IDG World Expo has released details of the "Syndicated Media Environment" conference track at Syndicate, scheduled to take place December 12-14, 2005 at the Hilton San Francisco. This track will discuss how new syndication and social media tools such as RSS, blogs and podcasts are being applied by old and new media companies.
The Syndicate conference shows how syndication and social media tools such as RSS, blogs and podcasts are helping to change the way businesses do business. The "Syndicated Media Environment" track is one of four tracks and a timely topic following recent news of more and more people accessing TV shows on BitTorrent and pulling the programs down as an RSS feed. David Berlind of ZDNet explained that once a TV show is digitized and loaded into BitTorrent, "not only are the broadcasters completely disintermediated from the distribution of their content, so too is their adverstising business model." We tend to agree.
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In an agreement between CBS and Capitol Records, a ring tone of Coldplay's "Talk," the second single from the double platinum album X&Y, will be embedded into the content of the CSI:NY episode to be broadcast Wednesday, November 30. In the episode, CSI: NY's Danny Messer is investigating a case when his cell phone rings to the tune of "Talk." We'll wait while you snicker at the real life likelihood of that.
Following the scene, CBS will run promotional messages during the act break in the episode telling viewers how they can purchase and download the ringtone.
While it's so easy to press 411 instead of looking for that old fashioned thing they call the Phone Book, there's always a bit of pain each month as you check your land and cell phone bills which usually contain more than a few over-priced 411 charges. A relatively new service, called 1-800-FREE411 intends to eliminate that pain and, at the same time, create a new ad medium.
1-800-FREE411 is a free 411 service that is supported by advertising. When callers dial the number, a computer voice welcomes them to 1-800-FREE411 and asks for the city, state, business or residence and attempts to get the number. If it can't, a human operator finds the number. While the number is being found, which, of course, doesn't take nine seconds, a nine second ad plays giving the caller the choice to respond to the ad or simply get the number they wanted in the first place. Advertisers pay for ads only when callers "dial through" in response to the ad.
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While this song has been out for a while, it's yet another shining example of consumer created brand love. After discovering Apple's GarageBand, Daphna Kalfon created a song called I Love My Mac. Similar to George Master's iPod commercial, it expresses a deep appreciation of a product that people love. Not to be outdone by Mac lovers, a Windows lover has created a song based on the Windows start up sound and other system sounds.
Not every brand can generate this sort of appreciation and creativity but as Seth Godin has always said, create a great product first and all else will follow.
Steve Rubel reports Google is gearing up readying a fierce fight for classified ad dollars as evidenced by a job posting the company placed on HotJobs seeking a Classified Vertical Markets Director who would be given responsibility to "develop and execute on a strategy for driving ad sales with all advertisers in the Classifieds category on a national/international level, working with all sales channels and resources (DSO, ISO, Online)." With the launch of Google Base, a tool that allows anyone to add anything to Google's database, the move into the classified space is a no brainer. While it might take a while to ween people from the likes of Craig's List and newspaper classified placements, there's no doubt, a serious dent will be made by Google in this space. Rubel also reports Microsoft isn't going to let Google have all the fun.
The ad industry is all a twitter about recent rulings by the Children's Advertising Review Board reports Ad Age. CARU, a division of the self-regulatory group National Advertising Review Council, has been battling Kraft over a Lunchables Chicken Shake-Ups ad which CARU claimed did not properly represent four out of the five food groups as required by the group's guidelines. Kraft revised the ads but said forcing advertisers to show all required food groups might cause advertisers to "depict an overabundance of foods."
Advertising attorney Douglas Wood told Ad Age CARU is overstepping its bounds by making the wrong way, saying, "Doing so [make policy changes in advertising practices] through cases rather than rule-making is a very dangerous road. By using a case to announce a broad reaching rule, some will argue that CARU has eliminated the deliberative process and engaged in rule-making more by fiat than fairness. Without doubt, this will further fuel the debate that CARU has become too aggressive."
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If you've done time in advertising, you know advertising award shows are nothing more than ego boosters for our fragile personas and a chance for us to get a group hug from our fellow industry mates. The Phoeniz Addys aren't trying to hide this truth with their call for entries promotion called Ego Stroke 5,000, a device that sends ego boosting thoughts into the brain. Of course it's just a cheesecake pan with a bunch or wires attached but it does the job. The promotion was created by Riester~Robb.
Oh, it had to happen sooner or later. It's not as though we haven't made errors before but today we made a big one when we poked fun at MWW Group for launching a blogging practice called Blog 360 and chastised the agency for announcing the service but not listing it on their website. We were wrong on both counts. First, MWW Group didn't launch a blogging practice today; they launched it 11 months ago in January. Apparently, our press release and RSS feed funnel dates were a bit out of whack today. Secondly, the practice, which was later re-branded DialogueMedia is, in fact listed on the MWW Group site as plain as day.
Had we done our research properly, this never would have happened. We apologize profusely to the fine folks at MWW Group for unnecessarily bothering them with our stupidity. Had our head been on straight today, we would have told you MWW Group gets the whole blogging thing and practices what they preach. We would have pointed out MWW Group President and CEO Michael Kempner publishes a company blog called Straight Talk. Also, had we been concentrating on more serious news rather than condoms covering buildings, pole dancers in elevators and Lynx Deodorant's attempt to launch an airline, we would have told you MWW Group New Media Strategies Director and head of DialogueMedia Tom Biro also blogs for the company insightfully and informatively at Open The Dialogue.
Once again, we apologize to MWW Group for unnecessarily dragging them through our drawers. We understand if you, and the rest of our readers, place our credibility in the toilet for a few days.
Working for The Weinstein Company - the Hollywood production company formed by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, founders of Miramax and Dimension Films - online marketing firm Deep Focus and creative services firm Big Spaceship have created YouAreNowInfected, a promotional site for the upcoming Dimension Films feature Pulse, starring Veronica Mars' Kristen Bell. The site resembles an online FTP directory devoid of fancy Flash graphics usually associated with online promotions for Hollywood films and contains simple links to images, character video diaries and, of course, the film's trailer.
While the success of the film which takes yet another stab at "Internet as host for really bad things" could go either way and won't be known until March 3 when the film opens, we can say, this promotional site is refreshingly welcome. Without all the Flash n' Crap, the site, which is blissfully easy to navigate, we're told, will build over the four month run up to the opening with more video diaries and film related trivia, clues, and imagery.
Here's a billboard for former client and much maligned company Tyco which, with this billboard, is promoting the company's security division. The board is located in Zurich Oerlikon near Hallenstadium. While the whole condom thing, while overused, connotes the ability of Tyco to keep what needs to stay in in and what needs to stay out out, the thing looks more like a baby bottle than a condom and baby bottle are far from leak proof. Too bad Tyco's own security products couldn't have prevented former CEO Dennnis Koslowski from bilking the company for millions.
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