Erin at Out of Character is living proof that the millions of dollars being spent by marketers on scent and sound is worth every penny. I went to Costco today to pick up laundry detergent and...approximately $90 worth of other crap I totally don't need, and much to my orgasmic delight and/or horror I stumbled upon an advertised demo stereo that was blasting "Boston". I quickly discovered that I was only physically …
How Greatness Gets Going
I don't know what legendary media critic, A.J. Liebling thought of advertising. Whatever he thought of it, he knew how to use advertising to his advantage. Here's a small piece of his Wikipedia entry: He returned to Providence in autumn 1927 to write for the Journal. He then moved to New York, where he proceeded to campaign for a job on Joseph Pulitzer's New York World, which carried the work of James M. Cain and …
Report Locally. Webcast Globally.
Writing in Editor & Publisher, Kevin J. Mireles advises the newspaper business to "make a conscious transition from being strictly content creators to become local communication facilitators." He argues that newspapers could benefit greatly by providing user-generated content that's been screened by professional editors. By "benefit" he means increased revenue via advertising. The notion being that most marketers are …
Viacom Gets Gen Y
According to the New York Times, Sumner Redstone's media conglomerate is making savvy moves and cashing in on them. Viacom said yesterday that growth in advertising sales at its MTV Networks helped the company post a 27 percent increase in second-quarter profit. Viacom also announced that it had agreed to buy the online video and games company Atom Entertainment for $200 million as Viacom seeks to build its Internet …
Trust Is A Big Brand Builder
After AOL's fumbling of privacy-rich search data, an act for which they're taking a pounding, customer-centric Google is looking good in this USA Today article on the topic: Google CEO Eric Schmidt has a message for Google users: Your searches are safe. "Our No. 1 priority with our users is trust," Schmidt told some 2,000 attendees at the Search Engine Strategies conference. Safa Rashtchy, an analyst at equity firm …
Some Ad Guys Are Real Creeps
"Quiznos Marketing Exec Arrested in Chat Room Sex Sting" the Ad Age headline rings out, having made its way from the New York Post's newroom. Quiznos' senior VP of marketing, Scott Lippitt, 47, faces at least five felony charges, including criminal attempt at sexual assault on a child; enticement of a child; contributing to the delinquency of a minor; internet luring; and internet sexual exploitation of a child, …
New Rolling Stone Smells Like Old Times
Ad Age reports that Showtime placed a scent-strip ad in the Aug. 24 issue of Rolling Stone to promote the second season of "Weeds," a show where a suburban mother (played by Mary-Louise Parker) sells marijuana to keep the mortgage paid. "It smells like hippies wearing patchouli," said a MediaWorks colleague who got to sniff the ad. Fragrance vendors, whose typical struggles include searching for scents that whisper …
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Beyond Brand Evangelism
According to Newsweek, Peter McBride can take off his polo shirt and maintain his preppy image. McBride, 22, has a Polo pony tattooed on his chest. His decision to brand himself with a brand is increasingly common. Gaje Pou, a New York City tattoo artist, says getting inked with designer or corporate logos is "definitely getting more acceptable." Logo requests range from Chanel and Gucci to Windows and PlayStation. …