Healthy Blog Reviews

Sometimes an ad for a product is so clever that you remember the ad but not the product. Not so with Old Spice’s new “Smell Like a Man, Man,” campaign which went viral earlier this year. According to a Nielsen report which was noted in Brandweek , sales of Old Spice Body Wash have jumped 55% in the past three months and 107% this past month. “Gary Stibel, CEO and founder of The New England Consulting Group, said his data also shows a lift for Old Spice. “We think that Old Spice is up. We don’t think it’s up in the double digits, but it’s up meaningfully, and we think it’s driven 100 percent by marketing.” What’s not measurable is how much help the campaign had from the news coverage it received. Type “Old Spice” into Google news and you’ll find more than 2,000 articles have been written by everyone from Business Week to MTV to. . . us. If P&G had bought ad space on all of these publications, the cost would have been astronomical, but now they’re a part of advertising history and that is, to quote another ad genius, priceless. The “Old Spice Guy”, Isaiah Mustafa, is now on his way to becoming a movie star with a role in Jennifer Aniston’s new movie. Now that’s how you breath new life into an old brand.

Tags: Business, business-week, Campaign, campaign-which, data, flickr, Isaiah Mustafa, news, Social, spice-body, video
Posted July 28, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

No, really! Does anyone actually know what the unveiled Google Punch does? Apparently Google Operating System spotted Google Punch listed in a Google Documents drop-down–within the video below. Speculation has already started as to what Google Punch could be, but I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Tags: alignright-size-full, google-documents, google-operating, google-punch, operating, Rumors, the-unveiled, thoughts, unveiled, video
Posted July 27, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

It wasn’t long ago that long load times and stuttering video kept many consumers from watching videos online. But with the advances in video streaming and the rise in low price, high-quality computers, videos have become a regular part of the internet landscape and they’re not just for fun anymore. Says eMarketer: “The percentage of the top 50 US online retailers that offer videos on their sites skyrocketed to 68% in 2009 from 18% in 2008.” “In this sense, video has gone from a luxury to a near necessity for companies seeking an edge in marketing their products.” By offering a video, retailers can now get a step closer to the experience of shopping in a brick and mortar store. Video allows the consumer to see a new food processor in action or take a closer look at the dashboard of a Toyota that’s just come off the line. Now that consumers can use everything from their PCs to their smartphones to access video, it only makes sense for retailers to get on board. Dollar for dollar, a clever video that goes viral will do more for a brand than 30 second spot on a popular TV show. Just ask the folks at Old Spice.

Tags: action-or-take, advances, consumer, dashboard, experience, flickr, folks-at-old, internet, smartphones, video, video-streaming
Posted July 20, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

Remember when Blockbuster was king of the video rental biz? It was a brilliant concept developing at a time when studios were charging $80 for a new movie on VHS. But as DVD took over from VHS and the price point on new movies began to drop, Blockbuster found itself slipping from the top spot and now has become the Betamax of home video rentals – once loved, but now forgotten. These days it’s Netflix who is wearing the crown with their original concept of offering all the DVDs you want for a flat rate per month (no late fees), delivered right to your mailbox. With 100,000 titles to choose from, including old movies, TV shows and indies, Netflix’s only downside is the wait and that’s where Redbox comes in. Redbox combines the easy and usability of Netflix with the “watch it tonight” concept of Blockbuster. The DVDs are rented via one of 24,000 Redbox machines located in grocery and convenience stores all over the country. Customers swipe their debt card, choose their film then return it to the machine when they’re done. The only downside here is selection. The machines only hold a limited number of DVDs, so they carry only the newest, most popular movies available at any given time. According to Bloomberg.com, Redbox realizes that they’re giving up a great deal of business to Netflix due to their inability to offer a wider variety of films, but now they’re prepared to do something about it. They’re going to build their own online rental business that will likely contain a streaming video component just like Netflix. What I find ironic about this story is the fact that Redbox went into the business of instant DVD delivery in order to fill a need that Netflix couldn’t. By moving their business online, they aren’t giving the consumer anything new. And without anything new, how can they possibly hope to surpass Netflix who is already firmly entrenched in the market? Add to that Walmart, Sears and Best Buy all getting into the movie rental and streaming business and it seems like the field is already too crowded to bother. Then there’s the problem that just because you do one thing well, doesn’t mean you can do another. Blockbuster tried regaining the top slot by adding an online component but barely took a bite out of Netflix’s business. If Redbox pours a lot of time and money into getting their online unit up and running, they’ll be taking capital away from their brick and mortar-ish business and that could spell disaster for the company as a whole. I’m all for competition but unless Redbox has something to add to the niche that isn’t already being offered by Netflix, I say they’re better off spending their money to improve the system that’s already working for them. What do you think? Could Redbox be the first real competition Netflix has ever had?

Tags: blockbuster, country, dvd, film, flickr, movie, netflix, only-the-newest, price, Redbox, video, walmart
Posted July 19, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media

Google Chief Exec Eric Schmidt and his fellow media moguls talked to the Wall Street Journal last week about their plans to get creative with online advertising. After fifteen years as a part of the Internet landscape, the banner ad simply isn’t as effective as it used to be and though online ad spending is up again, it’s not where it should be given the amount of time the average person spends online. Last week, Schmidt and colleagues, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, Jeff Bewkes of Time Warner, Walt Disney’s Bob Iger and Groupon’s Andrew Mason, headed out to Sun Valley for this year’s Allen & Co. mogul retreat.  In between the bike rides and the barbeques, the heavy hitters discussed “interactive video ads” and targeted advertising attached to content. The Wall Street Journal reports: “Schmidt championed “interactive video ads,” which he said are on the way. That means they could allow Web users to watch a video, leave a comment and see real-time updates within the ads that are more customized to their interests.” “Groupon’s strategy is to let businesses design an offer, such as half-price theater tickets, and email it to consumers together with commentary, such as a review of the play.” So it looks like the big guys have finally realized that content trumps a dancing hamster when it comes to attracting click-throughs. And for those who complain about the rampant spread of Google ads all over the net, Google says they’re working on that, too. In other words, they’re working on new ways to hide advertising in what looks like content. Are banner ads a thing of the past? Is it time to eliminate the standard Adsense ad unit in favor of targeted, advertising embedded in content? Or would you prefer to give up your sidebars in order to enjoy your content without commercials? Let us know in the comments below.

Tags: cloud-computing, cloud-hosting, dancing hamster, Display, facebook, google-chief, internet, more-customized, Online Advertising, plans, street, street-journal, video, words, working-on-new
Posted July 13, 2010 by cgseo under Social Media