ChaosScenario

Listen up! Podcasts You Should Be Listening To

I recently wrote an article for ClickZ about the podcasts I listen to. With all of the industry information at our disposal via print, websites, email, etc., I know it seems odd to recommend yet another format. However, I've found podcasts to be a great way to hear what other interactive and marketing experts are doing and thinking - and I can do it on the run. I listen on the treadmill, in the car, on airplanes or wherever I have a few moments. The other thing I did in this article was write a quick summary on each podcast and created a link where you can easily subscribe to the podcasts and start listening right away. Click here to view the article. Enjoy! - Pete Lerma

Presentation to Suit School

I recently had the opportunity to make a presentation to the account management team from the advertising agency I work for, The Richards Group. My topic, Internet Trends for 2006.  I believe these trends are significant and are already changing the Internet landscape.

Broadband access reaches a tipping point

  This graph (click the graph to enlarge) shows that for the first time we'll see the majority of the Internet population online. Broadband users spend an average of 95 minutes online per day, they consume media differently and use the Internet to communicate and express themselves in news ways.

On line video comes of age

Advertisers as well as TV network stations are beginning to understand the power of  online video. Online advertising will grow 71% this year to reach $385 million. Recently, Pete blogged about the "halo" effect created when NBC released "The Office" online. Capitalizing on that success, NBC is premiering Conviction online two weeks before its released on television.

KFC experiments with direct DVR

KFC is running a commercial that will allow DVR users to find a secret code in the commercial and get a discount on a buffalo chicken sandwich. I can find a place were I can post it here so check out the commercial on their site.

If nothing else, its getting well publicized. It was on the evening news last night and has been out on some ad rags. You can use the Internet to view the commercial as well. I wonder why they didn't also publicize that you could get the code from the spot on their site? Broadband Internet penetration is order of magnitudes greater than DVR penetration. Gotta love TV ad guys. They're the ones who still have the dial up AOL accounts.

Also blogged about on AdJabs.

- Paul Herring

A new way of giving?

I’m guessing most of you are familiar with SMS (short message service) on mobile phones for text messaging, ordering ringtones and wallpapers (who hasn’t seen those annoying television commercials), entering competitions (American Idol made that famous) and subscribing to services that provide news and financial information, to name a few.

Well, now nonprofit organizations and charities are beginning to understand the power of SMS. Through the use of short codes (those special four or five digit telephone numbers) people can make charitable contributions from their mobile phones. Instead of buying a product, you donate your hard earned cash. Here's an example of one being done in the UK for UNICEF, and another example that US carriers did for Tsunami relief last year.

On the surface, it looks like it would be a big idea for nonprofit organizations and charities. What a great way to ask someone to donate over their mobile phone when they may not have cash on hand or when they are hyped-up about a cause at a fund raising event or concert. Charities could incorporate this short code donation format into their advertising as an alternative way to give. It will be interesting to see if this catches on.

If you've heard of any other out of the ordinary ways of using SMS, I’d like to hear from you. - Cort Gorman

The Paid Podcast Model

Only a few people have even attempted to try and publish a podcast that isn't free. Rush Limbaugh is doing it, but there aren't many. Now, one of the most popular podcasts out there is giving it a shot.  Podcasting News reports that The Ricky Gervais podcast, which recently received a Guinness record for podcast downloads, is now migrating the show to a paid format through Audible.com. You can listen to a free teaser for the "second season" of the podcast, but it will cost you $6.95 for a month of podcast listening pleasure from here on out.

Certainly this podcast has the opportunity to make some money. With such a large audience, even if they only get a small percentage of folks to cough up the funds, they'll be making a pretty penny. But how much of the audience will they lose? Would they make more money in ad revenue with a larger free audience? What does Audible do for digital rights management to keep people from spreading the podcast in the public domain once they've paid for it? These are certainly some of the questions being tossed around by podcasters.

And speaking of paying for podcasts, when is iTunes going to implement the ability for publishers to start charging for podcasts? - John Keehler

Honda commercial -- entertainment or advertising

Pete and I got into this discussion around the value of this ad. If you haven't seen it, check it out:

Clearly this advertising is entertaining. It can even be downloaded to your iPod via iTunes and there's behind the scene footage. But is it really good advertising? Does it say much about the Honda Civic?

In my opinion, No. Commercials can be entertaining but they should clearly either say something about the brand or sell and if possible, both. And another thing, you can't find any information on their site about the commercial. There's no link on-line to continue the experience.

Contrast this with the new Visa campaign, "Life takes Visa". Although I'm not sure if there is a URL in the commercial (I can't find them on-line) I love the commercials and there's a great site that where you can true "Life takes..." stories. Rumor has it that you'll be able to add your own story soon. You can learn more about this campaign. They should make the commercials available on-line through YouTube or Google Video. You can find out more about the Visa campaign on the Across the Sound pod cast where Jon Raj, one of Visa's VP of Advertising discusses the campaign.

Pete's on vacation but you can bet that either while he's on vacation or when he gets back he'll comment on why he likes the Honda commercial. - Paul Herring

Car makers put their money where their customers are

A recent report from from Brandweek (actually from eMarketer, but it's a requires a registration login) reported that 15% of the expected $17.8 billion in television will be spent on-line this year. A lot in the Internet advertising are happily surprised at this amount. However, one might ask, why not more? Where does virtually every car buyer under the age of 55 start their search? On-line. The same reports states "...one of the main reasons that automotive companies are expected to make such a shift is changing consumer research habits. Nearly 70% of consumers use the Web at some point in their automotive purchases, the report found."  If 70% are on-line, presumably looking for cars, then why is 85% of the advertising dollars spent offline? One reason, other media (like television) may be over priced and perhaps Internet advertising isn't under priced for the value it provides.  Story originally reported on Ad Jab. - Paul Herring

Come Join Us

There comes a time in your life...as an agency, when growth can be painful. The interactive marketing industry is growing. The agency I lead, Click Here, is enjoying an enormous amount of growth. As I was thinking, "What should I blog about?" it occurred to me that bloggers often talk about things that are top of mind. Well, at the moment, this human capital is what occupies my "everyday." We're looking for a few really good people, and I mean really good. Click Here is the interactive division of The Richards Group. We've built a strong reputation working with brands like: Atlantis, Hyundai, The Home Depot and Travelocity. We're a full service interactive marketing firm, which means we do websites, online advertising, search marketing, viral, etc. We have close to 60 people in our group. And currently, we need to add an interactive media supervisor, an account supervisor, an interactive project manager and a data analyst for our online advertising campaigns. If you have advertising agency experience, think you're qualified or know someone who is, let me know at our ChaosScenario emails address, chaosscenario@yahoo.com. I'm sorry for the shameless plug - but if you blog what you think about, I guess it's appropriate...Who knows, you could be the next Click Here team member and author for ChaosScenario. - Pete Lerma

Google click to call game changing

I posted earlier about how effective click to call has been for Daimler Chrysler. Seth Goodin recently posted about how Google is taking this to the next level, by incorporating click to call into Ad Words very soon. This means including click to call:

1. In the most common method of finding information on the web, search
2. In the largest ad network available (Google Ad Words)
3. In paying for calls based, not on impressions, but on performance (actual calls)

Once nice feature is its ability to remember your phone number. Such a small thing but its huge in terms of re-use. Click to call benefits the consumer by:

1. Still allowing anonimity (they are connected to you)
2. Connecting you with a real person (let's face it, there are some activities that all of us feel better about doing the old fashion way)
3. Not having to search for that elusive phone number on web sites

If your in an industry where personal contact is a big deal, watch for the announcement of the official release of this soon and take advantage of it.

- Paul Herring

Another new author

We have another new author! You may have already seen his first post on ChaosScenario last week.

Let me introduce you to Cort Gorman:

Until the beginning of 2006, Cort spent the last 21 years planning offline media. He started at t:m in Dallas and worked on such accounts as American Airlines, Pace Picante Sauce and Bailey Banks and Biddle Jewelers.  After four years, Cort moved to The Richards Group where he continued his offline media planning for 17 more years responsible for such accounts as Bernhardt Furniture Company, Continental Airlines, Cole-Haan, Florida Department of Citrus, Motel 6, Neiman Marcus, Sub-Zero Refrigeration Company, and Travelocity.com.  Now he’s with Click Here, the online unit of The Richards Group, where he leads the online media group responsible for clients such as Florida Department of Citrus, The National Pork Board, Fruit of the Loom, Atlantis Resorts, Travelocity.com and KIWI shoe polish.