Jaffe Juice

Open up this week's Ad Age (and no doubt every major trade pub) and you'll find wall to wall Infinity Broadcasting advertising - I counted 22 pages of roadblock advertising. 22 pages of "we're new" and "we're cool" and "there is life after Howard Stern" and "we're free, which is better than paid" and "a magician, washed up singer, perverted talk show host" et al means we're new, we've changed, we're better and we're going to win.

NO IT DOESN'T.

Your inferiority complex is so acute, you've had to litter an entire publication to convince yourselves (because you're not convincing us) that things are going to be ok. When the walls are crumbling and threatening to tumble down, you call in a new painter...instead of levelling the whole damn antiquated format and starting from scratch. This is just like GAP...celebrity doesn't work, call in a new one. Or in the case of Howard Stern's defection, change the lineup instead of changing yourselves.

FREE does not trump PAID, when the quality of PAID > the quality of FREE (just look towards HBO, you bunch of ninnies)

Start by reducing your 8-10 minute pods of irrelevent, untargeted and 100% pure drivel and work your way from there.

Where in this plethora of messaging was any sign that Infinity has changed for the better? The one call to a website or the invitation to join CEO, Joel Hollander on November 2nd, 12 noon EST for a webcast? GIVE ME A BREAK - appointment viewing is so yesterday...and while we're at it, if you're trying to swing for the fences with FREE FM, you've lost that one as well...it's called PODCASTING and it's way ahead of where you'll ever be.

This is just downright sad. Your 22 pages should have been about change....evolution and even revolution....not the triumphant return of David Lee Roth (???)

PS The whole bit about the censorship doesn't work either. You might think laughing at yourself is cool, but nobody else does, when you look like a bigger fool doing it.

PPS The Infinity website is a disgrace. The integration with the trade campaign is negligible. There is no clear link to the webcast invitation. The podcasting offering is a token olive branch at best.

A nonlinear conversation this week.

(length - 39:47; ( Download the mp3 )

Introduction/Podbits (00:18)
* Feedback from Brenda saying we nearly lost her
* How should we balance the banter with the real content
* Andrew Denny's feedback - which arrived on of all things, paper! Way to go Andrew!
* Other comments

What We're Blogging About and Winners/Losers  (10:17)
* Hart and Larson's Neil French stunt (Jaffe) - loser
* Minding the Conversation Gap (Steve)
* Steve: Rosa Parks (winner), David Lee Roth (loser)
* Scott Donaton - winner - for responding to Jaffe's Challenge (but the story is not finished yet!)

The branding trackback

Theme of the Week: Citizen Marketing (27:45)

Significant Mentions: Jason Calacanis, Andy Cooper, Merlin Mann's weekly review podcast, Martha Stewart's book, Seth Godin, Scott Donaton's comments, Howard Stern, Sirius, Steve Gillmor, Podshow, CNBC, Hacking Netflix, Jackie Huba/Ben McConnell, Jeff Jarvis, George Masters, Jaffe's Nike Ad, Steve Hall, Tom Hespos' post, Tracking Trader Joes, JetBlue, Vespa blogs.

Mighty Mouse sounds off on CNBC last night and on his blog against the ridiculous cover story in Forbes titled, "Attack of the blogs" (extra points from Rubel for providing the bugmenot user name and password of "forbesdontbug" to bypass the registration procedure)

In this "cover" story, Daniel Lyons refers to bloggers/the blogosphere as "the prized platform of an online lynch mob spouting liberty but spewing lies, libel and invective." He also creates his own conspiracy theory by targeting Yahoo! and Google in this underground operation:

Their potent allies in this pursuit include Google and Yahoo...

The only viable conspiracy story here is the Mainstream Media's attack on an idea whose time has come. The attack on the blogosphere is an attack on consumers. It is a stunning example of the desperation of the old guard that is feeling so persecuted and paranoid, that they're now abusing their mouthpiece and platform to resort to childish and immature statements like, you're ugly and your mother dresses you funny.

This at a time of unprecendeted magazine circulation scandals and acknowledgement from the very top of the media food chain - from Murdoch to Sorrell - that times, they are a changin'.

Daniel - you blew it big time...and so did your magazine. The blogosphere is out for blood and you're looking like fresh meat right now. Oops, did I just reveal myself as a one of the vindictive, lie, libel and invective (don't even know what that means) spewing mobsters you so painfully described? Shucks, gawsh, (blush) silly ole me...

Reuters article cites some pithy comments from WPP's Chief of Chiefs, Sir Martin Sorrell, on the rise of the Web and the demise of so-called traditional.

"There are major changes and we don't understand the speed and scale at which they're taking place."

I respectfully disagree with this statement. There really are quite a few people who do know the speed and scale at which they're taking place. Just read a few blogs or listen to a few podcasts to wet your appetite...

"I think there's a certain amount of panic among media owners. Most of these companies, ours included I suppose, are run by 50- or 60-year-olds who have trouble getting it, and who really don't want to see change on their watch."

While I appreciate the sentiment (and to my knowledge, this is a pretty damning indictment from someone so high on the totem pole), I'm a little concerned as to what this says about WPP (or any of their competitors, counterparts, clients or partners for that matter) If there is any bit of truth to this - and I think we all know there is - what does this say about the process? Are clients/shareholder best interests taking a back seat to job security and ego?

More specifically, what exactly should the companies Sorrell cites do about it? It's not good enough to acknowledge it; if these "media owners" and the like refuse to change...they need to be changed. Period.

"Rupert Murdoch, who I admire more than any other media executive ... has been willing to make (Internet) acquisitions almost willy-nilly"

Points for anyone in a reasonably senior position who can use the phrase willy-nilly in a sentance. But seriously, it's a little strange for a holding company to remark on a media company when it comes to acquisitions. Obviously there are concerns about valuations and validity, as well as deja vu all over again ala dot bombfest.

Time will tell whether Murdoch is worthy of Sorrell's praise or the new incarnation of The Brain

In the interim, Sir Martin...give the book I sent you a read and if you didn't get it or your Exec Assistant tossed it in fear of you having a panic attack, drop me a note and I'll send you another.

My ATS co-host, Steve Rubel, found a newspaper headline titled, "Pod casts aside Astros," which referenced Scott Podsednik's game-winning home run in Game 2 of the World Series. His post was titled, "Astros succumb to podcasters"

I doctored the headline to read, "podcasts aside Astros" to indicate that podcasts were a part of the whole consumption experience: case in point, this morning...my MLB Podcast was ready and waiting for me, with highlights/interviews from the winning players.

Although podcasting (Radio TiVo) is completely time-agnostic and on-demand, I was very impressed that the podcasters behind MLB's daily show had capitalized on this moment and had recorded a special show which was special, relevant and a bonus to me and my morning commute into the city.

Kudos to the guys over at MLB (Vinny Micucci in particular...considering the game ended around 12.15am EST and the interviews obviously were recorded in the hour or so that followed, it was a late night or early morning recording.) and of course, congrats to everyone in Chicago for reversing your curse. Go Cubs in 2006 (and beyond!)

Have you played the new game that's taking the nation by storm? It's called Ad Invaders (also known as 30-second spot Invaders) and is modelled on the classic arcade game, Space Invaders.

It's so cool. All you need are the thumbs up and down buttons on your TiVo remote.

Why fast forward or skip ads, when you can obliterate them from existence and prevent them from ever coming back to torment you. It's awesome. No more insulting creative, hyperbole or exaggeration. No more corny jokes. Banish bad ads forever and see if you can set a record or outscore your neighbor.

There are so many to choose from. You'll never be found search for new bad ads to choose from as they're practically lined up, waiting to get a crack at evading your defences and hopefully be deemed to be keepers (two-thumbs up)

And coming soon...branded entertainment invaders, where you can do the same to ads hiding in content...but be warned, some of those placements are pretty sneaky indeed.

PS Current record is held by Jonathan Adelstein who goes by the handle, FCC.

This is obviously not real...but it could be one day. Here's another look at a similar scenario.

Hart + Larsson - say it 1,000 times over; commit it to memory and then file it away under "agencies to NEVER do business with. EVER"

I invite you to go to their website where they have posted a recruitment ad where "only Neil French need apply"...let their counter ring off the charts. Demonstrate to them the power of viral marketing - except this time, working against them. Send them an e-mail to womendocrap@hartlarsson.com and tell them what a bunch of morons they are.

How absolutely ironic that this post immediately follows the tribute to Rosa Parks.

Sad. Hopeless. Clueless.

I'm done.

This is one of those few times where the more things change (technology), the more they stay the same (humanity)

Here's a cool idea I came up with today, following a question about the importance of consumer reviews.

Many movie studios struggle to break away from the tried and tested/traditional media outlets. For example the full page or spread in the newspaper. In some cases, its a contractual committment and in others, it's a political hotbed.

So along the lines of using traditional mediums in surprising and unexpected/non-traditional ways, how about populating an upcoming page/spread with consumer reviews - real reviews from real people - who would be identified as such.

Perhaps tie-in with moviefone to assign the overal communal rating as well.

Just gave my "Branding Online: The Art and the Science - Part 2" presentation to a great crowd in Atlanta (thanks to Advertising.com for supporting this for the second year running)

In my presentation, I spoke about needing a Net Present Value for ROI (in other words the means to evaluate and quantify the long term effects of branding) and then it struck me....we can learn a lesson from blogs, can we not. What we need is a "branding trackback" mechanism.

It's so easy to implement and it would be really valuable to get a deeper understanding and insight into "deferred conversion" or whatever you'd like to call it.

What is it? What do you think of it? Got an example of this in full action? Does it have potential? What should marketers know/think/do/act about/on it?

Sound off or on and be heard on next week's Across the Sound

leave your comment on this post, e-mail your thoughts to acrossthesound@gmail.com or send an audio comment to 1-360-365-9834.

We're recording (hopefully) on Thursday evening...so Thursday noonish would be swell. 

Not sure how to react to Ad Age's little analysis on "what blogs cost American Business"

Let me hear (e-mail/comment) what you thought of this "best-guest extrapolation" which includes the very meaningful insight that US workers in 2005 will waste the equivalent of 551,000 years reading blogs.

Hey, I have an idea...ban the Web or at least the blogosphere. Create a super firewall which prevents any blog access whatsover.

Shhh, don't release the latest data about the fact we'll sleep 1/3rd of our lives away...I'd hate to see the repercussions on that.

I've moved my feed and am now using Feedburner. For those using RSS, please update your feed to the new: http://feeds.feedburner.com/JaffeJuice

It is much appreciated :)

jJ

Subject: My Appentice ratings decline

Message: Your low ratings are rubbing off badly on mine. You need to be cut. Kisses - The Donald

Reply from Martha to Donald

Subject: Oh there'll be cutting all right...there'll be cutting.

Message: Did you perhaps consider the fact your show has become one fat, giant turd of an ad as a reason for your decline in viewership? xoxoxoxoxo - Martha

I'll probably butcher the dates + details, but hopefully you'll get the point.

• Apple introduces their new iPod and iTunes v6 on October 12th
• Part of the new iTunes v6 package includes the launch of customer reviews
• Madonna's new song, Hung Up is released on October 17th. It is #2 on iTunes Top Single list.
• Today is October 21st. Madonna's song has 271 reviews
• Amazon's #2 book, You - the Owners Manual was released on May 1st and has 199 reviews

I think you get the drift.

On a related note, where is the same review capability for Podcasts???

So much for a quite Friday in the marketing blogosphere.

Kudos to Steve Hall and Tom Hespos for this really stimulating thread and shame on all of us for not doing anything about it.

Thread Recap:

1) Hespos writes a Spin about marketers unwillingness to engage in meaningful dialogue with consumers (instead pouring money in duping them through product placement etc)

2) Hall picks up the conversation and proposes the creation of a consumer conversation department - written in June of 2004...so here we are almost 1 1/2 years later, hence the "shame on us" rebuke

3) 'spos picks up the momentum again by proposing a rough infrastructure/process to what a CCD (cons conv dept) might look like (see below)

Well, what are waiting for? Get those listings on Monster and begin recruiting! I love the idea of putting together a CCD, which is not a glorified call-center, but a deeply-integrated - and empowered - fluid and non-linear (initiating, nurting, addressing, resolving, stimulating conversations on 1-to-1 and 1-to-many bases) collection of stewards, spokespeople and intelligence that are connected, independent and most importantly, able to effect change, action and results.

Monitoring the blogosphere is not nearly enough...especially if no action is being taken in the process. This involves integrating every single conversation - online and offline - into the bigger picture, and for the greater good of the company and the brand.

If we are ever to make good on the promise and potential of data, interactivity, engagement et al and if we ever believed in relationships...now is the time to move.

Some follow up pieces on the BlogOn Panel Social Media discussion:

• ClickZ article
• One Degree blog
• Adrants post
• Jaffe Juice original post

...what's the problem?

Latest Nielsen numbers attempt to paint a truly rosy picture that things have never been better.

Download TVviewinglevels.xls for the full picture from 1949-1950 which basically echoes the same point...TV levels continue to rise.

Gee, I wonder if the reason could be decreased cost of TV sets, or increased number of channels, choices available to consumers, or ability to watch more content (and less commercials) due to DVR technology....do I need to go on?

How about the same chart for commercials i.e. time spent watching commercials from 1949-1950 to present date? Now what would be enlightening!

In a rebuttal interview with Ad Age, departed/resigned WPP Creative Afficianado Neil French refers to "Death by Blog" as one of the reasons for his firing...er, sorry resignation. I wonder to what extent he embraced blogs before they ultimately consumed him.

On an ongoing related note, perhaps this is why there is an acute lack of leadership in our business. Whether French was quoted in or out of context, sticking one's neck out should not be a precursor to a noose being placed over it.

That said...French was anywhere on the continuum of idiot to idiot, and there really is no excuse for rabble rousing for the sake of showing off or shit-stirring. And by the way, I flat out reject French's statement about advertising being all about hyperbole...that's why it's in the mess its in right now. It's the meaningless exaggeration that has led to such a sharp decline in credibility and authenticity.

As of 3.55pm EST (and the poll closes at 4pm), 68% say YEA and 32% say NAY.

I'd like to challenge those who voted NAY to identify themselves and be prepared to expand on the rationale behind their point of view...other than self-serving self-preservation.

On a related note, my challenge to Scott Donaton remains front and center. Scott has called for leadership and vision (other than David Verklin) and I'm throwing my hat into the ring. I'm asking Scott to review my book and if you agree with this idea, send him an e-mail to sdonaton@crain.com

Here's the latest effort from the folks over at Goodby for Comcast for their On Demand/VOD push. It's a really well-produced, clean effort that allows consumers to create a puppet, choreograph a few moves and add in some audio via microphone or telephone voicemail (recommended I think)

Here's my lame effort.

And don't forget the payoff my pretties: you direct the entertainment. you pull the strings.

Get it? Got it? Good! Ain't strategy sweet?

This is so bad I've had to create a new category on Jaffe Juice. Congratulations American Express: you've help coin, "Ugly Stuff" which recognizes truly dismal, embarrassing and unremarkable achievements in marketing.

Following my praise for their high-end experiential auction is this low-end follow-up/result (click to view a larger image): A text e-mail beginning with, "Dear Cardmember" Gee, I feel so special and wanted right now...I think I'm going to throw-up.

Considering I bid $4,000 for the package (not that I thought I'd get it, but still...how's that for an expression of engagement), what I got in return was a cheap pitch to view other exclusive offers for "cardmembers" I feel positively violated.

This just further underscores how far downstream interactive is in the egotistical marketing pecking order (in this case in the CRM form of a follow-up e-mail)

I wonder if Bobby De Niro got a "Dear John" e-mail for his TV commercials. Useless.

In this week's ATS, co-host Steve Rubel and I discuss "what is a blog?" We're referencing Sally Goetsch's comments about Entrepreneur magazine's supposed podcasts.

This week at BlogOn, the conversation extended to cover the infamous Juicy Fruit (Exhibit A) and below is Apprentice Amy's blog (Exhibit B) on Apprentice Martha Stewart Edition.

Whether you subscribe to comments being turned off/on and/or whether trackbacks maketh a blog, one thing's for sure...NBC/Apprentice/Yahoo/Amy (take your pick) and Wrigley's and/or their respective agency are sadly mistaken.

The Journal's Brian Steinberg reports on Nissan's decision to pull/revise a current ad featuring the music/tune from the Bridge on the River Kwai - Colonel Bogey's March

It's a sorry state of affairs for the following reasons:

1) If the deed was so dastardly/egregious in the first place, why the hell did the agency, TBWA\Chiat\Day, not do its due dilligence in the first place? Should they have been a little more savvy, cautious, responsible?

2) I think not...Nissan is a Japanese company and if anyone should have been aware of sensitivities, it should have been them? Shame on the client then for not being proactive and self-aware, right?

3) I think not again...here's the kicker: they received less than 10 complaints. This is downright comical that all it takes is 10 complaints - no doubt by people who probably would never even be interested in driving a Titan truck. What about all those consumers who DIDN'T take offence to the tune?

Whomever was responsible for being this reactionary and spineless is really the party/ies at fault. If you're so bloody concerned about negative feedback, either you should have done the legwork upfront, OR you should reach out to consumers and get a collective/communal vote of confidence, before folding like a house of cards.

I guess the pendulum of blame would probably stop somewhere in clientland, in the offices of the corporate affairs legal eagles.

4) In any event, I wonder how many consumers didn't even make the connection...or even if they did, didn't care. Like one website states, this tune also became synonymous with the infamous "Hitler, he only had one ball" lyrics, which were added by WWII servicemen.

Please don't get me wrong...I'm not condoning insensitivity...and this in no way, reflects my personal view about POW treatement during WWII...I'm just saying:

- it's not possible to please everyone all the time

- it's unfair to allow a vocal minority (and a risk-averse, conservative corporation) to bias against a silent majority

- context is king...and in the case of this particular example, I'm afraid my point of view would have to be, "if you don't like it, don't buy the car"

I'm no prude when it comes to pushes the boundaries, but I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow or two on this not so subtle blur between church and state on Reuters UK site. What you're seeing is a banner with the words (in Reuters' font/text/color etc) "King of 'pop in criminal investigation: Full Article" However when you mouse over, the reveal is video trailer for the upcoming Launch of Kojak (starring Ving Rhames) on ITV (in the UK)

Given the whole Ofcom hullabaloo in the UK and ASME's guidelines on the US magazine biz, where does this put the Web?

Should each medium have its own (double) standards?

Do we need a level playing field across all media?

To what extent does regulation stifle innovation..or put differently, should the (Berlin) Walls be torn down to move with the times?

Given the difficulty in breaking through the clutter nowadays...coupled with a far more savvy consumer base, should ITV be given an award or a reprimand?

This is an outstanding promotional play which delivers a strong cause-marketing arm (hehe) to the obvious marketing agenda.

It's jarring and a little disturbing...but only in a manner consistent with the movie's theme and storyline (iow, it's completely appropriate) The blood drive tie-in to Halloween and challenge to "give 'til it hurts" is balanced/grounded with a clear way to get involved and an idea of the communal progress to date (1,357 pints so far)

This is one time the sequel had better be better than the first go-round (4,200 pints and 12,000 lives saved)

Bravo!

Disclaimer: I'm a loyal American Express customer. How's that for disclosure?

I love this experential play for Amex, which very nicely pays off their new tagline, "my life, my card"

Even though they're the best equipped to serve up a high-end program like this one. it certainly does not - or should not - preclude any of the others from doing something similar. Quite frankly, I'm surprised it's taken so long to deploy this kind of program.

The campaign is a travel auction (involving one experiential package/location per day) To enter, you need to use your American Express Card (or if you don't have one...you can conveniently apply for one directly from the mini-site)

I personally have a bid in for the Paris trip...and should I win, I'm not exactly sure how I'd pay for all the shopping associated with this package. Oh wait a second...I'd use my American Express Card.

OK, so now I'm at Starbucks enjoying endless streaming high speed wireless access (best possible Homer voice)

My panel discussions - expertly moderated by Mr Hall covered a variety of themes related to the advertising angle associated with social media.

Here are the issues (in no respective order)

1. Agencies need to figure this critical/emerging platform/approach really quickly. With that said, it was telling that there were just 3 agencies represented at BlogOn (I don't count Mark from Organic as he was on my panel...unless he maintains he would have been here otherwise, in which case I'll concede :)) - JWT, Grey and Anomaly

[caveat: I'm not sure if they were actually present, which might take this number down to an abysmal ZERO]

2. The problem with the whole blogging/podcasting et al opportunity is that it has been predominently PR-driven. This is not to put down PR at all (I'm a huge fan)...it's just to say that advertising/brand folk have a massive role to play at the table - not just because of all the hundreds of millions of dollars they dish out to all and sundry, but because of the importance to their brands' health, relevance and equity.

Instead, it's all about damage control and minimizing risk. Uggggh - give me a break, which leads to my 2c (actually more like 33c):

- Legal Eagles and Bean counters have no place in marketing/advertising and should speak when they're spoken to

- Who knows your brand better: your consumers or you? If you answered the latter, I'm afraid you're either a liar, fool, or both.

Ultimately what's required here is - yes, the relinquishing of control - but it's more than that. It's about ego...and pride...and political crap....and recognizing that the marketing communications and brand building processes are not linear anymore.

When a consumer begins the process - recognize it and reward them - and be able to divert your funds, attention and resources elsewhere, if necessary. If you aren't acting in a non-linear fashion, I fear you may be missing out on non-linear opportunities.

Gotta catch a train, but welcome your thoughts

So I'm at BlogOn right now and have just finished my panel. Ironically (or not ironically for anyone in the technology business) the Internet connectivity is REAAAAAAL slow and so this post will relatively low-tech i.e. few links etc.

....BUT the good news is that there is connectivity and mucho blogging going on even as we speak (to the point where Andy Sernovitz from WOMMA wondered if the rate/intensity of blogging traffic has slowed down during this 2 day event - anyone know the answer to this one?)

The well-put-together conference resembles the VIP press box at a World Cup Soccer Game...there's a lot of laptops simultaneously typing away, hence the pressure on the poor T1 connection(s) It certainly is going to be the way forward for any major marketing conference/event...so much so that I think a conference without connectivity will be sending out a pretty negative message to the blogging community.

I'll blog on my panel later...but I simply had to blog from the event itself for 2 reasons:

1) Fear of being ejected out of the Blogging Secret Society and Guild

2) The Geek Factor (enhanced by Axe Deodorant :))

Across the Sound Podcast #6

As expected, the unions are chiming in about expected residuals from Internet-related distributed content (Reuters). Network execs (ABC) are musing about following the DVD model, whereas unions are not. Astonishingly enough...the DVD model does not favor the unions.

What's interesting here is two-fold:

1) The fear/legitimacy/potential/urgency (pick your own word) of the Web-based mechanism is clearly in play. Think about how other distribution mechanisms such as TiVo or VOD for examples, have not been as hyped/scrutinized as this one...

2) The move by execs to compare this to DVD...which is either plain greedy or clueless or both.

Ad Age Editor, Scott Donaton, wrote a piece of commentary about the shameful (to quote Donaton) absence of industry leadership. His piece begins with the words, “Will someone other than David Verklin please stand up?”

He continues to expound on the fact that executives “don’t have the guts or willingness to take a public stand” for a variety of corporate, legal and political reasons.

Finally, he ends with a call to action that “we need to recruit a few more just like him, explorers to map the way forward.

“Who’s signing up?” Donaton asks?

I am, Scott. I am. That’ why I’ve been doing what I’ve been doing for 3 ½ years. That’s why I wrote the book. That’s why I am challenging you…as Managing Editor of one of the foremost advertising trade publications to recognize my efforts and make sure the industry knows about my message.

This isn’t motivated out of self-interest; it’s motivated out of passion.

It is why I am calling you out to determine whether you are just like the people you are criticizing, or in fact, if you are different. It’s easy to throw stones from up high on your pedestal. You have a mouthpiece and a megaphone…but along with that voice, comes responsibility as well.

I know my book is an Adweek book, but that should not stop you from communicating its message to your readers. Incidentally it does reference David Verklin several times and David also endorsed the book on its back cover for what it’s worth.

So Scott, I urge you to give it a read and if – and only if – you think its message rings true, then I invite you to reach out and partner with me to escalate the conversation. I’d be happy to respond to your critique – which by the way, I don’t disagree with. The lack of leadership and the unwillingness to take risks and a stand is literally crippling this industry.

I do also want to single out Rishad Tobaccowala whom I think counters the trend you cite in your piece. Between Rishad and David, there are in fact 2 corporate leaders. I will gladly put my name forward to be the un-corporate or un-cola third musketeer.

To my readers – if you agree with my point of view, take action. e-mail Scott and urge him to take action and to recognize my stand. His e-mail address is sdonaton@crain.com Let’s see if – when push comes to shove – Scott folds like a hous