Content (Delivery) Is King!

The saying, “content is king” has echoed in the halls of media agencies for as long as I can remember (which is not that long, but I imagine the saying has been a popular media war chant for a very long time).


Well, as we say at Morpheus Media, if content is king, than syndication is its kingdom. This is dramatically exemplified in the current 700MHz spectrum land grab. Whoever controls this so called, beachfront property, will have a significant leg up in the war for consumer attention due to added ability to control how content reaches consumers.


The most interesting part of the 700Mhz spectrum is it’s cross industry appeal. Cable companies, telco’s and internet companies alike are all fawning after this highly coveted band.  ATT&T recently purchased a portion of this spectrum not being auctioned off from Aloha Parnters for 2.5billion dollars, and while it is not shocking that a telco purchased this block, the way in which this spectrum is used will be interesting. AT&T, long known simply as a phone company, will most likely use this spectrum to expand their television service, Uverse and other new initiatives.  


Watch this space, it is about to get really interesting!



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Across The Sound Month Of Experimentation Player/The Experiment Continues

SHUT UP AND EXPERIMENT!


This is the playlist that was made for the Joseph Jaffe's Month Of Experimentation. The third clip was a special cut to be used for the submission (I apologize for the lo res)


Thanks to Kirk Skodis and Real Pie Media





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Convergence--The Sheep Show Us What It Means

Everyone is talking about media convergence but few actually know what it means. An even fewer number of people know know how to leverage the concept of convergence in modern entertainment and entertainment marketing.


Well folks, if you want to learn how the concepts of convergence and transmedia storytelling can be leverage in the modern entertainment space, you need look no further than the trailblazing work done by the Electric Sheep Company.


For all you Second Life naysayers, open your minds and look beyond what is right in front of you. This is not about Second Life. This is about non-linear, cross platform, participatory storytelling.


A new age of media has dawned and at the heart of it is NOT consumer generated media. Consumer generated media is only a part of this new age of media. One of the most important tenets of this new era is the ability to tell stories that incorporate all of us. After all, the best stories are a reflection of the human condition, so why not involve these same humans to help sculpt the stories that entertain us.







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6 Things That Second Life and Facebook Have in Common

As you may (or may not) know, I am in the heart of the valley all week attending two conferences. The first one was Graphing Social Patterns, and I am currently at Virtual Worlds 2007.


As you also may (or may not) know is that I tend to take copious notes at these conferences, alas, my Dell battery is crapping out on me (after only a year) and I was not able to live blog today.


After taking a whole day of hand written notes, I am exhausted, and am not in the mood to write it all up. So instead, I am making a list for you :)


6 Things That Second Life and Facebook Have in Common



  1. Second Life And Facebook are both virtual worlds



  1. Second Life and Facebook are both persistent environments



  1. Within Facebook and Second Life, content is social currency



  1. Second Life and Facebook are both storytelling vehicles, however most of the time, the content is the community



  1. In both Second Life and Facebook, brands need to adapt to the existing environment and not vice versus or they will certainly fail



  1. For marketers, Second Life and Facebook must be used as a strategic lever, not a strategy unto itself. If these platforms are not part of some larger push you will most definitely fail.


I have been thinking about social networks and virtual worlds a lot this week (obviously) and have many more things to add to this list, but I added all the items, YOU would not be able to contribute.



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I WANT TO HEAR WHAT YOU THINK!



A Media Circ.us Gets Into VW

Virtual Worlds Conference 2007 that is!


I will do my best to cover the event despite the fact that my Dell is crapping out and the battery is only lasting 30 minutes. Great timing for this to happen, thanks Dell :)


Anyhow, there were some great announcement today that coincided with the event and I recommend you take a look.


One Avatar To Rule Them All


A "Sheepish" Way To Browse Second Life



Stay tuned for all the goods from the show!



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What Do Activity Streams, Presence Sharing and Search Have In Common?

Google does all of them!


The announcement of Google buying Jaiku had me a bit confused, but the more I think about it, the more sense it makes. After all, what is the one thing that Facebook does that everyone is equally fond of, news feeds. When you take news feeds and bring them to the mobile phone, you have activity streams and presence sharing. So why should Google not get in the game?


Some buzz in the blogosphere:


Scoble


Mashable


Is this a direct attack on Facebook?


Is the big G getting into the lifestreaming space?



OF COURSE!


Wouldn't you?


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AMEDIACIR.CLIP: Content Convergence

The hardware may still be diverging into many specialty devices, but the content is converging and is becoming available in the most unlikely of place, provided by the most unlikely media bodies.

Did you even think of AT&T as a media body 5 years ago?
If not, think again!















clipped from money.cnn.com





AT&T U-verse TV to Include TBS and CNN in HD






Baseball Fans Can Now Enjoy the MLB Playoffs in HD With AT&T U-verse TV






SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- AT&T Inc. today announced a distribution agreement with Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. to deliver TBS in HD and CNN HD as part of the AT&T U-verse(SM) TV High Definition (HD) channel lineup.







The deployment of next-generation video services reflects AT&T's strategy to become customers' preferred communications and entertainment provider and to deliver a video solution that provides greater value, flexibility and simplicity than competitors' offerings. AT&T U-verse TV represents a critical new service in the company's video portfolio, which includes AT&T Homezone(SM) service and satellite broadcast offerings. AT&T U-verse TV also underscores the company's strategy to deliver integrated services to the three screens that consumers value most: the TV, the PC and the wireless phone.









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Branding Versus Selling

A series of tweets (status updates on Twitter, for the uninformed) beginning with a tweet by Chris Brogan and progressing to this tweet, followed by a tweet from Jake Luer lead me to thinking about the difference between branding and selling (it also led me to challenge Chris Brogan to a fight at Podcamp, but don’t worry, The Diva Rockin has requested all proceeds go to beer).


The Question Is: Is Branding Completely Different Than Selling?


Let’s start with a Wikipedian definition of Branding:



  • A brand includes a name, logo, slogan, and/or design scheme associated with a product or service. Brand recognition and other reactions are created by the use of the product or service and through the influence of advertising, design, and media commentary. A brand is a symbolic embodiment of all the information connected to the product and serves to create associations and expectations around it.


To be fair, lets also take a look at the definition in Dictionary.com:


tr.v.   brand·ed, brand·ing, brands



  1. To mark with or as if with a hot iron. See Synonyms at mark1.

  2. To mark to show ownership.



    1. To provide with or publicize using a brand name.



  4. To mark with disgrace or infamy; stigmatize.

  5. To impress firmly; fix ineradicably: Imagery of the war has branded itself into the national consciousness.


(I don’t think it is necessary to get an official definition of “selling” so let’s take it from here)


If we analyze all of the definitions of branding, the net output is the fact that there is an element of distinction for the purpose of differentiation.


Why would one want to create differentiation for a product or service?


There are many potential answers to this, but it is my belief that one of the core answers would be to sell.


I do recognize that the two functions are different, but the reason I felt the need to write this is I feel that it is important to recognize the two as being part of the same function. I think that there is often times a negative connotation with the concept of selling, whereas branding somehow has a more acceptable ring to it, and this is where I find fault.


I think we all sell ourselves in one way or another every day, and I see no shame in that. After all, if you have a great product (yourself) why not sell it (of course there are negative ways one can understand the phrase “sell yourself” but I don’t think I need to disambiguate)?


You should love the best brand in the world, yourself. And there is no shame in selling it!


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Graphing Social Patterns: Virtual Gifts, Points, & Currency panel: Show Me The Bunny!

Susan Wu CRV (moderator), Adam Rifkin Renkoo, Gregg Spiridellis JibJab, David Gentzel SocialMedia



  • What are virtual goods? (3 types according to Susan Wu)



    • Decorative Virtual Goods



      • Skins, objects etc

      • Collectible as branded goods, highest ASPs (average selling price) in this category



    • Functional Virtual Goods



      • Things that change your experience



        • Games

        • Facebook Graffiti



      • Supply can be limited

      • Higher ASP and conversion rates than decorative goods



    • Behavioral Virtual Goods



      • Custom actions



        • Now we have poke, super poke but in the future there will most likely by things crated that signify user intent, interests etc



      • Highest Margin



        • You don’t have to create the content



      • Most Scalable








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Graphing Social Patterns-- From Search to Social: A Brief History of the Web (raw notes)

From Search to Social: A Brief History of the Web


Danny Sullivan, Third Door Media



  • 1st Gen—On the Page



    • Location on frequency on the page mattered etc. (he told is he would start from the very beginning. J



  • 2nd Gen—Off the Page



    • Inbound links etc.



  • 3rd Gen ???



    • Vertical Search

    • Personalized and Social Search



      • Reshaping search based on what you do, where you visit, who you know etc.



    • Personalization Influencers



      • Google personalized home page

      • Personalized search

      • Etc…



    • How do we get more social?



      • Eurekester

      • Yahoo My Web



        • New ideas came about, celebrity searchers etc.



      • Neither Succeeded

      • But what about Facebook



    • The Social Graph



      • Watch what others are doing

      • Monitor clicks in a more trusted environment

      • Reshape results based on what your friends seem to like



        • Problems



          • Friend Pollution

          • Do you have to filter “true” friends

          • Do you need to consider what you will share?







    • Do you really want to share your search results, and are they always relevant?



      • Experimenting with verticalizing via group, friends and other factors in the aggregate



    • Should Facebook develop their own search engine?

    • What might they do?



      • Go vertical

      • Event search

      • Others?

      • …Or Discovery




    • Search Versus Discovery

      • Search is on demand

      • Discovery is related but specific in what you want



        • Stumbleupon, Digg

        • iGoogle related magic tabs









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Graphing Social Patterns: Big Brands & Facebook (RAW NOTES)

Big Brands & Facebook: Demographics, Case Studies & Best Practices -
Charlene Li, Forrester Research



  • Marketing on Facebook is not about advertising



    • You cannot think of this as a traditional marketing/advertising channel

    • It is a subtle, but important difference



  • Facebook is about talking to each other, not talking to people

  • Who is using Facebook today



    • Is it all college kids?



      • 57% of US users are in college

      • Demographics will change dramatically over the next 12 months



    • Half the adults that use Facebook say they want their favorite marketers to have a presence on Facebook



  • What worked for marketers on Facebook in the past, will not work in the future

  • Concerned about efficacy of ads on Facebook.



    • People are not seeing direct response results

    • If tied to a larger campaign there may be more of an effect



  • Targeting people based on self confessed interests



    • Tells you a lot more than demo info



  • Sponsors stories have seen a 4-25% higher CTR for these items

  • Facebook currently optimizes news feeds based on behavior, in the future, will ads be optimized this way?

  • Facebook marketing requires communicating, not advertising



    • Sponsored Groups

    • Media buy can be used to drive traffic to that page



      • Costs have inflated to 6 figure





  • Examples of sponsored groups



    • Jeep



      • Group looks like an ad, not a good practice

      • There already is an existing community around the fact that Jeep users wave to each other



        • Why did Jeep not sponsor that?





    • Victoria’s Secret



      • Looks like and ad as well

      • Engage users in games

      • Users commenting on page



        • This does not only show up on the advertisers page, it shows up on the news feed of that user





    • Ernst and Young



      • Charlene’s favorite example


      • Engaged members in conversation to recruit college student

        • Top recruiter is responsible for answering people directly








  • Best Practices

    • Understand how to meet needs of a group

    • Create a unique experience

    • Enable discussion board, The Wall, Photos

    • Read and respond to comments

    • Be transparent about your role and perspective

    • Create apps around things that friends do already

    • Layer things on top of the social graph, don't interrupt it

    • Make sure you can get feedback from users

    • Make sure the app is something people will want to pass on

    • Facebook marketing is about relationships





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Graphing Social Patterns: Reid Hoffman Keynote (RAW NOTES)



  • Social Networks and Platforms


    • Friendster etc.




      • Was this something new?






    • Temporal History




      • Ability to hack in widgets etc.




      • Ning




        • Configure your own social network






      • Facebook

        • The first broad social graph




      • Why are social networks platforms?




        • They embody key data for applications useful in the real world




          • Early example: Friendster as dating service




          • The data+consumer engagement=channel for these apps








      • Facebook Versus Ning




        • Facebook already had a social graph












  • Social Networks and Professional Networks


    • Search


      • Facebook is not trying to effect business

        • you cannot search by "open source" and find people with these competencies

        • search company connections not easy on facebook






    • Answers

      • Linked In Answers




    • It is a misconception that anything can be used for anything. Of course it can, but do you want it to

      • For business you do not want people to find who you are on Facebook


      • One graph to rule them all?

        • Personal theory is that there will be multiple graphs

        • different rules in different brands and social networks Facebook Platform: some of the opportunities enabled









  • What does the social platform mean for the evolution of the web?




  • Facebook Platform: some of the opportunities enabled

    • Microcosm of the web: how do you get above all the clutter

    • The challenge of the second act


    • How do you create something that is sustainable


      • Facebook Economics

        • Cost per installs? Is this really a fair way for agencies to buy media

        • Targeted advertising

        • Virtual currencies










  • What does the social platform mean for the evolution of the web?

    • What is still up in the air?

    • Massive competition a la the web


    • New patterns for email and communications


      • new ways of creating shared communication environments

        • "The photo sharing app was sheer genius"






    • Future of discovery of the web

      • Facebook as social search engine

      • Most of the web is hugely irrelevant, Facebook can help get to the data you want







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Content As Social Curreny/A Week In The Valley

So here I am in the heart of Silicon Valley. Why am I here?


After all, I still have to do the same volume of work I would  have to do if I were in the office back in NYC, my time is all messed up, I have clients and new business to attend to, and I am not even speaking on any panels here.


So why am I here?


In my last post I let you know the literal reason I am here (the two conferences I will be attending) and now I am going to talk a little about an underlying current in the media industry that has prompted me trudge out here on a Sunday, in order to make it for a Monday morning conference.


Content As Social Currency


Okay, so I did not pull this phrase off the top of my head. I actually got it from an Adweek article (of all places) on brands and social marketing practices. It was pulled from a quote by creative director Mauro Cavalletti over at AKQA.


Cavalletti talks about how we, as marketers cannot always tell the story, as the story is already being told by the users. Any additional content brought in by a marketer is social currency. I found this comment to be very insightful.


Social Currency Does Not Mean That The Conversation Can Be Bought


Marketers, I hate to tell you this but conversations cannot be bought like a media buy (I actually don't really hate to tell you that). On the other hand, conversations can be listened to, internalized and analyzed in order to find ways that value can be brought into the conversation. If you hear a conversation by young men about fantasy football, perhaps you want to sponsor an app that helps these young men track their teams. This of course is a very top level example (I am really tired) but I think you get my point.


BE VALUABLE!


ADD TO THE CONVERSATION!!!


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AMEDIACIR.CLIP: Advertisers, Are Your Brains Active?

The media hype surrounding Second Life has died down, but does that mean you should not continue to consider Virtual Worlds in your marketing mix?
Of course not!
As you probably know I am a big fan of Second Life. Still, I am glad that the hype has died down, as marketers will be forced to be more creative with their presence in virtual worlds and consider all of the various worlds that are out there.
If you are not familiar with Whyville, you should be. I
Take a look at this article in Mediapost today. I really love Jay Goss's notion of "active brain advertising" and think that marketers should be applying this notion to all their efforts.















clipped from publications.mediapost.com







That's partly why Whyville's marketing strategy is called "active brain advertising," as according to Jay Goss, Whyville's COO, the company isn't just focused on garnering impressions or eyeballs for brands. "We care about eyeballs connected to brains," said Goss.









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AMEDIACIR.CLIP: Addendum To Prior Post On Convergence and Brand Identity

I saw this release right after I posted my last post (http://tinyurl.com/yt64yo/)
Rather than redoing the post, I figured it would just clip this and add it.















clipped from www.prnewswire.com





��AT&T U-Verse Now Available to 400,000 Homes in Houston







"Around 400,000 Houston homes can now enjoy a television experience

that's cooler than cable," said Ed Cholerton, AT&T vice president and

general manager for the Houston area.






AT&T is the only national provider to offer a 100 percent Internet

Protocol-based television (IPTV) service, making AT&T U-verse TV one of the

most advanced television offerings available anywhere.






The deployment of next-generation video services, including AT&T

U-verse TV and AT&T Homezone(SM), reflects AT&T's strategy to become

customers' preferred communications and entertainment provider and to

deliver a video solution through its traditional footprint that provides

greater value, flexibility and simplicity than competitors' offerings.








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Convergence and Brand Confusion: 4 Examples Of How Communications Brands Are Going Through An Identity Crisis

What do Nokia, Google, Verizon and Sprint all have in common?


There are many potential answers to this question; however the most obvious answer is; they are all media companies.


Sure, Google claims not to be a media company, Verizon and Sprint are traditionally known as telecom networks and Nokia is largely credited as a producer of technology hardware. Still, the line between hardware, software and information networks (distribution) is becoming increasingly obscured, whether these brands like it or not, and whether they are catalysts for these shifts or simply adapting to the ever changing communications/media ecosystem.


4 Examples of How Communications Brands Are Going Through an Identity Crisis:




  1. Verizon As Television Network



    • Verizon Wireless, the company with the most customers of any wireless brand, and MediaFLO USA, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated , today announced the fall lineup for V CAST Mobile TV from Verizon Wireless, a service of MediaFLO USA. More than 10 new fall shows are scheduled to debut on V CAST Mobile TV at the same time as they air on traditional TV-- BASKING RIDGE, N.J. and SAN DIEGO, Sept. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall



  2. Nokia As Digital Content Provider And Social Network


  3. Sprint As ISP



    • Sprint and others tout WiMax -- essentially a beefed-up form of WiFi -- as a crucial technology for the future of Internet access. The telecom giant and smaller rival Clearwire Corp announced in July that they will team up to cover 100 million people with WiMax networks by 2008.




  4. Google As Mobile Social Network



    • In addition to recent speculation about the gPhone and Google beefing up it’s mobile ad offering, acquisition of Zingku by the search giant is yet another sure sign that the company aims to be more than a mere technology company




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So You Think Second Life Is Out Of Style...Armani Proves That Second Life Is In Style (.com)

Full Disclosure: Emporio Armani is a client of my agency, Morpheus Media. The contents of this post does not reflect the opinions of Morpheus Media, Emporio Armani or anyone other than myself (Adam Broitman)


In prior posts I wrote about lemming like activity in the marketing community (pertaining to Second Life). Does the fact that mainstream media has taken a negative stance on Second Life mean that all marketers should run for the hills?


Of course not!


Experimentation is the mother of innovation!





Take me to Emporio Armani In Second Life Now!



Additional Info:


Take Me To The Story On Style.com


Mashable


Reuters


Fashion Fling


ZDNET


Luxist



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Microsoft Gets Live (er)!

I started writing this post thinking that I was going to be able to get a chance to dissect all of the reasons why Microsoft is still light years behind Google in terms of search relevance and user experience.


I began searching for all of the usual suspects (Paris Hilton, Canon Powershot) and taking screenshots of the various experiences. Then it hit me…the experience of Live was really not so bad.


Overwrought with curiosity, I opened two tabs and began plugging away, searching for everything from “George Clooney” to “Criss Angel” to “how to change a tire”. While the Google experience was, without a doubt better, for the first time I thought to myself “at gun point, Live search would be something I could actually use”.


In the past if forced to use Live Search at gun point, I may have had to suffer the consequences of not being able to deal with inefficient SERP’s.


(POI: Do a search for “how to change a tire” on the two engines side by side. You will see Google still returns more relevant results, however when you refine your search on MSN to “How to change a flat tire” and leave the site and come back, then search for “how to change a tire”, Live will serve up the more relevant result. Google’s logic still seems to be better, as the engine knew that the if someone searches for “how to change a tire” they are most likely looking for how to change a flat tire, but Live did a good job of getting me to the same point as quickly as possible.)



So what has changed?


Here is a link to the official Microsoft Live press release that outlines the changes in further detail, but here are the core changes:




  • Over fourfold increase in index size




  • Substantial improvements in understanding query intent.




  • Significant enhancements to core algorithms




  • Increased focus on query refinement




  • New Web data extraction model




  • Expansion of Rich Answers




The other major change to the engine was based on research that shows that over 40% of queries fall into four categories. Live is attempting to provide better results in the following verticals:




  • Entertainment




  • Shopping




  • Health




  • Local




Other key focuses were announced including mobile search. All in all, I think the Microsoft has just stepped over Yahoo and, while they are not a threat to Google now, you never know what the future has in store.


Check Out More Article On Live 2.0




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AMEDIACIR.CLIP: "Hey Nielsen, Measure Our Voices"


Entertainment Marketers have heard the cry of the consumer yearning to be heard and have realized the potential of such a consumer. Nielsen has heard the cry from these marketers who wish to capture the voices of outspoken consumers and leverage consumer input for marketing initiatives.


















clipped from www.prnewswire.com





"Hey! Nielsen gives lovers of pop culture an opportunity to sound off
online and to make their voices heard by decision-makers," said Karen
Watson, Senior Vice President of Communications at The Nielsen Company, and
Executive Sponsor of Hey! Nielsen. "If you're passionate about any aspect
of the entertainment world, you will find like-minded consumers on Hey!
Nielsen. We hope this will be a fun place to share opinions and discuss
your favorite shows, movies and music. And because we will be providing our
clients with insights from Hey! Nielsen members, joining the network is a
way to let the entertainment industry know what you think."





The information collected on Hey! Nielsen could be important step
toward metering and understanding user engagement around entertainment.





Hey! Nielsen will be able to provide demographic information,
comments, and scores of each user that engages on a specific entertainment
property.








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