Wake Up And Smell The Blog

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While I've had no problem with my Dell Inspiron 8600 over the past two years I've had it, Jeff Jarvis entered Dell Hell a while ago which got so bad he had to write a letter to Dell Chief Marketing Officer Michael George to get attention. Jarvis recounts the trials and tribulations he went through to get Dell's customer service to come to his aide. They didn't and he wrote about it. People read about it. Lots of people but, apparently, not Dell. They have this hands-off approach to weblogs treating them as ignorable rantings of the few and the unimportant. Jarvis explains to Dell and to any marketer wondering about this whole blog thing why they should pay attention to blogs and how they should join the conversation about their company rather than attempt to control it with anachronistic, uninformed marketing logic. All marketing directors should read what Jeff has to say, pay very close attention to it and act accordingly. Lest, one day, you'll wake up and quietly, all your customers will have left your store.

by Steve Hall    Aug-17-05    
Topic: Weblogs



Engadget Blog Appears to Break Google AdSense TOS

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Popular Weblogs Inc. Network blog Engadget appears to be breaking the terms of its contract with Google's AdSense program. The AdSense program allows website publishers to place up to three ad units on a single page. Blog Herald points to self professed blog comment spammer David Naylor who says he found six placements on an Engadget page. Our research on this page show similar results. We found 5 standard ad units and one, we think, text link.

A very large scrolling screen shot of the entire Engadget page is here for review. We've asked Weblogs Inc. Network President Jason Calacanis to comment but have not yet had a reply. Recently, Calacanis claims the blogs in the Weblogs Inc. Network were on track to reach $1 million in Google AdSense revenue this year. Perhaps, now we know how.

Upon further reflection, some speculation in is order. It would be silly for Weblogs Inc. to jeopardize $1 Million by breaking Google AdSense terms. In fact, another Weblogs Inc. blog, Autoblog, is running far more than 3 ads on a page. Keeping that in mind for a moment, Weblogs Inc. was the first company to run Google's RSS AdSense ads before it was offered to the general market. Make your own conclusions.

UPDATE: In Comments, Jason Calacanis explains and claims, in fact, Weblogs Inc. is not violating Google AdSense terms.

by Steve Hall    Aug-17-05    
Topic: Weblogs



Billboard Says @%#*$?! Gas Prices.

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Leveraging frustration with rising gasoline prices, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) has placed a billboard campaign anyone at the gas pump can identify with.

by Steve Hall    Aug-17-05    
Topic: Outdoor



Campaign Highlights 9/11 As Day of Service, Charity, Compassion

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A non-profit group called One Day's Pay, with the help of AIG, Ambac, JPMorgan Chase, AT&T, KPMG and Time Warner Cable along with political leaders and other non-profits, has launched a 9/11 remembrance campaign in New York called "NYC Remembers." The NYC initiative is part of the national One Day's Pay campaign which hopes to establish 9/11 as a nationally recognized day of service, charity and compassion.

Three 30-second television spots and two radio spots, narrated by Gary Sinise, produced by New York advertising agency Cossette Post and directed by Annabel Jankel, are currently scheduled to air throughout the New York City area mostly in prime time slots for four weeks, starting on Tuesday, August 17th through the week of September 11. The spots will appear on cable networks including ESPN, ABC Family, MSNBC and CNN. Time Warner Cable is donating a minimum of $250,000 in free media time, while One Day's Pay plans to spend an additional $100,000 to extend the reach of the television buy.

9/11 family members acted as advisors in the development of the advertising campaign, reviewing the director's credentials, screening the initial concepts, and being on site during production meetings and shoots.

more »

by Steve Hall    Aug-17-05    
Topic: Campaigns



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Maxim Extends Brand to Nightclubs

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Ever the proliferator of female hotness, Maxim magazine is now proliferating itself, as it has a few times before, beyond the confines of the printed page and in to the dark, inner world of the nightclub. Dennis Publishing has signed a deal with nightclub developers Rande and Scott Gerber to create a nationwide chain of Maxim-branded nightclubs. We hope it's more than just plastering the walls of nightclubs with Maxim cover shots.

by Steve Hall    Aug-17-05    
Topic: Magazine



Regurgitated News Scooped by Scoop

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Rather than asking people to swallow the same old news regurgitated over and over again from one news outlet to another, New Zealand's recently launched Scoop, an independent news website, promises raw, unfiltered news. To promote such a lofty venture, New Zealand's Frank Advertising took the regurgitation aspect of news delivery to heart in its creation of an ad campaign for Scoop.

by Steve Hall    Aug-17-05    
Topic: Viral



Kick Boxing, Office Antics, Photocopied Butt Promotes 'Ultimate Fighter'

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To promote the Spike TV's Ultimate Fighter 2, Ignited Minds has created an online game called The Office Octagon which pits colleagues against one another and tests their toughness in three rounds. Players can invite others to join the game via email or IM. The rounds include a flashing barrage of uncomfortable text, a slew of awkward pictures and a bombardment of embarrassing office insults. The first one to tap out loses.

Being a male focused show and a male focused game, the prized is, well, female related in the form of a photocopied, autographed image of a thong-clad butt. How original. Yet, sadly, how appropriate and on target.

by Steve Hall    Aug-17-05    
Topic: Viral



Table Top Advertising Gets Dose of Quality

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While bar stool and table top advertising is nothing new, Seattle-based company H. V. Sales has upped the stakes a bit by affixing very high resolution advertising imagery to restaurant bar stools, tables and chairs. The company is in the process of doing work for the Maui Taco Restaurant franchise where satellite photos of the Hawaiian Islands where used for imagery. The company is also talks with a very large advertiser we've all heard of but chooses not to reveal the name until the deal is signed. More images are viewable here.

by Steve Hall    Aug-17-05    
Topic: Point of Purchase