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.
Virgil Griffith is my new hero, and should go down in history as one of the hero’s of Open Source right up there with Linus Torvalds (Linux) and Marc Andreessen (Netscape and the Mozilla codebase). In fact, if there isn’t an award for Open Source Hero’s- there is one now- and I’m bestowing it on Virgil.
Virgil devised the Wikipedia Scanner- a software program that can reveal who changes Wikipedia entries. Some of the first findings were that major corporations, as well as politicians are out there trying to smear their competition or cover up their flaws by changing and deleting info from Wikipedia for their own benefit. His software isn’t perfect, depending on IP addresses of editors being able to be linked back to the perpetrator, but, it’s a start.
Some of the marketing brand catches:
maltaStar.com
As soon as the software was launched on the internet, chaos erupted.
Among many revelations, Wikipedia Scanner reported that:
Microsoft tried to cover up the XBOX 360 failure rate
Apple edit Microsoft entries, adding more negative comments about its rival
Bill Gates revenge? Microsoft edits Apple entries, adding more negative comments about its rival
Exxon Mobil edits spillages and eco-system destruction from oil spillages article
Oil company ChevronTexaco removes informative biodiesel article and deletes a paragraph regarding fines against the company
Dell Computers deletes negative comments on customer services and removes a passage how the company outsources work to third world countries
EA Games deletes whole paragraphs of criticism about employment practices and business methods
Fox News removes all controversial topics against the network from the Fox News page
Nestle removes negative comments on its business practices from its page
DieBold, the company that controversially supplied computerised polling stations in the US elections, removes numerous paragraphs with negative comments
Walmart removes criticism of outsourcing work. The retailer also changes negative paragraphs of underpaid workforce
Sony removes harmful paragraphs against blu-ray systems
Coca Cola removes negative content about its effects
Boeing edits from “Boeing is a leading American aircraft and aerospace manufacturer” to “Boeing is the leading American aircraft and aerospace manufacturer”
MSN Search is “a major competitor to Google”. That’s what MSN added to their page
Griffith created the tool to “create minor public relations disasters for companies and organizations I dislike,” he said on his web site. He admitted that it’s impossible to be sure if the edits were made by someone working at one of the organizations, although the I.P. address reveals that they were made by someone with access to their network, he says.
Griffith came up with the idea when he “heard about Congressmen being caught for white-washing their Wikipedia pages,” he said.
“If the edit occurred during working hours, then we can reasonably assume that the person is either an agent of that company or a guest that was allowed access to their network,” he wrote.He said he believes that anonymous speech is important for open projects like Wikipedia. The online encyclopedia works fine today for “noncontroversial topics,” he said, but tools like Wikipedia Scanner can help make the site more reliable for controversial topics, he said.
While the idea of negativity about your brand may send some CEO’s into a toxic meltdown mode- the reality of the new paradigm is quite different that it was back in the stone age (before Search and the Cluetrain Manifesto)
In fact, Cluetrain Theses #12 comes to mind:
There are no secrets. The networked market knows more than companies do about their own products. And whether the news is good or bad, they tell everyone.
Corporate brand managers are loathe to admit that the best they can do now is learn how to respond properly and with grace. Denial is no longer a PR strategy. Hoping customers won’t find out about product flaws, competitors advantages or pricing inequities is a thing of the past.
The key to good brand management in the world of Web 2.0 is the same as the motto for Google: Do no evil. The companies that realize the best marketing tool is delivering the best product, best service, best price in the humblest of ways. Anything else- and you’ll be hung out to dry.
Thank Open Source Hero #1 Virgil Griffith for insuring brands behave.
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.
Back in 2005 Rupert Murdoch was interviewed in Business week, long before he purchased the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones:
The Birth of Murdoch.com
BROAD VISION. “Our strategy is quite simple,” Murdoch said. “News Corp. at its core is about content. The Web at its core is about personal choice. What we are aiming to do is combine the two, and in the process redefine the meaning of [an] Internet vertical.”
And in buying up newspapers, which ad agencies and CMO’s are writing off as an advertising medium- Murdoch is proving he’s way ahead of everyone else: he’s buying content generators, which will give him eyeballs. He’s planning on earning attention the old fashioned way- by providing useful content.
Which brings me to advertising as practiced today. We’re no longer generating ads to ride along with content- now more than ever the ad has to be able to stand alone as its own content. Not by intruding, but by being invited as content worth watching. So fun, interesting, informative that consumers will actually want to share it, interact with it, or use it to expand their own personal equity stash.
So, before you look at your next media buy and your new ad campaign, look at it as content first, and think what you would do with it? If you would want to hang it on your wall, share it with friends, save it to solve problems, or just keep it because it’s beautiful or funny- then go ahead and run it.
If it doesn’t do any of those things, or is mostly you beating your chest, maybe it’s time to select a new ad agency.
Putting an account into review seems to be pretty popular these days. Doesn’t matter what you did for us for the last twenty, thirty or fifty years, or if we catapulted the client to the top of their category- a new CMO (and they change faster than models at a fashion show these days) has to strut their stuff and see if they can save a bit on fees or trade you in on a new model agency. The client agency relationship in America has gone the same way the institution of marriage has gone- from till death do us part, to starter marriages and a string of trophy wives.
The most recent shockers were GSD+M losing Walmart, Wieden + Kennedy losing Nike running and Fallon losing BMW. All the agencies had taken their clients to the top- and then some. With each of these divorces must come costs- yet, clients don’t seem to understand the brand equity involved in an agency relationship. It can take years to find a client voice- and only one swift move by a budding CMO to lose it.
So, with the “trading agencies” show going great guns- the new business to be in is one of matchmaker- to which we recently added Ark Advisors/AAI to the mix. Here is their uninspired bio: (with writing like this, it’s a wonder they are qualified to tell the good agencies from the bad)
About Us
Ark Advisors is a management consulting firm that focuses on a broad range of complex issues facing corporate advertisers and their marketing communications partners. We work in concert with our clients to optimize their relationships with their agencies and to maximize the effectiveness of their own marketing operations.
We have four primary areas of specialization: Agency/Resource Search, Agency Compensation, Client-Agency Relationship management, and corporate Marketing Management.
