GOOD CHEER FOR THE NEW VIDEO YEAR

Yes, this attached video is a bit of inside humor, but we think it's funny no matter what bizness you're in.

Actually, given everyone seems to be in the 'I can make a funny viral video' bizness, this skit's relevant on several levels.

No real learning lesson here, other than 'funny can come from anywhere nowadays.'  And, a great concept with a good script trumps production values every time.

Better yet if bad production values are meant to be part of the concept:

Time to go write some local car ad spoofs....

Oh, and speaking of bad video but amusing concepts, here's one that we think is real.  If any readers are down at 110th & Cicero, shoot us a confirmation:

The site's not bad either:

http://www.jonesgoodassbbqandfootmassage.com/

Tech and t-t-t-timing

After a recent bout of online Christmas shopping, a ski helmet we'd been checking out  kept on appearing on the non-ecommerce site we visited afterwards.   And in sites that REALLY weren't related.  Music videos?

 

The ability to target someone so narrowly with a relevant ad will undoubtedly produce better results over the long run and at a lesser cost.  

But the logic of showing a product right after steering away from it didn't impress.  

Displaying it 24 hours later whilst surfing, in case we just ran out of time or simply wanted to think about it, would have been far more appealing...and intriguing.

Cookies, tracking, and geo-targeting has certainly built a far better and more measurable mouse trap.  But there's still missing magic in knowing where and when to place the cheese.

New Coke?

What an interesting turn around at Coke.  From the folks that didn't know how to leverage the Mentos/Coke 'exploding' viral video, we finally see some swagger come out of the Coke Zero brand team.

In addition to sponsoring The Onion video segments (not for the faint of heart, but some like this are really funny), the Atlanta gang is leveraging some new technology to have unabashed fun.

Adults Go Wild Over Latest In Children's Picture Book Series

So here is a link to Coke Zero's latest social media idea:  with your permission, Coke looks through your pictures on Facebook and uses facial recognition software to find your doppelgänger anywhere in the world.    The results are convincing and sometimes eerie.

Quick. Easy. Engaging.  And effectively pitches Zero as Coke's doppelgänger.

Plus, the results are cool enough to cause us to share the heavily-branded site  with our online cohorts like you.  Share a Coke and your smile...?

To find your own doppelgänger click below:

http://www.facialprofiler.com

Census Sense, Gender Style

According to the latest census data, men are taking it on the chin in this economy.

78% of the jobs lost in the last recession were men's.  And this isn't simply because more men are working.  One of the main reasons is the heavy losses in construction and manufacturing. 

Given women tend to be more represented in sectors of the economy less effected by the recession like health care and education, they are doing better.  

In addition, women are:

• 48% of the workforce but 52% of professional and managerial slots

 • graduating college at 1.6x the rate of men for the last decade

In the entire +25 population, starting in 2009 there will be more women than men college graduates.

All this could have a flow-through effect on:

• spending power

• shifts in marketing targets

• product innovation and invention that's more gender focused

• who starts holding the door open for whom....

(source http://www.census.gov/)

Web 3.OH!

Sure, social media are all the buzz.

Though Twitter may wane, and Facebook deface, the notable elements behind social media is this:

• the way we all communicate and engage continues to undergo a monumental shift

• newer consumers continue to become better producers

• groups and individuals now communicate, in concentric circles, at the same time

It's a direct result of information shifting from hyper-centralized to decentralized.

What happened in retail, product, and other traditionally distributed consumer goods is now speeding up how we connect, talk, and transfer info.

One of the main reasons everything was centralized was Economies of Scale, a requirement that crumbles more with each increase in digitization and broadband internet upgrade.

Of course, quality of content and engagement still separates the wheat from the chaff, but since distribution is free, information, and its transfer, is increasingly de-centralized -- bye-bye mainframes, and newspaper...hello hub, and blog.

In a tip of the hat to that free info, we'll share one of our favorite sources info, the TED talks. Clay Shirky here sums up the implications of this communication revolution:

http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cellphones_twitter_facebook_can_make_history.html

Enjoy. And transfer this info!

ʇdıɹɔs ǝɥʇ dıןɟ

Can't turn your monitor upside down?

We stumbled upon this novelty site and thought we'd share in the spirit of lightening up these darker winter days.

http://flipmytext.com/ and a host of other sites enable one to send messages upside down.

Watch your friends try it on the self righting screens of their smart phones! While these site are mostly just a novelty we can't help but write copy.

ɹǝʇuıʍ uı ɹǝɯɯns ɹǝpun uʍop

Imagine that kind of pitch from Quantas for a 'Down Under Summer in Winter' sale. Or an eblast selling the inversion boot workout. Too obscure? Well, you get the idea.

Just twist your thinking. ˙ʎɹǝʌıןǝp ǝɥʇ dıןɟ puɐ

Since we're in marketing, we're in the markets.

"This is all happening because my father didn't buy me a train set as a kid."

- WARREN BUFFETT, joking about his decision to buy a railroad, the Burlington

Northern Santa Fe Corporation.

NY Times, November 3rd, 2009

Is this a sign the downturn's up?' Should we start studying Buffett's other Rosebud-esque childhood stories? 'Hey, his folks didn't get him a junior insurance agent playset, so that explains GEICO!'

As we all know, the daily Dow, and all those market swings effect virtually every business, especially those involving antacid supplements. And while fixation isn't helpful, paying attention to the trends makes business sense.

Colleagues and friends ask us what we're seeing in our world, given marketing can be an indicator of C-suite outlook.

We're noticing the obvious things:

• turnover at some companies makes getting back in-synch harder

• the struggling companies seem to shift back in an odd reliance on old ways vs fresh starts

• risk-aversion still rules at companies with slow/no-growth (self-fulfilling? most likely)

• well-run companies are acting smarter about how they're spending -- more thoughtful in decisions, yet moving like an opportunist

• smart companies are questioning value -- not overall cost, but cost against the service

All told, these trends have actually led to more business for our business.

Why is that? And what are the lessons we've learned about what's worked? Getting back to the basics of entrepreneurial structures, that start any business big or small, including:

• minimized overhead that can deliver optimal value AND a truly neutral structure and solution set

• efficient processes born of that minimized structure vs legacy systems

• personnel hiring that bring only those who are flexible and think like an entrepreneur given constant change in the marketplace

None of the above is news. really. But it's amazing how the rapid growth era can take all but the smartest from going off track...Mr. Buffett.

Baby-boomers still booming it.

Once a generation started to retire, conventional wisdom said they'd start acting like retirees. Cutting spending, locked into old ways -- the implication was therefore that they weren't worth the marketing effort.

But not baby boomers, baby. They're not accepting a declining income as readily as previous generations. And in mass alone, they're still big:

• Households age 50+ account for nearly half consumer income & spending

• Boomer delayed every life stage transition & will delay retiement

• Most boomers are empty nesters, who often subsidize their adult kids

So, while the youth marketing rule is to aspire up (think 2-4 years older when marketing to 'kids'), you can do the opposite in terms of marketing to the Boomer set -- just think younger by a decade or 2.

Less AARP. More PAAR-TY!

Source: www.census.gov

iPhone App Rapp

What do you get when musicians, technicians, and comedians get together?  "I am T-Pain", of course.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITT6bYYGVfM

All this creative technological prowess has produced something totally useless but severely entertaining.

The iPhone app, brought to us by T-Pain himself, allows users to karaoke over T-pain's songs in his trademark, auto-tune style -- then share the 'vocal stylings' online or via email.

And not only does T-Pain promote himself, but he's also leveraged his guest appearance in an SNL sketch for extra cash.   

For $0.99 more, you can buy the instrumental version of the hit SNL sketch "I am on a boat"   complete with Karaoke style lyrics.  

But wait there's more!

Other's lyrics need not limit you. There are instrumental songs a'plenty which allow you to "free style" your own poetry in emotion.  So watch out for Happy B-day, Mom, with an auto-tuned twist.

Appreciation of Hip-hop, SNL, or even the iPhone aside, one has to concede this is an entertaining interactive experience that promotes purely, while it pads the creators pockets a bit.

Could your own iPhone app music video be far behind?  Bring it, MileyBrittneyJonasWilco.  Wait, who's Wilco?

-BWM

Saturn Cars: When Big Tries A Little

We've seen it before:  Plank Road Brewing from Miller.  Ted from United.  Saturn from GM.

Occasionally, the 'intrapreneurial' spirit works.

Saturn was the small car company feel and action from within the belly of the GM behemoth.

But it died.  Even a sale to the smart, savvy car-man turned conglomerate Roger Penske couldn't happen 11th hour.

http://adage.com/article?article_id=139370

Why did Saturn fail in the first place?

• little has a hard time getting resourced OR left alone to thrive

• little is held to same standards as big in P&L, reporting -- and expected to fit the big system in distribution, timelines, velocity or other biz metrics

• little is sometimes staffed the same as big -- or with big minded people who don't fit

Sadly, this wasn't Saturn's fault.  

And we would think there's still some positive brand residue there.  But it's only worth a little -- until in message and in mode, someone makes a big shift forward with it again.

Twitter? Or Twit?

Many people write off Twitter as useless, superfluous and just plain ridiculous. 

We agree in 2 cases:

• if you don't need to share with friends and the wider world your 'status'

• if you, your friends and or your industry aren't on it

But while many use Twitter as a psuedo-public diary of their lives, it can be used to great effect for non-social purposes.   Twitter can:

• give users an easy way to monitor 'Twitter-hip' companies, industries and industry leaders

• enable real time, quick-news postings about how to best use products, even what regulatory issues a given industry or company is facing

As a result, following just a handful of industry leaders will yield insights and great competitive information.

So, how do we at Bandwidth Twitter?  We follow the high tech industry with one account, the Design world with another, and the Marketing world with a third. 

We also choose to follow keywords of interest, and pay close attention to industry leaders and innovative companies, what they're saying, who they're following. 

Seesmic and Tweet Deck provide free software which allows a Twitter user to follow multiple accounts and subjects at once with minimal clutter.

Like most things, you get out what you put into the system.  And as always online, its caveat emptor, or Twitter-read beware:  if you blindly trust what jabbermouth26 says, you might get burnt.

Flip it Good

When you're struggling with a creative problem, flip the thing on it's head. Even if you've done it the other way for years.

What if the white swan were black? What if forward were back? What if up were down?

That's how new concepts are born, new products are invented, and the toughest problems get solved.

The upside down ketchup bottle. Roller coasters with wheels up above.

Upside down may actually be the bright side up.

The proof, is in the banana....

United Breaks Guitars, but Fixes Public Relations

Many of you may have heard this story, and over 500,000 have seen the video: a musician flew United, had his guitar wrecked in transit, and when he appealed for recompense, he got none.

So he wrote a song. And now is getting more than just an apology from United.

He's getting his 15 minutes of fame. Talk about turning lemons into vodka with lemonade.

And United, a dear old client of ours, is seemingly trying to do the same.

United's spokesperson is quoted on Chicagotribune.com as saying the video complaint 'struck a chord...', pun intended to be sure. They are promising to 'make things right' at long last.

And now customer relations is quoted as asking for the video to help improve customer service.

Empathy. And apology.

Sad that in this day and age it comes AFTER the negative publicity and not as a core value, but there seem to be many reasons why customer experience comes last in a popular drive to deliver such inexpensive product (think about it -- sometimes your cab fare to the airport is half the cost of your airline ticket.)

Anyway, a positive, creative solution to a problem. And kudos to United to not fighting it, but riding it.

A Simple Web Banner Can Go a Long Long Long Way

Take a look at the amusing web banner from Pringles that we've attached below (the webpage itself is irrelevant -- the ad is the feature, kind of like a bad SuperBowl match up.)

As you'll see, each click of the banner image produces another amusing line. It's dead simple. It takes as much time as you want (and it DOES go on and on.) And it leverages the medium well.

Sell more chips? Not necessarily. But it does create a memorable, positive brand experience better than an image-driven TV campaign. And the moustachioed icon wise-acre and the product, er, placement (you'll see what we mean) help actually drive home Pringles. Plus you're engaged by clicking to get more out of the ad.

Just goes to show you how far a simple, clever idea and a low-tech solution (by today's web standards) can beat out all the pyro-techspecs.

Nice work, Cincinnati.

http://www.awardshome.com/cannes2009/pringles/can-hands.html

Allison Kraus And Demographic Fate

Sitting in Chicago Starbucks, #437, sipping green tea, and cranking out work via laptop. 

 

To muffle the barrista rattle and speaker songs blaring overhead required firing up iTunes and headphones.  

 

The first random shuffle selection: Allison Kraus & Gillian Welch singing "I'll Fly Away."

 

No more than 15 minutes later, "I'll Fly Away" jumps onto the in-house speakers.  What are the odds?

 

One could view that as a cool twist of fate and unseen forces in play.

 

But thought of another way, couldn't technology be leveraged to hit that 'fate card' more readily, a la 'Minority Report'

• Imagine a bar's juke box that suggested songs based on reading your iPod's song collection
• Consider a car satellite radio system that read your tastes via your phone's Bluetooth function and threw in songs or programs that matched past selections

 

Where else could we read preferences, needs, experiences and offer them up so consumers didn't have to browse or even ask?

 

Sure, there's a big brother worry.  But if one could be entertained, or get customized suggestions without having to work at it -- and with the ability to turn it off -- that would be welcome.

 

POST SCRIPT:

 

Fate?  No.   The demographic overlap between Starbucks and a middle-aged song collection?  Yes.

Reality. Parody. Virtual Reality

REALITY: Back in 1976, Blue Öyster Cult recorded "(Don't Fear) The Reaper."

According to former bassist Joe Bouchard, the 'cowbell part' was overdubbed by his brother Albert after the song had been recorded.

PARODY: In 2005, a skit on Saturday Night Live had guest Chistopher Walken pushing for "More cowbell" from Will Ferrell. No link due to copyright issues. We'll let you Google that classic.

VIRTUAL REALITY: Finally in 2009, you can upload any MP3 song, and add your own cowbell courtesy of www.morecowbell.dj

What a wonderful world, wide web.

Twitter: Death by Spam?

If you've spent five minutes on Twitter and follow a crew, you get flooded by a torrent of info, mostly irrelevant, often useless.

Twitter vets filter the noise and recognize the signals.   

With that overload in mind, we were intrigued by Guy Kawasaki's posting about Twitterhawk, a direct marketing tool for Twitter.   

Twitterhawk searches Twitter for your "key words" and allows you to set automatic or manual responses to these messages for $0.05 a pop.  Clearly, this is a company trying to create real value without biting the hand that feeds it.

But what happens when a spammer or group without scruples enters the market?    Twitterhawk could become Twitterhock.  And that would ruin everyone's tweet.

The link to Kawasaki's article:

  http://blogs.openforum.com/2009/05/27/twitterhawk-no-guts-no-story/

The Next Game Changer

In the beginning, there was light.

Then iPhone.  (Not to mention its 20,000 apps in year one.)

Now there's Amazon's Kindle.

Intro'd at the end of '07, this digital book reader can be perused like paper with batteries lasting almost 2 weeks.  

More importantly, Kindle:

• will reach over $400 million in revenues in 2009

• accounted for 4 million of the 38 millions books sold in North America in Q1 '09 -- over 10%, dutiful reader

But similar to iPhone, what sets Kindle apart from mere gadgetry is its breadth and depth of offerings:  almost every word that has ever been published is available immediately (give or take 30 seconds.)  NY Times, and everything on its bestseller list. Out of print pubs.  Textbooks.  Mags.  Dailies.  Blog-o-sphere stuff.

Some fear that Kindle is the "book-killer," but we see it as publishing's saving grace.  Kindle has already changed the way we look at publishing, book promotions and, quite literally, 'books.' 

See the facts for yourselves -- on your Kindle if you have one: 

http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007099

The Golden Rule of Social Media

Everyone's leveraging social media these days. Posting to blogs. Updating status. Twittering.

That said, it's important to keep one very simple, and seemingly obvious, rule in mind:

Only say online what you would say in public.

Since many sites are based on friend networks, it gives users the false impression that what they do or say online is semi-private. Yeah, right.

These days, we're separated at most by six degrees, and more often by 3. So keep your bizarro posts to bathroom walls (not that we condone graffiti.)

To illustrate our point, we embedded this video from those College humor nuts (yes, it's safe for work -- we're posting online, remember?)

Watch Real Life Twitter on CollegeHumor

Pfizer Pfreebie

We LOVE Pfizer's new move making their powerhouse drugs (including Lipitor) FREE to people who have recently lost their jobs.

While the impact to their bottom line will be knocked a bit, it will pale in comparison to the PR effect, and the goodwill. Smart move.

Time for us all to start looking at 'marketing' as a way to give everyone unexpected benefits.

As simple as O-Cedar's cause related marketing program donating money to Breast Cancer Network of Strength. Or Samsung putting free power outlet stations in JFK airport. Or the really clever company that paid to fill potholes in exchange for labeling each one with their logo.

What more could be done?

Who's gonna donate wireless beyond coffee shops?

Which liquor company might underwrite cab companies for a night?

And which one of those environmentally challenged dry-cleaning companies will be the first to plant a tree for every order -- clean clothes, green globe?

Now that marketing is seen more and more broadly, let's look at some really worthwhile applications. Yes, beyond iPhone applications.

Happy Belated Cinco De Mayo

Hit the Cubs game with friends yesterday.

Was wondering what the first 10,000 fans would get for Cinco day. Swine Flu?

Find my house in the Uverse!

ATT’s bundled services, Uverse, have been talked about for some time. So where the heck is it? Somewhere North of me, I’m told.

I want ATT phone, TV and Web for far less than the Comcast price.
And far more than the Comcast service (oxymoron.)

So please get it to 60093, Mr. DeathStar.

We will be sitting in the backyard, staring into the night sky, wondering about our place in the Uverse.

Got to see Chelsea….

Sure, you’ve got to be able to handle swearing, blue humor, a panel of comedians, and some solid B to C list celeb interviewees.

But that doesn’t stop this show from being funny. Mainly because of the quick, sharp witted host, Chelsea Handler. Reminds one of of Letterman WAY back when he was really nasty and engaged. And a cute blonde woman.

http://www.eonline.com/on/shows/chelsea/index.jsp

Free Apps, Anyone?

iPhone apps are all the rage. And rightfully so. There’s something for everyone.

Using Google maps virtual GPS while driving is cool enough to justify your accident.

Showing your kid a virtual Zippo lighter without fear of fire is great too.

Anyway, being creative types, we see no end of apps to create. And as we look at them for clients (a clean screen function for O-Cedar that wipes away whatever you want hidden from view?), we are fascinated by any addtional info we can find.

This link to a report on app pricing from an analytics group was particularly interesting. Enjoy.

iPhone AppStore Secrets - Pinch Media

View more presentations from pinchmedia.

Bud TV, InBev Network Cancellation?

It happened — that place where one could find refuge when needing a 30 second hit in the crotch joke fix, is off the air.

We hardly knew ye, Bud TV.

Odd that the comments on its downfall were regarding age limitations and profitability. You’d think those were known hurdles that wouldn’t have been in the considered set to start. Is YouTube profitable? Is a 30 second on air spot profitable?

Guess I’ll have to stick to watching the Blatz Show, the rising and falling of that yellow and black can balanced on my beer gut. Makes a nice picture, eh? Urp.

Brooms Do More Than Sweep

Take look at this video and let us know what you think.

We’re thinking ‘public domain everything’ can still be cool. Ah, copyrights.

Art by Allen Addington. Broom by O-Cedar.

Oh, and get 50 free tunes when you buy this over-sized paintbrush at Target.

Let’s start with somethin’ positive

I know what we like — blogging in a nice looking font with a simply tailored masthead.

Kudos to WordPress for designing something facile, intuitive, and, well, designed. Rather, well designed.

No, we’re not just saying that so we’ll rank higher in some blog-off. Though that would be nice.

And with that stellar initial post, we’ll blog-out.

What’s it all about, Albie?

Now it can be said that everyone is blogging. Because we are.

But why? Well, it’s high time we take our fine writing skills out of the comment area and into the posted blogosphere.

We’ll look to ‘comment’ on anything and everything we see. Hence the title of our site.

Mainly, we’ll point out things we just don’t get, or things we just don’t like, or things we think you all really should see — to the good and to the bad.

And we’ll try to keep it short. Sighted.

Isn’t that what a hypercriticism is good for, anyway?

Oh, and our first hypercrit comment: can’t BELIEVE we already used the word blogosphere. Sheesh.

At least we also used the word Sheesh.

Enjoy.