Check out Trapster. According to the site..
"When you see a (speed) trap, report it by pressing a button on your phone, or calling a toll free number. Other user’s phones will alert them as they approach the trap. Trapster™ learns the credibility of traps based on how many users agree. It also learns the credibility of each user, over time."
If it works, cool. But I’d love to see the biz plan, who funded it and what their valuation was.
Ok, marketers: Here’s your project.
Now you see what the MLS is up against. It’s the equivalent of a European-wide Basketball League trying to compete against soccer in England.
But here’s the thing – For the first time in the 10 or 15 years the MLS has been around, I am actually aware that this is opening weekend. I actually am somewhat interested in catching a few games. I am going to be in LA and actually looked to see in the Galaxy or Chivas would be in town. Why? Several potential reasons. Let me know if you can think of others.
Since Seattle is getting a team next year, i want to learn about the league.Anyway, the point is that I am fully aware that this sport has HUGE marketing and logistical issues in front of it, but I am slowly coming around. And really, I’m the sweet spot for their marketing. A small % of the country would come watch them play in a high school stadium. And you have a huge percentage of the country that wouldn’t watch if they served free beer and pizza all game long. But people like me, who spend too much money on the Mariners, who irrationally go to a bar to watch a college basketball game, and don’t think it’s weird to take a charcoal grill out of a pickup truck when there is a restaurant right across the street, we’re the guys the MLS needs. Sports fans – people who are there for the experience more than the result. And I’m coming around, even though I know the product will not be as good as one I could see on channel 401.
Anyway, MLS starts up this week. Take a peek if you get a chance. And if that doesn’t grab you, start with some EPL and Champions League Games on TV, or even better, at the George and Dragon.
Now this may or may not have existed when I ws a kid, but today there are exclusive soccer academies for youth players, boys and girls. I was talking to a parent of one of a player in one of these elite programs last week, and fascinated by all the expenses. Monthly dues for coaches salaries, several hundred dollars for travel, and sveral hundred dollars for a complete kit.
Furthermore, don’t even think about showing up onany field with your team in anything other than Nike. Let’s say by chance, as you are putting your socks on, you rip a giant hole in the heel and toe. So mom runs down to the local sporting good store to get you some new socks. If they don’t have Nike socks, you will not get to play that day. That goes for games and PRACTICE. No Nike, no play. (Thankfully, for safety reasons, shoes are a player’s personal preference.)
Now, I get what Nike is doing. They must provide some equipment or something to the program, and in return, this academy becomes a running, shooting, tackling billboard all over the state. But I have to wonder if it’s effective. If kids see Nike as a "uniform" that they have to wear (and buy), is it the same as "choosing" to wear something? When they get older, will they choose Nike because it is ubiquitous in their mind with "Soccer gear" or will they choose another brand that represents "going against the grain" and "not what your mom made you wear for soccer." And the other teams, the ones who get beat 8-0 but this Nike wearing machine, does that leave them with a feeling that they want to wear Nike as well? Or does it make them mad that Nike is sponsoring kids that aren’t them.
I’d love to see research into this.
A close friend of mine who goes all the way back with me to our days in New Orleans, pointed out this blog posting from one of his wife’s regular reads, Misadventures in Malawi and Beyond. Here’s a quote:
"Maybe it’s the weather
One of the things that has been strange for us, but particularly hard for Jorge, is how strangers in Seattle aren’t very friendly. We don’t get out a lot, but when we do, we’re always surprised that people can walk straight past us, in our own neighborhood, and act as though they haven’t even noticed our existence.
At first I thought Jorge was just making this phenomena up, but I’ve been testing it out lately. For the last two days, I’ve gone for a walk in a nearby park. I pass dozens of people, and I make a point of looking them in the eye and smiling as they pass by, and only about one in ten will smile back. Sometimes I get a curt nod. Mostly they pretend they haven’t seen me and continue walking."
I think it’s an interesting sentiment, and one that backs up a reputation that Seattleites are "nice and polite, but not friendly." I don’t think we mean to be rude, but as a transplant from the south myself, I have always noticed that Seattle natives will tell you the exact restaurant you should go to, which park is best on Sundays, and what club to hit if you love live music, but they rarely say,"Come with us, we’re going out this weekend." It’s a subtle but important difference between being nice and helpful, and showing real hospitality.
Anyway, the point isn’t to bag on Seattle, but to maybe provide some reasons why this might be the case. Here are the best defenses I can think of.
1) We’re stuck up here in the top left corner of the country, and so the original settlers of Seattle really really really wanted to get away from everyone. In fact, they went as far as they could go to get away. So, I don’t think "social" is a real dominant gene in many of Seattle’s forefathers.
2) This is a pretty nice area, so there are a lot of natives here that simply never leave. This causes a ton of 3rd and 4th generation families, and folks who go to high school and college here, and who build careers off of family connections. They all have established treasured friends and relationships, and it’s hard to come up with a reason to reach out to someone passing through town for a few years.
3) A lot of the social activities up here are done best by yourself, or with a person you are close to. Running, hiking, kayaking, camping, skiing, mountain climbing, etc…It’s hard to meet a neighbor for the first time and say, "I’m going to climb Rainier this weekend, want to come?"
4) We have a ton of technology firms up here. Developers and Programmers are brilliant, but might not exactly be the most socially adept folks.
Of course, to the author’s point, it might just be the weather. 45 and raining is not the time to start up a conversation with a stranger in the park….Anyway, speak up Seattle. Any other reasons that we shun strangers?
Here’s a pretty interesting ad based on an old awareness test you may have seen before. I saw this on Seth Godin’s Blog.
So I woke up Saturday mornig, pleased that the sun was out for a change. So I slapped on my tennis shoes and went for a long walk down Broadway and around Capitol Hill.
I’ll admit being more than slightly displeased with myself for having an extensive internal argument about whether I should spend about 6.5 million of my alloted 2,500 calories on a Sourdough Jack when I arrived at the Jack In the Box. I knew I’d be getting there in a few minutes. Of course, after much deliberation, common sense prevailed and I had decided I would pass the restaurant and leave all the Sourdough burgers in there where they belong.
But it turns out the decision was moot, because the building was shuttered up. That’s when I started looking around Broadway, and I begane to understand what people are talking about when they discuss "The Death of Capitol Hill."
Now to be clear, I am a fan of progress. I think the people who contribute the most to the economy ought to be able to live comfortably in areas closest to where economies are driven. And to be fair, there is no reason a single Jack in the Box restaurant should take up place on a thriving street corner just blocks from the downtown core. But, that’s what makes Capitol Hill interesting, and makes it not Belltown. But with all these new condos going up, the ability to grab a quick bite disappears a little more each time.
Now, the more I walked, the more bums I wandered across. A homeless guy trying to trade jokes for quarters outside Dick’s. A few collections of folks loitering in odd places. I thought about Capitol Hill, this odd mix of rich and poor, business people and artists, hipsters and tech nerds. Maybe progres should slow down, and allow some of the old landmarks and apartment buidlings to stay up.
I was following two bums, one guy pushing the other’s wheelchair. Suddenly the pusher stopped, reached down by a tree, picked up a discarded beer bottle, and drank what must have been a few remaining sips. That swung me the other way. Just like anything, neighborhoods go through stages. It can’t stay the same forever, and renters don’t get to dictate the way it gets shaped. Some people will be able to say they lived through Capitol Hill’s golden age. And a lot of people will complain how the new Capitol Hill will be devoid of soul. But a new neighborhood will spring up, and while Cap Hill pushes out some of it’s poor and most colrful people in favor of richer more corporate types, someplace else will welcome them in. That’s just how it works.
Ok, so I am justifying my near addiction to watching March Madness by doing “research” on national TV ads running non-stop on CBS. Now while they are all interesting the first time you see them, here are my reviews 18 hours in:
1) The “What does your creative team actually do all year?” Award – Enterprise Rent-A-Car: Seriously guys, who’s sleeping with the head of the agency you are using for these predicatble, lame ads. Your as are on ike 20 times a game. And there’s a hand written sign that says, “Repair Shop” in frame in case we can’t figure out why there is a mechanic working under a hood. You’ve been doing these ads for 10+ years, spend a couple bucks and get a real creative team.
2) The “Thanks for The Cool Highlights, Do You have Anymore” Award – Again, Enterprise. 4 or 5 awesome college highlights. But only one spot? You can’t find another 40 or 50 cool highlights and splic ethem together so I get new highlights all the time? Please?
3) The “Best New Ad Tagline I Remember So Far” Award: I dig the new AT&T ad where everyone says hello in a different way.
4) “Best use of a Single Letter” – I can’t remember which car the are promoting, which is a problem, but the visual concept of a world without the letter H is clever.
5) “Second Favorite” – The Bud Light “Dude” campaign. It works because you get it whether the sound is on or off.
6) “Favorite Ad” – This ad isn’t exclusive to the Tourney, but I love the Nike Sparq, “My Better is Better than your Better” campaign.
Other Ads I have positive feelings toward: I think I remember liking the CBS shows (Brittney Spears on next week), DiGiorno, Papa John’s and State Farm.
Sunday Aternoon Additions:
In conclusion, I guess I don’t understand enough about brand marketing and TV ads to know why you would buy and entire weekend worth of ads, playing for people who will see them over and over again, and not really spend a lot of time or money on top-notch creative. Congrats to the companies who put in the effort.
A few weeks ago, a friend pointed me to a blog called "Stuff White People Like." If you have a sense of humor and can understand wit and sarcasm, you’ll find the site hilarious. White people making fun of all the stupid things white people do. Instant classic.
It’s also obvious that it’s just a site where a few guys like you and I started writing a few gags for friends and family, and it kind of went viral. The site is still hosted on the WordPress.com domain, meaning they don’t even make any ad revenue on it. It’s just people writing because they like to write, like most of the other 40 million blogs out there.
Well maybe they are a victim of their own success. Or maybe the whole race issue has really gotten out of control. But a Houston Chronicle article says, "Race-related Blog Causes Controversy." The article gos as far as to say, "It’s the latest in a string of racially charged blogs that act as a virtual shrink’s sofa for those tackling the tricky topics of race and class.’
Good god. Are you kidding me? When did white people making fun of white people become "racially charged." The article’s author,
Now here’s good marketing. You take a product that is inherently boring, like tax software. And rather than being all professional, you sponsor a user generated comedy contest on YouTube. Now, I don’t know if it’s successful, but it’s certainly a smart attempt at reaching a younger demographic.
So check out the Turbo Tax Comedy Showcase. But don’t just watch. Make sure you interact. And here’s a good way to interact.