Two Percent Nation

Weather Channel releases results of mobile banner branding study

MediaPost is reporting that the Weather Channel Interactive and Dynamic Logic conducted a study of the effectiveness of ads running across the Weather Channel's mobile network in July 2007. 

The campaign [for Hilton's Hampton Hotels] showed high effectiveness for brand metrics, as respondents' overall favorability toward Hampton was higher for the exposed group (62% favorability) than the control group (48%). In addition, exposure to the campaign caused an increase in purchase intent (defined as consideration to stay at a Hampton hotel for their next trip) by at least 10 points.

Much of the rationale for the buy-side in mobile marketing has been reaching a coveted audience that is increasingly difficult to reach.  This study further legitimizes mobile marketing by bringing a critical metric used in all other major media and as a result is huge step forward for the mobile marketing medium. Kudos to the WCI for their continued innovation in mobile media. 

Fetchback - like DoubleClick's Boomerang only 9 years later

In this month's Business 2.0, Susanna Hamner profiles Fetchback, a three-month old online advertising start-up.  Fetchback's niche is "retargeting" which means that it follows visitors to your site after they leave and shows them a sequence of your ads as they browse other web sites with the hope that each incremental exposure, and potentially more enticing offer, will ultimately get them to click on your ad.  Hamner notes that retargeting isn't new and that "online ad giants like Blue Lithium, DoubleClick, and Right Media have experimented with it in recent months. "  Try for 9 years.  DoubleClick launched its Boomerang service 9 years ago that did exactly the same thing.  I know because when I was at i33 communications we tested it out for Sprint which was a client at the time.  I'm amazed at how much the cast of characters in online advertising technology has changed in the last 9 years yet the technology has remained largely the same. 

Listerine copies POM

I saw this bus shelter ad for Listerine this week. Seemed like a pretty blatant copy of the POM transit ads that have been all over the NYC subways where the bottle personifies the various benefits of the product.

Apple's new "Get a Mac" commercials

Apple's back with a new TV ad campaign - the first major campaign for Macs since the critically acclaimed "Switch" campaign which also was stylistically copied by countless advertisers for the following year (companies such as eHarmony had customer-types speak about the product in front of a white background).  This campaign is called "Get a Mac" and humorously compares PCs to Macs with a PC personified as a nerdy middle-aged guy alongside a Mac personified as a hip young dude (played by actor Justin Long).  I think the ads are funny and clever.  And as I've said in previous posts, I always like when a company puts their ads on their website.

Celebrity Voiceovers: Pedigree

I just caught a new commercial for Pedigree dog food on the Food Channel (watching a little late night Iron Chef America) and recognized the voice of an actor that I don't think has previously done voiceovers.  David Duchovny, former star of the X-Files tv show (and star of a number of mediocre movies), is the voice behind the new Pedigree ad campaign.  Kudos to Pedigree for having the videos of all their new commercials available on their website (any of the NEW commercials feature Mr. Duchovny's voice).  Not only that, they're featuring these commercials in the bottom-left corner of their homepage as part of The Pedigree Adoption Drive to help dogs in shelters find homes.

Celebrity Voiceovers: AIG

I'm starting a new category on this blog.  This is something I've been thinking about doing for a while.  I have noticed in the last few years that more and more companies are using celebrity voiceovers for their TV commercials.  It started with Alec Baldwin doing just about every commercial but now other famous actors are the voices behind the commercials we see and hear every day.  But most people don't realize this.  And I happen to have a *gift* that enables me to identify voices extremely well.  I looked around online and didn't find a significant repository of this information anywhere else so perhaps this blog can become that for other people who are odd enough like me to care.

So I'm kicking off this undertaking with a company whose ads are not all that exciting or sexy.  In fact they're almost always just the company's logo and sometimes they have some animation but they always have the same voice.

The company is AIG

and the voice is . . . Stockard Channing.

If you want to hear for yourself you can watch a number of their commercials on their website here (kudos to them for that).