Links for 2007-10-30 : MediaLounge, Hulu, Attik, Febreze, FaceBook, CNN SL

• USA TODAY Media Lounge

  Apparently “We’re all in this together”… I actually think this is a good idea – facilitating a community for media buyers. If they become the go-to resource for data and insights, even better.

  (tags: advertising ideas media planning socialmedia)



• Tech Bloggers Go Gaga Over Hulu

  Monday’s working day ended with myriad reviews of Hulu, touted the end of Joost by some. The video sharing site launched in private beta yesterday.

  (tags: onlinevideo socialmedia)

• Dentsu Pays Attik Big for More Toyota Business

  I admired Attik’s work for Scion when it launched … and they just sold for $80mill! This is thought by some to be a mystifyingly large amount by some.

  (tags: agencies automotive)

• Febreze: What Stinks?

  Febreze has found a new target of opportunity: college dorm dwellers. Its new campaign takes an online and non-traditional approach. I like this attempt to find a new audience and the efforts to reach then in an interesting way.

  (tags: cpg socialmedia digital gen-y p&g)

• You Poked Who?! Facebook Employees Are Watching Your Every Move

  The claimed abuses varied: Looking at restricted profiles to check out dates. Seeing which profiles a user had viewed. And, in one case, allegedly logging onto a user’s account, changing her profile picture to a graphic image, and sending faked messages. Oh dear!

  (tags: facebook socialmedia ohdear gen-y)

• CNN opens Second Life Bureau

  CNN is next week to start reporting in online virtual world Second Life, it has announced. The US news network will equip other residents to send copy and photos while providing news “kiosks” spread through the Second Life world. Reuters have been in there for a while … interesting to see CNN’s approach.

  (tags: metaverse secondlife cnn)

Links for 2007-10-29 FireBlogging, MySpace Games, Rock ‘n Roll, Seinfeld

• Technology: FireBlogging

  If you’ve ever been tempted to call Twitter useless, reconsider; the service is allowing thousands of Southern California residents to stay safe by receiving up-to-the-minute geographical information about the spreading fires.

  (tags: map media twitter socialmedia)



• MySpace Seeks to Create A Destination for Games

  MySpace, already a leading online provider of music and video, is beefing up its presence in another sector of entertainment — games — through a deal with Oberon Media Inc.

  (tags: myspace gaming socialmedia web2.0)

• Rock ‘n Roll Brands

  Amid plunging record sales and Internet file sharing, rock stars are lending their names to TV commercials, tour sponsorships, and merchandise including cars, private-label wines and celebrity cruises.

  (tags: marketing music sponsorship brands)

• FEMA stages fake wildfire news conference to save time

  Last week a group of federal employees served as proxy reporters for a press conference regarding the California wildfires with the deputy chief of FEMA.

  (tags: news fake disgraceful)

• Seinfeld on Marketing ebook

  The ÜberEye Marketing Blog riffs on the Seinfeld series and what it can teach us about marketing…

  (tags: marketing blog seinfeld)

Links for 2007-10-28 : Squidoo, Colour, SL Twitter, SL Manchester

• The Writings of Steve S on Squidoo

  Just a Squidoo Lens I lightheartedly set up for a friend…

  (tags: poetry beatpoetry literature folk)



• Autumn by Colourlovers

  Niche networking for colour/ color afficionados. At Colourlovers.com, you can explore different colour combinations and trends and you can also submit color palettes for readers to critique and vote on.

  (tags: design inspiration color colour socialmedia)

• Twitter ‘tracks thoughts’ on Second Life

  The visualisation takes Twitter.com’s public postings (called tweets) and displays them in Second Life as bubbles drifting up from the fountain. The bubbles float up under the influence of Second Life’s physics. It reminds me of some of the work Tomato have done in real life.

  (tags: secondlife twitter socialmedia digital design metaverse)

• Manchester … so much to answer for (now in Second Life, too…)

  Manchester’s alter ego in the virtual world of Second Life is now over six months old. So, have you visited yet? If you haven’t, then you’re certainly not alone because not many people have…

  (tags: manchester secondlife metaverse socialmedia)

Links for 2007-10-27: Ffffound!

• FFFFOUND!

  FFFFound! is a new web service that allows users to post images they like. The service can also recommend images users might like based on their unique tastes and interests.

  (tags: design photography art inspiration Blog photo graphicdesign networking cool)

Links for 2007-10-26 : FaceBook, Goodby, Digital, Diddy, Honeyshed, iPhone, iPod, Magazines

• Microsoft Drops $240 Million for 1.6% of Facebook

  After a long talk, Microsoft has agreed to invest $240 million into Facebook for a 1.6 percent stake in the company. This values the social networking site at $15 billion, $5 billion higher than previous estimates. The deal leaves Yahoo and Google in the dust: competition amongst the three contenders was reportedly part of the reason why Microsoft bid so high. Facebook is perceived as a goldmine for advertisers because users have completed their profiles in a curiously honest fashion.

  (tags: facebook socialmedia microsoft)



• Goodby Charts ‘Digital Evolution’

  Goodby (finally) gets with the program!Like many successful traditional agencies who failed to evolve, Goodby had found salvation through digital media.

  (tags: digital marketing advertising agencies Goodby future)



• Digital Signage Turns Heads

  I am always wary of studies like this, but Digital OoH is seemingly getting noticed by (and getting the thumbs aloft from) consumers.

  (tags: digital ooh outdoor strategy research stats)



• Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs enters premium vodka deal

  Diddy in da (marketing) house! Says Combs: “I’m not just a celebrity endorser, I’m a brand builder. I’m a luxury brand builder.”

  (tags: marketing strategy luxury diddy)



• Seen in Amsterdam: The Message is on the Medium

  Cool global warming-themed piece of “ambient” street art to remind motorists about conservation.

  (tags: eco green ambient art)

• Honeyshed Launches

  PDroga5 and Digitas launch an online outlet for branded entertainment. Honeyshed is currently in beta, intended to give advertisers and users an idea of what sort of content the site will house.

  (tags: brandedentertainment marketing)

• Social Networkers Profiled

  US and international social networkers are more likely to own technology, consume more digital entertainment and own more mobile devices, according to an Ipsos Insight study.

  (tags: socialmedia research stats future)

• iPhone in Class of its own – Shoppers Tend Not to Cross-Shop Other Handsets – Marketing Charts

  The iPhone was the biggest handset launch ever: it drew 20 times more interest than the average phone launch.It drew higher volumes of shoppers than either the Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii.

  (tags: iphone marketing npd stats research)

• Student’s iPod Ad Gets a Remake, and Makes the Big Time

  A television commercial for the new iPod Touch from TBWA/Chiat/Day, is based on a commercial that an 18-year-old student Nick Haley created on his own one day last month.

  (tags: apple usergenerated onlinevideo future ipod advertising)

• Branded Entertainment Has to Entertain

  Q&A with Mediacom’s Adam Pincus.

  (tags: brandedentertainment marketing strategy)

• Maghound: a Netflix for Magazines?

  Time Inc. plans to introduce an online service next year that will offer pay-as-you-go, mix-and-match, highly flexible magazine subscriptions from a variety of publishers.

  (tags: business magazines future)

Links for 2007-10-24 CSI:SL, Liverpool, Gawker, Joneses, Green, Boundless, Media Arts, FaceBook Ads, Virtual GT-R

• CSI:NY Comes To Second Life Wednesday

  Second Life is bracing itself for an influx of new members with the long awaited episode of CSI:NY which features Second Life. It premieres in the United States on Wednesday October 24th.

  (tags: convergence secondlife tv metaverse future)

• 

• Liverpool leading a double life online

  Liverpool-based digital marketing company Creative Cultures is building a virtual 1962 Cavern in Second Life.

  (tags: metaverse virtualworld marketing)



• Gawker and the Rage of the Creative Underclass

  Gawker offers up some social justice meted out by the creative underclass…

  (tags: blogs community culture gossip ideas magazine media new writing)

• Where are the Joneses?

  Where indeed? David Bausola, Head of Insight for Digital Comms at Imagination offers some insight.

  (tags: marketing strategy transmedia entertainment socialmedia)

• Applied Green

  A thoughtful piece by Russell Davies about the dilemma marketing professionals face when trying to do domething about the environment.

  (tags: environment green planning marketing)

• Eco Incentives Online Brochure

  Green gifts for Christmas.

  (tags: christmas gifts geen eco)

• Sainsbury’s Serious About Saving Energy… And Engaging its Shoppers

  Sainsbury is mounting a campaign which involves giving away 1 million energy saving light bulbs to its customers.

  (tags: marketing strategy eco green retail)

• Boundless Gallery

  BoundlessGallery is a site that connects thousands of artists from all over the world with potential buyers and clients, creating a global art marketplace.

  (tags: art commerce ideas internet)

• Clow: ‘Next Revolution’ Is Here

  Lee Clow opines agencies’ “product” will no longer be defined as advertising, but as “media arts. Everything we do now is media. It’s how people come to a decision about a brand.”

  (tags: connectionsplanning strategy marketing advertising)

• Facebook Set to Introduce Major Ad Play

  The invite to the launch event was a lucite brick.

  (tags: advertising facebook socialmedia socialnetwork technology web2.0)

• You’ve Played the Videogame, Now Buy the Car

  Starting this past Monday, fans could download a free, new version of Sony’s Gran Turismo and drive a masked version of the new GT-R that is covered in a sleek black sheet.

  (tags: metaverse gaming marketing automotive strategy)

Dove is making a Movie?

Despite the furore surrounding Dove’s recent Onslaught piece, overall I have been an admirer of the Dove campaign and the Self Esteem Fund. (And not just the Cannes winning Evolution Film). What could so easily have been nothing more than a :30 interruption was laddered up to becoming a movement and – whatever we think of it – part of pop culture.

Now Dove is also apparently taking the concept to the big screen, and is heavy investor in Diane English’s directorial debut The Women starring Meg Ryan, Jada Pinkett Smith, Eva Mendes and Debra Messing.

Dove are also shooting a full length documentary chronicling the making of the film, with Diane English directing (and apparently blogging). At this stage the distribution channel for the documentary isn’t clear.

Post Scriptum: We also learned that Gatorade are getting in on the act and are part-funded the movie Gracie … “With low-budget movies you have to have different ways to create marketing efficiencies and leverage your ability to fund them,” said producer Andrew Shue. He said the seed money from Gatorade enabled him to raise an additional $7 million from a hedge fund. “This is absolutely something in the future for these kinds of movies that are smaller budget and under the studio threshold.”

Links for 2007-10-23 : Roommates, Facebook, Nike & Umbro, Paul Smith & Burton

• MySpace Launches Scripted Series
  MySpace’s “Roommates” launches today, sponsored by Ford Focus.
  (tags: onlinevideo myspace socialmedia future digital web2.0)



• Facebook Flyers Experiments with Psychographic Targeting
  Advertisers can now target Facebook members psychographically via the site’s Flyers ad unit. Flyers are sidebar ads that Facebook controls; the majority of the advertising on the site is now handled by Microsoft.
  (tags: socialmedia advertising facebook)
• Top 10 US Social-Network and Blog Site Rankings Issued
  MySpace.com continues to sit atop the rankings of US social-networking sites with 58.6 million uniques in September. Google’s Blogger remains the top blog site with nearly 29.6 million visitors.
  (tags: socialmedia stats research)



• Nike buys Umbro for £285m
  Nike scored another goal in its stated mission to become the leading global soccer brand before the 2010 World Cup.
  (tags: brands)



• Paul Smith x Burton Mark XIII
  The second limited-edition collaboration between Paul Smith and Burton Snowboards has just hit the shops.
  (tags: fashion design marketing ideas strategy)

Links for 2007-10-22 : The Metaverse, Mobile, Andy McNab

• Virtual Worlds, Real Ad Dollars
  Parks Associates estimates that $15 million was spent advertising in virtual worlds in the United States in 2006 and projected that it would rise tenfold to $150 million in 2012.
  (tags: marketing business secondlife metaverse virtualworld 3dinternet)



• SAS man Andy McNab goes mobile …
  Ex-SAS man and action author Andy McNab’s latest Nick Stone novel is going to be promoted with a short-code that responds with a link to the first chapter of the book. I think this is an interesting idea – perfect for commuters looking for diversion, for example. Books on mobile don’t often work well as text, but this will also be available as audio. Come to think of it I recollect Nick Stone once killing someone with a mobile phone …
  (tags: marketing strategy literature mobile telecoms sas andymcnab)

Links for 2007-10-21 : Shakespeare, eBike

• All change at Lady Macbeth – Shakespeare Tube Map
  The map has been devised by Kit Grover and Hester Lees-Jeffries for the RSC and features on a new range of items including mugs, bags and T-shirts.
  (tags: art design culture marketing)



• China ‘e’ bikes silently drive lead demand
  Great. So electric bikes take some carbon pollution out of the atmosphere .. and replace it with lead … underlining the fact that there is no easy fix to the fossil fuel conundrum (ethanol and hydrogen power each have problems also.
  (tags: green eco design environment)