A Fool's Perspective on Media Planning

Ringtone Advertising

2009-09-19T14:22:00.000-07:00

This is very interesting and maybe new information to some. Turkcell, the leading mobile phone operator of Turkey has seen significant gain since launching the world’s first ringtone advertising platform, Tone & Wine or TonlaKazan.

Tone and Win allows Turkcell members to select branded content and let their callers listen to a branded ringtone instead of a regular ringtone. To use Tone & Win Turkcell members can sign up through the Web, WAP and/or SMS channels. In addition to being an advertising platform, Turckcell also acts a loyalty program, offering incentives to its members who download Tone & Win. Turckcell subscribers can win airtime or credit depending on the amount of time their callers listen to their ringtone advertisement. Of course, there are many different ways to offer incentives for the cell phone subscribers, but for now this is what Turckcell is offering.

For advertisers this is a revolutionary advertising platform and I am interested to see if/when ringtone advertising will migrate to the US. Turkcell offers brands exclusive reports containing members' demographics, socioeconomic status, total impressions and total branded RBT seconds listened to by callers. The reason advertisers relay on digital media is for the simple fact that it is easier to track compared to broadcast or print. Advertisers love trackable media platforms; it helps them to gain more insight as to who their target audience is and allows them to narrow in on their specific interests/needs.

Viva Vevo!

2009-07-27T19:50:00.000-07:00

Vevo can best be described as the Online MTV... or at least what MTV used to be like. It will be a central hub for all things music. Music videos are ranked 2nd in most popular searches on the Youtube website. Vevo is tapping into this large viewership and creating a custom site soly or the use of online music video.

At its launch, Vevo is anticipated to receive more traffic than any other music video site in the United States and in the world.

This will serve as competition for Youtube and will be a haven for advertisers even though prices may be higher. Viva Vevo!!! I look forward to the launch. I think this will be a great success and will help take the music industry into the future.

Make Way for the New Wave of Radio

2009-06-27T14:42:00.000-07:00

A while back I wrote about the use of Radio. I recently read an article on MediaWeek.com about how brands have seen amazing success with streaming radio.

In the article, Esurance, a Web-based auto insurer invited would be movie directors to create a music video riffing off one of 10 dance numbers selected from recent Bollywood films. Esurance needed to reach hard-core Bollywood fans. They had to find a way to reach a highly specific audience while also keeping the appeal broad and national in scope. The answer was Internet radio. According to the company’s media director, Darren Howard, the choice of streaming radio was simple. “We can go to our streaming vendors and find those specific channels that play that type of music and would draw interest in our contest,” he says. “It’s not something you can do on terrestrial radio.”

There is much potential for Internet Radio but there still remains challenges. While the medium has proven itself a worthy buy for national campaigns, for example, Webcasters have yet to make significant inroads into the lucrative local marketplace. Agencies also complain that in a frenzy to deliver sufficient impressions some Webcasters end up annoying listeners by airing the same spot too frequently. Others mislead clients by padding their advertising proposals with international listeners that are not relevant to the buy.

How Do Some Brands Become a Household Staple?

2009-03-06T20:28:00.000-08:00

Now, this is an old company but a great example of how a brand becomes a staple. Campbell's soup saw the "niche" market for the magazines they decided to advertise in. By advertising in the Ladies Home Journal they reached out to mothers everywhere. They asked the question "who eats soup?" Kids! Campbell’s Soup was the first canned soup brand and with the help of niche marketing became a household name.

Another Word For Creativity Is Courage

2009-02-20T19:36:00.000-08:00

“To be or not to be?”- William Shakespeare

Like this famous quote creativity has a plethora of meanings. For me, I see it as being a way of self expression. When I think of the word “creativity” I immediately think of the way a child thinks; simple, curious, inquisitive, and non-discriminative.

Just this morning I read the Forbes 400s richest people. A majority of them share a similar self-made story. They started from nothing, an idea, and turned it in to gold. These are qualities I admire in people not because of their wealth but because of their ability to think and act beyond limitations.

This goes to show that creativity is a personal challenge to oneself. It’s breaking out of your shell; showing your thoughts just how they appear in your mind. This is difficult because our minds are so cluttered with images of how we think things ought to be, leading into creative blockage. Creative thinking is something that is given to all of us at birth but as we become more exposed to society throughout our lifetime our creative insight is narrowed.

As we look into creative thinking we see that it starts from within. You need to be comfortable with yourself; knowing your body, your mannerisms, your thoughts and senses. This is a beautiful life long process. If you can first do this then you can take your personal views and use them in your physical life. It is important to know that boundaries are merely the limits you put on yourself. By breaking through those boundaries the creative possibilities are endless.

Effective Commercials

2008-12-19T16:13:00.000-08:00

At some point in your TV viewing lives you have asked yourself, what the hell was that commercial all about?

You may be familiar with the Vonage ads where people get hit with a Vonage package. I've wondered - what is the best quality to have as a TV commercial? I remember the commercial but if I had no prior knowledge about what Vonage is I would have been lost. I couldn't explain it to someone if they asked me what it their service is, but I could tell them I saw the commercial. So, did the advertisement work effectively?

That is a tough call, especially with TV ads. It did spark attention with the humor of the ad but could have done a better job at displaying the actual service that it can provide its customers.

SIMPLICITY

2008-10-15T20:02:00.000-07:00

In American Culture there are a number of things that we deal with on the day-to- day. The stress of the little things we do such as paying bills or studying for an exam. The added pressures in life tend to distract us from the things that bring joy to our lives.

After I returned from South America after living there for five months I found a greater appreciation for the simplest things in life. Being in a third world country will make you ask yourself a lot of questions.

In the beginning, I found it very frustrating as I tried to make my transition in a foreign country. It annoyed me how slow the lifestyle was. It took forever to get anything done. For example it would take three to four hours just to have a meal at a restaurant.Eventually, I adjusted and slowed my pace down. I sat and ate for every meal, walked two miles every day to and from school and almost everywhere else, functioning with no cell phone, no microwave and no car. These little changes might not seem like much but it has forever changed my views about my lifestyle here in the States.

Upon my return to the US I was overwhelmed with the speed of things. I learned to relax and not stress so much. What the hell was I always worrying about? I know one thing for sure is that I don’t miss is driving - everyone speeding around in all directions, not caring where the other driver is going; creating a cluster of stressed and anxious people. It took me sometime to re-adjust.

“Taking it so seriously” simply should be stated to “slow the hell down”. We tend to throw ourselves in fifty different directions and it is easy to get lost in the middle of it. We all have responsibilities in our lives but we treat them more like chores; just going through the motions.

When I thought of this saying I thought to myself and I’ve thought about this many times before - what if I lived in the past where technology was not around. So, I imagine myself working all day on a farm in a wide open field, nature all around and with just a few simple worries any farmer might have. I have found that living life like a simple farmer has greatly reduced the stress in my life and allows me to take the time to be around those I love and do the things that that I love the most.

Radio Strengths/Weaknesses

2008-10-11T16:55:00.000-07:00

Bouncing off the previous post I have listed some strengths and weaknesses related to Radio advertising. They are as follows:

STRENGTHS....

Radio has different formats allowing it to reach specific audiences.
It is less expensive compared to other media, making it more affordable for advertisers.
Radio goes where the consumer goes. Almost every car has a radio in it, therefore reaching a larger listening audience.
It is flexible (ie. wireless, portable radio with MP3)
It provides room for creativity
It is current

WEAKNESSES....

Commercials can be background noise. There are so many that listeners tune them out, change stations or are distracted by something else.
It has a lot of clutter, but getting better.
Radio commercials are short -lived.

Hires Root Beer would benefit from radio advertising. It is a quick item, meaning it is pre- packaged and ready to go. Let's say someone stops to get gas. They decide they are going to go inside the gas station to get a drink and they just heard the Hire Root Beer commercial on the radio. This might entice the person to pick their soft drink.

ADVANCES

The other day my boyfriend and I were discussing what is to come of radio next specifically Sirius/XM radio? There is so much you can do with it. F0r example we were discussing how cool it would be if you could hook up your ipod to the radio and stream the music from the radio to your ipod or if your radio could function more like DVR were you save, forward and rewind. Ideally it would be cool to have a interactive Radio touch screen but accident % might increase.

The Radio

2008-10-10T20:15:00.000-07:00

There once was a belief about Radio that it would some day die off. Radio has taken it's toll while movies, video games and Internet grow rapidly. But I hope now we can all agree that Radio is a Media that we will be using for quite sometime. The concept of online Radio already exists with sites such as Pandora.com. It is quickly changing and evolving, just look at Sirisu/XM. In a few years everyone will have Sirius/XM radio in their car. Why?... Why not? It is commercial free non-stop music radio with over 600 stations to choose from; sports, cooking, reggae, classical, hip hop, News, weather, traffic updates and the list goes on. No, it is not free but right now it's somehthing like $9.99 a month. I know advertisers are thinking, "O great non-advertising radio how can we embark on that?" There is tons you can do! I currently work on the Infiniti car account and I recently did some research on Sirius/XM Radio. Seeing that they are still in transition from the two companies merging they are still making a lot of changes but if you want to embark on the radio industry, program sponsorships are a good way to go. Sponsorships are more streamlined with the programing content and are less invasive than regular radio commercials and with over 600+ stations there are a lot of opportunities to take advantage of.

What is a Maverick?

2008-01-03T13:00:00.000-08:00

After reading Guy Kawakaki's blog about Polly LaBarre's book Mavericks at Work: Why the Most Original Minds in Business Win I was left with a whole new perception on who a maverick is. I always just thought of Mel Gibson's character in the movie titled Maverick but now I percieve them someone who is as LaBarre describes "stand out from the crowd because they stand for something truly unique." In a way a maverick is like a fool; they are apart from the rest of the crowd and challenge the norm or status quo. I like LaBarre's choice to use the word maverivk. It almost sounds heroric; someone brave and daring. People such as mavericks are a breath of fresh air when it comes to business or media planning. They stretch the limits and bring new creative insights to the table. It could never hurt to have more mavericks in an industry that is thirsty for creative insight.

Google Buys YOUTUBE?

2006-11-01T21:43:00.000-08:00

There could be great potential for Google's $1.6 billion purchase of YOUTUBE and change the way people watch T.V. programing. My first reaction when I heard of this news was, of course! Why wouldn't Google buy YOUTUBE. With Google in control it can control it however it sees fit. This "new media" will be able to converge if it has an effective media plan but it could also lead to potential losses. Now, advertisers are looking to sell on YOUTUBE. Online viewing has taken away from T.V. watching and increased it's uses to acomidate these online viewers who want uninterupted movie and T.V. show viewing. It's a whole new step into the future and we can expect to see this growing expansion of online entertainment viewing.

Micheal J. Fox commercial

2006-10-25T18:32:00.000-07:00

For thoese of you have seen the Micheal J. Fox commercal that was aired in Missouri for State Senator elections than you may want to read this. This was a briliant strategy on behalf of the Democratic Senator. No, other medium could have made as much inpact as a television commercial. It's the visual of Mr. Fox's convolsions that give it it's impact. The choice for using Fox was also a good move. He is well known in society and sustains a good imge. He is a credible person not for his celebraty for but for his history of being a promoter for stem cell research. We all know he has Parkinson's disease and that he has fought for cuases in support of stem cell research. This campaign was very well planned out. Infact it was probably the best way to go about this controversial subject.

The Tower Falls

2006-10-22T17:46:00.000-07:00

How does a big label company like Tower Records essencially go out of business? I have been a close fallower ofthe companies problems for quite some time now. My second cousine Allen Rodriguez is CEO of Tower Records but now it looks like i'll be looking elsewhere for internships. Point in blank is that the company didn't make changes to addapt to there new techie generation of music listeners. You would think it would have exicuted a new media plan to market to the spacey users of the internet. I know the complecations are very detailed but I wonder if they would have come up with something better if they would have had a chance. They are already a House Hold name which is a lot to say for a brand so why didn't they push to be a competitor again with VIRGIN Records? There are a number of things that probably went wrong but isn't it the media plan's job to fix it?