Jaffe Juice

What's that white powder being added to Coke Zero?

If we're being technical, it's a blend of aspartame and acesulfame potassium (ace-k)

But don't tell that to the dude in Louisville, KY who paid $2,750 for the first taste of the diet drink that goes by the name drink.

Actually, the only addictive ingredient was passion and the conduit was an eBay Charity Auction to help raise funds for the Red Cross.

Masterminded by those other dudes in Miami (hint: for big ideas, spend less time in the concrete jungle on Madison Avenue and more time on the beach), it's one of many non 30-second spot cures for a hangover of insanity.

Nice work!

Investigating the Investigation Channel

I attended MediaPost's Outfront conference this morning, and Court TV was the sponsor. I glanced at their flyer/leavebehind and simply had to blog some of their messaging.

Court TV's programming keeps viewers watching and involved even during commercials, meaning your spots work harder and deliver a greater ROI!

A week of posts...

Thank you all for subscribing to jaffe Juice (and if you haven't yet, the box is on the far right column)

I hope it is giving you the daily sustenance, inspiration and provocation to give you an edge in the strategic and creative workplace.

It occurred to me that the e-mail subscription tool has been offline for about a week, so I wanted to highlight the posts from the previous week or so.

Hey John Wren, get a blog:

http://www.jaffejuice.com/2005/04/hey_john_wren_g.html

Take note: You’re ugly and your mother dresses you funny:

http://www.jaffejuice.com/2005/04/take_note_youre.html

How did it go in?

http://www.jaffejuice.com/2005/04/how_did_it_go_i.html

Pier 1 for the Road

http://www.jaffejuice.com/2005/04/pier_1_for_the_.html

Games and Mobile Forum report back

http://www.jaffejuice.com/2005/04/games_and_mobil.html

Ants in your pants

http://www.jaffejuice.com/2005/04/ants_in_your_pa.html

Thanks again for your support and hope to continue growing the momentum!

Infinity launches Podcasting Station

As reported in Mediaweek, Infinity will launch a Podcast Radio Station, the first-ever of its kind (KYOURADIO on Talk KYCY-AM in San Francisco and streaming online at kyouradio.com) on May 16th, using content created exclusively by listener podcasts.

"Beginning today, listeners can upload their podcasts at no charge at KYOURADIO's Web site, where it will be reviewed for broadcast. Going forward, programming on the station will be determined by listener interest and feedback, evaluated daily."

"Open Source Radio" as Infinity calls it, is not just a nice-to-have, but an entire foundation platform that they will build on and around.

So what do you think? Is Mel Karmazin shaking in his boots yet?

Hey John Wren, get a Blog

One of the largest disconnects ("hypocritical oaf") in this business is the downright abysmal way agencies market themselves. It's borderline criminal how lousy agencies are at walking their own talk and I can only wonder why a handful of agencies haven't capitalized on this deficiency sooner. (a previous post on the subject can be found here)

The recent decision by the U.S. Army to cancel their review cost the agencies left in the running quote "hundreds of thousands of dollars" end quote. Perhaps these agencies should sue the government ala ONDCP in reverse.

Or perhaps the employees (and shareholders) of the 6 agencies should sue themselves for wasting so much money in courting a potential client instead of overworking and underpaying their own. The Pitch Process is the root of all evil. Said it once; will say it again.

John Wren, Sir Martin Sorrell, David Bell, Maurice Levy et al - here's an idea: since you're in the business of coming up with ideas and it kind of makes sense to stay close to the action, especially when it comes to conceiving differentiated big ideas, go out there and purchase a few blogs.

Not this one (it's not for sale) but a pretty appetizing array of smart opinion. perspective and thought leadership from the blogging community. Just check out the trackbacks on my Nike ad thread and you can put together a pretty lucrative shopping cart.

While I believe (with the exception of Rubel) that it's pretty tough to pull off a blog within a corporate infrastructure e.g. Business Week and Blogspotting, this doesn't preclude you from an association with an army of free-spirited thinkers.

Think sponsorship. Think audience. Think branding. Think, dammit. THINK!

TAKE NOTE: You're ugly and your mother dresses you funny

Look, I can't take the people who have overdosed on their own toxic lies, especially the one about consumers looking forward to advertising.

Personally I prefer to start with the assumption that consumers find advertising annoying, intrusive, unwanted and in general a pest. That way I can only overdeliver and pleasantly surprise them.

A new study has just come out which has confirmed my hunches for the past few years.

As reported in MediaPost, a Yankelovich study revealed:

1. More than half of consumers consider themselves someone who actively tries to resist advertising

2. Nearly 75% say they are interested in products that will help them skip/opt-out of being exposed to marketing messaging

3. 56% say they shun products that make them feel flooded with marketing and advertising

How did it go in?

Have we seen the official response from W+K or perhaps a web/viral company on behalf of their Beaverton clients? Check out www.howdiditgoin.com?

And I quote:

My name is Jeff Stone and I'm currently a physics PH.D. student at the University of Kenton. I'm writing my thesis on Tiger Woods' remarkable shot on the back 9 at Augusta. My theory, in brief, postulates there is no physical evidence supporting the myth that his shot went in without assistance. That being said, within my theory there are many sub-theories, which can be viewed on this site. Thank you.

Riiiiiiiiight.

I'd be impressed with Jeff's epiphany to dedicate his thesis on the back 9 if only the University of Kenton were real.

Look, this site is just too well put together to be genuinely authentic. That's instantly obvious.

The fact you can download these movies (is a practice Nike has used before) is a telegraph of an intention for these movies to be blogged and sent around. That's not a bad thing btw...it's a good thing (just a bit obvious this time)

P.S. The spots are very close to 30-seconds in length which I'm sure ain't coincidence.

If my not-for-profit attempt ran the risk of rights issues, this (if it were not officially sanctioned) would be the invariable Pandora's Box with clips from Superman, the Simpsons, Independence Day etc.

Update 4/25: As Jack Barse points out, the commentary is not just different, but it's also been re-recorded by Lundquist himself, "Tiger Woods with the chip....he gets perfect execution...and then he gets an extra revolution."

"But what did you really think of it, Joe?" Thanks for asking. It's cute in a once-is-witty; twice-is-shitty sort of way. A bit repetitive which essentially means I lost interest after the 2nd or 3rd cloned attempt. Same clip with 5 seconds added in every time.

My main concern is the same that a marketer should be thinking about when consumers join the brand conversation - is it on brand? is it on strategy? Associating Nike naturally with an unedited, pure, sublime and extraordinary aspirational moment? Priceless; Associating Nike with Farts, Poops, Baked and Blowhard movie moments? Confusing at best. Detrimental at worst.

Perhaps the brand is allowed some slack to be a little light-hearted and irreverent from time to time. I don't know that I'm believing it though.

Will people come? Probably. I'm blogging it right now and no doubt many others will too. Will they linger? Not so much. But what if the REAL goal is to encourage consumers to create a plethora of "Star Wars kid-like" interpretations of what really happened and how it did really go in? That would be cool and it would be rather genius if it happens.

Let's see what happens (Nikeguy, where are you buddy?) Time for the real Nike marketing folk to stand up and either publically acknowledge this or deny it. Methinks their silence might linger for a while longer.

Update 4/26: As reported on ESPN.com, Nike will release their 30-second response in the form of an esoteric golf-centric message:

"We gave you a wedge with more feel. You showed us what it could do."

"We gave you a ball with more control. And you didn't center the logo?"

The spot will run predominently on cable (Golf Channel) and golf-specific programming.

(sigh) 

Pier 1 for the Road

Yeah. Yeah. Hey Pier 1. What's up? How's it going? What's going down? So you know, I just try and keep it most real and all, but I gotta hand it to you, that campaign you just did? It was the BOMB!

And now that Randy Jackson is cringing, let me take the opportunity to give props to the latest Pier 1 campaign. From the TV ads (yes, the TV ads...yes, I somehow watched 'em, how could I not? They got my attention...they kept my attention...they were entertaining, relevant and utalitarian - RUE - the perfect combination or rational/product benefits and emotional/aspirational drivers) to the website, they demonstrate that there is still hope in advertising.

Check it out.

Games and Mobile Forum Report

Been a bit absent on the job this week with Adweek's DMC+E and Digital Media Wire's Games and Mobile Forum conferences going on. 3 days of good solid networking and content.

I feel like I've been neglecting the blog, so I've snuck out to a nearby Borders to share some thoughts on the session so far.

It's interesting how gaming and mobile are lumped together. Could be because they're separately not big enough (although the data clearly suggests otherwise) or (more likely) because they just dovetail so neatly together.

First some general thoughts. Only 10% of attendees today were from the agency/marketer communities. That's clearly not a good percentage and perhaps it just shows a combination of lack of awareness, interest and/or understanding in the space.

Ants in your Pants

Hey Detroit? Go spend some time with the creatives responsible for some of the campaigns which have been devised to launch titles or console platforms in the gaming space.

You'll learn a thing or a million about a "rabidly" explosive industry and how to engage younger (but not necessarily young) consumers who are hungry and eager to be involved.

The latest campaign is found at www.mycolony.net and if you want to find out who's behind it, take the red capsule and continue