Fun Little Gimmick - Paul Dewey for President

Now here's a fun little pass along, Dewey for President,   that I was sent by my sister-in-law.  Watch it once and it will show you the way to make it work for your name, or just mess with the following code -- http://www.inews3.com/play.php?first=Paul&last=Dewey.

Just one more way to customize/personalize a message. Clever.

Animation Challenges Reality

Here's a really interesting Times of London story (and a neat video) about new photo-realistic CGI computer chip technology that's pushing computer animation into a whole new quality realm.  Thanks to my cousin Phillip who spotted this one.  This animation is extremely life-like.  Animation used to take months to create and it never had these subtleties - the subtleties of facial expression that make it look lifelike.  Is it perfect?  No, but it's getting pretty darned close. 

Twenty five years ago when I was cutting my teeth in the ad biz creating Pink Panther commercials for Owens Corning, we would send rough storyboards to an animation company to ink each cell individually.  Today the Simpons is one of the last animation shows still creating animation the 'old fashioned' way.  Supercomputers are simplifying both speed and the human factor, and they are making animation available at price points that production companies had never imagined in the past. 

Finally why use animation?  Animation can do things not physically possible like taking you seemlessly inside a functioning nuclear reactor or engine, or quickly transitioning from an aerial view of a town in space to street level -- all at costs unlikely to make a client's stomach turn.

Pay for Play: Buying Your Company Onto the Air

Over the years a number of my clients have been approached with various offers from companies to get their company or school's 'story' on the air.  The 'air' ranged from a program, which ran on ABC's Lifetime, to PBS programming to interstitials running on U.S. Airline programming.   Prices for programming ranged from $20k to $40k for a 3-5 minute story.   One element of the sale was that some mid-level TV personalities are involved with some of the production companies making the pieces.

A recent NY Times story   highlights some recent confusion surrounding these so-called 'pay for play' content pitches.  The confusion ranges from what the companies were offering to how the programming could wind up on PBS. 

I have always found this kind of pitch extremely fishy.  Almost any journalist worth his or her salt will tell you that buying a positive news-like story about your company is, at best, highly suspect.  Before shelling out money and running to the publicity bank, companies need to understand who is watching these programs, the details of the time slots and audience demographic profiles.  A client might also try to determine who is researching and writing the piece and who gets final approval on the script before it is completed.

I have been told that some production companies charge clients for usage of the footage, even after the program has aired - so despite paying for the piece the client does not own the final product.  I guess it's another way to make more money of that client. 

While the old adage 'any publicity is good publicity' might ring in the ears of marketing teams at lesser known companies, there are myriad ways to disseminate a story in the new Wild West of the Internet.  Finally, it should go without saying -- before signing on the dotted line carefully read the fine print.  Caveat emptor.

Clever Interactive Ad

Here's a clever interactive ad using video for T-Mobile interactive.    I clicked on it because the banner ad that I spotted on the top of the MSNBC site had a guy talking on the phone -- you couldn't hear him - perhaps my impulse was to try to eavesdrop on what he was saying.  The click through to the landing page shows sneakers hanging off a sofa -- we hear this guy talking to his mom on the phone.  The copy's okay, not going to win an award, but it takes you into this guy's living room where he takes a break in his conversation to welcome the audience into his living room and explain how the T-Mobile home system works - short and sweet.   It's simple, effective and short on gimmickry...  and isn't that what good advertising is all about?

YouTube Summer Blockbuster Film Promotions

Promotions for Will Ferrell's soon-to-be-released movie, Step Brothers, are just another confirmation of YouTube's power.  Not only does Ferrell and his co-star, John C. Reilly, open the promotion speaking directly to the YouTube audience, but they also introduce a new contest asking viewers to post their favorite scenes from the movie.  It's a straightforward approach to keep the buzz for the movie going after opening day.  Simple and smart.  Naturally the main part of this video includes a promo of the movie.

While we're on the feature film promotion topic,  take a look at the amount of content on YouTube about Dark Knight, the latest chapter in the Batman Series, which just opened Thursday.    Warner Brothers PR team has been working overtime trying to get the message out to the core teen audience who have been going to screenings of the film at all hours this weekend.  Here's a different Dark Knight  piece posted on YouTube interviewing film watchers, and some diehard fans willing to dress the part (unbelievable - don't get me started on Trekkies).   The Dark Knight buzz in the teen and young adult audience was so strong that the film has taken top opening weekend honors grossing $155.3 million to edge out Spider Man 3.

The Heath Ledger story line here remains a strong, albeit sad one - his performance is said to be commendable.   I'm ready to see the film ... can't wait to see it once the theatre lines subside.