Coffee goes to the sewers

This new ad from Saatchi is really cool. Its a Folgers ad over an NYC manhole. The picture has holes in it so the smoke from the manhole can come through and simulate steaming coffee. Figured I'd let you see it if you haven't already. The Cool Hunter put me on the trail.



Out with the old, in with the new. If I may be so bold, I'd go so far as to call this ad a 'reindeer.' Right here an now, I am officially coining the term 'Reindeer' as a new addition to marketing jargon.

Reindeer (rndîr) noun
1. A great idea
2. An idea or physical incarnation of an idea that breaks new ground or is generally great.

-Marc

Hollywood is Cool

Hollywood is cool. Well, at least Bryan Singer is. Whatever. I ran across an advertisement for X-Men: The Last Stand while enjoying myself at the cool hunter blog. It's not a first I'm sure but I was a little surprised to see X3 there.



The only advertisements on the site usually are those relating to cool hunting or trend watching. Mostly only ones for the cool hunter TV show. So someone in Hollywood gets it. Then again...the print ads?? I think the jury is still out on those. I'm a fan...then again, I like Avatar. :)


(don't worry if those last lines didn't make sense to you.)

New Amazon Services

Amazon now features restaurant listings and menus. Could Amazon take a bite out of Menupages' market? Probably, but it remains to be seen how much. Menupages is pretty damned easy to use and very comprehensive.

Online Game for Da Vinci Code on Google

Google is putting marketing on its personalized home page in the form of a 24 day promotional game for the upcoming film Da Vinci Code.

Micro Persuasion reports that Columbia TriStar Marketing is offering Google users a special Da Vinci Code Quest widget. It's only available for 24 days. The online puzzle adventure, inspired by the upcoming movie, gives participants a chance to win trips to New York, Paris, London and Rome.

State of the Blogosphere

Here's some interesting statistics on the state of the blogosphere from the CEO of Technorati. Apparently, the number of blogs DOUBLES every six months and is only continuing to grow. Thanks to the Blog Herald for the info.

Dave Sifry, CEO of Technorati, has posted Part I of his quarterly State of the Blogosphere at his site.

Leading off with this major headline, Sifry outlines the continuing onslaught of the blogosphere:

I continue to marvel at it, but the blogosphere continues to grow at a quickening pace. Technorati currently tracks 35.3 Million weblogs, and the blogosphere we track continues to double about every 6 months

Sifry goes on to outline some other significant metrics:

• 75,000 new blogs created daily
• 3.9m bloggers update at least once weekly
• Technorati is tracking approximately 50,000 posts an hour
• 19.4m bloggers are still blogging today after starting at least 3 months ago

Other parts of the State of the Blogosphere should be posted soon providing more in-depth analysis of some factors.

Authentic Media Provider

So, Derek Powazek, wants all of us to quit it. He hates us for making "user-generated content" a buzzword.
Here is his logic...

User: One who uses. Like, you know, a junkie.

Generated: Like a generator, engine. Like, you know, a robot.

Content: Something that fills a box. Like, you know, packing peanuts.

So what's user-generated content? Junkies robotically filling boxes with packing peanuts. Lovely.

Calling the beautiful, amazing, brilliant things people create online "user-generated content" is like sliding up to your lady, putting your arm around her and whispering, "Hey baby, let's have intercourse."

Luckily, David doesn't go any further about his sex life. Instead, he provides us a way to make him feel better about user-generated content. Instead, let's just call it "Authentic Media."

Great. So David wasted a post on a symantic quibble and now so have I. But, then again, we're marketers. Symantic quibbles are life. :)

- Marc

Banking 2.0?

Like most Americans, I have loans. And, like most Americans, my loans have high interest rates. Banks and lending institutions have not given us a good alternative to high interest loans without putting up huge collateral - like a home - for a loan based on equity. We're struggling here and we need a hero. Who will save us from our financial woes??

Why, WEB 2.0 of course.

Prosper is based on a really intriguing concept and I think its a great new take on the social good the internet can provide.



Its an "online marketplace for people-to-people lending." Basically, you name your terms for a loan and, if they are fair in relation to your credit rating, the terms will be met by two or more lenders who share the debt. This not only helps the borrower by relieving some of the high interest rate pressure, it also helps the lender by spreading the risk. So check it out! Even if not for yourself, just check out what's happening in web 2.0 besides social networks, games and gossip.








- Thanks to Springwise for clueing me in.

Orkut - Putting This Out There. I dont think it exists.

Google quietly launched this "social network" saying its only for people "invited" by existing Orkut.

Now we know people that know people that know people.... and we dont anyone on it. There is a massive chance that we are being intentionally ignored. And it could be that Google wants to keep it to a small amount of people.. like 5. And that Sergei and Larry are rich enough to build an entire social networking tool for just them and a few of their friends.

Or.. it doesnt exist.

Or.. prove us wrong.

Orkut