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Interesting piece in USA Today (click for full article)

With retailers forced to take a hard look at their bottom lines during the recession, catalogs are adjusting, but not disappearing, says Leslie Linevsky, founder of Catalogs.com. As postage rates climb and customers become concerned about the environmental impact, retailers are scaling back on the number of catalogs they mail out and are using them to drive traffic to their websites.

Simon Doonan, creative director of Barneys New York, says retailers are becoming more creative when it comes to catalogs.

“I think because the Internet is so exciting and so immediate, we have to up the ante with direct mail and really make direct-mail pieces memorable, make them into keepers,” he says.

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Book Review from Matthew May for American Express OPEN

Feb 19, 2010 -

I have just finished reading Fascinate: Your 7 Triggers to Persuasion and Captivation, by Sally Hogshead. Sally is an award-winning advertising executive turned brand innovation consultant. In this book, she covers a wide swath of disciplines to weave a story-driven narrative that draws on her original research, a Kelton Study conducted specifically for the book, to look deeply into what captures our attention, and how we can create fascination in our lives and livelihoods.

Her goal in conducting a study of 1,059 Americans over the age of 18 was to define the role of fascination in our lives, and measure it in tangible terms. “Without fascination,” Sally says, “we can’t sell products, persuade shareholders to invest, teach students to read, or convince our own kids to stay off drugs.”

Some of the more interesting results are these:

• When asked how far they would go for a fascinating life, 60% of people said they’d be willing to bend their morals, standards, or loyalties.
• Only 9% of employees say their bosses are “extremely fascinating,” but 96% of parents say they’re fascinated by their own children.
• A fascinating brand can charge up to four times as much as an un-fascinating one.
• On average people will pay $288 per month to be the most fascinating person in the room. Five percent will pay more than $1000 per month. (Women will spend more to be fascinating than they spend on food. In fact, women will spend more to be fascinating than they spend on food and clothes combined.)

These results raise the obvious question: what does it take to be fascinating? The answer, according to Sally, is that it takes some blend of the seven triggers, which are defined as deeply rooted primal means of arousing intense interest:

1. Lust: the anticipation of pleasure, which we crave.
2. Mystique: unanswered questions, which intrigues us and makes us want to solve the puzzle (read rest of article)
   

Google BUZZ launched last week and it’s already shaking up the Social Media landscape.  Though Google has been launching a new product seemingly every week (Chrome, Wave, Droid Operating System, etc.) this one comes with more louder Thunder and more Lightning Bolts from atop Mt. Googlempus!

What is it?

If you have a Gmail account and have checked it the past week, you probably know but if not, Google Buzz is a simple tool to post, communicate and share through the Gmail service (which is free like Facebook, Twitter, Friend Feed, etc.).  Think about a cross between the ease of use and ability to follow anyone by Twitter and the deeper sharing and multimedia capabilities of Facebook.

Are People Using This?

Yep.  The first 2 days saw 160,000 Buzz posts PER HOUR and 300,000 Mobile check-ins PER DAY.

Why Would Someone Use This?

The most obvious answer is that it automatically shows up on your Gmail account (no need to sign up for it).  Think about how Internet Explorer became so famous – when you turned on a new computer, there was the IE logo begging you to click it. Also, it’s brutally simple to use. Lastly, it’s within your realm of usage every day, meaning that if you’re a Gmail user, it’s already tied in to other tools you’re using from Google like Calendar, Wave…heck if you have a Droid Phone (runs on a Google Operating System) – it’s there too because when you activate your phone it prompts you to provide your Gmail address or sign up for one!  Buzz is EVERYWHERE if you have a Gmail account.

What about its Mobile “Local” Feature?

This is really the coolest thing about BUZZ!  If you access Buzz through any GPS-enabled phone, it identifies your location and serves up the Buzz from people in a close proximity to you even if you’re following them or not.  You know what restaurant people are eating at around your location, what movie they are seeing, etc. (as long as they are Buzzing from their phone and close enough to you).

Any Stumbling Blocks?

Privacy concerns.  When Buzz first launched it auto-followed people IT thought you should and auto-suggested people to follow based on your Gmail habits.  Google responded FAST and quickly turned the auto-follow to auto-suggest and added a disable Buzz completely feature.  They probably should have taken a look at Facebook’s numerous stumbles in this area.

Will it Threaten the Big 2?

Yes, but not likely to do too much damage because Facebook users and Twitter users are loyal to their products.  It was instantly bigger than Twitter at launch based on number of users thanks to a built in Gmail user base to tap but has not come close to the total number of posts that Twitter has.  Plus Twitter has a great open API ensuring that more applications are in the pipeline at all times.  Buzz also has an open API ensuring innovative apps in the pipeline but with the Droid phone having a built-in  “marketplace” like the iPhone, this creates a potential revenue stream for Buzz because they could possibly charge for Buzz apps.

We’re still playing with Buzz at Endeavour Labs and it’s still early to tell how people are going to adopt it and how competitors will respond but it looks like Google has a bonafide hit on its hands!  We’ll keep you updated on how this thing progresses!

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From AdAge (read original article)

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Even in recession, there’s an upside opportunity. And there might be billions of retail dollars up for grabs for smart marketers able to expand their footprint by taking advantage of cheaper leases.

The downturn that began in December 2007 has been disastrous for companies including Circuit City, Steve & Barry’s, Linens ‘N Things and S&A Restaurant Corp. (which owned Bennigan’s, Steak & Ale and Tavern restaurants), which have all filed for bankruptcy. Others, such as Sears Holdings, Foot Locker, Quizno’s and Ruby Tuesday, have shuttered locations. In total, retail sales declined 6% in 2009, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

But in the coming year, economists surveyed by Bloomberg expect Americans will open their wallets once again and increase spending by 2%, the first gain since 2007. While not a stellar prediction, it’s a start. And even though more retailers and restaurants will certainly close in the coming year, one retailer’s misfortune could be the fortune of another able to snap up prime locations.

“There’s going to be a lot of opportunity out there,” said Charles Wetzel, president-chief operating officer of Buxton, a market-planning firm. “[Companies] are not as aggressive as they might have been in years prior, but, having said that, they’re not being conservative either.”

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From AdAge (original article)

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — For some marketers, a new year means a new agency. If that’s your company’s annual resolution, you should know that line of thinking will lead to a bad reputation in adland.

Agency new-business executives and industry search consultants report a growing blacklist of sorts, composed of marketers that tend to put ad duties into play every year or two. Thanks to rapid turnover in the chief marketing officer seat (a CMO’s tenure averages 28 months, according to the most recent figures from executive search firm Spencer Stuart) and pressure to perform amid the troubled economy, long-lasting agency-marketer relationships are becoming more rare.

“I have a huge disagreement with people changing their agencies like they change their underwear,” said Jane Bedford, partner at the Bedford Group, a consultancy based in Atlanta. “Our clients tell us it takes them about three to six months for them to get fully engaged with their agencies. It’s very difficult for an agency to get up and running, and totally please the client, within the first year.”

And that’s coming from an exec who actually benefits when accounts go into review.

Take Chipotle: In January 2004, the burrito chain tapped Mother, New York, to be its first advertising agency. Six years later, that account has cycled through four different shops: After Mother came TDA Advertising & Design, Boulder, Colo.; Devito/Verdi, New York; Butler Shine Stern & Partners, San Francisco; and, its latest, hired this month, Compass Point Media, a division of Campbell Mithun in Minneapolis.

Thinking twice
The regularity with which Chipotle changes its agencies is more than most. But it’s hardly the only marketer with a penchant for flitting from shop to shop. Retailer Ikea and luxury automaker BMW are known for frequently reviewing their creative and media accounts, and Mitsubishi Motors North America moves its ad business around a fair amount as well.

Too many reviews could also mean that, over time, the very best shops will think twice before going after those accounts. “Agencies do a risk assessment when deciding whether to pitch an account, and there’s definitely a toxicity factor they look at. If [a client] does a lot of reviews, the client gets blacklisted,” Ms. Bedford said.

Even at a time when agencies are hungry for more revenue, such flip-flopping has consequences: Two different new-business executives said two accounts they wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole are 1-800-Flowers and Quiznos, as the businesses seem to be too volatile, regardless of their billings. The marketers did not respond to requests for comment.

Another consequence is cost: Constantly opening reviews can be incredibly costly and disruptive to both the marketer — for whom travel and other fees associated with agency reviews racks up — and the agencies, which shell out thousands of dollars in the hopes of crafting the perfect pitch that could win the business. If they do land it, there’s often an added cost of having to quickly ramp up freelance and full-time staff to work on the new account.

Michael Houston, chief marketing officer at Grey, New York, said the window for agencies to prove themselves has lowered dramatically.

“Results in our business are no longer evaluated on a semi-annual or quarterly basis, but on a monthly, weekly and sometimes daily basis,” Mr. Houston said. “Couple that with the level of dollars attached to the advertising line item on a client’s balance sheet, and we find clients forced to justify their marketing ROI in a way never seen before. In that process, agencies sometimes become the scapegoat, with the easy solution being to call an agency review.”

Consistency
What’s more, “serial reviewers” risk damaging their brand with inconsistent marketing messages.

“Clients shouldn’t be constantly jumping ship,” said Lisa Colantuono, managing partner at AAR Partners. As communication between consumer and client evolves, “they need to work together with their agencies. If that foundation is constantly changing, the marketer is hurting themselves in the long run in terms of building brand loyalty with the consumer.”

The Association of National Advertisers, the marketer’s trade group, doesn’t exactly see it this way. The ANA’s position is that conducting formal agency evaluations on a regular basis offers the best chance for fixing problems before frustration sets in. It believes that the companies that have two-way assessments at regular intervals have the most-productive relationships. “Having a formal agency evaluation process is always imperative but even more so at a time of heightened focus on marketing accountability,” Bob Liodice, president-CEO of the ANA, has said.

Said Grey’s Mr. Houston: “Desperation may be something new to many industries in the recession, but it’s something the agency business has known, embraced and perpetuated for decades. Agencies only have themselves to blame by playing right into the hands of these serial agency-review ‘players’ [and] making it too easy for the client to bully us.”

Endeavour Marketing and Media – A Murfreesboro, TN Advertising Agency

From the Wall Street Journal (click for original article)

By SUZANNE VRANICA

The economy may continue its gradual recovery next year, but advertising is expected to show the influence of the recession through 2010.

Don’t expect a letup in the rough-and-tumble sales pitches that hit the airwaves, Web and magazines this year, as advertisers like Campbell Soup and Verizon Wireless, owned by Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group, took direct aim at their competitors. Advertising executives expect such barbed comparison ads to continue.

Other companies, meanwhile, will be showing their softer sides. In the bleak aftermath of the recession, many marketers think consumers will respond to brands they perceive as giving back to the community.

PepsiCo, for example, recently decided to bypass Super Bowl advertising in favor of an online campaign that doles out funds for charitable purposes.

“It’s cool to do good,” says Rob Schwartz, chief creative officer of Omnicom Group’s TBWA/Chiat/Day Los Angeles. Industry executives also are convinced it will be effective.

Another of next year’s prominent themes will be a throwback to the early days of television. Ad executives say they expect an increase in live TV commercials, which made a comeback in 2009.

In the spots, talk-show hosts like Jimmy Kimmel perform skits featuring the advertiser’s product. “We are looking at ways to keep the consumer engaged, and live TV ads are helping us do that,” says Richard Gagnon, chief media officer at Interpublic Group’s DraftFCB.

Madison Avenue executives say they will rely on these and other strategies, such as using fewer actors and more animated characters, and spots that share the screen with TV programs to thwart ad-skipping. Here’s what they say you’ll be seeing in 2010:

Rising Stars

Social-network personalities will make their way to mass-media stardom next year, says Christian Haas, creative director of Omnicom’s Goodby Silverstein & Partners. Mr. Haas says consumers will see the ubiquitous press quotes that pepper movie and car ads share screen time with the average Joe’s tweets.

Divided Attention

TV networks are increasingly looking for ways to stop consumers from ad-zapping, says Mr. Gagnon of DraftFCB. He says TV viewers will see more split screens that give them a glimpse of what is going on behind the scenes of a show while a commercial runs on the other side of the split.

DraftFCB is looking at doing a test of the ad format for one of its clients during a prime-time talk show. Consumers would see the talk-show host getting ready for his next segment on one side of the screen while the ad played on the other side. Expect to see more of these ads during live programs and sporting events, Mr. Gagnon says.

Mobile, for Real This Time

Mobile advertising has long been promised and largely underdelivered. David Lubars, chief creative officer of Omnicom’s BBDO, says he thinks a breakthrough is right around the corner. It’ll have something to do with longer-form entertainment, he says.

Daryl Lee , president of global communications planning at Interpublic’s Universal McCann, predicts mobile marketing will find a purpose: helping consumers find what they are looking for at local stores, probably in the form of apps, gadgets and widgets, not regular ads.

Tiger Fallout

As the fallout from Tiger Woods’s alleged infidelities continues, the episode will have a drastic effect on sports marketing, says Tony Ponturo, former head of global sports marketing for Anheuser-Busch InBev. Consumers will see fewer big-name celebrities and athletes pitching for brands. Mr. Ponturo says marketers will look more to sponsor teams, leagues and events, rather than individuals, an approach with fewer risks.

Getting to Know You

Consumers will give their personal information in return for getting the ads they want to see, predicts Tracy Scheppach, innovations director at Publicis Groupe’s Starcom MediaVest Group. “I just see the stuff I have opted to receive because I am a mom—that’s advertising,” she adds.

Cheaper Pitchmen: Employees

Employees are well-versed in the products they represent, and their enthusiasm can enhance a brand exponentially on the Web, says Marian Salzman, a trend spotter for Havas’s Euro RSCG Worldwide. Best Buy has been ahead of this curve, Ms. Salzman says, with employees, called Blue Shirts, who pitch for the electronics retailer in TV ads and on Twitter, Ms. Salzman says.

Lux 2.0

Luxury, one of the last industries to embrace the Web, will leapfrog other categories in digital marketing, says Mr. Lee of Universal McCann, “as we watch the rapid rise of the luxury geek.”

Avatar Envy

Thanks to the new sophistication in animation, “We are going to see more animation and virtual talent in ads. It’s cheaper than hiring actors,” and it avoids the risk of having your brand associated with a celebrity, says Mr. Gagnon of DraftFCB.

Watch One, Get One Free

Paying for content is the foundation of the ad business. But as consumers tune out ad messages, companies that offer tangible benefits will most likely win their attention, says Mr. Haas of Goodby. Sprint Nextel started offering free Wi-Fi in the airport; Google is paying for it on planes. “Anyone interested in comping my cable modem at home?” Mr. Haas says.

Less Glitz

More ads will be made on the cheap, as advertisers continue to cut costs and seek a way to connect with digitally savvy consumers who see the world through their iPhone, says Mr. Schwartz of TBWA

Endeavour Marketing and Media, A Murfreesboro, TN Advertising Agency

By Andrew Hampp for AdAge

LOS ANGELES (AdAge.com) — When Delta Airlines wanted to reach business travelers just in the New York area last spring, it decided to test the idea of microtargeting with place-based media. So it teamed up with out-of-home vertical SeeSaw Networks to create multiple 15-second spots customized to a wide array of venues across five different digital out-of-home vendors.

Cafes from Reach Media Group’s Danoo, ferry terminals from Affiniti Group Media, Pump Top TV’s gas stations in the New Jersey and Connecticut areas and health clubs on the Netpulse and When networks were all included in the plan, complementing similarly targeted ads in New York-based print and digital media.

Although business travelers in a single market like New York may ultimately amount to a relatively small audience, the campaign represented one of the biggest digital out-of-home outlays to date from a client at Digitas, Publicis’ digital media agency that recently branched out into the emerging outdoor medium.

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From AdAge’s “Book of Tens” Special Issue highlighting the best of the Decade

Click to View “Best Marketing Tech Innovations of the Decade”

Endeavour Marketing and Media, A Murfreesboro, TN Advertising Agency

From AdAge’s “Book of Tens” Special Issue highlighting the best of the Decade

Click to view “Ideas of the Decade”

Endeavour Marketing and Media, A Murfreesboro, TN Advertising Agency

By Rita Chang for AdAge (click for original article)

SAN FRANCISCO (AdAge.com) — So is the Droid the iPhone killer? So far, no, but it’s off to a very respectable launch thanks to some smart seeding by Verizon.

Analysts estimate Verizon sold between 100,000 and 200,000 Droids in its opening weekend; the wireless carrier should sell a total of 765,000 Droids by year-end, according to Avian Securities’ forecast. At this pace, Droid, which was released in early November, would slightly trail the performance of the first Blackberry Storm, which sold a million units by the end of January after going on sale just before Thanksgiving last year. Remember, the Storm had few competitors last year, and this year Droid is contending with many more iPhone wannabes. Though the Droid did well, its debut racked up nowhere near the million iPhones sold in Apple’s opening weekend (which includes international sales; Droid is a U.S.-only launch).

Droid owes much of its success to its mega-advertising spending, estimated to be at least $85 million, the biggest launch ever by its carrier. But it also received good early buzz by getting its phone into the right hands, enough to earn accolades even from rivals. “Based on the chatter and all the people talking about the device, they did an excellent job, going far and broad with the seeding of the device,” said a PR executive who declined to be named because her client is a competitor to Motorola (which designed the Droid’s hardware).

Verizon won’t say how many demonstration phones it distributed to bloggers and influencers, but judging from the number of reviews online, it looked to be a sizable effort — a big seeding campaign can involve as many as 100 units. Verizon spokeswoman Brenda Raney, however, downplayed the idea that anything was outside normal practice. “The phone is in the hands of a variety of reviewers, but I can’t tell you that I went outside of the normal community any more for this phone than I did for others,” she said. The effort was led in-house, but Verizon declined to identify whether other outside PR or word-of-mouth shops were also employed in the launch.

Six ways Verizon seeded the Droid

NO EMBARGO
To cordon off any bad publicity before the device launch, handset makers and carriers often prohibit reviewers from publishing their musings until the product hits the stores or until the company has issued its own official announcement. But with Droid, Verizon didn’t hold reviewers to the customary embargo, possibly because it was “confident there wasn’t going to be negative reception” before launch, said Harry McCracken, editor of The Technologist, who reviewed the handset. Timing might have been a factor too; Verizon gave out the phones roughly a week ahead of the handset’s release, so there wasn’t much need for secrecy. The flurry of positive reviews, coupled with the phone’s fast and furious marketing, worked in Verizon’s favor.

TEASING THE BLOGGERS
To fan excitement among reviewers, Verizon did a teaser stunt that bloggers say is a first for the carrier. Shortly after Droid’s anti-iPhone teaser campaign aired, some bloggers received a Verizon greeting card displaying the phone’s emblematic red Terminator robot eye. When they opened the card, they were greeted by the phone’s now trademark robotic voice that utters “Droid.” The message inside reads: “Coming in November.” Days later, bloggers received yet another Verizon goodie, this time a remote-control “Star Wars” R2D2 robot, which arrived in a brown cardboard box that would have looked generic but for the red orb on the packaging. The gift’s accompanying card read: “11.09, Droiddoes.com,” which is the phone’s microsite where folks can sign up to get more information. “This was not standard operating procedure for Verizon by any stretch,” said Michael Oryl, editor of the blog Mobileburn.

It also teased with a photo-op showing Google CEO Eric Schmidt and Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam. In the photo, both appeared to be holding phones that had yet to hit the market, sparking mass speculation in the blogosphere. “That started to generate a bit of hype, and it was weird to see them together,” said Joshua Topolsky, chief editor of the gadget blog Engadget.

GETTING PERSONAL
Jon Rettinger, president of the TechnoBuffalo blog, noted that only four to five bloggers or reporters were on Verizon’s conference call to introduce the Droid. Previous calls packed in upwards of 20 to 30 people, he said. The unusually intimate venue allowed participants to ask in-depth questions of the engineers from Google and Motorola, which both had a hand in developing and making the device. The company likely wanted to make sure reviewers get everything right as the phone offered innovative functions such as voice-recognition search. Steve Bray, a tech editor at a local TV station in Indiana, said for the first time, Verizon’s PR rep went out of her way to point out that he was getting an exclusive as the only broadcaster in the state who would get the phone. Mr. Bray ended up doing an iPhone-Droid comparison.

ENGINEERS FIRMLY IN THE MIX
In many cases, carriers don’t host demo events for a new handset — a PR exec whose client is a handset maker said, generally, only one in four handsets is event-worthy. But not only did Verizon stage Droid demo events, it made sure hard-core engineers were around to field the tough questions. Whereas these demo events are staffed primarily by PR people, Mr. Oryl noted that there were “actual engineers who know the guts of the product.” Google folks were also on hand, which is a rarity, as “you don’t see Google people too often.” For the Blackberry Storm2, which went on sale exclusively at Verizon just days before the Droid, the carrier simply shipped the demo units, with no event to back the launch.

BULKIER PRESS KIT
For the Droid, Verizon went to town and beefed up its press kit. Compared to other Verizon handsets, “the push with the Droid was far more active … the press kit was more elaborate and in-depth,” Mr. Rettinger said. Whereas other handsets came with photocopied sheets highlighting the phone’s features, Droid’s kit arrived with more polish, with slick glossies and packed in a lot more color, according to Mr. Rettinger. There was inevitably more explaining to do, since the Droid runs on Android 2.0, an operating system the world has never used.

A NEW ATTITUDE
By all accounts, with the Droid Verizon was courting coverage. Generally, handset makers and carriers are wary of leaks, concerned of bloggers taking control of the press coverage as they get wind of the phone, or worse, bloggers actually getting their hands on a prototype before the phone has been bullet-proofed and cleared of any bugs. But reviewers noted that the carrier was markedly proud, excited and freewheeling with Droid. “You could sense their excitement — even when we leaked the pictures of the phone, you could tell they were enjoying the coverage,” said Boy Genius, who runs the eponymous Boy Genius Report blog and declined to disclose his name.

Endeavour Marketing and Media, A Full-Service Murfreesboro Advertising Agency