Is it a phone, radio, computer, or TV?

No it is all of the above. Talking about the new Apple IPhone. With the its recent release, Apple has already sold over one million phones in twenty-one countries. The new IPhone is a big hit with consumers.  Reason behind the success it’s success is the integration of all functions into one device and the user interface.  Since it is on the 3G network, consumers are able use the internet as if they were on a laptop.  This allows you to check your mail, surf the web, watch videos, and much more.  Apple doesn’t have a monopoly on the 3G network, but do seem be taking the lead.

With the integration of all these features, especially the internet, into one  device  made myself think of the impact on  marketing and  consumer  research.   One day our cell phone number could become like  the social security number is to the finical system.  Could cell phone providers track our web browsing, location, and cal history for the sole purpose of market research.  Basically they could data mine our life through our phones.

Mind swarms with ideas of how to apply this information  to the marketing and business world.   Billboard advertisements could be placed  better using the web browsing history of all users within the visual range.  Local restaurants could modify daily specials based consumers web search for receipts.  New store locations could be based on Google map directions searches.  Can search how far consumers have to travel to reach a particular store, such as Barnes & Nobles.  Barnes & Nobles can then use this information to determine new store locations.

These are just a couple of ideas of how using individual cell phones to track consumers could benefit marketers and consumers.

Data from Privated Songs Helps Media Providers

According to the Economist online article, Thanks, me hearties, the the information of user illegal downloads could benefit the music industry. In 2007, recorded music sales declined by 8%. Roughly 70% of this decline has been contributed to illegal download from file-sharing sites on the internet.

The article outlines how the music industry or promoters of the individuals artist could use the data collected from these downloads to their advantage. BigChampagne is a company that tracks the downloading of music, movies, video games, and other entertainment  online.   They track all by monitoring streaming feeds and the content users download through peer-to-peer networks.

The information obtain can be used for marketing purposes.  One way to use this information to your advantage is booking of live shows.  You can look up which areas had the highest or lowest download of an artist, and then adjust the seating capacity  for  each  local  area.

Or if a new video game is being released, but only a limited supply is produced.  The online data can be used to help determine which cities will receive the bulk of the inventory based on online interest.

So while the music industry can not completely stop the privacy of music online, they can at least use the trends and download data to their advantage.

Timeless Commerical

Check out this video from Smart Beep!  Timeless commercial from a company that sold beepers long ago.  Not sure if they morphed  into  a  new market,  or just went  out of business.   But thanks to the internet and youtube, this commercial lives on.  It has multiple listings with over 285,000 views.  Too bad they are not still in business to benefit from the ads on going success.

Funniest Ad Ever

Fill ‘er Up!!!

With the soaring price of gas over the last year businesses and charitable groups have offered incentives for customers to purchase their product or service. Incentives are not new. Companies have been using them for a long time, but one recent incentive offered by a myriad of companies is free gas. Yes, I said free gas!! If you drive an older model car, like I do, then I bet I have your attention.

Car dealerships and hotel operators have embraced the gas incentives, cause they have been the hardest hit economically by the run up in price at the pump. Chrysler for example offered earlier this year a $2.99 a gallon gas guarantee for purchasing select makes and models.

Check out this video on free gas give aways!

We Need a National Do Not Mail Registry

Most people have heard of the National Do Not Call Registry.  What about a National Do Not Mail Registry?  I for one am sick of receiving piles of junk mail.   It makes me cringe filling my recycling box with wasted paper.  Especially those credit card applications!  Direct mail accounts for 2.4% of all land fills, and then factor in all the wasted ink and energy to produce and deliver them.

I do have to applaud the efforts of the industry to set a green standard with formation of the Green Marketing Coalition.  Understand direct mailing has its place in marketing.  It does return $12 for every dollar spent.

But they could save their time and money by allowing people like me opt out.  So all of us who have the knee jerk reaction of tossing it in the garbage, should demand a National Do Not Mail Registry.

Product Placement On Cable TV

The average U.S. household now receives a whopping 119 cable channels.  With packages ranging from a handful of the basic channels to packages  with over 500 channels,  the  large number of channels  will dilute ratings.  The growth of channels could actually  help  advertisers  in the placement products.  While consumers have a myriad of options, much of the growth has been in niche channels, such as Animal Plant or Cartoon Network.

These niche channels may receive lower ratings, but have a more targeted audience.  This smaller targeted audience allows advertisers to reach the consumers more likely or interested in a particular.  For  example, a new toy could be advertised on the Cartoon Network to reach the desired audience of children., or Home Depot advertising on the Home & Garden Network.

Also the dilution of ratings will reduce the cost of advertising on these niche channels.  Although they’re more effect of reaching their intended market.

Celebrity Clout

We all see those celebrity endorsements on TV or in print. Have they ever swayed you to buy a product?  Never really had any effect on my purchasing decision.  Probably cause my celebrity IQ is in the single digits. I am the guy at the party or in the conversation who doesn’t know that famous star.  The one guy who’s asking, “Who’s Hannah Montana?”.  My five year old daughter had to clue me in to her being the greatest rock star alive.  Any thing she sees with her image, she has to have.

According to New York Times online article, Nothing Sells Like Celebrity, advertisers double the use of celebrities in advertisements over the last decade, and last year they appeared in 14% of all advertisements.  Celebrity endorsements do help sell a product.

What makes the celebrity endorsement sale a product?  The blog, Celebrity Endorsement, Once More Softly, by Grant McCracken sheds a lot of light on this question.  Check out this blog, and especially the comments.  Let me know if you agree with him.

Branding At Its Best

When you think of successful branding, a hand full of companies come to the mind. The company with best branding has to be Coca Cola. Although I do have a bias. Growing up my in mom’s house, drinking anything other then Coca Cola was considered a sin.   We

Coca Cola has one of the best brands, cause of all the merchandise.   If you ever been to a flea  market, your sure to find tons of it.  I searched coca cola on Ebay.  I found over 12,000 items for sale.  WOW!  It had everything from coca cola refrigerators  to  old  bottles,  and everything  in between.

Plenty of coca cola collectors out there to buy all this stuff.  If want read more about coca cola, check out there blog.

Oh one more thing, my mom created the coke float long before McDonald’s did.

Social Media Future of Online Marketing

Recently a Google executive, Tim Armstrong, spoke to Canadian Business magazine about the importance of online Social Media in marketing (Link).  Many large corporations have started blogs or social media sites to interact with customers or for communications within their organization.  The online article 35+ Examples of Corporate Social Media in Action list many corporate examples.  General Motors has created a blog to interact with its customer base on design issues.  The interesting in my opinion is the New York Times Firefox add-on.  This new add-on allows readers to comment on the articles.

So go check it out, and let me know what you think!

Shifting Away From Paper

Today the largest newspaper publisher, Gannett Company, reported a 36 percent drop in second quater earning.  The company contributes the decrease in earning to lagging advertising sales.  The publishing advertising revenue declined by fourteen percent with its main printed publication, USAToday, declining seventeen percent. 

Although the U.S. economy is weaking, can’t help to wonder how much of decline can be contributed to the  migration readers and advertisers to the internet.  Yes, Gannett does have a large internet presences with over 100 online sites, and they have a USAToday online.  But the internet is full of choices, unlike a news stand with only a handle full of any particular subject.