Your Brand Is A Monolithic Turd/The Big Idea

I hope that the title got your attention because I am vexed!


I am not angry at anything or anyone in particular, I am just frustrated (oh no, don’t be worried, I will be fine :) )


I have been hearing a lot of talk about the big idea (and people wanting one…).


I think that we all want to be known as the person who thought of “the big idea” and I think this is part of a fundamental issue in modern marketing (anyone who knows me knows that, I too fall into this odious pool of self gratification at times).


Sometimes we lose site of what Ayn Rand referred to as objectivism. I am no expert on objectivism (I am not even a big fan, speak to my good friends Joe Szala, Shane Kalman or my father, and they will probably be able to fill you in more about Ayn Rand).


One thing that I do know about the tenets of Rand’s ideas is the following formula



                        =function/form


(Joe S., you must be having a field day that I wrote that)



Function above form/The form is defined by the function



I do not think this concept should be stuck to in all life’s endeavors. In fact, fine art has taught us that formalism (the reverse equations where, there form IS the function) can be very powerful but, MARKETING IS NOT FINE ART %*$(*)($*)$)(*$)(*$!!!!!!!


Yes, marketing can be very creative but, if and only if (did I just use a syllogism?) it serves its function.


Back to the big idea. Who is it serving, you or your consumers?



-A big idea is one that listens to consumers’ wants and delivers them wrapped in delight.


-A big idea is one adds value to your brand.


-A big idea engages consumers in a meaningful way.


-A big idea feeds your bottom line (whilst doing the aforementioned items)


-A big idea does not need an award to qualify it as a big idea~!



THE END



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The Lincoln Group


I am sure a lot of you heard about the Lincoln Group/Iraq war PR issue. I heard about it today on For Immediate Release (yes, I know I should be more socially conscious and should have known about this already) and I am going to reserve judgment. I would love some comments that can get the debate started. Here are a few links to get you going;


Yahoo


The Washington Post


FMNN


Al Jazeera.net


I am really looking for the other side of the story but, I have to get to work. Please send me the other side and I will post it. I know that my opinion is inevitably shining through but, I really do not want to seem as if I am pushing an agenda. This is not a political blog, it is a media blog and I would like to open a forum where both sides could be heard!


(slant...sorry, this goes against my last statement but, this picture is interesting. I don't side with the opinion of this picture per se, I am just trying to evoke  debate)



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That's iPod, Not MyPod

Let me start by saying that I am an a long time Apple user. I always have at least one apple computer around for when creative side needs air. Over the years, I have noticed the increasing arrogance of the Apple user and, I have to admit at times I exhibited similar arrogance. After all, Macs are so fun, easy to use and cool looking!


The times they are a changing. The arrogance the once emanated from Mac users is now a foul stench coming from corporate! I kind of like some of the arrogance from the users (or at least the pride of the uses) but, corporate arrogance is never a pretty thing.


Anyone who has been following the media news (or anyone in the blogosphere) has probably heard about the latest and greatest displays of arrogance from Apple about their iPod.


Apple apparently feels they own the term pod and the blogger's are restless. Here is my tribute to the BACA movement (Bloggers Against Corporate arrogance).


         


       


David Reed Speaks


Joseph Jaffe Speaks


CC Chapman Speaks


David Berlind/ZDNet Speaks


Google Only Listens and reports back


Marketing Momentum Speaks


Some Italian Guy Speaks   


The Librarians are in the house


Is this anti-democratic?   and the science folk



Shell and Neville asked if Apple was going to stake claim on the term tunes :)


Insanity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Steve, I love ya, can't we work this out?





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Is Google Monopolzing Information or Are They Simply Providing The Most Cutting Edge Technologies On The Planet?

Ok, so the title of this blog post was merely an attention grabber but it does  mirror the sentiments of some. I do a lot of work with Google and, although there is a growing sense of hubris, I feel at the end of the day their is no one over at Google who is really out to do any harm to others and that they are simply acting within the confines of our economic framework.


In fact, to all the Microsoft haters out there, I am going on record as saying, "I do not think they are the evil empire!". They broke the rules, got punished for it, MOVE ON! (I digress).


 I was on my way to work this morning listening to one of my favorite podcasts (the M show with John Wall) and he mentioned this:



I am not sure what I think of this yet but, I was hoping that I could get some comments. In fact, I am not going to say anything at all right now, I would prefer this post to be an invite for an open forum so, please send me your thoughts!


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Max On/Max Off

Why do I bother with those silly titles? :)


Anyhow, in my coverage of OMMA I missed a few things. I had to run out of Max Kalehoff's session prematurely so, I am providing as much subsequent information as my apology to those of you who would have like to have gotten more from my post entitled, OMMA EAST DAY 2 YouTube Me-Too: Building Buzz Through Video (shortened due to dell laptop burning my lap)



He also provided me with this link (thanks Max)

http://consumerengagement.blogspot.com/2006/09/engagement-video-series-stephen-starr.html


I am so swamped at work right now or I would right more but, gotta run!


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MMA at OMMA: The Mobile Marketplace

Marketing Track: Lyceum/Carnegie Room
Session Description:
The Mobile Marketing Association brings together industry experts to discuss the impact m-commerce is having and will have on the mobile marketing industry. Consumers will soon be able to use text messaging to order and have products, samples, rebates and loyalty points fulfilled, all through their mobile device. Meet innovators who are using m-commerce to revolutionize marketing, optimize media, understand their customers and drive sales--and have your questions addressed on what’s next.
Speakers:
 Erin Loop, Senior Promotions Manager, CosmoGirl
 Todd Anderman, President, Dennis Digital
 Kimberly Lyons, Group Director, Innovation/MediaVest
 Samantha Saturn, Vice President, Digital Media Marketing, Columbia Records / SonyBMG
 Moderator: Mark Kaplan, Co-Founder; Chief Strategy Officer, Assembly



  • The next age in direct to consumer marketing

  • Ubiquitous technical compatibility is a hurdle for the mobile space

  • Mobile Commerce and the shop text marketplace

  • Saturn "we are already engaging in level 1" getting fans content and information via text message

  • Preparing for when consumers what the content via mobile

  • Owning the consumer experience when and where consumers want

  • Changing Relationship with brands

  • The right place at the right time (again)

  • Many layers that can be built into a campaign

  • Next Generation, commerce and WAP

  • part of the key is educating the consumer on how the process works

  • SHOPTEXT- (i am sorry to say I am not that familiar with this, I will find out more and post)

  • MMA helping to make consumers feel more comfortable with transacting through the mobile medium by providing a central body

  • Orchestration of marketing in a meaningful way across all channels

  • Location based programs are the holy grail

  • RFID/Bluetooth

  • Combining Transaction with experience

  • Pontiac G6 campaign


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PM Keynote

Creative: It Ain't What it Used to Be
Chuck Porter
Chairman
Crispin Porter + Bogusky


Geoff Ramsey


WOM is where it is at!


The Secret to Viral- It has to be good (ummm)


Chuck Porter



  • "It is not a whole new ball game...it hasn't changed much"

  • There is not learning without emotion- Plato

  • Creative Persuasion

  • Popular Culture wants to change, part of our job is to manipulate it

  • "We don't pay a lot of attention to big trends"

  • "We pay a lot of attention to instinct"

  • Modern  media confusion is centered around fragmentation

  • Life Changing Media Events- 1. Growth of Broadband

  • Are these things changing the way we should approach how we convince people to do things

  • Viral- You have to give the people things they want to show their friends. It is a statement for that person "I know what is good"

  • "You can't hide online"

  • Stay Loose and Back Winners

  • Throw Stuff up and see what sticks


These guys undermine my add value as, some of their adds are merely entertaining but, they are so damn entertaining I do not know what to say


Your Jetta Meets Tree


Your Jetta Meets Rhino


These ARE selling cars but, there is more to it. There is a cross media attack that is absolutely genius. They capitalize on consumer feedback and create ads based on it.


He showed the Rabbit commercial and after all of the cuteness, there is a price tag, BRILLIANT!


Then you can go online and mate rabbits and get a family tree.


Sith Sense Campaign Commercial and Online game



  • One Voice

  • Synergy of Voice

  • Coke Zero Lawyer Commercial (funniest things ever)

  • Go Overboard! (YESSSSSSSSS)


As everyone knows, these guys rock but, this just sealed it for me! This was a mind changing presentation and I am going to look at TV spots in a different way. Not 30 second spots but, TV spots in general.


THE CREATIVE
RESOLVED: Campaigns that Seek Out Consumers will Fail. Campaigns that Consumers Seek Out Will Succeed.
The model of lining a customer up in your sights and launching the perfect campaign at her is dead. Why? Because the internet has allowed consumers to evolve from passive to active customers, pulling in to them all the content and product research and even individualized tastes they desire. Ads once lauded for their ability to interrupt and arrest consumers are now panned as intrusive, rude, even unacceptable. How then can advertisers hope to engage consumers who can sniff out marketing in authenticity in a single whiff? Is there a future for interruptive campaigns, or even standalone ads? Is 'viral' a passing buzzword, or another way of saying 'new media'?

Chuck Porter, Chairman, Crispin Porter + Bogusky
Ty Montague, Chief Creative Officer and Co-President, JWT New York
Simon Needham, Co-Founder and Group Creative Director, Attik
Tony Granger, Chief Creative Officer, Saatchi & Saatchi
Moderator: Gregory Wilson, CEO, Red Ball Tiger


Ty was in a great article and on the cover of Fast Company, I recommend it!



  • Can we still target the consumer in quantities and make it justifiable

  • If you put something on TV People want to watch, they will watch it

  • Porter- "The Media Ought To Come Out of The Idea"

  • We are trying to avoid irrelevance

  • The universe is not made of atoms, it is made of stories, it is how we make sense of our lives and find out who we are, the way we learn

  • The reason there is not more great work is because it is very hard to do- Porter


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OMMA EAST DAY 2 YouTube Me-Too: Building Buzz Through Video (shortened due to dell laptop burning my lap)

Session Description:
If you upload it, will they watch? More often than not, they won't. And sometimes when they do, it's not for the reasons you intended. As viral video grows in popularity, it brings with it as many challenges as it does opportunities. What elements of a video give it pass-along appeal? What tactics can successfully jumpstart a video and give it its initial viewership? How should brands respond to parodies and other consumer generated jibes?
Speakers:
 Ian Schafer, CEO, Deep Focus
 Cynthia Francis, CEO, Reality Digital
 Tom Ajello, Executive Creative Director, Agency.com
 Fritz Grobe, Founder, EepyBird.com
 Steven Starr, CEO and Co-founder, Revver
Moderator: Max Kalehoff, VP Marketing, Nielsen BuzzMetrics



  • Social Media has almost become a cliche and many big marketers are jumping in

  • A lot of money is being spent in the social media space

  • What is the right way to join the conversation?


  • What makes a video viral and how can we create something that people want to pass on?

    • Coke/Mentos video

    • Authenticity

    • Document of Passion or obsession

    • It is difficult to "push"

    • No Need for high production value, organic

    • Those who try to hard fail

    • being more human

    • Humor, pop culture zeitgeist

    • Sense of levity




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OMMA EAST 2006 THE MARKETERS RESOLVED: Online-fueled Media Upheaval will drive Marketers away from Advertising.

New internet content models are threatening to destroy the advertising business. Some of the internet's most popular destinations are hostile to advertisers or simply don't or can't accommodate them. Faced with spending more money on less effective media, advertisers are tuning out advertising and turning up good old-fashioned marketing, even taking a page from publishers' books and creating content of their own as a means of reaching and engaging customers. Do they continue to spend on advertising simply because their competitors are? With pressure mounting on advertising's ROI, will advertisers find there are ways to slash media budgets and preserve market share? Is New Media not 'Media' at all, but really an altered reality with new marketing laws still to be discovered?

Speakers:
Stephanie Bittner, Director of Brand Advertising and Communications, Starbucks
Rex Briggs, Founder and CEO, Marketing Evolution
Tim Kopp, Vice President of Worldwide Interactive Marketing, Coca-Cola
Babs Rangaiah, Senior Lead, Media and Entertainment, Unilever HPC
James Mahoney, Director of Media and Brand Advertising, Capital One
Moderator: Lydia Loizides, Vice President, Director, Media and Technology Experience Analytics for The Consumer Experience Practice, Interpublic Media



  • Has the Internet damaged advertising?


  • Companies get scared when they realize that they have to take action post ad efforts

    • Grabbing data and making it work for

    • It used to be you could know who would win market share based on how much they advertised

    • Today, it is not how much, it is how well




  • Commitment to Innovation (agreed)

  • More than metrics, how people are talking about us, how can we influence the conversation?

  • Taking a larger view over ROI and CPA

  • Cross Marketing Shared Learning

  • Relationships with Brand change, technology has played a factor in this

  • One of the questions was the role of IPTV



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OMMA EAST DAY 2 AM Keynote

AM Keynote:
Can the Marriage of Advertising and Marketing be Saved?
How Marketers Can Go Around the Intermediaries to Claim and Hold Their Own Customers
Speakers:
Rex Briggs
Founder and CEO, Marketing Evolution
Tim Kopp
Vice President of Worldwide Interactive Marketing, Coca-Cola


It is funny how the AM keynotes are always significantly less crowded than the PM keynotes :) Well, perhaps it is not that funny.


Geoff Ramsey




  • Geoff Ramsey Recap- Beth Comstock- It's all about storytelling

    • If you are not failing you are not doing your job



  • Most of us are either asleep of ahead of the curve

  • Who's in control

  • It is about listening to the consumer more than ever, not about marketers losing control


  • Blogging and Trust

    • between 3 and 12% trust blogs (shoddy and vague research as far as I am concerned)



  • Note from the author- Geoff, we heard this at eTail!

  • Trust, Social Networks, lonelygirl etc.

  • Social Networks as places to learn about the demographic


Tim Kopp and Rex Briggs



  • Rex Briggs "What Sticks" (Halley Hopkins recommended this book, I am pretty sure I already ordered it)

  • Marketers dialogue with consumers

  • Ability for dialogue has increased- More one to one with more media choices

  • The old way was to look at consumers undifferentiated- that will not work now


  • ROMO- return on marketing objectives

    • Measurement of User Created content

    • Inclusion of COP Communication Optimization process

    • Collaboration




  • Integrated Marketing

    • Monologue to Dialogue (isn't there anything new to talk about, weren't we talking about this last year?)



  • Consumers choosing to interact how, when and where they want

  • How do we become part of the dialogue


  • Tim Kopp on the thiry second spot. "I don't think it is dead, I just think it is irrelevant...at times"

    • He then goes on to show the 30 second spot "Happiness Factor"




Ok, I don't get it. This is a truly typical 30 second spot. Does nothing for me, sells nothing. Why is this good marketing? The Production value is great. IS THIS SELLING ANYTHING????? It sure does not add value to the product experience.



  • Direct Engagement- Coke.com- Connecting People (this I like)

  • Measurement is the key- online and offline ROMO


  • Keyword: Collaborate

    • How do media/advertising/marketing work together



  • Marketing as a supply chain


  • The Power of Media Partners

    • Scale

    • Environment

    • Aggregation of interests for the consumers

    • Independent credibility

    • Access to consumer data




  • Honest Discussion for continuous improvement - Did this really work?

    • Perhaps there were not good metrics for success to begin with




  • What is the process to guarantee success


    • You need a COP

      • Define Success

      • Scenario Plan

      • Take Action





  • Should the marriage between advertising and marketing be saved?



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Afternoon Keynote

THE CONTENT
RESOLVED: Only Content that Stands Out Online Can be Monetized; But Publishers Aren't Producing the Online Content that Most Excites.
Given the challenged advertising models in all media, content owners are already grappling with new ways to monetize their assets online. Read: Paid Content. But a new dilemma has surfaced: the very content which publishers seek to monetize is now rivaled by advertisers entering the content game directly and consumers trumping everyone with their own amusements. How can publishers create online content that stands out when everyone is creating content online? Are we facing a new arms race, where companies compete on sheer tonnage of articles, videos, podcasts and games under their corporate umbrellas? Or will quality prevail over quantity, restoring content owners to their traditional place at the center of the media hierarchy?

Speakers:
Beth Comstock, President, Digital Media and Market Development, NBC Universal
Jim Bankoff, EVP, Product and Programming, AOL
Patrick Keane, Head of Sales Strategy, Google
Larry Kramer, President, CBS Digital Media
Jeff Karish, Head of Strategy, Yahoo! Media Group
Moderator: Michael Wolff, Columnist, Vanity Fair



  • Online CPM's 1/10 to 1/15 they are in print

  • Is quality the issue, is the issue what can we do on the cheap?


  • Larry Kramer- Business Models are still not full mature

    • Consumers are taking more catch of how and when they get content

    • People want news and they are going to pay for it




  • Beth Comstock

    • We need to become more efficient with our news gathering



  • 6% of domestic ad spend going into interactive

  • The content that we have to make for this new medium is fundamentally different than in traditional media (AMEN)


  • two Content Paradigms

    • Repurposing of Content

    • Growth of Something Unique- Social Media



  • Traditional forms of having trouble fitting into new formats

  • Who should be creating content for this new medium

  • Production solely for the web

  • AOL/Time Warner - Are we at the point when something like this makes sense?

  • Blogs, Music Videos

  • Why would you want a major media company which much larger cost structures engaging in things such as blogs when their are already people who know how to do it and are doing it well?

  • Kramer- The long tail continues to grow longer- Major media can help navigate

  • Video is becoming as prevalent as text


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Search and BT: The Coming Storm (incomplete due to battery death, I hate Dell)

 Monday 9/25
12:15pm - 1:00pm
Media Track: Alvin/Edison Room
Session Description:
With its demonstrable ROI and relative ease of execution, search marketing has long been the darling of online advertisers. Behavioral Targeting has started to demonstrate its vast potential, yet can be difficult to implement, and continues to hindered by issues of privacy and scale. Now that the search engines are firmly inserting themselves into the behavioral landscape, will the two go together like peanut butter and jelly, or taste more like peanut butter and tuna fish?
Speakers:
 Omar Tawakol, Chief Marketing Officer, Revenue Science
 Matt Spiegel, Managing Director, Resolution Media
 John Mracek, Vice President, Product Marketing, Yahoo!
 Anna Papadopolus, Interactive Media Director, Euro RSCG
 Fran Maier, Executive Director, TRUSTe
Moderator: Alan Chapell, President, Chapell Associates


I am probably going to run out of batteries before this session starts :( but, I will cover it as long as I can.

Is BT providing the elusive one to one marketing promise of the web
Search behavior leveraged to add to behavioral profiles and intent
BT Search for Branding and DR Purposes "triggers of intent" Omar Tawakol revenue science
Added complexity of BT to search- Tagging etc (this should really not be an issue but, i know it well)
Creative Cycling- Do you retarget if someone does a broad search "travel" and if so what is the message

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Does RSS = R$$? Feeding Publisher Profitability/Pheedo Shmeedo

Monday 9/25
11:15am - 12:00pm
Online Content Track: Duffy Room
Session Description:
RSS has already changed the way the world consumes media, moving the web toward a subscription model, where users decide what content to receive and when. And in turn, RSS is changing the world in which advertisers can spread their message. Publishers can now accurately measure their audience for feeds and choose the best approach for inserting advertisements. Feeds offer not only a choice of audience but perhaps more importantly, an audience who has chosen to listen. This panel discussion will examine the benefits of the engaged RSS subscriber and how he or she can be measured. What does the future of advertising look like with RSS subscriber rates growing by the millions? How can reader data be harnessed to produce impactful creative? What’s the best way to monetize RSS readers—with CPC or CPM rates?
Speakers:
Jake Dobkin, Publisher and Founder, The Gothamist
Jeff Hinz, SVP, Director of Client Services, ID Media
Ed Manning, Vice President of Business Development, Private Label, NewsGator
Scott Cherkin, Director of Business Development, Travel Ad Network
Moderator: Dana VanDen Heuvel, Director of Business Development, Pheedo


Gothamist- RSS makes up of 15% of traffic


Travel 2.0- Travel blogging is a new buzz phrase


Pheedo calls themselves the Premier RSS Ad Network, that is not accurate!



  • RSS users tend to be more engaged

  • From Text ads to image ads

  • Growing Community around RSS and search



On a side note from the other. I hate the be the cynical early adopter but, this is old data. Where has everyone been.



  • Thankfully there was a feedburner mention

  • Slow growth (quite obvious, just wait until vista comes out)

  • Higher Conversion Rates within RSS Feeds

  • Multi Platform helping volume

  • Community around information

  • "Chicklet" Ubiquity- Make those things easier to use for the common folk

  • There is a user defined behavioral aspect to RSS reading (people getting classified feeds when they are in market for certain goods etc.)

  • A large % of people using RSS do not know they are using RSS

  • Finding new ways of presenting RSS is the key


It seems that all the people on this board are looking at different ways to monetize RSS. From private label readers to in- feed ads. I foresee the potential of an RSS SPAM PERIOD since the push is so hard and untargeted. I hope this does not transpire but, if the advertisers are not using the technology they are advertising in, it could mean trouble.


My recommendation is, move slow, move smart or we will wind up in the same place we are with email


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Conference This! OMMA EAST

I am gearing up for OMMA east!


I am pretty excited to hear Chuck Porter, Carl Fremont, Larry Kramer, Ross Levinsohn and many others. I am excited to here what the community is saying about RSS, broadband video, social media, IPTV and many other topics of the day.


This is a very big year for the interactive media space and I am sure a lot of ground will be covered.


For those of you who read my blog on a regular basis, the next two days will focus on OMMA so plan accordingly :)


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