Daily Kos: I've recently been on a crusade against the term "mainstream media" or MSM. The fact that it's a right-wing construct doesn't help. But the chief reason is that interactive media is now mainstream. In fact, there are tons of blogs and wikis and email lists that have larger readerships than most of the so-called "MSM". If Daily Kos was a newspaper, it would rank #5 in circulation (it would've been #3 last …
Respond Dammit
Spike Jones at Brains On Fire republished the latest response rate findings from the Direct Marketing Association: Here’s a breakdown of what they found out about average response rates for 2005: Direct Mail: 2.77% Dimensional Mail: 3.67% Postcards: 2.19% Catalogs: 3.67% E-mail: 2.48% Telephone: 8.55% Package Inserts: 1.74% Statement Stuffers: Less than 1% Coupons: 4.29% Banner/Rich Media Ads: 3.52% Search Engine …
Liberty, Equality, Fraternity: French Prefer Open Source
As reported by ZDNet UK, the French still dig independence. The French public sector has once again shown its love of open source with the news the gendarmerie — the French military police — is to switch to Firefox and Mozilla's email client Thunderbird. In an interview with the French magazine Linux Practique, the gendarmerie's head of IT, General Brachet, said his force will this year be using Firefox as its …
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European Stylings
Ben Popken unearthed a treasure trove of branded European posters from early- to mid-century. Somehow, I can't imagine much of the work we see today holding up this well, or transforming itself into something someone somewhere might call art. …
Blogs Shine On Sun
Micropersuasion: In an interview for Bacon's Navigator, Sally Falkow writes that Jonathan Schwartz, President and COO of Sun Microsystems said that blogging had played a major role in the revitalization of Sun's reputation. Sun has gone from the 99th to the 6th most popular server company, largely because it has embraced authenticity and transparency in its communication initiatives, according to the piece. “We've …
Up Up And Away
Ad Age: Nearly half of the chief marketing officers at Fortune 500 companies said they plan to increase their online advertising budgets by 30% this year. The growth in projected spending is a result of online being viewed as a preferable ad channel because it is accountable. “The average consumer spends about 30% of their media time online -- that’s why you’re seeing all that catch-up spending,” said Heath P. Terry, …
Denton Lays Down Some More Cards
Meme First has an interesting comment string going on Oddjack, the former Gawker Media gambling site, now owned by an anonymous publisher. Since the word in the beginning was the site was to be shuttered, there has been some speculation of late as to who is operating the site, which is clearly active. Felix at Meme First points out that the following words were posted by Oddjack's new writer on December 18, 2005: For …
Advertaining Video For Your Pod
Pod Guide points to two new advertainment efforts from major marketers. Both are delivered via the brand's own media property. I've noticed a few more big name advertisers are starting to distribute short form content via their web sites in iPod format. It's the old “BMW Films” strategy of trying to convince people that ads are interesting by blurring the line between entertainment and advertising. Sprite offer a …
Go Small Or Go Home
John Keehler of Random Culture says let's give credit where credit is due. He points out, rightly, that Campfire and The Barbarian Group, played huge roles in the development of Audi's "Art of the Heist" campaign and BK's Subservient Chicken campaign, respectively. Yet, McKinney and Crispin Porter seem to get all the accolades. Can't we all just drive our Audis to Burger King and bask in the glory? …
Plop Plop Fizz Fizz, Oh What A Relief It Is
According to this Seattle Times article, jingles are over and done with. Ad jingles are on the wane, overtaken by pleasingly familiar commercial standbys like the Stones' "Start Me Up," which Microsoft enlisted to sell Windows. Advertisers say they're totally out, gone the way of Atari 2600s, indoor smoking and Libyan bellicosity. Advertisers and pop culture historians blame — or is it credit? — cultural and …
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