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Bloggers - Fifth Estate of journalism

Bloggers have become a challenge and an opportunity for the advertising industry.

Their spontaneous, unedited, sometimes emotional "first takes” on new products are substantially impacting business, according to Pete Blackshaw, chief marketing officer of Nielsen BuzzMetrics, a 100-person division which monitors the blogosphere.  He calls bloggers "a kind of Fifth Estate or journalism.”

Blackshaw says bloggers are everywhere, using laptops, video cameras, and digital recorders to publish their comments, reactions, and criticisms. Nowhere was this more evident earlier this month when the Detroit Auto Show, the Consumer Electronics Show, and MacWorld were vying for attention.

Apple's (AAPL) iPhone was the clear winner, Blackshaw said. It was mentioned by more blogs than President Bush and McDonald’s (MCD) for 10 days.  Wikipedia had an iPhone entry within minutes of Steve Jobs' announcement of the product, and YouTube had more iPhone-related clips than for Gucci or the Pope.

"Bloggers have become the ultimate news aggregators," Blackshaw said.  Major media reporters monitor blogs for tips as well as informed-perspective on product features.  A swarm of bloggers posting about new products, often positively, ends up in search engines. "That comes back as search results when consumers do research; the bloggers enthusiasm turns into advertising," Blackshaw said.

Ad agencies and media buyers are trying to gauge what to do about bloggers and other online media.  Since bloggers are looking for Web links to include in their reports, marketers are weighing whether to spend all their money in traditional media or to take some to build a fuller Web site for the brand.

Blackshaw cited Apple Computer (AAPL) for coordinating its online assets for the iPhone introduction.  Product photos, specifications, and narrative about the product were available immediately at Apple.com.  Blackshaw says advertisers in this weekend's Super Bowl should be following the same road, to build interest in their ads.

So it's no accident that Bowl ads for Doritos (PEP), Nationwide Insurance (NFS), and Budweiser (BUD) are already online. Don’t waste money on a Super Bowl ad unless you have these other pieces of the mix in place. You can’t just buy media in a vacuum,” Blackshaw said.  “You have to think about how others pieces of the marketing mix reinforce, amplify and ultimately drive more return on that investment."

Listen to BuzzMetrics' Pete Blackshaw talk about bloggers and their challenge to the media business.

Disclaimer: I own shares of Apple.

Google radio ads ready to roll

Google's next move to sell advertising off line may be just weeks away, according to Donna Bogatin, a blogger at ZDNet.  She posted that Google "is actively pitching Google Audio Ads and is claiming that it will be able to give advertisers access "to thousands of stations through Google's digital, automated platform." Google says its system talks to radio stations' traffic operations "to search for inventory that fits advertiser criteria," and will deliver information as ads are broadcast.

According to a slide from a presentation, posted by Bogatin, Google (GOOG) has deals in place with 800 stations, with coverage in 19 of the top 25 markets.  The slide identifies almost 700 outlets as "live."

One strength of the Google radio ad sales effort is how clean and automated it is.  Place an order for X  number of listeners in Y number of markets, the computers ping the stations and find the spots available, and you're done.  No messy details like having lunch with clients, leaving behind logoed coffee cups, or even shaking hands with a human.  Which, by the way, should be the strength of the local radio station.  But as consolidation has slashed staffs, and salespeople have become de facto program directors selling block time for weekend talk shows, Google's system, which appears super efficient, is more than a little attractive.

Mark Cuban could be expected to argue just the opposite, as he does in a posting about the state of newspapers.  If there is one advantage the print people have over the Net people, he says, it is a sales force that goes out into the business community and sells them on the benefits of advertising on your properties. "Google isn't going to send a sales rep to visit, or have an inside sales rep call on the local 5 store pizza, dress, toy, laser surgery, dentist, whatever chain of stores," Cuban wrote, "You are."

Cuban goes on to suggest that print sales people and even publishers even work with local advertisers to help them exploit the Internet, too. "There is very little chance the local Pizza chain or Body Repair shop knows how to use SEM correctly," Cuban said. "Those that try more often than not waste a ton of money trying to figure it out. Why not offer it up as a service?"

It may just be that Cuban's found a way to identify the dying media managers from the survivors.  Those who are in touch with the customers, and those who are not.

Disclaimer: I own shares of Google.

Ford lifts the hood

It's been a lousy year for the nations' second-largest automotive company.  Vehicle sales are off 3.5% from last year, and the stock price --- well, the chart speaks for itself. Ford Motor Co. knows Job #1 now is survival and is hoping that video blogging might help turn things around.

Ford has posted the first in a series of 3-5 minute documentaries which the company hopes will generate interest in its products and, perhaps, boost confidence among its shareholders.  Another audience, close to home is employees.  Ad Age quotes a former Ford chairman saying "his biggest problem was getting his own people to believe in changes in the company."

The first episode, "Change or Die", features executives and employees talking about the company, their love for its products, and their dedication to fixing it. Upcoming segments will highlight activities in design studios, assembly plants, and executive offices. Ford plans a new video each week. 

"Showing America the turnaround of the company is quite intriguing," said Ford Vice President Francisco Codina, who oversees North American marketing. Some of the films are "quite uncomfortable for us at times." An analyst with AMCI, an auto marketing consultancy, told Reuters the video venture is fascinating. "It's done quite well.  It's quite blunt.  It's quite brazen, almost," said Jim Sanfilippo.

Microsoft has been using video to tell its story to customers, employees, analysts, and even competitors for more than a year. But many of the Channel Nine productions are static talking-head q-and-a's, discussions of technology, and product use "how to's". The Ford videos are polished and highly produced.  The "Bold Moves" shows have to entertain and inform, as well as propagandize.

Not everyone is impressed.  Gawker Media's Jalopnik is skeptical, critical, and negative.  Random Culture calls the series "weird."  A Web site for Mustang owners is gushingly supportive.

MSN to Webcast 'Pirates' party

The premiere for Disney's new film, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" will be produced as a 90-minute Webcast Saturday night at 7pm PDT. It will be available here. Disney and MSN are making a big production of the live Webcast. MSN's "Dish Diva", Taylor Johnson, will be featured along with a Disneyland historian and a Disney Imagineer. It's likely this weekend’s “Pirates” Webcast will be archived on the new film's official Web site.

Disney has re-worked its "Pirates" theme park attraction to take advantage of the film. The "Pirates" ride at Disneyland in Anaheim, Ca. officially reopens June 26 and on July 7 at the Magic Kingdon at Walt Disney World in Florida.

Disney is no stranger to broadband multimedia to support its businesses; supportive,  but not especially aggressive with podcasts or Webcasts. The Apple iTunes directory has dozens of Disney-related shows, most of them unofficial. But the company, last year, hired Michael Geoghegan to produce a monthly Disneyland Resort podcast.