Archive for June 13th, 2008

I love debate. I love defending my ideas, and in the process, shaping, refining and sometimes discarding them as they prove to be too unwieldy or simply incorrect. My last two columns have generated a fascinating debate around the concept of branding in search. Fellow Search Insider Aaron Goldman, comScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni, his senior vice president of search and media, James Lamberti, Erik du Plessis, Millward Brown executive and author of  “The Advertised Mind” (fascinating book, by the way), as well as a host of others, have taken up the debating gauntlet on this particular topic.
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The NBA has signed a new multi-year marketing agreement with Right Guard, which will make it the official deodorant of the league and result in both print and TV ads beginning this month.

Right Guard has signed New Orleans Hornets All-star guard Chris Paul as its spokesman, and he will appear in both print ads and in TV commercials during the NBA Finals on ABC, which are currently underway between the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers.

As part of the deal, Right Guard will run in-store promotions beginning next fall in conjunction with the NBA, and will be integrated within NBA.com’s fantasy basketball section and have a significant on-site presence at the NBA All-Star game next February, and in both the NBA playoffs going forward.

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TidalTV is a web-based video service. But it doesn’t look anything like YouTube, Joost, or even Hulu. If anything, it looks like the service you get from your cable or satellite provider. The TidalTV display is laid out like an electronic program guide with a video window in the corner. You can click on the video to bring up a full screen version. Or you can click on the program guide to flip channels. There’s also an on-demand section if you don’t want to watch the scheduled programming stream.

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The Interactive Advertising Bureau is stepping up its campaign against a pending New York law that would regulate online advertising.

In its latest move, the organization announced a new, discounted membership of $500 a year for online publishers with less than $1 million in revenue, in hopes of spurring more small companies to join.

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The idea of advertising as a key revenue stream doesn’t come naturally to telecom and wireless giants, admitted media and ad executives from a pair of wireless operators at an industry conference on Wednesday.

Jordan Berman, executive director of media innovation for AT&T Mobility, likened the task of introducing ad-supported media at a carrier to a speedboat trying to turn around a tanker.

Even so, he and Stephanie Bauer, who leads mobile advertising at Verizon Wireless, assured attendees at the Mobile Marketing Forum the companies were advancing with ad initiatives.

“Advertising is something completely different from what telcos are used to,” said Bauer, who shared a panel with Berman. “We’re trailblazing, and sometimes that can be a painful process, but we’re getting through it and trying to help brands and advertisers” buy on mobile media.

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YouTube and other user-generated websites could be required to carry warnings if content is sexual or contains swearing, the government has suggested.

Culture Secretary Andy Burnham has indicated that he would support a set of regulations online similar to those used on TV.

That could mean popular websites would need to warn users of the potential for viewing violent, sexual or offensive material.

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