Snack Attack!

The other day I was reading the cover of Wired magazine with the title "Snack Culture" and I wondered...when did pop culture become snack culture???What is snack culture after all???
Wired defines it as a high speed pop culture where everything from movies, TV shows, songs, trends, fashion and styles come and go without stopping!
Video on demand substituted cinema...ipod, the Walkman...and blogger.com diaries.
Fasten your seat belts...this is only the start of a new era of communications technology where future comes to you fast and entertainment comes packaged and in bite sizes!
Read the latest issue of Wired magazine and the epic history of Snack Culture.
Welcome to the future...

Miller gone Digitas...

After Anheuser-Busch, launched Bud.tv online network earlier this month, we had the official announcement from Miller that Digitas will be its new digital agency!

Digitas is a very Internet savvy and experienced agency which will try to evolve Miller's digital marketing approach at a time that beer marketers are becoming more and more aggressive in their digital promotions.

According to Laura Lang, president of Digitas. "Digital marketing is becoming such an integral part of any marketing campaign, and we know we can help Miller develop world-class digital programming."

As you can understand this is only the start of the rival...but the interesting part is that the field is new, promising but at the same time dangerous for both competitors...

http://adage.com/article?article_id=114977

Online networks!

I was reading a post the other day in adsurd.blogspot.com where according to New York Times and media buying agencies, the growth of UK advertising is roughly 40% per year and the overall spending for online advertising will reach 14% of overall ad spending. It is more than clear that Web 2.0 is leading us into a new communications era where the consumer has more control than ever before.

In order to build a brand and create a relationship between the consumer and the brand, today's marketers must explore all the different tools, techniques and channels that this new communication technology provides.

It seems that "integrated communications" combined with "creativity" is the key of success in this new communication age. More and more marketers lately expanding their boundaries, beyond the traditional promotion techniques by taking advantage of the broad array of options the new communications technology offers!

The most recent example is that Bud launched an online TV network earlier this month! In Bud.tv, Anheuser Busch and DDB Chicago came with the idea to hype the product by using online channels other than youtube and myspace, and what is a better idea than creating your own online TV network!?

The concept behind Bud.tv is to produce compiling content that is not another ad but stuff that people are willing to spend time and watch. Bud.tv have already agreed with the writers of "Saturday Night Live" and "The Howard Stern Show" as well as with Hollywood stars such as Kevin Spacey, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon.

The expected cost will be approximately $30 million for the first year and it clearly broadens the horizons the of marketing communications!

On the other hand, in order to prohibit underage access, the site has a lot of entrance barriers that make it extremely hard to visit (especially for non-Americans), asks for your driving licence number, zip code and a other personal information that a lot of people even if they have, are not willing to share with a beer company.

At the bottom line, it is a ambitious and innovating concept at an early stage, with advantages and disadvantages, that moves marketing communications and advertising in another platform...let's keep an eye on it!

http://www.bud.tv/

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=114932

Coke Vs Pepsi over the most powerfull rhetorical weapon!

When the Greek philosopher Aristotle described modes of persuasion: ethos, pathos and logos, as devices in rhetoric that classify the speaker's appeal to the audience, didn't have in mind that 2357 years later he will be the reason for a logo war...

If you are confused, I'm talking about the Cola logo war that was escalated after the the latest Pepsi commercials. More specifically, Coka Cola and Pepsi are fighting over what Aristotle called pathos - the use of emotional appeals to alter the audience's judgment.

We are familiar with the Coca Cola campaign titled "the coke side of life" (Wieden & Kennedy) which is based on love, happiness, and giving that they trigger emotion, but lately we have a new campaign from BBDO Worldwide, NY, which is tagged as "more happy" and attempts to give life to Pepsi's logo!
In one of the new commercials, Pepsi's logo takes the form of a huge beach ball that with the help of people start a bouncing journey around the world! It starts from a Brazilian beach, then to Central Park, at a point it is ready to fall in the ocean and the game to over but a whale punches it back and the game continues with the slogan "more happy."

The second commercial shows a guy that just opened a Pepsi and suddenly gets on a giant Pepsi pinball on the streets of San Fransisco with the same ending line..."more happy."

As I have mentioned before in this blog I believe that advertising industry should rediscover its most powerful rhetoric weapon, pathos, trigger emotions in combination with clear - targeted messages and let customers answer the rhetoric question...

"Let us march against Philip"

"The Father of Advertising" David Ogilvy in his book "Ogilvy on Advertising" says that he doesn't consider advertising as entertainment or a form of art, but as a medium of information! More specifically he quotes "When I write an advertisement, I don't want you to tell me that you find it creative, I want you to find it so interesting that you buy the product."
When Greek statesman Aeschines spoke to his people urging them to unite and defend independence against Philip II of Macedon, they said "How well he speaks." But it was Demosthenes' speech that made people say..."Let us march against Philip."

homesick...

I'm world famous for my stubborn character (some people will laugh reading this...) but I have to admit that I miss Greece, family and friends! Better days are coming...after all the journey counts more than the destination...
Cheers!!!

War of the Worlds between Microsoft and Apple!

The anticipated launch of iphone from Apple and its entry in the cellular market have made all the cellphone companies to feel a little bit uncomfortable...! The latest rumors from CrunchGear.com suggests that Microsoft in working on its own phone! According to these rumors Microsoft is targeting Apple by developing Zune Phone which will be able to sync with the Xbox 360 and stream video from the system to the phone via a wireless data connection.
Microsoft has to worry not only about the development of Zune Phone on a specific timescale, but also to come up with a smart and creative release strategy, since Apple iphone is right at the corner...(June 2007)