Modern Marketing - Blog by Collaborate PR & Marketing

Brand Suicide?

VW have demanded (via New York Times) that the creatives behind the VW Suicide Bomber ad return the 'source materials' and promise to 'neither infringe on Volkswagen's trademarks nor create or distribute any more Volkswagen work.'

Meanwhile, Red Bull are trying to get their 'source materials' into the hands of as many people as possible.  Their Art of the Can campaign challanges aspiring artists to turn the product packaging into pieces of art.

Modern Marketing believes open source wins every time.

Modern Marketing

This is a great overview of the marketing business as it gradually weans itself off the 30sec ad slot.  Thanks to SMLXL.

iPod You A Merry Christmas

When was the last time you saw an advert so good that you wanted to be in it?  Well, that's what's happened with the iPod campaign courtesy of ipodmyphoto, a site that turns snaps of your family and friends into ipod-style greetings cards.

It's an amazing example of open source marketing and Church of the Customer has a letter from David Schroeder, the guy who set it up.  It includes this great quote....

From fan-fiction writing based on the “official” books of major sci-fi authors to DJ dance remixes of popular songs, today's technology allows us to remake the world around us. To pick and choose how we want to associate with the things we care about. To engage consumer popular culture on our own terms.

Two New Agencies

Agency folk will appreciate these two websites.  Huhcorp is a take on US agency life that might sound familiar while Like Crispin Porter are a brand new agency.  Or they would be if they had clients and staff and stuff.

Google TV

Not content with making 8 billion web pages searchable, Google has launched Google Video which allows users to search the transcripts of TV.  It's BETA and initially only covers a few west coast US channels (PBS, the NBA, Fox News and C- SPAN).  As the SF Chrnicle notes it's not a new idea but it's a glimpse of things to come.

1 Million Readers

When I speak to UK marketing professionals about open source marketing and the role of weblogs, one thing they struggle with is how something organised outside of corporations can be of any REAL significance.  What they mean by that is scale and scale means audience figures.

Gawker is a US publisher that runs 8 very successful blogs ranging from gadgets to gossip...

NESTA

I am posting this from the NESTA annual conference, a meeting of people who have received awards to fund science, technology and arts projects.  I am here as a result of my involvement with LectureList.

Napster for TV

Today's Guardian has a piece on Bittorrent reporting that the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has launched a European legal campaign to combat the spread of the P2P application that threatens to do for TV and film what Napster did for the music business.

Modern Marketing believes that when the market changes, successful companies adapt.  They don't call the lawyers and ask them to change it back.

VW's Suicide Mission

The rage about the viral 'suicide bomber' ad for VW Polo continued in yesterday's Observer.  Whether it has been sanctioned by VW to attract the elusive 18-35 male audience (who let's face it, will probably like it) or is a promotional stunt on behalf of a couple of London creatives we will never know...although the production values do look suspiciously high.

End of Mass Markets

Richard Lambert, editor of the FT for ten years, has written a powerful piece about the issues facing the British media in this week's Guardian.  It's well worth a read but from a Modern Marketing perspective this excerpt is interesting:

'The old business model - where mass news publishers were supported by mass advertisers -- has gone forever.  Instead, advertisers are seeking niche audiences -- people most likely to respond to their particular message with a minimum degree of wasted opportunities.'