A ROUND WITH SETH GODIN: WHAT MAKES IDEAS VIRAL

S Dog, writer of such marketing titles as "All Marketers Are Liars : The Power of Telling Authentic Stories in a Low-Trust World" and "Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable" asks what makes ideas viral.

No one "sends" an idea unless:
a. they understand it
b. they want it to spread
c. they believe that spreading it will enhance their power (reputation, income, friendships) or their peace of mind
d. the effort necessary to send the idea is less than the benefits

No one "gets" an idea unless:
a. the first impression demands further investigation
b. they already understand the foundation ideas necessary to get the new idea
c. they trust or respect the sender enough to invest the time

Read more....

THE SWEET SMELL OF YOUR BABY'S HEAD

Ad Jab points to the latest smell oozing from J-LO's next perfume bottle.

BABY HEAD.

I don't know if you have ever sniffed a babies head..but it is pretty amazing.

"Actually, I think this is a really good idea, no matter how weird it sounds. I mean, have you ever smelled a baby's head? They actually have a very nice, calming scent to them. Baby skull sniffing is like aroma therapy, I'm telling you."

Such is the genius of J-lo

CUT AND PASTE: NOT AS MAINSTREAM AS THEY THOUGHT

Thanks to Influx for the Wired article...

Basically, it points to the comeback sensation of the book TOUCHING THE VOID, which did not do well when it was first released. But when a similar title, INTO THIN AIR, was a hit TOUCHING THE VOID became a hit too.

Amazon.com's referral section was to blame.

"Unlimited selection is revealing truths about what consumers want and how they want to get it in service after service, from DVDs at Netflix to music videos on Yahoo! Launch to songs in the iTunes Music Store and Rhapsody. People are going deep into the catalog, down the long, long list of available titles, far past what's available at Blockbuster Video, Tower Records, and Barnes & Noble. And the more they find, the more they like. As they wander further from the beaten path, they discover their taste is not as mainstream as they thought (or as they had been led to believe by marketing, a lack of alternatives, and a hit-driven culture)."

That means that with so many choices, what were once easily segmented markets are fragmenting, and people are taking their own road.

P.S. NOTE " As they wander further from the beaten path, they discover their taste is not as mainstream as they thought (or as they had been led to believe by marketing, a lack of alternatives, and a hit-driven culture)."

-- What does that say?? Which came first? The Segment or our defining of the Segment?

DID ANYONE ELSE SEE THE MAC IN RING 2?

Apparently not.

Agenda inc. points to an interesting article on brand integration.

"Some of that accountability is now being quantified, and the results show exactly where the weaknesses are. An August 2005 Simmons National Consumer Study showed that while 46 percent of audiences do not mind product placement in movies, only 20 percent remembered the names of brands that the characters either used or spoke (51 percent and 24 percent, respectively, for television).

To capitalize on an onscreen role, brands must employ additional measures to increase recall. Cross-promotions allow brands to use the movie's artwork and/or characters in the brand's advertising. This tells customers the brand is affiliated with the film and the customer is more likely to notice the brand's product placement when they see it."

While such cross-promotions can take the form of expansive campaigns, such as Audi's in "Transporter 2" or AOL's for "Cry_Wolf," smaller brands still have options. Simply creating a website page to highlight your brand's feature film roles may be all it takes. Both watchmaker Panerai and bag and jacket manufacturer Belstaff have done this. A "key" to getting the most out of this approach is to be sure to use the film name, the general product name and your brand in the page's keywords. This helps ensure search engines will locate your site when potential customers search for them.

The vital point is that just showing up isn't enough."

P.S. only 46% of audiences don’t mind product placement—that means more than half are pissed off to even see your brand on screen. I wonder why they didn’t mention that…

COPY AND PASTE: CREATIVITY MAG ON VW

"In a new campaign for the redesigned Passat, Arnold takes a look at the car's 120 features, and kicks it off with a couple of spots from RSA's Jake Scott. In "Downhill Racer" (left), the features are steerable headlights, and the spot shows a kind driver who helps out a cyclist trying to navigate the winding path. However, outside of the broadcast spots, Arnold collaborated wtih designers and companies like Brand New School, Lobo, Life Long Friendship Society, Tomato, Curious Pictures and Brickyard VFX to make 120 20-second shorts-- one for each of the highlighted features. The "feature" films range in style from animation to live action and black and white to color, with the criteria being that the films explain what the feature does in an entertaining way. The "feature" films will be shown on VW's website (which now offers a list of all 120 features) in the coming weeks and will appear in a DVD brochure. (MS)"

IT IS IMPORATANT THAT YOU KNOW

Ashton and Demi Moore got married.

"I know a lot of people think that this marriage is creepy because she's 15 years older than him, but those people are just stupid. Everyone knows that only parts of Demi Moore are older than Ashton Kutcher. Most of the other parts are actually way younger. If you think about it, he's sort of marrying three 14-year-old girls who just happen to be grafted onto a 42-year-old's body. And even though that sounds gross, you have to admit that it's kind of hot too. Kind of really hot. And, okay, maybe a little gross. Actually, yeah, mostly just gross. I don't know what I was thinking."

COPY AND PASTE: TEENAGERS WILL RUIN THE WORLD

Ad Pulp found this article on teenage decadence.

American teenagers spend more than $150 billion a year - more than the gross domestic product of Finland, Ireland or Chile.

Early overindulgence is leading teens to unrealistic lifestyle expectations, weakening their work ethic and plunging them into disastrous financial practices that will haunt them for life, economists and employers say.
"They're spending as soon as the money comes in the door, and in the future, that can mean that these young people end up back on their parents' doorstep," said Jerald Bachman, research scientist at the Institute for Social Research who first labeled the phenomenon "premature affluence." "Once kids get accustomed to spending a lot, it's a difficult transition to waiting and saving."

Meanwhile, most simply assume they'll hold jobs with high salaries, lots of perks and little grunt work.

Even parents' best intentions contribute to the problem. Collaborative decision-making in the home has given children vast say in family purchases. Young teens alone now account for 53 percent of family expenditures on clothing and entertainment, according to MarketResearch. And the drive to give kids every educational advantage has led parents and grandparents to blow their own budgets for pricey summer camps, private tutoring and study abroad.
Now teens under 15 control $40 billion in purchasing power and use it lavishly - 70 percent have a TV in their room, for example, and a third have cable. Meanwhile, the average 18- or 19-year-old spends more than $9,600 annually, according to MarketResearch.

THE REVERSE SEARCH ENGINE

Adverblog points to a search engine in which the consumer announces a need, so a brand can fill it, Purefile. I don’t know if anyone would want to put themselves out there to be spammed to death, but who knows!

BREAKING NEWS: CORY DOESN’T LIKE MICHAEL EISNER

Who knew?

GAWKER KNOWS IT IS BETTER THAN YOU

Gawker is a media gossip blog that basically works as an inside gossip and news site that covers the media, Mags and Newspapers mostly. You should know Gawker, and Gawker Media – they are the Amazon of blogs.

The big deal is that they just added a comment section to their site, but it is by invite only. Most blogs anyone can comment on, this is a new, snooty model, following Google’s original G-mail Strategy.

JUST IN FROM THE PLANNING BLOGS: DISTROBOTO

It's a cigarette machine which no longer sell cigarettes, but instead, little books, crafts, comics, cassettes, mini-CD-R's (of music or video), fridge magnets, novelties, etc. all for only $2 each!

P.S. Find these little things in nightclubs selling kitch and alt-art-hipster-I-am-cool-because-I-am-different things. Aspiring designers/artists/musicians can put their products in, hosts benefit from the hipster-kitch vibe these things put off.

VIRAL SCHMIRAL

The Viral Chart can track all elements of an online campaign – video files, web pages and Flash movies, whether they’re on your server or running loose on emails, blogs and message boards… It tracks how viral a campaign goes.

MINI SITE HIGHLIGHT

This IKEA mini site is just really cool. Make sure to have your sound on when you visit this site. It’s not in english, but it is definitely worth a look. Thanks to swedish agency Forsman & Bodenfors and Flash producer Kokokaka.

September 23rd

Things from Commercials that you can buy --- Staples easy button

Starbucks drops quote that was totally gay

Tara Reid's ass lies -- unless you like that sort of thing.

The military sponsoring the nations most popular sport -- Californians could still care less.

Hardest job ever -- hear about the woman in charge of U.S. PR in the Middle East.

BMW gets greatest publicity possible -- who would have thought cars make men attractive?

Do Coke, lose another job -- only if you get caught

Noodles in space


Sexy Viral of the Week!

Mini Sites:
Trojan is a little suggestive.

Video:
Cake