Ahh, three spankin'-new iPhone ads. The synopsis: iPhone Saves My Ass in Front of My Boss, iPhone -- and Maybe My Wallet -- All I Need in Life (why is this guy parked on the sidewalk?), and iPhone is God's Gift to Mankind.
And who better to convey these messages than the breathy customers whose lives were saved? (It's possible they're all early adopters justifying that nasty $200 price cut announced two months after the iPhone's debut. Way to go, Steve!)
How do you get a passel of users to interact with your ad? Give them a compelling scenario with a cliffhanger that demands they mouse over to learn more.
Not a bad strategy. But a conversation about figure skating...? Come on, T-Mobile.
Our best guess is they were trying to capture the kind of inane conversation you'd have on a landline. (That is, before the advent of "free nights and weekends.") But the "hours later..." punchline isn't that great, either.
We really wonder if people do their homework before launching what they believe will become something akin to the next YouTube. The idea of commercials as content has been done many times before and has failed each time. However, the recently launched Firebrand doesn't seem to care and believes its offering of the "coolest" commercials served up MTV VJ-style will connect "consumers directly with their favorite brands in an integrated environment." How many billions of time have we heard that before?
We tried really hard not to laugh when Firebrand CEO Roman Vinoly said, "We program TV spots like a DJ spins music in a club. There is a rhythm and flow to it." In an attempt to spin Firebrand as something other than a massive database of commercials, Vinoly adds, "On Firebrand, you'll see more car chases, explosions, gags, drama, heroes, Oscar-winning actors, directors and producers in an hour than in a month of HBO." Right, dude. They're still fucking commercials. Not The Sopranos.
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We'd never have guessed that espresso, electronics and easy listening were a match made in heaven, but that's probably why we're not Starbucks or Apple. Observe chummy Schultz and Jobs at left.
To promote the fresh-formed relationship between two masters of addiction, Starbucks baristas will be giving away 1.5 million "Song of the day" cards per day between October 2 and November 7, totaling 50 million free songs.
The cards can be redeemed on iTunes.
And to make its musical fare more compatible with iTunes users who may not have an iPod or Mac on them in-store, Starbucks will also start selling "digital release" cards that enable you to download albums online.
Hurrah, new browser-sporting wi-fi iPods, and they look just like everybody said they would.
Steve Jobs previewed an ad for the new toy in his keynote yesterday, which you can find if you dodge all the 'Amazing!'s, the bad jokes, and his overextended attempt to make a ringtone out of Aretha Franklin's Respect.
The ad is short and follows the same see-what-my-finger-can-do aesthetic as the iPhone ads. Looking forward to seeing the "official" version.
Also, Apple announced a partnership with Starbucks where you can log onto iTunes for free on a wi-fi-ready Apple unit, and even - get this - buy a song in a Starbucks while it's playing. Cashing in on the impulse has never been easier.
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With all that Wirebreakers nonsense, we were beginning to worry that Motorola had wasted all its creative genius on one crappy series of first-generation RAZRs.
It turns out we were mostly right. Meet the RAZR 2. According to this ad, it's got jealous engineers worldwide screaming, crying, vandalizing toilets and spitting out their coffee.
The latest round of steroid-enhanced promises are impressive, but unless Motorola's nailed out the faults of the last generation (we're still feeling burned by the crashing screen, malfunctioning buttons and sketchy reception), it's going to have customers reacting in exactly the same way as this multilingual chorus of emo engineers.
So you've got your new iPhone and you think it's really, really cool. You can't stop showing it to all your friends. You even love that 300 page bill that came in a box. It's just the coolest thing ever, right? Well, just wait until AdMob finds you.
Mobile phone ad network AdMob just launched a new iPhone-specific ad unit that will help advertisers and content publisher reach iPhone fanatics. Hopefully, a quick flick will lessen the length or their annoyance.
OK, so maybe the ads aren't that annoying but does Starbucks really need to promote it's locations? Just walk a block. One's bound to be right around the corner.
Brentter was recently sent the latest iteration of the Alltel Wireless ad series, which improves upon the earlier set by adding more geektacularity to the personalities of its wireless competitors.
We agree that the new series is better (the "we could learn to be archers" reference in this acknowledges films-gone-geeky like Lord of the Rings and Napoleon Dynamite), and the campaign's definitely drawn the roving eyes of friends seeking to change wireless plans.
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A lunchtime discussion about mobile marketing at the YPulse Mashup conference provided an ambitious inside glance on the mobile of today (think early AOL) and the mobile of tomorrow (kiss your laptop good-bye).
One Microsoft representative in particular betrayed an odd preoccupation with size, foretelling the death of the laptop "as we know it" in favor of ever-more-sophisticated smartphones that double as sync-able remotes for big screen TV/computers.
(Think, revival of Microsoft Media Center - talk about beating a dead horse.)
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Need to know where you can let your dog run free, which motels and hotels let you bring your pet along, where you can kennel the beast and where you can find those handy poop bags to pick up Buster's dump? Look no further than Purina's go2pets, a mobile service which lets you tap into all the pet-friendly places in your area. Created by Genex and enabled by go2, all one has to do is enter their zip code and the world of pet goodness is right in the palm of one's hand.
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