Influx Insights Tag Feed: media

wired's experiment with transparency

Influx Insights — 2008-09-05T02:41:00Z

A writer gets a cool opportunity to do a piece on legendary Hollywood screenwriter Charlie Kaufman and turns it into a chance for Wired to go transparent; blog, film it and invite people in.

I guess the idea is to take a Kaufman-like approach to Kaufman.

Here's the pitch video- it's a little low tech and tough to watch..

While this is all very 2.0 and "on trend" it creates some interesting problems and issues.

1. Does any one care enough to spend valuable time going through this stuff?

2. Who might these people be? How can you give them what they want?

3. Is it really transparent- what are we missing/not seeing?

4. Notes and process also need to be compelling. It's not enough to just post or shoot you need to do more- real creative skills are required

5. Does the telling of the backstory take away from the main effort?

It's a brave attempt to do something new and original and the goal of taking the reader into the process is nice. The challenge is making all this stuff compelling enough to make people want to check it out.

Perhaps thinking it of two distinct parts is the problem; the research and the story or the process and the story.

Does it need to be "a whole"; something we just explore and navigate around with hyperlinks et al?

It's smart of Wired to try this and I think with more work they could be on to something interesting that could lead to a new type of more "game-like"media experience.

Clearly, not everyone wants to be taken on a ride down a "wormhole", but there will be a few who might appreciate the experience, if it was designed correctly.

Posted by Ed Cotton

advertising 2.0 = spam

Influx Insights — 2008-08-28T20:50:28Z

Whenever a media appears on the horizon, someone comes up with a way to make money out of those eyeballs/viewers and it doesn't always have the brand's or the ad industry's best interests at heart.

Although we are supposedly in a Brand 2.0 world, most of the thinking still seems to come from the C20th industrial age, it doesn't treat consumers with any respect and has no desire to deliver or provide interaction or engagement.

It's basically Spam; a mutation of Viagra emails.

Here's a case.

Some of the most popular applications on Facebook are games.

Since Facebook now has in excess of 100 million users, that's a lot of eyeballs and and a lot of opportunity to make money.

Many of the games are very addictive, some even generate 60 page views per user/day.

These gamers need points, rewards, favors to make it through the game and to the top of the leader board. This is where the ads come in; in return for taking up an offer, getting a free quote or signing on for a trial subscription, you get "the crack" of those favor points.

In the heat of the game, most gamers are willing to do pretty much anything to get an advantage, even if it means getting a free insurance quote.

For the brands, they are are hardly qualified leads and have nothing to do with engagement.

Nothing to do with 2.0.

Here's the disconnect, despite all the talk of engagement, conversations, etc in this Brand 2.0 space, most of the efforts still work on the interruption model.

They either disturb consumers at a moment when they don't want to be disturbed, or they are open to abuse because they offer something of greater value to the user at the moment, than the products or services they provide.

Posted by Ed Cotton

united airlines sell out to westin

Influx Insights — 2008-08-20T23:22:05Z

Westin has done a formidable job in branding the key elements of the hotel experience.

Now it's getting into bed with United Airlines to extend their branding elements into the air and airport.

- Westin Heavenly Bed products will be available to passengers on United's ps service

- Media experiences including music and soothing nature videos

- Westin food and beverage program- from WestinSuperFoods and White Tea heavenly experience in the sky

- Westin Renewal Lounges are already located within United’s Red Carpet Clubs to give travelers a soothing hideaway for relaxing and renewing

This looks like an incredible paid-for media deal. United, strapped for cash has gone and sold space to the highest bidder, or perhaps Westin came to United with a plan.

It's clearly a very smart play for Westin to secure this valuable media property and reach its core target in a new and interesting way.

It's safe to assume that with all US airlines searching for additional funds, similar types of deals will be available across the sky and present ad agencies and media companies with new opportunities to take advantage of.

Posted by Ed Cotton

what's happening to your online plan?

Influx Insights — 2008-02-13T03:17:22Z

According to some recent research from Starcom, your online plan might be up in flames, that's because just 6% of users are accounting for 50% of clicks.

These "Natural Born Clickers" just seem to love those banners and seem to be clicking way more than any other member of the population.

The study illustrates that heavy clickers represent just 6% of the online population yet account for 50% of all display ad clicks. While many online media companies use click-through rate as an ad negotiation currency, the study shows that heavy clickers are not representative of the general public. In fact, heavy clickers skew towards Internet users between the ages of 25-44 and households with an income under $40,000. Heavy clickers behave very differently online than the typical Internet user, and while they spend four times more time online than non-clickers, their spending does not proportionately reflect this very heavy Internet usage. Heavy clickers are also relatively more likely to visit auctions, gambling, and career services sites – a markedly different surfing pattern than non-clickers.

I thought online was going to save us, now it just looks like its created another problem.

What's going to happen when the people you want, don't watch and don't click?

Posted by Ed Cotton

the death of the core proposition

Influx Insights — 2008-01-13T18:01:23Z

Mohamed Iqbal is a Senior Planning Director at Ogilvy in Bangalore, he is also a member of our Planning for Good team.

A couple of years back, he wrote a paper that connected The Long Tail to brand communication. It won him a top prize from WPP.

He has now distilled the paper down into a Change This manifesto and it makes a great read.

The essence of his argument is that for years brands and agencies have followed a disciplined approach to uncovering and communicating ONE thing about a brand.

Mohamed believes this thinking is now flawed because of the widespread availablity of free and cheap media. He doesn't suggest that it's wrong to have one lead proposition, it's just that you can have a number of others and target specific groups with them.

In addition, armed with real-time data, you can easily calculate the ones that aren't working and the ones that are.

One really interesting point he makes is that agencies believe when they launch a new campaign, they are making a clean break with the past. It's a pre-internet notion, today, nothing is forgotten because every message ever created is now accessible and informs our brand understanding.

Finally, he recommends letting the consumers work it out for themselves, put the messages out there and they will find the nuances that work for them.

For all the planners out there, this suggests there's a new way to work and that our briefs needs to change to reflect the opportunity. The world has certainly gotten more complex because we can tell more stories, so the critical component becomes, media, because we need to know where we can tell these stories.

Posted by Ed Cotton

nokia thinks the future of media is circular

Influx Insights — 2008-01-10T17:29:51Z

Nokia and the Future Laboratory, have just completed a research study that explored attitudes and developments in the use of technology and media.

They talked to 9,000 consumers in 17 countries. The breakthough finding and brave prediction is the emergence of what Nokia is calling "Circular Media"

"From our research we predict that up to a quarter of the entertainment being consumed in five years will be what we call 'Circular'. The trends we are seeing show us that people will have a genuine desire not only to create and share their own content, but also to remix it, mash it up and pass it on within their peer groups - a form of collaborative social media.

We think it will work something like this; someone shares video footage they shot on their mobile device from a night out with a friend, that friend takes that footage and adds an MP3 file - the soundtrack of the evening - then passes it to another friend. That friend edits the footage by adding some photographs and passes it on to another friend and so on. The content keeps circulating between friends, who may or may not be geographically close, and becomes part of the group's entertainment."

Mark Selby, Vice President, Multimedia, Nokia

It's an interesting theory, the idea that consumers will add and to, interact and participate with media makes complete sense, but the constant addition and participation by members of a friendship group is hard to believe, as is the shelf-life of each piece of content.

This could get easily become boring in a short period of time.

Nokia's report also appears to miss the blending and blurring of user-generated and conventional media; users taking established media content and adding their own spin to that content.

Posted by Ed Cotton

building the youtube brand-part2

Influx Insights — 2007-12-23T01:41:51Z

A few days back, I wrote about the rise of YouTube as a serious media entity; often ridiculed for hamster videos and teenage rants, the channel is now moving into the big leagues; playing a significant role in the US 2008 Election debates and its recent announcement to partner with the World Economic Forum for its Davos event in January 08.

In the post, I speculated, somewhat in jest, that the brand would soon be launching a channel for the Queen of England.

Clearly, we all now inhabiting a world where fiction is fast becoming fact, today, t he BBC announced the launch of YouTube's Royal Channel.

Posted by Ed Cotton

building the youtube brand

Influx Insights — 2007-12-18T05:36:11Z

YouTube has often been ridiculed as a media outlet, with analysts pointing to hamster videos and ranting teens

However, YouTube has a different target in its sights, it's clearly trying to build credibility as a media and is inserting its brand into all kind of interesting places from the 2008 US Election to its latest move to partner the World Economic Forum in Davos.

This is all about brand action; offering up the brand to the World Economic Forum to let consumers into a previously closed affair and in the process getting YouTube a seat at the top table of world leaders

It's all surprisingly simple and easy- no ad campaign, no PR, just a page on the internet.

Although YouTube may lack the seriousness of established media outlets it's community, scale and connection to the people makes it a media which offers access like no other and for a old-fashioned institution like the World Economic Forum, it gets a contemporary shot in the arm.

Who will YouTube partner with next?

The Queen of England?
The White House?

Suggestions in the comments section please.

Posted by Ed Cotton

the bbc co-produces radio show with listeners

Influx Insights — 2007-11-15T22:14:19Z

iPM is an interesting development from the BBC; a radio show and podcast that's shaped by the listeners. Here's how they describe it.

"iPM is a weekly programme as well as a podcast. The “i” stands for interactive and “i” as in something personal. You can discuss ideas with the production team on this blog and during the course of the week you can view and comment on stories that are being lined up for Saturday's programme.

We’ll source what we do through the best blogs, passionate 'ear catching' online debate as well as comments and recommendations of others. So what ends up on air will be shaped by listeners and bloggers.

iPM is an experiment. It’ll take advantage of the huge number of conversations and sources that take place every minute of every day. Our intention is to distil the very best and produce the type of programme that you'll find interesting and engaging.

We'll be as transparent as we can about the ideas and guests that make it to air. Our blog will explain why some ideas and stories get dropped or squeezed out. Also, by posting our rough ideas in front of the audience, we're also inviting the well-informed and blog-savvy to help us develop a particular idea.

So, we're open to all opinion, alternative takes on stories old and new, and aim to shine a light on issues that are under reported or not considered traditional fare for a news and current affairs programme. Whatever the final result, we hope you’ll find the programme interesting and want to take part."

I really like the idea of the audience being able to peak behind the curtain and see how the stories are developing and get to have their say. It really changes the dynamic between users and creators and if they open the aperture up to listeners, it will be interesting to see what happens.

Via Podcasting News

Posted by Ed Cotton

do we want corporations to be our friends?

Influx Insights — 2007-11-08T02:56:07Z

Facebook launches its ad platform and suddenly the giant monetization scheme is revealed.

All the hype was worth it, because it's just the same as every other ad platform invented since the start of the consumer society.

It also looks very much like an interuptive model to me, albeit one with some fine targeting opportunities.

One has to ask a simple question.

Do I really really want to make friends with Coca-Cola?

That appears to be what Facebook is suggesting, so when I searched and found that "person" called Coca-Cola, I discovered the world's most valuable brand only had 15 friends and two of them were journalists. Something tells me this thing is working already.

Taking a more lateral and perhaps unconventional approach, it might have been possible to see a Facebook platform as a way for brands to liberate their nameless employees.

A way for everyone to see and interact with the faces behind the faceless.

Could I be friends with an employee of a brand or corporation?

Possibly.

Sadly, that's not going to be the case and surely, that's a missed opportunity.

Posted by Ed Cotton

pushing tv into video games

Influx Insights — 2007-11-01T12:15:51Z

There was an interesting story yesterday about BBC's Top Gear teaming up with Polyphony, the creations of the racing video game Gran Turismo. The deal involves Top Gear providing program content for the new Gran Turismo channel (I assume this is part of an extended TV network that Sony Playstation is building) and adding the show's unique test track to the Gran Turismo video game.

The channel will launch some time in 2008.

Clearly, it's an example of TV networks reaching out to ensure their content gets distributed as widely as possible. With certain audiences spending more and more time with video games, the seamless integration of additional content onto gaming platforms makes a great deal of sense, especially given the ability of the consoles to handle HD.

It's probably safe to assume that all kinds of media tie-ups will happen and be integrated into games, especially with the sports franchises sharing highlight reels and the like with their gaming partners.

It also suggests that brands might have the opportunity to generate more interesting content within and with video games than just placing their product in the game.

Posted by Ed Cotton

handvertising- real or fake?

Influx Insights — 2007-10-23T03:31:59Z

I got an email today asking me write about "Handvertising", the problem is that I am unsure if it's real.

Is it an example of the growing spread of media into every possible space, or an experiment to see how many bloggers take the bait?

This is some of the text from the email.

"This is a new form of advertising and is completely different from the television commercials and magazine ads people are used to. What do you call advertising on your hands? "Well I like to call it Handvertising", said Mike Brown CEO of Handvertising USA.

Handvertising USA is transforming the way advertisers are looking at your skin, more specifically your hands. "Almost everyone has been to a county fair, swap meet, bar or club and had had their hand stamped for proof of entry. We have found a better use for this space that could make everyone happy" said Mike. "Advertisers are always looking for a new and exciting way to promote their brand. Handvertising USA offers a unique way to do this and everyone benefits" said Mike."

Take a look at their site and let me know what you think.

Posted by Ed Cotton

who is going after the bloggers first- media planners or pr?

Influx Insights — 2007-09-09T19:51:29Z

It appears that PR companies are way ahead of the curve in coming to terms with understanding bloggers as an important audience.

It's interesting to see what this means for media planners and buyers.

Are bloggers on media schedules?

Who is dealing with them?

Do they get forgetten about and left to the PR agency to handle?

If it's about doing more with blogs than running banners, then there's some potential overlap here.

Ogilvy PR recently took the unusual and important step of issuing a code of ethics that defines how they plan to work with bloggers.

We reach out to bloggers because we respect your influence and feel that we might have something that is “remarkable” which could be of interest to you and/or your audience.
We will only propose blogger outreach as a tactic if it complements our overall strategy. We will not recommend it as a panacea> for every social media campaign.
We will always be transparent and clearly disclose who we are and who we work for in our outreach email.
Before we email you, we will check out your blog’s About, Contact and Advertising page in an effort to see if you have blatantly said you would not like to be contacted by PR/Marketing companies. If so, we’ll leave you alone.
If you tell us there is a specific way you want to be reached, we’ll adhere to those guidelines.
We won’t pretend to have read your blog if we haven’t.
In our email we will convey why we think you, in particular, might be interested in our client’s product, issue, event or message.
We won’t leave you hanging. If your contact at Ogilvy PR is going out of town or will be unreachable, we will provide you with an alternate point of contact.
We encourage you to disclose our relationship with you to your readers, and will never ask you to do otherwise.
You are entitled to blog on information or products we give you in any way you see fit. (Yes, you can even say you hate it.)
If you don’t want to hear from us again, we will place you on our Do Not Contact list – which we will share with the rest of the Ogilvy PR agency.
If you are initially interested in the campaign, but don’t respond to one of our emails, we will follow up with you no more than once. If you don’t respond to us at all, we’ll leave you alone.
Our initial outreach email will always include a link to Ogilvy PR’s Blog Outreach Code of Ethics.

It will be interesting to see what bloggers make of this.

Via Karl at Experience Curve

Posted by Ed Cotton

influx interview- mark deuze- author of media work (outsourcing in the world of media)

Influx Insights — 2007-08-31T12:56:18Z

Mark Deuze works at Indiana University’s Department of Telecommunications in Bloomington, United States, and as Professor of Journalism and New Media at Leiden University, The Netherlands. His latest book Media Work explores the rise of outsourcing in the media industry. I sent him a few questions to learn more about how the media world is being impacted by the outsourcing trend.

1. Can you describe your background and what you currently do?

I have a joint appointment at Indiana University’s Department of Telecommunications in Bloomington, United States, and as Professor of Journalism and New Media at Leiden University, The Netherlands. As a former journalist, I have always taken a special interest in the management of creativity within media organizations: how can media workers truly be creatively autonomous? How can an individual culture creator really do what he or she wants to do? Under what conditions will media deliver the best entertaining and informing experiences for producers as well as consumers? My research, which is largely based on interviews with media professionals, tries to come up with answers to those kinds of questions. I have worked as a journalist in The Netherlands and South Africa, and as an academic in The Netherlands, Germany and the United States. At my main job at Indiana University, I am fortunate enough to be part of a department that is among the few in the country (and indeed, the world) to develop a professional/academic hybrid graduate program in media production and management. Publications of my work include five books – most recently Media Work (Polity Press, 2007).

2. What is the premise of your new book Media Work?

The book deals with the working lives of professionals in the four key media industries: advertising, journalism, film/TV production, and digital games. Collaborating with colleagues and students in South Africa, The Netherlands, New Zealand and the United States I interviewed hundreds of media workers over the last couple of years, basically asking them only one question: “so what is it like to do what you do?” The book serves three purposes: first, it allows me to tell our students – who all want to work in “the” media – exactly what that means. Second, understanding media work contributes to critical debates about and within the media professions, for example about the impact of new technologies, the globalization of production networks (for example through outsourcing), and the management of creativity and innovation. Third, I assume that citizens of wired countries all over the world are increasingly behaving like media producers – uploading pictures to Flickr, videos to YouTube, and everything else to MySpace or Facebook. This makes the lessons learned by media professionals also increasingly relevant to everyone else using media.

3. What type of outsourcing are you starting to see in the media and creative industries?

Outsourcing is a trend that has unique features for each media profession, but it also affects all media workers in similar ways. Some examples of how outsourcing takes place within specific disciplines are:

- Advertising: offshoring of creative accounts to India & China (see the recent announcements from for example the Publicis Groupe: merging/convergence of teams within holding firms (under the much-hyped yet diffuse banner of “Integrated Brand or Marketing Communications”), outsourcing work to consumers through viral/buzz/word-of-mouth/interactive marketing campaigns (consider for example the Doritos commercial at the 2007 Superbowl which bypassed Omnicom as the firm of record for Frito-Lay:

- News/journalism: subcontracting newswork to copydesks and international news agencies (like the Associated Press and Reuters, see for example: convergence into multimedia newsrooms, and outsourcing of work to non-salaried (…) consumers under the header of "citizen media".

- Film/TV: phasing out of “below the line” labor by a surge in special effects/CGI-laden scripts, and runaway production (shifting production to tax-friendly and low-cost labor countries like Mexico, Canada, India, Australia, Malaysia, and South Africa).

- Videogames: outsourcing original creative work to specialized companies (for example: middleware development, game soundtrack production, and localization services), often located in countries in South-East Asia (Vietnam, South Korea) where governments invest heavily in the development of software industries (for example waiving compulsory army conscription for those willing to work in the game industry, and naming locally developed computer and video games as the core export product of national culture, see for example: .

Beyond these particular examples, the global development is the gradual integration and convergence between all kinds of media industries and services, facilitating global production networks, cross-media production, and integrated media franchising, licensing and promotion practices such as perhaps originally introduced by George Lucas with his Star Wars franchise.

4. Why now? Outsourcing has been with us for years, but why do you believe it's only now impacting the creative business?

The engine for the current acceleration and amplification for all these indeed historical trends is globalization, and its fuel is the widespread adoption of digital networked technologies. Decades of gradual outsourcing have benefited local development of skills and expertise, and the diffusion of technologies has increasingly eliminated the central role of place in the production of culture. Furthermore, rising levels of economic development worldwide have in effect created a global market for cultural products. These were first served by a centralized and homogenizing approach: think CNN and MTV in the 1980s and early 1990s, basically broadcasting the same bland message across the continents. That model has failed – the market today is “hyperfragmented”, which means people (as audiences, consumers, target demographics) are clearly scattered across the planet, yet they are also connected to each other through for example internet. This is sending the media industries into overdrive, and it has increased the precariousness of labor throughout – even though it at the same time significantly increased the opportunities for exciting and compelling creative work.

5. Agencies used to pride themselves on specialization are you seeing a change there, with more consolidation happening between functions?

What I’ve found my research is, that under the banner of Integrated Marketing/Brand Communications and the shift towards full-service agencies a lot of work within holding firms has been overhauled, reorganized, and disrupted. To some, this meant increasing centralized control and monitoring of work, less attention to unique interests of the cultivation of specialized talent in favor of unified management strategies.

Other companies, while using the same terms and concepts, used this trend to increase the autonomy of multi-functional teams, and started programs to facilitate knowledge sharing throughout the many agencies within larger firms. The problem is, that media workers are a special breed of people – they tend to be more interested in getting their own creative voice across and receiving peer acknowledgement than securing benefits or a steady paycheck. That makes them more vulnerable to exploitation (of labor), and the consolidation of agencies certainly can be understood in this context. However, as most media work takes place and gets organized through informal and personal networks, individual professionals can have some tactical impact on company strategy beyond the often hollow rhetoric of “integration”, “convergence”, and “synergy”.

My book is intended to focus on those kinds of tactics. I am concerned, however, with the growing discrepancy between the exciting creative opportunities offered through new technologies, and their use by companies and corporations to cut costs and “depopulate” the industry (using technology as a labor-saving tool rather than anything else). I understand it from a business perspective – a machine does not ask for a raise, does not get offers from competitors, does not require benefits, nor can it complain about achieving some kind of work-life balance. But I must admit I would rather see more people employed, doing cool work in an environment that supports their unique voice, that enables them to come up with the best possible entertainment and information that a media-saturated society needs.

Posted by Ed Cotton

influx interview- deacon webster-walrus

Influx Insights — 2007-08-19T18:48:50Z

Ad agencies are always on the hunt to do more for their clients. Often, the goal is to provide creative thinking that permeates the brand well beyond advertising.

Walrus is one agency that's doing that with it's new client, Radar magazine and creating quite a stir doing it. I fired some questions across to the agency's founder and creative director, Deacon Webster, to find out more.

1. How did the relationship with Radar develop?

We actually sought them out. There was a lot of press around Radar when it launched and we were really taken with the mission of the magazine. In an interview Maer Roshan (the Editor-in-chief) was explaining how, in his estimation, the line between high and low brow in conversation had become completely blurred. People today segue between the war in Iraq and Britney Spears without missing a beat. He wanted Radar to fuel both halves of that conversation. It seemed like something completely fresh, so we contacted them. One thing that we really thought we could help with was house ads – those “Subscribe Now” messages you see in the back of the magazine that look like they were done by an Art Department intern two hours before it went to press. We felt there was a real opportunity to turn them into serial content that people looked forward to rather than throw-away filler. We presented a whole bunch of ideas and Maer basically said, “Great! We love these. Any chance you could help us with the cover?” Since then we’ve moved on to helping with other editorial content as well. For instance, we created a series of fake campaign buttons for an election piece they were running. People actually wrote in and wanted to buy them, which was pretty great.

2. Where you inspired by George Lois and the way he worked with Esquire?

He was an ad man, so he knew that a magazine cover is like a big billboard. It sits on a newsstand amidst a sea of other covers, and it essentially needs to talk you into buying it over everything around it, right then and there. He did an amazing job of creating big iconic images that stood out and pulled you in. The funny thing is, as famous as the work he did with Esquire became, very few publications are doing “conceptual” covers today, which is great for Radar.

3. What's your favorite magazine of any era and why?

That’s a hard question, because I’m kind of a magazine junkie. Looking back, those that stand out over time are usually the ones that are pushing the envelope design-wise, so things like David Carson’s RayGun, Tibor Kalman-era Colors, some of the early Wireds and �migr� are some pretty obvious contenders. Certainly I loved Spy. Today, from a design perspective, it’s hard to deny New York magazine, Janet Froelich did some amazing things with the New York Times Magazine and Good is also really well designed by the guys at Open. Content, to me, is kind of a different thing because you’ve got your New Yorkers, Harper’s and Economists out there that have really amazing content, but from a layout perspective, they’re somewhat intimidating (and downright boring in the case of Harper’s). I know this is weird, but I’d actually include Cook’s Illustrated on my list. If you like to cook, it’s freaking impossible to put down.

4. A few other agencies have attempted to work with magazines, most recently Modernista with Business Week, any thoughts on these collaborations?

There are a lot of people in advertising that have been on the publishing side at one time or another and Gary Koepke, one of the founding partners at Modernista is one of them, I believe, so it makes sense. I think agencies can bring a lot to the table for magazines in terms of rethinking the way they communicate information, but it has to be the right type of collaboration. You have to be really careful not to step on any toes. Magazines have floors full of editors, designers and art directors who, understandably, aren’t always excited to have another set of writers, designers and art directors come in and start changing things. In our case, we work with Radar largely as creative “advisors” – sometimes we’ll design an entire piece, sometimes we give them a concept for something and they make it their own. Since we have similar sensibilities, it works really well for us, but I wouldn’t say that this is the next big trend in publishing. There are too many egos. Somehow I can’t imagine Alex Bogusky sitting across the table from Anna Wintour pitching cover ideas. It’d be great, but I can’t see it.

5. Where did the Prince Harry inspiration come from?

Of course we always start with the story – in this instance they had a pretty juicy piece on Harry. We knew that we wanted something that contrasted the conservative, traditional notion of British Royalty with the frat boy behavior we were seeing from the prince. This was one of probably 20 that we presented and was inspired by the opening scene of The Queen, where Helen Mirren is having her portrait painted. It just as easily could’ve been Elizabeth I sitting there in that same chair, wearing the same jewels. It doesn’t get much more traditional than that.

6. What kind of coverage has the cover gotten?

It’s been causing a real stink over in England. We first caught wind of it via the Drudge Report (the man knows all) and realized that the British newswires were all picking it up and saying it was blasphemous etc. USA Today wrote about it online as did Huffington Post and New York Magazine. E! did a big piece on air. If you Google ‘Radar Prince Harry cover’, it’s amazing how much has been written about it. I got through the first 100 or so links and had to stop.

7. Any thoughts on other potential future covers?

Sadly, I can’t talk about upcoming covers, but I will throw this out there: isn’t it about time somebody explored the obvious sexual tension between Michael Moore and Ann Coulter…

Posted by Ed Cotton

influx interview- anastasia goodstein-ypulse

Influx Insights — 2007-08-14T13:34:22Z

Anastasia Goodstein has emerged as one of the foremost experts in the blogosphere on all things tween and teen. Her Ypulse blog is a required read and she's recently branched out into conferences with her recent MashUp series.

I sent out some questions to Anastasia to find out what she was up to, what brands she thought got teens and the future of tween media.

1. How is the YPULSE venture going?

Ypulse continues to expand with Ypulse Mashups (face-to-face conferences focusing on youth media and marketing). We just had our first sold out conference in San Francisco and are working on our next event focusing on tweens and technology in NYC. We're also planning a conference focusing on reaching college students this winter in Miami. What makes Ypulse events unique is the mix of people who are all passionate about reaching teens - editors, producers, marketers, account execs, educators, non-profit professionals - and the clear focus on how technology is transforming young people's lives.

I've also taken on a strategic business partner. Modern Media LLC, a company that builds, produces, markets and sells business conferences and media brands is now a minority owner of Youth Pulse, LLC. They are investing capital and taking over the sales and marketing side of my business (along with event production) leaving me to focus on the editorial side and defining the vision for the brand, which is what I'm most passionate about. We also plan to add new blogs (slowly) with the first blog focusing on campus trends and life after college, including Gen Y issues in the workplace. We also want to expand our coverage to ultimately include international youth trends.

2. What brands do you feel get teen culture today and why?

I think Apple gets teen culture because they have created products that facilitate what teens love -- listening to music (still the most important thing to teens ever) and expressing themselves creatively. The fact that teens are saying they want the iPhone even though it's $600 is testimony to this. Teens still love Nike (though they love Adidas more), whether it's sneakerheads or teen athletes or skaters -- Nike does a great job with its ad campaigns by making its star athletes (and their shoes) look incredibly cool. They also love finding bargains -- great style at an affordable price, which is where brands like American Apparel (though I am not a fan of their overly suggestive ads) and H&M do well.

3. Is there any evidence of social network fatigue amongst tweens?

I have definitely heard (anecdotally) teens say things like "I used to be on MySpace all the time, then I just got sick of it" but I think as long as their friends are there and active, they will be, too. MySpace and Facebook still dominate with MyYearbook, Bebo and Tagged also popular with teens. A lot of teens have migrated over to Facebook (but still keep a MySpace profile) because of the desire for more privacy, to get away from the parents and other adults in authority finding their profiles, and because there is less spam. The explosion in Facebook apps and Facebook's focus on rolling out new features helps, too. But Facebook is also attracting hoards of adults so it will be interesting to see if teens ultimately jump again to a lesser known site.

4. The environment is becoming an important issue for adults, do teens care more?

They may say they care more, but so much of youth activism today is wrapped up in consumerism that it's hard to tell. They may have participated in Live Earth, but are they actively trying to minimize their impact? I do think they will favor brands they think are trying to be more earth friendly, and especially those who don't test on animals. But this Jupiter study on "Green Teens" basically buying more stuff left me wondering if being green is more fashionable than a real commitment to leaving less of a footprint.

5. Looking at a list of important teen media in 2015, who will be on the list (feel free to use your imagination)?

You can't write off MTV in the entertainment space. I think they will find ways to reinvent themselves so they are still relevant and important to teenagers. I think teens creating their own media through blogs, videos and podcasts will also be huge -- maybe it will be aggregated by someone and draw a mass audience or maybe it will be huge in a Long Tail sort of way. Teens love to watch what their friends do, they're each other's biggest fans. In 2015 there may only be two major teen magazines left (or none) -- they have to reinvent themselves online to survive. Conde Nast is trying with Flip.com, but they are competing with sites that already have millions of teen eyeballs (and time, which is scarce). Finally, I think YA novels will continue to be popular. Book publishing is finding innovative ways to connect with teen readers like Penguin's partnership with Piczo. You'll notice I haven't named any 2.0 companies -- it's because I'm not sure the same players will be on top in 2015. Someone will be, I just don't know if it will be MySpace and Facebook.

Posted by Ed Cotton

facebook as media: great for reaching people in london

Influx Insights — 2007-07-26T04:02:26Z

The latest population data for planet Facebook.

Some strange findings:

Hong Kong's population is bigger than China's

Australia's population is bigger than France, Germany and Italy's combined

London's population is much bigger than New York and Los Angeles combined.

Countries

Kazakhstan 1,859
Bahrain 5,879
Senegal 412
Bolivia 4,900
Italy 21,754
Germany 47,004
France 52,494
China 28.046
Hong kong 43,106
Australia 185,450
Kuwait 10,741
Phillipines 9,476

Cities

London 823,536
Glasgow 19,568
New York 290,599
Los Angeles 156,494

Posted by Ed Cotton

the economist wants to activiate its community to help the developing world

Influx Insights — 2007-06-30T20:48:46Z

News magazines are having a difficult time trying to imagine a future beyond the printed page.

The Economist, is one news magazine,that despite bucking the trend with increases in circulation and ad pages, is still preparing itself for the future.

To do this, it created Project Red Stripe; basically a group of The Economist’s youngest and smartest minds from around the globe. They got together in a London office provided for them by their ad agency and for a few months considered hundreds of ideas for the future.

At the end of their journey, they settled on one.

Lughenjo

It’s big, powerful and imaginative.

Their idea is to link their intelligent, highly influential reader base to projects in the developing world.

As the team writes:

“Imagine a CEO examining a business plan for a developing world social enterprise. Or when one of the 450 000 finance and accounting professionals of CFO and Economist.com can look over the books of an NGO in Nairobi. The possibilities are endless. What’s more, by allowing skilled, smart, professionals to help development organisations, they will help solve development problems with market-based solutions.”

Of course, there are other people trying to do this all over the web, but the fact a paid-for big media entity like The Economist, is even prepared to think about this type of idea is interesting.

Everyone in media might be talking about community and user-generated content, this idea takes all of that a stage further by trying to do something good for those who lack resources.

The Economist has a global circulation of around 1 million, so the impact could be considerable.

The initiative still has to be approved by senior management.

It would be nice to see other media companies think this big.

Content→Community→Action

Posted by Ed Cotton

branded media content- a failure of imagination

Influx Insights — 2007-06-26T06:20:15Z

Brands spend billions building their awareness and crafting a unique DNA, after all, isn’t differentiation everything?

Then in the scramble to get online, to do something different and to capture attention with branded content, something goes hopelessly wrong. Brands end up creating lifeless, meaningless and undifferentiated experiences.

The sophisticated young consumers that Chivas Regal and American Express both covet, have no need for access to more lifestyle tips, information of guides to the cities they live in or intend to visit.

This information is so readily available, in fact, it’s practically flowing like water. Sure, they value good insider tips and scoops, but most of the time this comes from their network or well-established niche publications and lists.

So why does MSN create “This is the Life” for Chivas Regal?

What’s American Express doing with Entertainment Access Spotlight?

The later is a beta test being run by American Express Labs. A radical new proving ground for new ideas from American Express, one can only hope the ideas get better and more radical.

In the battle for attention it’s easy to think that content is the answer and it may well be, but just like advertising, it has to be real good to break through.

Media companies and young web entrepreneurs might be able to persuade brands into this, through a category sell and for brand managers jaded by advertising, it could be just the ticket, but in reality, creating great content takes time, talent and serious investment.

Doing something half-baked or borrowed from left over content, just isn’t going to work.

Brands need to think more imaginatively and should need to challenge their media partners to do the same, even if the content is part of a so-called added-value package.

Posted by Ed Cotton

every company is now a media company

Influx Insights — 2007-06-14T14:13:52Z

Cisco's Dan Sheinman spoke at this week's BPCC conference about the revolution in corporate communication. He suggests PR is "the new advertising" and companies need to embrace the fact they are now media companies.

He showed stats (shown below) highlighting how Cisco's web traffic has swtiched from page views to RSS feeds and blog posts.

Although Cisco and its users represent the cutting edge of technology, there's a broad desire from consumers for richer informaton from companies, material that goes beyond the press release.

Whether all companies can create their own TV networks, like Audi and others have done in the UK, remains to be seen. However, there's certainly the opportunity to move well beyond the static web site and press release.

Ad agencies can either sit on the sidelines and watch in-house teams and PR agencies help make this a reality or bring their creativity to the party and help create compelling media content for their clients.

Via PopPR

Posted by Ed Cotton

company presidents need to get out of the office more often

Influx Insights — 2007-06-07T01:34:43Z

This month's Fast Company has an article about the resurgence of Disney. However, reading a recent blog post from FC about the President of ABC-Disney television group, Anne Sweeney, Influx wonders were the insight comes from.

The post references Anne's recent trips into the field and onto college campuses, where she witnessed first hand the changing media habits of this new college generation.

"Even on days when she's being a mom instead of a high-powered executive. Sweeney, who's based in Los Angeles, was on the East Coast primarily to visit college campuses with her daughter. Seven colleges in a week. Sweeney couldn't help but notice how ubiquitous laptops were and which shows resonated with students (the lounge TV on one campus had a sign that read, "Reserved for Lost"). "The trip has definitely given me a view of this younger group's experience with media that I don't normally get," she says. "It's first-hand market research. I've got a thousand ideas from this."

Not to mention a new appreciation for that generation's WiFi expectations. "Last night, we checked into the hotel, my daughter said, 'Oh, I’m so happy.' I said, Because you’re in New York? She said, 'No, because I finally have a signal.'"

Sweeney had to grin. "Yeah, that’s what I said to my mother on my college tour."

It leaves us thinking:

1. Should we assume that all this was new news to her?

2. Based on this illuminating experience, shouldn't she be getting out of the office more often?

3. Shouldn't her research folks be doing a better job of bringing their targets to life?

This is a tale about experiences counting for far more than listening to a research debrief.

It's a big challenge for all planners, agencies and consultants.

How do you get the client to understand it, if they don't experience it?

You have to try and make the client a part of the process and you have to bring creativity to your findings; bring them to life for those who didn't experience it first hand.

Make the research, creative.

copyright- the issue of the day

Influx Insights — 2007-06-04T00:56:15Z

Copyright is the issue of the day, it's going to define the future of media, when the legal system can catch up with technology. The issue is explored in a new Danish documentry by Andreas Johnsen, Ralf Christensen and Henrik Moltke.

It includes interviews with Dangermouse and the founders of Pirate Bay.

The film can be seen below. (via TorrentFreak)

can you get money out of the long tail?

Influx Insights — 2007-05-21T03:42:23Z

Techcrunch has a post about a new online media company Next New Networks that plans create new “micro networks”. However, it appears that many of its channels appear to fall into fairly macro topic areas-

There’s an indy film channel that will find itself going head to head with Sundance and IFC

A couple of auto channels that will be up against, every newspaper in the country, Autoblog, The Speed Channel and Discovery

To quote Techcrunch-

“The content is niche targeted so it’s not going to appeal to everyone.”

That’s exactly the same proposition as all of Next New Networks competitors. The problem is although the “Long Tail” is all about lots of quality niche opportunities, advertisers and their agencies, can’t with the odd exception, get beyond the idea that quantity is the only thing that matters.

That’s the problem for all these new niche media opportunities; it’s easy to find the niches, monetizing them is the tricky part, so you end up ratcheting up the subject matter to get a broader audience and find yourself competing with “big media”.

This trend will continue until people can find a way to think differently about media value.

the opportunity cost of watching advertising

Influx Insights — 2007-04-28T18:13:48Z

This letter appeared in the Financial Times newspaper today.

Dear Economist,

Having recently acquired a personal video recorder, I find myself using the time-shift facility when watching commercial TV.

ADVERTISEMENT ( a web advertisment appeared here!!)

I start watching a programme around 15 minutes after it has commenced broadcasting - by doing this, I am able to fast forward through the adverts. Am I breaking my "contract" with the broadcaster by not watching its adverts, and do I miss out on some products that might be of value to me?

Paul, Dorset

Dear Paul,

If everybody did as you do, advertisers would give up, and broadcasters would have to find a new source of income. That need not concern you, however. If you time-shift and others do not, no harm is done. And if they all time-shift, you'd be a fool to do otherwise, wouldn't you?

The more pertinent question is whether these adverts are worth your time. If you earn �40,000 a year, then you make �5 in the time it takes you to watch 15 minutes of advertising. This is a rough guide to the opportunity cost of your time.

If the adverts are enjoyable or informative, perhaps that is a price worth paying, but it seems unlikely. While an advertisement in the Financial Times might alert you to a sophisticated product, mainstream television adverts are more likely to remind you that actors can be paid to hold fizzy drinks, or that when a car is filmed from a helicopter and driven by a stuntman along a remote mountain road, it looks rather cool.

I recommend, then, that you watch a few advertising breaks while keeping a running tally: the cost of time spent watching adverts versus your estimate of the benefits thus derived. I suspect you will find that time shifted is time saved.

diageo- get consumers to be interested in you

Influx Insights — 2007-04-30T18:31:20Z

Yesterday, beverage giant Diageo, held an annual investors conference, where it into considerable detail about all aspects of its global business.

Marketing got a seat at the top table and considerable time and attention to explaining the company’s thinking about the new environment and how it’s responding to the challenges.

4 things emerged from the presentation.

1. The company clearly understands the new challenges of the marketplace.

2. It has a new marketing model.

3. It knows the implications.

4. It’s acting on it.

Diageo is be forging ahead of its competition with marketing innovations in viral, digital and experience based platforms. The work for Smirnoff Iced Tea received special recognition; according to Diageo’s data, the viral “Tea Party” film generated 3 million+ internet views and 48 million PR media impressions.

viral video success- the landlord

Influx Insights — 2007-04-25T14:47:38Z

Will Ferrell's Landlord film has been an incredible success, generating over 15 milion views in a short period of time. Interestingly, the film isn't available on You Tube and can't be embeded in other sites. The only way to view it is on Ferrell's new site Funnyordie.com.

Forbes Magazine has an interview with the Funnyordie.com's founders.

Here are a couple of highlights.

I'm sure there's something to the instantaneous piece of it too. This stuff doesn't have to sit in development for years.

Absolutely. You just go do it. Grab a video camera and do it. You don't even write a script; you just get the beats for it and do two takes, three takes at the most. And because of that, some of them aren't going to be great, and some are. But the whole spirit of it is, Who cares, let's just do stuff and have fun with it.

Do you see a trend emerging? Will other celebrities start to make their way online too?

Yeah. And I hope they do it in this way, kind of messing around and loose. I think if celebrities start entering it with a team of professionals, agents and executives, and the Internet short becomes really thought out, I think instantly people will smell that out. So I think the spirit of it has to be sort of screwing around, to be real and not overly premeditated. If you want to see that, you go to big movies or television--and that's a great thing, but the Internet has a looser form to it.

It's surprising few celebrities have gone down this path, but we can obviously expect hundreds of films to be hitting the pipes in the next few months, to compete directly with user-created content. Celebrities clearly have the name recognition advantage and a fan base, but can they be as creative as everyday folk and can they generate more than one hit?

Again, it's another example of doing more stuff, for less money and experimenting to see what sticks.

touch screen technology on out of home boards

Influx Insights — 2007-04-23T14:22:27Z

Bus shelter out of home board with touch screen technology. Being used by Nokia to promote the N95. Via Textually.

being audacious - conde nast portfolio

Influx Insights — 2007-04-19T00:17:01Z

Sometimes companies believe that the world is just out there waiting for their new product launch. All the effort and the years of planning goes to waste because the product idea is one-dimensional and the “packaging” around it lacks legs and layers.

The world is not looking for another business magazine, which makes Conde Nast’s launch of its new title Portfolio, especially challenging.

However, Conde Nast is very smart and has built a launch story with many layers.

One idea that really struck us as especially bold and audacious, good words for a launch, was the decision to add the legendary writer Tom Wolfe to the editorial team and to make his first assignment, a 7,500 word piece on the world of hedge funds.

That alone is reason enough to pick up the magazine, because it's tough to read 7,500 words on the web.

social television- joost

Influx Insights — 2007-04-14T14:19:12Z

Janko Roettgers over at NewTeeVee has a great post about Joost and its killer app, metadata.

"Imagine a personalized TV channel that only serves you shows your friends are literally talking about. Or think about the way this could transform programming itself. What if the Lost folks didn’t do their next Alternative Reality Game on the web, but in Joost itself, allowing you to collaborate with your friends and collect clues while watching the show?"

It suggests the arrival of a very different television viewing experience with the integration of social networking and community through the TV and the ability to use that information in clever ways.

How could advertisers get involved in this?

How can they add value, rather than just have static billboards?

How can they engage the viewer in a social experience?

global torrent

Influx Insights — 2007-06-14T18:14:09Z

Observers of the media and entertainment scene understand the tremendous power of torrent sites to wreck domestic havoc for the networks.

It’s well known that 720p copies of Fox’s 24 find their way onto torrent sites 20 minutes after the show goes off the air.

However, most people tend to see the issue through a US lens, when it’s really a global issue.

Worldwide sales of TV shows contribute significant chunks of revenue to the networks, but it appears those sales are being undermined.

The Swedish Broadcast Statistics Institute just released their 2007 report, which included the following findings:

-   Swedish youngsters watch an average of 1 hour of pirated television a week
-   The most popular show is Prison Break- 35% of the past months viewers had seen the show via P2P networks
-   The main reasons given for watching shows via P2P were- control over viewing times and not having to wait for the shows to make across to the broadcast networks in Sweden

The last point is especially interesting; although movie studios are increasingly looking to global release dates for movies, TV show sales lag behind.

One interesting reverse example is the Discovery Channel’s Blue Planet, currently airing in the US, but the series first aired on the BBC last year. Many people here in the US have already seen the series, they downloaded it a year ago from torrent sites.

Three questions:

1.   Can the TV networks speed up their global sales process and sell their shows faster?
2.   As the networks increasingly look to offer content online through their own websites, will they “lock out” overseas viewers?
3.   Will the faster adoption of US shows lead an accelerated adoption of trends and ideas in overseas markets?

brand ecosystems on youtube-the "real" ps3 channel

Influx Insights — 2007-06-14T18:12:56Z

YouTube is a billion channel universe, but explore it by brand and you quickly notice that this ecosystem has different component parts.

Influx went through a hypothetical exercise; we tried imagining a “channel” for Sony’s PS3.

Exploring some of the 44k videos on the site and trying to organize them into themes, it breaks down into something like this:

1.   Instructional Information

Set-up videos have become alternative instructional manuals. Here’s how to set up and use your PSP with your PS3.

View count: 20k

Here’s a video on how to use the console’s web browser.

View count: 122k

2.   Hacking the System

How to run more on your PS3.

View count: 118k

3.   Brand destruction as entertainment and edutainment

Some people destroy the unit just for the hell of it.

View count: 3.5 million, this film with the most views of any PS3 film

Others, open it up, so you can learn what’s inside

4.   Community Conversation

Here’s a group of YouTubers debating why and why not PS3 is better than other consoles.

5.   Brand meets culture-news

Dozens of video showing launch chaos from around the world.

6.   Game and feature trailers

Here’s one for Sony’s new Second Life type environment for PS3 users.

7.   Advertising

Somewhere in all this, lies the advertising.

Obviously, all this might not be ideal content for an officially sanctioned PS3 channel from Sony, but there are clearly more areas they can play in.

-   Creating video-based instruction manuals

-   Highlighting new features

-   Game trailers and previews

-   Videos that explain the technology behind the system

In essence, brands could be doing more with YouTube by producing and distributing content, other than just advertising; material that could have broader reach and usage in this new ecosystem.

target continues to be innovative with media

Influx Insights — 2007-03-31T16:10:04Z

Target is incredibly consitent in everything it does and especially in its innovative use of media.

Here's the latest example from the BART subway in San Francisco.

Via SFist

brands and online video- 7 new rules

Influx Insights — 2007-03-26T23:24:06Z

Here are 7 new rules for brands wanting to play in the new landscape of online video, it's a follow up to the previous post on big brands experimenting with online video.

1.    Creativity Rules- The bar has been raised to 11

In the past, when brands used to look at creativity, they were comparing themselves to each other, so the bar was pretty low, often anything that got people to laugh, was deemed a success.

Now, engagement has gotten so much harder. The competition is that much tougher and new modes of consumption place new pressures on content to be compelling. The switching cost is very low.

Brands are used to competing in a war that was often based on throwing lots of money going at the best talent and the best and most media. The playing field has changed. With such low barriers to entry- everyone with an imagination is now a potential competitor for your audience's attention.

2.    Brands Must Push Boundaries

Consumers are flocking to entertainment that pushes extremes.

a.    realness and rawness- reality tv
b.    violence and language- premium cable-like HBO
c.    speed and spontaneity- user generated

Brands have to be prepared to go there; otherwise their content will always be second-tier in comparison to the competition.

3.    Give Up Control of Content

Consumers want content distributed in the places they inhabit, they don’t want to be forced to consume it on your website. Content needs to be widely distributed and consumers should be allowed to place it in their own social media environments, like on My Space pages.

4.    Study the Landscape

Brands must have their pulse on this rapidly changing landscape. This isn’t about knowing who the next YouTube is, but learning how consumers consume this new media and understanding what forms of content appear to be working best.

5.    Partner

There’s a lot of merit in what Coke did, they went directly to the source with a proven track record of viral success and worked with them. Imagine if Budweiser, instead of trying to build it’s own network, had given some seed money to dozens of people who had already achieved viral success, the result of BudTV might have been different.

6.    Encourage the User to Engage

Brands are so used to the broadcast model, that they forget the internet offers countless opportunities for the audience to interact with the content. Whether this is just simply allowing them to comment on the content or remixing it, you have to let the user in.

7.    Simpler is Better

It’s easy to get carried away with the belief that your content is so compelling you can create multiple layers around it. Make it too complex and you will end up turning people away. Think video games, the best sports games have an instant play function, where you can just play, they also have layers and added complexity, if strategy is your bag.

Overall, brands face a radically transformed landscape and in order to play, they have to be prepared to experiment and be willing to learn from failure.