Brand Central Station

BoreMe.com has published a list of the top viral ads and videos of 2005. Top ads include work for Toyota (pictured below).

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Advertising, Viral Advertising, Viral Ads, Viral Videos

No, the Micro Persuasion blog’s Steve Rubel is not promoting the next generation of Karl Marx’s social revolution, instead he’s hit on a significant trend that will help monetize the “social web” – more commonly referred to as Web 2.0. The point made is that most of us in the blogosphere are too small or too specialized to make conventional web advertising (i.e. AdSense, BlogAds etc.) a practical source of revenues.

As Steve aptly notes:

“… I don’t see ads generating more than pocket change for the majority of
citizen’s media projects, at least right now …”

Instead, what Steve sees as a major trend is the continued development of web sites and blogs where

“… people can collaborate online, get advice from trusted individuals, find goods and services and then purchase them. It shrinks the research and purchasing cycle by creating a single destination powered by the power of many.”

Steve also provides a link to David Beisel’s article on social commerce on David’s Genuine VC blog. David’s comments that social commerce is a subset of “advertorial content” is interesting in that he suggests advertising content can become so relevant to a reader that it becomes the content that matters.

Interesting concepts – at least to me, because in a way it validates what I’ve been doing with Brand Central Station for the past five years.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Advertising, Web Advertising, AdSense, BlogAds, Social Commerce, Brand Central Station, Micro Persuasion

All the silly laughter aside, this may be one “year-end list” worth a second look as we try to provide insights and advice to clients concerned about the continued diffusion of media and messages. Pete Blackshaw, CMO at Intelliseek, provides a concise look back on some of the most significant developments of the past year.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Advertising, Media, 2005 Review, 2006 Predictions, TiVo, DVR, Blog, Blogging

Is there a point where “brand evangelism” goes a bit too far? I get people who wear logos on t-shirts, spend money on an iDog or whatever. But putting holes in your body to sport the logo of Microsoft’s Xbox is a bit over the top, isn’t it?

Special thanks to Jack Cheng and his blog for both the tip and the visual.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Brand Evangelism, Consumer Empowerment, Brands, Branding, Microsoft, Xbox, Stupid Human Tricks

Ok, so this is an end-of-year post that otherwise might not make it, but as I was surfing through the YesButNoButYes blog, I ran across a link to a web page that pictured the “winners” of the 2005 national can stacking championships.

Maybe I’m the only one, but I had no idea can stacking was a competitive event. I always figured it was the new guy in the stock room who had to line up all the cans of peas and beans to make sure the label faced forward. But for this competition, various engineering and architectural firms used commercially available food cans to create these three-dimensional works of art.

There’s some good news to the end of this story. After the competition was over, all of the cans of food went to various food banks around the country.

Cool idea. Very creative and, apparently, an annual event.

Technorati Tags: Retail Design, In-Store Marketing, Grocery, Canned Food, Can Stacking

Steve Rubel at the newly re-designed, Micro Persuasion blog, has pointed out a new mashup that provides a visual key to navigating Yahoo News.

Here’s a link to the mash-up with visually displays top stories in any of fifteen different categories. Other bloggers (like John Schott and Nishi are starting to blog about this, as well.)

Technorati Tags: Journalism, Web Mash-Ups, Web/Tech, Yahoo! News, Micro Persuasion

It was a matter of time, I suppose, before a government body tried to ban online marketing. In this case, The Advertising Standards Authority in the UK has banned a viral video promoting a new game.

But as Niall Cook points out on his blog in Hill & Knowlton’s Collective Conversation blog, if you’re interested in finding out what all the fuss is about, all you have to do is Google the name of the game or check out the cached versions of web sites that complied with the ASA’s ban.

This whole thing raises an interesting point – don’t you do more to enhance the viral nature of a promotion by publicly banning its legitimate dissemination and forcing it “underground”?

UPDATE: Stuart Bruce, a PR and online marketing expert from BruceMarhsall Associates in the UK let us know that the Advertising Standards Authority is not a governmental body, but rather a self-regulatory body run by the advertising industry. Thanks for the correction, Stuart.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Online Marketing, Blog Marketing, Blogging, Viral Promotion, ASA, BBC

MediaPost reports that Google is continuing its push to offer print media opportunities to its online advertisers. According to the summary on MarketingVOX today (12/21):

“The new move is the result of Google’s consultations with a council of thought leaders from Google’s top ad agencies. Though Google spokesmen would provide no specifics, one confirmed that Google is exploring ways of extending its reach via other forms of offline media, but would not say exactly which.”

Where Google goes with this effort is important to just about every marketing service provider on the planet – but almost as interesting are the convolutions some of the big agencies are going through as they try to figure out exactly what Google is doing. Spend some more time with the MediaPost article to get a clearer understanding of the level of distrust between parties.

Personally, I don’t think the ad industry has as much to fear from Google as a direct competitor (e.g. as a competing media brokerage service) as it does from the change Google could enable in an industry that hasn’t really experienced revolutionary change for the past sixty-plus years. If Google were to successfully introduce a more accountable method of serving, tracking and charging for ad impressions, the “ratings game” we’ve come to know and tolerate over the past few generations would need to be blown up and fundamentally changed.

Will Google do that? I don’t know. But if anyone can, my money would be on the G-men.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Advertising, Media, Media Brokerage, Brokerage, Google

In keeping with the spirit of the season, I thought I’d post links to a couple of articles about Santas and their “approach” to spreading the joy of the world. Our first example,, featured on the Son-Of-A-Pitch blog, is a British Santa who makes sure the local parking attendants don’t ruin your “reason for the season.”

Compare that to the “bad Santas” we found the other day and the contrast is like night and day.

Technorati Tags: Culture, Christmas, Santa, UK, United Kindgom, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Deutschland

Are you happy with the performance of your web site? Research shows that if you’re a solo practitioner or consultant, you’re more likely than not to be disappointed with your investment to-date in your online presence.

Mike McLaughlin, the Guerrilla Consulting Guru reveals the findings of his research on this subject in this compelling newsletter article that provides six tips on how consultants can make their web marketing efforts more successful. The advice is gathered from the survey responses of over 400 independent consultants.

They’re advice? In short:

1. Make the web a high priority.

2. Keep your stuff fresh – remember, “content is king.”

3. Give up the goods – offer proprietary information for clients to read or download at no cost.

4. Look at who’s looking at you – monitor visitor traffic patterns.

5. Don’t create in a vacuum – ask your clients what they need to know and then provide it to them on your web site.

6. Balance promotion with value – your web site should promote your practice but it should also include a healthy dose of educational material, as well.

Great advice for those of us who provide counsel to clients.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Web Marketing, Online Marketing, Consultant Marketing, Solo Practitioners, Marketing Guerilla

It’s just a few days until Christmas and if you’re like me, you might be wondering what you’re going to get that special someone in your life this year. Well, thanks to the wonders of technology and a slow blogging day, I’ve stumbled across a one-word answer:

Robots.

Actually, I have Peter Davidson and his Peterthink blog to thank for the inspiration. This post provides a little background on the popularity of robotic cleaners, etc. as gifts for the holiday season.

Of course, I knew this was hot a while ago when I saw this commercial parody on Saturday Night Live.

Technorati Tags: Design, Marketing, Robots, Television, Trends, Web/Tech, Personality Brands, Roomba, Woomba, SNL

Gari Cruze’s AdBlather blog provides this look at a promotional ad for Volvo. The Swedish auto-maker expertly leverages the brand equity of the American Red Cross to underscore their company’s commitment to safety and quality.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Advertising, Print, Art Direction, Graphic Design, Automotive Advertising, Volvo