Best Bus Shelter ever. Simple integrated mobile marketing that really works. Great thinking.

Sorry but I love these because I know the work that goes into them and I know the thinking behind them. And it's fabulous to see that thinking rewarded when it works.

This is for Qualcomm a mobile phone Operator. 

They put up Bus Shelter Posters and had a www address on the posters, asking bus users to use their mobile to text in. Need a lift? And along comes a...well, watch it. Or in a hurry? And there's a....yeah, have a look.

It's a piece of integrated marketing. Digital mobile marketing, SMS, Bus Shelter advertising, experiential activity, viral on YouTube...it has it all at a low, low cost. And then we're talking about Qualcomm aren't we?

"We make life better on mobile" goes the copyline. And they do.

Simple things makes great advertising. 
And good ideas needn't cost.

Bit of thinking needed, nothing more.

Google Glasses. Want to see what they look like on? Video here and pretty spec-tacular all round. The future smartphone replacement.....

A Video demo of Google's Glass (Google Goggles) has just been released.

It gives a good sense as to how the glasses work and pretty spectacularly. The headset doesn't actually have a screen in front but rather a small screen in the top right and with very excellent functionality - as you can see.

Photo taking, video making, looking up answers on Google, sharing on social, weather, email and so on, is all here but interestingly, we didn't know about voice command. By saying, "OK Glass" it activates the menu hands-free and gets the glasses listening for commands. Now that is, cool.

Google have also launched a competition to get a view as to how the Glasses can be used creatively. Ideas should go to Twitter at hashtag, ifihadglass. 

Here too is the Glass website http://www.google.com/glass/start/

Pretty exceptional the whole idea, which I think anyway and it's being brilliantly executed step-by-step. 

It's going to be the "next big thing", no doubt. A potential replacement for the smartphone.

Hotmail is a gonner. It's now Outlook.com. There's money in mail.

Hotmail, the world's largest web-based email service, is no longer and is now Outlook.com

Microsoft who bought Hotmail in 1997, have had Outlook.com in beta testing for the past 7 months and now the takeover is complete. The changeover will take place gradually and users won't be forced to switch their Hotmail address to an outlook one, but new users will. So there will no disruption in service to existing users.

I have often wondered why the world's postal services brands, never got into online mail? Another example of big companies watching their business go by online? I think so.....

60 million people are using Outlook mail with 350 million using Hotmail and the new service will have many advanced features. The layout looks brighter and breezier with much more simplified tasks - so it has been designed with the user in mind.

It also allows easy interaction and integration with Social Media.

Hotmail was launched in 1996 and probably one of the first email addresses. Advertising overloaded then, the Ads have been streamlined to more direct, relevant text "google" style ads so they're less intrusive.

Generally, outlook.com is being viewed as "better" than Gmail but at the end of the day, mail is mail. However, it's interesting in that email services with large users who use it regularly daily, has not yet had the real business push? It seems to me a cool, good email brand is a winner and perhaps this is what Microsoft see too. There's no doubt too, that if me or you were asked to pay only a dollar or a euro a month for a mail service, we would.

In the case of Hotmail, that would bring in 350 million...a month. Even at 10 cents a month, it would rocket! So there's opportunity here.

But goodbye Hotmail. 
A founding Internet brand bites the dust.
As the Post Office watches it all happen.

Google to open retail stores. Just in time for Google Glasses?

Rumours abound, strong rumours, of Google opening its own high-street retail stores, starting in the US main cities this year.

As Apple know, having shops, can bring customers into contact with your brand in a real personal, helpful way. Especially when you're a Google and largely only known for Search. It's interesting too, a company moving from Web into retail stores - kind of like Amazon opening book stores - but this could be a plan just in time for Google Glass (or "Google Goggles" as most of us know them).

In retail you can touch, see, hold, demo the product and for something so new, it could be a great sales channel for glasses. Or indeed, a new world of wearable computing which is ahead of us.

They're likely too to come at the end of the year, "coincidentally" in time for the launch of Google Glass. They could also sell Chrome computing and of course, Nexus smartphones and tablets moving perceptions of Google from software to hardware. Google also owns the Motorola handset business.

Indeed following in the footsteps of both Apple and Microsoft who have their own retail operations, this would bring the Google brand into a new arena and reaching out to new consumers. High street, high profile retail, is a great Ad for a brand. Google already has a "sort of a" retail presence in the 'Best Buy' stores.

It may not be just about money short-term, but building a real brand long-term. Shops are one good way to do that.

Dropbox floatation likely soon. Bono made more money in Facebook's float first 24 hours than a lifetime of music. He's invested in this as well.

Dropbox are in talks to go IPO shortly and it's sure to be the next high-tech flotation. Dropbox are in the cloud storage/file transfer business and typically used to share video, something which we do a lot of in Streamabout, a couple of times a day.

So if you want to send of receive a large file, Dropbox would be one answer. Mind you, we don't use it but prefer a competitive product 'Wetransfer' which honestly, we find better and quicker than 'Dropbox'. But that has nothing to do with it.

Dropbox's value is in the 4 billion usd range with 200 million users and frankly, was one of the first to get into this space. So it has benefited from 'first mover advantage'. Founded in 2007 - imagine, 6 years later it's worth 4 Billion (!) - it's one of those sites still banned in China and Ireland's own, U2's The Edge and Bono, are investors.

Mind you, both of them did well out of the Facebook float. Imagine...Bono earned more money in one day with Facebook than he has from a lifetime of music! 

Based on San Fran, Dropbox seems to be ready and ripe for a floatation, making billionaires out of its 2 founders and then other investors. File transfer and cloud storage is a good business to be in with a good future and Dropbox are at the front of that - like them or not.

It will be a good opportunity when it's announced and probably the next big high tech IPO. Which a lot of companies are opting for these days rather than staying private. It seems to be a "quick fix" get-rich scheme rather than what the business requires and early inventors/investors seem to want to "get in and get out".

Frankly having given the business all the pain a young tech start-up requires, I'm not surprised that once there is an opportunity to cash-in, they take it. An IPO is a good fast way to achieve that.

There's an App for that, but never like this...Tempo. Your Calendar and Diary just got a whole lot better.

There's an App for that......but very few Apps like this. Tempo. Currently (just launched) only available on the US App store and Itunes but keep watching.

Tempo turns your calendar into something a lot, lot, better than just a Calendar. It basically elaborates your standard diary entries using all the data that's on the web already. 

So you post a diary event at a named place, say, 'The Point Depot'. Clearly it's clever, but not too difficult, for Tempo to be able to show you your destination on Google Maps; to trigger GPS directions if you want them; to get you the phone number for the Point Depot; and to bring you to their website. Or the weather at your location or the time zone. Or the availability of car parking there or the travel time. Clever, but straightforward.

Now this stuff is already online, it's just that someone thought of linking it all together through Calendar entries. A stroke of genius, nothing less.

But that's only the start......

Tempo connects your diary entry with your own "accounts" so can drag any relevant information regarding your meeting, instantly. 

Say you're meeting me at The Point Depot - you can have a look at all relevant emails on the way; or Excel spreadsheets; or Powerpoint slides to perhaps refresh yourself from the last meeting. Or maybe check the last time we met? It's all there.

That's cool, especially when you're travelling to a meeting. Just bring your phone, it'll all be there.

It also gives LinkedIn information so before you meet me, you can see my profile. How cool is that. And you can check your flight status automatically, as you travel to the Airport.

Say too, you're looking for a Hotel or Coffee Shop to meet in nearby? No problem. It'll tell you where they are and give you directions.

Great isn't it? Really great. 
And I love the brand name.

It's just through beta testing, (there's still some scratches), but even the basic diary function has been so well designed as just a Calendar. It's worth it just for that. 

Worth it? It's free at The App store in the US today but shortly will be extended.

A new generation of software that somebody sat down and thought about. It's not a difficult App to make (bringing things together in one place is a well worn path) but to do it based on Calendar entries??? That is really smart.

http://tempo.ai/

Valentines Outdoor Advertising. Badly Art Directed Poster stops traffic.

Spotted today in Bride Street, Dublin by Sarah with the Streamabout crew as they went about their day.

Some poor, forlorn, Irishman abroad in Oz, misses a Bunny. Aaah.
Good copy beats Art Direction, every time.....

Online Valentines Night Promotions. A word of warning before you do them....nobody might be listening.

Before brands push out their Valentine's online campaigns, they'd better remember that mums on Social Media actually don't want to spend it socially, but rather offline.

The 'SocialMums' Survey of last year showed that Mums actually want a personal connection and not an online one with 57% opting for a romantic night out rather than an Ipad (28%) or Kindle Fire (12%). Only 2% wanted lingerie.

These are very active Facebookers, Tweeters and Pinteresters whom actually don't want the love brand messages and would rather switch off. They would like to wish their friends a "Happy Valentines" but that's about it. Then shut down their machines. 

And anyway, as most of them are doing other things (like dinner), they're not going to be logged in. So it's actually a quiet night online.

Indeed, a Valentines digital brand promotion might be better focused by getting people out through dining offers, cinema nights and so on, rather than trying to interrupt their night online. Because that's what they want.

It's possibly the one time of year that Social Media will not be as effective as any other night when you think about it. Certainly targeting women and mums, might be seen as being trite rather than effective. 

It's the old Advertising adage of knowing your audience and understanding them. Valentines night campaigns, might do more harm than good, if anybody is online at all.

Will you be?

North Korea's nuclear test site exposed. Unmanned Spy Drones? CIA Secret Satellites? Nah, Google Maps.

Hard to keep anything secret these days with ongoing battles over privacy on Social Media. But a nuclear test?

North Korea's efforts to keep their nuclear test location under wraps, in what was traditionally a James Bond 'cloak and dagger' affair, has been exposed.

Unmanned Army drones? CIA Secret Satellites? Nope. Google Maps. 

In fact Mashable, using Google Maps, can tell you all you need to know. Another blow to Social Media privacy....(but in a good way)....

So you want to see where it was? I'll tell you but then I'll have to kill you...it was here -

Or maybe you want a clearer picture...



Or the co-ordinates? 41.301 North 129.066 East. 

And there's lots more pictures of the Windy Mountain Road now referred to as 'Nuclear Test Road'. Since you asked, it's here in fact -



Initially it was thought this was an earthquake but in fact it was North Korea's third nuclear test since 2006, which has the world shaking a bit. Even China, its last friend in the world, isn't happy one bit.

There's even a video of the explosion on YouTube although pre-rolled with an Ad for 'Ernst and Young'. You should never miss an opportunity to pre-roll anything. I mean Ad revenue is Ad revenue. Still they might have changed the creative ("Ernst and Young's growth is exploding" or "We don't ever see black clouds". Something relevant, like the Superbowl brands..... I don't know, Ad Agencies these days.....).

And North Korea knows the value of YouTube having officially uploaded the video on top of this blog, only last week, showing a nuclear attack on New York. 

A dream sequence, set to Michael Jackson's "We are the world" played on what appears to be a 1940's xylophone, one could only think of better tracks. How about "Call me Maybe"? Everyone else is - and a fantastic opportunity to go viral, missed. What were they thinking?

And no you're right, it's too serious to be funny. 

But a country run by a 30 year old, which has its people impoverished, has to be treated with the disdain it deserves. 

Keep spying Google.
No need to worry about any right to privacy here.
In fact, hats off.

President Obama to go live Thursday on a Google Hangout.

President Obama is to live from The White House on a Google hangout this Thursday, two days after he delivers his 'State of the Union' address.

Called a 'Fireside hangout' it will also be on The White House YouTube channel and allows live questions/interaction (on the basis that you've submitted your questions in advance that is). Nearly a quarter of a million people submitted questions last time in January which was the first smaller attempt. You can also vote on questions submitted by others so the best are the ones that get through to the broadcast. And of course, it integrates with Twitter live, something Obama has used before as well as LinkedIn.

It's not the first time, a January broadcast was, but represents The President using Social Media now as a standard to communicate. The White House has also invited its big Social Media followers to hang with them on Tuesday and watch the address together. Aaahh. Still, bit of a thrill to get access to The White House.

It's brave enough too, being live streamed and expect the audience to be very big but it also shows the democratisation of the Internet. The ability to use Social Media to connect with people and spread your political message.

Ireland and the UK are far behind this - yet. 
Great opportunity for politicos.

Apple to launch SmartWatch. A Smartphone you wear on your wrist.

Rumours abound, very strong rumours, that Apple are to launch a smartwatch. Which is basically a smartphone you wear on your wrist.

Pebble are already in the market and Google have just applied for a patent.

Although it's been talked about for a while, The New York Times have confirmed it's in play and being developed with "curved" glass so it wraps around your wrist.

Wearable computing has an inevitability about it. We know of Interactive Glasses but wrist wearing is somewhat easier. The key to this too, is Siri, the voice recognition Apple software that allows a voice to read back, or dictate, email for example. So the need for a touchscreen is reduced.

Straight out of James Bond, you'll talk into your watch and ask it to things like directions or information or email. It will tell you global time, set alarms, act as a GPS tracker, and possibly, connect calls over Wfi (which the ipad mini already does without having a Sim card). 

And general cloud connectivity means all your devices are connected so the watch can act as a conduit for that. If you've a number stored on your Ipad or Phone, the watch can get it for example.

Interestingly too, the use of body heat to create energy through your wrist, is I know, already underway as too the movement of your hand which currently drives some watches anyway. Hence the archaic need to "charge your phone" in the wall socket, must soon go. It's very old fashioned (!).

Another innovation from Apple. 

Who else.

New York Times. Subscriber paywall working but Ad revenues are down. This is the line quality publishers need to walk.

The New York Times is growing its digital subscriber base although its advertising revenue is declining.

668,000 thousand digital subscribers for the group is up from 566,000 in September. Advertising revenue though is down by -8%, largely due to declines in the print versions (down -10%) whilst digital revenue is down just under -2%. But they're down.

The problem here is a trade-off between a model that makes money from a subscriber paywall versus a model that makes money from advertising. If you have paid subscribers (paywall) then you've less readers compared to when it's free. As some of the content is closed off for subscribers only, free readers move away elsewhere. Therefore the page impressions decline and consequently too, the ad revenue will fall. Charge for content and you'll have less readers and therefore, less advertising.

However, the NYT overall revenue is up +5% so the growth in subscribers revenue is more than offsetting the consequential loss in ad revenue. For now.

In return too, its shares are up +15% bringing more capital value - so people like what they're seeing.

If a paywall subscriber model is adopted by publishers like the NYT, it actually puts pressure on content. Paying readers want more up-to-date content, more services, more video, more coverage because they're now paying for it. They'll want detailed business analysis for one. Quality journalism.

So a paywall will work best in a quality title where affluent readers will be more able and more willing, to pay. It's a risk for sure but that depends too on where the paywall is placed - a combination of good free content (on the homepage for example) with subscribers getting detailed content, might be a good balance between maintaining digital Ad revenue and generating subscriptions.

If you can walk that line, it's an opportunity that The NYT is proving.

Facebook launch big video initiative to communicate to developers. Nice way for other corporates too....

Live Video works great - except when it's news as this Reporter found out. Great put-down.

Facebook needs to communicate with developers. And how are Facebook doing it? On video.

Called Developers Live Wednesday, it's now a video channel where everyone can watch and share. Using live streaming, it allows instant access to Facebook engineers and to solve problems quickly. Using pre-recorded video too, they can answer common questions in a FAQ style from Facebook staff.

Video allows easy demonstration of technology allowing you to replay and replay and replay and the site will then add to its video library. Or go back later and have another look if it's still unclear.

The first one is on Feb 19, hosted by a Facebook expert in web and mobile platforms, it's targeting gaming developers telling them things to look out for and answering questions.

Developers can request an invite on, well, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/426183044125307/

You can also see who's going to watch and so on. Nice, happy page it is too. And a nice development by Facebook.

Video is a great tool to communicate online and using live video can deal with issues immediately as well as, building a Video library online. And it's easy to do as well as being relatively low cost. Inviting people into your Facebook page helps the build up.

Great ideas for companies. Great for Streamabout too.
If it's good enough for Facebook......

Pope doing well on Twitter. Religion doing really well. Why? People pass positive thoughts on. Brands could learn from that.

I think it's fair to say that the Pope, leader of the 2,000 year old Catholic Church, has been a success on Social Media, notably Twitter (handle is at Pontifex).

Having over 2.5 million followers in only a few months since his first tweet on December 13, that's pretty good going. So much so, they've launched his own YouTube channel (largely to see his speeches), a 'PopeApp', Facebook page and an online news portal.

Still some way to go to catch The Dalai Lama's 9 million followers, but he was one of the first into the digital age. 

Leader of America's largest Church in Lakewood Texas, Joel Osteen is also taking to it and pretty much becoming a star. Although if you've ever heard him talk, you'll understand why - this is the greatest orator of them all. You'll see a young Joel on this blog video talking about the power of positive words (just for interest!).

Apart from the obvious, in that they're using Social Media to communicate, the real strength is that their positive messages are retweeted time and again. In other words, when Osteen says "God is with you in your hour of need", people pass it on and at a minimum of 7,000 retweets. That in turn brings more people in and so it grows, exponentially.

Good news travels fast it seems.

And there's a lesson in that I think. 

Just taking this blog as a super tiny sample, I know if I blog about something "bad" or negative (like the series I did on Tax avoidance), not only do I get criticised but my readers fall away that day. When it's something good or positive, they drive up and it's more likely to be "liked" or shared. 

People want good news, they want to smile in the dreary drudgery of daily lives. And so The Pope and others with generally uplifting words, do well on social.

Brands could learn a bit from that (as indeed, could Bloggers). Tweet well and you'll do well. Nasty, cyber bullying doesn't and is, as we know, pretty destructive which by the way, by passing it on we must take some responsibility.

So that's today's sermon.
Nice, positive words do well on Social Media.

I love you all (!)

Superbowl Power Outage. Brands really capitalised on it with Social Media. Full marks to Oreo, Jim Beam, Tide and 6 others.

Full marks to Mashable too, out quick with a great story about brands who capitalised on Superbowl Social Media without paying for the expensive commercials. And great too, because it showed brands who were literally, thinking on their feet.

You may (or may not) have been watching The Superbowl, as I was, and as it entered the third quarter, a blackout/power cut ensued. The game stopped and the stadium went into darkness. Out then popped the top Ad for Oreo on Social Media, 4 minutes after the blackout - "No power? No problem.You can still dunk in the dark". Super. And I've no idea how they got it ready so quickly.

Next up was Tide with this...

And then Jim Beam who have a brand called 'Black'.....

Other brands got in too. Calvin Klein with a video of a fairly hunky man doing press ups under the headline, "Since the lights are still out..."

PBS, the Broadcaster, (the excellent broadcaster), tweeted that viewers shouldn't worry because they had 'Downton Abbey' on instead.

Walgreens tweeted that they had candles for sale.

And Audi said they were going to send some of their LED lights to the stadium.

They were also bidding immediately (especially brands like Bud Light) for Adwords 'power outage' and 'blackout'. How brilliant that is.

Fairly great that Agencies and their Clients were that alert to capitalising on something that they couldn't have predicted. Pretty smart thinking. And good energy.

It was a touch-and-go game at the end with Baltimore's Ravens winning what has become a really fabulous spectacle. 

A magnificent night in New Orleans.

Last Nights Superbowl commercials. 3 interesting picks but you can watch them all here.

You'll see all of last nights very expensive (nearly 4m usd a throw) here by clicking/cutting+pasting this link http://www.youtube.com/user/superbowl2013ads

Gangnam style was of course the most watched YouTube video of 2012 so use it in the Superbowl makes perfect sense. Must have cost a bomb.

A couple of my other highlights though and starting with this one which uses stills rather than footage. A nice idea....

This more more bizarre as an ad campaign against Ad campaigns in The Superbowl that promote sexism and using twitter. Interesting stuff....

And this for me, the winner. Magic track, incredible cast, lovely idea....

But have a look at them all. Well worth it!

Superbowl Ads. Expensive airtime, super Ads and probably the most watched TV programme ever in The USA.

Tonight is Superbowl Sunday - just in case you've been in a cave (!) and haven't heard. What makes it exciting is ad watching. A lot of brands are now launching "teasers" in advance of the game to get you "teased" to look out for the final version. This one for Samsung (in two parts) looks terrific and titled "the next big thing". At 2 minutes, I'm guessing they'll spend about 12 million just on the one Superbowl broadcast alone. Is it worth it? Have a look but I think it's a great spot (Seth Rogen and Paul Rudd are very well known stateside). The second part is great and below.

Possibly the most expensive airtime on the planet in terms of overall cost per commercial (3.7 million usd a piece) but not per capita. Interesting for example, that Ireland's own Late Late Show is more expensive per viewer than The Superbowl. Because even though you pay 3.7 million for a Superbowl spot, you reach about 200 million people who will watch at least part of the game (mainly the 3rd and 4th quarters so end spots can be more valuable). The final Samsung commercial is going out, for example, in the 4th quarter.

Consequently based on a standard trade measure of cost-per-thousand CPT (the cost of reaching one thousand viewers) Superbowl does very well in value terms because the audience is so huge. Therefore, all spots are well sold out.

About 130 million will watch the game end-to-end and that will make it the most watched US TV programme ever. Because the content (American Football) limits it to US viewer appeal, it doesn't reach the viewing heights of sports with global appeal like Soccer. About half the planet for example, watch The World Cup Final, putting the viewer numbers in billions.

So a lot of us will watch the Ads and, as I've blogged over the last couple of days, the Ads can really make a difference as the "Dart Vader/Star Wars" spot did for VW last year. Already over 200 million viral views. 'Doritos' and recently 'Go Daddy' largely built brand recognition with their Superbowl spots as indeed did Steve Jobs choose it to launch his new Apple Mac in the 1984 Superbowl.

It's a huge night for advertising and social media nevermind, for football.

Amazon. Shares jump after results. Book sales +5%. But Ebook sales +70%. On the verge of greatness.

Amazon shares are moving upwards (+10%) on foot of their last Q4 quarterly results which showed a jump in operating income to 405m usd from 206m usd a year ago. Not bad, up 22%. 

Revenue rose 21% to 21 billion usd although below industry expectations, slightly......

Down 47% was its profit - down from 177m usd to 97m and that's the number that's got the headlines when in fact, the key measure should be growth and operating income. Living Social, Kindle investment and increasing distribution centres all dragged the profit down. Cloud computing services, video content (its LoveFilm video streaming on demand service) sales helped to lift it.

Operating margins were up too (the % of profit on a sale) and that bodes extremely well for the company that has struggled to make significant margins and profits over its existence. It is now on the threshold of greatness. 

Sales of books were up 5% but ebook sales were up 70% (!) and Kindle Fire being its most popular product on the site. Amazon are also forecasting +15% growth (and as high as +25%) in this quarter (Q1 2013).

The main driver is the Kindle and the transition from printed books to ebooks. Like Apple's Itunes business, Amazon are ready for this long term. So too their video movie business which competes with Netflix. Ebooks are now a multi-billion business and this is the company that's driving it.

I'm a fan of Amazon.

What they're doing with Kindle, is actually bringing a low-cost Ipad to market. The core functionality might be book reading, but video and social and email and everything will be there soon. Own the device, you own the content.

As regular readers (well okay, the 2 regular readers) of this blog will know, I'm a voracious reader but I switched early to Kindle with some reluctance. However, I have never looked back and nor has anyone I met who made the change.

Fantastic innovation - which as we know, like Apple, is the key to success.
Fantastic Amazon.

A WTF Moment. Blackberry 10 launches and appoints a new Global Creative Director. Alicia Keys. Yep, the very same.

Research-in-Motion, the Canadian Company that owns 'Blackberry', are in another 'make or break' launch today of the Blackberry 10.

It's a company that doesn't stay out of the news and were sharply criticised earlier in the year for this very launch being post the Christmas sales time. In other words, they were missing the boat of high phone sales.

The CEO is Thorsten Heins, who bears the brunt of most of the PR having taken over under a promise of total revitalisation which just hasn't happened. Yet. Probably because he has the personality of a chair.

So big drum roll for the big launch today.

And then lo and behold, they actually trump their own phone publicity by announcing a new Global Creative Director for the company - Alicia Keys. Yep, the same Alicia Keys. You know, "Fallin'" ("in and out, of love, with you").

Now you're wondering (I can sense it) what exactly would Alicia Keys know about phones? We all are really - but the reason is clear, she says, because "I've always wanted to work with a technology company". Oh, oookkkkaaaaayyyy, I get it now.

Previously she was quoted as saying she was an "Iphone junkie" though? But she tweeted to clear that up by saying she was delighted to be with Blackberry now ("we're dating" she said, on the launch video above). 

She'll be doing the national anthem at The Superbowl on Sunday, presumably with her Blackberry. By the way, Blackberry have bought the 1st Superbowl Ad up this weekend. I'm going to hazard a guess here.....it's Alicia Keys singing about The Blackberry 10. Betcha.

But all the PR is about her and not The Blackberry 10 as a consequence of this move. 

The good old Washington Post reported that a possible PR alternative was to change the company name instead to 'Research in stagnation' and wonder, like me, what the hell is a 'Global Creative Director' anyway? 

And suggested that they had thought Blackberry was moving away from the keyboard? Those kind of comments.

Techcrunch did a whole piece about what she was wearing and a "What the?" byline saying "What Alicia Keys? The singer Alicia Keys?" incredulity. One Techcrunch commentator wondered if he was reading the satirical, The Onion!

Celebrity endorsement does make sense for sure. However, doing it at a launch of the new phone is, well, PR suicide. It's the celebs who get the mention not the phone.

I don't know anymore. I must just be getting too old for this game and not down with the kids anymore. I mean I'd never have thought of appointing Alicia Keys as the Global Creative Director of a phone. Not in a million years.

Top 10 Superbowl Ads of all time based on Social Media views.

The Superbowl Ad Title hots up. Here's the previous winners and I can't agree always....Apple Mac's Ridley Scott '1984' launch commercial comes in at 10. Should be at 1.

And the most watched ever is one I just don't get...

But whilst you're here, have a look at today's next blog and see a preview of the Mercedes 2013 commercial. Stunning.

Mercedes Superbowl Ad Preview. Rolling Stones? Wow!

Did you ever see anything like this for a Superbowl commercial?
The Stones 'Sympathy for the Devil' what did that cost?
And model Kate Upton, Usher, William Dafoe?

Things are hotting up for the Superbowl best Ad title on Sunday.

Superbowl Sunday. 36% of TV viewers will have a second screen open. 52% will follow the game on Social Media. 3.7 million for 30 seconds of airtime. And a lot of chicken wings.

This weekend is 'Superbowl Sunday', (49ers V Ravens) the final of the NFL and traditionally, the most expensive airtime in the world. 3.7 million usd for 30 seconds in fact.

What's interesting too, is that the Coaches on both teams are brothers. So it's Brother Versus Brother and Dad will therefore win whatever happens.

It was a commercial in the Superbowl that launched the Mac in 1984.

However, interesting research today by 'Century 21', an advertiser in The Superbowl, which showed that 88% of viewers will watch it from home (as distinct from the Bar or elsewhere). The main reason is being able to replay - a key issue in American Football more than any other game.

The other main reason is that 72% also liked the idea of having access to food and drink easily.

However, yet again we're seeing 36% saying they'll have a 'second screen' open during the game. Presumably to follow the Social Media patter or indeed, to watch it more closely. 52% are going to follow the game on Social Media.

Second screen viewing is now a part of TV consumption from a mountain of research and notably during Ad breaks as viewers turn to watch their laptops/tablets. Critical for advertising that's so expensive if viewers turn to the laptop during the break.

And the sophistication now of Social Media means there's plenty of distractions to entice them away. CBS is the main broadcaster and already, spots are fully sold and Social Media is getting the spillover.

Bud, Audi, Chrysler, Coke, Doritos, Century 21, Go Daddy, Kia, Hyundai, Ford, Mercedes, M&M's, Oreo, Samsung, Pepsi, Blackberry, Taco Bell, Tide, Toyota, VW, Disney and others are all lined up as advertisers in the broadcast.

And each one has it linked through a huge effort on Social Media - notably Audi and Bud. It's real integration of the media.

On Facebook, Twitter, Google+, analysis shows that 49er fans are more likely to share and be active than Baltimore Raven fans based on season games. 

One wonders if they'll ever be watched on traditional TV in the future and not directly online as internet ready TV's get into the mass market next year. Then you'll need just the one screen.

Steve Jobs gets mixed reviews in his new movie.

Well, I mean Ashton Kutcher (34) gets bad reviews because Steve Jobs is actually dead (something Apple analysts have a problem getting their head around).

The new move 'Jobs' launched Friday at The Sundance Film festival and will be in cinemas in April time. It's a biopic, starting at the start (ironically) in the 70's and goes up to the ipod launch in 2001. 

It's said to be not "always flattering" of Jobs but some say that's just Kutchers portrayal....meoww.

Seemingly it's just "passable entertainment" and few reviewers find it interesting - which surprises me because the story should be. Although, no matter what, we'll all probably go see. 

The UK Telegraph (a pretty good barometer I might add) says it's an "almighty mess".....Steve's co-founder 'Woz', is played as a clumsy, hairy geek which frankly, seems spot on? They're also pretty critical of Kutcher ("the poverty of his skills as a serious actor are on full display", "he clumsily signposts every emotion" and if that wasn't enough, "his diction is incoherent") so no Oscar there then.

But even if you're not right-wing, other papers have given it a thumbs down too including The San Fran Chronicle. The Montreal Gazette reports that Woz (Steve Wozinack) didn't like it either and in true fashion when asked did he like it, said simply 'No'. But they made a story out of it. 

He later sent out a Press Release which also simply said, "none of this shit happened". Good man Woz, he's lost none of it.

So it's not looking good. Pity.

One wonders if they will follow it up with the Apple story after Jobs and under the new influence of replacement MD, Tim Cook. A part 2, a sequel. 

But then I'm not sure I'd go to see a movie either called just...'Cook'.

It'll be out in April so we will go see then for ourselves. If you do, let me know, and I'll post your review.

There's 38 sugar cubes in a supersize Coke and so Coke are facing bans. So they do a TV Ad to respond. And it makes things worse. When Advertising backfires.

New York's Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, promised last spring that he'd ban the sales of big, supersized sugary drinks (portion control), school bans on dispensers of them and possibly increase a sales tax on them. 

He had already completed the ban on smoking and this is his new challenge - obesity.

The average American drinks 45 Gallons of soft drinks a year.....sugary sodas are the single largest source of calories in the American diet. A regular Coke has the equivalent of 27 sugar cubes in it. And the supersize Big Gulp? 38 sugar cubes. 36% of Americans are obese and are estimated to cost 147 billion usd in medical care. 

So last year, New York started an advertising campaign aimed at anti-soft drinks in a campaign to tackle obesity and diabetes. In other words, they took on Coke, whom have been described as the "seller of liquid candy". Which they are and over which there should be no dispute.

The 75 Billion usd soft drink industry, fronted by Coke, has now launched its response and industry lobbyists have taken to court to block Bloomberg's plans on the ban as well as an Ad campaign of their own. And this response will in fact, do the industry more harm than good. 

Their is a growing backlash against the company by consumers and outrage fuelled by their very own TV Commercial. It's like tobacco companies whom when faced with an Ad ban, came out to explain that cigarettes were not linked to cancer - and produced medical quacks to prove it. Coke is doing the same thing and that is really annoying people. Coke are trying to pretend that they are actually, at the forefront of doing good work on obesity. Dear, oh dear.

Frankly, I am not surprised there's a backlash. Watch this next commercial and it's just shocking where Coke is sponsoring kids breakfast clubs. Shocking and disgraceful marketing and advertising. They are going to be the authors of their own bans and demise.

They're running a two minute Ad on national TV (top of this blog) and a 30 second approach. One commercial "coming together" shows the supposed initiatives Coke has taken to address the calorie/obesity problem. Another shows the ways you can burn off the calories - like "laughing out loud" is one, I kid you not.

Against a background of slim actors sipping Coke and healthy youngsters exercising, a voice over offers a simple explanation for the growing obesity crisis in the eyes of Coke - "If you eat and drink more calories than you burn off, then you'll gain weight" goes the Coke jingoism as a woman jogs through shot. 

Pathetic? unbelievably so and any attempt to try to position Coke as being in the vanguard of obesity is just ludicrous and won't work. Is the Ad Agency thinking at all? The idea that Coke is somehow involved in the fight against childhood diabetes, just is beyond belief, whilst at the same time, like McDonald's, uses appalling marketing tricks to target kids. Like sponsoring their breakfast clubs. Jesus. It's like tobacco companies saying that they are at the forefront of tackling cancer.

Of course, by doing all of this, it is growing its own criticism, drawing more people into the debate which weren't previously. The commercial angers people and clearly it has backfired. This commercial angered me and looking at the Breakfast Clubs and this commercial, it's about time Coke got a new marketing team or proposition. They're damaging their own brand.

As a Fellow of The Institute of Advertising, a Fellow of The Marketing Institute, a former board member of the European Ad Council (EAAA) and as a former 2 term Ad Institute President, I'd support a ban on Coke in schools, an Ad ban, a ban for larger drinks and an Advertising tax, simply because Coke are both contributing to obesity AND damaging advertising. 

When you produce advertising you have a responsibility, because it is so very powerful and with that responsibility, there are things you must not do - lines you do not cross. Coke, it seems to me, could care less. They'll do whatever it takes.

European action is already underway - France taxes these drinks, Denmark taxes saturated fats, Hungary taxes hamburgers and the UK is considering a "fat tax". 

Bloomberg says that more people are going to die from obesity than smoking and he's probably right. This is not a man to be diverted and he's prepared to take on this insidious industry, head-on. Good man. 

As for Coke? 
They're eating themselves through poor planning and crass advertising execution. 

Let them.

Microsoft under constant pressure. New commercial here, focuses on nostalgia, the Microsoft of old. Will marketing like this work?

Microsoft are under pressure. Basically they found themselves the leaders, in the wrong market - PC's - and having a dominant position didn't help as PC sales tumbled. So they've tried to re-invent themselves without a product innovator (a Gates or a Jobs) at the helm and rather have the most peculiar salesman, Crazy Steve Ballmer, instead.

Search him on this blog and you'll see the videos and you'll see what I mean. Enough said.

Their foray into Windows 8 recently doesn't seem exactly to have set the world on fire and their 'Surface Tablet' has contributed to strong revenue in the last quarter to December no doubt. But what of the future and where they're going?

They plead for their relevance today by promoting their past. In other words, use nostalgia.

"We're the brand that's always been here", "We're the brand of establishment, of trust", Remember us? That kinda' thing and in that way, hope to jolt happy memories from former Microsoft users (which we all were) into thinking, you know what...they were there at the start for me. Aaaahh. 

But it will work too. The commercial is nice and clean with viral potential as we all do a "do ya remember that!" and pass it onto our friends.

It's very brand rather than substance and targets children of the 90's. The endline, "you grew up...so did we" is a direct plea.

The final copyline "Reconnect with the new Internet Explorer" establishes trust around a thing we all knew - IE.

What it will do is to help 'trial' and get people to take another fond look at Microsoft but that has to be followed by substance - by relevant, useful product. And that's the problem. 

Advertising can get people to try a product again, but only once. The worry is, that it's exactly because Microsoft has nothing to say, that they chose this route. When you've nothing say, talk about past glories.

And they'll be found out.

Good news from Google. Revenue up, Margins up, Ad rates holding-ish. It's clear - more advertising is going digital.

Google's core revenue is up and beats analysts expectations. Its shares have increased by +5% and notably its Ad rates, although a slight fall, seem to be "holding". Good news.

A 9.83 billion usd in revenue in the 4th quarter is up from 8.13 billion usd last year, growing both their core business and their margins - the sweetest thing a business can do. A +23% growth in international revenues too with cost-per-click (CPC) rates down only 6% whereas it had previously been on a bigger slide.

The 4th quarter is a critical, a seasonal time for Ad sales (Christmas).

One of the reasons is the growth in mobile search where users access Google by smartphone and those CPC rates are always lower. So if you like, the averages are down because of "blended product". Or in other words, an increase in its lower-cost product brings the overall price down.

But a "hold" on Ad rates is good news for the Ad community - things may be bottoming out. Clearly too, there's increased demand for Google Advertising and so, one might assume, more demand in general. It's clear - more Advertising is going digital.

Equally too, it must be remembered that Google hasn't yet seen the full force of the recent launch of Facebook Search which has to eat into their business. Google's Motorola Mobility acquisition too, hasn't paid dividends showing ongoing losses of 353 million usd in this quarter. But they've indicated that this is now a focus to turnaround.

It has already sold the Motorola set-top TV business for just over 2 billion usd.

All in all, encouraging numbers not just for Google, but for the trade itself. They are market leader and so tend to show the trend. And this trend is up.

It came too on the day that RIM who owns Blackberry Crackberry, say that they'll launch their new phone on January 30th. And that, in contrast to Google, is really make or break time.

But this is all good.

Jan 24 1984. Steve Jobs launches his personal computer. The Apple Mac.

In 1982 a young Steve Jobs started developing a personal computer with a graphical user interface with 'Woz', Steve Wozinack. He is often the forgotten genius.

2 years later, The Mac was launched with a very famous, masterpiece commercial called '1984' shot by Ridley Scott (who had just completed 'Blade Runner' 2 years earlier).

Conceived by Agency Chiat Day and shown in The Superbowl break (during the 3rd quarter on January 22nd). A 900,000 usd spot which then, was huge. It clearly targeted "Big Brother" IBM and perhaps the most influential commercial ever, along with Hegarty's "Grapevine" Levi's commercial. '1984' was only aired one other time on TV so that it qualified for awards.

It borrows a lot, if you ask me....from Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis', a movie I strongly urge you to see. That's not to take away from it one bit. It did exactly what it needed to do and still is in line with the 'Think Different' concept. Individuality. And I personally think it's world class, have no doubt.

The Mac came with 128 kilobytes of Ram (it was known as the 'Mac 128' or the "thin Mac"), a floppy drive (!), a mouse, Black and White screen, and with MacPaint/MacWrite and later, MacOffice as the software. A beige case, a handle on the top to make it easy to lift and sold at 2,500 usd. It was convection cooled (rather than by a fan) because it was quieter - a Steve Jobs marketing decision. You can see him present it on Jan 24 1984, on the video at the top of the page.

And it talked! Briefly. A truly world changing day.

Happy MacBirthday.