The Doritos ad with the boy slapping his mother’s date was the most memorable during the first half. It was simple, witty, and effective.
While Anheuser-Busch had several good ads for Bud Light and the human bridge for Budweiser beer, I think the Doritos commercial had more stickiness and will stand the test of time.
I’d be curious to hear other thoughts. Do you disagree? Was there a better commercial?
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A live 3D event which aired on the 52nd Grammy Awards last night seemed to be nothing more than a publicity stunt for American Paper Optics, LLC, Sony, and Target. I happened to view the event with some 3D glasses leftover from seeing Avatar a few weeks ago. It was a lame attempt at trying to plug their latest 3D television devices. It certainly didn’t add any visual impact to the Michael Jackson tribute. It was much more fizzle than pizzazz.
It’s one thing to honor someone for their creative and lasting contributions to the music world. The focus should have been on Michael Jackson and his talented legacy within the industry. Instead it was somewhat overshadowed because it was sponsored by large corporations that needed to get their plugs mentioned.
I’m all for creative marketing techniques, but I think there are more appropriate and tactful ways of doing it. I was going to ask, what’s next – funeral sponsorship? But that seems to be done already by a guy from Chicago who designed his casket as a Pabst Blue Ribbon can. Let’s see who tops that…
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Steve Jobs has just announced the introduction of the much anticipated Apple iPad for only $499! While it had been dubbed the tablet for a while, it has officially been named the iPad. I have been following along on gdgt’s live coverage.
Here are some features:
At a glance this device appears to be an overgrown iPhone. I should admit, I am a huge fan of the iPhone, I like its portability and slick design. I also like my laptop for what it does. Do I really need a new “netbook” device to combine the best of both features? It seems to be eerily similar to the infamous Chevey El Camino – that mutant-like hybrid of a car and truck that some people had the nerve to buy. Let’s be honest, the back had enough space to fit a 30 pound bag of dog food.
I don’t know that I would consider the iPad a replacement for either device. Instead, it appears to be forging a new market. A market catered to gamers, scholars, and hobbyist. It is a device which allows reading of books, textbooks and changing of fonts, etc. It seems to be in direct competition with Amazon’s Kindle device. Although it has a lot more to offer – and a much more robust interface. While the market has been somewhat slow to embrace the Kindle, we’ll see if things speed up now that Apple has entered the game.
I’m curious to see how the market will respond to this device. Would you buy one?
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Successful email marketing incorporates a combination of strategies. I’ve condensed a long list to what I would consider the top five best practices
Compelling content
Effective email strategy starts with intriguing content. Don’t just send emails preaching about how great your company is. In order to captivate the attention of your readers, you first need to fully understand your audience. It’s a good idea to do some research and identify topics that will be of particular interest and timely. Share your knowledge of the industry or a unique perspective on an important subject. Continually mix up your creative messages and styles. Feel free to use a rotation of different templates to give your newsletter a fresh look.
Segment your audience
It takes a lot more time and preparation, but segmenting your list of recipients allows you to speak directly to your customers and prospects. You’ll be able to clearly identify common business problems and cover topics that truly captivate you audience. The key is planning, organization, and testing.
Delivery dates
You can significantly increase the effectiveness of your newsletter by determining the best day of the week and time to send. Know your audience. For many businesses, Tuesday or Wednesday are the best days to deliver. Mondays can be hectic and Fridays can be busy or people may be rushing to cut out early. Know your audience and more importantly know their schedules. This will help you to determine which day they will be most inclined to open and read your e-newsletters.
Maintain lists and keep them updated
e-Newsletters can only be effective if your customers and prospects actually receive them. In today’s economy, turnover rates can be high. Periodically confirm that you have the correct information – more importantly, make sure you have the most appropriate contact person on your list. If an assistant is receiving the information, there’s a good chance, it’s getting filtered into the trash bin. Also, clean out undeliverable addresses and respect those who unsubscribe.
Optimize landing pages
As your email links back to your website, take the time to optimize the landing pages and highlight the information that you want them to see. Take full advantage of the qualified traffic you are generating. Highlight upcoming events, new product releases, and other relevant announcements.
While there are many strategies which can improve the effectiveness of email newsletter campaigns, I have taken excerpts from our white paper which discusses in-depth best practices to boost revenue. We encourage you to share your success stories or challenges with email marketing.
“Pants on the Ground” was an instant sensation when Larry Platt first sang his self-written song on American Idol. It became so catchy that Brett Favre even sang a tribute version after the Minnesota Vikings beat the Dallas Cowboys. That’s some powerful viral marketing. It’s now crossed over from American Idol to the NFL.
According to NBC Sports, the Vikings loved the song so much that they flew Larry Platt along with them to their playoff game against the New Orleans Saints to perform for the team.
I’m sure round 2 of this song will be circulating soon. I have a feeling we’ll be hearing a lot more from Mr. Platt. Stay tuned…
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It’s been reported that the powerful Hollywood couple Brangelina, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, have officially called it quits. With a brand as recognizable as Brangelina, why would this pair consider separating? Could this be a stunt to generate even more publicity? When you’re on top of the entertainment world for five years, what else is there to do?
With six children between them and arguably the most popular Hollywood icons of our time, is this just a silly rumor circulating around the Internet? That’s what Perez Hilton says. However, it seems there is more validity to this report than is apparent.
Was Jennifer Aniston a better fit for Brad… what do you think?
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As I watch the Late Show with Conan O’Brien (on his second to the last night as host), he continues to take advantage of every opportunity to make fun of NBC. Since he reached a separation agreement with NBC – he will no longer be employed or allowed to work for a competitor until September. He introduced himself as the “future Donkey Kong champion”.
“I’d like to apologize to our guests that were scheduled for next week: Barack Obama, the Pope, the Queen of England… and our good friend, Elvis Presley was stopping by.” He claimed he was ordered to immediately stop production of his NBC documentary “inside the cock”.
He added another brief (30 second) but expensive bit which consisted of the Kentucky Derby winner, Mind that Bird, wearing a mink snuggie and watching restricted NFL footage. He claimed the skit cost NBC $4.8 million – ouch! He is a natural comedian and making the most of his unpleasant situation.
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Conan O’Brien, who recently walked away from NBC with a reported $45 million settlement after the late night fiasco with Jay Leno, decided that wasn’t enough. Since his show is running through the end of the week, he is on a mission to run up a tab for NBC by broadcasting songs and media bits which demand high royalty fees.
“We can do whatever they want, and they have to pay for it,” said O’Brien at the beginning of the sketch. And later, while describing the reason for playing the Stones’ “Satisfaction,” he said, “Is it crazy expensive to play on the air, not to mention the rights to re-air this clip on the internet? Hell yes!”
Perhaps the buzz will actually help NBC attract a spike in viewers over the next two nights. We’ll have to wait and see. Is he doing the right thing, give the way NBC treated him? Or is he entitled to express his resentment for getting bumped off of the air?
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I was recently asked by Tech Bucket Blog to write a review on Avatar. I thought I would repost it here – and add some brief marketing thoughts.
For starters, I have not been to the cinema in over three years. This is for two primary reasons – 1) I have a three year old child and 2) nothing has truly captured my attention enough to want to go.
Over the past few months, I have heard so much hype about Avatar that my curiosity got the best of me – and I’m honestly not a big sci-fi fanatic. I had the good fortune of seeing Avatar in the IMAX before too much information has been revealed. I had only heard that it cost over $300 million and was in 3D. While it’s not known exactly how much was spent marketing the film, I can only speculate that the revenue numbers would not be dramatically different if they had spent $0. With a movie of this size and magnitude, the power of buzz marketing is the best endorsement. Every media outlet and entertainment program has something to say. Friends, families, and colleagues are all posting personal opinions and recommendations on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other social media sites. The film is capturing major headlines around the world.
All I can say is WOW! What a phenomenal piece of film work. It was truly a riveting journey – it had a fascinating ability to make you feel like part of the action. James Cameron successfully created the illusion that you were on another planet – Pandora. The Navi (alien) characters were well developed and believable.
While the special effects were ridiculously brilliant and worthy of an Oscar (in that category), the story was heartfelt as well. The movie evoked a variety of emotions throughout the plot. There were clear ties to today’s current events – the most recognizable being our quest for more natural resources and our willingness to go to war to obtain them.
Since I don’t think this movie will have the same impact on a home TV (even on a 70” HDTV), this is a must-see on the big screen.
Everyone has the same idea… let’s make a viral commercial and get millions of views and free advertising. Well, the reality is, it’s not that simple. Nobody wants to watch a commercial simply promoting a product or service.
I’ve done plenty of research on this topic. The most viewed or viral videos are simply the ones that make us laugh, amazed, or inspired. Think spontaneity or the unexpected. All natural videos of babies laughing, animals doing something incredible, and people falling. Those are the videos that capture our attention… the ones that evoke emotion – and that we remember. Furthermore, they motivate us to pass the video on to our friends and colleagues. Whether it’s a laugh or a feeling of disbelief, we want to share that emotion with others.
With that said, making a viral video takes a lot of imagination and perhaps some special effects to create an illusion. People may watch repeatedly just to determine if the video is real or not. Think content and story… not message. That’s the major difference between traditional commercial advertising and a viral video.