As we get closer to the 2008 US election, the talk continues about how the Internet will play its part. We at iCrossing have produced two such reports, the updated version available here (How America Searches, Election 08 Update).
What struck me this morning though was the vast amount of information available to the voters; if you want it you can find out anything and everything. And as we become smarter in our usage of video editing and blogging then anyone can express their opinion digitally in a very sophisticated and engaging way. And they are.
On sites like YouTube this often takes the form of satire. And so the message to all politicians who come and read this blog regularly [ ;-) ] is that we the people are listening, and are looking for ways to tear you apart in the name of humour.
Brilliant example:
McCain's YouTube Problem Just Became a Nightmare
John McCain vs John McCain
Craig Ferguson on McCain Suspending His Campaign
I'm F*cking Obama - Hillary Clinton feat. Sarah Silverman
(If you haven't seen it, you need to search for Jimmy Kimmel, Matt Damon and Sarah Silverman for the background to this. Hilarious).
[UPDATED] I spend a lot of time discussing media placements with our clients, and a common topic of conversation is blind network buying; the concept of buying media placements without knowing the domains on which they sit.
A great deal of brands today are against blind media buying because of previous cases where advertising has appeared on inappropriate sites.
Whilst I personally find it hard to believe, there is research that shows consumers will often think the advertiser is the sponsor of the content. So when Vodafone ads appeared on the Facebook page for the British National Party, outrage ensued.
Of course the problem existed in the offline world long before we all started playing with banners, but it tends to be forgotten now or little consideration given to it.
The photo shows a poster on the London Underground advertising a new movie called Righteous Kill and starring Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. Nothing unusual as such in that.
The problem is that the poster is at Stockwell tube station, the location of a recent (and wrongful) police shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes and is therefore untastefully incompatible with the movies strap line of "There's nothing wrong with a little shooting as long as the right people get shot"
What made the situation even worse was that the poster was in situ the day the jury visited Stockwell as part of the police trial!!
Whilst we must respectfully remember that someones life is involved here, I use it as an illustration that media placement is a serious issue we must always consider, whether be online or offline, in order to protect our client's brands.
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Creadit for the photo should be attributed to "coconinoco" who's Flickr Photostream can be found here.
As reported by Revolution Magazine, the UK government has released a statement that declares Phorm's ad targeting technology legal. This seems to make sense based on all the research I have done, including meeting with Phorm directly and talking in depth with those that are against Phorm.
Phorm are starting trials to install its software on ISP-users PCs and will be ready for advertisers in 2009. Phorm remains an interesting one to watch, and if it works as planned then it has the potential to be the next generation of digital advertising, it is certainly on my list of innovative companies to watch.
There is no escaping that their methodology is controversial, but if they remain as transparent as they are planning on being, and truly offer an opt-in and opt-out choice for the consumer, then all should be fine.
Nothing but a rant tonight. Sat looking for something decent to watch on telly and came across CelebAir. What a complete load of tosh. Stop making this reality 'celebrity' garbage. PLEASE!!!
I have 3 daughters, Rebecca (5), Bailey (5) and Felicity (2). They are growing up in a world that is new to us, but is their normal. Computers and the Internet have always existed in their world, they are unlikely to ever play a VHS tape and will probably never receive a mixed tape from a boyfriend. They have made 2 comments over recent months that have really reminded me of this.
Don't need to email it daddy, mummy has already blogged it!!
That's a big DVD daddy!
You can now doanload Google Chrome at: http://www.google.com/chrome
Quote from our chief exec (Arjo, iCrossing) as published by Brand Republic:
Arjo Ghosh, chief executive of iCrossing UK, today told Campaign that Chrome's launch would be a hugely significant move, which would allow Google to extend further into people's daily lives.
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He said: "By creating a browser, Google increases its influence on our use of web software, search and advertising - and ultimately all digital media consumption.
"Features such as increased reliability, better security, and faster application speeds will develop at a breakneck pace."
He said by allowing the browser to be open source, the company would attack Microsoft at its proprietary software core and protect itself from regulatory scrutiny.
He said: "This is another step to replace cumbersome Microsoft software with free agile Google tools in the battle for our desktop."
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