That Interweb

The Netflix Meltdown Addendum: The Netflix Relief Fund

A little perspective from the folks at Funny or Die. Hat tip to @AdeleLaurie for the find.

Netflix Relief Fund with Jason Alexander from Jason Alexander

The Netflix Meltdown

It’s been pretty amazing to watch Netflix completely destroy their brand. They went from the underdog everyone rooted for to the player that everyone loved to the jerkiest of jerks jerking us around.

I’ve been a Netflix customer for years. I’ve been with them through numerous price changes and plan updates but I’ve always been satisfied because their prices were fair and their selection was extensive. I understood they were a new company tweaking their business plan to find the sweet spot.

But this latest move just seemed greedy. I don’t think it is greedy, I think it seems greedy. Netflix has had to shell out more and more money to studios in order to stream movies and that money has to come from somewhere and that somewhere is us.

Where Netflix messed up is they just sprung this change on us and pretended like it was a good thing for us. Really? Less service for more money and I’m supposed to happy? Forget you.

They should have come straight out and said, “Hey, business costs are going up and we want to make sure we can give everyone the service they want so unfortunately, that means we have to change our pricing plans. We don’t want to but the studios are demanding more and more money so we kind of have to. Sorry.” This would be disappointing but the honesty would let me know they’re not trying to squeeze me, the studios are.

We’ll see if Netflix recovers but they’ve been shedding customers to Redbox and Blockbuster By Mail so it’s going to be tough. I hope they make it because I’m sticking with them. After all, my queue is almost 100 movies long and I’m too lazy to rebuild that list with someone else.

For more on the Netflix debacle, checkout this Huffington Post article:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/25/netflix-less-popular-than-blockbuster_n_908499.html#s315821&title=Netflix_Loses_Your

 

eArchive: Honda lookin' good in 98.

I used to have mullet and a lightning bolt earring and they were glorious. You laugh now but back in the day they were perfectly acceptable and I rocked them hard. Of course, looking back at pictures of me and my mullet make me cringe. Did I really think that was a good look? Seriously, what was I thinking?

But if I think past the look and to the function of that oh-so-horrendous hairstyle it did exactly what I needed it to do—mark me as a "rebel" and piss off my parents.

Looking at websites from our past, it's easy to scoff and joke about how silly they look compared to today's flashy Flash fests. But the truth is, we always think what we're doing now is great and what we did "back than" was stupid. But we must always remember to look back in the context of the time. Back then, my mullet was bitchin' and this One Show Interactive 1998 Gold winning site from Honda was killer.

One Show Interactive Gold ‘98
Art Director Luis Ramirez
Writers Heather Reid, Claudia Saunders
Producer Michael Sterner
Programmers Andrew Lientz, Jeff Kwong
Client American Honda Motor, Co.
Agency Rubin Postaer Interactive

This site has everything a shopper needs. Want to learn about different Honda models? They're a click away. Plus, you can check out the colors just by clicking a color box! Want to find a dealer? Just input your zip code. Sure the design is rudimentary and maybe a little clunky but the utility of the site is amazing. Compare this to their current site.


All the function of the '98 site is there but so is a whole lot more. I can still see the cars and change their colors and I can still find a dealer using my zip code. The design is much more mature but I also find it a little busy. There's button overload. Too many choices. I'd argue that today's version is the site equivalent of parachute pants -- we simply don't need that many pockets and zippers.

What I love about the original is that it did exactly what it needed to do. It helped shoppers learn about the cars, explore their options, and then continue down the consideration path. It may look funny now but its design and function was perfect for the time.

So let's learn from the past. Keep it simple and if you're going to be flashy, make sure it serves a real purpose and isn't flashy simply for the sake of being flashy.

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Posted via email from stephenland's posterous

Geek out on video games and be an online creative badass.

Playing today's video games is key to the success of anyone wishing to do stellar online creative. At least, that's what I tell my wife and accountant. But seriously, you can learn a lot from playing games.

In the age of print we turned to art books, photographers, and museums for inspiration. During the TV revolution, we looked to films and later music videos. Now the digital age is in full effect and the most inspiring, innovative, ground breaking, and even mind-bending work is more often than not being done in videos games.

Style. Get some.
So much of what we do these days depends on style and execution as much as idea. Just like a good TV idea can be made outstanding with great execution and style, so to can online work. Here's my current favorite example of great style and execution making a good game a killer game, Borderlands.
Notice the unique animation, the type design and motion, the way the music plays into the concept. It's like a Tarantino movie with aliens and bigger guns than even he usually brings. I can tell you from first hand experience that playing Borderlands is a fun and surprising experience and it's all due to the style.

User Interface (UI). It's needed but it can be cool.
Take a quick look at all the browsers available to you. Their core interface is the same, the house is home, the arrows that spin are reload, the arrows pointing left and right are back and forward. We've been trained to expect certain things and we want them. That's not to say we can't be taught new tricks. The best UI gives us just what we need and nothing else. But sometimes the way the UI gives it to us can be refreshing, effective, and fracking cool.

Every First-Person Shooter (FPS) has a basic UI: health bar, shield bar, gun icon your using, ammo in gun and ammo available, map, and a directional finder to your next objective. How these are shown from game to game vary but the core is always there. But sometimes a game needs to give you a bit more info and that's where the fun comes in.

Crysis is a breakthrough game graphically. It's gorgeous. But the real fun of it is that you wear an exoskeleton that gives you extra armor, extra speed, or makes you invisible depending on what you need at the moment and your style of play. Switching between modes is done on the fly and even during combat.
There are many UI designs that would have let us switch modes but the wheel in the middle of the screen, controlled by the mouse, gives us ultimate playability as well as bitchin' graphics. Plus, there's audio feedback when you switch between modes which adds to the experience and helps us confirm we did what we wanted to do. There's nothing like speed running into a ton of bad guys, going full armor, blasting a few dudes, and then disappearing into the jungle. The stellar UI makes it all possible.

Sound Design. Listen, do you smell something?
As an industry, we spend millions on sound and music for TV spots. And we should. It's incredibly important. You should treat your sites the same exact way. Audio feedback on a button click lets the user know they did in fact click. The music you choose can greatly effect the mood of the site just like it does a TV spot. Go with cheesy needle drop and your site will suffer. Sound is also used in games to tell you what's happening and prepare you for what's coming. World of Warcraft has some of the best sound and music you'll find and the audio cues it gives you are incredibly helpful. Spell casters need to drink to have energy to throw their fireballs. Even if I can't see them in front of me, I can hear them drinking which lets me know I need to wait for them.
(This clip starts out with the intro movie followed by real video of different game areas and their accompanying music)

Give your sites the music it needs and consider different music for different site sections as needed. It can help create a better, unique user experience.

Story, Fun, Thrill. You've got to have something.
Movies really suck when their stories suck, nothing happens, and you get nothing out of them. Duh. Games are the same way. A shooter that is the same old run and gun experience quickly finds its way to the clearance shelf. That's why games like Crysis, Borderlands, BioShock, and F.E.A.R. succeed. They're familiar yet executed differently and thus are more exciting. The story in BioShock is truly interesting and compelling. F.E.A.R. is a good shooter but it's by far the creepiest and thrilling game I've ever played (think Shining meets Jacob's Ladder with guns). Crysis and Borderlands are just plain fun because of their game play and graphics. But it's not just shooters. Tetris was/is incredibly fun. Mario Cart provides hours of thrilling enjoyment. Sam and Max is a serialized gumshoe detective game known for its humorous and rich stories.
(Don’t play F.E.A.R. in a dark room. Trust me.)

Your site should be just as engaging. Ask yourself, "What story am I trying to tell?" It could be a story about customer service or innovative products. Look at Apple's site. It screams innovative company from its design to its layout. Is your site fun? Uniqlo is known for its fun and inventive sites. As for thrilling, I personally think the Air Force Basic Training site is very exciting. But then, I'm biased.

To sum up: Play games. Learn from what they do. Apply it the next time you concept a site, a mobile experience, an app, or even a banner. Be a badass.

Warning: Excessive gaming may be hazardous to your love life, social life, and bank account. Frag with caution.

If you go into a new biz pitch without an interactive strategy, you're an idiot.

A few weeks ago, a good friend of mine was super excited about a business pitch he was working on. He'd developed some work he thought was ground breaking. He was over the moon and couldn't wait to go to the pitch. Yesterday I asked him about it. Poor boy lost the pitch.

"Why?" I asked.
"Because we didn't do interactive," he replied.
"What, you just had banners and no strategy?" I asked.
"No, we did nothing. No strategy. No banners. Nothing. I insisted we do some but my bosses shot me down."

WTF?! What kind of moron doesn't pitch interactive in today's business world? I realize many agencies aren't up to the task of creating a true, comprehensive internet strategy but to not even try is simply asinine. At the very least you should have some banner ideas. It's simply a cost of entry nowadays.

And to any clients reading this, if your agency of record doesn't have an interactive strategy, fire them. They are doing you a disservice and don't deserve your business. Plus, they're fucking idiots and if they're screwing the interactive side up so badly, you have to wonder what they're doing to the rest of your business.

Favorite YouTube: Power vs Petite

I Have A Great Idea! Or Do I?

One of the biggest challenges to creating good/effective interactive marketing is that so many of us have no experience with which to judge our ideas against. We know, within reason, what makes a good TV spot or print ad. But what makes a good interactive idea?

The biggest thing to remember is not to judge interactive the same way you judge anything else. In TV and Print, a single simple idea clearly communicated is all you want. And to an extent, online should be the same. But there must be a consideration for the interactive nature of the internet. What is the user going to get out of the idea? How will they engage with it?

A good friend of mine sums up the requirements for a good interactive idea with three questions:

1) Why would the user interact with your idea?
2) Would they send it to their friends?
3) Will they return to experience it again?

Answer honestly and you'll help ensure your interactive ideas are as strong as possible. Answer with a bunch of bullshit and you'll have a really expensive glory piece that does nothing for your client and hurts your and your agency's rep.

PS About the image accompanying this post. It's amazing what you find by doing an image google search of "bad idea."

Microsites. Worth the dough.

The other day I presented a microsite idea to a client. They loved it. They gushed about how it really spoke to their target in a new, exciting way. They were ready to go until they saw the price tag. Then they asked, “Why would we do this when banners are so much cheaper.” Dagger to the heart.

Digital marketing pros face these questions every day. Most clients are looking for an advertising campaign and simple banners are an advertising campaign. But what consumers are responding to are engagement campaigns.

Engagement campaigns get users involved in your idea rather than them simply viewing your idea. And the best engagement campaigns include rich-media banners, blogs, search, and most importantly some kind of site or microsite to tie it all together.

Here’s why microsites are integral to an engagement campaign:
• give banners a highly relevant place to click through to
• are deeper and more engaging than a simple landing page
• are easier to produce than a full site
• can be optimized for search engines
• are a bookmarkable destination
• provide 3-5 minutes of interaction time
• are sharable
• are non-perishable
• are available 24/7
• are extremely measurable leading to better learnings
• are discriminating
• have a variable CPM
• can have a better response rate
• open another door for users to find our main site

So, the next time you present a microsite, present it as an engagement campaign that will increase the client’s ROI and do far more for their business than a simple banner campaign. Then hold your breath and pray for a, “Yes.”

TV. A Great Way to Screw Up a Good Idea.

I heard a facinating story on NPR while driving to work a while back. It was about John Breen and his efforts to prepare his son for the vocabulary section of his upcoming SATs. John is a computer programmer who takes world hunger very seriously. So he bundled these three things into a website called Freerice.com that has donated more than 24 billion grains of rice to fight world hunger while at the same time, improving the vocabulary of users.

I first thought, "Wow, that's amazing." My second thought was, "Thank God that guy did it. If an ad agency had that assignment they'd have fucked it up."

Seriously, think about what your agency would have done. Probably spent a ton of money and time on research. Next, they'd create a TV campaign and buy media placements. They might do some print or posters or some other targeted OOH. At the end of the day, they'd have a killer campaign that would have raised world hunger awareness and maybe even got some rice to people who need it. Of course, they would have spent tens of millions of dollars in the process.

Breen spent maybe two or three months programming a site and then let it lose on the internet. The cost was probably several nights and weekends of his free time. But he reaped enough rice to feed 950,000 for a day.

The challenge to all of us is this: If we take TV off the table, what would we do that would move the needle? Ask yourself that question every time you meet your client or agency.

Respect the Viewer

Words of wisdom on pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll ads and how to use them from Amanda Congdon. Check it out because the sister speaks the truth.
http://starring.amandacongdon.com/2007/08/03/secrets-to-online-advertising/