Jaffe Juice

How to succeed in Second Life

Virtual Thirst is featured in this week's edition of Ad Age in an article which covers off pretty nicely on the learnings and insights to date, together with advice for the future.

This is definitely one of the more prominent pieces of press the effort has received and shows that even in the new P.R., the "short head" methodology equally applies.

I'm also encouraged by the coverage which hopefully begins a new wave of insight and perspective into how to approach - not just - Second Life, but virtual worlds in general.

As I explained to my wife yesterday...take the prediction that in 3-5 years time, the majority of all "browsing' will be done in virtual environments. Internet browsers like Internet Explorer or even Firefox will be passe. Site maps will quite literally be maps and each "page" will be an attraction. Think of a funfair or carnival, filled with rides, stalls and kiosks. Sites like Amazon.com will be 3-D representations of stores like Barnes & Nobles, teaming with activity, life and social interaction.

Now if only 1% of that prediction comes true...can you imagine the implications for marketing, branding, advertising, socializing, connecting etc. etc. etc.

Now if you are Coca-Cola or any other blue-chip company, how can you not be seriously thinking about these implications and making planning/provisions/"bets" on these possible scenarios/outcomes.

I think when you put it that way, the obvious validation/justification naturally rises to the top...arguably even more important than short-term sales/ROI (ala Michael Donnelly's point in this article

DON'T EXPECT A DIRECT LINK TO SALES IN THE REAL WORLD. "So much of our metrics aren't about sale, but they're about brand love. Brand value and brand love are our key metrics." -- Michael Donnelly, director-global interactive marketing, Coca-Cola Co.

Cheers or Jeers for Bud.TV?

Scott Donaton writes this post about the downward-spiralling Bud.TV. Whilst most have jumped on the bandwagon to lambaste the program kind of like the lynch mob in Young Frankenstein, both Scott and I agree that this was a sound concept/a great idea.

So where did this "fail" in the execution? Should A-B have stayed away because they're not in the audience-growing business? Who is these days? The networks seem to be in the audience-shrinking business...perhaps A-B should have visited the founders of YouTube or MySpace.

What about the content? At the end of the day, great content should always prevail. Perhaps A-B should have consulted the cavemen at GEICO! As if.

Or perhaps, it was the failing of marketing (positioning, promotion, outreach, optimization, maintenance). I wrote this post last month and offered 10 ideas to help give Bud.TV a shot in the arm.

With any experiment, the learnings are the most invaluable. I don't think you can put too much of a premium on the competitive differentiation and advantage that comes from this approach. All in all, I think the only failing will be pulling the plug prematurely and walking away. I always go back to the first days of TV or how about the first days of any new marketing approach.

Hopefully A-B will find a new home for Bud.TV, perhaps as a video podcast. Stay the course, be strong and don't give in to the naysayers.

Thank you Nikon!

Aaron loves nature, originally uploaded by josephjaffe.

I just wanted to thank Nikon for selecting me to participate in their blogger outreach program. With photographs like this (which I would never have had before), I now have loyalty to a brand which quite frankly I had never considered before.

This kind of influencer outreach represents a new path forward and certainly a viable and cost effective alternative to traditional advertising.

As a reminder to everyone, this camera was sent to me on loan. I am under no obligation whatsoever to say anything about the camera or the program, except - with full disclosure - the nature of how I received the camera. And when I do say something, I am free to say what I want.

Also, to the "Serial Naysayers" out there, take a look at this photo and then take a good look at yourselves. Smile, enjoy life and enjoy your family and friends. Perhaps you'll even want to purchase a Nikon D80 camera to capture moments like these :)

Happy Memorial Day to my US-readers. I will be taking lots of pictures this weekend.

From the sublime to the sublime

Yesterday, I was asked to do a taping for CNBC (it will air today and as soon as I know the time, I'll update this post) The thing was that I was also coaching my daughter's softball side (sponsored by crayon)

So we had to schedule the taping around the softball practice. How's that for prioritization!

I just found it quite surreal that I was in a suit in a studio at 3.15pm and on the field in shorts and a T-shirt at 4pm.

ATS#79 - Nikon D80, Second Life, Change Management and responding to serial skeptics

The latest episode of Across the Sound is up. It's a pretty meaty episode focusing on a few key issues such as change management, "The Big Purge", responding to serial naysayers in the blogosphere (with specific reference to the Nikon D80 campaign) and also justifying/selling Second Life (or any other non-traditional/emerging approach for that matter)

Hope you like it.

PS If you're still dipping your toes in the podcasting waters, take the plunge and subscribe to ATS via iTunes - click this link to be taken to the subscribe page

PPS If you haven't voted for ATS as an MVP candidate, vote here

196.5: 1.5 pound rebate to the fatman

So I gave back 1.5 pounds this week which is fine considering the 4 pound loss from last week. I'm not sure why I tend to be fluctuating like I am...I'd much prefer to go back to the steady 1.5 pound loss week on week.

Irrespective, I'm still on course to break 190 and hopefully settle around 187 by the time the baby is born.

The one thought I'd like to share this week is how the spirit of Fatblogging has captured the hearts and minds of this community. I can't tell you how many people have e-mailed me personally or approached me at conferences with kind words about this effort.

Scott Donaton is blogging

Publisher of Ad Age and Creativity, Scott Donaton, is blogging! His blog is called "When Trains Fly", which refers to a well-known HBR essay on how the railroads could have maintained their dominance if they realized they were in the transportation business, not the train business.

When Trains Fly will focus on a subject close to my heart, business model transformation of agencies, marketers and media companies.

Welcome to the dark side Scott...I'm looking forward to reading you and you joining in the conversation.

Are you in the lean-forward or lean-backward game?

We're all very familiar with the concept of lean-forward and lean-backward.

TV for example, is considered to be a lean-backward medium. Relaxing on the sofa, beer in one hand and chips 'n dip in the other as you slumber slowly into that wonderful passive state of couch potato coma.

The web on the other hand, is a lean-forward medium. Hunching neanderthal-like over the keyboard as you check how many stranger friends you've signed up over the past 24-hours due to your fake porn-star image (real or avatar) you've posted as your own.

Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

My point for this post however is this: when I give presentations, it's always interesting to me to see how my audience reacts to the various examples I show. Typically when it's a piece of video, they lean back and don't react much except for laughter when it's slapstick funny. On the other hand, when I show various new marketing efforts, they tend to lean forward, engage, smile, chatter and interact - with me and with one another.

I realized that this is a pretty simple litmus test for everything we do and it's completely media-agnostic. Do our efforts result in audience, viewers, visitors, humans etc leaning forward and engaging with our ideas, stories, messages or threads...or more importantly, engaging with one another?

Or is the result a lean-back deafening monosyllabic tone of the flatline.

Think about it the next time and the next "campaign"

Linkety-Link w/o May 21st, 2007

• PSFK Conference in London. With names like Parker, Davies and Macleod, how can you go wrong?
• 2 Futurists for the price of 1. Watts Wacker and Ryan Mathews have a new book coming out called "What's Your Story?: Storytelling to Move Markets, Audiences, People, and Brands". It's got to be good. Where's my review copy?
• Via Chasnote, 3 new marketing case studies in the making: Ask.com and Ask-A-Ninja, Virgin Airlines and Boing Boing, and Intel + Digg

More links throughout the week

Ritual Oversimplification

BBDO has just completed a 9 month, 5,000 person, 26 country study on "shared habits", designed to isolate daily routines and I guess provide marketers with insight on how best to join or disrupt them.

The study identifies 5 primary categories:

1. Preparing for battle AKA waking up and getting ready for work
2. Feasting AKA Eating
3. Sexing Up AKA Grooming
4. Returning to Camp AKA Going home
5. Protecting yourself for the future AKA Going to bed

I know. That's what I thought as well...

Via Ad Age