Toronto Adweek – An Ad is Not Just An Ad

Toronto – Canada

By the time this post hits the web Toronto Adweek will be all wrapped up in a little bow. For those who missed it, you will have to wait until next year. By all accounts it was a great success, Google, Yahoo, Astral Media, Facebook, and many others hit the town to pitch in on the new trends shaping the advertising playground. I was fortunate to catch the tail-end of the week with a presentation by Yahoo!, aptly titled An Ad is Not Just An Ad. The speakers included Bryan Segal from Comscore, and Yahoo! shape shifters Nick Drew and Tony Marlow.

An advertisement for Adweek, funny how these things happen innnit?

To get the morning started (yes it was an early 9AM start), Bryan Segal warmed up the crowd by speaking about how a consumer’s perception of ads in a digital environment is affected by the placement and surrounding environment of the ad. Bryan spoke about how the internet ad sphere was- at its outset- was primarily a “direct response” medium that provided little opportunity for brand building, in Bryan’s words “Online Ads did not match the quality of the medium”. According to Bryan this is changing, ad format, quality, content, and layout are improving to provide better prospects for brand building and engagement. Apparently from 2008-2009 there has been a 10% decrease in the amount of advertising clutter on websites. Great! Advertisers get better space, and consumers get better ads.

Nick Drew came on stage as the second speaker of the morning, he was discussing the similarities between print and online ads. Drew’s goal was to compare how the three most important elements of print ads: size, richness, and environment; translate into the digital world. It turns out that, similar to print, the effectiveness of a digital ad is largely dependent on the ad’s size, richness and surrounding environment. Drew elaborated on the size issue by explaining that the bigger the digital ad, the more likely the viewer will be to recall the brand, however the likelihood that a viewer will remember the brand increases if the media is “richer”. Drew explained that ads which incorporate “rich media” such as, video or flash, elicit a greater response, but if these ads use flash and are bigger in size…they are better. Drew rounded his discussion off by saying that even though you may have the right media and size, you must also present your ad in the right environment. The surrounding environment affects the consumers perception of your ad, so the environment must also be an important consideration in strategy formulation. So yes, size is important, but the motion in the ocean still matters.

Do you get the fact that it's Adweek yet?

The final speaker was Tony Marlow, director of strategic insights at Yahoo! His research was grounded in a neuroscience study conducted by Innerscope research. The research involving neuroscience was done in a similar vein to that of Martin Lindstrom. Marlow’s presentation was predicated on the fact that 95% of our decisions are made at an unconscious level, and his research focused on how our mind reacted to various stimulus that affects buying behaviour. The study focused on tracking study participants’ reactions to ads that were relevant on a personal level, but were placed in the right context. According to the research, ads with personal and contextual relevance significantly increased the reaction from participants. This is an important consideration because online advertising enables companies to pick their ad placement more so then other medias. Furthermore, because the context has been thoroughly customized an ad’s message can change because the stage has already been set for the product. Thanks to Yahoo’s research there are now scientific metrics to back up many of our assumptions on internet advertising.

All in all, the talk was great in factually supporting many of the assumptions we have on internet advertising. Now that these metrics are established it will be easier for advertisers to create internet ads that are engaging, have impact, and are influential.

3D Printing by Cubify

Toronto – Canada

The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) that takes place in Las Vegas every year serves as a barometer for inventions that will be making their way into consumers hands in the near future. While some of these gadgets maybe years away from everyday use, they are definitely a sign of things to come. One technology sector that has been making buzz outside of the show is 3D printing, so it is no surprise that a booth by Cubify, offering a household 3D printer, has been one of the stars of the CES.

3D printing is the process whereby a specialized printer, layers a specific chemical mix from the ground up, to produce a 3D object. A simple example would be the printing of a cube. The user would design the object on a computer, which ensures that it meets the printers capability, and then simply hit print. The printer then mixes a selected compound, which will harden after printing and begins to print the object layer by layer. For example, within a square area it would lay down 1 millimeter of material, then one a layer on top of that,until it reaches the specified height. However, the beauty of this printer is that you can print more than just cubes…you can print almost anything.

This type of technology has been progressing quickly in recent years and has been poised to start a manufacturing revolution by providing consumers with the option to manufacture highly customizable objects themselves, rather than through third parties. So far the technology has been used by industrial designers or design firms for prototypes, but thanks to Cubify the technology may be coming to a home near you.

The product is actually geared towards kids or early users of the technology. It provides the user with 50 “out of the box” designs, but also allows the user to design basic 3D objects using Cad files, there is also the option to share designs between other Cubify users. If a user needs to print an over-sized object they can simply send the design to Cubify who will then send the end product to their doorstep.

The current price tag of $1300 maybe a little too much for every parent, but it brings a fantastic technology closer to children. Now kids will be able to use their creativity and be able to see the connection between design and production. It’s certain that there will be many interesting designs and careers coming out this technology- if enough children get exposure to it.

CUPE Launches TV Ads in PR War Against Ford

Toronto – Canada

In a slight turn of events, today we will look at advertising and its use in Toronto city politics. As Rob Ford increases the pressure to push through his agenda of privatization, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) is stepping up the Public Relations battle by dropping $500,000 to $1,000,000 on a new set of TV commercials that drive home the message that Toronto depends on services provided by CUPE.

The looming job cuts are set to affect four local unions. CUPE’s position is that they provide vital services, but people do not associate them with these jobs. Cim Nunn, a communications specialist for CUPE states that the ads are meant to show the diversity of jobs, “that people don’t associate normally with this union.”

It turns out that some agency got a tidy sum of money to dish out these commercials. After the foul stench left by the 2009 garbage strike, CUPE will now have to convince both Torontonians and the city government that they mean well and that it is worth keeping them aboard.

What does Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos Think of Social Media?

Toronto – Canada

The Amazon is a vast ecosystem; it has an influence on our planet and is so gargantuan that there are parts of it that haven’t even been discovered yet. In the virtual world we have Amazon.com, which has been making a very discreet transformation from an online bookstore to a provider of, tablets, cloud computing and even a space program; it’s as if Amazon.com is beginning to match the diversification of its tropical namesake. This transition has taken place under the watchful eye of founder, and current CEO Jeff Bezos, whose personal take on commerce and management has had a positive effect on these projects.

And then Jeff was all like... "See ya later books!!!"

Ever since its inception Amazon.com has been an expert at disintermediation, the process by which middlemen or agents are cut out of the supply chain in delivering products to customers. Amazon.com cut out the bookstore, and now with its new e-readers it is cutting out publishers, and the physical book.

While Amazon has fully changed the way we read books it is also working on changing the way we use the Internet through its Amazon Web Service (AWS). As a casual web surfer you might not even know that Amazon provides cloud computing for: Foursquare, Harvard Medical School, PBS, Smug Mug, Virgin Atlantic, Yelp and many others. Turns out Amazon saw potential in cloud computing for its own business, but even more potential in hosting web-content through its cloud computing software. AWS now hosts a substantial amount of web traffic around the world.

Considering these remarkable developments and their current success it is quite clear that Jeff Bezos’ is a credible Internet innovator and visionary. So what does such a leader think of social media in relation to his Internet business? The answer may be surprising.

Firstly, Bezos recognizes the potential of social networking and credits it as being an “incredible phenomenon”. Yet, he is cautiously reserved about its application and practicality for Amazon.com, he states:

“I think what we’re wondering is, if we have a list of 500 of your friends, how can we use that to improve E-commerce? We have some ideas. We’ve actually already done some experiments but haven’t found anything that we think is exciting yet…We look at things through a different lens. We say ‘Oh, here’s this incredible phenomenon called social networking. How can we be inspired by that to make our business better?’ I hope we find something.”

Coming from an E-commerce pioneer this statement may seem disconcerting to many social media believers, but it does ring true of other statements made by business owners and at conferences such as the CMA Digital Day. The consensus on social media seems to be that it is a unique instrument not to be ignored, but it requires a long-term, logical strategy with measurable results.

Of course, this doesn’t apply for businesses everywhere, but it is an important thought. Perhaps Amazon is so ubiquitous, with many channels for communication that it can’t, or doesn’t need to use social media to get its message across. That being said, if we take a look at their social media presence we find that Amazon is active on twitter @amazon.com and its Facebook page and Kindle page have 2.5 million and 1.5 million likes respectively. It is no doubt that if Amazon can figure out how to use social media to its advantage, it will benefit greatly due to its already existing fan base.

Whether Jeff Bezos likes it or not social media is here to stay, and it will probably be a matter of time before Amazon figures out a way in which they can get involved, either on the user or suppliers side. For other businesses Jeff Bezos’ words may provide guidance for what way they should consider getting involved with Social Media.

The comments on this post were inspired by the Wired interview with Jeff Bezos

Goldman Sachs’ Renegade Twitter Feed

Toronto – Canada

Investment bankers do not have a growing list of fans around the world, you just need to look at the thousands of occupy protestors to see that. Yet there is one segment of the investment banking world that has a growing fan base…the Goldman Sachs Elevator (GSE) twitter feed. Twitter, the social media phenomenon that brought you the Egyptian revolution and Lady Gaga now lets you into the macho, fist pumping, money bending, and apparently comical world of Goldman Sachs.

Goldman Sachs, we're seriously quite funny.

Turns out a Goldman Sachs employee has been tweeting some of the more comical and offensive banter heard around the office. The tweets are often egotistical, self absorbed, slightly sexist and definitely not politically correct. Goldman Sachs has apparently launched an investigation to find the source of the tweets, but has had no luck so far. There is a contingent of observers who have commented that the account isn’t actually from an employee, and likely from a vigilante tweeter with a sense of humour. The whole situation becomes even more comical when you imagine that Goldman Sachs will begin terrorizing their employees in pursuit of a “tweeter” that doesn’t even work for them.

Whether or not the tweets are authentic is immaterial because they capture the less savoury mentality of investment banking in a way that is comical and seems to reflect some public sentiment. This wouldn’t be the first time an insider has spilled the beans about what happens in an investment bank – its already a winning formula. It helped Michael Lewis sell his books. All he had to do was transcribe many of his conversations to paper. It revealed a type of black humour normal to insiders, but completely startling to outsiders.

Besides the tweets making a very subtle social commentary, the whole situation has important implications on the use of social media. One is that perhaps social media can become an anonymous whistle-blowing device for frustrated employees. Secondly if the account is fake, how do you stop someone from misrepresenting your company?

Although the tweets have punch lines that are more likely to be from a comic rather then an analyst, some of them could be authentic. We’ve all heard something funny at work before. It makes me think that if things don’t get better in finance these Goldman Sachs employees could fall back on a career in comedy.

Louis Vuitton Through my Japanese Glasses

Toronto – Canada

Continuing with the Japanese theme from two days ago it reminded me of this gem a classmate showed me. It is one of two short Anime films from Takashi Murakami celebrating 6 years of collaboration between Murakami and Louis Vuitton.

Western luxury brands are very popular in Japan and similar to other buyers in the luxury market, Japanese customers have shown a preference for goods that are authentic, high quality, and have an air of exclusivity. This film doesn’t concentrate on espousing these values, but rather reveals a little bit of the history while simply having a lot of fun with giving Louis Vuitton some Japanese flavour. A great example of the differences in brand representation/association between different cultures.

Dinner for One, the Future of Europe?

Toronto – Canada

No one likes to eat dinner alone, and celebrating your birthday alone is even worse, in fact people will go to great lengths to avoid this problem. There is an old British sketch comedy from 1963 where a Miss Sophie celebrates her 90th Birthday with her Butler James for company. Miss Sophie commands James to circle the table and impersonate her now-dead dinner guests by proposing toast after toast. Sounds funny doesn’t it? I’m sure you’re not rolling on the floor laughing, but according to The Economist this is a popular sketch that Germans watch on New Year’s Eve.

In light of the continuing crisis in Europe the German television network ARD did a lighthearted spoof of the British sketch by superimposing Nicholas Sarkozy’s face on the butler’s and by having Mrs. Merkel as Miss Sophie. The sketch has Sarkozy rounding the table impersonating George Papandreou, Jose Zapatero, and David Cameron. Silvio Berlusconi has the dubious honour of being a tiger-skin rug that is always getting in the way. In his toasts Sarkozy makes various jibes at the mismanagement of the EU crisis and continually tries to persuade Mrs. Merkel of the virtues of Eurobonds, but just like in real life it is to no avail.

Below is a link to the original Dinner for One:

On My Way to the Forum…I Realized Japanese Advertising is Hilarious

Toronto – Canada

After Christmas there are so many sales to get pumped about so it’s only natural that people get excited to shop around bit. Apparently the marketing department at a certain department store in Osaka, Japan got pretty excited and wanted you to know exactly whats going on…”A Fuckin Sale!” That’s right 20% off, and an F-Bomb to boot.

Somebody got really excited about the 20% off.

It’s not entirely certain whether the expletive was lost in translation, but it seems as though it was done intentionally. In fact, according to Gawker Chef Ron Silver of Bubby’s , has been using the F-bomb to promote his brand since his entry into Japan circa 2009.

Apparently the use of English cuss words is considered to be trendy and edgy in Japan, and by that measure my everyday vernacular would make me quite a hit. I’m almost certain that this trend won’t make its way over the pond, but it would make shopping a little more entertaining.