Jaffe Juice

Don't be a chimp. Listen to Across the Sound.

Blogs are for losers. Podcasts are for winners.

Click here for proof (thanks to the folks over at Fresh Glue for the "podcast placement")

With apologies to my officemate, Louis....here is the a nifty acronym. Call it the other RFiD that matters:

R = Recency (last visit/active)

F = Frequency (repeat business/loyalty)

i = Interactivity/Involvement (participation)

D = Duration (time spent)

These are the metrics that matter.

I just met Sarah "Intellagirl" Robins AKA Intellagirl Tully in SL. She has a blog which is dedicated to Second Life as a research and educational tool.

I know it appears that Divo is TOTALLY checking Intellagirl out, but I assure you, it's just the avatar talking (and in any case, Cleon and Mitch were on hand to supervise)

In all seriousness, it's a great objective and the right kind of attention to be given to education. If you think about it, why shouldn't education and entertainment mash together?

I love the fact that Intella has the blog as opposed to her "Real Life" persona. Turns out that Intella is an avid ATS listener, and she even blogged about ATS #38, in which Eric Norlin and myself discussed digital identity.

From time to time, Scott G sends me some articles on all things advertising. I'm not sure if and when I've met him, or if this is just a blog pitch...but in any event I did want to share his latest: No Cannes Do

He pretty brutally critiques all 3 of the top contenders for the Grand Prick. Do you agree with him? I'll give my thoughts on ATS #41

It's more than a free coffee mug...actually it's not; it's ALL about the free coffee mug.

I'm really thrilled that Across the Sound - the New Marketing Podcast has won MarketingSherpa's Readers Choice Award for best Marketing Podcast.

I share this prop with all my fellow CAPOW (Communications and Advertising Podcasters of the World) colleagues and cohorts.

But most of all, I share this with each and every single ATS listener. There's a reason I hug you every time I meet you for the first time (irrespective of whether you want me to or not) I am nothing without you...your attention, time and committment and increasingly nowadays, your contributions (+1 206 203-3255 or acrossthesound@gmail.com - ABC my friends: Always Be Commenting)

PS If you're still in the dark and wondering what podcasting is all about, give it a bash ala carte style at Across the Sound (left click on the mp3 link to play now or right click to save for later) or subscribe at your local podatcher such as iTunes.

Pitch me, I must be dreaming. I just got pitched by a blogger...or at least a bobber. That crazy NPR guy who gets off slagging 30-second slops has been secretly plotting to take over the world.

I should have seen it coming when he interviewed me for his doomsday lead piece in Ad Age, affectionately titled, "The Chaos Theory" and other bedtime nightmares. (I'd give you a link, but it's behind a well-guarded wall) And I should most definitely have read the writing on the wall when he delivered his next body blow, titled "Listenomics"

So now I get an e-mail which directs me to "check out my latest post and then do what feels right". Fair enough...I will now comment on "Avian Flu Virus Mutates" Second thought, I think perhaps Bob was referring to his other article, "Listenomics: The Online Book Project Starts Now"

So here's my 2c: Garfield is writing the book you wish you were writing. He's doing it the way you wish you (and even me) were doing it. He's beating his fellow offline and even online correspondents, journalists and editors to the punch in the process. I just love the fact that the "creative guy" is the person leading the charge and revolution. If you think about it, that's the way it should be.

So am I supportive? Without question

Will his open-source experiment success? Who cares, but I certainly hope it does. Experiments are good.

Am I listening? YOU BET I AM (I always was)

PS Bob, any help/contribution/endorsement/etc you need, don't hesitate to shout

PPS How about a friggen' link back to my blog from yours? Oh I forget, yours isn't a real blog, right?

About one click of the remote.

AdJab posts on a MediaPost article which reports that upfront movement in cableland isn't so dissimilar to the lethargy that the networks are feeling right now.

No question that cable has the added value/benefit of composition versus reach - and with composition comes better built-in targeting and therefore less waste. That said, the industry is still very much stuck in the mud of one-size-fits-all and buyers will always try and get the most potential audience using the least amount of steps in the process.

It's a one-two sucker punch really.

BUT, things are changing. Marketers are finally coming around to the realization that caution (in the form of calling the old Moonvess bluff of "come early or miss out") is the better part of valor when it comes to the premature committment of their precious budget.

This is one of those (few and perhaps only) times where slow is better.

This is slightly twisted and turned, but if you think about it...it kind of makes sense: In any business/sector with a direct or indirect service component, great advertising can actually work against you.

Take Citi's whole identity theft campaign. It's breakthrough and award-winning, but at the end of the day, it's a bank that - when last I checked - acted like a bank.

Or how about American Express. You don't get more aspirational than "My Life. My Card" or how about their "OPEN: for small business" value proposition/promise. We understand you and your business is a great selling point, provided of course there's any semblance of authenticity. There's also Visa's "Life Takes" thrust, which is as open-armed and amorphous as can be. But does Life also take hold times, reenter your card number and 15 direct mailers in your box?

Here's where great advertising is akin to running a marathon with your laces untied - you might see the finish line in sight, but you also might slip and break your neck. When a consumer sets foot into your store/bank/site and/or dials your 800-number, do you they encounter they same aspirational high-ground? Do you they get their frustations solved and solutions "Delivered"?

I guess my point is this - if your follow-through; your customer service; your after-sale support is anything less than the advertising which sets it up, then you're being set up for failure.

Perhaps you should find an agency capable of delivering truly mediocre advertising solutions (thankfully, these are the norm nowadays as opposed to the exception) or manage your customers' expectations accordingly by setting the bar incredibly low.

'cos investing in your CRM/RM side of the business isn't exactly going to send you to Cannes, now is it?

Hard to put into words the surreal experience of attending a panel discussion in Second Life...not to mention the fact both FIR's Neville Hobson and Twist Image/6 Pixels of Separation's Mitch Joel attending with me....so I won't.

Instead, I'll point you to:

• Mitch and Neville's extensive blog posts about their experiences
• The transcript of the panel discussion
• Mitch's podcast which includes our 3-way Skype call
• A PPT deck which has images from the experience (with brief notations in the notes section) Download marketing_to_avatars.ppt

MarketingSherpa extended their deadline for their Readers' Choice Blog and Podcast Awards to Monday midnight.

• Jaffe Juice is up for best advertising blog
• Across the Sound is up for best marketing/advertising/pr podcast

I would be humbled by your vote and support.

Which would mean, x = 1 - ATS

Or it could mean that Toby Gabriner, CEO of [x+1] is my guest this week on Across the Sound.

You can listen to the episode here.

It's a great conversation, but also interesting as it is part of their sponsorship of my podcast i.e. instead of traditional 15 or 30 second spots, they get value in the form of 40 minutes of content...and you get to learn more about them and how they think.

KsanLab - who consistently amaze me with their work - have just launched the International version of their Kissing Garden.

The East European version already has over 1,000,000 kisses.

I'm not sure I understand this entirely...but I sure do love it and I would love it even more if you would kiss me (I'm the baby fish at the end of the tentacle on the one-eyed tree - hectare 5)

This morning I gave a presentation to a group of brand marketers and spoke to them about the alleged commoditization of the 4 P's.

When talking about the P in Price, I discussed last year's GM employee pricing plan, which was quickly copied by Daimler-Chrysler and Ford, but certainly not as quickly terminated.

I mentioned that smart consumers would just sit and wait for "next year's plan" - in other words, the cat was out the bag.

Little did I know that literally hours after I presented this, DaimlerChrysler announced they were bringing back the program. Guess who will be next?

Addiction to the crack cocaine that is constant price cuts and discounts is a hard thing to conquer.

PS And if that wasn't bad enough, they're using the dude with the world's largest moustache as their pitchman. What? Snoop wasn't available?

Second Life gets more real by the day. Last night I had my first micro-flash mob experience in Second Life.

It started with myself and Gilbert Frederick who met to discuss plans to build a studio. The next thing we know Mitch Till offers me a teleport to meet his BFF, Koz Farina (who works at Podcast.com in his first life)

Mitch and I were chatting via Skype, Gilbert and I over the phone and Koz and I through the Second Life client.

Koz is DA MAN! He kindly walked us through his place he's building...and in this picture, all four of us are actually listening to ATS #38 (which I had uploaded a few hours prior) on Koz's Podcast Jukebox. The jukebox pulls any podcast's RSS feed on demand! Koz then showed us a flat screen monitor which displays slideshows pulled directly from Flickr.

I took a ride on his water slide and then the four of us set off into the sunset in his speedboat. What a night!

The inevitable is happening...so much content that I had to squeeze in a midweek edition of Across the Sound.

The meat of the episode is Part 1 of a 2-part interview on The Story of Digital Identity Podcast, where Aldo Castaneda spoke with myself and Eric Norlin.

Download episode with shownotes here.

PS Voting for the MarketingSherpa Awards closes at midnight on Friday on Monday. Rock the vote my friends!

I'll be attending a panel discussion on Avatar-Based Marketing. You should come along too.

Oh did I mention it's in Second Life?

The less said here the better because if I allow what's in me to explode, I'm probably going to strike an unhealthy mix of gloating, ranting, chastising and patronizing (and other than the ranting, that's just not what I'm about)

So check it out. This Mediaweek article references a newly released report, titled "Introduction to Brand Exposure Duration" which was presented by The Atlas Institute at an ARF event in New York.

The primary findings will amaze, amuse and astound you:

The conventional wisdom regarding video ad length in new media is wrong. Longer is actually better.

That flies in the face of most of the industry's thinking, which has generally been summed up as "shorter is better" when it comes to new video distribution outlets. In fact, while many brands have been repurposing their existing 30-second TV spots for these platforms, the consensus has been that 15, 10, or even five-second ads would become the norm down the road, as advertisers work to capture the short attention spans common to these media.

Bravo to Atlas for revealing what I think was both common sense and obvious (that's not a slight on Atlas...just validation for what I wrote about in my book AND what I think most people who read Jaffe Juice already knew) And a big raspberry to the myriads of clueless so-called leaders in the interactive space.

Makes me sick to the stomach and nervous as hell when I think about those steering this ship.

Let us use this as a staunch motivator to aggressively pursue a permission-based/on-demand reality where consumers both self-select or self-target AND dictate required/optimal lenth of story to be told.

I was talking to someone about the upcoming merger between FCB and Draft. According to Adweek, this is "the first time a so-called below-the-line shop assumes control of a traditional agency the size and reach of FCB"

...and it won't be the last.

In the interactive world, we've been witnessing the merging of direct and digital for some time. To be honest, I've never been entirely comfortable with direct marketing taking too much of a superior position over the branding/creative realm, but at the end of the day, 2 facts remain:

1) All of media is becoming more direct-response oriented - especially when there are metrics in place to measure efficacy and means to optimize performance accordingly

2) It's our (or your) damn fault for sitting on your asses and being complacent for so long

I wrote about the blurring of above and below the line all the way back in October of 2002. 3 1/2 years later, the lardy industry wakes up.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing direct. I'm just (and always have) advocating balance or equilibirium. Why is it then that we're always swaying from one extreme of the pendulum to the opposite end?

Which brings me to the analogy at hand.

Traditional/above-the-line/creative agencies are the balloon. They look good. They're why people come to the store. They are filled with helium (or is it hubris) which help the balloon stand tall, reach for heights and do what it does best...look pretty and add to the atmosphere/ambiance etc. The helium also makes for a great party trick when trying to make a spectacle of yourself. The helium is also the balloon's Achilles heel...when released the balloon takes off and has no control: it soars and soars until it pops. Conversely, eventually the helium wears off, the balloon sags to the ground...becomes a liability and is eventually popped.

The weight on the other hand is the antithesis of the balloon. Even though it is dressed up with shiny colored foil, it is an afterthought. It is a nice-to-have, as opposed to a have-to-have and generally is purchased at the prompting of a pushy sales clerk. The weight - when tied to the balloon - grounds the balloon, without compromising its primary goal and purpose. It allows the balloon to remain star of the show, but never get too big or soar too high.

The relationship between the weight and the balloon is a partnership and together, 1 + 1 = 3.

Oh - no clue how to extend this to explain how the paper weight trumped the balloon. That's not the point of this fable. The moral of this tale is that plenty of balloons (egos) will be popped or deflated along the way, but the weights can be used as door stoppers or paper weights.

With thanks to Paul McEnany

Here's a roadmap for anyone needing further directions, courtesy of David Armano

Nick Sputnik writes a great post which offers a 4-step approach to New Marketing (Web 2.0 style)

He draws inspiration from ATS #37, as well as folks like Malcolm Gladwell, Jason Fried, Doc Searls, and Jackie Huba.

Here are the 4 steps:

1) Make a great product or service

2) Activate mavens via COTC evangelists, using blogs et al ala Cluetrain and Naked Conversations

3) Let the mavens do their thing via the tools of social media

4) Don't stop listening. Consumers that talk back are your new round of Mavens. And PS - don't outsource CRM.

In essence, Nick details a 3-step conversation process, which is underpinned on authenticity in the form of a solid product with real benefit/value

Full post here

There's no accounting for bad taste as I am up for a pair of MarketingSherpa awards:

• Best advertising blog (huh, I thought I left that shore a long time ago) for Jaffe Juice of course
• Best podcast about marketing, advertising or PR for Across the Sound

Help me take down Steve Hall and Hugh Macleod with your vote. In all seriousness, it is weird to be going up against people I now call my friends...in fact, in the podcasting category we all nominated each other. Be that as it may, although I will enjoy crushing my opposition like a paper cup (thank you, Monty Burns) it is an honor just to have been nominated...

You can vote here.

In this week's Ad Age, "CMO's, you have 23 months to live."

In yesterday's USA Today, "As Cannes begins, marketers wrestle with future of ads"

So my question is as follows: How many of them (marketers, CMO's) are spending part of one of those months in Cannes? My bet would be more than they could afford (if you believe the numbers)

Don't forget to put on sunscreen (the corporate kind, that is)

Quote face-off: Jeff Bell versus Bob Garfield

"The shorter tenure is in part a reflection of the change from failing traditional-marketing approaches to less-defined and more dynamic approaches," said Jeff Bell, who jumped from Chrysler Group to become corporate VP-global marketing of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Business this month. "Clearly the skill set of CMOs is changing from 'TV, TV and more TV' to interactive media. ... As the world of marketing completes this transition, the tenure will stabilize."

                                                      vs

The life expectancy of the TV commercial is about five minutes, but here we all are, barely clothed, hanging on for dear life on the French Riviera doing everything that still feels good. - Bob G.

While the creative community masses are fanning, tanning and (wo)manning themselves in Cannes, one chicken is hard at work trying to sell burgers.

The latest work from BK and CP+B puts a real interesting spin on the classical viral, by injecting a good dose of new marketing/communal marketing. The popularity of the site basically influences/impacts the consumption experience - in this particular case, watching Extreme Huckin' Chicken "get stupid air and pull major tricks."

As of my visit the Sick-air-meter was at 589,689 and the world record million mark is now well in sight.

It's a rather simple and sublime tactic of getting people excited about visiting and coming back, with incremental/additional video footage designed to keep 'em somewhat enagaged.

Will it take off? You'll just have to keep visiting the site to see for yourselves.

Karl Long has written an insightful piece on Second Life titled, "It's not a game; the ultimate co-creative business"

In his piece, he references a MicroPersuasion article about American Apparel opening up a store in Second Life. In said article, Steve Rubel refers to this as advergaming.

I realize that by even tagging this in-part in the Jaffe Juice gaming category, I am doing the same, but I do want to agree with Karl that this is most certainly not advergaming (never liked the word, even when referencing what it truly describes...stupid little forgettable advertising-led online games)

Perhaps part of the reason Steve feels this way is the fact he isn't in Second Life yet. And perhaps part of the reason is that so many agencies and marketers will use Second Life in a marginalized and superficial fashion, unlike Wells Fargo.

Give it a read...but more importantly, get into Second Life and then decide for yourself.

This is an Adrants Steve Hall moment all right...

Check this story out (I discuss it in this week's ATS under Winners & Losers)

It's the story of how a mainstream corporate brand got out-guerilla'ed by trying to squash the guerilla act in the first place.

Here's the elevator pitch: Dutch supporters to get nabbed trying to enter a football game in the World Cup wearing Bavaria Beer branded lederhosen (seriously) Authorities make 'em take off their clothes ('cos Bud is the official beer of the WC) and so they watch the entire game in their underwear. Story gets picked up by MSM and blogger (at least this one)

The rest is history...

Call it Social Guerilla Marketing (SGM)

This week's Across the Sound is a World Cup, Father's Day, Jaffe Juice Joggers mash-up!

Winner is Gatorade and Loser is Bavaria Beer. Rant of the Week is about people who attend conferences without business cards...and much much more.

Download ala carte here and subscribe for free directly through iTunes here

This show is sponsored by [x+1] Please send audio comments to: + 1 206 203-3255

Brad Berens, iMedia executive editor, writes this piece titled, there's nothing wrong with "user"

At our recent iMedia Agency Summit at Amelia Island, my friend Joseph Jaffe and I went a few rounds on consumer versus user when it comes to content generated by, ahem, civilians. Joe doesn't like "user." It reminds him of the people who use illegal drugs. (Check out minute 55 of Joe's Across the Sound podcast #36 for an extended riff on this.)

Even if we do carry the drug-association around with "user," at least that's more accurate. Mere "consumers" are passive, but drug users can be dangerous.

I'm not crazy about "user," but it's better than "consumer" by orders of magnitude.

Brad my friend, I'm afraid it's you who might be using the drugs!

User is not a step forward but about three steps backwards from consumer.

User is the name given by technology geeks (oil) to the art (once upon a time) of marketing (water) and for some reason, those with "i" (interactive) before "e" (experience), are forgetting about the all important "c" (consumer)

Let the debate continue...

The ANA just released a new study on IMC (Integrated Marketing Communications) today at their Masters of Integrated Marketing Conference in New York City.

Couldn't have set me up better if they had tried (I'll be delivering a closing address tomorrow at said conference)

Here are the high (or low)lights:

• 67% of marketers develop integrated marketing programs across most or all of their brands, but only 33% say they are very happy with their efforts.
• General advertising (30%) adds the most value to a company's marketing communications programs. However, this is a dramatic decrease compared to the 2003 survey where 51% of marketers ranked it as most important.
• Surprisingly, trends thought to be hot, such as videogame advertising and mobile marketing, were viewed as least significant to the marketing mix.

Additional nuggets included: 

• 63% of marketers rank organizational issues (such as functional silos) as the greatest challenge to successfully integrating their marketing efforts.
• Most marketers (72%) feel that the "big" idea is the most signficant contribution an agency can make towards a successful IMC program
• Almost 50% of marketers associate media neutrality as a necessary prerequisite when developing an integrated marketing program.
• From a measurement standpoint, IMC effectiveness is being judged by sales data and ROI analysis

Mini-epiphany time.

Last week I was sitting on a call with Aldo Castaneda and Eric Norlin discussing Digital Identity amongst other things. I brought up the idea of “Abundance” (Hat Tip to Sanford Streim for pointing me to “Musings of a VC in NYC”)

as a primary differentiator between the “offline” and “online” worlds. Where the offline world trades in scarcity, the online world thrives in abundance. More about that another time…

If Abundance is one of the primary differentiators, here is another one: Access.

The recent hoopla about Seth Godin accepting or not accepting comments is ultimately about Access, is it not? To thrive; to grow…or to continue growing….access needs to increase, not decrease; ability to access needs to be open and not closed.

As a fellow author/consultant/pundit/self-proclaimed visionary/megalomaniac/delusional David Ogilvy-wannabee (you get the point), one of my primary focuses is my own brand. I have to be cognizant of my exposure (avoid over-exposure) and quite selective of my speaking engagements (strive for keynote slots above other opportunities)

That world is the offline world.

At the same time, I live and breathe in the social media world. This is a world where I can meet a complete stranger in a virtual world, exchange gifts, ideas and generosity and become a friend for life. This is a world where I readily give away my cellphone number, wear my e-mail address tattooed on my forehead and thrive on input from my readers and listeners to my blog and podcast respectively.

This world is the online world.

In one world, I limit and control my exposure. In the other I cede it to the community I belong to; in one world I am less accessible; in the other I am more.

For my brand to continue to grow I need to be more accessible; readily accessible and most importantly able to respond. What’s the point of never replying to e-mails or ignoring comments for example?

Here’s the catch….with growth and relative success comes immense challenges – particular with respect to remaining accessible and maintaining that direct link to those which ultimately fuel my life-force.

Whilst I believe that maintaining a blog and even producing a podcast is one way to keep up an element of personal contact (think about the following 3 words: personal; personable; personalization), is it enough? On one hand, consumers have unprecedented access to authors, celebrities, inventors, leaders today through various social media nodes – shouldn’t that be enough? On the other hand, human contact is like crack cocaine – the more you get, the more you need (is that even accurate, or should I have chosen a sleep metaphor?)

The implications for brands and branding should (at this stage) be “self-evidently obvious”.

Brands that remain aloof, distanced, separatist and siloed will loss ground and momentum to consumers hungry for engagement. On the flipside, brands that open up themselves to their consumers – from enemies through prospects through customers through loyalists – will allow themselves the possibility to be internalized, taken to heart and essentially elevated to a new and very different place in the heart, mind and collective consciousness.

After my post about Taylor Hicks winning American Idol received more comments than I would have expected (relative to my more self-proclaimed profound predictions) I decided to give you my World Cup picks.

I pick Spain (I always do) as one of the more perennial underachievers in the competition to triumph over host, Germany in the Final.

The draw isn't exactly favorable for them and if all goes according to plan, they'd have to beat both Brazil and England on their way to hoisting the trophy. Good luck with that one.

In my warped plan B scenario (let's say Spain finishes second in their group), I have them beating Germany in the semi-final to play the winner of Brazil versus England, in which case I would change allegiances to support the English, provided the play a side filled to the brim with all their Spurs players :)

Just got pinged by Dieter (no, not THAT one) who works at one of the new media agencies responsible for We all Speak Football, which is essentially a mash-up of Real World takes on Social Media Revolution takes on GOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAALLL.

More about the project here.

This looks like a really well crafted and nurtured effort. The balance between transparency and control seems to be comfortable and peaceful, as is evidenced by this entry from one of the "current pro" bloggers, Lyssa.

Some of those at Coke responsible for this project (I didn’t even know they had that many Global Directors and the like) dropped by today to take a look at the flat and talk to us. It was a really hot and sunny afternoon, everybody was casually dressed and quite relaxed. We were up on the rooftop admiring the great view when the Swedish guys staying at a hotel across the street (and partying all night) decided to put up the Swedish flag on the balcony.

Unfortunately one Swede wasn’t only rather heavyset with an unhealthy pasty complexion, he was also almost naked. His only piece of clothing was a tiny thong hardly visible underneath all that pale flesh. Welcome to Europe, Coke.

(And now I'm finally off to see what the Brazilians are wearing tonight.)

To me it works and the quip about the Global Directors is quite endearing, especially to us industry geezers.

I have only but one criticism...where are the podcasts???? Your cupboards are bare. Please fill them.

P.S. I'm proud of my client.

The latest ATS is up and it's all about you this week...audio comments, sound bytes from the FIR/ATS Geek Dinner in NYC and of course Rant of the Week, Winners 'n Losers and more!

Download ala carte here and subscribe for free at iTunes here

On Thursday night, we had an ATS/FIR "Geek" dinner at Isabella's in New York City.

We had about 11 people and it was just awesome.

Of course we did some podcast recording...and I proudly was the nerd with the microphone. Shel and Neville (to my right and left respectively in the first picture) had their cooler, sleeker iRivers on hand. Snippets from the night will be on next week's ATS (#36)

In the second picture, I'm with Brian Spelman and Bryan Person. Brian brought a copy of my book to sign and prepared an entire presentation which he shared with the table. Bryan on the other hand made the trip - get this - all the way via bus from Boston. He left on the 12.30am bus back to MA.

All I could say was WOW - I know I speak on behalf of Shel and Neville by saying we were and are humbled by people like you and clearly without you, we would be talking to ourselves at best and pretty damn lonely at worst! Rock on...

The subject of engagement is being discussed right now and it struck me - here's the problem with engagement (in context of all the efforts to understand, measure, quantify and even qualify):

Engagement has nothing to do with Exposure.

The industry has it all completely backwards in terms of its red herring/smokescreen about proving that TV ads were seen. This has nothing to do with enagement - it's about recall, message association i.e. awareness and it is at the very bottom of the food chain.

Exposure is a precursor to Engagement, but it is not the only ingredient; it certainly is not the main ingredient; AND it is not necessarily enough to lead to engagement

Without Interactivity, Exposure and Engagement cannot occur at the same time, with the same ad unit/format.

Thoughts?

Max Kalehoff (long time Jaffe Juice and Across the Sound reader/listener) and Bryan Eisenberg (had a great conversation with him) are talking about metrics et al.

Bryan talks about an example where his Mother searched for "Sony Plasma TV" and was taken to Sony's home page (where she was greeted with an elaborate laptop etc flash intro) Here's the catch...Sony doesn't make a plasma TV. Why? Because they believe that they have better technology to produce a better, more affordable product for their consumers.

So why didn't Sony take Bryan's mother to a site that explained all of this?

It comes down to the L-word (Laziness) or put a little softer, the problem with mass-mentality. I know this is probably very old to anyone reading this post...but it begs the question, not why don't we focus on composition (versus reach), but when are we going to start migrating the methodology (and possibly replacing the machinery)

Max offered one possible solution which is that the world doesn't function in direct response mode. I understand this perspective in light/context of 30,000 feet brand marketing (read: hard to measure and not very accountable), but I would argue that the opposite could be equally true...we're living in direct response hell: slave to Wall Street and short term/quarterly forecasts/results.

...marketers should be thinking beyond the "relevance" to the "openness" of the message. not exactly sure what that means, but sure sounds smart

...what gets measured gets manufactured (e.g. buzz) that came from brand autopsy's John Moore (as opposed to Johnnie Moore who is moderating the panel). This is a great point and demonstrates how marketers pounce and destroy that which is organic, authentic and credible.

Kevin Lee from Did-It made an interesting comment along the lines of...when you look at whose at the top of search results, they're either brilliant marketers or idiots. The problem is you can't tell which is which. Another pithy statement which is interesting. Part of the difficulty in discerning the wheat from the chaff is the inability to determine the ROI/objectives associated with the campaign, but....

...it brings up this very interesting idea about good versus bad advertising and what the bad advertising is doing to the good. Here's an analogy: if a small kid poops in a swimming pool, the entire pool has to be drained. Know what I mean?

Final thought was about evolution and revolution. When it comes to the changing face of marketing/advertising/branding, is it evolution or revolution? Some say both. I liked the interpretation from panelist, Diane Hessan, who is President & CEO of Communispace - she referred to an evolution of a revolution. As in: things have changed; they're never going to be the same again. Get used to it. And evolve (adapt...or die)