We have all seen the videos of the opening day, if you haven’t I suggest you find one, it looked like it was pretty crazy. As for the rest of us who couldn’t afford one, or weren’t willing to wait in line all that long in a line, it looks like we missed out. However, if you didn’t get one because you are a college student and couldn’t afford one, there may be good news for you. You may want to check out this story, because if colleges start giving these to their students this really will be the new wave of the future.

When celebrity endorsements work, they work. Companies take a huge risk when choosing the right person for the job of representing what the company does or the services they provide, or the products they sell. A public figure in a television or an online commercial becomes the representation of what that company means, becomes how the entire company is perceived. The current news today regarding Tiger Woods, has the companies he has endorsed in a bit of a quandary. This is something that extends to all kinds of business.  Take football for example…no matter how talented Michael Vick was charged with the crimes that he committed, influenced the way his entire team was perceived. A headline in the news this morning listed off the names of Vick and of Tiger Woods and why now their names mean nothing. Celebrities and well known figures have been endorsing products and services for years, and those with the reputation to back themselves up, such as Lance Armstrong, Montel Williams , and many other well respected public figures, will be the ones whose endorsements carry weight with the general public.  Public perception is influenced by a variety of media these days. What once could only be read in the morning paper, is now not only on the television and the radio, but the various social sites on line, and the many ways in which to find information through videos and sources from all over the world. The beauty of online advertising is that it reaches the world in a matter of seconds. Just as the positive reaches the public this quickly, so too does the negative. This means that advertising departments must take risks on public figures, as when such risks are taken, they can move the company into success and will guarantee that a prosperous future is ahead.

Informational videos are a excellent way for local businesss to get positions with the natural search engines, through the trend toward blended or universal search results which mixes video in with traditional results. Videos are also becoming an attractive way to bring in leads, sales and new customers from viral and social marketing. While most search engines and marketers have adopted …

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“Over 25,000 website owners are already hosting audio advertisements on their blogs, websites and social network profiles. Over 15 million websites are already hosting NetAudioAds that are played to Internet listeners over 30 million times a day; this is likely to be a major force in Internet advertising.” (PRWeb Jan 30, 2008) Post Comment:Trackback URL: …

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Heineken is about to soft launch a sparkling cider brew for the women called Charli. It will be released in Amsterdam for a test run. Read more about it here.

In-game advertising is hardly a new phenomenon, but according to a new study commissioned by in-game ad firm Massive Inc. it is becoming one of the most effective branding mediums.

“The study, conducted by Nielsen Entertainment, found that across four prominent ad categories (automotive, consumer packaged goods, fast food and technology) brand familiarity increased by 64 percent among users who had been exposed to ads served into live games by Massive, which is owned by Microsoft.”

Given the untapped potential of the market (2005 spending was $56 million according to Massive, and they predict it could reach $2 billion by 2012), it was no surprise to see major players quickly snap up in-game ad firms. Microsoft struck first in May 2006 when they acquired the aforementioned Massive Inc., and Google followed this past February with the purchase of Adscape Media for $24 million.

In-game ad spend will likely take off once publishers are able to provide advertisers quantifiable data regarding who’s playing the games in which ad inventory is available. This will allow advertisers to target their ads more efficiently and accurately measure the success of their campaigns. Steps are currently being taken to provide this data, as Sony and Nielsen media have recently teamed up to develop standard metrics to better segment the market. You can read more in depth about the process here.

This is another great opportunity for marketers to allow users to interact with their brands. Framing your brand/product as a solution to the in-game characters problem could be one of many creative ways for brands to get positive exposure. Imagine if a Papa Johns box was a power-up, or finding a new pair of Nike’s made you run faster, jump higher, etc.

This is also a chance for brands to alienate potential customers by placing their ads in areas where they are not relevant or interfere with game play. Because gamers spend an average of 47 hours (as of 2006) per title, there’s plenty of opportunity for brands to create evangelists or enemies. Hopefully the industry can police itself and make sure the ads are not obtrusive. If games were available for free, there would be much more tolerance for spammy ads. But as long as most new titles cost in excess of $50, publishers and advertisers need to make sure that in-game ads add (no pun intended) to the game, not make it worse.