The Big Ad Agencies used to be afraid of Google because they didn’t understand it, the web, or the future of advertising. When all of a sudden, advertisers started pulling money out of the media budget and spending it with Google it terrified them. So they all went and bought up “new media” shops- and still created sites that didn’t work with Google any better than, well you know those braille buttons on the drive-up ATM?
So when Google starts raiding the big agencies for top talent, their worst nightmare begins to come true: the $9 billion dollar gorilla now is quietly sneaking over from media to marketing partner.
Ogilvy N.Y.’s Berndt to Join Google
Berndt, who resigned from Ogilvy this week, will become the managing director of Google Creative Lab, according to a Google representative. In the newly created position, Berndt will lead the marketing of Google’s brand and services. He will also work with agencies to integrate Google products into campaigns.
The move comes as Google looks to expand its relationships with large brand advertisers. After initially offering only simple text links overwhelmingly geared to direct-response marketers, Google has added graphical and video ads more often used by brands.
The thing is- of all the people to hire, Google picks someone from an agency that still can’t get it’s own clients spots online in a way that customers can find them. I met Andy at the 2007 AAF National Convention- nice guy, super cool presentation of the new Fanta work- but, if you went to the Ogilvy site - or the Fanta site- or anywhere- you couldn’t find the campaign except for a lone spot posted by PSYOPS who did the animation. The big agencies have a long way to go to learn how to monetize advertising that works by earned attention instead of paid placement.
Maybe, Andy will be the new evangelist for the power of Google when used right- then again, he may be working for the dark side now… depending on your viewpoint.
One things for sure, no agency will ever have a bankroll like Google.
The Big Ad Agencies used to be afraid of Google because they didn’t understand it, the web, or the future of advertising. When all of a sudden, advertisers started pulling money out of the media budget and spending it with Google it terrified them. So they all went and bought up “new media” shops- and still created sites that didn’t work with Google any better than, well you know those braille buttons on the drive-up ATM?
So when Google starts raiding the big agencies for top talent, their worst nightmare begins to come true: the $9 billion dollar gorilla now is quietly sneaking over from media to marketing partner.
Ogilvy N.Y.’s Berndt to Join Google
Berndt, who resigned from Ogilvy this week, will become the managing director of Google Creative Lab, according to a Google representative. In the newly created position, Berndt will lead the marketing of Google’s brand and services. He will also work with agencies to integrate Google products into campaigns.
The move comes as Google looks to expand its relationships with large brand advertisers. After initially offering only simple text links overwhelmingly geared to direct-response marketers, Google has added graphical and video ads more often used by brands.
The thing is- of all the people to hire, Google picks someone from an agency that still can’t get it’s own clients spots online in a way that customers can find them. I met Andy at the 2007 AAF National Convention- nice guy, super cool presentation of the new Fanta work- but, if you went to the Ogilvy site - or the Fanta site- or anywhere- you couldn’t find the campaign except for a lone spot posted by PSYOPS who did the animation. The big agencies have a long way to go to learn how to monetize advertising that works by earned attention instead of paid placement.
Maybe, Andy will be the new evangelist for the power of Google when used right- then again, he may be working for the dark side now… depending on your viewpoint.
One things for sure, no agency will ever have a bankroll like Google.
By now, every one has seen the Apple iPhone ad “Calamari” showcasing the Google maps function on the iPhone.
And, when typing in Pizza it does a great job around my home. It also works for locating the nearest Apple Store quite well. But, when typing in “Advertising Agency” nothing even close to an ad agency got a pin in Dayton. So, of course, I had to fix that. Google informs me it will take up to 4 weeks before my listing is updated (unbelievably slow in the Internet age)- but, it was incredibly easy, and the verification by phone system worked well.
If you haven’t put your business on the Google Maps page, I highly recommend doing it as soon as possible- and, if you are a Pizza place, you can even put a coupon on it for free! So, proceed to the following link and look for the “Add or Edit your business” part- make sure you are at your business phone and have a live internet connection at the same time. Google Maps
For right now, it’s cool to show up on iPhone users phones- but, soon, this will be more important than the Yellow Pages ever were. And, before you select an ad agency, that claims to be digitally literate, check out if they have a complete listing on Google Maps.
Collectively, very few people had heard of the little Duck Duck Goose Boutique in Troy Ohio. They sell stylish baby clothing and accessories- you want to be like Bradjolina, you head to Duck Duck Goose Boutique. We know about them because we host their website- and because Steve came and took our Websitetology seminar.
Then Lionsgate Films sues them for selling something that says “Nobody puts Baby in a corner” and it makes national news - note, the product’s manufacturer, Urban Smalls isn’t even mentioned in the news release:
Studio sues over “Dirty Dancing” line - Yahoo! News
Nobody puts Lionsgate in a corner. That’s the message of a trademark infringement lawsuit the studio behind “Dirty Dancing” has filed against several companies selling merchandise featuring the phrase “Nobody puts Baby in a corner” from the hit film.
The suit, filed August 15 in Los Angeles District Court, claims 15 companies including Uncommongoods.com in New York, Lucky Lou Boutique in Fishers, Ind., and Duck Duck Goose in Troy, Ohio, have used Lionsgate’s registered trademark without permission.
The quote, said by Patrick Swayze at the climax of the 1987 film starring Swayze and Jennifer Grey, has achieved a cult-like status, marketed and often repeated in films and TV shows for 20 years.
“The American Film Institute voted ‘Nobody puts Baby in a corner’ as one of the top 100 most popular quotes from a motion picture,” (it’s number 98) the lawsuit states. “Plaintiff markets and sells merchandise with the movie trademarks through approved licensees as part of the ‘Dirty Dancing’ line of approved merchandise.”
The defendants, many of which market baby clothing and merchandise, are not authorized to use the mark and have created a likelihood of confusion with merchandise authorized for sale by Lionsgate, the lawsuit alleges.
Lionsgate, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., seeks to prevent the businesses from selling merchandise containing the phrase. It also seeks a court order requiring the defendants to pay restitution as well unspecified statutory and actual damages, treble damages and punitive damages.
The defendants could not be reached for comment.
Lionsgate is obviously looking for some attention to hype some 20 years of Dirty Dancing promo, but is going about it in the wrong way. While the logo, the name of the movie, the stars, etc. can be trademarked, taglines and corporate slogans can be trademarked- language from a movie shouldn’t be allowed to be trademarked unless it is done before the release of the film. Coming back after a phrase catches on, is just bad manners. Fair use should also come into play- the only connection between that line and the movie is in the fans heads- and those of us who didn’t think the film was all that- wouldn’t have a clue that “Nobody puts baby in a corner” has any connection to Dirty Dancing.
Think about how many times you’ve heard or said “Beam me up Scotty”- it’s homage, not a lawsuit. In fact, most brands would love to have their trade slogan become a part of the lexicon- but in cases like Nike’s “Just do it” and Wendy’s “Where’s the beef” they were trademarked and created with the intent of generating income from the phrase- the same can’t be said for a line from the movie.
Did I go to see “The Terminator” because I heard Arnold Schwarzenegger said “I’ll be back”- of course not.
Little Duck Duck Goose Boutique isn’t harming Lionsgate, and wasn’t intentionally trying to steal their money. Any right thinking court of law would recognize that- but, from a PR standpoint- it’s certainly their 15 minutes of fame.
Recently, I decided to take a look at the CBS show, Jericho, which was slated to be dropped, but was reinstated by fan support.
First stop was the free version of the pilot on the iTunes store. Perfect download, no problem watching and controls that actually worked. Plus I could watch it on my iPhone.
Next stop, CBS.com where I thought I’d be able to watch it on my mac. No such luck- since CBS engineered their site with the “RealPlayer” which has been referred to as one of the worst pieces of software ever. The mac plugin wasn’t even available the first time I tried. So, lucky for me, CBS was going to rerun the series in order over the summer. Tivo here I come. The second showing ended up being a fast forward through at least a half dozen episodes- and no where near as good as the seven minute Sopranos. Then, CBS skipped a week (or Tivo balked)- and I went back to the CBS site again. Somehow, I got it to stutter through a painful hour and a half viewing of a 45 minute show- complete with the same 2 commercials over and over. Then- JACKPOT- seems CBS put up another site: www.jerichorises.com which runs fine on a mac -problem solved. I’m in Jericho heaven- even though the play controls still aren’t near as good as Quicktime, and the resume doesn’t work at all.
But, here is the thing: CBS has the perfect opportunity to build a relationship with me. I’m coming back over and over to their site, to spend “quality time” with their show. They could ask as few as 1 or 2 questions in return for providing each episode on demand for free and start customizing the commercials. Right now, I get one for Gerbers baby food (I’m a single male over 40 with no intentions of breeding) and for AT&T Wireless- to whom I’m already stuck with, since I have an iPhone. Irrelevant ads, presented by the most relevant personalized delivery system.
If you are a marketer and are buying online ad delivery, you should be asking about how the message is being targeted and what kind of feedback mechanism is provided. Since I can’t fast forward through the ads easily (remember, the controls of “innertube” suck) all you are doing is annoying me, instead of having a chance to build a real relationship. In an age of earned media, that annoyance factor could actually contribute to negative brand equity- distaste for your brand from the intrusiveness and repetitiveness of your ad delivery.
Advertising online can be the most powerful tool yet, but, like all power, used without care- it can backfire royally.
I don’t have time to sit and watch Steve Jobs introduce the new iMac and iLife while tethered to my high speed connection- but, man, this would be great to watchon my iPhone on the plane to Chicago tomorrow, so I bop on over to Apple’s site and there it is:
Apple - QuickTime - Apple Special Event - August 2007
Watch Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveil the all-new, redesigned iMac and demo new features in iLife 08, iWork 08, and .Mac. See the video-on-demand event right here, exclusively in QuickTime and MPEG-4.Voiceover users click here to listen to keynote address.
The problem- even with Quicktime Pro, I can’t save it to my desktop because they have it as streaming media… oops. Went to the iTunes store- and it’s not there either.
Either you fully embrace the idea of video anywhere anytime or you don’t.
Lesson to marketers: make your video, commercial, training film, industrial video available to anyone, to watch anytime if you want to get maximum bang for your marketing dollar.
