yhadz, the marketing critic

SOPA, PIPA vs. The Internet Black-out

2012-01-21T01:15:00.000-08:00

Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) went through a lot of scrutiny in the last few weeks. Being part of a little scrutiny of our own in the annual review of our company's marketing department, I wasn't able to join in all the fun but my catching up at this point has been an edutainment (educational and entertaining).

The image below may be objectionable to some audiences but it does make a good point - from theoatmeal.com - the people there really pissed

The world wide web has yet to surprise people all over the world. Internet sites the likes of Wikipedia and many social media networks i.e. Facebook have brought people that much closer and made the world that much smaller. But in all its chaos, the organized movement it can become when incited can also be a force to be reckoned with.

Being a marketing critic, working for a company that needs to earn profit so that they can keep corporate slaves like myself employed, I can certainly understand the lengths at which many of the companies would like to fight for the right to protect intellectual property and other digital assets.

However also as an internet user, the world wide web has served everyone to some degree in terms of free and paid venues. I can relate to both sides given that I have been subject to a lot of content creation and I do enjoy the wealth of free media that comes from knowing how to get them online.

All this debate on what is good for the world and what is not in reference to the internet has been a long standing battle back when only music was shared and it has only gotten worse or better (depends on which side of the fence you are). However, the internet as a medium reminds me very much of free enterprise and the capacity of people to generate ideas & income out of this hyperspace.

In this excerpt on economics and the free enterprise I picked up from Dallas Bank Federal Reserve (they say it better than Wikipedia), "Adam Smith, in The Wealth of Nations, showed us more than 200 years ago that people pursuing their own self-interests in a free enterprise economy, as if led by some “invisible hand,” end up promoting the public interest."

I think that statement succinctly summarizes the black out staged last week. Websites worked towards their self interest but as a whole tried to defend the bigger picture. Whether this moves forward or not (I hear Obama won't let it), let's hope it will all be for the greater good (and not just the corporate good). Sample screen grabs below thanks to Forbes:

Here's a repost of Senator from Oregon Rob Wyner to declare his support for the internet:

My Letter to the Internet
January 18, 2012

Innovators, Speakers, Thinkers, and Agents for Change
The World Wide Web

Dear Friends:

Today thousands of websites have chosen to voluntarily go offline or modify their home pages with public service information. Some have called this a stunt. I say it’s a brave and poignant reminder that we can’t take the Internet for granted.

The Internet has become an integral part of everyday life precisely because it has been an open-to-all land of opportunity where entrepreneurs, thinkers and innovators are free to try, fail and then try again. The Internet has changed the way we communicate with each other, the way we learn about the world and the way we conduct business. It has done this by eliminating the tollgates, middle men, and other barriers to entry that have so often predetermined winners and losers in the marketplace. It has created a world where ideas, products and creative expression have an opportunity regardless of who offers them or where they originate.

Protect IP (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) are a step towards a different kind of Internet. They are a step towards an Internet in which those with money and lawyers and access to power have a greater voice than those who don’t. They are a step towards an Internet in which online innovators need lawyers as much or more than they need good ideas. And they are a step towards a world in which Americans have less of a voice to argue for a free and open Internet around the world.

Proponents of these bills say these arguments are overblown, but I say any step towards an Internet in which one person’s voice counts more than another is a step in the wrong direction. These are bills that should give us pause. These are bills that should be studied and debated. Congress should consult experts and consider alternatives and make 100% sure that any step it takes to police the Internet doesn't change the Internet as we know it. This is why I put a hold on the Protect IP Act and its predecessor over a year ago and introduced a bipartisan alternative last month.

The Senate, however, has scheduled a vote for Tuesday, January 24 at 2:15 PM to override my hold and move the Protect IP Act towards passage. This will be the deciding vote that determines whether PIPA and SOPA move through the Congress or are turned back for more sober discussion.

We are up against a group of the biggest, most powerful, well-funded and well-organized interest groups in Washington. No one thought millions of Internet users would speak up or that those voices could overcome the power of these interests. Today you showed that the Internet is not just a platform for ideas, commerce, and expression, but also for political action that will defend those principles. Your voices must continue to be heard.

Thank you for standing up for what’s important, for continuing to speak out and for demonstrating that we should always stand up for what we think is right regardless of the odds. This is an opportunity to reshape the way Washington operates, not just responding to narrow interests but hearing the voices of millions of Americans whose rights and livilihoods are affected by our actions.

Sincerely,

Ron Wyden
United States Senator

On Magazine Covers and Photo Enhancements

2012-01-03T03:51:00.000-08:00

The controversial cover of Jinkee Pacquiao on Mega Magazine has caused quite a stir online. It's true that the powers that be in marketing here may have gone overboard in the photo enhancement but I think anyone in their right mind would like their best possible photo featured on a national magazine - real or enhanced or fictitious.

I don't think it's that different from her behind the scenes shots. Jinkee does look significantly more attractive and that's great. But being in the public eye does have its draw backs, just as I claim to be a marketing critic - she too will have critics. She never made it a secret that she'd had work done so I don't quite understand that big fuss over it. This is a better look for her

To be fair, here's another cover photo that Jinkee did in Jan-2010 for Preview and she looked pretty good here too. It didn't make that big a deal that time.

The Case of Lindsay Lohan's Leaked Playboy Photos: Marketing Ploy or Digital Theft?

2011-12-11T16:04:00.001-08:00

Just a few days ago, images of Lindsay Lohan's supposedly January/ February cover for Playboy magazine was leaked all over the internet. I have reason to believe this was no accident. According to the hacker on Daily Mail UK, the images were already on a peer to peer sharing site when he posted them. The images were not low resolution but in fact, pretty good.

Which leads me to believe this is a marketing ploy. Why wait until the next year to cash in on leveraging the career of a troubled starlet? The Lohan camp has announced that the images are "absolutely fantastic and very tasteful," even Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner promises the pictures will be "very classy."

Marketers have been known to test the waters prior to any major initiative. That's what teasers are for. This marketing critic believes that there was uncertainty as to whether this bold move could kill or revive the already expiring career of Lindsay after being sentenced to jail for multiple offenses the likes of DUI and an overly publicized necklace theft.

This leak was a teaser. And given the amount of attention it received, I think it was an effective one. Peer to peer sharing was very innovatively used and blamed as the source of what may have already been an eloquent plan to gauge how well the move to sexy stardom would be for the young child star turned juvenile delinquent. It does suit the image so this marketing critic thinks this was actually a well-executed plot.

This isn't the first time that Lindsay Lohan has been photgraphed barely clothed and in the likeness of the dearly departed Marilyn Monroe. She has done so before for New York Magazine and it wasn't bad at all.

This classy stunt was then spoofed by the great Michael Musto which was absolutely hilarious. You can bet the Playboy version will have it's own followers as well.

Playboy has issued the announcement that the double issue of Playboy featuring Lindsay will be available on-line at www.playboy.com/lohan, while printed copies will hit U.S. newsstands around Friday, December 16, approximately two weeks ahead of it's scheduled public launch. This will coincide with Lindsay Lohan's interview in Ellen DeGeneres' TV talk show on the 15th.

Marketing Critic: One of Coca-Cola's Best Marketing Campaigns - Heart Warming

2011-12-04T16:31:00.001-08:00

Coca-Cola has done many campaigns, some of the most original and creative marketing initiatives I've ever seen. From this marketing critic's perspective, their "Where Happiness Will Strike Next: OFW Project" is just one of the best. Not only does it personalize their "Open Happiness" campaign but it reaches out to people with great stories and making them come alive while at the same time actually helping people - real people.

The video talks about 3 oridinary people - an X-ray technician, a caregiver and a babysitter all miles away from home to earn a decent living for the families they've left behind in the Phlippines. This is becoming a more popular trend as globalization makes the world smaller and people find opportunities abroad. In fact OFW remittances now amount to something like 10% of the Philippines' GDP if my memory still serves.

Anyway, these three real-life OFW stories bring this marketing campaign much closer to the heart - so much so that if you just know an OFW you might want to ready some tissue paper. It is heart-warming. Kudos Coca-Cola. You don't need pretty happy people to drink Coke to market your product, the emotional bond that this campaign created is something that makes me want to drink Coca Cola just because they did what they did.

Marketing With Google Adwords: How Does It Work?

2011-11-15T22:33:00.001-08:00

Explaining Google Adwords takes a significant amount of patience and skill to a layman. I've heard the most extreme comments such as, it's too complicated to figure out or it's too easy in fact it can run on auto-pilot. Both views are detrimental to any campaign, as to consider any marketing initiative - it does take a certain amount of functional expertise to make it work.

Below is a nice infographic, as this marketing critic has learned to love, from Pulp Media that nicely summarizes some of the key aspects of search engine marketing, or Google Adwords to be specific (it's 60% of pay-per-click marketing so it would be a relatively good reference)

Infographic by Pulpmedia Online Marketing

Marketing's Zero Moment of Truth - New Model or Just a Fad?

2011-11-15T18:54:00.001-08:00

Consumers consistently evolve. It is part and parcel of any marketer's job to keep up. Below is a new consumer decision-making moment along the path to purchase called Zero Moment of Truth as this marketing critic picked up from Think With Google

Marketing professionals much like myself used to follow the traditional mental marketing model which required marketers to show a stimulus then anticipate the first moment of truth that happens on the shelf (applies to retail of course) then finally to experience Google partnered with Shopper Sciences to find out what's shaping consumer decisions today. Findings from their market research included

88% of U.S. consumers engage in the zero moment of truth prior to going in-store or online to purchase.
The average shopper consults 10.4 sources prior to purchase, twice as many as just a a year ago.
Search is one of the most widely used and influential sources on the purchase journey.

Because it's from Google, I'm inclined to think it will form part of some futuristic model that marketers will use as the bible moving forward. Google is after all a strong force of nature (online anyway). However, it's quite possible that this is just a passing fad? A phenomenon that will eventually die out or will be relegated to certain industries and market segments?

Mandatory Service Announcement For Marketers: Changes to Demographic Settings In AdWords Account

2011-11-02T19:28:00.000-07:00

Heads up online and PPC (pay-per-click) marketers, starting around December 1, 2011, Google will be making a change to demographics exclusions (http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?&answer=142243), a feature you may be using in one or more of your Adwords campaigns

Certain sites (http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?&answer=88168) on the Google Display Network provide demographic information related to their site’s users. In the past, we’ve offered the ability to exclude certain groups of users from seeing your ad on sites where this information is available -- so, for example, a women’s clothing advertiser could choose to keep ads from being shown to men on those sites whenever possible.

Marketing professionals consider demographic information key to understanding the target market. It provides insight to marketing critics such as myself to help identify where and how to engage potential customers.

Google just sent out this mandatory service announcement to outline what’s changing to the campaigns

You will see the following changes in your AdWords account:

As of today: You'll see a new demographic group for possible exclusion, “age - undetermined.” This group will include anyone who can't be accurately identified as belonging to a particular age group, as well as people ages 0 - 17.

As of December 1: You'll no longer see the standalone 0 - 17 age group exclusion option, and 0 - 17 will no longer be shown in any reports. As of that date, campaigns that were using the standalone option will stop excluding people aged 0- 17. To exclude people ages 0 -17, you'll need to use the "age - undetermined" group, as mentioned above. We suggest that you review your exclusion settings (http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?&answer=142243) before December 1, since you won't be able to see your 0 - 17 exclusion settings after this date.

If you believe you're legally required to filter minors from your campaign, please talk to your account representative or a member of the AdWords support team who can help you.

If you've been excluding people under 18 years old for other reasons, you can instead exclude any of the remaining age group options, or the “age - undetermined” demographic group, from seeing your ads. If you choose to exclude the “age - undetermined” demographic group, your reach is likely to decrease significantly as a result. Because the majority of sites within the Google Display Network do not provide demographic data for customers, excluding the “age - undetermined” demographic group may prevent a substantial number of people from seeing your ads. As before, there is no option to explicitly reach users under the age of 18.
As always, we remain committed to ensuring that the Google Display Network is safe for all of its users.
For more information about this change, please visit (http://adwords.google.com/support/aw/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1697947).

The Holidays: Time For Joy, Laughter, Analytics and Lots of Marketing

2011-10-24T05:22:00.000-07:00

Indeed it is the time for analytics and lots of marketing when the holidays roll in. All marketing professionals including marketing critics are heavily dependent on measurement. After all, we can't manage what we can't measure.

Search Engine Land's Vic Drabicky talks about not just being analytical and data-driven but to ensure relevance to core business. Checking key performance metrics as well as incremental ones, focusing your attention more on those that increase efficiencies rather than trying to understand day-to-day fluctuations will be a better use of the pre-holiday mania.

The Holidays: Time For Joy, Laughter & Analytics: Ah the holiday season. Time to welcome back apple-picking trips, pumpkin spice lattes and the smell of pine needles. In the retail search space, time to welcome back gruelingly long work days, insane volume spikes, working on days normal people have off (e.g. every weekend from November through... (Full article)

Managing Social Media - Only 18 Minutes A Day

2011-10-22T03:42:00.000-07:00

Any marketing critic has to admit that we do not have a monopoly of knowledge. I for one am not the supreme authority in social media marketing and I subscribe to Search Engine Watch that provides some of the most insightful and up-to-date materials I've seen so far.

Below are some excerpts from an article by Lisa Buyer entitled 18 Minutes a Day to Social Media Time Management

Step 1 (5 Minutes) Your Social Media Morning Minutes
This is your opportunity to plan your social media for the day. Before turning on your computer or picking up your PDA, sit down with the to-do list and decide what is happening to make this a social media successful day. What can you realistically accomplish whether it’s writing a blog post, researching a new Twitter tool, sitting in on a webinar, or getting ready for that next conference?
Step 2 (1 Minute Every Hour) Social Media Refresh and Refocus
Managing your social media time hour-by-hour is both a discipline and a science. Don’t let the hours manage you … How many times do you all of a sudden realize you have spent the last 20 minutes reading Twitter updates, surfing Facebook Pages, or reading an article from an e-mail subscription?
Set your phone, computer or watch to ring every hour and start the work that is listed on your calendar. When you hear the beep, do a social media check up. Assess your progress and recommit the next hour to get back on track.
Step 3 (5 Minutes) Your Social Media After Dark
At the end of your day, shut the laptop and review your social media day. Ask yourself some questions: How did my social media day go? What did I learn today? Whom did I interact with? Did I meet new followers on Twitter that I should send a quick @ reply? Was there a nice RT of me I should acknowledge? Any comments on my blog I should respond to?
Building and maintaining relationships is critical in social media and it is easy to forget that it takes just a few minutes to share appreciation, congratulate someone, or offer thanks.
All that seems easy, but here are some tips to add to the 18 minute plan.
Social Media Delete
It’s very hard to say no. I get invites every day to join a webinar, take a survey, look at this press release for a nonprofit who has no money, help my brother-in-law send a logo that I have sent him 20 times already, take unscheduled phone calls, or get sucked into a technical problem with Apple support.
All of these unscheduled things can rob you from important and strategic social media time. To get the right things done, choosing what to ignore is as important to choosing what to focus on.
Social Media Calendar
Bregman emphasizes and I agree: Place the hardest and most important items at the beginning of the day. He also notes the power of the when and where. Statistics show that when you schedule an action item with a time and date, the chances of it getting done are far greater than letting it float.
Mastering distractions and getting things done efficiently and effectively goes far beyond social media. Bregman offers a system and practical guides of how to get done what matters most to us and our business in 18 minutes.

Internet Trends By Mary Meeker Repost and Comments By Marketing Critic

2011-10-22T03:37:00.000-07:00

I didn't get to attend the Web 2.0 Summit, but the internet has made the world a lot smaller. I got a copy from TechCrunch
Here are the key trends from Mary Meeker

1. Globality or is it globalization (?)

The top 10 global internet properties are not all based in the US, in fact 81% are outside the USA. Global markets are not to be taken lightly

2. Mobile – Early Innings Growth, Still…

New gadgets the likes of Apple's new toys (iPhone, iPod, iPad) as well as the open source counterparts i.e. the Android, have made avenues into new markets and new marketing channels. Marketing professionals and marketing critics should watch out

3. User Interface – Text/Graphical/ Touch / Sound / Move

Sound vs. Video coming soon. And I thought video killed that radio star...

4. Commerce – Fast / Easy / Fun / Savings = More Important Than Ever…

Mobile commerce fused with mobile devices have made online purchasing very easy (only a click away).

5. Advertising – Lookin’ Good…

Advertising health online is alive and well. Google’s click growth for an indicator of advertising health: 23% of clicks on ads is considered a good sign according to the speaker

6. Content Creation – Changed Forever

No longer about content creators - but trend shifting to content aggregators

7. Technology / Mobile Leadership – Americans Should Be Proud

Silicon Valley pace of innovation still unprecedented

8. Mega-Trend of 21st Century = Empowerment of People via Connected Mobile Devices

Global information flow = Real time + Fast + Broad
The world is getting increasingly connected

9. Authentic Identity – The Good / Bad / Ugly. But Mostly Good?

“One of the biggest topics of the next ten years,” Meeker says.
Really who knows? Even in real life we don't get to know people, the internet provides us an avenue for connection but again, this is also an opportunity for abuse. I agree with Meeker - only time will tell

10. Economy – Lots of Uncertainty

Mix of fluctuating stock market forecasts, GDP & employment projections, consumer confidence - there are too many factors that come into play. At this point Meeker is right, lots of uncertainty

11. USA Inc. – Pay Attention!

This is where Meeker addresses the USA over several slides. Debt level compared to other countries - not so good. Shaping up is imperative

The End of a Tech Marketing Era: RIP Steve Jobs (1955-2011)

2011-10-05T17:49:00.000-07:00

This father of four was born to unwed parents and was later adopted by the original Mr. & Mrs. Jobs. Steve Jobs dropped out of college and was ousted by the company he founded in his parent's garage in a boardroom coup. He died earlier today from a form of pancreatic cancer.

Steve Jobs had a flair for being ahead of his time. His failures in business were never invisible. But his ability to reboot himself and his company has built the awesome legacy he has left behind. His marketing genius and tech savvy personality coupled with eclectic business philosophy, passion and personality have led this generation to look up to a man who was flawed and yet was truly brilliant.

As author Leander Kahney put it, "Jobs embraced the personality traits that some considered flaws — narcissism, perfectionism, total faith in his intuition — to lead Apple and Pixar to triumph against steep odds. And in the process, he became a self-made billionaire."

The visionary who has built products that integrate art and technology with uncompromised standards has made him the man admired by millions. Whether he was insane or not, that did not cloud his greatness. As we remember him, here are some of the cool tweets on RIP Steve Jobs - the last one is my absolute favorite ~ "Steve Jobs took all our money, but we still love all the Apple stuff."

Out-take Turned Viral Video: WebCam 101 For Seniors Reminds Me Of Lola Techie

2011-09-17T05:58:00.000-07:00

Sweet senior couple, Esther and Bruce Huffman ends up in this fun and romantic video gone viral on Youtube where they were trying to learn how to use their web camera. It's approximately 3 minutes of cute conversations, a few sexual innuendos (adorable at their age) and a song number too.Marketing can take it's cue from this lovely couple. The unlikely is interesting and this twosome is just adorable.

This reminds me of the Philippine's own Lola Techie who became a household staple after appearing in several humorous Bayan DSL TV commercial as an internet-savvy grandmother.As outlined by ABS-CBN, "In the ad, 66-year-old Lola Techie Cruz defies conventional notions of technophobic senior citizens. She talks to her fictional grandson named JR via webcam, chastising him for failing to keep in touch with her online."

Lola Techie is so popular now that her tech-savvy reputation has her on a variety of social networking accounts like Twitter, Facebook, Multiply, Plurk, and YouTube. That's full social media for her. She even has her own section of the company's website: http://www.bayan.com.ph/lolatechie/ - it's not only cute, it's also such an empowering way for Seniors to get in touch with the world wide web.

Proving that nobody is too old to learn technology. From a marketing perspective, Lola Techie has pretty much become the epitome of brand awareness. So much so that she has become the new spokesperson for Bayantel DSL and a pretty effective one at that. Able to communicate clearly the ad's message: it's so easy to connect to the internet, even grandmothers like Lola Techie are getting in on the action.

And effectively: The company's representatives said its key products, Bayan Wireless Landline and Bayan DSL, drove its revenue growth to 15%, much ahead of total industry growth for the telecommunications sector (4%). (ABS-CBN)

Here are some of her hilarious videos. Kudos to the marketing team and advertising agency of Bayantel DSL

When the World's Greatest Tech Marketing Guru Steps Down

2011-08-25T23:50:00.000-07:00

Credit to Fastcompany for the cool cover page comic image of Steve Jobs as Iron Man. Certainly fits the bill.

When Michael Jackson died, I heard it was said that it was the end of an era. But I didn't really feel like it. Sure, songs were sung and dramatics were rampant. However, I didn't realize how much worse the resignation of Steve Jobs would make me feel. It's as if one of the world's greatest has just decided to take a break.

Here's a copy of his resignation letter:

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community:

I have always
said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and
expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know.
Unfortunately, that day has come.

I hereby resign as CEO of Apple. I
would like to serve, if the Board sees fit, as Chairman of the Board, director
and Apple employee.

As far as my successor goes, I strongly recommend
that we execute our succession plan and name Tim Cook as CEO of Apple.

I
believe Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it. And I look
forward to watching and contributing to its success in a new role.

I
have made some of the best friends of my life at Apple, and I thank you all for
the many years of being able to work alongside you.

Steve

For all it's worth I have followed him since the time he started launching new products for Apple and nothing really before that. But his signature black turtle neck, blue jeans, streamlined presentations and product demonstrations just made a mark with the launching of new products that it's just amazing. I thought of him as a great marketing guy - not an engineer or artist, but a marketing critic far better than I will ever be.

He resuscitated a dying brand in Apple and made it one of the leading marketing innovators of all time. Apple is by no means ahead in technology or design but they are far ahead in share of mind for many individuals out there.

Apple trailblazes the industry with the way they market and redundate all other products that have preceded their own.

This challenge is to be passed on to the next CEO who has a pair of big shoes to fill. Tim Cook is by no means a small fry but I think stepping into the shadow of a great marketer and the very image of what Apple is today must be a daunting task.

Not to say that Steve Jobs was perfect, many claim he made fatal errors in product design and even in one of his product launches.

But at the level where he is, I believe his role is to

Discover talent

Keep talent

Empower talent

Grow talent

And that's exactly what he did. Steve Jobs didn't just build the image of Apple. He built the world as it is now, where iPods & iPads are all the craze, the Mac is a symbol of creative artistry and the iPhone now the status symbol that it is - Steve Jobs has patented a way of life and level of prominence that only Apple can seem to pull off.

Jimmy Choo

2011-03-11T18:54:00.000-08:00

This marketing critic is a typical middle income professional who strives to make ends meet. Hardly the type to become a connoisseur of items the likes of Louis Vitton or Jimmy Choo, but I do appreciate how they've made these brands the height of standard in their line of business.

Since it's Jimmy Choo's 15th anniversary, let's get to know him together and at the same time have a fashion case study on marketing.

Jimmy Choo is one of two things.

1) He's the Malaysian-born London cobbler who at one point was said to have worked part-time at restaurants and as a cleaner at a shoe factory to help fund his college education. It's funny that he has a company named after him. He co-founded it last 1996 with Tamara Mellon, but he has no stake in it anymore.

So where is the real Jimmy Choo?

Sifting through Wikipedia Jimmy sold his stake in his self-named company back in April 2001. He has since been concentrating his work on the exclusive Jimmy Choo Couture line produced under license from Jimmy Choo Ltd. Jimmy lives in London. He is currently involved in a project to set up a shoemaking institute in Malaysia, where his iconic status is often evoked to inspire budding shoemakers and fashion designers. His company Jimmy Choo Ltd. produces some of the most expensive high-end shoes.

2) Jimmy Choo is also the British high fashion house specializing in luxury shoes. This company now run by Tamara Mellon, a former British Vogue accessories editor, is as beautiful as she is “ballsy” according to Inquirer. In 1996, Mellon, on a loan from her father to create what is now one of the world’s most renowned lifestyle luxury brands.

How did they make this fashion empire?

Simply put, they built their success on endorsement. Shortly after Jimmy Choo opened its first two stores in the US in the late 1990s, they started offering custom shoes to young, A-list celebrities for their red-carpet walk, hand-dyeing shoes to match their gowns. And the rest is history. Just check below for some of the few celebrities that wear Jimmy Choos

Marketing comes in many different forms. One of the quickest ways to get your brand noticed is to have someone already famous sport your stuff. They didn't do the typical mass marketing, but they did employ the targeting, segmenting and positioning strategy that everyone does. This time though, they made it work like a charm. Jimmy Choo is not for everybody and everybody knows that. Jimmy Choo and Tamara Mellon took that risk and this is where they are in the fashion food chain. Not bad at all

Halle Berry

First Lady of the US - Michelle Obama

Kim Kardashian

Philippines Department of Tourism Logo Faux Pas

2010-11-18T04:42:00.000-08:00

This is so embarrassing that not only was the new Department of Tourism logo pulled out because of porn association but also because it looks strikingly similar to Poland's tourism logo as well

It's such a shame as the Philippines is full of creativity. The Philippines owns talents the likes of Kenneth Cobonpue and Monique Lhuillier and so many more, and that's the logo we come up with? A knock off of Poland's logo?

Now I firmly believe that marketing critics have no right to complain without recommendation, so here's mine:

Conduct more research on how the Philippines should be positioned and presented
Reached out to key national artists and famous talents who would gladly provide this much-needed service
If budget is really that low (though I doubt it), they could have just held a contest for students and professionals to come up with the best logo and tag line then feature the winner in their advertising initiatives
Another possibility would be to partner with hotels, resorts and other tourism-related private entities that would most likely benefit from a flourishing tourism campaign

Green Lantern Trailer - Must Watch

2010-11-18T04:40:00.000-08:00

Here's a must-watch movie recommended by this marketing critic. If you won't watch it for the great story and special effects then just watch Ryan Reynolds - sexiest man alive

Gap's Marketing Gaff

2010-10-12T17:27:00.000-07:00

Gap - the famous retail brand apparently had some time on their hands and decided to re-do their logo and received an overwhelming response of dislike for their new logo. Not much different if you ask this marketing critic.

The the left is the old Gap logo and to the right is the new Gap. Marketing these days is no longer what it used to be as recent social media channels can let you know how you're brand is actually doing. Gap's feedback mechanism included Facebook where they got more than 1,900 comments when they decided to revert to the old Gap logo.

I found from Adrants that there was even a website built just to mock their new branding efforts (ouch!)

Gap played good game though when their very own Marka Hansen, President of Gap Brand North America issued this press release that says the company "listens" to the market. Would have been less dramatic if they did the test run before they launched the new logo.

"Since we rolled out an updated version of our logo last week on our website, we’ve seen an outpouring of comments from customers and the online community in support of the iconic blue box logo.

“Last week, we moved to address the feedback and began exploring how we could tap into all of the passion. Ultimately, we’ve learned just how much energy there is around our brand. All roads were leading us back to the blue box, so we’ve made the decision not to use the new logo on gap.com any further.

“At Gap brand, our customers have always come first. We’ve been listening to and watching all of the comments this past week. We heard them say over and over again they are passionate about our blue box logo, and they want it back. So we’ve made the decision to do just that – we will bring it back across all channels.

“In the meantime, the website will go back to our iconic blue box logo and, for Holiday, we’ll turn our blue box red for our seasonal campaign.

“We’ve learned a lot in this process. And we are clear that we did not go about this in the right way. We recognize that we missed the opportunity to engage with the online community. This wasn’t the right project at the right time for crowd sourcing.

“There may be a time to evolve our logo, but if and when that time comes, we’ll handle it in a different way. “

When the Brand Rehabilitates the Man- Nike Promotes Tiger Woods

2010-04-07T22:10:00.000-07:00

It's revolutionary how marketing has just evolved from being product-sided and just obsessed with selling. Here Nike shows us how their brand can rehabilitate the man - Tiger Woods. I mean his name has been dragged through hell and back.

This marketing critic would have thought Tiger Woods has damaged himself for good. Accenture, Gatorade, AT&T dropped him like a hot potato, and for awhile I think Nike did too. But here he is back from the grave with an exceptionally strong commercial from Nike

It's a 33-second clip in black-and-white showing Tiger Woods dressed in a cap and vest both with Nike's swoosh logo, staring somberly as a recording plays of the voice of his father, Earl Woods, who died in 2006.

"Tiger, I am more prone to be inquisitive, to promote discussion," Earl Woods says. "I want to find out what your thinking was. I want to find out what your feelings are. Did you learn anything?"

Nike's advertising agency successfully combined the emotional intensity of an erring scandal-stricken champion and the brands strength. It's as if the brand isn't dependent on him but the other way around. In this ad the endorser became the endorsee.

The ad's execution where he doesn't say a thing is positively brilliant. The deceased father's voice is also oddly creeply but also deep & solemn - lending a frame of credibility to the whole narration.

Marketing to Women - Top Seven Tips from Marketing Vox

2010-03-25T04:45:00.000-07:00

There are a lot of mainstream advertising these days and you'd notice who they're primarily targeting - if there's a half naked beautiful woman as a focal point, you could probably guess they're probably not marketing to women.

Marketing critics are all abuzz with the differences between men and women. According to Dr. Bob Deutsch of marketing firm Brain Sells, "women cycle and men consummate."

If you observe how differently men and women shop with women having to compare everything and window shop more often versus men who just visit stores to just buy a certain item, you'd know how different it is to reach them as target markets too.

Here are seven tips on how to market to women from Marketing Vox

1. Pattern. Marketers should recognize that women have the ability to perceive more than the metric of a product attribute or an instance in time. They appreciate the underlying pattern (idea) that gives rise to the fleeting moment.

2. Authenticity. Beyond immediate appearance, marketers should realize that persona, biography (or history), and current contingency must all be factored into a brand, and that universal principles underlie particularities.

3. Quality, not just quantity or size. For women, bigger and more is not necessarily
better. A steady build is often better than an impulsive response.

4. Connectedness, not just individuals. Communality can reign over dominance. Women see people as all bound together.

5. Society, not just markets. Markets are numbers, but numbers are not people. Women place greater weight on personal feelings and social intentions.

6. Quality of life, not just accumulation. Women have material and spiritual needs made up of individual wants and musts which are cast in the context of a social matrix.

7. Reasonableness, not extremism or absolutism. All issues have grays, and exaggerations to one side or the other only cover up the reality of subtlety and nuance to which women are attuned.

What Do American Idol, Big Brother and Social Media Marketing Have in Common?

2010-03-05T23:38:00.001-08:00

What do American Idol, Big Brother and Social Media Marketing have in common?

First let's take a look at American Idol takes people behind the scenes of how a superstar is born in the United States. With all the elements of excitement and talent search combined. And every year, tens of thousands of hopefuls from across the nation audition for a shot at stardom. Judges composed of the infamous Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi, winnow down the competitors to a select group of semifinalists who sing their hearts out each week in front of a studio audience and television viewers.

This season, joined by rotating guest judges including Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, Joe Jonas, Neil Patrick Harris, Shania Twain and Kristin Chenoweth, the American Idol judges visited Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Los Angeles and Orlando in their quest to find performers worthy of the "Golden Ticket" to Hollywood.

The judges have their say after every performance, but it's the viewing public that determines who will advance to the next round of competition and who will go home. Voting via telephone and text-messaging begins immediately after each performance show, and the results are announced during the following night's broadcast.

Eventually the competition is narrowed down to two finalists who compete for a major recording contract and the American Idol title.

Next let's take a peak at Big Brother - a rather impressive force in the Philippines as millions view and vote for their local favorites. The recent Pinoy Big Brother Double Up rocked the Philippines with scandals, love teams and a sense of voyeurism that locals all over the world enjoyed.

The winners - even semifinalists are considered big stars with their exposure over the last few months, in the same way there are the powers that be in the network that provide challenges for the participants/ house-mates.

However it is the viewing public that decides who gets to stay, go or win. And the proponents make a lot of money in the process.

How is this all the same with social media marketing?

Social media marketing involves a collective group of web properties whose content is primarily published by users. In the same way that American Idol and Pinoy Big Brother capitalized on the viewing public to reach success - it is the same with social media. Social media relies on the market/ users to generate buzz and promotion for brands and campaigns.

Although the powers that be, equivalent to Big Brother and the judges of Americal Idol would be equivalent to the company's bosses and people implementing campaigns generate the challenges and advertising initiatives that are released to the public, eventually still the interaction of the company and the public at large creates the essence of social media marketing

Tools that include Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr, Wikipedia, Orkut and YouTube are just that - tools. They are in the hands of big commercial brands but within reach of local and domestic individuals as well. Mechanisms to respond and rate give respective audiences that power to say who wins and who loses.

Marketing has evolved, it is not as it was before -- a one-way street where the public only gets to take and accept the materials released by the big boys in business. Social Media gives marketing to the general public - to human beings such as this marketing critic who gets to criticize and praise the commercials and ads we see.

To harness social media marketing - treat yourself as the next American Idol or the next Big Brother success by winning over the audience

Bloom Box - Energy Source of the Future

2010-03-05T23:29:00.000-08:00

“Clean, reliable, affordable energy”…in box. That is what K.R. Sridhar of Bloom Energy promised

One of the newest source of alternative energy that's sustainable is now in the works from a NASA scientist, harnessed in an equipment only the size of a refrigerator. The Bloom Box apparently creates electricity usable in homes and businesses by turning oxygen and methane gas into electricity with only a small amount of harmful greenhouse gas emissions.

According to Island Crisis, The exact design of the Bloom Box is a closely guarded secret, but the Indian inventor, K. R. Sridhar, founder of Bloom Energy, revealed in broad terms how it works.

How does the Bloom Box Energy work?

A series of ceramic discs coated with special substances are at the center of the Bloom Box. The discs act as electrodes and after being heated they allow oxygen ions to pass from one cell to the other. As the ions pass through the discs an electrochemical reaction creates electricity. The Bloom Box can be built from common and cheap materials in stark contrast with earlier research efforts in this area, which required expensive precious metals.

It has also emerged that tests in real life have already been carried out successfully. Google and E-bay, two of the most prominent companies on the web, claim to be using theBloom Box to supply some of the power needed to run their businesses successfully.

Right now it costs more than an arm and a leg at close to a million dollars - $800,000 to be exact. However big ticket clients have claimed to have saved $100,000 in energy cost since testing began

At this point, the challenge is the right product packaging and the right marketing. The product is creating quite a hype in the world of tech gadgets and renewable energy. Imagine not have to worry about green house gases, fossil fuels, existing finite resources. There have been so many troubles regarding energy consumption.

Too much in fact that Bloom Energy is currently in the works to figure out how to make a domestic unit that costs around the range of $5,000. The size of a domestic box able to power a whole home could be small enough to fit into a shoe box. The inventor hopes to have a marketable product within the next five to ten years. This marketing critic can't wait to see how that will come out

One of the Best Microsoft Ads I've Seen so far

2009-12-25T06:52:00.001-08:00

Here's a cool viral ad for Microsoft Office. It's so cool, it actually looks like a real movie trailer. Gets funnier & funnier. After all the ridiculously expensive and nonsensical ads this marketing critic has seen Microsoft do over the years, this is just one of the best

Client: Microsoft
Agency: Traffik/@radical.media
Director: Dennis Liu
Producers: Jonathan Hsu, Matt Anderson
Production Designer: Nicole Teeny
Script: Dennis Liu, Jt Arbogast, Gary Roosa
Art Director: Kevin Su
Copywriter: Aryan Aminzadeh
DP: Doug Emmett
2nd Unit DP: Dennis Liu
Editor: Dennis Liu
Sound Design: Dennis Liu
Music: Groove Addict
VFX Company: LOICA

Obama Talks About Christmas - One of the things I love about this man

2009-12-25T06:16:00.000-08:00

President Obama was caught on tape in a local primary school just a few days before Christmas, reading to a class about the Polar Express then eventually starts talking about the meaning of Christmas

Whether he's doing it for show or for real, it's heart-warming so this marketing critic doesn't really care about his motivations.

The fact that he reached out and took the time to talk to this kids & what he talked about was profound - he talks about spirit of Christmas, Jesus Christ, the 3 wise men and the spirit of kindness, but explained in such a way that kids can understand

Now how many times do you see a President get down like that when it's NOT election time?

The New Coke Mini

2009-11-02T05:09:00.000-08:00

I love Coke. I'm biased to Coke. They say the new Coke Mini is like fueling an addiction in small dosages like light cigarettes and maybe it's true.

There's a version of this in the Philippines - Coke Sakto. It's a tiny bottle, smaller than the solo bottle & it's relatively cheap. It doesn't seem to be any different.

Coke has immersed itself so much into local culture that new marketing techniques form part of lifestyle changes. It's amazing and scary at the same time for this marketing critic

Here's their video from Business Wire. Check if you've got sound. It doesn't come out right on my laptop

Applying The Fun Theory - It Works!

2009-10-20T08:29:00.000-07:00

Many behavior modification techniques have been used over the years to control or manipulate behavior. There's fear and there's pain, there's deprivation and punishment. There's also gratification (in many forms)

The Fun theory (thefuntheory.com) has taken this to the next level. This isn't a new concept because fun is being generally (albeit indirectly) used nowadays to teach children - pre-school children to be exact. In a way, you get children to learn while enjoying themselves. Thereby allowing them to like going to school - as opposed to hating it as most kids do later in life.

Here's one of the applications - The Bottle Bank Machine

Many of us return our plastic bottles and cans. Noticeably fewer recycle their glass. Maybe that's because we don't get any money in return, as we do for cans and plastic. Can we change this attitude by making recycling glass fun to do? So you are not just rewarded with a good conscience, you also get a smile.

via thefuntheory.com

This is one part of marketing that needs to be enhanced. There is a lot of marketing going around for things people want to have (aspirational motivation). There's not a lot of marketing for the things that people don't prefer - like vegetables and elementary education. Marketing then has to present these concepts as attractive in the same way as Havaianas has become one of the most expensive pair of rubber slippers.

This marketing critic isn't saying this hasn't started though as sustainability campaigns are becoming very visible. In fact the environmental changes have made such an impact on our current lifestyle it is but necessary to think about these things. Here's hoping the fun theory expands to cover a lot more...

When Ads Bite Back - BMW vs Audi vs Subaru Vs Bentley

2009-10-16T05:45:00.001-07:00

I was researching luxury ads when I came across this funny series of ad attacks starting with BMW versus Audi then Subaru and finally Bentley. This is indeed worthy of a post. This marketing critic sends kudos to BMW for the guts to start the trend, praises to Audi for not letting itself be trampled upon and of course the clincher award to Bentley for ending the battle

Start here then just watch the ads respond to each other. The first ad from BMW is quite smart and very aggressive if you ask me

As expected, this is naturally followed by a response from Audi

But then Subaru decides it wants in on the fight. The ads must have been effective for Subaru to jump in the bandwagon

Bentley finally puts an end to all this with this simple yet succinct message. And it doesn't even show a car

Generation V: When Your Ads Can Now Get Voted Off

2009-10-16T05:35:00.000-07:00

The new challenge for marketers has now come to buyers rating their ads - literally. Whereas traditional marketing leaves clients with no choice but to take the product and marketing collateral that come with it, whether they like it or not - now we have come so far technologically that clients have a say inwhat ads they want to see when they want to see it.

This started pretty much with search marketing. The more popular the keyword, the more expensive the ad. This helped both ways - it defined which industries were popular and which ads could or could not work without having to divest millions in research before finding out.

This time Digg is in the picture.

Social networking has long been in the picture but has not really meshed with advertising. It seems that social networking is more for socializing and networking (which is by itself a form of marketing) instead of outright advertising medium).

We've seen Facebook try to do it and fail miserably. Twitter has long been trying to get it in the bag but doesn't seem to have taken off.

Digg on the other hand seems to be doing pretty well by comparison. The voting concept that applies to their articles have been adopted for ads. And psychologically, giving people the power (albeit imaginary) to decide which ones are good or not is an egotistical mechanism that just fuels people into participating. It's like me criticizing all things marketing - ergo marketing critic

The basic idea is that advertisements that get more “diggs,” or votes, get a lower cost-per-click rate for the ad, and the ad is likely to stay visible on the site longer. If users veto the ad, also known as “burying” it, the cost-per-click rate will go up and the advertiser will be more likely to remove the ad from the site.

This can be analogized to search marketing - each digg or vote is considered a click. It's a credibility booster. It's a way of gauging popularity or lack of it. And although it does give advertisers a general idea of how the ad will perform because of the incremental effect on their cost per click charge, it still doesn't guarantee what the returns will be. Well and good if the returns are positive, but what if it's not? It may be a gorgeous ad that doesn't achieve the business goal.

An Ad Can Be Popular Yet Ineffective

First of all, keep that in mind - achieve the business goal. If your ad is intended to make money - then for Pete's sake, make sure the ad brings in the dough. If however you're only interested in awareness and brand positioning at this point, then go ahead by all means.

The Digg vote-for-ad method though does work to the advantage of marketers' need to resonate. When the ad speaks to people then it works. When people start talking about the ad, the company and consequentially the product... then it works.

But of course, note that in the end, it's all about making money. Digg has started to monetize itself. Pretty much like Google... you build the concept, watch it grow and gain value. Then you think about how to make money off it

The Fall of the Belo Beauty Empire?

2009-06-26T19:29:00.000-07:00

Maybe it's too early to predict this considering this marketing critic is not much of a clairvoyant. But in marketing we're told to make bets on what we think have the highest probabilities in campaign success while minimizing risks. So why not make a case of Belo Medical Clinic's beauty empire?

This personal case against cosmetic doctor Mari Victoria Belo Henares, popularly known as Vicki Belo, on the grounds of her alleged participation (or is it master-minded effort?) on the recent sex scandal between her ex-boyfriend & co-doctor Hayden Kho and numerous women which includes one of her marketing managers - Princess Velasco& top endorser - Katrina Halili, a Brazilian model, his previous girlfriend & model/ actress - Maricar Reyes (excellent performance in the videos by the way) among other women were released to the public - there have been 2 more released (one was said to look like Bianca Araneta - but isn't. If you guys find out be sure to shoot us an email).

The concept of endorsement heavily affects brand positioning. In this rather public sex scandal which granted Belo clinic a lot of free although negative publicity. Katrina Halili and Hayden Kho, whose names were dragged through the mud, as the prominent faces that represent Belo Medical Clinic - consequently dragged the latter down with them.

Credibility is important when it comes to product endorsements. The model/ endorser stands for the brand & represents the product in the eyes of the public, or at the very least presents a brand association that the company would like the market to adapt. Now having your boyfriend cum associate doctor who has been introduced to the public and your key endorser have a sex scandal together is downright tragic.

Having this sex scandal publicly available is also another horrific incident. After which, one thing leads to another and the famous (now infamous) Vicky Belo, among other doctors, is now also part of the accused party in the distribution of said sex tapes. Katrina Halili has pressed charges not only against Hayden Kho for filming their intimate moments but also the Vicky Belo for allegedly being the criminal master-mind of her said humiliation (not that she hasn't bared herself to the public before in several adult rated movies - she was better there too)

The economics of this is rather complicated to be solely favorable to Katrina Halili (the alleged "victim"). Belo employs hundreds of doctors & medical professionals that will lose their jobs if Belo closes down.

Although even if they don't close down, I'm pretty sure the public won't be as attracted by Belo Clinic after this incident. Having the doctor sleep with patients - not really good for business (unless customer is looking for extra services then maybe).

Nevertheless, how will this end? We know the viewing public is eagerly awaiting how the court will judge regarding this case. But for sure, Belo will suffer the consequences business-wise - no matter what the judgment.

Bing Better Than Google?

2009-06-13T18:10:00.000-07:00

Microsoft is up to its ears with Google. Here's yet another attempt to topple the search giant.

Microsoft launched Bing - the decision engine. Positioned to get rid of search overload and somehow "simplify" the search for answers.

The ad isn't so bad though:

This marketing critic pretty much used to using Google all the time, but the new features on Bing are quite interesting. I'll use it some more and get back on the differences

Even Oprah's Now on Twitter

2009-04-20T06:38:00.000-07:00

This marketing critic is proud to say I joined the bandwagon just a few minutes before Oprah. Just so I could claim I didn't do it to inadvertently be able to stalk celebrities who decide to flaunt themselves online.

Nevertheless, it turns out Twitter is now so big - it has crossed media channels... doesn't it remind you of that other small company that now dominates the worldwide web? Oh yeah, Google!

It's the same simple formula.

Start free
Offer something people need (Google gave the world the most convenient way to find information online, Twitter is giving the world the most convenient way to share thoughts online)
Get everyone to use it (User-generated content is usually the best way to go)

Easier said than done but once you reach critical mass as Google & now Twitter, then you've pretty much got the virtual world at the palm of your hands.

The next steps of course involve monetizing - something Facebook has failed to do a lot of times. I think it must be getting better now though. Here's hoping Twitter won't ruin that. There is a way to monetize the site without being "in-your-face."

This marketing critic believes though that Oprah has an ulterior motive to joining Twitter. Not just because it's the latest fad and it has attracted millions of followers, but look at Ashton Kutcher with one million followers beating CNN! Isn't this a chance to yet again rule on another media platform? She's already conquered daytime television, why not online right?

So yet again, this is another... marketing initiative

Talent Comes in Different Packages

2009-04-17T07:21:00.000-07:00

Know that passe saying "don't judge a book, by it's cover"? Susan Boyle is the epitome of that. A theory in psychology mentions how people establish a "halo" effect on more attractive people. So even if we complain how some people can have it all - take Ashton Kutcher for instance... good looks, hot wife (Demi Moore), and one million followers on Twitter (that's more than CNN), and even if we are a bit green... we sort of accept it as a fact of life

But here's this 47-year-old woman from a village in Britain. People laughed at her during her introduction. She has taken their breath away with her performance.

Unfortunately embedding has been disabled for all Susan Boyle/ Britain's Got Talent youtube videos, but here's the link for you to appreciate. Even Simon Cowell (American Idol judge) was blown away - that by itself is a major success (aside from the standing ovation)

Support Earth Hour

2009-03-27T06:59:00.000-07:00

Support Earth Hour - March 28, 2009
Major Turn off!

Find more videos like this on AdGabber

The Fad of Texting To The Crime of Sexting

2009-03-12T05:46:00.000-07:00

It starts out with teens and/or adults harmlessly exchanging text messages. This is becoming quite a fad and very common these days. When I was a lot younger, we had "eye-balls" where you actually meet the person with whom you were having the text conversation. It wasn't always what you would expect but for awhile it was fun I guess.

I easily got tired of it because I was more the WYSIWYG kind of girl ("what you see is what you get"). I'm pretty straight forward.

More recently though I was aghast by the news of the new fad which is quite illegal called "sexting." I looked it up and found varied definitions in the Urban dictionary

The act of text messaging someone in the hopes of having a sexual encounter with them later; initially casual, transitioning into highly suggestive and even sexually explicit
When a guy and a girl send dirty text messages back and forth to eachother. Pictures may also be included, but only if you're lucky.
The act of sending sexy text messages
Term created by the media referring to sending sexually explicit text messages. the term is used by adults who are out of the loop, and not by the individuals actually sending the messages.
A word that the media made up after some Greensburg Salem school district's principals invaded the students privacy by taking their phone and then felt the need to go through the students messages and then reported it to the police.
The act of sending a sext - a sexy text. Sexting occurs when you have sex over text messaging.

So I guess you get my point now.

Sexting is portmanteau of "sex" and "texting". It is a practice of transferring sexually explicit images electronically, mainly via cell phones, and it is a crime! It's a dangerous new trend growing among teens.

According to a recent study, one out of five teens have done it. The study also shows that teen girls are not the only ones sharing sexually explicit content. Almost one in five teen boys said they have sent or posted nude/semi nude images of themselves. One-third of young adults -- 36% of women and 31% of men ages 20-26—say they have sent or posted such images.

You can be served with child pornography charges particularly if the counterpart is a minor. People should learn to take a page from the lessons celebrities have to take the hard way when sex tapes of them go around on the internet

Why incriminate yourself by sending racy photos in whatever medium? Whether it's online or through phone it's just ridiculous. You're just asking to get caught - unless of course that's exactly what you want

More and more kids in the US are being taken to court/ juvenile prison. Although lawmakers are debating penalties, some have already been passed - the lighter penalties being from a felony to a misdemeanor, for sexting. But then you'll be registered as a sex offender! A 19-year-old recently got 25 years because he sent nude pictures of his girlfriend to other teens.

People call this a danger presented to juveniles by modern communications technology well this marketing critic think that's just wrong! Why in the world would you blame the phone if people decide to stick it up their ass?

The problem is social and not criminal in nature. Although this marketing critic does agree that penalties will have to be institutionalized because some kids/ teens or adults just need such a policy to know that it's wrong. But overall if parenting became a more hands-on and interactive activity and children/ teens were made aware the "real" and "practical" use instead of letting them get creative by themselves

I guess kids will be kids and if they think that sending racy photos is acceptable (Thanks a lot Vanessa Hudgens & Miley Cyrus), then there's no reason they won't do it... unless of course, the right principles are internalized and understood and kids are raised to know that this is conduct unbecoming so to speak. That intimate photos are meant for intimate moments then maybe there's still hope for our children?

Marketing Critic: Slumdog Millionaire, Why Did It Take Home Oscar's Best Picture Award?

2009-03-08T05:18:00.000-07:00

I just saw Slumdog Millionaire today and I have to say I now understand why it won best picture in the Academy Awards.

The acting itself wasn't all that spectacular. There were no big names involved. The plot, which in a very superficial was pretty much just rags-to-riches intersecting with a love story.

So let's answer the question, "Why did Slumdog Millionaire take home the Oscar's Best Picture award?"

Slumdog Millionaire won because of the integral elements that brought the film to life

A universal story that everyone relates to, this of course by itself could still leave a movie house empty. But speaking to how universal it was, was the fact that when you sit there and watch, you can just feel how real it all is... elements like brotherhood, love and resilience. Like knowing that even if your brother is an ass (most of the time), he will most likely stand beside you if it came to pass that somebody else was trying to harm you. The story just reaches into your humanity and makes you feel what the characters are feeling, though how plain the actors - the characters were alive and real. It was a great idea using them instead of famous and familiar faces

Having the love story around made it even more appealing. Taking the movie's perspective from Jamal's childhood to adulthood centered on this girl was very romantic, but other than that, it also gave the story a focal point. The twists provided by Salim (the brother) was also pretty cool - cruel for a brother but intensely crucial to the storyline. Using the now ridiculously famous television shows that "apparently" give away money like "Who wants to be a millionaire?" was also a great touch.

The movie's integration was key to its success. Where most stories remain linear while the storyline becomes complicated (take "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), this story which seemed all too simple managed to integrate Jamal's past with Jamal's present seamlessly. Now THAT is great editing

The dancing in the end was a little too bollywood for my taste. It was a very awkward transition of seriously inspiring dramatic story to... high school musical?

Kidding aside it was still overall a great film. I especially liked the part when Jamal was a kid and he jumped into a pit full of crap to go see his movie idol! Now that was a little gross but nevertheless hilarious and almost too real for a child to do when faced with that kind of a situation.

Now being a marketing critic, I have to stick in something to that effect. Now I didn't even hear about Slumdog Millionaire until it made waves in the Academy Awards. So there's a marketing take-away for everyone there... be critically-acclaimed. It's one of the best marketing tools around. It not only builds on credibility but it's piggy-backing on the third party's publicity range as well

Marketing Critic: Review of Facialtics.com

2009-03-05T03:17:00.000-08:00

I've recently come across this sickness called facial tics. I tried once in the past when half my face actually froze in place. It was quite scary, people thought I had a mild stroke or something like that, but actually it was a nerve disorder. I was given a lot of vitamin B and facial exercises. I was back to normal in a couple of weeks.

Facial tics though are almost the exact opposite of what I had. They're mimic spasms that show in the form of unnatural, repetitive and sporadic eye blinking, facial grimacing, mouth twitches, nose wrinkling, squinting as well as throat clearing and grunting. As from the examples, they usually involve facial muscles

Being a marketing critic, I searched for the term "facial tics" expecting of course that the site www.Facialtics.com would come up first. That would make sense right? Unfortunately that wasn't the case. What came up first were generally medical oriented sites, which is quite acceptable given they'd probably have the biggest number of pages and widest coverage in terms of topics related to "facial tics."

Nevertheless now that I've found the website, here's a full blown review

Facialtics.com ranks the 19th on the keyword "facial tics" which I would assume is the primary keyword. I don't honestly believe in the weight of meta tags having a significant effect on the ranking of a website, but doesn't hurt to have them complete and coherent, particularly for the title and the meta description, which facialtics.com has to their favor. Meta keywords though are missing. Having alt tags won't hurt either. For those that don't know, Alt tags are the image descriptions that are attached to your uploaded photos, this allows them to be indexed properly. Also helps a lot when the image doesn't show, because the sub text is displayed instead of just the nasty red X If we talk about navigation, facialtics.com doesn't have any of this at all. But let's take a couple of steps back first - what is navigation for anyway? This allows people to find their way around your website. Facialtics.com looks like it's one huge page of a site and nothing else.

Studies have shown that reading behavior online is quite lazy. People have a tendency to scan headlines versus read everything word for word. On the internet, the impression of less is more will serve you best. The long page presented in Facial tics makes it difficult for people to actually grasp the goal of the page.

So what is the goal of the page? It is to have people order something - gosh I'm not even sure what it is. I'll take a guess and say it's some kind of a guide on how to eliminate facial tics. This is quite sad. This should be the key and therefore prominent message on the page. Of course it has to be done tastefully and thus it would be great to avoid having it flashing like neon sign.

The links to other pages are at the bottom of the page. This is fine I guess because the primary goal of the site is repeatedly presented in the form of "Click here to Order" but if you want people to truly be convinced of your expertise in facial tics then presenting them with resources such as tips for curing and impact to life is actually beneficial. Parents don't just go ahead and buy things out of the blue (at least not logically), their purchases when related to their children will be educated purchases - meaning they will research and compare products before parting with their hard-earned money.

Facialtics.com already has the resources they need to support their product, it just needs to be highlighted as well. The product should be succinctly presented so that the buyer will understand in 10 seconds what exactly the site is trying to sell

This leads us to the next key part of this site - CONTENT. It has been said numerous time content is king. That's true, but it's not so much what's being said as much as HOW it is said as well. Facialtics.com is undoubtedly a very content-rich page but this can be maximized.

The page starts with two major headlines "Stop Your Child’s Facial Tics COLD… Within 72 Hours... By Getting To the Source of the Problem" and "Eliminate Your Child’s Facial tics, Vocal and Motor Tics WITHOUT Dangerous Medications That Cause Harmful Side-Effects." These two premises presented up front is considered by this marketing critic, too much of a hard-sell
The letter directed towards the parent or prospect is very personalized I think it can serve as a great homepage should this website be repackaged.
This section like many others, ends with "Click here to Order." Having a call to action is great but this is overdoing it in the wrong sense. The product has to be specified - using anchor text would be much more beneficial.
The content that follows is a description of facial tics which is quite enlightening. This can exist as a separate page altogether
What follows is then additional content on pre-selling the product. This can be encaptulated in a "Product" page, or even a page that says "Uncovering the Secrets of Facial Tics." That may sound a little cheesy but you get the idea
The section on success stories can also be placed in a separate page similar to a testimonial page.

Having all this content in one page encourages readers to skip through so much text that you may lose their interest. Separating them into meaningful chunks would make it more digestible and also allows readers to pursue which pages would most relate to their needs

This marketing critic stands by the principle that only s/he with a better suggestion has the right to complain. So here are my suggestions to improve Facialtics.com

Start with the basics, create & design the website with the end goal in mind
Segment that rather long & large home page into more digestible sections, about 5 pages would do
Doing this would then require navigation that's visible to lead them to the actual product page, let the user choose there s/he wants to go, just highlight the section where YOU would like them to go - make this the clearest path but not the only one
Having a call to action is a great idea, but have this anchor on what the product is
Wouldn't hurt to complete the meta section of the webpage, highlighting different meta keywords, description & page title
Aside from the actual order now page, have a separate page that allows you to capture information on users that might still be on the fence about what to do.
Welcome inquiries with a "contact us" page, this will give you the opportunity to follow up on clients

As far as website design & construction goes, that's all I got for now. But beyond that, Facialtics.com should also consider linking up with medical reference sites (these are the ones that ranked highest in search engine result pages). This will lend the site credibility. Contributing articles and posting free press releases wouln't hurt either. These are free and relatively simple methods to sound off about your website - you know, let people know the site exists.

Best Recruitment Ad Campaign - Best Job in the World

2009-02-28T04:04:00.000-08:00

The best campaigns stem from the best products/ opportunities. In this case, Australia's Great Barrier Reef was looking for an "island caretaker." Of course if you just post that in any old advertising material it would sound boring and menial... BUT when you sell the beauty of the island and say provide people with just the right motivation - along with the great opportunity

This is just a six-month stint based on luxurious Hamilton Island in the Great Barrier Reef. It’s a live-in position with flexible working hours

Here's what was posted as part of the job description:

Exploring the islands of the Great Barrier Reef to discover what the area has to offer
Report back on your adventures to Tourism Queensland headquarters in Brisbane (and the rest of the world) via weekly blogs, photo diary, video updates and ongoing media interviews

Other duties may include (but are not limited to)

Feed the fish - There are over 1,500 species of fish living in the Great Barrier Reef. Don’t worry – you won’t need to feed them all.
Clean the pool - The pool has an automatic filter, but if you happen to see a stray leaf floating on the surface it’s a great excuse to dive in and enjoy a few laps.
Collect the mail – During your explorations, why not join the aerial postal service for aday? It’s a great opportunity to get a bird’s eye view of the reef and islands.

About the job package

Living above the Great Barrier Reef is a pretty unique benefit, but the successful candidate will also be paid a salary package of AUD $150,000 for the six-month contract.

You’ll receive return airfares from your nearest capital city (in your home country), accommodation and transport on Hamilton Island, travel insurance for the contract period, computer, internet, digital video and stills cameras access, plus travel to a number of the
other Islands of the Great Barrier Reef. The six-month contract commences 1st July
2009.

I'm such a goof for missing out on this one. Apparently the website bogged down just a couple of days into the deadline. This must be the best recruitment ad campaign this marketing critic has seen. And why not? You get paid almost a hundred thousand US dollars to enjoy a scenic vacation island, documenting your stay living in a rent-free in a multimillion-dollar three-bedroom beach home complete with pool and golf cart! This has been billed "Best Job in the World" and if you're convinced then the campaign is pretty good, the offer is even better

Wow, compared to that my job su*ks!

Marketing Critic: Duffy And Diet Coke in One of the WORST Marketing Campaigns I've Seen

2009-02-27T05:21:00.001-08:00

Here's one of the worst ad campaigns this marketing critic has seen so far. And it's from Diet Coke - one of my most respected brands! My heart is breaking!

Check it out for yourself:

At first I thought it was Hillary Duff from Disney, but then I looked closely and saw that this can't be the same girl, even the voice was all wrong. She sounds like she inhaled helium before she started singing. It's a Welsh

She goes around singing "I've gotta be me," which is cool in principle but safety campaigners are on a rampage now as she's promoting being reckless

According to them, the 24-year-old singer is setting a bad example for her young fans because she is riding illegally through dark streets without lights or reflectors and is not wearing a helmet.

"Clearly, riding at night without lights is not something we could condone...it's illegal," the Daily Star quoted Roger Geffen, of the national cyclists' organisation CTC, as saying.

A representative for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents said: "Unfortunately, advertisers do forget sometimes to make sure they are showing safe and legal behavior when someone is using the road in an advert."

Now it's a shame that Diet Coke overlooked those critical conditions. Although I would doubt that... this marketing critic has far too much respect for the company and the brand to just imagine that they discounted those aspects.

There must be some explanation for this!

Some redeeming factors of the ad include, the concept of being able to take time for yourself and just taking a stand against the pressure of modern life. In effect it's supposed to be for individuality and taking control, particularly for young women

They cull from the soul classic I’ve got to be me – a song made famous by Sammy Davis Junior in 1968.

I definitely appreciate the lyrics:

Whether I'm right or whether I'm wrong
Whether I find a place in this world or never belong
I gotta be me, I've gotta be me
What else can I be but what I am

I want to live, not merely survive
And I won't give up this dream
Of life that keeps me alive
I gotta be me, I gotta be me
The dream that I see makes me what I am

That far-away prize, a world of success
Is waiting for me if I heed the call
I won't settle down, won't settle for less
As long as there's a chance that I can have it all

I'll go it alone, that's how it must be
I can't be right for somebody else
If I'm not right for me
I gotta be free, I've gotta be free
Daring to try, to do it or die
I've gotta be me

I'll go it alone, that's how it must be
I can't be right for somebody else
If I'm not right for me
I gotta be free, I just gotta be free
Daring to try, to do it or die
I gotta be me

But the overall impression of the ad just doesn't resonate to me. Maybe I'm a freak of nature and I can't relate but it just looks and sounds off to me. Or maybe I'm just no longer part of that target market. (Makes me feel old!)

Rihanna Vs. Chris Brown - What happens to marketing when your product image is hinged on a celebrity?

2009-02-22T05:27:00.000-08:00

Here's the problem with celebrity endorsements, take the case of Rihanna and Chris Brown. They had a lot of things going for them until the tragic "beating" incident took place.

A day after Chris Brown was arrested, the makers of Doublemint gum, Wrigley's Chewing Gum, has shelved ads featuring him singing a new jingle.

It's too bad, it would have been a great commercial too. I think the talent is there, they just goofed up big time.

A group behind a milk ad issued a statement saying they were taking the allegations against Brown "very seriously" and noting that the campaign was already scheduled to end last week.

A spokeswoman for Rihanna's highest-profile endorsement, CoverGirl cosmetics, said ads featuring Rihanna are still running nationally but declined to discuss whether her status as an alleged victim of domestic violence would affect the future of the campaign.

Both celebrities stand to lose millions in product endorsements. And the companies can't be blamed. The products lined up along these guys are hinged on the reputability and credibility of their endorsers. When your brand is being represented by a star who already has questionable history, then there is foreseeable risk in the perspective of the company, they will pull out

Marketing Across Industries - How Different Marketing Principles Differ In Execution Across Industries

2009-02-12T05:22:00.000-08:00

It's been about six months now since I moved from one industry to another. Although I was a marketing manager for my previous company and I still am a marketing manager for my current company, the scope and focus of what I do have shifted entirely.

This marketing critic used to work in an international company with a market primarily in the United States. My movement was almost intuitive, a few months prior to the Lehman Brothers' collapse in October - just about the same time I moved to this local real estate company. The latter has a market right in the locality, with minor impact from overseas clients.

I had to go through this paradigm shift that included a rather drastic change in marketing initiatives as well as concept implementation. Although the marketing principles remained the same, I felt some jet-lag on the way from one to the other since the executions were almost entirely different:

Lead generation - From the point where I engaged marketing, this has been one of the primary goals of my professional existence. Whereas I used to think of lead generation could be tracked and executed to an absolute mathematical equation, I get transferred into a corporate culture that is unable to quantify each and every marketing effort and yet show returns ten times greater than when I was used to when I was able to track them
Branding evolved into more than just establishing the accurate corporate colors, product orientation, campaign alignment and knowledge transfer; it also became a synergy of all these different efforts that sometimes just reflects what the company is all about and how it resonates with the customer
Campaign execution went from online to on-the-ground initiatives. Talk about a 180 degree turn. This time it's all about exhibits and print advertising and just localized marketing.

Market research though has remained the same. Market research is still the B-all and End-all of a majority of business decisions. It has now become more important than ever. So much so that different business units just engage data in such depth it becomes intimidating

I'm not complaining though. I may be too busy to blog at at time but I am learning in leaps and bounds. More than ever, not just about marketing in general but as an expansion the strategic side. I think it's what my executive bosses used to do while I ground numbers to the ground. Now I'm doing them, which is actually quite cool. Certainly not giving up being a marketing critic, but come to think of it I may just be criticizing different things these days.

The Advertising World Still... Sexist? Mainstream Marketing Messages From A Marketing Critic... rather A Woman's Eyes

2009-01-01T06:50:00.000-08:00

Looking over the Huffington Post recently, I encountered Alex Leo's article on "Five Sexist Trends the Advertising World Just Can't Shake." It sounded a little over the edge at some areas like she was pissed beyond reason, but she does make sense in that there are sexist hints in the ads she presented

Here is the first ad from Remy Martin, which was defined in the article as "Bondage."

With their "things are getting interesting" campaign that features a mediocre Website and a series of billboards/magazine spreads depicting women in degrading bondage positions. You may think, "hey this one shows two women, there aren't even men involved, how can it be sexist?" But most of the ads (not available online) have men between the two women in controlling positions. And even without that, these women are obviously putting on a show for an outsider, not having a passionate lesbian love affair for themselves. These types of ads gain traction in cultural periods of female advancement--capturing the fantasy of "putting us back where we belong."

Remy Martin describes its followers as "influential, social, and multicultural urban males, ages 25 to 35." Men of this ilk and age range (read: over 16) should know better than to fall for this kind of pandering. If we switch the view from this being sexy, to this being a pathetic attempt to make an undersexed male feel powerful in the face of female accomplishment, the image loses its appeal. I would like to start a "things that are not interesting" campaign, which would include men insecure enough about themselves that they can't talk to women who aren't physically degraded. I would also include cognac.

For this Dolce and Gabana ad, the label was "Rape." It does look like it with the way everyone was strategically positioned. This marketing critic ~ being female and all, didn't like this ad in particular

The world of high fashion has been the worst offender in the violence-as-art game. Cavalli had pirates, Chanel had a wife beater, and now Dolce and Gabbana has this.

Let's get this out there now: It's not edgy, it's ridiculous. This is a gang rape, and any woman that sees those shoes instead of that message deserves those shoes. Any man who doesn't see that this is rape is probably looking at one of the hard bodies in the background and therefore not really a threat to women.

This third ad, I didn't quite agree with. At any time, a woman is always paired with the product just because she is beautiful and/or appealing. As a marketing critic, I have to admit that sex sells. It is after all a natural and instinctive attraction with people (men to be specific). Although I do agree that BMW may have taken this a little towards the more grayish area

Much like the Calvin Klein ads of the early 90s--you remember the ones that made you feel like you were watching child porn, cause you sorta were--this ad offers a young woman (with the face of a small child) posed in a sexually suggestive manner. They are offering you a virgin in looks and expression, and a slut in the tagline: "You know you're not the first." She's been fucked before--she knows what she's doing. She's been used so you can do whatever you like to her. That's the implicit message of this ad. She's young and nubile, but not prudish. She's the ultimate fantasy: a virgin who won't say no to anything.

This combination of the Madonna and the whore is ultimately a fantasy of degrading both body and mind. This girl is in no way a threat: she's young and won't say no, no one has to offer her anything, she is just there for your needs, just like a car.

"Girl on girl" action being the theme of the fourth ad is quite hot. Many have accepted this fact as just sexually appealing. Again for the most part of hollywood and advertising (unfortunately) sex sells

Some men find the idea of two women together appealing. MTV has reality shows devoted to it, casual and exploitative lesbianism is now a part of our culture. But aren't companies like Nikon supposed to be better than that? They bring us goofy Ashton Kutcher commercials (not that those are okay either) and sponsor the Boston Red Sox (yeah, that's pretty bad too). But they are a staple of the photography world and should be held to a higher standard than Tila Tequila. There are many meanings to the term corporate responsibility and one of them is not to fetishize female sexuality.

The final ad was actually labeled "cum shot," or the orgasmic feel if that's how you want it termed. Vulgar as that may sound. That is the mental picture painted here. At first glance I just thought it's an appreciation of the wet t-shirt or probably the sexiness of having wet clothing cling so tight to the female form

I can't open a magazine anymore without seeing a thinly-veiled coital moment posing as an advertisement for some sort of beauty product. Jezebel tracked these for a while, rounding up the worst offenders. The Huffington Post article though draws the article to a close with this rather angst-filled commentary

The images and tag lines reinforce the idea of women sex receptacle, and therefore simply a receiver of sex, not one engaging in an equal process. This ad reads "I Want You All Over Me," which is as subtle as it is sexy. As Jezebel points out, women like having an orgasm too, sex is not just about male pleasure, it's a two way road and all of these ads find their own way around that truth.

This marketing critic didn't take the sexist mode of most ads quite seriously, call my morals a little loose but I can't help it. I too appreciate the sexy chick or the appeal of the girl on girl action. After reading this article though, I felt a little ashamed being a woman myself and digesting what the message of these ads meant for women in general.

Beware The Facebook Virus -- KoobFace

2008-12-06T17:14:00.000-08:00

To all Facebook users: Beware the virus spreading around, apparently it started in August but just resurfaced again this month. It's a worm sent through a message with subject line such as “You look just awesome in this new movie”.

If you click on the message it prompts you to download or open the file flash_player.exe, the virus is disguised as new Koobface variant which is a Trojan.

Once you approve the Flash installation, you'll get what's called tinyproxy.exe. This loads a proxy server called Security Accounts Manager the next time the computer boots up. Koobface then listens to traffic on TCP port 9090 and proxies all outgoing HTTP traffic. Information then gets hijacked

Facebook is aware this is happening and has posted instructions on how to remove the infection. Facebook representatives said they are also updating security systems and asking those with corrupted accounts to reset their passwords.

Be cautious before opening e-mail messages. Beware too when you're asked to install a program. Be especially wary if the subject line contains misspelled words.

Just a few weeks ago Facebook won an $873 million lawsuit against a prominent hacker and spam king so this might as well be a legitimate warning.

Marketing Critic: Sprint's 'Simply With Everything' Ad With A Touch Of Holiday Spice

2008-12-05T16:03:00.000-08:00

A holiday twist from Sprint that allows users to interact with their gingerbread man to promote the "simply with Everything" plan. Imagine having a gingerbread man concept to try to sell your mobile phone subscription plan, it's a little far-fetched but it is rather timely for the season so they get some brownie points there. Of course having your marketing campaign ride out the season is advantageous because as everyone gets into the "spirit" of things so to speak, you're ad will be more relevant and interesting

However the connection of their gingerbread ad to their mobile phone plan is a little blurred unless you know what Sprint does as a company, except for the link at the upper right hand corner of the page, you wouldn't really know that is was an ad.

Some would say the interactive nature of the page is a complete waste of time, but it's fun really if you have nothing else to do. It's rather kid-friendly so most likely the demographic target here would be younger kids who would like a mobile phone.

Here's what they're actually trying to sell

The Concept of Regifting

2008-12-05T14:49:00.000-08:00

Since it's the holiday season it would be timely if marketing critic brought you a holiday concept. Here's a new one that got on Seinfeld in the nineties... Regifting!

What is regifting?

It's quite simple really. You get a gift, you don't like it, so you decide to make someone else miserable by passing on the gift! The general idea is recycling bad presents

Marketing critic does not openly support the concept of regifting, receiving gifts should mean more than just the gift - try to remember the person who gave it instead of how useful it really is. Nevertheless there are some more practical people out there who decide to set it up for recycling which (I think) could be a good thing, as someone else may like it more.

UPS has decided to make it much easier by putting up this website just right in time for the holiday season - UPSRegifter

Marketing For A Cause: Brad Pitt Builds Green Homes In New Orleans

2008-12-03T04:29:00.000-08:00

I saw an article today about Brad Pitt's new movie Benjamin Button and it just so happened that more articles came out on how he supported the "Making It Right" cause that is building homes for the Katrina victims in New Orleans. Now we all know that he is quite an active philanthropist but given the timing of his movie, I'd say this is ingenious marketing. After all in marketing, timing is everything.

Nevertheless it's nice when stars like Brad Pitt support such a great cause and build such efficient homes too. Imagine houses that run on solar panels and with treated walls using mold- and termites-resistant materials, high ceilings and shaded porches.

The first six houses have completed construction but Brad Pitt isn't satisfied. He hopes to see hundreds even thousands of energy efficient homes.

"You're going to see 100 homes here, mark my words," he said. "It's nice to see a few, but I'm anxious to see 100, 150, 1,000."

Pitt said that by December 2009, the Lower 9th Ward should be one of the nation's largest "green" neighborhoods.

"It's amazing," he said. "This place that suffered such injustice and so much death can become one of the primary examples of a high-performance neighborhood. It really is amazing."

Although Katrina has ravaged New Orleans, the effort people are putting into the "Making It Right" foundation is just a miracle. Seeing all these people work together for a common good - a higher purpose, it's just enough to make this marketing critic feel better despite all the calamities (natural or man-made in the world).

What cause do you support?

Marketing Critic's Review: Star Trek 2009 Movie Website

2008-11-30T19:34:00.000-08:00

Here you have an awesome website, definitely high-tech. It's obvious the makers of the movie wanted to be true to the film even through their website. They have sound effects and animation almost fluidly integrated with the website.

It's very impressive. When I first saw this website, particularly the navigation, I went "Wow!" They definitely achieved the "wow effect."

Unfortunately they've sacrificed function for form. As with each button you click it is then followed by this bar

The interface is too heavy for simple people such as myself who have ordinary DSL connections. And so it takes forever just to get from one page to another. Once function is sacrificed for form, what happens in the world of online marketing is that people have a tendency to get tired of waiting and so as a result leave your website (which is what I did to Star Trek). Their trailer loaded faster on Youtube.com than on their own website

In fairness, this marketing critic thinks though that the marketers of Star Trek Movie must have thought most of their target audience are tech savvy enough to have really excellent computers and online connections, and so they didn't want to sacrifice the overall experience knowing that most of their market's units can probably handle the weight.

Nevertheless I think this might be a cool movie, seeing that they got great actors like Zachary Quinto a.k.a. Sylar from "Heroes" to play Spock and John Cho who played Harold in "Harold and Kumar" to be part of the Enterprise crew, not to mention the delicious Eric Bana, and Winona Ryder too. This should be worth watching. Just remember marketers - do not sacrifice function for form!

Marketing Critic: Review of Tomb Raider Underworld's Banner Ad

2008-11-28T08:06:00.000-08:00

An expanded banner ad of Tomb Raider is on the xbox 360 website. The ad starts with this simple leaderboard just at the top of the page below the header. It will ask the user to pull down the ring. Now there's another box on the lower right side where Lara Croft is actually hanging on to a rope.

When you tug on the ring (just click on it), I tried a couple of times probably because my connection was slow. It didn't respond immediately. But what's supposed to happen is that, the top half of the page falls apart to show the real tomb raider ad which is quite cool.

The website itself adjusted to the ad which makes it all the more attractive and intriguing. This marketing critic thinks its brilliant.

I'm not fond of the Tomb Raider game, but this one's got me asking questions that's for sure. They were drumming up for the launch of the new Tomb Raider game. Marketing-wise I think they did a pretty good job. They sure got my attention. Gamers would be pretty excited by the animation and interactive nature of the ad which is ideally a sampler of what the game is supposed to be.

Tomb Raider - Underworld, in stores now!

Microsoft "I'm a PC" Turns to User Generated Content

2008-11-13T05:01:00.000-08:00

Microsoft is trying a new angle to their advertising campaign. Instead of pumping more money into sort-of funny and semi-sensical ads featuring the very expensive and controversial pair - Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates, they've decided to let users contribute to what will become their next television advertisement. They're calling it "PC on TV"

I'm not particularly fond of the sample they've got, where this guy says, "I'm a PC and I like the slimming effect of a striped purple shirt." Now what is that about?

Microsoft is not only a little late on the user-generated content gig, it would have been much more appealing instead of appalling had they been more open to the "Open Source" platform which uses the same premise as user-generated content.

So if you go to their website, Microsoft wants everyone to show the world what kind of PC we are. According to their website -- be honest, be original, be uniquely you!
The best video apparently will be on TV. Whoopee!

And this marketing critic thought Microsoft marketing was working itself towards originality. Right now Microsoft marketing is just working itself in a rut.

Target And Christina Aguilera - Symbiotic Relationship?

2008-11-13T04:52:00.000-08:00

Check out this new video clip featuring Christina Aguilera partnering up with Target for her new album - Keeps Getting Better, A Decade of Hits. Some call this "greatest hits" collection premature considering her age. I do agree just a bit even if she is a good singer

Find more videos like this on AdGabber

It's cool the way she transitions between an animated super hero to her real persona. Look a little like one of the videos Britney Spears did. But then again there's not a lot Britney hasn't done, not that she's much better. I think they're the same, following the same formula

What's interesting for this marketing critic is who is lending what to whom? Christina Aguilera may be a high profile celebrity performer - or rather she used to be. She isn't really as hot as she used to. But according to Adrants, it's more like Target is lending some of its brand favor to the diva by having her wear the signature bulls-eye marks for this video.

Maybe it's not so much a symbiotic relationship after all?

Megan Fox is Wonder Woman? How a Fake Website Made Waves

2008-11-11T04:58:00.001-08:00

It's been around a couple of days. The Wonder-who.com website that had everybody wondering if it was indeed true that Megan Fox was going to play Wonder Woman. Warner Brothers and DC Comics rebuffed the claim and publicly acknowledged that there is in fact no such movie and Megan Fox will not play wonder woman.

But the secret is out and everyone knows John the developer from hell who made the website, with his mad photo shop skills made Megan Fox into Wonder Woman.

The side started out as just a series of five images that had an American Flag slowly unveil to show Megan Fox with the headline -"The truth will be revealed."

Right now though it's a full-blown website, not even John@ Wonder-who thought it would make him this famous. He had to explain why he made it and how he made it.

The poster is beautiful, I think Megan Fox is so beautiful that I almost believed it was true or wanted to believe anyway. That would be just so hot if that happened.

Others think Megan Fox might have been over-used but seeing the impact this poster made, then I'd have to say John@ Wonder-who did a great job. And Megan Fox would have made a rather controversial Wonder Woman. I bet they're all talking about it now.

He apparently started with a rather dainty picture of Megan Fox - check it out before it transformed

And that is why online marketing works. If a fake website can make a non-existent movie famous, then there should be no excuse for a real website for a real movie not to work.

Welcome The First Black President Of The United States Of America - Barack Obama

2008-11-05T04:11:00.000-08:00

John McCain has conceded, George Bush has called from the White House to congratulate Barack Obama. The counting's done. It's over. Barack Obama finally won it. I wasn't surprised that he did. He's the 44th president and he's the first African American - about time!

Barack Obama and Joseph Biden will be sworn into office on January 20, 2009 - that's a long time from now but they've waited long enough I guess that's not too far off.

The race was not as close as I would have expected with Obama getting 338 electoral votes to McCain's 141.

It's good now that it's over. McCain was rather galant about the defeat and so was Barack Obama in his victory. He accepts the presidential seat with his famous line - "Change has come to America."

The Packaging Of Barack Obama

2008-11-04T05:23:00.001-08:00

I so admire the packaging of Barrack Obama. He not only looks like somebody really personable but also somebody attractive and smart and downright charismatic

Here are the last 2 parts of Barack Obama's 30-minute blockbuster informercial that aired just days before the US presidential elections. See for yourself, it reads and looks just like a full production audio visual presentation. This makes John McCain look like a pauper

They ran his electoral campaign like a marketing campaign. Barack Obama was the product and the target market is the United States of America. This marketing critic the Obama team did a pretty good job

Part Three

Part Four

The Barbie Marketing Strategy

2008-10-28T05:30:00.000-07:00

I've noticed a trend over the last few years with Barbie. Around October they show a new Barbie movie. This year it's Barbie and the Diamond Castle. Last year was Barbie Fairytopia's Mariposa and the year before that it was Barbie Fairytopia's Mermadia. And somewhere in between there was Barbia, the Island Princess.

Now this marketing critic doesn't think they make a lot of money making these movies. They come out on Cartoon Network where a couple hundred thousand kids watch it. So what do they make the movies for? It's for the DOLLS! Mattel makes the movies to promote the dolls just in time for Christmas!

My daughter has been asking every year for a different kind of Barbie doll just in line with the movie that was shown. This is sheer marketing genius. Imagine the timeliness of launching just in the fourth quarter when the holiday season is kicking in and then bringing out the dolls and other merchandise just as children are going to ask for them.

Indeed Barbie has to be the best marketed doll of all time. Instead of holiday marketing, they took the opportunity to entertain children at the same time giving them something new (or newly packaged) to buy. Barbie will always be Barbie, it's the same doll. But when repackaged over and over again as different characters that sing and dance and entertain children and collectors of all ages, then marketing has done it's job.

Annoyingly Smart Mac vs. PC Ads

2008-10-24T08:44:00.000-07:00

And Mac has done it again. Managing to bite Windows in the ass with a series of really cool and really smart anti-Vista ads. The comparison ads they've been running over the years just doesn't get old.

Here's a couple of the anti-Vista ads that just seek to highlight how Windows Vista just sucks as well as how Windows is addressing the problems in Vista - which is quite funny it must be driving Microsoft people up the wall

Here's another Mac ad that just has a beeper sound everytime the word "Vista" is said. This ones really annoying too but very smart as well. Mac is just showcasing the many ways to indirectly deal with the "Vista" issues without actually having to address them.

What's nice about these ads is that the Mac doesn't brag about how great he is, it's actually PC who gets to frustrated about not matching up. It just makes it a lot funnier and of course credible

Here's one where PC comes out in a pizza box trying to attract the younger college market with free pizza instead of actual product selling points

Finally here's a cool one featuring Giselle Bundchen when Apple started promoting their iHome Movies.

I think Justin Long just plays Mac amazingly. Smooth, cool and the epitome of common sense as opposed to the geek that is PC. It's too bad, PC did try to break out with the new Windows ads. Those were good. But the series of Mac ads just can't be beat, they just go way too far back and they have way more trash for which to criticize Microsoft

BBC apologizes to the Filipina

2008-10-24T07:52:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe how in the first place can a show on BBC be so insulting and demeaning. I know that at some point, there are people in the world who find it humorous when satires such as those are built. I mean that's Western comedy right? When you're able to make fun of others and laugh along with it. They make fun of everybody from their president, or presidential candidates as well as each other.

I guess it just hurts a lot more when there is a hinge of truth to all that. For the Filipina it hurts more because for a time, Filipinas were known as domestic helpers and probably as sluts too. And trying to clean that up is hard enough as it is, having BBC visibly show it on international television makes it a whole lot harder.

BBC complaints division, in a statement, said ”Firstly, we're sorry if you were in any way offended by the program as this wasn't our intention.” The show “in no way represents real people and was never intended to offend or demean any viewer,” the statement read in part.

You Know Online Marketing Is Better When Playboy Prioritizes Online Video For DVDs

2008-10-19T06:53:00.000-07:00

The world has gone online. When you see big-shot traditional media company like Playboy who publishes the world's most widely read adult entertainment magazine, is ditching DVDs for online video, you know there has had to be a paradigm shift in the company that has led them to the online world.

Apparently Playboy is going the extra mile by completely shutting down their DVD business to move all of their video content to the Internet.

"Unlike other companies that began in print, we have profitable television, online and mobile businesses, which have domestic and international growth potential," said CEO Christine Hefner.

Playboy has obviously come to a realization that the computer may be a more staple appliance now of their target market compared to the DVD players. It's nice to see that companies are seeing the value of online marketing.

Phasing out DVD will save them $12 million a year according to reuters compared to the $6 million loss that they will incur from archiving and the like. It's about time too considering that in August, Playboy posted a second-quarter loss of $2.1 million, or 6 cents a share, compared with net income of $1.9 million, or 6 cents a share, a year ago. Revenue fell 14 percent to $73.4 million.

Filipina Domestic Helper on BBC? Overreaction? Or Philippine Prejudice?

2008-10-12T10:02:00.000-07:00

For those who haven't seen it, here's the BBC clip that shows the Filipina domestic helper on the Harry and Paul show episode last September 26, 2008.

I've been reading the commentaries about it and although it is true that the joke wasn't nice to Filipinos but at the same time, these clips typically make fun of everybody anyway.

I'm not saying I'm going to accept that though, it is pretty bad. Being a Filipina myself, it does make me hope when I do go to that country people won't treat me that way cause I sure will kick their nuts if they demean me like that.

See and judge for yourself. Overreaction? Or Philippine Prejudice?

Who Is Running The Best Presidential Campaign?

2008-10-12T06:51:00.000-07:00

We all know who's running for the US president's post. There's Obama vs McCain We even know who's running for vice-president. There's Palin and Biden.

Now they're all running campaigns and marketing themselves to all would-be voters and potential supporters. The best campaign so far goes to...

Paris Hilton!

Yes it goes to Paris Hilton! She is gorgeous. And in this video she actually looks like she has a head on her shoulders - a really pretty one at that.

Her marketing is effective not only because she is good-looking but also because she has the right savvy and the right sex appeal so to speak. She is charismatic because she is first and foremost an entertainer - something that the reall political candidates don't really have.

Watch for yourself - guest stars here Martin Sheen and Charlie Sheen. Martin Sheen being one of the coolest celebrities to play a US president in West Wing!

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

This marketing critic will sure vote for her!

Spoof Infomercial From Jessica Alba And Hayden Panettiere

2008-10-05T06:12:00.000-07:00

Declare Yourself, the national nonpartisan, nonprofit campaign to empower and encourage every eligible 18-year-old in America to register and vote in the presidential primaries and 2008 presidential election, has gone the extra mile with their star power endorsers.

The marketing campaigns of declare yourself is very innovative and indeed eye-catching with the likes of Jessica Alba and Hayden Panettiere leading the way. Their message is clear and simple - get up America and vote. Participate in the coming presidential elections.

Jessica Alba is just in all-out support for these campaigns. She is in good company as well with Kanye West and Ugly Betty's America Ferrera, among many others.

Hosting this infomercial that has Jessica Alba selling "muzzlers" to those who are uninterested in voting. This marketing critic admires the reverse psychology employed in these marketing campaigns just generate a certain shock value that makes you pay attention.

It's a worthy cause, we should support it. Innovative marketing like this certainly does get my support. If all marketers take this much effort and this much creative skill into generating awareness and branding for a worthy cause, everybody would be going green and saving the whales by now!

Google Will Give You $10 Million For Your Great Idea In Project 10^100

2008-09-25T09:21:00.001-07:00

Ideas don't come cheap these days. Google is going to pay $10 million for your great idea in their 10th anniversary gimmick Project 10 to the 100th. Of course to rub it in, that's the definition of Google - which is quite cool. That made me feel smart for a whole 2 seconds.

Anyway, the idea is if you have an idea that will change the world then you might just win $10 million from Google. Google is great that way, although they probably are the smartest people in the world - they don't claim to be. Or at least, they make other people feel smart too by sharing the wealth. The idea is, you may have an idea that could literally change the world but just don't have the capacity or opportunity to act on it.

Google probably won't just hand the money like they do in casinos after your winning streak but instead will help you build your idea into a reality. So in short, if you're just in it for the money it probably won't work out as well as you'd hoped. This will have to be a real and genuine effort to change the world and be able to help as many people as possible because Google will give you the means to see it through (as idealistic as that may sound).

Ideas are due by October 20, 2008. Get started submitting your own ideas, and come back on January 27th to vote on ideas from others.

What follows are the mechanics, categories & guidelines from Google

Project 10^100 Mechanics:

1. Send Google your idea by October 20th.
Simply fill out the submission form with the gist of your idea. Supplement proposal with a 30-second video.

2. Voting on ideas begins on January 27th.
One hundred ideas will be selected for public voting to choose twenty semi-finalists. Then an advisory board will select up to five final ideas.

3. Get $10 million
Google is committing $10 million to implement these projects, with a goal to help as many people as possible.

Project 10^100 Categories:

Community: How can we help connect people, build communities and protect unique cultures?
Opportunity: How can we help people better provide for themselves and their families?
Energy: How can we help move the world toward safe, clean, inexpensive energy?
Environment: How can we help promote a cleaner and more sustainable global ecosystem?
Health: How can we help individuals lead longer, healthier lives?
Education: How can we help more people get more access to better education?
Shelter: How can we help ensure that everyone has a safe place to live?
Everything else: Sometimes the best ideas don't fit into any category at all.

Project 10^100 Criteria:

Reach: How many people would this idea affect?
Depth: How deeply are people impacted? How urgent is the need?
Attainability: Can this idea be implemented within a year or two?
Efficiency: How simple and cost-effective is your idea?
Longevity: How long will the idea's impact last?

Maybe I will start thinking about stuff but I think if you don't have the passion to do this, it won't fly. Although I do think this is a good way to solicit people's ideas and to give people who can help the capacity to do so. I'm going to sound really selfish but I can barely keep my head above water these days. If somebody could help me do that, that would be great - but I don't have $10 million though.

Microsoft's "Other" I'm a PC ad - Not Alone

2008-09-25T08:16:00.000-07:00

Like many sequels, this ad does not measure up to the original. It's just not as good. Although it stems from the same concept of trying to re-brand the PC out of the "geek" stereotype by having different kinds of people echo the "I'm a PC" dialogue, maybe because I've seen and appreciated the first one - this marketing critic just feels like this ad was an offshoot, an extension to the initial "I'm a PC" ad but does not really shine by itself.

It's the same basic principle only that it tries to promote the fact that the PC is prevalent, ubiquitous - the PC is everywhere and it is for everybody.

Although louder and a bit more aggressive, this ad cannot hold a candle to the first offering of "I'm a PC"

Marketing Critic Review: Microsoft's Best Ad Yet

2008-09-25T07:48:00.000-07:00

The more recent "I'm a PC" ad just puts the Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates ads to shame! These are a lot more relevant, a lot more practical -- definitely a lot more entertaining, and each person only has to say one line! Now that is absolutely brilliant.

The simplicity of the ad baffles me in that only 1 line spoken by different people in different contexts can actually bring about so much meaning and depth into a 1 minute ad. This marketing critic has finally been impressed by Microsoft, after 2 faulty tries of course.

The Jerry Seinfeld/ Bill Gates ads were so alien and weirdly promotional compared to the "I'm a PC" ad. Although I doubt this will get more media attention than those previous goof ads, just because they starred two of the world's most famous and probably controversial personalities.

This video on the other hand, just speaks lengths about what a really simple yet smart Microsoft marketing campaign can do with branding.

Not only did they transcend being so overly selfish by just promoting Windows or Microsoft, but they went to the extent of defining the "PC" - personal computer. Given that it is a direct attack to the elitist ads of Apple, which is of course - their own way of targeting their market, the "I'm a PC" ad just breaks the geek stereotype. And that is an admirable marketing effort.

Being able to bring together different kinds of people in their personal terrariums, adding their own captions to their "I'm a PC" dialogue.

I particularly enjoyed the guy underwater with the shark, Bill Gates was cute with the glasses - he is after all the epitome of geekiness. I like the sequence where they go "I wear jeans... I study genes... I design jeans." There's also another set that goes, "I study the law, I practice the law... I challenge the law."

Political relevance of course is not absent. There's a guy who blogs for Obama and another that broadcasts for McCain. Then of course the cute ice-breaker who just has a beard - nice!

There's a girl there who looks like Eva Longoria, though not sure if that's her - the girl with the 1 ring. That speaks to the family/ married market. I'm also touched that they managed to involve the environmentalists by featuring a guy who wanted to save whales I think.

A woman in Africa surrounded by children is featured there saying she's connected to the rest of the world, followed by an astronaut who rogers that. And of course a guy named Roger

Near the end, a guy says "I'm a human being - not human doing, not human thinking... human being." That was philosophical right there, and of course - the ending which is just what it is - I sell fish! Followed by their new tagline, "Windows, Life Without Walls." It may sound like Nokia's connecting people but that's the way the world is working now so I think they've nailed it down pretty good.

Two thumbs up from this marketing critic. The ad is light and meaningful at the same time. It achieves the goal of entertaining its audience without confusing their brains into jello (like some previous ads).

Marketing Critic Review: Microsoft's Jerry Seinfeld-Bill Gates Microsoft Ad Campaign Continues

2008-09-14T06:41:00.000-07:00

As Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates set out to re-engineer the image (or brand) of Microsoft through a series of viral videos from ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky that have them basically goofing off is what I would call it, is definitely sparking the interest of many viewers all over the world.

Not to say that the videos are anything amazing to speak of, in fact they are sort of lame and rather "home-video" looking which is what I think they were going for. No offense, but it sound very scripted and look like it's trying a little too hard.

This second video which runs about 4 minutes long has comedian Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates living with a suburban family to act like regular people, which of course they're not. So this will probably remind you of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. This was a nice statement by Jerry Seinfeld when asked why they were doing this (at least to give a little rationality to this ad)

"You (referring to Bill Gates) and I are a little out of it. You’re living in some kinda moon house hovering over Seattle like the mother ship. I’ve got so many cars I get stuck in my own traffic. We need to connect with real people."

They are given special treatment in the seemingly regular family and then get kicked out of the house after the daughter frames them for stealing a leather giraffe (go figure!). Nevertheless, the ad again comes out with a suprpise ending that yet again reveals another one of the Microsfot plots with Jerry asking the key question and Bill Gates responding with the robot dance

"I think we connected with them," Seinfeld says. "In a way," Gates answers. Then comes the segue to Microsoft: "Bill, you've connected over a billion people," Seinfeld says. "I have," says Gates. "Perpetually connecting" reads the final screen, with the Microsoft logo.

Here's the video so you can watch and rate it yourself:

Jessica Alba In Bondage For New Voter Ad Campaign

2008-09-14T06:31:00.000-07:00

Marketing is such a great industry because ads will perpetually evolve and campaigns will continually have this emulating factor that seeks change and innovation. Jessica Alba emboldens the voting public with a bondage-inspired ad campaign on Declareyourself.com

What's cool about it is that it's not lewd in any way, in fact it's cool and shocking all at the same time. The "shock" factor will certainly get a lot of people's attention. The ad's goal basically is to ask as many people as possible to register and vote in the coming elections.

Jessica Alba volunteered for the project because she believes that "If you don't register and vote and make a difference, and hopefully change the bad things that are happening in our country, you are essentially just binding and muzzling yourself."

An AMEX Parallel Ad to The New Jerry Seinfeld Microsoft Ad

2008-09-07T07:46:00.000-07:00

This ad, also featuring Jerry Seinfeld, is much better than the one he did for Microsoft. This ad was made for AMEX by the same advertising company - Crispin Porter + Bogusky, that put together the Microsoft - Bill Gates & Jerry Seinfeld tandem ad, but wasn't as good.

This AMEX ad features Superman (no less) but it's pretty cute. A lot of sarcasm, some humor and about a half minute of actually talking about the benefits of having AMEX but still a pretty good ad I think.

The Kmiecs blog noted how similar this ad was to the Microsoft one, at the very least it's more entertaining with the combination of humor and animation

This ad is a little too long for this marketing critic's taste, but I can tolerate it because it's funny and even if it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, the animation part of it sort of clues you in already that it probably isn't that serious of a video clip.

Microsoft's Ad Campaign Featuring Jerry Seinfeld

2008-09-07T07:40:00.000-07:00

First of all, it's highly unlikely to find Bill Gates in a discount shoe store. And it's even more unlikely to find Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Gates in a discount shoe store.

Three-fourths of this video has Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld talking about shoes... SHOES for crying out loud! Now what is that all about? Misdirection? Analogy?

I certainly wouldn't want to over-analyze this. So I left it at just trying to humor the audience. Next they leave the store and finally start talking about Bill Gates "Jupite-sized brain" and other Microsoft guys' "Saturn ring brains" and Bill Gates asks if Microsoft will ever come up with a PC concept that's "moist and chewy like cake."

Bill Gates shakes his booty for a bit in response and the ad ends with Jerry saying "I knew it!" The ad cuts to a tagline: "The future. Delicious," followed by the brief appearance of a Microsoft logo.

Find more videos like this on AdGabber

The marketing goal apparently was to have people start talking about Microsoft in a different perspective. And it probably did in a weird quirky way. Attention-seeking, true but does it really speak about the brand and to the quality? This marketing critic doesn't think so.

In fairness, it was mentioned that this is just part 1 on a series of ads, but I think when you get Jerry Seinfeld at $10 million and Bill Gates for probably sort of the same amount, you'll have to make it count for more than that.

I'm no marketing novice, so maybe there's some inside joke here I haven't figured out yet, but there are just a lot of elements missing in this ad. Which of course makes me conclude that this is obviously just part one of something bigger.

New Freebies from Google to Advertisers

2008-09-07T06:38:00.000-07:00

A couple of new reports were launched on Google Adwords quite recently. One of which is the Geographic performance report that allows advertisers to see which states and/or locations are responding to their ads.

What talking about search engine marketing, it's important to know where your customers are coming from. It doesn't really make sense if you just keep running ads but are unable to identify source and reason for response. If you are able to identify the geographical location of customers who respond to your online ads then this will help you to maximize targeting in terms of budget and resource allocation because you know those areas are more likely to pay attention.

The Geographic Performance report gathers approximated Country, Region, Metro, and City data and calculates them on a daily basis at the account, campaign, and ad group levels. Metros are currently based on Designated Marketing Areas (DMAs) as defined by Nielsen Media Research in the United States.

On the flip side, if you discover that those areas are not part of your targeted audience, then you can beef up your campaign to areas where you should be getting market response.

The second freebie is the Google Adwords Editor Guide. As far as I can tell the Google Adwords editor has been around forever. We've used it to make major changes to our Google Adwords account. It's a really big help for marketers who use Google Adwords. Makes campaign management faster - you can add or edit items like keywords, ads, bids and URLs in a few simple steps. You can also upload bulk changes.

It's rather a DIY process so you'd have to play around with the software before you can really maximize Adwords Editor, which is why I think Google decided to release this Adwords Editor Guide. The best way is to educate the masses!

Download your FREE Adwords Editor Guide in PDF right here

Micheal Moore's Slacker Uprising - FREE Download 3 Weeks Only

2008-09-05T19:34:00.000-07:00

Michael Moore has definitely made a name for himself with his explosive documentaries. They have been critically acclaimed and box office hits.

But I'm not sure how surprised I was when his most recent release "Slacker Uprising" was announced as a movie that can be downloaded for free.

Knowing the way Michael Moore operates - which is of course anti-capitalist and definitely outside the norm, this stunt shouldn't be a shocker.

It'll be free for three weeks after September 23 and then you'll have to buy the movie on DVD (though it'll be cheaper than a regular film).

The tactic does deserve marketing merits though, it's like a limited time promotion and it only happens online. There has probably been some determination there as to cost and distribution for the option to download the movie free online, when it is almost a sure thing that Michael Moore's film is set to make millions.

The movie tracks Moore's cross-country tour to swing states during the last presidential campaign, to convince non-voting "slackers" to head to the polls. He handed out a clean change of underwear and free Ramen noodles, and it worked. Moore packed auditoriums and now he's trying to share that excitement according to CNBC.

Download your free copy of Michael Moore's latest release "Slacker Uprising" right here. You can sign up in advance

Here's the trailer:

Tropic Thunder Online Marketing Blitz

2008-08-31T06:08:00.000-07:00

Tropic Thunder is about to hit cinemas soon and I will be one of the adoring masses to line up and catch this movie. Not only is it played by the most talented actors I have seen by far, the combination of Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr. and Ben Stiller will just make this movie an absolutely fun 2 hours.

Tropic Thunder didn't ease up on the online marketing as well. Capitalizing on the marketing appeal of 3 of its leading characters - who also play actors, they've made this amazing set of websites that are of course fictional, based on the characters that they play in the movie. It is absolutely brilliant

Here's Jack Black's character playing Jeff Portnoy. When I look at his character, he plays it out like Eddie Murphy

Ben Stiller look like Seth Green in one of his profile shots, but here he's just over the top, it's hilarious. He plays Tugg Speedman

Robert Downey Jr. plays Kirk Lazarus, he looks like he's the most serious and that just makes the illusion a lot more appealing

A lot of other characters have their own websites, even the movies they starred in have pseudo-websites of their own. They call it "online presence." Now if fictional characters and fictional movies believe they NEED to have online presence, I don't get why real and legitimate companies can't comprehend how important it is. Now just let this lowly marketing critic explain why this is sheer marketing genius

First of all, you've got a movie to promote - a movie about a movie. To make it more real and more interesting, you want people of course to know about it. By creating a network of websites that essentially point to each other, you are building the whole. The synergy of online presence just makes it almost impossible not to find
Next, it must have been dirt cheap. Cheaper than all those television and radio ads that's for sure. Domains cost a few dollars, hosting and design can be outsourced to practically anywhere in the world! I think most of these websites were outsourced or at the very least built by different people because the lay-out and designs are very different from each other
It's definitely a novelty right now, but with the number of people going online and the length of time people are spending online, it just seems like the smart way to go. When more than half the target population online anyway - either because of work or school or recreation, the internet is indeed an ubiquitous platform (I like that big word - ubiquitous)

Mystery iPhone Girl Revealed

2008-08-28T05:14:00.000-07:00

Here's a copy of the picture that was on that Brit guy's iPhone when he bought it. A factory worker from Foxconn, the girl is now an internet sensation! Pretty girl too. I would say, it's a little careless leaving her picture on a brand new iPhone, it's a lucky thing no one really made a big (bad) deal out of it.

I was thinking this could go beyond the "accident" that it is. It would be quite cool if this was used in a marketing campaign. Imagine being able to personalize the quality testing of the phone by having your picture on it?

I must be such a marketing freak to have to think about things like these... tsk tsk tsk

Adsense Ads That Really Caught Your Attention

2008-08-28T05:08:00.001-07:00

Years back, some Adsense advertisers went so far as to outfitting their ads this way just so they'd be more "clickable." I have to admit it does make sense.

If you think about it, the reasoning is sound. You get people's attention to the ads - particularly this girl on the right would do such a great job at that I bet.

Sometimes when I speak to my marketing team, we go - how do we get people to click on our banner? One of the first (and funny) things that pops into mind is... let's put a naked lady on it!

Adsense doesn't approve of that though, which is why you won't see any more adsense ads like this. And with good reason - it is also misleading and unfair to some degree anyway. So fellow marketers... let's keep it clean (not green)!

When Bathroom Accessories Become Too Sexy

2008-08-28T04:57:00.000-07:00

I was looking around and ran into this rather exotic bathroom fixture. If you're in the bathroom business, this is definitely the fixture for your men's toilet. They will certainly stay there longer, if not catch their attention at the very least. So this marketing critic, gives it two thumbs up - or cheeks up! (bad pun)

I admit as a marketing ploy it could be a little too vulgar for some, but in a guy's bathroom? Who knows what can happen.

If you're into the more sensitive area of advertising enlargement of a certain part of the anatomy, this might be a good advertising opportunity as well.

It will certainly get men's attention and it is certainly in the right place. So as far as marketing goes, you are avoiding being lewd and displaced. In effect, you are able to capture your target market, you are able to get your point across without all the censorship issues - it's brilliant!

If you ever get to do it, commission me okay?

Images via Perspektif Magazine

Miley Cyrus Go Green Campaign

2008-08-23T22:25:00.000-07:00

This online campaign looks a little lame but the end-goal is "going green" so it is a worthwhile cause I guess.

Here we have Miley Cyrus who plays Hannah Montana on the Disney channel television show and her friend, Mandy Jiroux dialogue on how easy it should be to "go green," you know recycle and stuff... plant a tree and stuff... you know stuff like that

Levi's: Secrets And Lies Commercial Shows That Sex Sells

2008-08-19T05:32:00.000-07:00

Well it can't be helped people are intrigued and excited by sex and foreplay and everything in between. Levi's has gone the extra mile with their new commercial - Secrets and Lies.

It shows a couple about to have sex and slowly spilling their guts out. Telling each other the truth from a long conversation of white lies.

Evidently letting it all out before getting it on. It's a funny and sexy way of looking at relationships.

I particularly like the part when the girl said that they were in a place that was not her apartment, because although boys are more known for lying just to get into a girl's pants, the girl fibbing was very unstereotypical I think.

Marketing moral of the story: Step up your advertising campaigns with a touch of intrigue. This marketing critic is not exactly all for just selling sex, but I do agree that an ad has to be sexy, appealing - a scene stealer, because after all it only lasts less than a minute so it better be good and better be worth remembering.

First Transgender Contestant On ‘America’s Next Top Model’

2008-08-13T18:11:00.000-07:00

I've read a lot of articles so far that highlight GLBT marketing. Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals and Transgenders are becoming an influential force in the world of consumer marketing. Not only do they respond better to certain ads but they interact more.

And this marketing critic knows that GLBT marketing has risen to the highest level when ‘America’s Next Top Model’ has decided to welcome its first transgender contestant. Isis, 22-year-old former non-profit worker from Prince George’s County, Maryland, identifies herself as “a woman born physically male.”

She will compete with equal footing as other girls on the reality show "America’s Next Top Model" for a modeling contract, hosted and produced by none other than Tyra Banks

Burger King MySpace Mess; Mr. Unstable's Rise To Fame

2008-08-13T18:02:00.000-07:00

This video posted on Youtube by one of Burger King's employees - now ex-employee, shows him taking a bath in the Burger King kitchen sink

Timothy "Mr. Unstable" Tackett, was fired for this video. I felt a little pity for him because he did say it was his birthday and I guess he just wanted to do something exciting. If only it wasn't this stupid. The County health commission and health officials in Xenia, Ohio must have gone berserk after seeing this video.

Burger King has ordered for the sink to be sterilized twice, liquidating all utensils involved.

To be fair, this guy is now famous. It's amazing what one controversial video can do to market your company and yourself. It was of course death in a biggie size platter for Burger King but it was just the beginning for Mr. Unstable!

Since the incident Mr. Unstable has done 3 news interviews, Inside Edition, Channel 7 and Channel 2 Out of Dayton Ohio. He's like 2nd generation Jack-Ass + Punk'd. I'm not so thrilled about that since that's not really my cup of coffee but as a marketing critic, I'd have to say it is quite brilliant.

Marketing moral for the story: Be controversial and you will be famous or infamous! Either way you create the buzz and for marketing - good publicity or bad publicity is still publicity!

Oprah's New Church - Cult Group? Marketing Genius?

2008-08-13T04:58:00.000-07:00

Now there is one thing I have to say for Oprah, just when I thought nothing she does can surprise me - I get this Youtube video in my mailbox. It was from a Christian friend of mine. He was quite peeved.

Oprah has gone from television host to celebrity superstar icon, movie star, philanthropist, book reviewer (her show anyway), humanitarian but among all these things, I have always thought she had a pretty strong marketing arm.

A marketing critic as myself knows full well the extent her brand can reach, that a logo on your book tagged "Featured On The Oprah Winfrey Show" or "Selected By Oprah's Book Club" can do wonders not merely for book marketing but more importantly book sales.

It would have never occurred to me she would decide to start her own "church." Quite shocking at first, but I guess it's true. They are showing millions who attend and follow teachings in the interpretation of Eckhart Tolle as supported by Oprah Winfrey. Oprah Winfrey is a very influential person and that is most likely why Christians everywhere are extremely stressed out by her open support for statements that are contradictory. She is quite charismatic, wielding both wealth and power, as well as worldwide exposure. I admit she is a force to be reckoned with. This is indeed marketing used to its fullest.

To be fair, I think she doesn't mean to "offend" any religion. Which is why she mentions there are many ways to God. She wants to be able to say that all forms of religion are actually okay and we shouldn't fight about that. Oprah didn't want to discount any religion. It's true we shouldn't fight or be at war because of the differences in what we believe in.

I saw this funny bumper sticker once that said, "Lord protect me from Your followers." And to some degree, that is true. We are just people who make mistakes and do wrong by other people. And although this should stop, I personally think that all these troubles aren't reasons enough to merit setting up your own "church."

I also understand how Oprah says she took God "out of the box." When we don't feel God, it just doesn't feel right to a lot of people. It's also true and sad that the failure of Christians to manifest God, makes other people "less believing" or worse reject what could be saving grace. There has to be a personal relationship with God before there is actually any meaning. Just like not knowing Oprah, makes me unqualified to judge her.

Oprah still calls herself "Christian" so she still does believe in the principles of Christ. I think contrary to what she is sharing with her audience, Oprah might just be as confused as everyone else which is why this new book has just jumped on her radar. When in fact there is no new teaching. Everything that has been said here, has been said in the past.

There has always beena disbelief in Jesus Christ
Many people think that salvation is something we must earn living on earth

The sad thing here is that, that needn't be. My personal belief which probably doesn't matter a lot (unlike Oprah's point of view), if we have faith in Christ, we can be saved. All the things that follow about living a good life, and making the most out of life and being kind, loving, generous and long-suffering - all these things are qualities that Christians should manifest in their lives as a result of faith

Marketing Critic Evaluates Google's New Tool - FREE For Marketers, Google Search Insight For Keywords

2008-08-07T05:30:00.000-07:00

In an attempt to combine Google trends and Google analytics technology, Google has launched Google Insights for Search. It is said to better analyze internet search patterns, while also adding new tools that allow marketers and users alike to study keyword research data.

How is Google Insight like Google Trends?

Lets users type in search terms and then see search volume patterns over time
See top related and rising searches

What makes Google Insight different?

You can compare volume trends across multiple search terms, vertical industry categories (this makes it possible for users to actually filter by the most relevant category) and time ranges
Geographic regions appear like a "heat map" for graphically displaying search volumes, allowing geographic targeting, which is the same as how website visits are presented on Google Analytics

What can Google Insight do for you? Well according to Aaron Wall of SEObook you can

Analyze relationships between generic search concepts and more specific ones
Measure how news coverage and business developments change the relative importance of different keywords.
Compare brands in real time and see which markets resonate with our brands and marketing
Provides insight into the relative importance of different terms that people may be using to search on a particular subject

Essentially Google Search Insight is a cool compliment to an already existing set of FREE tools from Google, but I think though it was built to replace and optimize the older versions of Google trend for instance and maybe to some extent Google Zeitgeist. Independently they are already cool products, but combined they can be a powerhouse that enable internet marketers to be optimized as well.

Visit Google's newest free tool - Google Insight for Search right here

Mozilla Labs Brings MozConcept To Life -- Concept Series Invites Participants To Help Improve The Web Experience. The Ultimate Google Labs Challenger!

2008-08-07T03:56:00.000-07:00

The future of online experience is now here. Everybody has been used to Windows and the Internet Explorer - the way things are arranged and set up for us. But Mozilla I guess wants to shake all that up with their new Concept Series. The idea here being to provoke thought, facilitate discussion, and inspire future design directions for Firefox, the Mozilla project, and the Web as a whole.

In effect it looks like Google labs, where you're allowed basically to speak your mind and share your ideas. More like a think-tank where people can interact and contribute. It's actually quite cool that this has been developed

What better way to learn what the market wants than getting them involved right? From a marketing critic standpoint, Mozilla has made a direct challenge to Google labs and has found a way to actually better them. By having actual users share their ideas, mockups and prototypes. This is what I would call user generated content in its purest form. Starting from ideas and improving upon them is one of key factors as to why the internet and its proponents i.e. Wikipedia and Open Source are such a success. When the collective contribute to a common goal, there is just a great potential for success

As an example, one of the really neat things that I've seen so far is the Aurora concept. The video below will outline how it works quite nicely. It's actually quite cool. Organizing your desktop in the more innovative fashion that they've designed.

Aurora (Part 1) from Adaptive Path on Vimeo.

Learn more about Mozilla Labs right here

Will We Have To Start Learning Mandarin Now That China Is The Biggest Net Nation?

2008-07-29T05:29:00.000-07:00

I was wondering what the implications would be when China became the biggest nation that uses the internet, and I guess now that wondering will have to become a set of action items.

China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) just announced that China has already outstripped the United States at internet penetration. There are now 253 million internet users in China. According to BBC this is 30 million higher than the United States web population.

Although by percentage the US is still more saturated with internet aficionados with 71%, just knowing that China's web population is still at 19% only goes to show that the potential for growth is so high, China will most likely quadruple the current web population easy. They're already projected to be at 490 million by 2012.

Will this mean that online marketing will have to accommodate Mandarin and Fukien into content and creative? It might if businesses will start to target the Chinese-speaking community. For the longest time, the internet has almost been solely in English with a little translation here and there. It's a positive sign for Eastern based internet companies like Baidu and Alibaba as growth seems to be inevitable.

If most of the world already knows Mandarin (I do and I come from a tiny country called the Philippines), then I guess there's no reason why the rest of the online community shouldn't follow

The First of its Kind - Animated Magazine Cover! Esquire to Use Electronic Paper Display Available in September

2008-07-28T19:06:00.001-07:00

Imagine having a magazine's cover flash before your eyes. Microcapsules thinner than hair will be used to contain pigments and enable and electronic paper display very similar to the technology being used by Amazon's Kindle and the Sony ebook reader.

It would just be great to have images and words literally jump up from a page to catch your attention. This is definitely revolutionary for print advertising. One of the edges so far of online marketing to print advertising is the capacity to animate. Something that has been a big challenge for print.

This new EPD technology is made of microcapsules containing black and white pigments. When a charge is added, depending on the polarity, the pigment particles rise to the top creating the image. This is bound in flexible plastic (in contrast to the glass that is used in LCD devices). This will be powered by a battery that's thin and pliable and should last for about 90 days.

In Esquire's 75th anniversary issue this October, they're about to change all that with this EPD technology. Their cover is supposed to scroll the words “The 21st Century Begins Now.”

You could surmise this would cost a fortune so to offset, the inside page of the flashing cover has been sold to Ford who is expected to also maximize the technology to feature Ford flex in a double-page ad

via Folio

Your Ultimate Marketer Is YOUR Customer

2008-07-25T07:12:00.000-07:00

Yes that is true, the best person to market your product isn't some big-shot celebrity or overpaid public personality, it is your most loyal customer. This is why testimonial advertising works so well. Because people have a tendency to believe those who have actually purchased your product. People who aren't paid to speak well of your product are more credible don't you think?

Anyway, Topshop UK just makes my case and point in this matter with their really cool marketing campaign that let's Topshop customers sport their Topshop gear and pose for the camera by setting up temporary photo studios in three of its London, Manchester and Dublin stores.

Inspired by one of the greats in fashion photography - Helmut Newton, Topshop saved on photographer professional fees as the mini studio was automated in such a way that people can walk in, strike a pose and press a button to set lights and camera in action

Customers can receive a copy of their photo or better yet view them online in Newtonmachinetopshop.com. As a marketing critic, this is certainly a very well-thought campaign. The cost was certainly taken into consideration as well as the consumer appeal. It not only sparks interest with people who might have only intended to go window-shopping, it's also a really cool incentive for loyal customers who patronize the place. Definitely something in the "why-didn't-I-think-of-that" list.

Top 3 Reasons Why Knol Will Beat The Life Out Of Wikipedia

2008-07-24T04:40:00.000-07:00

Google has just formally announced the launching of Knol. I already blogged about Knol month's ago late 2007 entitled "Google to challenge Wikipedia?" And at the time, Knol was hardly interesting. Knol looked like a Wikipedia twin with no unique attribute worth mentioning except for the money of course (let's not forget the revenue sharing from Adsense). But even so I didn't think they could catch up with Wikipedia, considering Wikipedia's size, popularity and coverage. At the time of my previous posting, it sounded like another "blah" to me.

But the Google announcement just proved me wrong. It just hit me how big this can truly be and how much potential Knol has to really beat the life out of Wikipedia. And here are the top 3 reasons

Knowledge for knowledge's sake? Give me a break! Sure there are people out there who are truly devoted to the advancement of human knowledge. I read that thousands of volunteers contribute to Wikipedia and that just shows how people can work together for a worthy cause without compensation. BUT what if there was compensation? Now here's the number 1 reason for why a lot of people might and most likely will start contributing to Knol - the money. The capacity to generate income from authorship. The more articles you right the more chances you'll make money.

Now you can ask, why not just make your own blog and write your content there? A writer can still make money off that right? Well, one thing that Knol will have that your blog will most likely not have is content so rich and so varied that it will rock the search engine results page. This is how Wikipedia did it and this is how Google will beat them at their own game.

Wikipedia is content-rich and is just tied together by quality anchor links that are so related it just creates a web of pages that cannot help but rank in the search engines. Google cannot let Wikipedia pass them by on this one, especially since Google has an advertising platform and Wikipedia does not. I admire Wikipedia for that by the way - that is truly knowledge for knowledge's sake.

A second reason for pursuing Knol is the fact that it's a Google product. You know that it will have more chances of ranking up there on the most used search engine platform. If you're a marketer (correction, if you're a smart marketer), you'll put your company's name up there with or better yet, put down an article that is about your industry/ market. It's content generation that supports lead acquisition.

The third and final reason - Google says that it will allow multiple people to create Knols on the same subject. Knol allows users to rate and review Knols, and will likely include ranking as part of search results. If you think about it, one topic can have multiple variations. Just like all stories have different sides, Knol will allow users to actually write their own versions (a bit scary I think). But the fact that articles can be rated and reviewed allows a more dynamic nature in terms of content creation.

I do feel a bit sorry for Wikipedia. But it seems Google felt the need to challenge their platform. Unless there are still Wikipedia champions out there or unless Wikipedia decides to innovate themselves, it looks like they're going to be left eating Google cyber dust.

What Would You Do For $100 Gas Card? One Guy Gave Up The Naming Rights To His First Child

2008-07-12T22:23:00.000-07:00

A dad from Orlando (David Partin) just traded his first baby's name for $100 gas card from a Florida radio station show called Dixon & Willoughby morning show. So his child will be named Dixon Willoughby. The hosts were kind enough to let the "&" go. The contest's premise was, "What would you do for a $100 gas card?"

There were apparently other interesting offers such as this girl who offered to clean the hosts' house in a skimpy outfit, a collection of stuffed animals and landscape advice.

Apparently none came close to the opportunity to name someone's first child. While the marketing concept used here was really cool. As a marketing critic I have to say it is quite original and daring. 2 things that make any marketing campaign attract attention. But another question it implies is -- Is the economic condition really that bad?

Either he considers the $100 gas-card more important than being able to name his kid or he just didn't really care. Some priorities are just different to some people I guess. I wouldn't trade my kid's name for money if my condition was still bearable. I would want my kid's name to mean something to me, not be bought for $100 gas card.

He's getting the gas card on December when his girlfriend gives birth, who knows what gas prices will be then? It may triple per liter who knows right?

Google Lively - Revolutionizing Chat and Avatars

2008-07-11T20:09:00.000-07:00

In an effort to combine chat, Google has decided to go into the virtual world. I tried it and downloaded Lively, but will probably need a full half-day to study how it works and how to maximize it before I can actually enjoy it. I'm thinking of dragging friends into it, I guess that will be the only way to figure it out becoming bored to death.

Currently Google markets lively as a "chat experience in which you can communicate and express yourself using avatars in your very own space."

It does look fun in that there is this comic version of yourself - I still have to figure out trying to change some parts of the appearance I'm not really satisfied with (not unlike the real physical self now is it?). The chat message pops up like in a comic book. Anyway, it's not so bad - you can move from one room to another. Signing up over again though for each room. You can build your own too. Customization is nice but you'll have to learn it.

All's Fair In Love and Marketing -- Win A Prize For Using Live SearchA;;

2008-07-09T04:17:00.000-07:00

Microsoft live search is bribing people to use their search engine. Apparently you get to win secret prizes through everyday searches instantly.

According to the Secret Search website on how to get rewarded:

With Secret Search you can win great prizes every fifteen minutes just by searching using Live Search. Every search you make flips three mystery cards to reveal prizes to be won. If your three cards match – you win! There are thousands of prizes to be won*

How to play:

It's easy. Just do your everyday searches from one of these places:

1. Secret Search
2. Secret Search browser default - Download below

If your first search doesn't win, don't worry - prizes are won every fifteen minutes, so your next search might be a winner.

Only disclaimer here being that there is a limit of 10 entries and 10 prizes per person. Which sounds like a pretty good deal.

It's not a bad strategy actually. Makes sense to bank on people's hopes and chances of winning. All's fair in love and marketing according to this marketing critic. If Microsoft can't get users to search on their engine because they're big or because of their coverage, then a contest might just draw them in.

There's a chance to win every 15 minutes. And according to the stats on their website as of right now, there's 20 days remaining for Microsoft live search to increase their search volume and about 1,879 prizes to be given out.

Note though that the URL for this contest is Australia or (AU) so I'm not sure if people not from down below will still get prizes, but I don't see why not. Plugging this contest online makes it fair play for the rest of the world, that's for sure.

This is a good way to increase traffic and search volume. Kudos to MSN Australia for sticking their neck out to test this.

Here's the result for the keyword "Marketing Critic" on Live search

Yours truly -- my blog is number 1 out of 10.8 million search results! Now that's a prize all on its own. Yey!

No More Google Referrals

2008-07-06T05:48:00.001-07:00

If you haven't checked your email yet - like me, you'll find out now that Google is retiring the AdSense Referrals program during the last week of August.

And here are their suggestions to alternatives for the program:

Google Affiliate Network: As part of the integration of DoubleClick, the DoubleClick Performics Affiliate Network will now operate as the Google Affiliate Network for advertisers targeting users located in the United States. Similar to the AdSense Referrals program, the Google Affiliate Network enables publishers to apply for advertiser programs and get paid based on advertiser-defined actions instead of clicks or impressions. For further details, please visit: www.google.com/ads/affiliatenetwork.

AdSense for content ads: If you have less than three AdSense for content ad units on a page, you may wish to replace the referral ad units with standard AFC ad units.

Basically they're saying it's off and it's time to do something else. I read somewhere that people weren't screened enough as part of Google Referrals. So right now publishers will need to apply to be part of the Affiliate Network, even if they are already an AdSense client.

Google Takes It Offline

2008-07-06T05:35:00.000-07:00

Google just launched a new blog called "Let's take it Offline." It takes you into the world of NON-online marketing, in other words traditional marketing campaigns like print, television and radio.

Google is basically expanding itself beyond the world it already "owns" so to speak. Considering the market coverage of Google - they basically well... rule (would be the right word).

Google's Traditional Media Blog supports their alternative marketing platforms - which by the way they are also offering now as part of Google Adwords. Talk about diversification!

Visit Google's Traditional Media Blog

Google Adsense Is Experimenting With Fonts

2008-07-03T17:26:00.000-07:00

Here's something cool I just discovered today. I usually see my Google Adsense ads in Arial font but one set of ads today came out in Trebuchet I think. I read in Search Engine Roundtable that it's Comic Sans. It's great have to witness experimentation. I wonder which one would work better.

My money would be on Arial since it is more readable, but having all of Google Adsense ads come out in Arial is also a disadvantage as people get used to it. Encourages ad blindness in many cases.

This is a novel execution. I do hope the option will be available soon. Would be worth a test

The Story Of The Transgender Pregnancy Continues - Thomas Beatie Delivers A Baby Girl!

2008-07-03T17:13:00.000-07:00

In one of my older posts, I mentioned a Transgender "man" that claimed he was pregnant. Everyone was dubious of course, since this could very well be another hoax for 15-minutes of fame.
But guess what, this guy just gave birth last week to a healthy baby girl (and not by ceasarian). That is some feat. For Thomas Beatie who used to be Tracy Lagondino though, becoming a pregnant "man" wasn't really that difficult.

He was born Tracy Lagondino - so a woman by birth and eventually decided to become a man 10 years ago. He is recognized under Oregon state law as a man and is legally married to his wife, Nancy. But what he didn't do was take out his female reproductive system when he underwent the sex change. He just took testosterone treatment and had surgery to remove mammary glands and flatten his chest. Apparently he decided to bear the child because his wife is no longer able to conceive.

Essentially inside, Thomas Beatie was still very female. And so the pregnancy wasn't really an act of impossibility. It's just rather surprising that you see a grown looking man with a pregnant belly. Which is probably why he was on Oprah last April to show off.

Anyway, they should be very happy that they now have a baby girl. Congratulations!

Facebook And The Sex Pronoun Problem?

2008-06-29T06:08:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if this should even be a problem. Having people determine their sex or gender is well such a small thing I think that it's absurd to have to force people into doing it for the sake of grammatical accuracy.

So here comes the problem, right now they're having people enter what sex or gender they are because it has occurred to Facebook that grammatical errors in the automated messages Facebook uses to personalize pronouns when members share information with their friends have increased.

I think Facebook just wants to demographically get people in their buckets for ADVERTISING reasons. It's kind of hard to market yourself with 30% female, 28% male and oh yeah, 42% - undetermined population.

Google Ad Planner For Online Marketing and Advertisers

2008-06-25T03:45:00.000-07:00

Here's one of the best things about Google, new free tools for everybody to use! Aside from being on the famous breast implants of Pamela Anderson, Google has even got more people talking with the new Google Ad Planner.

The Ad planner is Google's answer to the prayers of so many media planners. By feeding Ad Planner with their target audience's demographic information, media planners will get a list of sites that should prove effective marketing vehicles. This is something I could definitely use.

"To make your life easier, we're introducing Google Ad Planner, a research and media planning tool that connects advertisers and publishers. When using Google Ad Planner, simply enter demographics and sites associated with your target audience, and the tool will return information about sites (both on and off the Google content network) that your audience is likely to visit. You can drill down further to get more detail like demographics and related searches for a particular site, or you can get aggregate statistics for the sites you've added to your media plan," reads the official blog posting.

The Google Ad Planner is still on beta and is by invitation only. Get your Free shot at the Free Google ad planner with this application

Google Hypes A New Ad Measurement Tool

2008-06-24T05:50:00.000-07:00

There have been rumors that Google is about to launch a new ad measurement tool for advertisers and agencies. Seeing as how great Google analytics has become and how useful it is to very many online marketers and businesses. There is no doubt that I will be one of those watching and waiting for this new tool to arrive.

This tool intended for launch today - Tuesday! I can't wait, can measure Internet use to help advertisers identify the best places to buy ads that will reach their target audiences. Best part of all this is that the new Google tool will be FREE just like analytics. And that my friends, makes the whole trial and error thing worthwhile.

Sure it's not going to be perfect, but the fact that it's free means that the risk to trying it out is very minimal while Google has the most to gain. Google's results will be based on data collected from Web servers, providing a deeper and broader picture of Internet behavior. By giving away the new tool, Google could attract more advertising business.

Google again trying to rule the world with Free stuff - always works

Why Did Youtube Launch "The Screening Room"?

2008-06-22T06:10:00.000-07:00

Here's Youtube with its free platform and easy-to-use interface, it has attracted millions upon millions of user-generated videos and millions upon millions of visitors as a result. Why in the world would they go around and try to promote something almost entirely different - "The Screening Room" which apparently devotes itself exclusively to selected independent films.

Films shown on the (virtual) Screening Room, four short films every two weeks, as well as the occasional full-length feature, will be eligible for YouTube's revenue-sharing program, whereby filmmakers split some of the income from the advertising that accompanies their movies. YouTube never says much about what this can amount to, but stories circulate about the odd person who can make a living by stringing together enough million-plus-hit video clips according to LA Times blog.

"It's important to be able to enable others by helping them finance their next project," said Jordan Hoffner, YouTube's director of content partnerships. "We've seen that a lot with Google," he said, alluding to its advertising system for websites. "People were able to quit their day jobs and do the things they were really passionate about."

I think Youtube is trying to get itself into the entertainment business for the long haul. Youtube has prided itself on user-generated content which is all good and all free, but you have to admit, there is no one-time million dollar deal that comes with continually showing all these videos, 9 out of 10 of which is probably plagiarized, 8 out of 10 of which most likely sucks and 7 out of 10 of which will most likely be the cause of legal action.

So where does Youtube turn? To the hungry independent film-makers, wanting to be seen! Bring on the next possible block buster! Television and cinema will have to watch out, the next worldwide premiere may just happen on the internet.

Two Of The Best Condom Commercials I've Seen

2008-06-14T23:04:00.000-07:00

Here are 2 condom commercials that are actually pretty good. I think they have been a little controversial since they were made in the Philippines and shown in the Philippines. There is a touch of "conservativism" in the Philippines if you can believe that.

There have been many complaints about how condom commercials are prevalent on prime time television, seeming to encourage under-age sex and stuff that old people would really rather not talk about.

Anyway, I think it's more of responsible programming and responsible viewing. When your child is watching a show that says "parental guidance" then I guess it would be natural that the ads might just be for "parental guidance" as well.

These 2 commercials are from Frenzy condom and they feature a very good looking girl and guy (Rafael Rosell I think.

They have managed to make it quite creative, colorful and kinky at the same time. There's a touch of color in each one, and sexiness that is tempered to the effect that it doesn't look blatant or disgusting. Both commercials are only 20 seconds long

The basic premise of both commercials is very simple. Basically to say that when "in the mood (for sex" then best to be prepared (with a condom). It's responsible intercourse I'd say. Although I do agree that it should just apply for a certain age-group of let's say 18 and up? Or am I being a wee bit conservative as well. Maybe the reality is 15 years old and up?

Samsung Omnia Tries To Steal Apple iPhone's Thunder

2008-06-10T06:01:00.000-07:00

Timing is key in marketing. Particularly when it comes to new product launches. One recent incident that proves this, is the Samsung Omnia announcement in the midst of the Apple iPhone 3G hype.

Apple's cheaper and faster iPhone is set to launch on July 11 so it's easy to predict that marketing for that right now is in full swing to get people ready for it's actual launch date. Samsung's Omnia though is far from seeing mass international availability but they decided to "leak out" some details just recently to get people in the comparison mood when they take a look at the new 3G iPhone.

I think that's a smart way to sort of stump the competition. There wasn't much detail about SGH-i900 released, only basic features and highlights - emphasizing similarities to the iPhone as well as edging the strong points of Samsung care of CRN.com

Samsung added that the Omnia will be available in 8 GB and 16 GB versions and support a range of multimedia, such as video standards like DivX, XviD, H.263, H.264, Windows Media Video and MP4. It will offer a music player that can hold roughly 4,000 songs in the 16 GB version. It will feature a 5 megapixel camera auto-focus with anti-shake technology and face and smile detection, compared to iPhone's 2 megapixel camera. The Omnia will feature other tools like GPS and Bluetooth compatibility.

This will be a nice head-on marketing competition between Apple and Samsung. I would personally like to see the Korean Samsung go against Steve Jobs - the marketing savvy and brain power that went with the campaigns will be very interesting.

Miley Cyrus' Got Milk Campaign

2008-06-10T05:18:00.000-07:00

Miley Cyrus also known as that fictional pop star Hannah Montana, has now fully recovered from her flogging on the Vanity Fair incident. If you live under a rock and have no clue what I'm talking about, check this article "Miley Cyrus Topless in Vanity Fair Spread - yet another photo scandal"

She has suffered from the criticisms left and right but she has also received so much publicity from it, she even got a standing offer from Hugh Hefner to pose for Playboy! (when she's 18 of course!)

Nevertheless, Miley Cyrus is still very marketable. Here she is for a "Got milk" campaign. Her image is definitely adolescent just like their target market.

"Got milk" spotlights Miley Cyrus on the "Girl Power" phenomenon, empowering young girls worldwide. This is nice despite all of Miley Cyrus' personal battles, she is still able to embody what girls all over the world would like to be - successful, famous, rich and talked about...

15-Second Shampoo Commercial Worth Watching

2008-06-01T06:28:00.000-07:00

Here's a 15-second shampoo commercial from Biolink. This marketing critic gives it 2 thumbs up. It's no nonsense and it grabs your attention right away. No pretty faces to distract you from the product, no long introductions, no B.S. - just straight-forward, in-your-face marketing.

Aside from the obvious voice-over, this is what this commercial says to me, "Here's what our product can do for you. It won't do miracles for other parts of your anatomy, but your hair will look great!"

Cultural Awareness Applied To Marketing Ads - The Rachel Ray and Dunkin Donuts Scarf/ Keffiyeh Disaster

2008-05-29T06:21:00.000-07:00

How unfortunate that a sweet personality like Rachel Ray has become the victim of the social stressors by simply putting on the wrong accessory in an online marketing ad campaign for a dough nut ad nonetheless.

Rachel Ray by the way, for those who have been living under a rock is a talk-show host, cookbook author and magazine editor. She has her own shows - 2 on the Food Network - "30 Minute Meals" and "Rachael Ray's Tasty Travels" - and the syndicated "Rachael Ray," which are shot in New York.

In one of the Dunkin Donut ads, which Rachel Ray has been promoting since March, she wears a scarf that resembles a keffiyeh -- a traditional headdress worn by Arab men -- after conservative commentators became enraged by the ad and even threatened to boycott the company.

After pulling the ad May 24, Dunkin' Donuts issued a statement from Margie Myers, senior vice president of communications for Dunkin' Brands: "In a recent online ad, Rachael Ray is wearing a black-and-white silk scarf with a paisley design. It was selected by the stylist for the advertising shoot. Absolutely no symbolism was intended. However, as of this past weekend, we are no longer using the online ad because the possibility of misperception detracted from its original intention to promote our iced coffee" according to ABC News

On the flip side, it is a bit absurd how an article of clothing could entice so much negative attention. A spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Ahmed Rehab said "I think it's a mistake to demonize a single article of clothing. Yes, maybe some suicide bombers have worn it, but so have a million other non-suicide bombers. It'd be as ludicrous as decrying clothes because all 19 people involved in the Sept. 11 attacks wore clothes."

And I agree with him. Although it is a significant concern to every marketing campaign that cultural bounds are not stepped on, there should be a balance.

I do hope that after all the publicity gained by this ad campaign, Dunkin Donuts still got to sell some iced coffee.

Target Your Ad Campaigns Towards Demographics On YouTube Insight

2008-05-21T10:25:00.001-07:00

Google's blog announced that people though not necessarily impressed with YouTube Insight, did use them in their video uploading behavior in terms of which audiences tuned in and at what times to assess the effectiveness of ad campaigns

Demographic features have been added to YouTube Insight. YouTube Insight can now display view count information broken down by age group (such as ages 18-24), gender, or a combination of the two, to help you get a better understanding of the makeup of your YouTube audience.

YouTube Insight shows general information about viewers in anonymous and aggregate form, based on the birth date and gender information that users share with us when they create YouTube accounts. This means that individual users can't be personally identified - a privacy concern addressed right there.

Insight now also displays statistics based on the combined total views of all the videos you've uploaded. Just as you can explore the view counts and popularity of individual videos, with this feature you can see your account's total number of views, and your relative popularity on YouTube compared to other users, based on geographic location.

Microsoft On Yahoo, "If You Can't Buy Them, Buy FROM Them"

2008-05-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Microsoft has withdrawn from their attempts friendly and hostile to "buy" Yahoo, instead they are reportedly to just buy "the services" of Yahoo. Guess we see now who needs who right?

Actual statement:

“In light of developments since the withdrawal of the Microsoft proposal to acquire Yahoo! Inc., Microsoft announced that it is continuing to explore and pursue its alternatives to improve and expand its online services and advertising business. Microsoft is considering and has raised with Yahoo! an alternative that would involve a transaction with Yahoo! but not an acquisition of all of Yahoo! Microsoft is not proposing to make a new bid to acquire all of Yahoo! at this time, but reserves the right to reconsider that alternative depending on future developments and discussions that may take place with Yahoo! or discussions with shareholders of Yahoo! or Microsoft or with other third parties.