Please let us know what you think:

[tags] environomic, eco-friendly, environmental, branding, taglines, polls, marketing.fm, marketing [/tags]

For those of you who do not know, MyBlogLog is a blogging community site which was recently purchased by Yahoo that helps bloggers connect readers.

You can see the MyBlogLog “bling” on the side of this blog showing little avatar pics of who recently came to the site. They do not show RSS readers, but its nice to see who is dropping by. Another great feature is that when browsing around sites that also have this widget, authors can see that I have been by.

From an advertising perspective I have been wondering what Yahoo will do with the pervasive MyBlogLog widgets that are now on many major sites. I believe that the distribution for the MBL widget actually outnumbers the distribution for the Yahoo contextual advertising network…although this is unverified.

If Yahoo were to allow MyBlogLog members to “opt-in” to the Yahoo Contextual network and also serve ads I think it would be a win-win for blog authors.

[tags] Yahoo, MyBlogLog, marketing.fm, marketing [/tags]

We eclipsed 200+ members and I invite you to join our MBL network if you have not already.

In the latest Marketing.fm podcast, we had the pleasure of speaking with Penelope Trunk, columnist for the Boston Globe, Yahoo Finance and author of the new book

The Brazen Careerist: The New Rules For Success

.

Show Notes:

Introduction: Penelope’s Story

The Role of Penelope’s Blog: Conversation with readers, promotion, awareness, new ideas

The column is interactive, the blog is conversation, the book = the perfect extension

Networking: Eric and I met Penelope through her blog.

Penelope: “I meet the coolest people through commenting and interacting with the web.”

The ideal benefits of a blog = conversation and interaction

Self-Marketing 2.0:

Penelope’s blog = advice; a new way to think about the 21st career landscape

What advice would you give someone who is satisfied but not fully fulfilled in their job?

Steve Rubel – the blog evangelist – sit next to the CEO b/c the blog is so powerful

Blogs = “the great equalizer” and even playing field where good ideas and quality matters

Take the small steps to increase your presence and “searchability” online

People need to be aware of their online presence – WSJ Article

The newself-marketing: through blogs, social networking -> more short-term benefits
Networks and Skill sets are getting built faster and faster
Penelope’s book: The Brazen Careerist

Core: 45 tips on personal responsibility, commitment to personal development and consciously developing your peer group

Advice? BE NICE! A Smile will go a very long way.

Authenticity is winning

The Future? Values are changing : Discrepancies between young and old. Gender divide is eroding. People value time, happiness and people over money.

[tags] penelope trunk, self-marketing 2.0, the brazen careerist, marketing.fm, podcast, marketing podcasts, [/tags]

Microsoft’s purchase of aQuantive raises similar questions: how will Microsoft maintain the relative autonomy of media agency Avenue A Razorfish? According to Joe Doran, EVP of Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions:

Joe Doran: We do know people could say there’s a conflict of interest between us. We want to make sure all ad agencies understand we don’t want that to become a reality. We’ll operate Avenue A/Razorfish at arms length, make sure they have ability to drive the value for marketers and advertisers and remain independent.

Hmm. Should we take their word for it? Will WPP take the same approach?

Don’t marketers hire agencies to make the best and most unbiased use of their media spend? Will that be possible if a brand’s agency is owned by a company who would like to spend as much of your budget on their services as possible? This is a very interesting turn for the Advertising & Media business and we’ll continue to watch it unfold.

Related Links:

Upfronts Give Way To Roll-ups

[tags] wpp, 24/7 real media, microsoft, aquantive, avenue a razorfish, media agencies, marketing.fm, marketing blogs, ethics [/tags]

Linked-In and Career-Focused Social Networking

Linked-In is a career-focused social networking service that allows one to communicate, connect and reach out to colleagues, acquaintances, and old friends. On a personal level, Linked-In helps people stay in touch like never before. One might argue that Linked-In has revolutionized professional networking for both employers and prospective employees.

On a business level, Linked-In allows one to search for contacts at any company in the world. One can look for people to reach out to and connect with those who maintain similar interests. After an in-person networking event, it is also common to connect with others on Linked-In after exchanging business cards as well.

If you have an interview at a company, in many cases, you can find out crucial information on the person or company that you will be meeting with via Linked-In. For example, if you were interviewing for a job at Marketing.fm, you would be able to find out important information about Eric and myself from our profile. Perhaps we have a friend in common or at the very least, you may have a better understanding of your interviewer. Recruiters can use the service to find ideal candidates through advanced search features.

It is worth noting: while Linked-In is very much embraced by those in the interactive space, the network has spread well beyond the seemingly tech-savvy. It is has participants in all industries and professions.

If you don’t have a Linked-In profile yet, sign-up here: LinkedIn.com
View Lee Jones’s profile

Related Links:

Self-Marketing 2.0 Part 1: Job Search & Personal SEO

Self-Marketing 2.0 Part 2: Blogs

Marketing Podcast #8: Paul Forster, CEO of Indeed.com

[tags] linked-in, marketing.fm, social networking, networking, linked in, self-marketing 2.0 [/tags]

WPP’s strategy is remarkably different from other holding companies. As agencies struggle to meet the demands of new marketing, it appears that WPP is trying secure media outlets and for it’s client base in addition to it’s pursuit of interactive service expertise.

One might trace the roots of this investment strategy back to Sir Martin’s “Friend-Enemy” description of the Google-WPP relationship (WPP spent $200 Million+ with Google in 2006). As more and more media spending shifts online, Sorrell would like to squeeze as much as possible out of each budget.

As far as I’m concerned, this raises some serious ethical questions for WPP:

How will WPP’s media and advertising agencies make unbiased decisions when it comes to budget allocation?

While certain discounts will be undoubtedly be appreciated by clients, will the integrity of a brand’s marketing budget be sacrificed for the future success of WPP?

There is a reason that marketers contract media agencies to plan and buy: clients want expertise and relationship leverage in order to maximize the efficiency of their spend. If WPP purchases 24/7, will buyers still be able look at each and every ad network campaign opportunity equally?

Perhaps WPP should focus more on the evolution of some of its behind-the-times portfolio agencies (Grey Global Group?).

Related Links:

Advertising, Media & The Digital Revoultion

WPP: Group M Interaction Strategy Study, April 2007

[tags] Sir Martin Sorrell, WPP, 24/7 Real Media, Marketing.fm, marketing blogs, advertising, M&A, acquisitions, Ad Agencies [/tags]

Half of the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don’t know which half.

Not too long ago, we ran this poll on Marketing.fm – do you think the Wanamaker quote should be revised with the advent of CPA, CPC, improved tracking & measurement in the interactive space? Please let us know…

[tags] cpc, cpa, interactive advertising, marketing, john wanamaker, marketing.fm, polls [/tags]

Welcome back to another Marketing.fm Marketing links roundup. We find interesting marketing and advertising articles around the web and around the blogosphere and share them with you to catch up on anything missed and hopefully share some interesting information. Enjoy!

Five Ways to Do Better In a Phone Interview: I recently started reading Penelope Trunk’s blog “The Brazen Careerist” and I love her advice. Her content has also been a nice tie in to our recent theme/coverage of what one might call: Self-Marketing 2.0.

Rule No. 1 For Planners: Be A New Media Whiz: The headline of this article should be a wake-up call for anyone in a traditional media planning position.

WPP’s Martin Sorrell: Mobile & New Media: Sorrell calls for marketers (and ad agencies) to be more experimental with new media (perhaps easier said than done but nonetheless, good advice). In the meantime, Sorrell is definitely experimenting with New Media Acquisitions…

KaiserInsight.com: Some in-depth commentary and advice from the consulting group, Kaiser Associates. Blogs are the perfect outlet for companies like this and I’m enjoying their content…

Mobivity: Here is a blog focusing on mobile marketing. I like what I’ve been readig so I just subscribed.

[tags] marketing links, marketing.fm, kaiser, mobivity, adage, wpp, martin sorrell, mediapost, self-marketing 2.0, links round up, advertising, brands [/tags]

A friend of mine recently put me on to Kaiserinsight.com, a blog for the Kaiser Associates consulting group. They’ve got some great insight on brand strategy, the changing consumer, and other important trends. It’s a well written blog and I highly recommend it.

[tags] marketing blogs, kaiser insight, kaiser associates, marketing.fm, insight, advice, brands, consumers, trends [/tags]

The future of video advertising has been getting a lot of press lately. Whether it’s the Google/YouTube copyright issue, NBC & News Corp’s YouTube-rebuttal venture, Google’s plan to serve video advertising through Echostar, or the more general question of: how will video advertising be monetized on the web? Is video pre-roll the answer?

Many of these headlines are startling – especially to traditional media content providers who have every right to protect their content.

While there are several important questions that haven’t been answered yet about the future of video, we are simply experiencing a changing of the guard, similar to the iTunes revolution – only on a much bigger scale. As Video becomes digitized among in the mass market, both consumers and content providers will benefit from much needed improvement.

The controversy over google’s acquisition of YouTube and it’s plans to serve contextually based video ads are shortsighted and irrelevant to the long-term future of video. Before long, home video will be searchable, on-demand, and infinitely more controllable for the consumer. Broadcast and cable networks are scared now because their business models are becoming obsolete. More importantly, there is no definitive answer for what the next 5-10 years will bring to the medium. They will still be able to support their content through advertising though – it will be most likely be through highly targeted, opt-in, and interactive ads.

It is VERY likely that Google and other technology providers will create new applications that revolutionize video consumption. It’s hard to even imagine what the medium will look like or become but I guarantee that it will be infinitely improved if not awesome. At CES, I caught a glimpse of what the future of video might bring in a demonstration of AOL’s broadband video (via television screen).

It’s hard to imagine many of these future technologies now but one might predict an increasingly rapid evolution over the next 5 years. To get another idea of what Google has in mind, here is what Eric Schmidt said in an interview last year:

There will be a focus on using broadcast viewing to automatically present relevant information on a web browser…The system could keep up with users while they channel surf, presenting them with a real-time forum about a live political debate one minute and an ad-hoc chat room for a sporting event in the next. And, all of this would be done without users ever having to type or to even know the name of the program or channel being viewed.

Taking this further, we could collect snippets from the web describing the actors appearing in a movie or present maps of locales within the movie as it takes place (no matter if users are watching it as a live broadcast or as a recoded broadcast).

I have a feeling that Google has some killer app(s) up it’s sleeve that will make today’s online video controversies seem silly.

[tags] google video, echostar, future of television, nbc, news corp., pre-roll, media, marketing.fm, video advertising, marketing blogs [/tags]