Random Thoughts: (Video, in this case) Nokia Re-draws the Map

Ah Wieden + Kennedy, do you ever stop producing cool spots? Check out the new Nokia ad, highlighting the oh-so un-tech, old school method of drawing maps. Drawing is what we did before Wii, kids. (Reading via RSS? Check out the video on the Travel 2.0 blog.)

Take Control of Your Website

There are many reasons why corporate and artist sites should not carry advertising. But the most obvious one is that outside ads change the conversation. In one of the few places that a marketer can completely control their message; they're sharing the stage with outsiders who have a different agenda. >>Full Story

Thoughts// This interesting experiment (or cruel prank depending on your point of view) reported in the Silicon Alley Insider, is a prime example of why you shouldn't allow outside Google text ads within your site. For a period of time this week, Columbia Records website ran a targeted prank ad featured above that read: "Major Labels are Obsolete...RIP or learn and thrive". The ad was delivered to more than 6,000 site visitors and generated a click rate of 0.6% (4 clicks). Small impact but nevertheless an important lesson to all of us on the dangers of contextual advertising and networks!

~ Happy Friday! (PS: I am still wondering how we have so many Michigan folks here!)

Random Thoughts: Smarter Media Spend

In case you missed it, the Orlando Sentinel had a little snippet about the LVCVA this week.

...Las Vegas, spent $123.6 million on marketing and advertising during the fiscal year that ended June 30. Vegas is seeing almost no growth in its visitor count through May, while hotel occupancy has dipped 1.9% compared with the first five months of last year.

Now, we are certainly not saying the money was not well spent, (not to mention the economy, gas prices, airlines, etc, etc, etc.) but with numbers and quotes like that, you could understand how a non-travel industry person could jump to such a conclusion. Which we all know is the incorrect one, tourism marketing / advertising is critical to every DMO and CVB.

Perhaps the industry should be focusing on how we are spending our money, rather than how much money we have to spend.

Easier said than done, to be sure.

Summer Travel Blues...And Deals.

To most Americans, a summer getaway is a crucial component of the life-work compact: they trade 50 weeks of cubicle-bound servitude for two weeks of sun-dappled bliss, and it seems worth it (well, almost).

But halfway through the 2008 season, vacationers (and would-be vacationers) are being squeezed by a confluence of dismal economic realities: fuel prices that have nearly doubled since the start of last year; airlines that have jacked up fares 17 percent since the start of the year; a dollar that stands like a pygmy alongside foreign currencies. >>Full Story

Thoughts// This Tribune story is yet another article about the dismal travel outlook this season. According to research (validated by research from our friends at Destination Analysts), travelers are taking fewer tips or staying home altogether. Even the wealthy are not immune from the situation and are increasingly going online to scrutinizing prices closely. Of course this article is typical of the current media environment and focuses mostly on the negative side of the story. On the flip side, consumers still view the "summer vacation" as a quintessential part of their life and are generally "trading down, not out" according to Peter Yesawich of Y Partnership and other research sources.

Not surprisingly, many DMO's and state tourism agencies are taking advantage of budget conscious consumers shopping online (over 70% in June according to eMarketer - see below) and are offering "summer deals" for travelers. Here's a sampling:

• Hawaii: The aloha state launched a "limited" $3 million TV, radio, print and online campaign to stimulate summer tourism;
  

• Oregon: We relaunched our 365 campaign in regional portal and lifestyle sites; while 365 has been primarily a branding initiative in the past, this time we evolved the campaign to feature special summer deals fromour partners;
  

Do you have an interesting story to share about how your organization is using the web to offer value packages to spark travel close to home this summer? Share your story and tell us.

(PS: What's with all the Michigan votes on the poll! I say re-count!)

"South Carolina is So Gay"

A state employee has resigned and officials have disavowed an international advertising campaign that led to calls for an investigation of tourism posters proclaiming “South Carolina is so gay.”

The campaign, which plastered the London subway with posters advertising the charms of South Carolina and five major U.S. cities to gay European tourists, landed with a resounding thud in South Carolina, where the issue of gay rights has long been a political flashpoint. >>Full Story

Thoughts// We've been scratching our heads on this one. Despite whatever you think of the creative, the tag line, or how this was allegedly only approved by "a low level staffer", this story nevertheless raises some interesting questions about the precarious nature of being a state tourism agency.

With gay travel estimated to be a $64.5 billion market by the International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association, how does a state tourism agency legitimately—using public funds—communicate to this audience in a meaningful way?

Once a decision has been made to pursue the gay tourism market, how do you sustain and defend the decision?

Tell us what you think! We'd love to hear from you on this one.

Random Thoughts: Online Ad Spend

Reading an article in the Washington Post, this paragraph jumped out to me:

The nation's largest advertiser, Procter & Gamble, which spends nearly $5 billion a year on advertising, devoted less than 2 percent of its measured ad spending online, according to figures from the 2007 Advertising Age list of leading national advertisers. The company spent most of its vast ad budget on television.

Of course, 2% of $5 billion dollars is still more than enough money to fill up a swimming pool, but an interesting, possibly overlooked stat about the company which most marketers were taught to emulate in terms of strategy and spend.

Travel Trends - Couch Surfing, Niche Newspapers, Media Spend, FedEx, Mobile Internet

Couch Surfing - The end of hotels as we know them? Probably not, but still interesting. If you are looking for a free place to stay on your next vacation and do not suffer from any sleeping disorders like sleep walking, couchsurfing.com can find you a couch to crash on. Oh, that's right, you are staying on someone else's couch. CouchSurfing is a worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit. So far, there are 586,956 available couches who have hosted 474,622 'successful' surfing experiences. A brilliant concept (love the way one surfer put it: a global community based on trust, honesty, reciprocity, generosity, optimism and a sharing of all the good things in life) and from the sound of it, you will actually meet some interesting (and not scary!) people. Unfortunately, Oprah's couch is not on the list...I checked.
http://www.couchsurfing.com/

(Just in case you need more, here is the video of Tom Cruise going crazy on Oprah...love that guy.)

Niche Newspapers - For everyone out there who is advertising on a major papers website, a report by The Media Audit and reported by the Center for Media Research shows that some 'alternative' newspapers have an expanding reach:

Alternative newspaper websites with the highest market penetration include:

• Madison Wisconsin's Isthmus (13.5%)
• The Austin Chronicle (11.4%)
• Charleston, Carolina's Charleston City Paper (10.3%)
• The New Haven Advocate (10%)
• The Memphis Flyer (9.5%)
• Minneapolis City Pages (9.2%)
• Madison, Wisconsin's The Onion (8.9%)
• New Orleans' Gambit Newsweekly (8.8%)
• Syracuse New Times (8.3%)
• Washington D.C.'s The Onion (8.2%)

Interesting stuff.
http://www.themediaaudit.com/

More Stats - Some more online advertising numbers from the Center for Media Research.

According to a proprietary study by The Media Trust Company, American Express had the largest share-of-voice among travel advertisers (online) as consumers searched on where to vacation, hot travel deals and travel advice preceding Memorial Day, the official start of summer.

• CarRental.com was the leading advertiser with a 45.57% share-of-voice among car rental companies
• Best Western earned 25.22% share-of-voice among hotel advertisers
• United Airlines was the top airline advertiser with a 42.27% share-of-voice
• American Express accounted for 46.53% of all credit card advertisements

http://blogs.mediapost.com/

FedEx Launches Facebook's Package - Well, after all those posts on what not to do on Facebook, MySpace or any other social network, here is an example of a successful 'viral' campaign. Released less than two weeks ago, the "Launch a Package" application lets users send virtual goods to friends, from little digital trinkets to photos and links. The items arrive in a FedEx box that the recipient opens to reveal the gifts inside. It has 258,000 total installations and more than 15,000 active users. Not bad considering you could have just emailed those photos. For FedEx, this is a good fit, people are sending stuff to each via Facebook why not wrap a big FedEx logo around it? Feel like launching your own package? Check out launchapackage.com.
http://www.mediaweek.com/

Consumers Not So Mobile - A quick and short article from MediaWeek talks about a survey from AKQA and dotMobi that '44 percent of users report having had a bad experience in their initial use of the mobile Web. Slow connection speeds, poor site display and cost are the top three reasons respondents cited for being dissatisfied with current mobile Web services.' And 'Three-quarters of respondents said they were most interested in using mobile Internet access to pull up maps.' Once mobile internet providers can offer location-based ads on a regular and consistent basis, then advertisers can begin delivering relevant messages to the consumer who is using that map. I can see it now...Ad text: 'Looking for a visitor's information center? It's right behind you!' Helpful and scary at the same time.
http://www.mediaweek.com/

Top 5: Our Favorite Posts

Since the Travel 2.0 blog just celebrated our one year anniversary, we figured a quick look back...for all you new readers...at some of our favorite posts, thoughts and stories was in order.

So, in no particular order, here are 5 posts that you should read.

...and for those of you who skipped out early that one Friday like 7 months ago, you should read these too.

Top 5:

1. Word of the Week - The Long Tail
2. When Fewer Clicks Are A Good Thing
3. Travel Trends - .travel, JetBlue, Privacy
4. Bloggers? We Don't Need No Stinkin' Bloggers!
5. Who's Been Clicking On My Banner?

Ah, so many great posts...hard to pick just 5.

Enjoy!

Travel Trends - Panoramio, Priceline.com, Offbeat Guides, Tripology, Google TV Ads

Google Introduces 'Look Around' with Panoramio - Last week Google, via it's recently acquired subsidiarity Panoramio, introduced a new 'Look Around' feature, which allows the visitor to click through images, view different angles and essentially take a virtual tour of the area. If this sounds familiar, it should...Microsoft has been showing off Photosynth for a year now...unlike Photosynth, it appears that Panoramio and Google have actually launched the product for public use. The technology behind the 'Look Around' feature, and Photosynth, is quite impressive and with so many images available via Flickr or Photobucket, the possibilities to combine hundreds of thousands of photos into one tour...of a specific area...could prove to be a powerful tool to further encourage travel.
http://google-latlong.blogspot.com/

Priceline's Sunshine Guarantee - As part of its summer promo Priceline.com...and Mr. Shatner...has launched a Sunshine Guarantee for your vacation. Book via priceline to 100+ destinations and if it rains (more than .5 of an inch) you get your money back. An interesting promo...that I am sure if valid in Arizona!
http://www.priceline.com/

Off Beat Guides Launches - TechCrunch has a great review of the newly launched beta of offbeatguides.com. Started by Technorati founder Dave Sifry...TechCrunch also has a video interview with Dave...Off Beat Guides combines online content, maps, weather, current events etc, etc all specific to your travel dates into a printable .pdf guide or as an actual paper guide (complete with your name on the cover). However, unlike competitor Nile Guide, Off Beat Guides charges $10 for the .pdf and $25 for the printed copy...which brings up a concern (as mentioned by TechCrunch readers) of selling Creative Commons and public domain content for a profit. Something doesn't add up there. Overall, an intriguing product and another example of print on demand technology becoming more and more prevalent.
http://www.offbeatguides.com/beta

Tripology - Launched a few months ago, Tripology, like Off Beat Guides, spins the online travel planning market back around. Instead of planning your trip online and breaking free from the dictatorship of the travel agent, Tripology allows a user to enter a travel destination and finds a travel agent to plan your trip for you. LendingTree for travel, I suppose.
http://www.tripology.com/

Google Begins Tracking TV Ads Via Google Analytics - Yes, more Google...but, they just keeping doing the right things to make our lives easier. Another post from TechCrunch summarizes how Google has begun using it's Analytics program to not only track you online stats and campaigns, but also TV ads purchased via Google TV Ads. As the review notes, there is not a direct correlation between online visitation and the TV ads, but if your goal is to drive traffic to a website, you can at least view the spikes and dips in website traffic after the TV ad has run. Add that to the fact that Google is now selling ads online, TV (with satellite provider Dish Network), in newspapers and on radio and you can begin to see how Google Analytics (and Google) will and could quickly become the centralized location to track all of your advertising.
http://www.techcrunch.com/

State of the Industry Conversations

After a bit of a delay, State of the Industry Conversations returns with an answer (one, among several) to a previous guest question.

For all of those who missed the original post:

Question:

We have been experimenting and optimizing our online campaigns, but are repeatedly disappointed in the click through rates (.01% to .5%) and conversions coming from our banner advertising. We have a tested several strong CTA’s such as vacation give-aways, free gas, and great price points. We have tried behavioral targeting, content targeting, and run of network on travel research sites. We have utilized ad networks and purchased direct from the publisher. Are our expectations too high, or have others found the secret to successful banner ads when promoting travel to their State?

Answer:
(Submitted via LinkedIn)
From a CTR standpoint, yes .01% can be abysmal, but a .5% in the travel category can indicate good performance. Try running a test to see what gave you the higher CTR…then do more of that. However, I think the real answer is to look beyond the click on a banner. Take a look at your entire digital media mix. Make sure you are employing tools that allow you to track the effect of a banner view or click on your organic search, paid search and email conversions. If you think about your online marketing in regards to feeding the funnel, you realize that your banner campaign is feeding the top of the funnel by building awareness and consideration. The bottom of the funnel is where people are converting and this will typically take place on a search click. Measuring path-to-conversion will make you feel much better about how your banner campaign is feeding the top of the funnel (just as is your offline media - generating awareness, consideration and intent).

Use a tool like Quantcast to understand if your media is driving the qualified audience to your site and compare your efforts of driving traffic (i.e. awareness) to other state travel destinations. When it comes to booking travel online it is mostly being done at hotel and travel websites and third-party booking engines like Orbitz, Expedia, so make sure your expectations are properly set with regards to conversions.

Use a page-tagging analytics tool that allows you to measure how much traffic you are driving to your hotel and destination partners by tracking outbound links. Consider engagement as a metric. How much time are people spending on your site after they click? Consider using richer media that allow a travel seeker to engage with your brand in the banner without leaving the site they were on.

Also, consider cost. Depending on what you are paying and how many impressions are driving a .01% CTR, you may be getting a very efficient cost-per-qualified lead to your site.

Thoughts// While at first glance the question seems to fit in perfectly with our engagement discussion, if the ads in question are not only resulting in a low CTR (start of the funnel), but also a low conversion rate (end of the funnel) that would point to an issue beyond a simple mis-use of analytics.

So, assuming this fellow reader is following her results throughout the advertising process, what is going wrong? Is banner advertising being ignored by everyone? Are people outside of your demo (see our post, Who is Clicking on Your Banners...Probably a middle-aged, sweepstakes-loving, Midwestern woman who likes junk mail and the Packers) the only ones paying attention to your ads? Are display ads too often looked at as the entire 'interactive strategy'?

Personally, I am starting to pull further and further away from display advertising while looking (and demanding) for an integrated advertising plan that places my message in front of the audience at key points.

With those thoughts, let's open it up to the group:

State of the Industry Conversations

To run banner ads or not to run banner ads, that is the question.

State of the Industry Conversations
Bringing the Travel Industry together…one question at a time

Question:

At this time, what percentage (in your best estimate) of your online / interactive marketing plan is devoted specifically to display ads (or banner ads)?

What percentage of your online / interactive marketing plan will be devoted to display ads 1 year from now?

Answers:

Post your answer in the comments field below or via the Answers section of LinkedIn.

Note: You do not have to be a member of Blogger to post a comment to the Travel 2.0 blog. Anonymous comments are allowed, however we would appreciate if you signed the comment with your name.

Travel Trends - Upload Your Photos Here!!, Adobe, Weekend Web

Upload Your Photos HERE!! - An amusing post from the daily (ad) biz makes note of a recent Heineken campaign, to....wait for it....upload your favorite photos of the product! I don't know about you, but several people touching a Heineken bottle spells brand loyalty for me. Anyway, the team over at the daily (ad) biz reiterates what we have said a couple of times on the Travel 2.0 blog, which is that consumers (beer or travel) will not just show up at your website to upload anything! The old, 'if you build it they will come' theory does not work online. Flickr, Facebook and Photobucket (and a few others) are the only photo-sharing websites (or websites where photos are shared in the case of Facebook) that matter. Embrace these sites, run your campaign with them...instead of against them...and stop trying to move mountains.
http://dailybiz.wordpress.com/

Adobe Goes Further Online - For all of you techs and (even) non-techs out there, take note that Adobe just launched it's next round of webtop (runs online, not on your desktop) software acrobat.com and Acrobat 9. If you use or interact with Acrobat (.pdfs) on a daily basis, I would recommend you catch up on the news via the post at TechCrunch. The programs offered via acrobat.com are very useful and the integration of Flash into Acrobat 9 means that you will now start seeing video (YouTube) embedded into .pdf documents.
http://www.techcrunch.com/

The Weekend Web - Shocker, users surf different websites at work during the week versus the weekend! While this article is not exactly a revelation, it does include some interesting insight into consumer behaviors on the mobile web and weekday vs. weekend. For example: 'During weekends, we fire up our smartphones for fun. The fastest-growing mobile-Web categories relate to weather, entertainment, games, and music, according to comScore.' I know I am in that group...weather and movies are all I check on the weekends...plus this blog, of course.
http://www.businessweek.com/

Making Digital Meaningful

...Advertisers aren't focused on building the digital applications that people want to use; they're focused on somehow cramming marketing into them. Some kid comes up with the next YouTube, Facebook or mobile platform, and most advertisers want to figure out how to market on it. Instead of designing and developing useful applications that could give brands the opportunity to insert themselves meaningfully into our lives, we get cutesy but useless "Sprite Sips" on Facebook, ubiquitous banners in all shapes and sizes and microsites that you won't likely return to. And I'm talking about digital advertising -- never mind traditional. >>Full Story

Thoughts// A great read on a topic we've written on this blog before. While the piece is directed primarily towards agencies, it goes without saying that digital advertising today is a vastly under utilized and many of us have sadly resorted to pointless social applications (SpriteSips) or gimmicky microsites instead of providing meaningful experiences that are inherently valuable to consumers. The author's point of view was supported by a recent AdWeek article and challenges us to view digital brand experiences through the prisms of:

1. Usefulness: Instead of providing interruptions and gimmicks, give consumers applications that are meaningful to their lives and serves a purpose.

2. Utility: Give them tools that improve their lives—even if it's overly simplistic—such as Dominos' Pizza Builder.

3. Ubiquity: Don't segregate your applications to just your site; consumers are hanging out on mutiple social networks and are using multiple platforms to access content. Make your content/applications portabe across platforms and networks.

The Facebook application, iLike is a great example of a useful utility. iLike allows you to keep in touch with your favorite artists and discover new (similar) artists; in addition to adding music and video to your profile, it also tells you when your favorite artists are in town. Thanks to such an artist update, my wife and I will be spending next Sunday at a Kate Nash concert in Portland...in fact, we literally bought tickets within 24 hours of seeing the updated news feed on the show. Now that's a meaningful digital application!

State of the Industry Conversations

This week, we have our first guest question for our Conversations series. I am sure this is a common question in offices and conference rooms across numerous states.

We will open the question up to our readers first, then thoughts from myself and Mo.

State of the Industry Conversations
Bringing the Travel Industry together…one question at a time

Question:

We have been experimenting and optimizing our online campaigns, but are repeatedly disappointed in the click through rates (.01% to .5%) and conversions coming from our banner advertising. We have a tested several strong CTA’s such as vacation give-aways, free gas, and great price points. We have tried behavioral targeting, content targeting, and run of network on travel research sites. We have utilized ad networks and purchased direct from the publisher. Are our expectations too high, or have others found the secret to successful banner ads when promoting travel to their State?

Answers:

Post your answer in the comments field below or via the Answers section of LinkedIn.

Note: You do not have to be a member of Blogger to post a comment to the Travel 2.0 blog. Anonymous comments are allowed, however we would appreciate if you signed the comment with your name.

The City without Billboards

Imagine a modern metropolis with no outdoor advertising: no billboards, no flashing neon signs, no electronic panels with messages crawling along the bottom.

Come the new year, this city of 11 million, overwhelmed by what the authorities call visual pollution, plans to press the "delete all" button and offer its residents unimpeded views of their surroundings. >>Full Story

Thoughts// Not necessarily an interactive story, but I find it so fascinating, I had to post it. As many of you may know, since this a story from late 2006, the Brazilian city of Sao Paulo...South America's largest...has gone billboard-free. That's right, the city voted to remove all billboards from the crowded streets and buildings. And they did not stop there, the law stops the distribution of leaflets, bus, taxi, airplane banners and blimps. No visit from the Goodyear Blimp for Sao Paulo.

While this story is a bit dated, our friends at Ad Lab have posted a link to a set of Flickr photos (which is where the photo above comes from) of the empty billboards as well as an ad from British TV channel Sky, promoting Sky Movies, see below.

And yes, that is the most ironic thing I have heard all day...a company is using the fact that they don't allow any ads in a certain city to advertise it's product to another group of consumers.

Think about that one.

Post It And They Will Come?

During my morning perusal of AdPulp, I came across the news of Ogilvy’s new advertising pitch for Tassimo coffee makers…which is going to consist of webisodes and a consumer-generated contest:

“Creating original, entertaining content gives Tassimo both cultural currency and permission for further conversations with consumers,” said Joseph Frydl, director of Ogilvy’s branded content and entertainment group. “Purely interruptive marketing simply cannot accomplish that.”

Beyond the fact that these webisodes, which has acting and production values that make it look like something that ran on my high school’s internal television channel, just aren’t original or entertaining, the idea that some webisodes, a website and a promotional overlay will start conversations with consumers is simply wishful thinking of the sort that somehow seems to convince clients, but reasonable people know are just empty words. >>Full Story

Thoughts// A great post from ad blog 'the daily (ad) biz' on a recent new media campaign for coffee maker Tassimo. As the article alludes to Tassimo simply followed the pattern of (what seems to be) every other new media / interactive / viral campaign that we have seen during the last year. Make some 'funny' videos (I use the word funny in quotes because the videos are merely laborious...I did not make it thought the whole clip), put up an authentic fake-office website and let the laughs roll in!

I am unsure how this online campaign complements the rest of the marketing campaign for Bob, but alas, I am afraid it misses the mark with or without an offline execution.

Like Mo and I have been talking about for a while, not all new media / interactive executions are right for your company / brand. It might be too expensive, too time-consuming, not have the right content or not the right fit for your audience.

Take the time and determine which one of these new and amazing interactive opportunities will be the best fit for your goals and target audience.

And if it is making a series of videos, just make sure they are actually funny.

Who's Been Clicking On My Banner?

A new study reveals that "heavy clickers" distort reality of display advertising click-through metrics. The study conducted by Media agency Starcom USA, behavioral targeting network Tacoda, and digital consumer insight company comScore calls into question click-through rates as a primary source of accountability for Internet display advertising aimed at brand-building. Called “Natural Born Clickers,” the study reveals that a very small group of consumers who are not representative of the total U.S. online population is accountable for the vast majority of display ad click-through behavior. >>Full Story

Thoughts// Given the similarity to the results of an AOL study that we reported on late last year, I'm frankly not surprised by this new study. But if you need more convincing that reign of the "click thru" as a tangible measure of success for digital campaign is over, you might want to pick this report up. According to the study, just 6 percent of the online population (“Natural Born Clickers”) are responsible for more than 50 percent of display ad clicks! These serial clickers are reportedly drastically different than the general online population and tend to:

1. Be between the ages of 25-44 with a households income of under $40,000.
2. Spend more time online (four times as much) while spending proportionally less than non-clickers.
   
3. Spend more time at auctions, gambling, and career services sites.
   

Most significantly however, the study suggests that there is no connection between measured attitude towards a brand and the number of times an ad for that brand was clicked.

So what should you do? The reality is that at least for direct response or sweeps types of promotions, the click thrus (and resulting leads) might be a more relevant measure of success; but when it comes to online branding campaigns, you might have to dig a bit deeper.

At Travel Oregon (and at AOT as well), the click thru has now become just a cursory indicator; to examine whether a given sets of clicks are meaningful and relevant to the messaging, we dive deep into "time spent on site" plus a host of other measurables that we fondly call "engagement". Engagement to us is any tangible action a user takes on our site including: ordering a travel guide, subscribing to e-mail or RSS, opening a travel planner account, adding stuff to their travel planner account (events, restaurants etc.), downloading a ring tone, signing up for a contest etc.

When expressed as a percentage of overall traffic from a particular site, it can quickly tell you the relevance of that "click thru" number. Long live the click thru!

(Note: As of this writing, we have not been able to get the full published 'Natural Born Clickers' report; as soon as we get our hands on it, we'll have it here for download)

Gucci Loves New York...

Gucci "Loves" New York, but perhaps New York does not share the sentiment? In an effort to promote the opening of its flagship store in New York, luxury brand Gucci recently launched www.GucciLovesNY.com, a site that pays homage to the city by featuring the favorite chic hangouts of the brand's CEO and creative director - including restaurants, clubs, boutiques and spas. One problem...the economic development arm for the State of New York is locked in a dispute with Gucci over use of the legendary "heart" symbol synonymous with the "I love NY" campaign. >>Full Story

Thoughts// Kudos to the marketing team at Gucci. They could have played it safe and celebrated the new Gucci flagship store by running one of those run-of-the-mill fashion campaigns we’ve become accustomed; yes, the ones with super skinny blondes enjoying the party life (not that there’s anything wrong with it).

Instead however, they chose to pay homage to the city that is the fashion capital of the country and built a whole campaign around it. Visitors to the site can view locations on a Google “mashup” map and read about why each location makes “Gucci love New York.” The site also has blogs from a group of fashion bloggers, all of whom also add their favorite New York places to go. Visitors can participate by submit their own posts, complete with a photo of themselves in front of their favorite place.

And what’s more, the company also designed 600 commemorative purses and 100% of the proceeds from the sale of these purses are slated to be given away to a charity that maintains childrens' playgrounds at Central Park (at $600 or so a pop, that adds up nicely).

The campaign also has a ton of potential to extend itself to other channels: Madonna’s “I love NY” which plays in the background would make for popular ringtones, they could leverage the photos on Flickr, perhaps add a Twitter feed to track the hippest places frequented by Gucci staff and of course some point of sale interaction with customers.

Despite all of these positives, Gucci's love for NY is unrequited. As of this writing, the legal wrangling over the use of the “heart” symbol continues; in addition, some fashionista bloggers are up in arms about the fact that none of the bloggers on the site are from NYC. Guess you can’t please them all!

Gucci…perhaps you should head West?

Dealing with Ad Immunity

While News Corp. is thrilled about its social network's ad-revenue growth, Google and many marketers are frustrated about click-through rates. There was a time when Mark Seremet considered MySpace one of the best things to happen to his business. Seremet, then-CEO of customized clothing company Spreadshirt, saw sales jump sixfold in late 2005 and early 2006 after he ran ads on the popular social networks MySpace and Facebook. "Somebody would get the shirt, then tell a friend," Seremet says. "It was really an amazing change for the business." >>Full Story

Thoughts// Another good article on the subject of advertising on social networks, even thought it is a little short on solid numbers. According to Mr. Seremet, Spreadshirt was experiencing around a 1% CTR (click-thru rate) in 2006, but that dropped to .10% in 2007. Those numbers should hardly come as a surprise. MySpace was still relatively 'new' in 2006, so a lot of users were still open and interested in advertising.

The article goes onto say that 'only a fraction of 1% of the people who see the ads click on them.' And that many advertisers are not seeing a good ROI when advertising on social networks such as MySpace and Facebook.

Of course, this lends some truth to the argument that Mo and I have been making about advertising on social networks...people are on these sites to meet, talk, reconnect with friends, family and co-workers, not browse ads for the latest widget, car or other 'you need this' product. True, some advertisers are probably doing very well on MySpace, but unless you are in the business of creating custom MySpace skins and layouts, there might be a better buy for your campaign.

Case in point (from the article):

"There's too much [advertising] when you sign on," says John Sigona, a 32-year-old MySpace user who likes the site, though he ignores the ads. "They don't interest me."

Exactly.

Who is Producing the Best Online Ads Right Now? That Would be Apple.

More online spots from the fine folks at Apple...or in this case, TBWA and its Media Arts Lab.

Thoughts// While there are certainly numerous well-conceived and executed online ads in use today, some of the best are coming from Apple (in fact, I am sure some would argue that the entire campaign is one of the best out there). Regardless of what you may think about the Mac vs. PC debate, Apple's use of the online medium, and specifically the New York Times website, is close to perfection. As with the other Apple spot we featured on the Travel 2.0: Interactive Trend Report, this execution uses the advertising space on nytimes.com to create an intriguing placement. Not to mention using a newspaper quote in the ad, on a newspaper site, to make it blend in seamlessly. What a concept! Integration! (sarcasm intended)

Now did everyone who visited nytimes.com that day view or click the ad? No, of course not. But, I am willing to bet that this ad had a much larger brand impact than most.

(click the 'play' button above to view the ad)