I subscribe to a bunch of Jim Leff’s newsletters. ChowNews – The ChowMarket. You should too.
Put aside the amazing food (don’t, but imagine you did), and you can discover all sorts of stuff about ideas and marketing. From today’s note:
MASS PRODUCED PERSONAL TOUCHES AT STARBUCKS
I can’t believe I never noticed this before. Michelle Maratto writes in:
“In Starbucks they have “blackboards” with homey things written on them like “Just in: Mocha Java Sumatra Latte…” with little tea cups drawn on there. Something like that.
“But if you look – it’s not really a BLACKBOARD — it’s a pre-made, probably mass-produced sign! No one who works there took out some chalk and wrote that on the board!”
February 11, 2004
This year, online spending on ads eclipsed that for radio. (In the UK)
Imagine that.
MarketingWonk: U.K. Pumping More Quid into Online than Radio
It’s possible that this link is wrong, though.
Check this out:
UK Interactive Ad Growth Overtakes All Other Media
Then, just as I’m starting to understand that the secret lies in the ability to message my network, Brad sent me a note pointing me to Orkut’s IP policy. Basically, they own every word we write: The Register.
It makes it hard to imagine getting the critical mass that’s needed. It’s also a silly way to start the brand, since the value of this information is low, but the cost to the user is so high.
February 10, 2004
But this is just too much:
I did some of the very first online sweepstakes (starting in 1990) so I’ve seen a bunch, but this is a pretty good story. Pepsi finds a loophole in the rules: Apple – Pepsi – Offical Rules
It turns out that you must offer a “no purchase necessary” option if you want to avoid running a lottery. The Pepsi iTunes promotion offers you a 1 in 3 chance of winning a 99 cent song for free. To get your entry without paying, you must send them a SASE envelope (that means 37 cents plus 37 cents) which means 74 cents for a 33% chance to win a buck.
Wonder how many they get?
February 6, 2004
Mitch sent me to a movie, which sent me to: What a Crappy Present – CD Gift Advice, Parents and Kids.
What’s so remarkable about the site (nicely done, by the way) is how unremarkable the sentiment has become.
Tim Manners talks about local search in today’s Reveries. On a lark, I went to Google Search: magic near 10706
and to Yahoo! Yellow Pages
to look up magic stores near my house. Why? Well, there’s a magic store in my little tiny town, which is weird.
Neither site found it.
Yahoo did, on the other hand, find an escort service and put it right up top. Sigh. Google wasn’t any better.
The Yellow Pages works for a few important reasons:
1. it’s usually a monopoly. Concentration of attention makes it worth advertising in.
2. The advertisers make the book. It’s so expensive, it’s not worth running a dumb ad. Besides, they have thousands of editors, working hard to make sure no one is cheating.
I have no doubt that one day the Yellow Pages will be digital. I just don’t think it’s going to be that easy to replace all those salespeople and all those dead treest.
February 5, 2004
Imagine. Turning teacher ratings into a public discussion.
What’s it like to be Mrs. Peyser at the Brooklyn Tech High School? The lowest ranked teacher out of thousands of posted rankings at that school…
This isn’t the end, of course, just the beginning. Soon, there’s going to be a “Zagats” of just about everything. RateMyTeachers.com – BROOKLYN TECH HIGH SCHOOLTeacher Ratings
February 4, 2004
Pete Caputa sent me to eurekster search. I’m not sure this is the next google, but what’s fascinating is how obvious it makes it that there IS a next google. Somewhere.
