• by John Gaffney , December 4, 2002

Fear Factor: Tuesday’s Advertising Research Foundation seminar was the first time I heard brand managers openly admit that they are developing new strategies to counter the use of digital video recorders. That’s all good. Nothing like being proactive in this business. But the most commonly mentioned strategy – product placement - isn’t going. The thinking here is that effective product placement will not be something a DVR owner can scan through. But product placement has its own clutter factor. Fox’s “Best Damn Sports Show” for example, is approaching maximum product placement. And if you think Internet ads are hard to measure, wait until you try to measure product placement. Overall I believe product placement is an effective tactic. But it is not a limitless strategy.

AOK: I like what Jon Miller is doing with AOL. He’s making AOL what it should have been in the first place: a portal for TimeWarner content and a key part of the engine that drives the company’s technology offering to consumers. Makes sense that way, doesn’t it?

Parting Shot: Starbucks has opened a store just about everywhere it can without advertising. Now it has hired Grey Worldwide to start advertising. Are they going to start opening Starbucks inside Starbucks?