Jaffe Juice

Super Bust (at least from an Innovation Standpoint)

Could this be the year that advertiser's finally gave up? Forget #brandbowl. This was the year of #blandbowl.

Last night I was live tweeting as part of Wharton's Future of Advertising program and so actually so most - if not all of the ads - versus actually socializing with human beings and even enjoying the game.

It gave me the opportunity to utter WTF about 20 times. 

I believe there were about 54 to 70 spots depending on different accounts (which may include halftime show or perhaps pre-game), but that seems like a LOT of clutter.

In addition, according to @AlanKercinik - who was keeping me updated on - auto made up about 31% of ALL creative spots. Seriously guys, how are you not all hopping mad that you all just canceled each other out and pretty much zeroed out any ability to differentiate.

Flashy Flashy Flashy. Fast Fast Fast. Bright Bright Bright. Hashtag. Dogs. Hot Chicks. Dogs. 4 Wheels. Hashtag. Overproduced Hyperbole. Hashtag. Fast. Fast. Fast. Brand in question: ?????????

In general, I couldn't believe how over the top and overproduced some of the spots were, to the point where they went completely over the heads of people watching.

Reminder: Most people are inebriated and/or watching with groups of people making lots of noise with the sound of the TV either being drowned out by the noise or turned down.

Reminder: Copy. Text. Spoken Word don't work. Keep it Simple. Stupid which is why Coke's Polar Bears works. It's safe and predictable, but people get it.

To me, I think advertising in the Super Bowl has become a giant ego trip for most advertisers (like the tax prep software one that no one will remember tomorrow) and it's all about the announcement itself, rather than the execution. Look at me...I'm a playa!!!! Yawn.

It should be so simple i.e. focus all your efforts on hitting the fast ball zipping straight down Broadway for a game winning home run...made all the easier if an existing platform/equity can be leveraged (e.g. Polar Bears) but instead it becomes a completely insider and incestuous attempt to outdo one another in terms of lavish production.

...but this post was really meant to be about innovation (or the lack thereof) from the Big Game. Starting with basic new media best practices and integration like making sure your freaking website doesn't crash (Coke, Acura) or how about the complete neglect of your digital storefront; your home i.e. your website.

From what I heard only Bud Light did some kind of intelligent drive to digital via it's Facebook integration to get people to donate money to Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF), although I completely missed it during the spot. People were saying, "why did they use such an ugly dog?" 

All in all, with over 50 spots, only 2 companies did anything that could be called "innovative". Let me be clear...I take my hat off to both companies for their efforts and I wag my (M.I.A. middle finger) at all the others for zzzzzzzz....boring, bland, safe and mediocre creative. That said, I'll also offer a little commentary on what worked/could have worked better.

The first was Coke's Polar Bowl, which apparently had two Andy Serkis characters covered in bulbs reacting live to the game itself and broadcasting themselves as two Polar Bears supporting the Pats and Giants respectively. Ordinarily that would be awesome to follow this live streaming, except for:

1. The scarf colors were ambiguous given both teams sort of wear the same colors
2. The site went down
3. It didn't work on iPad or iPhone, which imho, is how many people would be watching TV these days and especially at a party. I'm sure someone at Coke or their agencies will explain this to me...and I assume it would have worked on Android, but either way, I think it was a missed opportunity 

Next time, take into account how people typically watch TV in a multichannel multiscreen environment.

The second was the Shazam Bud Light integration during the Half Time show with Madonna. The idea was that you'd Shazam the new song by Madonna and then get to download the LMFAO remix. The challenges here were as follows:

• Shazam had to work over the noise of the party (it did)
• There were several steps that had to be followed e.g. verifying age, e-mail address and filling out marketing opt-in boxes (it is what it is)
• The disappointment of not being one of the first million as what happened to me...

Overall, the big winners here were Shazam and LMFAO/Madonna...both getting ridiculous downloads of app and track respectively. I feel Bud Light scored 1,000,000 kudos but fell short on anything from 1 disappointed customer (me) to countless many more millions of potential new customers and/or exisiting loyalists.

Next time don't use a cap and set a record for music downloads!!!

And that's about it from the Super Bowl that really was a Super Bust when it comes to creativity, originality and innovation.

See you next February. Go Giants!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Earned Beans (Marketing Podcast Panel)

Latest Beancast marketing podcast is up, where I join host Bob Knorpp, and panelists George Parker, Griffin Farley and Jeff Cutler to discuss the following topics:

• The Cannes P.R. Controversy with an Ad Agency (vs P.R. firm) winning the grand P.R. prize
• Branded Content versus Ads
• Monetizing Social Networks for Kids
• Mobile's effect on SEM
• Another year where online video fails to capture the Upfront wave

Download or listen here

Subscribe to this wonderful podcast series via iTunes here

Jaffe Juice #152 - Joel and Jaffe debate the life, death, afterlife and rebirth of the 30-second spot

Just in time for the Upfronts and perfectly timed with The Rapture, Mitch and I lock horns to debate the 30-second spot and all the sweeping generalizations surrounding its demise or resurrection.  

Listen to it LIVE (left click) or download it here (right click)

Subscribe to the show via iTunes here

JJTV #131 - J&J nails Channel Planning

From the JJTV vaults...an episode on the rise and role of channels within a video environment.

Johnson & Johnson did just that about 2 years ago when they created a health channel on YouTube that has over 2.5 million views to date.

Check it out here.

That may not seem like a lot (it's a rounding error from the perspective of paid media impressions), but it is when you think about the very specialized and specific, targeted content that is created within a B2B and/or a B2C space.

Most importantly, it's a demonstration of "marketing as a commitment" versus campaign in a Google-dominated long tail environment.

So congrats J&J. Keep the good work!

What do you think? Let me know.

• Share JJTV with your health profesional, colleagues, clients and followers
• Tweet or RT: New JJTV - Every brand should have a video channel; J&J shows you how...http://bit.ly/videochannelplanning
• Subscribe to the show via iTunes or YouTube
• Leave a video comment

JJTV #117 - Undercover Boss is really Undercover Brand

Undercover Boss speaks to the core idea of "Flip the Funnel" with respect to customer service, customer experience and the power of employees to serve their customers.

Yes, it's a giant "product placement" and yes, it's a little over the top and soppy at the best of times, BUT BUT BUT it also exposes the essence of the brand and isolates the unsung heroes that power the brand.

This program embodies the spirit and passion of the brand like no advertising could ever do.

This could never have come out via focus groups or communicated via advertising and could only have been done by putting the top at the bottom so to speak.

What do you think? Let me know.

• Share JJTV with your boss, your colleagues, clients and followers
• Tweet or RT: New JJTV - Undercover Boss is really Undercover Brand - http://bit.ly/undercoverbrand
• Subscribe to the show via iTunes or YouTube
• Leave a video comment

JJTV #109 - Old Spice in 3 minutes or less

Ladies look at your mouse. Now look at me. Now look at your mouse. Now here's a 3 minute succinct precise on the recent Old Spice 30-second conversation starter and social media activation.

All in all. Spicy. Very Spicy.

Key takeaway: We've become really good as social media as a campaign. Jury's still out at our ability to deliver social media as a commitment.

Spread the word:

• Share JJTV with your man, your colleagues, clients and followers
• Tweet or RT: New JJTV -We've become really good at delivering social media as a campaign. Final words on Old Spice - http://bit.ly/socialspice
• Subscribe to the show via iTunes or YouTube
• Leave a video comment

Jaffe Juice #140 - Chatting with Anheuser Busch about their World Cup activation in South Africa

I recently sat down with Andrew Sneyd and Mike Torres from Anheuser-Busch/ABInBev to chat about their 2010 World Cup activation in South Africa which launched under the banner of "Bud United" and included a reality-type program called Bud House, a Facebook profile/avatar face-painting application, mobile/fan-based Man of the March and much more.

Got a comment or question on this episode? I'm @jaffejuice on Twitter. Audio comments to +1 206 203-3255.

Direct download here

Tunes subscription here

Disclosure: I do some work with ABInBev, although I was not involved in any way on this particular program. I'm just a football fan.

Jaffe Juice #139 - Jaffe and Joel Part 6 on Life after the 30-second spot

Can you believe it's Mitch Joel who brings up the "Life after the 30-second spot" topic? It's a subject which is near and dear to my heart, but it's also one that I have some very informed and strong feelings about.

It's a fascinating conversation, which touches on the evoution and future of TV, the very definition of what is TV versus video for example and the critical distinction between content and commercials. There's also an interesting exchange at the end where I talk about Bud United/Bud House, where - even though Mitch says I'm shilling for one of my clients - I ask whether this is digital, social, video or TV advertising. Or not even advertising at all...

If you like these "debates" between Mitch and myself, look out for our tweets about upcoming shows or get alerts via my page on Talkshoe. What's great about listening live is that you can also call in live and we want to encourage more listeners to be active participants.

 Audio comments to +1 206 203-3255. Follow us on Twitter: @jaffejuice and @mitchjoel

Direct download here

Tunes subscription here

SxSW and how you can get on dot TV

We live in a world of retweeting (in the olden days it was called plagiarism - ha!) and so in that spirit, I'm going to pretty much cut 'n paste fellow Powerdista, Greg Verdino's post, based on it's eloquence, succinctness and my writer's block.

I'll add my 2c at the end...

Powered's newest client is VeriSign. You might know them as the company that doles out dot com or dot net domain names; sure you actually buy your domains from Go Daddy, Domain.com or wherever but it's VeriSign that handles the registries themselves.

So at SXSW this year, we'll be kicking off some interesting programs to raise awareness and registration of .tv domains. Video is hot and getting hotter, and .tv is the only logical domain choice for content creators who are serious about generating video programming, growing their viewing audience and building their video brand. Here are some of the things we're doing over the next few days to help you get started if you're new to video or get seen if you're already a video vixen.

southby.tv: First of all, you'll want to check out southby.tv. Whether or not you're at SXSW, it's a great place to get a look at some of the cool stuff happening in Austin -- shot by the real people who are in the thick of things. As we say on the site, southby.tv is a "living diary" showcasing video content from the insiders at the festival.  Which brings us to point #2 -- if you're at the event and have your video camera or phone in hand, your content can be part of the southby.tv line-up. Just hit the site, follow the submission instructions and your clips may be chosen by our curation crew.

Here's my contribution:

You can be the Next .tv Star: We're not just giving you a chance to have your SXSW clips appear on our site; we're giving you a chance to hit the weblebrity big leagues (eww, yes, I ready said weblebrity.) All over the event, we'll be shooting audition videos for anyone who wants a chance to win a cool prize package and a shot at being a correspondent for an upcoming Best of .tv web show. The prize includes an all expense paid trip to San Francisco where you'll spend the day backstage at Revision3 and get a private video production coaching session from Diggnation producer Dave Prager, one of the guys behind one of the web's most widely watched video series. And of course, you could become a Best of .tv correspondent...

Read on for more details about how you can audition in Austin over the next few days. Or visit southby.tv to submit an audition directly (and to learn all the rules and legal stuff, of course.)

The .tv Street Team: We'll have a team roaming the event, shooting audition videos for anyone who wants a shot at being the next .tv star and handing out must-have swag. Be on the lookout and make sure you say howdy (or whatever it is they really say in Texas...)

The Bigg Digg Shindigg: .tv is sponsoring Saturday night's Live Diggnation event (7pm at Stubbs BBQ). We'll have a big ol' tent where we'll be shooting auditions for the next .tv star and doing some other fun stuff, so be sure to check it out. If you can't be there, you can also watch the fun when the Diggnation episode hits iTunes.

Special Offers: And finally, to coincide with .tv's SXSW presence, we will have special offers for anyone looking for an excuse to get going with video. Check out the offers page on southby.tv for your shot at freebies and more.

I'm a proud dot teeveer with Jaffe Juice TV AKA jaffejuice.tv into the 80's (episodes) and bearing down quickly on my lethargic audio podcast's 130's. When I launched JaffeJuiceTV, it was really a no-brainer that this needed to be on .tv and that's why I registered it off the bat. For some reason, it's not that intuitive to everyone....but it *should* be.

Think about it for a moment: these days everyone is on video. Every single device has a camera (well except the iPad) built in and the easy of creating high quality video from a Flip Cam to a Web Cam is literally a red circle away.

My point is simple: register it now before somebody else does. Who know one day someone will come up to you and say, "don't I know you from dot teevee?" Hey, it could happen....

Donate your Beans here

Been a little slow on the draw to cross post my monthly stint on The BeanCast, so here is the direct download (which will download automatically if you are subscribed to Jaffe Juice - The New Marketing Podcast)

Topics covered on the show included:

• Haiti Text Messaging Campaign and Best Practices
• Conan versus Leno (Told ya!)
• IKEA's Easy to Assemble Web Video success
• Google leaves China
• Vanity Fair's Tweetheart Racism Kerfuffle

Guests on the show (including yours truly) included:

Bill Green, Publisher, Make The Logo Bigger and co-host of AdVerve

Joseph Jaffe, Chief Interrupter, Powered (Find out about Joe's podcasts, video content and auction of a keynote for Haiti at JaffeJuice.com)

Åsk Wäppling, CEO, Adland.tv

Dave Wilkie, Blogger/Copywriter, Hire Dave at GreenHammock.com and read his blog Where's My Jetpack? (Like to read, or better yet publish, Dave's first novel? Find out more at Random Scratch)