Now Hear This

Ok, I’m no shopaholic, but this new website that portends to be “reinventing shopping for the digital generation” is a bit over the top. While I certainly understand that scantily-clad women hawking stuff no one needs is typically a recipe for success, I wonder if this concept will fly. The site was co-produced by an advertising firm in NY called Droga 5. If the results are similar to other agency-backed projects (i.e. the GEICO Cavemen TV series courtesy of the Martin Agency of Richmond), the Honey Shed Hotties will soon be returning to their day jobs at Victoria’s Secret.

According to the Mayan calendar, the year 2012 marks the end of days. While I don’t pretend to pay this much credence, an ominous sign made me think twice. At least we can all be comfortable in our hideous garb while the mother ship whisks us off to Planet Zork.

Next week a new series, Trust Me, premieres on TNT that will take product placement advertising to the next level. It is straight brand entertainment! Episodes of the show are written around the sponsor brands while intertwining fictional products. Will this replace the 3 second, 300k commercial?

Will companies that “Tweet” on Twitter reap the rewards of the new economy? While no one knows for sure, one thing is certain: Twitter is here and is quickly becoming a Web 2.0 force.

Here is a pretty good article on social marketing from the Triad Business Journal.

If you find yourself with a few hours this holiday season, you should take a look at Outliers by Malcom Gladwell. As you may recall, Mr. Gladwell is the best selling author of The Tipping Point and Blink. Like all good books, Outliers will leave you looking at your world a little bit differently.

So you can’t pony up the $3 million required for a Super Bowl commercial this year? No worries. For a mere $300 grand, you can have 3 seconds. While this may seem like a ridiculous notion, do the math. If you take last year’s viewing numbers into consideration, the cost to reach 97.5 million captive viewers is well less than one precious penny per person. Wow, four p’s in a row – how’s that for alliteration.

I don’t know who developed this site, but it’s pretty funny. With all the stresses heaped onto marketing directors these days, it could come in handy. The create your own marketing award is an especially nice touch…

As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, the economy appears to be in either A) serious recession (your neighbor lost her job) or B) mild depression (you lost yours). While the bread lines have yet to appear in mass, the pastry lines at Starbucks are apparently dwindling. As I’m also sure you’ve heard by now, the conventional wisdom holds that companies that aggressively market in down times often reap great rewards because their share of voice is far larger. It certainly holds true that your shouts in a less crowded marketplace are more likely to be heard (and sometimes at discounted cost). And while this is obviously a good thing, it also takes capital at precisely the time its toughest to come by.

If you don’t have the money on hand for this recession, don’t fret – as Annie says, there’s always tomorrow. According to this CNBC.com article, the United States experiences roughly one recession every five years. Imagine the buying power your firm would have if it saved just ½ of 1% of gross revenues each year for recessionary marketing. Who knows, if you start saving soon, you may actually look forward to the next recession – just 1,825 days from now.

The enter key is pressed. Drumroll please. Voila!

Harbinger knocks and enters the blogosphere. With blogs as ubiquitous as Starbucks coffee, we figured it’s about time we roll up our sleeves, and dive right in to experience what the hoopla is all about. So what’s next? What do we want to blabber about, and who’s going to join our blabbering? Who knows. For that answer, we direct you to our master of ceremonies, our word-wizard playwright - Hal.

So Hal, lead us, oh fearless warrior of pen and prose.