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Second (marketing) Life

Web 2.0 is a bubble, and Second Life is arguably the brightest shiniest example.

Plenty of time has been devoted to the phenomenon from a technology and business perspective.
What's needed is a good debate about the PR and marketing issues raised by companies experimenting with one of the fastest changing new media.

And it just so happens that the 8th National Public Affairs Convention is going to tackle this very issue on Thursday. I will be joined on stage by ABC's head of new media Abigail Thomas and Telstra and AFTRS Second Life projects director Gary Hayes to talk about how valuable Second Life will become to the PR community. Check out the full program here.

But before I do so, what's your take on Second Life? Do we believe their usage statistics (6 million+ users), and do many PR and marketing execs really understand what a fundamental shift in thinking is required to engage with SL inhabitants? Big companies like traditional online marketing because you can buy stuff - ads, sponsorships etc. With SL it seems the stuff you buy is a "space" where you invite people to interact with your brand. Is it working? Why/why not?

The revolution will be press released

I told a gathering of marketing and PR types at an AIIA lunch today that the press release (and the press conference for that matter) was as good as dead.

Ironically, I came across this press release today from a group of Silicon Valley types who are reinventing the press release. Obviously you'd hope that future missives from this group will be disseminated through non-traditional means?

Marketing-centric search

I'm down at Sydney's Darling Harbour today attending the Search Engine Room conference, an annual show buzzing with search engine strategists and marketers happily disintermediating the traditional marketing and media world.

The story behind the story that 99% of Google's revenues come from online marketing is that it's spawned a whole new community of businesses that effectively play the middleman role in the marketing equation. Not sure how to get the best result in PageRank? Nervous about whether you should spend $1 or $2 on buying a certain keyword? According to Frost & Sullivan analyst Foad Faghadi, who spoke this morning, there are now around 40 search engine marketing companies in Australia. He also said there are 150 people working full time in the search industry (I think that figure's a bit low), and pay per click advertising represents $124 million, or 20 per cent, of the $650 million spent in online marketing in Australia.

There are plenty of other factoids floating around here, which I'll keep under my hat for the moment. But with 250 people in the room and a small but buzzing collection of stands, it's obvious that there is real traction in this sector.

Oh, and yes, they have free wi-fi for delegates. Hurrah. But oddly enough, I can only see about two or three others using notebooks. Quite a contrast from the US where events like this are a live advertisement for Apple PowerBooks.

Intel's beige-box backhander

Seen those new Intel ads on the telly? The scene shows engineers moving the hallowed CPUs around in those white suits. The voiceover has words to the effect that previously these chips did tasks that were "dull and boring."

Now that they've been liberated, thev'e got a whole new life ahead of them not in PCs, but inside an Apple. The final line is something like.. "imagine the possibilities." Ouch! Now there's a royal slap across the dial for all those loyal PC builders who've made it a giant. Fantastic stuff.

Foodies: My Restaurant Rules fails marketing 101

I had a great chat with two foodies at the Breakfast Bytes seminar this morning: Benjamin Christie and Vic Cherikoff. Aside from being handy with kitchen knives, Benjamin and Vic are giving Jamie Oliver a run: they've got a TV show, Dining Down Under.

I'm telling you, these guys really understand how important blogs are to the marketing mix. We didn't waste time debating the merits of blogging, Benjamin and Vic wanted to know my thoughts on RSS vs Atom! I'm inspired.

Meanwhile, Benjamin's an example of someone who understands the restaurant business and can use a blog to combine that with marketing intellect. Benjamin cries foul on the marketing strategies employed by Channel 7's My Restaurant Rules:

The lame attempt at marketing started last week with the My Restaurant Rules restaurant openings. So often when restaurants have an opening party the emphasis is on getting celebrities to attend. If you looked in the crowds in the restaurant opening episodes there were sports stars, actors, news readers and radio people. Are these seriously the people who will be dining and actually paying in the future? Why didn’t the My Restaurant Rules restaurants have an opening with secretaries or executives from surrounding businesses? i.e. Diners which will pay there way and visit more than once? I certainly would have invited for a special event all the local and national food writers in for a special dinner or even just The Food Media Club Australia.

'Be evil': Proprietary is cool

Interesting timing given this BrandChannel survey. Apple beats Google in a vote for the coolest brand. Meanwhile, we're still trying to figure out who's evil.

(thanks Gadget Lounge for the larf)

Brand value judgment

This ARN story hints at why IBM must transfer all its key PC staff and senior execs to Lenovo:

If the ThinkPad evolves into just another notebook, or devolves into an inferior product, IBM will have damaged its reputation and brand among corporate customers, Baker said. This could hurt the software and servers businesses that IBM is trying to enhance.

Update: The NYT (sub req.) picks up on the same branding angle:

The complex transaction is meant to serve as a bridge between very different companies from different cultures, by seeking to ensure that I.B.M. has a stake in the Chinese company's success. Whether in the United States, in China or anywhere else in the world, such a stake would be in I.B.M.'s self-interest; a messy exit from the personal computer industry could rankle corporate customers, hurting I.B.M.'s other businesses, and tarnish its stellar brand name.

Feeding the radio buzz

ClickZ reports on an interesting marketing trend, stopping short of talking directly about podcasting.

Total advertising devoted to online radio Web sites will grow 56 percent annually over the next 5 years, reaching over $300 million by 2009, according to a report by Borrell Associates.

This year, a total of $30 million will be spent on banner ad placements and $4.5 million on streaming audio ads across online radio sites. Combined, that amounts to roughly $35 million, or 0.3 percent of the $10.5 billion projected to be spent on Internet advertising in 2004.   

Earth to CEOs: The answer is in the blogosphere

Australian CEOs are apparently only doing half the job because they're not giving communications and marketing enough attention (SMH story).

If this quote is true - "Communications is one of the most important and creative things you do" - then yes, give advertising some mindshare, but if you want to make a huge difference, try talking with people directly in the blogosphere. Go on CEOs, I dare you.

PVRs bring time-shifting agenda forward

Australia's marketers are attempting to get their heads around the Personal Video Recorder (PVR) technology that's already disrupting the US media landscape.

Neil Shoebridge reports in The Fin today (sub required) that local cable outfit Foxtel will bring to market in June next year its first PVR. BUT, and this is a BIG but, it will turn off the function that lets people automatically delete ads.

"Foxtel will quickly change its mind when consumers demand an automatic ad-skipping function," one TV industry executive says.

"The idea of a device that chops out ads as it records TV programs will appeal to a lot of people. Yes, we are very worried."

I like that - they'll "quickly" change their mind when consumers demand it. I wonder what answer you'd get if you conducted a poll today?

But wait, there's more. The story reports PVR users will have some problems with electronic program guides too.

Unlike their US counterparts, Australian free-to-air TV networks hold the copyright to their program guides. Not surprisingly, they refuse to let PVR makers use electronic versions of the guides. As a result, the PVRs in Australia are basically machines with more storage capacity than video cassette recorders.

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The Foxtel PVR will be included in the company's digital pay TV set-top box and will be integrated with Foxtel's electronic program guide, which currently includes the Nine, ABC and SBS networks. (Seven Network and Ten Network have not yet struck re-transmission agreements covering Foxtel's digital service.)

Nine, ABC and SBS will be included in the electronic program guide part of Foxtel's PVR. But other details of its PVR are under wraps as the company continues to conduct technical trials.

So right now it appears that you won't get EPG's from Seven and Ten, and time-shifting will be done according to the networks' agenda, not yours.

As a publisher I can understand the pain. But at the same time, more thought is needed around the digital/cable TV subscription model. Perhaps we're moving further down a track that's similar to that of the 'free' email providers like Yahoo and Hotmail. There are different levels of service available with or without ads based on how much you pay.