Happy Halloween!

Peter Griffin Hates The Godfather

This isn't timely or relevant to anything, but it makes me laugh every time I watch it.



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peter hates the godfather video

Blackberry Game Mimics Real Life Movements...Scary

Courtesy of TechCrunch Mobile:

Its been a few months since we last mentioned Mobile Dead, but this zombie-blastin’ “Mobile Multiplayer Trans-Reality” (MMTR) game has now gone live in New York City.

Like other MMTR games, you’re wandering the streets of your own city rather than some made up fantasy land. Your character and other in game objects are superimposed onto a map of your area, with your character’s position determined by your real-world location (via GPS). Move in the real world, and you move in the game.

Because everything can be made better with a dash of the undead, Mobile Dead takes the MMTR concept and throws zombies into the mix. Weapons and health items are scattered around your area, with on-screen danger lurking behind every corner. As you come across other players (zombies), you’re free to friend them, fight them - or both. According to Perk Mobile, Mobile Dead’s developers, the game will even extend past the screen, with “real world puzzles” and hidden codes placed around NYC.

We noted this briefly last time, but it still holds true: The tough part for Mobile Dead will be maintaining a critical mass of players. If there aren’t enough players in New York City, much of the game’s appeal is lost. Hell, even if there aren’t enough players in any given neighborhoodof NYC - who’s going to trek 8 blocks to try and stalk down an opponent? On the opposite end of things, too many players could spoil the fun. If they do manage to maintain that balance though, Mobile Dead could turn out to be a blast.

Something that might ensure they can at least maintain them minimum would be getting the game onto other mobile platforms. They’re working on it; while there’s no ETA yet, releases are in the works for both Android and the iPhone.

With cell tower triangulation technology growing in popularity and satellite-based GPS well on its way to becoming a fully standard feature, I’d imagine we’ll be seeing a whole lot more of these MMTR games making their way out over the coming months and years. Keep your eye on the genre - it’s easy enough to drop in and out off to be inviting to the casual gamer, while immersive enough to keep it from becoming mind-numbing after just a few minutes.

T-Mobile G1 Coming To Wal-Mart, But Not Yet

Shipping delays have left Wal-Mart shelves bare of the first Android handset, the T-Mobile G1. It was originally reported that the mega-retailer would begin selling the G1 at a discounted price of $148.88 this week, but BetaNews has learned that this is not the case.

“We’ve experienced a few shipping issues, but we’re working with T-Mobile on that,” said Wal-Mart’s Ashley Hardie.

On or around November 3, the G1 phones will be for sale for $148.88 -- approximately $31 less than T-Mobile is charging for them -- at about 550 of Wal-Mart's roughly 4,300 stores, according to Hardie.

In a quick check by BetaNews today, the anticipated G1 phones weren't yet mentioned on Wal-Mart's Web site.

"But we're working with out Web site to put up a list of the stores where the phones will be available, before we starting selling [the G1s]," Hardie told BetaNews.

Chuck Taylors and Finger Tongs

I know, sneakers and kitchen appliances have no relation. Unless of course you are surfing TheCoolhunter.net and are finding all sorts of things that are just that. I see my money and time disappearing thanks to this site.

McCain Attack Ads Get Hollwood Makeover From Woo, Smith, and Anderson

"The Pocket" has yet again searched and delivered the great content we need to break up a day and just laugh out loud...

Mother Jones magazine's Riff Blog just posted this hilarious video made by The Landline with the following premise:John McCain turns to famous Hollywood directors for help with his attack ads. Watch this video for John Woo, Kevin Smith and Wes Anderson.

‘Virgin Money’ Puts Financial Power Into The Hands Of The People

I don’t know how I missed this, but Virgin has launched a financial services company that takes all the lending power of banks and puts it in the hands of people’s friends and family. Virgin Money will act as intermediary for home mortgages, student loans, small business loans and the like. I suppose the plan is to snag back control of the financial markets from greedy bureaucrats and day traders and give the American people a chance to continue their financial lives without fear that they are behind a curtain while financial whiz kids rob them of their retirement funds.

While they timing may seem off, I’ve been saying innovation wins out, businesses need to start to reignite this economy, and education is the tool to taking our workforce to the next level. Personally, I normally shy away from mixing business with friends/family, but I think this is a time period where people are looking for someone to trust in their financial circle, and who better than their loved ones.

Bottom line, Richard Branson has the Midas touch, and I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt on this venture. From his own mouth:




Hello, and welcome to Virgin Money.

When I first started out in the record business, and was struggling to get by, my Aunt Joyce was kind enough to give me a small loan. That loan kept the Virgin Records recording studio afloat. It gave me the time and resources I needed to make my business a success. And many years, and many business ventures later, I still have her to thank.

So, obviously, loans between family and friends are very close to my heart. That's why I was intrigued by the team at CircleLending and their innovative approach to finance. And why I wanted to bring them into the Virgin family and help them launch Virgin Money in the United States. Like all Virgin companies, Virgin Money believes in getting customers a better deal. With money from family and friends, you can pick your own interest rate and loan terms to fit your situation. Rather than giving interest to a bank, you can keep it in the family – often adding up to thousands of dollars of savings.

The good people at Virgin Money have managed more than $300 million in loans. So there are few better suited to help you do these loans properly. They know how to manage these loans in a smart manner so you can stay close to your loved ones. They also help you get tax savings that would be silly to pass up.

In the coming months, Virgin Money will be bringing you new products such as a student loan for college. Sometime soon, we'll also be helping you get bank loans – but with a friends-and-family twist that gives you a better deal than any other lender can offer you. We want to change the face of money – and we want you to join us. And I promise we'll have a little fun along the way too.

Cheers,

Richard Branson

Bryant, Hawk, Phelps & A-Rod= Guitar Hero 4

An Amazing Interpretation of "Stand By Me"

"No matter who we are, no matter where we come from, we are all united through music."

Playing For Change, a foundation in support of world change. Mark Johnson is the producer of a remarkable documentary about the simple but transformative power of music.



And here is Mark himself talkin about the program with PBS' Bill Moyer.

Grazie mama!

Blackberry Storm Demo Video

Blackberry's touch screen competitor, the Storm, will definitely shake up the market for touch screen phones. The demo below shows it is a legit competitor to the iPhone and G1, and Blacberry loyalists will be happy to stick with RIM.

Live From JFK Airport….Americans Are Rude To Foreigners?

So the title sort of gives away my whole live on the road update, but I figured I’d share a quick anecdote with you…

I’m at McDonalds in the International terminal, and this is clearly the Mecca for all foreigners across the world. Being one of the most well known worldwide brands, McDonalds clearly provides a level of comfort to someone in a foreign land, as an experience they can identify with and feel warmth towards. I lived in Romania for awhile, and I honestly identified McDonalds as a safe haven; people are comfortable with what they know. Anyway, I’m in line and like watching cattle go to slaughter, one foreigner after the next stumbles through their English to place an order, and each cashier shows nothing but contempt and an unwillingness to help these people out. You are working in the international terminal at the most popular restaurant, and you don’t have the decency to show some patience and gratitude to someone visiting our country who is clearly confused? It was honestly sad to watch these travelers get totally demoralized

Moral of the story, (I have to have something here or this is a complete waste of all our time), people identify with brands because it makes them feel something. Comfort, security, familiarity, vanity. Whatever. McDonalds is a commonality throughout the world, hence its popularity, hence its success. People everywhere can recognize the brand and the experience it provides. But a brand is only as good as the foot soldiers making the wheels turn. Like it or not, the minimum wage burger flipper represents the brand, probably more so than any big- dick executive.

Maybe no moral, but a telling social experience about the interaction of people with brands they trust. And Americans are assholes.

DONE!

A New Voice For All Things Peculiar Yet Necessary, “The Pocket”

The Web has been graced today by the presence of a formative speaker in the world of things missing the front page. Most people spend their lives searching for the things they’ve missed, but today the answer has found us all. Griff Foxley, a talented writer and surfer of the Web, spends a lot of time at his computer. The same way many of us surf the Web waiting for that nugget of gold to appear on our screen, Griff has scoured the cracks and provided those gems for us. We should all be so lucky to be embraced by The Pocket.

From the man himself:
It's a place I'll be depositing cool bits of news and culture, fun and inspiring innovations, way ahead-of-the-curve trends, as well as old and tired trends whose boat I've clearly missed. So far it includes inspiring bits of environmental good times, and cool videos you probably haven't seen, as well as some slightly nerdy but altogether titillating news you probably missed because they were online in British journals.

From his keyboard to your screen, DasGriffer could be the most important feed you ever subscribe too. I pray one day that my own drivel can provide the same value as The Pocket.

In this info-saturated era, it is my belief that people yearning for beauty, inspiration and innovation are at a disadvantage. They need a distiller, someone to sound down through the barrage of noise to find the clues. I'm a collector: I browse news, culture, opinion and trends. And this is the distillation. This is your pocket, and I'm here to drop good nuggets in it.
Amen

T-Mobile G1 Is Finally Here

The release date for the T-Mobile, HTC built G1 finally has arrived.

T-Mobile said pre-order demand for the new G1 is three times what it had expected and many stores are opening early tomorrow in anticipation of high interest. The company declined to disclose the phone's unit sales projections, but research firm Strategy Analytics estimates G1 sales would reach 400,000 units in the fourth quarter, for a 4% market share.

The G1 has been relentlessly compared to the iPhone; yet beyond their similar touch-screens, there is little else these phones share. The G1 comes tightly knitted to Google services, and a Google account is required for using the phone. At $179 with a two-year voice and data plan, the G1 phone is $20 cheaper than the entry-level 8-gigabyte iPhone. The iPhone has a broader appeal than the G1, analysts said. The iPhone has been positioned as a fashion accessory, as all things Apple are. A testament to its hip but mainstream pedigree, 30% of U.S. consumers who purchased Apple's new iPhone 3G from June through August switched from other mobile carriers to join AT&T, according to market researchers NPD Group. T-Mobile declined to disclose projections for its expected conversion rates with the G1.

Worn Again Bringing Recyclable Goods To The UK Fashion Scene

I love getting recommendations towards new companies who bring both a new look to the shoe market, as well as a environmentally conscious perspective.

In response to my article the other day about Nike remaking sneakers for Steve Nash, I was fortunate enough to receive a message from Cyndi, an entrepreneur from England who runs Worn Again. Worn Again takes used textiles and turns them into shoes, hand bags, and other fashion accessories.

Using old materials such as car seat belts, prison blankets, bicycle tires, parachutes, firemen’s uniforms, and more, Worn Again has developed a footprint in the eco- friendly goods production category.

To quote from the site:
Worn Again is a social business which was set up not only to transform consumption and manufacturing patterns through production of goods made from recycled materials, but also to generate income for Anti-Apathy, a registered charity, kicking sustainable lifestyles butt since 2002.

In terms of business model, environmental impact, and overall fashion sense, Worn Again is definitely a brand to look out for.

My personal favorite from the Worn Again collection, the Bike Hi men's sneaker.

Nike Recycled Footwear Makes New Shoes For Steve Nash

This was news a little while ago, but AdAge got the inside story from Nike's Senior Creative Designer for Running, Kasey Jarvis about making a recycled pair of sneakers for Phoenix Sun's star Steve Nash.

Anyone whose been to Niketown recently knows they have bins located around the store where you can donate old shoes. The beaten up running shoes are being recycled for two purposes:

1) Make new shoes out of old material
2) Use the rubber to create playgrounds for children

Either way, it's nice to see notorious sweat shop runners Nike at least pretend to have some conscious. Click the photo to connect through to AdAge's 3 Minute News page.

Plug-in Mini Cooper ready to charge

(via CNN)

Starting next year drivers in the Los Angeles and New York areas will be able to lease a fleet of 500 all-electric Coopers from BMW's Mini division. The Mini E, as it's called, will be able to travel 150 miles on a single charge with a top speed of 95 miles per hour. For this test fleet of vehicles, BMW will reimburse customers for the cost of charging. But at a monthly cost of $850, driving the Mini E will not be cheap. Besides the car and electricity, however, the monthly payment will cover all required technical service and maintenance. The cars will be leased on yearly contracts with an option for additional time. At the end of the lease, the cars will be returned to BMW.

Only customers with lockable garages or some other secure space in which to charge the car will be eligible to lease the Mini E. The car can be plugged into any standard wall outlet. But drivers will be able to charge the car in just 2.5 hours using a special wallbox that will be installed in customers' garages. The car will be officially unveiled to the public at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. BMW will accept lease applications after that. Leases will begin early next year.
BMW said it will select specific customers based on a variety of demographic and location requirements.

AdAge Crowns Obama Marketer Of The Year

Some of the less surprising news on the day is that a collection of marketing folk at the Association of National Advertisers have chosen Barack Obama as the marketer of the year.

Just weeks before he demonstrates whether his campaign's blend of grass-roots appeal and big media-budget know-how has converted the American electorate, Sen. Barack Obama has shown he's already won over the nation's brand builders. He's been named Advertising Age's marketer of the year for 2008.

Mr. Obama won the vote of hundreds of marketers, agency heads and marketing-services vendors gathered here at the Association of National Advertisers' annual conference. He edged out runners-up Apple and Zappos.com. The rest of the shortlist, selected by Ad Age's editorial staff, was rounded out by megabrand Nike, turnaround story Coors and Mr. Obama's rival, Sen. John McCain.

"I think he did a great job of going from a relative unknown to a household name to being a candidate for president," said Linda Clarizio, president of AOL's Platform A, the sponsor of the opening-night dinner attended by 750 where the votes were cast.

"I honestly look at [Obama's] campaign and I look at it as something that we can all learn from as marketers," said Angus Macaulay, VP-Rodale marketing solutions "To see what he's done, to be able to create a social network and do it in a way where it's created the tools to let people get engaged very easily. It's very easy for people to participate."

Jon Fine, marketing and media columnist for BusinessWeek, pointed to Mr. Obama's facility with engaging voters in social-media channels. "It's the fuckin' Web 2.0 thing," he said.

In introducing the winner to the crowd, Ad Age Editor Jonah Bloom joked, "I'm surprised. I thought you [all] made more than $250,000."

While Mr. Obama may have won the most votes, he didn't get them from several of the bigger marketers in the room, many of whom supported Apple, Coors and Nike instead. Procter & Gamble Co. had a split ticket. Outgoing Global Marketing Officer Jim Stengel, currently on special assignment as he prepares to leave the company at the end of the month, voted for Apple.

Another Great Obama Video Complete With Catchy Beat

Only 26% Of American Bloggers Are Single?

eMarketer and Technorati teamed up and did an interesting profile study of bloggers in the three most technologically advanced markets and came up with these demos.

The most surprising fact to me is that only 26% of American bloggers are single. Who has time for a relationship when you are spending all this time writing and offering valuable information to the public? I mean, I can't even find a second for myself sometimes and now this stat is rubing it in my face that all the other bloggers are gettin' some. What the hell?

Marketing Has Trained Me To Be An Optimist

In the under- statement of the century, I’m generally sarcastic and wry. While it doesn’t always really affect my mood, it’s a skin I’ve developed to help keep myself entertained and humbled, (sarcasm allows you to constantly turn humor back onto yourself).

In the face of a struggling economy, stock market and the “new economy,” I’m truly flooded with jokes about the failures of current presidential administrations, economic policies that are laughable, and the general panic of the financial media. But I bought stocks last week. First time in about 7 years. And I did it because of marketing.

I bought Deutsche Telecom, owner of T-Mobile in the wake of the G1 arrival news. On a personal level, I think the phone is rather basic and is just an iPhone competitor, nothing revolutionary. But I genuinely believe it has the potential to take digital advertising to the next level. As TV and print budgets continue to get cut in the coming year or so, that money will continue to come online and whether we like it or not, it’s going to partly go to Google. Search continues to make up 40% of most online budgets, and with mobile search taking off, the G1 is going to send millions of searches to Google a day.

Did I drop the bank on DT stock and plan my retirement around it? Of course not, but I did feel I was playing my part in keeping this economy moving forward, and not yanking all my money because that is how the market crumbles. I felt it was symbolic to place some trust (and funds) into companies that are looking to grow in this time period, and online advertising companies are at the top of that list. Granted we are in a bit of a cocoon because major brands will always spend advertising dollars, and right now online happens to be the least expensive medium. And it’s growing. Online opportunities are not going backwards, they are going forward.

Maybe it’s selfish to be thinking solely for my own industry, company, colleagues etc., but I think we are going to be ok as a whole in this country. I think things will stabilize in time and I think we will all find ways back on our feet.

Bottom line, I think their is a right time and place for everything, and digital advertising is poised to support lotsof dollars in the coming year.

"MacHEADs" Is A Documentary About...Mac?

I write about Apple products quite a bit because I was raised on them and I like to think they are more interesting and capable machines than any and all PCs. (I'm currently on an HP, not by choice, but because someone has to pay the mortgage and this is apparently the magic carpet to that check).

Anyhoo....the coming documentary called "MacHEADS" is a great resource for me to use to get my friends to stop calling me Geek Squad and show them that there a lots of people out there who put my Mac affinity to shame. Drumroll please....


http://view.break.com/588706 - Watch more free videos

Blackberry Storm To Battle iPhone and G1

Considering the coverage I’ve given to both the iPhone and G1, I’ve neglected to consider the effect the Blackberry Storm will have on the touch screen phone market. The phone is contracted through Verizon, the next carrier to make an exclusive deal to try and catch some share from AT&T (iPhone) and potentially T-Mobile (G1).

Blackberry has done very little to promote the phone so far, and could be waiting for the hype over the G1’s coming release in a couple weeks to slow down.

The new touch-screen, which also works as a keyboard, supports single -touch, multi-touch and gestures to easily navigate in applications. The haptic touch-screen will let the user distinctly feel the screen being pressed and released with a gentle click, and the experience is said to be similar to that of a physical keyboard or a mouse button. Some of the other features include an inbuilt accelerometer to auto-orient the screen between landscape and portrait modes when the handset is rotated by the user.

RIM has said that it is very fast and easy to navigate web sites with the Storm's touch-screen interface letting users double tap to zoom in and slide their fingers to scroll and pan.

Mike Lazaridis, RIM's president and co-CEO has said "We are proud to introduce the first touch-screen based BlackBerry smartphone together with Verizon Wireless and Vodafone. The BlackBerry Storm is a revolutionary touch-screen smartphone that meets both the communications and multimedia needs of customers and solves the longstanding problem associated with typing on traditional touch-screens. Consumers and business customers alike will appreciate this unique combination of a large and vibrant screen with a truly tactile touch interface."

What Could $700 Billion Do?

It's fun to let your imagination run when trying to picture what the hell $700 B looks like...

Click the chart to find out ow you can help contribute to one of the above possibilities.

Updates From Apple’s Notebook Media Day

The Apple notebook media event starts at 10AM Pacific, 1PM Eastern. The Apple Store has already gone down for updates.

High level updates are new pricing and casing for the MacBook line, as well as the intro of a 13" screen. Macbook Air got some tweaks as well.

Courtesy of MacRumors:

Event Started. Jobs intros Tim Cook to talk about state of the Mac. 2.5 million Macs sold last qtr. growing 2-3x the rate of the market.

- Cook attributes Mac growth to better computers, software, compatibility (bootcamp), poor Vista reception, Mac v PC ads, and retail stores.

- Jobs intros Jon Ive: challenge of building MacBook Pro both strong and thin. MB Air introed new techniques. Start with 1 pc of aluminum.

- Been working on new Uni-body enclosures.

- Back to Jobs: NVIDIA approached Apple re new chipset. GeForce 9400M. 15 parallel cores. 54 gigaflops.

- MultiTouch Glass trackpad. "silky smooth travel" Entire trackpad a button. 39% larger. new 4 finger gestures. multi-buttons via software.

- New MacBook Pro:glass screen, thin display, connectors on one side, glass trackpad, uni-body enclosure, mini display port, next-gen graphics

- Both GeForce 9400M (integrated) and 9600M GT (discrete) in MBP. 5hrs battery w. 9400M. 4hrs w. 9600M. Battery indicator on side of MBP. (that was the mystery port)

- $1999, 15.4" LED display, 2.4GHz, 2GB RAM. 256MB VRAM, 250GB HD, SuperDrive; $2499, 2.53GHz, 4GB RAM, 512MB VRAM, 320GB HD. SuperDrive.

- MacBook Air update: 9400M in Air. 120GB HD. 128 SSD Option. Same processor speeds as before. mini display port. Also, new 24" LED Cinema Display

- Air prices $1799, $2499. LED Display: $899. Both avail in November. MacBook Pros shipping today. Dropping current MacBook to $999.

- New MacBooks: same features as MBP. Metal enclosure, faster graphics, LED display, glass track pad. $1299, 2GHz; $1599, 2.4GHz; both 13.3"

- MacBooks should be in stores tomorrow. New Apple 24" LED has iSight, speakers, Magsafe to charge notebook, 1920x1200 pixel rez.

- Q/A session: no blu-ray yet, complex licensing issues; glossy only option on laptops "You offset the reflection by the brightness".

Apple’s Mysterious Media Day Snowballing Into Reality

A traditionally secretive company, Apple is holding an event tomorrow, but only released media invites at the end of last week for the Cupertino event. While much of the pess anticipated that this event could be much ado about nothing based on the release of invites, it seems the notebook focused meeting may have some serious weight behind it.


The image below is a capture of the invite that was sent out to the media:



Some of the more serious rumors going around now:

New models and price points, from 8 to 12 base configurations ranging from $800-$3100
New manufacturing process and facility to produce notebook casings from a single block of solid aluminum
Wider touchpads, slimmer casing, and keyboards matching that found in the MacBook Air
Nvidia integrated GPUs in MacBook line
Possibility of in-built screens in touchpads
Possibility of tablet-type Mac introduction (sadly seems unlikely)

The Apple notebook line is in need of a serious refresher, as there haven’t been too many changes in the last couple years.

Apple notoriously has built mystique over the years by alerting media very late about upcoming releases and announcements, sometimes giving the media only days to prepare for a coming release.

Historical Apple events and invite lead times:

Sept 7, 2005 (Invite: 9 days before)1000 songs in your pocket: first-gen iPod nano

Oct 12, 2005 (Invite: 8 days before)One more thing: first video iPod, iMac with iSight, iTunes 6

Oct 19, 2005 (Invite: 5 days before)Apple’s latest pro innovations: Aperture, PowerBooks with higher-res displays, Power Mac G5 Quad & Power Mac G5 Dual

Feb 28, 2006 (Invite: 7 days before)Fun new products from Apple: iPod Hi-Fi, Mac mini Core Duo, leather iPod cases

March 20, 2007 (Invite: 26 days before)Lights, Camera, Apple: Final Cut Studio 2, Final Cut Server

Sept 12, 2006 (Invite: 7 days before)It's Showtime: Apple TV, second-gen iPod nano, updated video iPods, second-gen iPod shuffle, iTunes 7

Aug 7, 2007 (Invite: 7 days before)Mac announcements: Aluminum iMacs, iLife '08, iWork '08, .Mac upgrade

Sept 5, 2007 (Invite: 8 days before)The beat goes on: iPod touch, WiFi iTunes Store, iPod nano fatboy (3G), iPod classic, iTunes 7.4

March 6, 2008 (Invite: 7 days before)iPhone software roadmap: iPhone SDK, iPhone 2.0 and App Store

Sept 9, 2008 (Invite: 7 days before)Let's Rock: fourth-gen iPod nano, second-gen iPod touch, iTunes 8, HD TV shows

Want To Build An iPhone App?

Apple is traditionally the most secretive tech company there is.  Despite the amount of leaks for new iPhone designs and iPod color releases, Apple has always made a concerted effort to keep mum about their upcoming designs and products.

iPhone App developers traditionally had to sign a non- disclosure agreement, preventing them from discussing developing apps with anyone else.  Apple has recently done away with the policy, as they get set to embark on the iPhone Tech Talk World Tour:

Apple technology evangelists and engineers will soon be traveling the globe bringing iPhone development expertise to a city near you. Learn about the tools and technologies you’ll use to create great iPhone applications, then work with the experts to optimize your code, refine your user interface, and apply the knowledge you gain from the sessions to enhance the capabilities of your iPhone application.

The major benefit to consumers is less clunky apps, as developers can now collaborate and create functionally seamless apps for all.

Thanks Apple.

Poptent Crowdsources For Best Creative

Awhile ago, I wrote an article about crowdsourcing and the affect it will have on our industry. Today TechCrunch contributor Jason Kincaid broke the below story about Poptent, who’s business model is built on the idea of crowdsourching. Poptent is an unbelievably cool product that could very seriously impact the way we look at developing creative. Personally, I think it’s a fantastic business model that can provide a fantastic resource to pure media agencies, as well as prove to be valuable to some of the larger agencies who may be looking to cut costs in the “new economy.”

Poptent Lets Brands Crowdsource Advertising On The Cheap

Poptent , a startup that crowdsources advertising to the public, has just launched in public beta. The site allows advertisers and brands to post requests for an ad, which are then produced and submitted by the pool of small studios and videographers that make up the site’s members. Poptent is a sister site to XLNTads (also launching today), which focuses more on the brand marketers rather than video creators.

Poptent CEO Neil Perry says that while Poptent is designed to encourage submissions from its thousands of members, it isn’t going for the “YouTube crowd”. Instead, it’s focused on catering to small but professional teams capable of producing TV-quality ads.

To participate on the site, advertisers pay Poptent a fee of around $25,000, and then post guidelines as to what they’re looking for, along with assets like company logos. Poptent members then film and submit their ads to the site. If an advertiser finds an ad they like, they can purchase it for around $5-7,500 (oftentimes they will purchase multiple ads at once).

"Nine Things...That Made Me Think Twice" By Jim Nichols

Jim Nichols, beloved blogger and strategist extroardinaire has again contributed endless genius to the pages of iMedia:


I want to thank iMedia for the opportunity to offer a blog here. I’ll be blogging here on Wednesdays. And in my view, days of the week have different reading karma. Monday is a day for long investigative pieces. Friday is a day for opinion and humor. Wednesday is a day for snippets. And that is what Nine Things is about.

9. Google Growth So Slow It May Begin Advertising
From Henry Blodget at Silicon Alley Insider: Google “has recently held discussions with several Madison Avenue agencies, including Wieden + Kennedy and the boutique firm Taxi New York, about new efforts to promote some products, according to people familiar with the matter.In August, Google launched an advertising effort in Japan that included outdoor and online ads created by Wieden + Kennedy, which is best known for its Nike "Just do it" campaign...” MORE

Yes, the word is that the company that has built one of the largest brands on earth without advertising itself may be pondering a significant ad effort. I wonder…is it slowing growth or the declining luster of the brand that promised to “do no evil.”

8. Lots of Bloggers Are ACTUALLY Making Money
Michael Estrin reports “Half of all bloggers run ads, and of that group, 70 percent use self-service contextual ad platforms such as Google's AdSense, according to Technorati's "State of the Blogosphere" report. The report, which Technorati has compiled since 2004, also found that 23 percent of bloggers use three or more ad platform MORE

We’ve all seen blog ads for years, but frankly I always thought that people were tilting at windmills with all those ads. But the recent Technorati report shows that both lots of bloggers are making SOME money, and a lot more people than you think are making a living at it. Democratizing content has led to democratized profit!

7. Microsoft’s Ads Go Viral, And Prove That Any Publicity Is Good Publicity
Mario Sgambelluri reports, “Microsoft’s bizarre Gates/Seinfeld ads racked up 3.2 million online views during the 10 days following their launch, while the latest Mac “I’m a PC” ads netted less than half that, reports online video measurement company Visible Measures.” MORE

I hated this new MSFT campaign and blogged about it in a rather negative way. But maybe the joke's on me. When you’re trying to restage a brand in a world where talk is more important than GRPs, maybe producing an ad campaign explicitly designed to drive digital discussion is the best way to dig a brand image out of a hole. One thing for sure, a LOT of people are talking about Redmond!

6. Online Video Penetration Doubled in 12 Months
Michael Estrin reported that There are twice as many Americans watching video on their computers than there were this time last year, according to a recent study from ABI Research, which surveyed nearly 1,000 users. In 2007, ABI found that 32 percent of users were watching video online, but that figure has spiked to 63 percent of those surveyed in 2008. MORE

I would imagine that no one is surprised at massive growth in video. But penetration doubling in a year? Fantastic! I guess I should have known something was up when my Mom sent me a link to an embedded video a couple of weeks ago. If you’re a brand that uses TV and isn’t using online video, what ON EARTH are you waiting for?

5. Doritos Stakes $1 Million On the Power of Consumers to Out Do DDB
Michael Estrin writes “The marketing team at Anheuser-Busch may not know it, but there's a $1 million bounty on their heads courtesy of PepsiCo's Doritos brand. Doritos, which has garnered a fair amount of attention with its user generated Super Bowl ads, is taking the format to a new level this year, promising $1 million dollars to the winner if the ad ranks No. 1 on the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter. Anheuser-Busch has placed No. 1 for the past 10 years running. MORE

Bud has been on top of the Super Bowl ad stakes for years upon years. And Doritos is sick of it. So their new contest asks Doritos eaters to come up with an ad that can beat some of the greatest creative minds in the biz. Do I hear a tremble in Mad Ave’s voice? I’m betting the public can do it!

4. The Politics, They Have a Changed.
I got reminded of this video, which shows us all how much the digital revolution has changed the world, including politics. Now, if you're in your early 20s this may seem like politics as usual to you. But lemme tell you, we’re a long way from the campaigns of yesteryear!



3. Time to Tighten The Belts?
Steve McClellan of AdWeek reports: “But privately, some industry executives now believe this year's ad spend might actually end up in negative territory, and might not improve at all in 2009. They point to figures just released by Nielsen Monitor-Plus that show a first-half U.S. ad spend decline of 1.4 percent, compared with the same period in 2007, to $67.6 billion, with significant drops in spending in major ad categories including automotive (down 8 percent to $5.3 billion), pharmaceutical (down 5 percent to $2.6 billion) and movie studios (down 5 percent to $1.7 billion).” MORE

No surprise that the recession will be affecting the biz, but two years of declines is a pretty sobering prediction. Those on the digital side should find it less painful, but it appears that times are going to get kind of tough.

2. Twitter Continues To Grow By Leaps And Bounds
Michael Estrin reports: “Apparently micro-blogging your way through American politics has an enormous appeal. Twitter reported a 23 percent jump in signups from the previous week, and the company cited last week's presidential debates as the primary source for the increase.” MORE

I never really liked Twitter, well, that’s not true. I hated it. I keep thinking the whole thing will collapse like a house of cards when people wake up to the maddening annoyance of 140 characters. But apparently I am the one who doesn’t get it. More than 20% growth in a week? On an already large base? Good Lord. Resolved, I will hold my nose and try it again.

1. Widgets Most Assuredly NOT Dead
Michael Estrin reports “Coming soon to a Facebook page within your network: video content from your favorite big media companies. At least, that's the plan under the terms of a new deal that Slide has inked with CBS Interactive, Comcast's E! Entertainment channel and Time Warner's Warner Brothers, as well as News Corp. and NBC Universal's jointly owned video site Hulu, among other companies. MORE

Last fall the CW was that widgets were hotter than lava. Last spring they were virtually DOA. But the pendulum seems to have swung into the black again, with companies that actually have reasons to have widgets and content in widgets offering widgets. Imagine that.

Well, that’s Nine Things this week. Thanks for reading, and don’t forget to write.

Nike Air Max 95 Fresh Water

Though it won't be a fully comprehensive set of coming sneaker releases, I had to squeeze this one in because of my affinity for the mid- 90's Air Max collection.

The '95 and '97 Air Max lines have always been a highly sought after collection of Nikes, probably only trailing Air Jordans and Air Force Ones in terms of street popularity.

The above Air Max '95 Fresh Water design is set to hit stores in April 2009, according to Sneaker Files. We are just starting to get peaks at Nike's summer plans for next year, and this is definitely one of the hottest leaks I've seen.

GMAIL Develops ‘Mail Goggles’ For the Drunk Emailer

We all get that urge late at night sometimes to call an ex, or write an email to one of your co-workers about how much you hate them. But lots of times, those are bad decisions. Luckily, Google is the most benevolent, swellest, sweetest group of engineers who want to look out for us in every way. Or they are a government funded operation to penetrate into the personal information and data that is the world.

Either way, word is that Google is developing a system for you to double check your late night emails by doing some simple math. An engineer from Google writing for the GMAILBlog announced today the system would be developed to where you could set time restrictions on when the Mail Goggles featured is turned on. It’d default setting is late nights on the weekends, when inebriation is potentially at its peak.






Let me know if you think Google is lying to everyone about this, and its just a prank.

Technorati Analyzing The Blogosphere

Technorati is running a comprehensive set of articles focused on the blogosphere, and the growth over recent years. An unbelievable interesting study from both a blogger and reader perspective. Citizen journalism is really maturing into a fully fledged media channel, and has to be on the radar of anyone in or around the communications business.

Welcome to Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2008 report, which will be released in five consecutive daily segments. Since 2004, our annual study has unearthed and analyzed the trends and themes of blogging, but for the 2008 study, we resolved to go beyond the numbers of the Technorati Index to deliver even deeper insights into the blogging mind. For the first time, we surveyed bloggers directly about the role of blogging in their lives, the tools, time, and resources used to produce their blogs, and how blogging has impacted them personally, professionally, and financially. Our bloggers were generous with their thoughts and insights. Thanks to all of the bloggers who took the time to respond to our survey.

Blogs are Pervasive and Part of Our Daily Lives
There have been a number of studies aimed at understanding the size of the Blogosphere, yielding widely disparate estimates of both the number of blogs and blog readership. All studies agree, however, that blogs are a global phenomenon that has hit the mainstream.

The numbers vary but agree that blogs are here to stay:
· comScore MediaMetrix (August 2008)
o Blogs: 77.7 million unique visitors in the US
o Facebook: 41.0 million MySpace 75.1 million
o Total internet audience 188.9 million
· eMarketer (May 2008)
o 94.1 million US blog readers in 2007 (50% of Internet users)
o 22.6 million US bloggers in 2007 (12%)
· Universal McCann (March 2008)
o 184 million WW have started a blog 26.4 US
o 346 million WW read blogs 60.3 US
o 77% of active Internet users read blogs

Read the rest of the article, and find links to the other pieces here.

A Response to 'Innovation vs. "New Economy"'

I received some interesting feedback to the last post titled, "Innovation vs. "New Economy."  One comment provided an interesting historical perspective on the staggering economy, and situations we've faced before.

Thanks to guest poster "Chuck" for allowing me to use his comment as a post:

We seem in the US to go from point A to point Z, find ourselves in economic trouble, and then wonder how we got there. what happened to points F or J.....at Z already? Well, it takes time and more than a few individuals from a few different administrations. 

We have economic crashes every few years always precipitated by an economic 'event' dreamed up by some Wall Street brainiacs. And they can dream up these schemes because Wall Street lobbyists have managed to tear down yet another system safeguard by sending some Congressman's daughter to Harvard or some such perk.

The last vestiges of the regulatory patches to the famous market crash of 1929 were eliminated in the past 15 years....that's a few adminstrations. The Community Redevelopment Agency was mandated in the late 1990's to help lower income folk get homes. The sub-prime Wall Street geniuses of the early 2000's finished that job....and all of us.

The REAL devil in all of this latest upset remains the hoaried Standard & Poor's rating service. As old as Wall Street itself, S&P was supposed to be the last defender of the good and true. Absolutely everything that has happened in the mortgage mess could have happened without it being a world-wide phenomenom. Mortgages could have gone under, mortgage companies could have failed, people that invested in those investments could have lost a bit. And it would have been localized as this business and investment area had always been.

What spread the infection world-wide was good old S&P being convinced, for $15 million a pop, was that this garbage was worthy of a AA rating, almost up there with good old US Treasury paper. So for every billion dollar mortgage-bond package rated, they got $15 million and their rating allowed the packages to be sold world-wide.

And that's why the Italians and French and everyone else are suffering from lousy mortgages in Arizona and Texas....

And that's why 

Innovation vs. “New Economy”

The economy sucks! Our financial system is crumbling due to faulty government intervention and uncontrolled spending. Recession is looming.

That was the last you will hear of me rant about the “down” economy, because negativity is only going to get us so far. From this moment forward, it is now the “New Economy” in my mind. I’m completely over what has happened in the past, and am looking forward to a new White House, and a new economic system to tackle the mess we are in now.

So how will this “New Economy” affect the world of start- ups? I am a firm believer that innovation will ALWAYS win out. That isn’t necessarily a prescription for guiding the next 6 months of change, but creativity and smart business people will always find a way to shake up a stale business period.

It’s no secret that green ventures and biotech will continue to grow. From both a social and economic perspective, these are business channels that are both in need and have potential for development. Outside of those categories, a new business will need to show solid plans for revenue generation, which may seem tough over the next 6 months. However I do truly believe that originality can prevail. And I believe there is always space for an idea that is either brand new, or is a modified version of something everyone takes for granted.

The online ad space will be a very interesting place for investors. The double edge sword of marketing is that ad budgets are the first to be cut in an economic downturn. However, it also means that offline dollars get shifted online where rates are cheaper and accountability is more prevalent. Web start-ups should theoretically be flourishing in this “New Economy” because you will be hard pressed to find a middle tier advertiser looking to spend $2 MM in television for 5 thirty second spots. That same budget can be taken online and be diversified over the course of a few months. And it can go towards emerging media channels, like mobile, online video, social media, etc. Places where consumers are turning for their most prized content.

All in all, I’m legitimately excited to see where the next 6 months take us. in terms of venture capital dollars, the economy as a whole, and for emerging media, there will be lots of changes and I’m interested to see it all play out.

CBS Creates iPhone App...And Supplies Porn

Who said CBS had lost it's cutting edge?

In a classic case of citizen journalism gone awry, CBS’s iPhone application Eyemobile has created a big stir today in the application market. Eyemobile provides users an easy link to CBS’ user generated news platform CBSEyemobile.com where citizens can upload photos and short pieces as their version of “news.” Straight from the AdAge presses:

Karl Johnson, chief operating officer of BrandContent, a Boston-based agency, uploaded the app last night and saw a picture of a young woman bent over her kitchen stove, her skirt hiked up. Later he saw video of three women performing sexual acts on one another. A visit to CBSeyemobile.com turns up a few photos that walk the line of not-safe-for-work, a jarring juxtaposition with CBS's storied news brand. What's more, Google is advertising on the clips via AdMob.

As a huge supporter of the application movement and the Mac community, I will be jumping on the bandwagon of calling out CBS’s moderating system as faulty. The same way Facebook and other massive user initiated sites are monitored, there is a built in system to track content uploads and safety of said content.

CBS does have a moderator, but it seems the system isn't working, or perhaps not as well as they would like. "We've been posting user-generated content since April, and this is the first known incident along these lines," a CBS spokesman said. "It was removed promptly and we will redouble our efforts in this regard."

While CBS’ debacle will probably only leave a temporary stain on the growing app market (enter T-Mobile and G1 stage left), we should all remember the potential pitfalls of putting the word “news” in front of the UGC acronym.

Sidenote, could you ever turn on the TV for your 6 o’clock news and accidentally get porn? No, which is why everyone loves the Internet; it keeps you on your toes.

XBOX.com -- WOW!

I just stumbled upon the new XBOX Great Britain website, and wow. I'm a Mac loyalist, as any Digicrest reader knows, but Microsoft or whoever is responsible has done an UNREAL job with the new XBOX environment. Pure class!

Why this is only the look for Great Britain, I have no idea. But who cares, it's awesome.

Adobe To Bring Flash To iPhone

Apple Insider reports that Adobe has said they are close to releasing a version of their Flash player for the iPhone.

Sr. Director of Engineering at Adobe Systems Paul Betlem made mention that the program is nearly finished, however Apple's closely guarded App Store system would have the final say. Should Apple approve the software, it would be available "in a very short time," Betlem added.

Betlam was speaking at the Flash On The Beach (FOTB) conference.

As an iPhone user, I’m sure I’m not alone in saying there needs to be a video capability of some kind for the iPhone beyond the YouTube application, which in my opinion is subpar.  Now that the G1 is on its way, despite its wholly unimpressive build and features, there is now competition for the basics that the iPhone provides.  The first in the video race will truly set themselves apart as a viable media channel.  Until then, the market will continue to stutter in the face of technological roadblocks and a growing content base.