The all and mighty power of the public

As if in response to my last blog – AdAge reports today that “Consumer-written Product Reviews Increase in Importance.” According to a Jupiter Research report, “48 percent of online shoppers find it critical that retailers post reviews.” And, that the number of online shoppers who found reviews to be the most important feature doubled within a year (2005 to 2006).

The reference to a report is really a press release for the importance of the site Bazaarvoice.com – but it’s of a greater significance to us as web enthusiasts because it proves our voices are important. They are powerful. In essence we trust each other more than we trust the media or the corporations that profit from our purchases.

What this also gives credit to is the idea that there is a collective voice that is organic and uncontrolled – or rather it identifies that there is the potential for a voice that cannot be corrupted. It is pure…I pause now because I realize that just as marketing companies have latched onto MySpace to launch their wares…they will soon find a way to buy those voices. Ugh, I hate being so pessimistic.

While I live and breathe the Internet will not go the way of radio

As some of you know, I made a little movie about media consolidation and what it did to radio and thus music (America:a broken record). And as Chray just said to me today, "How can you make your little indie film about consolidation and then want to go to Best Buy?" His perpetual effort at dogging me not withstanding - you can imagine my anxiety when I read about the efforts of big telecom and media companies now putting the Internet in their sights.

Their goal - to begin charging companies (small, large, whatever) to download their Fspaces faster then others. What does this mean? Essentially large businesses like say Google would be in the fast lane - while the sites that get built and nutured in garages and living rooms across the country would be in the lane behind the tractor that is for some godforsaken reason on the highway.

As savetheinternet.com explains: Congress is pushing a law that would abandon the Internet's First Amendment -- a principle called Network Neutrality that prevents companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast from deciding which Web sites work best for you -- based on what site pays them the most. If the public doesn't speak up now, our elected officials will cave to a multi-million dollar lobbying campaign.

What makes the web such a beautiful creation is that it is free and accessible to everyone. That it is created by more than just a corporation. It is what it is because it is NOT controlled by a mere few.

I need to write about this more indepthly and admit that I'm being lazy right now - but visit wearetheweb.org and watch the video to start getting your head in the game.

Because yes, it is game time.

Like a really funny joke

I’ve been meaning to write about this for awhile, but have been away and what not (it was Fran’s birthday – go FRAN!). My lunch with BJ today sparked my motivation.

So Agency.com turned the advert world on its watercooler heels when it launched its viral video on YouTube. The video is Agency.com's team effort at pitching SUBWAY for its interactive business. And as nearly every ad-blog-newsletter-banter will tell you – this is either a brilliant move…or a plain splinter in the foot.

The video documents the team’s efforts at coming up with “big ideas” and demonstrating their “passion” for interactive media. It includes one-on-one's with the team, as well as footage of them interviewing people on the street about their SUBWAY experience. It also includes a particularly funny segment on the team members working at SUBWAY. Here’s also where I find myself in a pessimistic predicament – anyone who has an engagement ring the size of Texas is not keen on working at SUBWAY – no matter how much you tell me it will be fun.

What makes the video even more disconcerting (in that kind of I'm embarrassed way) is the level of passion we are being told the team has. If you have passion – do you really need to tell us about it- or might you just let the production of the pitch speak for itself. Lines like “When we roll we roll big” or “We can pull it off no matter what” may be true in reality…but in a reality that is not in front of a video camera (aw, the conundrum).

What’s brilliant (for my purposes) is when an Agency.com team member asks a person on the street, “Do you forward things to your friends? Like in email?” And she replies, “Maybe if it’s something really funny, like a really funny joke.”

So – is this a really funny joke? Or one of the coolest marketing pitch ideas? Really, it would be much more realistic an undertaking had there been a bizdev person arguing against such a high-cost production, a producer looking at the time constraints (what with their other half-dozen projects) and a creative director begging the question – but really, couldn’t we just look like fools.

I caught up with Theresa-NYC this weekend in San Francisco. As always, we were writing the same page of our storybook. She told me she’s decided to change the name her friends call her by – as part of her reinvention of self. It kills me how parallel our narrations find themselves. I told her about my own fascination with re-branding and my thoughtful dabbling into the launch of Cybele. Now it’s as if Theresa is my own little beta. I can't wait to see how it works out.

As much as I re-brand myself in my head, it doesn’t seem to come out in reality enough. Perhaps it is that I’m gun-shy to head into production…not sure. But making a statement like, I am now Cybele, that offers a product-promise doesn’t it? Is that what it will take to get me to see and present myself differently? Not sure. There’s too much headspace to deal with on that one I think. Maybe I just need to hire a really good publicist.

Blue Bele

To answer the late night over a few beers question – if you were a superhero who would you be? Check out the SciFi chanel’s HeroMachine, where you can “create your very own champion of justice.”

Built to promote the new Stan Lee reality show, Who Wants to Be a Superhero? Users choose a body and head type and then add clothing and accessories to design their alter-ego. Disappointing is that the body type is only Barbie and Ken…how blasé. I started going for a cat theme - but then got girl and thought the blue would look nicer.

Anthropology on a Saturday Night


I was at the bar WaterWorks last night…yes, not the typical place to find e…but in honor of Alison’s 25^th I’d suck up my self-admitted snobbery. Where to begin? The fact that my preconceived notions of stereotypes gone awry were so right on scared me…no literally I was scared.

Taking a walk around the Disneyland of debauchery was like an anthropological lesson in the world according to MTV. It was fascinating to say the least.

Seeing as our daily work is creating experiences I think we were all a little sponge-like. Of particular interest were the large video screens with silhouettes of varying women dancing. Naked. Well at first there was some debate as to whether they were clothed or not…but judging by the jiggling and at times the less than smooth area around their pelvises, we settled on, yep.

It didn’t matter whether they were there or not (was it being streamed in?) Ben’s transfixing stare proved that such a question was moot. What was painfully apparent to me was that being in a mash-up world of virtual spring break and nascar tailgating is just not a place you want to be unless you have many margaritas and some good friends.

Entering a virtual world that is actually reality...always uncomfortable.

LOL - no really - LOL

An ad for Smirnoff...
or the best viral video in a super long time: Watch Tea Partay

Shout out to JMW-DIG

In honor of my most esteemed and overworked cohorts - NBC's site for The Office is an excellent example of how to use the digital space to market a product...in this case a TV show. They've got webisodes, a blog, ringtones, games and according to Creativity (AdCritic's email newsletter) have just launched a suite of mobile games:

"Wasteketball, table-top golf and other leisurely office diversions can now be enjoyed on the privacy of your cell phone, safe from the disapproving eyes of your boss."

AdCritic says, The Office Games is currently available for download on Verizon and Cingular network phones, with Sprint and T-Mobile following suit in September.