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May 19, 2008

RecycleBank's Ad Model: What's Not to Love?

RecycleBank may not only be the greenest advertising model out there -- and everyone's jumping onto that band wagon these day -- but one of the most common sense new plays to come down the pike in years.

The program encourages and rewards consumer recycling, saves municipalities money, and creates value for advertisers in the process. Here's how founder and CEO Ron Gonen explains it.

Families are given a free curbside recycling bin equipped with an ID tag. When the bin is picked up by a truck retrofitted with a device to read the tag, the family is allocated points based on the amount they recycle. They can log in online to check the level of their points, then redeem them for coupons from participating advertisers -- Coke was first to sign on. Other local merchants such as Kraft, Petco, Staples and Dunkin' Donuts are also participating in the company's Wilmington, DE pilot program. Basically, these advertisers are rewarding highly loyal consumers who are doing good, and who are feeling pretty good about themselves in the bargain.

Coupons are snail-mailed to consumers, providing advertisers with yet another messaging opportunity. Yes, the company's fully aware a paper-based reward might not be the greenest thing on earth, but in order to get city government on board, they're compelled to offer that option.

RecycleBank makes its money not only from ad revenues, but also from the municipalities that sign onto its program and see significant savings as a result. Disposing of waste costs more than recycling, apparently.

How can you not love a program that's equal measures of smart, green, and win-win?

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 8:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack

March 9, 2008

SXSW Keynotes - Graphic Recordings

One of the coolest things about attending the keynotes sessions at SXSW is watching Sunni Brown and Marilyn Martin graphically record the proceedings - quickly, compellingly and more succinctly than many of the journalists or bloggers in the vast session rooms.

They manage to get words, images, portraits and the whole flow of the hour-long conversations.

Click on the image to enlarge this amazing map of yesterday's conversation between MIT Media Lab's Henry Jenkins and author Steven Johnson.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 29, 2007

Responsys Manages Team, Campaigns for You

How do you track the status of all the moving parts on your ad campaigns? Responsys' CMO Scott Olrich said companies use spreadsheets and basic software, or invest upwards of $500k for a management platform to assign and track each component of a campaign or project. Responsys added Interact Team to its existing on-demand marketing automation Interact platform product.

Team includes visual workflow diagramming and management, digital asset management, task assignment, online reviews and approvals, and best practices including repeatable and reliable execution of activities. The system addresses distributed workforces with members in different offices or telecommuters. It also allows a company to give access to an agency rep to get automated in the process. The cost? For a typical range of approximately 15 users, a year will run between $60k and $70k.

I expect digital marketing folks to be among the early adopters of Interact Team, though its ability to tie together multiple channels of marketing and advertising may be a step toward breaking down the silos that divide marketing departments. "If you think about what marketers are having to do today, marketers have to put together e-mail, search, mobile campaigns. These marketers are trying to figure out a way to become more efficient," said Scott Olrich, CMO of Responsys. Interact Team allows marketers to "make sure they're capturing key learnings across the company," he continued.

Posted by Enid Burns at 4:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

June 28, 2007

Mysterious and Compelling Eye-Project Site

KDDI Corporation is some sort of a Japanese communications company doing some sort of viral, CGM-fueled project that assembles photos, Web images and movies into a constantly morphing display of digital imagery.

Can't tell you much else about it, other than the Eye-Project site is hypnotically cool:

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 12:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 17, 2007

AOL Tests Vista Gadget

Windows Vista has the ability for content owners and marketers to build desktop widgets to make their platforms more accessible. AOL just released its early version of the AOL Social Mail Gadget at dev.aol.com/mail. The widget gives users one-click, desktop access to e-mail, AIM, photos and video. The top five contacts float to the top so users can immediately message their friends and family.

The widget give AOL desktop visibility to all users. It won't immediately run advertising, but it's not out of the question. "As part of AOL's audience and monetization growth strategy, we are going to look at optimized monetization opportunities surrounding the gadget," said an AOL spokesperson.

Posted by Enid Burns at 4:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

May 3, 2007

Who Sees the Light in Silverlight?

The blogosphere is abuzz over Silverlight, a just-introduced browser plug-in from Microsoft that promises it can "deliver media experiences and rich interactive applications for the Web that incorporate video, animation, interactivity, and stunning user interfaces."

It also promises full cross-platform integration and "seamless, fast installation for users." CBS will adopt it, so will rich media ad vendors Brightcove and Eyeblaster, and brands including Major League Baseball and Netflix.

Small wonder our curiosity is piqued -- what will the advertising implications be?

Small stumbling block involving end-user implications. I downloaded and installed the plug-in. Several times. It refuses to run on Firefox, Safari or IE on my Mac (or our news editor's Mac).

OK, so we can't experience the wonders of Silverlight on the Web. Let's just download the movie and see what this baby can do.

Would you believe it? (Sadly, yes. It's all just too plausible.) The .wmv movie won't even play in Microsoft's own Window Media Player. Something about the wrong codecs. Handy-dandy open-source VLC to the rescue -- as always.

While Microsoft promises Silverlight is good-to-go for us Mac users, we see things a bit differently.

We're going to follow up on what advertisers think Silverlight can do for them. But it's hard to believe it's going to be widely adopted until it can deliver on its claims, promises and value propositions.

Update: A new version of the plug-in did install and work on my PowerBook. Playback of Microsoft's demo video was less than smooth, but at least a functional release is out.
It's still very hard to understand why utterly non-functional releases go public, though.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 3:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

April 9, 2007

A Totally Linear, Totally Great Site

Miranda July has created a completely linear site experience to promote her new story collection, and its greatness despite the lack of user control (actually because of that lack) just goes to show how much room there still is for experimentation in site design. Like much of July's work, the site feels like it's speaking to you directly, to that quirky side of your personality, even if you happen to be at work or whatever.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 20, 2007

Coors Preempts Happy Hour with Site Takeovers at Exactly 4:53 PM

Coors is trying to make 4:53 the new happy hour – or at least the new Coors moment. At precisely that time of day, when people are just starting to think about hitting the pub, the brewer's Silver Bullet Train icon will careen across their field of vision. Or at least it will for individuals surfing certain sites (unnamed in the company's press release). And as it passes, the old-fashioned yet new-fangled locomotive will resolve into a traditional display unit encouraging Web users to relax at the end of the day with (cue new tagline) "the World’s Most Refreshing Beer."

The unique interactive ads are part of Coors Brewing Company's 2007 campaigns for Coors Light, Keystone Light, Coors, Molson Canadian and Killian’s Irish Red, which also include new TV, radio, outdoor and retail advertising. Online execution was handled by Avenue A / Razorfish.

A story in The New York Times has additional details, including this comment on the trouble the agency had timing the ads precisely:

Creating and producing the online campaign “has been challenging,� [Account Director Levi Patterson] added, because of the need for “geo-targeting for the time zone you’re in� as well as trying to “push the envelope a bit� in terms of the train image briefly covering the editorial content of the Web sites.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 2:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 15, 2007

Choose Your Own Adventure: Jeep Patriot Edition

It was probably inevitable that someone would take the faddish Choose Your Own Adventure books concept and apply it to online video. That someone is Jeep, who along with agency Organic has created a fun microsite that let's you guide the decisions of a band of four friends on a backwoods treasure hunt starring its Patriot model. There are 44 scenes in total, all shot from a first-person perspective and filled with a host of ancillary characters and a bunch of possible dead ends. The action flows nicely, plus (nice Web-centric touch) the script is personalized to the user's name, fears and other attributes. My only gripe is the tone is a little too goofy and flip, a little too "Friends," to qualify as a true linear descendant of the books so fondly remembered by the folks in Jeep's target demographic. But overall, great experience.

Earlier this year, Jeep began work on an interactive comic book and invited Web users to help write it. This new effort, called “The Way-Beyond Trail," joins the comic effort to create a grouping of Web initiatives at PatriotAdventure.com.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 2:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

February 12, 2007

Another PR Firm with Social, Emerging Media Advisory

We know public relations firms do more than send press releases. Many are delving into advisory on emerging media like the blogosphere, social media, and other interactive media. A while back Ketchum launched a personal media practice, Edelman hired Steve Rubel about a year ago, and now Weber Shandwick said today it's launching screengrab, its interactive, social and emerging media group. The PR firm has been handling the space already, but formally expanded and named its division. Screengrab will place an emphasis on multi-screen strategies so messages "run in concert across multiple devices," a statement on the new group said.

Posted by Enid Burns at 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 26, 2007

Targeting Texters

iNDIGO TV just launched a "cell phone-centric, interactive and user-generated television" show in New York after reported success in Europe in Asia. Viewers can interact with the program by texting messages, which some how qualifies the term "cell phone iTV."

I have to question iNDIGO's definition of "success in Europe and Asia." As a long-time New York resident I quickly recognize channel 35 as the public access channel running late-night shows hosted by strippers, retired strippers and pornographers like (warning) Robin Byrd, Al Goldstein, and commercials for escorts and various 900 numbers. While both of these personalities warrant a page on Wikipedia, I wouldn't call either of them, or any other hosts or shows on the channel a success. The concept isn't even new, one MTV channel or another had a video show with live chat some time ago. So when this show turns into a qualified success, please let me know.

Posted by Enid Burns at 3:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

January 23, 2007

Big Web Piece for Nike's Air Force 1 Anniv Bash

Nike's Air Force 1 shoe turns 25 this year, and to celebrate the moment the company has produced a statement shoe, Air Force 25, that it will promote via an extensive on-air and online campaign.

The centerpiece of the push is a hip-hop music video that debuted with MTV on-air and online, but Nike also set up a mash-up site to let users remix a new TV ad using a drag and drop online video editing tool. The approach reminds me in some ways of the widely lambasted roll-your-own :30 spot initiative Chevy set up to promote the Tahoe. Though it's unquestionably better executed than that "UGC" effort (quotes deliberate), Nike is still exerting a fairly controlling hand here.

Users who create spots can forward them on to e-mail addresses or to mobile phones. Nike's campaign also includes an MTV special about the Air Force.

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 12:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

November 15, 2006

Virtual Knock-Offs Knock Over Virtual Businesses

The virtual world of Second Life is seeing its own "in-world� version of digital content knock offs, and it’s leading many businesses to shut their “doors� till something is done about it.

One of the draws of Second Life being the ability to start your own business and sell “products� for a virtual profit. But earlier this week some players noticed others were duplicating all the goods held by other Avatars using a tool called CopyBot. The goods could then be resold or used for “free.�

People, not surprisingly, were annoyed.

Employees of Linden Labs, which runs Second Life, posted on the company’s blog that using CopyBot or similar programs would violate the Terms of Service agreement and victims should file a complaint so that the perpetrators “may� be banned, but that “Second Life needs features to provide more information about assets and the results of copying them. Unfortunately, these are not yet in place.�

Moments later businesses began putting up signs like this one and shutting down their stores.

Economic chaos, breadlines, inflation and virtual soup kitchens with the tune “Brother, can you Spare a Dime?� piping through the game’s ambient music score are expected at any time.

Posted by MatthewNelson at 9:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 13, 2006

Perfectly Portable

I have a box full of USB drives, which are totally nifty and I appreciate, but I've been wanting to test out an U3 Smart Drive, which adds a layer of functionality to the drive. I'm testing out one such drive from Verbatim that comes packed with acdsee, a photo manager, Pass2Go, portable automated password manager; PowerBackup for data archiving; Zinio, a digital magazine reader; Migo for data synchronization, Mozilla Thunderbird for e-mail; and USafe for advanced security. Of course I can load my own software to the drive, either what I select from the U3 site (where software like Accomplice virtual assistant is available) or elsewhere, but the default software is definitely a value-add. What a great way to expand your user-base, and build loyalty with some basics that pretty soon I won't be able to live without.

Posted by Enid Burns at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 19, 2006

Not Podcasts, But PhoneCasts

SayNow is a startup with an interesting proposition for mobile. It's kind of like podcasting to mobile devices, but it isn't really podcasting or syndication. It's calling.

Here's how the company, which is currently aiming its product at musicians and music venues, describes the offering:

- you can broadcast audio messages to your fans and friends by recording from your phone or sending an mp3 from the web.

- fans and friends can listen to messages, reply, forward, and even participate in polls from any U.S. phone or their computer.

- everyone's number is kept totally private and it's free!

Of course, applicatons aren't limited to music. Woot, for example, just enlisted to create a deal-of-the-day "PhoneCast." The service can accomodate subscriptions, feedback, and a transactional commerce function, and of course, an ad model isn't far behind.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack

July 13, 2006

E-Mail Me That Smell, Would You?

A new gadget claims to replicate the world's odors and disseminate them digitally.

It could also be used to "record" smells in one place (e.g. with a mobile phone), and transmit them elsewhere. To that end, there's e-commerce marketing potential -- helping online shoppers select a perfume, for example.

First they've got to shrink the machine down from its current six feet in length.

Japanese scientists came up with the gizmo close on the heels of another Japanese invention that pumps smells into movie theatres.

This whole thing rings a bell. Does anyone out there recall a dot-com boom era product that slipped into a disk drive and created aromas? I know I read that somewhere back then. Let me know in the comments section, please.

via Warren Ellis.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 12, 2006

A Toy in Every Dog House and a Bone in Every Bowl

Determined. Dependable. House Broken?

That's the slogan for a new candidate running a Web ad campaign. And yes, she's of the canine variety. Spoiled Yappy Dog is joined by Tacky Ceramic Rooster, Bag of Leaves, Old Relish Packet and Someone's Teddy Bear; they're all running for fake office as part of a just-launched Ad Council PSA campaign promoting voter registration that has a fun online component at PayAttention.org. The site features video ads, e-cards, materials for creating campaign paraphernalia and mini-sites dedicated to each "candidate." The overall campaign slogan says it all: "If you're not voting, then who are you electing?"

Unless my options change by November, I might have to write in Side of Hashbrowns for Congress.

Posted by Kate Kaye at 2:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 29, 2006

A Bold Move from Ford

We haven't had time to weigh in on this earlier this week, but, wow, what Ford is doing with its FordBoldMoves.com site and video documentary is really bold. In the video, the company acknowledges losing touch with the consumer, being in mortal danger of "going down," and desperately needing to turn itself around. It's really energizing to see a company commit to opening the kimono (perhaps an unfortunate choice of language consider who Ford is competing with) and engaging in dialogue with its customers... or the customers it has lost.

They're doing a lot of things right. Comments are enabled. Though one has to register to comment, only an e-mail address and password are required. Users can paste Javascript code into their blogs (which I've done here) to distribute the video and comment upon it. There are feeds, both outgoing and incoming. The site has a feed from Yahoo News showing the latest news about Ford. At this writing it's about a credit downgrade and how the CEO is ruling out a bankruptcy filing. Someone's gotta be gritting their teeth.

That said, a number of details screw up the online execution:

1. You are supposed to register and confirm your e-mail address (by clicking on a link in an e-mail you've received) before you can access community features on the site. I tried it, and the confirmation e-mail just never came. Not good. I was able to log in anyway, though.
   
2. No autodiscovery of RSS feeds. I tried to use the "Subscribe with Bloglines" feature, but it told me the site had no feeds. (It worked the more manual way, though.)
   
3. I tried to watch the video full screen, after having watched a little bit, but it required that I start all over from the very beginning. Not a good user experience.
   
4. The comments feature is all screwed up. The interface tells me there are 75 comments on the video, but when I click on it, I can only get to three. In some cases, the comments are clearly cut off.
   

Will this be the online destination to watch Ford's spectacular flame-out, where you can see a 100-plus-year-old company die before your eyes? Could be, but the seeming candor and good intentions behind the site make me, at least, root for Ford.

(full disclosure: I own a Ford vehicle, but I swear it was my husband's decision.)

UPDATE: Forgot to say we first wrote about this documentary plan here.

UPDATE2: The e-mail confirmation finally arrived, and I've determined that inability to see comments is a Firefox issue, as it looks OK in IE.

Posted by Pamela Parker at 4:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 20, 2006

Go Forward - and Do A Good Deed!

The Superman Tag Web site finally launched!

Its purpose is to raise awareness -- and money -- for a great cause: the Christopher Reeve Foundation, which is dedicated to curing spinal cord injuries.

The story behind the Web site is here. I was honored to be a part of the interactive marketing committee group that helped pull this effort together -- although the lion's share of kudos are due to Euro RSCG, which generously did the heavy lifting, i.e. site building, on a pro bono basis.

Could you please help us leverage the buzz around this summer's biggest movie blockbuster opening? (Superman Returns is dedicated to Reeve's memory.)

Please visit the Superman Tag Web site. Buy tags. And if you're at all able, please download one of the banners and post it on your own Web site.

It's for a very good cause.

Thanks.

And thanks to my fellow committee members, which includes such illustrious names as Dave Weinberger, Euro RSCG's Jane Barratt and Ryan Berger, Mark Hughes, Steve Rubel, scenarioDNA and a host of others.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 2:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

June 16, 2006

The Big Day

If we're a bit quiet today it's because we're wrapped up in the inaugural ClickZ Online Video Advertising Forum, taking place today at the Puck Building in NYC. We'll be weighing in later about the conference, but until then, we've set up a Flickr account to share some pics of speakers and attendees. (Just cameraphone quality, sadly, but of-the-moment.)

Posted by Pamela Parker at 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 4, 2006

Kebberfegg?

Keberfegg (a name I'll either never remember, or one that will be seared into my brain forever -- can't tell yet) is a way cool way to aggregate and subscribe to RSS feeds on a keyword basis.

The site tool allows you to associate keywords of your choice with predefined categories (e.g. "technology" or "multimedia"). Then, click and subscribe to a wealth of targeted feeds that can keep you very up-to-date on a given topic.

For deeper insight, Search Engine Watch has great coverage of this new tool up today.

Check out Keberfegg -- and the article.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 18, 2006

Great Marketing From China

Google, Yahoo, MSN et al may be having their problems doing business in China, but this page converted me in a second.

"Become a socialist hero... in just 4 easy steps" is a great value proposition, no? Just pick a well-know Chinese propaganda poster, send in a snapshot and a formally trained Chinese artist creates your portrait in two weeks once you approve a mock-up.

The site is a model of clarity and user friendlieness. There's even a sidebar portrait of a current "artist partner."

Just had to share this one.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The 2.0 of Google Calendar

We're falling for Google Calendar in a big way. Not only is it a great collaboration tool, but the Mac users among us love the fact that it syncs with iCal (and by extension, with Entourage).

What's more fun is to speculate on the Web 2.0 marketing implications people have hardly begun to exploit. Events, linking dates with Google Maps, importing marketing data onto your desktop. This thing's got great potential for events, conferences, sport teams, bands...the list goes on and on.

Incorporating Google Calendar into your marketing plans already? Let me know how.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 10, 2006

Warner Bros. Looks to Promote Bands in Virtual Worlds

Warner Bros. Records is looking to create Second Life environments for some of its bands, judging this blog post by its director of technology, Ethan Kaplan. Kaplan writes that he wants to hire "someone who knows Second Life like the back of their hand to create a mini-world type thing for a band of ours." (via clickableculture)

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 3:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

April 3, 2006

National Lampoon Jokes it up for the Community

In February National Lampoon launched a broadband network, today it announced an Internet marketing hub taking content from 26 affiliate sites and is expected to bring 40 million unique visitors to the site and 130 million ad views. It's being billed as the "first-ever branded online comedy community."

Interevco will sell the online ads for the site. A second firm, Operative, will provide full-service trafficking campaign management and ad-serving solutions for National Lampoon.

Posted by Enid Burns at 2:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 13, 2006

Cows Jumping Over Other Planets

It's probably tough to move the brand favorability needle on a product like milk. I mean, even my 8-month-old son already has a position ("milk good!"), and pretty much everyone else's mind is made up, too. I've got to hand it to Goodby, Silverstein & Partners for giving it a good shot, though. The agency's latest work for the California Milk Producer Board (CMPB) has some amusing and engaging online components.

The premise behind 2 new sites -- cowabduction.com and planetinneed.com -- is that aliens from the planet Brittlactica have discovered a white "wonder tonic" (guess what) that solves all of their problems. These issues include lack of sleep, brittle bones, PMS and thinning hair. The idea is to get us humans to re-think our feelings about milk by helping us see it through the eyes of some goofy aliens.

The way GS&P have executed this is a lot of fun. We meet the alien rulers of Brittlactica's problem-plagued nations, see a cow-language translator and delve into the cow abduction phenomenon. Along the way, there's plenty of audio and video and nice Flash animations. Looks like the TV spots (shown on the site) will point to the sites, as well.

Posted by Pamela Parker at 3:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

March 9, 2006

CP+B's Shades of Video

VWFeatures.com dovetails nicely with Volkswagen's current "German engineering in da house" TV spots for the GTI. What marvels about this site is how the car shown in the first-person "video joyride" matches the features hand-picked by the site user just moments earlier in the GTI configurator. Did you click on the sunroof? Leather seats? There they are in the video, with you behind the wheel. It's trademark Crispin Porter + Bogusky (As is the kinky German girl in the passenger seat -- yes, the one from the TV ads. Her name's Helga, and a search reveals VW's included her in its keyword buy.)

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 4:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

February 6, 2006

This is Your Brain on Super Bowl Ads

So, this isn't exactly about interactive, but it's still very cool. Four scientists at the UCLA Brain Mapping Center looked at how people's brains reacted to watching Super Bowl ads. Interestingly, there was a "strong disconnect" between what people said they liked, and what their brain activity would seem to suggest.

From the initial study write-up:

Who won the Super Bowl ads competition? If a good indicator of a successful ad is activity in brain areas concerned with reward and empathy, two winners seem to be the 'I am going to Disney' ad and the Bud 'office' ad. In contrast, two big floppers seem to be the Bud 'secret fridge' ad and the Aleve ad.

via the J Curve

Posted by Pamela Parker at 7:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 19, 2006

Sundance Shorts Online

Sundance starts today, and the festival is reprising and expanding its online streaming of films and behind the scenes footage. Most interesting is that many entries to the Shorts competition will be streamed. The flicks premiere in Park City, UT, then go up on the site with Adobe as an underwriter. Fifty of 73 filmmakers are allowing their work to be shown on the site, which will post new movies every day until January 29. ZDNet has some details.

This is the sixth year for the online festival, but the model was significantly revamped last year... Instead of a separate online film competition, a decision was made to treat the site as a regular festival venue for the Shorts category. Sundance is now the only major film festival to premiere films on the Internet in conjunction with their live premieres...

Also, a podcast will carry some of the panel content, including a session on mobile distribution.

Overall a nice awareness builder for the event and the artists. (via)

Posted by Zachary Rodgers at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

January 17, 2006

Apple Trademarks "Mobile Me"

Reports are in that Apple has applied at the US Patent and Trade Office for trademarks relating to a mobile phone service featuring music, video, e-mail, and Web functions. The name for both the devices and service?

Mobile Me.

It's been great knowing you, Treo...

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 2:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 14, 2005

BBC Offers Video CGM Tools

Too cool!

Under the motto, "Don't just consume, create!" the BBC has opened its news archives to consumers and invited them to create their own video mash-ups of historic news footage of the past 50 years.

(more...)

"You are welcome to download the clips, watch them, and use them to create something unique. This is a pilot and we want to understand your creative needs. We'd like to see your productions and showcase some of the most interesting ones we receive."

Along with how-to guides, there's a feedback form inviting fledgling video editors to "tell us what your doing."

OK, the Beeb is a public, taxpayer and government-supported institution. Which brand will be the first one brave enough to proffer itself to the masher-uppers?

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 13, 2005

Feedburner Blazing New Trails

A couple of interesting tidbits from Feedburner today. First, the feed management company has signed Reuters as a client, meaning the news company will be able to better track readership of its feeds in the U.S., U.K., and Japan. Reuters will also be able to sell ads into its feeds, which will be trafficked and tracked through Feedburner's system. Needless to say it's a big client win for Feedburner, and it shows Reuters is taking RSS distribution seriously.

Feedburner is also releasing new functionality called "FeedFlare," a sort of module that allows publishers to add Web services -- from del.icio.us, Technorati, etc. -- to their feed items. It's starting with the two services I mentioned above, but Feedburner is releasing an open API for FeedFlare, to encourage developers to build applications that work with it.

BTW, these announcements come in conjunction with the Syndicate conference, which I'll be attending. Hope to see some readers there.

Posted by Pamela Parker at 12:14 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

December 5, 2005

Content Directions Completes Transformation

When we wrote about Content Directions adapting its library science technology for interactive advertising use, it was in the early stages, just dipping its toes in the waters. It seems that they've gotten a bit more interested in the space, since they've now changed the name of the company to LinkStorm, and focusing its efforts on online marketing.

They're pretty excited about the name, taking the opportunity to weave it into their press release clichés like "The Internet has become a perfect storm for advertising. This is technology that allows advertisers to own that storm."

They apparently were not aware of one of the basic tenets of online marketing, and picked a name where they didn't own the corresponding URL, so instead went with something close-but-not-quite.

Posted by Kevin Newcomb at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 21, 2005

TiVO, iPod Hook Up

This (subscription required) should move some holiday hardware.

The Wall Street Journal reports TiVo plans to enable transfers of recorded programming to the new video iPod. That will greatly expand the amount of TV programming avaiilable for the device,as well as give TiVo an edge over competitive DVRs -- at least for the time being. It may also give the new portable video player a nice little jumpstart for the holidays.

The whole thing will be complicated and time-consuming, at least at the outset. "The whole process of getting an hour-long show onto an iPod could take more than two hours from the time a TiVo device finishes recording it," says the WSJ.

iPodded TiVo programming will contain ads, unlike the ad-free Disney shows sold on the iTunes at $1.99 a pop.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

November 18, 2005

Talking Frogs Review Sites

What do talking frogs think of the Ticketmaster.com Web site?

Wonder no more -- click here to find out just why they don't like it. In kind of a MST3K twist on Web sites, the talking frogs discuss what they don't like about Ticketmaster.com -- and they're pretty on target. You can even sign up for the frogs' newsletter to find out when their next site review goes live.

Via bOINGbOING.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 4:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 14, 2005

The iPod is *Optional*

For the record: you don't need to own a video iPod to be rocked by what it means.

I like to call this the "podcast fallacy." Sure, you can play podcasts on an iPod -- hence the moniker. But you don't have to possess the iPod. At the end of the day, a podcast is an mp3 file, and there are scads of ways to listen to those, including on your PC.

Same thing with the $1.99 video from the iTunes store. Zach bought "Lost" yesterday morning. It default-played on his PowerBook in iPod size. While expanding the frame to almost fill the 12" screen didn't produce the crispest image you've ever seen, it wasn't half bad, either.

Sure, Apple's going to try to sell their new hardware. And that's fine. But it won't take consumers long to figure out this is video. They can watch it on other devices. This is convergance. This is pay-per-view.

The iPod is optional.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 3:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

October 3, 2005

At Web 2.0 This Week

I'll be at the Web 2.0 Conference in San Francisco this week, keeping my eyes open for new technologies and ideas that will impact advertising and marketing. Hope to run into some ClickZ readers there. Yes, I plan to blog the show as time permits.

Posted by Pamela Parker at 6:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 23, 2005

Pop While You Wait

If there's one outdoor ad fixture that could use an interactive makeover, it might just be the bus stop. Those depots that shelter commuters from the elements while waiting for the bus are prime spots for ads that offer a little activity.

Video game blog Joystiq posts about one such depot in Malaysia where the whole structure has been taken over by Sony to promote its PlayStation 2. The awning carries the console's branding while the backboard is covered in bubble wrap imprinted with the symbols on all Sony game device controllers.

Posted by Enid Burns at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

September 15, 2005

Ad Exhibition

The history and future of advertising will be highlighted in the Online Publishers Association exhibit called Opt In to Advertising's New Age at the New York Public Library's Science, Industry and Business Library. The exhibit will debut during Advertising Week, and then run from September 27 to December 31.

Assembly of examples for the Opt In to Advertising's New Age presentation benefited from participation from The One Club, who opened its extensive archive of advertisements dating back to the 1800s.

The OPA says advertisements will be displayed in each medium's element. Commercials will run on a large television while radio adverts can be heard from a mock-up radio. An oversize computer monitor and mouse will allow visitors to the exhibit to access ads to see the "evolution of online advertisements."

This exhibit will likely be a "must see" for Advertising Week attendees, and will travel to Los Angeles and Chicago in 2006.

Posted by Enid Burns at 5:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 24, 2005

Worksafe. But Not TV-Safe

Now this is rich media! In every sense of the word. The spot is for actor Alan Cumming's new fragrance, Cumming.

Uh-huh. Right. Strong brand, strong brand proposition, strong personality behind the brand. A little too strong, for some. This is a great spot, for the product and for the Web. Not just because it's all a little risque, but isn't that ad just a little, well, too intimate for the big screen?

Good going - I'd love to know which agency gets the well-deserved credit.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 1:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 16, 2005

Virtual Reality TV

Would you please turn down that smell on the TV? I'm trying to make dinner!

"The Japanese Communications Ministry is to establish a research group that will work to commercialize virtual reality television by 2020.

VR TV will enable images to be seen in 3D from any angle at a quality equivalent to that offered by high-definition TVs, and allow viewers to feel and smell the objects they are watching.

Users watching a home shopping programs will be able to examine products from various angles and feel them. VR TV technology will also likely be used in telemedicine and other fields.

To simulate the sensation of touch, researchers are considering using means including ultrasound, electrical stimulation and wind pressure. For smells, the development of a device that mixes natural aromatic essences to recreate particular scents will likely be given a major focus.

In addition, studies of human neural pathways and an array of related basic research are expected to be carried out."

via we make money not art.

Posted by Rebecca Lieb at 1:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

August 10, 2005

PSPromo

The Sony PlayStation Portable is widely discussed as a platform not just for games, but for marketing as well. Beyond direct advertising, there is potential for creative promotions. The Japanese unit of Coca-Cola may be the first to venture beyond attaching an ad to downloaded video, or in-game advertising. The soda distributor set up a microsite at its Cokestyle.net as a cross promotion for players of the PSP title, Wipeout Pure, a futuristic racing game developed by Sony.

Players will get keywords, likely printed inside Coca-Cola products, and will be able to use the keywords to unlock content in the game. New items include menu graphics, courses, vehicles, and sound effects. It is unclear whether the content was previously built into the game, or will be downloaded from the Internet via a Wi-Fi connection.

Wipeout Pure was among the launch titles for the PSP. It contains the Web browser used by the Wi-Fi-enabled PSP to access the Internet.

Posted by Enid Burns at 12:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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