HE CHANGED THE MEDIA BUYING WORLD

On June 12 2012, a veteran of the media buying world, Norman King (86), passed away.  Norman was the father of the first independent media buying service, having founded U.S. Media some 42 years ago.

Norman King upset the agency apple cart, dragging away media buying and upending the traditional agency commission structure forever.

On April 15, 1970, at the annual Television meeting of the Association of National Advertisers, Norman told what it was going to be like from that day on.  A 1992 tribute to Norman by Erwin Ephron, a legend in his own right, can be found here, a link to "Ephron on Media", where the story of Norman's meeting with the ANA is told.

Norman leaves behind his wife of 56 years, Barbara, son Laurence, grandchildren Allison, Daniel and Nicholas, and The Friars Club where he was a fixture for as long as they can remember.

You did good, Norman.

LEST WE FORGET

One hundred eight years ago on June 15, 1904, the General Slocum caught fire and sank in New York's East River.

At the time of the accident she was on a chartered run carrying members of St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church (German Americans from Little Germany in Manhattan) to a church picnic.

An estimated 1,021 of the 1,342 people on board died. The General Slocum disaster was the New York area's worst disaster in terms of loss of life until the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center.

For a more detailed account of the disaster you can go here (Wikipedia).

What You Should Know About Social Media

Stay away.  As the current barbs about Facebook’s IPO fly and as GroupOn takes a dive with its stock closing in on single digits, the Social Media helium craze is drifting further away from the accountable reality of advertising performance.

Tech stars Google and Apple haven’t escaped the hammering of late by the pundits that are blinded by the hope of social media or even mobile media.
 

They are all wrong.

The reality check that follows tracks the opening price for the above mentioned companies and the Dow Jones and NASDAQ averages.  It may not be a precise measure, but it points out the underlying value placed on these firms by analysts and the public at large.

Since the opening stock price on May 18^th (the first trading day for Facebook) and the closing price on May 30^th the result that follows sends a strong signal and a vote for value creation vs. value deterioration.
 

Apple: up 8.5%

Google: down 5.9%

Facebook: down 33.0%

GroupOn: down 11.1%

Dow Jones: down 1.9%

NASDAQ: up 0.8%

While the averages remain relatively unchanged, Google tries to keep pace while the pure play social media darlings are clobbered.  The clear winner in this “race” … Apple.

ADVERTISING'S BEST KEPT SECRETS

As we begin to assess the upfront TV market we are watchful of the new entries at the kiddie table .... online video networks.  Notwithstanding the embarrassment of a $30,000 Mustang give-away (AOL's grandstanding) we nee to keep things in perspective.

The video that follows was produced by none other than Bob Hoffman (Hoffman Lewis Advertising) and says it better than I can. 

Watch and learn. Sources credited here.

MEDIA OCEAN'S TIES TO GROUPON - OCEANS APART?

GroupOn backers Eric Lefkosky and Brad Keywell, with investments in a host of companies, most notable among them in our world, Media Ocean, have much to explain concerning the financial chess game at GroupOn.

What follows is a recent piece by Chris Nemey, at IT World, on GroupOn’s state of affairs which have since driven the stock price to a new low of $12.58 as of this writing.

As for Media Ocean, a merged entity between Donovan Data and Mediabank, I cannot help but wonder if whatever financial games going on at GroupOn could trickle down to the “Ocean” as Mediabank takes firm management hold.

“Just days after Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) had to make yet another revision to its finances, just days after the daily-deals site settled an $8.5 million combined lawsuit regarding illegal coupon expiration dates, just days after the Chicago firm was hit with a shareholder lawsuit accusing it of misleading investors, and just days after it was announced that the Securities and Exchange Commission was again investigating Groupon, the company's stock continues to attract buyers.

Seriously, what is wrong with these people?

Groupon's stock is now selling for less than half its IPO, and I'll tell you right now it's never going to climb above $30 again. The company continues to lose a ton of money, and it essentially has no internal controls.

But you'd think people jumping on board now would know better. Hey, new Groupon investors, I hear Bernie Madoff's starting a new investment business from prison. Get in on the bottom floor!

Maybe they think they're getting some kind of bargain because Groupon hit a new low of 14.01 early Thursday (shares were at 14.35 in the early afternoon). Well, if it's lows they're looking for, they should be more patient because more new ones are coming.

However, they'd be better off being smart than patient. Here's the thing, investors: Whether it's due to incompetence or something far worse, Groupon has proven beyond any shadow of a doubt that it can't be trusted.

Investors aren't supposed to sink money into something they don't trust. That's what casinos are for.”

Disclosure: I am short GroupOn

WE KNOW WHO YOU ARE

It's not a game any more.

From an article last week in The Wall Street Journal ...

"Some of the most widely used apps on Facebook—the games, quizzes and sharing services that define the social-networking site and give it such appeal—are gathering volumes of personal information.

A Wall Street Journal examination of 100 of the most popular Facebook apps found that some seek the email addresses, current location and sexual preference, among other details, not only of app users but also of their Facebook friends. One Yahoo service powered by Facebook requests access to a person's religious and political leanings as a condition for using it.

The popular Skype service for making online phone calls seeks the Facebook photos and birthdays of its users and their friends......a user's friends aren't notified if information about them is used by a friend's app.

An examination of the apps' activities also suggests that Facebook occasionally isn't enforcing its own rules on data privacy. "

With thanks to Bob Hoffman at Hoffman Lewis for pointing this out in his blog, The Ad Contrarian.

SEARCHING FOR SEARCH

I just finished reading a report from Marketing Charts that was chock-a-block with percentage increases for paid mobile search. You can read the report here. But to save you the trouble, I counted 44 references to percentage changes ranging from a negative 26% to a whooping spending increase of 221% …. and not a single reference to a whole number.

I do remember from grade school that a 200% increase over the number one is still just 2.

In my opinion, Mobile Search and Social Search buzz amounts to nothing more than a pre-nascent grab at the cool straws that will keep marketing CMOs spending an inordinate amount of time and money on a less than zero-sum game….for now.

It is argued that those who use mobile search are not of the normal search variety. They are wanderers looking for a pizza shop or the nearest Starbucks. Or want the latest sports scores….that just might lead them to a sports bar.

Marketers pay attention: Paid Search dollars are most effectively placed to generate returns on a PC, laptop or mobile device (tablet) that will mimic the former. Cell phones are simply not there yet, unless, of course, you’re drinking their Koolaid.

Until the mobile industry provides a standard and user friendly delivery system, let’s take the lipstick off the mobile pig and stick to simple paid search.

PS….I resent the idea that a tablet (iPad) is called a mobile device. Mobile always referred to cell phones. A tablet is a wireless (not phone) device that is transportable with a more appealing internet interface. When these two devices converge to form a more complete user experience, call me.

3D: DISMAL, DISAPPOINTING, DISASTER

My Open Kimono's blog post on 8/15/2010 warned about the 3D craze as a trending and short lived fad. That prediction is now becoming reality.

The article linked here details the downturn in feature 3D films, suggesting it was a fading fad as it was in the 1950s. Yes Virginia, history always repeats itself!

While the Guardian article focuses on films, it fails to extend the story to 3D TV. This is a huge warning sign for the set manufacturers the likes of SONY, Samsung, LG, Panasonic, Vizio, etc. that sunk billions into the 3D craze. It's so over.

Advice to the CEOs who signed off on the manufacturing folly .... cut your losses. The only potential for 3D remains with gamers.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

AND THE CLIO GOES TO ....

Sit back and relax. The next three and one half minutes will mesmerize you.

The dreamlike fantasy should be high on the list for a Clio. Reluctant to tag this as a commercial, let's label it a film short. The film took 2 years to compose with the help of 50+ designers and professionals.

Credits:

Client: Cartier

International Communication Director: Corinne Delattre

Agency: Marcel

Partner and Brands directors: Charles Georges-Picot, Benoît Candelle, Emilie De Saint-Martin et Benoît Jehan

Creative Directors: Sébastien Vacherot, Emmanuel Lalleve et Florent Imbert

Creative: Emmanuel Lalleve, Seyrane Boulekache

Director: Bruno Aveillan

Production: Quad

Music: Pierre Adenot

Panther tamer: Thierry Le Portier.

BREAKING UP IS HARD TO DO

Neil Sedaka first recorded the song back in 1962. This hilarious spoof version by the http://www.citizen.org/ group is a must see.
Enough said .....watch the video.