At Cannes, Big Think And Big Re-Think Rule by Steve Smith

At last week's Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival two viral video favorites were among the winners, and they underscored the importance of the big idea in grabbing consumers' fleeting attention spans. The Cyber Lion Grand Prix winner was "The Fun Theory," the DDB Stockholm campaign for Volkswagen that featured a piano staircase designed to encourage people to chose the steps over escalator powered ascent out of the underground station. The big idea for Volkswagen was that making ecologically friendly activities fun to do could change people's behaviors. ...Read the whole story

  • Web Caught Up In World Cup Mania by Mark Walsh

    You know soccer has hit the big time in the U.S. when it's at the center of a ratings dispute between ESPN and CBS Sports. The spat stems from ESPN saying earlier this week that the 1.1 million people who watched at least some of the U.S. soccer team's 1-0 World Cup win over Algeria Wednesday made up the largest audience ever for a sports event online -- beating the Duke-Butler NCAA championship basketball game earlier this year. ...Read the whole story

  • automotive Nissan, Lance Armstrong Ride Hand-In-Hand by Karl Greenberg

    The effort for the car, which goes on sale in late fall, also involves sponsorship of such marquee athletic events as the Boston and New York marathons and the Tour of California bicycle race. Nissan also joins Radio Shack and brands like Nike and Trek as supporters of Armstrong's Team Radio Shack bid for the 2010 Tour de France, which runs July 3 - 25 this year. ...Read the whole story

  • Fox Mobile Launches Bitbop by Wayne Friedman

    Fox Mobile Group officially announced its mobile video streaming service, Bitbop, was available starting Thursday. It will offer full-length TV shows immediately and movies later this year. ...Read the whole story

  • automotive Aprilia Vid Mocks Out BMW Table Trick by Karl Greenberg

    An Aprilia RSV4 motorcycle rolls into a dingy garage where a table for six is set on white linen. The bike gets hooked up and, as in the BMW spot, takes off. But the Aprilia fails, pulling half the dishes off the table. A super comes up: "Tricks are not our talent ...," followed by footage of Aprilia racing bikes winning Moto GP events, "... winning is our talent." ...Read the whole story

  • 'WSJ' Captures 'Big Interview' Online by Erik Sass

    The Wall Street Journal unveiled a new weekly online series featuring interviews with important figures. Called "The Big Interview," it consists of one interview each week with industry leaders and top officials, which will be posted on the site Friday mornings. ...Read the whole story

  • T Bone Burnett Speaks Out, Decries Lady Gaga's 'Paltry' Income From Video Streams by Laurie Sullivan

    Google and Microsoft are scrambling to find ways to please the entertainment industry. Both search engines this week launched separate music services. The move may gain points with recording labels, but it's not clear if they'll satisfy artists. The stakes become higher for everyone as rumors heat up online about Google launching a rival music service to iTunes. ...Read the whole story

What YouTube's and MySpace's TV Lessons Can Teach Facebook About Online Video by Ashkan Karbasfrooshan

Last week, Facebook's CEO Mark Zuckerberg admitted that over the past few years he's suffered from Twitter envy, probably focusing a bit too much on that media darling. Today, with location-based startups getting all the attention, one would think that Zuckerberg is about to let history repeat itself by worrying too much about how to recalibrate Facebook to clash against upstarts Foursquare, Gowalla and company. That's not the battle Zuckerberg needs to focus on, at all.Truth is, while Google is planning to launch Facebook competitor Google Me, Zuckerberg should focus more on online video, in particular the lessons that both ...More