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!