MarketingInsideOut.com

It’s been three weeks since I’ve written. Just too many other priorities that demanded full time attention day and night, but hopefully the sand is starting to settle and I can get back to some semblance of a normal schedule.

I missed writing. But what I discovered I missed most…was forcing myself to take some time every day to step back a bit from the daily grind and learn something new or analyze what this or that might mean for marketing.

It’s amazing how much changes so quickly. At the end of March it really looked like Microsoft would buy DoubleClick. But by mid April Google announced its $3.1 billion acquisition of DoubleClick. That’s a chunk of change. Talk about creating an even stronger powerhouse. It’s cool to think of being able to see reports for search, display and rich-media banners, and any click-based media vehicles (such as newsletters, text links, etc.) all in one place.

Yet the ever larger reach, depth, breadth and overall hold of Google makes me a bit nervous. And it sounds like consumer and privacy groups are asking the Federal Trade Commission to probe the privacy implications of Google’s deal for DoubleClick. The Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Center for Digital Democracy and a coalition of state public-interest groups said Google’s collection of consumers’ search information violates FTC fairness requirements and that combining it with DoubleClick’s tracking information is an invasion of a consumer’s privacy. So apparently I’m not the only one feeling nervous.

Other things that I found interesting…

Last month there were reports, but I guess it’s official now. Nike moved some of it’s business from Wieden & Kennedy to Crispin. It sounds like its the creative work for the running-shoe business, as well as the Nike Plus. Pretty sad…I always felt Wieden’s work for Nike was exceptional and I admired the long-lived relationship. But at least they are not out altogether.

Sounds like the fumble of the month went to Blackberry. You would think a company that pretty much started the rapid-fire messaging game would have done a much better job of letting its 8 million customers know about something as big as a RIM shutdown.

In the “not the least bit surprising” category…ABC wins the clutter award. That’s why I TIVO Grey’s Anatomy. ABC was the leader of MindShare’s annual clutter report, which says the alphabet network logged 15 minutes and 38 seconds in total non-program minutes per hour in 2006.

Rosie O’Donnel plans to leave The View. Contract problems. Anyone surprised? I rarely saw the show, but admit it was fun to watch Rosie vs the classy Barbara Walters.

I missed a lot, so I best get busy in my quest to catch up.

Microsoft is reportedly one of the suitors for online advertising network DoubleClick. Many believe a deal is imminent.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that DoubleClick’s owner–Hellman & Friedman–is looking to cash out for roughly $2 billion–nearly twice what they paid for DoubleClick in 2005.

There are plenty of options for DoubleClick, and of course, it could go public again, but a Microsoft purchase could be beneficial for both parties especially given speculation that Google will soon announce a Double-Click-like service.

It will be interesting to see if Microsoft will pull the trigger on a deal this big. Given that Adcenter hasn’t gained much traction and is lagging behind both Google and Yahoo, the DC purchase could be the fastest and most efficient move to secure a place in the growing and lucrative online advertising market. It has to do something fairly quickly or be left behind.

Obviously Microsoft could move several different directions to change its situation –it could buy Yahoo (which has been rumored as well), but that would be a very expensive deal OR it could continue to pump money into its current online services to try and get some kind of traction organically. Given these scenarios, acquiring DoubleClick seems like a middle ground approach.

If you haven’t already read it, check out Bob Garfield’s Chaos Scenario 2.0 in this week’s AdAge. It’s a long piece, but worth the read. It’s pretty eye opening and judging by the number of comments, it’s hitting a nerve. I’ll second a comment on the story from Rick in Chicago: This is the clearest, most compelling piece I’ve read on this topic in two years. Will your readers’ buy it? Who knows? Should they? Depends on what they want to be doing in two years.

Here’s just a few snippets of the story:

“The online space isn’t remotely developed enough — nor will it be anytime soon — to absorb the advertising budgets of the top 100 marketers, to match the reach of traditional media or to fulfill the content desires of the audience. (Maybe viewers no longer demand their MTV, but what remains of the mass audience is in no hurry to surrender its Los Angeles Times and “Lost.”) A collapsing old model. An unconstructed new model. Paralyzed marketers. Disenchanted consumers. It’s all so … chaotic.

How long it will be before order is restored is anybody’s guess. What is certain is that the Brave New World, when it emerges, will be far better for marketers than the old one. What is nearly as certain is that many existing ad agencies and some media agencies will be left behind. And the reason they will be left behind is their stubborn notion that they can somehow smoothly transition to a digital landscape.

“It’s a very different kind of world,” says Adam Thierer, senior fellow at the Progress & Freedom Foundation and author of “Media Myths: Making Sense of the Debate Over Media Ownership.” “The problem is, the expectations are there to capture that mass audience that long ago disappeared. We are witnessing the gradual death of the business models that thrived in that age of scarcity.”

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It may not be near as ‘designer cool’ as Apple’s iPhone, but new startup ZenZui may actually give those with lust in their hearts (but an unwillingness to change to Cingular or pay $500+ for a closed system iPhone) another graphical option that’s pretty slick.

According to this story in the.next.net, ZenZui will push data to mobile phones in the form of little widgets that people can subscribe to. And because they don’t intend to make their own phone, they will have fewer restrictions than Apple on who can create the widgets and where the widgets can be seen. Content owners, brands or even individual developers can build the tiles. Which means we could see lots of them developed very quickly because anything with an RSS feed can become a widget. Subscribing to widgets would enable users to create their own mobile portal.

The Zoomspace that appears on a phone’s screen is a grid of 16 “tiles” that could be sponsored by major brands, such as Amazon.com, Nike, Kayak.com, ABC, Fox’s “The Family Guy,” Traffic.com and more. Users pick the tiles they want on their screen (i.e. subscribe to the feeds). Eventually, the grid is expected to grow to 36 tiles. The tiles let users see 16 miniature pages at once. They can zoom in on a tile to get flight times or prices, or zoom out to scroll around to another page.

Each tile reserves space for ads in a corner. Which will give carriers new revenue streams through advertising and the ads will subsidize the application, so there’s no charge to the user. Mobile advertising is a hot topic now for marketers and this could help it gain some traction, but could create a pretty cluttered environment in short order. Yet to be seen I guess.

ZenZui will make this service free (but the invite-only beta doesn’t start until the summer). There’s a video demo of how it work on YouTube here>

I was just released from Milkatraz. I got nabbed trying to steal the last glass of milk and was forced to do hard time (for a few seconds anyway).

Tonight I finally got a chance to check out the Get The Glass online game created as part of the latest overall Got Milk campaign from Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.

I’m impressed. Not just with the sophisticated, yet retro, feel of the online game (which is way cool by itself), but with the entire Mission Impossible meets Raiders of the Lost Ark nature of the campaign and the brilliance of the strategy behind the effort.

The long running Got Milk campaign has, by all measures, been an incredibly successful effort for the California Milk Processor Board. But what really impresses me is how it has been kept so creative and fresh over the years while staying spot-on strategy.

The latest version, dubbed Get the Glass, launched this week and includes 7 television spots and the online game and will run through December. You can see the new spots on the game web site.

You know the saying. Right? Truth is stranger than fiction.

Reading the coverage of WPP Group Chief Executive Martin Sorrell’s libel case is a bit like reading a Judith Krantz novel. When you see the phrases and language that is coming out in this trial, it’s hard to believe this is a real court case. It seems so fictional. Like a soap opera script. Every day there seems to be some new juicy tidbit for the media to chew on.

This has to be humiliating for all involved. And I can’t imagine it reflects well on the ad agency busines overall given the industry is already wrestling with its share of various other scandals and general questions as to the effectiveness of the agency model in today’s marketplace. The good news for Sorrell is that he apparently doesn’t come off anywhere near as bad as Howard Draft and Julie Roehm. Poll results via AdWeek 3/21/2007.

For everyone’s sake I hope this gets resolved quickly and the name calling ends.

(although this case has, by far, the most creative name calling I’ve seen in years)

Lessons learned the hard way…

1) Email lives forever.
2) When you tangle with a company that hires lawyers by the dozen, be prepared to get bit.

According to a story in the New York Times, Wal-Mart asserted in court filings that Julie Roehm and Sean Womack engaged in a sexual relationship during the agency review process and extended their visits with DraftFCB to spend more personal time together and to promote themselves to the agency as job candidates.

Wal-Mart backed up its assertions with what it said were e-mail messages sent by Ms. Roehm and Mr. Womack, both married, from their work and private accounts.

“I hate not being able to call you or write you,” Ms. Roehm wrote early last fall, according to an e-mail message Mr. Womack’s wife provided to Wal-Mart. “I think about us together all the time. Little moments like watching your face when you kiss me.”

…Wal-Mart said in the filing that Ms. Roehm and Mr. Womack had lengthy career discussions with Tony Weisman, then the global growth officer of Draft FCB, and that those discussions had tainted the agency review process. Wal-Mart also asserted that Ms. Roehm shared internal company e-mail messages with Mr. Weisman and Mr. Draft, the chief executive of Draft FCB.

Mr. Womack wrote e-mail messages to Mr. Weisman signing them “Sean and Julie” that discussed the two leaving Wal-Mart to work in a venture with Draft FCB, Wal-Mart said in its filing. In one message cited, he said they would want an equity stake and discussed timing: “What do the next 60-360 days look like for your guys? When will it be too late?” he wrote in August.

According to a Wal-Mart’s spokeswoman, the company didn’t initially intend to release all the gory details, but when Roehm sued them, all bets were off. And to make matters worse, Interpublic (the parent of DraftFCB) got pulled into it by having to provide copies of e-mail messages to Wal-Mart for the inquiry

This whole thing is embarrassing for everyone involved.

I managed to somehow wrench my back and because the only comfortable place I’ve found is my husband’s recliner, I’ve found myself watching more TV than normal. As I watched this amazing spot for the first time last night, I assumed it was for IKEA or some hip retailer.

But no. It was JCPenney. My mind raced. What? JCPenney…of the polyester Penneys? My mind could not reconcile the beautiful imagery, music and sophisticated concept of this spot in connection to the JCPenney I knew growing up.

Turns out I’m behind. I flipped back and forth during the Oscars so I never saw the new spots unveiled that evening. And I completely missed the stories about JCPenney’s rebranding efforts. Plus, since I haven’t stepped foot in a Penneys for over 20 years, I probably wouldn’t have paid much attention to any news about them.

But, the spot is striking. Gorgeous. As are the other ones I found in the new “Every Day Matters” campaign created by Saatchi & Saatchi…like this and this.

The new spots are magnificent. But obviously, if the shopping experience doesn’t live up to the sophisticated image portrayed in the spots, it won’t work. Or fool anyone. As AdAge’s Bob Garfield pointed out:

The hard part is having customers walk into their Anytown Mall JC Penney stores and not feel as if they’ve been totally suckered. It’s all well and good to mystify the relationship between consumers and goods with romantic imagery, but that all backfires if the mystique is instantly obliterated at point of sale. This requires more than upgrading the chain’s merchandise; it means simultaneously softening and energizing the JC Penney shopping experience — a miracle far beyond the capacity of an ad campaign.

But if indeed, they have made substantial changes in the merchandise and store experience, this campaign just might work to get shoppers to try JCPenney again.

According to ad tracking firm TNS Media Intelligence, the nation’s 50 biggest advertisers cut their spending on “measured” media such as TV, print and Internet display ads by 1.5% in 2006 — though U.S. ad spending grew 4.1% overall. While some of the decline may reflect cutbacks in spending, it likely signals that big companies such as Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson and General Motors are reallocating some of their ad budgets to new Internet ad venues which aren’t measured by TNS — such as paid-search advertising, social networking and online video. At the 4As media conference, P&G CMO Jim Stengel told the audience the marketers must make a major “mindset shift,” rather than simply trying to keep pace with changes in technology, if clients and agencies are to flourish in the rapidly changing world of digital commerce

According to a story in AdAge, Johnson & Johnson is shifting larger parts of its 2007 marketing budget from traditional media to digital media. J&J’s measured-media spending plunged $250 million, or 22 percent, in the U.S. last year – pretty much in line with a forecast that the consumer-products giant would move 20 percent of its marketing budget into unmeasured media, such as search and other direct marketing. Much of the cut occurred in J&J’s national TV budget — which accounts for 60% of the company’s total ad spending. For the second year in a row, it has announced that it will sit out the TV upfront.

Overall, J&J reported global ad spending fell around 10% to $1.9 billion last year, even as sales rose 6%. But their US measured-media spending fell twice that fast, suggesting a big portion of its marketing budget went to unmeasured media.

J&J is also putting some money to a centrally controlled innovation fund that its brands can tap by using nontraditional media.

This is a fresh approach.

For UK based Innocent Drinks “Hello, we make lovely natural fruit drinks like pure fruit smoothies and fresh yogurt thickies. Everything we produce tastes good and does you good.”

Perhaps unlike robot suicide and suicide averted by a car, fruit-suicide is acceptable.