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January 23, 2007
MENTAL BREAK: Get A First Life
If only because I have flogged Second Life on this site, the following link should provide marketers tired of being told they are irrelevant or outdated with a little vicarious pleasure.
I'll admit it. I was amused.
Thank to the MIT Advertising Lab blog for pointing this out.
Posted by jcioban at 8:03 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 17, 2007
Personalization Goes On The Road
B2B marketers are often so obsessed with telling about their widgets, that they forget about the experience. In consumer markets, many companies fall into the trap as well...eschewing top-tier experience building for promotions, specials, etc. American car manufacturers have take that technique (promotions...) and raised it beyond the realm of reality.
Enter Mini, with its cult-like following. Last summer I watched a Mini rally, as dozens and dozens of Mini owners went for a drive with their personalized vehicles. Now, Mini has become a pioneer in contextual advertising with its testing of contextual billboards. As reported on 1/10/07 in MotoringFile, Mini invited a select group of customers to participate in a program that allows them to type a personalized message that will appear on a special RFID-activated billboard when the owner appraches the billboard. Mini sends the participant a special key fob after program sign up that activates the billboard. Billboards are available in New York, Chicago, Miami and San Francisco.
In reading the comments on the MotoringFile Wiki, there are a smattering of comments about BigBrother, etc. This is to be expected from a skeptical and wary public unfamiliar with the technology. And, in the long-run this cool idea will likely not rewrite the rules of advertising, as people are becoming truly worn down by ad messages. But, that in many respects is the point here. This isn't really advertising as we know it...it is an interactive experience. If you were stuck in traffic, wouldn't it be cool to have a billboard send a welcoming greeting... "You ROCK, Jim!". Engagement is what Mini is all about and this is yet another bleeding edge means for creating that engagement.
Mini continues to build a cult by creating a dedicated army of owners who spread the word and who enjoy some frivolous but engaging humor...at other drivers' expense. Its a great lesson for tons of companies obsessed with selling the horsepower and not what they will do for you.
Posted by jcioban at 7:22 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
January 9, 2007
An American Demographic: The Average American
My AdAge Annual January 1 issue has been buried in my bag for the past several days and I finally got to reading it. Stuck at the back of the issue was the American Demographics section that is periodically included. Very interesting reading.
As a Connecticut resident, I was absorbed by the first line..."the average American family has 3.1 people, makes $46,326 and saves nothing." The elitist New Englander in me can't help saying "WTF?" $46,326 with a spouse and a kid? In the NY metro region, that's poverty level...barely enough to cover the annual Starbuck's tab for over-caffeinated DINKs heading to their jobs.
Humorous comments aside, the income level should be a sobering wake-up for many marketers whose six-figure incomes may make it hard to acknowledge what an "average" American considers normal and affordable. It is also a sobering fact that in an era where guaranteed pensions are a distant memory and social security's longevity is an annual cause for concern, this average Ameican saves nothing.
There are lots of other interesting factoids in the numbers. If you have a moment and your job is marketing, it is worth a visit to the American Demographics section of the AdAge Website.
Posted by jcioban at 8:11 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
