Influential Marketing Blog

Notes From the Twitterbowl: The Top 3 Strategic Super Bowl Ads

Last night during the big game, I joined a large group of marketing and social media types to share some live thoughts about the Super Bowl ads through Twitter (sending them to the @superbowlads user account).  The aptly named "Twitterbowl" consisted of lots of folks live rating ads and sharing some feedback about the ads live during the game.  Voting on ads in real time is nothing new ... however doing it and reading the thoughts of my other contacts during the game was an interesting way to experience the ads.  Though I would have expected a more sophisticated commentary from the group as a whole, being marketing people and all.  Many folks seemed to just be rating ads on entertainment value as opposed to whether or not the message actually made sense for the brand, but it was still a fun experience as part of the game.

Aside from realizing that people can really have completely opposite views of what makes a successful Superbowl ad, it was also clear that all of us love to have our opinions.  Everyone decides what is most entertaining for them, but since this is a marketing blog, I'm going to go with my own top 3 Super Bowl ad list based on strategic value for the brand.  So, here is my list of the top three 3 strategic ads that were creative, engaging, messaged properly and could actually have a real impact in terms of sales (and only one of them made the USAToday Top 10 popular ads list):

1. Tide "My Talking Stain":  This spot was easily relatable (everyone has had that stain they couldn't do anything about), funny, and generated awareness for an under appreciated product  In the Twitterbowl, most folks loved it, and it will easily have the recall when anyone is walking the grocery market aisles and sees it.  The only downside?  The word in the Twitterbowl was that their marketing site (www.mytalkingstain.com) went down under all the traffic.
   
2. Under Armour "Under Army":  Any company that is number 3 in a competitive industry has perhaps the most to gain from a Super Bowl ad because it positions them on equal footing with the other two.  For Under Armour, this meant taking the reigns from Nike and Adidas with their "Under Army" spot, which they did brilliantly.  Not to mention it was one of the rare Super Bowl ads that (gasp!) has something to do with football.  Ironically, it wasn't popular in the Twitterbowl - but for the masses and Under Armour's target audience, I think it was spot on.
3. Audi "Godfather": Audi's spot was a big deal in marketing circles before the Super Bowl even aired because it represented a rare entry from Audi into the Super Bowl mix.  The ad itself was a brilliant parody of the Godfather that positioned the new __________ as the ultimate in new luxury.  Anyone want to bet what percentage of the boomer males watching the game were picturing themselves in that car?

Of course, I am tough on these ads because I am putting the often forgotten lens of strategic value over deciding what was a good creative execution.  If we just looked at entertainment value, which I am sure lots of polls are doing today, the winners were probably a few of the Bud ads and the Pepsi Night at the Roxbury spoof.  Worst ads?  They have to be the Gatorade/Vitamin Water/Sobe combos (seriously, can anyone tell them apart?), the CareerBuilder nasty exploding heart ad (they should have stuck with the monkeys), and the singing Comcast ads (which, thankfully, most of the country probably didn't see).  Big props to Dell and Lionel also, for being the only advertiser (that I could tell) to actually be part of the Twitterbowl. 

Oh, and it was a great game to watch too ... congrats to Giants fans everywhere.  If it can't be the Redskins, it might as well be the Giants doing the NFC East proud.

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Ironweed Films and The Secret of Repackaging That Works

Would you join a book of the month club?  How about taking the packaged tour to see the sights at a new travel destination instead of exploring them on your own?  There was a time when I didn't understand why anyone would choose something like that.  After all, if you can have all the fun of seeing a new place for the first time, why pollute it with a watered down tour designed for tourists (the one word no real traveller wants to associate themself with).  The easy thing to think is that packaged options are for amateurs.  And no one wants to be an amateur.  But then I went to the Outback in Australia.  For whatever reason, I ended up on an adventure tour instead of just getting a car and going.  I had already seen the Outback once by car exploring on my own.  This time, with a friend visiting, I took the tour.  Along the way, we took in a wounded kangaroo to drop off at a shelter and slept under a deeply coloured sky turned extreme by all the smoke from bush fires in the air.  Every experience on the tour was one I would not have had exploring by myself. 

The reason why I started with this story is because this weekend I was thinking again about the power of packaging when it comes to marketing an experience.  I spent the day saturday with a great team of people working on the marketing strategy for my coming book launch and one of the things we talked about was how to package the experience.  It got me thinking about the last packaged experience I joined ... a group called Ironweed Films.  The company has a charge to share great (and underappreciated) independent films with their members each month.  It is, essentially, a film of the month club.  What sets their experience apart, though, is that in addition to a single full length film, they also package it with 2-3 other short films and put a custom cover around the DVD.  The result is that you don't just get a single movie every month, you get an exploration of an idea or theme, played out over several films - and even the chance to take action on their website with a related activity for each film collection.  Past topics have included nature, abortion, elections, iraq, and the future of food.  What makes Ironweed Films stand out offers a lot of lessons on how to do repackaging right.  For those of you who have a service that you are looking to package, read these lessons first:

1. Offer added value.  The biggest thing Ironweed does is that they go through all the films out there to pair up films that explore similar themes.  As a result, each month you don't just get a single point of view on an immerssive topic, you get several.  In most cases, unless you were in the industry and looking for these films all the tme, they include films you might never have seen.
2. Don't forget about having your own brand. When you are repacking things from others, it may be difficult to create your own unique and memorable brand.  Where Ironweed succeeds is in designing their own brand that members can associate with.  Everything from the brown paper envelope with purple writing that the DVDs arrive in, as well as the numbering of monthly DVDs (kind of like episodic comic books) to give you the sense that each DVD is a collectible item add to the branded approach.
3. Make it about passion.  There are essentially two models for repackaging items.  The first is to repackage multiple things for convenience or to make more money.  The classic example of that would be those packages of 4 colors of peppers sold in the supermarkets.  It's all about ease for you, and they charge you for it.  The other model, and the one that Ironweed promotes, is building their repackaging around a mission to bring more independent films to more people (a cause they believe in).  As a result, the passion makes the site and service even more appealing.

Aside from my Outback experience, I am still not sure that I am a fan of taking the packaged experience when travelling.  That can still be a pretty inconsistent gamble.  When it comes to repackaging an experience though, Ironweed has a model worth considering.

The Gun Is In The Wrong Hand

When you watch a film, do you notice which hand the character on screen is holding the gun in?  And if you do, would you notice if in a following scene, the gun happened to be in the wrong hand?  I guarantee you anyone who has ever worked on editing a film will notice this.  They can't help it.  When shooting the same scene over multiple days (which happens often), consistency is key.  It's usually even someone's job to check this.  The problem with noticing the gun is in the wrong hand though, is that it overshadows your experience of the film.  You have too much knowledge to enjoy it.  If you think about it, we deal with this tyranny of excess knowledge everyday.  Once you have flown business class, it's hard to accept flying economy.  After working as a waiter at a particular restaurant, it is nearly impossible to enjoy a meal there (once you know what happens behind the kitchen).

Would it be better to have no knowledge of a situation before walking into it?  One of the best movie experiences I remember having was going to see Confidence in Australia on its opening weekend.  It was the rare case where, somehow, I managed to make it to my seat in the theater with absolutely no knowledge of the film.  No one had recommended it to me.  I did not know who was starring in it.  I hadn't seen any reviews or trailers, or read any plot summaries.  I hadn't even seen a movie poster.  Walking into the theater and sitting down to watch that movie was a completely blank slate.  And I enjoyed the film in a way I can hardly remember enjoying any other, because I did not know what to expect.

Of course, when it comes to choosing a film to spend your hard earned $7 to $12 bucks on on a Friday night, Hollywood knows that most people don't want to go in blind.  They want to know what to expect, who the stars are and that they won't be disappointed.  This is why the franchise movies (Spiderman, Ocean's Eleven/Twelve/Thirteen, Elizabeth II, etc.) are so popular.  Because the movie studios are betting on proven idea.  This also explains why independent and small budget films have such trouble getting box office time and large audiences.  Small or new businesses have a similar challenge.  A consumer knows what to expect when they walk into Target or purchase a box of Oreo's.  Going against that knowlege is a tough thing.  But when you do, you can create an unexpected and memorable moment.  Giving consumers what they expect is overrated.  Sometimes the most powerful way to reach someone is by giving them an experience they know nothing about.

Influential Marketing Blog Featured in Wall Street Journal

Many of you may have already caught this yesterday, but this blog was cited in the Recommended Reading  section of the Wall Street Journal yesterday in an article by Keith Huang.  As Jay Berkowitz from Ten Golden Rules shares on his team blog, my blog was one of 60 resources that they recommended to the journalist as part of their reading list and was selected from that list as a recommended resource for companies looking to "optimize their online presence."  Here's the writeup:

Influential Marketing Blog, rohitbhargava.typepad.com
Rohit Bhargava's blog is intellectual and educational. In a recent post, he discusses the art of stamp collection and how, even today, many smaller countries use stamps as a key marketing tool. He writes, 'Next time you pass a post office in any country, pay attention to how they are using their philately to promote the country, cater to tourists, or commemorate moments of significance.'

It is a great media hit and to be selected from a list of what I am guessing were 60 stellar resources is flattering.  I'm in awe at being included among the other bloggers and authors mentioned in the article - including Seth Godin, Steve Rubel, Matt Cutts, John Battelle, Chris Anderson, Joseph Jaffe, and Danny Sullivan. Thanks to Jay for including me in this great list, and to Keith for selecting to include my blog!

Branding the Subcontinent: India's Inspiring 60th Anniversary Celebration

Today is India's 60th Anniversary of Independence and there is lots of discussion on Indian blogs about the significance of this day and what it means for the country.  It will come as no surprise for admirers of the Bollywood film industry that India's culture is one driven by film and music.  The blockbuster Bollywood films incite passion amongst most people in India that is incomparable to any film release anywhere else in the world.  It is fitting, then, that the voices of this 60 year anniversary are not the politicians, but the artists.  In the only country in the world where films with local origins still far outpace Hollywood movies on opening weekend, the national identity of India is inseparable from its love affair with film and music.   

As an example, here are two (1 2) of the many videos floating around YouTube showing how the country is finding and projecting its voice and brand to each other and to the world. 

These may be a bit over the top, but they are clearly working.  In the 2006 Country Brand Index published by FutureBrand, India was the only third world country in the top ten list of the strongest global country brands.  Despite any social or political problems, there is a strong national identity for India and the country seems likely to move higher on this list of strong country brands this year.  Branding a country is an activity that is on a scale hard for most marketers to imagine, but at the end of the day is comes down to the most basic marketing lesson of all ... giving people something to believe in.

Note: If you want to continue your journey into India today, check out this great list of Indian bloggers (I'm in the Entrepreneurs and Innovators category).

The Complete Gallery Of Simpsons Movie Marketing

In what may go down in history as one of the biggest integrated movie marketing efforts in the history of Hollywood, the pre-promotion for the upcoming Simpsons Movie is in full swing right now.  Unlike many other Hollywood promotions, the marketing for the Simpsons movies is going beyond billboard and print, beyond television, and beyond even interactive or viral.  This campaign has everything from creating your own animated avatar (that's mine on the left!) and having a chance to star in an upcoming episode, to winning the chance to get the premiere of the movie in your hometown provided you live in one of 14 Springfields around the US Vermont (the winning city ).  This post is an attempt to round all these marketing efforts up in a visual way.  Be warned, you might end up wasting an hour or more following all of the links below ... so read at your own risk!

• The Official Simpsons Movie Site
• Official Simpsons Marketing Partner Site
• Xbox Contest
• JetBlue Contest
• JetBlue Downloadable Movie Banners
• Be In An Animated Simpsons Episode 7-11 Promotion
• List of 7-11s Nationwide To Get A Kwik-E-Mart Makeover
• List of Simpsons Inspired Products To Be Sold at 7-11/Kwik-E-Marts
• USAToday Springfield Hometown Movie Premiere Challenge (UPDATE: Vermont Wins!)
• Simpsons MySpace Page
• Kwik-E-Mart in Burbank, CA Flickr Gallery
• Kwik-E-Mart in Dallas, TX Flickr Gallery
• Kwik-E-Mart in Orlando, FL Flickr Gallery
• Kwik-E-Mart in Bladensburg, MD (outside DC) Flickr Gallery
• Kwik-E-Mart in Denver, CO Flickr Gallery
• Kwik-E-Mart in Vancouver, BC (Canada) Flickr Gallery
• LAist Writeup of Burbank, CA Kwik-E-Mart
• DCist Writeup of DC Area Kwik-E-Mart
• Update: Kwik-E-Mart in New York City Flickr Gallery
• Update: Kwik-E-Mart in Las Vegas Flickr Gallery
• Update: Kwik-E-Mart in Mountain View, CA Flickr Gallery
• Update: Simpsons X Vans Custom Skateboard Shoes (via comment from rj at SneakerPlay)
  
  • Simpsons X Vans (Mr. Cartoon Design)
  • Simpsons X Vans (Gary Painter & Geoff McFetridge Designs)
  • Simpsons x Vans (Tony Munoz & Taka Hayashi Designs)
  • Simpsons x Vans (Futura & Todd “Reas” James Designs)
• Update: Simpsons Create 180ft Homer Chalk Drawing in UK Field (Via reader Mark Tong)
• Update: Ben & Jerry's Release Two New Simpsons 1-Day Only Flavours (Need an image if anyone has one)
• Update: Simpsons Mobile site offers phone downloads and first mobile game
• Update: Burger King Simpsonize Me Site to "Simpsonize" a photo you upload
• Update: Full story and fashion spread in Harper's Bazaar magazine
• Update: 4 Different Collectible Simpsons Covers for Entertainment Weekly (Via DeliFaks)

If anyone has any other links of marketing related efforts from partners, or other images from Kwik-E-Marts, please email me or leave a comment to this post and I'll add them.  Also, below are lots of images and screengrabs from these efforts -- enjoy!

The Simpsons Movie Poster (with every character from the show):

Simpsons - Create Your Own Avatar Tool:

Simpsons USA Today Springfield Challenge:

Simpsons Official Partner Page - www.seeyellow.com:

Simpsons MySpace Page and "Simpsonize Your World" Contest:

7-11 "Get Animated Into A Simpsons Episode" Contest:

7-11 Real Store "Kwik-E-Mart" Makeovers:

Images from Kwik-E-Mart Makeovers (images taken from Flickr Galleries referenced above):

Simpsons XBox Promotion (Winner of "Lamest Promotion" of the lot so far):

JetBlue Blog Takeover by Mr. Burns (Winner of "Most Unique"):

JetBlue City Destination Bubbles (brilliantly boils the essence of each city into a single Simpsonesque stereotype - 14 cities in total):

 

And last, but not least ... a real life Squishee! (from DCist post linked above):

Update: Simpsons X Vans Sneaker Designs (images from www.hypebeast.com & www.honeyee.com)

UPDATE (07/11/07): Vermont Wins USA Today Contest for Hometown Premiere

UPDATE (07/13/07): Influential Marketing Blog reader Christopher Trela shares this image of In-Theater Marketing from NY

Update (07/19/07): SimpsonizeMe Site From Burger King (with funny error messages when site doesn't respond):

Update (07/19/07): Simpsons Mobile Website and Mobile Meltdown Marketing Game:

Update (07/19/07): Fashion Spread In Harper's Bazaar (via FYI-Mag)

Update (07/19/07): Simpsons "Homer Erectus" 180ft Chalk Drawing at Cerne Abbas (via Influential Marketing Blog reader Mark Tong):

Update (07/20/07): 4 Different Collectible Covers for Entertainment Weekly Magazine

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Live Earth Includes DC, Thanks To The Native Americans

Today might be the largest simultaneous social marketing event ever staged - as Live Earth concerts light up stadium stages on 7.5 stages on 7 continents.  In case you're wondering, the "0.5" stage is right here in DC.  The concert taking place now is at the American Indian Museum after they offered their venue for a "Mother Earth" version of the concert.  Why this venue instead of the preferred larger one on the steps of the Capitol in DC?  Mainly because partisan politics from Republicans who believe global warming is a "hoax" (led by James Inhofe) threatened to keep the DC event from happening and blocked it from taking place in Gore's originally preferred venue.  Regardless, the event is here in DC and I will be heading out to see it live and share photos later tonight.

In the meantime, there are live video streams and information available at http://liveearth.msn.com/ as well as a full schedule of artists and shows.  Despite this live satellite feed - I can't help but wish for more integration of social media so I could share in people's experiences of the shows real time throughout the day.  There is a Live Earth blog, but it is authored by a single individual who is going to the concert in NY and watching the rest online and on TV like the rest of us.  Even the Unofficial Live Earth blog is mostly updated by a single person.  Michael Prospero from the Fast Company Blog is promising to live blog the New York event, and I am sure there are other similar individuals at the other concerts doing the same - but there doesn't seem to be a way to collect this aggregated conversation in a single location, which seems like a big missed opportunity. For a global concert event across 8 cities - one person is never going to be able to share the entire experience of the event in a comprehensive way because they cannot be in more than one (or 2) places at once.  If there was ever a moment where I might actually care to read Twitter updates from lots of people I don't know, this would be it. 

Regardless, watching these events unfold live around the world is addictive and I've been spending much of a day where I intended to work on my book watching the films and concert performances in HD on TV.  The campaign has a very simple call to action and plenty of easy ways for each and every person to make a pledge to "answer the call."  Every social marketing campaign should be so relevant and have such a clear way for anyone participate.  If you haven't seen any of the shows, be sure to visit the Live Earth site today - and stay tuned for a report from the DC event and hopefully some live photos from me later this evening.

Update Rant - Can someone explain to me why the sound and video crew covering the DC event are the only ones that don't seem to understand how to get a good camera shot (without sun flares or blue overtones) or how to get microphones to work where you can actually hear the singers performing?  There's a big step down in quality of the TV broadcast between the DC event and all the other events I have seen so far ...

Hellmann's Takes Search For "Real Food" Into Blogosphere

Today the Wall Street Journal published a piece about our upcoming branded entertainment campaign that we are officially launching tomorrow for Hellmann's in partnership with Yahoo! Food.  Not surprisingly, the site is going to be supported by a large online ad buy across Yahoo and we are doing lots of related PR activities with the host, Dave Lieberman (Food Network TV Host).  One of the most interesting parts of the campaign (aside from the fact that the show is being produced entirely for the web), is going to be the way that we are taking the search for real food beyond the 12 weekly video episodes and events around the country and into the blogosphere.  Each week, our team will be working with Dave to choose a single blog post and an image from a Flickr gallery that explores the theme of "real food" and republishing this content on the official campaign blog (with the original author's permission and direct links back to the original post or image, of course).

With this piece of the campaign, we are hoping to include conversations from blogs around the web to add to the dialogue of what real food means to real people.  There is already a good amount of discussion about this topic and this a great way for us to get more content into the site while also providing a way for individual bloggers and photographers get more visibility for their content.  Unfortunately for me, I can't participate in this part of it (and trust me, I'd love to get all the eyeballs from Yahoo Food visiting my blog).  Luckily for you, most of you won't be limited by this.  So send me a link to your best content (blog post or Flickr image) that describes what real food means to you (or wait until our site launches tomorrow and you can post this online) and each week we'll choose a new one to feature on the homepage of our site.  Also, check back each week for the new video episodes to follow Dave's journey around America searching for real food.  Good luck!

Full Disclosure: I'm part of the panel that will be choosing the post and images to feature each week.

Shell Has Eureka Moment, But Sends Wrong Message

Good advertising is based on insights ... a singular idea or truth that gets to the heart of a product or brand.  The trouble with insight, though, is that it comes in two forms.  There is insight that can help you to create a great communications message - and there is insight that can help you do your business better.  They are not usually the same.  And when they are confused, you have a situation like Shell's Eureka film - part of their Real Energy campaign.  There are more than a few people who have talked about how the film has been well executed.  It's hard to argue with that, as the film is compelling and well produced - easily watchable despite being a 9 minute long commercial.  The method of distribution (inserts in Wired magazine) and postings on YouTube of the short and long videos of the film also make sense (though it didn't take long for someone to post an embeddable version to get around a request to disable embedding on the original Shell posted video).  The problem comes in the strategy and is actually very simple if you think about it:

1. Every oil company is trying to be green and get more goodwill from consumers.
2. People in general are afraid that oil companies are exploiting the earth, oil will run out and prices will keep rising.

The conclusion most competitors have drawn is that marketing and communication needs to focus on positive non-oil messages such as what they are doing to fund alternative energy sources.  Of course they are getting more efficient about drilling for oil ... everyone expects that because it makes business sense.  Unfortunately, broadcasting a "eureka moment" of an engineer getting the idea to create a flexible oil drill to suck oil deposits out of the ocean like a teenager sucks a drink through a straw is not a great choice for a consumer message.  Even the online landing page for the campaign does little to help the cause, outlining that the flexible drill was necessary to "prevent all that precious oil going to waste."  Some could argue the oil was fine where it was, but ultimately the unintended message they send is: Shell cares about inventing new technologies to suck the earth dry.

The irony is, once you delve into the film and learn about the process and the benefits, there actually is great value in the method for the environment in terms of being able to use fewer drilling platforms and produce less waste.  It seems to be a great technology advance for Shell as well as the industry.  Yet the visual of an oil company slurping every last drop of oil from the earth through their superstraw is exactly the wrong way to portray the industry and Shell itself.  This was obviously a eureka moment and a great business case for Shell - something shareholders are likely to love.  Using it as the hero story for their consumer marketing just seems like a bad idea no matter how well produced it is.

Watch the video:

Full Disclosure: BP is a longstanding Ogilvy client, though I am not currently part of the BP team or participating in any ongoing work for BP.

The Indian Film Festival, Permanence and the Internet

Last night I had the chance to attend the opening of the Indian Film Festival here in LA, which opened with a film called Provoked featuring Aishwarya Rai and Naveen Andrews.  The film tackles the difficult topic of domestic violence and is based on a true story.  After watching the story being told and thinking about the film afterwards, I was drawn to the idea of permanence.  The film has been produced and released, and now offers a permanent testament to the story of Kiranjit Ahluwalia - a woman who was strong enough to overcome her situation of domestic abuse and offer inspiration to women around the world.  Film and books certainly have this aura of permanence, but what about the Internet? 

If you asked anyone a few years ago, they would have pointed to the inherently changeable nature of the web as proof that it will never have this permanence.  In a world where what is arguably the best source of information on the Internet is a site with millions of definitions for terms that can be changed everyday by anyone (Wikipedia), how could anyone believe that the Internet has the same permanence as a film or book?  Yet as we have seen with the recent scuffle around Steve Rubel's remarks on Twitter, what some might have considered the least permanent type of site possible, comments made online can indeed stick around for quite some time.  People who have created photos and webpages throughout their youth are contending with this permanence as they go out and start to seek jobs and manage their indiscretions that might be recorded and easily available to a potential employer through a web search.  Politicians are dealing with a new age of transparency on every legislative choice they have ever made being available for any voter to see.  Yes, permanence is alive and well on the Internet despite it's many flaws and inaccuracies.  It may not yet offer the same feeling of permanence as a film or book today, but there is no denying it has a feeling of permanence far beyond what it used to.  Here's an open question: do you think it will ever reach the same level at films and books?

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Our (Packed) Event Calendar for March and April

It's a sunny day in DC, the office is hot as spring seems headed toward us here on the east coast.  And as everyone knows, aside from flowers and birds, Spring is the season for conferences and marketing events to kick into high gear.  There are lots of events in the coming two months that I will either be attending, watching, or helping to promote.  So for this Friday - as we head into maybe the first weekend of Spring - here's my list of events that Ogilvy PR (and me, personally) will be participating in over the next two months.  I'd love to see you at any of these events ... particularly if you are interested in joining the very fun and innovative Digital Influence team here at Ogilvy PR. 

March 6 | PSFK Conference
This promises to be a great day of speakers and new thinking organized by Piers and the guys at PSFK.  Drop me a line if you are going to be there and want to try and connect.  Registration for the event closes this Sunday and apparently there are still a few spots left.  Register at http://psfk.eventbrite.com/.

March 6 to March 8 | New Communications Forum
This is one of the largest of the New PR events focused on the evolution of the PR industry and features some of the best minds and innovators in PR from Shel Holtz to David Weinberger (Author of the Cluetrain Manifesto).  John Bell, founder of our own Digital Influence group here at Ogilvy PR will also be leading a great session on how you can craft a great Corporate Social Media strategy.  Check out his post on the event and use his promotion code (612SHN) for a discount on registration.

March 8 to March 18 | SXSW Interactive/Music/Film
As part of our efforts for a soon to be announced client, I will be attending this annual independent artist festival on the music side and hope to make it to a few days of the interactive event as well.  I've already been in touch with a few folks who will be there - so let me know if you're on that list and will be in Austin. If you're keen you still might be able to find a slot and register at www.sxsw.com.

March 27 | Citizen Marketers: Special Client Event with Jackie Huba
This an event we will be running for just our clients and held in our NY offices.  For the session, we have Jackie Huba coming into to speak to the team about citizen marketers, her new book and the trend of consumer generated content and co-creation.  We'll be sure to share some insights from the talk with the wider audience, but attending this event is unfortunately just available to clients of Ogilvy PR.  If by chance you are a client, and didn't get an invite yet - please email me directly and I can arrange access for you.  This event is part of Ben and Jackie's book tour - which you can learn more about on their website.

March 28 to March 30 | Social Marketing University
Run by Nedra Weinreich, author of the Spare Change blog  (among other things), this event is a wonderful introduction to the world of social marketing, as well as a rich source of new ideas for the practicing pro.  It's in the DC market, a very smart choice when it comes to social marketing events, and you can get a discount on registration by using the code "IIM75" - but don't wait, the last word I had from Nedra was that the event is nearly sold out.

March 29 | Web Manager's Roundtable: Creating a Social Media Strategy
John Bell will be teaming up with Pierre Wielezynski from the World Bank to talk about creating a social media strategy for your organization.  This is a great local event for DC folks and costs just $10.  The event will be held at the World Bank offices, but seating is limited to just 100 folks so if you're thinking about going, you better register soon.

April 10 to April 13 | Search Engine Strategies NY
It's amazing how quickly this event has grown into an international phenomenon and become one of the real A-list events in the world of interactive marketing.  Lots of my peers in marketing as well as search marketing specialists will be there, and I have been having a few discussions with conference organizers about the upcoming Social Media Optimization panel that will be a part of the event.  No formal agreement yet, but we'll see what happens.  I have finalized with Danny and the conference organizing team that I will have the chance to moderate the panel on Social Media Optimization.  This will be my first speaking opportunity on SMO at a search engine conference and I am joined on the panel with lots of authoritative folks that I have had the fortune of conversing with over email as SMO has evolved.  (Updated 03/15/07)

April 17 to 18 | WOMMA's Word of Mouth Basic Training
Womma's hugely popular series returns, this time for an event held in New Orleans next month.  We are members of WOMMA and will be actively participating in this event - though there are no details to share quite yet.  Regardless, somehow due to previous commitments, travel or vacation I have managed to miss just about every WOMMA event last year.  This one will be no different, as the dates for the Millenials conference listed below conflict with WOMMA once again.  Well, perhaps one day in the future I'll finally make it to a WOMMA event, but in the meantime, Ogilvy PR will be well represented there and we'd love to see you.

April 18 | Millenials Conference
Put on by the folks over at Digital Media Wire, this event is shaping up to be a really strong panel of folks all talking about how to reach and engage the elusive demographic group of youth known in marketing circles as the millennials.  I am still discussing being involved with the event with the team organizing and hope to finalize shortly.  I will be moderating the panel on "Harnessing the Power of User Generated Content."  Again, the panel is shaping up to be a strong group and I am looking forward to meeting them.  Full Disclosure: My blog posts are also republished on DMW as a guest contributor.  (Updated 03/15/07)

April 24 to April 26 | Ad-Tech San Francisco 
I put together a very exciting panel for this event focused on using social media tools like blogs, podcasts and vlogs to demonstrate your brand identity.  It's going to be a very popular panel, with confirmed participation already from Karl Long of ExperienceCurve and Nokia, Jeremiah Owyang from PodTech, Steve Hall from Adrants, and another soon to be announced panelist.  This is a huge event at Moscone and there will be some other very exciting things happening there which I can't talk about quite yet - but are worth waiting for.  Visit www.ad-tech.com to register and be there for the event. 

If you're going to be at any of these events, I'm looking forward to meeting you.  I'll have plenty of business cards ...

Jaman and The New Global Niche

Ethnicity has always been an appealing niche for foreign language newspapers and magazines to local cable television programs.  Restaurants, churches and temples are all centers for exploring global cultures in the real world.  Yet on the Internet, the most successful ethnically focused sites seem to be the online dating sites such as Shaadi.com, JDate and Corazones.com - as well as online communities targeting ethnicities for networking.  The problem with this is that most of these sites are not inviting others outside a particular ethnicity to interact and learn about a culture.  If online networks focused on getting together those of a particular ethnicity, we risk alienating each other as everyone only joins their own ethnic group online and doesn't venture beyond. 

Countering this trend to a degree are sites that take a more global view of the world, targeted at those who consider themselves more than just citizens of a particular country.  There are sites like Worldchanging and GlobalVoicesOnline that offer global news and a collaboration of voices from many countries.  Other online news and video sites offer a more global view on world news and reporting such as Current.tv.  Campaigns such as the One campaign or Product Red are also taking a global view for cause related marketing.  Yet when it comes to sharing the best of global cultures in a way that is not cause related, there are surprisingly few ways people have found to do it online.

One site that I came upon recently which seems to have a different vision is Jaman - a social network and website where you can sign up to rent or purchase foreign films from around the world.  Uniting the world through cinema has long been the charge of many independent film festivals and other such events, but online this mission has not really taken off.  There are strong online communities that relate to film, such as Flixter - but none focus as uniquely on global cinema as Jaman.  The site is still in beta, and the film collection relatively small ... but as more and more global cinema labels sign onto the service and see it as a profitable distribution channel, the collection is sure to grow.  It's one of those sites that is helping to define a new global niche for sites that are focused on bringing the best of global cultures to everyone ... without the necessity for an underlying cause.  After all, even the global citizen who wants to learn about or save the world need some old fashioned entertainment every once in a while.

technorati tags: jaman global world cinema film marketing independent flixster niche trend
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Screenshots of Jaman Service (click to enlarge):

     

Blockbuster Poaches Netflix Customers with "President's Day Pardon"

Netflix has always focused on innovation with everything from their award winning user interface to the longstanding Netflix Prize.  Aside from technical innovation, they have also pioneered a new business model for online on-demand movie downloading by charging consumers based on the hours they watch, streaming movies without actually downloading them and letting users switch instantly from film to film as easily as changing channels.  Ultimately, they will need all this innovation - because Blockbuster is getting smarter and smarter about finding ways to exploit their only competitive advantage over Netflix - their physical stores.  Recently, Blockbuster has shifted their marketing strategy into directly taking on Netflix ... a move I can only attribute to a smart brand session where they realized they were losing and were #2.  This is a challenger strategy, and you have to give Blockbuster some kudos for realizing that they are the challengers in this market. 

Bringing this realization to life are their smart TV spots using animation to compare their service to Netflix and point out how they plan to use their stores to let customers get and return movies in whatever way is most convenient for them.  I found myself in a Blockbuster rental store for the first time in years last weekend due to a strange combination of events and everything in the store was also focused on getting you to subscribe to their service - offering free videos on the spot, "exclusive" promotions and even promising that by signing up, you could avoid having to drive all the way back to return the movie you were about to rent.  Marketing to the lazy gene in all of us is always a smart choice.

But I have been a long time Netflix customer and consider myself a brand loyalist.  So I didn't sign up then.  But it's getting harder and harder to ignore Blockbuster's message.  Today, they are offering a "President's Day Pardon" promotion, where you can bring in your Netflix envelope and receive a free movie from Blockbuster.  Obviously, a great moment to poach Netflix customers and inform them about Blockbusters competing program.  Ultimately, the thing that is keeping customers loyal for Netflix won't be the interface or even the innovations - but the very vocal customer evangelists they have.  Already there are customer experience videos on YouTube proclaiming Netflix far superior to Blockbuster, the Hacking Netflix blog dedicated to all things Netflix and glowing reviews about their new download service.  When I am a Netflix customer, I feel like part of a community.  For now, that's enough to counter the convenience factor Blockbuster seems to be offering.  Well, that and Netflix's far superior collection of Bollywood films ...

Note: The Netflix image above is from the Gizmodo post referenced earlier.  There is a phased rollout for the movie downloading feature - and unfortunately, I haven't yet received access on my account to test it out myself.

The Ultimate Social Network You Haven't Heard Of

Ok, maybe you have ... and it just might be Flixster, a social network dedicated to film, actors, Hollywood and movie fans.  The obvious question you could be wondering is how it can be "the ultimate" when there are so many other social networks that have been around longer, pull more traffic, have more users and generate more buzz?  The main reason is because after using the site, you realize that they have taken what seems like every trick from every other social network, and integrated it into their own site to add to a user's experience. 

For example, visiting an artist's profile page with it's aggregation of images and videos has a look that reminds you of a cross between a Technorati search and a MySpace profile page.  In fact, you can select a skin for your own page or add one to the system - just like you can with MySpace.  Users of Netflix will recognize the rating systems for DVDs, however Flixster extends this to films that have not yet come out and includes links to trailers.  The site has lots of images of actors and actresses - with a built-in scale for rating taken right from the pages of HotorNot.  You can browse for specific actors, or use the Random feature to find a random page, the same powerful philosophy behind services like StumbleUpon and much of curiosity marketing.  Each image and video trailer also has code included below it to cut and paste into your own blog post or other content (just like YouTube).  Users can submit news stories about actors as links and other users can vote for them just like Digg and any other social news site.  Oh, and you can comment on everything - photos, images and news stories. 

The social network element of the site is equally engaging, with the ability to search for people who like the same types of films as you (based on the results of their Movie Compatibility Test) and get in contact.  The Movie Night Planner also lets you and a group friends share movie choices you would like to see, evaluate times, and rate the films based on trailers.  I have railed in the past against the suckiness of some movie theater websites.  Flixster is the exact opposite - a social network dedicated to movie fans with just about everything a movie fan could ever want all rolled into a single interface.  About the only thing missing was the big movie advertising.  That gap probably won't exist for too much longer.  Sony's cool new Face of the Fan - SpiderMan Movie Network promotion could be a great first candidate ...