A Wider Net

I’m not usually one to offer tips on Teleconferencing, but this list from Web Worker Daily is a pretty good reference. I’m troubled by the fact that people need to be reminded to mute their bluetooth headset if they have to go to the bathroom in the middle of a call, and to use a quiet keyboard so as to not audibly “type-dis” while you multitask. These tips on teleconferencing are good for conference calls, but they remind me why I try so hard to move customers from web conferencing to webcasting. Web conferencing is so dull, it needs lists of survival tips. ’nuff said.

Found via Face2Face.

Last night’s Super Bowl had its entertaining moments. The historic opening kickoff return for a touchdown was stumped only by the subsequent manic flurry of bouncing fumbles and interceptions. The rain also added a needed degree of uncertainty and drama. But the event also had an unfair number of missed opportunities - on the field, off the field, on television, and online.

I’ll start at the beginning with Billy Joel’s odd rendition of our National Anthem. Here was a (six-time?) Grammy-winner who sounded like he was singing backup to a blues singer that the rest of us could not hear. Apparently he remarked last week that he doesn’t like the Anthem, so maybe he was making some adjustments? Or maybe they should have tapped someone who actually likes the National Anthem and won’t butcher it. Then they could simply let Prince handle the butchering of songs by Foo Fighters, Queen, and Hendrix.

On to the marketing parts. As Super Bowl ads go, I’ll admit that after looking back at the ads at CBS, there were some ads that I enjoyed, but not one felt like the belle of the water-cooler ball. I was surprised to see my favorite electronic device of CES, the Garmin Nuvi, had a Super Bowl ad - but I can’t say I liked it.

On the topic of missed opportunities, I would include a link to the Garmin Nuvi commercial on the official CBS Super Bowl ad website, bit their site doesn’t allow you to link to a video! Also - they’re still using the prehistoric Real Player. Plus, their gallery of Super Bowl ads, heavily promoted on air, isn’t in the front page of Google search results for “Super Bowl Ads”. That’s three strikes for CBS for missed opportunities right there.

YouTube is no fool - they have the ads with direct links (here’s Garmin), and a cool voting page. They’re also near the top of the Google Search. You can embed them in your blog. Well done.

So the ads weren’t really home runs - some were creative (Coke) and some had their shock moments (Bud’s Rock, Paper Scissors, and Snickers). Our favorite repeat Super Bowl Ad Stars, the Bud Clydesdale’s were reduced to a cameo role supporting a dirty-white-dog dalmatian ad.

The video game industry missed a golden opportunity. With Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo in a tight console war, not one was featured in an ad (unless I missed it). Nintendo had the greatest opportunity, after scoring a major upset when their version of Madden Football for the Wii console scored higher critics ratings than the versions for XBOX 360, and PlayStation 3. Nintendo had the opportunity to drop an advertisement just before halftime saying “Critics agree: The best Madden Football game is on the Nintendo Wii” and remind people to turn away from the halftime show, and turn on their Wii and get their party off the couches.

Speaking of halftime and missed opportunities, did anyone notice that Prince opted to cover a bunch of artists but NOT James Brown? Hmmm - seems like Prince may own him a bit of respect.

Back to the ads. The greatest missed opportunity at this years’ Super Bowl was the lack of compelling campaigns driving traffic to the web. It was as if the money spent on air was stubbornly trying to prevent people from spending time online. Online is where all those eyeballs are today, the day after the Super Bowl, so why not have told them where to go online? There were a few website URLs mentioned, and a few online companies like GoDaddy and SalesGenie had their own ads. But there was nothing that really drove traffic other than CBS, who pushed people to watch replays of the ads on their previously mentioned lame video player.

I also didn’t notice one Mooninite in the stadium.

UPDATE: Forrester Analyst Peter Kim on the Superbowl Ads: He reported a similar weakness in integrated ads.

I find it tricky to write a post about a marketing campaign that resulted in the gridlock of the city of Boston, nearly a million dollars in emergency response expenses, and countless cases of irrational panic. Writing about it raises questions like “Am I giving undue attention to an inappropriate publicity stunt, thereby encouraging others to do the same?” and also “wait - was the problem the stunt, or the city’s reaction to the stunt”. I also find it tricky because it has already been covered by hundreds of other blogs.

As an attention-getter, the stunt worked. See ABC, CNN, WBZ Radio, Boston, (full coverage from Boston.com is here but may not be for long), and for a more insightful read, check out Making Light’s roundup.

This has truly received an undue amount of attention, especially in the city of Boston. These same devices were in place in 10 cities for weeks without gathering any attention. In fact, homeland security wasn’t even aware of them in the 10 other cities - think on that a bit… Perhaps I should feel safer living in the one city that took it seriously. Or perhaps I should add it to the same mental scrap book next to The Big Dig, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Mike Dukakis, and the Celtics, who have made it embarassing to admit to the rest of the country that I’m from Massachusetts.

Thinking back to the marketing aspects of this stunt - was it worth the $1 million in damages being sought by Boston Mayor Menino from Turner and their agency, Interference, Inc? Was it worth the legal fees and the costs to build them and execute across 10 major cities? Of course it was. Who but the lonliest of hermits isn’t now aware of the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim, the Aqua Teen Hunger Force and their irreverent Mooninite’s?

But this campaign HAD to cause some kind of stir to succeed. Otherwise, as in the other 9 cities, it would have been casually dismissed by the masses and picked up by the same niche that already watches the show.

The book of “Bad PR is Good PR” will need a new chapter when this blows over.