Credit if you read it

One of the greatest challenges to buying advertising online is the lack of “ratings”; the data that tells agencies and their clients how effective an ad buy might be.

Search ads—those that pop up alongside your Google search for, say, coffee shops and tell you to get your fix at Café Joe’s in your neighborhood—are more popular, because they are measured by click-throughs. Though that might not be an entirely accurate measurement—some will see the ad but not click, and others will click on it by accident—it at least offers some hard number with which to gauge. And media buyers are really awesome with numbers.

But Facebook just announced today it will be polling users about display ads and sending the data to Nielsen for analysis. Display ads are typically banner ads, across the top or middle of the page, or ads down the side of the page, in the rail. Facebook will begin testing new formats for display ads and asking users whether they noticed the content.

Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg credited the company's revenue growth, which is expected to rise more than 70 percent this year, to Facebook’s increasing number of users and the introduction of new ad products. Considering Facebook is expected to generate more than $500 million in revenue in 2009, this could be a big deal.

It will be exciting to see whether this makes Facebook ads more useful and valid in traditional media buys. And just out of curiosity, my own poll: Did you see and link to this blog from Asher’s Facebook page?

--Julianne W.

Sing-a-long math

The power of a jingle is never more evident to me than when I’m with my 12-year-old daughter.
She hums, she taps, she whistles, she sings. She sings Fall Out Boy, Taylor Swift, Pink and Katy Perry. She also sings the Luna Flooring telephone number we heard so often in Chicago: 773-202-LUNA.

This is a child who might not come up with the result of 7x8 if her life depended on it. But she could get you new wood laminate floors in a jiffy.

Every time I hear her sing some ditty or jingle off a radio or TV spot, I am reminded that setting things to music can be a very effective tool to help consumers remember important information. Especially if it’s used consistently and frequently, as those ever-lovin’ Luna spots were.

I’m writing tunes right now for things such as her morning routine, remembering to close closet doors and turn off lights, and how to pack a nutritionally balanced lunch. I might need a full opera for the multiplication tables.

There’s sound research to support the success of jingles. Professors Graham Hitch and Alan Baddeley at Cambridge University have published extensively on music in the working memory, and language and music as cognitive systems.

There also are some fun lists of the best-worst jingles and songs, the earworms that chew incessantly at your brain, online at How Stuff Works. Do you remember “you deserve a break today” from McDonald’s? What about the baby-back ribs jingle from Chili’s? Yeah, they’re stuck now, aren’t they? Sorry about that.

What’s your favorite? Or your love-to-hate? Share the pain. And let me know if you need some new vinyl tile.

--Julianne W.

All the news that's fit to post

Be still my heart—credible, vetted, properly sourced journalism still is valued. And not just by old-school former newspaper writers/editors such as me.

An editorial by former newspaper writer/editor (and now venture-capital firm senior adviser) Larry Kramer describes plans by Yahoo and AOL to not only aggregate content, but to publish original news.

As a former new-media freelance writer, I’m curious to know whether these mega-companies will pay a fair wage vs. the $10-per-500-word-story norm that seemed to be the going rate on many, many freelance writing clearinghouses.

I also wonder how that news will be edited. Newsroom standards are strict—we called every phone number before it was published. Looked up every address. Did the math when something was reportedly 20 percent higher this year. Editing is more than dotting I’s and crossing T’s.

Nonetheless, I have hope. That passion for truth and an open, informed society that motivated so many of my now-jobless reporter/editor colleagues seems alive and well.

“The moves to original content from the former kings of aggregation is an encouraging sign that some companies may come up with the business model that can support serious journalism,” writes Kramer.

That model may differ from site to site, he explains, depending on the type of content. Some may be supported by advertising. Some may charge for access. Regardless, there is a blessed awareness that the content must be credible to build a following.

Newspapers in major metropolitan areas might take heed. Bogged down with print infrastructure costs, many have cut reporters, writers, photographers and editors—content creators—to save money. I am eager to see what happens with those who choose the reverse, who shed physical costs to invest in product.

It might save that essence of newspapers about which I’m truly passionate: the accuracy, the credibility, the thoroughness, the accountability, the quality so essential to our society.

--Julianne W.

But do they make me look fat?

The Gap announced recently that it’s abandoning TV for its latest product launch. Instead, its Born to Fit line of denim will be marketed online, primarily through Facebook. All other media—print, outdoor, cinema and blog ads—will drive consumers to the Facebook page.

The Gap? No TV? Isn’t that like a mall without Coke?

Actually, maybe even that analogy is a sign of the times. TV viewership is declining and growing more fragmented as entertainment and viewing choices multiply. Malls vie for traffic with online retailers, lifestyle shopping plazas and freestanding independent stores. Coke is facing challenges from energy drinks and specialty waters (and is producing a few itself).

And The Gap? If I had a penny for every time I heard someone say “The Gap just doesn’t have anything anymore,” I could buy a truckload of khakis. Is its steady decrease in same-store sales over the past two years a result of poor advertising or a poor merchandising mix?

It will be equally hard to determine whether any bump in sales with this campaign is the result of Facebook or simply a great product. Born to Fit promises a range of style choices, increasing the odds of finding a great-fitting pair of jeans. And I’d buy a pair of great-fitting jeans from the back of a truck parked down the street.

But the Facebook page already had more than 335,000 fans just a week after its launch. Many were wishing The Gap a happy 40th birthday. (And yet its distressed jeans don’t look a day over 39.)

Do you shop The Gap? Do you watch TV? Do you go to the mall? Do you Facebook? Most importantly, where do you go for great-fitting jeans?

--Julianne W.

Is Streamy Dreamy?

I want to sit at the helm of a master control panel. Within that panel I want to find my cell phone voicemail and text messages, my landline messages, messages from my three personal email accounts, my work email, my work voicemail, my work Blackberry voicemail, my RSS feeds, my Twitter account, my personal Facebook page, the Facebook pages and Twitter accounts I maintain for others, my Flickr account, my Shutterfly account, my Walgreens photo account, my iTunes, my blog and my personal website. One massive mass-communication dashboard from which I can receive information and to which I can turn it back out.

Despite what my friend Sam says, I’m not aiming to be Big Brother. I just keep forgetting to check my landline voice mail. (Call my cell instead.)

Until the day someone builds my hub, I’m looking for a simple way to tie a YouTube account, a Twitter account, a Facebook account, a blog and a Digg account. I want to be able to post status accounts in one place and send them to Twitter and Facebook. I want to be able to post blog links to Twitter, Facebook and Digg. I want to be able to post YouTube video links to Twitter and Facebook. I want to be able to post YouTube comments to Twitter and Facebook. I want to be efficient in my social information distribution. Is that too much to ask?

I’ve been looking at Streamy. Now that FriendFeed has been absorbed by Facebook, it seems an even more viable alternative. I don’t really need the news side of Streamy, which sounds as if it could be a big side of Streamy. But I haven’t heard of anything more effective for social communication interrelation and distribution.

Have you? What do you use? What do you think?

--Julianne W.

Would you like verification with those fries?

I thought I spied a clever-sneaky new form of advertising on Facebook yesterday. I was wrong, but the possibility is something to “keep in mind.”

To upload a link to a Facebook account I manage, I had to type in a pair of words for verification. The pair? Coca-Cola. It made me wonder … was Coke paying to have its brand circulate among the random verification words? Were others?

(It also made me want a Coke. I found a Diet Pepsi instead. I did fail the taste test years ago.)
I couldn’t find anything on Google about such an advertising plan. So I went straight to the source and asked Facebook, which has proved quite a helpful entity every time I’ve had a question. Their answer:

“Thanks for your inquiry. We do not sell verification words as advertising. However, we will keep your suggestion in mind as we continue to improve advertising on the site. Let me know if you have any further questions.”

Nice people over there at Facebook. The bigger point, however, is the potential for brand integration into every process. Are you looking for a way to put your brand in front of more people? Find out where those people already are and craft alliances.

If you’re a member of your target audience, it’s an easy thing to look at your habits and surroundings with an eye for brand appearances. If you’re not, spend some time with someone who is. Learn where they already go, then be there.

I like Facebook. I use it all the time. I like soda. I drink it all the time, often in front of the computer while I’m using Facebook. It would be a natural pair. (Whether Diet Coke or Diet Pepsi.) I’d like to keep Facebook free by typing “Coke” or “Pepsi” or “Aveda” while I’m verifying my account, vs. “muddle red” or whatever the program comes up with. Thanks for your time in replying, Facebook. I’ll be curious to see what pops up next.

--Julianne W.

No mayo on my website, please

Burger King’s “have it your way” slogan is not just for burgers anymore. Now you can customize its website. Sliders across the top of the home page allow you to view more games and video—something my 12-year-old would love—or more food and nutrition information—where I get calorie counts on my BK Veggie or Whopper Jr.

While we’re both there, we can see some of the fast-food vendor’s cult classic commercials. Burger King has collected all the old creative that lived in YouTube and other cyberspace hidey-holes and put it in one spot again.

It’s an interesting take on the challenge of creating a single website that serves everyone. I’m a little leery about the “Angry Gram,” which allows you to send a message via screaming Whopper to someone who “annoys the hell out of you.” That, I might not want my 12-year-old to find.

But it’s almost a game in itself to play with the sliders and see what appears or disappears. Of course, even if you push the “food” slider all the way down to zero, some buttons for chicken tenders and cheesy tots and apple fries stay, linking to nutrition information. The food and beverage industry isn’t all fun and games.

But you want cheese on your website? Burger King’s got it.

--Julianne W.

15-year-old speaks, whole markets collapse

Twitter is for the geriatric set, says a 15-year-old in the U.K. after a thorough and scientific analysis of teen media usage that involved texting a bunch of friends and writing up the results in a day.
No one buys music, either, and phones are rather useless unless you want to talk to girls.

This one boy’s perspective, written at the end of a two-week internship and just before he headed to scout camp, has been republished and probably even re-Tweeted by a few senior citizens around the world as the holy grail of youth media and marketing.

It’s doubtful young Matthew meant to speak for the world, but the world thinks he has. I anticipate an imminent plunge in Twitter popularity.

As unscientific as the teen’s report might be, he’s not far off from some real reports. Twitter’s appeal is shaky by many accounts. The music industry has bemoaned the decline in CD sales for years. And lawyers for the movie industry already were busy with pirating cases.

What would be really interesting is a scientific and broad look at young-teen media consumption. It would be even more fascinating if it crossed international borders, considering media does, too. Most fascinating? Trying to determine how to reach a statistically large pool of those young people who don’t read newspapers, don’t use the phone for calls, don’t consume mass media. Matthew did mention Facebook…

--Julianne W.

The first to get the scoop

Starbucks announced a campaign yesterday in which Facebook users can give their friends a free pint of one of Starbucks’ new coffee ice creams.

By logging on, you can send one friend a coupon to be redeemed for one free pint. But there is one catch: You must be one of the first 800 to click at the top of each hour.

Limiting and pacing the free-for-all may save Starbucks’ long-running campaign (through July 19) from the plight suffered by KFC when its grilled chicken giveaway was too successful: Demand exceeded supply, angry people bearing coupons stormed the stores, and the campaign was yanked amid clucking about poor planning.

I have yet to scoop the competition in the Starbucks hourly giveaway, however. Apparently my mind only wanders mid-hour.

And I will choose carefully with whom I share a pint. If I send you one, please keep in mind that I’d really like one back. The Caramel Macciato looks tempting…

--Julianne W.

Copyright may be exactly right for newspaper copy

I don’t know copyright law in detail. Being a writer, editor and occasional photographer, I assume first that everything is not for use until I confirm that it is.

One of the latest proposals to save print journalism, however, seems to have good legs in existing copyright law. A story in Editor and Publisher suggests extending copyright law to offer newspapers protection for the content they generate for a set period online—say, 24 hours.

Newspapers invest a lot of money in newsgathering. Reporters track down the news—sometimes that means paying a reporter to sit through four days of city meetings to hear a conversation on Day 5 that turns into a big story. Editors vet the facts and make sure the story is complete and well-rounded. Copy editors check that work for grammar and accuracy—verifying every phone number, looking up every address. A slot checks the copy editor’s work. A proofreader checks the finished page, as does the original editor. Photographers illustrate. Designers organize and present. Even if you don’t include the cost of printing and distribution, there’s a heavy price for trustworthy news.

Newspapers recoup this investment by selling advertising to run alongside that vetted-and-thus-valuable news. Just as with magazines, the cost of a subscription doesn’t cover it. But if other sites are swiping newspapers’ content online, there’s no way for newspapers to recoup the investment with advertising, either. They lose their go-to status for the work they produced.

It makes sense to let them protect it for a time. They gathered the news, they should reap the rewards. It’s counter to a popular movement that suggests all work should be freely shared, but if that model kills off the creator of the work, then is that a successful model?

Other materials are protected in this way. Consider the issue in context of movies that are only available in theaters first before going to DVD. Or songs on the radio that pay their creators a royalty every time they air. Shouldn’t there be similar protection for journalism, something that acknowledges its value and compensates its creator? Much as I love what I do, I don’t often work for free. What say you?

--Julianne W.

At heaven’s door with a giant check?

Ed McMahon has passed away after a long and successful career as an actor, sidekick to Johnny Carson and pitchman extraordinaire.

I remember him most clearly as the guy with the giant check. As a kid, I was mesmerized by those American Family Publishers TV spots in which he shows up at someone’s door and changes their life with a huge payoff. I never really knew how much the award was—I was a kid, so a dollar was big money—but I knew it must have been a lot. I mean, did you see the size of the check?

Those spots could be considered the precursor to reality TV, particularly the brand of before-and-after TV to which I am addicted: “What Not to Wear,” “Flip This House” and their counterparts. They make viewers imagine the possibilities. If ordinary Dick and plain Jane can have a fantastic haircut or a gorgeous kitchen in just a half-hour, maybe so could I. And if someone who looks like my next-door neighbor can win an enormous, new-house-new-car-new-life check, maybe so could I. I just need to enter the sweepstakes!

It was a great campaign that took advantage of TV’s visual nature: the oversized cardboard check in hand, the pause outside the door, the jumping and screaming and crying. And it made Ed McMahon a super-good-guy in my memory. Really, could there be a better way to make a living than selling hopes and dreams?


--Julianne W.

Common Cents Marketing

On sunny days I sometimes walk down the street and get a flatbread at Dunkin’ Donuts for lunch. My egg white with turkey sausage is $1 off right now, thanks to their coupon booklet, and iced tea is free—not in the same visit, of course.

Another coupon in the booklet promotes five Munchkins for 99 cents. I never buy doughnut holes—I usually go all or nothing. But for a buck, I decided, I could have a wee bite of doughnut and share the rest. I chose five Munchkins and gave my coupon to the cashier … who noted that I saved a whole penny off the regular price.

I would agree that a penny saved is a penny earned, but it’s not a particularly large cost savings. This coupon’s value was less for me and more for the retailer, who prompted me to think about and buy doughnut holes. Talk about reframing a message—this one just needed to be framed by a dotted line.

--Julianne W.

Wheelie cool

The Indiana Criminal Justice Institute’s Traffic Safety Division has an important but challenging mission: to reduce death, injury, property damage and the economic costs associated with traffic crashes on Indiana highways.

Perhaps most difficult is making authority and safety seem cool. But ICJI’s new campaign, starting today on TV, radio and billboards, has an authority figure of a different variety: 2006 Moto GP champ Nicky Hayden.

Nicky’s a great spokesperson. He’s got the street credit to talk to a thrill-seeking crowd. As a motorcycle racing pro, he appeals to the nontraditional outsider. And he’s a winner, so he represents something to aspire to.

Nicky also has charisma. Watch how he delivers the last line of this TV spot. “Save a life and be aware: motorcycles are everywhere” could easily devolve into a sing-song rhyme. But Nicky says it like a friendly reminder from one cool guy to another. You wouldn’t want to cut this guy off in traffic, right?

--Julianne W.

The Scoop On Coupons

My mom raised a coupon shopper. Back in the day, I could orchestrate an evening of visits to three grocery stores within a mile of my home, coupons sorted by store and by aisle, and save 50 to 80 percent. Being poor makes you crafty.

Now that I can afford more produce and whole foods, I’m less diligent about clipping. But when I saw that Unilever is going to test mobile coupons, well, I got a little 50-cents-off thrill.

The idea is simple. Visit Samplesaint.com and download offers to your phone. When you get to the store, the cashier scans your phone and reads your discounts, which are applied to your bill. It’s much like using a key fob at the grocery for savings at checkout, but without the store-loyalty part.

So can I please get all kinds of discounts this way? Big Brother already knows what I buy. Just make it cheap and easy. Don’t make me track down the scissors and carry around a little stack of papers or download coupons and discover I’m out of printer ink. I want all my discounts with me at all times: oil changes, dinners, dry cleaning…all of it. I’m asking to be marketed to.

Of the three budgets alluded to by Andy Murray, chief executive of in-store-marketing agency Saatchi & Saatchi X, my frustration budget might be tighter than even time or money. Call me crazy, but when you call, be sure to send those offers to my phone.

--Julianne W.

In on the ground floor

Sports events are the best places to see creative marketing at work. Every swing of the bat, every layup, every seat and cup and song and time-out and perimeter fence is sold, labeled, branded or sponsored. I’m always amused and inspired to think of the most audacious ways to wring pennies out of space and time.

Sports marketing was at its finest at the Indy 500 this weekend, but brand frenzy spilled beyond the oval. In the lobby of the downtown Marriott, lighted logos were splashed onto the stone floor at the entrance, rotating images from banks and restaurants right in front of the logo-wrapped car parked in the middle of the room.

So why stop there? Why weren’t the sofa pillows stitched with logos? Shouldn’t the elevator doors be emblazoned with moving signs? What about corporate sponsorship of, say, Floor 15, with a logo on the elevator button?

We’ve seen signs posted on the backs of stall doors in the ladies’ room. I think there’s potential for a message on the plastic covers that slide over toilet seats at the push of a button in airports. You could sell me on hand sanitizer there. Parking meters could draw more revenue if gas stations and auto repair shops paid to post their brand identities under the coin slot, don’t you think?

People have sold ad space on their bald heads and pregnant bellies. Is any moment devoid of a marketing message? What space is just screaming to you for a creative concept?

--Julianne W.

What the Trend

Twitter is a handy little megaphone for announcing brief company news, ongoing developments, promotions or the fact that you just finished a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

But it can also be a hot mess of nonsensical tweets. A recent article in Advertising Age about the proliferation of inane and obscure references made me feel less alone in my frustration.

Fortunately, Matt Mayer came along with his blessed twin gifts for technology and communication. He’s developed What the Trend, a website that offers a fast peek at what has the Twitter world chirping. It’s updated Wiki-style, with Twitter users giving flesh to the references. Matt makes sure it remains operational, and the general public makes sure it remains useful.

Wanna know why everyone’s buzzing about #batt? What the Trend can tell you. You can be just as cool and in-the-know as your friends who have nothing better to do than mess around on Twitter all day.

From a business perspective, it’s great insight into what captures the collective online imagination, what’s getting attention and where you might join in the conversation. Especially if peanut butter and jelly starts trending.

--Julianne W.

Who says you can’t teach an old dog new media?

You might think county government would be more traditional, more old-school in its communications. But Multnomah County gets the value of “new” media, and it is putting its money where its mouth is.

The Oregon county’s chairman is hiring a specialist to manage communications via Facebook, Twitter and other social media. To him, it’s obvious. "These technologies are not just fringe technologies. People are signing up for social networking by the millions. That's where our constituents are. That's where the people are who we serve,” says Ted Wheeler in a report on KATU News’ website.

He’s been challenged by a radio personality there who points out that Multnomah County got by all this time before without such a position—why do they need one now, he asks? But isn’t that a little like asking a person why he’d trade in a typewriter for a computer?

Wheeler is undeterred in his belief in the value of social media. In fact, he and his staff are so committed that they took a 12 percent cut in salary to pay the new hire. If an entity as stereotypically conservative as county government is Tweeting, who can really claim to be too stodgy for new media?

--Julianne W.

Who, what, when and why from where

Newsweek recently revamped its print product. Recognizing that it can’t compete with the Internet in timeliness and scope, Newsweek has decided to focus on delivering a long view on topics of the day, to provide context for stories from a brand that has garnered trust. It’s found a point of differentiation.

Now Newsweek is rethinking its online product as well. Newsweek.com will dig deep, too. But it also will offer blogs and links for a broad perspective—so broad as to possibly include its competitor, Time, according to a May 3 report in Media Week online.

“You have to ask yourself, ‘Are we in the business of delivering the best possible content or brands—or brands we favor or like?’” Geoff Reiss, vice president/general manager for Newsweek Digital is quoted as saying.

It’s a different way of thinking: Rather than being the source, Newsweek.com is seeking to be the resource. Rather than being the place to turn when you want Newsweek, the online site is seeking to be the place to turn when you want news—whether it is written by that trusted brand or presented by that trusted brand.

Some say without a point of differentiation in its online voice, Newsweek risks becoming another MSNBC. I’ll watch with anticipation to see whether it can successfully add “content provider” to its job descriptor without having to sacrifice its valuable role as content creator.

--Julianne W.