Man, it seems as if creative agency folks have been hitting a steady stream of home runs lately. When it comes to the quality of TV spots, I think 2007 has really blown 2006 out of the water. Here are three memorable spots:

1) The Dos Equis "Most Interesting Man Ever" commercials:


2) The Nike "Leave Nothing" ads:


3) Of course, there were the iPhone commercials:


There are more, of course, but I can't think of them now. (Also keep in mind I'm 23 and, like others my age, have an extremely short attention span -- something brand marketers are probably used to hearing by now.)

Please post videos of any commercials you like!

Posted by Daniel at 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

After two days at the Forrester Consumer Forum in Chicago, one thing became painfully clear to me: A lot of marketing folks, most of whom are probably quite smart, still have no idea what the heck social media even is.
Throughout the conference, I heard some very simple questions asked by the audience about social media and it was clear, for example, that:

1) They had never been on Facebook
2) They had never even heard of Twitter.

If marketers are to be successful navigators in the social media world, they must first explore it. Sign up for Facebook. Sign up for Twitter. Sign up for del.icio.us. Sign up for whatever your heart desires.

Bottom line, see what these portals can do for you.

And If you have no use for social media right now, don't force it. I do, however, recommend keeping up with Mashable, a comprehensive news blog on social media. This way, you can keep up with new Facebook application launches and Web 2.0 start-ups.

(Of course, you should also subscribe to the Marketing News blog. Hooray, shameless self-promotion!)

Posted by Daniel at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBacks (0)

MSNBC.com announced the first acquisition in its 11-year history: Newsvine I think this purchase represents one of mainstream journalism's legitimate steps into the Web 2.0 world. But it could spell trouble for marketers, especially as Microsoft ads tend not to be placed very well. Any thoughts?

Posted by Daniel at 7:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Just noticed the Marketing News blog feed count eclipsed the 2,500 subscriber mark!

We just wanted to post a quick thank-you note for continuing to make this the most successful blog the American Marketing Association offers.

Once again, if you have any comments, questions, cookies--anything--please e-mail us at news[at]ama[dot]org.

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Where will it end? First it was the New York Times. Then it was the Wall Street Journal. Now the Financial Times is overhauling its site. And they're going to allow readers to access 30 free articles on the site a month. In addition to the price cut, FT.com editors say they'll add videos and blogs to its roster of content.The only reason it's not completely free? Company brass think newspaper subscribers customers won't mind paying for the new stuff. Here are a couple of questions: 1) By not making all site content free, is FT.com making a mistake? 2) Do FT readers will have time to watch videos on the site?

Posted by Daniel at 7:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

In our Sept. 15 print issue we ran a great story on innovation--how to spark it, plan for it and execute it. Since then I've been on the lookout for particularly creative thinking and I found a doozy in the Wall Street Journal today, about H.J. Heinz.

Because the price of corn is going up (it's about 40% higher than last year--thanks ethanol!), Heinz is finding itself spending millions more on the high fructose corn syrup it uses to sweeten its signature Heinz ketchup. Rather than try to find a way to source cheaper corn or modify the recipe, Heinz responded by developing a sweeter breed of tomato. According to the WSJ, this tomato hybrid (non-GMO) is 5-10% sweeter than the tomatoes they currently use. Heinz, unlike most food producers, breeds its own tomato crop varieties and then has its contract growers use the Heinz plants. Farmers are restricted from selling the Heinz proprietary tomato to other manufacturers. The new, sweeter tomato is still in the Heinz testing fields in California, but is likely to make an appearance in 57 bottles in the next year or two. Meanwhile, the Heinz-employed seed researchers (the company increased the research budget by 40% in the last three years) are working at another hybrid that will be even sweeter than this one.

By being proactive rather than reactive in its thinking the company stands to save millions--and will distance itself from ketchup competitors who will be stuck paying higher prices for ingredients.

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