Ed Cotton of Butler Shine & Stern is asking some pertinent questions. Can people stand watching a campaign evolve over time or do you have to have a quick hit? Surely, the ever- shrinking window of personal communication must be having an impact of broad scale communication? Can we even be bothered to see phases of a campaign build and roll out over a two-month period from tease to reveal and on? I think there's …
Sucking The Blood From “Product As Hero”
Kenneth Hein, writing for Brandweek offers us a new term for the advertising lexicon: Visual Vampire. Wendy’s red wig-clad ads are hard to miss. However, new research shows that the characters in pony-tailed toupees greatly overshadow the products featured in the same ads. “It is a visual vampire. There is high engagement, but when they show the food it drops like a rock,” said Lee Weinblatt, CEO of PreTesting, …
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Welcome to the Viral Superbowl
Someone on the brand team at Dr. Pepper is spending a lot of time on YouTube. And why not? There are learnings to be gleaned and talent to be mined there. Take singer-songwriter and distinctive vocalist, Tay Zonday. He's already an internet hitmaker, so Dr. Pepper wisely hitched a ride on his wagon, asking him to remake his "Chocolate Rain" vid (which has been viewed more than 11 million times on YouTube) into …
Digital Disorder Breeds Collective Intelligence
video courtesy of YouTube user, Michael Wesch When I was in Cambridge last month, I picked up the hardbound first edition of David Weinberger's new book, Everything Is Miscellaneous. I just started reading it, so I'll need to circle back in order to offer deeper analysis, but I can say "so far so good." Here's a pickup from his chapter "Social Knowing" that grabbed me: In a miscellaneous world, an Oz-like authority …
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Dell To Pay Big Bucks For Unrealized Promise of Integration
Dell will spend $4.5 billion over three years with holding company WPP, which will "go into business" with Dell by creating a new agency brand that will ultimately be available to other clients. According to The Wall Street Journal: One condition laid down by Dell in the review was that the companies vying for its business figure out a way to foster more collaboration between the people who create ads for TV and …
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Bay Area Allure Is Strong
Ad Age looks at two agencies opening outposts in San Francisco—Olson and R/GA. image courtesy of Flickr user, http2007 Harold Sogard, vice chairman, Goodby Silverstein said, "I welcome R/GA to the center of true creativity." Olson CEO John Olson said, "We, for one, like it there. The people who share our beliefs are there and the talent vein is so rich." I hear that. …
Buy An Expensive Phone, Get Free Music
Nokia is morphing into a media business, according to The New York Times. Next year the handset maker will team with Universal Music Group, and other labels that opt in, to offer consumers free music. Under the agreement, Universal will let users download its entire catalog at no cost for 12 months, and keep the songs at the end of that time. Users will be able to download the songs to new Nokia phones or to their …
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America’s Talking About Stay At Home Servers
Creature, the Seattle agency that creates things and reinterprets advertsing, has come up with some quirky materials to support Microsoft's new Windows Home Servers. Their Stay at Home Servers campaign includes online films, a microsite, banners and a children’s book, Mommy, Why is there a Server in the House?. The campaign draws a parallel between the server and a father who chooses to stay at home, which is quick …
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