Finally a 2D Breakthrough!

It finally happened. The standardization battle shifted. The tide changed. Scanbuy's Scanlife application will now be preloaded on all LG camera phones. For the past few years, 2D barcode companies have battled to get shelf space on camera phones to no avail. They won small battles like earning the ability to be downloaded over-the-air, but no one was able to convince a handset manufacturer to pre-install their software...until now. The problem with 2D barcodes is that no one knows anything about them. No one knows anything about them because they aren't prevalent. They aren't prevalent because no one has the software to decode them. However, all this is going to change. "It's one small step for Scanbuy, and one giant leap for the 2D barcode industry."

2D barcodes are nothing new to Japan or Europe, but they will soon be the next biggest marketing tool for brands in the US. Every brand wants their customer base to interact with their brands. Whether it's a Flash microsite or a video game, brands want consumers to spend time with them, play with them, fall in love with them. Be prepared to get barraged with campaigns that have a "snap" call to action. No longer will you have to send in a form to "enter for a chance to win," you'll just snap a photo. Want to add time to your parking meter, just snap. Want to buy movie tickets, just snap. Want to do anything, just snap. The sky is the limit!

You heard it here first, "some brand is going to leverage this technology so well it will change the whole way marketers look at 2D barcodes." The race has officially commenced.

I'm really diggin' the AVIS spots

It seems that AVIS rental cars kicked off one of the funniest campaigns in years immediately after their stock tumbled. Maybe the ads have been airing prior to the crash, but I only started to see them recently. Either way it's got to be tough to differentiate yourself among rental car companies. At the end of the day, who really cares about their rental car? For the average annual or semiannual vacationer I find it hard to believe that anyone cares about the car. I know from experience, price is my only concern.

However, AVIS decided to solely focus on their core competencies...business travelers. Their TV spots feature a boring, sad, long term parking lot with an ugly late model 90's car. The VO is from the car's POV and imitates a sad, lonely wife whose husband is out "traveling" but in reality, cheating on her. The copy is perfect and the visual works beautifully. It's funny, easy to get, and clearly makes you think AVIS is hot, young, and exciting. I cannot think of another way to get that point across without insulting the audience. Bravo AVIS, Bravo.

Have you ever seen a website completely naked?

The title of this blog comes from an inexplicable feeling I get when I see a website without any ads. In case you are unaware, there are plug-ins and 3rd party software that strip a website of their ads. Software such as Greasemonkey performs this task. A year or two ago my "super-tech" friend turned me onto some ad removing software, whether it was Greasemonkey or not I cannot recall, but I tried it immediately and was quite impressed. NYTimes.com, Facebook.com and ESPN.com were all stripped naked! I knew that this miracle potion was supposed to "make my day," but I found it to be lonely. I have become so accustomed to surfing the web with ads, that their absence didn't sit well with me. I never disclosed to him that I reverted to my "old way" of surfing, but I did. Within a day or two, I removed the software/plug-in and went back to the pedestrian method of Internet perusal. Recently, I've stumbled across a Firefox plug-in called Stylish v. 0.5.3. Supposedly, it allows you to restyle the page so you don't have to "suffer" the way I did a couple years prior. I'll give it a try soon and see if it alleviates the lonesome feeling of surfing without ads.

It's clear that people enjoy looking at familiar things. Whether it's their computer's desktop icon arrangement, or the picture frames on their dresser, everyone likes things a certain way. I'm not used to seeing an 'ad less' website. I felt left out when the ads were gone. Although I rarely am interested in the featured product, I like knowing that I am privy to and current on all that is advertised. I don't want to miss the chance that a new Subaru WRX STi or Slingbox ad might be featured. I somehow consider an ad to be the 3rd cousin once removed of 'real news.' Maybe, we the consumers, are subconsciously hoping to stumble across the next great "must have" item of the year. Maybe not.

Why GM Cadi-lacks Cool

In case you haven't seen the new 'swanky' Cadillac TV spots let me provide a critical summary. The commercial opens with some person driving and speaking to the non-existent audience/passenger. The soliloquy's try way too hard to be cool, sexy and sarcastic. "In today's luxury game, the question isn't whether or not your car has available features like a 40 gig hard drive...or pop-up navigation etc..." Then, with a down shift and copy like "when you turn your car on, does it return the favor?" the commercial 'kicks in' the ill fitting, over dramatized hard rock music and drives all the way to the cheese factory. (Probably in 3rd gear) The reason this ad is so unbelivably lame is because it appeals to no one. In an attempt to appeal to too many dems, it falls incredibly short. I read an article explaining how Cadillac's new campaign was heavily rooted in market research. This may be true but read the endless list of demographics this ad hopes to reach are...• Loyalists – those who already own Cadillac’s • Boomers – the group turning 60 who really don’t like Cadillac • Alphas’ – tech types who search for information • Hot Moms – not your prototypical soccer mom • Move Ups -- young adults without preconceived ideas. I understand all the listed demographics are highly sought after, but you cannot use the same ad on 'Alphas' as you do on 'Hot Moms' and 'Boomers.' BABY BOOMERS and ALPHAS in the same 30 seconds???? That is an utter paradox. In their attempt to be 'hip' Cadillac really misses the mark. The ad needs a 'hip replacement' along with their boomer demographic. I am not sure where they are steering the brand, but I know it's the wrong direction.