Those Cell Phone Popcorn Videos? Marketer-Created Of Course

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Those videos with cell phones popping corn have been floating around since May 28 and have garnered much discussion surrounding their validity. While cell phones can fry your head and reportedly cause cancer, they don't pop corn. They can, however, take on a starring role in a series of videos for Bluetooth headset maker Cardo Systems.

On the YouTube page where Cardo posted its reveal, the marketer writes, "More than 4 million people have watched our little videos since May 28, 2008. We are very happy to have made this contribution to an important international public debate."

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by Steve Hall    Jun-14-08    
Topic: Campaigns, Opinion, Social, Video, Viral, Word of Mouth



Nikon D60 Scores With Adrants

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As part of an outreach program where cameras are given to ... ahem ... those with an audience, Nikon sent Adrants a compact digital D60 SLR to use at the ad:tech conference in San Francisco. Without sounding like some lame PayPerPost post, the camera is really great. It takes some of the best quality images we've ever been able to publish here.

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by Steve Hall    Apr-22-08    
Topic: Industry Events, Opinion, Word of Mouth



Ten Social Media 'Rules' Explored, Debated

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Thanks to all the Emerson College students and everyone else who showed up last night at the Bordy Theater in Boston for the panel on social media. It's nice to see interest in what's going on in the space and its encouraging that people think it's important enough to talk about. Thanks to everyone who came up to speak with me after the panel (including you who loved the Boy Bootie story:-) ). And to all in Twitter Row, watch out. I'm following you now! @SarahHutton, @amyyen, @AmandaMooney, @pamelump, @MariaGarcia, @WillWheeler (sorry if I've missed anyone).

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by Steve Hall    Apr- 3-08    
Topic: Industry Events, Social, Trends and Culture, Word of Mouth



Santa Rocks, NBA Joosts, Banner Tickets, IT Socializes, Bzz Ups

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- This is just weird. A little Trans Siberian Orchestra. A little Santa Claus playing guitar. And a beard that won't stay on.

- The NBA has announced it will broadcast replays of memorable games on Joost.

- Working Tailgate Technologies, Paramount Vantage has launched a banner campaign for The Kite Runner which allows people to go through the entire ticket purchase process inside the banner. Check out one of the banners here.

- Rubicon Project CEO Frank Addante explains why Silicon Valley isn't the only place where dot com business occurs and why LA is carries just as much weight.

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by Steve Hall    Dec-17-07    
Topic: Online, Research, Social, Video, Word of Mouth



Craigslist Ads Booked, WOM Hits $1B, Ad Age IDEA Reviewed

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- All those fake ads on Craigslist have now made their way into book form with the publication of Johnna Gattinella's book, My Year on Craigslist.

- Advertising for Peanuts lays down the law when it comes to consumer-generated content: not everyone wants to interact with your product.

- Marketers now spend one billion on what, previously was free: ord of mouth marketing.

- A Heroes fanboy created some mock Vespa ads using images of the Claire Bennet and Ando Masahashi characters.

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by Steve Hall    Nov-16-07    
Topic: Industry Events, Publishing, Word of Mouth



Facebook is No Friend to Daft White Collar Slackers

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Under the banner "Your privacy is an illusion," ValleyWag published this story about a careless intern at Anglo Irish Bank. After frequent absences from work, the kid requested off for Halloween weekend due to an issue at home.

That same night the intern posted a bunch of pictures on Facebook of the Halloween party he apparently ditched work for. The next day, his boss responded to his email and attached an incriminating image of him in costume, then BCC'ed the rest of the office.

"Cool wand," he added in parenthesis.

Burn, baby, burn. But at least his fashion sense didn't go unnoticed.

by Angela Natividad    Nov-13-07    
Topic: Online, Strange, Word of Mouth



Facebook Ad Announcement Leaves One a Little Wanting

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Yesterday Facebook unveiled its online ad plan to New York advertisers hither and yon. Here's the scheme prematurely hearkened as a contender to AdWords: advertisers can make their own branded pages!

For free!

And that's not all.

You can also buy banner ads -- LINKING TO YOUR PROFILE PAGE!

Overwhelming? Something like that. But it would be wrong to say Facebook disappointed its masses. It did toss in an analytics feature, after all, and friends can actually endorse stuff they recently bought, which then appears in news feeds.

That last part might be the most meaningful aspect of the announcement. If there's anything the inception of WOMMA taught us, it's that word of mouth has been a wildly underrated resource that fuels the success of any company. Our industry has been hard-pressed to generate WOM in a way that doesn't alienate buyers -- or worse, ring inauthentic.

So kudos to the Facebook team for thinking outside the box. We'll see how this simple idea affects the online ad mix.

by Angela Natividad    Nov- 7-07    
Topic: Announcements, Events, Good, Online, Social, Word of Mouth



Google's Troops Seek Golden Child in Untilled Pockets of the Universe

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Google's a lot like college: you can stay on and get laid, or you can travel the world recruiting for the cause.

To add fuel to its fire, the search and ad giant is sending its more enlightened acolytes to far-off places -- where they actually have to ask the natives whether they know what Google is -- in order to find tomorrow's brain children.

There's something to tell the kids when you're older: "After two years of organic buffet schmoozing, I hit Andhra Pradesh to find the ad algo junkies of tomorrow. It was fuckin' awesome. I think I changed the world."

by Angela Natividad    Nov- 5-07    
Topic: Human, Promotions, Word of Mouth



QVC Insider Reveals Mystery Behind iQdoU

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A QVC employee has risked life and limb to let us in on what's happening behind the iQdoU? campaign.

The source blithely reports QVC will be unveiling its new logo on the 23rd, a Q that represents a package being opened to reveal the QVC inside.

Sounds complex.

QVC employees were shown the new logo just yesterday.

by Angela Natividad    Sep-20-07    
Topic: Campaigns, Outdoor, Strange, Word of Mouth



Sisley Pulls Coke-White Wool Over Our Eyes

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Some time ago we got word that Sisley released this racy ad featuring allusions to coke, the unofficial talc of the modeling world.

Later Benetton Group, the parent company, left us a comment stating this work is not formally associated with the Sisley brand. The statement included a push for Sisley's latest campaign featuring Stephanie Seymour, "worldwide recognized as an icon of fashion and beauty."

An image from said campaign is at left. It's so much less racy (and infinitely more creative) than the coke-whore glamazon variation. < /sarcasm >

Inspired by these curious events, MyItThings wrote a post on fakedvertising that pretty much states Sisley (or someone who loves the company enough to throw together some pretty well-made creative) pulled a clever one with this effort.

Way to go.

by Angela Natividad    Jul-25-07    
Topic: Guerilla, Online, Viral, Word of Mouth