The New York Times: The biggest problem in the newspaper industry is capturing readers between 18 and 34 years old, and now The Associated Press is looking to tackle that problem head on. On Monday, the 157-year-old wire service is to start its "younger audience service," offering articles and "experiences" in multimedia formats, with audio, video, blogs and wireless text aimed at reaching readers between 18 and 34 …
Change My Oil Dave
USA Today: In its quest to make cars more like futuristic computer Hal 9000, OnStar, General Motors' in-car telecommunications system, now will give owners e-mail updates from their vehicles reporting problems or reminding about maintenance needs, officials said Tuesday. The service will tell car owners how long they have until they need to change the oil, whether the air bags are working, how the anti-lock braking …
American Knows Why You Fly. That’s Comforting.
I like to see Lewis Lazare upset by a weak ad campaign. Seriously, it's a fun way to start the day. Much as it pains us to say so, American Airlines is sticking with the mantra "We Know Why You Fly" that the carrier introduced a year ago in an ad campaign from TM Advertising in Irving, Texas. In a hugely disappointing new television, print and Internet ad campaign breaking today, American purports to build on the …
Continue Reading about American Knows Why You Fly. That’s Comforting. →
A Casting Call For Account Advisors
Ernie Schenck turned his CA column over to Neil French this issue. The results are hilarious and didactic. There’s a Confucian saying that “he who asks humbly teaches how to refuse.” Well, “submitting” ads for approval is demanding refusal plus a damn good hiding, in my view. And while we’re meandering down this side-road, why do agencies bang on about “serving” their clients? (Account people are in “client service” …
Continue Reading about A Casting Call For Account Advisors →
Panicast
Widespread Panic is podcasting, or Panicasting, as the case may be. Their first effort is a discussion between bass player Dave Schools and lead guitarist George McConnell. The 56-minute segment also includes live and unreleased music from the band's recent Dallas, TX performance. Click here for the iTunes link. Or here if you want to grab the file off the band's site. …
A New Marketing Service
"Anybody who pays big agency money to make blogs for them is either a fool, or is being ripped off. Just my opinion." -Hugh MacLeod While I tend to enjoy Hugh's take on things, on the above point I couldn't disagree more. Time is money, even in this post-Cluetrain epoch. A well constructed marketing blog, in my opinion, would require significant investment, not in production values (like TV), but in time. Time to …
Sites’ New Site
The New York Times: Lloyd Braun, the former chairman of ABC's entertainment group who now oversees Yahoo's expanded media group in Santa Monica, has hired Kevin Sites, a veteran television correspondent, to produce a multimedia Web site that will report on wars around the world. The Web site, called "Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone" (hotzone.yahoo.com) will focus entirely on Mr. Sites's travels as a war correspondent …
Nuclear Power Is Back, And Apparently It’s Quite Funky
Here's a new corporate image campaign from some company called Areva. Which I've never heard of, but they are apparently one of the largest producers of nuclear power in the US. So I guess we should know about what they do, and who to blame if the meltdown comes. Click here to see their new website that's part of their campaign, and you can watch the relatively cool animated spot that uses "Funkytown" to explain, as …
Continue Reading about Nuclear Power Is Back, And Apparently It’s Quite Funky →
