Adotas is running an interesting article about a band's viral marketing efforts on the web, but not the DIY variety. No. Nine Inch Nails is employing 42 Entertainment, an agency with alternate reality gaming experience, to do it's bidding. The shop creates "monetized entertainment experiences" and recommends things like "hiding in plain sight." Story elements that are artfully placed across existing media platforms …
Talk About Change Agents…
MIT Advertising Lab introduces us to IDEO, and reinforces the idea that a product design company can positively impact a brand's advertising. IDEO describes the work that led to Bank of America's popular "Keep the Change" promotion/incentive program. Facing the challenge of enticing people into opening new accounts, Bank of America came to IDEO in search of ethnography-based innovation opportunities. To better …
Drive Thru Loaves And Fishes
USA Today reports that KFC has big plans for its new Fish Snacker--a filet of 100% Alaskan Pollack topped with tartar sauce and served on a sesame bun. In an unusual move, KFC sent a letter to Pope Benedict XVI, asking him to lend his personal seal of approval for the item "as a way for members of your flock to keep a holy Lenten season." Vatican officials confirmed they received KFC's request, and the company is …
Feed Them On Your Dreams
I'm partial to brands with an intriguing story--even more so, when the CEO embodies that story and shares it successfully. Nancy Traversy of Barefoot Books is one such CEO. She says imagination is more important that information. I like that kind of thinking. …
JetBlue CEO Apologizes On YouTube
If you've been following JetBlue's problems this past week, you know they have some work to do from a logistics and organization standpoint. But from what I can see, they have handled PR crisis management perfectly. Here's the CEO, David Neeleman (who's already been on the Today show, among others): If they follow through, they'll be an even more admired brand than they already were. …
Consumers Speak. Retailers Listen.
BusinessWeek says retailers are learning from social networking sites like MySpace and are now busy weaving the functionality found there into their own sites. Customer reviews have long been part of cutting-edge sites like Amazon.com and Netflix, but the practice is spreading dramatically these days to a broader array of retailers. By the end of 2006, 43% of e-commerce sites offered customer reviews and ratings, …
Put JanSport’s Narrative In Your Pack
In 1967, Skip Yowell, his cousin Murray Pletz, and Murray's wife Jan founded JanSport with nothing more than a sewing machine and a fierce determination. Today, Yowell is a Vice President at Jansport and he's author of a new business book, The Hippie Guide to Climbing the Corporate Ladder and Other Mountains. Yowell recently spoke to The Conference Board about his role at the company. Q. I find it strange that a …
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Making Enemies Every 30 Seconds
BBC naturalist and documentarian, David Attenborough shares his disdain for advertising. I hate advertisements, virulently and with ferocity. If that [TV] set has any damage it’s likely to be because I have thrown something at it when it came to an important point in the drama and they showed a picture of a chocolate bar. I hate advertisements everywhere. I know all the arguments and I know I’m being quirky and that …