Crackberries Unite!

It would seem that everyone knows what a blackberry is. For those of you who have never seen another homosapien before, I don't mean this:

I mean the epitome of the cell phone:

I can already hear the bellows of the cell phone geeks out there: "thas not da newest bberry n00bzor!". Yes, there is a "new" Blackberry 8900 "Curve" phone that has just released. They all then clutch on to their vintage blackberry (or if you're an apple fan; your Newton) and text all their friends on how un-educated I am. Just to prove how crazy the fandom over the device truly is, a search of "blackberry" in google images leads to 6,190,000 of images; most not fruit related.

Anyways...

What has created such a social revolution of the device? When the blackberry was still a business-focused device, the rest of us were still aw-ing at colour screens and camera phones. Does anyone else remember when camera phones with 0.3 megapixel or even worse VGA cameras were released? Now camera phones are hitting 8 mega-pixels and look more like cameras with a phone built in:



Is anyone else tired of the constant integration of these devices? I purposely went with a regular LG phone and an iPod Touch rather than converging the two. Why? I like to keep my eggs in different baskets. Plus, data plans are a pain in the arse.

There are three main contributors to the Blackberry's previous and continuing success:

1. A rock-solid platform

Providing technology for large businesses is challenging. They have strict security, quality and software requirements that make them easy to roll out to employees, easy to fix, and easy to manage. Building up the software behind these blackberries has provided the integrated system that was so easy to roll out to a mass populous. Many phones, such as the newly toted Google Android phone operating system and the Windows Mobile iteration had their fair share of headaches when it came to development; allowing the experienced blackberry platform to take over. Blackberry kept this same formula constant, while slowly rolling out the latest in technology into the previous rock-solid interface and ergonomic control. This was actually the first RIM (Research in Motion; the company behind the Blackberry product) device:

It looks similar to the current Blackberry models; no? Qwerty keyboard. Scrolling dial. Icon display, etc. All we have different know are bandwidths like 3G, Wi-Fi, Colour Screens, etc.



See what I mean?

RIM got a harsh lesson of its own medicine when it tried to leave its successful phone model. Its Blackberry Storm, or "Touch Screen" phone was deemed one of the provider's worst products ever released. The touch screen blackberry was supposed to be a competitor to the huge success of the iPhone from Apple; another giant who knows how to focus on what they do well and leverage it to produce competitive products. In comparison, it failed miserably. It tried to be too much of what the iPhone was, and was almost destined to fail against the integration expertise of Apple, with hundreds of touch screen patents, a successful music interface, and an understanding on the operating experience needed for a successful multimedia phone.

Even with big PR "suspense" dollars behind it; it still failed:



But if the iPhone is so great; what makes the Blackberry so desirable?

2. Endorsements

Apple has never really needed to bring on endorsements. Their fan community and Apple die-hards have been all they needed to get a product from launch to multi-million dollar success.

Blackberry has also taken a hands-off approach; but being the producer of business' most trusted device is bound to come attached with a few "crackberries" (people who are addicted, like the drug, to Blackberries) willing to swear by the device for promotional purposes.

This (albeit older) "research" "done in collaboration" for RIM; seems like a 7 minute long commercial for the device:



More recently in print ads, the likes of Premal Shah (President of Kiva.org, NFP organization), Rob Vandermark, and Nina Garcia (Fashion Magazine Editor, Elle, Marie Claire) divulge of how they can't live without their Blackberry:

And another:



And every good commercial/product needs a good spoof thanks to Rick Mercer. This clip is dedicated to Max for its NSFW (not-safe-for-work) content and periods of brief male nudity. (Anyone who attended the SEO session knows what I mean.) If you don't watch or read anything else; check this out:



Does anyone else get the impression that Blackberry is (rightly) pompous enough to claim that your business cannot flourish without their services? Awesome. More brand integrity than free swag at a showing of Oprah.

There are also un-paid endorsements from just the media in general, who go gadget crazy whenever someone uncovers their iPod or phone:

From Obama who would not dare give it up:



To Oprah who gives them away on her favorite lists:



To the Editor of Forbes Magazine who was brought to tears when removed from technology for 7 days (he lasted 40 hours before the water works<-- another must watch):

Off topic: all this on the syndrome called "Blackberry Addiction":



And lastly:

3. Savy Horizontal Customer Expansion

This is arguably the strongest, and smartest move RIM has made to gain market attention. Watch this commercial to get the jist of the concept. It is by far one of my favorite commercials ever made:



"Connect to everything you love in life, with Blackberry"

If that's not a powerful slogan; I don't know what is.

The device since its "pearl" iteration started to be marketed to a younger, more media and internet-centric crowd. The blackberry quickly transformed from your grandfather's antique:

To the modern-day social tool idolized by pre-teens all around the world:

All it needed was a slimmer size, Facebook integration, a camera, and the best texting interface ever seen and boom - pop culture sensation. What's truly incredible is that the device isn't very glamorous, an important factor in most pop culture icons (such as an iPod). The preference of function over fashion has truly cut out other suppliers of "cutesy" phones from the market. This is just another iteration of taking the bullet-proof blackberry model and tweaking it slightly to gain instant and continuous success; a model that would be coveted by ANY electronics manufacturer.

The key here is that the same mantra that applies for brands applies for devices. "Fresh" not "New". The most successful and well-known companies attain this status for exactly that: spending the time to create a rock-solid foundation; then tweaking offerings slightly to meet new customer needs. This applies for Google, RIM, Apple, HP, etc. If you don't believe me, here's a very similar commercial concept for HP that has added incredible brand equity:



As long as RIM learns from the Storm it just unleashed (haha, pun, get it?), I don't see it falling out of place anytime soon.

/Rant Mode On: Walking down the halls of Schulich, it's astonishing to see how many people are touting blackberries; some usefully, others just to check facebook and feel important. My favorite are those (primarily first and second year, but upper years too) students that whip out their blackberry every two seconds to see if their Japanese merger deal went through without a hitch at above market value. Or to see if they got tagged in the pictures of themselves at the "So You Think You Can Dance?" marathon session everyone was gathered around last night. But if it makes you feel so important; then go for it. At least it'll help the RIM stock go up. /Rant Mode Off.

Until then; be a crackberry, or don't. But then you risk facing the hordes of fans who will rub their device in your face with great pride and wide smiles drawn across their faces. Jerks.

Important marketing memes of 2009

And we're back!

Memes are important thought trends in contemporary culture. They are widely distributed, fresh, and organically generated concepts and ideas that emanate and circulate rapidly in a network of plugged-in people. At their worst, memes can propagate racism. At their best, memes can propagate lolcatz like Ceiling Cat!


So I should probably cover up.

Anyway, to start off the new year, it's relevant to think about memes that might matter in marketing in 2009. Let's talk about the concepts, trends, and practices of marketers that will become more commonplace and popular. Let's talk about the ideas that will quickly disseminate through agencies and client teams, mastered by the savvy group of consumers, and eventually expectorated back to the teeming masses of mainstream culture.

In other words, let's talk about what are relevant marketing trends for 2009:

THE 'EXPERIENCE IT' MEME


In the context of the rising tide of greater relevance in advertising, some lucky consumers will find themselves the subject of rare interactions with marketers that go deeper than the banal and shallow ad pitch. Without buying, a privileged few prospects will be invited to try a product, brand, or service. But what they're really trying is an experience.

Remember when you were invited to try Gmail when it was still in beta mode? (Remember how awesome that felt!?)

Testing experience with consumers firsthand is like playing in a sandbox. It's safe, controlled, and a great petri dish to catalyze learnings for experiential improvements. Furthermore, you want to actively segment an select prospects to participate in the experience who you know will then actively go out and spread word of mouth among their networks.

Seeding networks is nothing new, but in 2009 expect to see more seeding based on complete brand experiences rather than simple trial testing or free offers. It's the culmination of consumers' undeniable influence on social diffusion of brands and the demand by consumers for things which they can live, rather than things which they can simply wear, listen to, or eat.

THE COLLABORATION MEME


You know how individual consumers are encouraged to put their stamp of approval on something? They're able to personalize their brands either through participating in the product development and customization process, influence brand direction by vocalizing their needs in web forums and social media, and make the brand their own through non-traditional uses.

Now take the personalization to a broader scale. You and your network personalize your product. You and your friends personalize your brand experience.

Gen Ys are social creatures. We thrive on instant communications within our highly networked worlds (that's why we go mental when the DSL isn't working...). Digitally socializing is an intensive part of our lives and the impact of one's network on the things we associate with is immense.

So why would a marketer allow your network to collaborate with you when developing your personal brand relationship with them? Because it's a direct acknowledgment by the marketer of the things that matter to the consumer: their friends. It's an invitation by the marketer for you to show your network that they are influencers.

Look for this style of meme to pop up with everything from iPod playlists to fashion to media content.

THE INTEGRATED MARKETING MIX MEME



This one is big. Integrated marketing communications refers to the choreography among different ad channels, all targeting the prospects with related messages, calls-to-action, and incentives. It's not merely enough anymore to pair a TV spot with a website. It's insufficient to have a radio play in the same market as targeted magazine drops.

Integrated marketing is a mix of advertising channels that are optimal to distribute the message YET still convey relevance to the end consumer. This is critical. Furthermore, this does not underscore an increase in the overall number of message impressions received by the prospect consumer. Instead, it speaks to two things: 1) a curriculum style that gradually educated prospect consumers about a product/service/brand that they would respond to; 2) a coordinated effort by a marketer to demonstrate relevance to consumers across multiple platforms.

What is still unexplained is whether marketers will contract out their entire marcom budget to a single agency that is capable of doing all things (integrated), or whether marketers will act as directors and fragment their marcom budget out to a variety of specialized agencies.

It's hard for me to call this one a meme because I believe this is a sea change in marketing towards relevance-based integrated campaign development. Perhaps it's meme-like insofar that there will be rapid awareness in 2009 and some traditional marketers will make nascet inroads to developing a more balanced communications strategy.

BTW, when I was thinking about an element to include for the word 'choreography', the Indian version of 'Thriller immediately came to mind...!

Marketing best practices

Killing two birds with one stone is great isn't it?

I'm writing an appendix about advertising channel marketing strategy right now for a report as part of my 601 project and I thought about posting the analysis up to the blog!

I love original content!!!

It's really abbreviated, but it's a quick comparison of old and new best practices of various online and offline advertising channels. I've tried to be comprehensive and unbiased here (although I personally think that untargeted advertising can go to Hell....) but it's a good synopsis of the different benefits and recommendations for effectiveness for each channel.

You'll see that throughout this chart I'm really in support of integrated campaigns. That means marketing communications that simultaneously leverage the other active channels. It's the newspaper ad that tells you to go online and try virtually test drive the new model car, it's the radio spot that tells you to look for Count Chocula sampling this Saturday at Metro stores in the GTA.

God, how I wish there was a product sampling of Count Chocula....but I digress.

Oh, and BBAs, plagiarize away! Just don't expect to develop unoriginal, uncited analysis and hand it to me to give to one of our clients.

Advertising channel	Channel description	Old best practices	New best practices
Website development	Includes website design, management, analysis, promotional microsite development. Important channel for speaking directly to tech-savvy, younger consumers.	Clear site navigation and shallow site structure with few deep levels. Integrate web metrics tracking for site optimization and online marketing. Promotion in offline marketing communications as a source of extra information about a brand.	Site users have the opportunity to create content and interact bilaterally with the site. Important to integrate websites with offline communications including print and television (often these drive consumers to the website). Provide relevant brand and product information in multiple formats, allowing consumers an opportunity to take content with them or send to their friends off the site. Promoted in offline communications as a destination in itself and a place to go as part of Web 2.0 consumer interactivity.
Email	Includes email design, deployment, analysis, and potential integration with database segmentation. Important channel for direct marketing and establishing brand relevance.	Use an attention grabbing subject line. Display the best content “above the fold” of the screen. Do not be too copy-heavy, leverage text and pictures. Communicate exclusive offers, promotions, and deals to “our best customers”.	Perform active segmentation and response analysis on house list to determine most optimal messages/content to be included in targeted email to consumers. Must be easy for consumers to unsubscribe or change their email settings. Position as nonintrusive consumer touchpoint that is relevant to you. Email is highly useful to create a curriculum or education campaign for new consumers or a multi-wave campaign.
Social media	Includes brand promotion through social media public relations, viral content development and distribution, network ‘seeding’, and identity development on social network profile sites. Important channel for brand identity building through online affiliations and new project promotion.	Note, because this is such a new channel, best practices are being developed as part of an ongoing mutation of the medium. Social media is too young to have any “old” best practices, because marketers are still trying to understand how to use it effectively.	Pay attention to emerging consumer memes and viral trends online. Ride these. Create a clear identity that allows users to comment, rate, or interact with the brand’s social media presence. Use social media PR sparingly and only to announce exciting brand developments or significant launches. “Feedback 3.0” is the act of brands actively responding to and commenting back to their commentators in online forums. (TrendWatching.com)
In-store retail promotion	Includes design of product packaging and printed promotional materials, development of coupons and offers. Also includes total management of promotional projects and events, including multiple-party promotions.	Eye-popping visuals and unique creative execution. Display in preferred locations in retail environments (end of aisle, eye level, front of store and produce area). Promotions are used to highlight exciting new product launches or as a boost to seasonally low sales.	Retail promotions are immediately relevant to the consumer (because they are physically interacting with the product and have opted-in). Therefore how are promotions used by brands to develop long-term positive relationships with their consumers? Promotions must be thought of like big impressions for brand building and used for activating new brand strategy. Strong integration of promotions with other non-tangible brand communications.
Experiential	Includes the planning, execution, and management of in-person demonstrations, sampling, physical product interactions, sensory advertising, and other impression-based advertising experiences.	Create innovative and original experiences – make the consumer say “wow, I’ve never seen this before”. High traffic locations are effective to reach as many people as possible. Eye-catching or permits prolonged or repeat impressions.	Demonstrate measurability and big impact on sales by using experiential techniques. Cannot simply generate a ‘big splash’. Use experiential advertising projects as opportunities to also establish customer listening posts and gain valuable primary research about brand perceptions and usage.
Direct mail	Includes the design, writing, segmentation, deployment, analysis, and management of print advertising, flyers, brochures, offers, product samples, and house-list magazines that are targeted to specific consumers (not mass mail).	‘Test and learn’ – perform frequent empirically controlled tests to different consumer segments to understand what is the optimal form of creative and offer to generate higher response. Personalize direct mail and provide a compelling reason to open it (similar to an email subject line)	Integrated use of direct mail with CRM database for clients. Understand customer behavior across response channels (direct mail, web, email, SMS). Like in-store retail promotion, direct mail establishes an intimate connection between the brand and consumer because it is highly interactive and tangible. Clear announcement of purpose and call to action so that customer understands role of direct mail in context of all other interactions they have with the brand.
Out-of-home	Includes the design, deployment, and management of all messaging that appears on outdoor ‘surfaces’ in high-traffic or visible areas. Note, limited effectiveness of this channel at driving response and engagement from consumers. Highly passive engagement by prospects in this channel.	Like experiential and in-store retail promotion, out-of-home should be immediately understandable and capture interest. Copy must be concise and non-informational. Strictly call-to-action.	A classic medium, the best practices have no changed significantly because of limited innovation potential of the platform. Obvious integration of out-of-home advertising with existing in-market campaigns in other channels.
Mobile	Includes copywriting, segmentation, deployment, management, and analysis of text or multimedia messages distributes to mobile phone subscribers over a network. Important channel for brand building and relationship development.	Note, because this is such a new channel, best practices are being developed as part of an ongoing mutation of the medium. Mobile technology is also rapidly evolving and permits unique applications like proximity sensitive out-of-home marketing (billboards that activate when a consumer walks by) and geo-targeted messages direct to the consumer.	Must be an opt-in house list and must permit easy unsubscribe for recipients. SMS marketing is highly invasive (it’s marketing that vibrates in your pocket). Therefore the message should be targeted, relevant, and actionable by the consumer. Therefore, SMS is not optimal for informational campaigns. Instead, use for direct response or experiential purposes (e.g. respond now).
Television	Includes the design, production, media buying, and management of television commercials or infomercials. Important channel for broad awareness of brand strategy to consumers. This sets the tone of an integrated campaign with multiple channel strategies.	A great ‘hook’ to immediately capture attention. Clear link between story and brand, story and message, and brand and message. Clear call to action for viewers, or an understanding of what they are being made to believe.	Best practices somewhat unchanged for mass media. Perhaps greater concern for how television commercials are able to change behavior among consumers. Is this really an advanced form of marketing that succeeds at building a relationship with consumers? Call-to-action that is integrated with other marketing communications in market. Useful capstone to large campaigns which rely on a broad mix of mediums (out-of-home, online, promotional, print, and radio).
Radio	Includes the design, production, media buying, and management of radio commercials.	Memorable messages that listeners can associate to a brand with unaided prompting. Local message optimization because of the ability to purchase large blocks of commercial time from radio station conglomerates that own stations in different markets.	Same as above. Positive associate to highlight existing in-market or upcoming promotional campaigns for integrated marketing campaigns.
Mass print media	Includes the design, production, media buying, and management of printed advertisements in newspapers, magazines, flyers, and other non-targeted print media.	Classic principles apply here for copywriting and call-to-action development.	Same as above. Considering existing volume of print media advertising that continues to be done, important to integrate this activity with marketing mix of online and offline channels. Can be used as a traffic-driving source of consumers to online channel where more information can be found about brand.

Intriguing marketing costs paradox

Ok, first answer this question:

If a product costs $15, but you're able to find the exact same product sold elsewhere for $10, what are you going to buy?

....the one that costs $10, obviously.

Ok, what if you're paying fees or added costs in the $15 that you don't need. Let's say that the product's true price is $10 but the fees cost $5.

....you'd still demand to pay only $10 because you're unwilling to pay for the added fees.

So why are consumers willing to put up with paying for the added costs of marketing?

Think of our $15 product like a cd. How much does the artist actually make on a $15 cd? Probably only 10 cents because the balance is record company profit and expenses for marketing, production, and distribution.

And consumers are getting wise to this.

Now think of it like buying cereal. You'll always purchase Count Chocula. For your entire life you're going to purchase Count Chocula. If you never saw another Count Chocula ad in your life you'd still buy it.


So why are you paying a price for the cereal that includes marketing expenses? It's really unfair when you think about it. You're not receiving any benefit from the advertising for Count Chocula, so why are you paying Post cereal for the expenses it incurs when marketing to others?

Let me repeat this cause it's important- why are you paying Post cereal for the expenses it incurs when marketing to others?

This is the weird scenario that's been floating around my head for a while.

Consumers are going to demand greater measurability of the costs of production for them, not some overhead costs that may/may not include them. With greater sophistication and fragmentation of buyer behaviors, consumers are seeking to maximize the value to them of everything they buy. It's not only smart consumerism, but it's also saavy financial management.

I'll happily pay your price for the product, if I know that I have fairly incured the costs you shouldered to produce the product for me!

This is why no one is buying records anymore. Because they are willing to pay the least amount possible (free) and still receive the product.

But what about marketers?

Their costs are actually increasing because we're on a weird cusp where absolute targetability is not yet a fully internalized expense. The value per customer created from a CRM program has not yet dropped enough to equal the value per customer from running mass advertising.

Targeted customers are valuable, but expensive (per person). Mass customers are of poor value, but talking to them is cheap (per person).

So our action items? Think about this marketing paradox:

1. Consumers are not willing to pay more than they have to, and they're angry at having to pay unnecessary marketing expenses in the products they buy.

2. Marketers are faced with a declining margin for marketing on the products they sell. If consumers were previously willing to pay $5 to shoulder the costs of being sold, now they're willing to pay $0.

THEREFORE, how can marketers continue to target the valuable customers? This is expensive. How can they continue to build relationships with customers when their actions are under greater scrutiny, from both their clients and their customers, to reduce costs and be measurable?

Just something to chew on. Comments are appreciated here with any insights.

BTW, Count Chocula is scary delicious.

Sexiest avatars ever

This is too funny. Here's a story from the UK, the link is at the bottom. A couple got married then got divorced on SecondLife because the woman caught the guy virtually cheating with another woman in the game.

Ok first, here's what their SecondLife avatars look like:

On the left is the wife, in the middle is the husband, and on the right is his mistress.

Ok, so she looks like Kate Beckinsale and he looks like Lucas Rossi, the guy who won RockStar Supernova.


And here's what they actually look like. Gird yourself!
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Remember this when you make a new friend online!

The link is here.

Cool interactive billboards and 90210

Interactive media is where it’s at these days in terms of delivering excitement and experience to consumers. Often though, the message is gets lost in the punchiness of the medium. The channel distributor has done a great job selling ad space and gross consumer impressions to unsuspecting, wide-eyed brand managers that the issue of whether or not the marketing is effective or not is never raised.

Such might have been the case for an interactive billboard I experienced a few weekends ago at the Harbourfront Hot and Spicy Food Festival. Watch the video, it’s a 6 x 8 foot led screen which is touch-sensitive. As people step and tap on it, colourful led balls go flying around the screen. It’s wild. My friend Olga took the video as we played around.



…but what was it advertising again? What brand was there?

I’m not saying that this was an ineffective vehicle – far from it. We stood there giggling and jumping around on this led mat for probably ten minutes. People around us joined in. So the audience is tuned in and captive, they’re rapt by what they’re seeing and the fact that they have control over the ad itself is a big plus. As mentioned before in this blog, participation is a critical factor in modern marketing, especially in an ad targeted to Gen Ys. It afford a modicum of individualization and personal spin on the marketing, making the consumer feel like they have accountability over the marketing. This, in turn, makes the consumer feel that the ad has greater relevance to them (because they created it or had a part in it).

Adverblog talks about some of the better interactive online marketing campaigns. It’s interesting in all of these to see how prominently the brand and product are featured. It’s never unclear what is being explained.

So as for that wild led screen, perhaps its use is better for promotional settings where you can physically interact with the brand. Imagine Nike setting up two of these in stores and allowing consumers to try out the shoes as if they were a soccer goalie or seeing how high they can jump in the shoes. Imagine these displays in high-traffic locations like the PATH system and each step displays the kinetic energy created – a potential ad for Bullfrog or Bruce Power looking to promote their clean energy options to consumers.

Anyway, some food for thought. The new series of 90210 just started, featuring AnnaLynne McCord:


…and yes, bad television counts as legitimate research into consumer culture.

Canadian internet usage statistics

It’s Christmas in July!


Yes, it’s that time of year again, the time when the Statistics Canada Internet Use Survey (CIUS) results are released to the public. Actually, the results were published in June, but I’m still brimming with excitement!

This is the kind of stuff that tech seers and Web 2.0 magi (I think I’m a magi?) eagerly anticipate. It’s hard empirical evidence for the adoption of trends and technologies which have really only been explained through rough anecdotes and less pure statistical findings.
In 2005, the HIUS was replaced by the CIUS. The new report can be found here on Statistics Canada’s website and it’s designed “to more closely conform to international standards” with a greater focus on individual, rather than household internet use.

But can you tell the real from the fake findings? Read the statements below and try to determine if they’re true or false.

To see the correct answer, highlight the space after >>> marks with your cursor.

In 2007, 73% of Canadians went online
>>>TRUE

This is down from 75% of Canadians in 2005
>>>FALSE, this is UP from 68% in 2005

Those living in cities access the internet relatively more than those living in rural areas
>>>TRUE

In Canada, women spend more time online at each sitting than men
>>>FALSE, relatively more men spend more time online than women

In Canada, women are online more frequently than men
>>>FALSE, relatively more men go online more often than women

Internet usage is relatively identical among people in different income brackets
>>>FALSE, the internet is used relatively more by people with higher incomes

91% of people with incomes of more than $95,000 used the internet in the last 12 months while only 47% of people with incomes of less than $24,000 used the internet in the last 12 months
>>>TRUE

96% of people ages 16-24 went online in the last 12 months
>>>TRUE

Relatively more immigrants who arrived in Canada in the last 10 years used the internet in the last 12 months than people who were born in Canada
>>>TRUE

A majority of Canadians with broadband access report seething rage and dissatisfaction with Bell Sympatico or Rogers High Speed internet services.
>>>TRUE! Actually, this wasn’t published in the report, so I do not know whether it’s true or not

Adoption of Web 2.0 related online activities (blogging, posting images, contributing content, or participating in discussion groups) is practiced by 50% of home internet users
>>>FALSE, it’s only 20% who do this

In Calgary, 85% of people ages 16 and over use the internet
>>>TRUE

70% of Canadians report having five or more years of experience going online
>>>FALSE, 54% of Canadians have five or more years experience going online

More Canadians play games online than in 2005
>>>FALSE, 39% of Canadians played online games in 2007 and 2005

British Columbia experienced the greatest growth in internet usage from 2005 and now has the most number of people online of any province
>>>TRUE, 78% of people from BC went online in 2007, up from 69% in 2005

So overall there are some pretty interesting findings. I’d encourage the B!G associates and execs to check this out. Of particular interest to me is the big leap in high bandwidth online activities like streaming video or downloading music. Also intriguing is the plateauing of general purpose internet searching activities for information at levels between 60-70% of the population.

Effective online ads

If you’re reading this, go to MSNBC and see if the ad I’m about to analyze is still live on the home page of the site.

T-Mobile in the US is advertising its network coverage in a series of really cool flash based banner ads and landing pages. The flash ads are activated when the page loads (or when you scroll down to them, I’m not sure). They are interactive on mouseover and not nearly as obtrusive or flashy as other banner ads on less credible sites. Two ads appear on the home page, one square right panel skyscraper ad and one flat rectangular panel further down the page in the middle of the news content. The viewer can wave the mouse over these ads and actually lead the animated character to the right where you see the tagline for T-Mobile.

Upon clicking through, the user is taken to a landing page (which is being tracked to see how effective the MSNBC ads are and which type of ad is drawing higher clicks) where they’re encouraged to map their cellular reception signal strength on T-Mobile’s signal map.

I’m fascinated by this campaign and it’s effective for the following reasons:

• Simple message: coast-to-coast, T-Mobile has comprehensive cell coverage. Through research, T-Mobile has likely identified that cellular reception is a strong decision criteria for a certain group of consumers (likely the same profile of consumers who read MSNBC) over other offerings like mobile media, jazzy phones, or rate plans. Network clarity is still a big deal.
• Simple call to action: see zones of signal strength in your area. It’s interactive and the ad only asks you to see the cellular coverage in your area. It’s not salesy. It’s intriguing. (I wonder if they’re tracking the locations people search for and matching it back to clickthroughs…it would be interesting to know which states or cities had the greatest interaction with this ad)
• Unique online ads that catch the eye and are not too distracting. The 3D perspective created with Flash looks great and it isn’t screamingly page killing in the overall schema of the MSNBC site.
• Loads of opportunity for testing and optimization. I assume that the ads, landing page, and destination page are tested on A/B splits and that this campaign is appearing on other partner sites.

I am surprised though that MSNBC couldn’t enable geotargeting for this ads – why is a Canadian web user seeing ads for a US cellular network?

Otherwise, terrific stuff.

See? Banner ads can still be effective.