RIP Goulet

Robert Goulet passed away yesterday...just want to wish him farewell and thank him for all the joy he's put into my life indirectly. Mostly through Will Ferrell, actually. But one thing's for sure -- he was a true entertainer. Enjoy the video of Robert Gouuuuleeeettttt!

PS - I'd also like to thank him for the Emerald Nuts Superbowl Commercial last year...

New Dove Viral Video

Check it out - Dove's follow up to its critically acclaimed "Evolution" video.
Tagline "talk to your daughter before the beauty industry does" is pretty self explanatory after seeing about a minute of ways the industry corrupts little girls.

Good concept, well produced, but do people still want to hear what dove has to say? Some skeptical comments on YouTube talk about how this video is Dove's "lame attempt at creating something controversial so they can get free publicity"

Hello buzz marketing.

Publicity is happening.

But overall, I like Evolution better. Felt more grass roots and real. This one is a bit overproduced and can kind of feel contrived.

Downloads For Free! Legally! Finally!

What up what up...music can finally be downloaded FOR FREE without the implications of an expensive legal battle for every song you download illegally. Spiralfrog.com launched today, the first ad supported free music site. Basically Spiralfrog takes the money they get from advertisers on their site, and gives a portion of it back to a music company to pay for the royalties/other legal fees associated with letting people download their songs (genius). Right now the site is backed by Universal music, and has an initial offering of about 700,000 songs... (How many can you fit on an iPod, again?)

Anyway, I think the idea's pretty sweet and it will be interesting to see how many people catch onto free downloading fever. I guess talks are in the works for a similar site called Qtrax, which will have the support of all four major music players (Universal, BMI, EMI, and Sony BMG) and be able to offer a catalog starting with about 30 million songs. I think Spiralfrog is just the beginning of a beautiful era of free music for all..

Read more @ AdAge ...

Women's World Cup News!

Nike has been touting the US Women's National Soccer Team as the "Greatest Team You've Never Heard Of" in its recent television ads, but maybe this title really belongs to the North Korean team that held the highly favored Americans to a tie this morning...

I didn't actually watch the game (though I am told three diehards were up at 5 am watching it in my living room), but by the looks of the highlights and final score, either the US had a bad day, or N. Korea is steppin' up to be a great team in this World Cup.

I don't want to sound like too much of a patriot, but I think the US will bounce back. They've got to. Because if we're talking futbol, the women are the only chance of our country bringing home a Cup in the near future.

Startin' it up again?

I haven't posted in a long time but I was checking out the Cool Hunting blog and found something that I wanted to pass along to my large reader base (being my mother, brother, and maybe one roommate). It's Now Play It, basically a site that allows you to download video tutorials of how to play popular songs on the guitar. It not only tells you the chords, but then gives an image of the chord's tab so you can scrutinize it for hours, and if you're like me, still play it incorrectly. And some of the videos are even taught by the talent themselves - I checked out the preview for the KT Tunstall tutorial and found that she is not only a great songstress, but a lovely teacher.

So check it out if you have some free time. And like to fiddle around with a guitar.

That's it for now, I guess we'll see if the posts keep a-comin'.

Tampon Sponsored Video Contest (it's not as gross as you think)

Tampax is sponsoring a contest on the social networking site TAKKLE (targeting high school athletes) where cheerleaders are asked to submit a video of their best routine and the winner gets $10,000 of gear/apparel. Despite my first instinct to whip out my video camera and start cheering when I heard the news, I instead quickly logged onto blogger to share this contest with the world.

Although I had never heard of takkle.com before I found this contest, I think it’s an interesting social networking idea that will bring a niche market of high school athletes to the contest. It also is much more graphically appealing than the social networking ugly giant Myspace.

If you know any cheerleaders that are up for the challenge and could use a new cheer outfit or two (or maybe some pom poms), let them know about the Tampax sponsored contest.

But I think the award for best cheerleader ever goes to Kristi Yamaoka from Southern Illinois, for continuing to move her arms to the fight song as she’s being wheeled off the court on a gurney that she is strapped down to since she fell off the top of a pyramid. Cheerleaders you better watch out. If Kristi enters this contest, it’s really no contest at all.

I like this :)

I just really like this commercial. I actually rewind the tivo to watch it over and over again because it just makes me happy.

The shots are great and convey this great mood of joy, and the song is cute too. And I absolutely love the shot of the two cuties in the backseat chilling with their hair blowing and sun on their faces.

It kind of makes me want to buy a Cadillac SRX. But it really makes me want to have two adorable children (that don't necessarily have to be my own), a joyful sunny day, and a really cute doggie waiting at home for me (even though I already have one).

Kudos Cadillac.

Starbucks Tees

My Sales and Sales Promotion professor showed us this site in class where you can make your own customized Starbucks t shirt to express your favorite Starbucks drink! Once you choose all your options, you can also download a customized wallpaper for your computer! So anyone who walks by will know your Starbucks order! (This works well for stalkers who want to start a casual conversation by bringing you a delicious Starbucks drink so be on the lookout. and be careful)...

Anyway, I took the liberty of making my own drink order. It is shown on this here blog post. So if you would like to someday chat about intellectual things and sip some frappamocchnio 2% soy latte extra hot grande cinnamon cream pie chai, now you'll know my order.

Check the site out, you can get your fav. drink on a t shirt. And tell the world just how much you love coffee.

Crazy Bride's Crazy Sponsor

The crazy bride video going around on YouTube, and featured on the Today show is apparently sponsored by Unilever's Sunsilk? A lot of people thought the video was real, watching in horror as a bride freaks out because she hates her hair and starts cutting all her hair off a mere hour before her "wedding." But before you start wondering how such a freak found someone to marry her, or why her bridesmaids are laughing and taping the debacle, know that this video is an elaborate hoax! It's a fake, a fraud. But the thing is...Unilever, why are you deceiving us but making it have absolutely nothing to do with your product?

I know that a big part of WOM is getting your name out there, or just coming up with something that is going to be talked about. And this video was indeed talked about. It was viewed 12 million times on YouTube, and had segments on Jay Leno and Good Morning America.

But really, how effective is all this when no one really knows your company is related to the video? I guess the name got out a bit, but what about all the people out there who still think this woman really got married with super short hair that was frantically trying to be pinned up by her poor friends? They don't know Unilever is behind this.

And that's why while it may be effective in some capacity to send out a crazy viral video, make it either relate to your product, or make it available for people to discover that your brand was involved.

Otherwise, it's WWOM - WASTED word of mouth! oOOooOOOoo

More info about this at AdAge.com.

An open call for business backers or agencies to intern at this summer...

This is just a call for help, really.

1. I am trying to get my genius funny t shirt business off the ground, but alas, I find that as a struggling college student I cannot foot the bill for screen printing prices. I'll tell you two things though: the designs I have are great!, and if you back me I'll take you out for dinner some night. To Chili's. Or somewhere else real nice.
So, anyone with $$, let me know!

2. If you work at an ad agency, or know someone who does in LA, NYC, or Chicago, have them shout me a hollller.
Or let me shout them a hollller!

I know the only people who read this are: my roommates, my mom, and my brother, so I don't see what good this post will bring, but maybe, just maybe someone will stumble upon my humble blog and give this poor girl a shot at the good life.

Coke - Happiness Factory

hehe I just really like this.
maybe because I have a strange love for weird little creatures...

Fineee I'll keep posting...

HeyYOOooo the class I was doing this for ended in December, but ya know what? Due to popular demand (aka one person telling me they missed my ridiculously awesome blog posts), I am going to start writing again.

First, Super Bowl Commericials. I just don't know about them. Some made me giggle a little, some I giggled at just because I had been drinking a little, and a few were actually pretty funny. But my grand prize has to go to Coke. I loved their ads, especially the one where all the crazy magical creatures are helping the coke come out of the vending machine. I'll post the video of it soon. Props to the "Give a little love" coke commercial too. WELL PLAYED, COKE.

Also, use of Robert Goulay almost always equals success. So I'd like to give my congratulations to Emerald Nuts for catching on to the genius of Goulayyy.

Next - Reverbnation.com
Named People's Choice for best music social network of 2006. Lets you sign up (free) as an artist, fan, venue, or label. Also has tools such as TunePaks, where fans can compile a personal mix of songs to share w/friends, etc. Artists can use them to package songs for delivery.

Anyway...if you want to read more about Reverbnation.com and all it's crazy features, click here.
Otherwise, check it out if you are a music lover of any kind.

And with that, I'm off.

The Final Countdown

Well the world of Word of Mouth and Guerilla marketing has sure been interesting to watch. There is always so much going on it’s really hard to keep up with it all, but really easy to find interesting and new things to write about. Basically from doing these blogs over the semester I’ve realized that there are so many different ways to reach people, and sometimes you just need to be creative and have a great idea in order to be noticed. Sometimes you don’t need to spend big money; you just need to think big.

I’ve noticed that games or contests are big ways to get the consumer involved, especially if it involves online content, such as the Snickers contest where they urged viewers to make their own Snickers’ song; or the Simpsons’ website where people could make their own promo for the upcoming Halloween special. These both give people a way to actively engage with a brand and form a relationship with it. Instead of thinking that a brand message is being forced down their throat, these consumers are embracing the message and are being given the opportunity to make it their own. Another example would be the Doritos contest where people were asked to make their own Superbowl commercial that actually had a shot at being aired during the big game. These are not just little contests where you have to enter a number into a website and you have the slimmest chance in the world to win 10 million dollars, these are things that people can get actively involved in and excited about. In my mind, I think this is incredibly smart. Pay less to buy media that people are consuming less of, and jump on the new bandwagon. We talked a lot in class about how more people are going online and using programs to share photos, post their movies on Youtube, or blog about their lives/work. It’s the perfect time to begin to use these emerging trends in order to connect with consumers.

Another trend in the WOM world seems to be the shock factor. When you are pulling off a WOM campaign or a guerilla idea, I think shocking people works extremely well. Take for instance Jane magazine’s quest to find a real-life 30 year old virgin a mate. Some people would think of this as vulgar, or that this woman should keep her sexual history to herself. But, “NO!” says Jane Magazine. They decided to document this woman’s life, trying to get her laid. But the thing is – it worked. Well not the getting the girl laid part…but the magazine got noticed, and their brand name got out there, thanks to their trusty ol’ abstinence poster child. WOM marketing is one of those things where sometimes even bad talk is good, because your name gets out there, so shocking the audience works. For instance, the new Tickle Me Elmo doll who was accused of gettin’ a little bit too down with his bad self was talked about VERY much in the popular media, especially on shows such as Best Week Ever and The Soup. But instead of being big worrywarts and trying to take drastic means to fix what was being said about the doll, Mattel just chilled out and waited for the doll’s release – which was met with great sales. Sometimes if you get a little bit of talk going about your product, even if it’s not 100% what you expected or wanted, it can work wonders.

Basically I’ve learned that if you make or do something cool and put it out there, people are gonna talk about it. Especially since there are so many new ways to spread information and ideas so quickly these days, it is essential that all marketers and advertisers become aware of just how valuable word-of-mouth can be. Just as we’ve talked about in class, people are using the Internet more and more to share almost everything about their lives. There are some concerns with privacy in this new digital age, but you’d never know just from taking a look online at all the various video, pictures, and blog posts people are putting up on the web.

So as it stands now I’m pretty sure that WOM and guerilla are both great tactics to be used to generate buzz about a product. I think that they will only continue to grow as more and more people buy into the whole digital theme of our age and start playing with all the user generated content online. Also, outdoor guerilla marketing will target people when they aren’t at home, which is a large chunk of their days. Since traditional media are being consumed less and less, outdoor and out-of-home are great places to reach people (and great places to implement guerilla campaigns)…. Anyways, it’ll be interesting to see where these go in the future, but all I can see is them going up, up, up.


**Note: The above picture is a man attempting to break some sort of strange world record. It is meant for your enjoyment, though it has no bearing on this post.

recipe for a popular song

have it played on a Grey's Anatomy episode

Free Ring Tones - No Joke!

My cousin gave me the website of Mobile 17, a place where you can pick songs from your computer and they will send you the song as a sound message to your phone. You can then save the sound and set it as a ringtone!

It's really cool and totally free. If you really want to pay, you can subscribe so when you are actually downloading the tone to send it to your phone you don't have to wait as long. The first song I downloaded took about 585 minutes to send to my phone, which sounds like a long time but you can just set it up and then leave it to work and then when you come back you have a new phone message!

Good great grand.

I sound like a salesperson for this website. Weird.

WOM Marketing...

Out of Home

So I went to the Advertising Women of New York (AWNY) Career Conference last weekend before I went home for Thanksgiving and actually saw a lot of cool stuff and learned a bunch. One of the things I really enjoyed was a presentation by Jennifer Greufe from WOW, and Alexis Luskin from Digitas about Non-Traditional and Out-of-Home Media. They explained what constitutes these types of media and also showed us really great examples of this stuff being put to work. One example of what I thought was a great idea was a transit ad on bus stops that were wrapped in bubble wrap. The copy read "If you think fun always requires money, think bubble-wrap." This was executed on 950 transit media locations, and they were actually able to measure people's response by counting the bubbles popped. This is a great idea because it's something that no one is expecting and it hits them at a time when they are just sitting around waiting for the bus to come, therefore it's likely to engage their interest.

Another great campaign they talked to us about was Nicorette's "No Smoking Day" where people dressed up as giant cigarettes were attacked and brought down by "craving control crews" on various streets so any passerby could watch the scene unfold. This is a great idea, causing a scene especially when dressed like an enormous cigarette is bound to get people to notice. And they did. The campaign increased calls to the helpline by 48% over the previous year.

These are just two examples of the many that these two women spoke about. One things for sure, with people trying to break through the clutter more and more these days, Out-Of-Home and Non-Traditional advertising are just begging to be used.

Update

My mom would like to clarify that she did notice the placement in Casino Royale, she just "didn't care."

Casino Royale: Starring Sony

So yesterday I went to the movies with my mom, dad, brother, aunt and grandma - happy holidays! It's how we bond. Speaking of Bond, we opted to see Casino Royale, the intensely long new James Bond flick.

It was pretty good except for the length, the fact that I wanted to be watching the Sabres game, and I kept missing my friend's calls about going out later (biggest party night of the year?)...

Anyway, Sony had a lot of products carefully placed in the movie. I knew this because my cousin kept leaning over and specifying what Sony product was being showcased. He thought the placement was a little "ridiculous," but obviously it worked. He saw it, didn't he?

My brother also noticed the immense amounts of Sony stuff in the movie, but my parents, aunt and grandma did not mention that they picked up on the placements. Is product placement reaching younger generations more effectively than others?

Someone should do a study.

Happy Thanksgiving

PS - I just realized the movie is by Sony Pictures. Everything makes sense now...

Sony Royale

a real life 30 year old virgin!

Use her for promotion purposes! Do it quickly, while she's still a virgin!

I found a post on Fallon Planning Blog that talked about Jane Magazine's efforts to get Sarah, an almost 30 year old VIRGIN a nice guy to deflower herself with.

They have a whole blog on their website devoted to Sarah and trying to get her to lose it before she's 30. Doesn't seem like it would be too hard to find someone... There are a lot of entries of men who sent in pictures and bios about how they are the right man for the job. Every week, there are picks by: Sarah's dad, Jane's Editor, and Sarah's Friends as to what man is right for the job. Is it just me or is it kind of weird that her dad is picking random men on the Internet to screw his 29 year old daughter?

But guess what? Sarah recently turned 30. And her goal, unfortunately, was not acheived. All I can say is: I don't really understand this whole thing at all.

Does Jane having a virgin blog make you want to read it?

Only time will tell...

Check out Sarah's blog for more...

Snickers Song - the Original

I love Snickers for lots of reasons. It tastes SO GOOD, and it has hilarious marketing lately... Have you seen the commercial with the guy wearing the wig made out of Snickers? Genius.

Anyways, they continue to amaze me with a contest that unfortunately is now in its final stages - I can't believe I missed the beginning! So the Snickers Satisfaction
Singoff asked people to write their own song about Snickers, perform it, and post it on youtube. There are three finalists now, you should check 'em out.

Adding to the allure of this contest? Nick Lachey picks the winner. I'm willing to put money on the fact that the person he picks as the winner will not look or sound like Jessica Simpson.

Putting Nick Lachey aside for a second, I'd like to salute Snickers for this singoff. Great use of the new obsession of consumer generated content, and the original Snickers song commercial (see above) is glorious.

Who do I want to win the contest? The superhero guy.

Catch ya later!