One of my favorite shows on TV/Mobile/Web is Dexter. The Season 4 premiere airs on September 27 on Showtime. When I saw this new video I was absolutely enthralled. Try to find and click on DEXTER to go to LEVEL 3. You have to click quick before he disappears!
I think it is one of the most clever ways of using YouTube's deep link feature. Once your done with level three you can try and find Dexter in Level 4 below.
Last week I wrote on Facebook's lost youth. Just as the NYTimes and every social blogger from Silicon Alley to the Silicon Valley is proclaiming Facebook's web death, I think we have missed a growth trend. 25% of Facebook's usage, which is one in four users, approximately 65 million people are engaging via their mobile phones.
Facebook has two mobile web sites: m.facebook.com, which works on any mobile browser, and x.facebook.com,
which is designed specifically for touch screen phones like Android,
Palm, iPhone and Nokia. These sites have been translated into more than
60 languages and allow you to update your status, browse your news feed
and your friends' profiles, comment or "like" stories, and view or
update your Facebook Page.
In addition, the recent launch of the Facebook 3.0 iPhone app has renewed interest as the functionality goes far beyond the old browser based functions.
I remember the first mobile version of Facebook, which launched in 2006, was merely a status update (like twitter) and photo upload tool. Eight months ago, Facebook mobile had climbed to 20
million active users, thanks to the explosion of smart and touch screen phones like the MyTouch 3G, iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Nokia, HTC, Sidekick, and countless other handsets.
Facebook's future may lie somewhere in between revitalizing the oldest social tool on earth (the phone) and becoming the largest mobile computing platform.
Which came first the chicken offer or the direct response ad format?
For the longest time Facebook spent all of its time using ads to drive people to a web or fan page where a user could get lost in the experience of it all. The newest of Facebook ad format seems to adopt some of our direct response best practices.
This ad for Chick-fil-A's free chicken biscuit samples is the most integrated
lead gen-style home page ad unit I’ve seen on Facebook. What I love about this ad is that it does not take me to a page where I have to read about your beleaguered brand.
The new DR ad unit, gives me a quick fill response form presented as a modal window over my News Feed.
A user can
easily redeem the offer by filling in the form, and with one click post it to their to their profile
and share the offer with friends. The user experience is fantastic.
According to InsideFacebook.com, Facebook has added new targeting features, including connection targeting, multi-country targeting, and birthday targeting. This test seems to fall in line with many of the new direct response driven ad formats that big brand advertisers are demanding.
As CPG and foodservice marketers look for new ways of creating lift in sales, drive new offer redemption and connect social media to in store traffic this new DR ad unit could easily be used for all types of free offer based subscription services.
Have you seen this one? Thanks to a report from Peter Corbett here is a demo of Google's “Holodeck” system that uses Google Earth + seven flat screens + an awesome omni-directional joystick to let you fly around the Earth, Mars, and the Moon. Here’s a quick video of Peter exploring a virtual NYC.
As many of you know I have been working with Nokia
on an initiative that will launch in September. Working with them has been exciting as they have made it their mission to be "the largest interactive media network in the world."
They intend to do this by continuing to use their vast social media presence. Their phones facilitate billions of conversations. People use their technology to express and broadcast themselves. Nokia is taking MEdia Now to the next level in over a 150 countries.
The article in Fast Company Nokia Rocks the World: The Phone King's Plan to Redefine Its Business is a glimpse at how Nokia has positioned itself outside the US. Having worked with them and their global teams this article reflects how they are viewed outside of the United States.
When reading the US based comments on the article it seems the failure to partner with the US carriers continues limit the brand's potential to be the every man's (regular guy/girl) alternative to the iPhone in the US. For those of us who work with the Finland based company we got the joke that, Tero Ojanperä was maing about "the fruit company in Cupertino".
If Nokia could partner with media companies and carriers here in the US we could see an influx of smarter than iPhone devices in our market. Nokia’s lack of penetration into the US smart phone arena isn’t due to a lack of “smart phones”. (Nokia has a plethora of smart phones lets remember apple only has one.) In the US market we are limited to the phones that carriers put in their retail stores. In NYC, there are 2 to 3 carrier retail stores in a city block. The
relationships between Nokia and US carriers is well documented. Until that changes Nokia
will continue to have a challenging time in the US. In the US, iPhone and Blackberry have defined the apps and smart phone space. That could change.
Nokia makes an amazing social phone/camera/video/storage device, and now with Ovi I can get apps like Facebook, twitter and bebo at the Ovi store. Today with my Nokia N97 I have a powerful social computing device that fits into the palm of my hands. I have bucked the hipster apple iPhone trend. Now that everyone in the US has an iPhone or a Blackberry it is now counter culture (punk-global connected citizen) to carry a Nokia.
Who says your brand needs a big ol' web site? Evidently Skittles has realized that media everywhere applies to their brand.
The collapsible application allows you to scurry around the social networking pages and groups that skittles has set up.
This seems like a great way to organize your "earned" media. While this may be the future of the web for brands who are not transactional destinations - the execution has left out an important social component. Sharing. too bad that the app does not let you post it, embed it, or share a link to it.
Hurray for skittles! I think that this is a good way to redefine your brand by the conversations that people are having about you.
Has your cell phone been ringing off the hook with calls from new and interesting phone numbers you have never seen before? Shoot...My cell phone is ringing again. The number on the screen is (623) 238-6228... I'd better pick it up.
JP-B: "Hello?" Automated Caller: “Your car warranty is expiring. We have notified you several times by mail. Press 1 to renew your warranty.” JP-B: [annoyedpesses 1] Hey - my car is new! Operator: Silence then a sigh [Hangs up!]
As a card carrying member of the Direct Marketing Association, I am always willing to listen to someone's pitch or even CRM program, especially if they have my cell number. When I realized this was a scam I did some homework.
Just in case you thought that this call was from your favorite auto brand that had completed their sophisticated CRM program, worry no more, its scammers who have created a system that is untraceable so far. The NYTimes reported that States have begun investigations. It is disturbing that the criminals are doing better job of following up on my car's performance than the brand that I bought it from. hmmm???
If you are getting these calls from numbers like (623) 238-6228, (408) 587-2116, (202) 552-1332, (702) 520-1105, (609) 948-0971 and
(562) 289-8136 these calls are illegal. A clever person over at reddit has discovered the identity of one of the spammers. They have posted their phone number for the world! Gotta love the power of an active community!
If you are getting these calls or have information about the companies making them you can report these it to the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) - and file a complaint with the FCC at http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html. When you report it, you will help make sure that only the brands you love can call you and offer you something new or interesting!
Refresh. It seems like a simple task. Hit a button on your browser and the page changes. Easy, right? It isn't. A refresh usually takes complex systems and or labored work to make real change. The same can be said of the state of affairs around the world. The arrival of the New Year has come and gone. While 2008 was a year of promises and hope, 2009 should shape up to be a year where we buckle down and begin the change required to refresh our world while achieving our sales goals. It will take complex and fundamental change.
Dictionary.com defines change as: to transform or convert, to transfer from one to another, a transformation or modification; alteration.
What will you CHANGE this year? From the environment, to the economy, to your health, to brand plans, to the way agencies work, we are due for rapid systemic change. In a time when we face mass unemployment, a war, unrest in the middle east, rapid climate change and an impending economic depression, we have fallen in love with people and products that exuded authenticity and promised radical yet positive change. They have refreshed our outlook.
Why are so many brands retreating to their roots? In focus groups, people are saying they want stability in unstable times. Of course they do. That seems logical. When we are shaken to our core we want the basics to remain the same. Many brands are taking a step back, reflecting on their roots. Some will tell you "You can depend on us" - look at this Allstate ad.
This is a beautiful ad. (well written, acted and art directed) "Back-to-basics" is a simple idea. It reflects on the past, establishes trust and reinforces the brands strongest attributes. Hey, who doesn't want to protect what they love. However, it does nothing to get me to consider switching. Nothing that says come with me, change something. It takes a practical approach to hard times. That is merely one example of a slew of brands who are missing out on what we desire. The big opportunity is not that we have roots. It's what in our roots or brand DNA that can make change and refresh our world.
We still desire a Hero! Someone or something we can look to who will make us laugh, smile and refresh the outlook on the future. Who needs another somber ad when watching Inside The Actors Studio on Bravo? Don't most of us use TV as a cheap get away?
Don't be practical! Be emotional! Be a Hero. While many brands retreat to their roots, the few products that exude confidence and show fundamental change will prosper. They will see sales of product. Brand Managers need to examine our conversations to determine their Brand DNA. They should ask themselves "What will inspire a moment of happiness?" More importantly, "What in their brand will evoke an emotional buy it now response?"
A great example of a Refresh is Pepsi's 2009 launch of their new advertising and brand look.
Simple & smart. Offers a smile. A pick me up. It establishes a
different tone from the big celebrity-filled production numbers that Pepsi helped invent for my generation. Its a great happy-greeting-card to the world. I like the music, by indie rockers the Apples in
Stereo. The upbeat lyrics "And the world,
is made of energy/And the world is electricity." reminds me of the early British pop invasion after World War II.
Many have been critical of the Pepsi refresh. They have said that it was jumping on a political bandwagon. They are wrong. That is a short-sided view that seems to lack insight into what the audience desires. In torrid times we need a smile. We need a dose of happiness. We are going to need a lot of energy to make a change. What is brilliant and incredibly consumer-centric is that we buy things that make us feel good. We always have. We always will. This is America.
Insight: When I need a pick me up, I want something that gives me a fresh, fun moment of optimism to get through the day.
The Idea: Pepsi. A Pick Me Up.
What is unfortunate is that the website does not live up to the happy innovation of the brand. RefreshEverything.com began to show some promise when it was simply a refresh button. Now it has been taken to the mundane. It does not help pay off the promise. It's design is dated and done. The site would have been great before the election. The idea that you are asking of the president seems off when, it should be about what are you going to do to refresh everything. The design lacks the fresh simplicity of the product and does not allow me to share or spread the joy of Pepsi with friends. The site is a missed opportunity. Shame on their digital agency, this seems surprisingly off brand. A Refresh is needed.
Retreating is not the answer. One size does not fit all. Brand is about how I feel about your product. Branding is about ubiquity, visability and functions; its about bonding emotionally with people in their daily lives. Only when a product or a services kindles and emotional conversation with the consumer can they realize their sales potential.
I think we will help support brands that offer us an opportunity to refresh. A brand who is willing to get passed the practical and help us
act irrationally (emotionally) through entertaining function that facilitates the
change that our worlds need will realize revenue in a downturn.
To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly. —Henri Bergson
Be a change agent this year. Begin to innovate it will lead to a Refresh! Happy New Year!
Dynamic Flash, Actionscript 3.0, Limelight Streaming video Technologies, Ajax, XML Data Feeds make up the sweet sensation that is one of the most rewarding product sites I have seen in a long time. The Kawasaki Teryx RUV vehicle site is so stellar that it represents both an awareness and conversion site.
The artful influence of the experence designers at Fuse Interactive have launched the New Teryx RUV vehicle site to a wide ranging demographic - community in the motor sports world with a year long feature rich site. Check out the Terrain section with Hank Williams 3, yes that's right.. Grandson of the late Hank Williams, country music legend.
After trading a few emails with CEO and Exec. Creative Director of Fuse Interactive, Stefan Drust writes "Another nice feature is we worked with SpeedTV on a 13 week 22 minute short movie about the Teryx and it's capabilities, we then were able to leverage the content from the TV into our site. So overall the goal of reaching into the hearts of the consumer at the riding level only helps us better understand the consumer and truly provide potential Kawasaki customers 360 degree experiential marketing.We have linked our online marketing efforts with the TV as well as with the In-store POP."
The site's tone and design reaches out and holds the heart of the heart land of America which is the community which are the core evangelists of this category. The site is rich with content that is relevant to the brand as well as the lifestyle of its core consumer target. The question I have is why have they not enabled the ease of consumer conversation by widgetizing every piece of content for social media. With criticism aside this is yet another stellar creation from Fuse Interactive
Photos from the road, the day, the meetings and a few ironic random finds. Catch up with me on my adventures! This is a visual time line of my life ON: The Road.
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