Playing the best stuff on earth

IHT covered a very interesting cross-media promotion that Snapple is doing at a radio station in Boston.

The gist of the article is that apparently Snapple has bought 40 days of sponsorship, making this radio station commercial-free (save for promotional mentions and giveaway tie-ins)... but that's not all. It looks like they may do something smart; and that's also support a website that is going to take this promotion online to hit the lucrative 18-34 demographic.

I reserve judgement till I see it; but it starts June 1. I'll report back on it after I listen to how it's put together in practice, and see the material in practice.

Lots of promise, though.

Praise is good

Shameless plug, have to do it.

Whoooa dude... The revised site looks F*%#"/N great....

Fully-Foliaged Money

Spam is a part of our day as much as junk mail is. There is going to be no getting around or eliminating it.

Is it annoying? Yes. Can it be malicious? Yes, if you're not careful (don't open attachments from those you don't know). But it is here to stay. So I shall laugh.

"Get your money, Fully Foliaged!"
Now I gotta ask. Is money now growing leaves? I've heard of people saying that other people think it grows on trees, but I have yet to see a Franklin sprouting leaves. If it is growing leaves, can I get it to procreate? Are there money seeds? Now show me where I can get those, and we might be in business.

"Buy OEM Software."
Do you really think I'm that stupid? I know it's not totally legit. That also might be the one of the worst call-to-action statements I've ever seen. That's like saying, "Buy bread."

"Ephedra works __________ (insert word here)"
That is the most popular spam lately, along with the penny-stock scam. I wonder how Ephedra could get me t0 STOP GETTING YOUR SPAM.

"It's Here, Now."
What is here, what are you talking about? Delete Now. If you're a legitimate e-mail, you need a much better subject line.

"Tag Heuer watch provides you real respect of the others"
So basically, your watch stinks and is not as good as the competition?

First steps of IPTV...

Cable companies have got to be shaking in their boots, and calling lots of lawyers.

Found a site on the dvorak.org blog that caught my eye, channelchooser.com (warning: there are a couple adult stations on the site at the bottom).

I brought the link over here because it's the first steps toward broadcast IPTV, completely circumventing the cable network (AKA the Cable companies' worst fear, because remember, all these cable companies get money from the cable networks to carry them... if the networks don't need the cable companies.... you see the issue). Niche networks like TechTv pay $100 million a year just for the cable company to carry them, according to Leo Laporte on one of his Twitcasts.

Not that this is going to happen immediately; but a crude start such as channelchooser is yet another harbinger of things to come in a couple years; the complete democratization of content.

Instead of producing for the millions, it's all about niche audiences. It's silly, but small may be the new big... validating the business model of content for a few thousand, as opposed to all the expense of hitting the millions.

This will become even more prevalent (and start to snowball) as the population that is 30 and under moves through the lifecycle.

Web 2.0 Idea Help

Have you wanted to start a "Web 2.0" company, but short on ideas? Well, get your name and product here:

http://www.andrewwooldridge.com/myapps/webtwopointoh.html

Online Video Gets Better Ad Recall

ABC has been streaming some shows as part of it's "leap" into providing content online.

The interesting thing that paidcontent.org found out is that the ad recall rate is up to 86%, roughly double that of standard TV.

There are stats missing as the article points out... visitors, uniques... and the ad system is different as it's one sponsor with much shorter ad breaks (which I've been a fan of for online content for awhile, especially the shorter breaks). If you make the break short enough, people will deal with it and watch, and then you also prevent people from having time to get up and totally ignore your message.

My personal opinion is that advertising on online multimedia content can go gangbusters, and create a whole new way for salespeople to make money for content providers. There also is alot of opportunity for small & medium players, as well as print publications, to move into the digital space.

The key to success, I believe, is going to be "niche" and "value." Make your material targeted at a specific audience so that you can get more money for less spots, using the argument of prime placement.

The shotgun approach works for network TV. For IPTV and Audio, it's all about laser-focus.

So Steady, Aim.... Fire!

Why the iPod Rules Digital Music

Here's a little bit on how to corner a market...

I was playing with my iPod Nano, and I started thinking, "why is it that I always buy an iPod? Why wouldn't I consider anything else?"

I first discounted looks. That's a category open for easy debate... I like the looks, but 80% of the market doesn't spend money just on looks alone (a significant portion does, but not the whole market).

Then I got to thinking about other mp3 players I've seen and used, and realized the magic formula any competitor is going to have to deliver, and consistently doesn't.

Let's first look at functionality. My iPod has a very nice color screen (at Target today, I looked for others at the $149 price point my Nano is at, and couldn't find too much). But more than the screen, it's what is on it.

I can see album art, I can see the lyrics to my songs (all at the press of the centre button), and I can also see the content from enhanced podcasts (which are great for business purposes) right on my screen. I can't on the other devices - and as I am someone who likes liner notes, album art, etc. I really appreciate having the digital version in my hands at all times.

Take this against the Sony product at this price point. Beyond looks, the Sony unit is not well-built and plasticky... not to mention, it's LCD screen has only two lines of information.

The Sony has 70 hours of battery life on one AAA battery. But I don't care. It means I have to buy batteries. I hate buying batteries. I'll take my 14 hours on a Nano, and just remember to charge it, since I'm updating my Nano anyway with podcasts and the like daily.

Both of these products are at a $149 price point. One lets me do almost everything I want, gives me my whole music experience with me wherever I go (and I use it at the office quite a bit, since I don't want my laptop carrying my whole music library); the other is just feature deficient... and that is even before we start talking about how bad Windows DRM, and how poor (in general) the subscription content user experience is (not to mention, if 80% are using the iTunes buy-it way, then it shows me that it's the preference. There are many services and players out there that are functional).

Yes, Apple uses DRM. But it stays out of my way. It doesn't stick out like a sore thumb every time I want to experience digital music.

So when Microsoft, Sony, and everyone else decide to get serious about a music player, actually listen to customers and deliver them what they want, they'll start eroding market share. Until then, digital music will continue to Think Different (tm).

A little introspection

One of my favourite clients has a saying that came to my mind today whilst I was working late.

"Keep the main thing the main thing."

I got to thinking about, and trying to figure out when exactly this saying isn't true. When is it not important to keep the main thing most important?

After about an hour, I couldn't think of any place where this saying does not apply... and how many times I've seen people (and myself) drift from the "main thing."

One of the biggest dangers in business is to lose focus of your goal; I know for a fact our success multiplied when we focused back on what we started out to do as an organization, directly in the face of what many people said we should do. But we did the research, we know which way the wind is blowing... which reminds me of what my grandmother taught me and had in her apartment:

"One ship sails East,
And another West,
By the self-same winds that blow,
'Tis the set of the sails
And not the gales,
That tells the way we go."

People love to say no. It's always easiest to say no. It's always easy to come up with an excuse.

Surround yourself with people who don't take the easy route in this respect.