Saturday, September 20, 2008
Short Film Shows the Power of the Right Words
It's less then 6 minutes long...
Give it a look.
The Story of a Sign
Friday, December 14, 2007
Think you're hearing voices? It may be a new cable promotion
Imagine this...you are walking down the sidewalk in Soho and all of a sudden hear someone audibly say "Who's there? Who's there!?!" You look around because you are sure someone's asking YOU that question. But all you see are other hectic Sohoians (?) walking to their destinations. Except, now they are wondering why you are spinning around looking for someone that's talking to you. But there isn't anyone. It's a BILLBOARD for the new A&E show callled Paranormal State--and it's talking only to you!
The board uses the same technology developed for personalized audio tours in museums to speak to isolate single people walking by and send an isolated audio signal to you. Read about this campaign here in an Ad Age article. Or, for a slightly less institutionalized take, here's a blog about it on Gawker.
This also just reminded me of another story I heard on a favorite podcast, On the Media.
It's about a billboard that doesn't narrowcast to just one passerby...but broadcasts it's thoughts about MANY passersby on the streets of Las Vegas. This is a promotional gimmick for an outdoor advertising company. Listen to this story here:
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Can't Spot Too Good to Be True? Let the FTC help you.
But, when surfing the web we don't think about what we know...especially if we are surfing trying to find solutions to our woes. So, the FTC has started to try and protect us in a novel way...by producing fake websites that try to get you to purchase a fake product (using the same tactics other actual sham products use). When you click the "order now" link, the government agency snaps you back into reality...
Check it out yourself!
Thanks to IU Dept. of Telecomm Law & Policy professor Herb Terry for bringing it to my attention!
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Busan morning on the beach
It is, as you can predict from the haze, very humid here. Much tougher than even in Indiana. In fact, thanks to the 23-degree Celsius reading of the AC in the Homer, my camera lense kept fogging up for the first part of the walk until it warmed up.
Last night, as Soyoung and her sister drove me in, she pointed out that the buildings in the distance housed floor upon floor of raw-fish restaraunts...although I'm sure that there are differences in each of the establishments, to me it seemed like having a McDonalds stacked on a Wendy's atop of a Burger King and then a Hardee's. That wouldn't happen in the States, and I had never realized how much our views on marketing & competition are due to the fact that we have plenty of real-estate to put space between our competitors. Here's an example of what I'm talking about:
Oh, and as if there was any doubt, Starbucks is here too. I was quite surprised by another difference between Busan and the States, though. It was 7am and this Starbucks was locked up tight. [Of course, I've since been back for a double-tall iced latte].
Today, it's off to tour Kyungsung University, if I understand correctly. More later.
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Creating Buzz can certainly backfire...or can it?
Women in Boise thought the billboard was exploitative. I like the Bob & Tom show...it makes me laugh...and they have certainly done some crazy boards before...ones that were equally in poor taste as this one. But, this one caused an uproar...and resulted in terrible PR, right? Right? Well, that's a tough call because the target market for a station like 96.9 The Eagle ,the station in Boise that posted the boards, may feel a sense of solidarity with the station as it weathers protests from the local community. Plus, the show does have PLENTY of sexual inuendo and the board fits right into that theme. Should it come down? Yes, and it has.
This next one, though, leaves me shaking my head.
Here's a board posted in Cincinnati by News/Sports Talker WLW
Monday, February 19, 2007
Grammy Red Carpet Humor
When I was on the faculty at the Telecommunications and Film Dept. at the University of Alabama, I was also the faculty advisor for the student radio station, WVUA-FM.
In that role, I met Demitri Ravanos. He was the promotions director for the station...and eventually took Audience Analysis and Marketing & Promotions with me. He has kept in touch since he graduated...and since I moved to IU.
He's a part of a morning show (#1 in the male demo...or so he claims) at 96 Rock in Raleigh NC. I appreciate his emails keeping me--and other 'Bama friends--updated on what he's doing in his life and his career.
Now, the other day...here's the email he sent us:
Howdy friends,
Today I want to share with you the hilarity of Rhett and Link. These
are two college students from Raleigh that we sent to the Grammys in
LA to be 96 Rock's official correspondents. All we provided were
plane tickets and a hotel room. Everything they did on ther own.
I whole-heartedly believe that these guys have the talent and
motivation to be famous for what they do. I hope Conan, Letterman, or
the Daily Show see this and give these guys a break. Enjoy their grammy video:
Go check it out!
I couldn't agree more.
My favorite part...the look on Al Jarreau's face.
Let me know what your favorite part was.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Results of Super Bowl Ad effectiveness
In fact, it's taken an ice storm to close the University (at least until noon today!) for me to find time to post this.
Another excellent bit of Super Bowl Advertising Research Done by the folks at Media Post and The Center for Media Research (you should really subscribe to their email newsletter!!)
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| Ad Rankings For Your Super Bowl File | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| by Jack Loechner, Monday, Feb 12, 2007 8:30 AM ET | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ad Rankings For Your Super Bowl File If you missed the complete ad review, or real time reactions to the ads by USA Today, here's a data summary to close out the season. In addition, there's a link at the conclusion of this Brief to view each of the ads individually, for which advertisers paid up to $2.6 million for a 30-second spot. USA TODAY assembled 238 adult volunteers in Houston and McLean, Va., and electronically charted their second-by-second reactions to ads during the Super Bowl. Opinions Unlimited and Shugoll Research chose the volunteers, who used handheld meters to register how much they liked each ad, and a computer continuously averaged the scores. The scores shown in the chart are the highest average for each ad.
And, how did the (some of) the advertisers fair with regard to market share of web visits on Super Bowl Sunday... The advertiser websites with the largest increases in market share of visits on Super Bowl Sunday versus Feb 3, 2007 were:
Note - the data is based on the daily market share of visits, which is the percentage of traffic, comparing February 4, 2007 visits versus February 3, 2007 visits among all US Internet users from the Hitwise sample of 10 million US Internet users Please go here to view each of the ads individually | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Dirty Job promoted with Toilet Paper
While poking around on it, I found this posting about a unique way one of my favorite shows, Dirty Jobs, is promoting itself in Sweden.
Less than 36 hours until the Super Bowl!
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Boston Bomb Scare=Another Promotion Gone Bad
Well, check out another example. This time (thank goodness) without any fatalities but what surely inconvenienced thousands of people in Boston. Be sure to watch the video link if you've got a high-speed connection.
Incredible. Could it be that our cluttered advertising environment has led to situations where marketers lose their common sense in desperate attempts to cut through?
One nationally syndicated disk jockey thinks so, check it what Mancow thinks here.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Networks promote THEMSELVES during Superbowl
We're now down to 5 days until Super Bowl Sunday! For the past two years I have had favorite teams in the big game...this year the Colts, last year both the Steelers and the Seahawks. But, even without a "dog in the fight", the Superbowl is appointment viewing for someone interested in advertising and marketing. Although many advertisers are deciding that they can't justify the increased prices (in the hundreds of millions of $$$ as you'll see below), others are finding that the right commercial can cause buzz that's almost unmeasurable.
What's interesting, though, is that because networks know that the game/ads will lead to HUGE ratings, they are willing to pay the NFL for rights to the Superbowl. And, they take advantage of the eyeballs that will be focused on the screen this Sunday night. As the research reported by Media Post Research below, the biggest amount of VALUE taken up by single advertisers are by the host networks themselves promoting their own shows!
The following information is from Media Post Research.
According to TNS Media Intelligence, advertising during the Super Bowl game has accounted for 682 minutes, over 11 full hours, of commercial time throughout the past 20 years (1987-2006). Those 11 hours represent 221 different advertisers, more than 1,400 commercial announcements and translate into $1.72 billion of network advertising sales.
The top five Super Bowl advertisers of the past 20 years have spent $613.4 million on advertising during the game, accounting for 35 percent of total advertising dollars spent in the game.
The FedEx Corporation, as the fifth top advertiser through 2005, was replaced in this year's report (covering 1987-2006) by Walt Disney. This is especially interesting as FedEx Corporation has advertised with the Super Bowl for 19 years, while Walt Disney has only advertised with the Super Bowl for the past seven years.
| Top 5 Super Bowl Advertisers (1987-2006) | |||
| Rank | Advertiser | # of Years With Ads In Game | Ad Spend ( |
| 1 | Anheuser Busch | 20 | $ 250.8 |
| 2 | Pepsico | 20 | $ 190.0 |
| 3 | General Motors | 15 | $ 65.7 |
| 4 | Time Warner | 11 | $ 63.4 |
| 5 | Walt Disney | 7 | $ 43.5 |
| | Top 5 Total | | $ 613.4 |
| Source: TNS Media Intelligence, January 2007 | |||
Each year, about 62 percent of the network TV ad money invested in the game comes from incumbent marketers who ran commercials the previous year.
Jon Swallen, senior vice president of Research at TNS Media Intelligence, said "While that's a very high retention rate, it's actually lower than the comparable rate for two other showcase TV events. Over the past 10 years, the average dollar retention rate has been 78 percent for the Academy Awards and 67 percent for the World Series," said.
The cost of an advertisement in the Super Bowl has more than quadrupled in the past 20 years, reaching $2.5 million in 2006 for a 30-second unit. For the 2007 game, CBS is reportedly fetching over $2.6 million for each 30-second spot.
| Superbowl Advertising Rates (1987-2006) | ||
| Year | Cost :30 Unit ($000) | Total Ad Revenue ($ millions) |
| 1987 | $ 600 | $ 31.5 |
| 1992 | 850 | 48.2 |
| 1997 | 1200 | 72.2 |
| | ||
| 2001 | 2,100 | 136.4 |
| 2002 | 2,200 | 134.2 |
| 2003 | 2,150 | 124.7 |
| 2004 | 2,302 | 147.3 |
| 2005 | 2,400 | 159.2 |
| 2006 | 2,500 | 162.5 |
| Source: TNS Media Intelligence, January 2007 | ||
Ad sales in the pre- and post-game coverage, plus ad sales by the network's local affiliate stations, are important components when considering the Super Bowl as an ad revenue-generating machine. For every dollar spent on network in-game ads, these ancillary sources contribute as much as an extra 74 cents.
| Ancillary Ad Spend Around The Super Bowl | |||
| | 1996 | 2001 | 2006 |
| Network In-Game | $ 69.4 | $ 136.4 | $ 162.5 |
| Network Pre/Post Game | $ 22.7 | $ 29.5 | $ 78.1 |
| Local TV (Top 75 markets) | $ 21.3 | $ 28.9 | $ 42.2 |
| Totals | $ 113.41 | $ 194.8 | $ 233.8 |
| "Lift" from ancillary sources | +63% | +43% | +74% |
| Source: TNS Media Intelligence | |||
The popular perception is that beer, soft drinks and autos are the most frequently advertised on the Super Bowl categories, given their annual presence in the game. However, the perennial leader is promotional advertising from the network itself. In a typical Super Bowl, one-fourth of all commercial time is a plug by the network for its own programming. The value of that air time in 2006 alone exceeded $52 million.
| Network Promotions In The Super Bowl | |||
| | Time (mm:ss) | % of All Ad Time | Value ($ millions) |
| 2001 | 5:55 | 19.1% | $ 24.9 |
| 2002 | 6:55 | 22.6% | $ 30.4 |
| 2003 | 10:55 | 31.0% | $ 46.9 |
| 2004 | 9:10 | 26.1% | $ 42.2 |
| 2005 | 9:45 | 26.2% | $ 46.8 |
| 2006 | 10:25 | 22.0% | $ 52.1 |
| Source: TNS Media Intelligence, January 2007 | |||
The Major League Baseball's World Series and the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship are two other high-profile sporting events that attract significant interest from TV advertisers. While the World Series has a higher advertiser retention rate than the Super Bowl, the Super Bowl still rakes in more network TV ad dollars than each of the other multi-game events.
| Major Sporting Championships Network TV Ad Revenue ($ Millions) | |||
| | Super Bowl( Game | World Series (# games) | NCAA Basketball( Final Four (# games) |
| 2001 | $ 136.4 | $ 136.3 (7) | $ 88.7 (3) |
| 2002 | $ 134.2 | $ 141.7 (7) | $ 101.9 (3) |
| 2003 | $ 124.7 | $ 124.9 (6) | $ 117.6 (3) |
| 2004 | $ 147.3 | $ 114.6 (4) | $ 126.4 (3) |
| 2005 | $ 159.2 | $ 147.5 (4) | $ 142.2 (3) |
| 2006 | $ 162.5 | $ 160.8 (5) | $ 154.7 (3) |
| Source: TNS Media Intelligence | |||
For more information, please visit TNS Media Intelligence here.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Football Withdrawl...Getting Ready for Big Week of Hype
I love their marketing practices.
I love the Pittsburgh Steelers (the reigning Super Bowl Champions for another 6 days), because I was born in the Steel City.
And, I love watching games on Sunday afternoon.
I'll admit that I was not rabid enough of a fan to continue my subscription to the NFL Sunday Ticket on Directv...just too much to do with the kids and family to commit to so many games.
Plus, living just outside of Indianapolis means that I'm promised a competitive game on the local broadcast almost every week.
But today...it was missing. The annual lull before the Super Bowl to remind me of how much I'll miss the NFL for the next 8 months or so.
But, for the next week this will be a GREAT place to be! Less than an hour away from Indianapolis and this place is going COLTS CRAZY. Except, for a big proportion of the Bloomington population that have been Chicago Bears fans for most of their lives.
It makes for a wondeful (and so far friendly) rivalry. And, it seems to be evenly split. I took an unscientifc poll in my T343 class last week, and was surprised to find it 15 students for the Colts and 14 for the Bears.
In our faculty hallway we have Julia Fox who has been posting Chicago Bear clippings from the Chicago Tribune all season on her office door. And RIGHT across the hallway is Andrew Weaver, who grew up in Indy and has started to fire up his own doorway propaganda machine.
Should be a great week...and then comes the games and THE COMMERCIALS.
Be sure to check back.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
New Coke Ad--Grand Theft Auto...Creativity that beats TivO
I'm glad that American Idol is back...and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
Secondly, while I was watching the show last night I saw this Coke commercial.
Now, I've never played Grand Theft Auto...the computer/video game.
I likely never will.
But, I KNOW enough about it to know that this is one heck of a creative concept.
Hit the 'rewind' button on my remote several times to watch it again and again.
Called my wife's attention to it. She didn't recognize the main character...but the moment I told her it was "that guy from Grand Theft Auto" she got it as well.
Then we both watched it twice.
Today, I Googled it and searched for it on YouTube.
In my advertising/sales-related classes we often discuss how to combat technology that allows people to actively avoid commercials. Great creative like this...creative that almost demands to be watched again and again...talked about...blogged about....that how you do it.
Monday, January 15, 2007
Sounded good on paper--a radio promotion goes terribly wrong
On paper...the contest called "Hold you wee for a Wii" seems exactly what a the station KDND was looking for. Edgy. You bet. Do people in the target market for a top 40 station want Wiis? Of course.
Sounds perfect.
But, something went wrong. Tragic. Read it here.

