A few years back I needed to buy a washing machine. I started with Consumer Reports and found the top ranked washing machine that fit my other criteria. Then I looked for stores that carried that brand. Being a larger than normal purchase for me, I made time to do my research. I visited three different stores and finally decided which washer to buy. Of course, it was in the first store I visited. What I found most interesting was that I looked at the same washing machine three times, but each store called it something different.

My experience is not unusual. Lots of stores carry similar products, but with slight differences, even in the SKU, so that exact comparisons are more difficult. They do this on purpose. It creates exclusivity and encourages people to buy where they trust the store rather than the product alone.

Imagine my surprise to find that Target recently wrote a letter to suppliers wanting exclusive product to compete with online stores. Target already has many unique items, but must always roll the cost of the physical stores into prices. It’s hard to compete with online stores that don’t have showroom costs.

Is the showroom a hindrance? Yes and no. Yes due to cost and no because it’s hard to know exactly how something looks and feels from a photo online. At the same time, if an online store offers a significantly lower price on the exact same product I want and waves shipping costs, the new online shopping expectation, will I wait a few days to have my new toy shipped? It really depends and I imagine many people answer the same way I do.

I see where Target is going with this idea and it will be interesting to watch it unfold. However, continuing to connect with customers so they want to by from Target will remain important. If I trust Target more than a random online store that I am unfamiliar with, I will buy from Target every time. Again, I use myself as the example, but there is some universal truth to how I shop.

Will this change over time? Of course. The popularity of online shopping is growing. There could very well be a day when online is the standard for finding new ideas. Exclusive content may not be the best solution in that space either. For right now, lots of people still start at a physical store or go to a store to verify what they found online. It’s still critical to make sure these customers have a good experience. As things change, it will be important to implement market research that explores how and why people are making the shift in order for physical stores to continue to compete. It’s an exciting time.

Mashable did a nice timeline: The Week That Killed SOPA: A Timeline

This battle is over, for now. But more bills will come. Because the piracy problem is far from over.

What a difference a day makes.

A day where many people learned about these bills because they encountered a black bar over the Google logo and a link to the petition, or a notice on blacked out Wikipedia or Boing Boing or CraigsList or Cheezburger. Some reports say more than 7,000 sites went dark Wednesday in protest of SOPA, but I’m not sure anyone has a solid number. What’s more concrete, is that as of 11pm Wednesday evening, Google had almost 9,000 news stories indexed about SOPA/PIPA for the last 24 hour period.

Google

Wikipedia

Boing Boing

Mozilla

Bozell

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) called Wednesday’s blackout a gimmick. They can call it what they want, but it not only brought the issue to the publics’ attention very rapidly, it also spurred people to take action. More than 4.5 million people signed their name to the Google petition on Wednesday. And according to protest organizers, over 300,000 people emailed or called lawmakers.

That’s not trivial.

And lawmakers reacted.

Senator Marco Rubio of Florida renounced PIPA, which he had co-sponsored. Texas Senator John Cornyn, who leads the GOP’s Senate campaign efforts, used Facebook to urge colleagues to slow the bill down. And South Carolina Republican Senator Jim DeMint announced his opposition on Twitter.

As the day went on, it gained momentum and more and more lawmakers renounced their support, inncluding Mark Kirk of Illinois, Roy Blunt of Missouri, Orrin Hatch of Utah, John Boozman of Arkansas and Chuck Grassley of Iowa as well as Ben Quayle of Arizona. Lee Terry, who had co-sponsored SOPA, announced Tuesday he would pull his name off as co-sponsor. Nebraska’s Jeff Fortenberry and Mike Johanns told the Journal Star on Wednesday they won’t support the bill. In all, at least 10 senators and nearly twice that many House members announced their opposition.

Nothing like this has happened before. If you think about it, many sites that went dark lost a lot of money today. So powerful was the priority to fight SOPA/PIPA that it trumped the business mission of these sites.

But it’s important to clarify that opposition was to the specific bills SOPA/PIPA and worrisome provisions within them, not to the concept that online piracy is a problem that must be addressed. Wrong solutions.

In fact, there’s another bill out there — the Senate’s Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (OPEN) which aims for middle ground by putting enforcement in the hands of the International Trade Commission, a quasi-government agency that already investigates counterfeit imports and trade-secret violations.

The blackout is now history, but the issues, discussions and work to be done to solve the problem are far from over.

The blackout is a protest against proposed legislation in the United States – the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate – that, if passed, would seriously damage the free and open Internet.

If you’re not familiar with SOPA, you should be, and can read an explanation on Wikipedia.  Although by the time I post this, most likely Wikipedia will be dark in protest.  CNN also did a basic write up of SOPA – What it is and why it matters.

While we support the bill’s stated goals and don’t condone piracy, we can not support the bill as currently drafted because of the potential implications for internet censorship and how it could impact what we’ve all come to value so much — open online dialogue. A point of view we shared in a newscast on Monday. We believe the bill’s backers lack a clear understanding of the Internet’s architecture, and don’t fully grasp the negative implications of the bill they’re considering.

SOPA is the wrong solution.

We move away from those aspects of the old year that were less than ideal in the hope of a more rewarding future. Our goodbyes are facilitated by year-end rituals that leave us feeling bittersweet – auld lang syne.

Having a Happy New Year?

Unfortunately, the creators of every gimmicky weight loss and exercise schtick imaginable somehow got the impression that shedding the excess weight that we’ve been grudgingly lugging around as part of our past – whether longstanding or a result of holiday binge-ing – is an integral part of the season and its rituals. They remind us of this torturous fact about 1,000 times a day throughout the holidays and well into the New Year.

That means the majority of us in the already stressful throes of ‘tidings and good cheer’ are bombarded by youthful and slammin’ bikini clad nymphets or recently rejuvenated celebrities to remind us of two things as we cruise through the holiday parties and into the New Year, 1^st that we look like crap (thanks – it’s the perfect reminder as we frantically dig through our wardrobe for something that will zip in preparation of the next cocktail soiree), and 2^nd that we are gluttonous slugs (because that message always makes us feel good about being alive!).

In addition to messaging so inappropriately demoralizing that it could kill your buzz on the day you were released from death row, they want you to spent a butt-load (and for some of us that represents a substantial amount – no pun intended) of money to boot!

Having tried virtually every kind of weight loss program over the years, I can assure you of one thing, there are four possible outcomes to any of these programs, which are:

• They won’t work
• They will work only if you also diet and exercise obsessively
• They’ll be so onerous you’ll quit before you know if they work
• They’ll make you so sick you’ll have to quit before you know if they work

I can assure you I’ve experience all four outcomes.

Many of these companies are making huge profits so they’re not about to change, however, I have a firm policy of not spending money with folks who make me feel like crap. The ones that make me feel like crap during the holidays and into the hope filled New Year – may they rot in a festering pool of Bowflex sweat and fat burning molecules!

Also seen on Menologues, Vibrant Nation and Alltop.

First of all, what the heck is a QR code? According to comScore, only about 6% of people have used a QR code. A QR code is also known as a quick reference code. It’s an image (special matrix bar code) that, with the right application, smart phones can direct users to special digital content. This means that only about a third of the U.S. population even has access to the right applications (PEW found that 35% of Americans have a smart phone). It’s safe to say the audience is still small.

Of the people who have used QR codes, they are more likely to be male, young adults, and have a high household income.

Why on my banana? Well, the banana sticker implies the QR code will direct me to content about a new Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. Maybe there is hope that children will pester their parents to use the QR code. Considering most people access a QR code from home, this is a possibility.

However, it better work. Don’t want to entice anyone to land nowhere as I did with a recent QR code. These will only become more popular if valuable content is delivered.

The QR code on my banana took me to a branded space to download a free ringtone. This content might disappoint little kids since they are less likely to have a mobile phone or a mobile phone that can implement a special ringtone. Of course, if the audience using QR codes likes The Chipmunks, this was a smart move.

Just ten days before Christmas the National Retail Federation changed its prediction of 2.8% sales increase to 3.8%. That’s $469.1 billion dollars. Lower than the 5.2% experienced last year, but “cautious optimism” was welcomed.

Brick-and-mortar fared well, but the real hero was in online sales. A record breaking $1.25 billion was spent on Cyber Monday alone and online sales rose 15% overall from last year. Part of the reason lies in free shipping offered by nine of ten online retailers at some point in the holiday shopping season. In addition, the new standard for online shopping appears to be free return shipping. Mobile shopping made a large impact, especially from Apple devices (iPhone and iPad).

Where was money spent? The holiday shopping patterns seem to mimic the larger rhetoric of a shrinking middle class. Dollar stores and pawn shops saw more than average traffic and sales, while higher end stores such as Sacks Fifth Avenue and Nieman Marcus also appreciated higher sales.

Even though a week before Christmas about one quarter of shoppers had not begun their holiday shopping, returns showed a remorse for shopping levels thus far. December saw record returns considering January can normally see a 7% return rate in strong economic times. Close to a 10% return rate is expected this season. The change could be in part from shoppers turning to credit cards to make purchases.

A survey by Consumer Reports found that shoppers planned to charge an average of $756 this holiday, up 6 percent from the previous year, though the number of people who plan to use credit has remained steady.

So, what can we learn for next year?

• If foot-traffic is most important to your business, there must be strategies in place to convert browsers to sales because online stores are ruthless.
• Be online. Make sure your product is available online, digitally attractive, and the site user-friendly.
• Make sure to offer free shipping and free return shipping to match your competitors and display confidence in your products.
• Have an easy mobile presence for shoppers.
• Offer a strong variety of price points. If lower cost and higher cost items are selling right now, make sure you can meet that demand.

References can be  found here, here, here, here, and here.

Supposedly changes are coming from two motivations; (1) higher numbers of jobless men are seeing some household duties shift to them, including grocery shopping, and (2) some men want to be more involved with the household and cooking.

In addition, there is an assertion that men like to experiment more and are more likely to impulse buy, which seems contrary to the idea that they are doing the shopping in lieu of working.

“The mindset has been that she shops, she really knows every inch of the store, she is really organized, has a list, is in a huge hurry,” Calpino said. “We talk to a lot of these millennial guys about shopping, and the biggest headline is they’re not as structured, not as hurried, much more experimental, more adventurous.”

Let’s think about this. The assumption is that men can’t function as well in stores that are set up for women. Aisle shopping is heavily researched. There is a lot of thought and planning put into where items appear on shelves and what they look like. There is also research on store layouts. However, to assume that crowded aisles are more frustrating and less enticing to men than women, as the research implies, is not fair. Of course no one wants to fight a crowded aisle, but are we assuming that men will go without something needed to avoid a crowd? Again, that seems unfair.

Everyone can benefit from a better shopping experience and curating space specific for women’s and men’s needs seems like a no-brainer. However, as shopping responsibilities equalize between both groups, there is room to improve the experience for all.

Unfortunately, only about a third of them are from people I know.

In all honesty, even Santa’s best elf could take on Grinch-like qualities with an onslaught of warm and heartfelt tidings from perfect strangers.

Happy New Year!

Aren’t we supposed to be moving toward a more personalized and meaningful interactive experience – in all phases of our lives?

When I see these blanket holiday greetings its kind of disheartening. I mean, not even have they made absolutely no attempt at personalization, apparently they have no idea who is even getting their random spewing of holiday cheer.

Are they arbitrarily expanding their contact list for the holidays? That doesn’t exactly seem like a way of making your closest and most important of contacts feel special, now does it? If you respond to this question by answering, well no, but I take my closest and most important out to lunch to celebrate up close and personal – then why don’t you just leave it at that? Do you think that tacky little spam greeting is what makes their holiday complete and makes them want to do business with you? Doubtful.

So the next time you are about to ask your designer to come up with a nifty little holiday e-mail that you can use to blanket the globe. Think again.

Right now, many Boomers are watching their parents age and become less independent. Some feel resentment to the expectation of caring for their parents and the emotional response is natural (Goulston, 2010). The difference lies in how these experiences are generating a unique conversation about their own end of life. At one end of the conversation spectrum, Boomers are exploring alternatives to traditional funerals and not using funeral homes for their parents or their own planning. Cremation and the spreading of ashes have become more commonplace (Rybarski, 2004).

At the opposite end of the spectrum, Boomers are dialoging about how to not be a burden for their own children (Goulston, 2010). Some are planning ahead for what they want to happen when they can no longer care for themselves. At the same time, many fear outliving their savings. Some have already decided to not save money for their children and instead use all savings to maintain or improve quality of life after retirement. In fact, over half of people aged 44 to 75 fear running out of money more than death (Fleck, 2010).

Overall, research is revealing that Boomers are fairly glum when it comes to external influencers like the economy.

Fully 80% say they are dissatisfied with the way things are going in the country today, compared with 60% of those ages 18 to 29 (Millennials); 69% of those ages 30 to 45 (Generation Xers) and 76% of those 65 and older (the Silent and Greatest Generations).

They feel their standard of living is lower than their parents, enough to have to postpone retirement, and that their children will face greater hardship (Cohn & Taylor, 2010).

However, when looking at internal influencers like perceived health, older people are generally positive. In fact, older people are more positive about their current health than younger people think. Younger people feel “old” happens at about 60 years and that life is difficult and challenging at this age. The reality is that older people generally feel younger than their age and face few old age related challenges until later. Their lives are richer and more meaningful than younger people imagine, and yet their outlook remains glum (Cohn & Taylor, 2010; Pew Social Trends Staff, 2009).

Younger people think life is very different from what older people actually experience. It’s possible that greater interaction between groups will help close the knowledge gap, particularly since Boomers are one of the largest population segments (Pew Social Trends Staff, 2009).

There is one additional outcome that is being discussed and researched. When Baby boomers were adolescents, their suicide rate was higher than seen previously. Unfortunately, the suicide rate is again on the rise within the population. Researchers suspect that the option feels more viable for Boomers because they knew people that committed suicide when younger. “Baby boomers appear to be driving a dramatic rise in suicide rates among middle-aged people” (Emory University, 2010). There is a real possibility that some Boomers are currently choosing, and others will choose, suicide over feeling a burden to others. Watching their own parents become dependent on others and understanding what may come is encouraging some to consider, and others to implement, very different decisions to avoid this time in their lives.

Baby Boomers are still changing the rules. Not wanting to feel like a burden will motivate different kinds of decisions compared to previous generations, possibly even suicide. Businesses that focus on older populations have an opportunity to be part of this new conversation by helping Boomers not feel like a being a burden is in their future. Further research with Boomers can reveal the best ways to enter and frame an end of life conversation.

References

Cohn, D’Vera & Paul Taylor (December 20, 2010). Baby boomers approach 65-glumly.  Pew Research Center. Retrieved November 28, 2011, http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2010/12/20/baby-boomers-approach-65-glumly/

Emory University (2010, September 27). Baby boomers raise midlife suicide rate, study suggests. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/09 /100927105201.htm

Fleck, Carole (July 1, 2010). Running out of money worse than death. AARP Bulletin. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.aarp.org/work/retirement-planning/info-06-2010/running_out_of_money_worse_than_death.html

Goulston, Mark, M.D., F.A.P.A. (June 30, 2010). Baby boomer death wish. Psychology Today.  Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.psychologytoday.com

Pew Social Trends Staff (June 29, 2009). Growing old in America. Pew Research Center. Retrieved November 28, 2011, http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2009/06/29/growing-old-in-america-expectations-vs-reality/

Rybarski, Michael (June 2004). Boomer after all is said and done. American Demographics. Retrieved November 28, 2011, from www.demographics.com

Not to play on words too much, but there is a dark or “black” side of this day that is discussed every year after the day passes. Stories of people being injured or very frustrated by the process circle the Internet. This year a woman was almost crushed to death in North Texas when frantic customers ripped apart a display of DVDs. The video can be seen here. Unfortunately, the story of injury is not unique to one store or one year.

An editorial in the Arkansas Times shared how Black Friday was the “saddest day of the year” based on what people are driven to do and how they treat each other. The writer shares how he planned his Thanksgiving to make sure he was at a store when the doors opened at midnight. A special day with family impacted by a desire to buy gifts for his kids at a lower price. The writer was proud he was able to save money, but was frustrated by the process. I believe it doesn’t have to be this way.

There is not one person or institution to blame for the current culture of Black Friday, but there are ways to maintain the excitement and sales without frustrating customers or inadvertently creating scenes of injury. No business wants to be known for negative outcomes. The following are ways that Black Friday could be different:

• Offer savings and or exclusive opportunities to the best customers through social media or loyalty programs.
• Allow customers to “fast pass” the way amusement parks manage long lines. Everyone gets a line placeholder and returns when it’s their time to ride the ride.
• Dole out sale opportunities throughout the day so customers don’t feel they have to trample each other for savings at a specific time.
• Customers have already demonstrated they are willing to do things differently for Black Friday sales. Help them use this energy. Maybe have “friend moments” when people enlist their friends to shop with them and the group gets exclusive time in the store. This way people are shopping with others they know and like and thus are less likely to feel anonymous enough to watch actions take a negative turn.
• Offer better deals online at the same time to encourage people to shop in their bunny slippers.
• Divide up the day for different audiences so different groups cycle through at different times. For example, maybe tech toys on sale first thing but children’s toys won’t be on sale until later in the day.

These are just starting ideas. The point is to keep the excitement and sales high while helping customers always think fondly of your brand. More ideas are certainly possible. Think about your brand image and tailor Black Friday opportunities that best match the personality, keep your prime audience excited, and help everyone feel great about the holidays.

Best Friends has saved thousands of dogs using the idea of an invisible dog to represent the forgotten pets at city shelters that face little chance of adoption. They were successful through social media and using various layers of action from people. Actions ranged from making a donation to sponsoring an event to help raise awareness. Their efforts were even picked up by Mashable.

The Humane Society is also placing a friendly face on shelter animals. From YouTube:

The Shelter Pet Project is a public service ad campaign focused on
spreading the word that pets in shelters are wonderful and lovable,
and encouraging potential adopters to consider the shelter as the
first place to find a new best friend.

In addition, some of the most viewed videos on YouTube revolve around animals, particularly cats.  Cats are so prominent; a parody agency was created to highlight their importance in advertising.

Where is all this animal emphasis coming from? It’s not just that animals need attention. Humans are naturally drawn to dogs and cats because they remind us of babies and trigger parenting feelings. But, why the emphasis right now? Maybe it’s because the current economic downturn has forced many families to abandon their pets in shelters. When budgets get tight, some people are deciding their pets would be better off with another family. Unfortunately, many of these pets are not adopted. In addition, there is some stigma that shelter pets are not adoptable, that they will inherently have behavior problems. Certainly some do, but the vast majority doesn’t.

As the holidays draw closer and some families consider a new pet, I think shelters are trying to shed any negative connotations and find forever homes for their residents. It’s a logical explanation to see so much recent emphasis on shelter animals.

To close, a photo of my shelter dog who happily spends many of her days under my desk.

An image is popping up all over Facebook and other parts of the Internet right now that shows a sign at Nordstroms saying that they aren’t going to deck their halls for Christmas until the day after Thanksgiving. I was a little suspicious about the validity of the photo since it came across Facebook and seemed too good to be true, but I’ve found multiple stories online that help confirm that this is the real deal. A major retailer has done what I previously thought was impossible: saved Christmas for Christmas Time!

It turns out that this is actually a long-standing practice at Nordstroms and the sign pictured was from last year. Perhaps the timing (seasonal) and the Internet being the perfect medium for sharing are helping make this something people are talking about right now. But the more interesting thing to me is that despite Christmas decorations and merchandising appearing earlier and earlier every year nearly everywhere else, Nordstroms sticks by their guns and – as they say – celebrate one holiday at a time.

The sign reads:

at Nordstrom…

We won’t be decking our halls until Friday, November 27.

Why? Well, we just like the idea of celebrating one holiday at a time.

From our family to yours, Happy Thanksgiving.

We will be closed Thanksgiving Day.
On Friday, our doors will open to welcome the new season.

It takes guts to do so. A lot of retailers don’t have the gumption to do anything of the sort. A lot of businesses don’t have the willpower to take a position in something they believe in and understand that by doing so, they may lose out on some business but strengthen their relationship with other customers. When you stand up for what you believe in, those who identify with you become stronger advocates. Others can also see that you have principles and use them as guidelines for how you do business.

More businesses need to realize that they can’t be all things to all people. Be unique, stand up for something, and tell people about it. You’ll find your audience, your audience will find you, and you will have a more dedicated following. The risk, however, is that as soon as you stand for something, you have to continue to follow through.

But why should that be hard to do in business? It’s not – there just aren’t enough examples to follow. Maybe it’s time for that to change.

A focus on the middle class for product development and advertising has been an American staple for several decades. However, the current recession has continued to change profit expectations in most industries. Proctor & Gamble (P&G), a mainstay in many middle-class homes, is taking notice. Research has shown that their customers are trading down to lower cost products and P&G is beginning to offer bargain priced options in the United States. What it really means is that P&G is betting customer responses to the current economic situation will persist.

Several U.S. companies are feeling the trend. Target and Walmart are both seeing negative changes in their earnings while Dollar General and other firms catering to low-income customers are experiencing gains. Tiffany & Co. shared their lower-end products, traditionally popular among the middle-class, are currently not selling well while higher-end options are doing better.

A long-standing change in what people buy has implications for how products and services are marketed. Just a couple years ago people were willing to pay a little more for products they felt were better for the environment or connected to certain causes. Will this sentiment continue?

I don’t have a crystal ball, but the following are real possibilities as the U.S. middle-class continues to shrink:

1. More emphasis on innovation at a similar or lower price point. Brands and services will become innovation savvy in order to stand-out in the marketplace.
2. Companies and brands will offer more information and opportunities for customers to feel they are making smart purchasing decisions. It’s a way to build and grow positive relationships until people feel they can afford more. Or at least until postponing a purchase decision is no longer an option.
3. Word of mouth will continue to grow. We all still value what our friends and family say and this won’t change, but sharing about deals and our experiences will continue to grow as we help each other be successful during hard times. Brands that help people do this will be viewed positively.
4. New, cheaper, brands will be introduced. Rather than devaluing the products that people have trusted for years and continuing to lower prices, new options will appear and give people choices. As prediction #3 is implemented and #2 is more available, we will all know exactly how well the lower-cost options work and make informed decisions.
5. Brands will stand out through special opportunities that make the purchasing process easier. Products that are notoriously difficult to purchase, think house or car, might streamline their process or offer extra support during the process to help customers feel good. Then, these happy customers will participate in #3.

It will be interesting to watch how everything unfolds.

Sources for content can be found here and here.

We spend most of our lives going around believing we are rational, logical beings who make carefully weighted decisions based on objective facts in stable circumstances. Quote found here.

Of course we are! Anything less is admitting that life gets in the way of decision making. But, of course, many factors influence our decisions. Erving Goffman talked about the front and back stages of how we present ourselves. Our front stage, the one we share with others, is rational, on time, thoughtful and kind. Our backstage does not always match as it is our true self that can be selfish, greedy, and cranky, but it’s okay since these are parts of our personalities that we try not to reveal to others. The problem is when the curtain between who we are and who we want to be seen as is removed. Our front stage makes all the good decisions, or does it?

A new book talks about present bias. The idea that, I MUST HAVE THE NEW iPhone 4S (back stage emotion)! My present bias says that it’s the best iPhone yet and has features that will make my life better (front stage rationality). But will it? Will my future self feel the same way? Or, will a different mobile phone offer even better opportunities? Or, will my future self, who is not to be trusted, decide that mobile phones are useless and I need to live in a cave?

I have not read the book, but the teaser offers an interesting way to think about how and when we decide to buy something.

And she’s right. If her body stays 20-something, sleek and slim she never will wear “mom jeans”. Too bad it doesn’t work that way!

Who in their early 20’s with a knockout of a body would expect that to change in any way? I certainly didn’t. But the realities of a woman’s life: childbirth, surgical procedures leaving behind painful scar tissue, menopause, and god knows what else, don’t always leave us as they found us! In fact they rarely do.

Actually, Lee, you’re just setting that poor young thing up to be a laughing stock. She doesn’t look much more worldly wise than the three year old who never plans to have a job – she’ll just grow up to be a fairy princess.

No one has really defined “mom jeans” in my estimation. I’ve heard them described as anything from “jeans that are not strategically shredded $200.designer denim” to “ill fitting jeans that come up too high in the waist” – which are they? I’ve even heard them described as “anything worn by a 40+ woman”; I’m assuming they would exclude certain celebrity hard bodies.

So Lee, if you’re defining “mom jeans” as pretty much anything worn by a woman over 40 – you’ve just picked a fight that promises to cause you more pain than a tubal ligation.

As seen on Menologues, Vibrant Nation, Alltop

My first Mac experience was in grade school. I was a dorky computer kid at an early age, having fond memories of pounding out hundreds of lines of code into a Commodore Vic 20 in order to create a hangman game where I could replace the default library of words with a selection appropriate for a third grade playground. At school, though, we had a few Apple computers. They were amazing.

Not too long after the Mac came out, my dad, who was a designer and artist, got to bring one home for a week or so. I don’t think I left its side the entire time that little box with the built-in screen was in our house. Keep in mind – there was no Internet connection. I had no games. Just the built-in software, a keyboard and a mouse. But that’s all I needed. The device was magical and enthralling. I loved it.

The first Mac we purchased and owned at home was a Mac LCII. The good ol’ Pizza Box. That machine was truly amazing, and was the gateway to so many things that are still part of my life today. Here are a sampling of the things that something simple like a computer allowed me to do:

• Computer programming
• Play games
• Learn how to play the piano
• Access the Internet (pre-world wide web)
• Surf the Web
• Desktop publishing
• Design and layout
• Create music and sound effects
• Fight with my parents about how much freaking time I spent on the computer
• And a lot more… I can’t even remember

This was the foundation of a love for not just computers, but of creation, imagination, and information. This computer was an interface to the world, and I felt as if I could do anything I wanted on it. It also happened to be a Mac, and it was beautiful. There was an emotional connection to this thing.

Emotion is where Apple’s brand and associated products stands out. I think Jobs understood this, but that to him, it wasn’t simply business strategy. He felt it and believed it. He knew that something well-designed, elegant, and beautiful that also provided value and function would simply be better. Everyone who has experienced anything associated with Steve Jobs’ Apple has felt this. And that’s why the passing of a guy who made a computer is profoundly affecting so many people.

I’m sad that we won’t be able to find out what else Steve had in store for us. I hope that his legacy can live on not just within Apple, but inside everyone who hopes and dreams and wants to change the world in one way or another.

There are tons of great recaps, quotes, tributes, and stories popping up everywhere online right now. I think Apple’s tribute (as pictured below) sums it up best. Simply, Steve Jobs. Insanely great.

I read Steve Hall’s AdRANT post questioning how sharks can sell candy when they can’t even walk out of the ocean, and admittedly that has a lot to do with what makes me laugh so hard. The concept is ludicrous, and that’s part of what makes it so funny.

The ad opens on a dowdy focus group facilitator starting to debrief her, as yet, unseen participants. So far pretty standard stuff. But then the shot widens to include the group she’s debriefing; a bunch of fake looking sharks standing around the corporate conference table. Hmmm, that’s different.

The moderator calmly goes on to ask her focus group participants which of the two humans they ate tasted better; a bit shocking.

And then they really bring it home! Clearly Steve tasted better than Lisa, they explain as they “talk with their fins” and rub their bellies in remembrance of delicious Steve. At this point I’ve usually begun to (pardon the pun) snicker.

The expressive sharks now try to articulate, with both words and gestures, that there was a subtle flavor to Steve that made him their clear preference. Shark foodies – who knew?

But what really puts me over the top is the moderator’s response to their preference of Steve. Of course Steve was better, Lisa had eaten a peanut butter cup just prior to being consumed, but Steve ate Snicker’s Peanut Butter Squared.

God love them, they managed to take that outrageous farce and pay it off with a strong product endorsement – you’re better off eating people who have eaten Snicker’s Peanut Butter Squared. Can you think of anyone who could argue this point intelligently? I’d say not.

But it doesn’t just end there. Our moderator provides her group with positive feedback – they got it right. And Snicker’s Peanut Butter filled Steve was just too irresistible not to ask for seconds. Double pay off!

Positive Aging or Punitive Ageism

Vincent Vassolo recently wrote a post entitled: The Power of Positive Aging. In it he states that baby boomers “know the destructive power of prejudice…they simply won’t tolerate ageism”.

I like how he thinks. But I don’t know on what island these “revolutionary” boomers are hiding.

I know a lot of boomers. Hell, I am a boomer, and I see and hear about a lot of misery over aging. Sure there are your occasional rebels; they are typically the ones pontificating about all the things they don’t care about. In fact they often brag that they don’t care how they look, and that goes a long way toward helping them become indifferent to aging.

Unfortunately, most boomers are victims of what may have been the most pervasive period of mass communication featuring the perfect body; in fact many believe that the bodies featured were literally too good to be true and would not have existed without extensive air brushing.

So what happens when we look at our own bodies and realize that, not only are they not air brush perfect, they are not even the imperfect, but youthful – and maybe even buff – bodies of our youth. Barring a few rare exceptions, they’re just not as good as they were. Let’s hear that rebel yell! I didn’t think so.

Vassolo makes several excellent points, such as: “ageism is the most self-destructive form of prejudice”, I’m guessing it’s not quite as self-destructive as being a pedophile – but that’s just a guess, and “it’s impossible to live constructively while courting what is essentially self-loathing. If you hate aging, on some level you hate your own life. That’s a fact”, if that is indeed a fact, we are facing a pandemic of life loathing that could well turn the concept of ‘living constructively’ into a dusty old relic.

Vassolo, you’re asking too much of us! When we seem intolerant of ageism it’s not that we’re out there telling ageist morons why age really doesn’t matter; it’s that most of us are planning on enjoying eternal youth! We work hard at never getting old; so when we’re faced with ageism we rally on behalf of the poor victimized old people – but they’re not us!

As he ends his post, Vassolo suggests that we make a list comprised of five negative beliefs about aging and five positive ones. He suggests that we begin to question our negative beliefs and devise ways of trying to overcome the worst of the negative ones.

I submit that the most negative belief about aging is how you ‘believe’ you are perceived when you interact with young people; the ones who are like you used to be. You will never truly know how they see you. Are you the old person at the office? Are you the really cool person who knows some awesome stuff and has had amazing experiences? Or somewhere in between? Have you ever been patronized by one of them? Did you ever inadvertently patronize an older person in your younger days? Can you learn to stop seeing yourself though the eyes of youth?

Also seen on: Menologues, Vibrant Nation, Alltop

Extreme Tech Geek

The tech geeks seem to come in two basic types, on the extreme end there is the ‘fanatically obsessive’ “there’s nothing online I don’t know, there’s nothing digital I can’t figure out” geek. These guys are kind of funny. If you want to kill them you don’t have to use a gun, all you have to do it beat them to the latest version of some electronic gizmo – and they lose the will to live. They are also the ones who have difficulty hiding their horror at those slightly less gifted in tech knowledge. Some of them have to be hidden when clients visit.

Digital Trailblazer

On the more mainstream end there is the ‘extremely competent and creative digital trailblazer’, who gets that there are people whose entire lives and every waking moment are not dedicated to the pursuit of digital exploration and creation. They’re a little more realistic than their extreme brethren, although they do have trouble understanding why grandpa isn’t euthanized if he can’t use e-mail. Clearly, these folks are a bit more approachable.

The rest of the company breaks out into two other basic groups: the ‘obsessive

Obsessive Tech Wannabe

tech wannabe’, and the ‘teach me tech on a need to know basis’. The ‘obsessive tech wannabe’ is vaguely respected by the tech geeks. They’re really trying, but they’ll never be ‘us’ because they just don’t have “our gift”. This group is mortified when hardware defeats them – they don’t go down without a fight before calling IT. They are eager to learn at the feet of the masters, and for that they are acknowledged as “having promise”. They are fairly competent navigating through what already exists and can ideate, but are rarely in a position to actually create anything digital.

Need to Know

At the very bottom of the barrel we have the ‘teach me tech on a need to know basis’ folks. They view technology as a tool. When they need to know something they search for the tool that will enable them to do what they need. They’re not incapable of learning, they learn what they need. ‘Fanatically obsessive tech geeks’ usually wear a garlic necklace or carry a cross when entering a room inhabited by the ‘need to know’ group. They don’t just disdain them – they detect a marked disability.

‘Need to know’ folks can figure some things out themselves, but they’re not as adventurous as any of the other groups. Having a competent instructor increases their comfort level dramatically, and often the ability to find the right instructor is the number one thing holding them back. When the only choice of an instructor is a ‘fanatically obsessive tech geek’, which is logical since they are the self-acknowledged gurus who know everything; ‘need to know’ is left in the dust. This happens because ‘fanatically obsessive tech geek’ is also “extreme control freak who would rather just do it themselves”, so that’s what they do. Instead of teaching ‘need to know’, they do it for them, which only serves to confirm their contention, that ‘need to know’ can’t fight their way out of the proverbial digital paper bag. So unfair! Or is it a form of protecting one’s territory? Hmmmm.

‘Extremely competent tech geek’ is a much better teacher – partly because they actually DO teach – although sometimes they’re a bit too technical to understand easily; and ‘obsessive tech wannabe’ can help ‘need to know’ move mountains!

So take a hint ‘fanatically obsessive’ and put your money where your mouth is. If you want everyone in your company to ‘make you proud of their digital savvy’ be a teacher!

And by the way, we used to have yet another group comprised of ‘I hate technology, keep it the hell away from me’. Those dinosaurs have not walked our earth for many moons.

This week’s reflection will be a little different from my last one. Jordan did us the honor of assigning us typefaces and I wanted to do something in a similar manner. So after serious thought and consideration I will be picking new careers for my fellow interns.

Jordan Becker is the best desk buddy to have around. I have the “privilege” of sitting next to him for 40 hours a week. I also have a tendency to call Jordan a diva, but I think that is the designer in him. I believe Jordan’s future career is talent scouting. His quick decision-making and judgments could easy make him the new Simon Cowell of our generation. His wittiness and sassiness could land him a spot on American Idol, America’s Got Talent or more likely, Project Runway. This kid has a craving for creativity, talent and for some reason glitter.

Rob is the driving force behind our Creating Captains project. Setting deadlines and keeping us on track is his job. However his future career is much different than an account executive position. Rob WILL be the new Barefoot Contessa. Rob does the perfect imitation of Barefoot Contessa and has a similar baking style: lots of butter. Good luck on your future Food Network baking show! You can come over and cook for me anytime.

On a side note, if there is ever a remake of Mean Girls, please cast Rob as Regina George. He doesn’t need a script because he already knows the lines.

Jen is a performer, simple as that. What she is doing in advertising, I have no idea. I can only assume that she is taking this approach to later star in commercials and radio spots. Spend five minutes with her and you can easily tell that she is meant for Broadway. Her side hobbies include writing songs about football camps and dancing. Get her autograph now before she becomes too famous. Aside from her future career as a performer I can only imagine Jen will own anywhere from 40-80 kittens.

Chelsea is a blast in a glass. It seems that every morning I have about four emails informing me of old, new and upcoming music trends. Chelsea definitely has a good taste for music. I believe that Chelsea would make a great music producer. Her love of music is so strong that she has decided to drag me to karaoke nights on Thursdays. Do not quote me on this, but I believe she is the first person to discover the new rage in music apps, Spotify.

No matter what career these people choose, they are going to be amazing at anything. To conclude, I would like to say that our intern Twitter account (@Bozell_Confess) is active and we have been “confessing” things on a daily basis! So please follow us to stay up to date on things that are happening around Bozell.

Even though we’re all so busy around the office, we still make time for the other intern shenanigans that started on our first day. Random YouTube videos, pranks on each other and watching The Food Network in the Bunker Room during our lunch breaks are all still happening on a regular basis. This Friday will be exciting because it’s the first annual Bozell Cupcake War! Myself, along with three other Bozell employees, will be baking up a storm in hopes of taking away the championship.

It’s true what many people say about working in an advertising agency. You work hard, you play hard. That definitely holds true here at Bozell. Even though we’re swamped right now with work, we still make time to have fun along the way. I’m looking forward to my final month of the internship and excited to see the work that I started at the beginning, finally come full-circle.

As crazy as our schedules are, we still find time to have some fun. Lunch hour with the interns is always a fiasco: anything from Velcro tennis games to spontaneous tours of ritzy apartment buildings in the area. We’ve also established a weekly tradition of checking out a new restaurant in the Old Market each week. When we bring our lunches and decide to stick around Bozell during the lunch hour, we opt for either a picnic outside feeding the birds random tidbits of leftovers from our meals or relaxing in the bunker room watching classic American television: the Food Network or Jerry Springer. All-in-all, the bonding experience so far has been incredible, and I can’t wait for the coming weeks as we continue to craft our project and spend time together.

I was extremely nervous to meet the other interns on the first day because I had been the only intern for so long. The nerves disappeared the minute we began introducing ourselves. Chelsea, Rob, Joe and Jordan are so talented and fun to work with. I can honestly say I have found friends in them which is nice when I want someone to eat lunch with or if I feel compelled to randomly break into song while walking back to my car from the College World Series (Shout out to Joe!- yeah yeah).

We have all gotten extremely busy recently which is really exciting. This means it’s time for the fun to begin. Rob and I have recently had our creative briefs approved for our Creating Captains project which means that Jordan can finally begin planning out what he wants to do. Jordan is a design genius, and I am in awe every time he presents me with an idea. He is so fun to talk to and concept with. Rob is extremely organized and has been great with planning ahead and being the contact person for our client. He and I work together to make sure things get done which has been a great learning experience. Joe has been swamped with work for the College World Series-primarily the tailgating. He hasn’t been in the office because of that which is a shame because we all miss his gleaming face and perfectly pitched singing voice!  Chelsea is our social media intern, and she has been great about sending out a video of the day. She has a fun spirit and is great with people.

I could go on and on about how amazing Bozell is, but there are not enough words. If anyone has a special request, I’d be happy to write a song and choreograph a dance to properly express the joy I have in working here. Until then, I will leave you with one final statement: I love Bozell.

Joe: Franklin Gothic. The reason I pegged Joe for Franklin Gothic is because it is incorporated in Bozell’s identity system. Joe is oozing with Bozell pride. Also, Franklin’s tall x-height relates back to Joe’s obsession with his high-top sneakers. It just seems that this font and Joe were meant to be.

Chelsea: Gotham. The reason Chelsea is Gotham is because, like Gotham, Chelsea is very trendy. She treats the office like a fashion show with her killer outfits. Chelsea is really fun to be around because of her outgoing personality, which I believe Gotham represents.

Jennifer: Avenir. Avenir is very professional and so is Jenn. One of the best parts about Avenir is that it can look good in a professional setting and also on a kid’s birthday party invite. With Jenn’s fantastic and crazy sense of humor and great business etiquette, she really couldn’t be any other typeface.

Rob: Archer. Archer is a slab serif, so needless to say it creates a presence when used in a design. Rob is the type of guy to take charge of a situation and figure things out. Archer was also created for use in Martha Stewart Living, and Rob makes some mean cupcakes.

I can’t choose a typeface for myself because my favorite changes daily. Maybe I will leave it up to the other interns to pick one. Just no goofball fonts!

One thing that all these typefaces have in common is that they are creative and fun to work with and so is our team of interns. One of the best parts about this internship has been the people. I wish I could assign all of the creative and nice people at Bozell a typeface, but then I wouldn’t have any time to design with them.

Daily deal sites Groupon and LivingSocial saw their audiences approximately triple in the year to April 2011, with gains of 250% and 182%, respectively, according to comScore’s “State of the US Online Retail Economy in Q1 2011” report. But while both play in the same space, differences have emerged in the geographies and demographics of their users, as well as their deployment of display and paid search advertising.

Beyond the geographic divergence, each provider appears to attract different types of users. comScore found that internet users under 45 leaned toward Groupon, while those ages 45 and older skewed more in favor of LivingSocial. Those ages 12 to 25 underindexed on usage of daily deal sites in general, but underindexed less strongly on Groupon. Both sites were used by women more than men.

But Nielsen found the opposite age skew when it examined the sites’ demographics in March 2011. That analysis found that 33% of LivingSocial visitors were ages 21 to 34, compared to 25% for Groupon, while 51% of LivingSocial visitors were ages 35 to 64, vs. 57% for Groupon.

The dynamic nature of users opting in and opting out of Groupon and LivingSocial’s emails may, in part, be responsible for driving changing user demographics from month to month. This is a plausible scenario given consumers’ fickle spending behaviors and the services’ monthly churn rates.

In April, Groupon’s churn rate was 18% while LivingSocial’s was 22%, according to comScore. As of Q1, Groupon had about 83 million subscribers compared to LivingSocial’s 26 million.

Where advertising is concerned, while neither Groupon nor LivingSocial skimps on spending to attract users, they place a different emphasis on how they promote their deals.

The comScore analysis found that LivingSocial concentrated the majority (73%) of its display ads on the top five US Web properties, particularly Yahoo and MSN where the ads run mainly in email and news. The rest of the ads ran throughout the web. Groupon, however, ran only 31% of its ads on top publishers’ sites, spreading the majority (69%) around on mid-tier and more obscure sites.

Another strategic difference between the two providers, comScore noted, is that more than half (56%) of Groupon’s offers were for restaurants, while the hefty portion of LivingSocial’s deals (41%) were for books and magazines.

For more information on the frugal consumer please visit  http://www.bozell.com/thinking/marketing-research/the-frugal-consumer/

Because everything is new, and so much had to be done, we’ve all been working at a feverish pace to get everything ready. In the last few weeks the communications elements have rolled out. TV and radio spots are running, a new local website was launched, billboards and street pole banners were put up, an insert appeared in the paper, email marketing got hot and heavy, a text alert program was launched, airport multi-media displays at baggage claim began running. The list was long. And now the big event is about to kick off.

Yesterday was the official kick off press conference and even some of our interns got put to work. Joe Burke delivered some 20k information inserts for fans to area hotels and businesses. And both Joe and Jennifer Fisher acted as human easels today to make sure exhibits didn’t blow down during the press conference.

We had an entire crew down at the stadium for the press kickoff to work logistics. Pictured here are just a few. Interns Jennifer Fisher and Joe Burke and  staffers Emily Wenstrom and Laura Spaulding.

Just in the nick of time, literally with only 30 minutes to spare before the first team arrived on Wednesday, the airport welcome banners were installed.

Every year has its share of challenges. This year the big one is water. It’s everywhere. Even cropping up this week into parking lot D and giving officials some headaches. Flooding is also on the mind of fans coming into town and we’ve needed to provide information about road closures and suggested detours. This is the first time we’ve needed to add a page to the website to include updates on flooding and road detours. Challenges aside, everyone is powering through it and the show will go on. And it will be great!

Come on down and catch the free opening ceremonies and a game. Tickets are still available at the box office and the view is FINE!

For starters, Bozell has some of the most intelligent people I have ever met. I have had the pleasure to meet many fine individuals over these last few weeks and all of them seem so happy to be a part of this company. As an intern it can be frightening to start working with the big dogs. However, the people of Bozell have seemed to quickly friend us and treat us with respect like we are already part of their family. It is refreshing to come and leave work daily with a smile on my face.

I could not ask for a better group of interns to work with. Something about these guys and gals makes me feel comfortable talking about anything. Since day one we all hit it off and we are getting along better than ever. We have already implemented an intern happy hour every Wednesday. I know that us interns are getting along really well when I am heckled after I miss our lunch dates. We are so different and that makes this experiment fun.

We experienced our first Fridays at Four last week. It was a brand new experience for us. We lounged around the table looking over downtown Omaha with an occasional game of Washers. After a small incident (blame Rob) I had to climb over the railing and under the deck to retrieve one of the washer disks and a blue blouse. I don’t want to
know why that blouse was down there.

This is going to be a busy summer for us. After the Creating Captains creative brief receives its final critiques the fun begins! This will be a fun and entertaining summer for the five of us. We will be busy working with new clients and campaigns, the College World Series and Creating Captains.

But, as we soon found out, maintaining a consistent brand image while transitioning from clean corporate cubicles to a gritty downtown warehouse takes a little time.

We had this grand vision of what the overall look would be. We really wanted to embrace the unique vibe of the Old Market. We’re a creative agency! This is what we’re about! But we knew that getting to that point was going to take some work.

When it came time to haul the multitude of technology, furniture and files to the new office, it became evident that the transition would need to be done one step at a time. The first few days, it was enough to have access to email, a computer network and a working phone so we didn’t miss a beat with client projects — interior design would have to come later.

But the big vision wasn’t forgotten. A group of Bozell employees with a gift for aesthetics got together to start brainstorming. And Bozell’s Department of the Interior (DOI) was born.

This 5-person team looked to the gritty, urban feel of our new home for inspiration. The historic former warehouse already had its share of personality—complete with worn wooden floors, a monumentally open space with high ceilings and exposed pipes. And the fairly dramatic slope from one end of the historic wooden floor to the other was certainly, well, distinctive.

But distinctive wasn’t enough. The space needed to become distinctively Bozell.

Chris Tipton who is an interactive designer and de facto leader of the DOI saw integrating a consistent brand image to a completely different kind of space as a really fun creative challenge. The team wanted to stay true to the building’s history and the Old Market, so they treated the existing aesthetics of the building as a palette to work from.

Bozell’s Department of the Interior includes Chris Tipton, Carrie Ratliff, Erica Rowe, Aaron Christensen and Dan Greve.

The team made note of areas in need of engaging visuals and observed how the space was being used to identify their next steps. The assessment led to a list of several major projects to do throughout the space.

For example, our entrance — clients and other guests were walking right past the primary entrance to the greatroom and down the hall, ending up near our server room. A large, closed-off wooden pod, which took up much of the open space in the entry, didn’t provide a clear enough signal of welcome. A solution to make this space more open and inviting—something that would naturally lead people in—went to the top of the to-do list.

To address the flow of the entryway, the pod was rotated 90 degrees, which was interesting and quite an ordeal because it was built in place so it had to be disconnected from the floor. Its largest wall, now facing the entrance, was removed which involved all kinds of saws. Add some chairs, a table and a giant bowl of candy, and what used to be a massive barrier became a welcoming entrance and waiting area.

Cable and clips transformed a large blank wall into a display of creative work that can be quickly and easily updated with anything from chalkboards and old signage to a 12-by-12-foot banner.

Another visually vacant space was converted into a display area. The old rusty warehouse doors were opened, revealing a receded cinderblock wall. Wood was layered over it to match the desks and pods, and then covered with pieces of Bozell’s own proud history.

In the kitchen, furniture was rearranged, tossed and pulled in from other areas to create a usable community space that tied the look together. The torn-off pod wall from the entryway was trimmed to fit into a recess along one wall, tying in the gritty wood motif of the main office. Platforms were built to exacting specifications to give a level support to a work table and several file cabinets on the slanted floor.

Then, the DOI went outside. A Bozell sign was created and hung on the side of the building.

Another community space was created on the porch, using donated wooden pallets to create outdoor seating and a table, and topped with cushions in Bozell green. In fact, the cushions were one of the few items that were purchased by the team in transforming the space. The Bozell sign, a table for the seating area in the kitchen, and the outdoor furniture, along with other small projects were built by DOI members themselves. The only other costs included modest construction assistance for the platforms, some spare wood and some screws—a telling demonstration of the team’s crafty creativity.

Collectively, these changes added up to an office that reflected Bozell’s brand while celebrating the gritty heritage of its historic new space. But that doesn’t mean the DOI is retiring.

We’re proud of the projects completed to date. We feel it’s really given Bozell ownership of our new space.  But as Chris Tipton is the first to say, we have more we hope to do. With a large open space like this, once you start to imagine the possibilities, it’s impossible to stop.

Bush and Facebook .

For those of you who have not yet seen their new tv spot it is brilliant in it’s simplicity. A shot of Duke’s Facebook message in search of buyers for the Bush family secret bean recipe – the one he’s been trying to sell surreptitiously for years. And Jay’s immediate Facebook response consisting of a one word recrimination – Duke!

From those two Facebook-style fragments we learn that Bush’s Baked Beans are social media savvy in a way that is not inconsistent with their down home and campy brand. Smartly done!

As week two comes to an end, I can officially say that all of the interns have clicked.  We’ve had the chance to work with a variety of crazy talent so far and each day brings something new.  When we first started at Bozell, we were told that each day is different.  I had heard that before at other internships, but Bozell definitely has kept that promise.  We’re still learning the ropes and still meeting new people daily, but it’s been great because each day we are meeting and working with new talent.

As the Brand Navigation intern, I’ve had the chance to work on a few different accounts already, while also sitting in on a variety of different meetings with actual clients.  I’ve even had the chance to sit in on a few creative meetings and am starting to get a better picture of how a project makes its way through the agency.  The experience I’ve gotten in the Brand Navigation department so far has been outstanding.  I’ve had real responsibilities, real deadlines and real work.

I’ve been busy this week spending a lot of time on our non-profit organization, Creating Captains.  Finishing up creative briefs, figuring out what tactics to use to actually implement our ideas and making sure we have all our bases covered has kept me pretty busy.  All of us are pumped to see this campaign go full-circle and are looking forward to creating some awesome content for our client.

Between the people, the projects and the experience so far, I would say that this is definitely on its way to being a great summer.

The reputable Borsheims brand is often perceived as expensive, exclusive and intimidating to couples in their 20s and 30s looking to get engaged. The “Forever” campaign was designed to create an attainable, accessible look to attract shoppers at every price point.  Bozell worked with Minor White Studios to capture real couples in well-known locations around Omaha giving the campaign a genuine, local feel.

The sincere emotion and romantic undertones would make any girl say, “I want that to be me!”  Here are some behind the scenes photos from the two-day shoot.  Stay tuned for the final campaign!

And agencies are changing. They’re bringing on new capabilities, anything from digital to direct mail or publishing. Agencies are diversifying their offerings and clarifying those things that they’ve always done but that some marketers seem to have forgotten. Clearly the agencies that are not “reinventing (god what an overused term) themselves” are going down.

There’s a lot of buzz about agencies and change. Is there something very unique about the business that’s forcing it into this apparent revolution? Not really.

Any junior marketer knows that in order to thrive business must change. Any business.

There are people who will tell you that, with the advent of digital to fragment media choices, and with branding agencies broadcasting to the world that only they are capable of branding – even though sophisticated, full service agencies have been doing branding since the inception of branding, the ad , agency business faces extinction.

But I ask you, aren’t conditions in every business changing? Doesn’t the advent of digital and social media affect every business? Sure some changes can and should evolve more slowly than others – but every business should be in flux pretty much all the time to “keep the stone from gathering moss.”

The most savvy folks in our industry are change agents. So why does everyone look at us as if we have three minutes to run from a burning building?

It became quickly apparent that we five interns were going to be fast friends and a great team when we all ordered the same thing for lunch the first day: plain chicken and cheese quesadillas. Kevin joked that if anyone asked about us interns that he would respond “They don’t like onions!!” And it’s all uphill from there. Daily morning coffee runs and a “random link of the day” from me have been established, and lunch break bonding has ensued, although we have had to call out Joe for ditching us multiple times, and Jordan has already left us for vacation (the team just isn’t whole without him!). We’ve already hatched a plan to make a video series of our lives and experiences here at Bozell, and the ideas just keep coming. And how many companies give interns their very own desks?? And I’m talking full-size legitimate desks. Yea, this is cool.

Our very first day, we knew this internship would be unlike any other when we had our first client meeting with Creating Captains, the nonprofit organization that we get to work on this summer. We came out of the meeting absolutely ecstatic about working with Matt and Allie, the two people that run the organization. Their energy and the amazing message and goals of the nonprofit will make for a fun project, and I think I speak for all of us interns that any free time is dedicated to researching and coming up with ideas to create the best possible proposal we can (yes, we’re THAT excited about it). We’ve all been busy so far with our own individual department assignments, and I have learned soooo much already! I may actually come out of this thing ready for the real world! (scary thought) So all in all, Bozell is awesome, us interns are awesome, and this summer is already bidding for a top spot on my list of best summers ever. Bring it on week #2! We’re ready for you!

Thanks to all who joined us!

Missed it? There will be more parties to come.  But in the meantime, check out this video of the space’s transformation from an open warehouse last October into the dynamic creative space it is today, and our party photo gallery.

Check out the photos from our party on our Facebook page.

When we moved into the new office space at the end of 2010, we were excited about all the new-ness. Not having offices. 16-foot ceilings. Being downtown. Having a patio. We also had a lot of ideas on “other” stuff we could do, as the Creative Minds all saw potential no matter how cool things already were.

Well, over the past couple weeks, we’ve been putting the ideas into action and I am so impressed with what’s happened. For us, it was just an extension of what we do. We solve problems, we think, we design, we create and build. Sometimes all of those things happen on the computer. Sometimes they are printed or materialize as signs, billboards, television commercials, websites, postcards, radio ads… you name it. This time, however, we’ve started with raw materials and made THINGS. We’ve taken pallets and scrap wood and built walls, benches and tables. We’ve handcrafted signage for the building. We’ve put the ideas into action and added sweat, tears and yeah, a little blood, and actually made some things. It looks really good. It feels great.

Doing the work and getting your hands dirty can really help keep you rooted and connected with how stuff actually happens. It helps you to solve problems better when you are the one who actually has to do the work to make things happen. There’s also simply the feeling you get after having created something real that doesn’t just exist when the electricity is on.

I’d love to hear about the types of “real” things that you do that help keep you in touch with the real world, and what types of work you’ve seen to help influence the creative process. And if you’re in the neighborhood – stop by and say hi. We can show you around and let you see all of the things we’ve been working on.

We’ve worked with the local organizing committee for the College World Series for many, many years (in fact one of our founders helped convince the NCAA to bring the tournament to Omaha). We’ve helped grow the event and build excitement year after year.

But back in 2008 when the initial recommendation to build a new state-of-the-art stadium was brought up — since it would cost almost the same as upgrades to Rosenblatt, and position Omaha more strongly for a long-term contract with the NCAA — the idea wasn’t an automatic home run. In fact, it faced an enormous amount of resistance and fear of what a move downtown would do to the colorful, somewhat kitchy, home-town feel of the series. Read more about that effort.

People were worried that it wouldn’t be the same.  And they were right. It is different, but that doesn’t mean less. New memories, new experiences, new firsts and a new chapter in history.

Last week when the stadium opened, there was a lot of buzz and you could feel the excitement. Tickets sold out for the inaugural game — fittingly enough between Creighton (long-time CWS host institution) and NU. The first tailgaters showed up on a cold April morning, bundled in blankets or outfitted in hooded sweatshirts. They barbecued, they played catch and they partied.  When the gates opened and people entered the stadium, they were wowed and warmed, despite the bitter cold evening. I can’t count the number of times I heard the words “wow”, “awesome” and “niiiiice”.

Sitting in the stands of the new stadium with its incredible sight lines and amazing views; walking the wide open concourses or being able to keep an eye on the action while you get a soda, it’s hard for anyone, even the biggest skeptic, to argue that new game watching experience wasn’t a change for the better. And after the game, it’s soooo easy to walk over to a restaurant or bar to relax or grab a bite and let the traffic clear out. There is so much to do in the area and the circulatory shuttle will allow people to move around easily and enjoy what downtown has to offer. I was thrilled when I learned about that shuttle,  because it picks up in the Old Market, right near our office.

When we experience the first series in the new stadium, there will no doubt be some hiccups as we all get used to the new locale. After all we had a lot of years mastering how it all worked at Rosenblatt. But like me, most people are incredibly excited to build new traditions, new memories and watch history happen from a new vantage point. I can’t wait.

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Managing change in your business isn’t easy, but click here for a few tips that might help.

Recently one of our copiers went off contract. We’d been paying just under $400. dollars a month plus usage fees. They told us we could just continue to pay the monthly fee and usage fees while we were deciding how we wanted to proceed. After a few months we were ready to discuss options. They suggested that we could sign a contract to pay $0. dollars a month plus usage fees. Excuse me? They didn’t bother to mention this when the contract ended? They continued to collect the full monthly fee from us as though they weren’t blatantly picking our pockets.

Even when functional, the copy machine remains one of the greatest sources of frustration in the office.

Now we probably don’t need that copier at all – the manufacturer has agreed to pick up the machine for free – yay! Not so fast! As is their usual MO they will charge us an exorbitant fee for cancelling a $0. charge contract! Nothing short of highway robbery.

This company has a few sales reps who are automatons and a few who seem like decent folks – unfortunately they’re not given any leeway to try to keep their customers satisfied – either that or they’re just lame. They just keep adding fees on top of fees and telling us we can’t get what we want – ever!

During our recent office move they quoted us a sizeable chunk of cash to move our two machines a few miles. We asked our brand new and very promising sales rep if he could get them to lower the cost at all (we’d been told that many copier companies will provide a move of this magnitude free of charge – as a service to their customers) and after several days he proudly announced that he had a way of lowering the cost to us – ‘move some of it yourself’ was his solution. Gee thanks.

My colleague suggested that she would try to get the $0. contract cancelled without incurring additional fees. She would make another attempt at dealing directly with their customer care line. I was loathe to point out the misnomer – experience tells us she was about to encounter their customer ‘don’t care’ line! Sometimes you just have to face it for what it is!

Does that seem harsh?

That’s because I’m mocking this little camp creation that shows a fellow Domino’s chef along with their pr guy mocking their new chicken chef Cluck – I mean Tate – Dillow. And if it isn’t bad enough being mocked by your colleagues for being chicken-centric and probably for looking goofy – poor little Tate is being rated by the whole world. Yes, that nasty SOB Domino’s CEO has redesigned the Domino’s box to enable the whole world to judge poor sad little Dillow.

The CEO, Mr. I-am-so-very-down-to-earth-and-I-care-so-much-about-my-customers has insisted that his valued buyers get to weigh in on the future of this pathetic little guy and his chicken concoctions. They have reduced his life’s work to these three check boxes: Nope, Almost or Oh yes we did it.

Tate himself weighs in in his slight southern drawl “I hate bad chicken”. On his employers cardboard kangaroo court he comments “I – or rather Ah, did not know he was going to do that.”

If you check Tate out on YouTube you get an even sadder story. “No one really knows where my lab is.” “We call him the Lone Wolf” (oh please, you mean the wolf that raids the chicken coup?).

On his :30 tv spot Tate shows a little bit of backbone – very little. “Ah’m not excited about the box at all,” he croaks in his sad little southern chicken voice emerging from his worried looking chicken face.

What do you think – does it crack you up or is it just a tacky little cheap shot? Where do you stand on the chicken?

This ad has been scrutinized by social conservatives across the country and has a lot of people outraged about the response.  Commentator Erin Brown of the right-leaning Media Research Center went so far as to call the ad “blatant propaganda celebrating transgendered children.”  She also accused J. Crew of exploiting Lyons’ son for its liberal agenda.

I find it hard to believe that critics are targeting J. Crew for such an innocent add.  The outrage over this ad is just one of the many examples of how people in our society become extremely uncomfortable when gender roles for boys/men are tested.

It’s ridiculous to me that this is even an issue. Guess what? Little boys like nail polish, just as little girls like nail polish, because it’s colorful and fun! End of story. Why not let little boys do what makes them happy without having to put labels on their behavior? Believe me, society will force them to conform to standard “male” behavior soon enough.

KUDOS  J. Crew for helping to expand the spectrum of gender expression, especially for little boys who are all too often bullied and teased for expressing themselves. Come on people, it’s just a cute ad with a cute mom-and-son scene and the kid wants to wear pink nail polish.  Get over it!

There was  anticipation back then – a little high I’d get every morning, checking my email to see what retail treasures awaited me.

Then came LivingSocial. And now there’s Valpak, and two other local daily deals that arrive as scheduled when I check my phone as I walk out the door.

My inbox on a typical weekday morning . . . somehow the deals don't seem as exclusive as they used to.

I realized yesterday morning that the spark isn’t there anymore. Was it because I was on my way to a funeral (I didn’t think so) or have the daily deals begun to lose their charm?

I was curious, so I started to do a little research. Everything I read online seemed to discount my feelings. Groupon and Living Social both continue to see growth in their subscriber lists. But there’s no information that really divulges what’s happening with their open and click-through rates, or the rate that people are unsubscribing. So I asked around the office. The results were a mixed bag.

There were a couple of people who have unsubscribed from their deals altogether, some that still get pretty excited about them, and quite a few subscribers who have never actually made a purchase. One thing was pretty clear though – success lies in the subject line. We no longer open the email to get all the details.  If the subject doesn’t sell, the deal is done.

I’ve noticed a change in Groupon’s subject lines. Some days they promote deals from two different vendors. One those days they no longer divulge the savings of the deal, but simply tell you who’s offering it. Is the mystery of the savings enough to get us to open the email even if we’re not that interested in the retailer? I don’t think so.  But the difference in format does make them stand out among the offers from the other deal sites – good or bad.

I’ve purchased a handful of deals along the way, and it always feels good to save money on something I’d buy anyway. But the offers I’m really interested in seem fewer and farther in-between these days.

If we’ve reduced our daily deal interaction to subject lines, and the number of offers we receive continues to increase, how will the different providers make their offer more tempting? And if they can’t, how long will the lure of the deal sustain us?

The ads are large adhesive banners placed in various places on the moving portion of the baggage carousel. Combine novelty with the fact that most travelers wait 10 to 15 minutes for their luggage to arrive and visibility of the Borsheims ads is bound to be high. And because it’s in the public portion of the airport, friends and family meeting and waiting with the travelers will also see the moving ads. This medium is the latest airport advertising initiative popping up around the country. The hope is to capitalize on the targeting of a demographic considered wealthy, young and cosmopolitan. Non-aviation revenue makes up about half of U.S. airports’ operating revenues, according to Airports Council International-North America.

With the carousel banners Borsheims will give a big welcome to shareholders as well as the hundreds of thousands of other travelers this month. Beyond the banners, Borsheims also play a big role in the event festivities:  from the opening party to an event blog to special shopping days. This year the Oracle of Omaha himself will be behind the counter at Borsheims for a day. Can you imagine buying your wedding ring from Warren Buffet? That would be a story to tell.

I’m still a work in progress.  Especially in time management. I’m working on getting better organized so I can be more effective and trying out various options to see what will “stick” for me. I tend to start strong, but lose steam and need to figure out how to better maintain momentum.  I think I’ll print this and hang it in my office to remind me that success is built inch-by-inch, everyday.

"Mud Girl"

I can’t remember the last time I enjoyed a TV ad campaign as much as I do Swiffer’s “What About Love” campaign. The term ‘clever’ has gotten kind of a bum rap in our industry. Why everyone knows that ‘clever’ copy has no substance to it – it’s just a cheap joke and nothing more. Often that’s true, but not in this case.

The “What About Love” campaign makes me smile every time I see it. Is it a cheap joke – yes – but what else is there to say about a mop? Nothing else that won’t get lost in the mundane and mindless drone of ads about household products. The campaign stands out in its use of tacky romantic clichés ‘cleverly’ tied to pick up lines – but the visual creative approach – the brilliance of dressing people up as mud, dirt and computer dust to give the tacky clichés ‘mopping’ relevance is wonderful.

"Nerd Girls"

The first of the series is the valley girl in her mud dress, heels and bag – how did they do that anyway? It looks so real! She scorns all of the filthy and disgusting germy mops that try to pick her up and is finally swept off her feet by the Swiffer mop as she utters her final line, “I like your pad.”

Next come the mud and dirt sisters. They may not have an acceptable mop in their sights – but at least they have each other. That is until dirt is picked up by the Swiffer mop and acknowledges, “You’re quite the pick up artist.” as mud looks on in distress. I can’t help it – I laugh every time.

Finally we have the Michael Scott look alike in his business suit fashioned from big fluffy keyboard lint. Michael lives ‘at the corner of J and K’ and hangs out at the “space bar,” and he too succumbs to the charms of the Swiffer dust cloth.

"Keyboard Guy"

The ‘clever’ lines alone would not cut it. The ‘clever’ lines perfectly timed and juxtaposed against the expertly designed and totally ridiculous costumes and high level production quality makes it a scream! They got my attention and made me think about their product far longer than anything else they could have done! Well done!

And for those of you on “Commercials I hate” who find these ads so offensive – there are plenty of dating services out there – don’t despair – get busy and find your special companion!

Nan Pike, Broadcast Production Manager

A 30-second commercial goes by fast. A good one delivers a quick, memorable message. But creating that simple message can be anything but—just ask Nan Pike, Bozell’s broadcast production manager. Nan is the person the creative team trusts to take its concept from paper to full life on the screen.

In the 20-plus years she has managed the production process, Nan has learned how to keep all the people and pieces in line to make sure that every shoot results in powerful material and happy clients.

Take a look at what happens behind the scenes of that seemingly simple 30-second commercial. Action!

Before a shoot

Behind the scenes of a how-to video series for Westlake Ace Hardware, shot on location at one of the company’s Kansas City stores.

The process starts long before the shoot date. About four to eight weeks out, a concept is finalized by the creative team and handed over to Nan for production. Then, Nan starts assembling her team. This involves reaching out to production companies whose style might go well with the company’s brand and message.

“We talk with the companies and get their feedback and ideas, making sure they will work well with the creative team to enhance the concept, and not try to change it or make it their own,” Pike said.

Then, bids are collected and reviewed from the production companies that are good matches. A recommendation is made to the client, the client signs off on a final decision, and Nan gets to work coordinating the production team with internal efforts to make sure everything comes together seamlessly on the shoot day.

“Good planning and efficiency are absolutely critical to a shoot. Otherwise you end up backtracking, missing things or spending more than you needed to,” Pike said.

Careful planning is especially important because it helps her to be ready when the unexpected happens—and it always does, Pike said.

For example, once, talent flying in from Minnesota had her flight cancelled due to an unexpected storm. Pike and her crew had to scramble to find a replacement or face rescheduling the entire shoot, a costly undertaking.

“Replacing talent is especially difficult. There are so many aspects that go into a talent choice—performance, look, ambience. Intangibles that really make a difference in the commercial’s feel,” Pike said.

The better the pre-production planning, the better the shoot and final product (and the friendlier the prices will be).

On set

It took a lot of careful setup and special equipment to turn the hardware store into a studio.

There are many people who must be brought together for a successful commercial shoot. Your production team, to begin with. Even a small shoot can need as many as eight to 10 people in production alone.

“A lot of specialists are required for audio, lighting, hair and makeup. You need your producer, director, assistant director. It takes a lot of people,” Pike said.

The creative team also needs to be present. The people who imagined the concept into being, designed the look and wrote the script are key to running a smooth shoot with good results. There are always last-minute needs and adjustments, so having the writer on hand for a quick rewrite is invaluable. Also, the creatives are the most likely to catch it if something on set is not true to the concept, like if the color palette is off-brand.

And of course, a client representative must always be present during shooting to ensure that the client is satisfied with the results. With the client comes the account manager, who makes sure the set is pleasant and accessible to the client and that their concerns and questions get heard.

Keeping all these people and pieces functioning “is like being a duck. You’ve got to keep everything smooth on the surface, but underneath you’re paddling like crazy,” Pike said. “You have to coordinate all these different groups of people to bring the concept to life and address the needs that come up along the way.”

A shoot can take up to 12 hours, even on a day where everything runs smoothly. Setup alone can take two or three hours. Because of the time and costs of running a shoot, shoots are completed in one day whenever possible. This can lead to some pretty long hours on the set.

After the shoot

The final videos were squarely on-brand, offering Westlake customers helpful guides for a wide variety of simple household projects.

Once the shots are on film, three weeks are dedicated to adding the other elements and perfecting the spot.

It starts with the creation of a rough cut—a preliminary edit of the shots to get the sequence viewed and approved by the client. Then, music and voiceovers are added, as well as graphics, such as the company’s logo, and any legal information required. The polished edited cut is color-corrected. Then, the final edit is sent to the client again for final approval.

Once a finalized ad is approved, it is sent out for placement on television to broadcast its message to the world.

As you can see, a lot of time and work goes into creating a 30-second commercial. It’s a long process and requires a large team of creative and technical specialists. But the satisfaction of a carefully crafted and neatly wrapped up 30-second spot never gets old.

With approximately 600,000 words, the Oxford English Dictionary is the longest official dictionary; as stated by The Guinness Book of World Records. And getting longer by the day. If you’re one of those who look at these “initialisms” and say WTF,  there’s even more torture. In February and March a whole bunch of ridiculous words made their way into OED. Here’s just a few:

• La-la land: can refer either to Los Angeles or to a state of being out of touch with reality (and sometimes to both simultaneously.)
• Muffin top: a roll of fat visible above the top of a pair of women’s tight-fitting low-waisted pants.
• Bromance: a close and non-sexual relationship between two men. (I blame Barney from How I Met Your Mother! for this one.)
• Woot: used to express elation, enthusiasm, or triumph
• Nom-nom: used to express pleasure at eating. (Seriously?  Does anyone past the age of 2 say this?)
• Sammich: a sandwich (I can see teachers cringe everywhere.)
• Tanorexia: an obsessive desire to acquire and maintain a suntan, by natural or artificial methods.  (Ummmmm, really?)
• Egosurf: search the internet for instances of one‘s own name or links to one’s own website.
• Buttload: a large number or amount. (I’ll admit I’ve been saying this one for years, but never in writing)
• Tinfoil hat: used in allusion to the belief that wearing a hat made from tinfoil will protect one against government surveillance or mind control by extraterrestrial beings. (aka nut bags)
• Sexting: the sending of sexually explicit photographs or messages via mobile phone.

I don’t see sammich in a spelling bee anytime soon, but as an avid Scrabble player, I’m happy these little electronic jewels are official words in the dictionary.  How soon will the Scrabble iPad app recognize them?  LOL! And TTFN.

If someone posts “Thinking of pizza for dinner” Domino’s could instantly serve up an ad. That potential to be present at the moment someone expresses a desire for something is a very compelling proposition for advertisers.

Facebook is testing the instant ad model among only a small group of users — a mere 1% of the base, but that’s still some 6 million people. This test could make a huge difference in how Facebook ads perform, as well as how they are perceived by users. But, this brave new world raises the usual privacy concerns and Facebook will have to be very careful not to overstep the balance or risk freaking people out.

Campaigns on Facebook have been extremely successful for many big brands, but some analytics firms, including Webtrends, claim that Facebook display ad click-through rate are abysmally low — 0.051% in 2010, or about half the industry average. Low click through rates or not, last year Facebook sold some $1,86 billion in ads, over half of which were self-serve ads purchased directly using Facebook’s targeting tools. And that number is expected to keep increasing.

I wonder what the CPC will be for a chat-triggered ad compared to the other targeting options?

The feature rolls out in the U.S. first, and later this year, internationally. Yahoo Search Direct predictive-search technology comes several months after Google Instant. The feature is geared to help searchers find answers, not links, faster.

Search Direct covers top trending searches, movies, TV, sports teams and players, weather, local, travel, stocks and shopping categories on Yahoo.com. Search Direct starts working as soon as you click inside the query window. A dropdown box displays the latest trending searches before you’ve typed a single character.  A larger window to the right of the trending list displays relevant information as you type.

Enter “cameras,” for instance, and Search Direct displays camera pricing information for Yahoo Shopping.

• Trending Searches – The moment the cursor hits the search box, top search trends appear and are updated every 10 minutes to display the latest and greatest search trends.
• Search Previews – Search Direct predicts the search term as you type, providing the 10 most likely searches. You can then easily scan each option to see the related top results and find the best match for your needs.
• Direct Answers – For many common searches, Search Direct provides instant answers before you click the Search button. Find an address or phone number, a three-day weather forecast, financial stock performance, the top trending stories at Yahoo! News, or when and where a movie is playing – all without going to a results page.
• Direct Results – When you scan the search options and find the site you need, Search Direct provides exactly that – direct access to the site. No more overwhelming pages of links.
• Rich Content – For all top searches about sports, top news stories, and finance, Search Direct displays rich content that only the world’s largest digital media company can provide. For example, type “n” to get the Yahoo! News display, which always shows the top two trending stories.

Yahoo!’s share of the $12.37 billion US search advertising market fell to 10.4% in 2010, down from 13.7% in 2009, according to eMarketer. This year, Yahoo!’s share of overall US search ad revenues is expected to fall further to 8.1%.  Much of the decline in Yahoo!’s search business is a result of Bing’s rise.

Writing this article got me curious so I decided to take an informal survey here at Bozell and found that 99% of employees use Google as their preferred search engine.  Only one person listed Bing and no one listed Yahoo. Granted this was a very small (40 participants) & controlled group but I think it definitely shows us that Google is still the 1,000 pound gorilla in the search world.

Yahoo’s Search Direct to me is a little underwhelming and probably won’t be a game changer.  Marketers are attracted to volume when it comes to bidding on paid-search ads, so consumers would need to begin using Yahoo search for market share to even change. People don’t typically jump from one search engine to another quickly.  They are very loyal to the one they like.

More information on this new technology is available in beta form at search.yahoo.com within the United States.

Even before the switch, many companies neglected to include the hyphen. I know we’ve been using the non-hyphenated version for a long time, but continually had to tell our proof readers to stop trying to correct it to match the AP Stylebook.

Cellphone and smartphone as one word instead of two are also being adopted as new Associated Press style guidelines.

Changes that clearly indicate the terms are no longer merely abbreviations for things like electronic mail or cellular telephone — they’re words unto themselves.

So all you copy editors and proofers out there, take note.

So, when you read the sign pictured above, what do you see? The first thing I saw was a big fat “LOL” right in the middle of the sign. It is emphasized by a couple of wavy underlines, apparently to shame and ridicule the person in distress as they meet a watery demise. Then the footnote suggests you call 911.

If you turn the calendar back about 10 years (and I think I’m being generous here for the public at large) I think the sign would be interpreted differently. One might actually see a person flailing their arms above their head as they desperately try to tread water and gasp for air.

But over the last few years at least, the term “LOL” which stands for “laugh(ing) out loud” has become so ubiquitous that whether it’s uppercase or lowercase, people know what it means. That’s what struck me about something as simple as this sign. A part of Internet culture has bled into mainstream culture and changed the way we see things.

This type of thing has always fascinated me, and is pretty simple when you get right down to it. Our language – both written and visual – is based on symbols that have a greater meaning. As designers, programmers, marketers and communicators, it’s our job to understand these symbols and apply them properly to achieve the desired outcomes for our clients. Sometimes, that means evaluating what your current messaging is and making sure it still makes sense. Like the sign above.

It’s also about understanding context for things and being able to observe from multiple perspectives. There are plenty of stories about poorly chosen domain names and ads that have unintentionally used the wrong words due to cultural differences in language. Just goes to show that you really do need to pay attention to what’s going on.

If you sign people need any help redesigning your Drowning Signs, hit us up.

Oh – and be sure to call 911 and then see if you can help, should you see someone drowning out in the real world. Laughing out loud at them wouldn’t be cool.

John Rector, author and Omaha resident

John decided to set his novel in Omaha. He even decided to move here at some point. Needless to say his quote in the World Herald came as a bit of a shock. He said:

“As an outsider coming to Nebraska, it’s a pretty grim state, especially in winter.” The big dome sky, the flatness, the fact that it’s gray so much of the year. “It’s kind of easy to imagine grim characters and grim plots in such a desolate state.”

What did we do to deserve that? Has he ever been to upstate New York in the winter? We’re working so hard here to let the rest of the world know that we’re a much cooler place than you’d think and then this public figure makes a public declaration about our grimness. Not helping!

After reading this article I became so incensed that I e-mailed the author to share my opinion of his recent PR foray. His response was admirable if not compassionate:

“Aren’t different perspectives a wonderful thing?  Imagine how dull life would be if we all saw the world the same way?”

Kind of a cop out in my opinion. I can only hope that his fame matches his ability to accurately convey Nebraska. Then at least the collateral damage would be minimal.

I fail to understand why people of note often feel a need to knock Nebraska when it comes up in the course of conversation. Recently a national news program reported that Nebraska had come in number one in a poll for happiest places in Nebraska – financially speaking. What an enormous honor. The perfectly coifed and elegantly attired reporter felt a need to speculate on why that might be. Her speculation went something like this:

“I would guess that Nebraska is such a mundane place that people don’t expect much so the fluctuation with the economy would not cause them any hardship because that’s all they know.”

Really? You call yourself a news reporter?

Come on people! Either do your homework and comment fairly or leave us the hell alone!

Ninety years is a long time, longer than you’d think.  To really put into perspective how long we’ve been in the ad game, here’s just a small sample of some things we’re older than.  You might be surprised.

1. Plutonium – 1934

Ok, well plutonium is probably older than us…but it was discovered only a few years ago.  Before you go grabbing a hefty supply and time traveling in your DeLorean to play lead guitar at your patents Enchantment Under The Sea Dance…just make sure you handle with care. (Back to the Future reference, anyone?)

2. Disney – October 16, 1923

We’ve got Mickey, or Steamboat Willie at the time, by just a little bit. But while we were executing killer marketing strategies, the “Happiest Place On Earth” was still endless swampland and “It’s a Small World” hadn’t been stuck in our heads yet.

3. Nachos – 1943

I was surprised by this. I thought nachos were created by a kiss from the mighty Goddess Athena in 414 B.C., or maybe they just should have been. It’s hard to believe our founders were still motivated to get up in the morning before the best food ever was invented.

4. Television – 1927

Believe it or not, advertising wasn’t always dominated by television. While we’ve certainly had our share of successful television campaigns, the agency’s first assignment was to protect a private energy company from the threat of public power.  Fortunately we’ve branched out from this niche.

5. Keith Richard’s Liver – December 18, 1943

This one is tricky, technically Keith Richard’s liver is only 67 but I’m pretty sure that this liver is medically considered petrified, which through traditional means generally takes a few hundred years. Either way we’ve been making ads before anybody painted it black.

Other Notable Selections:

SPAM (food) – July 5, 1937

SPAM (annoying internet trash) – Mid 1990’s

Chrysler – 1925

Lucky Charms -1964

Betty White – January 17, 1922

Space Flight – October 4, 1957

Hawaii – August 21, 1959

Killer Bees – 1957

Duct Tape – 1942

(This is the first in a series of posts celebrating Bozell’s 90 Yrs in Advertising)

Scott Bishop is the Director of Social Influence at Bozell.  You can read more marketing insights here or get them on our Facebook Page, inquire about speaking opportunities here or follow him on Twitter.

Earlier this week I had my first exposure to “funeral Facebook”. A relative passed away and we were sent a link to the funeral home web site where she was being featured. The link took me directly to her page replete with a picture of the deceased, her obituary, a viewing and services schedule as well as a Facebook-type section that enabled visitors to post messages about her to her loved ones. Not surprising when you consider how invasive social media has become in our lives. Some of us can’t have our first cup of coffee in the morning without sharing the experience with hundreds of our closest friends – but I digress.

In the past when extended family or acquaintances have passed away I have either called or Hallmarked the immediate family with a heartfelt sentiment designed to offer any possible comfort to those remaining. These sentiments are extremely personal and carefully considered. People are so vulnerable during these times.

This time I gazed upon her funeral page, read a few of the other very personal quotes and contemplated sharing my deeply moving feelings with a sizeable percentage of upstate New York and anyone else who happened upon this site. It felt weird. And creepy. Of course that about sums up the entire macabre experience that has been created by our society in regards to dying and interment – yet another digression.

I dutifully posted my sentiments for public scrutiny whereupon an e-mail arrived with the following message:

Your Life Tributes account has been successfully created and can be used to continue to add to Virginia’s memorial website.

You can also use your Life Tributes account log-in information on any of the hundreds of funeral home websites that are powered by Life Tributes.

Is it me or is this just too weird? Those who know me are aware that I have embraced Facebook and blogging, hell even Twitter but “funeral Facebook” takes voyeurism to a whole new level. I appreciate that the funeral industry is chomping at the bit to get into the mainstream and that they’re trying everything possible to provide moments that affirm the life of lost loved ones but things seem to be going a little too far in my opinion. As much as I don’t want to see a life sized cardboard cutout of the deceased next to his/her coffin, I really don’t want to be part of a fan club for someone who can’t, by virtue of recent occurrences, be interactive.

I guess in closing I should just comment that – I’ve got my Life Tribute account – have you?

That’s the first time I’ve made that particular bone-headed move, but I’ve done a couple of other things like that. And it made me realize that I make assumptions about products for a variety of reason.

I assumed that the shampoo would be quasi transparent and the conditioner would be pearl-ish and that the conditioner would be placed adjacent to the shampoo in my hotel room. It wasn’t.

I never read my shampoo or conditioner label at home, I just know by the bottle and packaging (and where I keep them), which is which. I don’t have to read a label at the store, I know what I want to buy and I just grab.

I make assumptions based on package or label color. I once meant to buy Excedrin PM and got home with Tylenol PM instead. The look alike.

I assume that the hottest salsas will use more red in their package design and milder ones will use more green. I gravitate to the red packages.

Just recently I noticed that the half and half I buy had a fat free notation on the package. I’ve been buying the product forever, but I didn’t know that. And when I thought about it, I was puzzled. How can half and half be fat free? That makes no sense to me. And when I  googled it to find out, I was determined to not buy that product anymore.

I’m a voracious reader. I consume books. But obviously I don’t read labels. And I don’t think I’m alone.

But from now on, I’ll read the labels of those little bottles in my hotel room before I use them. The upside is that my hair is really clean and pretty soft.

Ok. Whew. Let’s see. I am coming off of a couple of months of truly the most intense points ever in the last couple of years. Stressed, strapped, stretched and inhaled is the running theme for me and I am sure for more than a few others. It was a crazy time for the team. Needless to say, the hours being what they were…what was I exposed to that was new, cool, inspiring and blog-worthy? Usually there are cool design/art functions to blog about or really cool happenings, but the only thing happening was the party at my desk.

Whatever it was had to stream through my headphones. So I would like to bring you – nothing visual this time – but purely sound inspiration. Here is a list of the most amazing CD’s to listen to while you have to crank on that impending stack of projects; or if you can’t leave your desk and need to get your groove on chair-dancing; or if you are bored and simply want an inspiring and energizing distraction.

Cut Copy

1. Cut Copy – latest release Zonoscope
This electro pop band from Melbourne’s latest cd is full of rhythmic and hypnotic offerings. The sound is very reminiscent of bands of the 80’s era…pop-driven melodies that climb and build to climaxes that leave your feet stomping. Many of the songs remind me of waking up on a Saturday morning, the sun is coming up, the birds are chirping, you put on a strong pot of coffee and crank the tunes. Pure caffeinated sunshine full of energy. That’s what this CD is. Keep your eyes out for the official release on February 8th.

Cee Lo

2. Cee Lo – latest release Ladykiller
The song “Wildflower” is amazing. As my coworker Tony said (which was perfect) the song reminded him of Diana Ross circa early 1970’s spinning around and around in Central Park while autumn leaves fall down around her in slow motion. YES! It is uplifting and just takes your heart out of your chest and soars with it high above the office, the building and the city you are sitting within….please please give this a listen. If you are having a bad day, this will release you from the demons!

On a more introspective note, the song titled “No One’s Gonna Love You” is gorgeous and makes me wilt in its presence. Cee Lo’s voice is fan-freakin-tastic and he has to be one of the best vocalists of our time. He takes me back to the Motown years – but a modern take on it.

Deadmau5

3. Deadmau5 – latest release 4×4=12
This CD is not for the faint at heart. It is electronica and reminds me of the raves that we used to hit up in the wee hours of the morn. It’s the kind of thumping, droning, hypnotic sound that can help launch you through a project without getting distracted. It transcends you to another planet. So it’s all about you, the dark space surrounding and the heavy beats that draw you into new parts of your mind. “Raise your Weapon” is intense and relevant for the current state of the world. Provocative to say the least.

I am going to end it here with the C’s and D’s, because if I try to digest too much music at a time, I lose interest in all of it. So definitely have a listen, especially if you have some long desk hours ahead. This music will inspire you through those hours and into the weekend with a smile on your face – maybe even enough to blog about it.

We’ve been in our new digs about 20 days now and the box mountain has been whittled to a mole hill. The place ain’t pretty yet, but it is definitely habitable.

We are loving the locale and the space. And we’ve already had a lot of comedic moments and experiences that are creating new agency lore.

This was a before picture (soon the after photos), but you can see the floor is very old.

There’s the floor. It’s a beat-up-104-year-old-solid-wood floor that looks really cool, but is not level in any sense of the word. We knew that going in and our architect and furniture builder planned around it and created leveling systems because it’s historic and city code said we couldn’t do much with it. It does make rolling from space to space pretty easy if the route is downhill.

Then there was the flood. This was on day 3. Apparently some pipe broke in one of the lofts several floors above us (on a weekend) and it flooded that unit, the one below it, and the one below that, before it rained down on us. Luckily we were down there moving around stuff and caught it pretty early with trash cans everywhere or we would have had a major problem.

Then it was the heat. Five furnaces heat the place, but three gave up the fight one day THEN the one in the parking garage below us went out, so the floor temp was something like 42 and the air temp in the place was barely 60. The thermostats didn’t work. We couldn’t figure out how to regulate the system. (We’ve been keeping the service people in business.) Finally we’ve mastered the temperature system and got everything working smoothly  — sort of — a couple of the conference rooms were too hot today.

But there have been two subjects that have created the funniest experiences and most bizarre stories. The first is our new security system which we’ve managed to set off something like 14 times in 2 weeks.

We had an office tutorial, but like most things, hands on experience is a better teacher. We set it up to auto arm late at night in case it didn’t get armed by the last one out or by cleaning crews. What we didn’t realize was that if someone came in late at night to work, and disarmed it with their electronic fob, that the system would eventually automatically re-arm itself.  (The thing has motion detectors.) The first person to find out about the auto re-arming was a web designer who came in late at night to work on something. After an hour or so, he got up from his desk and all hell broke loose. After getting it shut down and dealing with the security company, his email (I was in a hotel in KC when I read it) said ‘I now know what the alarms sound like. I stood up from my desk and nearly crapped my pants.’  I was laughing so hard I nearly cried. His tweet was equally amusing.

A couple days later, a client crash and burn project meant a team needed to work into the wee hours. They set it off four times that night. Another night we set it off a few more times. So there’s been several late night/early morning calls to our cell phones from the security company. I doubt any of us will forget the secret code now that we’ve had to use it so many times. (I’m sure our neighbors in the lofts above us don’t like us too much right now.) We’ve re-done the alarm system to avoid that chaos in the future. Who knew? Our old space had total building security with cards and computer-controlled elevator access, so we never gave it much thought because everything was managed by full-time building staff. But in an older space, where you have to retro-fit stuff, it becomes more of a trick to get it just right.

Then there is the subject that is generating the biggest gross-out-factor, the biggest laughs and the most rank jokes around the place. Crap. Literally. Of the animal and human kind.

Turns out a lot of tenants in the lofts have dogs. And they take them out to do their business right in front of our space — in the lawn, in the parking lot and even on the sidewalk. And no one (or very few) picks up after their dogs. There are landmines everywhere. And come Spring, the smell is going to be pretty ripe.

We had pee (as evidenced by the yellow snow) right in front of our door today. And a turd about 10 feet from it. I love animals, as does most everyone in our office. I have several pets and I cry at those ASPCA commercials, but I can’t imagine NOT picking up after my pet. One, it’s the right thing to do. Two, it’s the law — by city ordinance you must clean up after your pet. We need to figure out a solution to this one before the thaw.

Of the human kind, you are wondering?

Well…during an internal meeting in one of our new conference room there was a nasty smell. People looked at one another and denied culpability. We brushed if off the first time thinking that, he who dealt it was just too embarrassed to fess up. After the third or fourth incidence, we started looking around the space. We had an architectural half ceiling created in that room when it was built to make it more cozy, and as we looked up into the loft space above it, we saw a pipe labeled ‘waste’. (Our contractors must have labeled all the pipes during construction.) We thought maybe it was leaking, but that wasn’t the problem. Finally after crawling around, we discovered the source. Turns out the bathrooms sit right next to this conference room, and their vents go nowhere. They just vent into the open loft space, with the pipes just laying loose on top the restroom roof. And because of the airflow in that area, it pushes the smells right into our conference space. Double gross! We inherited that problem. Apparently it’s been like that. Needless to say, we have HVAC people coming in to fix that problem. In the meantime, that room isn’t getting much use.

Despite all the craziness and odd things, we are enjoying the ride. And we’ll get it all resolved. Eventually. Our punch list of to dos is still long, but everyday we make major progress and hope to be photo and tour ready in a couple weeks.

P.S. Last night our entire email system crashed and it wasn’t until 4pm today that Matt was able to get it back online. I don’t think that had anything to do with the building, but between being e-mail free today (and feeling less stressed as a result) and getting a great welcome gift from Bliss, it was a good day. Bring on tomorrow!

What could be better than to head out to a local eatery with a good book and enjoy a nice relaxing lunch? And it did seem to help. I even declined the waitress’ invitation to try an extremely tempting bloody mary – opting instead for the more sensible virgin mary. And it still helped. 

Even though it is 18 degrees out I decided to take a bit of a post luncheon stroll. I found myself in a local gift shop and selected a few choice items. Feeling even better now!

Time to head back to the office. As I reached my car – the one parked at the meter I had just recently stuffed with coins, I saw the bright color of a $16 parking ticket. &*%%#$$%&!!!

Never before had it occurred to me that a parking ticket was the price of supporting local retail establishments. Somehow, in an economy where every store is offering deep discounts to stay afloat, it seems as though we’re sending the wrong message when we encourage folks to hurry back to the car or risk getting a parking ticket the second the meter clicks off. Not to mention the fact that whatever fallout occurs on my end – it’s on your head Ms. Meter Maid!

This program was initiated to provide consumers with a better understanding of and greater control over ads that are served to them based on their online behavior. Consumers can click on this Ad Choices icon to essentially opt-out of receiving online behavioral advertising.

So What Does This Mean

Effective last week on some online sites, ALL behaviorally targeted placements will automatically display an “Ad Choices” icon in the corner of the ad unit. The icon implementation process requires no additional creative time on the advertisers end.

This icon will be automatically included on all ad creative running for behavioral targeted campaigns on sites that mandate this. Rest assured that other sites will follow in the coming months.

*Currently Google does not require this icon to be added to retargeting ads but this could change at any time.

For more detailed information about Ad Choices please visit http://www.aboutads.info/

The New Location: 1022 Leavenworth

We spent the first workday of the new year in our new office space. The place is a mess of boxes and stuff that still sits where the movers put it down, but the place feels great. And as we get it all put together it will be amazing.

The move was quick, but it was a long time in the making. We first starting pondering a move to a less corporate space when we bought the company back from Interpublic Group in 2001. But the cost of a big move combined with debt from the buyback put the dream on the back burner. In 2005 we checked out several spaces but found nothing that thrilled us enough to justify the cost and disruption of moving. In 2008 we started looking again, but as the economy slid into depression so too did our dreams of open, collaborative spaces and a more creative neighborhood.

The "Before" photo. When Halo was in the space.

When we started looking again in the summer of 2010 we didn’t want to draw it out. We wanted to make a move fast. And we did. Mainly because we lucked out in finding a space we fell in love with before it went on the market. And while it needed some work and upgrades, it was something that could be done in mere months — not a year like most spaces. So we made the decision in September and swarms of movers descended upon us last Thursday. We thought the last week of the year would be somewhat slow in terms of workload, but it turned out to be a busy one.

They say hope for the best, plan for the worst. Well it’s so nice when everything goes right and the best happens. We found a great space that was exactly what we wanted. We were able to find reserved parking for all our staffers right nearby. We had a great architect (Randy Brown) and contractors that did everything at light speed — from wiring to HVAC, to an all new phone system and room buildouts, to custom building 60 workstations and book cases, not to mention worktables and more. And the weather even cooperated on the days of our move. Everything worked like clockwork.

Boxes. That pretty much sums up what the place looks like right now. But soon it will emerge.

Fantastic Bozell teams organized the entire process, and all things considered, the whole thing went incredibly smoothly. We even had full network access the day we moved so that those who had impending client projects and deadlines could work without disruption. We have amazing people and I thank all of them for all their hard work and never-ending passion.

We love being downtown near the Old Market. The creative atmosphere is strong. The neighborhood is energizing. And the lunch spots…well they beat the heck out of West O.

As we put the place together, we’ll post some photos. And stay tuned, because we’ll have an open house to share some food and drinks and show off the new digs.

Happy New Year!

More on our move:
Silicon Prairie News
Bozell on Facebook

After 2009’s downslide, US online ad spending in 2010 will rise by 13.9%, reaching a record $25.8 billion. And in that same vein, internet ad spending will hit new peaks in each of the following four years, passing $30 billion in 2012 and breaking the $40 billion barrier in 2014.

The more granular quarter-by-quarter picture shows a record spend of $6.42 billion in Q3 2010, as reported by the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers (IAB-PwC), followed by a new record of $7.25 billion in Q4, according to eMarketer projections.

“A spending peak in Q4 is likely, primarily because Q4 has been the biggest quarter for US online ad spending every year but one since 1999,” said David Hallerman, eMarketer principal analyst and author of the new report, “US Ad Spending: Online Outshines Other Media.”

Such spending will bring double-digit growth to online advertising for five consecutive years. The internet is the only major ad medium that will experience annual spending increases so high.

“With multiple ways to go online and with more activities once they get there, people spend more time online,” said Hallerman. “Simply put, marketers increasingly know that to reach their target audience, they need to advertise more online.”

Online advertising is recovering more rapidly than the overall economy, as evidenced by online’s gain in share of GDP. Internet ad spending’s contribution to the GDP increased by 10% or more every quarter from Q3 2003 through Q1 2008. Then came the recession, and both online ad spending and the national GDP declined. However, in Q3 2010, online ad spending’s share of the GDP rose by 11.66% year over year.

By contrast, total media ad spending is less robust. Ad dollars toward all major media will increase by only small amounts from 2010 through 2014, with an average annual growth rate of 2.9%.

Source:  eMarketer

The brand spent $34.8 million in advertising throughout 2009, according to Kantar Media – and the marketing is apparently paying off: by the end of 2010, Snuggie will have sold 25 million units, reports The New York Times.

In 2008, when Snuggie was first launched, it sold about four million units. But instead of dying out after its initial launch, as many popular as-seen-on-TV items do, the blanket only picked up steam. With its campy infomercial ads that were the basis of jokes by Jay Leno and other TV personalities, the product went viral online. Now there are 15 styles of Snuggie, and rather than being sold exclusively through an 800 number, about 95% of Snuggies are now sold in brick-and-mortar stores.

A key to the success of the brand was that the company did not get touchy when it became widely ridiculed, says Thomas Haire, editor of trade publication Response Magazine. “They were able to laugh at themselves, and I think the American consumer sensed they were in on the joke, too.”

As-seen-on-TV items, touted in sometimes oddly compelling ads, can be popular products – but just 12% of consumers are willing to purchase items from TV, according to Samir Kulkarni, owner of Showcase, the world’s largest chain of as-seen-on-TV products. Showcase stores can be found in 61 major shopping malls across Canada, and plans to grow to 100 outlets in the next two years, writes CBS News. “Through TV alone, the advertisers cannot capture the entire market,” Kulkarni says.

Last December, Showcase sold one Snuggie every 13 seconds, and people were lining up outside the stores to purchase the quirky blanket. The retailer does about 25% of its annual sales in the month of December.

Source:  mediabuyerplanner.com

Television time-shifted viewing is growing this season — for almost all shows.

NBC’s “The Office” is the most time-shifted program; in terms of its overall percentage, it grabbed 38.8% more viewers — up to seven days of time-shifting. Overall, NBC comedy was also first in 2009, with 37.5% compared to 29.0% in 2008.

In terms of actual time-shifted viewers, ABC’s “Modern Family” had the highest number with 5.465 million; ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” was next at 5.067 million. Both shows topped last year’s number for ABC’s “House,” at 5.038 million.

Among first-year shows, NBC’s “The Event” was best in time-shifting — in terms of percentage — 34% or 3.083 million viewers. CBS’ “Hawaii 5-0″ had the most time-shifted viewers overall for a new show — 3.976 million — accounting for 27.1% of its total seven days audience.

One of the biggest upward movers was ABC’s “Modern Family,” which doubled its time-shifted viewership to 5.465 million in 2010, from 2.613 million in 2009. Fox’s “Glee” also climbed high — to 4.8 million from 2.969 million. And CBS’ “How I Met Your Mother” doubled its time-shifted viewers over the last two years.

What Do We Know About DVR Homes?

•          DVR homes tend to be younger; more upscale BUT more than 38% of DVR users are over age 45

•          Very highly concentrated in digital homes

•          DVR ownership stands at 38% of all US TV Households

•          More Co-Viewing occurs in playback than in live

•          When DVR playback is included, DVR households watch more primetime programming than non-DVR households

•          DVR playback peaks at 9pm and 10pm

•          The majority (71%) of DVR homes have only one unit, a quarter (24%) of DVR homes have two, and 5% have three or more

•          DVR penetration by Race/Ethnicity – (40.3% White, 35.4% Asian, 30.3% African-American, 29.8% Hispanic)

•          Top ranked time-shifted genre is Science Fiction followed by Sitcoms and General Drama

In 2010, both search and display will see increases greater than the rise in total US online ad spending, estimated by eMarketer at 13.9%. But between 2011 and 2014, eMarketer projects online display spending will grow faster than overall online spending, while search spending will lag slightly behind.

The increase in display advertising will be driven partly by the dramatic rise predicted in online video advertising, set to grow by at least 34% every year through 2014. Banner ads will experience more moderate gains of between 7% and 16.2% annually, while rich media spending will stagnate.

In 2010, eMarketer estimates US advertisers will spend $12.37 billion on paid search, compared with $8.88 billion on online display ads. Search will still get the most dollars in 2014, at $18.84 billion, but display will have closed the gap somewhat and reach $15.92 billion in spending that year.

“The growth of display doesn’t necessarily mean that advertisers are spending less on search,” said David Hallerman, eMarketer principal analyst. “Much of the display ad spending gains are new dollars coming online—which is part of a bigger trend towards more spending on branding, rather than spending focused on direct response alone.”

Display ads like static banners have a bad reputation for low clickthrough rates but still serve an important branding purpose. “Banner ads today mainly have subliminal effects on the audience,” said Hallerman. “That makes banners difficult to measure directly. However, the uptick in search results due to banners from the same advertiser is a long-standing pattern seen by sophisticated digital marketers.”

Source:  eMarketer

My Two Cents

I agree that much of the display ad spending gains are new dollars coming online but you must also note that display advertising also carries a higher price tag than search advertising.  Especially video or rich media advertising.

With rich media you also have to pay a third party to serve the ads which increases your overall cost.  Not to mention additional costs incurred on the production side of it. I am a firm believer in running parallel display and search campaigns to maximize your overall web exposure to convert a higher ROI.

I still love that tradition. Just my family on Christmas Eve, together, and sharing great food, drink, music, stories, and exchanging gifts. Of course, the fireplace being sully stoked and ready for the occasional cardboard box or wrapping paper ball is part of it. Nothing else burns quite like corrugated cardboard, as the material heats up and flames shoot gently out of the corrugated edges.

As kids, we’d anxiously await the moment when the steady stream of food tapered off and it got to the point where we just knew that it was going to be time to open presents. The temptation of seeing all those brightly colored packages wrapped up under the tree for weeks was always too much to bear, but we knew that waiting would be worth it. Plus, there was no other choice.

We’d take turns handing out presents and opening everything. We were never the everybody-rip-into-it-at-once type of family. We’d all take turns opening something. I appreciated how that made the entire experience take longer. I sure wanted to rip them all open, but it was really nice to be able to actually see one brother fake pleasure at getting socks or another actually freak out over getting the chemistry set he’d always wanted.

Then there was that One Special Gift that I just knew would be the thing that would make this the Best Christmas Ever. Inevitably, though, after all the unwrapping was done, that One Special Gift would not be part of the pile. The feeling I had at that point was quite mixed. Disappointment for not having received something that I know I clearly indicated I wanted. Guilt for wanting one MORE thing when I had a pile of presents at my feet. But there was something else – hope. Hope that when Santa visited overnight, maybe that One Special Gift would be the one thing that Santa remembered.

Santa is very special. He’s a guy that dedicates his entire life to making and delivering the special things that kids want most for Christmas. So it wasn’t until I was a little bit older that I noticed that nearly every Christmas Eve, there was one thing that inevitably wasn’t part of the family gift giving experience. One thing that I still held out hope for. One more thing that I could anticipate, and grow excited for.

Christmas morning, I was usually the first one up. I liked being the first to see whether Santa had come, and I liked having a small portion of the morning to myself. I also knew that the sooner I got up, the sooner I would have some clue as to what Santa had left for us.

Running out into the living room, the fireplace doors would be ajar, there would be soot tracked on the hearth, and the cookies for Santa and carrot for Rudolph were always nibbled on, but not always gone. Santa also would always leave a note. It was exquisitely written in handwriting that could only be Santa’s. I’d never seen it anywhere except for on Santa’s note.

Then there were the packages. And Stockings. Santa had special wrapping paper that everything he ever brought us was wrapped in. I had no idea how there could be that much wrapping paper that Santa’s gifts were wrapped in it every year, but he also has flying reindeer, so  he can pretty much make anything happen. And the stockings were so overloaded with small, fun things and candy and treats that they had been taken down from hanging under the mantle and laid on the hearth. They would nearly be bursting!

So I would survey the scene. Which ones were for me? Which ones were for my brothers? Was anyone else awake yet? How long would I have to wait? At least I’d already turned on the Christmas Tree lights. Their multi-colored glow being the only light in the room. It was really very peaceful and comforting to be the only one awake at that time, knowing that I got to have that moment to myself to feel so lucky that Santa had visited us. That I wasn’t too much of a problem kid that I still got something from Santa at the end of a year.

Then I would see it. The one package that looked like it could be the One Special Gift that I’d been hoping for. I knew that I’d need to save that one for last when we started opening Santa’s gifts. Then my brothers would get up, and Mom and Dad would roll out of bed, too. That’s when the anticipation would grow. But of course, coffee had to be made first so that Mom and Dad could settle into their chairs and brace themselves for the rest of the day. I always thought that the coffee excuse was just another part of Santa’s Plan on how to make the experience more intense.

When we started opening, this was more of the every-man-for-himself flurry of gift wrap. We’d work our way through the stockings and then onto the last couple things that Santa had left. Then I’d have to pause to consider the last package in front of me.

Was it The One? What if it wasn’t? Could I be happy enough with whatever it was that Santa wouldn’t think I was just another greedy little kid? Could I fake enough excitement that my parents wouldn’t be able to tell that I was actually let down? I mean – I surely already had enough great gifts that I shouldn’t be sad. If the inverse had been true, and I got the one thing I wanted and nothing else, then I would have been disappointed in another way. Well… there was only one way to find out. Open it.

What I know now is that Santa was a master of experience design. He had his hooks in your mind for as long as you could remember. He had songs that reminded you that you’d better be good for goodness sake. But it was more than that at our house. It was special. Everything about Santa was like a symphony. The parts all went together to build to this crescendo that left you there, with your family in the glow of the Christmas Tree on Christmas morning with the feeling that you were truly loved and that even though that elated feeling was related to having received a thing, that I still knew behind all of it, it wasn’t about the thing at all. It was about how you were supposed to feel.

And it felt good.

So this year, as I look at Christmas approaching, I am very excited for my own son’s experience with Christmas and Santa. He’s old enough now that it’s all sinking in, creating wonder and amazement. I know he already loves the tree and lights. The music. The colors and decorations. I can’t wait to see his face on Christmas Morning. I can’t wait to see him witness Santa’s exquisite handwriting. I can’t wait to sense that he feels the magic that all of these elements of the Christmas season bring. And to know that hopefully, he can experience the joy and love and amazing sense of warmth and wonder that I felt – and still feel – at Christmastime when I’m with my family, friends and loved ones.

And I’ll do everything I can to help Santa in his job of letting everyone have a wonderful experience at Christmas. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas as well.

Cover of 2010 Borsheims LUX Book

Borsheims Jewelry and Gifts, for example, followed a similar business method in recent years. The Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway company continued to sell high-end pieces despite the economic downturn but kept communication under the radar with its high-end clientele. The company felt that the economy’s inevitable upswing would bring back its upscale buyers. But in considering the poor state of the economy, Borsheims scaled back its typical advertising of glitz and glam products, knowing it was only a matter of time for LUX to rear its diamond-studded head.

With the gentle upswing of the economy, consumers are opening up – but with new intentions behind their purchases. High-end consumers are no longer making purchases based on status but are buying for meaning. Gone are the days of conspicuous consumption (sorry 1980′s!) and in comes a new style of buying. Even though buyers are still purchasing Jaguar cars, Hermes bags and high-end jewelry and watches, they are only purchasing if they think the quality is worth the price. The value of an item is now seen differently.

“Now a handful of companies are trying to put the “lux” back in luxury by introducing products with more handcraftsmanship and detailing. Sure, these products cost more. But the companies that make them are betting people will be willing to spend more to get more.”

http://money.cnn.com/2009/12/02/news/economy/luxury_comeback.fortune/

In response to this new buying trend, companies are developing lines of “artisan collections,” which are low production (sometimes even one-of-a-kind pieces) that they can charge high dollar for. Luxury companies feel that if people are going to spend the money now, they should offer distinctive products with elevated quality. As a result, purchasers of these items view them as handcrafted works of art.

Christopher Designs spread in the Borsheims LUX Book

And Borsheims’ latest LUX book exemplifies just that. Starting with a unique 7” x 7” shape, the 60-page piece uses only clean, white backgrounds, allowing the product to really stand out. By showcasing these high-end artisan pieces in a gallery style, it creates a more approachable look while provoking desire. Any personality can look at any one of the items and make a personal connection with it. And to provide even greater value for the luxury consumer, the LUX book features in-depth descriptions of each item and explores the materials used – like crystal, gems or precious metals – and any interesting techniques used in the piece’s creation.

Without a fully recovered economy, not all companies are brave enough to pursue the changing buying patterns of elite consumers. Borsheims, though, is giving its upscale clientele reasons to buy in spite of the recession. The early results of the LUX book were very positive so far. Multiple pieces from the Lux book have already sold – which shows us the piece is working, and appealing to the high end demographic. With a unique combination of business savvy and unmatched quality products, Borsheims is putting the trust and “lux” back in luxury.

I was stunned. So many people have embraced the mantra: reduce/reuse/recycle. They go far out of their way and spend a considerable amount of extra money to help the planet. And now these bastions of earth friendliness, the caring companies with a corporate conscience who are entreating us to join in and enable them to save the planet have become the enemy.

Now who can you trust? It seems unthinkable to keep providing money to the lying SOBs but what’s the alternative? Stop supporting green (or faux green) living altogether? I honestly don’t have the answer.

The top networks are averaging a 13.6 in 18-49s on Thursdays, down 17% from a 16.4 rating in the first seven weeks of last season. On Sunday, the Big 4 average a 17.0 (down a hair from a 17.2 last season, collectively; NBC is up 24% on that night). Mondays are averaging a 14.3, down from last year’s average of 15.5.

ABC’s Particular Struggles

ABC is having a particularly tough time on Thursdays, and is down 35% while it struggles to find an 8pm show that works. Its first try, My Generation, lasted just two weeks.

But despite its challenges, ABC has won on Thursday nights seven weeks in a row. Last week, Grey’s Anatomy was tops in the 9pm hour in 18-49s, giving it status as the No. 1 series in the slot for the 7th week in a row. The show topped second-place CSI (on CBS) by 30%, NBC’s comedies (The Office/Outsourced) by 34%, and Fox’s Fringe by 139%, according to TV by the Numbers.

CBS is down just 7% for the night, thanks in large part to its popular The Big Bang Theory which was moved from Monday to Thursday. CBS also has a strong Monday lineup with popular shows like How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement and Two and a Half Men as well as new shows Mike & Molly and Hawaii Five-O.

1.  Renewed emphasis on prevention will drive consumers to think defensively. In the UK, 43% of consumers say “trying to add to my rainy day savings/emergency fund” is a priority for this year, up 15% from last year. In the US, a third of consumers say they’re using debit rather than credit, and debit transactions are forecasted to rise nearly 60% between 2000 and 2010. Consumers want to know what they’re getting themselves into. So, 2011 may see the need for brands to demonstrate how a product or service delivers long term benefits or prevents problems down the road.

2. For brick and mortar retailers, discounting is a no-win battle against the internet. In the US, 35% of consumers say their choice of store is determined by special offers or discounts. In 2011, brands need to offer more than just retail, and be a venue, not just a shop. Exclusivity and environment may be key aspects to engage consumers with real life, not virtual, shopping experiences.

3.  With smartphones becoming the dominant mobile force, Quick Response and app technology will provide portals into unique experiences and improve our quality of life. In the US, sales of smartphones grew 82% from 2008 to 2010. As consumers are empowered, 2011 will see people take a deeper interest in where they are. Geography and status can be redefined through retail, presenting brands with an opportunity for increased location based services, promotions and solutions.

4.  Economic uncertainty has changed the workplace and the meaning of job security for the foreseeable future. As a result consumers will continue to question higher education’s ROI and alternative channels for learning will gain credibility. In 2011 we may see more lifelong learning in the workplace, corporate sponsored degrees and companies investing in employees through education and training rather than salary or benefits. And, learning while doing, rather than learning in a lecture hall, with DIY education gaining steam.

5.  Women are earning and learning more than men, creating new gender roles in business and consumerism. In 2011, age is no longer an easy marker for lifestage. 2011 may see a counter trend to the ‘metrosexuality’ of men in a ‘masculinization’ of women. Implications for how brands market to women will be big, especially in sectors such as automobiles and sports. With men helping around the house more than ever, there may be an opportunity for brands to cater household products, as well as retail experiences. In the US in 2008, 27% of men reported being the sole cleaner in their household; in 2010, that number jumped to 32%.

6.  People are working beyond retirement. With half of Americans having no retirement account, the number of over 65s working will reach nearly 20% by 2014. In the UK, 77% of over 55s plan to continue working after retirement age “in order to enjoy and prolong a better standard of living.” In 2011, this group may prove an untapped market, affecting a number of consumer sectors. Vitality, energy and longevity will become key product qualities in the food and drink sector, while health and beauty messages may need to center on anti-aging properties.

7. Attitude toward weight is polarizing, pitting the rise of the super-healthy against the eternal appeal of indulgence. In the UK, almost a quarter of women wear clothes in sizes 18 and over, more than 30% of UK children are now classed as overweight, and 34% of US adults age 20 and over are obese. 2011 may see a wider array of products from portion control and more info on packaging to low-cost healthy fare and products to firm and salve chaffed or sagging skin.

8.  Modern city dwellers have a growing love of gardening and a need for nature and with fresh, organic produce. In the US, 26% of internet users purchased vegetable seeds in past year, 19% bought vegetable/flower garden fertilizer and 27% said they like to grow vegetables at home. In the US, 40% of people with a garden agree “growing fresh food to cook with” is important. In 2011, rural tourism, working farm holidays and garden leisure may benefit, while rising food and commodity prices may see a boost for seed sales as this trend develops.

9.  In an ever more digital era, automated technology machines are replacing people, creeping into new territories, including hospitals, libraries, pharmacies and the home. 2011 may see certain jobs permanently displaced by technology, including service jobs, not just manual or factory work.

Source:  Research Brief From The Center For Media Research

I was struck by the fact that at least six of the technologies have already, or will, impact brand strategy and communications planning. Many of these are already being employed at some level.

Listed below are the six technologies with a brief explanation taken from the Gartner press release.

Mobile Applications and Media Tablets

Gartner estimates that by the end of 2010, 1.2 billion people will carry handsets capable of rich, mobile commerce providing an ideal environment for the convergence of mobility and the Web. Mobile devices are becoming computers in their own right, with an astounding amount of processing ability and bandwidth. There are already hundreds of thousands of applications for platforms like the Apple iPhone, in spite of the limited market (only for the one platform) and need for unique coding.

The quality of the experience of applications on these devices, which can apply location, motion and other context in their behavior, is leading customers to interact with companies preferentially through mobile devices. This has lead to a race to push out applications as a competitive tool to improve relationships and gain advantage over competitors whose interfaces are purely browser-based.

Social Communications and Collaboration

Social media can be divided into:

1. Social networking —social profile management products, such as MySpace, Facebook, LinkedIn and Friendster as well as social networking analysis (SNA) technologies that employ algorithms to understand and utilize human relationships for the discovery of people and expertise.
2. Social collaboration —technologies, such as wikis, blogs, instant messaging, collaborative office, and crowdsourcing.
3. Social publishing —technologies that assist communities in pooling individual content into a usable and community accessible content repository such as YouTube and flickr.
4. Social feedback – gaining feedback and opinion from the community on specific items as witnessed on YouTube, flickr, Digg, Del.icio.us, and Amazon.

Gartner predicts that by 2016, social technologies will be integrated with most business applications. Companies should bring together their social CRM, internal communications and collaboration, and public social site initiatives into a coordinated strategy.

Video

This is not a new media form, but its use as a standard media type used in non-media companies is expanding rapidly. Technology trends in digital photography, consumer electronics, the web, social software, unified communications, digital and Internet-based television and mobile computing are all reaching critical tipping points that bring video into the mainstream.

Over the next three years Gartner believes that video will become a commonplace content type and interaction model for most users, and by 2013, more than 25 percent of the content that workers see in a day will be dominated by pictures, video or audio.

Next Generation Analytics

Increasing compute capabilities of computers including mobile devices along with improving connectivity are enabling a shift in how businesses support operational decisions. It is becoming possible to run simulations or models to predict the future outcome, rather than to simply provide backward looking data about past interactions, and to do these predictions in real-time to support each individual business action.

Social Analytics

Social analytics describes the process of measuring, analyzing and interpreting the results of interactions and associations among people, topics and ideas. These interactions may occur on social software applications used in the workplace, in internally or externally facing communities or on the social web.

Social analytics is an umbrella term that includes a number of specialized analysis techniques such as social filtering, social-network analysis, sentiment analysis and social-media analytics. Social network analysis tools are useful for examining social structure and interdependencies as well as the work patterns of individuals, groups or organizations. Social network analysis involves collecting data from multiple sources, identifying relationships, and evaluating the impact, quality or effectiveness of a relationship.

Context-Aware Computing

Context-aware computing centers on the concept of using information about an end user or object’s environment, activities connections and preferences to improve the quality of interaction with that end user. The end user may be a customer, business partner or employee.

The other strategic technologies are cloud computing, storage-class memory, ubiquitous computing and fabric-based infrastructure and computers.

Are you using these technologies to your advantage?

I shop at Chico’s on occasion but I have steadfastly avoided anything that resembled an “outfit”. I’ve never wanted to be tainted with the slightly dowdy, more mature woman look that I’ve always associated with the brand. Sure they have an occasional garment or piece of jewelry that’s cool enough to fit into a working professional’s wardrobe – but that’s about it.

The new TV spot changed everything. You mean if I buy my outfits at Chico’s I’ll look like her? I’m in, baby!

I told my husband that Chico’s had finally gotten it right. He googled the campaign and told me the model in the spot is 36. Come on guys. Did you think we wouldn’t find out? You don’t get me at all do you?

In an industry that is riddled with lingo and acronyms it is very easy for people to be saying the same word but have different meanings. While someone may throw out the term “brand”, it could mean one thing to a small retailer and something entirely different to a large service oriented company.

Leave egos at the door and keep your minds open to different ideas and perceptions.

Anne Trumble and the crew involved with the Emerging Terrain Stored Potential project are among those that fall into this group of people. Anne & Emerging Terrain are behind the visual display on the old Brancroft street grain elevators we see just north of I-80. They spearheaded this collaborative artistic endeavor to re-purpose the derelict, yet iconic, historic landscape structure as contemporary cultural awareness.

I stumbled across a post about this effort last April and was very intrigued by the idea. The more I learned, the more intrigued I became and the closer I followed the developments

On Sunday, a perfect October day, I joined 500 people (including every featured artist) for an amazing dinner prepared with local products by local chefs at the base of the structure to culminate the success of this incredible project. And a success it is.

Rendering of the Concept by Min|Day Architects and Ashley Byars

The reality...Taken from the base

Those silos are so much bigger than they look from the interstate

The selected artists were from all over the country, including Hawaii. And they all came to Omaha to celebrate the project.

Dinner for 500 at one extremely long table. It was a real treat - the food and the company.

There are some great photos of the event and dinner (not like the cruddy ones taken by my phone)  by Sarah-Mai at Eat Pure and on Emerging Terrain’s Facebook page.  Slide show images at KETV. Video on WOWT.

About the visionary and organizer:
Anne Trumble is a landscape architect by training; a writer, teacher, and explorer by desire. Of course everything she does is about landscape, most notably those that actually aren’t designed but happen by chance, necessity, and accident. She’s lived, studied and worked in Vancouver, Cuba, Japan, New York, and most recently Madagascar realizing a serious predilection for islands – the antithesis of her upbringing in the bulls-eye of the United States – Omaha, Nebraska. Although she resides in New York City where she teaches landscape design at Columbia University and works on various design projects, she daydreams about the Jeffersonian Grid, thus explaining why she began Emerging Terrain, a non-profit research and design collaborative with a mission to creatively disseminate information to the public about the social, cultural, and economic factors that shape the built environment.

About Anne from the project background on Kickstarter.com:
“I’ve been obsessed with grain elevators since I was a little kid growing up in the Midwest. I remember going to the elevator to deliver grain. While sitting in line waiting for our turn to unload, I’d stare out the truck window up at the enormous structure and think “that would be so cool as something else”…………

Between then and now, I’ve traveled the world, studying and working in all things landscape; no adventure passed up that is even remotely related to how we use and interact with land. I’ve since re-focused the obsession to the Midwest, in particular suburbs in place of corn fields and thus, derelict grain elevators. They’re no longer necessary.

What do we do with these relics that are too heavily engineered to demolish?”

What she did was amazing. Artists from all over submitted designs and 13 of those now grace the tall slender structures for all of us to enjoy. The panels will hang in Omaha for 3-4 months then move on to other vacant elevators before being re-purposed into temporary shelter and sent to a country in need.

Bravo to all involved. And thank you!

On the other hand, 56% of social and 60% of mobile users are more likely to search with specific businesses in mind because they are already outside the home looking for a nearby business to fill a need. The study points to a lack of sophisticated search functions in social networks for the differences.

Search engine queries continued to increase at a strong rate with 9% year-over-year growth. Non-search engine queries such as Facebook and craigslist rose 22%, off a smaller base, to capture more than one-third of total query volume. This also impacts local. Of the 9% of local business searchers who use social networks, 93% said they use Facebook to find information on local business.

Most research today focuses on where searches happen, but this study looks at where sales occur. Google, Bing, Facebook and Twitter are just a sample of the major players to enhance local search features in the past year. It also examines how to make sense of consumers’ changing behaviors across various media types, and what impact search trends have on the bottom line.

Trend 1: Online search is the preferred method for information about local businesses, with 70% of consumers citing online sites as their primary source.

Trend 2: Search engines are most popular, but they are not growing as fast as other media.

Trend 3: Local searchers are more apt to buy.

Trend 4: Businesses must develop a comprehensive search presence with essential information.

Trend 5: To develop a complete search presence, local businesses must consider every avenue.

Trend 6: Print is declining, but it still holds value for today’s consumers as a secondary source.

Trend 7: With emerging media on the rise, a diverse media mix must now include social and mobile marketing.

Consumers who use social networks and mobile smartphones are more likely to use and write reviews. More than 40% have submitted between two and five reviews in the past 30 days. In fact, 78% of social networkers — up 3% from the prior year — and 71% of mobile users — up 9% from the prior year — consider consumer ratings and reviews important in making their purchase selections.

Of those participating in the survey, 81% believe it’s important for local businesses to respond to questions and complaints on social sites; 78% want special offers, promotions and information about events; and 66% believe that company photos are important.

Source:  MediaPost

Marketers can place overlays in spots that prompt viewers to click-through and request a coupon or sample. Cablevision’s AMC and Comcast’s E! and Style are teed up to run the spots now, while the Discovery Channel and two NBC Universal cable channels are anticipated to be ready by year’s-end.

Canoe Ventures’ ITV Solutions allow programmers to better engage with their viewers through innovative marketing applications.

So far, the “request-for-information” spots can only be delivered into some homes served by Time Warner Cable and Comcast. Verklin would not release the number, but it is likely no more than 15 million. Next year, Canoe aims to be able to stream spots into households served by TWC, Comcast, Cox, Cablevision, Charter and Bright House — all part owners of Canoe.

Networks license the technology and then sell it to advertisers. Canoe then shares in the proceeds of a deal.

Canoe has data showing that the simple appearance of an overlay on screen during an ad raises brand recall — even if a viewer takes no action. “There’s value to an unclicked banner”.

But could the triggers and prompts cause a backlash? Since few ads have them it’s unlikely but if this concept hits the mainstream then I think it will definitely cause some issues with viewers.  Only time will tell.

Mobile Bar Codes Coming to Your TV

Bar codes have been seen flashing on TV screens across the country allowing you to scan them with your smartphone and get instant information.

The process works like this: bar codes are embedded in commercials that appear on the screen. Then a viewer with a smartphone scans them and gets access to more information about a product, which could also include a discounted price.

These mobile bar codes are known as QR Codes, for “quick response.”

QR Codes, already widely used in Europe and Asia, allow advertisers to place bar codes on posters, product packaging and TV commericals and turn these objects into links to online content.

Using bar codes is starting to spread, because more people are using smartphones, and many of those phones have the scanning application to read the codes.

The Weather Channel and HBO also have tested the technology.

Still, there are challenges for TV advertising, such as time constraints. But other observers see bar code technology as a major advertising tool of the future.

When you get a message like that the first thing that comes to mind is “why didn’t they provide more information about themselves?” The answer is simple. They are trying to trick me into thinking they are a potential new client for our agency so that I will call them back. They think the less said the better.

What they really want is to sell me something. This trick is their plan to get a foot in the door. And it’s an abysmal plan.

Being a cheese gets you nowhere.

If I fall for this cheesy scam I feel like a fool. The odds of my choosing to do business with a company that makes me feel like that are nil. In fact my primary takeaway is an urge to lash out and leave them in a crumpled heap.

In most cases the lack of sophistication in the message they leave reveals their scam all too clearly – and there’s little chance I will ever return their call.

I get two or three of these calls a month. And they all meet a dead end.

So what does get someone in the door? An honest and straightforward approach – sans salesy-speak – to an issue that resonates with me. Let’s face it, to get my interest I have to have a need. Without that, my attention is bound to be limited. There have been times when a well articulated point of view has had the power to create interest even without an identified need – but that’s rare.

Another way in the door is to seek my opinion. I will always help someone out who is looking for input on their product or service. Never lead with this request veiled as a thinly disguised attempt to launch into a hearty sales pitch – or you’ll leave with the imprint of my heel on your back end.

In summary, we respond to genuine and honest. We don’t like to be tricked and we don’t respond well to salesy jargon. We’re like most people.

Fall Season is Strong

One factor which could help ad rates to continue to increase is the fact that the fall TV season is off to a strong beginning. NBC, for example, enjoyed its most successful series launch in three years with The Event, while ABC’s Dancing with the Stars launched with tremendous numbers (an average of 21.3 million viewers) and CBS had a strong start for Hawaii Five-0 and Survivor.

CBS’s freshman Mike & Molly was strong, as well, and $#*! My Dad Says performed even better. This one surprised me a bit.  I was not impressed with $#*! My Dad Says but I did however enjoy Mike & Molly. Cute show!

Fox, typically one of the strongest nets, is the most challenged in terms of the new fall season, with critically acclaimed Lone Star floundering with so few viewers that rumors have it the show may be canceled after just a couple of outings. Doc drama House debuted the season to lower-than-expected numbers.

But Fox isn’t the only network with challenges. ABC’s The Whole Truth on Wednesday had a low premiere with a 1.5 in 18-49s, and Thursday’s My Generation did only slightly better (1.6). NBC’s Outlaw sank to a 1.1 with its first Friday episode, and The Apprentice bowed to a 1.5 the week before premiere week and sank to a 1.4 last week.

Comedies

The new season’s numbers to date indicate that comedies are once again what people want to watch. Of the 7 highest-rated premieres, 5 were comedies, including Fox’s Glee (up 60%), ABC’s Modern Family (up 21%), The Office (up 7%), CBS’s The Big Bang Theory (up 4%) and Two and a Half Men (up 10%).

I personally love all of these shows except I feel like the Office is loosing steam. Hasn’t been as funny the past few years. It will also be interesting to see how well The Big Bang Theory does on a new night.

I must also give a shameless plug for the Amazing Race on CBS. A good friend of mine is one of the contestants. She is a doctor on the Nat & Kat team. You go ladies!

What are your favorite shows on TV right now?

You’re not put together
It is one thing to be a reputable and wise company blessed with many years of success. However, it’s quite another to have a site that looks old, washed up, and like it was designed and launched in 1997. No matter the product, service, or content displayed, if it looks dated, you can bet users will take one look and walk (click) away.

So how do you know if a face-lift is a must? Check your measurements. Your average number of page views, average time spent on site, and task completion rate, that is. What’s needed to look sophisticated and innovative? A harmonious design. Your site needs to be balanced appropriately, ensuring content, white space, and images complement one another to create perfect equilibrium and cater to the expectations of your audience. Make sure the look and feel of your site is inviting, trustworthy, and current, and your prospects will be seeing you as the complete package in no time.

Reason 2

You’re just looks
To turn a visitor into a prospect, you need to create a truly beautiful web experience that pays as much attention to the perceived credibility of your site as it does to the usability and function of your design.

Pages that require users to scroll more than two screen lengths are asking for a considerable amount of engagement. So if it’s a must for your site, make sure that you’re paying close attention to the structure of those pages. Is there a logical order to the content being displayed that will encourage the visitor to scroll? Are you balancing an appropriate amount of white space and imagery with text so that the page doesn’t seem overwhelming? Navigation also plays a crucial role. Remember that your website should be designed for your users. Be sure your site carries them logically and intuitively through the information on your site that they’re there to find.

Reason 3

You’re socially inept
No one wants to date someone who is socially awkward or appears to be a loner. Letting your social status shine on your website will increase your chances of building more than just your social circle. It will increase your opportunities for business growth as well. It’s not about “going social” because everyone’s doing it — it’s about being where your clients and prospects are. So be sure to prominently link to your social properties from your site if you’d like to cash in on the channel that is changing the way the world communicates.

Reason 4

You’re too closed off
Have trouble opening up and explaining who you really are? It sounds simple, but it’s absolutely vital. If people have trouble finding the essentials on your site, they’re bound to dump it for one that meets their standards and provides what they’re looking for. Ditch the industry jargon and wordy explanations of what your business does and cut to the chase. And again, remember who you’re designing your website for. Consider what it is that they’re hoping to find first. Then, frame the design of your website around your prospects desired action paths.

Reason 5

You’re not dependable
In August 2010, Firefox held 45.8 percent of the browser market, followed closely by Internet Explorer with 30.7 percent, Chrome with 17 percent, Safari with 3.5 percent, and Opera with 2.3 percent. If you aren’t testing the design and functionality of your site across multiple browsers, you’re losing business.

The same rule applies for screen resolution. While 76 percent of users are now browsing the web on a machine that has a resolution higher than 1024×768, pay close attention to the content that user might not be seeing if they’re browsing at a lower resolution.

How dependable is your web hosting service? Does it provide advanced features and truly support your website? If your host isn’t aiding your professional image, it’s definitely time to look for a new provider — one that will ensure your needs and encourage your company’s growth. What two characteristics should you look for in a web hosting company? Security (virus-free systems) and reputation (current and past clients). An inconsistent web host can make any website appear faulty.

Just like dating expectations, realizing the necessities for a well-rounded site can definitely seem overwhelming. Relax, and don’t become intimidated. The initial step for ensuring your site is a winner is to take a step back and look in the mirror (your site). Make sure you critique every angle of your site and be sure to ask yourself valid questions. Are you satisfied with your presence? Is information clearly displayed? Are you having trouble navigating and finding paths to conversions? If you aren’t impressed with you site, then you can bet visitors aren’t either. And remember — disappointing websites and dates often don’t receive second chances.

Source:  iMediaConnection

By Lisa Wehr September 27, 2010

Experts are projecting that prices are running at about $3 million for a :30 spot.

Strong NFL Season So Far

If early ratings are any indication of things to come, the Super Bowl has a chance of once again seeing record viewers. Last Thursday’s season opener was the best-ever kickoff for the NFL, and ESPN’s airing of Monday Night Football also broke records. That show was up 7% over last year in 18-49s, averaged a 10.5 rating, and was the best opening night for Monday Night Football since the game moved from broadcast to cable four years ago.

Ads for last February’s game averaged about $2.8 million for a :30 spot, though some ads brought in as much as $3 million.

I don’t know about you but I couldn’t imagine spending $3 million dollars on ONE :30 sec spot.  Many marketers don’t even reach spending $1 million dollars over the course of an entire year.

On a pure TV-impression alone, one can argue that the Super Bowl has become such an unusual magnet for consumer attention and recall.  Marketers must reach beyond the TV across multiple platforms to engage with their customers.

It’s just not as simple as “buying” high-reach media.  The audience nowadays is much more fragmented than ever making them harder to reach.

What do you think?  Is a $3 million dollar spot in the Super Bowl worth it?

Cowboys Earn Perfect Score
According to The Nielsen Sports Media Exposure Index, which measures media exposure on TV and online, the Cowboys were the most popular NFL team in America last season. The Cowboys earned a perfect score of 100 on the index, far surpassing the runner-up Pittsburgh Steelers, who finished with an index score of 81.

The Cowboys’ top ranking was boosted by first-place showings in two of the four categories tallied by Nielsen.

The other two categories, local team ratings and total buzz volume, were captured by the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints and New York Giants, respectively.

Vikings Climb, Redskins Fall
The Cowboys have held the top spot in each of the last two years. The Steelers moved up from third to second, swapping places with the Giants. The Minnesota Vikings, likely aided by the addition of top-performing quarterback Brett Favre, climbed from 13th place in 2008 to a tie for fourth with the Green Bay Packers, a former team of Favre’s, in the 2009 regular season ranking. The Washington Redskins, meanwhile, dropped from fifth in 2008 to 11th in 2009.

NFC Captures America’s Hearts
The NFL is divided into two conferences: the National Football Conference (NFC) and American Football Conference (AFC). NFC teams dominated the 2009 rankings. Seven of the top 10 teams represented the NFC, while the Steelers, Indianapolis Colts (tied for eighth with the Saints) and New England Patriots (10th) were the only three AFC teams to crack the top third of the list.

Giants, Raiders Outperform Local Rivals
Some markets have more than one NFL team to choose from, the most prominent being New York and the Northern California Bay Area. Among the two New York teams, the Giants had the most media exposure, ranking 15 spots ahead of the Jets.

In the Bay Area, even despite drawing 38% lower local market ratings than their local rivals, the Oakland Raiders were the most popular national brand, ranking two spots ahead of the San Francisco 49ers (25th vs. 27th).

Who is your favorite professional team? How do they stack up?

Source:  The Nielsen Company

The current operators of the service at ask.com noted that the major uptick in the usage of services like Twitter and Facebook have destroyed usage of feed aggregation services. I think it makes total sense for users to make this move. While feed readers are very helpful they still require you to define specific RSS feeds to be pulled in. Social networks are different in that you can subscribe to feeds (if published through sites like Twitter) but also get individual articles from relevant users and brands you wish to follow. These services also allow for you to comment on the material and easily share it again with your followers and friends.

So while I am saddened that Bloglines will be going offline, I am thankful for the time we spent together.

Not everything we see is a bed of roses however. With the old auto complete technology Google would provide the user with potential search queries based on the terms typed into the search box. This alone would drive the user to perform a specific search. With this new instant technique, we are allowing Google to provide even more direction into how we search for what we want. The risk here is we are allowing Google to make decisions for us regarding how we articulate our thought processes.

While this new search process may benefit users, what does it ultimately mean for marketers?

Google will now consider any search result that remains presented on the screen for three or more seconds an impression. This could ultimately result in a lower click through rate for search results. If users take a longer time to search due to slow typing or pause during their search to respond to another immediate need they may trigger two or more impressions when unintended.

This new search may also increase the number of long tail searches and reduce those for basic terms such as “car repair”.  If a user searches for this term they are immediately provided with search options relevant to the users physical location. This will ultimately reduce the number of searches for the primary term and therefore make local or long tail keywords that much more important.

Another important note is the visibility of brands in this new search. If you type the letter “e” in the search box your suggestions will be eBay, ESPN, Expedia and Eminem. This could make it tougher for smaller brands to achieve the same suggestion level as national brands.

It will be very interesting to see how this new search plays out for both users and marketers. One thing can be assured in that the results we see today will not be what we see in the future. We must remain vigilant and modify our thinking and processes to ensure our campaigns and tactics are the most effective they can be even in the turbulent tides of search engine marketing and optimization.

That number will reach $214.3 billion next year, and by 2019, ad spending will total $275.8 billion, according to SNL Kagan.

Mobile, broadcast TV and the internet will see the biggest jumps in ad spending, while newspapers and business pubs will fall.

Newspaper ad spending plunged 29% in the second quarter of 2009, followed by a 27.9% drop in Q3 and a 23.7% drop in Q4. The newspaper ad decline slowed in the second quarter of 2010, though ad spending still fell 5.6%, according to the Newspaper Association of America.

Though ad losses are narrowing, newspapers are still struggling with significantly reduced ad revenue. In fact, the Q2 ad revenue of $6.44 billion is the lowest second-quarter total since the pre-internet year of 1985.

Internet ad spending will climb sharply, reaching an estimated $27.8 billion in 2011 (up from $4.7 billion in 1999) and more than double that – $60 billion – by 2019.

Cable TV will continue to stay strong, growing to $30.2 billion in 2011, up from $12 billion in 1999. Spending will reach $55.1 billion in 2019.

Dollars are shifting into new platforms. New media, such as mobile and internet advertising, continue to boom, while old media, particularly print, is increasingly losing its relevance.

Source:  MediaBuyerPlanner

Still, the uncertain economy does pose complex challenges for retailers’ holiday season preparations. How they manage inventory will be a critical success factor, so smart retailers are working more closely with supply-channel partners to deal with different consumer-demand scenarios.

The same bargain-hunting attitude adopted during the past two holiday seasons is likely to define shopping behavior again this year. Consumers will go online to find coupons, compare prices on shopping engines and research items, even if they plan to buy them in-store.

Savvy consumers, knowing that retailers are posting some of their best Black Friday deals online, will shop the web on Black Friday from the comfort of their homes rather than rise early to face crowded stores. Those who do head to stores are likely to take their smartphones with them to compare other retailers’ prices for items of interest.

There are still many preparatory steps online retailers can take in the weeks leading up to the holiday shopping season. For example, they should stay up to date on the many changes taking place with search engines like Google and Bing and explore the best ways to capitalize on them. They can test their website performance for the large traffic volumes expected. They can set up gift centers to stimulate purchase ideas. And they can develop new email marketing strategies by analyzing purchase behavior from the past few holiday seasons.

Source:  eMarketer

7 Reasons Print Will Make a Comeback in 2011
Folio

In the era of iPads and Apps, marketers and agencies rally behind print as 2011 approaches.

Here are 7 reasons why print media will make a comeback next year:

1. Getting Attention
2. Focus on Custom Retention
3. No Audience Development Costs
4. What’s Old is New Again
5. Customers Still Need to Ask Questions
6. Print Still Excites People

Come on guys. This sounds desperate and needy. You’re going to have to let it go and let print settle into its own drastically reduced niche. The more you insist that you’re making a “comeback” the less credibility you’ll have.

Print might not be going away completely, but it is not going to make a comeback. Even your own reasons don’t hold water. Customers still need to ask questions? Really? Don’t you think an interactive environment  will provide that opportunity with far less fuss and muss than a print ad? Stop fighting the inevitable and try to find ways to make yourself more relevant. Focus on what you can do and let go of the rest. For all of our sakes.

One big win which has generated plenty of buzz for the network is Jersey Shore, which is now in its second season. The show launched season two on July 29 to 5.3 million viewers, almost quadruple the number that watched the season one premiere. And it is continuing to pull more than 5 million viewers a week. In fact, the show is nabbing the biggest ratings the network has seen in seven years.

I remember the good ole days when MTV used to play actual music videos.  Now it’s all reality television crap.

The 411 On Jersey Shore

Reality television series that follows eight housemates spending their summer on the Jersey Shore & Miami Beach. The show debuted amid large amounts of controversy regarding the use of the words “Guido/Guidette”, portrayals of Italian-American stereotypes and scrutiny from locals because the cast members were not residents of the area.

Prior to the series debut, UNICO National (which is the largest Italian American organization) formally requested that MTV cancel the show. In a letter to the network, UNICO called the show a “…direct, deliberate and disgraceful attack on Italian Americans…”.

MTV responded to the controversy by issuing a press release which stated in part, “the Italian-American cast takes pride in their ethnicity. We understand that this show is not intended for every audience and depicts just one aspect of youth culture.” Since the calls for the show’s removal, several sponsors have requested that their ads not be aired during the show. These sponsors included Dell, Domino’s and American Family Insurance. Despite the loss of certain advertisers, MTV has not canceled the show. Moreover, the show has seen its audience and ad revenue increase.

Ratings Up 22%, Ad Revenue Up 4%

Since July, MTV’s ratings have jumped 22% among its core demographic, viewers aged 12-34. In the second quarter of 2010, Viacom’s advertising revenue rose 4% compared to last year, for the second straight quarter of positive growth. Viacom expects that number to continue to rise.

Four “Jersey Shore” stars have gotten huge raises to return for next season. Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, Paul “Pauly D” DelVecchio and Jennni “JWOWW” Farley will each earn about $30,000 per episode next season for MTV’s biggest show since “The Osbournes.” This does not take into account outside sponsorship deals either.  The show’s success now earns Pauly up to $80,000 a week for his DJ work while Snooki earns up to $20,000 for a personal appearance and The Situation has a profitable line of “pre-workout” vitamins.

A Short Lesson In Jersey Shore Vocabulary

Grenade (adj): A word used to describe the ugly friend.

Landmines (n): Thin ugly girls.

G.F.F (n): “Grenade Free Foundation.” Promoted by “MVP”

MVP (n): Mike, Vinny, Pauly.

GTL (n,v): Gym, Tan, Laundry; how they make the guidos.

Juice Head (n): Someone, usually a hot, tan, male, who may or may not steroids in order to gain muscle mass, see “Juiced.”

Confession

I can’t in good faith write this post without coming clean. This train wreck of a show has sucked me in. It’s like crack! It’s so bad for you but once you try it you’re hooked. I actually feel dumber from having watched the show. I know it’s wrong but I can’t stop. HELP!

The system dubbed “Google realtime” is as easy to use as any Google search. Simply type in your search term or wrap your term in quotes if you want an exact match, and click search. The system will then provide you hour-by-hour results for the current day.

What’s even more impressive is you can also select where the content was posted from geographically. So if you have offices or stores in different physical locations you can select the city and state where you would like to see comments.

This simple to use service provides a great tool for determining social comment trending for any organization.

One thing they don’t look at is which ads will chase you away from the environment in which the ad is featured and possibly motivate you not to return – either during that program/issue or possibly any programming/issue in that environment.

In my case the ads that will always get me to retreat – change the channel, put down the magazine, etc. are any ads that feature cruelty to animals. Not only will you not get a donation from me, you will cause me to abandon the ad environment altogether.

Now I’m sure some of these ads are big money generators or they wouldn’t be run by so many organizations, but I’m a huge animal lover and I will not tolerate those cheap and tawdry tactics. Tell me the good things you’re doing for animals, don’t show a sick looking creature locked up in a crate with a horror story or a tacky sad song.

When I know a network or magazine, etc. features these manipulative ads frequently I ban it from my existence. And I would not want my media buys to be impacted by this sensationalized bullying.

While animal cruelty ads are the number one reason I will “change the channel” there are others as well. I always avoid networks that show horror flick promos while I’m eating a meal – and for that matter I tend to avoid them in general.

As a marketer it is worth evaluating your medium with this concern in mind. How do you think a McDonald’s barbeque special commercial would fare run between two pods featuring animal cruelty? I know it would affect my appetite – that is if I hadn’t already abandoned the channel permanently before the McDonald’s spot even ran!

According to a report by veteran media analyst Steve Sternberg for Baseline Inc., CBS’s median age last season was 55 (up from 45 in 1991), ABC’s was at 51 (up from 37), NBC’s was 49 (up from 42) and Fox’s stood at 44 (up from 29).

Note, for example, that Two and a Half Men is an aging show, with the median age of viewers at 50.  Meanwhile, Dancing with the Stars, another hit, remains on the air with a median audience age of 60.

Alan Wurtzel of NBC points out that there are more older viewers available – the American population’s median age jumped from 33 in 1990 to 38 last year, according to the Census Bureau – and that advertisers have begun to recognize that older viewers have money and are receptive to advertising.  Fox’s Glee has a median age of 38 and CBS’s The Good Wife and the NCIS franchise skew the oldest at 58 and 57 respectively.

Boomers

TV dominates with Boomers.  Boomers specifically watch about 9  hours of video daily.  Boomers are responsible for one-third of television viewers, online/social media users and Twitter users.

If you see a Twitter @username at a restaurant or store, on a billboard or on TV, or if you hear one mentioned on the radio, you can simply text “Follow [username]” to 40404 and you’ll start receiving all of that user’s updates via text message. The service can simply act as an SMS-based newsletter or text alert program. This would be a great way for bars and restaurants to simply and inexpensively promote daily deals or special promotions.

Certainly this could become annoying really quick if you follow someone who tweets all the time. But it looks like you’ll have some granular control over SMS messages you receive. Even more control if you have a Twitter account. But with SMS, you can turn text messages on or off by sending ‘on’ or ‘off’ to 40404.

You can follow @twittermobile to keep up with the latest mobile developments.

OTHER TWITTER UPDATES:  Twitter is launching an official Tweet Button for sharing articles on websites and counting how many times a URL has been shared, according to documents Mashable has obtained. The Tweet Button could launch as soon as this Thursday. Read>

A gag Web site called “Please Rob Me” raised the obvious truth about location-based mobile social networking: When you tell the public where you are, you’re also telling burglars you’re not at home.

Insurance industry watchers predict that after customers get burglarized and file claims on stolen property, the insurance companies will probably investigate to see whether the customer broadcast information over social networks in a way that constitutes “negligence.” They could also make “social networker” the homeowners insurance equivalent of “chain smoker” in health insurance — a category of customers who are charged higher premiums.

TIPS

• Only use location-based services when you need them. Sites like Foursquare may be fun, but letting everyone know your routines could spell bad news for your home security.
• Don’t post your address anywhere. This should be a given!
• Don’t tweet about vacations, unless you have a house sitter.
• Think before you tweet! Something as simple as tweeting about your meal while out to dinner could tip someone off that you’re away from home.
• Don’t friend anyone you don’t know on a location-based app or service. Yes, Twitter may be all about the numbers, but you don’t want someone knowing where you are all the time because you friended them.

I have to admit that I use all of these services mentioned above and I never thought that this could impact my home insurance rates.  I will continue to use these services but I must admit that I will exercise greater caution now.

With all of the good in the world we must remember that there is unfortunately the bad as well.

At what point does choice cease to be compelling and become instead, a burden? Have we devalued real choice by making such a big deal out of small differences? Are we diluting brands with too many line extensions? These questions had me curious and interestingly enough while doing some research over the weekend, I found an excellent new video presentation on TED on this very subject. Definitely worth watching. It may give you a fresh perspective.

Findings from a new survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project report that adults are just as likely as teens to have texted while driving and are substantially more likely to have talked on the phone while driving. In addition, 49% of adults say they have been passengers in a car when the driver was sending or reading text messages on their cell phone.

Overall, 44% of adults say they have been passengers of drivers who used the cell phone in a way that put themselves or others in danger. Beyond driving, some cell-toting pedestrians get so distracted while talking or texting that they have physically bumped into another person or an object.

According to Pew, 82% of American adults (those age 18 and older) now own cell phones, up from 65% from the first reading in late 2004. 58% of adults now send or receive text messages with their cell phones. By comparison, a September 2009 Pew Internet survey found that 75% of all American teens ages 12-17 own a cell phone, and 66% text.

According to research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in 2008 alone, there were 5,870 fatalities and an estimated 515,000 people were injured in police-reported crashes in which at least one form of driver distraction was reported.

Some of the key findings from the survey include:

• 47% of all texting adults say they have sent or read a text message while driving. That compares to 34% of texting teens ages 16-17 who said they had “texted while driving” in a September 2009 survey
• This means that 27% of all American adults say they have sent or read text messages while driving, compared to 26% of all American teens ages 16-17 who reported texting at the wheel in 2009
• 75% of all cell-owning adults say they have talked on a cell phone while driving. 52% of cell-owning teens ages 16-17 reported talking on a cell phone while driving in the 2009 survey
• Among all adults, that translates into 61% who have talked on a cell phone while driving, which compares to 43% of all American teens ages 16-17 who said they had talked on their phones while driving in the 2009 survey
• 49% of all adults say they have been in a car when the driver was sending or reading text messages on their cell phone. The same number of all teens ages 12-17 said they had been in a car “when the driver was texting.”
• 44% of all adults say they have been in a car when the driver used the cell phone in a way that put themselves or others in danger, compared to 40% of teens who said they had been in a car when the driver used a cell phone in a dangerous way.
• 17% of cell-owning adults say they have physically bumped into another person or an object because they were distracted by talking or texting on their phone. That’s 14% of all American adults who have been so engrossed in talking, texting or otherwise using their cell phones that they bumped into something or someone.

More details from major findings include these notes…

47% of texting adults say they have sent or read a text message while driving:

•  Male texters are more likely to report texting at the wheel; 51% of men who use text messaging say they have sent or read messages while driving while 42% of women texters say the same
• Those in the Millennial generation (ages 18-33) are more likely than any other age group to report texting while driving. While 59% of texting Millennials say they have sent or read messages at the wheel, 50% of text-using Gen Xers (ages 34-45) and 29% of texting Baby Boomers (ages 46-64) report the same

75% of cell-owning adults say they have talked on a cell phone while driving:

• Men are more likely than women to report this distraction; 78% of cell-owning men say they have talked while driving, compared with 72% of cell-owning women
•  80% of cell-using Millennials say they have talked on their mobile phones while driving. However, Gen X stands out as the group most likely to chat at the wheel when compared with older generations. While 86% of Gen Xers who own cell phones talk while driving, just 73% of Boomer cell owners and 50% of those age 65 and older say they talk on their phones while at the wheel

49% of all adults say they have been in a car when the driver was sending or reading text messages on their cell phone:

• Men and women are equally as likely to say they have been in a car when the driver was texting. However, non-white American adults are more likely than whites to say they have been passengers of texting drivers. While 56% of black adults and 58% of Hispanic adults say they have been passengers of texting drivers, 46% of white adults report the same
• The likelihood that someone will be a passenger of a texting driver decreases dramatically with age. While one in three (75%) Millennials say they have been passengers in a car with a texting driver, 59% of Gen Xers, 37% of Boomers and just 18% of adults age 65 and older say they have had that experience
• Parents are considerably more likely than non-parents to say they have been passengers of distracted drivers; 58% all parents say they have been passengers when the driver was texting, compared with 45% of non-parents

44% of all adults say they have been in a car when the driver used the cell phone in a way that put themselves or others in danger:

•  Men are more likely than women to report being passengers of cell-distracted drivers (48% vs. 40%) 
•  Millennials and Gen X are about equally as likely to report being passengers of drivers who use the cell phone in a dangerous way (59% vs. 52%). However, both groups are considerably more likely than older generations to report this experience. Just 37% of Boomers say they have been passengers in a car while the driver used a cell phone in a dangerous way and only 21% of adults age 65 and older say they have had that experience

The physically-distracted crowd is also slightly more urban and well-educated than others. Cell owners who live in cities are more likely than rural residents to bump into other people and things (20% vs. 13%). And cell owners with college degrees are more likely than those with high school diplomas to be looking at their screens when they should be looking at their surroundings (20% vs. 14%).

The findings for those ages 18 and older come from a nationwide phone survey of 2,252 American adults conducted between April 29 and May 30. 1,917 were cell owners and 1,189 used text messaging. The margin of error in the full sample is two percentage points and in the cell subpopulation is three percentage points.

Source:  Center for Media Research & Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project

Although widely used in Europe and Japan, QR codes are still somewhat of a novelty here in the US. However, as smartphone penetration increases, it’s becoming more and more common to see QR codes appear in ads, on packaging and used in general promotions. We’ve played with these a bit here at Bozell, but since most U.S. citizens still do not own smartphones, and even those that do don’t necessarily know what a QR code is or have the necessary scanning software to read it meant pretty limited exposure. However analysts predict that smartphone penetration will match feature phones by this time next year, so the picture could change drastically.

Since I live in neither NY nor LA I obviously didn’t have the opportunity to scan the CK QR code myself to see what happened (although I tried from online images but couldn’t get it to work). When I finally saw the exclusive, 40-second commercial (below) that the QR code brings up featuring Lara Stone, I was disappointed. I guess I expected something way more provocative given CK’s history. Seems like a missed opportunity to me. From what I understand, it’s a test for CK, but marks the official premiere of Calvin Klein Jeans’s Fall 2010 advertising campaign. At the conclusion of the video, viewers can then share the code with their Facebook and Twitter networks.

Restore the Gulf

UnF–k The Gulf

Neither spot is anything special creatively, but the star spot is little more than white noise. The other did take me off guard at first, but it made me listen. You may not like the language, in fact you may be completely offended by it, but I agree wholeheartedly with David Burn over at AdPulp in this post .

“Green messaging needs to evolve if it’s going to impact a larger segment of the American population. I salute UnFucktheGulf for bringing some righteous anger to the YouTube party and for understanding that t-shirts sell better than stand-alone issue-oriented outrage.”

Is Foursquare too early?

In a study out today, Forrester finds that only 4% of U.S. online adults have ever used location-based mobile apps such as Foursquare.  This small number is not appealing from a major marketer’s perspective due to the potential (or lack of) audience size.

Only 1% update these services more than once per week. What’s more, 84% of respondents said they are not familiar with such apps, leaving the vast majority of Americans online still in the dark about location-based apps, which have had the marketing world obsessing over them in recent months.

Who uses Foursquare?

Almost 80% of location-based service users are male. Close to 70% of them are between the ages of 19 and 35, and 70% have college degrees or higher.

This small audience is still attractive to some marketers. Forrester recommends that gaming, consumer electronics and sportswear marketers lead the way with testing these apps. Location apps have already proved they’re not only for male-oriented brands. PepsiCo, Starbucks, Oil of Olay, Bravo and, most recently, Campbell’s Soup have all launched campaigns with location apps.

Insider Perspective

I currently use Foursquare in Omaha as well as through my travels and have found some (not many) “deals” to take advantage of.  The local Starbucks by my house offers discounts to Foursquare users checking in and if you are the Mayor of Starbucks you are often entitled to a free drink.

I think that Foursquare is great right now for small/local businesses.  For example, a bar called the Reel Martini in my neighborhood offers specials and discounts based on the number of times you check in.  First check in – Buy One, Get One.  Tenth check in – 10% off bar tab and if you are the Mayor you get 25% off your entire bill.  Also, if you check in on Wednesdays (slow night) you get 1/2 off martinis.  I think this is a great way to drive repeat traffic and traffic to your business during “slow” time periods.

My opinion is that this technology will take off in the next year.  I do however believe that this will be a fad and will not stick around long unless major advertisers get on board.  Many people are becoming more aware of this application but fail to see any real benefit from it.

For additional insight on Foursquare and how to use this technology please check out my past article “Do You Foursquare?”

I’m a huge fan of portable tech devices. I owned a Palm Pilot years ago and have owned a mobile phone for the past 20 years. This on top of the pile of other gadgets I have acquired has only increased my thirst for tech.

Since the release of the iPad I have been salivating for one of these gadgets. The simple yet flexible functionality of the device is simply astonishing. Can it do everything a notebook computer can? Probably not but then again it isn’t supposed to.

I have realized that my desire for an iPad most likely stems from the science fiction I grew up on and the possibilities they teased us with. For years I watched the crew of “Star Trek” carry around amazing portable devices that could allow them to develop incredibly complex mathematical equations and comprehend the space-time continuum. While a great deal of what they spoke was complete fabricated jargon it still didn’t take away from the mystique.

I also noticed that in the Pixar file “The Incredibles” another of these futuristic devices made its own appearance. It is funny to reflect on watching the movie and the device seemed so futuristic in 2004 at the time but now I look at it and say “hey, that’s an iPad”.

It is amazing how far technology has caught up to fiction. We can only hope that the visionaries of the future keep pushing our boundaries forward and give us inspiration for the next generation of life altering devices.

I know the issues are extremely complex and I advocate protection of content, but I think this approach is like trying to drive forward by using the rear view mirror to navigate and hoping to arrive at the past. Innovation and creative thinking was what newspapers needed long ago and it’s what they need today.

News International, the British newspaper publishing company owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, which owns The Times (UK — not to be confused with the NY Times) withdrew in March from voluntary ABCe auditing, saying only that it had “suspended” public reporting of traffic for Times Online and the Sun and was working with ABCe to help evolve metrics related to engagement instead.

Reading this report about the impact at the The Times (UK) thetimes.co.uk …and statements like “Sabbagh goes on to calculate that the typical Times print reader is worth ‘at least two and a half times’ the average online reader” just made me shake my head.

It was a warm Saturday evening and I had to attend the wedding of a young employee from my company. I dressed in my best black cocktail dress and heels and was feeling fairly pleased with myself when Joe, my husband, and I headed over to the festivities.

The reception provided a good chance to “catch up” with some of our staffers. As it began to wind down one of my direct reports – a young guy – took it upon himself to patiently usher me out of the reception hall and out to my car with comments like “well, I guess this thing is over”, “time to get on out of here”.

I noticed that as soon as my car started heading out of the parking lot that my self-appointed escort had high-tailed it back into the building. Hmmm, odd I thought

By the time we reached home I realized that he was hustling “the boss” out so that he could get down to some serious partying. I felt just like Grandma Moses.

Once home I took my cranky self up to get ready for bed as Joe headed down to his man-cave. After shedding my slinky black dress and heels (and still mumbling obscenities under my breath) I headed into the master bath to wash up.

And that’s when my nail broke.

Need I share the murderous invectives that filled the air at this point? I thought not. Once I was able to regain a modicum of self-restraint my logical brain directed me to the new bottle of nail glue in my cabinet. I grabbed the bottle and struggled to open it. The cap was a real challenge – more so than usual. I thought something dropped out when the cap came off – but could find no evidence so I sloughed it off.

I spent the next few minutes – while the glue was drying on my nail – performing a few more of my nighttime ablutions. And then I was ready to depart from the bathroom. Only I couldn’t. The heel of my right foot was glued firmly to the floor tile.

I spent the next twenty minutes frantically trying to extricate myself so my husband would not laugh himself into cardiac arrest when he walked in. To no avail. Pulling my foot away would have resulted in the heel staying behind – not an option. I was unable to reach any potential tools that might help me scrape my foot off of that tile. So I gave up.

My next strategy was to begin yelling to Joe for help. Also to no avail. For about 45 minutes I gave periodic shouts in his general direction. None were heard down two flights and drowned out by his bevy of electronic gadgets – each noisy in its own way. Thank god I hadn’t set myself on fire!

I couldn’t even sit on the side of the tub to rest my weary bones as I waited to be rescued from my own bathroom. Finally I heard Joe’s footsteps on the stairs. I steeled myself for his reaction. Based on the cumulative effect of all of the indignities I had suffered that evening – his very survival would depend on his response – that or he’d have to leave me glued to the floor!

God bless him, he walked in, sized up the situation and headed to the garage for Goo Gone. Within 5 minutes I was a free woman. And life was good again!

And then we both laughed until we cried.

Kimberly-Clark’s Faux-Jean Huggies are flying off the shelves at local retailers. Similarly, P&G is countering with a limited-edition fashion offering of its own this month, a series of 11 diaper styles from designer Cynthia Rowley called “Pampers by Cynthia Rowley Collection,” available exclusively at Target and Target.com.

The faux-denim diapers are selling well. The Little Movers franchise is up 15% post [denim] vs. prior period. According to a qualitative research study, with jeans diapers the simple insight is that moms simply love seeing their babies in jeans. Nearly 60% of moms purchase denim for their babies before they even reach 6 months of age.

I also love what WPP/JWT, New York has done with the tagline for the jeans diapers (tagline: “The coolest you’ll look pooping your pants”).   Too cute!