BRANDING UNBOUND

Interview: Andy Bateman, Frmr CEO of Interbrand, Pt 2 - On Promise & Peril of Mobile Marketing

"I think the biggest mistake with mobile is to try and shrink the Internet and deliver it on a mobile device."

I couldn't agree more, of course - this is a far different medium. But in these excerpts from a source interview for my new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, Bateman (then CEO of Interbrand NY) makes it clear he's not exactly bullish on many forms of location-aware mobile advertising, either. And don't get him started on privacy.

Frankly, I agree with him on most counts - I'm probably even more contrarian. Besides, as we discuss here, the promise is so much more powerful than interruptive (much less check-in) based mobile marketing.

(approx 5:36)

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"... EXCELLENT ..."

“Through persuasive arguments and Q&A's with the major players in advertising, Mathieson makes an excellent case for greater creativity and outside-the-box thinking backed up with solid ideas."

Publisher's Weekly

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Snooki's On Your Cell Phone: MTV Makes A Splash With 'Jersey Shore' Facebook, Mobile Apps

The Situation is now officially in-hand.

The second season of MTV's reality hit "Jersey Shore" doesn't hit until Thursday, but MTV's already out with a Facebook game that features the stars of the show as cartoon characters.

On Facebook, it's a battle over tanning location-throwing contests. And the mobile app? Well, it's called "Spread Snooki," which enables you to drop Snooki into iPhone photos.

Which is all fine and good. But I think it would have been cooler to drop "Jersey Shore" hair and tans into photos instead. 

"Snooki Yourself" has a certain ring to it.

Pardon the pun.

Read more here.

(UPDATE: Can't tell if this was part of original release or newer, Aug 31 release, but the App store page for the app says you can indeed "give yourself Snooki's famous poof and golden-orange tan." A fun way for fans to shore up some laughs.)

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"... AN ESSENTIAL READ ..."

“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"

Jordan Atlas
Vice President, Group Creative Director
Digitas

 

 

 

 

 

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Kraft Cooks Up 'Big Fork, Little Fork' iPad App

 First there was the "iFood Assistant" - the most bona-fide of hits in the pantheon of iPhone apps.

Now, Kraft's back with an iPad app called "Big Fork, Little Fork," aimed at young parents hoping to cook up some healthy eats for their children. All involving Kraft foods, naturally. 

There are over 300 recipes in the app, along with video clips and games. And at $1.99, it's a bargain.

As I point out in my new book THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, apps like "iFood Assistant" (and presumably, "Big Fork") illustrate the power of utility. If you deliver true value to consumers, they will not only put up with overt advertising, they'll actually pay you for it. iFood Assistant, for instance, has ranked in the 100 top paid apps in the App Store, and as high as #2 in the Lifestyle category.

But Ed Kaczmarek, Kraft's director of innovation in consumer experiences, says the selling isn't too over the top.

“Within the recipes, it will specify, in some instances, a Kraft product,”  he tells The New York Times. But the iPad app “doesn’t have Kraft branding front and center.”

Jeff Arbour, SVP at The Hyperfactory - the company behind the app - pointed me to the app's official page (including a video demo) on the new Big Fork Little Fork app, which you'll want to check out here.

All signs point to another hit for Kaczmarek and Kraft Of course, I personally would probably get the most use out of an app called "Big Fork, Bigger Fork," but that's a subject for another post.

I'm not even sure they make Kraft Triple Macaroni & Cheese with Extreme Sour Cream & Fat Ass Bacon, anyway.

Read more about "Big Fork" here.

And read more about the book here.

 

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>>> IN STORES NOW - LEARN MORE (AND ORDER YOUR COPY) - HERE <<<

"... AN ESSENTIAL READ ..."

“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"

Jordan Atlas
Vice President, Group Creative Director
Digitas

 

 

 

 

 

>>> IN STORES NOW - LEARN MORE (AND ORDER YOUR COPY) - HERE <<<

 

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BrandChannel Names 'The On-Demand Brand' Its 'Featured Book of the Month'

Very cool: BrandChannel has selected THE ON-DEMAND BRAND as its "Featured Book of The Month" for July.

In making the selection, BrandChannel writes, "Brand marketers will value [this book] for the detailed case studies, such as how Burger King, Coca-Cola and Axe Deodorant are using advergames; how Showtime, MasterCard and NBC are redefining viral video; and how Fanta, GE, Papa John's and Topps are leveraging augmented reality."

Check it out here.

Learn more about the book here - and order your own copy here (available everywhere books are sold).

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>>> IN STORES NOW - LEARN MORE (AND ORDER YOUR COPY) - HERE <<<

"... AN ESSENTIAL READ ..."

“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"

Jordan Atlas
Vice President, Group Creative Director
Digitas

>>> IN STORES NOW - LEARN MORE (AND ORDER YOUR COPY) - HERE <<<

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Condé Nast Traveler Launches Augmented Reality City Guides

With apologies to Visa, augmented reality is everywhere you want to be.

At least that seems to be the objective for Condé Nast Traveler, which is launching a series of iPhone apps for New York, Rome, Barcelona and Paris.

At $9.99 each, they're not cheap by iPhone app standards. But they may just be worth it.

As DM News points out, in addition to the usual city guide content, there are social media elements like comments and word-of-mouth from local authorities on their personal favorites, audio tours, sharing via email, Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, and augmented reality functionality with GPS so that you can find what you need quickly.

In my new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND (available everywhere books are sold), I look at how brands from BMW to GE, to Coca-Cola to Ray-Ban are using augmented reality to enhance the brand experience.

It seems like a natural fit for a brand like Traveler. 

Especially to show of us less prone to, er, ask directions.

Read more, here.

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>>> IN STORES NOW - LEARN MORE (AND ORDER YOUR COPY) - HERE <<<

"... AN ESSENTIAL READ ..."

“This is an essential read for those of us tasked with connecting and engaging with the elusive 'I want it right now' generation. Anyone interested in not sucking at their jobs should pick this book up immediately!"

Jordan Atlas
Vice President, Group Creative Director
Digitas

>>> IN STORES NOW - LEARN MORE (AND ORDER YOUR COPY) - HERE <<<

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'Touching Stories' iPad App: Interactive Films for Brands, Moviemakers

An innovative new app from Tool of North America and partner Domani Studios - enables viewers to actually influence, even change, the narrative of live action videos.

Part video game, part immersive entertainment, the Touching Stories app is free, and portends amazing new possibilities in story telling. What's also interesting is that Tool is an agency that creates advertising and interactive work for brands like Bud Light and MTV.

Here, they are creating an app that can be used by brands and filmmakers alike.

Originally planned for the iPhone, the iPad offered the team an even better platform.

As Tool's digital executive producer (and longtime UNBOUND reader) Dustin Callif tells FastCompany. "Immediately as visual storytellers we got excited because the iPad is such a better device for consuming media than the iPhone--I mean just look at the difference in size with the screen," he says. "We've been looking for the right opportunity to really create customized stories."

Moving forward, you can see how social viewing might come into play - with fans voting on outcomes. Or the iPad app becoming an interface for television content to do the same, personalizing the outcome of movies and television shows or branded communications.

Hats off to Tool for creating this tool - and heralding in a new era of interactive entertainment.

You're going to want to read all about it, here.

And try it yourself, here.

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"... WITTY, INSIGHTFUL, DYNAMIC ..."

“THE ON-DEMAND BRAND is witty, insightful, dynamic, and highly inspiring. This book should be required reading for marketers—or anyone trying to understand how to keep their brand relevant and energized through the rapidly changing consumer landscape. Mathieson has a gifted ability to dig under the breakthrough ideas that are keeping top brands engaged with their current and new consumers, offering key insider takeaways that we all can learn from.”

Alison Moore
Vice President, Brand Strategy
& Digital Platforms
HBO

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iPad Magazines: Exciting To Look At, but Lacking In Social Interaction Common On Web

Those snazzy iPad editions of popular magazines like Wired and Popular Science are eyeball blasters, complete with interactive features and advertising.

But has the emphasis been too weighted on design and content, not enough on community?

The New York Times seems to think so - pointing to the Wired iPad app. Very cool content, but no way to copy and past links or test, much less comment on interesting articles with other readers or even post to Twitter or Facebook. Ditto for Time Magazine.

Rick Levine, vice president of editorial operations for Condé Nast, which publishes Wired, tells the Times that the company is exploring those features, and that readers could expect them soon. “Condé Nast is actively considering the integration of social networking features as well as favoriting beginning as early as this summer,” he said. “It is certainly part of the Wired playlist.”

Indeed, look at Condé's revamped Gourmet Live app to see how that might happen. That app will include gaming elements and much more social interaction (see the video above for more).

The primary hurdle in the slow social integration? To hear pub execs tell it, time - the iPad is so new, and pubs have rushed to ready their apps in time.

But as I talk about in my new book, THE ON-DEMAND BRAND, the iPad is part of an ecosystem that is predicated on social media, not just cool graphics and commerce. Commerce? Check. Content? Check.

Now let's get social.

Read the Times' take here.

Read more about the book here.

FOLLOW RICK ON TWITTER & FACEBOOK

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>>> IN STORES NOW - LEARN MORE (AND ORDER YOUR COPY) - HERE <<<

"... WITTY, INSIGHTFUL, DYNAMIC ..."

“THE ON-DEMAND BRAND is witty, insightful, dynamic, and highly inspiring. This book should be required reading for marketers—or anyone trying to understand how to keep their brand relevant and energized through the rapidly changing consumer landscape. Mathieson has a gifted ability to dig under the breakthrough ideas that are keeping top brands engaged with their current and new consumers, offering key insider takeaways that we all can learn from.”

Alison Moore
Vice President, Brand Strategy
& Digital Platforms
HBO

>>> IN STORES NOW - LEARN MORE (AND ORDER YOUR COPY) - HERE <<<

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Sports Illustrated's New iPad Edition Game For More Interactivity

  Time's Sports Illustrated is making a play for the iPad.

The pub just launched a $4.99-per-issue iPad app that adds to print content with a slide show of the Lakers championship celebration (instead of a single image used in the print edition), an eight-minute documentary about a high school baseball team, and an interactive piece on golf at Pebble Beach.

What's more, advertisers like Gatorade and Toyota have interactive advertising.

It'll be interesting to see how Time's pub competes with so many from Condé Nast going to the iPad, and how all these pubs justify the added time and expense of putting together an enhanced iPad edition on top of the print pub every month. It's one thing for advertisers to do that - another for already harried editorial departments.

Read more about it, here.