Bull City Journal

Is Display Dead?

2010-03-30T07:47:00.000-07:00

I just read an amazing stat from the IAB:

In 1997, the average click through rate on online ads was 2.1%

In 2001, it was 0.5%.

And in 2008, it was 0.1%.

The media and advertising industry has to get ahead of this, and fast. What do you think is the underlying issue?

The rise of social media? Inconsistent and limited online ad formats? Lack of truly entertaining content from brands? All of the above?

Getting Past Viral

2010-02-18T07:42:00.000-08:00

Here is a great post from the people at Big Spaceship on how marketers need to re-think how they approach viral communications. The core idea is not a new one: you need to give more than ask in return to be a successful brand in today's world. There are some interesting thoughts about what motivates people to share content with their friends, and how so many marketers expect people to do this on the brand's terms.

http://www.bigspaceship.com/blog/think/getting-past-viral/

I especially like this quote (it's my motto for new work in 2010):

"We need to understand that effective marketing is no longer about making consumers serve our agenda, but finding meaningful opportunities to serve theirs."

That's a great filter to use in evaluating communication ideas that attempt to be "viral."

Hanshin Tigers

2009-06-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

I recently traveled to Osaka, Japan for work on a new global client. One of my favorite parts of the trip was getting to see a Hanshin Tigers game. The Tigers are one of the most beloved Major League baseball teams in Japan.

It was a completely different experience than an American baseball game. Every single one of the 100,000 people there was totally focused on the game the entire time. The food was different -- rice with brown curry instead of hot dogs. The beer guys had backpacks with mini-kegs instead of tallboy cans. But what really stood out was how incredibly positive the fans were. They had set cheers for every player at bat, and a seemingly inexhaustible supply of songs to sing. When the other team was at bat, they didn't boo or yell, they just sat there silently. Their enthusiasm was really contagious -- by the end I was cheering along with them. And all this even though the Tigers were losing badly to the opposing Hiroshima Carp team the whole time.

The experience was a powerful reminder of how enthusiasm creates a positive feedback loop, and how negativity reinforces itself. It's a nice thing to keep in mind when the going gets tough.

One Machine / Many Windows

2008-11-12T13:23:00.001-08:00

I highly recommend watching this video about the next 5,000 days of the web. It's 19 minutes long but worth the time to better understand how the web is likely to evolve.

From the perspective of an advertising agency, there are several interesting nuggets:

1. We need to get better at believing in the impossible. It sounds trite, but as Kelly says, who could have imagined that Wikipedia or Craigslist would work so well?

2. The web is one huge machine with many windows. Each computer, cell phone, monitor - they are all just windows into the central "machine" that is the web.

3. Attention is a currency. Getting people to pay attention will be increasingly hard to do, and given freely only to personalized interests. Brands will have to do a better job of customizing messages for individual interests, and ensure they have compelling stories to tell. Everything else will be ignored with impunity.

4. Total personalization requires total transparency. In other words, customizing things for people requires that they share their personal data freely. Privacy is going to be a huge issue here. How much will people trust that their data will not be misused? And how long before a brand misuses freely given data and pays a heavy price? We already see the beginnings of this problem with email SPAM and loyalty clubs at retailers.

Long Form Content = Are Agencies Ready?

2008-10-29T08:16:00.000-07:00

It looks like Audi is behind "Meet the Beckers", an online campaign designed to make Audi drivers look like the only well-adjusted luxury car buyers out there. I was a huge fan of Audi's UK ad for the A4 from the late 90's, where we follow the life of a City banker in London who test drives an A4 and says "not for me, mate." And from a strategic stand-point, I think this new effort is moving in the right direction. However, I can't help but think the writing and dialogue is just not so great. If you want consumers to spend 2-3 minutes watching online video that they know is from an un-named advertiser, it better be as good as the stuff on offer at Hulu. And while amusing, "Meet the Beckers" is just not up to that standard. So what does this mean for agencies? We are pretty damn good at short form video content, but when the format is more akin to a TV show, most agency copywriters just don't have the experience. That's not to say that agency creatives can't learn to do great long form content -- there is a rich history of advertising creatives moving on to film and television. But if agencies are going to succeed in getting consumers to watch their longer form video content, we're going to have to get a lot better at it.

http://www.youtube.com/user/MeetTheBeckers

Blowing Up Cliches

2008-10-17T12:47:00.000-07:00

Love this new ad from Holiday Inn Express. Expanding on their long-running campaign theme that staying at their hotel makes you smarter, the latest installment features a buttoned-up white marketing executive who schools some guys on the street unlucky enough to challenge his rapping skills. I wonder if the agency copywriter penned his rap, or if they had to get some outside help?

http://www.adgabber.com/video/video/show?id=546804%3AVideo%3A122736

Content vs Context - The Future of Advertising

2008-08-15T20:24:00.001-07:00

This video from the Cannes Young Lions series poses an interesting question that gets at the heart of what advertising will look like in 20 years: is great storytelling the key to getting people to pay attention, or is the new model all about providing something useful? If you agree that brilliant storytelling and great content drives people to pay attention to brands, then really nothing will have changed except for an exponential growth in the number of communication channels. However, if Nick Law is right, then people will be annoyed by storytelling and just want brands to give them tools that make their lives easier. Personally, I think the debate here is too black and white. Yes, great storytelling makes people more likely to pay attention, especially in the case of brands that are selling emotional/image based benefits. However, if your product has more functional benefits, or is complex (e.g. technology, cars, a mortgage) then storytelling is not the primary thing - you want information and helpful tools first, engaging content and narrative comes second. What do you think advertising will look like in 2028?

Hilarious Critique on Agency Process

2008-08-15T18:31:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Alan Wolk's blog for turning me on to this brilliant critique on how messed up the creative development process can be. If only it weren't so close to the truth!

Who Deserves the Credit?

2008-07-24T07:59:00.000-07:00

Great post by the COO of The Barbarian Group on multi-agency collaboration, and who deserves the credit. This issue has been in the press recently after BBDO's Cannes win for HBO "Voyeur" despite the fact that much of the digital work was done by Big Spaceship. I don't know the answer to this complex issue, but it's another clear sign that the current agency model is broken. And another sign that those that play well with others will be more likely to succeed.

http://www.barbariangroup.com/posts/742-awards_shows_and_credit

Are Companies Ready for Social Media?

2008-07-23T08:52:00.001-07:00

Most of my clients are eager to do more with social media tools like Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, etc. They are atttracted to the opportunity to better connect with consumers and the possibility that their brand message will be shared at almost no cost to them. However, I'm not sure many companies are truly prepared to enter into one-2-one conversations with individuals. Brands can't blog or answer Twitter posts, only people at the companies can. If companies really want to let consumers participate in a conversation about their brands/products/services, they are doing to have to dramatically increase the resources they put in place to listening and responding to consumers in a human and timely fashion.

Radiohead + Google

2008-07-15T08:40:00.001-07:00

Really interesting new effort from Radiohead. The video for "House of Cards" is done without any film - all laser scanning. They also teamed up with Google to allow people access to the code, and created a downloadable widget with a built in application, and deeper layers of content. Good stuff.

Content is King?

2008-07-11T14:04:00.001-07:00

This new song/video from ad hoc super group including Pharrell, Santogold, and Julian Casablancas is pretty cool. But is it a good advertising idea? Apparently, Converse commissioned the song for the anniversary of Chuck Taylor shoes. I am a believer that the future of brands is providing content that people don't want to live without, but I don't know that this video really says anything about Converse worth saying. Is just wearing the shoes enough? Is the fact that Converse is giving it to me for free gonna make me feel like buying a new pair of shoes? Will be interesting to see how this plays out.

New Cohen Bros Film

2008-06-03T09:12:00.001-07:00

I'm late on this one, but this looks amazing. Can't wait to see it!

The Machine is Us/ing Us (Final Version)

2008-05-28T14:23:00.001-07:00

Must see video on how Web 2.0 will change the nature of communication and collaboration. It's a great tutorial for anyone looking to understand what people mean by Web 2.0 at a high level.

An Amazing Source of Knowledge

2008-05-28T09:00:00.000-07:00

In the advertising business, pretty much everything we share with our clients gets put into PowerPoint at some point. The limitations of PowerPoint as a communication tool have been written about more eloquently elsewhere (see Garr Reynolds' excellent book "Presentation Zen" and blog for more on this), but for the time being it's a necessary evil that I use on a daily basis. So writing persuasive presentations is an important craft. Which is why I am so excited about www.slideshare.net . It's a truly amazing source of great presentations on about every subject. I have found some very helpful thinking on there. Check it out.