Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog

by: Josh Hawkins

Last week, Phil Leigh, host of the video blog "Digital Media Thought Leaders," posted a two part interview I did on broadband media distribution and marketing. In the interview, I touch on a number of strategies I believe are necessary for content owners to run a successful broadband video business and for marketers to take advantage of the fast-changing and self-selecting consumer media behavior. 

Continue reading "Blended Distribution Strategies & New Marketing Opportunities" »

Posted by Futurelab at 9:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Ilya Vedrashko

The newest batch of MIT Comparative Media Studies grad theses is up. Lots of good stuff on transmedia storytelling, engagement, convergence, and mobile MMORPGs. Great job, guys, and good luck.

Original post: http://adverlab.blogspot.com/2007/08/mit-media-studies-grad-theses.html

Posted by Futurelab at 9:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Roger Dooley

Would wine thought to be from California taste better than wine from North Dakota, even if it was poured from the same bottle? It’s no surprise that the answer is “yes” - in Preschool Branding we described how even young children say branded food tastes better than identical unbranded items.

Continue reading "Wine and the Spillover Effect" »

Posted by Futurelab at 5:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Alain Thys

This week, two events caught my attention which are not that significant on their own, yet in combination made me think.  First there was CBS Corp’s Chief Exec who complained that his viewers were not ‘helping the networks’ when it comes to pretending they actually watch the advertisements.

Continue reading "TV Producers Need a Business Model to Go Online" »

Posted by Futurelab at 8:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: C. Sven Johnson

While reading something yesterday concerning marketing in virtual worlds I resisted the urge to comment. Last night and again early this morning, I further resisted the temptation to post something here regarding what I’d read. And I’m now resisting the urge to slip something in. I won’t.

Continue reading "Personal Entry: Pre-Alpha" »

Posted by Futurelab at 8:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Lynette Webb

I’ve been thinking about the “web as platform” trend recently. A lot of the focus so far has been about online storage or web based applications/desktops (eg: google docs, nivio, etc etc). But there’s another aspect which is the web as a storytelling platform. I think this quote is fascinating and gut feel I agree - The Beast (and other alternate reality games of its ilk) are prototypes for the future of web-based storytelling.

Continue reading "Beast was first prototype of web-based storytelling" »

Posted by Futurelab at 4:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Ilya Vedrashko

Playboy Island in Second Life is opening soon. Look for Playboy in group search, join, and you too can be a playmate (that's the title group members get automatically). I bumped today into someone who said the island was actually open, but when I tried, the teleport failed.

Continue reading "Playboy Soon in Second Life" »

Posted by Futurelab at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: David Armano

Doing a little housekeeping and I've updated my visuals in a single slideshow.  Every 4 months or so, I'll update the slideshow and re-post here.  Gotta love slideshare.

Continue reading "Visual Library" »

Posted by Futurelab at 8:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Ilya Vedrashko (via Business&Games)

A March 2007 study of 1,085 Second Life avatars by CB News / Reperes found that "brands are still far from having succeeded in exploiting all of their SL potential. For instance no RL brand introduced in SL has succeeded in establishing a strong presence in the minds of residents."

Continue reading "Study: Low Awareness of Brands in Second Life" »

Posted by Futurelab at 2:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Ilya Vedrashko

Press release: "In a survey of 200 participants conducted by the agency Komjuniti, Second Life users (“avatars”) were questioned about their perceptions, their satisfaction with the products on offer and the brand content in the online community.

Continue reading "Study: Second Lifers Unhappy with Brands" »

Posted by Futurelab at 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

By: Stefan Kolle 

Several initiatives to do some real world good by using the virtual world of gaming struck my eye today.

Continue reading "Gaming to save the world..." »

Posted by Stefan Kolle at 1:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Alain Thys

When looking at part 1 and part 2 of the unveiling of Sony Home for the PS3, I was dazzled by what I can only describe as a cool combo of an über-interface to the Sony media-world and a hi-res version of Second Life for my living room TV.  Even my wife started saying she wanted a PS3.

Continue reading "Sony Home ... Why can't I make my own stuff?" »

Posted by Futurelab at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Alain Thys

Exactly a year ago this blog went "live" and we just wanted to thank everyone who's been part of making it something much more successful than we ever thought it would be.  Today, we've got about 25,000 regular readers, over 1,400 posts, and more importantly, our base of daily feedburner subscribers keeps growing by the week (currently at 2,500).

Continue reading "Happy Birthday Futurelab Blog" »

Posted by Futurelab at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

By: Ilya Vedrashko

Fandom is a lot about storytelling (more about it later), and one of the more unlikely subjects for fanfiction is spam.

Continue reading "Fans of Spam" »

Posted by Futurelab at 12:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

By: Ilya Vedrashko

"Behavioural research consultancy, Bunnyfoot, has conducted an independent study that reveals a lack of engagement between video game players and in-game advertising in sports titles. Overall, SFI [Sponsor Fixation Index] scores were comparatively low, especially when contrasted with the prevalence of brand placements.

Continue reading "Study: In-Game Ads Fail to Engage" »

Posted by Futurelab at 3:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Alain Thys

By now you should be close to having all of your top-line budgets approved and be heavily into the detail of spending the marketing funds you've just been entrusted with. Yet before you rush off to fill the pockets of agency wizards and media-moguls, I'd like to stir things up a bit. For this post, I have come up with 7 budget recommendations against which to benchmark your decisions.

Continue reading "The 7 Secrets of a Good Marketing Budget" »

Posted by Futurelab at 11:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Alain Thys

As I compiled the most read posts on this blog, I couldn't shake the feeling that "there was a lot of great stuff missing". That's why I decided to do the "old media" thing and make a selfish editorial selection of what I thought were the twenty strongest thoughts expressed on this blog since its inception (one per contributor). 

Continue reading "The 21 Strongest Thoughts for 2006" »

Posted by Futurelab at 12:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Alain Thys

It's the season to make lists and hitparades, so to end the year we'll do our bit as well.  According to Google Analytics, here's a list of the ten most read articles since the launch of this blog on March 5th, 2006.  It's an interesting mix, which for me, is also a testimony to the way the Long Tail seems to be working.

Continue reading "The Ten Most Read Futurelab Articles in 2006" »

Posted by Futurelab at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Alain Thys

We've been a bit quiet over the past few days because of a busy week at the Marketing 3 conference in the Netherlands, yet to make up, we wanted to bring you a few early Christmas presents in the form of key videos from the conference.

Continue reading "Must Watch video: Shopping 2016" »

Posted by Futurelab at 11:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Ilya Vedrashko

Ha! This could well be the monetization model everyone's been looking for, if the technology is robust enough. The system is a lot like the green interactive dots in the Shai videos, but work with other type of content besides porn.

Continue reading "Product Placement in Consumer-Generated Videos" »

Posted by Futurelab at 11:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Ilya Vedrashko

I wrote before about Google Earth and SL-like games becoming increasingly alike. Here's a nice illustration.

Continue reading "Furniture 3D Models in Games and Google Earth" »

Posted by Futurelab at 7:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Stefan Kolle

Another innovative use of technology - the branded Skypecast.

Simply put, a Skypecast allows a host to broadcast audiocontent to 100 users at a time. It reminds me of the analyst call Wall Street companies hold regularly. For instance Gizmodo has used it for interviews with tech execs.

Now there has been a surprising new application of the technology.

Continue reading "It's a small step for mankind, a big step for Rock and Roll....and beer" »

Posted by Stefan Kolle at 4:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Ilya Vedrashko 

image: IGN.com

Ford is preparing a big-budget full-length racing advergame featuring a model line-up ranging from "1968 Mustang GT to the 1973 Escort RS2000 to the hot-off-the-assembly line 2007 Shelby GT500". "Bold Moves" is Ford's current campaign slogan.

Continue reading "Ford Cars in "Ford Bold Moves Street Racing"" »

Posted by Futurelab at 4:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Karl Long

Ralston360 has created a video/podcast that is a really good primer for anyone wondering why podcasts would matter to their business. Podcast360.

Overall the content is professional, informative, clear, and not salesy.

Continue reading "Why Podcasting Matters to Your Business" »

Posted by Futurelab at 1:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

Continue reading "The Ten Truths of Branded Storytelling" »

Posted by Futurelab at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (7) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Ilya Vedrashko

Continue reading "Electrolux Promotes Products With A Book" »

Posted by Futurelab at 8:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Ilya Vedrashko

"Superheroes like Superman and Spider-Man can save mankind from natural disasters, space aliens and evil mutants. But there's one thing they are powerless to stop: Advertisers shilling products within the pages of the comic books they call home.

Continue reading "Product Placement Returns to Comics" »

Posted by Futurelab at 2:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Ilya Vedrashko

In-game advertising meets consumer-generated content - what can be more cutting edge? Anyway, we talked about machinima ads before, and here are a few YouTube links to actual spots:

Continue reading " Machinima Commercials" »

Posted by Futurelab at 3:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Lynette Webb

 Click image to enlarge.

Continue reading "Product Plugs Rose by 30 Percent in US During 2005" »

Posted by Futurelab at 3:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Ilya Vedraschko Ads in books - not just for Russians anymore. Info Today writes today: "Citing the desire to create new revenue streams for authors, mega-publisher HarperCollins has announced the first free Web-based, ad-supported, full-text business book.

Continue reading "Advertising in Books Comes to the US" »

Posted by Futurelab at 1:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Ilya Vedrashko

First, there were widely popular BMW films (recently taken offline), then comics. Then, the company said it was pulling out of the branded entertainment business that had become too expensive. Apparently, the Bavarians did some fundraising, because they have just begun offering BMW-themed audio books.

Continue reading "BMW Releases Audio Books" »

Posted by Futurelab at 8:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: David Polinchock

Interesting research on product placement and its value as an advertising tool. Funny thing is, when it's done right, you really shouldn't notice product placement. When it's done to be noticed, it's usually not believable at all. People know it's just a marketing ploy and it doesn't seem to ring true. Any reader comments?

Continue reading "MediaPost Publications - Study Finds Ads More Persuasive Than Product Placement" »

Posted by Futurelab at 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend

by: Josh Hawkins

As Steve Rubel points out, "it was only a matter of time."  A new group has emerged to pitch "documentary advertising." CoBRANDiT officially launched today as "the world's first open-source documentary ad agency."

Continue reading "Documentary Advertising & Survival of the Fittest" »

Posted by Futurelab at 5:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)  • Email this article to a friend