Summer+2009+Section+09-PJ+Week+7

The class went over "'stitial" ads in class (Interstitials, Vivistitials, and Locostitials). Interstitials are ads that fit between segments of content that consumers want to experience. Vivistitials, and Locostitial deliver ads in life's content.

Perhaps vivistitials are what you find on Facebook? Self selected associations with products, services, or organizations that have a significance with you, and you choose to advertise those products by posting on your "wall" so that those who you "friend" might find interest in those same things and further promote them on their own "walls". This phenomenon was part of the question raised in the article in our readings by Watts on "Accidental Influentials". In the article, Watts outlines the posit by Malcolm Gladwell in “The Tipping Point” that social epidemics are driven in large part by the actions of a tiny minority of special individuals who are unusually informed, persuasive, or well-connected (called “influentials”). The article asks “are there certain individuals called 'influentials' who if convinced of the value of a product/idea/other, that product/idea/other will take off from there due to their influence? Or, are we all “influentials” with the capacity to spread ideas.” (ie. through social networking?).

Interstitials suggested by the class included: Ads that run across the bottom of television programming without full commercial interruption. We watched an ad featuring Tina Fey that made it seem like part of the show 30 Rock Soccer games in Europe without advertising breaks. What about ads on uniforms? Radio Interstitials were also discussed. The following radio talk shows engage in this practice with little if any break between the show and the commercial.


 * Dennis Miller Show
 * Bill O'Reilly
 * Many of the Portland morning shows...even heard one advertising a particular brand of sausage...wow...

> **What do you think of the Captivate Network web component?** If you work for me and spend too much time on the online captivate network.....I will fire you!
 * Captivate Newtork:**
 * Provides Vivistial promotion in the form of video programming screens in upscale office elevators.
 * Plan to expand their model to include an online component, where consumers can further engage. An example of this would be viewing a car commercial in the elevator, and subsequently visiting the website to schedule a test drive appointment AT the office. This meets consumers where they are and brings the customer experience right to their doors, allowing busy professionals to experience products/services they may not have time for otherwise.
 * They want people to go the their website to get more information and provide feedback on what they had seen in the elevator.
 * There was also discussion of having people interact using their cell phone. By sending a text message they could receive more information about the Captivate Network.
 * An additional question raised was the ability to scale the advertising to specific geo locales. It would be an extremely relevant form of advertising if the ability to advertise the cafe on floor 1's specials to the executives on floor 10.


 * Snickers' recent "Snacklish" campaign and billboard locostitials:**
 * This steps outside of the 'stitial discussion slightly, but not too far: []
 * The website experience actually begins with two fairly blatant marketing practices - the collection of demographic information, and what could be argued as an interstitial webpage. (Though, you're there for the promotional experience already, so I'm not sure how this enhances the effect - what do you think?)
 * Try typing in a competitor's name into the translation tool (i.e. Reeses, Starburst)...interesting. Also try Barack Obama.
 * **Does the locostitial campaign work? Have you seen "Snacklish" billboards that make sense geographically? Have you seen any that definitely don't?**

It becoming more important in advertising to make the consumer interact more so that they better remember the product. Also by getting the customer to visit a website the company gains more information about their customers.
 * We also looked at "reactive" advertising solutions through use of interactive and video. Touch sensitive applications allow new ways for consumers to "interact" the store even after hours. We watched a video from Portland based Reactive who designs and produces this reactive interaction. The example was a one million dollar Polo microsite where people could literately window shop, swipe a card and purchase items from outside the building. They could arrange for items to be picked up later or mailed to your house. Website www.goreative.com under the media tab, videos.

Outside of the Snacklish campaign, do you think billboards still work? Do you notice them? What makes a billboard effective?** We talked about **geotargeting** (learn more at [|1020.com]), the practice of using a geofence to communicate with opt-in consumers (those that have chosen to receive the service) when their geofencing device (phone, handheld, etc.) enters a particular area. **What are the potential down sides to a technology like this? Will our text message in boxes become like our emails, overflowing with SPAM?**
 * With regard to the Snacklish campaign I do think that it has been successful even if not completely intuitive. The key to making this work is brand recognition and since Snickers and the packaging/lettering are so identifyable it actually works. A lesser known brand would not be as successful because you would most likely remember the ad but not the product behind it. Being able to identify the product has become more difficult as of late and without that identifying factor, it is impossible to figure out what these companies are marketing.
 * I did play with the Snacklish translator and it was entertaining. I'm not sure how long someone would normally spend using it but I did laugh - but I didn't want to go out and buy a Snickers either though so I can't say it was successful
 * I really enjoy some of the more creative wall-advertising around Portland, there is a warehouse on I-84W at about 30th that always has some interesting advertising - partly because it has to be hand-painted and partly because it's so large. There are other buildings, mainly near downtown, where the medium is unusual and seems to foster interesting sponsorship. Other than that, I'm usually too busy driving to notice regular bill-boards.

We talked about **Google advertising products** as an excellent example of interstitials. Not only are these products simple and helpful to companies wanting to employ them, the nature of the process keeps the consumer's needs (i.e., highly relevant, easy to find/use content) at the forefront. Advertisers whose ads best meet the consumer's needs (whether this is in the form of a good product, or a well written, accurate ad) are rewarded through higher placement.

Do you or your company use AdSense? What has been your experience with it?
 * Google AdSense**

Do you or your company use AdWords? What has been your experience with it?
 * Google AdWords**


 * Vickrey second price auctions**: encourages everyone to bid their maximum "reservation price" or utility. But the best part about the pricing is that you may not end up paying the price you bid, the downside is you could end up losing the bid as well.


 * Googlenomics**: Google makes $21 for every search. Initial reactions to the model that makes that kind of revenue possible were negative. What does this say for the importance of following the numbers, trusting solid decision making, and not letting the fears/opnions of clientele sway you from making what will ultimately be a good business decison?

__**Loss of Focus**__ In the Charles Schwab case it was apparent that the company lost focus of its core values which lead to a decline. We have reviewed several cases of companies that lost sight of what once made them great. Why does this happen and how can it be avoided?

Charles Schwab was perceived by many of its customers to offer the same or similar services as a full service broker which is actually the opposite of its business model. If perception is reality how can you effectively manage this phenomenon and leverage it to your advantage? Which companies exceed at this and why?
 * __Power of Perception__ **



As A Team We Thought That thought that it would be hard to make a recommendation about the Charles Schwab marketing plan based on the information provided. We noticed that the ups and downs the investment firm faced from 2001 to 2005 exactly mirrored the ups and downs of the market. Although the campaign could very well have prevented huge losses for Charles Schwab, ultimately, it was unclear how effective the "Talk to Chuck" campaign had been. We suggested no increase in spending until more tests could be conducted.

Top Gun chose to not spend the additional money due to the lack of information about the Talk to Chuck Campaign. Our team understands that in order to survive in an environment where customers have higher expectations and corporate wants to provide less and less, the company needs to be more innovative, more user friendly, and potentially have the ability to speak with people. We want to continue keeping the talk to chuck strategy because it continues to generate money for us but we do not feel we should bet heavily it generating higher profits. The Frowny Turkey Team chose to personalize the customer's investing experience.In our approach we sought to differentiate ourselves through a hgh touch solution that would respond to investors who chose a guided approach to the market. "Talking to Chuck" for Team Frowny Turkey meant guidance,experience and results. Independent day traders might not be our targeted market, but cautious investors always exisit(just look at today's market!) and with our personalized service capacity we felt we could guide investors at the level of involvemnt they would feel comfortable. Our final decision was to advance the program regionally(Midwest, South and Southwest) where a more conservative mindset might prevail and finally move nationwide to capture conservative investor on the coasts.

The Known Unknowns focused on the "Talk to Chuck" campaign. The objective was to create a sense of comfort amongst the variety of customers served. To bring Chuck closer to the customer, webinars and other educational tools were made available for customer education. In addition to customer education, the customer can choose to receive portfolio performance and market updates on their mobile phones and email accounts. Another idea was to introduce Rosie to talk to female customers and make them more comfortable with investing. Also, to bring in Chuck II with the most advanced electronic trading platform (text, computer, PDA), (totally wired)