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Today, Wordpress tried to update but failed and I lost (almost) everything.
I ‘ll be missing about 3-6 months of posts but hopefully I can get this working soon.
Site was ready for a redesign anyway!
Since the winter, we have all been wondering what Crispin Porter could do for Microsoft. It’s an 800 pound gorilla with more than a few warts and at the best of times can be quite a handful.
For years they have been taking it on the chin from Apple whose snappy ads have been helping them steal market share. The goal this time around, at least for Microsoft, was to open up a conversation with consumers and educate them about Vista. But you must be careful what you wish for as the big secret is out and it less than glowing.
To be honest, it would have been nice to have a little more. Yes, their ads are funny (and must have cost a fortune at almost 5 minutes in length) but they lack a certain punch that Apple always delivers on. They play it safe with the mainstream variety of humour that you almost forget is supposed to be funny. And they don’t mention the product very often and take time to highlight the fact that they aren’t in touch with consumers; which in hindsight should be the other way around.
Their newest round of commercials feel like a completely separate campaign from the last one. Bill and Seinfeld were around for such a short period of time, they didn’t even make an impact and they were already cut.
So far this campaign has been a bit of a moving target as it keeps changing every other week. But one could argue that their strategy hasn’t changed. How would you describe it?
UPDATE: After re-watching the latest round of ads released today, I feel like the Mac vs PC stuff comes off a bit elitist. Thoughts?
Wikipedia is not just a website, it’s a social movement. It is living proof of what a few thousand properly motivated people can do with their time. If you follow popular culture, you are well aware that people are hanging up the remote in favour of the keyboard in droves. So much so that ad spending online is exploding worldwide.
However, in Q1 2008, TV ad spending was also on the rise (although just 0.5%). Even with audiences on the decline in North America, we are spending more than ever on commercials. TV commercials are still the single most popular medium and a place where many agencies hang their hat (including ours). But between the internet and technologies like the PVR and TiVo, it is getting harder and harder to justify the expense of TV to our clients.
Seth Godin asked the question, “How did people find the time to build Wikipedia given their already hectic lives?” As he correctly surmised later on, people are taking time out of their TV watching to spend creating web pages of knowledge.
My question is: When Internet finally becomes the medium of choice, will agencies be able to adjust or will they be forced to buy digital boutiques just to compete?
Source: Seth Godin
R&B Singer Chris Brown pumps out hits and until now has been no more materialistic than any other artist this decade. But his latest hit, entitled Forever, breaks the mold even for the music industry as it was paid for in full by Wrigley’s to promote its DoubleMint Gum.
The song, although written by Brown, was created to help introduce Wrigley’s new jingle to popular culture. That way, Mr. Stoute of Translation Advertising says, “by the time the new jingle came out, it was already seeded properly within popular culture.”
In the song, Brown references the gum with the line “Double your pleasure/Double your fun” in the chorus. He makes no other reference to the gum.
Wow, talk about deceptive marketing techniques. But the song is climbing the charts and the masses seem to like it. However, will this unproven and potentially risky strategy really translate into more gum sales for Wrigley?
On July 21st, Michael Arrington (TechCrunch) struck a cord across the interwebs when he announced the creation of a project to create the ultimate web tablet.
Immediately the comments started to pour in as the idea was explored and within 24 hours of that first posting, he was just shy of 1500 comments. They feature everything from potential investors to programmers to distributors to future customers’ best wishes to critics to even a Canadian advertiser working for an international ad agency based out of Toronto………
The point is: When you have a great product (or just a great idea) you don’t need to market it, the people will come. Even if it’s just a blog that is crowd sourcing an open platform web tablet for under $200.
I can’t wait to buy one. Get involved here.
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