Sometimes There Aren't Words

How To Make Money Without Showing Your Face....

David Beckham, who is now a lead endorser for Sharpie pens, can now make money without even showing his face. I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was, but something about it rubbed me the wrong way. It could be that I've been an avid futbol fan my whole life, as are all my friends, so the Beckham phenomenom in America has been a strange experience for us.

Two years ago, a small percentage of this country had an idea who David Beckham was, and now he is penetrating our mass media with ease. From Armani ads to sunglass promos, he has become the latest foreign import to leverage his success outside of the US to become a superstar in the states, and it has nothing to do with his talent on the field.

I am of the opinion that still only a fraction of the people who discuss the Beckham phenomenom have any idea what he is like on the field, or what his storied futbol career has been about. And I'll be honest and say this bothers me. It has to do with the integrity and beauty of futbol that most Americans will never understand because they are impatient and want high scores and walk off homeruns. It has to do with the fact that there is a rythem and flow to a European futbol match that will probably never cross the Atlantic and make it into Major League Soccer(MLS), the latest home to Beckham's craft.

I'm glad Beckham came to America, I'm glad that every game he plays in here is sold out and that MLS will maybe start earning profit. But I cannot put a price on what it would mean to me and every other futbol fan to have Americans appreciate Beckham as a player, and the role he's played in some of Europe's biggest futbol clubs.

Anything better to wash down some beers?

http://adage.com/digital/article?article_id=125937

Search Does Work, But Let’s Add To The Mix

Search engine marketing works, there is not a doubt in my mind. There is a huge market for search programs for groups that know how to make them work for brands.

But it seems that on any given day, you can find yourself top of the table or lost in the oblivion of results. Wall Street Journal touched on a few of these issues today, and it seems that more than one company has been lost in the ever changing algorithms of today’s major search engines.
My first reaction was to start thinking about companies making headway in search optimization tools.

Israeli based Kenshoo has already had a serious impact in Europe, teaming up with McCann- Erickson UK, and is looking to make its break into the US market in the coming months. And there are others, believe me.

For me, I think a well built SEM plan is a vital component to most DR and branding campaigns, but with the hundreds of channels for media today, I think it needs something more. Whether that’s a video presence or a two month mobile campaign, something needs to drive those searches. Wait a minute; someone can do that for you already? Who is Catalyst?

Am I smart enough to give advice?

Being in the startup business, I live within a growing brand. Every person I meet, every blog post our company writes, every event we attend grows our identity. From our personality to the market perception, every day brings a new element to this cycle. Simultaneously, my job is to help other small brands grow into attention worthy companies.

I have the fortunate perspective of watching and aiding in external and internal growth. I spend hours a day reaching out to other companies to understand a brand, from the inside out. I’m constantly on the phone navigating the corporate structures of small surf brands to names that make billboards in Times Square.

My limited experience in this industry has already led to a massive learning about how to help develop brand positioning within the market to both industry peers as well as to the everyday consumer.

If you are a small brand looking to take yourself to market, this wanna be digital marketer has a few tips for you.

1) Go to where your customers are.
Every agency in this country talks about knowing where there customers are spending time and the constant connection they want to establish. Yet no one is consistently acting in those spaces. From mobile sites, to social networks, to niche video sites, users access millions of messages a day, yet brands complain they can’t find their customers.

2) Take a chance on a new medium.
I’m sure your portal and search buys are effective and are proving worthy investments. But how do you drive those searches? Where along the line did your customer remember your brand and try to find you in the chaos of the Internet? Capture your consumers everywhere, and let them help develop your brand story, for they are the most powerful tool out there.

3) Read, read, and read.
I exist within the heart of the most wanted target demo out there; Adult 18-34 who loves to spend money and be on the cutting edge. I work in media and I still can’t always keep track of what’s new and cool. Our job as marketers is to act on the fine line between predicting trends, and reacting quickly to new ones. With the constant changes in our industry and in the ever growing digital space, the time spent learning about something new is worth the ideas the knowledge will spawn later.

I should probably be doing some work

If sports fan were to be categorized the way the average Internet user is, the I woud most definitely be considered a "heavy user." When the Lakers lose, I sulk. When Arsenal wins, I rejoice. I've had entire weekends completely ruined by the outcome of sporting events, and I'm only talking about the ones I watch on TV.

This year's NCAA Men's basketball Tournament, or March Madness, is no different. I am constantly pacing during games. I stare harder at my screen as the games get close. I've banged my hands down twice today on the desk as my teams missed shots. I click intensely through my co- workers brackets to see who has picked what teams. And I know there isn't enough coffee in this office to keep me amped up through today's series of games.

I keep thinking about the work I should be doing. Being in the service business, I guess this is my public apology to both my clents and employers for the lack of productivity through these first two days of games. This also should serve as my disclaimer for the weeks to come as the pressure heightens during the rounds of basketball still to be played. I know that each time a new IM pops up from buddy regarding the latest game, I have just lost 5 minutes of solid production.

My only saving grace, I'm hoping, is that this is a national epidemic. One that scales offices and industries across the land. I hear games being watched on computers just down the hall from mine, and can help to think that somebody is losing money because of this.

This article is from last year, but the idea remains the same...does March Madness kill revenue?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11809691/

OMMA Hollywood and back....

Upon returning from my first OMMA Global Hollywood, I come back a smarter business person, and a more cynical traveler.

Smarter in that I can more confidently speak to the business I take part in everyday. Smarter in that I feel perfectly confident in posing my opinions to someone with twice the experience that I have. Smarter in that many important people are now using my business card as a coaster.

But, not every business trip goes irritation free in my world. My ongoing battle with the airline industry as a whole continues, and this trip was no exception. Some may call this growing rivalry a figment of my imagination, but at this point in time, I can confidently say that both the TSA and United Airlines are out to screw me.

Allow me to give the three part run down to the trip that was OMMA Global Hollywood...

“Do you have a Ziploc bag for that?”
What would happen if I decided that instead of surrendering my toothpaste, I chose to squeeze it out all over the TSA worker’s shirt? Draw a happy face on his chest tell him how much I hated him. These rent-a-cops on steroids have really created a circus at the security checkpoints in airports nationwide. I still can’t decide whether this gel scam is a product of Ziploc or the personal care industry. On one hand, Ziploc could be implementing the largest guerilla marketing campaign ever, using product placement to implant their brand name into the vulnerable minds of disillusioned travelers everywhere who don’t know whether to s**t or go blind when asked, “Do you want to surrender your items?” Meanwhile, Colgate is wetting themselves because al- Qaeda just made those travel size toothpaste bottles logical to Judy Smith of Des Moines, Iowa who doesn’t know how exactly to get through security without overstepping the bounds of the coveted 3.5 ounce rule.

At this point I figure it's my intimidating frame that warrants these interrogations which continually inhibit me from stepping through a metal detector undeterred.

"Our job is to put lipstick on the pig and take it to market."
Thank you Gordon Paddison of New Line Cinema for making the most of Monday's afternoon panel at OMMA regarding marketing turmoil and marketplace uncertainty. Paddison's lively demeanor broke every attendee from their lunch coma and livened up the Grand Ballroom at the Renaissance Hotel in Hollywood. Paddison charged media planners and buyers with the task of putting together more valuable cross platform marketing efforts, and by most accounts, he succeeded in his task.

My personal highlight of the two day event was the poignant presentation by Initiative West president Alan Cohen. His "Make Magic Out Of Moments" speech delivered fantastic insights into the organization of the modern media agency, and the effects of brands making the most out of the multitude of touchpoints (I hate that term) with their customers. Needless to say, his speech gave a fantastic plug to a small strategy firm based out of 655 Montgomery Street in San Francisco.

Cohen's key buzzword was "digital breadcrumbs," circling back to his idea that advertisers should make strides into going where their customers are already, like social networks and the mobile space. His speech killed, and I plan to quote him for years to come.

Day Two finished with some entertaining creative presentations from legend Chuck Porter and Schematic's Dale Herigstad. Both left the crowd eager for more Burger King commercials and video game displays respectively.

And to the airport I returned...

“We will now be dimming the cabin lights to further enhance the attractiveness of our two male stewardesses’.”
Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I walked up to the head stewardess and took his mic away while he was doing his cleverly crafted safety speech and told him to shove his tiny bag of peanuts...you get the idea. The speech where he makes all his brainy jokes about how if you’ve been in a car since 1962 then you should know how to work a seatbelt, and how if your husband is acting like a child, then secure your oxygen mask first, then his. I often envision this stewardess sitting alone in his studio apartment with his cats writing up these little quips of distraction to hide the fact that there is a chance we could all careen to death at 300 miles per hour and end up dying next to someone we don’t know and think smells a bit like old turkey.
At least I got a Section 1 boarding pass.

Until next time...