von Roland Hachmann | Mai 14, 2007 | Blog, Digital Culture, Marketing Trends, Social Media Marketing
So this how people get alienated these days: by having too many digital connections with others. Says this article on Forbes.
Thanks to technology, people have never been more connected–or more alienated
There is a lot of Klischee stuff in that article, but yet some good quotes:
The self that grows up with multitasking and rapid response measures success by calls made, e-mails answered and messages responded to.
We live a contradiction: Insisting that our world is increasingly complex, we nevertheless have created a communications culture that has decreased the time available for us to sit and think, uninterrupted.
One thought, though, takes it a little over the top, I think:
One says, „I don’t have enough time alone with my mind“; another, „I artificially make time to think.“ Such formulations depend on an „I“ separate from the technology, a self that can put the technology aside so as to function apart from its demands. But it’s in conflict with a growing reality of lives lived in the presence of screens, whether on a laptop, palmtop, cell phone or BlackBerry. We are learning to see ourselves as cyborgs, at one with our devices. To put it most starkly: To make more time means turning off our devices, disengaging from the always-on culture. But this is not a simple proposition, since our devices have become more closely coupled to our sense of our bodies and increasingly feel like extensions of our minds.
(found on the „cult of the amateur“ blog.)
von Roland Hachmann | Mai 14, 2007 | Ad News, Blog
There is a new technology, that counts the eyeballs that are viewing a billboard. And not just the ones close to it:
Xuuk eyebox2 is a $999 portable device with a camera that monitors eye movements and automatically detects when you are looking at it from up to about 35 feet away. Until now, Vertegaal says, such eye-trackers have been ineffective beyond 2 feet, required people to remain stationary and cost more than $25,000
Another example of classical media becoming measurable. Even better than the internet, where you still can’t measure eyeballs, only pageviews – yet you don’t know if the person really saw your ad.
(found at here)
von Roland Hachmann | Mai 11, 2007 | Ad News, Blog, Digital Marketing, Marketing, Online Advertising
There is a Businessweek article about Honeyshed, which seems to be a new site for branded content. Apparently, this was launched by agencies in the Publicis Network (Droga5 and Digitas). From what I gathered, it is supposed to provide a platform for clients for offering branded content, be it videos, text, audio, whatever, I don’t know.
Honeyshed intends to erase the line between branding and entertainment altogether. But its content won’t be traditional online advertising. No banners. No rollovers. No 30-second spots. Instead, it will provide a mix of live programming and character-driven sketch shows paid for by—and promoting—sponsors, which will collaborate with Honeyshed to come up with suitably entertaining concepts aimed at the ever-capricious but nonetheless influential demographic of 18- to 35-year-olds.
(I am glad they chose this age bracked – it means I am *just* still part of it!)
„There’s a lot of so-called branded content out there, but it doesn’t have many places to live,“ he says. „It gets lost on YouTube or it’s like bud.tv, a brand in isolation. In contrast, this is totally transparent and completely entertaining. It’s overt advertising based on the idea that people love brands. They just don’t necessarily love it when brands interrupt or deceive them. This will make brands the life of the party rather than the uninvited guest.“
Seems to be an interesting concept. Some launch they’re own channel (Bud TV and Audi TV), and some launch things on YouTube. Which will get more attention? Umair from the Collectivegeneration Blog doesn’t quite agree with the approach of honeyshed…
von Roland Hachmann | Mai 10, 2007 | Ad News, Blog, Digital Marketing, Marketing, Online Advertising, Social Media Marketing
- Online web presences are finallly compulsory according to this post. Even if the businesses aren’t doing any business online, consumers expect to be able to find information online, many even expect to be able to purchase online, even if they never actually would.
- According to this article at emarketer, the music industry is complaining without a cause, since even with decreasing sales on CDs, etc., net growth is strong. It’s just the fact that sales now increasingly come from digital music, merchandising and live performances. I never thought the music industry was in any danger any way.
- Forbes features a short essay, apparently written by Rupert Murdoch himself. It shows, that he has truly understood the signs of the times, but in essence, there is nothing new in this essay. Why am I posting it? It can serve as a good source for quotes when you’re preparing another one of these „convince the client’s bosses to invest in new media“ presentations.
- The Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog lists some more information on the advertisers that have made deals with joost, the much hyped new IPTV platform. Apparently, you can even find their ad content, when typing their names into the search function of joost!
von Roland Hachmann | Mai 10, 2007 | Blog, Marketing, Marketing Trends, Social Media Marketing
The new trendbriefing is all about the tyranny of transparency:
„Old economy fog is clearing: no longer can incompetence, below-par performance, ignored global standards, anti-social & anti-eco behavior, or opaque pricing be obscured. In its place has come a transparent, fully informed marketplace, where producers have no excuse left to underperform. TRANSPARENCY TYRANNY for some, TRANSPARENCY TRIUMPH for others.“
Opinion portals, blogs, review sites, forums, video sites, etc. etc. The modern consumer has every means to publish his or her opinion about everything – and every consumer can also find opinions on everything. And it’s only going to get worse over time, says that report. The amount might, as they write, outnumber the fake reviews written by the brands themselves leading to greater „honesty“ and „trust“.
But it also means that users will need ever better and more intelligent filters to find anything useful – especially something useful for THEM. Since the reviews might be written by users with a completely different taste for things. Other fields of danger are company internal things being spread, of course.
Yet, I don’t feel sorry for these companies. If they have things to hide, then it’s a threat for them.
At the same time, it is a huge chance for companies. Of course, people will also spread good news, so there will be a lot more word of mouth going around.
But the main factor is in the fields of market research: It has become so easy and inexpensive to find out, what consumers are really thinking about products and services! The more diverse the landscape of reviews, videos, soundbites or photos, the better results of an „online conversation research“ can get. I recommend to everyone to go „egosurfing“ – either for your own name, or for your company, your brand.
So don’t try to solve the problem of transparency, grab the opportunity of endless free consumer insights!
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