Dawn Animals commercial

Dawn dish soap knows itself. This is evidenced in their current campaign which is all about their wildlife rescue efforts. Dawn has helped save over 60,000 animals since the 1980s who were in trouble because of oil spills. This well done integration of a brand with a cause has brought about brand equity and awareness of the importance of taking care of the environment. When it comes to finding a cause to follow, it's important to begin by thinking of what makes sense with a brand. Dawn is a wonderful example of a company that knows who they are and what they can bring in the world of philanthropy.

stand by me

There's a new book circling around hot topics this week. A biography of Oprah Winfrey written by Kitty Kelley (a woman who has written unauthorized biographies of Jacque O, Elizabeth Taylor, and Frank Sinatra). The book tells of Oprah's lies about her difficult upbringing and scandalous lesbian affairs that she has relentlessly tried to cover up. With all the hype it's been getting the past couple of days, you'd think the Oprah camp would be worried. Not in the slightest.

Several talk show hosts including Letterman and Larry King have already denied allowing Kelley air time to promote her book. Oprah has gained the respect among her peers and, more importantly, has been a huge promoter of the book industry in particular. Her brand has been compared to "Teflon" by Omincom's partner associate director Nick Ragone. Also, Kelley's other biographies have done little to dampen the high profile celebrities status'. In the world of publicity, having close friends who stand by you is crucial. I wonder what'll come the day Kitty Kelley is in trouble.

what are you doing friday night?

Friday night has been in trouble for a couple of decades. Where before it use to have huge shows such as Dallas and the Brady Bunch, it now is becoming the new Saturday with ratings down year to year. Currently, several networks have new ideas for the upcoming fall including new scripted TV shows. The problem is that a couple of decades ago the opportunities for new activities on the weekend were limited, and families were still becoming accustomed to a service that could bring everyone together under one roof and entertain simultaneously. Although many networks haven't given up on Friday night television yet, the end seems to be closer than they think.

give the people what they want

The fight against Conan, Leno, and Letterman has been brewing for months. Now that it's all settled -- we have to be wondering who's won. Network televisions late night shows all seem to be variations of the same thing. Cable television, however, is certainly shaking things up. Take E! for example who decided to feature a saucy woman as the host or Comedy Central's "Colbert Report" which is a mock of news. TBS seems to be the frontrunner, choosing to feature George Lopez on their late night show. He has brought a 33% growth for late night on the cable network, has a strong following among Hispanics and African Americans (some of the fastest growing demographics in the country), and is respected by the network. It seems obvious now that ratings are dependent on what the audience wants in the programming, not on what networks need to do (or who to sign) to beat out their competition.

little man = big media power

Justin Bieber seems to be all over social media. He's held the #1 spot for weeks for brands that are most tweeted about. His music has shot from under 200,000 views in October of 2009 to over 2 million plays of a single song of his in a 24 hour period. What many don't know is that Bieber was found through YouTube (and Usher). After his discovery, he became the first solo artist to have 4 top 40 hits on the Billboard charts before an album has even be released. What does all of this mean for media? Media outlets such as YouTube could now be the key to finding huge celebrity brands. This could potentially mean huge marketing numbers for other bands that associate themselves with such popular stars. Sticking by stars like Bieber isn't a risk. He became famous because of his mass like-ability (not a single producer hoping he'd make magic).

what comes up must come down

Tiger Woods was back in the swing of things this weekend. He played decent, but my eyes weren't on his game-- they were on his Nike 'swoosh'. The brand decided to keep Tiger around. Bad idea. On average, brands that included Tiger Woods in their advertisement prior to his personal troubles saw a 39% higher net like ability than when they did not include him. Several weeks into his media frenzy, words like mistress and affairs took over any positive connotations associated with the man. Nike's brand is recognizable all over the world. They don't need Tiger to add any kind of prestige (or now lack thereof).

Make new friends, but keep the old

All eyes are on the Ipad. Marketers especially are turning to it to be the savior for traditional media such as newspaper and magazine. But does media really need saving? Consider this: Numbers for events such as the Super Bowl and the Oscars had record high audiences and many marketers reduced their budgets drastically in the past year. While the iPad can definitely boost sales for text rich content, I still believe in keeping faith in the tried and true. Broadcast isn't dead. In fact, broadcast and advancing internet technology can and need to live in each others worlds to succeed.