20 posts tagged “current affairs”
The CMO Trends 2009 webseminar took place on 2nd of February 2009. With 40 people signing up from around 20 countries, the webseminar was truly international.
ADVERT: More web-seminars here
I (Michael Leander) had anticipated that I would need to add content to the CMO Trends 2009 survey result in order for the webseminar to be interesting to the attendees.
That didn’t quite work out. I simply didn’t spend enough time preparing and reviewing the contents and structure. However, the webseminar was nevertheless relative well received.
Judge for yourself - review the evaluation below
Super Bowl XLIII, an American football game that will decide the NFL champion for the 2008 season, is scheduled to be played on February 1, 2009.
This years contenders for the title are Pittsburg Steelers and Arizone Cardinals. From a marketing perspective it is interesting that Super Bowl XLIII will also mark the first time that a 30-second commercial time slot will cost (excluding production and talent costs) US $3 million. Once again (certain) advertisers are competing to create the most memorable commercial to be shown to millions of viewers.
Commercials banned or not
Super Bowl XLIII will also mark the first time that a 30-second commercial time slot will cost (excluding production and talent costs) US $3 million.
Many traditional advertisers of the game, such as Anheuser-Busch and Pepsi-Cola, are buying multiple ads at discounted rates. Two traditional advertisers, General Motors and FedEx, will pass on the game, citing the current economic crisis as their main reason. Doritos is reprising a contest for a fan-created ad run two years ago, but with a top prize of $1 million provided it wins the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter’s number one position. Paramount Pictures confirmed that a preview of the upcoming Star Trek film will also premiere during the game.
Interestingly, every year commercials are banned. And this year is no exception.
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) with more than two million members and supporters, is the largest animal rights organization in the world. And they are having a go at passing the NBC censorship. Without much luck, it seems.
This video was rejected by NBC censorship:
Here’s an excerpt from PETA’s website;
“Apparently, NBC has something against girls who love their veggies. After we submitted our proposed Super Bowl ad, which features a comely crop of models demonstrating their fondness for fresh produce, NBC nixed the ad, saying it “depicts a level of sexuality exceeding our standards.” No joke, this is straight from NBC—so stop fondling your fruit salad right now and read the list of shots NBC requested we cut before they’d reconsider”
And here is another PETA commercial rejected by NBC
And here is the list. When reading that list one would understand why NBC rejected the commecial:
- licking pumpkin
- touching her breast with her hand while eating broccoli
- pumpkin from behind between legs
- rubbing pelvic region with pumpkin
- screwing herself with broccoli (fuzzy)
- asparagus on her lap appearing as if it is ready to be inserted into vagina
- licking eggplant
- rubbing asparagus on breast
I have to agree with PETA’s statement, though;
“Why so grouchy NBC? Sounds like someone’s not getting enough um…vegetables. I’m thinking network execs could really benefit from a broccoli booty call.”
More banned commercials at Marketingboss TV
I am conducting a new survey about social networking. If you participate you will receive;
- the survey report which will be published in March 2009
- an invitation to a complimentary web-seminar where the survey results will be presented AND discussed. The latter of which should be highly interesting for anyone inteterested in social networking and understanding how to drive value from social networks.
Go here now to participate in the survey - it takes 4-5 minutes of your time only
Burger King is once again under fire. This time for their innovative initiative “Whopper Virgins” - a new advertising campaign featuring “Burger virgins”, impoverished villagers in remote parts of the world, taking part in Whopper versus Big Mac taste tests.
Personally, I must say I applaud their initiate. But I am not “looking underneath the surface”, merely basing my liking to it on the quality of execution and the innovative marketing an. The video you are about to see is - in my opinion - interesting and very well produced. In fact, I would like to know more about the people featured in the movie.
The legatimacy of the testing, which the web site says was conducted by independent, third party testers, isn’t what bothers people. What might irk people is the concept that Burger King is taking its fast-food to people who aren’t used to this type of food in their diets, who aren’t usual subjects to commercialism and who probably don’t really care too much.
Watch the video below and judge for yourself. Feel free to leave comments.
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TIME Magazine listed Michael Arrington - a lawyer turned technology expert - as one of the most influential people in the world. Michael Arrington recently posted a claim that the commercial you are about to watch “is quite simply the best commercial ever made”.
And he posted that comment on Tech Crunch - an enormously popular website / blog (currently ranking at 3.500 according to Alexa).
The commercial is targeted at men. And so are most of the more than 150 commenters to Michael Arringtons blog-post. It is hardly surprising that most of them agree with his viewpoint.
I watched the commercial with much anticipation (I missed it on TV) on the internet. And I have mixed feelings about it. Mostly I admire the courage of the advertiser. And the girls jumping from the plane - must have been an ice-cold experience.
But I won’t reveal too much now. I’d much prefer to hear your thoughts on this commercial.
The advertiser and the target group
The advertiser Fleggaard is a e-commerce/retailer based in Germany - right across the border from Denmark. The product advertised in the commercial is a Siemens Washing Machine at ONLY DKK 4.995. The target group is men.
Please note that the Fleggaard commercial below is an unedited, uncensored version of the commercial actually airing on TV.
But what’s really interesting is what do you think?
If the link above does not work please let me know in the comment box below.
In a new initiative, Michael Leander plan to provide you with one marketing tip pr. day. The tips are delivered through short videos lasting between 2 and 15 minutes.
The very first marketing tip of the day is about Twitter Grader. A neat solution that allow you to grade your Twitter activities. Developed by the US company Hubspot, the solution is free.
To watch the Marketing Tip of The Day at Marketingboss TV - click here
To be sure you get notified of future Marketing Tips, signup here
FEDMA (Federation of European Interactive and Direct Marketing) have just launched the first ever Pan European Benchmark Study of email marketing results.
For a limited time only, it is free to advertisers and agencies as well as email service providers at large to participate. Anyone participating will get access to the comprehensive report free of charge.
The study will include numbers on the basic metrics such as Open Rate, Click-through-rate, Bounce Rate and Opt-out rates, but will also provide a picture of usage behavior, frequency, relevancy and more.
I came across this highly interesting post over at The Influential Marketing Blog. The post is about a resort in Lake Placid, NY.
Because of the “so-called” recession, they have linked their prices to the Dow Jones index. If the index declines, so does their prices. And not only accomodation prices, also restaurant prices.
Now - that is what I call innovation and smart marketing. Well, in fact I think it is one of the best and relevant initiatives I have heard of in a long time.
One comment on Rohit’s blog insist that this won’t have a real impact on the business of the resort. What do you think?
Check out the full story right here - thanks to Rohit of Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence
In the week starting October 27, I found these articles of interest at the DMI News website powered by Direct Marketing International
1. Majority of consumers will change brand to help environment survey says
New research has shown massive consumer support for environmental issues and green DM initiatives – and marketers are advised not to ignore the findings.
Ninety per cent of people believe everyone has a responsibility to play their part in reducing global warming; 92 per cent are prepared to devote time to achieving a greener lifestyle and all but 37 per cent are prepared to pay an extra £10 on each flight to offset their carbon footprint.
These are the surprisingly altruistic findings of a major study by online research company CCB fast.MAP, in which more than 2,200 consumers voiced their feelings about various environmental issues.
Article found at: DMI News
Read full article here
2. Data divas Rosemary Smith and Jenny Moseley explain changes in USA and UK telemarketing regulations
Almost simultaneously on both sides of the Atlantic, changes have been made to the rules covering telemarketing. It seems that a combination of consumer pressure and government concern means the sector will be under the spotlight for the foreseeable future.
In the USA, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) – which is charged with regulating telemarketing – has reacted to significant consumer complaint and announced that pre-recorded telesales messages now require signed opt-in, in writing, from the consumer. Unsolicited recorded calls have been banned in the UK since 2003 and the Information Commissioner has taken action under the PECR regulations (including rapping political parties on the knuckles for use of this technology).
Article found at: DMI News
Read full article here
3. Ian Hughes shares his recession survival tips
By the time you read this article, anything may have happened. Even though the lead time between me writing it and you reading it is only a matter of days, the world is evolving faster than any of us could imagine.
Airlines, banks and construction have all had a rough time (and that’s just the A-B-Cs).
Who would have thought that Fannie and Freddie would be nationalised? (Actually, I did predict it two months ago, but I was joking.) Who would have imagined that Lehman would go under or that Merrill would be bought? Who would have guessed that XL and Alitalia would disappear, or SAS, for that matter.
So, in such uncertain times, what ray of hope can we offer? Well, I did try to be positive in my column here last month, by focusing on the fact that, in a recession, there is a flight to DM, because those who can spend through a recession often win coming out the other side.
But what can we do, as business people, to ensure we survive? Well, survival is one of the things I have learned to do best, having crashed and burned during the last .com bust and having run a telecoms company during that bust.
So, here’s Ian’s handy guide to surviving a recession:
1) It’s all about value
People get worked up about value. They think it refers to price; it doesn’t, it refers to a perception of utility in the mind of the consumer. Something that has a poor utility value achieves a low price point. A lot of companies lose sight of the value they offer. I work in an information business where the value of our data is only as good as the use our customers have for it. That means, I am always thinking about what people will do with my information and how it will add value.
I always think about my customers. I’m not saying I am perfect, but asking the ‘why do customers buy this and what can we do to increase the value of that purchase?’ question is always a good technique
Article found at: DMI News
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In the week starting October 20, I found these highly interesting comparative videos where Samsung compares their Instint phone to Iphone. Talk about a challenge.
1. Replacing the battery comparison
2. Price comparison
3. And the best : Coverage comparison
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