Sassy Gay Friend plugs for Mio

MIO, the new "Beverage Enhancer" out on the market, is taking advantage of the popularity of the improve youtube videos produced by TheSecondCityNetwork. One of their popular youtube series is the Sassy Gay Friend videos, the premiss of these videos is that great movie and literature tragedies could have been avoided, if only the character had a Sassy Gay Friend. They spoof movies like Black Swan and some classics, like Great Expectations and Hamlet. They are pretty hilarious, but I was surprised to find a mini MIO commercial inside of one.

This is an interesting way of advertising. Will it get buzz? Maybe a little, but I think people will just be way more annoyed that advertising is becoming more and more intrusive.


http://www.secondcity.com/ Here's a link to the Second City website.

T-Mobile Viral Video

T-Mobile recently released this viral video via Youtube to cash in on the current Royal Wedding popularity. The video features T-mobile's version of the Royal Wedding procession to a fast-paced song by East 17. This was a good move for T-Mobile! They've been getting tons of free press on news stations about it and  have over 6 million views on their youtube channel "lifeforsharing". It originally was release in the UK but was released in the US a few days ago. I'm sure this didn't cost too much to produce and look at the exposure they are getting! Great move!

Netflix's Mobile App - Case #3

There is currently a growing market for new ways for consumers to rent or view movies. Redbox allows customers to go to any of their kiosks which are strategically placed at grocery stores, shopping centers, convenience stores, and the like for consumers rent a movie for $1 per night. The movies can then be returned to any kiosk at any time. Blockbuster has changed its business model from having stores with movies to rent to an enterprise business model that operates by shipping movies to customers’ homes that have purchased subscriptions, while still operating a few stores. Some companies that have not made the changes necessary in the changing market have not been successful, such as Hollywood Video, which is no longer in business. One of the most popular and well-known movie rental options in the market currently is Netflix.

 

Netflix operates by offering different levels of subscription to customers for a flat-rate monthly fee. The movies are sent via mail from the customer's queue of movies to be rented. They also have an on-demand option that supplies users with unlimited access to their database of streaming movies via computer or Wii system. This ability to access movies on-demand or receiving movies via mail is something that has appealed to many people and led to Netflix's success. This aspect of choice is something that has set them apart from the competitors and Netflix has built on this in recent months. Their commitment to keeping up with technological advancement has made them successful.

Netflix has been very effective in using mobile marketing techniques to keep and gain customers. Netflix’s newest advancement is its new mobile applications which were launched in the late summer/early fall of 2010. Netflix’s apps are available for iPhones, iPads, and androids, which are some of the most popular platforms right now. The mobile application allows customers that are already Netflix subscribers to watch movies on-demand from the Netflix database. This marketing strategy works because it sets Netflix further apart from its competitor giving customers lots of ways to view movies and get more for their subscription fee.

 

The target audience for this marketing strategy is more than likely males and females around the ages of 25 – 35. These individuals are out of college and have busy lives, but do not yet have large families of their own. They are young adults and enjoy the social and technological capabilities of smartphones and mobile devices. This group spends money on applications and probably have a high awareness of Netflix’s brand already. Targeting these individuals will more than likely help Netflix expand its amount of subscribers because this group will appreciate the variety of ways to watch Netflix on-demand movies, and the fact that Netflix offers it on smart devices will appeal to them. This target audience wants variety and Netflix offers them variety in both viewing options and movie selection. For customers that already subscribe to Netflix, this will add value to their subscription and help with customer retention.

 

This campaign to expand the amount of viewing options through mobile marketing will definitely be something that will attract customers. I don’t have a smartphone, but one of the reasons that I, and a lot of people I know, have subscribed to Netflix is because Netflix offers the most diverse range of ways to view movies of any of its competitors. I’m not always near a TV with a DVD player when I want to watch a movie or maybe I have a movie and don’t want to wait for another one to be sent to watch something. The ability to stream movie instantly to my laptop, computer, or Wii is one aspect that I really love. Also Netflix has a large amount of movies in its database for both mail delivery and on-demand viewing. If I had a smart phone, I would definitely download the app and watch movies on my smartphone/mobile device. I think that Netflix is affordable enough that people who don’t have a subscription may consider subscribing because of the smart phone app. It’s unique. Also, I think it will get the attention of people have been considering or trying to choose between Netflix and one of its competitors. The diversity of both movies and viewing options sets it apart. This mobile app really adds value to the Netflix subscription and is a great way to get the attention of customer. Netflix is doing a great job of being on the edge of technology and being the first of their competitors to implement new technological advancements.

A Petite Lap Giraffe of Your Own

I'm sure by now most people have seen the Direct TV commercials featuring Gregor and his adorable little mini giraffe. Well, I recently came across this website and have a very strong feeling that it is created by Direct TV, similar to how Geico created the site featuring the Caveman's crib.

So according to the website the Sokoblovski family have been the sole breeders of Petite Lap Giraffe in Russia and are the breeders responsible for Ivanka, the PLG star of Direct TV ads. The site also has some little bits of information about these cute little creatures and states, "Petite Lap Giraffes are very funny animal that require special care. They need lots of love. Hugs and kisses every day. Otherwise they make tears."


The website features a webcam so that you can watch the PLG Bull, Vladimir, run around the farm. You can also watch all the Direct TV commercials that feature Ivanka and learn about Petite Lap Giraffes. Best part of the site? Everything is written in broken English just how Gregor speaks in the commercials.

This is a reallly great idea for a site and obviously something that lot of people will find funny and share with friends. I'm 99% sure that Petite Lap Giraffes don't exist but realllly hope someone gets the inspiration from this site to start breeding some. So check it out and when you click the "I want Giraffe" button on the Calves page you can like it on facebook. Its a great strategy to get people talking about the brand and commercials and I'm sure the hit on their commercials on youtube have skyrocketed.

Case #2 - Google vs. Bing

The age of the digital revolution has brought with it innovation, as well as, ethical dilemmas. Weblogs, wikis, remixes, and file sharing have all revolutionized digital media, but have also blurred the lines of ethical and unethical. Issues have come to light that are very different from the issues of yesterday more clearly covered by regulations. One recent case of ethical issues that has been present in the media is that of Bing and their alleged copying of Google search results.

Earlier this month, Google accused its competitor search engine, Bing (owned my Microsoft), of copying their search results. After running a sting operation, Google found that Bing had been spying on Google's searches and matching their top search results. As far back as last May, Google noticed Bing was returning many of the same sites the Google produced for their searches. This was even true for misspelled words, but interestingly, Bing offered no spell correction for the misspelled word, where as Google would. This definitely was a red flag to Google that something was going on, as Google has a very advanced spell check program that matches misspelled words to the closest correct spelling, then renders a search for that correctly spelled word.

In October 2010, Google also noticed that the top 10 search results the Bing was producing began matching Google's even more closely. In addition to this, the number of times that Bing and Google produced the same first choice result increased as well. Google set up their sting in response to this growing suspicion that Bing was somehow copying Google's results. Google manually ranked results for certain words that very few people, if any, would look up and that returned no results on both search engines. The chosen results that Google decided to rank at #1 had no relevancy to the topic or word searched. Google then had employees search these terms at home to see if Bing's engine would pick up on the planted search results and eventually start posting them. Some examples of search terms Google used were "hiybbprqag" and "mbzrxpgjys"... which you probably realize are not words and would return no results. The only reason these terms rendered results was because Google engineers forced certain unrelated pages to come up as #1 ranked results.

Sure enough, two weeks later, a few of the fake terms Google had been planting results for on their engine began showing the same planted results when searched on Bing.

Google had planted 100 of these terms and about 7 - 9 of them showed the forced results Google had ranked as #1. That's about 8%, but Google was convinced enough to accuse Bing publicly. Since all of the major players in the search engine world are super secretive about their top secret search algorithems, its really hard to say if Bing was just copying the popular results for certain searches or have a similar algorithem. The legality of the issue as well is hard to say. It's definitely not very ethical to copy the results of a competitor, but it would first of all be hard to prove the results were copied and hard to prove that Google "owns" their results. Bing and Google still come up with completely different results for many searches, so obviously, Bing isn't copying them constantly or search by search.

Google, at one point and still to a small extent, had a very unique product. They are one of the most popular and most accurate search engines worldwide. The pressure that Bing is putting on them may hopefully push them to continue developing their product. I think this entire issue is, overall, just embaressing for Bing and Microsoft. Google is not effected by it, besides being a little annoyed. Google has removed the code forcing the specific results for the search terms, so now if you google any of them, you return results about Bing copying Google's results for that term.

This instance just goes to show the growing vagueness of what is legal and what is not in the age of the digital revolution. Ownership and copyright have become grey areas. Remixing can be seen as a similar issue to this Google vs. Bing issue in regards to ownership. Remixing other people's work, to some, is a form of stealing or copying. Today's society is much more lenient with this issue and ethical problems regarding ownership have increasingly come to surface. While Bing's alleged copying of Google search results has started discussion of the issue, no law or regulation is going to come from it. Hopefully, it serves as a lesson and Bing's embaressment will help to keep other companies honest. 

Here is Steven Colbert's coverage of the Google vs. Bing case.

The Colbert Report
Tags: Colbert Report Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,Video Archive

Nike's Mini Movie

While ordering a pair of the new Women's Nike Free training shoes (on a great sale I might add), I came across this short, but star studded, movie. Only Nike could bring such a group of super stars together to promote a shoe. I highly suggest you take a look.

Case #1 - Apple

The Web 2.0 era has greatly changed the ways in which companies interact with the internet, consumers, and competitors. Companies like Youtube, Amazon, and Facebook have redefined the way the internet is used. Companies that have found success in the Web 2.0 era share in common the use of a new business paradigm called wikinomics and its principles. These principles include openness, peering, sharing, and acting globally.

One company that preceded the Web 2.0 era but that has found success in these changing times is Apple. In recent years, Apple has seen the need for changes in the way they operate and have adapted the principles that have made Web 2.0 companies successful. Though Apple does not fully follow wikinomics in every way, they have used its principles in aspects of their company which has positively impacted them. The two specific principles Apple has employed are openness and acting globally.

Apple follows the traditional business model and is known as one of the most secretive companies in regards to products and product development. They have created innovative products and release incremental improvements, all of which are  developed by Apple employees. These are all characteristics of a closed, traditional business model, but there are also aspects in which Apple has shied away from this.

With the launch of their Apple iPhone, Apple took an open approach in developing applications for this product. Instead of creating all of their own apps for the iPhone, they opened it up to users to generate and create content. There are some distinct advantages to this. First, Apple was given thousands of applications, all contributed content from outside the company that they didn’t have to pay employees to create. It saved them money and time. Second, Apple didn’t have to research and decide what type of applications users would want. Since the application content is all user generated, the user of the product is fulfilling their own needs. No one knows what the customer wants better than the customer themselves. Third, allowing other companies to create content for their applications has increased the usability of their products. An example of this is their apps for the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes and Noble Nook. These apps allow users to use Apple products, such as the iPad, iPhone, and iTouch, as they would an e-reader, giving these Apple products extra functions.

 

The second principle of wikinomics that Apple utilizes is acting globally. Though based in the United States, Apple has a global presence which has also contributed to their success as a company. They are present in over 30 countries and ship to even more. Unlike a multi-national company, their products are the same the world over. The Mac Book Pro a person would buy in Indonesia is the same Mac Book Pro a person in the United States would buy. This business model works well for Apple because of the type of product they produce. Some companies produce products that need to be changed in different international markets. This multi-national approach can become costly and redundant. Apple’s unified global structure means cheaper production costs and a standardized support system.

Company structure is not the only thing that has changed in this new era, marketing and advertising tactics have shifted  towards being more focused on the individual customer. The digital age has brought with it new ways of connecting with consumers. This, of course, sounds wonderful, but the increase in media means clutter. Actually reaching the consumer through this clutter has become an increasingly difficult problem for many companies. In response to this, new tactics have been created. These marketing tactics include mass customization and one to one marketing.

Mass customization is a tactic Apple was quick to adopt. Many computer manufacturers, including Apple, have integrated the mass production of products and customization by allowing their customers a large array of options when purchasing their computers online. From the size of the hard drive to the type of finish on the screen, customers can build the computer of their dreams with the specifications they specifically choose. This is a positive thing for Apple as it does not actually cost them anymore to allow customers these choices. It also saves Apple from deciding which specifications sell best, only stocking those, and alienating a customer that may have wanted  something as simple as more hard drive space.

            Apple also allows customers the option to engrave many of their items, such as iPads and iPods, for free with purchase. They have been offering this service for years and are one of the only companies to do so. The engraving as a form of mass customization is not very costly, especially compared to the amount of money being spent on Apple’s products, but is something that the customer appreciates.

            One to one marketing is something Apple as a company doesn’t do a lot of. One small aspect in which it can be seen is the use of iTunes Genius. Genius is a program that makes recommendations about songs to purchase based on what songs an individual already has on their iTunes library and the songs that they listen to most. This is a good way to catch the attention of customers who may not know what to look for when searching iTunes. Showing them products the company already knows they will want to purchase means high sales.

            I believe that Apple has done a good job of keeping themselves relevant during a time when many older companies are having a harder time of adjusting. I really think that they have done well of tweaking their traditional business model in a way that hasn’t changed the way they operate too drastically while still embracing the current trends in marketing. One area in which Apple can improve is their one to one marketing. I see a lot of areas in which they could connect with their customers and beat out the clutter of advertising bombarding consumers. One way is keeping in better contact with repeat customers with a genius-like recommendation of other products they might be interested in.  I think that one to one marketing would be especially helpful to them. Most of their customers are diehard Apple users and keeping a better, more personalized relationship would be very beneficial. I would also suggest this approach to Apple because of the way their products are design to work together. Marketing information on a personalized level to customers letting them know what new products work well with or compliment products the customer already owns would be a great way to one to one market successfully. I’d really love to see them embrace this aspect in the future.