Hasta La Creative!

Cablevision Systems Corp. is suing Viacom Inc., alleging the distributor of MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon is forcing it to carry and pay for 14 lower-rated networks such as Palladia and VH1 Classic.

“The manner in which Viacom sells its programming is illegal, anti-consumer, and wrong,” the cable-systems operator said in a prepared statement. “Viacom effectively forces Cablevision’s customers to pay for and receive little-watched channels in order to get the channels they actually want.” The company added: “Viacom’s abuse of its market power is not only illegal, but also prevents Cablevision from delivering the programming that its customers want and that competes with Viacom’s less-popular channels.”

Cablevision called out networks like Palladia, MTV Hits and VH1 Classic, describing them as being less popular among its’ subscribers.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

Native advertising company Sharethrough today announced the launch of Sharethrough Sponsored Stories, a native advertising solution that helps brands promote articles, posts, reviews and more across the web. With Sharethrough Sponsored Stories, marketers can extend the reach of their content beyond owned and earned placements across Sharethrough’s network of publishers.

Land Rover is one of the first brands to use Sharethrough Sponsored Stories in its content marketing programs, along with Pop Secret and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

The Sponsored Stories product can function as a stand-alone distribution platform for a brand’s original editorial content or to help spread a new video campaign.

The sponsored stories carry a headline, a short description, an image thumbnail and share buttons along with a notation its a sponsored story. Ads can be targeted to various demographics or contextually to content on the publisher’s site.

Launch partners include Land Rover, National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s “MS Connections” Campaign and Pop Secret Labs.

Of their partnership with ShareThrough, Land Rover Digital Marketing & Social Media Manager Kim Kyaw said (or more likely, was asked to say), “Creating compelling original content is a core part of building the Land Rover brand online. New methods of distribution such as Sharethrough Sponsored Stories, which allow us to promote our content in an integrated way, are appealing to us. We’re focused on reaching audiences on their terms while providing entertaining yet informative content. Sharethrough has helped us to drive engagement for our content online.”

Voici le showreel du studio d’animation français Machine Molle. Retraçant les différents projets de l’année 2012, cette vidéo dynamique compile des références et créations ayant connues un fort succès en France (M83, Kenzo, iTélé…). Une maîtrise technique à découvrir en vidéo dans la suite de l’article.

Want to build your brand’s following on Twitter? Burger King found that getting hacked didn’t hurt — and may have actually helped build its profile in social media. The fast-feeder enjoyed a giant bump in Twitter chatter last week in the wake of its fake takeover by McDonalds, landing it at No. 1 on this week’s Brand Chatter Chart.

Not surprisingly, prank also gave alleged hacker McDonalds a boost. Jeep was the other big brand that was hacked, and it also made the chart, though lower, at No. 10.

Some real news also drove brand chatter. The announcement of the PS4 put Sony at No. 2 this week, up 623 spots from last week. Rumors of a new console also put Xbox on the list this week. The console ended the week at No. 4.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

You’ve seen the “Goats Yelling Like Humans — Super Cut Compilation” that’s gone viral, right? Well, something’s happened to make it even more magical: Somebody created a duet between one of the goats and Taylor Swift (see below). When I spotted it (via Reddit) on Friday, the day it was first posted to YouTube, it had a few thousand views. By the time I thought to tweet it on Saturday, it was up to a few hundred thousand. By Sunday afternoon around 2 p.m. ET, it surpassed two million views. By Monday afternoon it hit five million.

Here I’ll note that a couple weeks back I published a post titled “Please, for the Love of God, Nobody Make a Harlem Shake-Themed Commercial!” That didn’t work out so well, so I’m going to try a little reverse psychology and say — indeed, shout — HEY, EVERYBODY STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND MAKE A YELLING-GOAT DUET VIDEO RIGHT NOW! Just like Taylor Swift did! (OK, technically it was done without her involvement, but I still think it’ll do wonders for her fledgling career.)

Actually, you know what? I take that back; that wasn’t a reverse-psychology ploy. I really do want everybody to start doing yelling-goat duet videos. In fact, I’ll give $20 — in small, unmarked bills — to the first ad agency that lets me know they’ve created a yelling-goat commercial for a client. The clock starts… now. (Offer void where prohibited by law.)

Continue reading at AdAge.com

What’s that stupid saying? What’s old is new again? No. No, it’s not. Old is old. Old is tired. Old is dilapidated and smelly. Unless of course you are a fashion hound who can’t get enough vintage clothing and are too insensitive to realize assisting the elderly poor is something you should do without having to be persuaded by a stupid marketing stunt.

But, sadly, some people need a stupid stunt to get them off their hipster asses and actually give a shit about something. So Shorashim, an Israeli group that helps elderly people in need, created Roots, a second hand fashion brand because, well, young people like smelly old clothes and if that’s the only thing that gets them to care about the elderly then that’s what the brand’s agency, McCann Digital, had to do.

So the agency created Roots, a retail brand that took all the old clothes the elderly didin’t need anymore, applied some fashionista marketing complete with photoshoots with famous Israeli model and an online store and BOOM, young people who don’t give a shit about old people suddenly came to the aid of the elderly without even knowing it.

According to the case study video, enough money was raised for 1,400 holiday meals.

Writing opinion articles is rewarding to me on so many levels, though much of my satisfaction comes from engaging in conversations about topics with people who make me smarter. The last thing I ever claim to possess is the last word on any given subject. Getting persuaded and changing my perspective is fun, actually.

Only it happens less and less these days, as I hear more and more from brand evangelists whose sole purpose is to stridently and oftentimes angrily declare their beliefs. It’s got me questioning the premise that evangelists convert the unconverted and are therefore audiences to which brands should commit money and effort. Perhaps there’s a line between “passionate supporter” and “zealous absolutist” that our culture and tech encourages evermore individuals to cross?

“I’m your No. 1 fan,” Kathy Bates says to James Caan in the movie “Misery,” and then proceeds to do far more damage to him than his worst enemy could have ever imagined.

Continue reading at AdAge.com

The hobbits must be busy working on a sequel, because Air New Zealand abandoned their go-to sponsorship subject for Bear Grylls, adventurer extraordinaire and part-time fake adventurer extraordinaire. “Bear Essentials of Safety,” which details in-flight safety procedures with an outdoor twist, runs four minutes and twenty-eight seconds.

Even though Grylls isn’t from New Zealand–unlike hobbits–the spot gives Air New Zealand another reason to show off the country’s ridiculously scenic terrain as their outdoorsman explains instructions atop a mountain and places a dead fish under an airplane seat. Since nobody pays attention to standard in-flight safety precautions, signing up Grylls and changing the poorly-animated template video makes total sense. Shrewd moves by the Kiwis.

Maybe North American airline carriers can follow suit instead of turning off customers with every decision they make.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

“Tikyadv: Grow with us!”

Tikyadv is a communications agency that works with clients who also have small and medium budget.

Advertising Agency: Tikyadv, Milan, Italy
Creative Director: Giovanni Policastro
Art Director: Giovanni Policastro
Photographer: Federico Mauro

This project was created to generate awareness about John Casablanca’s Institute, generate inquiries, increase web traffic and ultimately drive enrollment in the school’s main programs. This project is an evolution of the school’s long-standing brand position: “Born to do this.” The campaign ran in traditional outdoor locations including transit shelters and subway station banners. The media was always booked in pairs or a series of three sequential banners to ensure the characters created for the campaign were presented together.

Advertising Agency: Spring, Vancouver, Canada
Creative Director: Rob Schlyecher
Art Director: James Filbry
Designer: Shon Tanner