Don't watch this trailer

OK, do go and watch it then right here and click on the video.

Great idea to incorporate a trailer in a "blog".

Found through Brandactivation.

Try and avoid this in 2007

The 101 dumbest moments in business, here on the Business 2.0 site. And for the marking folks, the dumbest marketing ideas from 2006 are right here (you'll need to click through all 28 of them).

The full list can be found here.

Is traditional advertising losing its grip?

Is traditional advertising losing its grip? This article on MarketingProfs Daily Fix triggered the question again...

I have long ago become immune to most forms of advertising (I think ... let's not start about the subliminal influence). I don't recall the last time I clicked on a web banner. The only ads I look at in magazines are the ones with gorgeous women on them (hey, give me a break, I'm a guy) but I wouldn't know what they're selling. My guess is either Dove or some perfume. And don't even get me started on the ads on TV or the ones in the movie theatre I need to sit through before being able to view the movie I paid for.

But the question is: what does it get advertisers in return? Does P&G actually sell more detergent because of them? And if so, how do they calculate the impact of their ads? I'm curious, and sceptical about traditional advertising. How do you measure it reliably? How do you measure its influence?

Benelux Event Awards

I spent the past two days in the presence of a number of other event managers judging the cases for the BEA (Benelux Event Awards). It's aways amazing to see what agencies can do if they and their customer get into the right level of creativity, be it with big or small budgets.

If you want to know who won which award, join us for the Awards Ceremony on February 1 in the Zaventem Sky Hall.

iPhone Trademark marketing

Is the iPhone apple's or Cisco's? Well, Cisco has the trademark (and a product), but Apple used it anyway to launch their last device, the iPhone. So Cisco sued for patent infringement.

Through Scobleizer I found out about the Cisco blog on the whole trademark issue from THEIR point of view, which is an interesting read. They claim they were in talks and Apple announced the product without closure on the matter. And then there's this quote:

"If the tables were turned, do you think Apple would allow someone to blatantly infringe on their rights? How would Apple react if someone launched a product called iPod but claimed it was ok to use the name because it used a different video format? Would that be ok? We know the answer - Apple is a very aggressive enforcer of their trademark rights. And that needs to be a two-way street."

They do have a point there. Sure, companies need to be protective of their names and products, but it is sad to see all the trademark wars being fought.

Well, at least it generates Buzz for both companies. And a bonus for Cisco, I now actually know Cisco has an iPhone product and what it does: a Linksys handset for use with Skype and other services.

Fun from the Dilbert Blog

Scott Adams (the creator of Dilbert) is on a good rant these days. Here's some excerpts from this latest blogs:

Concept Car

It's called a "concept car" because that sounds better than "something we pulled out of our ass and hope to someday shove up yours."

Vegetarian Says, "Bring it on!"

So we're designed as hunters. Unfortunately, we are very, very slow hunters.
Have you tried to outrun an animal lately? Those fuckers are fast. And I'm not talking about cheetahs and rabbits. I couldn't catch a motivated woodchuck. I suppose I could catch a panda. But I'd have to run to China to do it. And I could probably catch a turtle, although it wouldn't help much unless I brought my turtle opener.

Inappropriate Humor

Some of my favorite jokes involve people who got killed a long time ago:
"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"
"Easter is the day we celebrate Jesus rising from the dead, seeing his shadow and forecasting six more weeks of winter."
The "killing" part of those jokes doesn't seem so bad now because a lot of time has gone by. I'll still burn in Hell for comparing Jesus to a groundhog, but that's an entirely different issue.

Google

Great stories on 365 Tomorrow. Take The 9 billion names of God for one.

"Here's the thing. Google has memorized who you are. It's memorized all of us, through those little forgotten bits that we leave behind like breadcrumbs. And what's more important, it's memorized it's own idea of you. Google is omniscient. It's omniscient and omnipotent. When it cached its cache for the first time, back in 1994, that's when Google realized what it was."

Gradually, it dawned on me what the man was getting at. "You think it's sentient."

"I know it's sentient."

"How?"

He smiled, but it seemed kind of empty. "Me and Google go way back. But what I'm saying is," he continued, "It knows us. All of us. It is us."

Link via BNOX

Microsoft and the blogging community -- another perspective

Yes, it's been beaten to death all over the blogosphere, the story about Microsoft sending free Ferrari laptops with Vista to selected bloggers. Well, actually it was their PR company, Edelman. And I guess Acer was also involved (I don't think Microsoft had to pay for those notebooks either).

So I'm not going to beat it even more, just point you to this article on the Inquirer from Charlie Demerjian. I like how he puts it all back into perspective. Yes, they've done something stupid (send expensive hardware to bloggers who are not accustomed to getting packages like this at their door on a regular basis), but no, it's not a dirty trick this time. Review machines are sent out all the time to publications and no one ever complained about that.

The solution to Blogosphere disasters: hire Clo.

PS: The list of items The Inquirer is declaring here is pretty funny. :-)

Can we really change

Back in 2005, Alan Deutschman wrote the article "Change or Die" for FastCompany. He recently completed a book based on the ideas from that article. The book is called "Change or Die: The Three Keys to Change at Work and in Life".

I haven't read the book yet, but from his latest blog entry, it looks like an interesting one to read. Time and time I have seen that we are creatures of habit. Despite all the books on change management and the "change is good slogans", nothing much ever changes. Research from the book supports this: even though we all have the ability to change our behavior, we rarely ever do. Apparently the odds are even 9 to 1 that even if you really need to change, you won't. Not good prospects for those businesses that are in trouble. And for those who still remember their new year's resolutions: congratulations, because six weeks into the new year, 80 percent of people typically have already broken their New Years resolutions or can't even remember them anymore.

The good news is that it is possible to change. Well, according to the book it is. There are 3 critical keys - relate, repeat, and reframe - that can help you make (positive) changes:

• Relate -- form a new, emotional relationship with a person or community that inspires and sustains hope;
• Repeat -- the new relationship helps you learn, practice, and master the new habits and skills that you'll need;
• Reframe --the new relationship helps you learn new ways of thinking about your situation and your life

For more on that, read the updated article here or go out and buy the book.