Digital advertising and marketing: only the best ideas worldwide, since 2003

Eurostar uses podcasting as marketing tool

on September 16, 2005 by Martina Comments

Eurostar has started podcasting to its Brussels-London connection. “The London Tapes” are a mix of information on London presented by a popular Belgian radio presenter, Wim Oosterlinck. The podcast, which is available only in Dutch, is promoted on the Xperience website also presenting the “making-of” video. Hypervision is the agency behind the branded entertainment idea. [Thanks to Bert for the hint]

File under: belgium, eurostar, hypervision, podcasting

Kraft Food: recipes for your iPod

on August 25, 2005 by Martina Comments

iPod marketing is not just about sponsored podcasting. On the iPod you can download audio files, but also plain text (notes). Content is always the king when it comes to marketing to portable devices, so Kraft Food has decided to offer plain text downloadable recipes. Simple text you can read while shopping in the supermarket wondering what to cook for dinner. The concept is very simple, but extremely attractive. The new consumer listens to brands when brands offer value, not just promotional messages. Quoted on AdAge, Kraft said that since the July 25 launch, several thousand people have downloaded recipes.

File under: ipod, kraft food, podcasting, recipes

Advertising and music: love is in the air

on August 3, 2005 by Martina Comments

Advertising and music: love is in the air iPods have changed the way we enjoy music and advertisers are adapting to our new habits. But will we like commercials in our playlists? Reuters has a good article on advertising meeting the music industry. Ads in podcasts are one of the attractive options but, at least for now, Apple has decided not to allow commercials on its iPod device or iTunes download services. “We don’t think it’s part of the experience we want to give” explains Greg Joswiak, vice president of iPod product marketing. Craig Davis, chief creative officer of JWT Worldwide agrees with Apple’s position:

“People are using an iPod because they want to choose the music they listen to. To interrupt and intrude on that with advertising would be pretty unwelcome.”

Talk it easy: put the jargon away

on July 22, 2005 by Martina Comments

RSS, blog, podcasting and other Internet terms we might consider popular and widely accepted, actually sound weird to a lot of Internet users. A study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found out 87 percent of US Internet users don’t know what podcasting is, while 91 percent ignore RSS. Recently I spend a couple of hours trying to explain my mother what the hell Adverblog is…

File under: blog, internet jargon, podcasting, rss

Advertising and podcasting

on July 20, 2005 by Martina Comments

AdFreak and Random Culture have two interesting posts on podcasting and advertising. How long should a podcast ad be? 15 seconds seems to be the answer, which means don’t give listener the time to push the fast-forward button

File under: advertising, podcast ad, podcasting

Making money out of podcasts

on July 5, 2005 by Martina Comments

All eyes are on podcasting now that Apple has integrated this function in its new iTunes release. We start feeling we could make money out of podcasts, but somehow it is still early to realize which way one has to follow. The main challenge at the moment is to find a way to effectively measure listening. The difficulty is in tracking, because once someone downloads a podcast and puts it on a (portable) player, it is no longer connected to the Internet, and therefore no longer trackable. What if this person shares the podcast with a friend? What if he doesn’t listen to it at all? These questions still have no answer, and advertisers for the moment are just happy to know the number of downloads and therefore willing to pay on a CPM basis.

Virgin Atlantic starts podcasting

on June 28, 2005 by Martina Comments

Virgin Atlantic has started podcasting offering audio travel guides to its destinations. The first podcast is dedicated to New York, to celebrate the 21st anniversary of Virgin’s first flight to the Big Apple. The first podcast is a guide to the best restaurants and pubs, three more audio guides to New York will follow. More destinations will be added soon. The service is offered through Loudish and Virgin Atlantic claims to be the first UK company podcasting.

Wine company starts podcasting

on May 26, 2005 by Martina Comments

Random Culture blogs about Centennial Fine Wine & Spirits, a Dallas based chain of liquor stores, who has decided to start podcasting. The first podcast is an interview explaining “How to find the right wine”. Wine companies usually appear to be kind of old-stylish in their marketing approach, but this initiative clearly explains that no matter what’s the product your’re selling, you can be smart in any case. If you’re interested in podcasting, BusinessWeek has an interesting series of articles on the topic.

File under: online marketing, podcasting, wine

Podcasting makes condoms’ marketing easier

on May 16, 2005 by Martina Comments

Marketing condoms is not an easy job. The target is young and therefore it’s difficult to get its attention, furthermore the product is “delicate”, because of ethics and religion. Trojan did great last year creating the award winning viral campaign “Sex Olympics“, now Durex is trying to do something as innovative buying advertising spaces in podcasts. Advertising Age explains the decision allows Durex to directly connect with its target, which is represented by people who spend more time online than watching Tv. Furthermore the solution sounds pretty inexpensive and, most of all, it enables Durex to avoid FCC strict regulations about what you can and cannot show/say when promoting condoms.

File under: advertising, durex, podcasting

Adverblog