Bringing web content to TVs is a role that’s still very much up for grabs.

Google has partnered with Intel and Sony to create Google TV, an ambitious attempt to mold its Android software into TVs, Blu-ray players, and a Google set-top box called Buddy Box.

Google TV will be delivered on set-top boxes that use Intel Atom chips and run an Android-based platform, though the technology will also reportedly be built directly into Blu-ray players and TVs from Sony. Additionally, Google is working with Logitech to build a keyboard-equipped remote control.  This would be your remote for everything from what I understand.    

Google TV combines two proven ingredients from Google: Android and its Chrome Web browser. It replaces your TV or cable/satellite tuner’s program guide with a simpler version that indexes both what’s in your 100 or 200 or 300 channels and what’s on the Web. It emphasizes search instead of browsing.  Popular sites like Hulu don’t have to enable content locking out Google TV users.  Boxee (partner & provider of Apple TV) had this happen to them last year. 

Google TV offers:

• Search: It’s built into the TV experience. Search for “Survivor” and get a list of results that include live TV (select to watch now), episodes airing later (select to record to DVR) and web content related to it.
• Integration with Android phones: Over WiFi, an Android phone can become a remote and you can even go so far as to use voice search, too.
• Partners: Sony, Intel, Dish Network, Logitech, Adobe and Best Buy. Power names for a power launch, expected this fall.

Of course in true Google style they want to be able to gather information about you.  They want to learn about your TV viewing habits and sell ads around that behavior. You don’t have to like it but you also don’t have to use it.  As a marketing professional and consumer I really don’t mind this tactic.  If ads come to me that are catered to my lifestyle and behaviors fantastic. Also, if I can play a small part in stopping overactive bladder or erectile dysfunction ads from coming into my house on a regular basis then I say go for it.     

Many Questions are still left Unanswered

Set-top boxes that play video games, let you watch videos, view photo slideshows, and listen to music are great ideas, but what about the rest of the Web? The fact is that Web content is text heavy with a large number of blogs, news sites, and social networks that people visit on a daily basis.  But you tend to sit quite a few feet back from the television in your living room, which makes it harder and less comfortable to read text. So how probable is it that you’ll want to use your television for Twitter, Facebook or Instant Messenger chats?  I would have to say no in my case as I have a difficult time reading text on my laptop unless it’s magnified to 100%.  But I’m no spring chicken anymore either. 

There are also many questions as to how Google will incorporate advertising into its TV platform.  Will ads on Google TV devices be delivered through websites & traditional TV programming or will they be delivered through another alternative like Android apps?  This could really shake things up for marketers if this takes off.  The New York Times reports that Google’s biggest motivation for developing Google TV is to “ensure that its…search and advertising systems, play a central role.” I agree.  They would be foolish not to. I have no doubt that Google ads will be pushed into the Google TV platform somehow.  It’s just a matter of when and how. 

eMarketer estimates that digital video ad spending will jump 48% this year to $1.5 billion. Though, with lower-quality online video playing on high-definition screens, that audience for web video probably has a ceiling.

There is no doubt that this will have a major impact on how we plan & buy media and create ads for our clients.  Not only will we be creating online ads for computers but these will now also need to be created (sized & reformatted) for digital TV screens as well.   But will it be as simple as reformatting an online ad for TV?  Probably not if you think about the creative messaging implications. 

Will consumers now be able to essentially click on a Google TV ad to get more info or even buy a product?  Will this translate the same as web or will there be a clear distinction between the two?  I don’t think anyone knows yet.   

This is truly an awesome technological advancement to see and only time will tell if Google can really make it happen.    

To help understand the true impact check out this video on Google TV.   http://mashable.com/2010/05/20/google-tv-3/

With over twelve years of experience in website development, Brian will join Joe Olsen of Phenomblue and Susan Thomas of the Omaha Creative Institute to discuss the meaning and application of creativity. Presented by Silicon Prairie News and KANEKO, the Creative Week Caretakers Forum should be a lively conversation. The evening begins at 6 p.m. with a KANEKO open house and reception, wine and light fare will be served. The panel discussion starts at 7 p.m. and will last just over an hour. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information about this event, visit Silicon Prairie News.

This Exhibitor Training session is for companies exhibiting at Buy the Big O show in October. It is designed to help participants get the most out of their exhibit, including how to prepare their exhibit and promote the Show to your clients. Training runs from 7:30 to 9 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 26, at the Holiday Inn Omaha Convention Center

Mike Compton, executive vice president of Renze Display, and Kim Mickelsen, managing principal for Bozell, will tell you how to best prepare your exhibit, promote the Show to your clients and market your business in the trade show setting.

Will Flavell will present “Facebook 2010: How Your Business Can Benefit from the World’s Largest Social Network” as part of the Chamber Academy for the Greater Omaha Chamber.

Late 2009 and early 2010 have shown some pretty big changes in the world’s largest social network from privacy settings and promotion guidelines to Facebook Markup Language. As Bozell’s director of social media, Will will discuss the possible pitfalls your business could face with these changes and how you can take advantage of the recent changes.

At this past weekend’s Big Omaha conference, Scott Harrison gave a presentation about his background and how that led him to run Charity: water. The entire room was still. Silent. And I’m pretty sure we were all thinking the same thing: Wow. What I’m doing in the world really doesn’t matter much when you get right down to it.

Scott’s story is inspiring. Resemblances of the turned-my-life-around story we’ve heard before aside, what he’s done is identify one of life’s core requirements and done something about it in a meaningful way. People need clean water to live. To operate on a daily basis. To do anything more than just barely get by. That’s why the story hits us so hard – we take so many basic things about life for granted because it’s part of our society. Turn on the tap, hit the water fountain outside the restroom, fill your cup at the quickie mart. We have water everywhere.

Besides the story and the inspiration of actually making a difference in the world, there’s something else that struck me about Scott’s presentation. To help promote the effort and get more participation from the public, he eliminated the barriers often cited by the masses as reasons NOT to donate to charity. He has ensured that 100% of the public’s donations go to the direct charity efforts. All of it. Every penny. So if I give $20, all of it goes to the $5,000 total needed to build a well that can deliver fresh, clean water to 250+ people.

He then puts it into clear perspective that nobody can argue with. The slide he shows of a New York City (and many other places) $16 martini next to a $16 bag of rice that can feed a whole lot of people is about as simple and direct as you can get. How easy would it be for any of us to give up ONE drink out per week and donate it to a deserving charity? The answer is VERY easy. Incredibly.

So it’s easy and you’re assured that every dollar you donate goes to actually making a difference in people’s lives. Other organizations provide funding for the organizations operational costs and fees. Even credit card processing fees are fully reimbursed by the organizational funding so that every dollar the public gives is solely dedicated to the cause at hand.

Then they push it even further. They post photos and video of the projects on their website. They add well locations to a world map that’s accessible online. You can see exactly where the money is going and the people and places that are being helped. Every detail of what you’re contributing to is right there for you to see.

A message like this was a lot harder to get across before the Internet and websites were around. Now, with what is now simple technology, we’re almost right there in the village where people are being helped. We can see and know that our money can help real people.

They’ve broken down the barriers to giving, and broken down the barriers to saying, “No” to giving.

So that could be why Charity: water is now a cause I have donated to. And I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t donated to nearly enough causes. Ya gotta start somewhere, though – right?

I encourage you to do the same »

Those lips have been around for a while.  Is it just me or have they taken on a more lascivious posture within the past year or so?  In fact, they’re familiarly disturbing.  In all honesty I don’t spend a whole lot of time ruminating about the Dairy Queen lips – but when I see the ads and watch “the lips” in action they do evoke a vague sense of unease.  I mean how are a pair of lewd and in your face lips portraying the brand that has historically focused on wholesome family values?  And then dawned on me as I drove down the street with my radio on.

I was listening to a local station detailing their upcoming concerts and accompanying paraphernalia.  They urged their listening audience to watch for the mass quantities of merchandise bearing the Rolling Stones lips and tongue logo.  My first thought was “how will we be able to tell it from the Dairy Queen lips?”  And suddenly it all became clear.  Dairy Queen’s lips are startling reminders of the provocative lips and tongue logo designating the Rolling Stones.

Is this a coincidence?  Good question.  It starts to become suspect when you consider the fact that the Dairy Queen target audience consists of the parents of today, who are the later baby boomers and the gen Xer’s, along with all of their children.  The same folks who were – and still are – the avid admirers of the Stones and everything that they represented.  It came as quite a jolt.  And mostly because I had to ask myself “has the big adventure for the “Stones era” parent ceased to be the wild and reckless bashes of their youth and instead evolved into a family outing to fill their burgeoning bellies with the new big excitement in their lives – ice cream?”  Oh that would be sad.

Kim Mickelsen of Bozell and Dan Morrissey and Joe Menaugh of the College World Series of Omaha, Inc. will present “Catch This Pitch:  Interactive Strategies That Swing for the Fences” on Tuesday, July 13 at Champions Run Country Club. The team will discuss their involvement with the planning, execution and promotion of Omaha’s premier sporting event, the NCAA Men’s College World Series, during its last year at Rosenblatt Stadium. Morrissey and Menaugh will highlight this year’s interactive tribute activities with their heavy emphasis on public participation. Mickelsen will discuss Web-based initiatives used to support the Series each year and recount strategies used to monitor the 2008 public debate surrounding the new stadium.

Scott Rowe will be a panelist on the Social Media Panel at the 2010 Executive Summit for C-level executives.  The panel presentations and dialogue are designed to educate attendees on the current trends, benefits, obstacles, concerns and future of social media and how it can impact companies.

On average 98% of the visitors who browse your site will leave without converting – whether that conversion is an action as simple as joining an e-mail list or as complicated as buying a product.

How Does Retargeting Work?

Retargeting works by anonymously observing consumers’ behaviors while they are visiting your website. Targeted messages are delivered to those consumers after they leave– based on whether or not they completed a desired action. While behavioral marketing in general uses online actions to identify, reach and convert good prospects, retargeting focuses on consumers who have actually been to your site.

Here’s an example of how it works. Let’s say you’re the new Cowboys Stadium with tickets that you want to sell. You can put a piece of code on the tickets page of your website, which will let you later show relevant ticket ads (such as last minute discounts) to everyone who has visited that page, as they subsequently browse sites in the Google content network (or whichever network you are running on).

�
You can also run a number of retargeting campaigns at the same time. For example, you could offer discount game tickets to users who’ve previously visited your tickets page, advertise VIP hospitality packages to users who clicked on your “Hospitality Suites” page, and advertise a sale on team merchandise to users who previously visited your online store.

It doesn’t matter where the traffic is coming from to your site (print ads, TV, radio, online) as long as the traffic volume is there.  Retargeting is a great way for businesses to reach users who are likely to be highly receptive to their ads and special offers. It helps advertisers and websites get higher returns.

Retargeting can effectively optimize value across all your marketing efforts. The TV spot or online ad running for your business leading consumers to your website was not cheap, and retargeting helps ensure those dollars turn into revenue.

You can also use Search Retargeting for display advertising.  Yahoo!’s Search Retargeting, for example, is a customized display targeting solution that lets advertisers capture user interest from search terms and retarget the user with display ads throughout the Yahoo! Network. For example, if a user searches for the keyword “sandals,” indicating strong purchase intent, an advertiser can target that user with a tailored display ad for footwear.

Remember to retarget your past website visitors even if they have already made a purchase with you.  Don’t be shy to keep in contact with them.  The trust is already there, they are familiar with your brand and service, and more than likely they have an interest in another one of your products…….Up-Sell and Cross-Sell!

Purchasing of retargeting ads is made on a cost-per-click (CPC) or dynamic cost-per-thousand (CPM) basis and requires that a website have at least 500 visitors per month to be eligible for retargeting.  You can also specify how long a person remains on your retargeting list.  You may only want someone to be on the list for a period of 10-days to ensure they are not overexposed to your message.  Frequency capping can be implemented, such as only serving an advertiser’s retargeted ad to the same user once within a 24-hour period.

 Possible downsides of retargeting 

• Not everyone visits the websites that are on the Yahoo & Google content network.
  • Even though the Google content network reaches over 80% of internet users there is a chance that consumer X may travel to a site not in the network after he visits your site.
    • The Google content network reaches 80% of global internet users — making it the world’s #1 ad network.  
• The CTR will more than likely be lower than what we usually see on display & PPC campaigns
  • This is due to a higher number of overall impressions being served while clicks may be lower
  • Very similar to the Facebook model.  Facebook advertising is great because you have the ability to run thousands of impressions for very little money.  The downside is that your overall CTR will more than likely be very low. 

 Upside of retargeting 

• Advertisers have the opportunity, for very little money, to retarget consumers who we know have visited the website for one reason or another.
  • These are your most valuable prospects – they have already shown interest in your offerings just by visiting the site
• This allows your company to continue to grow their customer relationships
  • Continue the conversation. Deliver product ads. Build your brand. Give your customers what they are looking for – and forge a relationship with your online visitors.
• You can retarget anything that you want.  You can create one script code and put it on multiple pages (or top 3 trafficked pages) to build your retargeting bucket.   This allows your retargeting audience size to grow.  

I called my mom yesterday. She lives 800 miles away, so Sunday brunch was out of the question. But that’s okay. A nice telephone conversation is the hallmark of our relationship. And yesterday’s call proved to be just what she needed.

She’s had a rough go of it lately. For a few decades, she worked really hard to become the best in her chosen career. She earned a few advanced degrees. She garnered professional accolades. And that’s when it hit her: she was in the wrong job all along. Many people her age are retiring to white sand and accepting applications for cabana boys. She’s starting over at the bottom. It’s not easy.

Yesterday, all she needed to hear was a simple message: Happy Mother’s Day. She didn’t need the brunch. She wasn’t pissed that the florist didn’t deliver on Sunday. Or that I’d forgotten to call the florist in the first place.

Happy Mother’s Day. That was it. I was reminded of other monumental conversations between the two of us. All of them revolved around simple, sincere messages.

The night that I brought home my first daughter from the hospital, I called to tell her I was sorry. I was sorry that there was a time I’d caused her to worry and taken advantage of her goodwill and occasionally exploited her love and generosity. In other words, I called to apologize that I’d been a teenager.

More recently, she went to great lengths to ensure that my kids were as comfortable and stable as possible during an extremely difficult part of their lives. All I could do was call and give her my heartfelt thanks.

Then there are the times that I simply call to see how she is and tell her I love her.

Since good relationships are based on good messaging and good relationships are the foundation of good business, it made me think about good business messaging.

We put a lot of emphasis on creativity in marketing and advertising. Rightfully so. A lot of the time, the only thing that makes someone pay attention to our messaging is the Big Idea. Have a better-than-average cell phone? You need the Big Idea to get that better-ness across. Want to sell more body wash or feminine hygiene products? Find the Big Idea that separates you from the competition.

Most of our messages are based on better, different, more creative executions. We fervently pursue them. And we should continue. Because 99% of the time that’s what works. But don’t forget the other 1%.

Thank you. I’m sorry. Happy day. You’re special. These messages don’t require hoopla or creativity or a Big Idea. They’re simple messages that simply require your sincerity. But they are the most powerful messages you can send. And they may only be 1% of your messaging, but the relationships they forge or maintain could make up 99% of your business.

That’s something to think about it. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a phone call to make. I hope FTD has a nice Sorry-I-Forgot-to-Send-You-a-Mother’s-Day-Bouquet bouquet.