Reflections On One's Own Ads

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Byron Udell at Accuquote saw Burst's recent release about the attention-getting abilities of Internet ads and wonders aloud about life insurance ads. In the interest of full disclosure, Byron's company is a client of Underscore's. His post raises a few interesting questions, though. Is there really a stigma against "recycling" creative? I've been saying for years that it doesn't leverage the medium to its fullest potential when an agency puts shovelware TV ads online. Has the shovelware stigma moved beyond the trade and does it now exist in the mind of customers? Are brands mentally penalized if they use the same online and offline creative? Do people expect something different online?

The other big question I see emerging from this: What elements of online ads lead people to believe that what they're seeing is "cutting edge?" Is it cutting edge ad concepts? Or just the flashiness of a rich media ad.

Byron is wondering how questions raised by the Burst study apply to his own business, and he'd like some feedback about category ads you've seen.

Some Comedy May Be Older Than We Think

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This morning in my truck on the way to work, I heard Redd Foxx tell a great joke on XM Comedy. Let's put it this way, the version of the joke that I heard involved OJ Simpson, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, and the punchline "Is that you, OJ?" Foxx's version involved LBJ, which means this joke didn't originate during the Reagan administration, but dates back to before I was born.

Critical Components of a Blog

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To expand on my post from yesterday, a few folks have asked me what really constitutes a blog and what elements are critical "must-haves." Others have done this many moons ago, but here goes:

  1. A blog must have posts arranged in reverse chronological order (the most recent post right up top). Why? That's the current expectation that needs to be delivered on.

  2. A blog must have comments or some form of interactivity enabled so that community members can voice their opinions. If it's not interactive, it's not a blog. Some of you may disagree. I happen to think this is one of the things that separates blogs from archives of press releases.

  3. A blog must have some method of organizing content. Most organize by content category and by chronology. These are basic methods of organizing content that ought to be present. (Tagging is a "nice to have" but not yet a defining characteristic of a blog.)

  4. A blog must enable direct linking to posts.

  5. A blog must have regularity in its posting frequency.

  6. A blog must have a person or people behind it, not a robot, script or editor.

Then there are the "nice to haves." These aren't defining characteristics, per se, but they are critical components of the citizen publishing and conversational marketing movements.

  1. A blog should syndicate content via XML.

  2. A blog should publicize its feeds by letting blog search engines and feed aggregators know about them.

  3. A blog should post often enough to keep the conversation going in between posts. If what is posted isn't enough to spark significant discussion, then it's not really a blog.

  4. A blog should have some method of keeping track of inter-blog conversations. Trackback is nice. Custom tags are nice, too.

Folks, we need to make sure people understand what a blog really is. There are some marketing types out there who would fake it in a second if they thought they could get some bloggy goodness to rub off on their brands. They should be committing to conversational marketing rather than trying to fake it. A vague definition of "blog" makes it easier for them to get away with faking it.