Furthering its embrace (experiment?) of releasing television content online, CBS will produce original content of its hit drama CSI Miami and will show it exclusively on CBS.com. Promising to reveal a major secret about team of CSIs, the scene has local news reporter Erika Sykes (Amy Laughlin) share a piece of information with Detective Ryan Wolfe (Jonathan Togo) that, we're told, will lead to an undercover investigation that will unfold on the show this season. Way to tease, CBS. The bonus scene will appear online immediately following the east coast broadcast of CSI Miami, Monday, November 21.
The bonus material featured on CBS.com will be sponsored by GM's Hummer, featured heavily in the series. CBS and Hummer will promote the combined broadcast/online storyline with spots on the network and ads on CBS.com.
A recent eROI study which examined open and click rates of mailing lists of all sizes across all the days of the week found, on average, Sunday was the best day with an open rate of 30.8 percent and a click rate of 7.2 percent. Before all marketers rush out and clog up everyone's lazy Sunday afternoon with e-trash, the study also indicated that the best day to mail varies with list size. The bigger the list, the less efficient. Lists over 200,000 do well on Saturday. Micro mailers (extremely small) do best on weekends. Small mailers do best on Friday. Mid-sized lists do best on Monday and Friday.
Almost a year after their broadcast ad was rejected by all three major networks - ABC, NBC and CBS - as too controversial the United Church of Christ has won the Association of National Advertisers Annual Award for Multicultural Excellence for its gay and minority-inclusive "Bouncers" ad and The Initiative campaign. The ad was created by Gotham NY ad agency. The award "recognizes the efforts of a corporate marketer for an outstanding multicultural advertising campaign" among all major corporate advertisers, from Coca Cola to General Motors, nationally and internationally.
Maine Root Beer has launched a site called Free Range Root Beer which pits itself against the big guys whom Maine Root Beer portrays as large, tasteless entities which add all kinds of filler to their product. The site contains humorous videos including one in which a stealth Free Range Root Beer team attempts to free cans of root beer which have been taken from the wild and placed in a corporate jail cell. There's a history of root beer, an area for kids, a photo contest for people to send in photos of Maine Root Beer placed in strange locations and a section where root beer lovers can express themselves through art therapy. Funny stuff.
Bringing two decades of style together and highlighting a few products a long the way, Norstrom, with help from Fatboy Slim, has launched Norstrom Silverscreen a remixed version of the 80's G0-GO's video "Our Lips Are Sealed." Random Culture points out several products are featured in the video and the two decade groups cavort in typical music video style. Other similar video remixes are forthcoming. Visitors can opt to watch a basic version of the video or an enhanced version which requires a download but will automatically play each new video as it becomes available.
Unfortunately and stupidly on Nordtrom's or it's agency's part, the enhanced version only works with, you guessed it, Internet Explorer and not with the IE-killing and fast growing Firefox, the browser of choice for anyone that has a clue. Marketers and technology providers have got to stop sleeping with one bed partner and start playing the field. There's a lot of untapped Firefox hotties out there willing and waiting for the "enhanced experience." So, come on marketers and technology providers. Stop being so prejudice in your choice of bed partners.
Yahoo has launched Yahoo Think Tank, a large, glassed-in structure in which creatives from Australia and New Zealand, between November 3 and November 17, will work on creative briefs sent in through the site. The Tank was created to explore online creative opportunities. Those whose ideas are turned into an actual campaign could win a Yahoo Big Idea Chair. We've submitted our request to help turn Adrants into the most popular advertising site in the world. We'll let you know what happens.
So if you want to commiserate with your fellow creatives, get a fly's-eye view of the creative process or just have nothing to do today, launch up the Think Tank Cam and enjoy.
AOL has acquired music company MusicNow and has launched a new music service called AOL Music Now which will offer .99 cent downloads and subscription plans. The new service adds a al carte song purchase, subscription portability and is web-based
In a last ditch effort to convince people boneless pig meat is a good thing, McDonald's has launched the MicRib Farewell Tour. Apparently, the McRib was popular at one time but the company is considering dropping the product unless people respond to the promotion which consists of a microsite where fans can find out where and when McDonald's is serving McRib, get McRib trivia, write McRib Haikus, submit their own McRib photos, download official McRib t-shirt decals and send phone messages to fellow McRib fanatics. They can also sign the "Save the McRib" petition and explore the BPFAA (the Boneless Pig Farmers Association of America) website, bonelesspigs.org, a fictitious organization that promotes the good will of boneless pigs. Hmm. OK. Why spend all this money if the product is just going to be dumped? Oh wait, silly me, they're not dumping the product, they're renewing demand by making us feel sorry for a bunch of boneless pigs. That's it.
The Wilford Brimley-like videos are pretty funny though.
Oxygen's new series Relentless is a true crime show about women who keep pursuing justice even when society gives up. The episodes revolve around cases that have been solved. An online extension of the show is a social networking project, called SpeakUp, designed to help locate a missing woman, Daniel Imbo. Daniel is a 34 year old mother of a small child and was last seen Feb 19, 2005 in Philadelphia.
After wooing Neil French with a job offer, Hart+Larson, milking the buzz train, is now after Kate Moss promising her a chance to "take off her Choos and lie back, relax and think." She's also promised Hart+Larson will "play Twister together and then head outside to drink Coke on the stoop." There's also a video, called 14 and Wow, which, we're quite sure, has some inner meaning but, currently, it escapes us. Lastly, Hart+Larson asks Kate, and everyone else, to contact the agency at womendocokesodoweexiletheonceidealized@hartlarsson. Fun
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