recently, I urge you to give it a shot. I was searching for a hotel the other day near a client site in New York. I easily plugged in their address and hit search. The search results screen allows you to adjust the results, using sliders, for a better match.

I moved the price range from $250-$350 (knowing that was within my client's budget), the star rating from 3-5 and guest rating from 3-5. Bam...3 results...I quickly and easily booked the room. Kudos to a great new application from hotels.com.

Mobile Media Adoption

2007-10-05T16:17:00.001-04:00

A recent digital consumer behavior study by AvenueA/Razorfish shows that over 64% of consumers have NEVER used their mobile device to check weather, news, or sports headlines. It would be interesting to dig into that data further, especially post iPhone launch.

The Web as a Direct Response Medium

2007-10-03T15:40:00.000-04:00

As larger companies are shifting traditional ad budgets to online, I've noticed that there is a lot of education. Smart marketers at these companies realize that the web is not necessarily a pure direct response medium.

At OMMA last week, both DoubleClick and Atlas presented their latest online ad reporting. DoubleClick named this report "Exposure to Conversion". Basically, the report shows every piece of online media consumed by someone prior to making the final click-thru. For example, imagine a person shopping for auto insurance online. Suppose they type "State Farm Auto Insurance" in google, and click through to statefarm.com to generate a quote. The Exposure to Conversion report would show every ad (display and text) that the user saw prior to clicking through from google.

So, this person might have seen several State Farm ads over the past 30 days, which ultimately led them to typing that keyword into google.

This allows an advertiser to see the importance of their online advertising, even if their click-thru rates are low. The lesson here is not to discount display advertising because of a low click-thru rate. It's extremely important to understand the entire medium in terms of online ad performance.

At OMMA last week...

2007-09-29T16:35:00.000-04:00

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the OMMA Conference (Online Media, Marketing, and Advertising). This year's topic was "When World's Collide", meaning the convergence of traditional and online media. There were several interesting speakers and panels, and I'll write more about them in the coming days.

Presidential Hopefuls Using the Web

2007-09-12T09:37:00.000-04:00

Saw this on linkedin today...what a great idea from the Obama campaign. Not only does he have his posted question on the home page, but he has his own linkedin profile as well. And, users can add their own answers to his question, where everyone can see the posted responses.

Nike Football...WOW!!!

2007-09-09T15:44:00.001-04:00

The new Nike Football spots on the NFL today with Shawn Merriman and Stephen Jackson literally gave me the chills...amazing ads!

Peyton Manning on TV

2007-09-07T14:33:00.000-04:00

In between filming commercials last night, Peyton Manning threw for 3 touchdowns. He's actually become a great actor since being on Saturday Night Live:

A couple of his tv spots:

Tivo for the Internet

2007-09-05T09:21:00.000-04:00

There is a new product for Firefox users (and apparently for PC as well) which blocks all online advertising. This includes all display ads and text ads (google, yahoo, etc.). This could be very dangerous for the interactive advertising space. Here's the article on the NY Times about the product.

If this becomes wide spread, online marketers will need to find a solution. For instance, sports on tv have become somewhat "tivo-proof". This article on Adage discusses how advertisers are willing to pay a premium for spots on NFL games since most people are watching live, and not fast forwarding through ads.

Does the NFL read my blog?

2007-08-30T11:21:00.000-04:00

After my post from a few weeks ago about the deterioration of professional sports, I read about a new NFL campaign from BBDO.

Matt Hasselbeck in one of the ads.

Actually, Visa did it right with Bonds...

2007-08-29T20:28:00.000-04:00

In an earlier post, I mentioned the fact that a few advertisers most likely paid a premium to be on the outfield wall for Barry Bonds 756 HR, since they'll get media exposure for several years of replays. However, the only advertisement that is easy to read, due to it's light colored font with a blue background, is Visa. Was this done by accident, or is Visa's marketing that smart? And, if you haven't read my other post, can you even tell what the other ads are?

Remember These...

2007-08-28T14:19:00.001-04:00

This should make anyone feel old:

YouTube's Ad Method of Choice

2007-08-23T17:19:00.001-04:00

Google has decided to try using overlays as their ad method to monetizing YouTube. This is so simple...why did it take someone like Google so long to realize that 15 or 30 second pre-rolls were a bad idea?

This doesn't have the overlays, but still a hilarious video on YouTube:
The Scarn Ultimatum

Measuring Your Online Advertising

2007-08-21T17:10:00.001-04:00

A good article in the MIT Technology Review about the effectiveness of online advertising. Too many people are worried about the direct response of "click-throughs" and "conversions".

If click-throughs from contextual/relevant searchers is all your looking for, you're much better off putting all of your media dollars into search.

Here's a blurb:
"Clicks are not the most important thing," Luttrell says. How people find the site is not as important as tracking what they do once they go to the site. IndieClick found that click throughs accounted for only a fraction of the increased site activity created by an ad campaign. On a consistent basis, Luttrell says, site statistics "showed seven times more traffic at that destination site than we would have shown through click through alone."

Marketing messages stick with Bond's 756th

2007-08-09T10:25:00.001-04:00

The video of Barry Bonds breaking the record with his 756th home run was a dream for 3 marketers. The right center field wall, where the ball went over the fence, included signs from Charles Schwab, Bank of America, and Diamond Walnuts. The shot of this will be seen thousands of times over the next few months, and millions more over the next 10 years. That's until Alex Rodriguez breaks the record again.
Apparently the normal cost for an outfield sign at AT&T Park in San Francisco is between $500,000 and $750,000. However, the Giants most likely upped that amount this year, knowing that this could be a historic event seen by billions of people over the coming years.

test

The Web is a Useful Tool

2007-08-03T10:12:00.001-04:00

I recently read the book Rule the Web, by Mark Frauenfelder. It's a great book with several interesting sites that help make your lives more productive. Frauenfelder also keeps a blog with more useful sites.

The reason I bring this up is because I've been using Zillow a lot lately. This is not only a great site to review home prices in your area, but it's also great for businesses. For instance, my wife owns an Event Planning business. If someone requests information, they usually will give her their address. By looking up their address, you can usually determine their budget. If they live in a $50,000 home, it's probably a smaller event. But, if they live in a $2Million mansion in the city, it's probably a more luxurious event.

Social Networking for Kids

2007-08-02T16:03:00.001-04:00

I learned of a new interactive social media site over the weekend called Club Penguin, after watching my 9 year old niece playing on it. Well, today it was announced that Disney purchased them for $700 Million! I hope they continue to work within the existing business model and not let advertisers take over the site.

Deterioration of Professional Sports

2007-07-27T13:17:00.000-04:00

With so many storylines over the past several weeks, professional sports are being looked down upon. How can kids have role models with all the ugly events lately?

- Mike Vick being indicted by the FBI for his illegal role in dog fighting
- Michael Rasmussen was kicked out of the Tour de France...he was leading the race
- Barry Bonds is about to break Hank Aaron's home run record while being accused of taking steroids
- Tim Donaghy has been accused of throwing NBA games for the mafia

These are just today's stories...not to mention the hundreds of scandals in the last several years. I won't even get started on hockey, which didn't even have a season two years ago!

Where am I going with this? Professional sports need to do a much better job of PR...especially with media. Why not let all the major sports partner together, and run campaigns (tv, print, online) promoting the good that some athletes do. There are sharp, bright, caring athletes that we never hear about today. We only hear about the thugs and huge mistakes that some worthless millionaires make. Make people like Tiger Woods, Derek Jeter, Tim Duncan, and other stars promote the good in pro sports today. Leave out any athletes that have any sort of potential scandals. Let kids, teenagers, and even adults learn about the positiveness of professional athletes so we can all have positive role models and enjoy following sports again.

Is your site above the fold?

2007-07-24T16:57:00.001-04:00

Throughout my interactive experience, one of the things most designers, strategists, and even information architects preach is that your site should sit above the fold. With such variance in screen resolution, what does that even mean anymore? I don't think we give savvy Internet users enough credit.
Here's a good article about why keeping your site above the fold is useless. Of course, the content should really determine this.

Beckham Meets Bush

2007-07-18T10:07:00.000-04:00

With all the David Beckham hype, I was really disappointed to see the online campaign from Adidas. The site, Futbol meets Football, is very poorly designed. With some creative thinking and execution, this could have made for an amazing campaign.
On the other hand, the tv spot showcasing his arrival and first match on ESPN this weekend, is excellent. Here's the spot from Wieden + Kennedy:

Page Views

2007-07-10T13:31:00.000-04:00

Nielsen recently announced that they will do away with page view rankings when looking at site visits, and concentrate more on length of time visitors spend on sites.
More and more sites have interactions built into one page, so this is a good thing. Here's a new example from ESPN X Games.

More VW ads with Wilco

2007-07-09T14:32:00.000-04:00

Yahoo SmartAds

2007-07-03T11:17:00.001-04:00

Yahoo just launched SmartAds, which is a way for advertisers to directly target consumers through display advertising based on their demographics. I thought they were already doing this?

New Type of Online Ads

2007-06-27T18:13:00.000-04:00

While researching on Hoovers today, I came across a new type of ad from Vibrant Media. The ads display video upon rolling over text. On their site they claim to provide contextual relevancy with the brand impact of an audio/video advertising experience.
This could have a huge impact on contextual advertising online.

Google Pay-Per-Action

2007-06-26T10:02:00.000-04:00

Google recently rolled out its Pay-Per-Action, which means that advertisers only pay for the ad if a user completes a specific action on a site. Today, ads are payed for per click. Advertisers bid on the amount they want to pay. The more the advertiser is willing to bid, the higher the ranking in Google.
If Pay-Per-Action is successful, this could change the search market altogether. Here's an example:
brettswidgets.com sells widgets online. It costs a total of $2 to make a widget. I use Google Pay-Per-Action and bid $2 per action. I sell my widgets online for a total of $5. So, without doing anything else, I make $1 for every widget sold...period.

Volkswagen and Wilco

2007-06-25T21:30:00.000-04:00

Like the music in the new Volkswagen ads? That band happens to be alt-country band Wilco, and every ad features another song from their new (awesome) album, Blue Sky Blue.

World Series of Poker

2007-06-25T21:03:00.000-04:00

The first WSOP was held in 1970 at Binion's Horshoe casino. Has any other event in history grown at this scale...maybe the Super Bowl? In 2000, there were only 512 entries in the main event (the final $10,000 entry NL holdem tournament). The winner was professional Chris Ferguson, otherwise known as "Jesus". This was the last time a former pro won the main event.
This year, they are expecting over 8,000 entries into the main event. Most of the 55 tournaments that make up the WSOP will be televised on ESPN.
What started this craze? The ESPN marketing geniuses...in 2003, the event was advertised and televised, and a no-name first timer Accountant named Chris Moneymaker won 2.5 million dollars. Suddenly, everyone who had seen Rounders and beat their friends at home games thought they had a chance at millions.
Why am I writing about this? If you had told me 2 years ago I would have never guessed that I'd be playing in the World Series of Poker. Well, I flew back from Vegas last night where I played in event 38. I got knocked out fairly early, but my friend that I went out with finished in 18th place out of almost 3,000 and won $25,000.

Bud Viral Ad

2007-06-20T14:07:00.000-04:00

Another great video...not a commercial, but a great example of how viral marketing can work. I would guess that the reach of this has been much greater than if they paid for tv spots:

New Video

2007-06-20T14:06:00.001-04:00

In keeping up with online media, I've decided to post interesting/funny videos every now and then. Here's a recent one...I'll think of a name for these posts soon.

Online vs Traditional

2007-06-18T10:40:00.000-04:00

Good article on iMedia Connection from Organic's ACD, Gary Nelson.
He talks about traditional agencies working with Interactive agencies on integrated campaigns. In a time when this should be happening less, this is actually happening more. Traditional agencies just don't have the online capabilities, developers, and strategies to do both. My agency gets calls all the time from traditional shops looking to partner.

Safari

2007-06-14T12:00:00.000-04:00

Being a mac user at home, I use safari as my web browser. There's still a few sites that don't work properly, but it seems much faster than firefox. So, I downloaded the alpha version for my work PC the other day. It's a great browser, if you're used to the mac interface. I think they'll have a hard time getting normal IE/Firefox PC users to make the switch.

Natural Search Rankings

2007-06-04T09:15:00.000-04:00

If you don't understand how to get your site ranked higher in Google, checkout this blog post from Seth Godin.

The Power of Blogs

2007-06-04T09:00:00.000-04:00

Don't underestimate the power of blogging, even if you're not a blogger or a blog reader. Last week, engadget, a popular technology blog, wrote about a leaked memo from Apple announcing the delay of the iPhone. Apple's stock dived almost 4 points, dropping about $4 Billion in market capitalization.

Online Media vs TV

2007-05-22T10:28:00.001-04:00

Last night I was watching the season finale of 24, and a commercial came on for the Hyundai Santa Fe, which I only paid attention to because my wife almost bought one a few months ago. The next commercial was a Land Rover spot. The very next commercial was for BMW! This is all great, except for the fact that my wife and I each just bought new cars in the past 4 months, and neither of us will be in the market for at least 3 years. So, Hyundai, Land Rover, and BMW all spent a lot of money to hit a market that has an extremely small percentage of in-market car shoppers. And, that's only the small percentage of people watching live, and not fast forwarding through the commercials with their DVR. On the Internet, they could have easily targeted ONLY those people that are actually shopping for a car, or people whose behavior shows an interest in buying a new car in the near future.

Apple in the UK

2007-05-15T09:01:00.000-04:00

I was in London this weekend visiting some friends, and I saw the Mac vs PC ads over there. Except, they used UK actors. In fact, they were popular British comedians. Some of the ads are taken word for word from the US ads. But, some of them were different. I thought this was interesting. You can view the UK ads here:
http://www.apple.com/uk/getamac/ads/

How to Not Win an Agency Pitch

2007-05-15T08:56:00.000-04:00

Great article on iMedia Connection today called "6 Ways to Blow a Pitch".

I've been involved in a lot of pitches, and we've made many of these mistakes. I've also won business based on us NOT making these mistakes when other agencies have.

A new way to advertise on the web

2007-05-09T09:39:00.000-04:00

On John Battelle's Searchblog today, he talks about a new/innovative way to advertise on the web...getting away from rich media banner ads. Sounds very interesting:
http://battellemedia.com/archives/003616.php

Another reason to switch

2007-05-08T16:48:00.000-04:00

I made the switch from a PC to a Mac about 2 years ago. It took some time to become as productive as I was on a PC, but after a few months it was clear why people make the switch. Two years later (and counting), I'm becoming more and more efficient with my mac.
Here's reason 237 to switch from a PC to a Mac:
I was having some problems with my Mac...when I woke the mac up from sleep, if Firefox was open, it took some time to open. I went to apple.com and clicked on "visit an apple store". I was able to schedule a 15 minute appointment in their "Genius Bar" so that someone could help me resolve the problem and answer any other questions. This is all free!
Instead of hiring senior execs and paying them fat salaries to fix a problem, maybe Michael Dell could take a lesson from Apple.

Online Running Log

2007-05-02T17:30:00.000-04:00

I've found a great site that tracks running trails...mileage and elevation. The site is Gmap-pedometer. It uses google maps to log your running trail and gives you the exact distance. And, you can save your trails as a URL. It's a great tool for runners.
I'm now looking for a tracking log that can incorporate these maps. If anyone knows of anything, please let me know.

Almost Creepy

2007-05-01T10:37:00.000-04:00

My wife and I are finalizing our plans for a european cruise this summer. Today, I was on myspace (responding to an email...I promise I only use myspace once a month!), and of course, I am overloaded with banner ads for last minute cruise deals. It's BT at it's finest. I actually clicked through and almost booked one!

The Entrepreneur In Me

2007-04-06T10:57:00.000-04:00

In case anyone was wondering, I'm no longer with my current agency. I've moved on to a few new ventures. First and foremost, I'm with a startup called Pardot. Pardot is an IT analyst firm, helping businesses find the right choices in B2B IT solutions. I'm helping with their Marketing and Bus Dev efforts. We're mainly doing Search Engine Marketing. It's interesting because our model is changing everyday. Eventually, we'll have a site where a researcher can add their criteria and change things such as budget and licenses needed, where the vendors that meet their needs will dynamically change on the page.

I'm also consulting with a great boutique Interactive Agency called Departure Interactive.

More to come on another venture I'm about to kick-off. Here's a hint...it has to do with my dog Cody.

Second Life

2007-03-11T16:36:00.000-04:00

First of all, anyone who thinks Second Life is a new phenomenon hasn't been in the world of Interactive very long. At the web 2.0 conference in 2005, Philip Rosedale spoke about how Second Life had been around for years.

Today, marketers think they are being smart by advertising in Second Life. Why would anyone want to visit a Dell Store or a Starwood Hotel in Second Life? People who are in this virtual world are there so that they can live a "second life"...something different from the real world. Anyone can visit these places in "real life".

Relevance

2007-03-09T15:55:00.000-05:00

TV commercials can be funny, but do they really get you to do anything? I think the future of advertising is about sending relavant/timely messages to people.

I recently attended an event about the future of marketing. Ted Leonsis, Vice Chairman of AOL, was on the panel. He told the story of how he was driving a few weeks ago, and a voice came out of his dashboard that said, "you need new tires". So, he immediately went to the Mercedes dealership and bought 4 new tires for $900 each. He said that he's watched millions of hours of tv, and he's seen thousands of tire commercials, and he's never bought new tires until then.

iPhone

2007-02-26T00:00:00.000-05:00

Great new iPhone commercial from Apple on the Oscars tonight. Who will spend more on advertising this phone, Cingular or Apple? So far, Apple takes the prize. And, interestingly enough, it's difficult to find "Cingular" on Apple's website today. At $500-$600, it will be interesting to see how the phone sells in June.

Inexperience in Interactive/Online

2007-02-25T20:14:00.000-05:00

It's amazing how much time an agency spends educating their clients. As difficult as it is to find talented people with interactive experience on the agency side, it must be just as difficult to find them on the client side. This is because the market has taken off again in the last couple of years.

For anyone who reads this blog...if you're in the interactive industry, stick with it. You are definitely in demand right now!

Real Estate Marketing

2007-01-22T22:24:00.000-05:00

Why do real estate agents not get marketing? If a house has been on the market for 6 months with no visitors in the last 4, don't you think it's time to try something new? An online marketer wouldn't let an ad run for 4 months without any visitors!!!

My neigbor's house has had a huge for sale sign in the front yard since June. They even took it off the market for a few months so that they could do some upgrades. Why wouldn't the agent take the sign down? If people drive by everyday and see a sign there for months...then one day it's down...there's an impression that the house has been sold. If 2 months later, the sign is back up, it would generate curiosity and interest. If I drive by a house with the same for sale sign for several months, I'm going to think something is wrong with the place! It's almost as if the agent just doesn't care.

I'm going to do the whole neigborhood a favor and build a website. I might even purchase some keywords on google to drive traffic. I'll be I get 10 times the amount of visitors in one weekend. Of course, that would be 10 total visitors!

NFL Playoffs

2007-01-01T22:11:00.000-05:00

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted. My real job has been swamped the past few months which has left me with little time to post. I finally got a break last week as my parents took our entire family on a cruise. There were 12 of us celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary. It was a 7 day cruise where we visitied Turks and Caicos, Tortola, St Martin, and Half Moon Cay in the Bahamas. Great trip overall...really enjoyed the Holland America cruise (www.hollandamerica.com).

Since my Chiefs miraculously made the playoffs, I thought I'd share a good site. This is a viral campaign from the NFL to keep fans interested even if their team didn't make it: http://playoffs.nfl.com/bandwagon/

Only one problem with this campaign...if you're team IS in the playoffs, it gives you a different team to root for. I answered all 5 questions, and they told me that I should root for the Colts! This is the Chiefs 1st opponent. Oops

Web 2.0 Conference

2006-11-13T21:49:00.000-05:00

I'm really upset that I didn't get a chance to attend this year's Web 2.0 Conference in San Francisco. I attended last year, and it was probably the best conference I've ever been to. The speakers were amazing, and I learned a tremendous amount about the next generation of the web. This year, due to my job transition, I didn't have time to go. Lazy/bad excuse, I know, but I hope to go again next year.

To see some of the highlights, here's the link: http://www.web2con.com/

Online Holiday Sales

2006-11-05T21:52:00.000-05:00

Jupiter Research says that online holiday retail sales should grow to $32 billion in 2006, with an estimated 114 million people shopping online. This tells me that anyone can make money this holiday season with a good online marketing plan.

New Site

2006-11-01T21:20:00.000-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts lately...been a crazy few weeks at my real job. I did want to point out that one of my favorite sites was recently redesigned. It's not a total redesign, just some minor updates: www.imediaconnection.com

The new design looks great.