Jaffe Juice

Elementary my dear Honda

Great campaign for Honda's Element which really hits a number of new marketing buttons on the ole category radar.

It has touches of Monty Python mixed with a novel approach which not only humanizes the brand (in an endearing way), but also communicates the various proof points in a subtle and acceptable manner.

Elements (pun not intended) of the TV campaign are embedded to the dialogue, not that I would know it..as I don't watch TV commercials (are you shocked?)

What I want to know is what happens once I've engaged all the animals? I was a little stumped after I had walked, talked, sang and danced with the animals. Perhaps someone at RPA can fill me in?

Good stuff.

Coming of Ad Age

Download jj_coming_of_ad_age.mp3

Ad Age is raked through the coals today by none other than one of its own, Rance Crain - it's editor in chief.

The issue in question is a fake cover for SpecificMEDIA, which appeared on a copy of Ad Age distributed to about 1,000 attendees at @d:tech in New York. The cover in question contained an interview and no doubt various self-serving and I'm sure less-serious verbiage about SpecificMEDIA (second mention in post...PR coup no doubt!)

While you might think I'm going to jump on the bandwagon, I'm not. What's the big deal? Are we calling @d:tech attendees dumb? (Let me get back to you on that one :)) Was the circulation not controlled and in context? Was this not a different way to break through, compared to the usual page or spread or Infinity 22-page buy out? Could there not have been an integrated sponsorship in place by SpecificMEDIA at the event?

Look...if you think this is bad. I'll tell you what BAD is. I saw a copy of the New York Times (another MSM outlet with hard-won credibility) with a fake cover and headline announcing that this Fall, there will be a female President in the White House. This was obviously for ABC...and distributed at Grand Central to a WIDE and UNCONTROLLED audience.

I don't know about you, but perhaps this is a tempest in a teapot. We all know that editorial and sales don't talk to each other (read: hate each other), so what's the biggie? Publishers aren't integrated. Agencies aren't integrated. Marketers aren't integrated. Let's all be held accountable to the same low standards...hey it works for television ratings?

In all seriousness, it does underscore the tremendous pains that the print industry is currently undergoing and to quote Rance in his article, acknowledging the increasing role and influence of the blogosphere:

Not with cyberspace cops on the case, we discovered to our deep chagrin.

Welcome to the conversation!

Arrest the Developers

Here's the skinny on arguably one of the best shows on TV that - unless something dramatic happens - will have it final curtain call at the end of the year: Arrested Development.

It's yet another example of network stupidity i.e. using flawed viewer metrics that measure potential quantity exposure as opposed to actual quality engagement.

Bob Garfield says 50% of the population are dumber than the other half (it's a statistical fact) I think in this case, both halves should be given an equal opportunity to enjoy this superb show.

It's a real confusing predicament: how can a show that is so loved by such as passionate audience...with univeral critic approval...fall into the graveyard along with other cult/fan faves like Sports Night, Once and Again and The Family Guy (it was resurrected)?

Rather than vent, I'm going to offer up 4 solutions (Mitch Hurwitz - creator of AD - if you're reading this...or if not, someone pass this onto him - call me!):

1. Use the web/blosophere to sign up the largest petition of hand-raisers to date. Let's take this vote of confidence to the network

2. Sell this to NBC. NBC needs the most help...and this show (with the right promotion) is a perfect contender (no pun intended) for Thursday night in Primo Timo.

3. Go direct to consumer. Put this online on iTunes and get your audience to vote with their dollars. They will. If you like, you can even use a combination of advance selling, combined with an honor system to help fund your efforts. I think this is the big idea of the 3 thus far...

4. One more solution for the network(s). Give your audience an opportunity to vote for one show per season that will be kept on the air - IRRESPECTIVE. Will one strategic "investment" per season break your backs? I think not...it might even surprise you.

Lost Remote weighs in with valuable commentary

Steve Jobs reads Life after the 30-second spot

Great piece (Chris Seibold, Digg) which talks about Apple's possible shift in their advertising strategy from "telling" to "showing" i.e. invoking one of my 3 new roles for advertising: to demonstrate.

Can we expect to see more demo style commercials from Apple? One would think after eight years building the brand it might be an opportune moment to show folks how the products actually function. Hopefully, Apple is headed in the direction of giving people visual cues as to what their products actually do. Such a change can’t do anything but decrease confusion.

Best use of 30-seconds Award

Forget the Burger King spoof video, this is the real deal.

I won't tell you more, except to say this is probably the only time 30-seconds makes sense...except that you still would be hard pressed to get away with something like this on TV.

Watch away!

Smart Marketing...Stupid Car

Posted by Adverblog and reported in MediaPost: CBS will put a bonus scene from CSI Miami online, with a plot twist that will only be revealed to viewers later in the season. The scene in question will be sponsored by GM's Hummer and the overgrown tank will also appear in the scene in question.

It's a pretty cool twist on branded entertainment, where the product placement in question is not part of the core of the content, but rather a bonus piece.

Now if only they could do something about that ridiculously out of place vehicle...

Housekeeping: Feedburner + Feedblitz + Podcast

Just a reminder, if you haven't switched over your RSS feed to Feedburner, please do so and use: http://feeds.feedburner.com/JaffeJuice

I'd also recommend subscribing to the Feedblitz daily e-mail digest. It's reliable and right now, contains the entire post. Think of it as Jaffe Juice to-go! You can subscribe in the right hand column.

One other thing...I'm working towards launching a Jaffe Juice podcast in 2006. For now, you can subscribe in iTunes or using the same Feedburner feed in your podcatcher. I'll be periodically posting to this - especially from the road. So for now, it's kinda underground. Your suggestions are most welcome and appreciated in terms of shaping what this will look and sound like.

UNM2PNM - Week 3 Kick-off

Week 2 ended off strongly. Here's the full summary, plus an update from Friday thru Sunday:

Audio Futures: Bearish on Radio; Bullish on Podcasting

(snip) Mommycast Podcast picks up Dixie and Emo Girl Talk, hosted by 15-year old Martina Butler has picked up Nature's Cure as a lead sponsor.

(snip) Radio Listeners fall to an all time low.

(snip) According to Bridge Ratings/eMarketer, 5 million people downloaded podcasts (or will) in 2005, compared to 820,000 in 2004. This number is expected to hit 63 million in 2010

Has Burger King lost the plot?

Burger King's irreverent and edgy approach has soared to a new level, with the sponsorship of a collection of iPod video content, distributed through Heavy. Click here to view the downloads and here to view the "unauthorized" (yeah, right) Crying Game meets Consumer Generated Content creation (it's called "Webcam Stripper")

According to Ad Age, this has been one of the most viral clips ever shown on Heavy, with over 4.1 million downloads since November 1st.

I don't believe the Webcam Stripper clip was unauthorized at all. 2 scenarios - either BK sanctioned it under the covers...or Crispin did it with a don't-ask-don't-tell approach. Either way, there's no denying the reality that "The King" has stepped boldly and rather credibly into the foreground of our pop-cultural consciousness. 4.1 million downloads represents as mainstream as you get in this fragmented world.

So does it help sell Chicken Burgers? BK Big Fish perhaps (sorry, terrible I know...but I couldn't resist), but I'm not sure what else...

Let's go to the free iPod videos. I watched a couple and they are essentially spoofs of Target's Wake-Up-Call promotion, a Harold and Kumar meets Punk'd McDonalds jibe, etc. They left me feeling a bit confused. Were they created by Burger King or just sponsored?

The iPod Video penetration is virtually non-existent, however any of these movies can be watched on iTunes.

So what's going on here?

On the surface, there's the media 101 strategy of connecting with the younger, male-skewed game-playing demographic. Heavy is an obvious choice. iPod videos is an obvious approach. The coolness association is a no-brainer.

But I think the real story was always the PR one. Both the fact that BK was sponsoring these downloads, and ultimately the "racy" viral video, which I think was always the prize in this quest.

Whether you understand it or not...whether you are skeptical or not...whether you care or not...whether this sold burgers or not...the fact remains there are things happening here that 99.9% of us probably don't best understand or "get" yet. There is experimentation, risk taking, adoption of alternative and non-traditional approaches and yes, time will tell whether this is Regal Genius in the making or a fast track to an agency review.

Place your bets.