We talk a lot about alternatives to traditional advertising. While we’ve focused mainly on companies providing (and branding) useful services on the internet to their customers, that’s certainly not the only avenue to explore. I love the idea of businesses taking their ad budgets and engaging in projects that are focused on the public good. [...]

When we started Jackson Fish Market, the first problem we decided to address was the lack of great options for brand advertisers online. Our simple premise was that useful and entertaining software on the web had the capability of engaging online audiences (both in terms of minutes spent and depth of engagement) much more cost-effectively [...]

Even though we’re on winter break here at JFM we had to interrupt the peace and quiet of our blog because Bob Garfield wrote a huge and thoughtful piece for AdAge on widgets. Given that we’re at the very early stages of having advertisers fund useful consumer web apps, any time someone super influential, like [...]

You certainly don’t need this blog to tell you that the economy is in trouble and there’s a lot of uncertainty. And while reviewing all your efforts with a careful eye, and spending conservatively is always good advice, it’s certainly something that everyone is doing now. I think everyone is asking themselves: “am i doing [...]

The Sims is selling advertisers the right to brand in-game virtual items. Gawker thinks it’s sad. I think it’s cool. Better than seeing more banner ads. Studies on ads in football video games show that the gamers feel that the ads make the games more realistic. I predict this will have the same effect in [...]

I know that many people have complained about the Seinfeld/Gates ads, but I liked them. In fact, I would watch a sitcom every week starring Jerry and Bill. I think it’s funny. But i really like Seinfeld and I really like Bill. So I suppose I’m biased. Also, there’s a third ad I believe which [...]

We’ve discussed the evolution from banner ads to branded widgets to full blown branded web applications. Many marketers are starting to understand the value of delivering useful “content” to their audiences as a means of engaging them. However, it’s worth spending a moment to examine the word “content” and how it’s used. It’s critical that [...]

It didn’t take long after advent of the internet for marketers to look at it as a medium for advertising. And as most creators do when they see a new medium, they create for that new medium using the techniques and approaches that have served them well in more established mediums. In our specific example [...]

This morning at 9am every Starbucks in the U.S. had a “surprise event”. Except that last night all the news outlets (and Starbucks’ own website) already were announcing what the event was… a free 30 minute tasting of their new Pike Place Roast (featuring an older and more “risque” version of the Starbucks logo on [...]

Billboards and 30 second tv spots have been among the iconic advertising formats for decades. (The web has its own version in the form of banner ads, interstitials, and the torrent of video advertising inserting itself in our streams.) And yet NBC is moving towards having advertisers sponsor entire shows. From the Times: “At a [...]

We create “branded utilities” — what we’ve been calling “branded software experiences”. (Or for those of you who’d like it without the fancy jargon, we make web apps and get brand advertisers to sponsor them.) “[Branded Utility] is where the brand creates a commitment to a relationship. It’s where the brand creates something useful to [...]

Mike Masnick at TechDirt responds to the original AdAge post with more enlightenment: #3 Content is advertising. Might sound like a repeat of the point above, and in some way it is — but it’s highlighting the flip side. Any content is advertising. It’s advertising something. Techdirt content “advertises” our business even if you don’t [...]

Today the ad industry trade press finally wrote the story we’ve been telling for the last 15 months: Think Different: Maybe the Web’s Not a Place to Stick Your Ads — Matthew Creamer Asks Whether We’re All Missing the Point When It Comes to the Internet This is exciting for us as we’ve been trying [...]

…with Deb, Brian, and Tara. Our initial reactions below.

I think it’s hard to find folks who will argue with the premise that advertisers are funding (or soon will be funding) the bulk of consumer software development on the planet. And when it comes to brand advertising, those sponsors are finding that the higher they go up the software evolutionary chain, the better results [...]

“We can’t refuse Unilever the right to make an Axe campaign without giving someone the right to refuse Unilever the right to make the Dove campaign. If we can say “no” to a sexist campaign, someone can say “no” to a feminist one.” The discussion above is excellent (as it always is on the “Intersection [...]

I just sat through Nick Brien, the CEO of Universal McCann’s keynote here at ad:tech. Much like the keynote I saw at AAAA by Jim Stengel, P&G’s chief marketer, Nick did a great job rallying the troops to embrace the new digital world and the upheaval in the media industry. He talked about experiences instead [...]

This morning I’m at ad:tech in NYC. I really have no idea what to expect as already it’s become clear that most of the people in the ad world don’t recognize software as a medium for what they do. Don’t get me wrong, they love technology and the internet. But as far as I can [...]

This may seem like an odd question coming from a company that is looking for sponsors. It’s not that I don’t believe in advertising. I do. But I wonder, for certain products, from certain companies, where there’s such awareness and loyalty already built up, what would really happen? Disney will spend $50 million promoting the [...]

When some of the biggest advertisers in the world are starting to understand linkbait, you know the learning feedback loop on how the net works is getting tighter and tighter. Toyota’s agency, Saatchi and Saatchi LA is particularly savvy so it’s not surprising this ad would come from them. Oh yeah, and it’s very funny. [...]

While I don’t love the music (and I’m not a Halo guy), I did really enjoy the ad for Halo 3 where a grizzly battle scene is constructed out of action figures in all sorts of cool hand-painted detail. After two attempts to view the ad on official sites that didn’t work (no clue why) [...]

I’ve long noticed ads on TV chock full of introductory offers. New customers are sexy. Old customers, not so much. As a non-new customer with many companies I often feel a twinge seeing the attention they lavish on people who aren’t paying them any money, while I, their loyal customer, get no love. This is [...]

While we’re partial to creating software to engage with audiences, there’s creativity afoot everywhere in the advertising industry. 7-11 at their own cost made over several of their stores to be Kwik-E-Marts in honor of the upcoming Simpsons movie. Exhaustive documentation of the Seattle Kwik-E-Mart can be found here. I must say that I generally [...]

A few months ago, to much fanfare bud.TV launched. This is Budweiser’s online presence chock full of Budweisery goodness. As you can imagine, I am a huge fan of brand advertisers embracing the online space. And embrace it they did. Back in September when the Anheuser-Bush marketing department was full of excitement and optimism they [...]

So many product offerings (in any category) fall down because there’s a mismatch between what the manufacturer/producer says about their product and the actual product experience. A simple example… Near our office in Pioneer Square is a soap store. I walked by it a couple of times when I finally noticed a cool retro package [...]

The part where he lists her “interests” was scary.

Get On Board is the latest branded software experience to come across our screens. (See our index of branded interactive experiences). Built to support the new movie Evan Almighty (sequel to Bruce Almighty) the site is much closer to our definition of Branded Software than some of the other sites coming out these days. It’s [...]

Last week Hillel shared some thoughts on Let it Out, a brand experience sponsored by Kleenex. The TV spots do a bang up job in telling really engaging stories about the most emotional and important events in peoples’ lives. The message is clear and meaningful. But when you get to the site, Let it Out [...]

It’s exciting to be at the inception of a new category of software experiences – branded ones to be specific. Needless to say, in these early days there will be many missteps for every step forward. Let It Out from the friendly folks at Kleenex represents both. Backed by a television advertising campaign, the folks [...]

Thanks to everyone for making it through last week’s enormous posts directed at brand marketers/advertisers and ad agency folks – Branded Software Experiences – A Cost-Effective and Critical Component of your Brand Advertising Mix (part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4). To make it easier for people to peruse we’ve put together a [...]