Mutually Inclusive PR

Life without A&B Sound

The two Saskatchewan outlets for A&B Sound closed in August, with nary a whimper.

In my teens, I used to catch the bus to downtown Vancouver with my friends, so we could check out A&B, A&A and Kelly's, to see who had the best deals.  It was rare that the competition could beat A&B.  I got Dark Side of the Moon for $2.99, and came back later to buy my stereo.

So when I drove past the store and saw the Closed sign, it felt just like the day the Bluebird grocery on Marine Drive got supplanted by a Mac's Milk store.  Something basic and good had passed from this world.

The fact A&B chose to open in the Warehouse District instead of on the east end of Regina, where the shopping nexus has shifted, probably explains why they have shut the doors. It's possible to do well in the Warehouse District, but the traffic doesn't even come close to what's happening in the east, or on Rochdale Boulevard in the north of town. Music and electronics is a volume business.  You can't depend on those people who seek you out on a side street.  You have to be where people are shopping, unless you're an institution.

And in Saskatchewan, A&B was never the institution it is in Vancouver.

A&B is consolidating in B.C. and Alberta, where they can hold their own against the big box stores.

Pardon me while I nip down to the basement and thumb through some of my old vinyl, in a fit of nostalgia...

(Speaking of nostalgia, check out the A&B Sound website, where they haven't updated things since closing several stores.)

Tags: vancouver, a&bsound, retail, music, stores, closed, saskatchewan, regina

Powered by Qumana

Terry O'Reilly Back with More Advertising Analysis

Terry O'Reilly is back on the air, exploring the advertising business.  Last year's excellent O'Reilly on Advertising is being followed up by O'Reilly and the Age of Persuasion.

(Actually, don't bother clicking on the above link.  CBC's web page for  the show has almost no information about the theme or the host; it doesn't tell you about the Thursday morning rebroadcasts; it doesn't indicate what channel on Sirius Satellite Radio to listen to, or when.)

According to O'Reilly's agency Pirate Radio and Television (Flash-only), O'Reilly and Mike Tennant produce a new show about "the ways Advertising and Marketing permeate every aspect of 21st Century life, from its effect on the way we act, dress and speak, to its influence on our children, to the unstoppable explosion of Ad Clutter."

I've only caught part of one episode so far, but the quality sounds every bit as good as last year's show.

(Update: I've caught several shows, and O'Reilly continues to present a good historical view of the world advertising business, showing the impact on society, and how societal trends affect the ad business.)

How to listen:

CBC Radio One Saturday 4 p.m., or Thursday mornings at 11:30 (for live streaming, go to CBC.ca, and choose the time zone that will match up with the broadcast time).

Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 137: Thursdays 10:30 a.m. ET/7:30 PT; Saturdays 2:05 p.m. ET/11:05 a.m. PT; Saturday night at midnight/9:05 PT. 

Background info about last year's show on Wikipedia.  Photo via I Have an Idea ad creative archive.

Sirius schedule online at DogStar Radio (link via Inside the CBC.com).

Update II: The show has been extended into 2007, reports Inside the CBC.

Previous posts:

O'Reilly on Ads - Straight Goods; CBC Shows Looks at Advertising

More posts about CBC
 

Tags: terry o'reilly, mike tennant, advertising, creative, radio, tv, trends

Powered by Qumana

Does CAA YouTube Campaign Go Beyond LonelyGirl15?!?

Faked photos of war! Viral campaigns that dupe thousands of YouTube fans!  Where will it end?

I've been sitting on this scandal for a while, but since the story surfaced that Lonelygirl15 is a fake and is somehow involved with Creative Artists Agency, I'll reveal another possible case of CAA trying to go viral on YouTube.

On the right is a picture of CAA president Richard Lovett (click on the photo to see the original in context).

Below is a still from one of the autoerotic danceworks on YouTube by "samuelalieno", supposedly a 26-year-old Italian with a penchant for dancing in his underwear while fondling various plants and household appliances. Is this the same person? The hairstyle is almost identical.  And the boyish good looks are very similar...

Coincidence?  We think not. What if "samuelalieno" isn't the unknown terpsichorian he pretends to be, but a Hollywood exec trying to make the big time as a performer?

There's obviously a widespread conspiracy to create viral buzz around the careers of several aspiring artists linked to CAA. LonelyGirl15 was just the thin edge of the wedge.

I have a crack team of photo analysts just back from Lebanon ready to pore through YouTube videos and the CAA archives to find more compelling proof.  I'll publish the details as soon as I have them.

Disclosure:  One of my crack team of photo analysts blurred the crotch a bit, and masked the face, in case it turns out this erotic dancer isn't in fact a Hollywood exec, and turns out to be a minor.  There may also have been some alteration to Mr. Lovett's hair while Photoshop was used to convert the file for the web. ;-)

Tags: satire, lonelygirl15, youtube, scandal, photoshop, caa, entertainment, viral, unmasked

Powered by Qumana

Marathon in the Queen City

If Regina was a major North American tourist destination, then naming the marathon here after its nickname would weaken the race's appeal to visitors, who might not know which city it's held in. But because we aren't likely to attract thousands of people from far-flung destinations, I guess calling it the Queen City Marathon doesn't hurt. And at least the name stands out from all the other marathon names in use.

Regina means Queen in Latin, and Regina was named while Queen Victoria was alive.

This was shot Sunday on the bike path behind our house. Click on the photo to see some other shots.

Powered by Qumana

Bottoms Up! Finally, Truth in (hic) Advertising

Anyone who's been to more than a couple of conferences can tell you the most valuable sessions are in the hallway, or in the bar, chatting and arguing with other participants.

Yet most conference promotions maintain the myth that the keynote speakers and the panel discussions are the reason to pay vast sums of money to attend.

So it was refreshing to read a recent blurb that came across my Inbox from the Momentum Growth Conference, coming up in September. The exclusive conference is for the best of the best of media companies and hot technology firms, venture capitalists and tech journalists.

Conference organizers offer to arrange intimate get-togethers among potential corporate partners. And then there's the promise of lots of alcohol:

"During the two-day conference, we will explore the exploding digital convergence ecosystem from a bottoms-up and top-down perspective as the Momentum companies and market leaders such as Yahoo!, Google, AOL, MSN, News Corporation, Qualcomm, Nokia and others discuss and debate issues such as copyrights, advertising, emerging business models, and the importance of picking the right partners."

Bottoms up:  interjection.  Friendly remark said before starting to drink alcoholic beverages.

Bottom-up:  adjective.  Of an approach to a problem that begins with details and works up to the highest conceptual level.

Now that's my kind of conference!

(Definitions from Word Web Online Dictionary and Thesarurus.)

Tags: tech, momentum growth conference, conferences, humor, bloopers, media

Powered by Qumana

Without Inherent Excitement, Word of Mouth would Fizzle

When's the last time someone broke into the conversation because they couldn't wait to tell you about a nondescript product or service that met some of their needs in a generic sort of way?

Unless your friends are broke and have found something free that would normally cost hundreds of dollars, it's not likely.  People may be pleased when they find something that sort of meets their needs, but they don't get excited about it.

And excitement lies at the heart of generating word of mouth.

Software developer Eric Sink has an entertaining and enlightening piece about the need to narrow the focus of your product design so that it perfectly meets the needs of a group of people. Then you have potential for generating buzz, if buzz doesn't just bubble up by itself.

Designing something that sort of meets the needs of a huge group of people? Don't even think about word of mouth. And why are you even doing it in the first place?

Since I found the link to Eric's piece on Robert Scoble's blog, I'm officially declaring this Scoble Week on Mutually Inclusive PR.  Next week I promise to look further afield for topics...

Update:  I fixed the headline, which said "fizz' instead of "fizzle."

Tags: robertscoble, buzz, word of mouth, wom, promotion, excitement

Powered by Qumana

"What Rojo Members Are Reading"

Sometimes the wisdom of the crowd points right to nifty websites that are selling thong bikinis, robotic vacuums and HDTV remote control.

Ack.  I tagged these items on Rojo "spam", but couldn't figure out how to report spam, or demote these so they others don't have to wade through clutter like this. (Okay, I didn't really spend a lot of time figuring out how to report these to the admins.)

Tags: spam, rojo, crowdsourcing, news

Powered by Qumana

A Top CU Marketing Job

I spent 13 years working in the credit union system, watching VanCity following their principles while practising innovation, providing good service and paying attention to what matters to their members.

The $12 billion credit union is looking for a director of relationship marketing. Nice job, if you can get it.  (Link via Marketing Magazine)

Update: In a comment, Soulfood asks if VanCity is also a venture capital firm. Well, with $12 billion to play with, it's not surprising they have a "growth capital" arm that provides a mix of loan and equity investment for businesses in B.C. that need cash to get through a phase of growth. For non-profits, co-ops and similar organizations, VanCity Capital will evaluate the financing based on not just the organization;s financial prospects, but also the environmental and community benefits.

Tags: vancity, credit union, jobs, careers, cooperatives

Powered by Qumana

Buzz can Replace Media Comps, but it Takes Work

As Gnomedex organizer (with Ponzi Indharasophang) Chris Pirillo notes, there are times when a conference is priced low enough for media to afford the full fee, and organizers don't need to give them a free or reduced pass.

But anyone who doesn't have built-in buzz from bloggers (see gnomedex on Technorati), or some other method of motivating their target market to action, will still want to comp enough media to keep their conference in the news (most conference coverage is promotion for your next conference).

Pirillo has depended on media coverage in the past, and likely will in the future.  But he also has the reputation and network to get the word out on the conference.  He and Ponzi run a well-oiled promotion machine for their projects, so someone considering raising barriers to free media access would do well to think about the profile the Seattle tech mini-magnate has created for his global microbrand (to borrow a phrase from Hugh MacLeod). Pirillo and Ponzi have put in a huge effort at building an audience, establishing relationships in the technology field, positioning him as the ultimate early adopter with a positive attitude, and making sure something cool happens at the 400-person Gnomedex conference every year. 

There are no simple shortcuts to that kind of reputation.

Tags: conferences, tech, gnomedex, chris pirillo, media, blogs, promotion

Powered by Qumana

Anally Retentive PR at its Best (Worst)

As if we needed another example of a company getting all shirty about its intellectual property, Paramount fired a legal salvo at a fan site that leaked a photo of a film (perhaps that's too artsy a term) due for release this summer.

The Movie Blog's John Campea describes Paramount's blunder here and refers to the situation again here, conspicuously not mentioning the film in question (that would sort of help Paramount with their promotions, wouldn't it?).

Chris Thilk joins the informal blog boycott of coverage of the film on his Movie Marketing Madness blog. These are all blogs that normally help generate that all-important opening week buzz that can make or break movies financially.

Mack Collier comments:

"Paramount didn't see John as their marketing partner, they saw him as their enemy. And because of their actions, now that's exactly what he is."

The studio claims it was all a mistake, but one wonders whether they would have apologized if the bloggers in question had less traffic...

Reminds me of the fan site that was hit by a cease and desist order a few years ago.  Hank Mishkoff persevered in court, and showed how heavy-handed legal maneuvers can backfire against companies.

Link via NewPR

Tags: movies, film, hollywood, cease and desist, rights, promotion, publicity, mistakes, blunders

Powered by Qumana