I don't really know if this is all that earth shattering. It's really common sense. Just because you can get something easier (i.e. faster) does not mean you are more likely to want to pay for it. Quality is quality no matter how you pull it in. So we should all stop with the "Just wait till broadband has higher penetration" or the "we can make more money off broadband" excuses for not being more creative with our content.
Tom Hespos deals with this topic in his OnlineSpin article.
And a new Forrester study covers this too as reported in eMarketer
Value of Online Content Not Related to Bandwidth
Greater bandwidth on the PC and the mobile phone will open up greater opportunities for content providers, but it would be perilous to look at broadband as the panacea for online content. Bad content is no more interesting, just because we can see it in moving pictures. Internet users will pay for quality content and services that are unique, have few free alternatives and are tailored to particular users and particular platforms.
--------
Courtesy of False Advertising
--------
Streaming Media East Kicks Off
Don't you mean "Interactive Broadcasting"? :-)
--------
Masha, you are now more famous then ever. Not only are you one of the most insightful industry commentators out there, now you are an Adbabe! AdBumb. AdBabe. Pretty cool!
Blatantly stolen from the AdBumb:
Executive Summary Blog
Review of Media Post's Forecast 2000
And at least MediaPost, in Masha Geller, features one of the hottest babes in the e-media sector (and I hung out with her and her delightful cousin over the course of several cocktails Wednesday night, which I mention just in the hopes it might make the sorry little AdBumb cry).
This almost made me blow my morning coffee out my nose. This guy is funny and while I didn't go to the event, his review is hilarious. I have to thank Masha for actually point this out to me...She's really a sweetheart!
Online Minute: A rose by any other name...
With Masha Geller, Adbabe
Sounds good, doesn't it? Well, here�s the part that attracted this nitpicking cynic�s attention: the IAB suggests that what we�ve come to know and love as �streaming media� is really �Interactive Broadcasting.�
I got to really start respecting the woman who has been taking on the IAB also, despite them being an advertiser in MEDIA magazine. I'm thinking that our little chats have been influencing her for the best... well, hopeful thinking here. More than likely, like most of the industry she is starting to see what the IAB is.. a posturing bunch of non-advertising companies with no interest in helping online advertising. Go Masha!!!
--------
Newspapers Miss Out On $300 Mil. In Online Advertising
Newspapers are missing out on nearly $300 million annually by failing to use the Internet to serve new advertisers and enter new fields, says a new study from Harvard Business School's Clark G. Gilbert and Borrell Associates Inc. of Portsmouth, Va.
--------
Courtesy of Kevin Porter's Wacky Packages
--------
Not at all advertising related, but as you may have heard, there is a janitor strike going on in the city of Boston. The seriousness of it all aside, there is always great humor in these sort of things:
How to make the most of a messy dispute
Janitors all over Boston took to the picket lines last night; today, trash cans from the World Trade Center to International Place will be overflowing with damp Starbucks cups, Burger King wrappers, and, yes, wadded copies of this very newspaper. Chances are, it's going to get worse. When the Service Employees International Union went on strike in other cities, the standoff lasted more than two weeks. That, friends, is a lot of office memos. Herewith, a few tips on how you and your fellow cubicle dwellers can weather the strike:
1. For your big presentation, skip the Power Point. Map out your firm's new fiscal strategy on crumpled paper towels scavenged from the men's room. Your boss will know you're serious about cost-cutting, and you'll clear a path to the urinals.
2. Celebrate Bring-a-Hefty-Bag-to-Work Day!
3. What to do when the copy machine runs out of toner, printing dozens of illegible reports five minutes before your meeting? Shred the offending sheaf and stuff it into the walls of your home. Insulation has never been so affordable!
4. Two words: No sushi. Three more words: At your desk.
5. Executive washroom out of toilet paper? Duh! What do you think that pile of junk mail is for?
6. Divvy up chores with fellow employees. Monday, vacuum. Tuesday, water plants. Wednesday, tamp down Dumpster to make room for another ton of trash. Hey, it worked in college.
7. Swiffer WetJet: great for bathroom floors, lousy on computer screens.
8. Make friends with the mice that scurry around your office late at night. You're going to be seeing a lot more of them.
9. Use this as an opportunity to clear out your cubicle. Cleaning contractors may bring in replacement workers during the strike; it's only a matter of time before one of them mistakes that 6 -inch stack of coffee-stained papers on the floor next to your computer (also known as the new budget report) for garbage.
10. Make like the French and drench yourself in cologne. It really overpowers the smell of rotting food-court leftovers!
--------
Well, a logo, that is:
Courtesy of False Advertising.
--------
I used to joke with people who would ask me what exactly I do in advertising by saying, " Oh, I sell crap to people who neither need it nor want it"
It's too bad that there is so much crap out there and that our jobs put us in the position of selling that crap. Of course, it would be nice if you could hand pick your clients. Well, you can't. You can, however, give them some advice that I have long believed in.
Make damn sure that you have a well defined brand to start with before you even consider communicating any sort of brand message to your audience. You need help defining that? Sure, we will help you with that definition. But the solution is not throwing millions of media dollars at the problem like so many of us did (myself included) with the vaporware dotcom clients we all had.
Here is a wonderful article from MarketingProfs about the most important thing in building a brand: Consistency.
What Becomes A Brand Most?
Somewhere along the way, there�s been a presumption attached to the idea of branding. Many think that in order to brand your product or service, you must advertise. Not true. Many brands have grown and thrived without advertising: Krispy Kreme, Starbucks, and Pret A Manger spring to mind.
--------
Slashdot | California Sues Spammer for $2 Million
"The Mercury News reports that the California Attorney General, Bill Lockyer, filed suit against Internet marketer PW Marketing LLC, accusing the company of illegally spamming millions of Californians.
--------
