GenDigital

Auto After Market Offers Video iPod Enhancements

Car stereo manufacturers like Alpine and Clarion appear to be right on target with their product introductions, aimed at providing an "in-vehicle" video platform for the growing number of video iPod users. Just as more consumers have been purchasing after market adapters for their cars to plug their iPods into, the market for video within the vehicle should be just as if not more robust. How big? Well, just thinking about the last couple of months, how many times have you been driving down the highway (at night most likely) watching SUV after SUV go by with the latest animated movie playing to the delight of the backseat passengers? I thought so. With the new Video iPod technology, users can download an episode of The Office or Desperate Housewives in addition to hit movies. Companies that are introducing new video iPod-capable units next year include Sony, Clarion and Alpine. The after market costs for the systems start at about $1,000 and go up (way up) from there.

Fake Blogs Are Lame

There is growing disdain among so-called flogs or fake blogs and it is easy to see why. A couple weeks ago I posted about the Sony PSP flog and the not-so-pleasant feedback the company received from the press and some consumer watchdog groups. Wal-Mart, through all of their personnel-related drama of late had a similar Sony-like experience back in November as well. I really don't see what the allure of these fake blogs are. But it seems like there are a few of the "flog brokers" out there doing pretty well. PayPerPost is one of them. The service's value proposition to bloggers is that they will pay them a certain amount of money based on their post or postings related specifically to a given product or service. For example, bloggers can sign up on the site right now and earn $20 for posting about a Hewlett Packard digital camera...not bad. For brand marketers, the service positions itself as a gateway to an untold numbers of bloggers to get their message out into the marketplace through a supposed relevant and credible channel. But really, is it that relevant? With all of the recent flap, some of these flogger services like PayPerPost require the participating blogs to post some sort of disclosure that this is a paid-for-post. Understanding that that is the case now, I for one would have a hard time buying into anything one of these flogs or floggers are saying. And of course, among the Gen Y audience, relevance and sincerity are keys to success, they don't care (and some even like) if they are being marketed to, just be straight about it. For those trying to dare I say fool or trick them, be warned (again) they can get nasty.

Verizon Wireless Moves Forward With Mobile Ads

Verizon Wireless has beat arch rivals Cingular and Sprint/Nextel to the punch again, this time by being the first of the major carriers to announce a comprehensive mobile advertising initiative. The plan calls for the placement of advertisements on news, sports, weather and other Internet sites visited by a Verizon Wireless customer. The company stressed they will enter the much-talked about advertising channel with caution, by limiting where the ads will appear and not running certain types of ads, like video clips. I'm sure however, video clips will have to be a part of the equation at some point, that's really part of the integral value of mobile advertising in my opinion, so hopefully the cautiousness will be replaced by a "we're just testing it out" strategy. We already know that a certain portion (about 35%) of tweens and teens are open to receiving video-based advertisements on their cell phones. The mobile advertising market is comparable to what the Internet advertising market looked like ten years ago in terms of absolute dollars. Experts expect the mobile ad market to hit $150 million this year, up from about $45 million in 2005.

Will Gen Y Race To See Rocky

When the first Rocky I hit the big screen in 1976, there was no such thing as Generation Y. Yesterday, the sixth installment of Rocky, simply titled Rocky Balboa instead of Rocky VI, was released to the masses smack dab in the middle of the strategic and crucial Holiday movie season. The latest Rocky movie received high marks from several movie critics, but from what we've read, the flick has received mixed marks from young people. So, the question arises, as the holiday movie season heats up, will Gen Y be heading for the theater showing Rocky Balboa or opting for another film like the Ben Stiller movie or the latest Matt Damon flick. The reality is that nearly 40% of the audience will go to the movies over the course of the next two weeks. They have to see something, so I'm going to go out on somewhat of an educated ledge and say hopefully this last installment of Rocky will fare better than most people think among Gen Y considering the other options available to them at this time and, perhaps more importantly, just the sheer number of them attending one, two and even three movies over the next couple of weeks.

MTV Launches Standalone Mobile Unit

You bet times are changing for media companies and MTV for one is not going to get stuck in the mud of pure traditional media. The company announced yesterday that is launching an integrated standalone mobile media unit to be headed up by their new digital media czar. Expect their deal with MVNO Amp'd Mobile to either greatly expand or open up and allow the company to work with other providers for content distribution. Getting the early jump on competition should propel the network's mobile division to a category leading or near category leading position almost immediately, assuming the corporate bigs keep the investment flowing.

Running A Print Mag Makes You A Digital Expert?

As we covered over and over again this year, almost to the point that I am actually getting nauseous, the traditional teenie bopper magazines: Seventeen, CosmoGirl, etc. are struggling big time. Circulation is down and ad pages are down, which is a lethal combination. Already this year we said goodbye to the print versions of Teen People and ELLEgirl. An optimist would tell you that it means greater opportunity for the pack that still stands, i.e. Seventeen, CosmoGIRL and Teen Vogue, but the reality is, for the most part, with the exception really being Teen Vogue with some of their lux advertisers, the endemic teen brands are taking dollars away from print and re-deploying them in more strategic channels, like the Internet and event marketing. So, with all that said, it was no surprise to hear that much heralded (and sometimes controversial according to some inside sources at Hearst) Seventeen editor in chief Atoosa Rubenstein was leaving her post last month. The thing I don't get though is a quote that someone forwarded me yesterday she made to WWD, the fashion and beauty trade. The former editor has launched her own consultancy, dubbed Big Momma Productions and is on the look out for "tech and digital-savvy Little Mommas" to hire. How a print-exclusive person can identify digital expertise (and talent) is beyond me, but stranger things have happened. Good luck to her.

Sony Gets Nailed With Fake Blog

In what is usually a fairly subdued news week, people are going nuts today with reports of the fake Sony blog, otherwise known as a flog. Nice, huh. The fake blog, which you can't even visit anymore let alone post comments on, is resulting in a lot of "I told you so's" from so-called interactive media and marketing "experts." Rather than take the normal route of brutal negativity and all knowing, all of the time, I think it would be more effective to explain the Sony blog in a positive light. Traditional marketers like Sony, in this case it is really the operating unit Sony Computer Entertainment, the makers of PS3 and PSP, are all trying to figure out how to use social media channels as strategic advertising and marketing tools. First of all, they're trying and that might be the most important point. It wasn't too long ago...about eight or so years, when I was literally laughed out of the room at a certain Big Three automotive company (who will remain nameless) with the understanding that the company wouldn't be caught dead spending any "serious" dollars on the Internet because it is only for people who are surfing porn. That was the actual reply from the advertiser. So of course my reply at the time, was something to the effect like..."well, why did let you me come in and present...and that reply will always stay in my head...it went: "everyone gets their one shot at Detroit, and this was yours." Ok, I love the trip down memory road, but back to Sony and the heat they are taking. As far as the target market for the fake blog goes, I think it is relatively safe to say that there will be little to no effect since the blog was up for a couple of weeks and really didn't generate that much in the way of traffic. So, no big harm, no big foul. Essentially, what I think Sony forgot for a moment, and I am sure they know it, is that, assuming Gen Y was the target market for the fake blog, it is better to talk to them directly instead of coming out being something that could be perceived as disingenuous. That's lesson one, and I am sure after all of the backlash, they learned their lesson.

FHM Calling It Quits

A victim of market forces, Emap-owned FHM magazine has decided to shut down its U.S. print edition after seven years. Various reports had the magazine's ad pages down this year by 20% to 22% which is pretty dramatic for a single title. The FHM retreat caps a rough and tough year for magazine publishers. It started back in April when Hachette pulled the plug on Ellegirl and about six weeks later Time, Inc shuttered Teen People. Both of the teen titles still live online and I would think FHM will also have some sort of identity online, but I didn't read anything confirming that. According to the most recent Top Ten List report, FHM was the 8th most popular magazine title among teen and college men, but considerably behind other male titles like Playboy and Maxim. It's not guaranteed, but there is a relative likelihood that Playboy and Maxim get small bumps in male readers, but nothing too crazy to break the bank.

The Skinny on Yahoo/Facebook Deal

In case you are like me and fascinated with the ongoing drama between Yahoo and Facebook, especially as it relates to how Yahoo is valuing the social networking powerhouse, check out some of these leaked documents, courtesy of Techcrunch. Our estimate for Facebook's '06 revenues appear to be right on, at approximately $50 million. Perhaps, what's most interesting are membership projections and revenue projections a few years out. By 2010, Yahoo projects that nearly one in every two young people will be a member of Facebook, that might be a tad aggressive. Also, by 2010, they expect Facebook to generate just under $1 billion in annual revenues, quite a jump from a projected $172 in 2007 revenues. Bottom line, we still remain strong believers of the power of the Facebook platform and brand, we just get nervous (probably because we aren't investment bankers or venture capitalists) when we see these kinds of numbers being thrown around).

NBC Bouncing Back on Thursdays

Despite all of the competition including Grey's Anatomy and The O.C., NBC is more than holding its own on Thursday nights among the youth market according to early results from our latest media survey. After three straight years of viewer declines, the network is getting some mojo back on television's most important (and prosperous) night, Thursdays. Among males specifically, shows like Scrubs and The Office both come in the Top 8 while among the entire market, Scrubs, The Office and E.R. all rank inside the Top 15. Not bad for a network who didn't have one show within the Top 15, let alone the Top 10 six months ago.