Brett’s Blog

Perhaps you’ve seen this ad make a comeback in the rotation of some of your favorite shows lately:

It’s a catchy commercial, but what’s special is that it originally took the screen in Spring 2005. Now, three years later, it’s made a comeback.

So, what’s that tell us? Is Diet Coke lacking the creative juices to improve with something new, or are they wise enough to go back to something that, apparrently, worked? What do you think?

I’ve never heard of Gnarls Barkley, and I probably never would’ve seen their video on MTV (does MTV still play videos?), unless I hadn’t see this on Yahoo today.

And Yahoo wouldn’t have bothered unless Gnarls Barkley had broken the rules (with crazy strobe light effects). They would’ve been just another band trying to breakthrough. It wouldn’t have been home page worthy.

In just catching up on the surface, I don’t think the band intended for their video to violate the Harding Test. It just happened that way, and now we’re hearing about it.

Is there a rule or accepted ritual you could break to get this kind of attention? Not a gimmick, or a ploy, but just good ol’ fashioned pushing of the envelope?

Here’s the video. It’s been viewed 258,000 times. Think that would’ve happened if they hadn’t broken the rules?

Just read an article by Rory J. Thompson on advertising during online video content in BrandWeek discussing how video content is “expected to grow the fastest in 2008, according to eMarketer, New York.”

Makes sense, but this quote by Kris Oser, direcotr of strategic communications at eMarketer, doesn’t:

“Mainstream advertisers are more comfortable with traditional ads, but they know eyeballs are moving online. Creating commercials is something they understand. Now they can just do them online.”

What we marketers often misunderstand is that a new medium (in this case, the web, and specifically social media/web video) doesn’t just give you a new joint to post your product, but it also requires a whole new approach, and maybe a whole new product.

FDR’s fireside chats were revolutionary because it was a new thing optimized for the medium (the radio).

JFK’s TV debate with Nixon was revolutionary because it was a new approach to campaigning that fit the medium (TV).

The only Ron Paul is still involved in the current presidential race is because of how his revolutionist message fits his revolutionist audience who can easily find him on the new medium (the web).

Seth Godin is appropriately calling this misunderstanding a Meatball Sundae these days, which feels about right (it’s a pretty good book - give it a read/listen).

You can’t just throw traditional commercials online and wait for them to work. There’s a reason we fast-forward through them on TV now - we don’t want to watch them.

You need a new approach to how you make commercials specifically for the web.

Merry Christmas, and be sure to listen and watch all the way through.

I’ve received a link to this email twice in the last 24 hours (once from Steph, once from Ron), so that has to make it a mandatory post, right?

So here’s the big question: is our latest tech craze (Facebook, MySpace, etc.) susceptible to another burst of the bubble like we saw earlier in the decade?

My good friend Stephanie at iMC2 sent this fun video along. Who knew Jack Nicholson knew so much about advertising?

OK, it’s not really porn, but it’s close. At the same time, the thought of this happening makes me laugh out loud.

Credit goes to the twisted mind of Frank for passing this one along.

Here’s a glimpse at how just about every morning goes down for me. Except maybe the bat . . .

Ahh, is it really this simple? How long is the list of people that you want to send this one to?

Great links I hit over the weekend:

1. Look Up During Your Sermons: Thanks to Brian for his take on this ProBlogger post. Excellent way of looking at the “stick-to-it-tive-ness” needed to blog successfully.
2. A Change In Perspective: Believe it or not, this joker actually flew up to Kansas City just for a BBQ dinner. And a change in scenery.
3. New Blogs from Great Friends: Rick and Jan Loy have started a new blog, and I guarantee you they will be an outstanding daily read.
4. Two Must-See Videos: Frank tracked down two of the coolest videos I’ve seen in a while. Here’s Amateur, and here’s Kitchen Diaries. Where would web-surfing be these days without YouTube?
5. Start With the Customer: Interesting how so many of us marketers use the same words and same approach to sell different products. Neil has an excellent example that’s specific to direct sales.
6. Top Names for Pets: Similar to the post above, David points out that the top name for both dogs and cats this past year was the same name. How’s that for differentiation?