Author: Jonathan Greene

Recommended reading on blogging for business from Micro Persuasion.

Robert Scoble, Technical Evangelist, Platform Evangelism at Microsoft, pens Scobleizer, one of the Web’s most influential blogs. He has thousands of readers and is frequently quoted in the tech and business press. (Recommended reading: recent articles on Scoble in the New York Post and Seattle P-I).

[Micro Persuasion]

Good idea coming through the Verizon marketing department and noted by Slate. We’ll certainly have to wait and see how well it extends as new products and services are presented.

Assuming the Elliot family is working well with consumers, I’d like to see this extended into other marketing channels like DM and Interactive. Targeting families who would be most like the Elliots would be a great start and be an easy way to sell services by direct comparison to your own family. You could also consider the use of a DVD with the existing footage, plus interactive content in-mail to convey this richer targeted message to key customer segments… If the pieces were broken into logical bite-sized segments, you could also utilize the online channel, though it seems they are selling broadband so you would not want to be proving how well someone else’s connection works too well.

Why make a sitcom-mercial? I asked Amy Rubenstein, Verizon vice president for brand management. She says there are two main goals, and the first is simply to entertain. These ads are meant to feel fresh, with their sitcom tone and their appealing, mixed-race cast. Rubenstein says you’re less likely to “tune these ads out, or say, ‘I’ve seen this before.’ “

The second goal is more complex. Rubenstein says that the Elliot household will serve as a “consistent brand platform.” Rather than launching new products from scratch�with a battle each time to build awareness (“here’s the new calling plan FROM VERIZON”)�they’ll just slip the new product into the Elliots’ daily lives. Cheaper calling plan? Mom Elliot loves it! Better Internet features? Dad’s a big fan!

Verizon gets a brand icon (the likable Elliot family) that’s also a familiar and comfortable setting in which to introduce new products. It keeps everything under one roof (literally, though fictionally) so as a viewer, you link Verizon’s services together in your mind. Which is the crucial concept for a communications giant. They desperately want you to buy a whole suite of their products, not pick and choose your phone/mobile/Internet out of a grab-bag of providers. [Slate Magazine]

I hope this does not mean we are in for an advertorial-like wrapper on things… This would certainly change the percerption and potency of the message in things like the Subserviant Chicken and I, Robot..

A Web site meant to promote upcoming film drama “Godsend” is stirring controversy among people who oppose human cloning and want the site shut down because they think the site is real, the film’s makers say. [Yahoo! News]

Gotta like Qwest… I believe they were the first communications company to offer data only DSL and now they are dropping fees associated with VOIP. I respect their leadership and acknowledgment that there is more than traditional voice to sell.

Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q.N) said on Monday it would no longer levy connection fees on calls made to customers on its network from Internet phone services. [Yahoo! News]

Just kidding though it is raining today…

It seems the general advertising community is finally waking up to realize that aside from how ridiculous the ability to track return on investment is and that ratings are basically bogus, consumers are getting away from them as well thanks to technology. We’ll see what happens next as more money moves to iTV applications (eventually), interaction online advertising, and one would think… integrated direct marketing.

Spending just can’t happen without some real understanding of what happens next. You’ve got to attribute marketing dollars against what channels enable better and more profitable customers. I believe the mass brands actually have the greatest challenge to overcome in this newer world as they are not accustomed to limiting the scope of their message to people who might be more interested rather than anyone who might just happen to be watching.

Here’s an extract from Cnet on the latest from Forrester Research…

The premise of the report is that digital video recorders (DVRs) like TiVo that let TV viewers record programming and skip over commercials easily, will be in 30 million homes within the next five years, up from an estimated 3 million today. That has national advertisers considering their options, given the expectation that DVRs will undermine the potency of commercials. It also has them resigned to spending more on advertising in the future, only to reach fewer people.

At least three-fourths of the 55 national advertisers Forrester surveyed said they will cut spending on commercials as a result. Of those, 63 percent plan to reduce spending by 20 percent or more. A majority said they will first scale back national cable ads, followed by national network ads, local spots and local cable ads.

More than 90 percent of advertisers also want new measurements for advertising ratings and program viewing. They say the TV industry will need to report audience measurements outside classical benchmarks like “reach” (for number of people reached) and “frequency” (for how often they see an ad).

Advertisers called on TV programmers to work with device manufacturers and cable companies on DVR features that can help spur innovation and measurement in the marketplace, the report found. Three-fourths of advertisers also believe that they will have to begin creating content and programming to invigorate their brand campaigns.

In addition, advertisers plan to shift their money to other media. Nearly half of advertisers said they will transfer dollars to other traditional media, including magazines and radio, in which ads aren’t as easily skipped.

Three-fourths of advertisers surveyed said they will boost budgets for the Internet, including banner ads and rich-media spots. Fifty-three percent said they will invest in search engine marketing, which lets advertisers track and measure the effectiveness of their campaigns.

A majority of national advertisers expect other forms of TV ads to evolve and become more effective than the status quo, according to the report. Targeted TV advertising to specific households is on the horizon, too, drawing interest from at least half of those surveyed. DVRs are ultimately designed to make it easier to track people’s interests and demographics for targeted advertising. A handful of advertisers say they would pay a premium for those capabilities. [CNET News.com]