Every good cult product or brand goes wrong at some point and loses its underground appeal.

Hammer pants were cool for a minute

Start crying now Apple D-bags.

More than ever am I hearing people unravel the self-deprecating Apple product releases.

I get it, Mr. Jobs, every new iPhone release is the most important to date. Every single new feature is the culmination of 400 years of scientific breakthroughs and technology handed down by aliens.

With a straight face there aren’t many people that won’t sing the praises of the Apple products themselves, which is either a testament to the functionality or the amazing snow job in release.

Most people complain that products take way too long to be released, but not with Apple.

“Steve Jobs and Apple (has) been working on creating a tablet device that doesn’t suck.  Steve is a very long range thinker.”

It’s amazing; as if Steve Jobs has become some sort of supernatural being that speaks directly to techno-Gods.

Steve Jobs as Techno-Poseidon

The Apple product release strategy is a ploy to spellbind consumers, and one that has worked magically. However their will come a point when even the stupidest, most uninformed consumer won’t be influenced by this.

Here is my understanding of the current product release timeline:

Apple Product Release Strategy

‘No matter what type of new product Apple unveils at its much-anticipated press event later this week, Xavier Yaffar says he will buy it. Whatever the cost. “I don’t even have to look at it,” the 48-year-old said.’ CNN -‘Cult’ of Apple hangs on Wednesday announcement

No matter how dumb you become, everyone has a tipping point of brain-matter that finally pushes them into the Matrix. ‘Apple is only doing and saying these things to get me to buy more stuff’ and not giving me an overwhelmingly great reason to do so other than to stay a part of the obnoxious cult of sycophants. This isn’t marketing anymore; it’s some sort of cruel game.

Pull it together folks, only buy a new gadget if it fits within your budget and has all of the great features that you want and need.

January 27, 2010 Advertising, Media 10 Comments

What MTV’s Jersey Shore can teach us about Internet Marketing

It’s not all fun and games at the Seaside house. The cast of brazen characters on the Jersey Shore are a wild bunch of misfits that can’t seem to stay out of trouble. Whether it be toxic affairs, overly dramatic rivalries, or local xenophobia; this young crew’s frivolous management of relationships and their own personal well-being opens a window for the outsider to build a guide on how-to not ruin marketing campaigns. If you’re not sure how the two match up, keep reading…

MTV's Jersey Shore Snookie

Snookie- The lovable, sassy, self-proclaimed guidette loves nothing more than tanning herself and making out with boys, but she also has a bit of a Napoleon complex. Being slight of stature but unafraid of a fight, she’s been punched more times than Kool-Aid. For some reason, the poor girl isn’t aware enough to know when trouble is brewing.

Learn from Snookie- It’s important to have a certain amount of real self-realization when considering online marketing channels. In SEM there are plenty of instances where you’ll simply be too outmatched to engage in a battle. The competitive landscape in both PPC and SEO and maybe such an uphill climb for newcomer businesses that lower barriers of entry can be found elsewhere. This wouldn’t mean abandoning either tactic, but simply revising it so that you are leveling the playing field. You may consider going strictly long-tail if your keyword sets are deep enough and using the same optimization practice to wage war against lesser opponents. This would be the equivalent of Snookie picking a fight with midgets and kindergartners rather than strung out hookers and roided out monkeys.

MTV's Jersey Shore Pauly D

Pauly D- The ladies man known most commonly for his signature blowout haircut. Pauly had a pretty successful time meeting girls at the bar for later conquest. His total operation is centered on meeting easy women. The Ed Hardy gear, the gym regiment, the haircut, it’s all focused on one goal.

Learn from Pauly- What Pauly might not realize is that his product is too geo focused to ever have success out of his home market. In order to scale nationally he would need to substantially overhaul his approach. It’s important to realize that different markets will not only react differently to marketing cues and product benefits. This can differ in regions as tight as neighboring cities. Thankfully geo-locatable advertising mediums online give us the ability to isolate and exploit. Marketers fall in love with national level A/B testing, which is imperative, and forget about regional testing. A/B testing can and should be separated at a regional level and independent markets should dictate their own testing schedule. Think about the local influence of broadcast news and how coverage may differ from Los Angeles to Boston.

MTV's Jersey Shore Mike 'The Situation'

Mike ‘The Situation’- Shortly after meeting Mike, you’ll be bound to know why he is the best thing to hit the Jersey Shore since spaghetti Bolognese. His callous desire to be the center of attention at all given times wears on everyone’s nerve. You can only take so much of ‘The Situation’ before you’re thoroughly sick of him.

Learn from The Situation- It’s plain and simple; there IS a sweet spot for ad frequency. Over serving ads, saturating channels, and riding a single set of creative for too long will not only erode short term returns, but erode brand equity you’ve built over time. Moderation is the key to all sorts of nice things: growing old, not getting too drunk, staying out of jail, and keeping your advertising fresher longer if you don’t have the luxury of an in-house creative team.

MTV's Jersey Shores Ronnie

Ronnie- The bear-like young man that tears up dance-floors and opponents faces like a ravenous…bear. Though he exhibits a tender and caring side, Ronnie’s testosterone get’s the best of him at times and he can’t control getting himself in dangerous situations. He naturally spends some time in jail.

Learn from Ronnie- Karma is a b**** sometimes. Maybe you’re not the only party at fault, but if you are getting pulled into affiliate programs that don’t give you any active voice in the management of your brand identity, then you could have your hands full. I’ve personally negotiated CPA based deals with networks only to find out that publishers were allowed to run wild with unapproved creative. Imagine the punch in the face I received when I checked my voicemail and had messages of people calling me a racist. You think that management fee and flat rate agency relationships are a gamble? Relinquishing all of your moderation authority to someone motivated by the almighty dollar could be a bet made with really unfortunate odds. Take that chance and you may get burned.

Think I’m way off? Go ahead and make a marketing parallel with J-Wow, Angelina, Sammie, or Vinny and post it below.

Most people release their predictions posts in December or early January.  This is a bit later than most on purpose; so that the clutter can be a distant memory, the regurgitated nonsense that most people spew is erased from the palate and you can concentrate on some predictions that really count.  We’d be foolishly arrogant to do such a thing without being able to back it up.   Last year I predicted that ‘advertising will be put in the hands of the consumer’. Not only did Europe mandate the pre-behavioral ad preference setting, but Google preemptively launched their personal preference manager that allows users to limit or manage what data is shared for ad targeting purposes (amongst other things).  Secondly, it was foreseen that the ‘room is about to get a whole lot nerdier’; Otherwise stating that technology would play a major part in the further progression of online media buying. It certainly did. Digg launched a form of ad crowd-sourcing, Media Exchanges have risen to higher levels of relevancy, and behavioral targeting has sparked controversy, debate, and excitement.  With prognostication like that, who needs a crystal ball?  Please enjoy, discuss, and debate our ideas for 2010!

1. The Search Bypass will become more of a reality—

As our living breathing world becomes more bionic and digitized, we can expect the laws of connectivity also to change. Search is and has been the top online activity for web surfers; would it be the case if the destinations themselves reached out into the living world and made a direct path to databases and interaction without search reliance? 2010 will bring about more connectivity in a live/dynamic world. The journalists will make their play with their version of the kindle, aggregating content that used to lay flat on a paper page, bringing it to life with interactivity and dynamic viewing experience. The boob-tube folks will be in the same light as Boxee and Apple look to enter the home through internet connected TV. For YouTube to remain relevant, they will also make a play for the home viewer. Small LCD screens can be acquired for about the cost of a box of organic cereal. Moore’s law tells us that cost will continue to trend downward. Expect your toaster in the near future to let your friends know that it is making toast at 9am.

2. Ecommerce will become more specialized—

Niche ecommerce will become a powerhouse in 2010. Everyone loves Zappos and Overstock, but they are now Walmart-esque in online stature. The counter-culturists will agree that the small business is always easier to cherish and become a loyalist of. Expect sites like Etsy, Ugly Sweaters, and other very niche e-commerce to carry limited lines of consumer goods and brand themselves as an authority of a very tight product collection. This won’t be restricted to layered distribution channels. Independent manufacturers will learn that it’s really not all that difficult to go direct to consumers through the web.

3. Google will suffer a dip in search share (as much as 10%)—

…but gain in the display advertising world. In the last half of 2009 Google made major strides in expanding upon their adwords platform to include the likes of behavioral marketing and retargeting. Though still in limited Betas, the behavioral channels will gain a greater foothold in 2010 with the Google exploration. When you can combine some of the best data with one of the most dynamic and relevant advertising opportunities, you are bound to have some success. Transparency may hurt the cause, but I expect big things from Google on the display front. Search will inherently lose the battle for media content (without much of a fight) to lower tier engines and search bypass devices. The effects will be nominal in the grand scheme of all things Google, but more significant than most expect.

4. Marketing gets smarter and dumber at the same time—

Let’s get real for a moment; the best marketing people in this world are those that are seasoned, deeply rooted in many facets of social science and human behavior, and groomed under the careful watch of big brands buying massive amounts of data. The internet is vastly comprised of upstart technologists that are well attuned to finding opportunities and exploiting them. Creative marketing strategy, behavior modification and corralling, and predictive advertising are all a great portion that have once been the major divide. Why else wouldn’t banner advertising have worked as well as TV 5 years ago (hundreds of other variables, but follow me down the rabbit hole anyways)? The difference was and is the creative quality. eMarketers are dumber than offline folk, in the loosest sense of the word. Not dumber by intelligence or education, dumber creatively. Enter the technology: With the advent of behavioral targeting, dynamic ad creation, crowdsourcing, and frightening analytics data, is now evening the playing field. This trend will continue as media exchanges continue to penetrate inventory previously isolated to only one network and networks themselves are chewed up, acquired, and spit out. Blog networks that have been working under the radar to drive affiliate monies or linking resource will be a hot commodity. The quickest way to leap a barrier of entry for publishers expanding will be through acquisition.

Indeed, Mr. Shoemaker, money doesn’t sleep.

Daniel Redman & Erich Wasserman : MIMA Summit 2009 Video & Audio Supplement

What better way to experience all that was and is MIMA Summit 2009 than recapping it with every one of your senses.  First, read the Summit recap by Daniel Redman, and if that whets your whistle just enough, check out the below video or audio of the actual presentation.  You’ll soon ask where you can learn more about the Behavioral Marketing T-shirt.  That’s perfectly normal.  Please stay tune for our smell-o-vision nosecast of the conference to give you, the summit-heads, the perfect 360dg experience.

What’s New and Next in Display Advertising- MIMA SUMMIT 09 from daniel redman on Vimeo.

Download Here: Video | MP3 Audio

The thoughts expressed in this blog post are not necessarily shared by eVisibility.

This week Rupert Murdoch boldly announced that he vows to charge for all content, and as a fellow Jew, I couldn’t be happier to welcome him to the tribe of the chosen people.

“Quality journalism is not cheap, and an industry that gives away its content is simply cannibalizing its ability to produce good reporting,” Murdoch stated to those very reporters that maybe on his payroll.

As with any negatively reinforced group or animal, users contest that they will not pay. I’ve previously mentioned in a post. People are averse to the idea of anything being NOT free on the internet because they feel like it is their birthright. It will be a struggle at first to launch this quixotic adventure with Murdoch, but an all too necessary one.

We (web folk) are in our heyday. The economic climate has wilted. The weak fold, while the strong grow even more so. But it will all catch up with us if we aren’t careful. Every advertising medium relished in its nascence had endured growing pains, will fail and die, and will rise again like a phoenix.

Remember that every time you catch yourself thinking that the Internet may one day be the sole advertising medium, with the platform being full multimedia consoles in the home, that you are probably right! These aren’t far from our reality, and even the socialization of our toasters and microwaves may one day lend itself to ad serving. The very stagnation that could one day affect our world has already plagued development in Radio, TV, Print, and Outdoor. Their time is long overdue to rise again, and reclaim their posts in a total marketing experience. Technology has been the great equalizer for the Internet. Nerds have brought us to the Promised Land, allowing us to triumph over the great dinosaurs through measurability and dynamism. The Internet has been fleet where others simply are not.

With the tides slowly resetting, Rupert Murdoch is approaching by way of a tidal wave.

The source of all that is media content is of course the major news affiliates, our friends in Radio, TV, and Print. News content begets blogging fodder, which inspires networking and bookmarking. Without strong, credible, and globally representative news content the internet is at a virtual intellectual stand still. Of course, the chance of no credible news sources surviving these times (in some embodiment) is very unlikely. But the dwindling is a familiar reality.

Even the grey lady has suffered major ills. Content is the utmost premium that can bring the folk, reliant on internet technology for ad serving, to their knees. This isn’t a new concept, but has resurfaced via the media revolutionary himself, Mr. Murdoch. Pay for subscription is the basis of all news outlets, but true security and protection of it is not. Google powered crawlers could likely scour the net hanging price tags on all indexed content originating from an LA Times reporter within a second’s notice. Everyone from the blogging community to The Onion would be on the hook. Linkbacks, paraphrased references within a certain percentage of matching, all paying to spread content that ‘we’ have felt we are entitled to. With any entitlement a price must be paid.

The move to completely wrap up news feeds is a wise one, even though it is reactive. Major news forces must re-instate themselves as a powerhouse with their own new identity. Newspapers will never be the Internet, so they should never try to be. Site monetization will only be worth so much at the end of the day (Facespace and Mybook will attest). Newspapers, the physical ones that kids use for paper mache projects and grill masters chuck on the fire for kindling, have been virtually unchanged in this country for 100 years. They got comfortable and stagnate. No advertising outlet should feel as though they are at the pinnacle of their development. Nothing in this world ever is.

The Old Formula

Some things simply don’t translate to the online world. Selling a piece of paper makes distribution to a mass audience cumbersome at best. Selling a single online subscription can open an Internet free for all. There was a point in the sales strategy where the news sources allowed for easy distribution to aid linking, linkback, and viral growth for their content distribution channels. The only viable outcome from such a strategy is to generate such a traffic influx that CPM’s are sold into slavery. This would be a likely scenario if it weren’t for intermediary sales outlets in the middle scalping content and repositioning it for their own user ship. This structure becomes a no-win for the papers. The ability to share does not distinguish between the simple daily news gatherer, the organic arbitrage specialist, or the freelance opinion journalist.

What may be in store?

A new system could allow for a more tedious subscription process, discerning between those labeled ‘Resellers’ and single family news readers. Intermediary news sources will be forced to open their feeds and data for third party review and be billed on a viewer basis. Sociability disabled; a certain criteria for all resellers. The same would hold suit for cheaters on the single subscription side, blocking all content socializing or opening up a tab for email sharing/link embedding. This process will be completely contingent on the Newsies to root out wrongdoers on the net like ornery truffle pigs. System hacks and cheaters will be a constant threat to this circle. But so is bankruptcy, which may be the only other option when doing business the old way. Dedicated teams will need highly specialized scraping tools.

The debate of Murdoch’s Zionist ancestry will be ignited once again. He is a revolutionary, a media mogul and a staunch businessman further cemented in the history of our great American news alliances with his recent outpouring of unpopular candor. Popularity may make you friends, but revolution begets ultimate legacy. As Murdoch forges a new path through the changing landscape of online content delivery, we wait for his tablets from Mount Sinai with open arms.

Sponsored content in general, and even more specifically sponsored tweeting, have spurred both misaligned and poignant conversation. The naysayers will always say nay and the advocates will have brown noses until they are hardly recognizable, but the majority of those who are considered thought leaders are skating in the middle (Cough… Lisa Barone). It’s as if people are waiting for sponsored tweeting to fail or succeed before they chime in and say ‘I told you so’.

“I thought sponsored tweets was the answer and I also disclosed that I have been doing sponsored tweets for the last year.” - Shoemoney

As a Media Director I am an equally unadulterated backer of sponsored content. I’ve used it, very effectively, to foster high performing and highly targeted online branding campaigns for many clients both big and small. Then just last Monday, alongside another agency, we were thankful enough to receive a preview of the sponsored tweeting platform from SponsoredTweets.com.

Read the rest…