Local Virgins Rule

Ok so for those of you that clicked on a rss feed because of just the title I apologise for the provocative advertising :)

But....this is a topic that i feel really strongly about. Check out these photos





































































So this is a local bus shelter near my apartment that Virgin are sending a direct 'personal' message to the local Upper East Side residents (I also saw a similar massive billboard for the LWS when I was out on the weekend but I didn't have my camera).

How much more do you think it cost them to implement this localised marketing campaign? 10% 20% maybe?

How much higher do you think the response rates are? And even if they didn't get a direct call to action (eg I cant swap to virgin because I require data on my cell not just voice so I'm not a target candidate) did this type of localised advertising catch my attention hell yeh.

Who else reading this blog post that has run a localised campaign? email me to let me know what it was and your thoughts.


Cheers,
Dean
P.S. You might also like to check out this post I made ages ago about a great VW campaign here in NYC http://deancollinsblog.blogspot.com/2006/08/good-advertising-made-great.html

Innovative TV?

I just dont get why cable networks are so reluctant to experiment.

I mean sure we see a little 'innovation' here are there like running the same movie 3 nights in a row so if you miss it no probs on tomorrow or 'marathons' like how Big Love returns this Monday night so they are showing the entire first series this weekend (definitely worth watching if you haven't stumbled across it yet).

But apart from this there isn't really much alternative out of the box thinking.

For example - there are some fantastic dvd commentaries that rock and played on a surround system in 5.1 would allow me to listen to them on the rear speakers while the regular dialoge is played through the front.

Or even better set up shows with alternate voices - like the Sparticus stage show.

I’m assuming it’s something to do with license and not editing the content but if you are 'in the biz' and know that it's not drop me an email as I have a ton of ideas to push the envelope on this.


Cheers,
Dean

Marketing Borders No Longer Exist.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/trouble-brews-over-paris-clip/2007/06/06/1181089150893.html

Hellooooo - I just don't get why people still don't get the Internet.

Your customers now consume products and services on a borderless basis via the Internet. Yet companies continue to think within borders.

I don't understand what is going to bring about the paradigm shift that makes companies aware of their very extensive rights/new capabilities.

For example I was talking with a client this week explaining that although they currently sell a hardware solution today that once they offer their product in an entirely software solution that they should split off the IP and incorporate outside of the USA (Read after me - this is not a taxation issue - they will catch you - do not try) but for credit card processing delivered software, certain jurisdictions offer far better and more favourable rates for doing business. You will still pay tax but you pay it when you remediate the income back into the country.

Where the servers/processing/software IP ownership rights are housed is totally up to you.

So getting back to Mr Singleton and his BondieBlonde beer. Ahmm if you sell a case of beer in Panama - and they have no restrictions on advertising beer in Panama and you host your seductive commercial on YouTube (eg outside Australia) then I'd be telling the 'mormon community standards board' where to go.


Cheers,
Dean

Johnny Cash owns Trent Reznor

Johnny Cash did a stark cover of the NIN song "Hurt" with a striking video.
In the video shot in his home in Hendersonville, Tennessee, the 71-year old Cash appears very fragile with no makeup and no attempt to make him look younger. Trent Reznor was so impressed by Cash's take on his song & quite moved by the video to the point where he said he no longer 'owns' this song...
http://www.rollingstone.com/johnnycash/trentreznor


Cheers,
Dean
P.S. I'm almost afraid to downplay this by posting here but check out the kermit version :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVYTabWaSHI

Powerful Acts

I came across this photo a few years ago and at the time I thought - yeh ok and never really thought about it again.

I dont know maybe wiser/older/whatever when I look at this photo now I go - wow.

How much self control would something like that take? Who among us really could say that we have conviction enough to do something like this.

Suicide is dumb and I'm sure he could have come up with a better idea on how to effect the religious freedom of his country some other way....however you still have to look at this as an example of pure self control and go wow.

http://worldsfamousphotos.com/burning-monk-the-self-immolation-1963.html

June 11, 1963, Thich Quang Duc, a Buddhist monk from Vietnam, burned himself to death at a busy intersection in downtown Saigon to bring attention to the repressive policies of the Catholic Diem regime that controlled the South Vietnamese government at the time. Buddhist monks asked the regime to lift its ban on flying the traditional Buddhist flag, to grant Buddhism the same rights as Catholicism, to stop detaining Buddhists and to give Buddhist monks and nuns the right to practice and spread their religion.
While burning Thich Quang Duc never moved a muscle.

Photographer: Malcolm Browne

I currently have this as my desktop background photo this week as a reminder that playing on the court takes real effort and most of what we do each day is pretty much just floating along.


Cheers,
Dean
P.S. I warn you going through all of them is a little tough but you check out other photos of the year at this link.
http://www.worldpressphoto.org/index.php?option=com_photogallery&task=blogsection&id=15&Itemid=115&bandwidth=high

YouTube Factoid

I read in an article in Red Herring this morning that You Tube made Google $15m in sales last year (which at a $1.65b purchase price was 100 times revenue).

Now admittedly this is gross sales, so not taking into account salaries, bandwidth, server costs etc BUT at $15m dollars of sales and they haven't really swung into action yet - that's not a bad start.


Cheers,
Dean

AMP'd Mobile files for Chapter 11

Awww Crap;

http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/02/ampd-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy/

Now everyone is going to trot out platitudes that MVNO's dont work and that mobile carriers shouldn't be getting into content or providing all you can eat services and other non-innovative junk like that.

I'm not an AMP'd user (I have to use GSM because of the amount of international travel I do) but I can certainly say I appreciate the amount of effort they have been putting into content deals and bringing out all you can eat services that are outside the box.

Hopefully this is just a temporary measure - otherwise we are going to be stuck in the dark ages of 'beige' mobile plans forever.


Cheers,
Dean
P.S. I just came across Om Maliks post on this - http://gigaom.com/2007/06/02/ampd-bankruptcy/ a very different take to my own views.

Banned Venezuelan TV Stations Keeps Broadcasting... On YouTube

Great article here about whats going on in Venezuela with the government seizure of the national broadcaster network.

http://www.10zenmonkeys.com/2007/05/31/venezuela-dispatch-from-a-surrealist-autocracy/
"As the world now knows, Chavez shut down Venezuela’s respected 53-year-old TV station RCTV, accusing it of “subversive activities.” Out in the streets of Caracas, and in many other cities, people have been taking to the street".

What was really interesting however was this sentence further down.

"Meanwhile, a YouTube channel, created by the news crew of RCTV, continues to post news content, including footage of protests that no other TV channel here is showing. It has had more than 71,000 views in just two days — an enormous number when you consider that Internet penetration here is below 15%. As of this writing, it is number two on YouTube’s “Channels” listing for new subscribers".

It will be interesting to see how Chavez goes about blocking YouTube at the ISP's which I'm sure is going to follow soon. I guess technology has always been used in 'subversive' ways and this is no different but it will be interesting to see how long this can continue - would it be possible to run a 'cable tv network' just on donations alone (I assume the advertisers/sponsors would have to stop supporting the channel).

How long can you survive via Paypal or similar (hasn't the PLA been run on Western Union payments for the last 15 years?).

Like all dictatorships you can have good and bad effects- just look at Singapore and Malaysia as a text book example - one booming economy with no natural resources, no real land mass and starting from way behind the 8 ball in comparison to it's northern neighbour which is now full of sycophants and cronyism.

Life goes on...right Mr Bush?


Cheers,
Dean

Verizon Woos Prince

I was going to make this a commerce free day but I just stumbled upon this article....very very interesting - is that ice I hear cracking under the feet of the labels? Ooops there it goes we just lost the RIAA.

http://www.wirelessweek.com/article.aspx?id=148624
Verizon Wireless is connecting the dots in mobile music with today's announcement of an exclusive arrangement with Prince. In the industry's first artist-direct-to-mobile-music relationship, Verizon is teaming with the iconic performer to revolutionize music discovery and download by exclusively releasing his new single "Guitar". (Click Here for video). The single is from his forthcoming album "Planet Earth," which will not be released until July.


Cheers,
Dean

Coloured Water

Happy Friday everyone - have a great weekend. Something experiential to send you on your way, I stumbled across these during the week and think they are fantastic - I dont know much about the artist but it looks like he licenses prints so go to town.
http://www.pbase.com/fotoopa/water_figures_2007


Cheers,
Dean