Thursday, January 22, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Commander and Blackberry
Really interesting article in the NY Times earlier this week about Barack Obama's obsession with his Blackberry. The article goes onto say that all the drama in the press mentioning how attached the future president is to his Blackberry could mean up to $50 Million in free advertising for device maker Research In Motion.
Nothing really new here. Celebrity figures have always had a positive affect on products when they are caught on camera using them, buying them, wearing them, etc. Sports stars sign huge endorsement deals all the time to supplement their ridiculous well-deserved salaries.
What is different about this situation is the fact that Barack is about to become the leader of the free world and will arguably be the most visible person on the planet, thereby making him more figurative in the general public's daily life. What's more, because of some archaic law about all presedential correspondence needing to be kept for eventual release to the public, Obama's makers will try and persuade him to give up the device during his presidency. God forbid the president be allowed to fire off quick email messages in a crisis situation while he's on his way to Air Force One.
What happens to RIM if and when their most popular endorser is forced to give up his prized possession? I guess they have to go back to John Mayer promoting them.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Another Ad That I Thought Was Good...From Back in the Day
Yeah, I get it, it's another ad featuring Jay-Z. But how can you argue with a guy who's worth north of $300 Million
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Monday, February 12, 2007
MyBay
It was announced last week that eBay was trying to hook-up with MySpace on MySpace. eBay is hoping to tap the 50 Million plus MySpace users by allowing them to transact on MySpace via eBay.
This is an interesting move for eBay, primarily because most of MySpace's customer base contains people in the 18-24 demographic (which, btw, is great idea to gain buyers, not so great to gain sellers).
What's in it for MySpace? Good question. Sure, eBay has 180 Million customers that it can introduce social networking too, but let's face it, MySpace is just a big 'hook-up' platform and how many 40 year old soccer moms want to use a site that's geared towards kids in their 20's.
This is just a preliminary deal, and it's unclear if it will actually be consummated, however, if it does go through, I don't see it being a boon for either company. eBay will surely use MySpace as an advertising mechanism, but once they saturate it, what's left?
