LG Mobile Phones is adding a dose of humor to its adult-targeted responsible texting efforts. The company has signed Emmy nominee and "Glee" standout Jane Lynch to star in a series of comedic vignettes to discuss how to model responsible texting behaviors to kids. The videos, which are being posted on www.LGTextEd.com, depict Lynch as a former "text offender" who gets scared straight and turns to educating others about issues such as sexting, texting while driving, mobile bullying and other behaviors. The introductory video takes a Hollywood scandal-type approach, proclaiming Lynch as being on top of the world with fame, money and power, but that she "had a dark secret she could no longer hide." The video then cuts to Lynch talking and texting while being chased by cops. She is eventually arrested in a "fall from grace that had all the makings of a made-for-the-Internet movie." Her punishment, according to the video, is community service in teaching parents about mobile phone abuse and teen texting issues. "We wanted the star of the videos to be someone who could deliver the message about teen behaviors in a way that was both humorous and meaningful," Demetra Kavadeles, a representative for LG, tells Marketing Daily, in e-mailed responses to questions. "As a comedic actress, Jane has a unique style that worked perfectly for what we had in mind. It was also important that this person be a parent and could appeal to parents and teens alike." Lynch recently married her long-time partner and adopted her partner's children, making her a new mom, Kavadeles points out. The new responsibilities of parenthood give her "relatability" beyond simply a spokesperson and actress. "She also represents the concept of the "new modern family,'" Kavadeles says. Subsequent videos -- there are five in all -- put Lynch, who stars on "Glee" as the witty-but-withering Sue Sylvester, in a classroom-style setting, where she counsels others in the relatively acerbic manner for which she has become famous. "When your teenage daughter has a teenage love-fever and her teenage boyfriend threatens to dump her unless she sends him a picture of her 'what whats,'" Lynch says, "all she has to do is grab her camera phone and say, 'Cheese.'" As the class participants express reservations about talking to their teens about such an issue, Lynch admits she's a parent too, "but no matter how uncomfortable we are with this, it's too important to sweep under the rug." The video closes with Lynch talking directly to the camera, encouraging viewers to click on links about how to talk to kids about sexting. The sexting video is already online, and subsequent videos will be rolled out in the coming weeks. This latest effort is separate from LG's teen-targeted responsible cell phone campaign that came out last year. That effort, called "Give it a Ponder," featured James Lipton offering his beard to kids as a way to think about questionable texting behaviors before they engage in them. "Ponder helped LG get the Text Ed conversation started, but it was apparent that parents needed education about mobile phone misuse as well," Kavadeles says. "So, we launched the LG Text Ed program in February of this year to specifically speak to parents, providing them with a place where they can go to get answers to the questions they have about sexting, mobile phone harassment, what age should they get a mobile phone for their child, etc."
To help advertisers with their in-stream ad campaigns, video ad network AdoTube on Thursday debuted its in-stream video advertising platform. The vertically integrated platform -- available as both a self-serve and white-label platform -- connects advertisers with media sources, while providing them with the requisite analytics and campaign management tools. "By offering a single self-serve platform that eliminates some of the largest barriers for advertisers, we are providing a catalyst for major ad market growth," said Constantine Goltsev, CEO of AdoTube. "Instead of integrating services from five different partners, AdoTube gives you one expertly managed point of entry. This eliminates complexity." Going up against ScanScout and VideoEgg, the New York-based AdoTube has been building a network of publisher sites for about three years. Its software can be plugged into any flash player or load ads on videos pulled from any source, including YouTube, Daily Motion, and the like. With the launch, AdoTube aims to expand in-stream ad opportunities by giving users the ability to take advantage of any ad asset on any video player within any publisher or network. AdoTube's vertically integrated approach pulls together the tools it considers necessary to execute a "complete" in-stream ad campaign. The platform allows advertisers to place their messages on Web content directly within video players. Among other features, the new platform allows clients to upload existing ads, create new ads, or access AdoTube's creative services for customized ads. As a white-label solution, the AdoTube platform will enable publishers to offer advertisers a customized ad platform extending across their media properties and network. To date, the company has raised about $1.2 million in seed funding, most recently securing about $600,000 in mid-2008.
More pricey online video is on the way for sports TV consumers. DirecTV is offering its highly lucrative NFL Sunday Ticket package of games -- virtually all NFL games played during the season -- for $350 a year to nonsubscribers, via online platforms, including mobile phones. DirecTV is making this package available because a highly targeted number of consumers are unable to get DirecTV as a provider of TV programming, such as apartment buildings in certain markets. The price will be $50 more than the $299 charge that DirecTV subscribers pay for Sunday Ticket. In July, MediaPost reported that last season, DirecTV offered online access to NFL Sunday Ticket for people who were unable to become DirecTV subscribers. But the product was location-specific: only available from the bottom of the Bronx to the Battery. This fall, it goes nationwide. But those online consumers of DirecTV's NFL package will have to verify that they can't get DirecTV. It's an effort to dissuade a la carte consumers -- those who just want to buy the sought-after games -- without basic DirecTV basic programming packages. That's a requirement of DirecTV consumers who want Sunday Ticket. NFL Sunday Ticket will also include access to Red Zone channel. The effort will get only a modest marketing push, given its small targeted audience. Messaging about the offering will be seen on DirecTV's Web site.
Online advertising is suffering from a fundamental flaw in its sales process. Put simply, products with sizzle sell but rarely scale. So what do I mean by "sizzle"? In the early days of rich media, it was creative like Superman flying across the page or pop-up research studies, and today it is interactive pre-roll or full-page interactive ads. I call this the scale vs. sizzle conundrum and it is causing a wide-range of problems for clients trying to reach measurable campaign objectives. Let's take a closer look at the problems inherent in this scenario. Problem #1 - Under-Investing In What Works I can't even count the number of times I've heard a media buyer ask, "Do you have any new products to discuss?" Yet I can count on one hand the number of times a media buyer has said to me, "Why don't you come in and tell me what actually works." As a result, media sales reps are trained to focus the majority of every conversation on what's new, because that's what sells, and ultimately, clients end up massively underinvested in the media and ad products that actually drive their objectives forward. Problem #2 - Creating the Wrong Incentives For Media Vendors A secondary effect of clients' under-investing in what works is that media vendors tend to neglect their capabilities in those same areas. There are dozens of examples of fundamental technology problems, such as the need for better support for research studies or broader support for advanced rich media delivery that could be solved by media vendors if they invested properly. Unfortunately, media vendors know all too well that solving these problems won't increase their revenue because the buyers are focused on the next big thing. As a result, the limited portion of the clients' budget that ends up running towards media and ad units that actually perform doesn't scale as well as it could have had the media vendors invested correctly. Problem #3 - Overall Budget Misallocation If you look at the entire media budget allocation for a large online ad campaign, you will often see glaring examples of this problem. Sometimes a large portion of the media budget is allocated to a small group of individual publishers because they execute "custom work" that requires the client to spend a minimum amount. While at times custom work is impactful and high value, such as the YouTube Expendables promo featuring Sylvestor Stallone, it is more often low-value, low-level creative execution that was created purely to extract ad dollars from the advertiser. Classic examples of low-value custom work include rich media ad creation, custom video content, page skinning or brand integration into a stock game / article or section of a site. It is important to note that the scale vs. sizzle problem doesn't exist in search or any other direct-response based medium, because those media buyers don't get promoted for spending money on things that are new unless they drive sales. On the contrary, spending a lot of money on media that doesn't work will get you fired. The solution to scale vs. sizzle problem is complicated. First, clients should clearly tell their agency partners what amount of time, money and energy should spent on products that don't measurably impact their campaign objectives. Second, clients should conduct two media plans, one with the agency-desired sizzle and one without, so that they can compare the media misallocations appearing as a result of the focus on sizzle. Lastly, clients should demand consistent campaign measurement to ensure that subsequent media plans benefit from lessons learned -- and integrate the few sizzle-based ideas that actually work.