Thursday, February 28, 2013

 The Rain Forest Alliance NGO really got its marketing message right with its new
follow the frog video - with a hysterical story of what you should not do to support their cause. The spot was created by Wander Films in LA.

TED came out with it third "Ads Worth Spreading" list yesterday - and this spot was included among in this top-ten list of ads. It is featured with some very prestigious creative company from the likes of Coco-cola, Chrysler's Ram Truck Super Bowl spot "The Farmer" and Dell's "Annie" spot. All are well worth viewing.

The Rain Forest Alliance is a non-governmental organization (NGO) who is working hard to conserve the biodiversity and sustainability of the world's rain forests by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. The spot focuses on the last of its objectives.

The story takes a page from the "Hangover" movies - with a bunch of crazy vignettes that befall an average guy. He is presented as a good person in may ways - but has a feeling that he must do something to help preserve the rain forest. The twist is that the spot focuses on what this guy should not do...

The rapid firing editing and voice-over effectively lead to the call-to-action: Follow the Frog. Buying Rain forest Alliance certified products helps insure the future of the rain forest. Entertaining and effective at the same time.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Will "big data" work to improve the quality of life for people via their smart phones?

Groker is a new smart phone app that uses "predictive search" to feed data into a "discovery service" for mobile devices.  In essence is supposed to be deliver  a"personalized search and discovery service" that makes it easier for users to get the information they want.

This app claims to anticipate your needs - what you might search for - and bring it to you before you actually search for it. Ad Age calls this "pre-sults" - informed by data extracted from a user's information like location, interests, search history and social graph.

In theory this app is attempting to redefine search based on the way people use their mobile devices. Seems like a cool idea if they can evolve the "intent market" on mobile the way Google has on traditional laptop / desktop devices. This might be a real gold mine based on the stampede of user going to mobile devices and all the data they are generating day in and day out.

I'm sure they're tracking me already here in midtown Manhattan - ready to sell my data to marketers and retailers who want to put their message on my mobile device. They've already served up deli and restaurant suggestions for lunch, and a bunch of shopping malls in NJ for some reason. The app also serves up moderately useful content like "trending on the web" / "headlines" / local weather.

It also offers movie reviews tied to theater locations / times. No link to Fandango yet to buy tickets remotely - but I am sure they're negotiating that deal right now.

Ad age also reported Nara as a site to watch - "A Boston based start up with the goal of creating a personalized Internet experience, for users, based on a recommendation engine developed by its team of MIT neuro-scientists, artists, computer scientists and astro-physicists."

I went on this site and it only promises "Find restaurants that match your tastes" - I think they way over-paid for their development team.




Saturday, February 23, 2013

Creating an Object of Desire

Kudos to Google for the way they are launching "Glass" - their revolutionary wearable technology. These glasses are a major step towards what is known as "ubiquitous computing" - the notion that computers / the Internet will be available to users from any place at any time with simple voice commands.

I don't get the feeling that Google is doing out of the goodness of their hearts - as these glasses will most certainly deliver Google products at some point soon. What is so cool is the way that Google is launching the product.

Earlier this week Google launched a new video called "how it feels" that gives a user's-eye-view of the product and what it can do - from getting directions to taking videos, and translating a conversation to getting on-the-spot reference information. A very emotional sell for a technology hardware product. With a clear call-to-action at the end of the video for social sharing and "how to get one."

Google did a great job or rolling out their PR machine earlier this week as well, with an interesting article in the NY Times Business Day Technology section called "Google Searches for Style" playing the fashion / style angle.

It gets better - as Google is truly making its Glass "an object of desire" by making it hard to get.  

Google is offering a lucky 1500 people the chance to win the product in its first release. All you have to do is apply by using  Google+ or Twitter to "tell us what you would do if had Glass, staring with the hashtag #ifihadglass." Photos and videos and can be included in the application restricted to 50 words or less.

By the way the newly chosen "Explorers" will need to fork over $ 1500 plus tax for the privilege of attending a special pick-up experience in person in NYC, San Francisco or Los Angeles.  Now that's a bold and innovative approach to  marketing.

Thursday, February 21, 2013



There is an old say that goes "If you don't know where you are going - any road will get you there" and  that observation can be applied to lots of the marketing / advertising that can be seen today.

Seems that corporate marketing teams and ad agencies have become enamored with the latest offerings in social media & new devices like smart phones / tablets and have forgotten the basics of building blocks of strategic  marketing - including the creation of a benefit based brand positioning and a clear story or reason-to-believe behind the brand's promise of value.

With increasingly fragmented audiences and their ability to filter out unwanted commercial content - marketers will face an uphill battle to justify spending and show an attractive ROI. So Sagg Insights will look at both best and worst practices in marketing - applauding those marketers who get it right and questioning some of those that miss the mark.