ChaosScenario

Subway Madness

On Saturday, AdAge reported that Agency.com pulled out of the pitch for Subway's online business, citing a potential conflict that came up as a result of Subway's delayed decision.

Agency.com, you'll remember, was skewered by bloggers and agencies for the execution of a new business pitch for Subway, which was broadcast and parodied on YouTube and elsewhere. Some of the criticism is justified, but some of it (especially the parodies) were just plain ugly. For its part, Subway just seems happy for all the publicity, as it cost them nothing.

I personally think Agency.com is getting a bad rap from the deal. The people who made the video did not have to put it online, as the project did not call for it. They had no revenue on this project to pay for the setup and production, so they dared to go out on a limb, take a leap, and see if the idea had wings.

The easiest thing in the world to do is to be the person who hates everything--and who never takes responsibility to come up with a better solution. As bloggers commenting on the world around us, we can fall into that trap without even thinking about it. But at the end of the day, if all we know is what we hate, in a situation that has infinite possibilities, we will have learned nothing practical.

So what can we learn by what Agency.com did right?

There are many ways to gather information about a company--such as surveys, focus groups, stakeholder interviews, and secondary research. Ignoring the production of the video itself, the methods Agency.com used to get its head around Subway demonstrated an unparalleled commitment that I can't help but admire.

According to IDEO and Toyota, among others, those who want to get a complete understanding of how something works have to see it firsthand. In the interactive world, that often means we have to see how the intended audience uses the Web. We can get that through surveys, books, and articles on best practices. But in many cases, we also should see how the product is navigated, used, what criteria actual customers use to make buying decisions (both physically and virtually), as well as what limitations we're operating in because of the existing business systems.

Some of that can be gathered by stakeholder interviews, and that alone would have made a huge difference. But living in a day in the life as an employee? That shows an admirable commitment to get the job done right. - Cam Beck

Search engine activity as an economic indicator

Bill Tancer from HitWise wrote an interesting article on the Hitwise blog that compares the search term 'homes for sale' with the sales of homes. Although it's not perfectly aligned, the relationship is convincing. If he's right, then economist  predictions of a decline in demand may be wrong.

The analysis has received some attention from Reuters.

Of course this data is onlyfor one year, which isn't enough data to really establish a relationship. You could compare the data to previous years, however, you can't go too far back as the use of the Internet as a way to search for houses is relatively recent (years not decades). Can search predict the future? Only time will tell. - Paul Herring

Fans of Fruit

If you haven't noticed on TV recently, the Fruit Guys have changed. They had a successful release of their country hit "You can't over love your underwear", and now they have some more great hits and a brand new website, Fruitguyfans.com.

 

Full disclosure, the agency I work for, Click Here developed and released this site for Fruit of the Loom, a client of The Richards Group for some time. Of course we think it's great. This blog is all about taking a critical eye and commenting on everything, so tell us what you think. - Paul Herring

No advertising budget? Start a blog.

I guess it's true what they say -- necessity is the mother of all invention. For the past few weeks, I've been looking around for innovative advertising and communications solutions, and while watching a vlog over at RealVerse (which I found by watching a vlog at HotAir), I discovered a barbeque joint called "Mothership BBQ" in Nashville, TN that does all of its advertising through a blog that the owner created. Apparently he is experiencing some success from it.

A few things that caught my attention about his experience:

1. The blog existed before he had the idea to begin the restaurant.
2. The blog was authentically personal.
3. The blog had local success BEFORE he decided to advertise anything on it.
4. There is a large blogging community in Nashville.
5. They all talk to each other.

I think, in this instance, had any of the four conditions not been present, the owner of the company would not have experienced such a successful launch. Now, people who have no advertising budget also won't have much of an interactive budget, but there are lessons I think we can safely learn from this.

1. Just having a blog doesn't guarantee success.
2. Authenticity and committment are key.
3. Develop relationships with other bloggers.

This all also happens to fall neatly in line with what David Armano wrote in a recent entry on Logic + Emotion regarding the aversion advertising agencies have to be innovative.

Armano says that traditional advertisers hesitate to come up with or implement innovative but untested ideas. It is difficult to define a blog strategy that can be tied to a definite ROI, and it is therefore risky with "a steep downside."

This particular medium (as well as any others we can think of) puts us in position to blaze a trail for everyone who follows us, but we cannot live in a vaccuum. The entire history of traditional adverstising and human interactions informs everything we do. While we should feel excited about the prospect of what we might find while mining the hills, we should also feel committed to making the most of whatever we find, like 3M did when it turned its failed mining operation into one of the world's most innovative companies.

It's true -- our clients depend on us to deliver more than aesthetic beauty. They depend on us to deliver more than functionality. They depend on us to deliver results that agree with and build upon the brand our clients have poured their lives into through all of its channels of delivery and communication, but we can neither let what has worked in the past limit what we're going to do in the future nor completely forget and disregard what has proved to work in the past.

I guess if striking that balance were easy, everyone would be doing it. - Cam Beck

Akbank viral - banking in Turkey

I was in a debate with an offline account planner about putting commercials on the web. I agree that just putting a commercial on the web isn't the best use of the media. However, sometimes commercials are entertaining enough that they should be. This commercial is for a bank in Turkey. I can't understand a word they are saying. The commercial is well done. It's had 18,774 views so far. When I went to their website , it turns out their brand promise is all about freedom through technology (specifically the Internet). Putting this commercial on-line makes a lot of sense for them. They're trying to attract an on line audience and they have a concept that gets your attention. - Paul Herring

Shining Light in the World of Advertising

Tanya Pinto, an account service person at The Richards Group, recently started a charity to help children in Calcutta. Last year Tanya traveled to India to volunteer at Mother Teresa's orphanage. She was so moved by her experience that she chose to start Baal Dan (in Hindi, Baal means Child, Dan means Donation). Here's why she formed the organization, "Last year, a friend gave me $50 to buy the kids in the orphanage candy. Did you know that $1 = 43 rupees? When I got to India, I realized this was over 2000 rupees! After some bargaining at the local markets, here's what I got with that $50: 300 pairs of children's underwear, 100 notebooks, 100 pencils, 2 bags of candy. When I emailed my friend and told him all the things I bought with his $50, and how in a small way he helped 300 children, he said, 'If I had known how $50 could help so many children, I would have given you a lot more money.' That's why I started Baal Dan." So check it out. Donate. Spread the word. - Pete Lerma

Mobile Couponing

In my latest ClickZ article, I discuss the latest in couponing on mobile phones. I recently ran across a company called Cellfire who has just gone nationwide with the Cingular Wireless network. They have a interesting mobile application that aggregates discounts based on your zip code. They have a good list of clients including: Carlson Wagonlit Travel, Hollywood Video, Bath & Body Works, and 1-800-flowers.com. I decided to try it out myself by taking the Hollywood Video discount to my local store to see how it worked. I wondered if I'd be the first person, in that store to present my mobile phone to the cashier as a way to earn a discount. Check out the article and see what happened. - Pete Lerma

CBS Finally Starts Online TV

When the networks began to explore online television, CBS was criticized for their online offering, Innertube. While ABC was offering full versions of their shows online, CBS offered only clips and extra footage. Well, it looks like CBS has changed their tune. According to the Hollywood Reporter, CBS has plans to launch full episode viewing online for many of their top shows. They'll start next month with the launch of the new TV season, and episodes will be available the morning after they air.

So is there a catch? Well, sort of... Some of the episodes will only be available online for 4 weeks, while others will be available longer. According to the Hollywood Reporter article, that restriction may be due to the fact that CBS was "making sure not to threaten DVD release and subscription models."

Overall, I'm glad CBS is going in the right direction, but it feels like they have a long way to go. One of the big advantages ABC had was the use of flash player technology, as well as their inventive ad model. CBS Innertube is using Real player streaming, and standard pre-roll ads. The ABC player also offers much larger, higher quality video. Keep at it CBS... - John Keehler

Steve Krug's Amen Corner

Steve Krug, the author of one of my favorite books on usability (Don't Make Me Think) recently gave an interview on DevSource that is available on video for all to see (Windows Media Player required). In it, he talks about practical usability testing that can help us all make better websites. It's about 21 minutes long, and I recommend it to everyone.

Steve is more than happy to share what he's learned over fifteen years, but his overriding theme is that, though he is an expert, what he knows is learnable--an unassuming premise that makes his ideas very palatable. - Cam Beck

The Drooping Tail

It seems like every person who talks about usability has to give their own assessment of Jakob Nielsen. I've never heard anyone who hasn't qualified their analysis of Nielsen with a comment along the lines of, "I don't always agree with what he says" (Steve Krug, Don't Make Me Think!), or  In fact, I think that pledge is a graduation requirement for potential designers and web developers. For those whose graduation predates Nielsen's popularity, they must make that pledge before being invited to any party thrown by web designers (who naturally throw the best parties).

So let me say it. Jakob Nielsen is a Dutch usability rock star. That statement alone should disqualify me from being invited to any parties in the near future.

But I don't agree with everything he says.

It's not that what he says isn't accurate. It's that it isn't always practical, and since context is important to everything we do on the Web, the context of which Nielsen writes isn't always clear in each column he writes.

His latest Alertbox column, "Data Visualization of Web Stats: Logarithmic Charts and the Drooping Tail," for instance, speaks to the inefficiency of going after "The Long Tail" in most websites. Nielsen surmises that unless companies can "con" users to generate their own content, then it would cost too much.

The exception to the context of which Nielsen writes is only "aggregators who get their products from others," and he goes on to say that, "companies who must develop their own [products] are usually served by staying away from the full tail." This context was not provided until the end of the article.

I can't argue with the stats or his conclusion, but I can argue with the word "con." You can't con someone into generating content they don't want to do generate on the Web. And if they are actually doing it, that means you're giving them something they want--providing a service. What they want may change over time as the Web I.Q. of users increases over time or as technology changes, but as long as you're providing them with something they want at that moment (provided it's moral, of course), then you're doing right by them, regardless of how the site makes its money.

Nielsen's negative view of the value of nonsearch advertising on the Web might explain his use of the word "con." In the same column, Nielsen wrote, "I believe Internet advertising is over-hyped and that advertisers are deluding themselves into overpaying." This undoubtedly is very limited in scope and lumps bad Internet advertising in with good Internet advertising, and is heavily influenced by Nielsen's repeated, habitual observation of the "banner blindness" phenomenon in user tests.

To be sure, how much companies should pay for Internet advertising will depend greatly on how effectively we deliver results within this constantly growing and effective medium. But with advertisers only recently getting the message that certain age groups are spending more time online than watching TV, it's far too early to say that it's "over-hyped." - Cam Beck