The Marketing Ideanet Newsletters

Graeme Newell's Marketing Ideanet 6/28/2010

In This Issue
The Problem with One-Word Coverage Promises
Nonprofits on Journalistic Hiring Spree
Upfront Sales Stronger Than Expected
US Ad Spending Has Bottomed Out, Forecast Indicates
Social Net Sites Drive Viewers to TV: Study
Americans Optimistic, But Skeptical, Poll Finds
US-Ghana World Cup Match Attracts Record 14M Viewers
Daytime Emmy Winners
Hulu Plans Launch of 'Hulu Plus'
NPR Music Goes Mobile
iPhone's Dropped Call Dilemma
Steve Jobs: Blogless, Twitter-Free
ceoSteveJobs Tweets

Quotes

"From time immemorial, man has desired to comprehend the complexity of nature in terms of as few elementary concepts as possible."
- Abdus Salam

"Complexity that works is built up out of modules that work perfectly, layered one over the other."
- Kevin Kelly

"Fools ignore complexity. Pragmatists suffer it. Some can avoid it. Geniuses remove it."
- Alan Perlis

The Problem with One-Word Coverage Promises
by Graeme Newell
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
http://www.602communications.com
Twitter: gnewell
Facebook: facebook.com/gnewell

A great tease will contain a solid promise of coverage that foreshadows a full and satisfying story. In the world of entertainment, the goal is to convey the depth and complexity of the story line. Any promises that smack of simplicity or shallowness just won't motivate a viewer.

We see this in movie trailers all the time. You will never see a promo that promises the basic plot of the movie. For example: "Will the hero get the girl?" Of course he will. "Can these clever thieves pull off the heist?" Of course they can. The goal of the trailer is to show the incredible depth of the story line and promise a tale that is unique to moviedom. "Can a ferret, two parakeets and a bank robbery lead to love for these midgets transvestites on a road trip across the Ukraine?" Now that sounds like a deep story line with some real twists. They have proven that the movie will have much more than the basic plot points.

The goal is the same in TV news promos and teases. Far too often, the components foreshadowed in a tease convey only a basic story. We make a specific promise of coverage, but we never convey the depth of the story line. The problem - we focus solely on facts, not on how those facts add up to a full and rich plot line complete with heroes, villains, twists and turns.

When writing in-show teases and promos, apply this simple test to determine the depth of your story line. Make a promise of coverage, then see how many words it requires to fulfill that promise. If the answer is just a word or two, you've failed to show the intricacy of your story. For example:

The promise: "Tonight, find out who hid the fugitive after the escape."
The answer: "His sister."

The answer contains just two words and does not convey the cool parts of the tale. Let's try again:

The promise: The fugitive's hide and seek game that stumped police for more than a week."

Fulfilling this promise of coverage requires a long explanation and a very intricate story. That is a sign you've done a great tease. If the explanation of the promise takes several sentences, then you have successfully conveyed depth of coverage. After hearing that promise, I get the feeling that the full story will be a real adventure - something very entertaining.

It is the same principle with weather:

The promise: "Find out when it will rain this week."
The answer: "Thursday"

This sounds like a basic weather forecast I can get on any channel. The goal is to convey an entire weather drama that promises unique coverage:

Better: "Some wild days of wind and rain are just around the corner. I'll show you when the heaviest showers will hit the Valley."

Same with sports:

The promise: "Who won the big game."
The answer: "The Broncos."

Sounds like basic scores and highlights I can get off the internet.

Better: The game-winning touchdown pass that blew this grudge match wide open in the second half."

In teasing and promos the goal is not the proverbial "KISS" formula -"keep it simple stupid." We want exactly the opposite. We want to foreshadow complexity and a brain stimulating drama.

Graeme Newell is a broadcast and cable marketing consultant who specializes in relationship branding using core emotional drivers. He guarantees that his teasing seminar will immediately increase your news ratings or his workshop is free. Find out more here.

Nonprofits on Journalistic Hiring Spree
In a seventh-floor conference room festooned with framed articles and journalism awards, Managing Editor Gordon Witkin leads the morning discussion of stories his staff is pursuing. Their latest scoop -- on members of Congress dumping their BP stock -- "was a big success," he says. "It was in an AP story that sent it everywhere, including Yahoo and Google News." On the front burner, a dozen staffers around the table explain, is a joint series just approved by the New York Times. A piece underway with The Washington Post is being edited. There was a "tough conference call," says international director David Kaplan, with eight London producers on a 10-segment project with the BBC. Investigative reporting is increasingly being outsourced, and these offices off K Street serve as a boiler room for research that the big boys are less able to afford. The Center for Public Integrity is hardly a traditional news operation, but it is taking on a more prominent media role, fueled by a recent hiring spree that has added more than half a dozen journalists to its 45-person staff. "We see all our friends dying on the vine," Kaplan says. "The irony is we're doing pretty well, and we have a chance to fill these gaping holes." And the center fills those holes free of charge, furnishing information -- and sometimes staff-written pieces -- to the media outlets.

After years of feeling unloved and unwanted, some fortunate journalists are again finding their services in demand. While most print newsrooms remain shrunken and some major newspapers are mired in bankruptcy, new media incarnations are giving the restless and the jobless a second lease on life. AOL says it plans to add hundreds of journalists to its stable over the next year. Yahoo has opened a Washington bureau. The Wall Street Journal just created a New York section. And TBD, owned by Politico's corporate parent, is recruiting for its online effort to cover the Washington area. "There is a good buyer's market for people who want to do this work," says Bill Buzenberg, a no-nonsense former vice president for news at National Public Radio, who became the nonprofit group's executive director in 2007. The center is not a new Washington player, having been founded more than 20 years ago by Charles Lewis. And it is hardly the only nonprofit making a splash: The two-year-old ProPublica, based in Manhattan, shared a Pulitzer Prize with the New York Times Magazine this year for a probe of hospital deaths during Hurricane Katrina. But the center -- and any group with "public integrity" in its name is setting a high bar -- has been on a roll. The center has also received grants -- including $300,000 last year -- from the Open Society Institute founded by liberal philanthropist George Soros, sparking questions about whether its news agenda leans to the left. "We have a very clear firewall editorially," Buzenberg says. "We decide what we want to do and how we want to do it." Donors, he says, "may hate it and they may never fund us again, that's their right. . . . It isn't free to produce. We've got to get money." The larger issue is whether such not-for-profit outfits can become self-sustaining, or will forever be dependent on foundations and wealthy donors. If those checks stop coming, these operations could be crippled.
Washington Post

Upfront Sales Stronger Than Expected
The much-anticipated 2010 television advertising recovery is in full swing, and appears to have enough steam behind it to keep the momentum going through the second half of the year. The recently-concluded broadcast "upfront," the period in which advertisers buy commercials in advance for the fall TV season on CBS, ABC, NBC, Fox and the CW, was expected to be strong - and it more than lived up to those forecasts, said Tuna Amobi, entertainment analyst at Standard & Poor's Equity, in an interview Thursday. "It was probably stronger than expected, in terms of [price] increases, volume, and the breadth of advertiser participation," Amobi said. " [Ad rates] were up by a high-single digit [percentage] range, in general." This year's upfront generated between $8.1 billion and $8.7 billion, according to the ad industry trade magazine Advertising Age, compared with a total of $7.8 billion to $8.1 billion in 2009. The momentum appears to be holding as the second quarter winds down, Amobi added. "Advertisers seem to have confidence that the economy will hold up during the second half of the year. It will be interesting to hear how many of them cancel [ad] orders, because that will be an ongoing gauge of that confidence." Big winners in the 2010 upfront were CBS and Fox, said one media buyer. "CBS has always been in a strong position in the past, but they never completely parlayed that into the best upfront numbers. This year they were successful," the buyer explained. The network, a perennial leader among most household viewers, has "done a very good job" with its schedule, the buyer said, maintaining stability but taking calculated risks that could pay dividends. Though Fox's ratings champion "American Idol" faces a major challenge with the departure of top judge Simon Cowell, the network has built-in advantages that it again exploited, including the fact that, without any 10 p.m. shows, it simply has less commercial time to sell. "They also offer a more concentrated younger audience than the other networks do," the buyer explained. "So there are a number of categories catering to that audience -- the movie studios, the telco companies, and the autos, that are going to be attracted to Fox. Also, they have the Super Bowl [in 2011], which jumpstarted a stronger NFL market for them."
MarketWatch

US Ad Spending Has Bottomed Out, Forecast Indicates
A new forecast indicates ad spending in the United States bottomed out earlier this year, with the overall figure for 2010 expected to decline 1.3 percent to $145 billion, down from the $147 billion spent in 2009. U.S. ad spending for 2011 is projected to increase 2.5 percent to $149 billion in the most recent 70-nation forecast report from GroupM. The U.S. trend for 2010 is in contrast to the global advertising picture, where spending in measured media is expected to increase 3.5 percent in 2010 to $451 billion. That figure was revised up from a projected 1 percent growth six months ago. The study, “This Year, Next Year” is part of GroupM's media and marketing forecasting series drawn from data supplied by parent company WPP's worldwide resources in advertising, public relations, market research and specialist communications. It was released Friday by GroupM Futures Director Adam Smith and GroupM Chief Investment Officer Rino Scanzoni. "The U.S media marketplace has clearly bottomed out earlier this year and we expect moderate growth in 2011 consistent with GDP improvement,” said Scanzoni. “Television and online spending will outpace other media as they lead with return on investment metrics." If achieved, the global dollar total of $541 billion for 2010 equals the amount spent in 2006-2007, or in 2004-2005 when accounting for consumer price inflation. The report also forecast a 4.5 percent global increase for 2011.
TV Week

Social Net Sites Drive Viewers to TV: Study
A study released by the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing shows that social networking sites are playing an increasing role in determining what viewers watch on TV. According to the CTAM study -- "CTAM Tracking Study, Wave 5, Exploring Evolving Trends in Viewership" - 79% of regular social networkers said they would watch a television show based on a recommendation from a friend on a social networking site. In addition, the CTAM study also showed that 33% of regular social networkers reporting they were made aware of a new television show because of something they saw on a social networking site. "Over one-half of adults who visited social networking sites in the past month visited them every day," said CTAM president and CEO Char Beales in a statement. "These findings underscore the potential ‘water cooler' effect social networking sites can have, as well as the opportunities for television programmers and advertisers to interact with viewers in an even more meaningful way." Viewers are still watching the majority of programming on TV sets, according to the study. CTAM found that about 80% of those who are also consuming content through nonlinear viewing platforms such as digital video recorders, the Internet and Video on Demand still report watching either the same amount or more regularly scheduled television on the TV set. "It's no surprise that the majority of American viewers still prefer to view content on a television set," said CTAM vice president of research, Clay Collier in a statement. "But what this study shows is an emerging trend that says the love affair with television programming transcends the television set, as consumers report accessing content on a wide variety of platforms."
MultiChannel

Americans Optimistic, But Skeptical, Poll Finds
Americans remain a generally upbeat lot, but all the skepticism, snark and dismal rhetoric being bandied about may be taking their toll. Nearly two-thirds of people answering a Pew Research Center for the People and the Press/Smithsonian Magazine poll said they are optimistic about their future and that of the country - and a majority expect the economy to be strong in the future. But while it's still a positive picture, it's much less so than a just over a decade earlier. Some 64 percent of those polled said they are optimistic about their future, for example, but that's down from 81 percent in a similar poll in 1999. At the same time, the proportion optimistic about the nation's future slipped from 70 percent to 61 percent, and those expecting a stronger economy fell from 64 percent to 56 percent. If the changing attitude is the downside, Americans see quite a lot to look forward to when asked about the next 40 years. For example, 71 percent expect cancer will be cured by 2050, 66 percent expect artificial limbs to be working better than real ones and 53 percent say ordinary people will travel in space. But the message remains mixed, with 72 percent expecting a major energy crisis, 58 percent saying there is likely to be another world war and 53 percent anticipating a terrorist attack on the U.S. involving nuclear weapons. Speaking of bad news, they don't expect to read about it in the morning paper, as 64 percent of Americans say printed newspapers will cease to exist by 2050. Some 63 percent also anticipate the demise of paper money, and don't expect the check to be in the mail - 61 percent say almost no one will send letters by 2050. Americans also had a mixed outlook on social issues, with 68 percent predicting race relations will improve by 2050, but 58 percent saying the gap between rich and poor will get bigger. Just half expect health care to be more affordable and only 49 percent anticipate improvement in public schools. A whopping 89 percent expect to see a woman president within 40 years and 69 percent say a Latino president is likely. A significant 41 percent of respondents expect Jesus Christ to return by 2050. That's the same share that expect to see a single world currency.
Yahoo News

US-Ghana World Cup Match Attracts Record 14M Viewers
ABC's coverage of the U.S. loss to Ghana attracted some 14.86 million viewers, making it the most-watched men's World Cup match ever in the United States, preliminary ratings showed. The 1999 women's World Cup final, in which the U.S. defeated China, is the only match to average more U.S. viewers (17.97 million). Saturday's 2-1 defeat — which sent the American squad packing from the tournament — was a case of history repeating itself: Ghana sent the U.S. team home by the same score in the 2006 World Cup. The 50 games that have been carried so far on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC are averaging 2.8 million viewers.
Yahoo TV

Daytime Emmy Winners
Last night's "Daytime Emmy Awards" turned into a de facto tribute to CBS's "As the World Turns," the 53-year-old show that is going off the air in September. "World" won three of the four major acting awards, including lead actor and actress in a drama series for Michael Park and Maura West, during the ceremony, which took place at the Las Vegas Hilton. Backstage, the actors lamented the end of the soap, which wrapped production last week and will air its final episode on Sept. 17, a year after "Guiding Light" drew to an end and at a time when the very future of soap operas is in question what with falling ratings and budgetary cutbacks. But "World" at least got a proper goodbye, after earning 13 Emmy nominations for its final season. In addition to Park and West, Julie Pinson earned best supporting actress. The exiting show got the biggest buzz at last night's ceremony, but it did not receive the best daytime drama award. That went to "The Bold and the Beautiful" for the second straight year. Rookie talk show host Mehmet Oz won best host for "Dr. Oz," while "The Doctors" won best informative talk show. Ellen DeGeneres, who took her name out of the running for best talk show host after winning several times, did take home best entertainment talk show. "Cash Cab" collected two awards, one for best game show and one for best game show host. And "All My Children" creator Agnes Nixon received a lifetime achievement award and Dick Clark was also feted for contributions to daytime over the years. Below is a list of last night's major winners:
MediaLife Magazine

Hulu Plans Launch of 'Hulu Plus'
Some of you may finally get a chance to pay for Hulu. The video Web site is finalizing plans to launch its subscription service, and people familiar with the company say a beta test of “Hulu Plus” could launch as early as next week. If you’re in a select group, that is. One person familiar with the site, owned by a joint venture of broadcasters and Providence Equity Partners, says the initial test could be limited to 10,000 people. The Hulu Plus pitch, as I’ve previously reported: $9.95 a month for access to a deeper catalog of shows than the free service currently offers, plus the ability to watch it on devices other than a laptop or PC, including Apple’s iPad. Other reports this month indicate that the service may also be available on Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PS3 game consoles. I’m also told that Hulu’s network owners–GE’s (GE) NBC, Disney’s (DIS) ABC and News Corp.’s (NWS) Fox–are still hammering out rights deals for particular shows. So it’s possible that the launch could be pushed back or that the service will have weird gaps in its catalog when it does launch. Hulu says it is already turning a profit from ad sales and is on track to generate more than $200 million in revenue this year. A successful subscription service would beef up those numbers.
Media Memo

NPR Music Goes Mobile
Music has long been part of NPR’s identity, but perhaps never more than in recent years, as its NPR Music Web site has become an increasingly popular outlet for artists and music fans. The site, at www.npr.org/music, features many artists who don’t get heavy airplay on commercial radio, from the soprano Renée Fleming to the jazz musician Fred Hersch. But big-name pop acts get attention too. This month the Web site streamed 45 shows from the Bonnaroo festival, including the sets by the Dave Matthews Band and Tori Amos. More than 40 can still be found on the Web site. And on Wednesday NPR Music went mobile, introducing an iPhone application that provides a platform for the more than 300 pieces of new content — from videos to blog posts, podcasts to live concerts — that are added to the site each month. “There are music magazines and places to hear music,” said Anya Grundmann, executive director of NPR Music, a 10-member crew based in Washington. “We’re trying to tap into all of the different ways to present music.” Music coverage is nothing new to public radio. But Kinsey Wilson, NPR’s general manager of digital media, said that since the music site went live in 2007, its staff has “provided a hub where things can originate,” rather than have music coverage spread across its news and culture desks. The app’s release coincides with the release of the newest iPhone (it will work on the iPod Touch as well) and is designed with the latest version of Apple’s operating system in mind. That system allows multitasking, so a user can stream a featured live concert from the app while surfing the Internet, for example.
NY Times

iPhone's Dropped Call Dilemma
Apple’s touch-screen smartphone has been a sensation since Day 1 three years ago, and many who own the device believe it to be almost perfect — if only it worked better as a phone. So it is not surprising that as the first boxes of the new iPhone 4 landed in the hands of the earliest adopters late Wednesday, the antenna’s reception quickly became an Internet obsession. What surprised many of them: the precious little bars that signal network connections inexplicably disappeared when they cradled the phone in their hands a particular way. Sometimes, but not always, the cradling resulted in dropped calls. In the hours before Apple weighed in on the problem, iPhone fans turned to one another on the Internet in a zealous exercise in crowd-sourcing for answers to the mystery. They were all the more baffled because the iPhone 4 was designed to have better reception. A metal band that wraps around the edges of the device is supposed to pull in a stronger signal; software is supposed to choose the section of the signal with the least congestion. A user calling himself FFArchitect appeared to be the first to report the phenomenon on MacRumors.com, a site for the Apple-obsessed. He said that touching the band in various places caused reception problems. His report, like many that followed, included a video demonstrating the problem. Soon after, Gizmodo, a popular site for gadget fans, picked up on it, calling the phenomenon “weird.” “When the guy holds the iPhone in his hands, touching the outside antenna band in two places, he drops reception,” Jesus Diaz, a writer for the blog, said. “Placing the phone down gets him 4 bars.” From then on, report after report began to ricochet across technology Web sites, and Mr. Diaz posted updates as new stories from around the Web dropped into his in-box. “This is worrying,” Mr. Diaz wrote. Analysts and investors did not appear overly worried. “Apple has not had one introduction that hasn’t had issues,” said Charles Wolf, an analyst with Needham & Company. “Sometimes these things get blown out of proportion.”
NY Times

Steve Jobs: Blogless, Twitter-Free
A primer for the British press (or at least, the Daily Mail): Steve Jobs doesn’t have a blog. He doesn’t use Twitter, either. So any time you read something that the Apple CEO wrote on Twitter, or in a blog, be aware that you’re reading a parody. Something that’s not true. Definitely not something you want to use in the lead of your story.
Media Memo

ceoSteveJobs Tweets

I find your lack of faith disturbing.

Actually, the new iPhone has no problems. Apple just happens to be issuing a highly-recommended 'software update' soon.

iPhone 4: Reinventing the way you hold your phone, again.

We may have to recall the new iPhone. This, I did not expect.

Oh yeah, everyone's been holding the mouse wrong too.

Just FaceTimed my wife. If you know what I mean.

People who live in houses shouldn't throw glass phones.

To prevent signal problems with the new iPhone, avoid touching the phone at all times.

The best way to fix the weak signal on the new iPhone? Buy a $29.00 Bumper case, only from Apple.

Be careful not to leave your #iPhone4 at the Genius Bar on the way out of the store. Gizmodo might pick it up.

I heard the CEO of AT&T got married recently. The service was great but the reception was terrible.

The unshaven unemployed population is starting to line up at Apple stores. Ugh, go stand outside a FedEx sort facility.

I think we've exhausted the letter "i". It's time to move on to "j".

If you have received your iPhone 4 early in the mail, please do not open it until the official launch on June 24.

Of course the iPad is magical. It's like holding David Copperfield in your hands.

We have to let go of the notion that for Apple to win, Android has to lose.

iOS4 introduces multitasking, folders, books, mail and spell checking. Everything you've had in your office for years.

You can't "use" a Mac. The Mac uses you.

Nothing like breakfast in bed on Father's Day. The girls prepared apple juice, apple sauce, Apple Jacks, apple fritters...

Every iPhone 4 comes with a built-in reality distortion field.

iLife is fragile.

My iPad runs Flash. And I hate it.

Gore: Global warming. Bono: Famine. Teresa: Poverty. Jobs: Pornography.

Android: Amateur New Device Radically Overhyped, Inferior & Disappointing

Apple's In-Ear Headphones revolutionized music. So today we're introducing a new breakthrough: In-Mouth Microphones.

Just found a Microsoft Courier prototype in a bar... Left it there.

http://twitter.com/ceostevejobs

-------------------------------------

Graeme Newell's Marketing Ideanet 6/24/2010

Majority Gives Thumbs-Up to Press Coverage of Oil Spill
Americans aren’t known for their long attention spans, but so far they haven’t grown tired of the media’s sweeping coverage of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. According to a weekly survey by the Pew Research Center, people remain keenly interested in the environmental disaster that is unfolding. The center’s survey found that 63 percent of Americans “followed news about the oil leak more closely than any other story last week.” Last week, the spill and the reactions to it received more media attention than ever. President Obama delivered a prime-time address about the oil spill last week, drawing about 32 million viewers at home, according to the Nielsen Company. The oil spill gradually gained attention in late April and early May, and since then it has been the country’s dominant news story, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, an arm of the Pew Research Center. In its latest assessment, it says the oil spill continues to dominate newscasts and newspaper pages. Last week it “accounted for 44% of the newshole, the highest percentage since the story broke on April 20 with a deadly explosion on an offshore oil rig,” according to its weekly report, which was released Tuesday. Notably, a majority of the respondents in the Pew poll, 56 percent, said the press “has done an excellent or good job in covering the leak.” In early May, 66 percent of respondents had the same opinion. The survey was conducted June 17 through 20.
Media Decoder

Larry King Special Raises $$, Loses Ratings
As reported Tuesday, the good news about the Gulf disaster fundraiser that CNN aired as a special "Larry King Live" on Monday night was that it raised $1.81 million for three major charities. But on Wednesday comes the bad news about the ratings, reports Mediaite.com. The total number of viewers for the telethon was only 600,000, putting it in fourth place among the cable news shows. By comparison, six months ago Larry King had a similar telethon to raise funds for Haiti, which did 40% better than Monday's showing in the ratings.
TVWeek

CNN Mixes Spitzer, Parker for Counterpoint Style Program
CNN has identified a replacement duo for Campbell Brown, naming former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer and syndicated conservative columnist Kathleen Parker co-hosts of a nightly 8 p.m. roundtable program to debut this fall. The as-yet untitled show promises to be a point-counterpoint affair, as longtime Democrat Spitzer will share a desk with Parker, a columnist aligned with the Washington Post Writers Group. Although not as well known as her new on-air confrere, Parker has built a strong following as a self-described “rational conservative.” Before winning the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for commentary, Parker invited the ire of GOP loyalists two years ago when she called for vice presidential candidate and former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin to drop out of the race. A self-styled crusader who went after Wall Street as New York State Attorney General (1998-2006), Spitzer’s brief reign as governor of the Empire State ended after revelations that he had been a client of a high-priced prostitution ring. In the wake of the scandal, Spitzer has been using cable news programs as a platform from which to rebuild his reputation. Widely rumored to have been in the running for his own nightly program, Spitzer has been a guest on CNN and MSNBC in recent months. CNN president Jon Klein said the pairing would give viewers a more kaleidoscopic viewpoint than can be found elsewhere on the dial. “Other cable news channels force-feed viewers one narrow, predictable point of view; in contrast, CNN will be offering a lively roundup of all the best ideas––presented by two of the most intelligent and outspoken figures in the country,” said Klein, by way of announcing the move. “Eliot and Kathleen are beholden to no vested interest––in fact, quite the opposite: they are renowned for taking on the most powerful targets and most important causes.” Parker will continue writing her column, which is distributed in some 400 national newspapers twice each week.
MediaWeek

Fox Dumps 'Glee' Spinoff, Bans Sex in Trailers
Last January, Fox proposed a reality television show based on the success of "Glee," but that idea has now been officially scrapped, reports TV Guide. Co-creator Ryan Murphy has said that the producers are concentrating solely on season two and, therefore, the reality show is dead and buried. There is reportedly a sense of relief among the "Glee" company about the decision because cast and creative staffs have been stretched with appearances on awards shows, the concert tour and promotions in general. With the need for relief of stress from a tough work schedule and the inevitable effect of youthful hormones, Murphy also had to ban cast members from having sex in their trailers, TV Guide reported. Additionally, it was announced that Fox may use the videos it received from potential contestants for possible guest appearances on "Glee" in the future.
TVWeek

Alliance Promotes Family TV on Broadcast Nets
The Alliance for Family Entertainment said it has started a new sponsorship fund, seeded with an initial $10 million in media commitments to support programming on the broadcast networks. The alliance is a group of nearly 40 national marketers, supported by the Association of National Advertisers, representing approximately 30 percent of all U.S. television ad dollars. It's mission is to develop and support family friendly content across multiple distribution platforms. While the new fund will be initially dedicated to broadcast network fare, the group said plans are in the works to target programs on cable and other media platforms in the future. Marc Goldstein, the former North American CEO at WPP's GroupM, is chief content officer of the alliance and is overseeing implementation of the fund. "It is critically important for marketers to have family entertainment options and there simply are not enough at this time," said Goldstein, who in addition to his work with the alliance runs a consultancy called Media Solutions. Goldstein said the fund would focus first on broadcast network fare because "that is a first stop for many consumers as a primary source for entertainment." But, he added, "we hope to expand to numerous platforms in the future." The media sponsorship initiative is the second fund launched by the alliance. Last year, the group started a script development partnership with Humanitas, the Hollywood organization that annually honors excellence in film and television writing.
MediaWeek

Middle America in TLC's Sights
TLC is targeting middle America, and while the brand positioning may not be new it's making its strongest push for the demographic with its new Sarah Palin reality show, the Los Angeles Times' Scott Collins wrote over the weekend: "Heartland values are indeed what TLC pushes, carving out a profitable niche in a reality TV marketplace otherwise filled with sex-drenched youth soaps ( MTV's "Jersey Shore") or aspirational voyeurism (HGTV's entire programming block). And now the network is making maybe its strongest play yet for the non-elite, middle-class audience, with a new show starring the queen of Red State America, Sarah Palin." Collins writes that TLC is aiming to be an "antidote to Bravo," the NBC Universal-owned cable network that has successfully appealed to a sophisticated, urban "affluencer" audience. "We tend to be less snarky, edgy," TLC president Eileen O'Neill told Collins. "There's something for everyone here. We do shoot all around the country. Our topics and people tend to represent a lot of daily American lives -- a little less of the edgy, cooler [material]." Discovery Communications Chairman John Hendricks defended the decision to give Palin a show in an interview with DailyFinance earlier this year. "We've had success in the past where we've had people who've had an obvious connection to a region or a state," he said. "Like, we did a travelogue with the former Prime Minister of New Zealand. We did the king of Jordan. So what we're doing is just -- she obviously loves her state. So this is not political. This is Sarah Palin kind of presenting the state to viewers. She has a great following in the country. So we just try to present people who can tell a good story."
Huffington Post

NBC.com Hires Writers for Webisodes
While NBC continues its battle for viewers, the net is making a heavy online push as well. The Peacock's digital division, under topper Vivi Zigler, has assigned writers to pen web-only episodes to complement existing shows that are intended to help build buzz for comedies "Community," "Parks and Recreation" and "The Office," as well as other skeins. Scribes are part of the show's staff and members of the net's online team, and are embedded in the writers' room. "We start early," says Zigler, whose team is already prepping the digital accompaniments to a handful of upcoming fall skeins, such as serial drama "The Event" and sitcom "Outsourced." "We want to develop an online experience that's organic to the show." From a business standpoint, the webisodes and other online components are a way to generate ad coin from sponsors and companies trying to reach the 18-34 demo which might not be able to afford or want to take part in an on-air spot. "Parks and Recreation" exec producer Mike Schur says that he or one of his producers meets regularly with the online writers to make sure the storylines are in sync with the broadcast goings-on. Among the digital goodies available for NBC.com users are deleted scenes, games and a Pawnee, Ind., Parks Dept. newsletter. "It's definitely worth spending the time on," says Schur. "In this day and age, fans are getting savvier and demand more for their entertainment time, so you have to be giving them more. You can't just air your show anymore." NBC isn't the only network paying more attention to the online world. ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" has an original web-only storyline about the Seattle Grace interns, and the recently departed skeins "24" and "Lost" were forward-thinking in offering fans completely new material.
Variety

TBS, Universal Unveil 'Despicable' Deal
Computer generated characters from the new movie Despicable Me will be popping up all over TBS for the next few weeks as part of an ad deal between the Turner Broadcasting channel and Universal Pictures. The promotion begins June 24 with a sponsored episode of TBS's Movie Extra. A second Movie Extra will air July 1. Movie & a Makeover on June 26 will feature cast interviews and behind-the-scenes footage from Despicable Me. Next week, characters from the film will be featured in the "tbs breakroom," part of a branding campaign that employs a fictional network headquarters. Several characters from the movie will also appear in promotion spots airing during TBS's 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. lineup of comedies. Despicable Me, which stars The Office's Steve Carell, will also be sponsoring episodes of The Office and Neighbors from Hell in primetime, and on July 1, Lopez Tonight will include a sneak peek at the film. "Universal is thrilled that TBS trusted us to integrate its properties and logo with our inaugural 3D CGI feature," said Annah Zafrani, Vice President of Media Promotions, Universal Pictures. "We know this type of movie studio integration has never been done in the history of the network, and it's terrific that Despicable Me is a key partner in one of the most innovative theatrical promotions that TBS has ever engaged in." "Despicable Me" opens July 9.
Broadcasting & Cable

LGBT Ad Spending Hits Record
While the rest of the media industry took a major hit, publications serving lesbians, gays, bisexual and transgendered people enjoyed a record year in 2009 in terms of ad spending, according to the 2009 Gay Press Report just released by Rivendell Media. Total spending in LGBT publications jumped 13.6% from $308 million in 2008 to $350 million in 2009 -- a remarkable performance, especially considering the adverse conditions in the economy at large. For comparison's sake, overall consumer magazine ad spending fell 17.5% in 2009 compared to 2008, while total ad pages plunged 25.6%, according to data from the Publishers Information Bureau. On that note, the LGBT ad revenue increase accompanied a decrease in the number of ads, which fell by 6.8%, reflecting a trend toward larger, more expensive ad placements. It may also reflect an increase in prices for LGBT advertising, as niche media leverage their special connection with LGBT consumers to demand more premium rates. Indeed, Rivendell found that the proportion of "gay-specific" ads in these publications (meaning ads that portray LGBT consumers or target them overtly) have increased from about 10% of all ads in 2002 to 62% in 2009. In national gay publications, the proportion has risen to about 90%, suggesting that advertisers are seeing significant ROI from ads that actively engage with LGBT identity. Separately, the number of gay publications tracked by Rivendell increased from 130 in 2008 to 136 in 2009. However, gay publications suffered during the economic downturn. A number of big titles closed, including Genre, while The Advocate and Out have changed hands several times, with a steadily decreasing price tag, followed by a move by new owner Here Media to bundle the two publications. That diminished The Advocate as a stand-alone title. These woes are reflected in a drop in overall circulation for LGBT media, which fell 27.6% from roughly 3.3 million in 2008 to 2,387,750 in 2009.
MediaPost

ABC, NBC Reinstate Current Departments
ABC will be reinstating its current department, which are the network executives tasked with specifically overseeing shows currently on-air, our good friend and journalist par excellence, John Consoli, writes at TheWrap. Writes Consoli, "ABC over the past two years has been the network putting the most new shows on the air and the thinking now is that there needs to be more specific attention given to those shows. It has not been announced who will become the new senior VP of current programming. Kim Rozenfeld held that post until last June but was then reassigned within the Disney organization." ABC's current department is expected to be reinstated in time for the fall season, the article says.
TVWeek

Most Companies Lack Social Media Plan
While 78% percent of corporate respondents say their company is using social media, only 41% say they have a strategic plan in place to guide such activity, according to a new study from marketing firm Digital Brand Expressions. Of those companies that have some semblance of a social media strategy, 94% say that marketing activities are included in the plan; 71% said public relations were factored into the equation; and 55% say that they use social media for sales-related activities. "It's fairly well established that social media is a channel that businesses must participate in, leaving CEOs with the new challenge of planning and implementing brand aligned initiatives enterprise-wide," said Veronica Fielding, president and CEO of Digital Brand Expressions. Even for the firms that do have a strategic plan in place, only 29% reported distributing policies and/or communications protocols to employees via social channels. "This leaves the majority of organizations exposed to problems arising from employees saying the wrong things in the wrong ways to the wrong people at the wrong time," according to the report. Meanwhile, most companies appear to be shooting from the hip, with no cohesive game plan or measurement systems in place. Even among those with a plan, few have written policies and communications protocols in place, leaving the organization exposed to problems arising out of employees communicating in ways that inadvertently hurt -- rather than help -- their company brands. Among those companies that are presently executing social media plans, 69% have set up metrics/tracking methods to measure ROI of such activities, while 71% plan for ongoing monitoring of brand reputation across the social media landscape. Another 71% claim to be preparing and distributing protocols and policies for ongoing communications, including how to respond to positive/negative comments on social media Web sites. Also of note, the majority -- 74% -- of respondents said their marketing departments should be responsible for the creation and maintenance of all strategic social media plans. About half -- 51% -- said their corporate communications team should be in charge of such efforts, while 28% said their executive team should lead all social efforts. Of the 100 companies that DBE surveyed in May, the majority -- 49% -- were made up of less than 50 employees; 32% had 50-999 employees; and 19% were made up of more than 1,000 employees.
MediaPost

YouTube Wins Summary Judgment Against Viacom
In a setback to content companies struggling to protect copyrighted material in the digital age, Viacom lost its copyright infringement case against Google today. The media conglomerate -- whose properties include MTV, BET and Paramount Pictures -- had accused the search giant of widespread copyright violations on its YouTube property, estimating damages at $1 billion. Google had argued that its YouTube division was allowed protection under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's "safe harbor" provision, which says a service provider isn't liable for violating copyright so long as it responds to specific complaints. That reading puts the burden of rooting out copyright violations on copyright holders themselves. The three-year-old case came to a close Wednesday as U.S. District Court Judge Louis Stanton issued a summary judgment favoring Google's position. "Defendants designated an agent, and when they received specific notice that a particular item infringed copyright, they swiftly removed it," the ruling says. "It is uncontroverted that all the clips in suit are off the YouTube website, most having been removed in response to DMCA takedown notices." Viacom plans to appeal the judgment.
AdAge

Big, Targeted Ads 'Creepy', Study Reveals
Ads targeted at a particular context -- car ads on automotive sites, for example -- are a staple of online advertising. It's presumed that the more closely an ad matches a person's interest, the more likely that person is to click and buy. And it couldn't hurt if the ad is big. But a recent academic study indicates that may not always be the case. Indeed, a prominent targeted ad may have the opposite effect on consumers who perceive them as more creepy than helpful, or worse, an attempt to peel away their privacy. "We were interested in the basic question of whether ads work better if they're targeted and more in your face, more visible," said Avi Goldfarb, a professor at the University of Toronto who wrote the paper with Catherine Tucker of MIT's Sloan School of Business. "We were expecting some kind of linear effect, that you would get a particular jump in effectiveness -- but the opposite is the case." Either matching ads to a site's content or running obtrusive ads increases purchase intent, the study found, but doing both doesn't help much and sometimes hurts. When a more prominent ad unit such as an interstitial is also targeted, for example, the person seeing the campaign is only 0.3% more likely to intend to buy than if he or she sees a regular banner with no contextual relevance. "You're basically not doing any better by doing both those things," Mr. Goldfarb said. "In fact, you're better off just doing one or the other, either highly visible placement or a contextual ad, but not both at the same time." What's the most effective? The study found that simple banner advertising that mirrored the site worked best, where people were 0.9% more likely to buy than they would seeing a banner that had no contextual connection. For a much more noticeable placement without any targeting, users were about 0.5% more likely to buy than when they had seen a banner. Mr. Goldfarb and Ms. Tucker suggest in their report that "advertisers could cut spending by over 5% without affecting ad performance," if they replaced specialized campaigns using both targeting and visibility with standard ads. The report suggest that big units may make consumers think a little longer about the ads -- normally a good thing -- but might in the process give consumers a better chance to get spooked by the targeting. "Obtrusive ads may lead consumers to infer that the advertiser is trying to manipulate them," the study states.
AdAge

72% Trust Media Site Content: Study
A survey conducted by Harris Interactive for the Online Publishers Association found that 72 percent of consumers trust the content they see on media sites, such as ESPN.com, Wall Street Journal Online, or NYTimes.com, compared to 60 percent who find content on portals like Yahoo Sports or AOL News trustworthy and 23 percent who trust what they find on social media sites. The media sites also tend to generate more confidence in their advertisers; 24 percent of respondents said they find advertisers on media sites to be "high-quality and reputable," compared to 20 percent for portals and 8 percent for social media sites. Those who recalled purchasing from the advertisers on a website were significantly more likely to have done so from a media site -- 8 percent -- compared to 5 percent for portals and 3 percent for social media. The loyal users of social media sites are more likely to purchase from their advertisers (15 percent), than portal fans (8 percent), or those loyal to social media sites (4 percent). "The goal of our research was to help brand marketers better understand why consumers receive and respond to online brand advertising differently depending on the content environment in which the message appears," OPA President Pam Horan said. "Our findings show that site destination matters as trust and relevant content are perceived differently across content environments. This study concludes that consumers perceive and take action differently depending on where the advertiser's message appears."
RadioInk

Tech Firms More Trusted Than Facebook: Poll
Americans trust technology heavyweights such as Apple, Google and Microsoft more than social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, according to a new poll. Nearly half of 2,100 adults questioned in a Zogby Interactive survey said they trusted the big three technology firms "completely" or "a lot," compared to eight percent for Twitter and 13 percent for Facebook. But all of the companies rated higher than traditional media. John Zogby, the president and CEO of Zogby International, said big companies have had the time to build brand equity, while Facebook and Twitter do not have the corporate identity. "They don't have the brand equity," he added in a telephone interview. Young adults aged 18 to 29 had slightly higher trust levels in Facebook with 20 percent and Twitter with 15 percent compared to the levels of adults of all ages which were seven percent lower for both companies. When asked how important online privacy was to consumers, Zogby said it was huge. "I think to a great degree, its all about privacy," he explained. Google has been criticized by some privacy regulators for its Street View cars which collected some private information from unencrypted WiFi networks while roving the streets taking photographs for its online mapping software. Facebook recently changed its privacy policies to give users more control over how much information from users profiles is public following protests from some users and privacy watchdogs. The traditional media received little sympathy from the public with only eight percent of all adults and six percent of young adults saying they trusted the media.
Rueters

3 Million iPads Sold In 80 Days
Apple said it sold 3 million iPads in the 80 days since the device went on the sale in the U.S., adding to evidence CEO Steve Jobs is building demand for tablet-style computers. Software developers have created more than 11,000 applications for the iPad since its April 3 debut. The iPad lets users read digital books, surf the Web, watch videos and play games, notes Bloomberg. The popularity had various analysts boosting their 2010 Apple projections. Apple's announcement comes in the same week that leading eReader manufacturers Amazon and Barnes & Noble moved to put some pricing distance between their products (the Kindle and Nook) and the versatile iPad -- which serves as a portable computer, multimedia hub, and a full-color eReader. The iPad currently retails at a starting price of $499, a price point that left it uncomfortably close to the $259 tag attached to the 3G-equipped Kindle and Nook devices ahead of their recent adjustments, reports The Tech Herald. As things stand, the 3G Kindle now retails for $189, while the 3G Nook retails for $199. Barnes & Noble has also unveiled a new WiFi-only Nook, which will sell for just $149.
MediaPost

5 Insane Marriage Rituals From Around the World
A marriage can be a wonderful and joyous occasion full of happiness, laughter and unicorn farts for two very lucky people. In other cases, it can be an exercise in full-blown insanity, as evidenced by these bizarre marriage traditions from every corner of the globe.

5. Bride Kidnappings
Practiced in: The Roma communities (all over the world)

Most unions can trace their beginnings to that one special night at a frat kegger when the couple first met their gaze in a crowded room and forever cemented their fate by a quicky in the backseat and a broken condom. Some cultures however decided to skip all this romantic crap and go from the “total strangers” phase straight to marriage in one messed-up leap of criminal activity: kidnapping the bride.

The Romani, also known as Gypsies, for centuries have had this tradition, that if you manage to forcefully kidnap a girl and keep her by your side for 2-3 days, she officially becomes your wife. Long ago this probably made a lot sense, as it helped you avoid buying the bride off the parents or having Thanksgiving dinner with them every year. But even in this day and age it’s not viewed as anything strange in the Roma culture, and many women simply go with the fact that the overweight guy, who cornered them with a bottle of chloroform at a McDonald’s lady’s bathroom, is now the love of their life.

Some of you are probably wondering, how in the f**k is this legal? Well, it’s a cultural practice of a large ethnic minority and most governments would rather start flossing with razor wire than to commit the PR equivalent of suicide by banning a minority tradition.

4. Marrying animals to exorcise ghosts
Practiced in: some regions of India

The Western culture is no stranger to superstition, especially during a wedding. Most brides would sooner set fire to the church and postpone the ceremony than to get married without something old, new, borrowed and blue. And don’t even think about trying to catch a glimpse of your wife-to-be before the nuptials or that’s 3 stitches to the temple right there on the spot.

But the Santhal tribe in India decided to one-up us all and cranked the wedding-crazy dial all the way up to 11. They believe that if a baby girl has a tooth rooted to her upper gum, it’s the obvious sign she will be eaten by a tiger or something in the near future, because ghosts hate her. Therefore, she must marry a dog. Such was the story of Karnamoni Handsa, a 9-year-old Indian girl who “married” the local stray Bacchan amidst the dancing and cheers of her 100 guests getting shitfaced on home-made booze. Huh… Somehow the presence of moonshine in a cross-species wedding is not surprising in the least…

The good news is, this is nothing but a mock ceremony and the couple don’t have to consummate the wedding. It’s just to ward off the evil spirits so the girl can marry a real boy some time later. Thank God, otherwise this exorcism ritual between a child and a canine would have been really weird.

3. Blackening of the bride
Practiced in: Scotland

In many ways the Scottish people are just like your typical Europeans but with a few notable quirks: they eat sheep entrails, wear male-skirts and instead of rice, they throw stinking crud like eggs and sauces on their brides.

This custom is called the “blackening of the bride”, a very old Scottish tradition; some say even older than Sean Connery himself. It’s part of a hazing ritual that actually happens before the wedding. The bride is taken by surprise, by hands down the crummiest friends you could have, and covered from head to toe with all kinds of crap. It can be anything: spoiled milk from the back of your fridge right down to tar and feathers. It serves 2 possible purposes. Either it gets the men in the proper mood, (assuming all Scots have a fetish of homeless chicks who never bathe), or it helps the women deal with the prospect of marriage, because nothing that will happen to them from that point on will be as cruel or humiliating as the blackening.

It’s sort of like punching your bride right before saying “I do”. No amount of douchebaggery you pull off later in life will ever amount to that, so your lady will at least not be disappointed or, at best, pleasantly surprised. Man, the Scots have this marriage thing figured out.

2. Fat Farms
Practiced in: Mauritania (Africa)

There are different standards of beauty in every part of the world. For example, despite the majority of Western brides stopping short of having their kidneys removed to lose weight before the big day, some cultures actually find huskier women more attractive... and are prepared to go to disturbing lengths to put more junk in their women’s trunks. Enter the Mauritanian Fat Farms.

Fat Farms are sort of the opposite of Fat Camps – a place where brides as young as five are sent to gain weight under the watchful eyes of wrinkled old crones, in order to become more attractive and get married as soon as possible. In the practice known as Leblouh, the girls are force fed a truckload of food—which might include more than 4 pounds of millet and 5 gallons of camel milk a day—and if they vomit, the supervising hags force them to eat it up. Failure to comply is reportedly often met with torture. So OK, maybe those places are not that different from Fat Camps.

The sad part is, this practice has virtually disappeared until a couple of years ago when a military junta took over the country and reinstated it, probably hoping that fatter women will be easier to catch or something. Not like anyone would sleep with them otherwise, being a bunch of civilian-terrorizing assholes with grenade launchers.

1. No shitting
Practiced in: parts of Malaysia

There is nothing more beautiful than a wedding. It is after all the couple’s first day as two happily married people, surrounded by friends, flowers and fancy foods. But for the tribes of the Tidong community in northern Borneo, a wedding is the first day of a grueling journey to the deepest levels of Hell and back. It’s the day when the couple must stop pooping for 72 hours.

The Tidong tradition dictates that a newly married couple be confined to their house and not empty their bowels or urinate under any possible circumstances for the entirety of 3 nights and 3 days. That’s why they are often carefully watched over by family members and given very little food or water. The Tidong people believe that if the couple makes it, they will lead a happy and long life with lots of non-dead children, so the stakes are pretty high here.

When you think about it, there is a spark of genius in this practice. Nothing binds 2 people for life like going through difficult times together, and there is nothing more difficult than being denied to go to the bathroom for nearly half a week. When the 3 days are up, these people will be closer to each other than ever before, because they will no longer be just husband and wife... They will be poop buddies.

No shitting.

WeirdWorm

More unusual wedding customs at: http://traditionscustoms.com/wedding-traditions/strange-wedding-traditions

-----------------------------------
The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. We are a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and marketing skills. Check out thousands of cutting edge examples at our web site. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Sent via TVSpy's email servers. Visit TV Spy's Marketing Matters.

Graeme Newell
602 Communications
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(919) 217-4438
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter

Graeme Newell's Marketing Ideanet 6/21/2010

The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. We are a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and marketing skills. Check out thousands of cutting edge examples at our web site. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Sent via TVSpy's email servers. Visit TV Spy's Marketing Matters.

Graeme Newell
602 Communications
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(919) 217-4438
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter

In This Issue
TV's Dead-End Web Linking
Major Brands Plan Adaptation, Innovation to New Landscape
Platform, Not Content, is King
A New TV Ad Marketplace: Add $30 Bil?
Study Reveals Ratings Nonresponders Habits
Health Care a Major Topic for Left-Leaning Talkers
Cooper Stands Up for Gulf Residents
Larry King to Lead Star-Studded Gulf Fundraiser
ABC Nets Its Top NBA Telecast
Betty White Brings TVLand Record Ratings
Turkish Soaps Infiltrate Arab Culture
PBS Makes Progress on File-Based Delivery
Google to Unveil One-Click Payment System
Apple Unclear on Racy Apps Policy
Webbies Honor 'Father of the Internet'
Best Webby Speeches

Quotes

“Innovation is not the product of logical thought, although the result is tied to logical structure.”
- Albert Einstein

“Don't confuse the art of the possible with the art of the profitable.”
- David Tansley

"Leap and the net will appear."
- Zen Saying

TV's Dead-End Web Linking
by Graeme Newell
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
http://www.602communications.com
Twitter: gnewell
Facebook: facebook.com/gnewell

How can an encyclopedia be so damned entertaining? I am an avid user of Wikipedia but I have to be careful because looking up a simple definition can cause me to blow through a whole afternoon. Those little magical blue links take me on adventures I never planned to take. Wikipedia is the alpha standard for web linking. Each entry typically has dozens of links that allow the user to traipse through the world of information unfettered by form or structure. Each journey is as individual as the interest of the user.

This ability to link is one of the most valuable characteristics of sticky web sites. It just makes sense. The user has already shown interest in a topic and satisfying their need for related information is the best way to keep them on a site. One of the ways YouTube achieved its incredible popularity was by mastering linking. It uses sophisticated database techniques to showcase videos that the user finds irresistible. For example, check out "The World Series of Uno" on YouTube. An obscure entry, to be sure. The stickiness voodoo comes from the video list on the side. Using correlation science, YouTube has mathematically calculated the most irresistible videos for someone who is weird enough to watch a four minute video on Uno.

TV web sites rarely incorporate this kind of linking and typically ignore it altogether. Dead-ending readers is the norm. Most articles and videos are "one click and out." A great web site will take users on a meandering path with a long string of links that dig ever deeper into the site. The user will rarely return to a central navigation page. Their search will cross multiple content classes and have a curious structure. Just like an underground cave system, they just keep turning down another corridor, enjoying a fascinating odyssey with little worry about where they will end up.

Most TV web site journeys rarely go past three or four clicks. Far too many sites have a majority of visitors who stay for thirty seconds or less. People zip in, get the info and are off again. People come to the site for specific information, get what they need, then leave.

The problem is a lack of effective promotion on the page - a disregard of enticing links. On TV, we put promos inside of Oprah because the flow opportunities are very high. On web sites, most video content tends to be sorted by media type, not by related content. We put all the text content together. We put all the video clips together. Under the "video" tab you'll find sports, consumer news and drug killings, all right next to each other - three completely unrelated topics that torpedo the chance of linking.

Content should be sorted by demo usability not by media type. Your printed parenting stories should be right next to the parenting video clips, not banished to the "video" tab. Next to these clips should be related topics that appeal to women in their 30's and early 40's. For example, what-to-wear weather. These moms will need this information to send their kids outside. Next to that, stories on crackdowns at local daycare centers. Most television weather is dutifully exiled to the official weather page, never to be seen outside its licensed classification.

Look at this article from the Washington Post. It was created by someone with a newsprint mentality. They just slapped unlinked text on the website as an afterthought. There are no links in the body copy and no help finding related stories.

The problem is most TV web content creators follow the TV workflow when building pages. Just like a TV show, they put one story after another and expect readers to follow the same linear timeline TV has been serving up for years. The beauty of the web is its three-dimensionality. It defies the concept of time because every click has the potential of taking you instantly to any point on the globe. You can change topics on a dime. "Six degrees of separation" is reduced to a single click.

Here are some tips for increasing clickability:

1) Have tons of links inside the body of every article.
Writing the article is just the beginning. Every piece of web content should have many linkable friends. Set goals for your staff. Shoot for at least four or five links in every article.

2) Collect research links as you write.
Writers often say they don't have time to find all these links and include them in their web story. In most cases, there isn't a need to find a lot of new links, but simply to index the links you've already discovered while doing research on the piece. Use bookmark cataloging services like Delicious to keep track of the specific web site locations used to create the story. Remember, try to link to information on your own site as much as possible.

2) Use fewer linear tags to index your content.
Most tags follow strict content parameters. We sort the stories by subject, not by mindset - news, sports, health, consumer, gardening, etc. Add additional tags that speak to lifestyle, attitude and interests. For example: rebellion, hope, intolerance, sarcasm and comeuppance. Expand your list of tags to reflect human interest, not just efficient categorization.

3) Post-roll suggestions
If a viewer takes the time to watch the full duration of a video clip, they are probably fairly involved and ready for more. Make sure you have numerous suggestions for them as soon as the clip ends. Just as YouTube does, put links to related clips right inside the video window.

4) Use tag clouds to invite exploration.
Tag clouds show users other categories that might be of interest. They showcase links they might not have thought of on their own, and help them find related stories. They are a simple way to suggest related content on your site.

Graeme Newell is a broadcast and cable marketing consultant who specializes in relationship branding using core emotional drivers. He guarantees that his teasing seminar will immediately increase your news ratings or his workshop is free. Find out more here.

Major Brands Plan Adaptation, Innovation to New Landscape
Brand owners such as General Electric, Cisco and Microsoft are all adapting their global strategies in a bid to strengthen their positions during the economic recovery. General Electric, the conglomerate, is one firm that has tried to revolutionise major aspects of its portfolio in recognition of the seismic shifts that have resulted from the recession. "This economic crisis doesn't represent a cycle. It's an emotional, social, economic reset," Jeff Immelt, its chief executive, said. "The interaction between government and business will change forever. In a reset economy, the government will be a regulator and also an industry policy champion, a financier and key partner." While arguing the repercussions of the credit crunch amounted to the biggest "challenge of our lifetime," Immelt added that the opportunities have proved to be equally large. General Electric's Ecomagination program and its targeted approach to innovation in countries like India and China are just two examples of this trend. "I've told our leaders at GE that if they are frightened by this concept, they shouldn't be here," Immelt said. "But if they're energized and desire to play a part in transforming the company for the future, then this is going to be a thrilling time." Kate Robertson, UK group chairman of EuroRSCG, also suggested that acquiring an understanding of new media will be essential in engaging the 18–26 year old demographic. "Everything they address in the future, the good and the bad, is actually about a single world," she said. "Digital platforms make the sense of that possible for them and that is a completely different world. Digital platforms also offer them a chance to be heard in a way that's never been possible before." Microsoft, the IT company, is also seeking to roll out a variety of new products as it tries to tap in to the new realities of the market. "In my view, what we now have will be a fundamental economic reset," said Steve Ballmer, its chief executive. "America really has to return to growth that's built on innovation and productivity, rather than leverage and private debt. That must happen," said Ballmer.
WARC

Platform, Not Content, is King
A small segment of young consumers isn't ready to anoint content as king. The price of that content may actually be taking that crown, instead. Nielsen says some 4 million homes -- 6% of all non-cable TV homes -- haven't "cut the cord" because of backlash anger over cable companies. They haven't installed it in the first place. These viewers are young, 18- to 34-year-olds, in "emerging" homes. They are downscale or middle income, college-educated, some of ethnic background. All this make sense: Graduating college students would seem to continue their college habits in the real world, with real jobs. But these viewers bust the myth of their fellow consumers: Nielsen says they are surprisingly "light" TV and video consumers. Here's another busted myth: While viewing levels watching an average TV show are virtually consistent from the first to last minute, viewing levels for the average show streamed online drop substantially from first minute to last. I'm guessing you could attribute this to the short-attention-span, YouTube approach to things. About 2.5% of all video viewing among major demographics is online; that means TV still commands a big 97.5% share -- something isn't likely to change anytime soon. "Online really needs to grow to make a significant dent. There is a long way to go," said Jon Gibs, vice president of media analytics for The Nielsen Co., during a presentation at Nielsen's Consumer 360 conference in Las Vegas recently. Overall, this means people don't watch video the same way on their computers as they do with a live TV show, or with time-shifted viewing. Gibs says it means content isn't actually king, but the platform first -- then, content, a close second. Traditional TV still comes first because it's the best screen. But it is not always the most readily available. That would seemingly be your laptop, mobile phone, or iPad. We are pretty sure if content isn't quite king across all media platforms, it surely is the up-and-coming lieutenant -- perhaps one with a bad attitude -- looking to take the kingdom by storm if necessary. But what if some light-video-using young viewers grow in number, if not continue to shrug their shoulders?
MediaPost

A New TV Ad Marketplace: Add $30 Bil?
Now that the TV upfront is over, we can focus on the usual and the not-so-usual: This would be the scatter markets. More strangely, it would also include the absence of TV networks' typical high-flying bravado of years ago. That's because this season, there was a return of decent price increases in the upfront. The TV networks and programmers have quietly moved on to their next wave of ad business --- all with the hope of gaining perhaps more money in the coming quarterly markets. Long-term MediaPost columnist Dave Morgan believes there is a lot more money to come. With all that set-top box data, addressable advertising and coming performance-oriented sales capabilities, there is no reason the current $70 billion TV advertising market couldn't add another $30 billion to get to a big $100 billion total. Many media agencies have been clamoring for this valuable gold mine of data for years -- stuff that would significantly help their businesses, and, of course, those media sellers. None of this will come soon enough for TV networks, which still rely on pure supply-and-demand models of the marketplace to spike TV revenues. One wonders if these two projections aren't related; TV networks and programmers were somewhat conservative in their price hikes at a crucial time when advertising seems to be threatened by new digital platforms. TV executives aren't just thinking about the long term of coming TV season, but many seasons to come. Who would ruin the chance of raising the anger of big TV marketers, which might increase the pace in sending their money elsewhere? In recent years, a highly priced upfront market can be followed by a low-moving, usually lower-price scatter market. But if networks executives played their cards right this time, the dynamics maybe changing just a bit -- with some price increases happening in scatter as well. Maybe there are 30 billion reasons why.
MediaPost

Study Reveals Ratings Nonresponders Habits
A new study from the Council for Research Excellence gets to the heart of trust in TV ratings. Just who are those people who decline to participate in ratings? And if they did participate, would ratings change? The daunting task of getting nonresponders to step up was the goal of the CRE’s latest study, “Measuring the Unmeasured Television Viewer,” set to be released this week at the Advertising Research Foundation’s annual conference in New York. The study is long overdue—it’s been nearly 30 years since the last comprehensive study of nonresponders was conducted. Yet, every year research firms find it harder and harder—not to mention more expensive—to get people to participate in surveys. In the 1980s, more than 60 percent of people contacted would agree to cooperate. Now, response rates in the 40s are considered good. “This study revealed more about unmeasured viewers than any other effort,” said Ceril Shagrin, chair of the CRE nonresponse bias committee and evp of corporate research for Univision Communications. Getting nonresponders to respond to a nonresponse study is a conundrum. It took a year to collect data, a year to analyze, and it cost $2.1 million. The study of 2,300 nonresponders in metered markets and 9,000 nonresponders in diary markets dove into comparisons of how people watch TV, how they make program choices and their TV equipment. The study’s good news should elicit a sigh of relief from TV researchers. There is little evidence of bias in the ratings. That doesn’t mean that the conclusions have no practical value. “The more nonresponders that can be turned into responders, the greater the reliability of the ratings,” Shagrin said. One of the biggest findings was that noncooperators are more likely to have cable, DVRs, big screen TVs and more TVs. For those households that have high-end equipment, there may be more than a little trepidation about having Nielsen come in and wire up the equipment with meters. Noncooperators also do more unplanned viewing and are more likely to watch TV in groups. Noncooperators in metered markets spend less time listening to radio, but in diary markets, they spend less time at home and more time listening to the radio.
MediaWeek

Health Care a Major Topic for Left-Leaning Talkers
When scholars assess how the Democratic Congress managed to pass a landmark health care overhaul in 2010, they might assign a bit of the credit to liberal talk show hosts. A new study by the Project for Excellence in Journalism finds that health care was a “much bigger topic” for liberal hosts like Keith Olbermann and Ed Schultz than for conservative hosts like Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity. In a report to be released on Monday, the organization said it found that the liberal hosts spent 44 percent of their airtime talking about health care from June 2009 to March 2010, while conservative hosts spent 26 percent of their airtime on the subject. Similarly, the organization found that MSNBC, which leans left in prime time, devoted 32 percent of its news time to health care, while Fox News, which leans right in prime time, devoted 20 percent. The report also said that reporters and pundits more commonly echoed words used by opponents of the Democratic proposals than terms used by supporters. Notably, it found more than 2,500 media references to “death panels.”
Media Decoder

Cooper Stands Up for Gulf Residents
“There aren’t any small people here,” the CNN anchor Anderson Cooper said from Louisiana on his prime-time program Wednesday night, emphatically rejecting the remarks by BP’s chairman that the oil company cares “about the small people.” Mr. Cooper listed some of the local men and women who had been put out of work by BP’s gusher of oil under the Gulf of Mexico, and concluded, “This is a land of giants.” Some commentators dismissed Mr. Cooper’s unusual show-opener as shtick. But he has become one of the loudest media voices on behalf of gulf residents, reprising a role he played in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Mr. Cooper has spent more time in Louisiana — about 20 days — than any other national television anchor since the leak began. Evincing his frustration and his perseverance, he keeps a daily on-air tally of the number of days BP has ignored his interview requests. “I think there’s a basic lack of transparency in their dealings,” he of BP, in an interview. Mr. Cooper’s 10 p.m. program, “AC360,” and others like it have gained notice for trying to hold BP and the government accountable for the oil leak and the cleanup effort. As the crisis nears the two-month mark, there are signs that the news media are taking on a more adversarial role, just as they did after Hurricane Katrina and the widespread flooding of New Orleans. The oil spill gradually gained attention in late April and early May, and since then it has been the country’s dominant news story, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism, which tracks weekly news coverage. The coverage took a discernible and more aggressive turn last week as “questions about the effectiveness of the response by well owner BP and the government gained a larger share of attention,” the senior director for the project, Jon Morgan, wrote on its Web site.
NY Times

Larry King to Lead Star-Studded Gulf Fundraiser
Among the stars who will appear on an upcoming special show are Justin Bieber, Deepak Chopra, Cameron Diaz, Philippe Cousteau, Ted Danson, Kathy Griffin, Chelsea Handler, Randy Jackson, Kerry Kennedy, Sammy Kershaw, Lenny Kravitz, Jenny McCarthy, Tim McGraw, Alyssa Milano, Aaron Neville, Edward James Olmos, Victoria Principal, Robert Redford, Gloria Reuben, Tyson Ritter, Richard Simmons, Ian Somerhalder, Sam Trammell, Melania and Ivanka Trump and Pete Wentz, with a special performance by Sting. The show is the June 21 edition of CNN's "Larry King Live," which will be a special two-hour telethon called "Disaster In the Gulf: How You Can Help," a fundraiser from 8-10 p.m. ET, the network announced. The funds raised by the telethon will be distributed to United Way, The National Wildlife Federation and The Nature Conservancy, organizations working directly with the families, individuals and wildlife affected by the Gulf oil spill. Wendy Walker, senior executive producer of "Larry King Live," said in a statement, “The Gulf oil spill is a disaster both national and natural in scope, and the point of this effort is to get immediate relief to the people and wildlife who are in urgent need. The telethon’s proceeds go directly to the relief organizations who are working on the front lines to do just that.”
TV Week

ABC Nets Its Top NBA Telecast
ABC's coverage of Game 7 of the NBA Finals was the most-watched ever on the network and the best for the pro hoops league since 1998, during Michael Jordan's last game for the Chicago Bulls. ABC garnered a 15.6 rating and 28.2 million viewers with Game 7, according to Nielsen data, as the Los Angeles Lakers repeated as NBA champions, with an 83-79 over the Boston Celtics. The June 17 game, in which Kobe Bryant was named MVP and the Lakers captured their 16th title to move within one of the Celtics' league-best 17, was ABC's top telecast since it began airing The Finals in 2003. The previously alluded to Jazz-Bulls game on June 14, 1998 -- featuring Jordan's famous push-off against Bryon Russell before connecting on the game-winner -- dunked an NBA record 22.3 rating/ 38 share and some 35.9 million viewers for NBC, as Chicago completed its second three-peat. The 2010 Finals grew 26% in rating (10.6 versus 8.4) and viewers (18.1 million versus 14.4 million) versus LA's five-game triumph over Orlando in 2009. The seven-game series rose 45% in viewership (versus. 12.5 million) and 29% in rating (8.2) compared to the last full-length Finals, the San Antonio Spurs/Detroit Pistons in 2005. By way of comparison, Bulls-Jazz in 1998 was the NBA's best, with an 18.7 rating over six games.
MultiChannel

Betty White Brings TVLand Record Ratings
TVLand's premiere on Wednesday night, June 16th of "Hot in Cleveland," only drew a mixed response from TV critics, but the viewing public is clear in their chant of loving everything Betty White these days. Almost 5 million viewers tuned in, making it the most-viewed, highest rated show in TVLand history. The demo breakdown for the show was of interest: In TVLand's core 25-49 year-old audience, 2 million viewers watched, somewhat more than half of those (1.3 million) being women. In adults 18-49 years old, 1.6 million viewers tuned in. Besides White, the other stars of the show are Valerie Bertinelli, Jane Leeves and Wendie Malick.
TV Week

Turkish Soaps Infiltrate Arab Culture
Led by “Gumus” (“Noor” in Arabic), a wave of Turkish melodramas, police procedurals and conspiracy thrillers are making their way onto Arab televisions, wielding a kind of soft power. Through the small screen, Turkey has begun to exercise a big influence at Arab dinner tables, in boardrooms and bedrooms from Morocco to Iraq of a sort that the United States can only dream about. Turkey’s cultural exports, not coincidentally, have also advanced its political ambitions as it asserts itself on that front, too, sending a flotilla to Gaza, defying the United States over sanctions on Iran, talking tough to its onetime ally, Israel, and giving Kemal Ataturk’s constitutionally secular state an Islamic tinge. Politics and culture go hand in hand, here as elsewhere. If most Arabs watch Turkish shows to ogle beautiful people in exotic locales, Arab women have also made clear their particular admiration for the rags-to-riches story of the title character in “Noor,” a strong, business-savvy woman with a doting husband named Muhannad. Dr. Shafira Alghamdi, a Saudi pediatrician, was on vacation here the other day, shopping with two Saudi friends, and volunteered how Arab husbands often ignore their wives, while on “Noor,” within what remains to Arabs a familiar context of arranged marriages, respect for elders and big families living together, Noor and Muhannad openly love and admire each other. “A lot of Saudi men have gotten seriously jealous of Muhannad because their wives say, ‘Why can’t you be more like him?’ Dr. Alghamdi said. Meanwhile, she was illustrating another consequence of the show: the sudden, spectacular boom in Arab tourism to Turkey. Millions of Arabs now flock here. Turkish Airlines has started direct flights to gulf countries (using soap stars as spokespeople). Sina Kologlu, the television critic for Milliyet, a Turkish daily, phrased it “U.S. cultural imperialism is finished. Years ago we took reruns of ‘Dallas’ and ‘The Young and the Restless.’ Now Turkish screenwriters have learned to adapt these shows to local themes with Muslim storylines, Turkish production values have improved, and Asians and Eastern Europeans are buying Turkish series, not American or Brazilian or Mexican ones. They get the same cheating and the children out of wedlock and the incestuous affairs but with a Turkish sauce on top.”
NY Times

PBS Makes Progress on File-Based Delivery
Set-top software vendors are winning fresh business as cable operators start to speed up their deployment of Tru2way, the Cable- Labs-developed software specification that allows programmers and operators to deliver standardized interactive applications to a range of digital cable devices. PBS' multi-year effort to create a new transmission system that delivers programming to public TV stations as compressed digital files may finally be coming to fruition, after delays due to lapses in federal funding, management changes and technology hurdles. PBS has already installed "catch servers" for its Next Generation Interconnection System-Non-Real-Time Program File Delivery Project (NGIS-NRT) at 15 stations for "alpha" testing, and if beta testing is successful this fall, it could begin a phased rollout to some 180 licensees by year-end. The NRT system is the second phase of NGIS, a federally funded, 10-year, $120 million initiative to overhaul the transmission infrastructure that PBS, along with American Public Television (APT) and the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA), uses to deliver about 200 hours of programming each week to public TV stations. The first phase of NGIS, which replaced satellite receivers at stations and shifted linear feeds to a new SES satellite (AMC-21), was completed through 2007 and 2008. Since only about 25% of PBS programming consists of live feeds that are "passed through" and broadcast locally at the same time, PBS is seeking a more efficient way to deliver content that will be recorded, stored and played at a later date. PBS eventually wants to take advantage of MPEG-4 compression to significantly cut down on its satellite bandwidth, and the catch servers would need to transcode MPEG-4 files to MPEG-2 to work with legacy servers.
Broadcasting & Cable

Google to Unveil One-Click Payment System
On Thursday, word seemed to quietly leak out, in Italian no less, that Google would soon unveil a one-click payment system for content called “Newspass.” According to the newspaper La Repubblica, Google, a brand built on free apps for consumers, is creating the infrastructure for a system that would allow publishers to charge readers for content. “Later this year, Google will launch an integrated payment system that will allow users to buy (news content) with one click and publishers to use a single infrastructure for web, mobile and tablet to monetize their content,” the article suggested. So has Google, sometimes vilified as “tech tapeworms in the intestines of the Internet” for allegedly free-riding on publisher’s handiwork, suddenly decided to mend their ways? And if there has been some big change of heart, is the company now implementing some secret plan to become the toll keeper of a new paid news ecosystem? And even if it is, is it that big of a deal, anyway? No, not really, and we’ll see. As reported by the Italian newspaper, under the plan, consumers will have a single log-in across different content sites that would be flexible enough to accommodate various kinds of payments, including long-term subscriptions and one-time micropayments. As explained, people who surf for content behind a pay wall will see a single icon next to it and be able to one-click pay for access, similar to Google Checkout. Even though some of the details are new, there has been nothing secret about these plans. Google has been saying for years that they have both civic and self-interest in making sure that there is a well-funded flow of reliable news and within the last year, they have committed over and over to helping publishers make that happen, including helping them get paid for their content if that is the road they choose.
Media Decoder

Apple Unclear on Racy Apps Policy
After a winter purge in which it rid its iTunes store of apps with sexual or other material deemed racy, is Apple lightening up? Given Apple’s supposed nudity ban, some were surprised to see the June iPhone/iPad version of GQ ($4.99 per issue) with cover model Miranda Kerr dressed down to her stockings and a deep tan. Cosmopolitan has a saucy Sex Position of the Day ($1.99), with step-by-step instructions and colorful illustrations. Apple also is cool with Sports Illustrated’s Swimsuit app, updated in May, with little more than videos of its models. Additionally, there are many other apps offering sex advice and photos of scantily clad women. Yet Apple has rejected other relationship service, gay culture and political content, fueling charges that it’s applying a double standard to its app offerings. (Playboy has an app, but it’s a nudity-free preview of the magazine.) “It’s a form of censorship, and having to have Apple approve your content is kind of concerning,” said Joe Landry, svp, group publisher of Here Media, a publisher of gay-themed media. “It is a challenge to understand where the line gets drawn from a content standpoint,” added Jeanniey Mullen, global evp and CMO of digital publishing platform Zinio. When full replicas of Playboy and Penthouse can be read on a PC but not on the iPad, she explained, “It is confusing to consumers.” A request for comment from Apple was not returned by deadline.
MediaWeek

Webbies Honor 'Father of the Internet'
"You ain't seen nothing yet." It's the five-word speech that both captured and wrapped up the awesomeness of the geek-meets-chic week otherwise known as Internet Week New York, a creative synthesis of panels, conferences, launches, and cocktail schmoozers that doesn't get much mainstream mention, but perhaps as those five words predict, soon will. Internet Week, now in its third year, came to a close Monday night at Cipriani's on Wall Street with a decently star-studded celebration of the very best and brightest behind the online world at the annual Webby Awards. Hosted by funnyman BJ Novak (The Office), the Webbys, now in its fourteenth year, was like a watered-down version of the MTV Movie Awards. There's no competition for attention among the honorees that make certain Hollywood award ceremonies the circus acts we see today. Instead, there's a sort of joie de vivre, an inspiring burst of intellectual excitement, that triumphed around the room among the hundreds of brilliantly creative minds seated at table after table. With a Twitteresque tinge to it, winners are allowed just five words for acceptance speeches, and style points seem to be awarded for the overtly silly or salacious. The five word cliché that started this article? Those words were the acceptance speech of the man who made it possible for you to connect to this site and read this piece, and, for the most part these days, do just about everything else your life entails, whether directly or indirectly. You might not know Vinton Cerf if you saw him on the street, but at the very least, you owe him some gesture of gratitude. Widely considered the "Father of the Internet," Cerf took this year's Lifetime Achievement honors, and deservedly so. Of course, if Cerf's speech holds true, then the Webbys should one day be as prominent as the Oscars, Grammys, Tonys, and Golden Globes. And Internet Week, at that point, should be one of the hottest tickets in the world. This year nearly 200 events were held. "The success of the week is really just a reflection of how much energy and enthusiasm there is for this industry, and how that's grown in the last year," said Davies. "It is really exploding." And apparently, somehow, that explosion is just a byte of what's to come. Complete list here: http://www.webbyawards.com/press/speeches.php
WCBS

Best Webby Speeches
At last night’s Webby Awards, where a five-word acceptance speech is the only barrier between the winners and a room full of scoffs and harsh judgment from peers, the offerings turned out to be a tad disappointing. Last year, Jimmy Fallon’s “Thank God, Conan got promoted” was honest, self-deprecating, and personal, without being an inside joke that no one could understand. In other words, everything a five-worder should be.

This year, however, contained a number of offenses. First, you had the cheaters (BBDO – “Please visit bbdoacceptancespeech.com”), followed by the overtly commercial (NYTimes.com – “All the news that’s fit.”), and worst of all, the downright boring (BBC News’ “About to become even better.”). Groan.

Others chose to use their five words for a cause. OK Go went with “Fight for net neutrality now,” while Isabella Rossellini, accepting for Green Porno, took on the oil spill (and if you have that kind of filthy mind, a nod to her series): “I say, plug the hole.” Alrighty then! If I were giving out awards for last night’s speeches, here’s how it’d go down:

WTF AWARD
Buzz Aldrin – “Humanity. Colonization. Phobos. Monolith. Mars!”

BEST USE OF NOSTALGIA
Pandora – “Didn’t kill the radio star”

THEY’RE PROBABLY TOTALLY SINCERE AWARD
CNET.com – “Found iPhone 5? Call CNet.”

HE’S POSSIBLY NOT TOTALLY SINCERE? AWARD
Selleckwaterfallsandwich.tumblr.com – “Mom, I’m not on drugs.”

BURRRRRN AWARD
Arianna Huffington – “Goldman Sachs shorted my speech.”

BEST (AND ONLY) USE OF THE WORDS “DANCE PARTY”
Amy Poehler – “Me. You. P.S.22. Dance party.”

BEST CROWD PLEASER (tie)
Robert Scheer from Truthdig.com – “Wall Street: What f—king thieves.”
Roger Ebert – “Veni, vidi, vici.” (Yes, he’s so awesome, he only needed three words.)

SPECIAL AWARD – THE BUZZY
Jake and Amir from collegehumor.com – “Holy f—ing s–t, Buzz Aldrin!”

EW Popwatch

-------------------------------
The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. We are a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and marketing skills. Check out thousands of cutting edge examples at our web site. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Sent via TVSpy's email servers. Visit TV Spy's Marketing Matters.

Graeme Newell
602 Communications
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(919) 217-4438
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter

Graeme Newell's Marketing Ideanet 6/17/2010

602communications.com/VideoExamples

Share your creative work with your promo peers on the 602communications.com site. Just email it to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Flash (.flv) or QuickTime (.mov) files, size 320 x 240, are preferred, but WindowsMedia (.wmv) files will also be accepted. Large files may be sent via http://www.yousendit.com. You can also mail your clip a DVD to Graeme Newell at 1011 Lyndhurst Falls Lane, Knightdale, NC 27545.

RTDNA Announces Murrow Award Winners
The Radio-Television Digital News Association's 2010 National Edward R. Murrow Awards for excellence in electronic journalism were pretty evenly distributed among cable and broadcast networks and TV stations, though online was dominated by The AP and newspapers. In all, 59 news organizations received 89 awards. NBC News won for overall excellence in the network category. It also picked up awards for best breaking news coverage, best hard news reporting and best newscast. CBS picked up four awards as well for video feature reporting, documentary, news series, and investigative reporting. ABC collected one award for continuing coverage and co-owned ESPN another for sport reporting. CNN took home one award, for best TV network Web site, MSNBC won for best writing and Global TV for best use of video. On the station side, KHOU had already been named best overall large-market station but picked up another for best documentary. KARE-TV Minneapolis was also a double winner, for feature reporting and best newscast. The other large market awards were pretty well distributed geographically, from best breaking news coverage for WJLA-TV Washington to investigative reporting for KMGH-TV Denver to continuing coverage for WXIA-TV/WATL-TV Atlanta. In the online coverage category, AP swept the national awards with "bests" in continuing coverage, feature reporting, hard news, investigative, documentary and news series. Click here for a complete list of the winners.
Multichannel

POTUS Speech Down in Viewership
One in five households with television sets watched President Obama’s Oval Office address about the Gulf oil spill disaster on Tuesday night, according to The Nielsen Company. An average of 24 million households and 32 million people tuned in to the almost-20-minute address, according to Nielsen, which only counts at-home viewing. Only a handful of telecasts – the Super Bowl, the Academy Awards, the finale of “American Idol” – can garner more viewers than a presidential address in prime time. But the Tuesday night ratings hint at some fatigue among Americans, either toward President Obama or toward the oil spill. Mr. Obama’s last speech in prime time, the State of the Union last January, had an average of 48 million viewers, and attracted nearly 30 percent of the households with TV sets. His prime time speech about the war in Afghanistan the prior month had an average of 41 million viewers and about 26 percent of those households. The Nielsen average for Tuesday combines the viewers across the 11 channels that carried the presidential address.
Media Decoder

World Cup Opener Draws 80% Gains for ABC, ESPN
Despite a dearth of balls hitting the back of the net, ESPN and ABC rang up large gains with its opening weekend coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup from South Africa. Through the first eight matches from June 11-13, The Walt Disney Co. networks averaged 3 million households and nearly 4.25 million viewers, gains of 75% and 80%, respectively, from the similar span of the 2006 World Cup from Germany, which averaged 1.72 million households and 2.36 million watchers, according to Nielsen data. (The ratings and viewership numbers are based on the two-hour match windows and exclude the half-hour pre-match studio coverage.) The Nielsen results received a significant boost from ABC's June 12 telecast of the U.S.-England draw, which scored with a 7.3 national rating and just under 13 million viewers, the most for a men's national team match since 1994. By way of comparison, the U.S. team's first match in the 2006 World Cup -- a 3-0 throttling at the head and feet of the Czech Republic -- drew a 2.4 rating on ESPN2. As for digital media, nearly 1.3 million viewers viewed live and encore World Cup matches on broadband service ESPN3.com over the first three days of the tournament, generating 73.6 million minutes of viewing (almost an hour per viewer). The number of minutes viewed in the opening three days is almost as many as ESPN3.com had for the entire month of June 2009, according to officials at the sports programmer. World Cup content on ESPN.com -- including ESPN Soccernet.com and ESPN Deportes.com -- delivered 13.2 million visits and 47.4 million page views, with users spending an average of 10 minutes per visit engaging with World Cup content. ESPN.com's home page, which prominently featured World Cup news, video and scores, saw 27.7 million visits and 60.9 million page views from Friday through Sunday. Almost 1.3 million video views came from World Cup highlights, news and analysis content on ESPN.com. ESPN's mobile offerings -- ESPN Mobile Web, ESPN 2010 FIFA World Cup App, ESPN ScoreCenter App -- scored 11.7 million visits and 70.3 million page views to World Cup content. Moreover, the mobile platforms yielded 761,000 video views in those days.
MultiChannel

Cable Finds Tweet Success Social Sites
For the premiere of its original movie Meet My Mom, Hallmark Channel gave viewers control of its Facebook site, adding a wall of user-generated video. The so-called “V-Wall” allowed its users to curate and publish videos, photos and notes through tabs on Facebook to celebrate moms and military families leading up to and following the movie’s airing on Mother’s Day weekend. (It was later repurposed to connect pet lovers in time for launch of the May original movie, You Lucky Dog.) “With the Mom effort, we took in about 1,000 tributes; we watched our Facebook fans grow by 12,000,” said Pam Slay, senior vice president of network program publicity for Hallmark Channels. Most of the biggest cable networks are going social, drawing Twitter followers and Facebook fans in the thousands. Almost every network large and small is a robust player in this platform with the shows, the stars — and even some characters — joining in on the multiplatform conversation. Oxygen.com, for one, allows fans to chat with stars before, during and after the airing of a show, in real time. And smaller networks such as Logo, TV One and Hallmark Channel are pumping up the volume. “It actually drove our parent company’s core [greeting card] business, because people were saying, ‘Don’t forget to get something for your mom,’ ” said Hallmark’s Slay. Cable operators are also using social networks to better listen to customer needs and market new services, said Alexander Dudley, vice president of public relations for Time Warner Cable. And hardware makers are on the case, too. Motorola is working on technology that would allow viewers to start an on-TV-screen chat session with others watching the same show. “At its core, we see social media as how we can connect and interact and talk to our consumers,” said Tricia Melton, senior vice president of entertainment marketing for TBS, TNT and Turner Classic Movies, who will oversee the social outreach efforts for 11 shows scheduled to air this summer. And plenty of advertisers are interested in what programmers are doing in the social space. “It’s no longer just about eyeballs, because through social media, you really want to get your users or fans really engaged around your brand — and ideally to the advertiser’s messages as well,” said Bravo senior vice president of digital media Lisa Hsia.
MultiChannel

Syfy Covers All Promo Bases for WH13
Syfy is putting marketing moxie behind Warehouse 13, setting the tone for its summer slate. "This is our most successful show, and we think it can even get a little big bigger," senior VP of brand and strategic marketing Blake Callaway said of the dramedy that in its first season averaged 4.1 million total viewers, 2.1 million adults ages 25-54 and a 2.9 household rating, based on Nielsen live plus seven days' data. Syfy has five new and returning shows launching over two weeks in July, and is pouring promotion dollars behind Warehouse 13 to start them off with a bang. For season one of WH13, Syfy did some small, attention-getting promotions, including eye-catching tags on objects at flea markets that drove viewers to Syfy.com. The connection: Warehouse 13 is centered on a huge storage facility with thousands of paranormally powered objects. This summer, Warehouse 13 will be advertised in summer blockbuster films and backing outdoor media in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Detroit, Syfy will promote the show in more than 1,300 fast-food restaurants like Carl's Jr., KFC and Wendy's. Syfy's taken on the challenge of doing "tweecaps" -- episode summaries of 140 characters or less -- on Twitter. In every episode, a symbol of the astrological calendar will be hidden or referenced, driving viewers to Syfy.com's Warehouse 13 site to point out where they spotted that week's symbol. Callaway said that will be a way to track viewer response through the summer. Syfy.com's WH13 site will have new games such as an "Agent Profile Center," where users can create their own agent profiles; it's also available as an iPhone App. WH13 will be seen on YouTube, Facebook, Meebo, and Takeover Yahoo! Messenger, along with custom content (including video embedding and season pass recaps) created for digital distribution partners from iTunes, XBox 360, Zune, Amazon.com, Hulu, IMDb and Sony Play Station. "This time, we decided drive a big truck up the middle and get all our bases covered," Callaway said.
MultiChannel

MSNBC, CNBC Sites See Record Traffic
A pair of NBC Universal digital properties both enjoyed record traffic surges this past May, driven in part by interest in the BP oil spill and the volatile stock market. First off, MSNBC.com—a joint venture between NBCU and Microsoft—delivered a record 154 million total video streams in May, a healthy surge a 59 percent versus last year. That up tick in video usage occurred as many users logged on to view news clips tracking the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as well as numerous Today show videos and the new daily recap show Today in 2 Minutes. Meanwhile, CNBC.com reached an audience zenith in May as well; per comScore, the site attracted over six million unique visitors for the first time who generated 326 million page views, also a record. Those figures are miles from just a few years ago, when CNBC.com struggled to reach 1.5 million unique users (according to Nielsen Online). CNBC.com’s reach boost was driven in part by Wall Street’s May 6, meltdown, which resulted in the site’s biggest traffic hour ever. The same can be said for CNBC’s mobile, which saw its page views soar by 154 percent at the 3:00 p.m. EST hour that day. Overall, CNBC’s mobile traffic generated a record 100 million page views in May, including both its mobile Web site and iPhone App.
MediaWeek

Al-Jazeera Expands US Presence Via New Media
Frustrated by its continuing inability to crack the American television market, Al-Jazeera English's new strategy is to make itself available for free on every other possible screen. The Qatar-based news network said its 24-hour newscast has been streamed over the Internet for 18 months. The company said it will expand its presence on various smart phones, is launching an iPad application and is aggressively distributing content through Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. The network also says that its "Initiative for Internet Freedom" takes a stance against pay walls being put in place for any of its news content. "We feel our news and programming is a public resource that should be distributed to as many people as possible," said Tony Burman, the network's managing director. Burman said Al-Jazeera English hasn't given up on increasing its television distribution, and sees some encouraging signs. But he said the changing media world, where people seek information in other places, makes that resistance less important every day. Since its launch as the English-language offshoot of the Arabic Al-Jazeera Network, AJE has found it virtually impossible to win a space on an American cable or satellite system. It is currently available only on cable systems in Washington, in Toledo, Ohio, and in Burlington, Vt. Some individual AJE newscasts are shown through Link TV on the DirecTV and DISH Network satellite systems. Burman blamed a "very aggressive hostility" toward Al-Jazeera from the Bush administration for making cable and satellite companies reluctant to show the network. He said the Obama administration seems more willing to deal with the network since it has taken office and hopes there could soon be a change in heart among providers. The network's executives hope the wide availability of AJE on other platforms will show cable systems that there is interest in the programming. During the three months that Al-Jazeera English has streamed its programming on the iPhone and iPod Touch devices, one-third of the times they were viewed was in the United States, the network said. Similarly, one-third of the times network programming was posted on YouTube it was from within the U.S.
Yahoo News

News Corp. Unveils Digital Deals
News Corp. unveiled two digital media deals on Monday as it continues to push for business models that allow it to make money of its news content on digital platforms. The company said it has acquired Skiff LLC, Hearst Corporation's e-reading platform that allows delivery of premium journalism to tablets, smartphones, e-readers and netbooks. The conglomerate also unveiled an investment in Journalism Online LLC, a venture dedicated to enabling news providers to collect revenue from their online readership. "Today's developments underscore News Corporation's ongoing commitment to create strong business models that support journalism at a time of great change in our industry," said chief digital officer Jon Miller. "Both Skiff and Journalism Online serve as key building blocks in our strategy to transform the publishing industry and ensure consumers will have continued access to the highest quality journalism." News Corp. didn't disclose the financial terms of the two transactions.
Hollywood Reporter

BSkyB Shares Up As It Rejects News Corp Offer
Shares in BSkyB soared Tuesday (June 15), trading up over to 715 pence ($10.54) per share after the satcaster rejected News Corp's 700 pence ($10.32) per share takeover offer as "undervalued," and suggested that it would hold out for an offer somewhere north of 800 pence ($11.80) News Corp's bid for the 61% of the satcaster it does not already own, values the British sport and movies giant at £7.8 billion ($11.5 billion). The deal would allow News Corp. boss Rupert Murdoch to consolidate cashflow from the hugely cash-generative British pay TV giant into News Corp. to perhaps fund further acquisitions. The long-mooted deal has also crystallized as a genuine possibility at a time when the value of sterling is low and when a new right-of-center British political administration may be much more minded to favor the deal than its predecessors. Regulatory oversight is still expected to take over a year. A deal would also complete the Murdoch family's perhaps sentimental desire to retake control of the satcaster that Rupert Murdoch launched 25 years ago, a financial gamble which at the time almost brought News Corp. to its knees. In subsequent years BSkyB has made huge investment in its platform, in the range and platforms on which viewers can access its content and in being the first to launch new technical propositions such as Internet access, DVR facilities, HD and 3D services.
Hollywood Reporter

Hulu Launches Ad Personalization Tool
Hulu has started asking viewers directly whether the ads they receive are relevant. The video powerhouse has rolled out a new ad personalization tool called Ad Tailor, aimed at improving the relevance of video ads on the site by solliciting users feedback. Specifically, as ads are playing on Hulu, users are now presented with an icon in the upper right hand corner the site’s revamped video player which reads “Is this ad relevant to you?” Viewers can click either yes or no (previously they could click thumbs up or thumbs down). Over time, Hulu says it will use such feedback to show users different, more relevant ads. Also toward that end, Hulu said that it plans to occasionally serve short surveys—consisting of one or a couple of questions relating to that ad. Users who opt to answer more questions will be able to watch some more content on the site without any ads.
MediaWeek

Web Ad Spending to Surge, eMarketer Predicts
The online ad market is ascendant once again. Online advertising spending will surge by 10.8 percent in 2010 to $25.1 billion, according to a new report released by the digital researcher eMarketer. That double-digit growth prediction would seem to provide a clear sign that the market has bounced back from a rough 2009, during which eMarketer tracked nearly a five percent spending decline. In fact, the 10.8 figure is nearly double eMarketer’s previous spend growth estimate of 5.5 percent. The faster than expected growth in the U.S. economy, along with a demonstrated willingness by businesses to increase spending in Q1 both contributed to the revised estimate, says the report. Interestingly, considering the ever increasing array of choices for digital media buyers—including ad exchanges and networks—the Web’s biggest portals and search engines still dominate. eMarketer predicts that Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and AOL will garner 58.5 percent of U.S. Online ad spending in 2010. The lion’s share of dollars should once again go to Google, according to the report. Google’s revenues rose 21 percent in Q1, providing a clear sign that the market was on the way up, given Google’s prominence. Per the report, 49.3 percent of all online dollars are allocated to search advertising, far and away Google’s core business. Search will continue to command the largest percentage of new dollars coming online over the next few years, according to the report. The next hottest category? Online video advertising, which eMarketer predicts will account for a third of the $13.6 billion-plus incremental dollars that enter the online ad market from 2010 through 2014.
MediaWeek

Half Of Shoppers Watch TV Before Going To Store: Study
Almost half (48%) of shoppers were watching TV in the hour (42 minutes, to be exact) before going shopping. That is according further findings from a study by the Council For Research Excellence. The study was actually released in 2008, but CRE released what it called further data "mined" from that Video Consumer Mapping (VCM) study conducted by Ball State University. Not surprisingly, once they got to the store, most shoppers were concentrated on the business at hand. Only 17% were on their mobile phones, only 16% viewed live TV and only 7% viewed some other type of video while in the stores. CRE recognizes that those figures are a bit long in the tooth: "[T]hese particular findings would need to be balanced today against the significant advances in mobile-phone technology since the study's completion." Among the other newly extracted findings, most (86%) consume media with their meals and 62% while they are preparing them. According to the study, a lot of those meals are single portions. More than two thirds (69%) of TV viewing is solitary.
MultiChannel

Message From Michael
ILLEGITIMI NON CARBORUNDUM: That’s more or less what the rest of the world had to say when it came to the Internet. Because basically to get from Point A to Point B on the Internet, you needed to know Latin. Okay, not really, but sort of. All domain names are Latin – meaning basically English or European. So, for example, the citizen journalism site OhMyNews (which recently celebrated its 10th Birthday) has a dot-com extension, even though the site itself is in Korean. (There is an excellent English version.) The group that oversees all domain names, ICANN, (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), has approved the first set of Internationalized Domain names (IDN), which means that soon we will see domain names in Arabic, Russian, Chinese and Indian languages. Think that’s not such a big deal? Well, the folks at ICANN say it is the “biggest technical change” to the Internet since its birth 40 years ago. Why? Think of this. In India, for example, only ten percent of that country’s Billion-plus population speaks English – one of the reasons given for the low Internet penetration there. The addition of IDN has just added nearly a Billion more potential users in India alone. Add in all the Arabic, Mandarin, Hindi, Russian non-English users and… you get the picture. Now, for perspective, there is some concern that the IDN’s, because of translation issues, will add even more confusion to the online world and make scams and phishing expeditions even more possible. And, just because I wonder about such things, the ICANN policy board is made up of 18 members, 11 of whom are from the U-S-A. BTW, if you go to the ICANN website, it is available in six languages; five others, including Italian and Portuguese, are on the language bar but for some reason are grayed out and not accessible.

IGNORANCE IS BLISS. The vast majority of Americans (91%) are satisfied with their broadband speed and a significant majority (71%) believe that they are getting the broadband speed their provider is promising either “always” or “most of the time,” according to a survey by the Federal Communication Commission. Now, those figures would be interesting enough on their own, but what makes them particularly interesting is another figure from the survey – 80% don’t even know what their broadband speed is. (Ergo – my headline.) The survey is part of the federal government’s effort to develop a national Broadband plan. So, what next? Well, for starters, the FCC is offering consumers a way to test their Internet speed from their website http://www.broadband.gov. But to do so, you must fill out a form, explaining whether you are accessing from your home or business, what size is the business and what is the actual specific street address. Harmless enough, as the CommLawBlog from the telecommunications law firm of Fletcher, Heald and Hildreth notes. Except that when you read the fine print, the firm says, there are eight instances in which the FCC can disclose the information you provide – none of which require a warrant or subpoena but which cover a very broad legal ground. And, of course, as most message readers know, there are a dozen or more ways to test your Internet speed. None of which requires any disclosure of information. But it gets better. Despite the recent controversy about privacy, the FCC is looking for 10,000 volunteers willing to put a box in their home so the federal government can monitor “every bit and byte of their home Web use,” as MIT’s Technology Review puts it, with the additional commentary about what an “audacious” request that is. And it keeps getting better. The box? It’s called “Sam Knows Whitebox.” As the CommLawBlog author notes, “we couldn’t make this stuff up.” BTW, if you’re interested, the FCC volunteer-seeking website is https://www.testmyisp.com.

SIDENOTE – PERSPECTIVE: Some facts and figures to put this in perspective. Two-thirds of the U.S. homes (63.5%) have Broadband, according to Nielsen’s latest three-screen report. That’s up 24% from a year ago (60.7%), and is nearly double the DVR penetration (36.6%). And while still considerably ahead of HDTV penetration (52.7%), HDTV growth is much faster – a nearly 189% increase since last year. America ranks 28th in Broadband speed worldwide, according to broadband research firm Ookla’s NetIndex.com website. The average speed of 10.02 Mbps though is well ahead of the average worldwide speed of 7.68. But it is a third that of world leader South Korea (33.76 Mbps) and half that of Japan (20.44 Mbps) and Sweden (20.17 Mbps). Of course, it should be noted, as broadband providers in the U.S. are quick to point out, most of the countries with higher speeds are much smaller. Equally large Russia, for example is ranked 27th (at 10.14 Mbps) just barely ahead of the U.S. Massive China ranks 72nd (3.54 Mbps) and not-quite-so-massive India ranks 127th (1.38 Mbps).

Okay, I know I bombard people with too many numbers some times in the message, but one more set of figures to add perspective. According to the Akamai State of the Internet report, the U.S. ranks 22nd in average “connection speed” with a lowly 3.8 Mbps. South Korea is still tops but with a much lower 11.7 Mbps average speed, and the average connection speed worldwide is only 1.7 Mbps, according to Akamai, which of course is only testing its Internet connections. On another measurement scale, the U.S. ranks much higher with more unique IP addresses than any place in the world (125 Million).

FOOTNOTE: A group of powerful tech and media companies have formed a coalition they call the Broadband Internet Technical Advisory Group. And when we say powerful… well, here are some of the members: Google, Microsoft, Cisco, Comcast, TimeWarner, Intel, EchoStar and Verizon. The stated purpose is to develop broadband management techniques and deal with technical issues that “can affect Internet users’ experience.” Not to be outdone, the FCC has created its own select group of invitation-only broadband engineers to a brainstorming session later this month on how to use broadcast spectrum for broadband service.

YOU TALK TOO MUCH. At least that’s what AT&T has said to some users, instituting a tiered payment system for iPhone users based on how much data they think they will use. This is somewhat similar to the plan AT&T and Comcast both have toyed with, to cap bandwidth users. But so far, no howls of indignation about the IPhone plan. Even Consumer Reports gave the plan its blessing (sort of), noting that only four percent of IPhone users consumer more than a gigabyte of data month. But, observers note that as the data-chomping iPad begins eating up more bandwidth, the tune may change. And that’s only the start of it. Internet equipment and backbone supplier Cisco says Internet traffic will quadruple by the year 2014. The company projects traffic of 64 Exabytes of data per month by then, most of it (91%, to be exact) video. But better than the data and numbers supplied by the company are the factoids – and you know, how I love factoids. The company says that by 2014 it would take more than two years to watch all the video crossing the Global IP network… in just in one second. To watch ALL the video crossing IP networks that year would take 72 Million years. Internet provider Akamai has its own version of web traffic monitoring on its State of the Internet website which, when I checked it, showed that there were 346,000 people listening to music at that very minute worldwide, another 3,352,000 people worldwide shopping (or at least visiting retail sites); and news sites (as defined by Akamai) were averaging more than 5,712,000 visitors a minute worldwide.

YOU WORRY ME TO DEATH. That’s the next line in the Clarence Carter song (did anybody catch it?). And the growth in the Internet has many people worried because, for one thing, along with that increased usage comes an increase in “attack traffic”, according to Akamai’s State of the Internet report for the fourth quarter of 2009 (the latest I could find.) As in previous reports, Russia remains the “top attack traffic source” accounting for more than one in ten (13%) attacks worldwide. The U.S. made it back to second place, ahead of China and Brazil. But what was particularly interesting was the increase in unique IP addresses connecting to Akamai’s network – 4.7% from the third quarter of 2009 to fourth quarter 2009, 16% from the same period in 2008, but up 54% from two years before. Interesting because it corresponds to a report from global marketing research firm IDC which warns of a coming logjam because of a lack of a lack of IP addresses. The firm says there are already more than 10 BILLION “non-PC” devices connected to the Internet right now, and that number is expected to double to 20 Billion by 2014. The key point being ‘non-pc’, as in not your computer, but the decoder at your station, the printer at your newspaper, the audio board at your radio station. As Marketing Vox put it, the shortage of IP addresses is this decade’s version of the Millennium Bug. The solution is for businesses to switch from Internet Protocol Version 4 (Ipv4) to Ipv6, but while the behemoths of the business (Google, YouTube, etc) are aware of this, many content providers are not.

CHICKEN LITTLE MAY HAVE BEEN RIGHT. The sky is falling. It’s official. The Pentagon says so. The problem is that there is so much space junk (old rockets, abandoned satellites and missile shrapnel) and so many satellites that there is a logjam in space. In an article in The Washington Post, Indian rocket scientist Bharath Gopalaswamy estimates there are 370,000 ‘pieces of junk’ in low orbit, flying around with 1,100 satellites. The recent report of a drifting satellite threatening other satellites is peanuts compared to an incident three years ago. According to the Pentagon report, a Chinese missile test destroyed a satellite in 2007, leaving 150,000 pieces of junk behind. The Washington Post article puts the “space-services” market at $250 Billion, between financial communication, GPS, and international phones.

Michael Castengera is an instructor at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia AND President of Media Strategies and Tactics Inc., a consulting firm that works with all media but primarily broadcasting. You can visit his website at MediaConsultant.tv.

Top Ten Reasons Americans Don't Like Soccer

10. Too many foreigners

9. Loud horns make it hard to nap through boring parts

8. Bench clearing brawls not as much fun without bats or sticks

7. No theme song asking if we are ready for some soccer

6. Not enough 'roids

5. Lots of players with umlauts in their names

4. Americans too busy reading

3. Doesn't have the heart-pounding action of a 5-hour baseball game

2. No TV timeouts means fewer snack breaks to stuff our fat faces

1. Too much kicking, not enough rasslin'

The Late Show with David Letterman

-------------------------------
The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. We are a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and marketing skills. Check out thousands of cutting edge examples at our web site. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Sent via TVSpy's email servers. Visit TV Spy's Marketing Matters.

Graeme Newell
602 Communications
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(919) 217-4438
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter

Graeme Newell's Marketing Ideanet 6/14/2010

The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. We are a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and marketing skills. Check out thousands of cutting edge examples at our web site. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Sent via TVSpy's email servers. Visit TV Spy's Marketing Matters.

Graeme Newell
602 Communications
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(919) 217-4438
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter

In This Issue
Marketing TV Brands with Social Media Optimization
Outlook Solid for TV, Forecaster Predicts
Upfront Market Reflects Bounce
US-England Draws 13 Million Viewers
The Most Watched TV Series in The World is....
Music Awards Brings CMT Record Ratings
Key Art Awards Given for Best in Movie Marketing
Fox Biz Net Opens Doors for Libertarian Talkers
Little People Object to Spike TV Over 'Midget' Term
Late Night Wave Fail
Consumer Wins Chance to Be Ad Star
BP Twitter Parody Ruffles BP's Feathers
BPGlobalPR Tweets

Quotes

"The essence of optimism is that it takes no account of the present, but it is a source of inspiration, of vitality and hope where others have resigned; it enables a man to hold his head high, to claim the future for himself and not to abandon it to his enemy."
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today."
- Franklin Delano Roosevelt

"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."
- Charled A. Beard

Marketing TV Brands with Social Media Optimization
by Graeme Newell
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
http://www.602communications.com
Twitter: gnewell
Facebook: facebook.com/gnewell

You've probably heard of SEO, search engine optimization, but there is a new term you should be familiar with, SMO, which stands for social media optimization. SEO is the science of influencing search engine results from the big services like Google. SMO is the science of generating on-line buzz. It is about optimizing a website so it can be more social media friendly. Sites that use SMO make it easy for readers to pass along their favorites to friends and coworkers. It is the sophisticated science of understanding how readers adopt, personalize and share web content.

This is more than just putting "e-mail to a friend" links on the website. SMO sites offer readers sophisticated tools that let them easily communicate with as many other sites as possible. One site becomes a tacit social media partner allowing both to tap the other's fans.

SMO has really caught on with the traditional search marketing community. Google is a fairly recent phenomenon and in the past ten years, SEO specialists have primarily focused on the algorithm mechanics of search. It has been more about math than psychology.

Great social media techniques will not necessarily affect your search engine ranking, but it can drastically increase site engagement. These days, it is becoming increasingly hard to compete using just search engine optimization. Social media optimization is becoming increasingly important because it gives small companies a chance to compete with the big boys through the sheer art of buzz. The little guys can't compete with big company search engine algorithms, but they sure can get some attention by sparking vast amounts of gab about their products.

SEO specialists know that a personal referral holds much more weight than a bot's recommendation, and they are trying hard to integrate these relationship drivers into their tactics. Part of the problem is that the metrics for social media have yet to be worked out. Facebook is an environment where friends and family have meaningful interaction with the most important people in their lives. It just makes sense that a click here is worth more than a click on some other random web site. But we have yet to figure out how to measure this kind of engagement.

Right now we live in a world of page views, uniques, and time spent on site. But how do you quantify buzz? How do you place a value on a casual but highly trusted referral comment left by a friend? There are a tremendous number of social media conversations about our products that have yet to find a metric that assesses their true value. There are some real gems but we just haven't found a way to measure them.

Social media optimization is about passing content along, and a unique connection with customers that goes beyond just product features. Companies that rely heavily on social media build a community and a team of brand ambassadors who truly believe in their product. For these fans, it isn't just a product, they incorporate the brand into their own identity. These groupies are willing to share their beliefs with other people. More importantly, they carry their message to the nether regions of the internet where traditional advertisers might never venture. They recruit new fans in places you'd never expect.

Apple is a great example of this. Any time a new product is even rumored, entire sites spring up that are dedicated to guessing what is coming. Devotees actually mock up designs with their best guess about the new Apple products. These are people with a passion. They have made a personal connection with Apple and they evangelize on the web. For them, Apple isn't a computer company - it's a lifestyle and a part of their own personal identity. Carrying that iPhone is as much about making calls as it is about making an identity statement. Apple isn't the only company with this kind of social media prowess - it has just mastered it.

One of the most powerful developments about social media is the way it is making gains against traditional search engine optimization. When Google first launched, most of us would put in our search and feel confident the top 10 results would be the most relevant. Well now search engine optimization has become a science in and of itself, and is seen as somewhat of a black art. Now, through some clever manipulation techniques, marketers have gotten better and better at moving their meaningless products up Google's results list. Our trust in Google is not what it used to be. These days, I'm not as sure that Google's top 10 will be my top 10.

Because of this, social media is melding with search engine optimization to create a whole new hybrid search/social category. This list has been prequalified by both the search algorithms and by real people who are experts in a particular subject. It provides two complimentary models for tackling a search.

For example, let's say I'm a passionate hiking enthusiast. Because I love it so much, I've gone through the Google search list and looked at all the great hiking sites on the web. I've created my own blog with the very best hiking resources I've found over the past three years. I start developing a community of fellow hiking lovers. Now, someone who's new to this category will go to Google and find my blog near the top of the list. Instead of exploring further down the Google list, they might rely on my judgment to show them the very best of the hiking world. They might see my blog’s vibrant commenting and the passionate love of the sport, and join the community. They will probably have a greater sense of trust in this community than Google's impersonal algorithm. So now I am filtering hiking material for someone else and someone else is using this information with a greater sense of trust.

This is the mindset behind sites like Delicious. People have a great trust in the passionate, yet anonymous, human beings who tag the content and give all of us guidance. Delicious is often used in tandem with the search engine mechanical model.

It's also the concept behind Wikipedia. The real human filter is the new rock star of search. A lot of the big search engines are starting to take notice. Google has initiatives using real people to organize content rather than just computers. Yahoo is doing the same thing. In the coming years we're going to see this take off, as people start to rely on others to help them make on-line choices. This means marketing disciplines like social media optimization will become more and more important.

So how do you get in on the social media optimization game? The first step is a change in thinking about how people find your product. Most marketing managers grew up using the traditional advertising model. You buy mass media, zillions of people watch your ads, and make their decisions based on these materials. Social media advertising is a communal experience where cause and effect are much less tangible. The goal is not to enroll everyone, but to enroll fans who will be brand ambassadors and spread the word on their own.

Most of us still rely on the traditional mass produced brand communication. We use terms that speak of gross impressions, not individual engagement. "Gross rating points," "page views," and "mean time spent viewing" are all measurement terms that treat audiences like they are sheep - a mass herd to be swayed through one-way communication of a cookie cutter marketing message. We're accustomed to the concept of "broadcasting." Well there is absolutely nothing "broad" about social media. It is the quintessential one-to-one experience. It requires intensive communication with a core group of product evangelists, not an auditorium-like announcement of product attributes.

Social media optimization truly is viral - and you want to spread your marketing message just like a flu bug, one person to the next, without the need for supervision. You do not have enough money, time or patience to talk to everyone, so you must enroll your own brand army to spread the word down the line. Most importantly, this requires a looser hold on the brand reins. Everyone in the company must learn to let go and be comfortable with the branding ending up in the most unexpected places. Just like Apple, you must foster a brand epidemic. If you have built the brand's foundations on solid core emotional motivators, it will weather the trip just fine, and enroll a whole new group you never expected to find.

Graeme Newell is a broadcast and cable marketing consultant who specializes in relationship branding using core emotional drivers. He guarantees that his teasing seminar will immediately increase your news ratings or his workshop is free. Find out more here.

Outlook Solid for TV, Forecaster Predicts
Television has certainly become more fragmented over the past decade, with the line between broadcast and cable blurring in the United States and DVRs slowly catching on worldwide. But there remains no more in-demand medium for advertisers than TV, and the recent recession, which is finally showing signs of lifting, has only reinforced television's importance to media buyers worldwide. A new forecast released this week by Magna Global predicts that global TV ad revenue will rise 6.4 percent this year, to $150.7 billion. Over the next five years, the average annual growth rate will be 5.4 percent, paced by Latin America, where growth will be 8.9 percent. North America, of course, will represent a huge chunk of total TV revenue, with its share rising to nearly $71 billion by 2015, or more than a third of the global total. Buyers continue to invest in television because in terms of reach no other media can compare, and that will keep it the dominant medium in ad dollars for years to come. Brian Wieser, senior vice president and director of global forecasting at Magna, talks to Media Life about the lessons of the recession, why TV is still so attractive, and why the DVR threat doesn't look all that threatening. Interview here:
MediaLife Magazine

Upfront Market Reflects Bounce
The upfront market for the sale of commercial time ahead of the start of the new television season is over for the five big English-language broadcasters, with results that represent a nice bounce from last year’s downbeat outcome. Estimates are that the total sales of the five networks — ABC, CBS, CW, Fox and NBC — may reach $8.3 billion to $8.5 billion, up between 16 and 20 percent from the poor results suffered last year during the economic downturn. Although that is good news for the broadcasters, the total still lags the sales in the upfront market two years ago, which totaled an estimated $9.1 billion to $9.2 billion. NBC said on Thursday afternoon that it had finished selling time in the upfront market, so named because the process takes place before the season begins. NBC had been the last of the five to still be talking to advertisers and agencies. ABC finished on Wednesday, a day after CBS. Fox Broadcasting and CW completed their sales last week. That means the most-watched part of the upfront market took less than two weeks to wrap up, counting from the May 20 end of the skein of presentations of shows for the 2010-11 season that were made to advertisers in New York. The pace was one of the quickest in recent years, reflecting the improving economy and the more confident attitude among most major advertisers. When times are bad, as was the case last year, the upfront market drags on and on; it took most of the summer before the broadcasters completed the upfront sales for the 2009-10 season. When times are good, or getting better, advertisers prefer to spend more money in advance, to hedge their bets that rates are only going to go higher once the season begins.
Media Decoder

US-England Draws 13 Million Viewers
The Group C match between the U.S. and England drew almost 13 million viewers, the most ever for a FIFA World Cup opening-round match in this nation and the tops for a U.S. men's national team contest since 1994. The much-anticipated June 12 telecast on ABC, which ended in a 1-1 draw, drew a 7.3 national household rating, 8.39 million households and 12.96 million watchers during the match window from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (ET), according to fast national data from Nielsen. The three-hour telecast, including the pre-match coverage from 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., averaged a 6.1 household rating, 7.03 million households and just under 10.8 million viewers. The overall three-hour telecast ranks as the fifth all-time soccer match in the U.S. behind three World Cup finals and a round of 16 game in 1994, all televised on ABC:

1. U.S.-China, Women's WC Final (7/10/1999) - 18.0 million viewers (11.4 rating)
2. Brazil-Italy, WC Final (7/17/1994) - 14.5 (9.5 rating)
3. Brazil-U.S., Round of 16 (7/4/1994) - 13.7 (9.3 rating)
4. Italy-France, WC Final (7/9/2006) - 12.0 (7.0 rating)
5. U.S.-England, First Round (6/12/2010) - 10.8 (6.1 rating)

On the local level, U.S.-England netted its highest rating in San Diego, where it pulled an 11.5 rating, followed by an 11.2 in San Francisco, with Las Vegas third with an 11.0. Cincinnati (10.8) and Salt Lake City (10.2) rounded out the top five, according to Nielsen data.
Broadcasting & Cable

The Most Watched TV Series in The World is....
Today, Friday, June 11, 2010 at the 50th Monte Carlo TV Festival, the most-watched TV program in the world was scheduled to be honored with the annual International TV Audience Award. Last year's winner was "House." But this year's winner is "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation." This is the third time in five years that "CSI" has received this honor, according to a press announcement. According to the data, "CSI" was watched by 73.8 million viewers worldwide.
TV Week

Music Awards Brings CMT Record Ratings
CMT's June 9 premiere of the 2010 CMT Music Awards set a network viewership record for an awards event, drawing 3 million viewers. The show, hosted by Kid Rock, also averaged 1.42 million viewers in the network's key 18-49 demo, up 19% over last year's event, according to network officials. Overall, more than 10.8 million cumulative viewers tuned into all related CMT Music Awards programming, including the live Red Carpet show and encore presentations. CMT is currently streaming the full show on its website (www.cmt.com) The 2010 CMT Music Awards show featured performances from such top country music performers as Jamey Johnson, Toby Keith, Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Tim McGraw, Brad Paisley, LeAnn Rimes, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban with John Mayer and the Zac Brown Band. American Idol alum Underwood won top honors during the show, taking home both the Video Of The Year award and the CMT Performance Of The Year Award. Lady Antebellum took home honors for top group video, while Lambert and Urban won best female and male video awards respectively.
MultiChannel

Key Art Awards Given for Best in Movie Marketing
The aliens from Sony's "District 9" scored big during The Hollywood Reporter's 39th annual Key Art Awards. Honoring the best in movie marketing, Friday's event at Vibiana in downtown Los Angeles saw "District 9" take home 11 awards, including the best-in-show prize for its integrating marketing campaigning as well as three other best-in-show laurels for its outdoor advertising (built around its "Bus Stop for Humans Bus Shelter"), TV spots and digital campaign. The awards ceremony culminated with Sylvester Stallone receiving the Visionary Award, given annually to a filmmaker who inspires movie marketers. "At the end of the day, there is no question that Sylvester Stallone delivers great product," THR publisher Lori Burgess said before calling Stallone to the candlelit stage at what once was the altar of the former St. Vibiana Roman Catholic cathedral, which has been converted to a party space. "He's put his stamp on film like very few people of his generation." While the Visionary Award is in its fourth year -- previous recipients were Robert Rodriguez, Judd Apatow and Sam Raimi -- Friday's festivities saw the introduction of a new, overall award for best integrating marketing. Among the movies that popped up in multiple categories, Disney/Pixar's "Up" captured eight awards, and Warner Bros.' "The Hangover" and Paramount's "Star Trek" took five apiece. Warners led the way among studios, taking home 14 awards, followed by Sony with 12 kudos and Lionsgate with 11. Ignition led all agencies with 12 wins for its work on such diverse movies as "District 9," "Precious," "Saw VI," "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" and "Coraline." Reflecting the popularity of 3D movies, the Key Arts also inaugurated two categories for 3D advertising materials. "Angels & Demons" took honors in the 3D theatrical print category for work done by BLT & Associates, Drissi Creative Studios and Sony. In the home entertainment category, the 3D packaging for "Friday the 13th Uncut and Parts 2-8," created by Soda Design and Paramount Home Entertainment, took the prize. A complete list of winners here:
Hollywood Reporter

Fox Biz Net Opens Doors for Libertarian Talkers
“Welcome to this struggle,” Andrew Napolitano said triumphantly as he wrapped up the first television episode last weekend of his libertarian talk show, “Freedom Watch.” He saluted the camera and concluded, “From New York, defending freedom, so long America.” He will be back next week, a commercial said, with a special guest, Glenn Beck. Mr. Napolitano’s struggle is for smaller government and individual liberty. “The American public needs to know and understand, the government serves you better when it serves you less. That’s the argument,” he said on the show. “Freedom Watch” is arguably Tea Party TV in its purest form to date. It is the latest product of the News Corporation, led by Rupert Murdoch, and being shown on the weekends on the Fox Business Network, which is searching for higher ratings by adding provocative commentators. Fox News already dominates the market for conservative TV talk with hosts like Mr. Beck and Sean Hannity, and has generated billions in revenue to show for it. Now, the upstart Fox Business is making room for libertarian talk, too. An aggressive pro-civil liberties, anti-government streak is evident on both “Freedom Watch” and “Stossel,” a weekly Fox Business show hosted by the former ABC News anchor John Stossel that was added last fall. As any libertarian will tell you, there are sharp differences in opinions between conservatives and libertarians, and now Fox has programs for both. “I think Fox is seeing a business opportunity here,” said Jacob G. Hornberger, the president of the Future of Freedom Foundation, a libertarian educational group. In an interview, he said, “There’s always been this debate between left and right, liberals and conservatives. All of a sudden here’s Napolitano saying, where do you stand on this libertarian position?” Libertarian commentators, he said, have largely been locked out of TV debates in the past. “Fox News created the Tea Party with the town halls last year,” said the liberal commentator Bill Press, the author of the forthcoming “Toxic Talk: How the Radical Right Has Poisoned America’s Airwaves.” Referring to “Freedom Watch,” he said, “Now they’ve given the Tea Party its own TV show.”
NY Times

Little People Object to Spike TV Over 'Midget' Term
A new reality show about vertically challenged wrestlers is seriously pissing off an organization called Little People of America ... and it's all over the word "midget." The show behind the controversy is Spike TV's "Half Pint Brawlers" -- which features several wee wrestlers who drop the M-bomb on each other about a gazillion times an episode. But the LPA claims the M-word on the show is just as offensive as "guido" on "Jersey Shore" -- because it reinforces "archaic, objectifying and stigmatizing stereotypes" about little people. The LPA suggests more politically correct alternatives like "little person," "person with dwarfism," and "person of short stature." But according to Spike TV, "Only the 'Half Pint Brawlers' use the term 'midget' in the show," and note that the Brawlers, "respectfully disagree with the LPA's assessment of the word."
TMZ

Late Night Wave Fail
How this for a crossover act? A late-night star waving across the continent — and across networks – to another late-night star. That was the carefully crafted idea cooked up by two late-night shows – until the N.H.L. took over. It was supposed to work like this: at just about 12:42 a.m. Jimmy Fallon on his “Late Night” show on NBC would pull out a big Mickey Mouse glove and wave it in the direction of Craig Ferguson on CBS’s “Late Late Show.” Mr. Ferguson would then acknowledge the wave a fraction of a second later with a wave of his own — along with his assessment of how adorable Mr. Fallon is. If this sounds like it was an easy bit of late-night camaraderie, it wasn’t. It took a complicated bit of dual timing to make something happening on a show taped in New York at about 5:30 Eastern time match up with a comment that was taped about three hours later in Los Angeles. And of course, it took a couple of shows, producers – and hosts — to want to do it. But after a day of phone calls and stopwatches to get the timing right, the final game of the N.H.L. playoff went into overtime on NBC. That pushed back the local news and the network’s late-night lineup behind it. So except for the Pacific time zone, the lovely little scheme got blown up. Here’s the background. Mr. Ferguson has for about a month been using a giant Mickey glove to wave at his audience at odd moments. Tuesday night, for no special reason, he pulled out the glove and said he was sending a wave out to Mr. Fallon. Sensing a cute idea, Michael Naidus, who produces Mr. Ferguson’s show, reached out to Mike Shoemaker, who produces Mr. Fallon’s, to ask if they would like to reciprocate. Mr. Shoemaker and Mr. Fallon liked the idea. So at Wednesday’s taping Mr. Fallon paused toward the end of his monologue to say he was aware that his competitor Mr. Ferguson had pulled out the glove the previous night and waved at him. Then Mr. Fallon pointed the glove and said Mr. Ferguson shouldn’t be telling him what to do – or it might start another late-night war. Then he paused—and waved with an aw-shucks expression. Out in California no one could see exactly when the exchange would play so the shows had to sync up their timing. That meant Mr. Ferguson did an especially short opening to his show. (He usually does an extended opening that leads into a series of commercials, then opening credits, then his monologue. Mr. Fallon meanwhile gets right on and commences his monologue, so he is often finished when Mr. Ferguson is just getting started.) On Wednesday’s taping, Mr. Ferguson simply jumped right into the monologue, did about 20 seconds and then acknowledged the wave from the East. He explained that he doesn’t like the notion of late-night wars, and added “It’s probably not the place to say it, but I love you, man.” It was a sweet idea while it lasted.
Media Decoder

Consumer Wins Chance to Be Ad Star
A 21-year-old from Highland Heights, Ky., has won a contest sponsored by Progressive Insurance to appear with Stephanie Courtney, the actress who plays the popular Flo character in Progressive advertising. The winner, Jacob Doherty, is a loan collector, the company says, and beat 2,500 other contestants who took part in a contest that began in January. The contest offered consumers a chance to appear in Progressive ads as Flo’s helpful assistant — which means it is too bad the winner’s name was not Eb. Contestants could submit video auditions to a Web site; Mr. Doherty’s submission can be watched there, at helpflo.com. Mr. Doherty was among the finalists who tested their ad skills with Ms. Courtney in Los Angeles. Mr. Doherty was “friendly, helpful and loves insurance,” Brian Silva, chief marketing officer at Progressive, said in a statement. Mr. Doherty will be paired with Ms. Courtney in a print ad that was photographed this week, which is to appear during the summer. He is also to film a television commercial with her this summer, to run later this year. The premise of the campaign is that Flo clerks at a make-believe insurance superstore where her sales skills help all the customers decide to buy policies from Progressive.
Media Decoder

BP Twitter Parody Ruffles BP's Feathers
The operator of a Twitter feed that exists to mock BP and its response to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was asked by the oil company this week to specify that the feed was just a fake. Naturally, the anonymous operator had some more fun at BP’s expense while making the adjustment. The Twitter feed, which is followed by almost 150,000 people, formerly claimed that it seeks to “get BP’s message and mission statement out into the twitterverse!” Now the feed describes itself thusly: “We are not associated with Beyond Petroleum, the company that has been destroying the Gulf of Mexico for 51 days.” Twitter contacted the operator on Tuesday about specifying that the feed, called BPGlobalPR, isn’t actually a product of BP’s public relations staff. “BP requested that the account holder be asked to comply with Twitter’s guidelines regarding parody,” Twitter said in a statement Wednesday. “Twitter subsequently provided suggestions of best practices that are found on our parody policy page.” The dust-up about BP’s request only generated more attention for the fake feed. Among its more recent entries: “Surprised ourselves by getting emotional on the coast today. Turns out the wind blew dispersant in our eyes.” Update: The anonymous operator of the fake Twitter feed tells my colleague Noam Cohen, “The changes we have made are the only changes we will make. If there is a problem, they will have to shut us down.”
Media Decoder

BPGlobalPR Tweets

We respect your outrage, we just don't believe it's sustainable.

Investing a lot of time & money into cleaning up our image, but the beaches are next on the to-do list for sure.

Obama wants us to start a liability account to pay spill victims. We'd rather not, but thanks for asking!

If the public is willing to call tar balls "fancy BP pearls", we are willing to admit that they exist.

We are not killing animals in the gulf, we are creating fossils in the gulf. Have a little perspective.

Just to be clear, we're not just blaming Britain, we're also blaming photographers, reporters and fishermen.

Prank the nerds at the NRDC! Send a note to your senator saying BP Rules, Gulf of Mexico drools!

Seems like everyone has agreed to hate us. What if we bring up Gay Marriage? Abortion? Come on, argue people!

We're on a seafood diet- When we see food, we eat it! Unless that food is seafood from the Gulf. Yuck to that.

Millions of people live in the gulf. If each one donated just a few thousand dollars, we'd have enough $ to fix this mess.

I hate birds. ^Tony

Did some jerk show you a photo of an oily animal and ruin your day? Just imagine it's pudding & forget! All better!

$75 million is a lot of money if you're poor. For us, it's a couple mediocre sandwiches and a round of Arnold Palmers.

New estimates place oil leak at 40,000 barrels a day, but keep in mind that OH MY GOD WHAT'S THAT BEHIND YOU?!

DO NOT ask your reps to support Clean Energy. Buying their votes back will take a lot of money away from the cleanup effort.

A $75 million liability cap is too high! That only leaves us w/ $5.525 billion in 1st quarter profits! Step up taxpayers.

Yes, our "spill" is a "trickle" and "hurricanes" are "drizzles". Hope it doesn't "drizzle" on our "trickle". That'd be a "pickle".

Wait, Oil PLUMES? We thought you asked about oil PLUMS in the ocean. How silly! Yes, yes, there are TONS of oil plumes!

Surprised ourselves by getting emotional on the coast today. Turns out the wind blew dispersant in our eyes.

Celebrating 50 days of the spill w/ hotel conference room, catered lunch, funny speeches and a lot of back patting.

Money can't buy happiness. But Tony Hayward did buy a giant yacht he calls 'Happiness'. It has a frickin' helicopter pad on it!

We're having an internal debate at the office. Is the Gulf of Mexico one of the Great Lakes?

We take this situation very seriously, which is why tonight's oil wrestling event will be followed by a candle light vigil.

Safety is our primary concern. Well, profits, then safety. Oh, no- profits, image, then safety, but still- it's right up there.

Words can not express how sorry we are. So we are going to stop apologizing and just give our investors 10 billion dollars.

We don't forbid our workers from wearing respirators because it looks bad in photos. We just want to see their smiling faces!

You don't go drilling 5000 feet underwater with the tools you want, you do it with the tools you have. Very basic tool logic.

If we're being accused of being criminals, we want to be tried by a jury of our peers- wealthy execs who don't give a damn.

We are very upset that Operation: Top Kill has failed. We are running out of cool names for these things.

http://twitter.com/bpglobalpr

-------------------------------
The Marketing Ideanet is a free idea sharing newsletter published by 602 Communications. We are a TV training and consulting company that specializes in improving front-line news and marketing skills. Check out thousands of cutting edge examples at our web site. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Sent via TVSpy's email servers. Visit TV Spy's Marketing Matters.

Graeme Newell
602 Communications
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
(919) 217-4438
Web Site
Facebook
Twitter

<< Start < Prev 1 2 Next > End >>

Page 1 of 2


August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008

Archives