EV AND OIL ... VIRGIN TERRITORY

The car makers are back in the "pink" registering huge profits, launching IPOs and making loan paybacks in the billions. Along with rising oil prices, expected to hit the $100 mark next year, the temptation for these linked industries to stay the course with fossil fuel engines can easily hamper EV (Electric Vehicle) initiatives in the US.

Impetus is coming from GE with a pending purchase of 25,000 EVs by 2015. Twelve thousand will be the GM Volt, a $41,000 electric/gasoline hybrid. Nissan's Leaf will debut this year at a $33,000 price point.

As we gingerly step into the EV market, we should take a lesson from the UK. London is quickly becoming the electric driving capital of Europe, building 1300 public charging points over the next two years.

Agencies not making plans now to deal with this coming wave will be in a weak position to secure strong market share.

Cary, NC McDonald's

Learn about the industry and begin to set strategies NOW!

In the coming year, we will be launching an aggregation site, SparkStop.com, on all things EV. Stay tuned.

SOCIAL NOTWORKING

As a managing director for Morgan Stanley, Mary Meeker is the firm's global lead for the technology research unit. In 1995, she co-authored an industry report "The Internet Report" which would become a landmark during the internet boom era.

In her most recent presentation at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, "Ten Questions Internet Execs Should Ask & Answer" , you can find the chart that follows. It represents share of online display units along with corresponding CPM rates.

Click on the graph to enlarge

The report should be unnerving for the likes of Social Networks and especially Facebook. At the same Summit, Mark Zuckerberg brushed off advertising as "it's not necessarily about advertising".

Insanity?

It certainly isn't about advertising when faced with a dismal display rate. It also illustrates how weak the site is when it comes to ROI. With the exception of a few mega-efforts by major marketers (supported by even larger TV budgets), Facebook falls flat on its own face.

And it is becoming a potential detriment to sustaining business models supported by advertising.

SILENCE IS GOLDEN ... LITERALLY

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

As dumb as this philosophical question is WMG (Warner Music Group) steps up to accept the Uber Dumb Ass Award for disabling the audio portion of a video featuring John Cage's 4'33" composition.

John Cage (1912-1992) was an American composer and a leading figure of the post war avant-garde. His best known composition 4'33" (four minutes, thirty three seconds) is performed without a sigle note being played.

Silence.

Known as one of the most controversial musical works of the 20th century, WMG, in the name of copyright protection, has decided to silence the silence!!

The video posted by Adam Lore follows. You are the music.

More commentary can be found at this link.

FORGET 3D ... HATSUMI IS HERE

How quickly technology revolutionizes an industry only to be outdone by itself. Hatsumi Miku is the newest J-pop star to arrive via Japan.

The catch is that Hatsumi doesn't exist in human form but is a holographic avatar created by Crypton Media.

Hatsumi has been playing concerts to sell out crowds utilizing a singing Vocaloid synthesizer by Yamaha to mimic voice. Rave reviews and huge crowds cannot get enough.

The music world has changed once again. Watch the video(s) that follow and imagine the return of Elvis, Michael Jackson or any past or present persona as a lifelike avatar. There is no end in sight. Watch the crazed throngs waving their glow sticks in harmony.

The clarity of the hologram is remarkable for a first event and promises to only get better and better, delivered or created through a variety of channels.

Agencies and marketers take note ... it's a bandwagon you should be jumping on .

DRINKING FACEBOOK'S KOOL-AID

That I have been questioning Facebook's efforts to manage the privacy of their users comes as no surprise to my readers. Facebook's survival is inexorably tied to the data it collects on users to "make the user experience more meaningful". In turn it collects targeting fees from its advertisers.

Facebook can't help itself. It is addicted to data collection, often sidestepping and overrunning privacy constraints.

In July, Zuckerberg announced that Facebook hit a milestone with 500 million active users. Frankly, I don't believe the self reported numbers.

At the end of 2009, Facebook reported 350 active million users. The time-line looks like this ....

100 million : August 26, 2008
150 million : Jan 7, 2009 (134 days)
200 million : April 8, 2009 (91 days)
250 million : July 15, 2009 (98 days)
300 million : September 15, 2009 (62 days)
350 million : December 1, 2009 (77 days)
500 million : July 2010 (242 days)

It appears that Facebook added 150 active million users or roughly 42% of its 12/1/2009 base in just eight months. Really? Who's auditing the numbers?

Consider the following reported numbers...

In the second quarter of 2009 there were 444 million broadband users globally. Factoring global broadband usage increases and mobile access, Facebook would need to include almost every global broadband connection as an active user. Really?

Seventy percent (70%) of Facebook's active users are outside the United States.

There are approximately 250 million people over the age of twelve in the US. A user needs to be thirteen to register on Facebook. Facebook claims sixty percent of the US population (150 million) over the age of twelve that are active registered users. Really? Please define "active".

User growth should be petering out as will revenue. Self reported annual revenue of $800 million suggests Facebook earns an unimpressive one dollar and sixty cents ($1.60) per user.

How much hype and Kool-aid will we continue to swallow?

DIGNITY

From the staff at Hoffman Lewis .... Bravo.



Credits: Creative Director: Miles Turpin Art Director: James Cabral Writers: Desmond Tutu, Oliver Albrecht Editor: Nic Bucci Producer: Jay Cortez V/O: Hugh Masekela Music: Ranga

LIAR LIAR PANTS ON FIRE!

It is estimated that four billion dollars will have been spent on mid-term elections culminating in what may be a dramatic shift of power on Tuesday, November 2nd.

This unprecedented sum of money has been focused on television, accounting for about 70% of invested dollars while the balance was directed to radio, direct mail and print.

Online? About 2%.

The web does not seem to resonate with politicians seeking to swing voters. Personally, I cannot recall even one display ad or e-mail coming my way from the media channel that touts accountable and targeted ads like no other. Given the intensity of television advertising, the poor showing for the web escapes us.

Frankly, I am thankful. Sick of the promises, lies, and extreme negative positions, I am looking forward to the quiet of November 3..... and happy that I was spared the onslaught on the web.

Nonetheless, get out there and VOTE!

CAN DINOSAURS DANCE? DDS VS MEDIABANK

Backroom operations are battling it out. The stakes are high.

Agencies seeking out software systems for the management of an enterprise wide management suite are pitting Donovan Data Systems (DDS) to defend against Mediabank as smaller contenders including Strata and Harris sit it out in the bleachers. All the while, entrepreneurial entries in the form of MediaX begin nipping at all their heels.

Starcom’s move from Donovan to Mediabank likely cost them a small fortune and a major migraine, sparking rumors of a return to Donovan, while driving part of its account to nimble entrepreneurs ala MediaX.

IPG’s Mediabrands is on the fence and about to fall one way or the other as Mediabank pushes for a move to unseat Donovan. Mediabank toppled Donovan when it won the DraftFCB account, jamming its foot in the Mediabrands door.

But eating Donovan’s lunch will not be an easy feat as it represents the majority share of agency business, driving close to $200 million in revenue.

Donovan’s Achilles Heel: It’s the system of choice that everyone loves to hate and a dinosaur that cannot easily innovate.

Mediabank’s underbelly exposes hubris that allows them to believe they have sufficient resources to manage a large win.

Among the underdogs, Harris seems not to have been invited to the party while Strata was simply glossed over.

And …. An honorary mention to the new entries that seem to “get it” and are willing to match their resources to agency visions.

An upset may be close at hand, before year’s end.

WATCHING FACEBOOK

That I have been casting a watchful eye on the ever expanding Facebook tentacles, often cautioning users on privacy issues, is no secret. The exponential, albeit unaudited, growth of its user base closing in on one half billion and the questionable collection and use of the data it collects from its users continues to pop up like a bad penny.

This week's gaff, exposing tens of millions of its users' personal identity to advertisers, should be a wake up call for Facebook to finally clean up their act.

But it won't.

If we were to trace the "gaffs" back to revenue produced for Facebook, the picture could morph from Pollyanna to the greed of big business. No doubt the overzealous digerati would come up with blinded observations and poorly manufactured statistics, never losing site of self centered and self serving arguments .... drinking the Koolaid they mixed themselves.

The Internet provides us with a treasure trove of new and exciting options for entertainment, information and productivity platforms to enhance the world around our personal space. However social networks, moving in the direction of Facebook with total abandon and disregard for the sake of "advertising" revenue may, in the end, do more harm than good for the future of the Internet.

Simply, Facebook cannot seem to come up with a business model that does not deal with the discreet (and seemingly illegal) distribution of, or access to, personal data. The conversations and arguments center around "a better Internet experience", serving ads and content that THEY THINK .... make that THEY KNOW.... you want to see.

Give me a break!

It's about time we put the cards on the table and re-think the social network models before the house of cards collapses on itself. Let's begin the challenge by removing "advertising" from the equation.

And to those individuals that "don't care about their personal data being collected" ... please keep those empty arguments to yourselves .... you just don't get it.

FACEBOOK "NOSE" BEST

As Facebook grows to a reported 500 million users globally, its privacy policies and the management of information their users post is coming under more intense scrutiny. On the heels of the movie release, Social Network, Facebook announced new tools for its users to manage that information across personal groups of people they "trust".

But things may not be what they seem.

What follows are excerpts from Facebook's commentary ... what they are saying, followed by our interpretation of what they may be thinking.

"We use your information to make your experience better"
Interpretation: We want to know what you've been up to so that we can direct more relevant ads and search results .... so that we can sell you stuff.

"When a group member posts to a group, everyone in that group will receive a notification about that post"
Interpretation: But what your friends do with it we can't control. It's your problem.

"The whole experience is organized around spaces of the people you care most about"
Interpretation: We want to confuse you to the point of exasperation and give up control of your information.

"You can quickly download everything you ever posted on Facebook"
Interpretation: Because we don't want to be responsible for your garbage.

Most comments post on the Huffington Post review were overwhelmingly negative which leads one to assume that there are many more users abandoning the social network than meets the eye.