Altyrian View

If you’re like me, nothing could get you into the shopping crowds on the Friday after Thanksgiving. I did that exactly one time about 10 years ago. Never again.

Today is the day that people return to work, but instead of getting back into the grind, they do some online shopping. In theory, this is the biggest online shopping day of the year.

While that might have been true in 1997 when the phrase was coined by Jerry Shereshewsky, I think that so many people have access at home that most of the online shopping is done over the weekend.

Nope, today is about catching up on YouTube videos. All the same, Black Monday has a better ring to it than Black Weekend.

A little off topic, but I thought you would want to know that Apple has released it’s version of the Web browser for use on Windows. While I haven’t tested it on a Windows machine, early reports say that it’s really fast.

More information is available from the Apple Web site. Be sure to watch the demo.

From my days at a Web site development company, I learned one thing: Everyone hates their Web site host. Period. No matter how well you host a Web site, it will eventually go down for a bit. I enjoy seeing how companies handle Web site downtime, and I think that YouTube handles it like a champ. This is from their homepage during some downtime tonight:

OK. We admit it. We’re fixing stuff, but we’ll be up soon.
In the meantime, please enjoy a layman’s explanation of our website…

I just watched the new Folger’s Advertisement that’s playing on the Internet. In it, a crowd of yellow glowing idiots (are they dead spirits?) sing and annoy the inhabitants of a seaside town until - surprise! - those inhabitants drink their coffee. A couple of sips of (you guessed it) Folgers and the townspeople actually tap their fingers along with the singing idiots. Message: drink your coffee and you’ll love mornings.

Heather Green over at BusinessWeek Online describes the spot as “disturbing.” In her blog she posts the Folger’s pitch for the ad. I’m with Heather - I find the ad disturbing as well, considering that the ad’s song includes the line “You can sleep when you are dead.” But, even more than disturbing to me is the horrible lack of strategy behind this ad. At our agency we drink lots and lots of coffee, and we actually drink Folger’s. I love the taste of Folger’s but I really hate this ad.

Come on Folger’s, did you think to ask the question “What’s this ad going to do for our brand?” From where I’m sitting this ad makes your brand silly, annoying and unlikeable. Don’t insult your customers with glowing yellow idiots (singing or otherwise) and don’t remind your customers that someday they’ll be dead. Your product is coffee - COFFEE!  Maybe you should keep your product AND your market in mind next time.

Broadcasted on May 19, 2006

Today’s interview is with Lara Helms, Art Director for Altyris Advertising. Helms discusses the marketing strategies used to promote the TV show “Lost.”

• “Lost” is taking its audience outside the hour long TV show to searching websites and other sponsorships looking for show details. Lost fans search sites such as Sublymonal.com, sponsored by Sprite, to look for “Lost” information.

• “Lost” marketers are taking fans from one medium and driving them into another medium to market their product and message. The Hanso Foundation, a fictional organization created in the “Lost” series, released a commercial that prompted a hotline number and website for curious fans. Those who called the number were put on hold and listened to commercials from Monster.com and Sprite.

• For those who do not have access to the power of marketing through hit TV shows, Podcasts from iTunes, viral marketing, and websites like myspace.com have the same kind of impact and are just as useful.

Listen to the full broadcast on our iTunes Podcast Marketing Watch.

Feel free to contact us; we welcome ideas and feedback from our audience.

Broadcasted on: Oct. 10, 2005

Today’s interview is with Dan Robinette, Creative Director for Altyris Advertising. Dan discusses the latest trend in advertising, viral and guerilla marketing tactics.

• CPB (Crispin Porter + Bogusky), established the entertaining website subservientchicken.com as a viral marketing and branding project for Burger King.

• Burger King, through use of the website, indirectly gets a one-on-one with the consumer.

• Viral and guerilla marketing requires finding creative methods of spreading the message rather than spending money on traditional print ads and billboards.

Listen to the full broadcast on our iTunes Podcast Marketing Watch.
Feel free to contact us; we welcome ideas and feedback from our audience.