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Company Tests Parking Meter Advertising

�This is really an extension of the street furniture of bus shelters and kiosks"

The New York firm is one of two who have been given the go-ahead to test advertising on 500 parking meters along a stretch of Third Avenue on the Upper East Side between 67th and 86th streets. Snap Marketing has permission to sell advertising on parking meters on a stretch of Broadway on Manhattan�s West Side. The one-year test began Oct. 1.

Wouldn't this be even more effective if it worked with a potential database that was wired into the EZ Pass so that specific advertising messages could be delivered locationally based on the cars EZ Pass database. I know we're not there yet, but I think it would be a fascinating combination of technologies.
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by Steve Hall    Oct- 9-02    




Intriguing: Who's Right On Ad Revenue Projections?

News Corp. says worst may be over

Analysts dampen hopes of ad recovery

Obviously, this strange economy we are in is not going to end anytime soon.
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by Steve Hall    Oct- 9-02    




Watch Out Broadcasters

A recent study on the penetration of DTV set top boxes and PVR's:

PVR Market Projections

According to a recent report from Strategy Analytics, the worldwide digital television set-top box market will rise from 970,000 units this year to over 29 million by 2008. Strategy explains that by 2008, 21 million digital TV set-top boxes will be "basic" personal video recorders (PVRs) making satellite connections and 8.01 million will be "broadband media centers" making cable connections.

Not that this report is a surprise, but if the broadcasters and advertisers react to this trend as slowly as they have to the change over to HDTV, we are all in big trouble. Television advertising is going to change drastically over the next five years and old models are going to die a fast death.

See my earlier post on one possible future of advertising


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by Steve Hall    Oct- 9-02    




Don't Ask, Don't Show?

So...this is the state our news organizations are in. Just because the White didn't specifically ask for the President's speech to be covered, they did not air it.

What the hell happened to news organizations determining what is news rather then being told what news is?

Bush Talks, But Networks Speechless (washingtonpost.com)
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by Steve Hall    Oct- 9-02    




Carat Interactive's Sarah Fay Evangelizes

Although they didn't hire me for a recent job opportunity :-), Carat Interactive and Sarah Fay have always been on the top of my list in terms of producers of great online campaign work. Not that I agree with everything here but...

The president of the "Media Agency of the Year" talks about an e-mail campaign created to the launch the Palm i705.


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by Steve Hall    Oct- 9-02    




Wacky Package of the Day

Courtesy of Wacky Packages
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by Steve Hall    Oct- 8-02    




Online Dayparting Getting Play

Masha Geller covers the increasing prevalence of online dayparting now that AOL has joined the club.

MediaPost Advertising & Media Directory

It�s official. Dayparts are a legitimate online targeting practice. Why? AOL is finally on board. The latest from the beleaguered online giant is that they�re going to start selling ads by matching key programming areas on both its dial-up and high-speed services to specific time periods. Just like in broadcast.


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by Steve Hall    Oct- 8-02    




HBO Do Not Mess With Your Success!

Do not even consider making Sopranos "more available". Keep it limited. Keep us always wanting more. Be smart. Look what happened to Who Want to be a Millionaire when they moved from an irregular run to a 3-4 times a week run.

I'm glad someone there is thinking straight:

Cable Conquered, What's Next for 'The Sopranos'?

"Maybe you just leave well enough alone," he said. "Enjoy the reception," he added, while sharing the sentiments of Carmela Soprano in the first episode this season: "Everything comes to an end."


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by Steve Hall    Oct- 7-02    




Could This Possibly Be? Good News?

I sure hope so. And the fact that the increased spending will be allocated more towards direct and online is good too. OK, let the brand versus direct arguments begin!

Marketing Budgets To Grow Next Year

With the increased spending will come a change in the kinds of advertising the companies do, with a stronger emphasis on direct marketing and online marketing. When asked what kinds of marketing programs they will enact next year, 67% of the respondents said direct mail and 61% said e-marketing. "We're moving away from broad-based programs in favor of campaigns that target a more focused set of potential customers," 57% of the survey participants say. Only 11% say they will focus on broad based awareness programs.


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by Steve Hall    Oct- 7-02    




Very Sleazy Product Placement Strategies

In today's Real Media Riffs by John Gaffney, he relays yet another incredibly sleazy attempt by marketers to trick viewers with this advertorial strategy. In my opinion, it is the pop up of television. The lowest possible form of marketing communication. It's one ting to have celebrity endorsement. It is entirely another thing to have it done under the guise of editorial/news. Yes, we are going to have all sorts of new forms of advertising because the consumer will have more and more power to skip/tune out "scheduled" 30 second spots via Tivo or whatever other technology is on the horizon.

As marketers, we will have to quickly adapt to this increasing shift in power between the marketer and the consumer. But please, let's not go down this horrible road of marketing trickery just because we can. Have some scruples! Does anyone know what that word means anymore?

Monday, October 7, 2002 Not Effexive: This celebrity-disguised-as-pharmaceutical-endorser trend has gone off the hook. First, Lauren Bacall hawks arthritis drugs on the Today show. Rob Lowe�s on the box for some other drug on CNN. And I saw this tactic take its ugliest turn on Friday night. First of all, let me say I am not a fan of Access Hollywood, ET or Extra. I thought after Sept. 11 viewers would re-evaluate the trivial nature of their content. They didn�t. Anyway, in an unguarded moment Friday, I�m watching Extra with the wife, and on comes an interview with Delta Burke and husband Gerald MacRaney. What has Delta been doing lately? Turns out she�s been depressed. Real stuff. Hiding under the bed depressed. Depression is no joke and I don�t mean to make light of it. But what happened next was laughable. A weeping Delta, we find out, is the chairperson of Go On And Live (GOAL). GOAL just happens to be sponsored by Wyeth who makes Effexor. Effexor (cut to logo on screen shot) was the anti-depressant that �with therapy� helped Delta get well. Cut to a weepy Delta Burke urging viewers to get help if they�re depressed. �Go live your life,� she says. This is the kind of surreptitious garbage that will degrade the integrity of TV content in the mainstream American consciousness. Yes, I know Extra ain�t exactly 60 Minutes, but I�ll bet a few million people think it�s a lot more relevant to their lives If you�re going to interview Delta Burke, interview her because she�s making some kind of creative endeavor, not because Wyeth thinks it�s a great idea. Someday, just maybe, the American consumer will see through these tactics. In the right hands, sponsor integration can be entertaining. In the wrong hands, it�s going to anger the consumer.

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by Steve Hall    Oct- 7-02    




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