Tuesday, August 05, 2008

A New Day

I'm very excited about tomorrow. We're trying something a little different at Ford for our 2009 Model Year media day. I've only been on the new job for three weeks, so this isn't necessarily the most robust program, but I'm proud to say that we're including a number of bloggers.

My belief is that bloggers - the new influencers - should be treated just like media, as they're publishers, they've got communities that care about what they think, and most of all, they're real people with real opinions. I wanted them to be able to get the inside scoop that traditional journalists are privy to.

In this case, I asked our team at Social Media Group to look beyond the usual suspects of auto bloggers (mostly because the big auto bloggers are already part of our media relations program) and to look for lifestyles - people interested in technology, environmental issues, family and luxury. We also invited some smaller auto bloggers and a few local new media types as well. Here's the rundown:

Josh Lewis from Raw Autos
Erin Kotecki Vest from Queen of Spain
Kathy Helmtag from Car Domain
Chad from iChad
Tom Ajello from Internet, Cool?
David Pitlyuk
Melanie Notkin from SavvyAuntie
Kristen Nicole from Mashable
Aaron Brazell from Technosailor
Ariel Schwartz from gas 2.0
Jane Porricelli from Mom Generations
Yvonne DiVita from Lipsticking
Ken Burbary from Web Business

While this is by no means the extent of what I'd eventually like to see as far as a blogger outreach effort, it's a great start. I hope that everyone will enjoy themselves, learn a little bit about some of the very exciting things going on inside Ford (as shown in the video below), and have a blast out on the track.

Labels: big media, Ford, outreach, social media

Posted by Scott Monty at 5:56 PM

Comments |

LINKS TO THIS POST |

Sunday, August 03, 2008

Advertising Age Hopelessly Stuck in the Past

I've had it with AdAge.com. Don't get me wrong - they've got great content and are always exploring trends and issues in the advertising and marketing world in the way that few other publications can or do.

But for all of the space they give to digital marketing, it's clear that they just don't get it. I suppose I can't fault them; they're a publisher that, like every other publisher these days, is concerned about revenue. But as they try to protect their position and demonstrate effectiveness to their supporters, I think AdAge is missing the bigger picture.

And just to show that I'm not using my blog to mount a snarky complaint, I'll offer some free constructive criticism in this note to AdAge:

Dear Advertising Age,

You've been the mainstay of the advertising and marketing industry for a long time - nearly 80 years, in fact. Crain Communications (which interestingly is headquartered near my new home base in Michigan) has a vast empire of publications that are respected across the globe.

But you need to loosen the reins on AdAge. Here are three ways you could make it a little more tolerable.

RSS feeds
You employ RSS feeds on your web site - bravo! But you know what? I don't find them of much use because the feeds are only partial; if I want to read the full article, I'm forced to click through to your site. Yes, I realize that this is because you want me to pay attention to all of the banner ads and interruptions you place in my way while I'm there.

But you know what? As someone who is savvy enough to use RSS feeds, I'm also savvy enough to ignore your annoying advertising - or even better - I employ a Firefox add-on that blocks them. If you just give me the option to consume your content the way I want, I guarantee I'll be a more interested / loyal reader.

Online Video
I found a pulled TV commercial that I wanted to see on your site - just a short 30-second spot, nothing more. But before I could watch it, you forced me to watch a 15-second spot about some advertiser of yours (I can't remember who) that was pitching targeted video ads. I, someone who despises pre-roll advertising, was being targeted with a pre-roll ad about targeted video. Are you getting the irony here?

Lose the video advertising. It shows a lack of respect for your readers.

Secondly, your sharing features suck. I can grab a link or send someone an email (presumably of the link), but I can't embed your video. Which is incredibly short-sighted on your part, especially since you'd think your pre-roll advertisers would want to be seen elsewhere! Give me a chance to share your content with other people who might be interested.

Power 150
Finally, this is more of a personal suggestion. If you really cared about the digital space, you'd embrace that list of the Power 150 marketing bloggers that you acquired from Todd Andrlik. A good way to start is to give the top 150 bloggers a free subscription to Advertising Age. You've already got your badge sitting on most of their blogs - free advertising - why not show us that you appreciate our service to your publication by giving us a free subscription? It's not that difficult.

It's 2008, people - get with the program. If we've learned anything, it's that you'll have more to gain by giving something away. AdAge stands stuck in the era that is more concerned with the control of its content, and as a result is stingy with its willingness to let content be free.

And it's evident from every page I see on your site, where the top links above the article are "print" "buy reprints" and "email," that you're not as concerned with current techniques. These functions are important, no doubt, but they're as antiquated as pop-up ads. Oh, and your registration process for commenting on a blog post is laughable.

AdAge, please do us all a favor and open up a little. You might find us more willing to open up to you.

Sincerely,
Scott Monty

Photo credit: Simon Davison

Labels: AdAge, Advertising, big media, Marketing, social media

Posted by Scott Monty at 8:48 AM

Comments |

LINKS TO THIS POST |

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Social Media Takeaways #2

Busy week, this. The great topics started piling up on Monday -maybe it was that the Columbus Day holiday (for some) made a difference in the ability to crank out some top-notch blog posts, or that the news was especially slow. And then some big news from some major companies started pouring in on Tuesday. Santa Maria! We've got a nice lineup of topics this week.

Anyway, I wanted to get these to your attention before all of the newsy-ness wears off of them...

Die, Resume! Die! Die! Die!
Bryan Person takes a cue from Tom Foremski's shot-heard-round-the-world for the PR industry and suggests that it's time for an end to the traditional resume as we know it. The replacement? Why, a Social Media Resume, of course!

SMT: Great idea. I think it's high time this was instituted. I've always referred headhunters to my LinkedIn page when they ask for my resume, but they insist on the hard copy anyway (come to think of it, even crayon insisted on the old fashioned version).

Manhattan Sees a Mashup of Soup & Ice Cream
For fans of Cold Stone Creamery and Soup Kitchen International (aka the Soup Nazi), you don't have to visit more than one store. An aspiring entrepreneur is combining both stores in one and promoting it with a contest that rewards two grand prizes: a cup of soup a day for life and a cup of ice cream a day for life.

SMT: The kicker is that they're not using traditional marketing. They tried "buying local advertising and radio spots, but didn't get much bang for [their] buck." So, the co-branded shop is going entirely with word of mouth marketing. How's that for hot & cold?

Google Acquires Jaiku
Google buys Jaiku for an unspecified amount. A huge surprise, since Twitter seems to have the market share of users. But a brilliant strategic move from Google. And expect more soon - as Robert Scoble says, prepare yourself for November 5.

SMT: Rest assured that Google is assuming a take-no-prisoners approach with Facebook and Twitter. I think Google is getting more deeply rooted in the community space - and what's more, this clearly positions them for more mobile applications (can you say gPhone?). But will I still be able to stream Twitter through Jaiku?Neville Hobson recommends that we "refuse to choose" - use Twitku.

NBC Universal Acquires Oxygen Media
NBC announced that it was paying $925 million for the female-focused network that streams into 74 million homes in America, padding their portfolio of properties that cater to the fair sex.

SMT: It's an interesting way to assemble more of a focused audience - well, as focused as mass media can be. But I think Chris Thilk hit it on the head when he Twittered:

Now it has 2 female-targeted properties it can fail to integrate efficiently. Awesome.

Labels: big media, Bryan Person, Chris Thilk, social media takeaways, Twitter

Posted by Scott Monty at 9:02 PM

Comments |

LINKS TO THIS POST |

Monday, September 10, 2007

Ad Age Hates Innovation

You have to wonder about the ability of the marketing profession to move forward when a mainstream medium such as Advertising Age seems dead-set against it.

Here are just three examples:

Even though they're embracing new media by offering RSS feeds, you can't read the entire posts in your feedreader. Ad Age makes you visit their site for the full content. Yes, they probably want the traffic so they can support the site with (ahem) ads, but you know what? You can run ads in feeds too, guys.
Today Jonah Bloom decided that he'd call out a small company and rant against it. In this case, he was talking about my company's recent announcement. I couldn't find any instance of him berating any other small companies, but then again, I got tired of scrolling through the archives since the Adages blog doesn't have tags.
Finally (and this one's a doozy), Mark Simon gives us his take on trends by recommending that CMOs Ditch the Lunatic Web Content Crazes in the CMO Strategy column. He particularly calls out Twitter as nothing more than a personal update application; it's clear he hasn't spent any time on it or developed a network. As the very astute Karl Long puts it:

Even more ironic this is under “CMO Strategy”, yep this is exactly the kind of advice you need if you’re a CMO, ignore new things, don’t experiment, don’t participate and your world will be simpler, safer and easier to understand.

Maybe the folks over at Ad Age don't think this whole Internet thing is going to catch on.

Labels: AdAge, Advertising, big media, Karl Long, Marketing, trends

Posted by Scott Monty at 9:26 PM

Comments |

LINKS TO THIS POST |

Monday, August 27, 2007

ABC News Waxes Futuristic

Last month, crayon was visited by a crew from ABC News, as they were filming a piece for a series called "The Workplace of the Future." As crayon has offices in Second Life, we were a natural choice to showcase what it's like to be part of a virtual company.

Well, earlier this evening, World News Tonight with Charles Gibson aired a spot that featured crayon in addition to IBM and accenture. Not bad company to keep, eh? My colleagues got some nice coverage, including C.C., Joseph and Greg (voice only). You can watch the video by clicking the player in the upper-right corner of your screen.

The ultimate irony? You're forced to watch a 30-second spot as part of the pre-roll. Here's the YouTube version without the ads:

And in the meantime, you're welcome to join us on Crayonville Island every Thursday morning at 9:00 a.m. EST for Coffee with crayon.

Labels: big media, crayon, Greg Verdino, Joseph Jaffe, New Media, news, Second Life, Video

Posted by Scott Monty at 11:38 PM

Comments |

LINKS TO THIS POST |

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Common Sense Isn't Universal

Further evidence that NBC is embracing new media: at yesterday's IAB conference, NBC Universal announced that they are standardizing the length of advertising in short form video to 15-second spots.

According to the MediaPost article, currently there is no set standard for pre-roll advertising, but one-third of the pre-roll ads for 2- to 5-minute videos are 30-second spots. Excuse me? What genius was initially put in charge of that initiative?

In the brave new world of digital marketing and new media you don't simply take an ad format from another channel and slap it on short video. It's akin to the rise of television some 60 years ago, when the network bigwigs were simply calling television "radio with pictures." But was more than an incremental change; television completely changed the way the world consumed entertainment.

And until now, NBC has exhibited parallel thinking to the radio/TV revolution: short-form video is nothing more than television on the Web and subsequently, it deserves the same kind of advertising. Just slap an existing 30-second spot - which in itself ignores the fact that it's failing miserably in its native television environment - onto a video that can be as short as 2 minutes in length.

You've got to give credit to NBC for changing the game, albeit incrementally. But let's just say there's a lack of common sense in the industry - not only regarding the 30-second spot, but with respect to most of social media. According to Peter Naylor, SVP for Digital Media Sales at NBCU, "We did some research with our users," he says. "Short-form clips deserve short-form ads."

Genius. I wonder how much money you spent to figure that one out, Einstein.

Labels: Advertising, big media, New Media, Video

Posted by Scott Monty at 7:00 AM

Comments |

LINKS TO THIS POST |

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

How One Big Media Entity 'Gets It'

It looks like things are starting to come around - big media is joining the modern movement and starting to embrace social media as part of their overall communications strategy, not just as a perfunctory move.

For example, USA Today has a Twitter page and has seen a readership jump of 380% since doing a social network makeover. On my local 10 o'clock news and news radio station, I hear them mention their blogs and encourage online feedback from listeners.

But the big media social network that has my attention right now is none other than...

...NBC. Yes, that's right. The peacock network. The network that once boasted "Must See TV." The network that is now #4 in the ratings war and has 22% less revenue than last year to show for it. In addition to some new shows, their social network strategy is one way that they're hoping to gain some loyal viewers.

They are currently previewing the NBC.com Social Networking site and are calling for fans to get involved. "What exactly does NBC feature in the way of a social network?" I hear you asking. Here are a few examples:

Message Boards
Yes, it's very 1997 of you, NBC, but it's a basic component of any TV network's infrastructure. Get the fans to your site and let them chat about whatever excites them about your shows and sponsors. Only this time, monitor the hell out of it and figure out how to respond.

Video & Photo Galleries
The idea is simple: keep 'em here rather than give up the content to YouTube. Just make sure you enable sharing features and embedded video, so your fans can put the content on their blogs to share with friends, if they wish. Don't keep them tied to your home-grown social network. If you do, you'll lose them altogether.

Blogs
Here's where someone got creative. You've got the expected blogs: Jay's Garage by Jay Leno and Late Night Insider by Conan O'Brien. But then you get blogs from some of the popular characters on top shows, such as Dwight Schrute's blog - Schrute-Space (The Office); the Banker's Blog (Deal or No Deal), which takes the faceless, voiceless powermonger and gives us some insights to what makes him tick.

Other features to be rolled out include a personal profile, buddies, groups and widgets. I'll be interested to see how NBC brings this to life, wraps it into the shows, and engages with their fans. It probably helps that they have an Executive Vice President for Digital Entertainment and New Media, Vivi Zigler. It shows that NBC is willing to invest in the latest method of communicating with customers.

But will it result in higher revenue? If NBC can justify the traffic to advertisers, that might be a way to stem some of the lost revenue. And if they're able to effectively integrate advertising efforts into their widgets, they may have a new network advertising revenue model that they can help to pioneer and define.

And just to bring this back to a B2B focus for a moment, that last phrase - pioneer and define - seems to be what's holding so many B2B companies back as they sit on the sidelines and contemplate their corporate navels. They're waiting for proof that social media works in their space, that other companies are doing it and succeeding.

This may or may not be the right strategy. It probably depends on the organization. But they do risk a couple of things: at worst, being left behind and at best, being an also-ran. The point with new media is to get out there and experiment. Joseph Jaffe makes a geat point (#10 in his list to Bud.TV):

Above all...experiment experiment experiment and be prepared to make mistakes. Your reported $30-40 million investment will be well worth it if you learn from your mistakes and innovate intensely.

This is no time for timidity. It's time to get out there and see what sticks.

Labels: big media, blogs, brand, New Media, social media, Video

Posted by Scott Monty at 10:11 PM

Comments |

LINKS TO THIS POST |

Tuesday, March 13, 2007

Give the Numbers a Boost with Joost

I get it now. Viacom's shot across YouTube's bow has a direct correlation to the stake they bought in Joost. Bambi's Blog over on the MarketWatch blog system explains in a little more detail.

But Viacom can play a bit of hardball now that it has a wild card of sorts. And, that card is Joost, which Viacom took a financial interest in last month. Joost was started by the two founders of Skype and KaZaA.

Labels: big media, New Media, social media, Video

Posted by Scott Monty at 3:51 PM

Comments |

LINKS TO THIS POST |

New Media + New Math = Uncertainty

Viacom stole the show today with the announcement of its $1 billion lawsuit against Google/YouTube. In the suit, Viacom claims that there were over 160,000 videos (of varying length, I'd imagine) that were widely distributed on YouTube which infringed on Viacom's copyrights.

Now, I don't know how the lawyers did the math - a billion dollars is a nice round sum. It works out to about $6,250 per video. Since the videos are likely segments of entire shows, I wonder how they worked out the aggregate numbers. They clearly see that YouTube has a powerful model: "building traffic and selling advertising off of unlicensed content," but don't want to be victimized.

NBC Universal, CBS Corp. and Universal Music Group already inked revenue-sharing deals with YouTube. Is Viacom's strategy a smart one? It may help this graph in the short-run, but it's tough to say beyond that.

Is this an example of Big Media not embracing the power of social media? Should they be partnering with YouTube? Or does Viacom have another plan?

Labels: big media, New Media, Video

Posted by Scott Monty at 11:56 AM

Comments |

LINKS TO THIS POST |

Monday, October 30, 2006

A Word About Online Advertising

If you had any doubts that the future of advertising lies with more online presence, this should dispel some of those doubts. The Audit Bureau of Circulations reported the following statistics at the end of September.

1. USA Today: 2,269509, (-1.3%)
2. The Wall Street Journal: 2,043235, (-1.9%)
3. The New York Times: 1,086,798, (-3.5%)
4. Los Angeles Times: 775,766, (-8.0%)
5. The New York Post: 704,011, 5.3%
6. Daily News: 693,382, 1.0%
7. The Washington Post: 656,297, (-3.3%)
8. Chicago Tribune: 576,132, (-1.7%)
9. Houston Chronicle: 508,097, (-3.6%)
10. Newsday: 413,579, (-4.9%)
11. The Arizona Republic, Phoenix: 397,294, (-2.5%)
12. The Boston Globe: 386,415, (-6.7%)
13. The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J.: 378,100, (-5.5%)
14. San Francisco Chronicle: 373,805, (-5.3%)
15. The Star Tribune, Minneapolis: 358,887, (-4.1%)
16. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 350,157, (-3.4%)
17. The Plain Dealer, Cleveland: 336,939, (-0.6%)
18. The Philadelphia Inquirer: 330,622, (-7.5%)
19. Detroit Free Press: 328,628, (-3.6%)
20. The Oregonian, Portland: 310,803, (-6.8%)
21. The San Diego Union-Tribune: 304,334, (-3.1%)
22. St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times: 288,676, (-3.2%)
23. The Orange County (Calif.) Register: 287,204, (-3.7%)
24. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 276,588, 0.6%
25. The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee: 273,609, (-5.4%)

While not a nail in the coffin of newspapers, it demonstrates what is a continued trend away from print-only media. The future lies with those entities that are able to pull off a truly integrated approach, placing the right message in the right place at the right time.

As Online Spin notes, we're at a point of severe fragmentation, consumers who are already time-crunching and the advent of many easy to use tools and services.

So put down that newspaper and get to work!

Labels: Advertising, big media

Posted by Scott Monty at 4:15 PM

Comments |

LINKS TO THIS POST |

Saturday, October 21, 2006

What's the Deal with the GooTube Deal?

A lot of people have been asking about the value behind the $1.65 billion that Google paid for YouTube. Why would Google pay that much? Isn't YouTube going to be sued? What did Google really get for its money?

An article in Fortune makes the case that GooTube is in good shape, no matter what happens to he broadcast TV market:

Sure, all you can see on YouTube right now are relatively short, low-resolution clips, but if you imagine a day when we have much fatter digital pipes into the home, you realize that "feeds" à la the YouTube model are a much better and more gratifying way to consume video than the cumbersome video-downloading services operated by Apple Computer , Amazon.com and others.

Even if the future takes a while to get here, Goo-Tube wins. Google's interest in the video-sharing site has a lot to do with its belief in the staying power of conventional broadcast television and cable. YouTube gives Google a platform where TV advertisers can test and tailor campaigns.

With regard to the lawsuit claim, evidently YouTube is in good shape. Just before the deal was made with Google, three of the four major music companies struck a deal for a stake in YouTube. They stand to gain $50 million from the deal, which effectively shields YouTube from lawsuits.

Labels: big media, New Media, Video

Posted by Scott Monty at 9:02 AM

Comments |

LINKS TO THIS POST |

Thursday, August 31, 2006

You Know Social Media Is Serious When...

An interesting piece this morning on MediaPost: it seems that YouTube has scooped all of the major media outlets with a 10-minute video about Lockheed Martin shafting the Coast Guard with some security-lax patrol boats.

Evidently, the Lockheed employee went to the mainstream media - 75 reporters at different newspapers - and none of them was interested in the story. So he went to YouTube and uploaded the video on August 3; it has been viewed nearly 70,000 times as of this time.

Consequently, the Washington Post and NPR picked up the story. This is a great example of how the Web - the blogosphere and vlogosphere - are driving traditional media. Even ABC acknowledged the power of this medium, noting that this is "further evidence that the Internet has given the average person a way to be heard."

Labels: big media, New Media, Video

Posted by Scott Monty at 8:07 AM

Comments |

LINKS TO THIS POST |

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

Must See TV Must Be for Me

In a nod to the increasing personalization of - well, everything - NBC has filed a trademark for "TV for Me."

While it remains to be seen what they'll do with this, it's encouraging to see that Big Media is embracing the inevitable. Perhaps this is one step beyond TiVo.

Hmmm. Do I sense a "Me and My Brother" concept?

Labels: big media

Posted by Scott Monty at 9:11 AM

Comments |

LINKS TO THIS POST |