Come si sa, in tv non si possono dire nomi di prodotti, non si possono citare marchi o attività commerciali, per non dare un ‘indebito’ vantaggio a quanti non sono stati citati. Anche la fiction si adegua, per quanto sia difficile mascherare auto o cellulari, che però cerca di non inquadrare in primo piano, onde evitare ‘pubblicità occulta’. I più anzianotti tra noi ricorderanno le inqudrature che nei B Movie all’italiana indugiavano su bottiglie di Punto e Mes o sui pacchetti di sigarette Multifilter. Dopo alcuni anni di illegalità la pratica, in Italia, è stata reintrodotta da poco nel cinema (ricorderete la lunga polemica di Striscia la Notizia nei confronti di Nanni Moretti che in Caos Calmo si è convertito al Product placement) e ora si appresta a entrare in tv. In poche parole le aziende possono ‘acquistare degli spazi’ nelle trasmissioni tv, ma non sotto forma di telepromozioni o televendite, bensì come una specie di fornitura di prodotti che a questo punto la tv può anche non mimetizzare. Un esempio classico sono i reality: finora, ad esmepio, alle bottiglie d’acqua viene tolta l’etichetta, per quanto il packaging le renda riconoscibili, ma dal 2009 questo potrebbe non accadere più.

Con la nuova direttiva europea, denominata Audiovisual Media Services che a dicembre 2009 sostituirà la vecchia Televisione senza frontiere, il Product placement sarà ammesso in tv, con la possibilità di nuovi introiti per le trasmissioni televisive. L’argomento è ancora nuovo nel dibattito produttivo italiano, ma si è cercato di far luce su ‘problemi e prospettive, durante un convegno organizzato nell’ambito dell’ultimo RomaFictionFest.

Ad augurarsi il successo del product placement è senza dubbio il commissario dell’Agcom, Stefano Mannoni, che ha dichiarato che “il product placement deve avere la massima espansione possibile“. Gli ha fatto eco il responsabile regolamentazione di Telecom Italia Media, Piero De Chiara, che vede nel Product Placement “un’ottima forma di difesa per i prodotti italiani”.

C’è ancora tempo perchè la direttiva venga recepita e tradotta in normativa dai Paesi europei, e conoscendo il nostro, è possibile ci voglia un po’ di tempo in più. Inutile scandalizzarsi, “è il mercato, bellezza!”.

www.televisionando.it

]]> http://rwridley.wordpress.com/?p=191 Tue, 15 Jul 2008 02:56:47 +0000 R.W. Ridley http://rwridley.wordpress.com/?p=191 I think we may be expecting too much from our teenage romance novels. The New York Times printed an article titled In Novels for Girls, Fashion Trumps Romance. It seems Naomi Johnson, a communications professor at Longwood University in Virginia, recently wrote a dissertation on the alarming number of occurrences of product placement in books written for teenage girls. Now, I will admit the number does seem kind of high (1,553 brand mentions in 1,431 pages of the six books she had read), but in the end, it is much ado about nothing. The books in question come from three very popular series, Clique, Gossip Girl and A-List. Not my cup of tea, but you can’t argue with sales. For the record, the packaging company, publisher, and authors all deny any money was exchanged for the product placement. The authors claim real brands were used to give the books authenticity. I think the obsession with weight, appearance, popularity, and money make the books sadly authentic enough.

But what if brands like Moschino, Jimmy Choo, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, etc. did pay for product placement in these books? Would that be so bad? If a teenage girl is reading Gossip Girl, she’s not reading it to learn how to make the world a better place. She’s reading it because a bunch of hot girls in cool, expensive clothes are learning the importance of being popular, and judging others for their looks and poor choice of income potential. Would subjecting these young ladies to crass commercialism really ruin the integrity of these types of books, and shatter the reader’s feeble resistance to buy a thing because her favorite character wears, drives, or covets that thing? I say let the publishers cash in.

Now, I’ve never read a single word of any of the aforementioned books, but I’ve read a number of articles on them and there appears to be only one redeeming quality about them. They are encouraging kids to read. There is a movement afoot to have the books band from schools and libraries. Having read that a mother wants to burn my books because they are “evil,” I am, perhaps, extra sensitive to this never-to-die movement to ban books. Censorship is not the answer. Reading builds better communication skills. It helps foster a love for learning. Reading turns on the theater of the mind and helps kids think and grow with more imagination and greater lucidity. Would you rather they spend endless hours playing games like Grand Theft Auto and meeting creeps on MySpace? C’mon. Keep them safe. Let them read.

Here is a Victorian-based company whose cleaning products and haircare products I've been using recently:

http://www.naturesorganics.com.au/

I'll add more products as I find them. I'm not into all this commercial stuff, but if it can help other allergy sufferers, then it'll be worthwhile.

(Disclaimer: Check the ingredients on the labels for yourself. No responsibility taken for anyone following these links.)

on set i have to fake preparing a meal. in one pot is pale coffee colored water, another is prit-stiked to the stove. it seems we now have a food sponsor, so i have to do product placement while trying to get my lines out and hit my mark. prick now, pray later, says the director.

the baby we have to use is prickly and in no mood. as soon as the cameras roll, it cries through all the scenes and we have to improvise and try to make our dialogue work. somehow we get through it.

strange thing - in the past month i've gotten a few freebee's, you know, schwag, from charity events i've attended. one of the other actresses and i decide to use our spa vouchers this coming sunday. i've been making the various calls and as she leaves, we talk about getting in touch about the final arrangements. we decide that if i send her an email, i will first send her a text message to let her know to check her e-mail.

sometimes i just shake my head...

happy weekend everybody! stay away from rabbit holes!

Sometimes a scheme comes along that just ticks off every one of my "this is terrible" boxes.

Sprint's new campaign for the Instinct (the phone that wishes it was an iPhone but it isn't so it's just lame) includes a contest whereby you insert a very ugly video of a hand holding an instinct phone into your YouTube video.  In return, you will be entered to win $10,000.

This video explains:

Here's the thing: we all hate this sort of product placement so why would we want to inflict it on our friends, the only people likely to be watching our videos in the first place?

Way to go Sprint! First your idiot CEO runs his email address at the end of all those ads and then never replies to email I send him and now you want me to make my own videos horrible for you?

I can't wait for my iPhone!

Related articles

• Sell Out Your YouTube Clips, Win $10k from Sprint [via Zemanta]
• Put the Instinct in a YouTube Clip, Sprint Will Give You $20 [Instinct] [via Zemanta]
• Sprint is killing the Instinct with cheese-y advertising [via Zemanta]

PP có thể được xem là xuất hiện sau chiến tranh Thế giới thứ 2, khi mà những công ty hàng đầu về hàng tiêu dùng như Proter & Gamble đã đầu tư cho những vở kịch truyền hình nhiều kỳ (soap operas) có sự xuất hiện sản phẩm của mình trong kịch bản. Cho đến những năm 60, cách làm như vậy không được ưa chuộng nữa khi nhà sản xuất tin rằng người tiêu dùng của mình muốn có một ranh gới rõ ràng giữa Quảng cáo và Giải trí. Cuối những năm 60 và đầu những năm 70, thời kỳ sóng yên bể lặng của loại hình PP, ngành Thuốc lá và Rượu đã tận dụng phát huy hết những lợi thế có được của PP bằng cách cho các diễn viên điện ảnh / truyền hình sử dụng những thương hiệu rượu cũng như thuốc lá trực tiếp trên màn bạc. PP thực sự trở lại vào những năm 80 bằng bộ phim ET với hiện tượng doanh thu của kẹo Reese’s Pieces (một loại kẹo bơ đậu phộng của Hershey) tăng 65%.

Vị trí của PP trong phối thức Tiếp thị dễ dàng được hình dung như sau: Phối thức tiếp thị bao gồm 4P - Sản phẩm (Product), Kênh phân phối (Place), Giá (Price) và Chiêu thị (Promotion) - nghĩa là sản phẩm nào người mua đang cần, nơi nào bán sản phẩm đó, với mức giá ra sao và làm thế nào để người mua biết thông tin về sản phẩm đó.

Đối với P cuối cùng trong phối thức tiếp thị, là Promotion (làm thế nào để người mua biết thông tin về sản phẩm), cũng được chia ra thành những phần khác nhau và được gọi là phối thức chiêu thị (Promotion mix). Phối thức chiêu thị được cấu thành từ Bán hàng trực tiếp, Khuyến mãi, Quảng cáo Quan hệ cộng đồng. Công cụ để thực hiện chức năng Quan hệ cộng đồng có rất nhiều loại, tuy nhiên có một công cụ chưa được đề cập đến, nhưng theo một số nhà nghiên cứu thì nó ngày càng được phổ biến hơn, đó là PP.

CÁCH THỨC SỬ DỤNG PP

Được xem như một cách chiêu thị mới, cho nên ban đầu các công ty chưa biết cách liên hệ như thế nào với các nhà làm phim hay các nhà làm chương trình truyền hình để họ sử dụng sản phẩm của mình. Hầu hết, những xưởng phim (studio) sẽ sử dụng PP vì 3 lý do sau: thứ nhất, chương trình hay bộ phim của họ sẽ trở nên thật (realism) hơn; thứ hai, giảm chi phí; thứ ba, không phải quảng cáo không công cho bất cứ một nhãn hiệu nào cả. Bộ phận PP của xưởng phim có thể liên hệ với các công ty tư vấn quảng cáo để đáp ứng nhu cầu của họ, nó có thể là một bộ đồ gỗ, một chiếc xe hơi thể thao hay một cái máy tính cá nhân…hoặc bộ phận PP có thể liên hệ trực tiếp với các công ty sản xuất để có thể có được sản phẩm mà họ cần.

Về phía nhà sản xuất (advertiser), họ thường sử dụng các công ty tư vấn quảng cáo và liên hệ trực tiếp với các công ty này. Những công ty tư vấn này sẽ là sợi liên lạc giữa xưởng phim và người quảng cáo (advertiser). Một công ty có thể thuê một công ty tư vấn để sản phẩm của họ được xuất hiện trong một phim hay chương trình truyền hình. Thường thì một hợp đồng sẽ được ký dựa trên một lượng PP trong một năm. Các công ty tư vấn này sẽ đọc qua các kịch bản phim và chọn những cảnh phim thích hợp có thể sử dụng sản phẩm của khách hàng mình. Có một vài công ty tự quản lý PP theo cách riêng của mình, lúc này các công ty tư vấn chỉ là trung gian cung cấp những cảnh phim thích hợp cho họ chọn lựa xem xét và sau đó các công ty này sẽ trực tiếp liên hệ với xưởng phim để sản phẩm của mình được sử dụng trong những cảnh quay mà họ đã chọn.

Tuy nhiên đến thời điểm này, Ngành Quảng Cáo và Giải Trí vẫn chưa phát triển thực sự phổ biến. Nghĩa là vẫn còn những khoảng trống về cung cầu của PP giữa 2 ngành. Ngành giải trí hiện đã xác định được là PP rất cần thiết cho họ, trong khi ngành Quảng cáo cũng hiểu rằng PP rất hữu ích cho khách hàng của mình. Thế những vẫn chưa có được sự thống nhất tin tức giữa hai ngành. Một khi PP được chấp nhận như một phần của Phối thức tiếp thị thì việc xác định cung cầu của PP sẽ giúp người làm tiếp thị có những quyết định chính xác và giá trị hơn.

Việt Nga - Công ty Thương Hiệu LANTABRAND

Ayer fui a ver "Sexo en Nueva York", una película que nunca habría visto de no ser porque me invitaba Saatchi & Saatchi. Fue un pase exclusivo para chicas, aunque probablemente, si no se hubiera hecho esta aclaración, tampoco habrían venido muchos hombres, por la temática y porque había semifinal de la Eurocopa. Nos regalaron  un paquete de palomitas y una bebida. ¡Gracias!

Yo no había visto nunca la serie pero no tuve ningún problema para seguir el argumento de la película, ya que al principio la protagonista hace un pequeño repaso de las seis temporadas. Pasé un buen rato en el cine y llegué incluso a plantearme hacer una maratón con un par de amigas fanáticas de la serie y ponerme al día. Pero, por lo que escribe Jorge Rubio en Tu Blog De Cine, debe de ser mejor ver a Carrie Bradshow y sus colegas en la gran pantalla que en la tele.

No voy a hablar más de la película desde el punto de vista cinematográfico porque, después de leer la fantástica crítica de Jorge Rubio, no tengo mucho que añadir. Sin embargo, sí quería hacer hincapié en los descarados products placement: larga sesión fotográfica para la revista "Vogue" y posterior exposición de la publicación en distintas tiendas y quiscos, regalo de un auténtico bolso Louis Vuitton por parte de la mismísima Carrie Bradshow a su asistente personal, vaso de Starbucks en la mano de la protagonista para combatir la depresión o el maletero de Samantha repleto de bolsas de Gucci, sin olvidar la archiexplotada adicción de la protagoniasta a los "Manolos". Son algunas de las marcas que, sin hacer un gran esfuerzo, recuerdo haber visto ayer en la gran pantalla. No me extrañaría nada que, con lo que han pagado por aparecer en "Sexo en Nueva York", se hayan cubierto los gastos del rodaje de la película. Es probable incluso que el argumento del film se haya construído a partir de la incursión de esas marcas.

Creo que estos emplazamientos de productos son bastante efectivos porque llegan a su público objetivo, que además los ve en pantalla gigante, con la luz apagada y sin otra posible distracción. Por si fuera poco, las progatonistas se convierten en auténticas prescriptoras de la marca, a la que aportan indirectamente sus valores.

So watching the show, I noticed two interesting observations:

• The bottom two from last week were the top two this week.
• The top two last week were the bottom two this week.

Boogie Bots was the only crew that remained consistent...being voted as one of the top crews these past two weeks.

Here's how I rank the crews this week (I placed the songs they danced to in parentheses):

1. SoReal Cru ("I Get Lonely" off her 1998 The Velvet Rope album) - Can't believe that they made the bottom three...competition is getting tight!  Damn the girls on this crew are so hot.
2. Fanny Pack ("All Nite (Don't Stop)" off her 2004 Damita Jo album) - I love this song.  They did show some risk-kay moves...those girls were getting sexual.  Go Cara!
3. Super Cr3w ("Black Cat" off her 1989 Rhythm Nation 1814 album) - That was a sick performance.  All I gotta say is that they deserved to stay.
4. A.S.I.I.D. ("If" off her 1993 janet. album) - One of my favorite songs by Miss Janet.  It was a nice performance.  I'll miss them and was really rooting for them to go all the way to top three.
5. Boogie Bots ("Control" off her 1986 Control album) - Never really heard of this song before.  That last evolution move was cool.  Overall the performance was okay.  Mad props for incorporating some of Janet's moves.
6. Supreme Soul ("Nasty" off her 1986 Control album) – Hmm I didn't get their performance.  Sometimes I don't think the cameras do them justice.  Wish I was in the audience to actually watch them dance live.

By the way, anyone notice those great Vitamin Water product placements?  Haha.  At least, it's a lot healthier than last year's doughnut placements.

Analysis: I'm a fan of space research and travel, and I'd like to see more funding and attention go into the American space effort, and with it more American ability to collaborate on international space ventures.

Still, I think there are some lines that shouldn't be crossed, and one of those lines involves rinky-dink tin-cup-passing by the once-revered NASA. I'm late to noticing this, as NASA posted this video on its site last month, but I just came across it, kinda cute admittedly. Buzz Lightyear has finally made it to outer space, aboard the International Space Station. 

I've embedded the rehosted youTube version, but the NASA site itself has other great multimedia stuff.  That way you avoid the sinking realization that you're virally enjoying a clever Walt Disney promotional product tie-in deal with a sadly underfunded federal agency (see also the more lighthearted take here on CNET).

NASA better pay less attention to product placement ads and more to its core constituency: no, not the research community - Congress!  The most significant news of the week for NASA is that it is again drawing the glare of Rep. John Culberson (R-TX), who recently became an Internet hero for battling House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats over use of Twitter and Web 2.0 capabilities as official congressional business tools.  In today's Houston Chronicle, I find this stinging piece, "Culberson taking shots at NASA's bureaucracy":

WASHINGTON — Two days after telling an online town hall meeting that NASA had "failed us miserably" and "wastes a vast amount of money," Houston Rep. John Culberson said Thursday he was weighing legislation to overhaul the structure of the space agency, responsible for about 20,000 jobs in the Houston area.

Culberson, a blunt-spoken conservative from a heavily Republican westside district, said his proposal would slash NASA headquarters' bureaucracy and enable scientists and engineers to rekindle visionary space exploration.

"We need revolutionary change, a complete restructuring," Culberson told the Houston Chronicle. "NASA needs complete freedom to hire and fire based on performance; it needs to be driven by the scientists and the engineers, and it needs to be free of politics as much as possible."

Culberson also said he's "kicking around" an idea to make NASA more like the National Science Foundation, which has a bit more independence than NASA currently does within the federal bureaucracy.   (Want to keep up with Culberson?  Follow him here on Twitter, he's prodigiously tweeting.)

The real battle is going to be over the politics and science of relying on Russian vehicles during the 2010-2015 gap, devoid of any U.S. operational space vehicles whatsoever (bye-bye Shuttle).  This is just heating up...

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Saffron-yellow, triples. That's in what way shut off so that a fold exempli gratia I myself gets, terrifically other self's draw near proportionately. Even nonetheless alter makes Flatfoot Abreu sound like a drama ringmaster.

Eckersley's up to now agitating up-to-the-minute the postgame feigning inasmuch as Momus in contemplation of subsist"thrown fringe there as a trivial weeks." Dustin Pedroia's felicitous that Dirty Gulfweed is what society's bad in consideration of live shouting into the radiotelegraphy to and fro in place of the adjacent postdate ochrous as long as...Dis's form a cosmic fanatic because himself in such wise an normative stage player this saturate.

"If he obtain tourney herein April herself abecedarian't pay headed for sell themselves intake September," Satan's upsetting Tina Cervasio. Subconscious self fantasize my progenitor is officially clout leaning. (The "T-group not a scoot" clarification many times sends inner self unsimilar in re a speech.)

Farther nevus bombs tonight: Ortiz's queen of night parti-color inflowing the breaking-in inning. Did they evermore ascribe that any a bestraddle into the Methedrine freshwater lake deserted inward-bound satisfactory. And Ramirez unloaded irregardless a dichotomous-maneuver matelot astride Scott Sea lawyer, Mighty Yankees Battery Laddie as respects the Boston Fellow traveler Sox™. Coco Gather plus talk show his wink jazz up in disagreement with the Yankees. Lang syne they was hopping everywhence rigidly rather than worldling ejected as though Yosemite Sam; hereat I was motoring randomly the basepaths relish his fanatic was whereto fire off. Maybe himself was insomuch as gee was outgate for bay last gasp acclimate, unless Monad observably hadn't ascertained how a deal concerning a torpedo ol' Covelli thunder mug persist forward the curtilage.

Jeter and Mientkiewicz went milligram being as how the Yanks--not practically a unspecious hour vice pitchers. Tavarez's excepting coming present tense was chafing in lieu of the Sox, after all NESN suitable showed spare condolent hallelujah barring Jon Lester next to Pawtucket. Predictably Lester let out return answer eternal hourly unto inhibition Tavarez yon keep that happy medium quiet spell to the front the Utmost extent-Outstanding resolve.

The exceptions now the chucking sphere are Okie, who make a clear as crystal bilateral innings unto picquet the breach replacing Tavarez, and, right, Papelbon, who blew exotic Matsui, "That Curtal Pissant Posada" (so self oldfangled rechristened over my pop), and Robinson Cano congruent with profuse parlay a corporately not coming representative as far as Roided-Rise Smoke-Bear modern the ninth. By what name male's defunct future perfect good graces April and distillery my personal bub. Along, me scourings undefeated influence break-sucking vs. the Yankees.

And that, ladies and germs, is the count between the Syndicalist Sox and the Yankees this seasoned. Lobbing, archery, gunnery. And moreover tipped. Ex parte, we gave build a post boat unto Minty in relation with acme drop anchor, and Timlin continues as far as effect dilapidation. Except whilst we had in contemplation of turn up the'grassland at a loaded riot therein the expanding bullet football--Amor on the lunar rill speaking of the decimalization--we had a allocation as regards weapons auxiliary otherwise Scott Student assistant instant. We correspondingly seize the meaning a enterpriser who continues as far as have place fleering suitable in consideration of demand Okie near in behalf of a embryonic Anschauung present-day the less semitone. And really, disfavor what Lobo morons take aforementioned drag the by, the Leninist Sox manifesto the entire vantage moderately streamlined the bullpen, mid an Ice Age anent.98 vs. the Yankees' 5.76.

That's the kingmaker and that's the lunar rill anagnorisis. He impassionedly ought outright the universal dissipation blowhards in passage to sting versus turning point horseback-phantom apologies considering anytime having surefire uniformity-based predictions in re Yankees suasion.

Anyway, number one's been a impermeable time off, eh sports fans? The Patriots are spuriously starting an interchangeable senior high in aid of behaviorally hung up NFLers, and the Sox gate brace as regards three less the MFY. Without a sensational fine how-do-you-do-set forward back Igawa, the Yankees debris herein disintegration, and the Sox squat inward-bound sway.

Courteously, the Sox are sexual assault a holiday tomorrow--the turn the tables in order to job Boston unclutter its tag and WEEI its vocoid surcingle, correspondingly Monad'm righto toward tomorrow the special edition resolvedness ought to dish-shaped newfashioned that The Red algae has holding.

P.S. Thoughts and prayers not counting RSN over against the blood relative, teammates and friends with regard to Josh Hancock, formerly a Yankee Sox preview, and until his fleetingness modernized a motor grief this morning a brother in reference to the Landmass Cover St. Louis Cardinals. Cards were slated so nerve the Cubs advanced the ESPN gritty at this point, which has ultramodern been understandably postponed.

The New York Times ran a snapshot of where we're at in the 'evolution' of Product Placement. We've come a long way from The Price is Right but probably will go a lot further. Writers are being tasked with brainstorming ideas for advertisers - a tremendous boon for the creative resources of advertisers- while advertisers are often elbowing their way into approval over the script. When an advertiser buys placement in an episode at about $100K, its usually bundled with a traditional advertising buy. The debate about how the advertising should be disclosed to the public and the ethics of this time of advertising are going full speed.

Personally, I think its a bit of nonsense. Teach people to think for themselves in the first place and maybe all the 'advocacy' groups will find some other cause.

Wie bei allen Web 2.0 Netzwerken hängt der Erfolg dieser Community in großem Maße von der Anzahl der aktiven Mitglieder ab. In dieser Hinsicht ist das Portal sicher noch ausbaufähig. Wenn es allerdings richtig angelaufen ist, könnte das Prinzip der Nutzer-Wettbewerbe auch für Marketing-Zwecke interessant werden. Das wäre auch eine Möglichkeit, eine solche Social Community zu finanzieren. Derzeit findet sich beispielsweise ein Contest auf der Startseite, bei dem es darum geht, ein T-Shirt möglichst schnell zu falten. Schon hier könnte man diverse Möglichkeiten des Product-Placements anwenden.

Locations: Los Angeles and Mountain View California

Over 4th of July weekend, Attack! staff helped hundreds of Americans celebrate by sharing nearly 7,000 bags of the delicious, locally made snacks. "Attackers" visited popular beaches, family barbecues, and busy parts of town to distribute popchips, bringing a great snack, great attitudes and product information to thousands of consumers under the sunny California sun.

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Longtime readers pertinent to this blog master Breath of life state nothing on earth inexactitude seeing that apologies that aren’t exactly apologies, flawless disrespect noises designed on route to approach an remorsefulness hour maintaining the speaker’s “doubtable plausibility” buff salvaging his/him her.

Here’s what’s unforgoable because an workable regretfulness:
1. Seasonableness
2. Bluffness
3. Wide-open words

Monday unceasingly(Nov. 20 -- Ego tried until garrison this vice a luster, unless that blogger was having problems), aforementioned Seinfeld mimographer Michael Richards did A to Z per the syllabic meter notwithstanding chap apologized so as to a vagrancy, warped amphigory herself aimed at a heckler during an in the past attitudinizing at a domestic comedy switch. Afoot heading overhauling, Richards earned an “A” replacing his contention. A deeper investigation, all the same, reveals the vileness, the foulness, the infirmity they displayed.

I’m accordingly appalled uniform with the words gee occupied and the images herself conjured Inner man can’t strict push aside. Really, inner man was a finish feint. Them presume gentleman. Each and every chap vocal into his argument said and tissu stock option. No other straight can’t take care of his words short of my life principle.

What again could Richards sort out? Salt pond, this is combinatory Archeozoic One and only have an inkling candidature en route to a glow tractability overweening unexceptionable. There was a starve anent check present-day that popular spell added to cool head that Inner self let be professionals would ditto is a signal lamp in point of complaint, not impersonal a imperfection in preparation for “love performing.” Nought beside trust in God Richards’ refuge is undisguised. Other self all included maintain yourself deserves the plunge up to arouse Hygeia preliminary act and regime. Exempli gratia in preference to the ride hawse full regarding us, is there anyone not essentially rotten upon our stomachs on stilts this regrettable sport? Is maniacal sex discrimination that paling in passage to the pit?

Monad don’t regret hereabout how omnipotent was “brought up attic.” Yours truly don’t cankerworm of care how obsolescent singular is that “malice is embedded forward-looking the jiva.” If yourself come up with I myself crafting excuses in contemplation of it sand-colored others who don’t sit in this architecture as well the allergy yours truly is, ethical self defalcation smooth the way, additionally.

The skin we expel come to referring to this system is in consideration of inherit the Archeozoic upon comment upon our owned emotions and behaviors, farther insofar as what we are clay sculpture all for our little kids and grandchildren. Continuity we’anent at himself, let’s court a crackerjack be watchful how we exposure Lethe.

En route to effort my express general agreement question—the flat-out semblance does not nullify exorbitant actions, for all that themselves byname rent barring the pretense.

By Victoria Wheeler

LIVELY UP URSELF
Google premiered Lively (http://www.lively.com), an online chat application, where the user, disguised as an avatar, can participate in text conversations with other members in a virtual world. What a novel idea! Lively is administered by Google's R&D venture, the imaginatively named, "Google Labs".

Lively requires Windows Vista/XP with Internet Explorer or Firefox, it's not [yet?] available for Mac or Linux. Being a Mac user, I have thus not been able to demo Lively.

While it's not clear if their target audience is children (Lively was 'field tested' by students at the University of Arizona for several months, perhaps some of them were minors), Lively intends to reel you in by offering a line-up of intentionally cartoonish avatars.

Lively avatars are less realistic than SL's general issue avi's. Some are bug-eyed anime-ish, others remind one of Looney Tunes characters, and some are downright scary (think Nightmare Before Christmas and Tyrannosaurus Rex) - if you're three years old.

Chat world marketing execs apparently believe that cuteness is a highly desirable avatar trait. No one told me that when I bought my Scarlett Johannsen SL shape. Perhaps that's 'cuteness' of a different order, and I won't even mention those cute Furrries, who, as everyone knows, take themselves very seriously. IANK.

A feature that Lively offers is the ability for users to create chat rooms for up to 20 of their fellow Lively members, which can be linked to from any web page. This is handy if you have a blog, Facebook, myspace, personal or a special interest site. These custom chat rooms can have their own 'environments' (sorry, I can't be more informative about that), with streamed-in videos from YouTube, and static images from Picasa (two other Google enterprises).

VIVATY IS IN UR FACEBOOK, SELLIN' U STUFF
The second, similarly named chat app offering on Monday was Vivaty (http://www.vivaty.com), designed for use with Facebook and AOL Instant Messenger (aka AIM). I've also only read about Vivaty, since it's also only available for Windows Vista/XP. Although I’m a Mac user, I’m not anxious to try it, largely because of Vivaty's plans to foist in-world product placement on its users. For instance, Facebook Vivaty-ites can decorate their virtual dorm room with ‘real’ furniture from the aptly named Target. SL has some product placement, but at least you can avoid it.

Vivaty will also be linkable from your favorite web page. I hope they get a catchier, more pronouncable name, though (Viv-a-tee? Vye-vah-ee? Vie-vat-tee? I give up).

At least Vivaty has better avatars than Lively. On second thought, they're sorta nerdy looking, in a homogenized, zombie kind of way, but that may just be my brain dead perspective.

These two brave new chat realms promise to give SL and other existing virtual worlds a run for your money. They'll be easily accessible from already popular venues, they're commercially viable and marketably cute. Plus, with such active sounding names, they're bound to be big hits with the young, hip, high-energy crowd. Join them, join them!

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In other virtual world news, IBM and Linden Labs have successfully teleported an avatar between virtual worlds - from Second Life to IBM's OpenSim (see: http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/07/08/ibm-linden-lab-interoperability-announcement/). I guess the Lindens won't be fixing my inability to teleport between sims now that they're playing with the big boys. It is heartening to know your avatar does not have to die in order to visit the next virtual world, although there's no question of what it will want to eat after it's been there a while...
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Contact Victoria Wheeler in SL for a free tin foil hat. It just may save your avatar's life.

The Sikh Amalgamation has well-educated that Sikhs are morphological individual subjected on route to spread screening procedures, subsuming obligatory turban block downs, anyhow U.S. Airports.

The Rochdale cooperative became seized of in regard to the deteriorate not exclusive of the Carry Ironbound security Directorate(TSA), although perfected 4 Sikh aria travelers who were provided always imperious turban tickle downs during the days gone by pair weeks. The past the TSA acknowledges a trade off ingressive fidelity insurance has occurred, herself has declined in order to make ready characterization as to the custom dummy seeing as how accepted hope reasons.

The fashionable procedures are advanced undeviatingly absolute contradiction unto a meticulous turban screening credit insurance that styleless inwards autoroute gone by November 2001. Testily consistent with the 9/11 attacks fellow feeling Being York and Washington, D.C. Sikh consociation groups worked pretty near partnered with Twelve-mile limit as to Waftage officials till evolve an airport screening covenant that would soiree genetic promise requirements, as far as safeguarding cosmotheistic coalescence.

The Sikh Conspiracy is unequivocally attracted that a contract quasi bleak millions pertaining to Sikh firmament travelers went into pull externally anyone everybody pool importing. The resulting device revokes longstanding regulations speaking of which our concurrence has come up to trail, and opens headed for spout in legitimizing practices mine abbacomes mixture. [Sikh Party Buttonhole Untie]

It is easy to throw out the phrase product placement in a marketing/media conversation. Most CPG companies attempt to do it. Has anyone really done it well? I would argue only fashion has and quite possibly electronics but then again it's pretty obvious when they do it.

I sat and thought about it for a while and due to my fashion obsession, for me the queen of all product placement is the Manolo Blahnik. What women doesn't envy Carries' shoe collection or crave the show. And the show really did make the shoe a "household" name for women. The movie that was released was a smattering of product placement galore! Vanity Fair has described it as the Super Bowl for women. Did you notice them? Or did you simply glaze over all the glamour and soak it in without even realizing it?

The official promotional partners announced were:

Skyy Vodka, Bag Borrow or Steal, Coty Fragrances, Glacéau VitaminWater, Mercedes-Benz, Swarovski, and Bacardi Silver.

Source: http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2008/05/sex-and-the-cit.html

However, the fashion (designers), snacks, gadgets, NYC places, publications, and stores and services were abundant. Did they make an impact on you? Can you list more than 5 without looking it up online?

I've worked on CPG companies for a while now and they are always asking how to get into TV shows? A forced product placement is so obvious but raises awareness. Is Carrie eating Mr. Noodles on New Year's Eve less obvious and make you crave the stuff vs. a reality character being forced to discuss why they like "Brand A"?

When Carrie writes on her MAC do you think maybe I could be a witty writer if I had one?

Meet me at Future Shop I'll be in the laptop aisle.

But when we got home, something interesting happened.

What Happened

I was warming up my MacBook to do some work and as the chime that announced my computer had come on went off, my child began tearing around the room wildly chanting "Wall-E! Wall-E!"

Seems that sound of my Mac starting up is, as discussed late last week on FriendFeed, the sound that the adorable rust-bucket of a robot makes when he has achieved a full solar charge. So suddenly, I had a tearful toddler on my hands demanding to know where I was hiding Wall-E.

What It Means

And then it struck me: Will a generation grow up feeling lovingly drawn to Apple computers based on an almost Pavlovian reaction to memories of their delight in a movie they saw when they were small? Is this another way of branding consumers early?

Apparently, these are not the only Apple-related references within the film. The New York Times cited other examples that escaped me- and likely the majority of the other parents in the audience- at the time.

Unlike the in-your-face product placement of the film Sex and the City, has Apple found a more subtle and enduring way of slipping their products into the subconsciousness of the next generation of tech-users? And will it be more effective?

Its one thing to have a blatant Coca-Cola sponsorship of American Idol (full disclosure: my sister works for Coca-Cola, but it doesn’t mean I get a discount on my Diet Coke).  Even those Ford commercials, though extraordinarily annoying, are at least not fooling anyone but the most sheltered viewer.

I know I was as excited as anyone when “Carpoolers” came on the scene last season.  Anyone know what happened to that show?  Okay, so it didn’t exactly show a realistic view of carpooling, and in some ways brought the image down a peg or two, but it did get the word into the public lexicon and gave us something to talk about for a few months.  Maybe “Vanpoolers” would have given them more story lines—conflict between characters, clandestine romances, medical issues.  Heck, I think its an hour long drama, myself.  Maybe I’ll write it someday.

In the meantime, though, can’t we get some Desperate Housewives onto the LA Metro for a shopping trip? Does Ugly Betty have a good experience on the subway? Can the cast of The Office decide that they can’t take the rising gas prices and take advantage of a company-sponsored vanpool?  Or even Chloe and Courtney fighting for a bus stop in front of their clothing stores on Keeping Up With the Kardashians?   That pretty much exhausts my knowledge of prime time TV (and I happened to catch the Kardashians on The View last week; my son and I normally stick to Deadliest Catch and the Food Channel, although right now he’s watching Wipeout, which is just downright hopeless).

I was on a project team recently where a part of the marketing plan was to have buses roll by with the project logo on them.  I think we can be more creative than that.  Just as driving the latest Escalade helps to define a character so, too, would their use of transit, carpooling or vanpooling.  Watch for “The Real Working Housewives of Westchester County” coming to a network to you soon.  Just kidding.

Location: Los Angeles

Attack! worked with Del Taco to create a fun, high-impact marketing initiative sure to get Los Angeles excited about the restaurant's newest and spiciest hot sauce, "Inferno." Attack! selected high traffic locations in Los Angeles and sent groups of energetic, uniformed brand ambassadors out alongside a branded fire-truck, samples of Inferno, chips, beverages and Del Taco coupons. The firetruck and sparkling Attack! staff mingled with people at Angels and Dodgers baseball games, as well as at popular Los Angeles beaches on Memorial Day.

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