Life at the Speed of Google

Super Bowl ads this year were “O-K”… with a few exceptions, most notably (in my humble opinion) was Google’s “Parisian Love”.

The spot does it all: showcases the product, demonstrates how the brand is cultural staple in our everyday lives and tells a great story. Bravo!

Click here for Time’s full list of this year’s BEST and WORST super bowl commercials.

Will NBC get Late Night Right?

Last week, the world watched as NBC’s late night fiasco turned a page. Conan is out, Jay is back and I think NBC redefined the term “between a rock and a hard place”. Hopefully the NBC media research group adjusted the projections methodology they used to estimate its Late Night lineup for Vancouver 2010 Olympics.

But did NBC get this right? Will Jay Leno deliver better performance and ratings than Conan O’Brien would have in the same time slot? My guess: No.

Conan’s audience was significantly younger than Jay’s audience. Younger audiences consume more media from more devices (through TV, TiVo, on the internet, mobile phones, Kindles, Tablets and more). By going with Jay Leno, NBC sticks with what they know works – broadcast television and conventional business thinking. But in just 5 years from now, the Late Show will probably be available on any and every screen (or device) you can think of. Conan’s younger audiences would have used their iPhones to watch more NBC content, Blackberries to download more NBC downloads and any other device to simply connect more to the NBC brand than compared to Jay’s older, more broadcast-based audience.

The TV viewing experience has moved to the web and ratings on television are no longer an adequate measure of performance. New media and new devices have changed all that. Just this week, Variety reported on Nielson’s plan to finally combine online and television video ratings in a single “extended screen” rating system. I wonder if this type of metric was even a consideration for NBC when they broke Conan’s contract two weeks ago.

What do you think? Is NBC’s decision going to pay off? Feel free to drop your comments about online television too…

ANOTHER NYE IN THE BOOKS

Whatever you did, wherever you were… Happy New Year.

My NYE was a little hectic as usual. Here’s a shot from midnight last year… 

Midnight at Fluid 2009 - Club Soda

Montreal Gazette article about NYE events this year – http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/More+parties+Year/2394064/story.html

Forget Backpacking Europe – check out Yacht Week!

In the summer of 2000, I backpacked through a dozen countries in Europe. I worked my ass off for 10 months leading up to the trip, saved as much money as possible and my amazing parents bought me a plane ticket – and I was off. I remember thinking that NOTHING could beat 8 weeks in Europe, on a trip of a lifetime…

I was wrong. My younger, better looking and more connected partner Lonnie S just showed me what my European backpacking experience back in 2000 will have evolved to in 2010: “Yacht Week” (wasnt around  in 2000) looks like an “evolved version / backpacking on crack” of what I can remember of my European experience… minus the luxury yacht! Wow, these kids know how to party.

Live Broadcast of Grey Cup Parade – sponsored by H Gregoire & Rona

The Alouettes are 2009 Grey Cup Champions. On Weds, Dec 2 the city of Montreal will celebrate and Global Montreal will be there to catch all the action live on television and the web. 

H Gregoire & Rona present live coverage of the Grey Cup Victory Parade in downtown Montreal (Weds Dec 2, 11h30 – 13h30 on Global Montreal – Videotron 008, Bell TV 234)

HTC’s “You Campaign”

I’ve probably seen this spot 20 times or so and it still gives me the shivers. I think it’s perfect: the music, text, copy, VO, everything…. “You don’t need to get a phone. You need a phone that gets you.” Brilliant!

This is HTC’s latest commercial from the You campaign.

 

 

 

We Should Take the Stairs

Stairs can suck, especially if you’re carrying stuff or if it’s too early in the morning (after a late night). If you think about it, people generally choose not to take the stairs because there is a more convenient alternative and faster solution available. So what if you were a marketer of stairs? What would you do to get more people using your product?

It’s amazing what can be accomplished when we understand how consumers think and that sometimes, people will choose a more enjoyable experience - even if it comes attached to a little extra effort.  

Source: http://www.thefuntheory.com/ (a VW initiative – great idea!)

 

When People have Freedom to Choose, they Choose the Best

Seth Godin mentioned this in his daily blogletter… great example of what happens when you stick to your guns and offer things to people who appreciate them – even if that means choosing a small segment of the population.

We all Lose in Cable vs. Broadcast

I just received my monthly cable bill, and on it the company indicated that they were raising the fees for my cable TV service. Ridiculous! Not because I care about the $4 increase, but because cable TV service providers have refused to pay for the content they distribute for profit, and that has become my problem!?

It’s not right that service providers are passing the new costs on to us and disguising the fee as a “tax”. They are choosing to take no responsibility in the well being of the Canadian television industry.

What do you think? Should cable companies be forced to share in the cost with viewers?

Local TV Matters website

More info here: http://localtvmatters.ca/

 

Hulu to Charge Fees: Really?

On Friday, I was disappointed to read the Associated Press reporting on Hulu.com considering a switch from its free advertiser-supported online video service to some form of fee-based format. Hulu.com provides free access to TV shows and movies to U.S. audiences.

News Corp.’s Chase Carey and Rupert Murdoch made mention of the potential fees being introduced as early as 2010. (News Corp co-owns Hulu with NBC Universal, Walt Disney Co. and Providence Equity Partners)

Article in Marketing Mag is here: http://www.marketingmag.ca/english/news/media/article.jsp?content=20091023_143120_7884

Beginning of the end? Or inescapable reality?

I have to admit, this is truly disappointing to many of us media geeks who have viewed Hulu as a gleaming ray of hope in today’s media industry. As viewers continue to turn to convenient on-demand services, I thought Hulu (with its appropriate and reasonable structure of pre-roll ads in exchange for free content) would be perfectly positioned for the evolving trends and technology surrounding broadcast and broadband viewership.

Unfortunately for Hulu (and me), cash is king and waiting for the North American media business to embrace broadband video at a faster pace is something that shareholders may not be willing to wait around for.

So is this beginning of the end of Hulu? Will we look back 10 years from now and remember Hulu as being pioneers ahead of the curve? Or maybe subscriber fees are an inevitable reality that North Americans have to learn to live with?