Brand Noise

Air Force Reaching Out Through Xbox

The US Air Force is partnering with Microsoft to promote the Xbox LIVE "Horror Meets Comedy" original short film series premiering this November 19th. The series features eight well-known horror directors who will bring their comedic visions to life. Directors include James Wan & Leigh Whannell creators of the "Saw" franchise, James Gunn ("Slither", "Dawn of the Dead") Andrew Douglas ("The Amityville Horror"), David Slade ("30 Days of Night") and Lucky McKee ("May").

Air Force will create custom intro billboards that will run with each pilot and interactive media placements that will live across the Xbox LIVE online entertainment network and the Xbox.com website. Users can click on these custom units and engage directly with the Air Force Brand Destination which offers users the opportunity to learn more about the Air Force through video downloads, gamer pictures and theme packages.

Seems to me there’s a bigger picture to explore…

Food: Simple, Fresh, Economical--On Message

On the West Coast, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market has introduced a new line of ready-to-eat products that can be mixed and matched to create over 200 meal ideas. The line includes 30 different varieties of fresh pastas, sauces, meat and vegetarian dishes, and sides which pair to create meals for two for about $10.  All Fresh & Easy products contain no added trans fats, no artificial flavors and colors and only use preservatives when absolutely necessary. At roughly 10,000 square feet, Fresh & Easy markets are smaller than the typical supermarket to give customers a faster, easier shopping experience. In addition to fresh, prepared meals and produce, Fresh & Easy offers national brands and household items at everyday low prices. (Photo: Oakmonster.)

Lock Down on Luxury

Next week, a publication titled “6” will be mailed to 100,000 American households averaging a net worth of $25 million. There are no subscriber cards. The list is qualified internally. Publisher McMurry says it took nearly two years to develop the list which separates real wealth from aspirational.
In tandem with a website at experience6.com, “6” showcases six luxury experiences that can be bought at above five-digit prices.
Initial ad commitments include Hermes, Jaguar, David Yurman, Net Jets, Corum, Pal Zileri USA, Davidoff, La Prairie, Girard-Perregaux, Carl F. Bucherer, Viking and Ulysee Nardin.
Interestingly, if you go to the website you can submit your name and email to be considered for invitations to exclusive 6 events. Playing both sides is not authentic. Either lock down and focus. Or bring on the aspirationals.

Counting Calories Gives Control Back

When all else is failing, it beckons the need to gain control wherever you can. We're seeing it across the board. One way they're seizing the opportunity is by counting calories. It's do-able.

"For the last few decades, the most popular diets were complex formulas that promised abundant eating with just the right combinations of fat, protein and carbohydrates. Now those regimens are starting to look like exotic mortgages and other risky financing instruments. And just like a reliable savings account, good old calorie counting is coming back into fashion...New Yorkers got a harsh dose of calorie reality this summer when restaurants with 15 or more outlets were forced to post the calorie content of food next to the price."

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Lip her up. No lead.

Now is the time when will women take comfort in the indulgent but relatively inexpensive pleasure of lipstick. " When lipstick sales go up, people don't want to buy dresses," says Leonard Lauder, Chairman of Estee Lauder Cosmetics. Lauder is credited with the "lipstick theory" which suggests that the economy can be read by the rise and fall of lipstick sales. Indeed, he should know, since Lauder's Leading Lipstick Index tracks their team of brands, which account for roughly half of the prestige cosmetic sales in the U.S., and includes well know labels like Clinique, Stila, Origins, Bobbi Brown, Prescriptives and MAC...

The bad news? Before you rush out and spend those last few stimulus payment dollars squirreled safely away in the cookie jar on a new tube of crimson, be warned: a study from 2007 by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics found that a significant portion of lipstick manufactured in the United States contains surprisingly high levels of lead, which can be toxic when ingested.

Now there's an angle for a lead-free lipstick maker to grab on to...call it corporate responsibility.

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Trend Report: Green, Co-mingling Perspectives

Trend Report: Green, Co-mingling Perspectives

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Symbols Speak Loudly: Consider Turbines

The wind turbine is the “it” item of summer 2008...Advertisements broadcast by the presidential campaigns of Senators John McCain and Barack Obama during the Olympics have featured almost identical pastoral panning shots of turbines. If you add the General Electric commercials that boast of the green-powering of the Games, the TV screen has shown wind turbines gleaming white more often than Michael Phelps flashing gold. There are turbines posing among the mannequins in the Calvin Klein windows on Madison Avenue. And last week Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg planted in New Yorkers’ heads images of turbines on the bridges and rooftops and — an instance of icon meeting icon — lighting Lady Liberty’s torch with their gusty might.

Not since Don Quixote have so many windmills presented such an orgy of illusion: wind power accounts for only about 1 percent of the nation’s energy. Notwithstanding the ardent advocacy of people like T. Boone Pickens, oilman turned windman, it will be some time before the production catches up to the publicity.

But that’s the way it is with a cultural icon: it is both of and ahead of its time, and it knows that looking good is half the battle.

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Sackboy: Homespun Spin on Gaming

Sony is banking on the inauspiciously named star of its new video game, "LittleBigPlanet," to boost sales of its PlayStation 3 console this fall -- and the homemade-looking Sackboy just might pull it off.

Sony also plans to create about 1,000 "LittleBig billboards" -- about the size of a small yard sign -- to stick in the ground in and around San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York. Unlike typical cardboard yard signs, however, the minibillboards will feature working lights and ladders and other high-end art and design. The idea came from the game's agency, Deutsch. While the size of the boards almost ensures that at least a few will be stolen, that's OK with Sony. A spokeswoman said some pilfered signs posted on eBay may even add to the hype.

A man-sized Sackboy made a public appearance in Japan.

The line from gaming to crafting is a fluid one...we've been watching it...it thrives on a multidimensional consumer.

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Apps: It's not the Quantity. It's the Quality.

Facebook took a step toward standardizing the wild world of Web metrics by switching its engagement rating for applications from reporting daily usage to measuring monthly active users...The goal is to help developers focus on "longer-term engagement" and show them "the number of users who visit [their] application over a longer time frame than just one day."

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(Photo: Me and my 542 bestest friends.)

There is Strength in Network Niches

Of the $920 million spent this year to advertise on social networks in 2007, 8.2 percent went to niche sites. That is expected to grow to 10 percent in 2008.  Niche is big! There are over 300,000 niche networks on Ning alone. We have niche networks being used as tools in the 2008 election.  And networks, such as LinkedIn (career) and imeem (music), are growing so quickly that it seems strange to even call them "niche".

Clearly, there is a growing case for the success of niche social.

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