Why Your CPG Brand Isn’t Remarkable and What You Can Do About It

Posted by Jon Thomas, 13 Aug 2013

This post originally appeared in our August '13 issue of “Live Report from the Future of Marketing,” our monthly Post-Advertising newsletter. Subscribe for free here.

Marketing CPG products is hard. Marketing Apple products is easy. Well, not really (on both accounts), but let me explain. 

Apple products—computers, phones, music players, tablets and other digital devices—are some of the most expensive products on the market. But devoted fans come out in droves to purchase the latest editions, seeming not to mind that they’re paying a premium for the mass-produced technologies. I’m not faulting them. I’m a fanboy myself, writing this article on my MacBook Pro, which is connected to Wi-Fi with Apple Airport, with my iPhone and iPad close by. 

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Why Streaming Services Could Upend Cable TV’s Content Model

Posted by Jon Thomas, 01 Aug 2012

Cancellation is almost always a death sentence for a television show. Some are revived decades later, like the 80’s soap opera Dallas, which was reborn with a handful of original cast members this past June, but most live in our hearts, minds, and in DVD box sets.

Arrested Development, which was cancelled in 2006, has cheated death. In a brilliant and telling move, Netflix, an on-demand and streaming media provider, has breathed new life in the show by signing it on for a new season to air exclusively on the company’s service. With a subscription, Arrested Development fans will be able to watch the entire new fourth season (ten episodes), which will be released all at once in 2013. Netflix also offers the first three seasons for those who can’t get enough of the Bluth family—a smart move to hook old fans again, by revisiting their favorite episodes.

This unprecedented move gives us a glimpse into what the future of television programming might hold. Are we at a place where consumers can escape the iron fist of cable and satellite TV providers and watch what they want, when they want, for a fraction of the cost? We’ve already peeked into the future of automobile advertising. What’s in store for our entertainment needs? Will on-demand and streaming services beat out the old guard of cable and satellite?

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5 Rules for Brands to Avoid Being “Pruned” From Social Profiles

Posted by Katie Edmondson, 01 Mar 2012

Breaking news: Young people care about their reputation and appearance!

Well, maybe that's not such a hot scoop, but when you add the words online and social media, the ears of brand managers everywhere start to perk up. According to a new study, nearly two thirds of people on social networks are engaging in “profile pruning,” carefully curating their own social profiles by deleting posts, comments, tags and friends. In order to stay in the fertile flower beds of young social-media users, brands must follow their rules to avoid getting pruned. Cue gardening metaphors.

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Three Ways the Second Screen Is Shaping the Future of Television

Posted by Luke Dringoli, 23 Feb 2012

Have you heard of the second screen? If not and you’re a marketer of media, you’d better listen up and learn fast; a number of television networks and individual programs have started taking this concept seriously and are, as a result, tightly weaving audiences into a more dynamic viewing experience. If fantastic recent examples like NBC’s The Voice, CBS’s 54th Grammy Award ceremonies and WGN America’s syndication work continue to crop up, the second screen will soon enough become your new first priority.

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The Future of Publishing Begins with Survival

Posted by Jon Thomas, 28 Dec 2011

Storytelling is a tradition that will exist as long as humans inhabit the Earth. It’s in our DNA. The tools we use, however, have changed and will continue to change. We’ve moved on from cave paintings to the written word, from parchment paper to word processors. We’ve even seen the printed word slowly disappear as we move on to electronic readers, like the Kindle and Nook, which allow users to store hundreds of books on a single device.

Another monumental change has occurred just in the past 20 months or so. With the introduction of the iPad and other tablet devices that followed shortly thereafter, readers are able to dive deeper into content than ever before. So it’s no surprise that when Razorfish chairman Clark Kokich wanted to write a book, he decided that the only appropriate way to do so was to bypass traditional publishers and create it as an interactive application. See the demo below.

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The Future of Content Is Not in Your Computer

Posted by Jon Thomas, 26 Oct 2011

There was once a day when a computer filled a room. Now it’s in your palm. That’s the story my dad tells me at least. Soon, when my future children are old enough to understand, I’ll tell them how I used to read books and magazines made out of paper and I couldn’t simply touch the screen of my computer to make things happen. Also, I used to walk to school uphill, both ways, in the snow.

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Verizon’s Not So Subtle Jab at AT&T

Posted by Andrea Fjeld, 02 Mar 2011
It's been running all month but gets fresh comments daily. And the folks at AT&T are probably still smarting — especially since many of those comments come from jubilant owners of brand-new Verizon-enabled iPhones. Not to mention that those of us who switched networks have been feeling pretty ripped off — it seems we've crossed over to the dark side, given AT&T's blackout zones compared to Verizon's superior coverage. For a while, Verizon played politely in the world of advertising. But this commercial proves: no more Mr. Nice Network! So why kick 'em when they're down?
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Extreme Storytelling: Be the Boss of Your Own Movie Stars

Posted by Andrea Fjeld, 01 Sep 2010
Production company Tool of North America has created stunning ads and interactive media for brands like MTV and Bud Light, but we've never seen anything from them like this before. Realizing the iPad's potential to transform the face of linear storytelling for the screen, Tool teamed up with Domani Studios to create  Touching Stories—a video series that puts viewers in control of their own film adventures. With so much power in your very fingertips, being a couch potato could soon become demanding — if exhilerating — work.
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Mad Men Advertises About Advertisers Advertising Before Their Advertisements

Posted by Luke Dringoli, 09 Aug 2010
Let's start this week off right with a look back at yesterday's episode of Mad Men. As usual, we've been keeping a close watch on the show and its sponsors. While most of the folks at Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Pryce were on a little New Year's holiday (for our dear protagonist, this mostly meant booze and hookers), the real ads supporting the show were working double time, hoping to ensnare the folks with advertising already on the brain through what appeared to be a more deeply integrated partnership with the program. Winners and losers after the jump.
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Best Buy vs. Employee: the YouTube Scuffle Continues

Posted by Luke Dringoli, 27 Jul 2010
Ah, satire in the age of instant communication. One big box brand doesn't quite get the joke. As good as social media's been for Best Buy (see: @Twelpforce, a continued success), they're fast finding out how real things can get when their internal policies don't line up with their ostensibly progressive, tech-conscious reputation. We're talking about an employee of theirs, who since being pressured into quitting his job over a couple measly, unbranded YouTube videos, has hit back with a new video roasting the retailer in a similarly anonymous fashion. If consumers can control brands these days, then employees can bring them to their knees.
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