If you haven’t seen this new promotion from AMC for their advertising agency-based drama, Mad Men, you are obviously not my friend on Facebook. The web app lets you create a swanky 60’s version of yourself and then download a wallpaper featuring your new avatar and the rest of the cast from the show.
Starbucks is testing a new coffeehouse concept that won’t carry the mega coffee chain name. 15th Avenue E Coffee and Tea is an attempt to create an authentic neighborhood coffee chain complete with wine, beer and poetry readings. Predictably, some people are upset.
YouGov, the UK-based international internet research firm, recently published their BrandIndex report which polls thousands of consumers to find out which brands are hot and which are not. Unsurprisingly, advertisers that spend loads of money, especially if they are spending on innovative advertising, captured the largest portion consumers attention in the first half of this year.
Microsoft, Best Buy and KFC have been able to create brand buzz in spite of the critiques levied by scores of industry people. Ford emerged a real winner in the report, generating buzz by denying government bailout money while competitive brands, GM and Chrysler, who took the money suffered.
The AOL-owned online celeb rag TMZ.com saw record traffic in June with 11.7 million unique visitors, a 10% increase over May. TMZ’s mobile site and iPhone app set a new one-day record of over 11 million page views on June 25.
On the heels of the leak of internal Twitter docs suggesting the company will take in $20 million per month by Q4 of 2010, evidence has shown up suggesting Twitter is testing a new contextual advertising system.
The Internet is abuzz with the news that shoe and apparel Internet retailer Zappos has been acquired by Amazon.com, the online bookstore turned everything store. Zappos’ CEO Tony Hsieh in his email announcement said he preferred newspaper headlines not read “Zappos Sells to Amazon” and instead quip “Zappos and Amazon sitting in a tree…” The deal is worth more than $800 million mostly in Amazon stock.
What does Bezos have in store for the customer service crazy shoe seller? Can Zappos’ particular brand of over the top customer service scale the Amazonian heights? Can Amazon’s overgrown technical prowess help boost Zappos’ bottom line? Regardless of what happens, two remarkable online companies are now joined together and the results, good or bad, will be studied for years to come.
Check out this remarkable placement. The wavy building pictured is the Haitong Securities Building in Shanghai.
Subway has put Phelps in new TV advertising created MMB Boston, Ad Age reports.
The sandwich chain had pulled the world’s fastest swimmer from their unfortunately titled FreshBuzz website following the publication of a photo of Phelps take a bong toke. In the camera-phone age fans should probably expect this trend to continue especially amongst younger stars.
Agency Layoffs