Jaffe Juice

Is this thing on???

Man, you'd think it was enough that I had to work with Chris Thilk over at AdJab all the time, and now I've gotta follow this...

As you've probably heard by now, I'm Tom Biro, and will be carousing with you JJ readers, commenters, lurkers, and other unsavory types while Mr. Jaffe has a blast way beyond the equator from points here in the Northeastern U.S. While he might be missing out on the snowstorms followed by 50-degree days (that's Fahrenheit if you're counting at home), you all won't be missing out on marketing and new media discussions that you've surely come to know and love by hanging out here. Hopefully, we'll be able to whet your collective appetite with our ability to cover such topics on a regular basis, or at least sound like we know what we're talking about.

So feel free to keep us posted on anything you find of interest, and we'll be sure and not burn down the place while Joe's gone. I see how it is, he gets to go ride ostriches with the tourists and pronounce "zebra" as "ZEB-ra," and we get stuck here in the States. But really, we're excited to be here, and hope that you'll have just as good a time as you normally do, even though we don't have books currently running around on best-seller lists.

Big room...

Ted Striker: concentrate... concentrate... I've got to concentrate... concentrate... concentrate... Hello?... hello... hello... Echo... echo... echo... Pinch hitting for Pedro Borbon... Manny Mota... Mota... Mota...

That's me, pinch hitting for Joe Jaffe while he takes what is likely a much needed break.  For those of you who don't already know me my name is Chris Thilk.  As Joe mentioned both Tom Biro, who I write for/with on AdJab and who is just so unbelievably cooler than me, and l will be doing what I can to run Jaffe Juice into the ground in his absence.

To address something Joe said, I don't think of AdJab and Jaffe Juice as being in competition.  That's the beauty of this whole internet/blog/citizen media thing.  We're not competitors, we're partners.  AdJab, adfreak, AdRants, Jaffe Juice...it's all a community.  We get story ideas, business ideas and just general knowledge from each other.  It's like a neighborhood.  And when a neighbor goes on vacation the least we can do is bring in the mail and make sure the garbage is at the curb when the truck comes.  That's what I'm doing here: taking out the garbage. 

I hope you enjoy, and thanks to Joe for inviting me to fill in here.  I can only assume the email was sent after he received some sort of severe head trauma but I'll take it.

--Chris Thilk

Your 15-posts of fame

(stream of consciousness follows) Much ado about blogging this week with a New York Magazine article that goes underneath the covers to reveal what makes the blogosphere tick and the sinister underbelly of the elitist bourgeoisie (not really, but I am trying to use the word, "underbelly" as often as I can during the month of February)

I haven't read it yet...and I'm not sure I will get to it. It's all quite boring and even juvenile to me. I'm so disinterested with the whole debate about A-listers, blogger have and have-nots. I don't need Jaffe Juice to be considered anything other than a trusted and respected resource with high value content.

Steve Rubel reminds us the following:

1) There are bloggers that can come out of nowhere and join the so-called elite group of top-ranked bloggers. Look at TechCrunch. It is rapidly rising up the charts.

2) A blogger with two readers can become a reader with thousands in an instant and then fall back down to zero and then back to thousands again two months from now - or never again. Does that mean he/she is unimportant? Not.

3) Finally, this so-called A-list changes constantly.

I would also add another 2 points.

4) One person's A-lister is another person's Geek Patrol. It's all relative...

5) ...and besides, let everyone enjoy their 15-seconds, 15-minutes or 15-posts of fame. It's called first mover advantage and in every medium known to man or woman, there are typically a few larger publishing organization that monopolize the presses and ad rates...

...wait a second, isn't that exactly what the blogosphere isn't supposed to be? Could it be that the blogosphere is not that different to the rest of the world? Could it be that the podosphere will ultimately emulate the blogosphere, which in turn mimicked the periodical world, in which New York magazine lives? Is the circle finally complete?

Perhaps and perhaps not. Gawker rules in its domain. But will it control the world? Or at least the blogosphere? The tyranny of line extension and diversification teaches us to be exceptionally good at a finite and focused amount of competancies and to avoid losing focus from that which powers us to be differentiated and coveted.

Every blogger deserves their celeb status and let them revel in it (for it may indeed prove to be fleeting) To be sure, during this time they will be excessively targeted in attempts to depose, discredit and criticize them. That's just the nature of the beast, the conversation and the access.

All I can say is pity the fool (thanks Mr T) that underestimates the blogosphere in general - the A, B, C - Z list inclusive.

The articles will come and the articles will go, but the blogosphere will continue to grow...and above all, the entire community itself will prevail as an A-list unto itself.

PS The same thread will play itself out in the podosphere in weeks, months and years to come. Like Yogi said, "deja vu all over again"

PPS To any blogger looking to move up the rankings, grow their audience and climb the list, I would just say....be true to yourself; focus on your content and be patient. Stay the course. Who knows...you might be on the cover of New York magazine one day; or you might purchase a copy of New York magazine one day; or you might use a copy of New York magazine to wipe your ass because you've run out of $100 bills.

Why elephants and rooftops don't mix

Via adland, this post about a brand new media agency that has popped up to better serve our obese ad budgets. They're called RooFShout and their mission in life is to help you rise above the clutter...at least until you hit the Penthouse.

"...I figure there's a lot of blank roofs and a lot of advertising that could go on the roofs," waxes RooFShout's man with a plan, Colin Fitz-Gerald.

Piers Fawkes and myself discussed this phenomenon at length on ATS #19. While I do think there are opportunities (some signficant) in the roofvertising space, they will be exceptions rather than the norm. Furthermore, from a scaleability perspective, gazing out your aircraft window isn't going to cut it...Google Maps/Earth is going to play an important role, but the million $$$ question will lie in how often (as in recency) these maps are updated.

In the case of the wonderful Fiat campaign for example, a bunch of Fiats and a Ferrari were buried underneath the snow in Torino. Only problem was that when I searched...the ground looked very green.

Blog Swap

I'm not the first blogger to have another blogger step in for them when they're out for an extended period of time...but I do think this particular blog swap is - if nothing else - original.

Ad Jab Messrs, Tom Biro and Chris Thilk (who have overdosed on Jaffe Juice way too often for comfort), will be using and abusing the editorial conch in my absence.

It's kind of cool insofar that AdJab and Jaffe Juice could be seen as "competitive" (just like AdRants, but that didn't stop Steve and I co-hosting Across the Sound , now did it?), but in reality I think exemplifies the collaborative culture (and the currency of links) of the blogosphere and citizen journalism in general.

Anyway, hope you enjoy the houseguests. If they happen to get out of control, throw any raucous parties and whip out the weed, then they're obviously doing their jobs :)

I'll be periodically checking in from Internet Cafes in beautiful Cape Town, most likely juiced on Red Bull or Espresso at some ungodly hour.

Later...

A 3-course meal of advertising health/wellness

Your daily immune boost:

1) Appetizer: NYTimes article on the Maestro, Bob G and the health of the 30-second spot (I have 22 years to work on my cover story piece)

2) Entree: Really nice campaign for Pharmaca (an expanding chain of "Integrative Pharmacies") called Cubicle Cooties (a real hopeful message to any client that big budget and big ideas are not one and the same)

3) Dessert: More on Verizon Wireless' John Stratton - his 8 points towards advertising and agency health/wellness (consider replacing "Life long and prosper" with a V for V-cast)

Creativity. Technology. Productivity

It's not rocket science, it's just common sense. In the midst of the perfect storm, the eye in which calm, clarity and resonance prevails is in the one true differentiator that we still have some ability to influence, mould and nurture: CREATIVITY.

Here is a commentary piece from Randall Rothenberg, reporting back from the World Economic Forum. In his article, he offers up 6 takeaways:

1. (my words) The democratization of content creation and distribution - in other words, anyone can be creative (at a fraction of the cost!)
2. (in Rubel's words) "we, the media" - in other words, individuals control their media
3. Whatever creativity is, its essence is more important in marketing and media now than ever.
4. Mobile social networking is the next big thing
5. The “long tail” is making vast new forms of business possible. To this end, I would ask you to consider the concept of "the long tail of advertising"
6. The physical world still matters -- especially as a validator

Rothenberg cites BBDO Worldwide President-CEO, Andrew Robertson who says:

Robertson noted that the Meow Mix Co. now makes $1.2 million per year selling cellphone ring tones. He told the crowd, “My dream is that that’s how we’ll get paid.”

Assuming the BBDO's are capable of coming up with a different result from a different work product, through a different process and a different way to work, his dream might very well come true.

BBDO is no longer a TV shop

They're now officially a print and OOH shop (huh?) I guess that's kind of good news.

Here are 3 examples of some really terrific work from them for FEDEX and AQUAFINA (it's bubble wrap in case it isn't clear)

Via AdBlather and Adverblog

Congrats to RocketBoom

Congrats to Amanda and Rocket Boom. TRM Corporation was the winner of RB's eBay ad auction at a bargain $40,000 for...

For the highest bidder, we will create five original, fifteen second (minimum) - one minute (maximum) post-roll commercials that will span five days of programming, Monday-Friday, March 6 through March 10, 2006. Each day that week a different commercial that we create for your company will be played at the conclusion of the Rocketboom episode.

It's momentous and unprecedented...both in terms of the act itself, but also in terms of the production component, which is agency-free.

Hmmm....Across the Sound Ad Auction on eBay. Reserve price = 2 x Yankee Tickets.

Do you remember where you were when TV jumped the shark?

The Upfront and the Super Bowl are the undisputed beacons/proxies of TV advertising's relative health. I vaguely recall predicting that the shark had been jumped for TV in 2005 (the upfront was flat) and Super Bowl XL.

However, at $2.5 or $2.6 million for a 30-second spot this year, I was proven wrong (which doesn't make me wrong, it just makes people more desperate)

Fear not, I might have been on the 'er, money after all.

This week's Ad Age (look out for the article online or purchase a copy) airs the dirty laundry that this year's XL shrunk in the wash and was in fact inbetween sizes M and L.

• The reality is that discounts ran up to 40% and a number of spots were snapped up the actual weekend of the Super Bowl.
• In addition, the family-affair of Disney and ESPN (the parent and sibling companies of ABC) accounted for 3 1/2 minutes of commercials, making them the second largest advertiser on the day.
• 5 spots (compared to 1 from last year) repurposed existing creative

The net net(work) was that the $2.5-6 tag was in fact closer to around $2.3-4, with some bargain basement pricing in the region of $1 million. That puts XL on a par with XXXIV.com

Consider the likely scenario of a Bud-less (as in less, as opposed to none) Super Bowl next year. I don't know about you, but it might be time for a couple of premature Hail Mary's from the old Network playbook...