Jaffe Juice

Andy Dufrane’s got nothin’ on Eddie Scrap-Iron Dupris

OK, how many of you knew Morgan Freeman had a production house? And how many of you knew that he’s formed a new company – a partnership with Intel – called ClickStar that will allow consumers to watch movies online before they come out on DVD.

This announcement underscores the continued acceleration from cradle to grave of content i.e. from the initial movie release through the DVD, VOD and Web releases. Except of course this puts the Web before the actual DVD release.

It’s going to piss off plenty of people (which is both an alliteration and awesome) including the Movie studios, the DVD industry and of course MovieLink and CinemaNow.

But so what…it’s just the inevitable force of change and it’s somewhat ironic that it take an actor (as opposed to the studios for example) to capitalize on it.

P.S. MF, Surely you can do better than “ClickStar” – sounds like a kiosk to toss your pennies into, not a proprietary way to distribute move content.

Battle for the HeArt recap - Chicago

Last night, The Battle for the HeArt kicked off in Chicago.

Uber Creative, ECD and Group Creative Director at DDB, Paul Tilley, keynoted and spoke on a "new definition of creativity"

He noted 3 primary new definitions of creativity are needed:

1) One which moved from interrupting/intruding in people's lives to one which becomes part of their lives. From cause marketing efforts to experiential plays. He gave Office Max's Rubber Band Man as an example of a brand/campaign which began advertising on the Today Show, but ended up being on the today show...as part of its editorial/content.

2) The need to move beyond "ads" - take the redesign of McDonalds uniforms for example. This is where new marketing comes into play and where brands really are limitless in their communication touchpoints e.g. Rainier Beer

3) The need to change the very structure of creative teams (Bernbach created the copywriter + art director combo)...or at least to have additional people in the room. This speaks to the idea that creativity can come from anyone and anywhere.

After my presentation, we had a lively discussion on 2 of the 5 town hall topics:

1) ROI or Die. The reconciliation between the art of persuasion with the science of results

2) The role clients play in terms of enabling agencies to take risks, come up with big ideas, and ultimately rewarding them.

The next shows are in Minneapolis (7/14), LA (7/19), San Fran (7/20), Dallas (7/25) and NYC (7/27) and you can register here.

Happy Birthday Amazon.com

It's unbelievable to think of a retailing giant like Amazon.com as being only 10 years old.

Like a beacon or proxy of change, here you have one company that has literally not only changed the book business, but indeed has transformed re or e-taining as well.

The degree of sophistication, personalization and customization that takes place, on a bed of rich data is only just now starting to demonstrate its profound impact and value and in Bezos, you have a retailing pioneer that John Wanamaker would be proud to share a beer with.

Between Google, eBay and Amazon, you have - what I call - the prime trinity of the Web. 3 powerful companies; 3 powerful brands.

That being said....a sobering note of caution. Amazon needs to figure out a way to maintain an element of "humanness" (as opposed to humanity) It is exceptionally difficult to get hold of a human. Ever. There is very little personal contact and even the customer service in the form of the standard 24-hour autoresponder (which typically never answers the question)

Jeff - you're a legend. In the first 10 years you reinvented the selection and shopping processes. You've always been consumer-centric and done a great job at making the shopping experience pleasurable (from 1 click to Amazon Theatre) Now, as you enter your teens...I look to you to lead once again. This time reinvent CRM, customer service and show how humanity and web activity need not be mutually exclusive.

Cinderella with a twist – the fairy godmother turns a chariot into a pumpkin

AMC – frustrated no doubt that more consumers are not turning out in droves to overpay for popcorn, and more specifically that a good movie like Cinderella Man isn’t doing better at the box(ing – sorry couldn’t resist the Russell Crowe “Jab” – oops, I did it again) office, decided to offer a money back guarantee to consumers.

And since then, an additional theatre chain has decided to join in…

Calling all (Chicago) Creatives!

I'm in Chicago this week (so slower to blog :( ) for the launch of year 2 of my "Battle for the HeArt" Creative Roadshow - an event designed to restore order and balance to a business seemingly dominated by left brain thinking nowadays.

It's tomorrow (Thursday), July 7th, at the W Lakeshore from 5-9pm and you can request an invite here. Next week we're in Minny.

All you have to do is to give a damn about creativity to be here and to be counted. You needn't be a creative or even have to have the word creative in your title...you just have to care about the importance of creativity in advertising and/or want a free copy of Life after the 30-second spot!

Hope to see you there. Rage on.

The GM Limbo: how low can you go?

Credit where credit is due. General Motors “led” and the rest of Detroit followed. That counts for something these days. GM shaved the flesh off their bare bones and one Lindsay Lohan month later, they’ve had record sales for the month of June – 47% growth versus DCX’s 5.2% and Ford's 1.4%.

The result? Daimler-Chrysler and Ford plunge head first into the bottomless pit by offering similar deep-discounts, albeit with different fancy names like Employee Purchase Plus so that consumers can tell one desperate marketer from the other.

Today’s question ‘o the day will be who’s laughing last and loudest? GM or the invasion of Japanese manufacturers that are no doubt reaping immense satisfaction from watching Detroit implode.

Is it surprising that consumers flocked en masse to take advantage of this seemingly unsustainable offer (GM are extending through August 1)? Hardly. It’s a no brainer really. The real keys are as follows:

1)    how much longer can this be kept up?

2)    What will happen in 3+ years time when these same consumers are back in the market?

3)    How many true impulse purchases did this promotion really capture? It’s one thing to capture a piece of the pie that was currently in play…especially at the hands of their competitors; it’s another thing altogether to build incremental business through growing the category – even if this expansion is temporary

In keeping with today’s empowered, connected, intelligent and “one step ahead of the curve” consumer…the gig is up. The expectation is now firmly set that the “price” of entry has been fixed at employee levels. And once the bar has been “lowered”, it’s a tough act to emulate, deviate from and maintain.

Worse still, consumers now know that auto manufacturers can afford to price their cars so low and this kind of transparency will prove to be a challenge down the line.

P.S. If the promotion was so good, why the need to extend it? :)

Live 8 – A Watershed moment for the Watercooler

I’m not sure how many people caught this, but during this weekend’s Live 8 Global Extravaganza (a great communal experience, with a strong cause-marketing foundation), we witnessed arguably a major turning point in the world of media where old and new crossed paths – albeit in different directions.

ABC’s 2-hour highlight reel (you would think ABC would have learnt a thing or two from NBC’s repeated Olympics delayed drivel coverage) on Saturday night yawned in an average 2.9 million viewers. AOL on the other hand (AOLmusic.com) pulled in 5 million viewers throughout the day.

I don’t think there’s ever been a more similar apples-to-apple moment where these two mediums have been side by side as a demonstration of flexibility, consumer engagement and yes…even their ability to amass an audience.

No doubt, VOD can and will play a major role in terms of providing additional depth and versatility to the networks, but until that day, AOL took advantage of the true global power of the Web to not only provide current footage…but no doubt will continue to deliver on-demand through their archives of the landmark event.

Mobile Magistry

2 pieces of interrelated news behind this post:

1) The launch of iTunes 4.9 w/Podcasting

2) Lexus’ sponsorship of a 26-week, exclusive deal with NPR-affiliate KCRW's podcasting offering.

According to Ad Age, 22 million Americans now have MP3 players (read: iPods) which is hardly a niche audience anymore. The iPod (which is to MP3 players what TiVo is to DVR’s) is as mobile and accessible as a cellphone and for that reason alone, is arguably the one “medium” that is constantly with a consumer – and often in the hardest to “reach” places i.e. on the road, in the air, under the ground etc.

Many feel that iPods are as much a threat to terrestrial radio as is Satellite Radio, but in Podcasting, we might just be witnessing the kind of shot in the arm for radio as is being witnesses with video on the Web (with respect to complementing/supplementing traditional television commercials)

The third screen has become synonymous with mobile phones, but the third location (other than work and home) is the MP3 device, capable of transcending any media obstacle or cacophony of advertising clutter. So how then should advertising have a place in this new value proposition? For three reasons:

CGC Cingular Style

As reported in Adweek’s IQ Briefing, Cingular Wireless will soon launch a campaign that encourages consumers to use their camera phones to submit photos via MMS of Cingular's advertising theme (the inherited 5-bar one from AT&T).

Photographer Robert Clark will pick 5 finalists and then consumers will then vote on the best submissions via text messaging. Also the best submissions will be incorporated into subsequent Cingular advertising/messaging.

With Lubars’ tentacles notably hovering close by, this is yet another example of supreme new marketing at its best – and a strong demonstration of horizontal integration (for anyone unfortunate enough to have heard me speak on true integration in the past few months)

As a Cingular customer myself, I'm proud to see them deploying this kind of higher intelligence effort.

Value is Subjective

There's something really sweet about a perfect market economy...or at least one created in the space hallmarked by eBay.

hanka3153 for example, might turn up his or her nose at paying $4 for a Grande Frappucinno at Starbucks. But when it comes to having lunch with Berkshire Hathaway's Warren Buffett, $351,100 turned out to be the winning bid and the rate that the market determined was fair and equitable.

The proceeds of the auction on eBay go to charity...but underneath it all, is a a stern lesson to all the marketers and advertising practitioners out there who fall victim to continous discounts, sales and undercutting the competition: consumers will pay a premium for value - especially with there is an experience which comes along for the ride.

And even deeper down...you'll find some invaluable insights which could even help the world of advertising.