Learning from Harley-Davidson's comeback - (37signals)

Learning from Harley-Davidson's comeback - (37signals). 

"Telling a story makes such a deeper connection than a feature list."

Enough said.

Brutal, devastating, paralyzed

Ruth Ratney's latest article in REELCHICAGO gives the lowdown on the utter collapse of the commercial film and video advertising world in Chicago.  It isn't pretty.

"The extent of the slowdown How deeply did spot production sink in recent months? Fifty percent from August to October, according to the Chicago Film Office, which tracks the number of productions and shoot days that require permits for filming on city locations. August was pretty hefty, says CFO director Rich Moskal, with 15 productions over 22 shoot days on big-budget spots for Budweiser, Harris Bank, Career Builders and AT&T, produced by out-of-town companies, and for low-budget spots for local and regional advertisers.

In September, the number skidded to seven productions, 11 shoot days and - so far in October - the number is four productions and seven shoot days with two weeks to go before the presidential elections. Essanay had dark stages and idle trucks, except for a few days here and there, charting a 23% plunge in business from June 1 to Sept. 30, as compared with 2007."

He Would Hate To Live In Milwaukee?

I know I've gone on and on about how much Obama's people get 2.0, and here is another example we can learn from.  This video and microsite is one of many version of this message V-Blasted out today by the Obama campaign to different cities, with different messages... microtargeted to specific voter populations all around the country.  We often talk about targeting videos based upon the interests of the recipients, not just the "message" of the marketer, and this is a great example. 

No matter what your political affiliation, you gotta admit that these guys understand how net video can be effective:  1) Micro-Targeted (narrowcast), not Mass-Targeted (broadcast); 2) multiple videos with multiple messages to specific audiences; 3) Ease of "viral" functionality and highly portable media (this one is YOUTUBE.  Obama's site uses Brightcove); 4) a clear "call to action" accompanying the message on the web page (with a "sign up to volunteer" form right next to the player); 5) a simple, clear URL with a MESSAGE not a corporate logo; 6) easily "snackable" functionality (in this case, YOUTUBE's default, but still good!); 7) a detailed HTML text field for ease of search engine SEO; and 8) a short video!!!

I would have suggested trimming about 20 seconds to keep it under two minutes, and I wish they linked to the article where the quote is from so you could see the context... as it is it leaves a bit of suspicion in ones mind that the quote is out of context... and I could have done without the Joe Biden cameo at the end (kind of like one of those evening news promos where you know that he did about ninety of them in an hour)... but other than that...

How financial marketers are staying afloat - iMediaConnection.com

How financial marketers are staying afloat - iMediaConnection.com.

"Back-to-basics marketing with an emphasis on trust is essential," said Alan C. Scott, SVP and CMO of Enterprise Media Group, Dow Jones & Company. His organization is weathering the storm by focusing on the message being sent out, rather than on ROI, clicks or other measurements. "We are focusing more on what we are saying to the marketplace, so that we can be seen as authentic, real and in it with everyone else," he said during a panel presentation at the iMedia Financial Marketing Summit in New York City.

This is Very well done.

Wonderful live music site.

Shows to go. Doc style. Great band selections. A++

Worth 20 sec of your life.

Turn Up Your Volume.

MEME

The internet meme timeline.

Link to Timeline.

Electric Car needs a recharge.

Tesla Motors, a tipster tells us, is laying off 100 people, about half of its staff.

Link to More.

I use the free one.

Coors faces a $12.5 million lawsuit for allegedly copying a $3 beer-drinkingnovelty application that allows users to virtually drink a pint by tilting their iPhone.

Pour yourself a Lawsuit

YouTube in SuperHD

So, I blogged about this on my blog (bloggidy blog blog bloggy blog), but since no one knows that exists, I thought I'd post it here, too:
YouTube in SuperHD (Warning: semi-Rickroll).
[via core77]