F*** This S***

Absolut has broken into the branded content game in a big way. I'm sure this isn't their first time -- but with big ticket names such as Jay-Z and Spike Jonze this surely stands out on its own. Overall, I think these are great, great films -- very authentic and original and I think they give the brand an aura of creativity, originality, and bigness. They clearly spent time and investments to create something of value to connect with their audience and grow their brand. Not only are these films of high quality, but they also are entertaining and make me want to tell other people about them. Also, not to quote Zoolander, but Jay-Z and Spike Jonze are at the top of their game right now and both had to work their way up from the bottom (selling drugs in one case and making skateboarding videos in the other). My only criticism (and I'm sure there are many from other viewers) is that they censored a curse in Jay-Z's film. I mean we're adults (and technically we have to be to watch these films and enjoy the product) so why bleep out the word shit or fuck. Even though its a minor thing I feel like that was the one point where they compromised the integrity of the effort...someone from PR or Marketing made the call that cursing in the film was bad for the brand...we'll what about all the people who get drunk off the product and do much worse. For me bleeping out the curse word in Jay-Z's film really ruined what would have otherwise been a brilliant coup for the brand and the marketing effort. Overall, I think Absolut produced a polished film and had a good vision for what they wanted to accomplish. I just wish they would have had the cojones to just follow through and let the motherfucker say what he wanted to say how we wanted to say it.

Anyways, you can see both videos here:

Yup. This Guy.

I'm sure you've all seen this already, but if not take a moment to:



There are a lot of people that love it and find it powerful and intense, and a lot of people that don't and think its shallow, contrived and disappointing. I fall into the first group. I think that its smart and a great move by Nike/Weiden+Kennedy. There are few criticisms of the spot:
1. Nike's promotion of an individual versus a product crosses the line of traditional advertising
2. The use of his fathers voice (post-mortem) is shallow and self-serving on both the part of Tiger and Nike
3. The speed of which this was released shows that Tiger is not remorseful and has prioritized his career/image over his family

And, while that might be true, I think its being looked at from the wrong perspective. From a business perspective, Nike is invested in Tiger. His success as a golfer impacts their success in the golf vertical. It also proves that Nike didn't just use Tiger in the way that other advertisers did (Accenture, Gatorade, etc.). Nike didn't drop Tiger when times got bad...and what does that say about an advertiser that's so quick to drop someone for their faults. What I love about Nike is that they stand for something; right or wrong they stand for something and are willing to put their reputation on the line for it. If you love them for it or hate them for it, it doesn't matter because you'll still respect them for sticking to their guns. And at the end of the day they are still one of the only brands left that not only respect their consumers enough to appeal to them on an emotional level, but still create quality products.

I also think that the use of his fathers voice was really intense, emotional and powerful (not to mention the flash of lights towards the end). I think it really shows the dichotomy of his situation and how he not only has to endure private tribulations, but public ones as well. I understand that his father passed away and that people may think that using his fathers voice to extend his own career is shallow, but at the same time Tiger is a broken man (whether he deserved it or not) and he's just doing what he can to show his remorse (for better or worse).

Additionally, while I will agree that he quickly came back to golf and the public eye, I think it was the right thing to do. We are too forgiving sometimes. We let people hide away behind rehab and psychiatry and yoga and buddhism and whatever other forms of therapy there are. Then after a period of time they emerge and find success all over again (how many athletes, musicians, actors, politicians have done this before). And after a while they are forgiven. And as for their mistakes? Mere blips in an otherwise successful career of a person who faced hardships and climbed his/her way back to the top -- they are again praised. I'm sure not all cases are this linear, but they've happened before. What I love about Tiger is that he's not hiding. He's immersing himself in the one thing he can: golf. So let him focus on that while he's figuring out everything else. Let him channel his guilt, anger, embarrassment, failure into the game that he built his name on.

Often times we neglect to recognize that we are human beings and as human beings we are susceptible to vices -- we all have them. No one is perfect -- I mean we don't all have numerous affairs with strippers, but we all have vices. I think its time we embrace this fact and not pretend that we're all perfect beings. I think Nike and Weiden+Kennedy are on to that.

How Far We've Come...

Augmented (hyper)Reality: Domestic Robocop from Keiichi Matsuda on Vimeo.

Directors note: "The latter half of the 20th century saw the built environment merged with media space, and architecture taking on new roles related to branding, image and consumerism. Augmented reality may recontextualise the functions of consumerism and architecture, and change in the way in which we operate within it.

A film produced for my final year Masters in Architecture, part of a larger project about the social and architectural consequences of new media and augmented reality."

OR HAVE WE...

Johnny Mnemonic VR Scene from Zalán Reiter on Vimeo.

The VR scene from Johnny Mnemonic, featuring Keanu Reeves and the Sogo-7 data glove.

The Big 2-9

Man, my twenties are flying by. Tomorrow I'm turning 29. The penultimate. The last hoorah. It's not all wine and pain killers though. I actually don't feel that old. I'm not that old. I don't think I'm that old at least.

Anyhow, I started this blog when I was 27. 27 was one of the biggest years of my life -- it encapsulated the bad and the good. I won't go into the gory details, but thought it appropriate to provide a quick run-through. Here's a summary of my life from 27:

1. Visit to family in Uruguay (with a stop over in Buenos Aires)

2. Met the love of my life

3. Changed careers (same industry, so more a shift in focus)

4. Ran the NYC Marathon

5. Long weekend in Nantucket

6. Mid-night run on New Years eve

7. Maine Half-Marathon

8. Sky diving in New Paltz

9. Built to Spill live

10. Moved to the Upper West Siiiide

11. Needed escape to USVI

12. Summer BBQs in Long Island

13. SOHO House Weekend stay-cation (good times)

29, although you suck, I'll make the most of you. Already have a few things lined up and some targets to hit. And I still have my eye on the western frontier god damnit. See you there.

UPDATE: Ran my first half-marathon of the year on 1/24 (The Manhattan Half-marathon in Central Park, NYC)

2010 All Over Again

Hearst Unveils Skiff E-reader.

I feel like we've been here before. Like back in 2007 when the industry went crazy and bought anything that was digital: Publicis purchased Digitas, Microsoft purchased a Quantive, Google purchased DoubleClick, WPP purchased 24/7 Real Media. There was a race to "own" digital; to be the leader in digital. The goal was to secure a future and win business in a changing advertising landscape. And some of the buys just didn't even make sense. I get that Microsoft had to buy Avenue A/Razorfish in order to buy Atlas, but it was still an awkward buy and a bit of a conflict of interest. The same goes for WPP purchasing 24/7 Real Media. I'm still not sure why they did that and what they're planning on doing with it (have they done anything with it?)

Well we're seeing this all over again with the race to be the best e-reader. Still, is there a conflict of interest when a publisher creates an e-reader? It might be the best and most usable, but will they support non-Hearst media? There are a lot of questions about this move and time will tell (although we won't have to wait too long...these days it only takes a few weeks before we know if somethings a hit or a bust).

In 2009 alone we saw the introduction of 10+ e-readers from the Kindle to the Nook to the Papyrus and now the Skiff (is that the name of this thing?).

We've been told that history repeats itself...coming out of the 2007 free for all we saw some winners in Publicis and Google. In 2010 we'll have to see who emerges as the winner of the e-reader. Oh, and let's not forget about Apple's highly anticipated Tablet...

Here's a fun video. Great work by Berg London:

Mag+ from Bonnier on Vimeo.

Like a Prius, except with people

I must say this doesn't surprise me. Actually, I think it makes complete sense.

Along with all the other changes that are/will/have been happening to agencies, I believe you'll see more hybrid roles. This is an example of planner/creative hybrid, but what about analytics/account or account/media or media/analytics or account/project management. I personally see waste in having a account manager, project manager, creative director, media planner, analyst and account planner. Instead of cutting costs by charging less and having smaller margins, why don't agencies embrace more hybrid roles and charge slightly MORE per hour for each person. It will still be less than charging the client and paying salary for two people and in the end you'll have a higher revenue to employee ratio.

SEE full article here.

Cheap Content on the Fly

I recently read an article in the latest issue of Wired that was predictive of the direction online content production and distribution is heading. It was called "A fiendishly clever startup knows what we are Googling - then churns out thousands of cheap videos and articles to meet our every whim and wish: The Answer Factory" The title pretty much sums up the article: a media company is using algorithms to identify what people are searching for, then determines the profitablity for that query and ultimately bids out production work to freelancers, fact checkers, editors and bloggers to produce the content and publish it to their distribution platform.

What's interesting about this method is that its all predicated upon the long tail theory (coincidentally first mentioned by Wired EIC Chris Anderson). Because they filter all queries through a LTV process whereby they determine the profitability of each query based on competition and search volume most of their content relies on long tail search queries, such as Where Can I Donate a Car in Dallas?, How To Make a Breakfast Nook Out Of A Church Pew, or How To Draw A Greek Helmet? Once they determine the topic they bid it out to freelancers who could make up to $20 per video clip or $15 per article. Apparently the emphasis here isn't to provide high-quality content but to develop answers to questions people have and make money from it. It's the answer to Google. And so far it has done what its supposed to do: provide answers to some of the most common questions people have as soon as they have it. The quality of content is not a top priority either. Clearly there are some competitors to Demand Media who place a high value on quality, but for now the key to this model is to create the right content, have it appear at the right time and make money off of it.

So whats in it for content producers? No idea. $20 bucks per video probably doesn't even pay for the gas these videographers pay to drive from location to location, but in this economy I guess its better than nothing. And on top of that Demand has some aggressive goals -- upwards of 1,000,000 videos produced per month. Demands CEO (of former Myspace fame) Richard Rosenblatt's strategy has apparently been working. Not only is Demand projected to bring in $200 million in revenue this year (source Wired.com), but his aggressive production of video content has him enlisted as an informal consultant/partner to Google, where Demand already provides over 17,000 videos to Youtube (more than twice the content of CBS, AP, Al Jazeera, UMG and a few others combined). Rosenblatt has already been compared to Henry Ford for the digital era in terms of his video production efficiency, but more interesting to me is the tolerance of online viewers to accept low grade content. Clearly there is a behavior here that is different from traditional video consumption on TV and in theaters, where you can have poor content, but high quality. Online it seams the priority is reversed where content outweighs production value.

RELATED (in same issue of Wired): Ray Tintori DIY music videos for MGMT. New director getting praise from none other than Spike Jonze who's familiar with this method of content production - see Video Days (props to the version of Passing Me By by Pharcyde).

UPDATE: just after posting this article I came across this article from the NY Times about the fall and rise of media called The Fall and Rise of Media. In it is a reference to Demand Media: "Where do all the burgeoning pixels come from? Everywhere, and cheap at that. An outfit called Demand Media now tests headlines for reader salience and cranks out thousands of articles and videos daily that it pays about $20 apiece for."
Defnitely keep an eye on this company and trend...cheap content churned out fast based on real-time search query data from Google and other leading engines.

The New Agency Model: Being a Movie Studio

Well, maybe not, but it does seem to be a new trend amongst agencies these days. Also, it makes sense to diversify in this way, especially with clients looking for more and more efficiencies (see recent adage article), with less offline production dollars coming in the door, and more smaller agencies stealing business away from larger global agencies (see another recent adage article). Here are some good examples of what I'm talking about:

1. Avec Eric co-produced by Anomaly (see Reuters article)

2. Somers Town by Mother London (see Campaign article)

3. Ginga by W+K Entertainment (see movie)

Somers Town by Mother London

It's not like this is brand new...I think WK Entertainment has been around since 2001 and how can you forget about Fallon and BMW Films, but when smaller shops start to get in the game you have to think about what this means. I think it all comes back to cost efficiencies: why pay bigger studios to produce work when you can have an agency, with the same pool of talent and resources do it for much cheaper. You can still sell advertising against it for the same cost and with the higher visibility of film festivals these days, such as Sundance, Cannes or Tribeca, you can generate a lot of enthusiasm and grass roots support. There's also the opportunity to create more impact with your target audience considering they are paying for or choosing to watch the film instead of being interrupted by ads.

UPDATE: just read about a new arm of Lowe called Lintas Production, which is slated to produce up to three feature films over the next three years

Work Work: Site POV

POV on the new Westin.com

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A Little Thing I Did

Literally. It's a logo for Advertising Women of New York. Breaking my chops on the minor scale, but better to start small. Overall, I'm happy with how it came out (not crazy about the colors, but what can you do).

Defensive Move?

Must be. Google doesn't need to advertise. I mean I can understand their need to stand their ground what with positive reviews of Windows 7 and the yahoo merger, but c'mon. If Google advertises then we have seen the end of Google. Don't mean to be too dramatic, but advertising is like an addiction...once you start its hard to stop and if Google needs to advertise to differentiate itself then I tip my hat to Yahoo!, MSN and AOL (but I'm still going to use Google...)

UPDATE: Google Superbowl spot -- actually a great spot, but never thought I'd see Google in the superbowl. If I see a Google print ad its over.

Work In Progress

Two Fridays ago I ventured out to the West Village to see Work In Progress, a workshop put on by John Leguizamo to test out material for his upcoming show. At $20 a pop, it was a no-brainer.  There were no more than 75 - 100 people in the theater who sat in folding chairs with cushions.  John was up close and personal as he took us through his new material for almost two hours.  It was a true testament to workshop; he was just getting a gauge of his material - what was funny, what was offensive, what was sad, what was thought-provoking.  

I was really appreciative of this show too.  For starters, John Leguizamo has worked with Al Pacino, Robert Deniro, Sean Penn, Harrison Ford, Spike Lee, and Leonardo DiCaprio to name a few.  Additionally, it gave the audience a glimpse into the creative process.  Finally, the venue was perfect -- run by amateur playhouse employees, filled with people across the inebriation spectrum, and set in the middle of the West Village.  I thought the whole experience was really fun and interesting, and would love to do more of that.  The whole show really spoke to the transparency of his creative process.  

And it got me thinking about this whole transparency thing -- I think its something marketers can learn from.  I think we are just beginning to see a tip in the research/CRM process.  The gathering of knowledge and insights is transforming...slowly.  But it definitely is changing.  Over the past few years as an industry we went from a linear process of collecting, synthesizing, analyzing, and reacting to data to one where we measured quantitative data in real-time.  I think we took a huge leap though without thinking about everything we  over-stepped.  

However, some companies have leveraged this unchartered territory to their competitive advantage.  MyStarbucksIdea.com, Dell's IdeaStorm, and GenerationBenz.com are a few examples where companies are transparent about their creative process and gathering new ideas.  And, they are taking it one step further by merging research/analytics with CRM.  By bringing their consumers into their creative process they are also establishing a relationship base with their consumers, which they can nurture and use for up-selling, cross-selling and loyalty.

I think as the online medium changes and display advertising loses its appeal (although not all of it is bad or dismissive), marketers will opt for strategic CRM over mass-reach advertising. Especially, as CRM becomes scalable and engaging -- no more DR flyers or emails, now CRM can be conducted socially, with video and on mobile devices.

Work Work: Twitter Overview

Twitter Overview for Client Presentation

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Book Report: Emotional Branding

"The future is going to be with content, not technology.  The young directors I meet today are incredibly smart.  The ones I started out with did not know much about film-making when they started...but they knew about life."

- Robert Redford

When I started reading this book this was probably the last line I thought I would come across.  The connection between Robert Redford and emotional branding didn't seem intuitive.  But like all aspects of life expertise is second to experience.  So when I came across this quote towards the conclusion of the book it made perfect sense.   Branding, emotional or otherwise, is dependent on life experiences.  Our interaction with life sculpts our perspective of things.  And, that is my takeaway from the Emotional Branding by Marc Gobe.

Emotional Branding did seem out of touch on the surface.  It was written as the DotCom bubble was bursting and therefore is tragic.  But the principles described can be leveraged now and into the future.  Marc Gobe attempts to express that branding is not a superficial component of marketing, but something that impacts our five senses as we navigate a brand experience - both online and offline.  

Additionally, Emotional Branding according to Gobe is not just a consumer facing philosophy but one that can be harnessed within corporations as well.  One of his key case studies talks about a corporate-identity model he devised for his clients.  His work breaks down the common hierarchical structures that inhibit ideation and collaboration into a new model that promoted a new corporate dynamic.  His model moved from one that focused on a corporate culture of rationality (based on the functions and benefits of products) to one of desire (based on the emotional bond people have with a brand).  

Furthermore, Gobe stresses that emotions are instinctual and built-up over time.  So that a brands entry into the marketplace must anticipate the consumer predisposition.  The book spends a lot of time talking about the cross between these dispositions and their impact on commerce (a topic that seemed most relevant to me).  

Another interesting chapter of the book discusses how  marketing movements mimic and inspire lifestyle movements...and that this is critical to the longevity of brands.  The human experience is about change, and as we change so must brands otherwise they become irrelevant.  This is the entry-point into CRM...and not the measurable data-driven CRM, but the intangible relationship consumers have with a brand (think Apple, GAP, Nike, NY Times, etc.).  This is the moral contract that exists between consumers and brands -- a contract that aims to never deceive the the consumer.

However, Gobe explains that through contemporary advertising we lose this intimacy and morality between the consumer and brand.  Even with the proliferation in technology there is a fundamental chasm between the consumer and brands...even when we thought they would be brought closer together.  The secret sauce (so to speak), according to Gobe, is the intersection between sincerity and promotion; this is the key to commerce via emotional branding. 

Overall, this book is a great read for any person interested or employed in advertising/marketing.  Branding and emotions are key to successful commerce of a brand.  And this book goes in depth into the design, the advertising and research needed to impact consumers in a deeper level.

However, my complaint with the book is that it ultimately served to promote Marc Gobe's design firm, D/GA.  Furthermore, I found a lot of conflicts with the reporting in conjunction with the methods of research.  Most of the findings were based on unsubstantiated, subjective research; which for the most part might hold true, but as a sceptic I expect research to have a certain level of confidence.

Finally, some of the reporting in this book seems obvious, which isn't surprising considering I read this book almost 10 years after its publish date. 

I do recommend this book, but in order to truly take learnings away from this book you have to remove yourself from the content a bit and distill the content to its fundamentals.  Those do not change over time, only the application of those fundamentals do.

The New Design Aesthetic

I currently work at a creative agency that specializes in web development, so when I was at a friends apartment last night, who happens to be graphic artist with a specific focus in video and painting, we briefly talked about how his experience in rotoscoping could be of service to the agency. I nodded in agreement, took his card then researched what the fuck rotoscoping was.


In my findings I came across Max Fleischer and his Out of The Inkwell series dating back to the 1920's. Max founded the craft of Rotoscoping and is responsble for timeless pieces of pop culture as Betty Boop, Koko the Clown and Popeye.


I mention this because I watched one of his silent film productions and appreciated the craft of the work, specifically the minimal amount of copy associated with the films. And how challenging it must have been to tell a story without using many words. The viewer is reliant on visual stimuli mostly to piece the narrative together, and when copy does come into to play it has to convey much more than the 6 words typed on the screen. To me that is synonomous with contemporary advertising.


However, whereas silent picture viewers paid money to see these movies and therefore were more willing to distill the narative, advertisers are more at the mercy of the short attention-span of consumers and their unwillingness to pay attention to advertising. In seeing Max Fleischman's movie I realized that we are severly challenged in communicating products and services, and that in many ways we have reverted back to the silent film era of movie making. True, once consumers agree to engage with a brand we can fast forward to current times and dazzle with Flash animation, video and sharing functionality. But that first step is to tell the narrative within a 3-second window of time, with minimal copy and relying heavily on visual stimuli.


As with all challenges there are also opportunities associated with this -- mainly that all advertisers are now on the same playing field (large marketing budgets no longer guarantee share of mind or share of wallet) and that we can now lean more on the design aesthetic as the main point of differentiation. Design has begun to creep more into marketing lingo and subsequently consumer lingo than ever before. Whereas 3 years ago the hype was all about user-generated content (I feel icky just saying those words), we are now about to tip into the era of user-generated design. Nike spearheaded this years ago with NikeID. Kleenex has also gotten into the mix with customizable tissue boxes.


When tissue companies start to innovate through the use of design you know the movement has changed from being a talent that was once acquired through a keen sense of artistic ability and training to something that can now be done by a Soccer Mom right before she runs to pick up the kids (not to knock on Soccer Moms...).


Naturally, technology is responsible for this coup on Design. But there is no point in preventing this movement as it is part of tech adoption, which also enables non-design savvy consumers -- just as millions of people let out their inner Tarantino on Youtube a few years ago.

As advertising matures across all markets, design will be the fabric that brings it closer to the product. So eventually we will get to the point where advertising and the product are one. Or perhaps are we there already a la Apple, Anomaly NYC, Brooklyn Brothers, Pepsi/Arnell Group, et al.


Marc Gobe, founder for D/GA, leader in design, and partner to many marketing gangsters, such as Coke, IBM, and Victoria Secrets, wrote a pretty detailed book on the subject called Emotional Branding. In the book he describes the design aesthetic as something that permeates all five senses and extends to everything from the product itself (think Jean Paul Gaultier perfume bottle design) to the shopping experience (think Whole Foods and Apple Store) to the media and eCommerce platforms platforms (think Zappos, Amazon and Hulu) and ultimately to the advertising itself (think Pepsi).


So what does this have to do with Max Fleischer. Not much, except that design and silent-films are both predicated upon simplicity and intuition to communicate a narrative. Design is the practice of communicating the complex through simplicity. Apple does this. Architecture does this. And now advertising will do this.

Rabbit Run

A throwback to John Updike, author of the famed Harry Angstrom saga and series of novels: Rabbit Run, Rabbit Redux, Rabbit is Rich, and Rabbit at Rest. The main character was often referred to as Rabbit due to his pinched ears and protruding two front teeth. I was handed down Rabbit Redux by a senior when I was a freshman at NYU right before we lit up a spliff. It remains one of my favorite books.

But this post is not about Rabbit, John Updike or my naïveté as a freshman. This post is about my recent completion of the 2008 ING NYC Marathon...and perhaps a few other things. Where's the connection you ask? I don't know. But what I do know is that when I think of the title Rabbit Run I think of myself training for and completing the marathon. Harry Angstrom the hero of the Rabbit saga played basketball for his high school and for a brief period of time was a local hero for his success on the team. Overtime though his heroism ran dry and left him a middle-aged nobody. While I am nowhere near middle age nor do I consider myself a nobody I can relate to that sequence of events. After finishing the marathon I was tired and proud. But something inside me wouldn't let me just sit back an milk the moment. Something told me that one marathon is a great accomplishment but that I needed to keep moving.

That was kind of how I felt throughout all of 2008. I needed to keep moving or else I might get stuck.

The year started off with a family crisis. My father suffered a stroke. Perhaps one of the most difficult things I have ever experienced. But like my instinctual feeling my father too had to keep moving. Almost a year later he is now driving and cursing. A lot.

Then my girlfriend and I broke up after being together four and a half years. It was a hard thing to accept but the right thing for both of us to do. But I wouldnt allow myslef to get down about it. Perhaps in a moment of clarity I decided it was then time to visit my family in Uruguay (but not without a week of debauchery in Buenos Aires). It was fulfilling to visit my homeland but not enough. I needed to keep moving. Upon returning my brilliant friends decided they too needed some thrills and suggested we all sky dive. In an email reply I let them know I would do it thinking the day wouldn't come. Yet two weeks later I was driving with three friends to New Paltz, NY for the jump. A few hours later I was screaming "holy shiiiiiit" from 15,000 feet.

But still I needed to keep moving. Around this time I entered in a quiet relationship with a co-worker that bloomed into a rich relationship. She took me to Nantucket where she had summered years before. We rode bikes around the island, soaked in the sun and ate good food. It was a great weekend. From there she took me on a 26 mile run through the boroughs of new York city. It was her initial motivation to do it herselft that eventually made me run. And I'm happy that I took advantage of the opportunity.

Now I sit still looking 2009 dead on wondering what that year will bring. How can I seize opportunities as they come and keep moving? And when would I feel at ease with my experiences and content?

So I look at Rabbit as a role model almost, and admire him for his accomplishments as a high school basketball hero, but wonder where his life would have lead had he continued to achieve instead of rest his laurels on teenage successes.

I suppose I should ask John Updike.

UPDATE: A moment of silence for John Updike who has since passed (RIP: 3/18/32 - 1/27/09)

The Road Ahead

The Economist published an article today on the growth of online advertising during the economic downturn. So far there have mixed reports in the media about the fate of advertising in the next 9 - 12 months. Specifically, online advertising has been projected to decline; however, in this article the author points out that online advertising won't decline as much as it will expand less than expected -- only 8.9% instead of 14.5% as originally projected.

Search marketing will remain unscathed -- as predicted, however, marketers can't really create online campaigns around that channel. Display banners will continue to decrease -- they haven't proved to be very effective. Rich Media will expand especially as the technology and metrics behind it continue to improve. But that's not the real story here. What's most intriguing is that online usership is not decreasing; it's actually increasing -- even more so on a global level.

Just a few weeks ago the CMO of Hewlett Packard spoke to my agency. Much like most marketers he praised interactive marketing and ecommerce as being central to all campaigns moving forward. However, one staggering statistic that he referenced was that out of the 6 billion people in this world, only 1 billion currently have access to the Internet. The implication being that the online marketing is poised to grow six-fold over the next decade or so. And, that growth will be fueled by markets in Latin America, Asia and the Middle East.

The article also points out an undeniable truth: that consumers are migrating to sites where advertising has proven ineffective, such as social networks and video sites. This is no coincidence and also no attempt by consumers to elude advertising. These sites are just harder to monetize without disrupting the user experience. YouTube and Facebook have been attempting to create sustainable advertising platforms, but have yet to crack the code. And the tactics that have been widely used by marketers have grown stale and predictable, such as user-generated content promotions or fan pages on social nets.

The real boon for publishers has been in content development and distribution. MySpace Music, iTunes and Hulu are examples of successful ventures that distribute premium, professionally produced content and attract high volumes of qualified consumers. So far these sites have broken even or made small margins on their inventory. What this means for marketers is that there is a huge opportunity for innovation. Branded Content/product integration is a tactic that worked well for BMW harkening back to BMW Films and the film Ronin featuring Robert Deniro. Likewise for Cisco Systems with 24 and Dell for The Office. Branded Content won't be the solution for online marketing, but it's something that can weave into the patterns of behavior for online consumers without disrupting their experience -- provided it is done tastefully.

At the end of the day the article was reaffirming in it's point that as online usage increases at least domestically the effectiveness of traditional advertising tactics is declining or remaining stagnant at best. Recessions tend to produce increased innovation...and if there is light at the end of the tunnel it's that innovation will be the save-all for advertisers in during the next 9 - 12 months. It's not easy to innovate, but at least online all campaigns are in perpetual beta and can be optimized on the fly.

It will be interesting to see what comes out of the next year and how marketers differentiate themselves online.

The Four Block Move

All I needed to do was move my belongings from 86th Street to 90th Street. Just four blocks. But of course it couldn't be that simple. Why would it be that simple? I'm currently sitting on my couch (the only thing that isn't boxed up or covered in bubble wrap) watching TV on mute, while drinking a beer. Boring and sad.

I wanted to move for so many reasons yet there wasn't one that could actually get me out of here. My application for my apartment could not be approved due to the fact that one of my financial statements showed less than $3000 dollars for the month. The other months did, plus I put down certified checks for first month and security, and I make 40x the rent...not to mention that I'm a current tenant with the management company. These things did not matter. What mattered is that in September my financial statement showed that I had less than $3000 in my bank account. Forget about the fact that I switched jobs during that month or that my rent is $2,600 per month or that I went on vacation to Argentina a few months earlier. There was no consolation to be had. My management company has strict policies...and god forbid during this economic climate they are more lenient...god forbid that they are more lenient with an existing tenant that is renting another one of their units instead of a competitors. God forbid.

So here I sit drinking my beer amidst columns of brown cardboard boxes and duffel bags full of clothes. This will be my purgatory for the next three days until I hear back from my management company and find out if I can indeed move into to my new apartment.

I'm going for a run.

The Printed Word is Dead...

...maybe the shit you read.

I couldn't be happier with my time spent reading magazines and books. I often walk away from articles and long form edits feeling enlightened (if modestly). Most recently I experienced this feeling when reading Monocle, arguably my favorite magazine, and Microtrends, a voluminous book on recent trends that are shaping the world as we know it.

I can't remember the last time I read an online article and walked away knowing that the rise in Cougars is due to women re-entering the workforce and delaying child birth, that Calorie Restiction is a healthy way to prolong life, and that Copenhagen is the most liveable city based on it's quality of life, position on environment issues, and stellar urban planning. Actually, if I read these articles online I probably wouldn't care about any of it. But at the same time by reading my books and magazines I've diversified my intake and read something that ordinarily I would never have read.

While online articles that are consumed with little regard, the printed word is sought out by users. Their selection marks an investment on their part, both fiscal and mental. And because of this, print readers are loyal; they often follow their favorite authors going back years or even centuries, and likewise often stick to the same magazine due to it's trustworthy and reliable content (be it celebrity gossip, haute couture, science/technology or politics).

However, that is not to say that online content isn't relevant or important. It's just a different read. The virtue of online content is that it gives the printed word posterity. Even Monocle and Microtrends have websites filled with additional content. Online content continues where magazines or books leave off. That being the case online content is good for a bite-sized read, but for a real appetite nothing beats a bound print edition.

And on that note, here are some recommendation to tickle your temporal (et al) lobe:

1. Monocle Magazine
2. Microtrends
3. A People's History of the United States
4. Tropic of Cancer

Who wants to jump out of a plane?

Apparently I did. I recently jumped out of a plane 15,000 feet in the air and dropped down 6,000 feet in 60 seconds...otherwise know as terminal velocity. I guess I was falling at a speed of 120 mph.

You know in Trainspotting, in the beginning of the movie, when Renton is describing heroin use? He says "Take the best orgasm you ever had, multiply it by a thousand and you're still nowhere near it." Well, skydiving wasn't that good, but it is was pretty fucking close.


My friends are already talking about the next jump. I'm not sure I can do it again so soon. I need a couple of weeks to get back up there, but I'll definitely jump again. Next time in a different location though like a beach or something. You can see my pictures here.

...And enjoy this ridiculous clip of Scott Plamer from Jackass 3 jumping out of a plane without a parachute (props for the music in this video):