…Or C-SPAN2, as it’s otherwise known. Thanks to those readers who tuned in last week and responded with questions and further discussion. (I gather from your responses that it aired on TV and radio…) If you missed the reading and Q&A - filmed at the Changing Hands bookstore, in Tempe, AZ - you can still view it online at BookTV’s site.
Courtesy of Slate, a bit of Friday humor for you. A satirical vision of where guerrilla marketing might as well be headed…
Music, film, and interactive media - that’s the menu at South by Southwest, one of the nation’s most anticipated annual festivals. OBD fans: Swing by the Interactive “panel picker” and vote for me to appear at next spring’s event. Voting closes tomorrow. Thanks for your vote!
(In the name of blocking voter fraud, a quick registration is required.)
A few recent examples of OBD (thanks to the readers who sent these in):
Fake buzz for the iPhone in Poland
Sample quote: “We couldn’t have expected the same kind of fever as in the United States given that Apple’s products aren’t that well-known in Poland…”
Diagnosis: Sheesh. Another case of faking popularity to rebrand reality, much like flogs and WOMM.
Image is everything in Beijing
Sample quote: “The ruse even extended to getting the weather forecast right so as to simulate the same smog as on the night, and adding camera shake to simulate filming from a helicopter.”
Diagnosis: China takes the gold. Primetime lip-syncing, CGI fireworks, and police officers scolded for not smiling enough—and that’s just the Olympics. Socially, politically, you name it: China is the posterboy of OBD.
Sample quote: “Comcast admits to paying non-Comcast employees to hold spaces!”
Diagnosis: Despicable. Branders love saying, “The brand is in the mind of the consumer”—that is, unless consumers speak their minds against the brand. Then it’s time to pervert the public discourse by paying for mindless, mercinary “consumers.”
Following the Colbert Report interview (and this past Tuesday’s encore presentation) a number of people have asked me about the oddball products discussed during the show. (You may recall the Kool-Aid/Reebok sneakers, Playdoh cologne, NASCAR romance novel, and others.) While I wish I had them all on display in my office, the bulk of the products was graciously loaned to me by TippingSpring, a New York branding agency with an annual brand-extension survey. Working with Brandweek, TippingSprung polls thousands of marketers to determine the year’s best (PetSmart PetsHotel) and worst (Precious Moments caskets) brand extensions. And because once a year isn’t enough, they also run a great blog on brand extensions - The Brand Elastic. (Among my favorites.) Many thanks to Martyn Tipping and Robert Sprung for extending a hand!
Meanwhile, another tip of the hat to the folks at Zappos. Thanks to Sharon R. and others in the Customer Loyalty department, those lemon-yellow Kool-Aid sneakers made it NY in time for the show. In case you haven’t traveled by air recently, Zappos is the online shoe retailer advertised at the bottom of countless TSA security tubs around the country (a subject discussed here a few weeks ago).
Finally, even if you disagree with comedian Bill Hicks, the bit below is funny stuff. The opening line: “If anyone here is in advertising or marketing, kill yourself.” It gets worse from there. Enjoy. (Thanks to Mark, a regular reader, for forwarding the link.)
We all know Trix are for kids, but a new report claims marketers are using new media to trick regulators and entice our kids into eating more junk food. Commissioned by the Berkeley Media Studies Group, “Interactive Food & Beverage Marketing: Targeting Children and Youth in the Digital Age” [full report; eight-page summary] documents how advertisers are increasingly tapping into our modern-age “marketing ecosystem,” leveraging video games, instant messaging, online social networking sites, and behavioral targeting software to shill more sugary snacks to kids. (Go ahead: “Play games with the Silly Rabbit!“) And no wonder! Consider the advantages. Advertising junk food on TV is regulated by the government. Marketing via new media, however, is arguably less expensive and more effective—and there are no legal limits! At least, not for now…
According to a well-reported piece in BusinessWeek today about marketing junk food to children online, there’s a growing call for greater government oversight. In 2006, food and beverage advertisers spent 37% of their $1.6-billion youth-marketing budgets targeting kids under 12. With 20% of 6-11 year-olds currently overweight, parents are pushing for further regulation (though the FTC has, to date, declined to get involved). The article does a great job of characterizing the debate from multiple angles, drawing perspective from parents, academics, children’s advocacy groups, government regulators, and a few anti-regulation sources. That said, there is one obvious voice missing: the marketers themselves. (McDonald’s declined to comment.) Call it sweet silence.
But seriously: any bold marketers of junk food, er, I mean “foods of minimal nutritional value” care to make their case? How about the software programmers behind the kid-sticky technicolor dreamscapes at sites like Wrigley’s Candystand and the “magical realm” over at Lucky Charms‘?
$999.99 - that’s the price of an iPhone screensaver that displays an image of a gem with the message, “I am rich.” Yep: A cool grand for what CNET is calling a “useless” application. Crazy, right? As many as eight people didn’t think so, downloading the “I am rich” program in its first 24 hours online (and prompting the LA Times to declare, “a new status symbol has emerged”). Since then, Apple has removed the program from the App Store without explanation.
Yeah, sorry for the cliched title, but time is of the essence… Just spotted the Colbert interview on Digg. Give it a digg and send it up the ladder!
Lucas Conley on The Colbert Report
Despite promoting the segment under the caption “Gouge Lucas,” Colbert was more surprised than sarcastic when we actually sat down to talk yesterday. Meanwhile, I had a blast. Take a look and let me know what you think!
Tonight’s the night, folks - tune in at 11:30 PM Eastern for Colbert v. Conley: Branding Smackdown. Might be fun… then again, it might be a funeral. Wish me luck!
I’ll post again in the next day or two to respond and reflect.
