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All posts tagged "advertising"


Thursday, June 16, 2011

Me Series Ad Campaign for Windows Phone

Posted by Nelson Ocampo in "Windows Phone Talk" @ 01:00 PM

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_...ows-phones.aspx

"Curious how other people use their phones? This week we’re debuting a new collection of documentary-style shorts called the Me series. Each film essay explores a day in the life of someone interesting who owns a Windows Phone."

It looks like Microsoft is exploring a different kind of advertising for Windows Phone now.

One knock on the "Really?" advertisements was that it didn't show people actually making use of the phone's features. Perhaps this is Microsoft's answer to those criticisms.

Though, if it is, it's not starting off very well. The first video in the series (above) hardly shows Windows Phone at all. Sure, she's using it. But not in any way that emphasizes how special and different the OS is from the competition. It actually feels like an ad for the user's business, with a little bit of Windows Phone product placement thrown in.

Hopefully future videos will delve deeper into the Windows Phone OS's unique features and workflow.


Friday, February 25, 2011

Running an Ad Blocker? Please Read This

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Thoughts Media Status Updates" @ 03:00 PM

Hi there. The topic of ad blockers tends to generate some heated discussions around these parts, so I'm going to keep this really simple: if you're running an ad blocker, this is a polite request that you white-list this Web site and allow the ads to load. Here's why: I work hard to keep the ads on Thoughts Media sites non-intrusive; I say no to pop-ups, pop-unders, full-page ads, ads with sounds, etc. I know that those types of ads are irritating, and I value the readership of everyone who visits our sites. I don't want to irritate anyone with our ads.

What you may not realize about online ads is that, for the majority of them, when they simply load, that helps me pay the bills (our server bill alone is almost $500/month.). Ad blockers stop the ads from loading, which means they generate no revenue. That hurts my ability to generate income from this site - I have bills to pay just like you do. You don't have to click on the ads - just letting them load helps us out a lot. If you do click on them, all the better - that helps us get better advertisers because they know you're interested in the ads. It will help us continue to provide you with the content that you come here for, and that benefits you in the end. So please white list this Web site in your ad blocker.

If you have a particular dislike for the in-line text advertising - Vibrant Media's IntelliTXT ads - you can easily opt out of ever seeing those on any Thoughts Media site. Here's how.

As a side note, I have a personal "1 visit, 1 click" policy in which, when I visit a site and read/watch some content on it, I take a quick look to find an ad that I'm interested in and click on it. It only takes a few seconds of my time to do, and it's my way of giving back to that site, thanking them for creating that thing I just read/watched. The Internet would be a very different place if everyone had a similar policy. Just a thought to ponder as you head into the weekend. :-)


The New "What If?" Windows Phone Ads

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Windows Phone Talk" @ 01:00 PM

Effective? Yes. It shows the device, the software, the scenarios - clear features and benefits to owning the phone...and it does it in a way that isn't a rip-off of the Apple approach. I like it! You?


Wednesday, February 23, 2011

The Windows Phone 7 "Real Time Trials" Ads: Do They Work?

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Windows Phone News" @ 03:30 PM

http://www.winrumors.com/new-window...-rival-devices/

"Microsoft is set to unleash a number of new Windows Phone 7 adverts on the Internet soon. The commercials are similar to the software giant's "laptop hunter" set of adverts that aired during the Vista days of 2009. The new commercials, named "real time trials", are a set of Internet flash commercials that pit Windows Phones against rival devices. Advertising agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky was commissioned in December to create the commercials specifically for use in web advertising. The commercials are set to make their way to a number of high profile Internet sites in the coming months."

It's an interesting ad, that's for sure - it highlights what Microsoft feels Windows Phone 7 is good at, and is an extension of the "a phone to save us from our phones" campaign. So what do you think: does it show Windows Phone 7 in a positive light? Will people care?


Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Windows Phone 7 Ads Continue to Evolve

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Windows Phone Talk" @ 11:00 AM

We've seen enough of the "Really?" ads to know what that part of the campaign is trying to communicate, so the question is what's next? The above ad is going in the right direction - direct, to the point information about what the phone can do.


Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Hawaii Five-O Windows Phone 7 + Bing Product Placement

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Windows Phone Talk" @ 03:53 PM

I was watching last night's episode of Hawaii Five-O on my lunch break today, and I saw what's easily the most painfully obvious product placement I've seen in a long time. Check out the video above. I wonder how many times the actor said "Google it" and they had to re-do the scene with the proper "Bing it"? ;-) Windows Phone 7 looks good in the scene though!


Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Windows Phone 7: The Phone to Save Us From Our Phones?

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Windows Phone News" @ 12:00 PM

Microsoft has been criticized in the past for ineffective ads - or non-existent ads - for Windows Mobile/Windows Phone products, but I think both of these ads are quite clever. They hit on a societal symptom that we all know and recognize, and offer Windows Phone 7 as the solution. It may or may not be, but the ads are brilliant in my opinion. What's your take?


Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Windows Phone 7 an "Ad Machine"? Don't Believe the Hype

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Windows Phone News" @ 02:00 PM

http://www.informationweek.com/news...RSSfeed_IWK_All

"According to Mallios, Microsoft will allow advertisers to send push notifications to peoples' devices through a new platform called Toast. Toast will serve ads to the devices much the same as Apple's iAd will serve ads to iPhones. Advertisers will even be able to push ads to phones even when the application isn't running. The ads will drop down from the top of the phone's screen to let users know there's an offer. Again, that sounds horrible to me."

Complaining about online ads is a fashionable pastime, and Information Week's Eric Zeman is concerned that a quote from Kostas Mallios, Microsoft's general manager for Strategy and Business Development, means that Windows Phone 7 will somehow be significantly different from other phones on the market when it comes to serving ads. The reality? Microsoft needs to be competitive with Google, who bought AdMob, and Apple, who bought Quattro Wireless. If Microsoft wants the best developers to come to the Windows Phone platform, they need to provide strong monetization options for those developers. You're not going to see Microsoft do anything crazy here - they can't afford to, regardless of how you interpret the quote from Mallios.

I don't mind ads, as long as they're not obtrusive ads - pop-ups, full-page whizzy Flash ads, etc. So as long as the ads on a free Windows Phone 7 application aren't irritating, I have no objection to them. Hopefully most developers will offer paid, ad-free versions of their apps.


Friday, May 28, 2010

Google Buys AdMob, Extends Tentacles of Control Further

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Windows Phone Talk" @ 03:24 PM

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010...ired-admob.html

"Last Friday, we said that mobile advertising was moving fast. So are we! Today, we closed our acquisition of AdMob. Omar Hamoui has built a great team and great products at AdMob and we're thrilled to officially welcome them to Google. We'll now begin the process of bringing our products and teams together in the best way, and building new products and features together. We're working to make this integration happen as fast and as seamlessly as possible. We'll actively keep our clients up-to-date as we bring our businesses together - stay tuned!"

Yesterday, Google officially acquired AdMob, for $750 million dollars - Apple was initially set to acquire AdMob for $600 million, but Google swooped in and out-bid the company from Cupertino. Google is primarily about search and advertising, so this move isn't surprising. So we'll have Google with AdMob, Apple with iAd, and Microsoft and RIM with...nothing. Hrm.


Tuesday, May 18, 2010

New Google Phone Service Whispers Targeted Ads Directly Into Users' Ears

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Windows Phone Talk" @ 02:51 PM

http://www.theonion.com/video/new-g...-ads-dir,17470/

Leave it to The Onion to come up with an utterly brilliant spoof! Ultimately this is the kind of thing that Google wants to see happen though - every experience you have using a Google service and devices (a la Android) is paired with a corresponding ad. Let's hope they never try anything quite this obnoxious though. ;-)


Thursday, March 18, 2010

Windows phone 7 Promo Ad

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Windows Phone Talk" @ 01:00 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ5gpMf2--w

Damn, I wish the phone had that pop-up holographic display - wouldn't that be cool? Even cooler than having copy and paste? ;-)


Sunday, October 25, 2009

HTC Announces the YOU Advertising Campaign

Posted by Darius Wey in "Pocket PC News" @ 11:10 PM

http://www.htc.com/www/press.aspx?i...14924&lang=1033

"HTC Corporation, a global smartphone designer, today unveiled a global advertising campaign that is based on HTC's new Quietly Brilliant brand positioning. As HTC's first global advertising campaign, the YOU campaign is being rolled out across 20 countries in the coming weeks and features the tagline, 'You don't need to get a phone. You need a phone that gets you.' This represents HTC's commitment to focus on people, their needs and how they work and live to ensure that HTC devices suit them."

With a plethora of new and upcoming devices up its sleeve, HTC has gone mainstream in the marketing department. It's just unveiled its YOU ad campaign that's set to be rolled out in twenty countries. The primary take-home point is that HTC's devices are all about the people (you). Yeah, it all sounds like marketing fluff. Admittedly, I wasn't entirely sold on the idea at first (and at this stage, you probably aren't either), but after watching the TV ads, I'm actually digging the way this campaign is headed. Check them out after the break, then drop your thoughts in this thread.

Read more...


Friday, October 16, 2009

The New Windows Phone Marketing: Does it Work?

Posted by Jason Dunn in "Pocket PC Talk" @ 10:00 AM

Microsoft is starting to promote Windows Mobile phones under their new moniker: "Windows Phone". Here are two commercials that are presumably airing on TV - has anyone seen them yet? Better yet, what do you think of the commercials? Do they hit the mark? Personally, I think they're pretty good - they make the connection that the things people care about the most on their computers can also be found on their Windows Phone. I think Microsoft is going to have an easier time branding the term "Windows Phone" over "Windows Mobile". Now if only Microsoft's Facebook client wasn't so awful...


Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Terrestrica Location Triggered Mobile Services

Posted by Ed Hansberry in "Pocket PC Software" @ 08:00 PM

http://www.terrestrica.com/

"Croatives Inc. today announced it is launching beta release of Terrestrica - Location Triggered service for Mobiles with GPS with a possibility of creating multimedia geolocation points and guides and interesting business model based on "On location Mobile Advertising" which allow users to make Revenue from their geo-content. Terrestrica is completely Free for use."

Well, I guess mobile location advertising is coming, and this seems to be the right way to do it - meaning it is voluntary, not thrust upon you by your carrier. (That is coming to I bet). This is totally free, and looks like it might be interesting to play around with.


Wednesday, May 21, 2008

More Mobile Advertising Heading Your Way

Posted by Darius Wey in "Pocket PC News" @ 06:00 AM

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/...leBrowsePR.mspx

"Today at Microsoft Corp.’s online advertising leadership forum, advance08, Brian McAndrews, senior vice president of the Advertiser & Publisher Solutions Group, announced the availability of display advertising across two popular Windows Live for mobile services, the launch of new markets for Windows Live for mobile services, and upcoming advertising plans for its Live Search Mobile offering. This marks the first year that mobile advertising has played a leading role at the industry event that brings together some of the most influential thought leaders of the global advertising community. Announced today, advertisers can now extend their campaigns to social media through Windows Live for mobile in France, Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. by creating banner ads that will be visible across Windows Live Messenger and Windows Live Hotmail. This builds upon Microsoft’s initial launch of mobile advertising for MSN Mobile in, France, , Spain, the U.K. and the U.S. where mobile ads are available alongside premium MSN Mobile content. Advertising on Windows Live for mobile is already available in Spain, and later this month will be available in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, further extending its availability for advertisers. All ads placed on these two popular services will adhere to Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) guidelines."



Microsoft has just announced an expansion in the availability of display advertising across its mobile services. You can already see an example of it at http://mobile.live.com/ (screenshot above). I know there's a vocal crowd out there who are strongly against ads in any way, shape, or form, and will go out of their way to block them, but the fact is they are both a direct and indirect source of revenue for many businesses, so denying them that is analogous to stealing. I'm all for mobile advertising - if a business wants to create awareness of their mobile applications and services, they should have a right to do so. My only hope is that given the small displays that mobile devices are endowed with, these ads don't end up being too "in-your-face".


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