Some things you have to see to believe.

This is Shelley posting thru Sean's computer. After a week in the
country, and many fun adventures, Our adoption is complete. Today we
are getting Ema's visa. We have so much to share, but we will wait to
do that when we arrive back in the US. We will be at XNA at 4:59pm on
Sunday. Thanks for your prayers.

Okay, so this was just a test using Instapaper (which I love love love) to post interesting articles to this Posterous site (which I also love love love), but it does not seem to work. Which I do not love at all. Well, it puts the link to the story, but that's not very interesting. I want all the data in there. Instapaper will do this on Tumblr, but I think Posterous is a better solution.

http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/11/the-path-to-social-network-tranquility-is-lined-by-50-friends/

by Michael Kokernak , Wednesday, October 27, 2010   

There are all these buckets we try to sort video consumption into that don't make any sense anymore. Forward-looking financial projections are practically meaningless given the jarring speed by which new electronic devices are flooding the consumer marketplace. Partnerships, formed to target television, seem to be forged overnight. For instance Google, putting its hooks inside the manufacturing arm of Sony, today has a strong partner helping get Google Chrome into the living room.

I have to scratch my head as I sit in front of my 27" iMac when I hear industry analysts say consumers don't want to use the Internet on TV.  My iMac, for all practical purposes, is a TV! One report stated that consumers don't find value in having their televisions connected to the Internet. This might be true today, but devices first need to get sold and installed prior to consumers getting hooked on an application market. Google, in my opinion, is going to invest heavily in getting the Chrome browser onto nearly every television set, even without the cooperation of the broadcast networks.

Typically, when the topic of Internet disruption comes up, there is a lot of doom and gloom around the notion that local broadcasters are going to fall first.  There is no denying that the future will be a device- and screen-centric world all pulling data from a cloud.  But the definition of a cloud, to me, could be anything -- it isn't limited to the Internet.  It could be a cable company's data center, Internet provider, spectrum, or a DBS satellite downlink. Let's not fool ourselves, consumers are sophisticated enough now that they will seek out devices for specific purposes tied to any appropriate cloud. 

Google TV's roadblock by ABC, CBS, and NBC (who all encrypted their content) makes for great gamesmanship.  We all know that devices, including Google TV, are here to support some level of cloud viewership. Those in doubt should visit Best Buy and walk the rows of Internet-enabled devices. The big battles around content ownership across all platforms finally seem to be upon us. For many of the interactive television providers this might be an important catalyst to ignite a long-simmering market. 

As a byproduct of cloud computing, the long-term value, and purpose, of software has changed dramatically these past couple of years.  Today you can get many programs for free or at low cost on the Internet.  Consumers are able to bookmark into their browser bar (like Google Chrome) all sorts of free programs -- from Mint.com, Google Apps,  Xfinity, Netflix, RunKeeper, to Linked In.  These programs, many replacing Microsoft products, have become little silos of information in themselves, with the user's attention focused on a very narrow output per application.  

I imagine the financial strength of Google AdWords will be weakened by all this cloud-based software over time. These applications probably find little financial reward from adding text ads into their user interfaces. As the application market continues to splinter this can't be good for Google's bread and butter search business.  This is why I think Google TV is so important, as it provides Google with access to an untapped major revenue source.   No surprise, then, that Nielsen Media Research plans to bring GRPs to Internet measurement. 

When I think about the biggest challenge facing the TV industry I think about a scene from "Raiders of the Lost Ark." It's where Harrison Ford tries to steal the Golden Idol by swapping it with that bag of sand on that booby-trapped pillar. It's as if that bag of sand represents the technical process of upgrading the "cash registers" (inside the broadcast origination centers) that keep commercial insertions happening and advertiser invoices humming along.     

The entrenched positions of these billing systems -- which should be upgraded for interactive (lean- forward) technologies --  for me are at the crux of why the industry has so much apprehension moving beyond pure audience ratings. With billings rising across the board for television, "if ain't broke, don't fix it" might be the logical response to delaying critical innovation during this lucrative election season.   

Google TV, however, needs television content for its future more than TV needs Google.  This idea that there is some difference between Internet and multichannel providers is dated. The flare-up among Google and the major three networks proves the battle for content just got real.   Everything is up for grabs. May the best user interface win.  Those broadcasters (and cablers) that swallow the bitter pill, while times are good, and figure out how to upgrade their billing systems, will be positioned correctly as TV turns toward a "lean forward" mode. 

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that "in the first six months of 2010, advertisers spent $627 million on video ads," a significant increase from the year-ago period. This statistic makes it clear that online video's combination of sight, sound and motion is an especially effective one for advertisers, something that comes as no surprise to broadcast veterans. The addition of interactive capabilities further enhances the user experience and increases advertiser benefit.

What's also clear from this figure is that marketers, agencies, publishers, technology enablers, industry groups and networks have done a tremendous job of creating and nurturing a growing segment of advertising that delivers value at virtually unprecedented scale. But in order to maintain this pace of growth, each of the stakeholders need to rally around maintaining advertiser value. For the ecosystem to thrive, all parties need to ask themselves: "Am I delivering on the marketer's goals?"

1.     Creative counts. I've been evangelizing for years the benefits of tailoring creative to an online audience, as opposed to repurposing a TV :30. Executing interactive pre-roll at scale has even been shown to generate a lift in in-store sales. Today, companies are offering users more choice about the video ads they want to see, but the underlying creative still needs to be compelling enough to drive purchase behavior.

2.     Placement is everything. The surest way to reduce marketer confidence in online video is to burn them by not delivering value. There are varying degrees of video ad quality, and pros and cons to each, but we should all agree that it's always unacceptable to run a video ad in a placement where it's unlikely anyone will ever see it. Low-quality placements are increasingly being optimized out of buys anyhow, as marketers come to rely on ad verification tools and command broader reporting and research suites from sellers.

3.     Enable data-driven buying. Video has reached the scale where, like display, buying decisions can be based upon rich pools of data available from multiple sources, including the marketers themselves. Data targeting better positions marketers to achieve their campaign goals, while empowering sellers through a strong differentiator. But it's just as important to thoroughly analyze post-campaign analytics as it is to target the right segments in the first place. For instance, a low click-through rate may not in fact have any bearing on a campaign's actual success metrics. Sellers are well advised to understand their marketers' goals prior even to completing the RFP response, to ensure that the right data sets are used in targeting and optimization, followed by a results analysis that adds value to both sides of the discussion.

It is in the entire online video ecosystem's best interest to clearly differentiate video offerings and avoid massive commoditization. Constantly innovating around ad units and creative, running campaigns in responsible placements, and enabling data to drive planning and analysis will help insure that the space continues to grow.

As the economy continues it's sluggish recovery, there will be a premium on people who can see opportunities and harness resources toward them. Call it creativity or call it innovation, but regardless the title, businesses today are calling it necessary. From The New York Times:

UNBOXED: Innovate, Yes, but Make It Practical

Works in progress at Weyerhaeuser, Best Buy and Citigroup show how new products and services can address wider market needs.

http://nyti.ms/9L9hit

I met Scott Belsky last fall at a conference and then spent a little time with him in NYC recently. He was kind enough to send me an advance copy of his new book, Making Ideas Happen. I have not had a book lay my soul bare like this one did in a long, long time. It held a mirror up to me, and basically said "here's everything that's keeping your from moving projects, work and life forward." Many aha moments, and many painful moments to be completely honest. And it was dead on. But this is not a theoretical book. It is a book based on hours and hours of research with world class creative people WHO GET STUFF DONE. He talked to them about their personal habits and methods for getting their projects from idea (fun!) to reality (work!), and the insights are inspiring. I've linked to some more robust reviews below, but I wanted to make the reco here, and give some topline takeaways. I'll probably detail it more as I reflect and re-read certain points. For the lifehackers and GTD fans out there. This offers a better solution and toolset for creative people because it is Project-based (i.e. the way creatives work) instead of Context-based (i.e. at work, at home, in car) like David Allen's methods. Here are my top 10 takeaways from the book: 1. Less creative people who do more things will have a bigger impact than the genius who does nothing. 2. Doing trumps dreaming, but only if you care about making an impact in your life. 3. Every creative person will battle the tendency to just come up with ideas and never act on them because that's the fun part. 4. You need constraints to be creative AND you need constraints to be productive. So, constrain yourself. 5. Quit taking so many notes! And especially stop filing them! Just capture Action Items, References and Backburner. Trash the rest. 6. Share your ideas with your community -- the accountability will drive you to action. 7. Be transparent with your community -- their feedback will give you insight into what ideas are right to pursue. 8. Creative people must learn to lead. Well, you do if you want to do anything great. 9. Dreamers need to partner with Doers to get anything done -- not as obvious as it sounds; at least not in practice. 10. You have to be strategic about what to focus energy on, and then relentless in moving it forward. 11. (bonus) It really does come down to working hard on your idea(s) every single day and never, ever giving up until it is realized. That's just the 10 that stuck with me immediately. The book is a joy to read, and packed full of practical real-world tips, hacks and advice. It is available on amazon.com this Thursday the 15th. You can find Making Ideas Happen here.

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• Making Ideas Happen (ducttapemarketing.com)
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So, my tray table on US Air has this hideous ad. Some questions:

1. Was my flight cheaper because of this?
2. Who sells this for them - the in flight magazine?
3. What is an anti-microbial tray liner? It was the most interesting part of the ad, but no mention of any details.
4. Why remind me of all the germs floating around this super-dry and now super-infected air?
5. Who thought this was a good idea?

Sincerely,

Annoyed in 21A

Been thinking about what to write next and have too many ideas, so I'll just put them all out here, and see if anyone is reading and cares:

1. The Seven Brand Archetypes
2. How Ideas Take Shape
3. Communication Architecture (con't)
4. The Top 10 Book & Thinkers on Ideas (IMHO)
5. Deconstruction (con't)
6. The 3 Things Social Media Is
7. The 3 Things Social Media Isn't
8. How to pick an agency
9. Top 10 on Pitching business
10. Creativity vs. Innovation
11. Experts vs. the Child-like
12. APE = Ask, Play & Engage

Anybody care to read any of these? Give me a top 3. Or anyone want to talk about any thing else? I'm all ears.