When did this happen? look on the right, Bing web results and then sponsored listings a la google style. This should be a good lift for bing. Just think of all the user interest and behavior data they will get as well.
Here’s the screenshot.
Absolutely brilliant TV series promotion
July 25th, 2009 by Robb Lewis 0 Comments »I just read about a very clever and attention getting marketing campaign that I had to share. The Discovery Channel is promoting the season launch of shark week, it’s popular annual event. The PR teams at the Networks use all kinds of promotional gadgets and gimmicks to reach media journalists and reporters in hopes of getting ink as they say…basically written up in the newspaper or online, or on TV news.
So the Discovery Channel came up with an absolutely brilliant marketing program that definitely was edgy and pushed the envelope and seems to have grabbed attention.
To promote its annual Shark Week series to reporters, Discovery Channel sent reporters a jar than contained swim-trunks that was chewed up and bloody. Oh, and wait, there’s more. Inside the jar was a crumpled up newspaper clipping that had each reporters obituary. “<Reporter Name> …dies of a grisly shark attack”. Quoting James Hibberd, who penned the initial story “But today was the first time a network ever truly creeped me out.”
I wonder if they could use the same campaign to consumers? Test market in a city that matches the shows target demo. This will make it possible to see ratings lift since you are concentrating on a single DMA.
Oh well, I thought it was very clever and attention grabbing. Heck, it got mine and I didn’t even receive a package 
Check out the breaking story from the hollywood reporter live feed here.
“Don’t forget to follow me on twitter!”
Leaked Presentation of Microsoft Stores
July 24th, 2009 by Robb Lewis 0 Comments »
Someone was kind enough to send Gizmodo an internal presentation of the proposal for what the Microsoft retail experience might look like. I checked out the slides and think it looks like, well a mix of Apple, Sony Style and AT&T…pretty much as they probably planned. OH, and they had referenced Nike in the presentation as well, maybe that’s where the hang from ceiling panels came from.
OK, most people know I am an Apple fan and have a macbook pro, macbook, 2 iphones (3 GS 32 GB), ipods (actually my family has MANY ipods going back to the first gen) and even an airport extreme wireless router. BUT I also have windows desktops (my gaming machine i build kicks!) and a couple of windows based laptops as well. So while I like apple products I do use windows based machines as well and an not a microsoft hater. Xbox 360 kicks ass and I can tolerate Vista (once I disabled all those warnings). So my take on Microsoft’s retail experience is from a potential customer and not some apple fanboy who can’t see past their dislike of MSFT.
First Microsoft, show some originality please! It looks like a buffet if this and that from all the competitive stores and doesn;t have a personality of its own. There’s no soul, no single emotional experience that I will remember and be different from the others. Figure out what that single, emotional experience you want people to remember and design the store around that.
Second, please don’t call it an Answer bar, Guru bar or anything “bar”. Unless you’re serving drinks a bar is not something I associate with helping me fix my PC problems or undestand how to accomplish something (I also don’t like Apple’s narcistic genius bar name…they’re not all that smart). Think of a place where people go to get problems solved.
Lastly, pls ease up on the video walls. Don’t do the entire store. Absolutely have a section to for this and provide users with an emmersive experience. But not the entire store.
Well these are my thoughts on Microsoft’s retail effort. I’m interested in what it finally looks like.
Thanks Gizmodo for breaking the story and letting me “borrow” your pics
Clich here to go to the Gizmodo story.
Stefani, Sydney and Alexandra at dinner tonight for Liz bday
July 23rd, 2009 by Robb Lewis 0 Comments »Getting the younger kids to let me take pics is getting harder, BRATS! Jk
- Posted using MobyPicture.com
Liz and Amanda at dinner tonight
July 23rd, 2009 by Robb Lewis 0 Comments »Liz and Amanda at dinner tonight. Amanda can drink now too! I’m still not used to that.
- Posted using MobyPicture.com
ABC LOST producers make anti-social media move
July 19th, 2009 by Robb Lewis 0 Comments »
My friends and neighbors have all been
getting into ABC’s LOST lately and have been telling me I’m really missing a great show. I actually don’t watch that much broadcast TV and when I do it’s usually cable networks like science channel, history channel or comedy central. I spend much more time online and watching web TV shows and you tube videos. Now I have seen the Lost parody videos on youtube by the fine brothers.
While I wasn’t interested in adding a TV series to my things to do I decided to google lost and see what’s out there that could at least give me the background on the show so I could have a better understanding and even be able to participate in the conversation.
I searched around the ABC LOST site and found the untangled video they just released
http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=index
As I watched the video I recognized a part that had used dolls that looked just like the ones used by the fine brothers.
At first I thought maybe ABC hired the Fine brothers to produce the web clip, which I thought was cool of ABC. But then I went to the fine brothers site and there was a post on their blog about how ABC basically ripped them of and completely copied the Fine brothers Lost parody series. http://www.ravenstake.com/blog/
Now why would ABC do this? I mean they already have all the budgets and perks and talent. Why would they need to risk trust and credibility by stealing an idea?
This is the part about social media that the big brands just don’t get. They think it’s all about letting the people watch their shows online like at hulu.com. Just take the same shows from TV, throw in a couple of other scenes that were cut and distributed them online. This is all good but it misses the big and more important part about social media – the SOCIAL part.
If I were a TV producer I would as a first step hire the Fine brothers and let them lose. Then I would open up to the social media creators and give them clips and tools from the show to create new takes and mashups. And I mean ABC should open up all the assets and let these people create variants, remixing shows, like a LOST meets Desperate Housewives or something. That could be funny.
But this move by ABC is just bad taste and counter to the spirit of social media.
NHL is pissed off about being dissed by Media
July 19th, 2009 by Robb Lewis 0 Comments »NHL implements new rules to make the game more exciting and grow its fan base.
NHL Tries To Woo Fans By Increasing Scoring With Bigger Nets, 3-Point Line
LA is new Social Media Hub – claims Mashable
April 9th, 2009 by admin 0 Comments »I just read this post from Mashable about how LA is leading the way with social media. I guess it makes sense given all the video production talent down in SoCal. But is this really social media or mostly independents and aspiring actors that found a new distribution channel online when they couldn’t get TV distribution? I’ve seen some good web TV shows that frankly should be on broadcast TV but there’s not a lot of social to it, they’re just online videos made by independents (notice I didn’t say amateurs because some of them are very professionally done). I think one can say LA leads the way in web TV but I’d question the social media capital part.
Felicia Day
I guess the root of this could be that the definition of social really means Video (if you look at all the examples provided in the mashup story they are all video related) and not innovative engagement applications like facebook.
Don’t get me wrong, I love many of the new Web TV shows and have even been encouraging my teenagers to jump in on this trend (I tell them now one wants to see a 40 something on Web TV and make thier own shows. But I was just questioning if when we say social now, we actually mean video.
Just my opin… follow me on twitter @robblewis
Do Video Games Prepare Kids for an Apocalyptic Future?
February 28th, 2009 by Robb Lewis 0 Comments »I guess all those years of playing video games like Doom and Half-Life will pay off for me Gotta love the Onion!
Are Violent Video Games Adequately Preparing Children For The Apocalypse?
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