The Future of Media BlogThe Future of Media BlogThe Future of Media Blog is the official blog of the Interpublic Emerging Media Lab, a center for bleeding-edge marketing and advertising innovation. Articles
Virgin?s Sugar Mama Is a Sweet Deal
2007-07-20 22:42:00 People don?t want to receive ads on their cellphones, all agreed. But there’s been virtually no consensus so far on how to get wireless subscribers to put up with what many see as a mobile version of spam (in fact worse than spam, because it costs $0.15 per). So leave it to Virgin Mobile to ... More About: Sugar , Sweet , Mama , Deal
30 Things I Love or Hate About The iPhone
2007-07-18 19:53:00 The Lab finally received the new iPhone last week. Since then, I?ve been digging down into the features to see what all the hype is about. What I found is a mixture of positive and negative aspects. My summary, for those who don?t want to read all the way through the post: What?s the upshot? While it?s ... More About: Love , Iphone , Hate , Things , Thing
Twitter Being Used To Promote Television Shows
2007-07-17 21:27:00 There?s a great article in the Marketplace section of the Wall Street Journal yesterday that details some of the interesting ways that media companies are trying to adopt the social networking service Twitter for use as a marketing tool. Among some of the ideas that are posited in the article including having show creators and ... More About: Television , Promote , Being , Levis
Example of Commercial going Viral on You Tube
2007-07-13 20:52:00 Here is an example of how a TV commercial can go viral on YouTube : The actual spot is uploaded multiple times The spot gets remixed The spot gets spoofed Starburst Comm erical (uploaded by various users and maybe by Starburst themselves): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYX_zhlTDr 8&mode=related&search= (3.8MM views) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkvhnRAd4V 0&mode=related&search= (1.2MM views) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsPFyoEpGV A&mode=related&search= (920K views) Remixed videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hWs mm4E5RE&mode=related&search= (1.2MM views) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnYC_LwDeL Y (117,000 views) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BW0_zZozw3 U&mode=related&search= (87K views) User Generated Spoofs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNlLrlhZ-o 0&mode=related&search= (92K views) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBucTst7sn c&mode=related&search= (165K views) http://www.y... More About: Commercial , You Tube , Viral
The Medium is the Audience
2007-07-11 19:01:00 Since Facebook opened its platform to third party applications, some of these widgets have seen growth rates that I have not seen since Hotmail's early days. The viral fuel is all of your friends are notified when you add a new application. Facebook applications are already starting to get commercialized through affiliate links and sponsorships. ... More About: Medium , The A , Audience
The spawn of Justin.tv
2007-07-10 19:43:00 If you get a chance check out Mentosintern.com. Obviously inspired by Truman Show-esque Justin .tv, this site allows you to see a live web cam, chat, and even call a college kid interning at the Mentos HQ in Kentucky. Not sure if the kid is an actor or not but it is entertaining either way. He ... More About: Spawn , Pawn
Poo Burgers, Dog Lip Milkshakes, and Probably McDonald?s Best Marketing Plo
2007-07-09 19:26:00 I?m in love. I?ve found a type of marketing ploy that, realistically, I don?t think can ever be topped. Not by lewd viral videos created to market a book, not by a miniature woman who sits on my desktop and flirts with me, and certainly not by a site that lets me direct my own video ... More About: Marketing , Burgers , Probably , Urge
Reading A Good E-book?
2007-06-27 02:31:00 It is easy to spot the trends of technology based efficiency and cooler, better products. But in the midst of this race to somewhere ?better,? one aspect of our daily lives has not changed much ? to read a book, we continue to hold a bound bunch of paper the size of our belly. Considering ... More About: Reading , Book , E-book , Good , E Book
More iPhone Hype
2007-06-15 21:09:00 I?m going to put $50 on the iPhone not being as huge of a success as everyone says it will. That?s right. Online gambling laws aside, the first person to respond to this post could win $50 (U.S.) if Apple?s iPhone turns into a stellar hit when it?s released on June 29. The Wall Street Journal ... More About: Iphone , Hype
uWink Makes Eating Interactive
2007-06-12 01:09:00 In the struggle for eyeballs or butts in seats for all retailers, theater chains and other assorted business that depend on mass traffic, leveraging digital content solutions is on the cusp of an explosion. Recently, our collegues at the Brand Lab Experience completed the first test of an in theater gaming experience where instead of watching ... More About: Interactive , Active , Eating , Tera , Interact
More on uWink?
2007-06-12 01:07:00 From a technical perspective the infrastructure used to make the magic happen at uWink is fairly straightforward. An account is setup on their central computer by the host when you arrive and is temporarily linked to an RFID card you are given. You use a ?big-button? UI on a touchscreen to place your order. This ...
The Tale of the Biggest-Ever Tradeshow BlueCast
2007-06-08 00:58:00 Like all good stories, this one has ups and downs, love and loss, drama and suspense? (Heavy on the suspense). It began shortly, shortly ago, in a land not, not so far away (about 10 hours on Virgin Atlantic from London to Orlando; and I hear you even get little ?plane socks?). Anyway, there?s a company across ... More About: Tale , Tradeshow
The Widgets are Coming! The Widgets are Coming!
2007-06-06 23:50:00 It seems that every VC I meet out here in Silicon Valley is talking about Widgets these days. They love the low development costs and easy portability. As personal publishing becomes more wide spread, being able to cut and paste useful little applets into one's site seems to be gaining consumer traction. Advertisers can either run ... More About: Ming
New MySpace Study
2007-06-04 22:14:00 MySpace published a very interesting report this week that contains the results of a study done on 3,000 panelists between the ages of 15 ? 40. Other commentary on this report can be seen here and here, but some of the most interesting results to come out of it were that folks aged 14-29 were as ... More About: Study , Myspace , Pace
Apple DRM Brouhaha: Big Deal or Big Yawn?
2007-06-02 02:14:00 A topic that has been getting some heavy blog-time this week is the discovery that the DRM-Free music purchased via Apple ?s iTunes isn?t really so DRM-Free. True, the music file is actually devoid of any playback preventing DRM encryption, but what it does contain is the purchaser?s iTunes user account info. And while there are ... More About: Deal
T-Mobile Taps ?Surface? to Jazz-Up In-Store Experience
2007-06-01 03:09:00 T-Mobile USA, the number three domestic carrier by volume, is looking to up the ante with its in-store experience?inking a deal to install Microsoft?s new coffee table computers, dubbed ?Surface.? With its announcement earlier this week in the Wall Street Journal (read here), T-Mobile joins Starwood Hotels and Harrah?s Entertainment among those slated to be ... More About: Jazz , Store , Experience
Adobe?s New CS3 Blurs the Lines Between Digital Tools
2007-05-30 03:09:00 Once again I am leaving San Francisco with my head spinning. Today I spent the day at the Adobe offices in SOMA being briefed on the new Adobe CS3 product line. And as anyone familiar with Adobe?s product lineup can attest, that was a lot of ground to cover in a too-short 8 hour period. The ... More About: Tools , Digital , Digi , Line
California Eyes SMS Emergency Alerts
2007-05-12 01:10:00 While the major media outlets have laudably distanced themselves from ongoing Virginia Tech coverage, the ripples continue to radiate out: California State officials announced this week that they expect to provide a statewide cell phone alert system within the next 12 to 14 months. Bay Area officials are leading the push to broadcast cellphone warnings about ... More About: Eyes , Alert , Merge , Emergency
Brand Perception in Second Life
2007-05-04 19:32:00 Well, folks, CBNews and Reperes have released a study on the perception of real-world brands in Second Life and the consensus is in: either they like you, or they just don?t care. I?ve always been a big believer that professional-quality content serves a very important purpose within a largely user-generated world like Second Life , just like ... More About: Brand , Econ
DRM is Dead
2007-05-03 01:46:00 Anybody who thinks Big Media can keep hackers from learning how to crack DRM should go to Digg and look at the top Diggs. There is a new all time record for most dug story (http://blog.digg.com/?p=74) where the owners of Digg agreed to stop trying to pull down links to articles that provide the hack ... More About: Dead
Two Things Advertisers Could Learn From Journalists
2007-04-18 22:55:00 I had the good fortune to attend an Online News Association panel discussion a few weeks ago and it?s caused a couple ideas to be bouncing around in my head about how much advertisers could learn from journalists about how to handle the new media landscape. It?s no secret that newspapers have been scurrying about ... More About: Advertisers , Earn , List , Things , Advert
The Price of Giving
2007-04-13 23:26:00 When thinking about companies who are really leveraging mobile to muscle-up their marketing, the Red Cross probably isn?t the first name that comes to mind. Or anything, really, ending in ?.org.? But then look at the ?Text 2Help? program, which the Red Cross established in response to Hurricane Katrina, and promoted earlier this month at the ... More About: Rice , Price , Giving , Ving
EMI Releases Unprotected Music on iTunes
2007-04-03 23:53:00 EMI has announced that it?s going to be releasing non-rights protected music on iTunes this week and we published an Emerging Media Update about it today. This is one of those hot button issues around the lab that gets everyone all hot and bothered and eventually ends with someone either storming out because they feel ... More About: Music , Itunes , Itune , Release
Simpson?s Film ?Reverse Product Placement?
2007-03-30 21:02:00 Saw an interesting little piece on Kotaku today about the upcoming Simp son s flick and the great lengths the production is going to in order to create what I?m calling ?reverse product placement? at 7-11s across the country. While the deal hasn?t been finalized yet, it looks like 7-Eleven Inc. will be refitting 11 stores across ... More About: Film , Men , Product
K-Fed?s PopoZao Search: The problems with branded technologies
2007-03-22 22:11:00 Well, K-Fed has gone done and got himself a search engine. Yeah, you heard that right. Kevin Federline, Britney Spears? aspiring rap artist ex-husband, has created a branded search portal that awards prizes to people that search on it. Ever wanted a Kevin Federline autograph? How about a Kevin Federline t-shirt? Maybe a copy of ... More About: Pop , Techno , Tech , Search , With
Twitter = TMI?
2007-03-19 23:05:00 We love to talk, as marketers, about the connective power of mobile. It’s an intimate, always-on, always-with-you device that means you’re never alone in this big, scary world.But given the direction that mobile social networking seems to be going, people are beginning to wonder if that’s actually such a bad thing… Getting the most press right now is a little mobile app called “Twit ter”—one of several growing services, including Google-owned Dodgeball, that tie together instant messaging, social networking, and wireless communication. Essentially, Twitter allows members to use their cellphones (or PCs) to distribute short messages on what they’re doing to their group lists. Each message is limited to 140 characters, but there are no limits on how many messages a user can send. Meaning I now get to hear about how yummy your lunch is. As you’re chewing it. Like most social networking sites, once a person opens a Twitter account, they can invite their friends to join ...
Historical Meta Data…A ‘You’ Party
2007-03-17 00:33:00 With the current debate on the market between Blueray and HDdvd, i’m at the point in my personal experience where i’m completely moving away from physical media, and not just because of format wars. I recently upgraded to a Series 3 HD Tivo Box (and forgive me for posting about Tivo again, its only a means to illustrating a point) and that opened up the ability for me to use Tivo’s new service with Amazon, Amazon Unbox with Tivo. On the Tivo site it’s describe as the ” new TiVo feature that lets you rent or buy movies online from Amazon Unbox, download them to your TiVo box over your home network, and enjoy them right on your television set whenever you want. With a TiVo box and a broadband connection, you never have to drive to the video store or wait for a DVD to arrive in the mail again.” The ‘never have to drive to the video store’ or Netflix (reading inbetween the lines here) again was what i was drawn too being completely ... More About: Party , Data , Historical , Historic , Stor
iVillage, USA Today Open Social Sites
2007-03-16 20:02:00 Following closely on the heels of USAToday .com’s revamp as a social, community-oriented website, iVillage has opened up their own social networking component located at connect.ivillage.com. Traditionally, around the lab, we’ve always been incredibly skeptical of any brand that wants to open up their own social networking site, for a variety of reasons, primarily that attracting a user base is incredibly difficult (plus, just from an experiential standpoint, it’s hard to come up with feature sets that are different enough from what currently exists and still be relevant to users). Personally, I think both of these ventures have legs, though. From a purely theoretical standpoint, both sites have auspicious beginnings, particularly iVillage, which has already gathered an awfully loyal following of women 18 and older, and particularly women 35 and older. It seems like social networking may be a little less of a shoe-in for USA Today, which caters to a significantly older audience... More About: Social , Open , Site , Sites
Virtual World/Social Network Set To Open On Monday
2007-03-16 19:38:00 On Monday, Kaneva, a melded social networking site and virtual world, will finally launch in open beta, according to Mark over at 3pointD.com. Finally! We’ve had our eye on this little gem for a while and, while the lab staff has all managed to get profiles on the Kaneva social networking site, our entrance to the virtual world has been delayed a bit. Kaneva is, essentially, a mash-up of social networks and virtual worlds. Users create profiles on the social networking site, upload images and media content (this includes videos and, I believe, audio), and then use that content to populate their virtual abode. It’s the equivalent of, say, having a house in Second Life that automatically populates itself with pictures uploaded to your MySpace page or a television that displays YouTube videos every time you turn it on. In general, the idea behind Kaneva was to encourage deeper emotional interactions between users by allowing them to play out in a virtual world, while at the same ti... More About: Social , World , Work , Open , Network
IBM Touts Media Adoption For Content Owners
More articles from this author:2007-02-24 08:05:00 A new report just released by IBM reinforces the idea that media companies must start loosening their group on their content if they want to play within the new digital landscape. According to the report, a storm is brewing between large scale content owners (which encompass game & film studios and record labels.) and distributors. This conflict, which IBM refers to as the “digital divide,” is going to center on the divided interests inherent for each type of business. IBM’s solution to the problem is multifaceted, but it, in part, deals with both groups exploring ideas beyond new platform aggregation services that involve deals between major media companies and smaller companies that focus on user-generated content. Examples of this type of partnership includes MTV’s work with Atom Entertainment and News Corporation’s work with MySpace. Instead, content owners need to start exploring new “hyper-syndication” models, such as how to properly distribute their exis... More About: Media , Adoption , Content , Owner , Opti 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
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