Credits for Nike "Need Motivation" TV Spot: Agency, Director, Music, Production, Editorial and More.

(If anyone is listed incorrectly, I apologize, please let me know.)

Nike "Need Motivation" Credits

Agency: Crispin Porter + Bogusky

Executive Creative Director: Alex Bogusky
Creative Director: Evan Fry
Associate Creative Director: Dave Swartz
Art Director: Mark Taylor
Copywriter: Todd Tilford
Group Executive Producer: Matt Bonin
Production Company: HSI
Production Services: Film Planet Argentina
Director / Director of Photography: Samuel Bayer
Editorial Company: Bug Editorial
Editor: Andre Betz
Producer: Joy Copeland
Assistant Editor: Ben Shababo
Post Production: RIOT
Producer: Alex Decaneas
Producer: Peter Stanik
Flame Artist: Tom McCullough
Telecine Artist: Billy Gabor
Telecine: CO3
Visual Effects: WETA Digital
VFX Supervisor: Chris White
VFX Producer: Libby Hazell
VFX Onset Digital Supervisor: Susie Kleis
VFX Onset Digital Supervisor: Matt Sloan
VFX Head of Production: Eileen Moran
Music/Sound Design: Amber Music
Composer: Eugene Cho
Music: 2nd piece: The Hives, "Return the Favour"
Sound Design: Bill Chesley
Producer: Kate Gibson
Agency Music Producer: Bill Meadows
Sound Mixer: Philip Loeb
Sound Mix: Sound Lounge

The Worst Brand Extension: Turkey Gone Mad...Not Turducken But Turgooponducheasnishuaichuffguihagaga?

Ok...Christmas is a little less than a week away and I've been doing tons of research since my Thanksgiving post on Turducken (pictured above from a website with an alternate spelling). I know it's silly but there's a lot of written background online and on the blogs. It never fails to amaze me.

I've found the ultimate Turkey line extension (as we call it in marketing). All the bell and whistles you could want.

From Wikipedia. "Some enthusiasts come up with the turduckencorpheail. This is a standard turducken, (Turkey stuffed with duck, hen, and cornmeal) which is then stuffed with a cornish game hen, which is then stuffed with a pheasant, and finally stuffed with a quail. Still others have pushed the envelope even further with the turgooponducheasanishuail, which includes both a goose and capon, in addition to the component birds of the turduckencorpheail. In recent years, another version called the turgooponducheasnishuaichuffguihagaga has been growing in popularity. It has all the properties of the previous two versions listed, but also includes beef, pork, lamb, and frog. The turduckencorpheail, turgooponducheasanishuail, and the turgooponducheasnishuaichuffguihagaga are not for the faint of heart; both are extremely time consuming endeavors, as birds of the proper size must first be obtained, and then prepared; removing extremely fragile bones from a bird such as a quail without breaking the skin is impossible for most."

By the way...before Wikipedia how would we know about this Cajuninsanitywith1800calories that's critical-to-know-stuff. I promise no more Turkish entrees/entries for awhile. Happy Holidays. Canned ham anyone?

Photoshop Contest: A "Pirates of the Caribbean" McDonald's Product Placement.

It's Thursday night and time for the weekly Photoshop Contest. You deserve a break today so we've put together a match made in CAA heaven (or more accurately, CAA hell). McDonald's and Pirates of the Caribbean. Johnny Depp & Company meet the Big Mac. Without doubt, this is one of the best drive ups that McDonald's has ever had (of their 31,000 locations worldwide). You needed that factoid, right? More product placements next week. Tune in.

U2 3D: Smart Marketing Widget for a Historic Film.

Be forewarned: when movie critics and communications analysts look back at U2 3D they'll see a historic event. U2 is amazing: as musicians and as marketers. Their absolute dedication to creating great work with the best creative teams available has made them the band of the last quarter century.

U2 3D was directed by Catherine Owens (U2 director of visual content for 15 plus years) and Mark Pellington (a U2 video director). The movie was created by 3ality Digital with 9 pairs of SonyAlta 3-D cameras. The final product was selected from 700 hours of film footage (multiple cameras) shot at 7 shows, virtually all in South America.

U2 3D is going to kick ass and take no prisoners. It's the first ever live action digital film. Period. I saw the Vertigo Tour a couple times, most prominently on October 8th, 2005 at Madison Square Garden in New York. It was a great show to turn into a 3D movie with state of the art technology (click on "What is 3D" to learn much more about 3D and 3ality). I'm just as excited to see the movie as the concert given all the points of view the camera will expose you to. Fans who have seen the in-theater preview describe Bono throwing a glass of water off the screen as if you're going to be soaked. U2 3D debuts at the Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2008 and January 23 to the public playing in major cities--only in 3D. Run time is 92 minutes with 16 songs.

An important sidebar from an advertising standpoint: what's also amazing to me is how well this 2D trailer simulates 3D. And, of course, very wise use of widget marketing. More on U2 marketing this Christmas in following posts. So if you like U2...get ready to think about them from a music marketing vantage point.

1/1/08 UPDATE ON CITIES AND THEATERS: Many of you have come here looking for the cities and theaters this film will play in. U2's mini site states that it will be a worldwide release in IMAX theaters in 38 countries throughout the world (280 theaters, 60% in the US & Canada, aside from IMAX in educational institutions and museums, listed here.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_IMAX_venues). U2 3D will also appear in the 1200 worldwide theaters with digital 3D.

Interactive Environmental Christmas Card from Wieden and Kennedy, London.

This is just a great interactive Christmas card from ad agency Wieden + Kennedy London. Based on a green initiative you can name your own tree, plant it and pump three buckets of water into it (don't give up even though you're almost ready to). At that point you can start decorating it with the tons of different ornaments you can see on the screen capture. The catch...to add more ornaments and lights you have to grow it by returning every day to water your tree at which point your entry will get bigger. Mine, no surprise, is scottstree. I started out traditional but I have great plans. The counter shows how many people have planted trees in what ultimately should become an intriguing forest (competitive one too, given the sites's sponsors).

Good stuff. Check it out and let me know what you think.
http://www.wiedenswood.com/index/index/hash/gzw18z5gxtwg8

Photoshop Contest: A "Kill Bill" Movie Product Placement for Gillette

Ok...it's Thursday night and time for the weekly Photoshop Contest again. This is wry and a bit sardonic...a perfect pairing, as they'd say at the CAA talent agency. Uma Thurman from Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill" with Gillette blades. Hey, I just had an idea...what if we went back to movie classics and added in new product placements. Better and more profitable than colorization. I've got two months of movie advertising product placements via the magic of Photoshop coming up on Thursdays. Please tune in. G'nite.

Nike TV Spot "Need Motivation" for the new Nike Plus running shoe.

Ok...much anticipated and here it is...Crispin Porter + Bogusky's first work for Nike. I've just watched it three times. Certainly an over the top look at the world of the Nike Plus running shoe. A cast of hundreds spanning centuries. And an enormous budget. My initial impression is that it's overblown. A simpler more singleminded idea might have worked better. I'll take Quicksilver's "Dynamite Surfing" anytime over this (see my October posts). But...let's wait for the :30...should correct much of the self indulgence here. And...the false ending with the title card "Need Motivation" followed by the Nike Plus team breaking the glass (Apple 1984ish) is very cool. Breaks on Grey's Anatomy tonight. Then lots of MTV and NFL football. Just remember a key audience, as it always is these days, is viral. That's where this will do best. Let's measure it in two weeks.

Upate on December 19th. I've gotten a lot of visitors googling for the director's name or the names of the music tracks. If you'd like to know more about all the credits for everyone involved take a look at the December 19th entry above.

Catholic Saints Images on Cell Phones: Church Leaders "Horrified" by the New Mobile Santini.

Everyone who moves in Italy has a wrinkled and worn saint card taped to their dash--or in their wallet or purse. So why not download your favorite saint (or saint to be in John Paul II) to carry around on your mobile phone. On Tuesday it became a reality. A sort of modern download that advertises the best of Catholicism (how I as an adguy think of it). Or...just a better, more permanent way to carry your Saint Christopher santini. Seems like a smart idea to me. And would look great on a new iphone.

But not everyone agrees. "This is in really bad taste," Bishop Lucio Soravito De Franceschi, a member of the Italian bishops conference committee for doctrinal matters, told the Turin newspaper La Stampa. "It is a distortion of sacred things...selling 'santini' for cell phones is horrifying," he said.

Not so says the originator of the idea. "We found a need and filled it," Barbara Labate, who developed the concept with her business partner in a cellphone services company based in Milan. "We are merely catching up with the times. I think this will appeal to young people as well as grandmothers," Fifteen saints launched the service. More are planned. About $4.50 a text message initiated download.

Rockstars can only be next. How about Saint Bono? Or Mr. Sympathy for the Devil incarnate, Mick Jagger?

Martin Scorsese Freixenet Ad: A Great Example of The New Advertising

The "Key to Reserva", Fabulous stuff. Long...but this Spanish cinema ad is where advertising should and WILL (well maybe not shot by Scorsese) be going. An ad for Freixenet Carta Nevada Reserva sparkling wine...plus an homage to Hitchcock. If you're into advertising, Scorsese or Hitchcock it's well worth the 9 plus minutes. The creative director Alex Martinez of JWT Barcelona has it right "...it's not enough now to buy the audience time--we have to create advertising that the audience chooses to spend time with." That's the cardinal rule of the new advertising no matter what the delivery system. In two weeks...I predict huge YouTube viewership numbers

Smart Strategies Drive Law & Order "Criminal Intent" (and Law & Order) to Return to NBC on Wed. 1/9/08

Here's the result of Dick Wolf's perseverance and the value of great writing, direction and acting. And a very smart and unconventional programming strategy to move "Criminal Intent" to cable this fall (where it's done great for cable with 2-3 million viewers/episode). A local syndication juggernaut (great ratings) has also helped build momentum. Big news. I'm a huge Law & Order fan (especially "Criminal Intent"). Very positive news for the franchise and its fans (and boy have you tuned into my last posting on the program, thanks...please leave comments). This news gives both programs a chance to survive and fight again (more Vincent D'Onofrio, I hope). A lot more promotional spots on NBC for the shows. Of course, "Criminal Intent" will be reruns from the fall USA Network season. But new Law & Order shows.

From James Hibbert at TV Week:

"The 18th season of "Law & Order" will return with a two-hour premiere Wednesday, Jan. 2 at 9 p.m. Then, on Jan. 9, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" will have its broadcast premiere (originals air on USA Network) at 9 p.m., with the flagship program shifting to its former well-worn time period at 10 p.m. The schedule gives NBC a two-hour block of "L&O" franchise episodes during the week, echoing "Criminal Intent" leading into "SVU" last season."

Trojan Condoms TV Spot "Evolve" Music?

See the entry immediately below and take a look at the spot if you haven't seen it. There've been lots of questions about who wrote the music. For those of you not patient enough to scour your search engine here you go. iV music group created it. Steve Keller their CEO and Creative Director took an instrumental originally composed by Rivers Rutherford, built on its foundation, and wrote new lyrics. Keller is the singer...gossip says he did a scratch track (rough version) and the client liked it and went with what you've just heard. Fabulous stuff.

Trojan Condoms TV Spot "Evolve" Now on Google Universal Search.

Google's evolving Universal Search function which combines news, YouTube videos, books, images and more is becoming more and more helpful to me. I love getting videos when I just expect the typical written results. When I was Googling Trojan Condoms the other night for factoids for the Photoshop Contest featuring a Trojan Condom product placement, I ran into this fabulous spot which I should have seen but never did. What a way to break through the clutter. And what a great example of the importance of the music in a TV spot (see more above).

Law & Order Criminal Intent Programming Strategy of New USA Shows and Local Syndication Going Gangbusters.

This is another example of just how the world of network domination is crumbling. Soon...shows will move directly to the internet and skip cable. I love Law & Order Criminal Intent so I'm overjoyed that Dick Wolf and NBC moved the show to USA Network with all new episodes every Thursday night at 10 PM (at least as long as the new shows last before the writer's strike takes its toll). Ironically, in an amazing reversal, reruns may appear on NBC at some point down the road. More impressive, because the show runs on cable now, NBC Universal decided to sell the show into local station by station syndication for old episodes. The result has been a ratings bonanza, recently attracting 2 million viewers/week in syndication...with enormous strength in the women 18-52 audience (thanks to Vincent D'Onofrio, love the way he cocks his head and looks distant, and Chris Noth).

Photoshop Contest: Product Placements for Trojan Condoms in the Film Knocked Up.

Thursday night is Photoshop Contest night. We're looking at product placements. This is a terrific sendup of how overblown logomania can become. All to overcome Tivo. And even if you don't like the placements...you've got to love that Katherine Heigl. Gnite.

The New Facebook Faces Advertising Problems (Monitoring Behavior) and an Invasion of Adults (How Creepy).

OK...over Thanksgiving I had some long talks with some "classic" Facebook users--students from the same small group of highly selective schools where Facebook began in February 2, 2004. First at Harvard, then at the Ivies, then at the highly selective liberal arts colleges like Williams, Middlebury and the prestige universities like Duke and Stanford. Facebook then extended membership to anyone with a .edu mailbox and then, ultimately to anyone over 13. Yes, that means anyone from middle school kids to their fathers and mothers.

And, according to my college friends...that's just not cool. Nor are websites like the one above from cool dudes like John Edwards.

This broad democracy of membership is what bothers the college kids...they miss the good old days of 2004 when they were an elite band of college students or recent graduates. They don't want old people who are trying to be cool joining. So look out for problems when the membership blurs out through overexpansion.

Next, there's the advertising problem. Facebook recently announced an invasive ad program called Beacon, despite all its previous privacy problems. Beacon will funnel participating students online purchases to their network of friends. Friends will know when Sally buys the new My Chemical Romance CD or Jim buys a bodybuilding book from Amazon. Worst of all...users can't currently opt out of the program, and Facebook doesn't make it easy to opt out of individual updates.

None of the college kids I talked to thought this was cool...they don't particularly want their purchases shared with their entire list of friends...and whether they friend them or not they don't want a bunch of creepy adults frequenting their clubhouse.

The biggest internet and internet advertising issue of all is just now emerging which is PRIVACY. John Battelle, a smart guy, of Wired Magazine fame and the book Search is currently writing a book on the topic, and he's dead on. This will be the next big Supreme Court level issue everyone from Facebook to Google will face. It makes Microsoft the Monopolist look tame by comparison. Much more in the days to come. Gnite.

Turkey for Christmas Gone Mad...Not Turducken But Turgooponducheasnishuaichuffguihagaga?

Ok...Christmas is a little less than a week away and I've been doing tons of research since my Thanksgiving post on Turducken (pictured above from a website with an alternate spelling). I know it's silly but there's a lot of written background online and on the blogs. It never fails to amaze me.

I've found the ultimate Turkey line extension (as we call it in marketing). All the bell and whistles you could want.

From Wikipedia. "Some enthusiasts come up with the turduckencorpheail. This is a standard turducken, (Turkey stuffed with duck, hen, and cornmeal) which is then stuffed with a cornish game hen, which is then stuffed with a pheasant, and finally stuffed with a quail. Still others have pushed the envelope even further with the turgooponducheasanishuail, which includes both a goose and capon, in addition to the component birds of the turduckencorpheail. In recent years, another version called the turgooponducheasnishuaichuffguihagaga has been growing in popularity. It has all the properties of the previous two versions listed, but also includes beef, pork, lamb, and frog. The turduckencorpheail, turgooponducheasanishuail, and the turgooponducheasnishuaichuffguihagaga are not for the faint of heart; both are extremely time consuming endeavors, as birds of the proper size must first be obtained, and then prepared; removing extremely fragile bones from a bird such as a quail without breaking the skin is impossible for most."

By the way...before Wikipedia how would we know about this Cajuninsanitywit1800calories that's critical-to-know-stuff. I promise no more Turkish entrees/entries for awhile. Happy Holidays. Canned ham anyone?

Happy Thanksgiving; Are You Eating Turducken Today?

Just in time for Thanksgiving (or maybe a tad late...just saw the ad) arrives the Turducken, found as an Adwords match on my GMail this Thanksgiving morning.

From the site at fmfoods.com
Product Detailed Description
TURDUCKEN = turkey-duck-chicken

This is an amazing meal. We take a whole turkey and de-bone it leaving only the legs and wings. The turkey is stuffed with boneless duck breast and boneless chicken, completely seasoned inside and out and stuffed with our signature dressing. The Turducken weighs 12 lbs. and you can feast on everything! What a deal! (Sic!)

The Cornbread Turducken is stuffed with Cornbread Dressing and Pork & Rice Dressing. Feeds up to 15 people. Net Weight: 12 lbs. $49.95

What great advertising enabled by Internet AdWords...making it possible for Turducken to reach me. As an ad guy I'd suggest getting the word "turd" the heck out of there. Turd is just never a great association with food.

But...depending on how my meal at 4 PM goes, if it's boring I'm ordering up a Turducken for Xmas. How 'bout you? Wonder if I can buy one when the stores open at 5 AM tomorrow? Happy Thanksgiving.

While you're here...take a look at "Look Who's Coming to Thanksgiving Dinner" the Nov. 1 entry. More holiday fun.

Photoshop Contest: The Abduction of Psyche: High Art Meets the Cartoon.

OK...it's late Thursday night and another weekly tribute to the power of Photoshop computer software...this time presented as before/after. Of course why not replace Cupid with your favorite cartoon character. More fun than rail thin fashion models and more engaging than the Dove women. Enjoy. Gnite.



The original "The Abduction of Psyche" by Adolphe Bourguereau.

Video of The Prototype Google Phone (or gphone): With an Intro by Sergey Brin

Buried in all the gphone Android development platform announcements is this video which presents a very clear idea of what a basic and more advanced gphone will look like before it's enhanced by developers. At this point very iphone like except it will be OPEN and FAST...huge benefits and, at least now, no emphasis on music.Also, a smart move on Google's part to run a competition with $10 million of rewards for the best developer's products. Nothing like a good old contest to grease the wheels of progress. And the stickier the gphone is, the better it is when it becomes a fully functional adphone with information like you see in the Google Maps reference below. Shades of the original IBM PC, no?

Google Now at the Gas Station Pump: Why?

On Wednesday Google, continuing their General Sherman-like march to the sea, announced a partnership with a US gasoline pump manufacturer. That's right...a gasoline pump manufacturer. Believe it. Starting in December Google Maps will be available at 3,500 local gas stations (if they're cool enough) via an internet-connected small screen. You'll be able to scroll through several categories like hotels, restaurants, hospitals and landmarks. Select a destination and print out the directions. No AdWords here. But, in this application, coupons will be available. Now let's connect the dots...which very few reporters have.

Take a look at the Google Map in the previous post below featuring the GooglePages listing of a restaurant near me. That, too, I'm betting, will be available at the pump. So...yet another application for the LBR mapping project. And, for you advertising folks out there, make sure to take notice that Google is now introducing COUPONS into their advertising arsenal...certainly their most traditional advertising offering to date. And...can AdWords be far behind. Gas Pump media. Now that's new media.

(By the way...the Frank Gehry inspired BP station above is at Gehry & Robertson. LA, of course.) Gnite.

Google's New Yellow Pages Project: "GooglePages"?

The screen above, taken from Google Maps, is one place where the Google Phone (I think of it as the Google AdPhone) is going to be monetized big time. This page is the result of a very new Google Labs program in test where Google has "local business reps" (of any and all demominations) gathering detailed business information from storeowners (hours, methods of payment, cute postage stamp pictures of the retailer or restaurant, etc.). Why test putting citizen armies out there? Well just think of this as a much more focused and more extensive Yellow Pages available, most directly, from a Google Phone (or even an Apple iphone indirectly connected). And... there's far more information than was displayed in the Apple iPhone map tv spot about finding and calling the San Francisco seafood restaurant.

Then think about all the AdWords (or AdWord-like-objects you could sell to these retailers to support their listings). Just imagine going into the store with a Google Phone and showing your on-screen coupon to get 20% off a sweater or buy one pizza get one free.

So what you say? Well, 2007 US ad spending is projected by TNS to be $153 billion. Classically, Yellow Pages, both on and offline has been 10% of that market. So that's a potential market of $15B for Google to tap into as they replace the Yellow Pages with AdWords and AdSense--whether on a Google AdPhone or any other Open Alliance phone (more on all this later)

Google Is An Advertising Company: Now Think (Ad) Phone

Much, much truth in the quote below from Forbes. Despite all the detailed speculation about the Google phone, just keep in mind they're using hardware to protect and extend their ADVERTISING SALES DELIVERY SYSTEM. They see it, quite rightly, moving to a mobile market where they can be an even bigger player. Think GooglePages rather than Yellow Pages (more in coming days) and a ton of social networking AdSense advertising bound much more closely to the medium.

"The phone promises to fuse open-source software with Google's applications on a high-end handset. Rubin's team is building custom mobile-phone software atop the free Linux operating system that will bind the phone tightly to Google's online applications and advertising services, sources say. Software from another Google acquisition, Skia, will put a slick user interface on the package. Finally, Google will build all that software into a smart phone built by Taiwanese handset specialist HTC, according to a source familiar with the matter.

In some ways, that's not so different from Microsoft's strategy: put its operating system, and applications such as Word and Excel, onto hardware from HTC, and later on, other manufacturers. That, however, is where the similarities end. "Licensing a mobile OS is not the endgame," UBS analyst Benjamin Schachter wrote in a note to investors last week.

It is dissatisfaction with the ability of today's phones TO CARRY TARGETED ADVERTISING (my emphasis)--rather than a thirst for software-licensing revenues or desire to build cool gadgets--that is pushing Google to take on the mobile-phone market, industry sources say. "[Google] will likely focus on extending its current ad-based economic model," Schachter writes.

In my mind, not "likely" but absolutely. This ain't no iphone.

Photoshop Contest: "Guess Who's Coming to Thanksgiving Dinner?" Norman Rockwell Reimagined.

It's Thursday night and time for the weekly Photoshop contest entry. Thanksgiving is three weeks from today! Early this year. So in anticipation of the joy of family reunions, that annual feeling of being overstuffed, wretched excess...and the anticipation of the midnight sales starting in a few hours...take a look. This is the true meaning of a Rockwell Thanksgiving through the lens of " Guess Who's Coming to Dinner." The Tracy/Hepburn/Poitier film was released 40 years ago on the 12th of December 1967. Gnite.

In-Program Ads on NBC's Law & Order SVU Tonight

Just saw a first, at least for me...and it was surprising. A brief animated banner ad for the movie "American Gangster" including text/with a simple B&W graphic like the one above moved across the bottom of the screen. It appeared smack dab in the middle of two sections of programming and was interruptive as hell. Impossible to skip that ad.

Now the networks/channels have been running promotions for their own programming for some time. And YouTube now carries its AdWords at the bottom of videos, but this is major step in prime time network advertising.

Let me think about it overnight, and I'll add some more impressions in the AM. Gnite.

Here's the view from broad daylight. They're annoying as hell...but they did get my attention and since the buzz for the movie is good it did help remind me when, specifically, American Gangster was opening.

Why The Digitized "The Last Supper" by Van Gogh Advertising is Sacrilege

First take a look at the post below and at the digitized painting site (blow up the mysterious knife holding hand indicated above). http://www.haltadefinizione.com/en/

Then consider this:

1. Only 300,000 people can view the painting in Milan to protect it from further decay.
2. On the internet millions can now view the painting in much greater detail than in person while soothing music plays. It's a true multimedia experience. And...a brand new way to view art.
3. The internet version of "The Last Supper" is interactive...it's fun to enlarge specific areas of the painting (such Christ's head) or pan from side to side.
4. The success of this should result in more large scale digitized paintings on the net ("The Mona Lisa", Monet's various "Water Lilies," Seurat's grand canvas "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" and so on....).
5. So how do you use this in advertising?
6. Well..not the way it's currently done in the remarkably unholy "The Last Supper"
7. Google AdWords link to a.) "Da Vinci Prostatectomy." b.) A link to find paintings on eBay c.) and, finally, an AdWord that makes sense "Milan Last Supper" for Milan tours
8. And...at the bottom a banner ad for Sprungle Swiss chocolate! Like popcorn for viewing the site?
9. Wrong!, Wrong! Robots matching ads to sites...that's the unholy, sacrilegious result here which will work against the sponsors rather than for them. But the site's makers should have their eye on all this and demand changes.
10. Yes...there's a poster of the painting...better.
11. But where is advertising asking for donations to preserve the painting, or for Milan hotels to stay in when you visit to see the masterpiece...or even an Armani corporate ad highlighting a preservation donation
12. That's what's needed here. For the future this is a huge opportunity for museums to highlight major moneymaking exhibitions, to sell posters and books, and travel to these locations. That's the way to monetize digital art.

The Last Supper by Leonardo DaVinci on the Internet Viewable At 16 Billion Pixels

Learn much more from the offical site here. Check it out.

http://www.haltadefinizione.com/en/

Another amazing internet achievement. WIth the massive digitization of books from the major worldwide libraries (Oxford, Harvard, etc) surprised Google missed this. Think they'll be on the trail soon? What can you find in this picture nobody has seen before.

More later.

Lindsey Rumored To Enter "Don't Die Lindsey" Treatment Program

The ad below ran three weeks ago for a New Jersey addiction treatment center which offers the Prometa Protocols for alcohol, cocaine and methampetamine. What a strange ad story this is.



Today, Star Magazine "moles claimed that Lindsay is under the care of Matthew Torrington, M.D., medical director of the PROMETA Center, an outpatient clinic in Santa Monica specializing in treating alcohol, cocaine and metamphetamine (crystal meth) addictions that is at the forefront of a major controversy within the medical community."

“In my clinical experience, I have found the treatment to be very, very effective and an incredible aid to people who are suffering,” Dr. Torrington tells the weekly tab, “but the lack of accepted clinical testing, say some critics, raises many troubling questions about the PROMETA program.”

“At this time, there is no peer-reviewed research that has been done on the treatment,” David Kan, M.D., a substance-abuse expert at the VA Medical Center in San Francisco, spills to Star. “There is also no evidence to suggest it is productive.”

Photoshop Contest "The Inner David ": Making Art Safe for Children

So expurgated...so modern. Ah g'nite.

Photoshop Contest "Fig Art": Making Art Safe For The Children

I just love these as little baubles to amuse ourselves with at the end of the day. Enjoy. See what a terrific piece of software and an internet contest can do.

Why Did Google Recently Purchase Three Social Software Companies: Dodgeball, Jaiku & Zingku?

My previous post reviewed Google's recent acquisitions of three social software companies and briefly profiled each one. Read it below. Here, as promised, is a more detailed discussion of the rationale for purchasing these companies.

Dodgeball, Jaiku, and Zingku are all, in one way or another cellphone-IM communications. It's a market that's still quite open in the US.

To understand the potential market size you need to look at Europe. Texting in the UK (the market we're most familiar with) is the basis of all cell communications for 18-26 year olds in the university market. Part of this is that prepaid minutes are much more popular over there than in the US and that you can send 20 texts in the U.K. for the price of a minute's conversation.

Young Europeans text everything, complex plans, where to meet, news, even long conversations. On average probably 10-20 texts per day. And unlike here in the US, they're always on Instant Messenger.

So if text becomes less expensive in America and Google has all the cool text-related sites they're looking at a potentially huge market. In the emerging age of iphone (or if a Googlephone exists?), These will be great places to sell video or visual AdWord-like-objects that become SOCIALLY relevant in an immediate manner.

Plus...these sites will also get radical upgrades which will also make them even more desirable for the European market.

We've been using Dodgeball at Jugular, and I'll explain how it might all work in the next entry (thanks to Katie, our Jugular intern for her smart research and insight).

Google Acquires Dodgeball, Jaiku and Zingku.

What's all this about now as Google continues their rampage through new acquisitions to build their dominance of new markets. Here are three small, related companies Google recently acquired and promises to collaborate with by providing engineering muscle.

Dodgeball allows cell phone users to know when their registered friends (and friends friends) are in the area via cellphone and online service.

Jaiku is a Finland-based pseudo-blog where people post AIM-away like message updates. Posts can be made online or via cell.

Zingku bills itself as a "supercharged mobile text and picture messaging service to easily send images, posts, flyers and polls."

These are very cool companies--all designed, in different ways, to further Google's expansion of its cellphone and IM communications both here in the US and in Europe. Much, much more on these companies, especially Dodgeball, and where Google appears to be going on coming up here in The New Advertising in the next few days.

Targeted Video Ads on Google: A Better Approach from Blinkx?

Blinkx is a small British video search company.

The company released a tool Wednesday that lets online publishers place targeted text ads in any video embedded on a Web site based on the actual content of the video. That's a lot different (and may be a lot better?) than the Google approach you'll find above. Google figures out what ads to pair with a video based strictly on the video's title and any keywords attached to the clip.

Blinkx software "listens to" and "watches" the video, then inserts text overlay ads based on the spoken words and to some extent, the images in the clip. That technology depends on algorithms developed by a longstanding Google competitor, search engine Autonomy.

Here's an example of how Blinkx's contextual advertising might work: Imagine a teenager doing a podcast about a new digital camera. Blinkx software might create a text ad for the camera at the bottom of the video player, even if the clip isn't labeled with the digital camera brand.

Blinkx Chief Executive Suranga Chandratillake says the software can also recognize written words and even a small library of faces. That means that automatic ad targeting isn't limited to the relatively small amount of video content generated by media companies and savvy bloggers who carefully label all of their content with text tags, he says.

Advertisers will be able to insert targeted ads into the massive number of amateur videos on the Internet, many of which often weren't intended to generate revenue and so carry no content-related tags. Will they have to obtain rights to do this...we'll see?

AdSense With YouTube Working Example

It finally works...see it above. Notice the tie-ins to other stories on the page. I'd be a lot happier, though, if the player could be smaller.

Signing up for AdSense with YouTube

It's not hard...but it's also not working on this site as I write this. There is a message on the Google instruction pages saying videos will be live later today 10/9/09. Hopefully, you'll see an actual working example when you check this out.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Agree to the fundamental terms of the program, including very ambiguous financials for the site owner
2. Sign into your AdSense account
3. Add the last four digits of your phone number and your zip code
4. Sign into or open a YouTube account
5. Press a button that links them
6. Choose a player size from small, medium and large sizes and player highlight colors
7. Select whether you want Google to choose the videos based on an analysis of your site's content, specify keywords, choose from a list of categories or specify ads from a list of about 40 small to medium sized advertisers (Ford Models!)
8 Press a button which automatically generates an HTML code and then add it to your website's HTML code (NOW...at the moment with no video ad visible, that's the part I'm concerned about...also, this may be the place where other AdSense users stumble).
9. Click on a button to save and then finish

Not bad...if it works....I'll keep you informed, but it's 11:46 here in New York and soon it's gnite, see what shows up in the AM and tackle any problems.

YouTube Videos on AdSense

This is the start of something huge. Google takes a giant step toward offering television advertising. So...straight from Google's release:


Posted by Christine Lee, Google Product Marketing Manager, Google AdSense Site 10/9/09

Nowadays, website publishers realize that getting people to visit your website is only half of the equation. Growing your audience is important, but keeping your audience engaged and staying on your site longer is just as important, if not more so. This is why we're excited to let you know about video units on Google AdSense. Video units enable AdSense publishers to display videos from several YouTube content partners. The video units are ad-supported, and the ads are relevant to both the video and the site content, as well as unobtrusive. AdSense publishers and YouTube content partners will receive a share of the ad revenue, so video units enable both groups to earn incremental revenue.

We're excited about video units because we see this as the first step in content distribution on AdSense and a great opportunity to foster the content ecosystem on the web. AdSense publishers can now enhance their sites with interesting videos, YouTube content partners benefit from a new distribution channel, advertisers have a new vehicle to distribute their messages to their target audiences, and people can tune in to interesting videos on sites they normally visit.

From The AdSense Blog

AdSense isn't just for ads anymore; it's also a place to get video content for your site -- and earn extra revenue at the same time.

We're excited about the launch of video units -- a new way to enrich your site with quality, relevant video content in an embedded, customizable player. Simply embed a snippet of code and have relevant YouTube partner content streamed to your site. You can choose categories of video to target to your site, select content from individual YouTube partners, or have video automatically targeted to your site content. Companion and text overlay ads are relevant and non-intrusive. To further blend the YouTube player into your site, you can also customize the color scheme and layout as well as choose from three different player sizes.

If you're looking to build "stickiness" with your visitors, show quality YouTube partner video on your site, and earn extra revenue along the way, and want to know more, then review our common questions about video units. You can also check out the video below to see how it works.

OK...as the The New Advertising weblog author, I'm off to sign up and let's see how it works on this site...hang on.

Arcade Fire at Randall's Island Review

Great, great show last night at Randall's Island. Check back. I'm going to expand this review during the course of the day.
Key impressions:

1. Amazing performance from Arcade Fire. Very easy to forget that they've only released two full-length CDs.
2. The performance was delivered with enormous conviction, enthusiasm and energy.
3. Arcade Fire is earnest to the extreme... if they weren't so good you might make fun of this....but not here.
4. It says pay attention this is important.
5. The instrumentation (French horns, clarinets, violins, bells, accordions, combined with traditional rock and roll instrumentation creates a unique sound. They sound different. That's old news. But their sound is even more unique live.
6. Savvy and sophisticated light show.
7. They need to mix Win Butler's voice up above the band. Very hard to understand the lyrics. And the lyrics are crucial.
8. Best new song: "Intervention." Butler delivered with remarkable insistence.
9. Best old song "Rebellion (Lies)." Shifted to an insistent haunting (even discordant) minor key which never resolved to major as you thought it would. Deep and dark. Blue Lighting. WIn Butler off the stage and stands right at front row as they reach out to touch him. He's huge and towers over them.

Set List (if I got anything wrong in all the excitement, please correct in comments and I'll change)

1. Black Mirror
2. Keep the Car Running
3. Neighborhood #2 (Laika)
4. No Cars Go
5. Haiti
6. I'm Sleeping in a Submarine
7. My Body is a Cage
8. Cold Wind
9. Intervention
10. Antichrist Television Blues
11. The Well and the Lighthouse
12. Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)
13. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)
14. Rebellion (Lies)

Encore:
15. Headlights Look like Diamonds
16. Wake Up

Encore 2:
17. Kiss Off (Violent Femmes)

New Arcade Fire Video: Neon Bible

Debuts on their site today today to coincide with New York City appearance at Randall's Island tonight. I'll be there...more on that later.

Watch the first 30 secs then start again and roll over & constantly click. It's great.

http://www.beonlineb.com/click_around.html

What Should You Pay for Radiohead's "In Rainbows": $10 or $5?

If you want Radiohead's new direct download CD (see 10/1 entry below) you'll have to pick your price. What should it be?

Radiohead is letting fans determine the price they'll pay for their new album "In Rainbows." But...maybe devotees are paying too much. According to a poll by UK music magazine NME, the average fan says they'll pay $10 for the 10 song download. No surprise, this is the existing pricing model already developed by itunes.

Here's what making the average CD costs, according to the Almighty Institute of Music Retail (real name). At retail, the average price is usually $12-$16. To manufacture, distribute and sell in a bricks and mortar store costs about $6.40 per CD. Online distribution eliminates almost all these costs. That's why itunes is so tremendously profitable.

Radiohead has eliminated even more costs by dropping their label (EMI) so there's no need to share costs or profits. They may be able to distribute an album for as little as $3.40 (The Wall Street Journal 10/3/07). What's most important is that the band has eliminated distribution AND almost all marketing costs to date due to their viral strategy and tremendous "name your price" coverage on the internet and beyond.

Most everyone I've asked that likes Radiohead (but are not rabid fans) says they'll pay $5. Maybe not the $10 NME has found....but certainly a profitable venture. What will/would you pay...and why?

Photoshop Contest: Napoleon Reimagined

Sorry, I couldn't resist...this was just too absurd.
So much better than the Katie Couric photoshop controversy.
Enough...gnite.

http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/contestcache.asp?contest_id=16874

Photoshop Contest: Mona Lisa Biker

Or...you might prefer this Photoshopped Mona Lisa as a Harley chick.

For way more: http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/contestcache.asp?contest_id=16874

Photoshop Contest: Fabulous Mona Lisa Goth

Mona Lisa Goth

Thanks to our intern Katie for the link. Check it out...there's tons of Photoshopped famous paintings.

http://www.worth1000.com/cache/contest/contestcache.asp?contest_id=16874

Radiohead's New "In Rainbows" Marketing: Revolutionary or Monumentally Stupid?

Just another sign of the growing power of the internet.
----------------------------------------------
Radiohead is introducing a sales and distribution model that's either revolutionary or monumentally stupid. The band is self-releasing a brand new 10-track LP, "In Rainbows". It will only be available for the first two months as a digital download and only via the band's official website. Most important, forever iconoclasts, Radiohead has decided fans can pay whatever they want.

"It's up to you," appears on the checkout page after you click on a question mark next to the price. (There is, though, a $1.00 credit card transaction fee)

If you want something you can touch and feel (and have the big bucks), there's the "In Rainbows" discbox available on Dec. 3. It's about $80 and includes the digital download material and an extra album with eight new songs. The discbox will also include a double-vinyl record, photos, artwork and lyrics encased in a hardback book and slipcase.

The 10-track digital download can be accessed on Oct. 10. It can be preordered at http://www.inrainbows.com

Hipster Olympics

A terrific Monty-Python style sendup of the hipster lifestyle. This video imagines a Hipster Olympic competition. Hipsters are becoming one of those "of course, let's target them and learn everything we can about them" in the wonderful world of advertising. Every three years or so the business latches on to a generation (X, Y, etc) or a lifestyle (hippies, yuppies, DINKS, etc.) The au courant favorite right now is hipsters. The products, according to the producers have been used for comic effect only. The video is too long but there are some hilarious moments: especially the MySpace picture competition.

You'll probably know more about hipsters from looking at this video than a bunch of boring research.
Enjoy.

Google Moves on to DNA Search

What's Sergey Brin's New Wife Up To?
Ann Wojcicki Co-founds 23andME
A DNA Analysis Company with funded with lots of Google $


Read the following article and keep in mind a Google Personal Genetic Search Engine. That's what's coming based on everything I've read. Think of all the health and pharma Adwords you could sell on that. And also keep in mind that Google is really far out ahead of the ad curve when it comes to content....more on that later.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Google's Genetic Start-Up
Matthew Herper, 09.12.07, 6:16 PM ET
From Forbes Magazine (Edited for length)

23andMe isn't just any start-up. The company was co-founded by Anne Wojcicki, the new wife of Google billionaire Sergey Brin. Google put $3.6 million into the start-up, and $2.6 million of 23andMe's funding went to pay back a loan from Brin to the new company. That was enough to get the gossips jabbering. Other investors include Genentech (nyse: DNA - news - people ) and tech investor Esther Dyson.

But despite the chatter, there hasn't been a lot of information about what 23andMe is going to do, or how it is going to make money. The name comes from the fact that every person has 23 pairs of chromosomes, tangles of DNA that contain our genes. (We each get one set of 23 from Mom, the other from Dad.)

23andMe's Web site says the company is "developing new ways to help you make sense of your own genetic information." It also promises "broad, secure and private access to trustworthy and accurate individual genetic information."

Customers would give 23andMe a sample (it might be some spit or a Q-tip rubbed on the inside of the cheek). This would be sent to Illumina to be genotyped. Illumina and its main competitor, Affymetrix (nasdaq: AFFX - news - people ), make what are known as DNA chips, devices that can sample the genome in hundreds of places. These chips have been leading to a revolution in genetics, with dozens of DNA variations being potentially linked to diseases so far this year.

Illumina would then be able to tell 23andMe about hundreds of DNA variations, called single nucleotide polymorphisms, or SNPs, that each customer has. 23andME would make that information available through a password-protected Web site. And people would be able to log on and get information about what SNPs (pronounced "snips") they have.

Illumina estimates that in several years the market in consumer genotyping will hit $1.5 billion. It's not clear, but it seems likely 23andMe might use the data it has collected to make new discoveries itself.

23andMe, which has been keeping very quiet about its plans, declined to comment for this story. But it is looking like one of the first companies to start figuring out what an explosion of genetic data will mean for the average consumer.

Marketing Justin Timberlake & Kanye West

Take a look and listen to this great song "Stronger" and then consider the following:



There are four main objectives of marketing co-operations:

1 Building and/or strengthening [think Kanye's negative imagery from the VMAs] brand/image by implementing joint communication measures.

2. Accessing new markets/customers by directly addressing the co-operative partner’s customers or by using its distribution points. [Kanye gains new Justin listeners]

3. Increasing customer loyalty by addressing own customers with value added offerings from the partner. [Justin increases his own fans loyalty]

4. Reducing marketing costs by bundling marketing measures. [Kanye & Justin]

In some cases, co-operations are set up to address one of these objectives. In most cases, it is a combination of these.

Definition via Wikipedia

Don't Die Lindsay

In the New York Sun newspaper this morning.

Entertainment blogs picked it up.

By 4:30 the the Canterbury Institute people were appearing live on Neil Cavuto's show on Fox News for 5-10 minutes.

Created by Jugular, a New York ad agency.

Dynamite Surfing

One of the best virals I've ever seen. So you say...millions of people have seen it.

It's here because 80% of the people I've sent it to since August have never seen it (one of the reasons I decided to start this Blog)

If you've seen it, the video demands another look.

The power of YouTube. More on all this later.

Street Marketing London (Part II)

And...the campaign used artists for the street teams....not just models.

Street Marketing: London

A creative competition in London called the London International Creative Competition. The organization makes wry use of the acronym LICC and combines it with the word "me." Licc me. The phrase becomes a direct appeal to enter the show.

Even better it's sold to artists by artists via street placards. Smart marketing.

Who is Scott Lackey? And why visit another ad blog?

I'm particularly interested in iconoclastic, unpredictable advertising and communciations. Stuff that stands up, speaks loudly and demands notice. Old media is quickly dying and that new advertising, largely driven by the internet (read Google, You Tube, cell phone advertising), is redefining communications 24/7. At close to light speed.

So come visit us here. We'll rabble rouse and challenge...and, together, see if we can begin to identify where all this is going.

I'll work hard to provide ecumenical views.

Why listen? I'm the Co-Founder & Strategic Director of Jugular (http://www.jugularnyc.com), a New York City ad agency. I've worked in the ad business for over twenty years at big agencies like McCann Erickson and Y&R and small ones like LGFE and Grace & Rothschild.