Shine on Chrome

Google Chrome, that is.

This recent ‘ad’ from Google is fantastic, interesting, captivating…all in a simple product demo. 

No spoken words, just the power of moving pictures, worth 1000s of words, seen in a 1000^th of a second.

The video production utilizes the Phantom high-speed camera capturing the high speed of Google Chrome…vs lightning…vs sound waves…vs…a spud gun.

It’s sheer fun, yet compelling. 

That’s why, in our minds, Google will continue to outstrip and outrun Microsoft.  Though search is still the mega-money pot at the Googleplex, we hope their drive for innovation continues to earn them converts and accolades. 

We’d pay for Google sites if we had to, or Google office.  And we’d NEVER have that feeling about Microsoft.

Chrome marketing, including their SuperBowl spot for Google search that relayed a whole romance in the speed of a Google search query, was simply appealing. 

Innovative products mirrored by innovative marketing causes us to root for Google.

That’s a far cry from the feeling one gets from the ‘softies in Redmond, and the tired, tried-too-hard Zune marketing work, or dinosaur print campaign (get it? you’re a dinosaur?! Ugh.)

Even the Crispin marketing agency’s “Windows was my idea” work, like Microsoft products overall, lacks magic and imagination

So here’s to hoping true innovation and a mission stating ‘don’t do evil’ can win out over the blast of Ballmer and bloated software driven by the dominant operating system.

Go Google.

http://creativity-online.com/work/google-chrome-speed-tests/19912

So What's Anti-Social Media?

Bloggers love to write articles on how to leverage social media to create a movement.  They call this going viral, creating a tribe or creating a following.    

Many draw from success stories.   Then they seem to imply that by following a set of rules, one can achieve the same success.  

Casey Hibbard wrote an excellent article about Lance Armstong's uber-popular Live Strong movement for the Social Media Examiner.  

Her article is full of great advice about the intelligent social media tactics used by Live Strong to achieve social media success.   

But while the lessons are sound, she and other denizens often forget to ensure one asks a basic question to start:  is you company or your industry 'socializable?'   

Can Live Strong's success be recreated using some of the same tactics?  Yes, if your company, your initiative or industry can galvanize people in the real world.   To create a following online there has to be a real reason to follow.  

Ideally, you have to nail one of the following attributes: 

• create something entertaining

• enable people to show off

• help people connect, re-connect, or FEEL connected

• indulge some voyeuristic tendencies

• ensure one will feel 'left out' if not participating

And to some extent, if you are bringing the next Sham-Wow or 3G light bulb to market, don't hold your breadth for 1 million twitter followers or 3 million youtube views. There is most likely no compelling reason for consumers to give their already fragmented attention or time.  

In some ways, any type of marketing, social or no, comes down to the same simple phrase:  what's in it for me?

Product or Service? Or Both?

P&G, the globe's pre-eminent goods marketer, is testing a branch into service businesses with their brand names.

Leveraging brands that have long dominated the shelves, P&G now runs 'Mr. Clean' car wash and Tide Dry Cleaners.  Can Iam's Pet Walkers be far behind?   Pantene Hair Salons?

The advantages are many:

• an experiential play on brands/goods that heretofore only went from retail shelf to kitchen or bath cabinet

• another 'advertising' vehicle 

(Side note:  we at Bandwidth helped to use Taco Bell's stores as billboards for many years, given the dearth of media spend compared to the bigger burger chains)

• a great way to test new products within or outside of the title brand's portfolio

• a built-in name brand that can possibly rise above the Mom & Pop shops without a name or reputation

The downside?  Making sure that quality stays consistent and the experience is a good one.  

Many a real service company has fallen hard when the human component comes into the equation.  Delivering in the service realm goes far beyond making sure your package looks pretty and gets to Aisle 2 on time.

But, that said -- good luck, P&G.  Always good to see a big behemoth take a small chance on something different.  

Source: http://adage.com/article?article_id=142898

When Lit Goes Rap Sampler: Hip-Hopifi-fiction?

Interesting article in Sunday's NY Times book section about, among other things, the lifting of famous authors' words to create new works.  Almost music sampler style.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/books/21mash.html?th&emc=th

So the mash-ups so popular in music might appear in the literary world?  Copyright and trade infringement effect everyone, though the lit class has somewhat dodged the sampling bullet, maybe because its a sleepier, older, and less profitable world to begin with.

I'm sure an attorney could argue against this statement.  Or for it, as attorneys do.

Anyway, in our creative way, it got our mash up brain's thinking:  where else can one sample and combine for a synthesis of new off of the old?  Brands?  Sure Buckeye BBQ sauce Lays chips is just a start.  Maybe Intel Potato Chips?

Food for thought there.  

Mash ups are here to stay.  And cool stuff can be created...out of recreating.

In fact, this recreation is a fave of ours, for any of you who are amused by Charlie Rose, this is even more amusing:

In Your Face Book

You know online marketing is important. And social media's all the rage. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube...and, now, fantasy March Madness.

But where are consumers spending the bulk of their online time?

According to recent findings by Nielson Company,

Of the 116,000,000 visitors per month to Facebook (4th overall online), the average time spent on it is 7 hours per month.

Yahoo! is a distant second, with only 2 hours 28 minutes per month.

Amazingly, 11.6% of all time spent online in January was spent on Facebook.

Clearly, this Facebook has great eyeballs.

Add in the fact that you can customize ad campaigns by:

• Location
• Age
• Sex

• Keywords
• Education
• Workplace

• Relationship Status
• Relationship Interests
• Languages

That said, just as in the old TV ad days, eyeballs and engagement are two different things.  This says nothing about click through, let alone conversion.

But the reach and dedication of users here is undeniable.  Just another eye buy to consider....

Source 5 New Studies Show Facebook a Marketing Powerhouse

Yo-Yo Ma MashUp

Crossover categories can be big, and musical taste is a subjective, eclectic arena at times.

But who at Sony Music decided there might be a Yo-Yo Ma market among Passion Pit fans, as they popped this ad up alongside the electro-pop music sampler?

Where does Yo-Yo Ma, a world renowned Cellist, cross paths with Passion Pit, an up and coming hipster band?  

Maybe in the halls at HQ, but no where else, we'd imagine.

As we've said before, sometimes when the logic button is off resulting in online mismatches, no one gets much out of it.

Then again, maybe Yo-Yo is a big fan of the Pit.

iPhone App$$$

Would you pay $1000 for an iPhone App?  Maybe if it helped you pass the Bar Exam.

A new category of ultra-expensive Apps have hit iTunes -- education Apps for professional exams.  

Offline versions of same often hit $3-4K, if not more -- so there's a savings.  And, if the interface and interactivity are well-designed, this could spur a whole new valuable breed of App-ware.

Imagine this applied to Doctoral studies, Pre-med training, etc.  In fact, any college or professor with a killer curriculum might look into a way to package class up and make it mobile.  

The base versions of 'offline' classes have been done for years, from PBS-esque video series to Podcasts to more.  So leveraging the uniqueness of the iPhone will be key.

Imagine an architectural school creating augmented reality tours of key city structures.  Or a veterinarian prof doing an augmented reality tour of the zoo?

You listening, Career Education Corp.?  DeVry?  Hah-vahd....

Source:

http://www.techcrunch.com/2010/01/17/most-expensive-iphone-app-barmax/