Will KeepMedia Be a Money Maker?

Borders makes money. Webvan did not. Will Louis Borders latest endeavor, KeepMedia, bring all the right pieces together to build an attractive product that will entice consumers to pay for content? Sounds like a good idea to me but the price will have to be reasonable and an easy-to-use Web site is a must.

Intel Inside, Mac On Top

As I posted back on the 1st, the new G5 is one sweet looking machine and now they’ve got a cool commercial to grab some people’s attention. Now Coursey over at AnchorDesk thinks that Apple should pursue putting OSX on an Intel chip so that the masses of Windows clones could try it out and still have the opportunity to dual-boot to Windows if needed. Sounds like a good move to me as well. According to Coursey, the deal would hinge on whether Apple could lock the OSX to the hardware, so (I presume) they could maintain the hardware revenue.

Get Rich (Kinda) Quick

How many of your folks would like to be your own boss. Ok, now keep your hands raised if you have an adventuresome spirit. Great! Now, let’s look at your bank statements. Why? Because if you don’t have some money to invest, this list of the Top 10 Franchises for 2003 won’t do you any good. Sorry to get your hopes up. *wink*

Commericals as Art

Apparently, this domino-style Accord commercial was done completely without special effects or editing. 606 takes. Patience is a virtue, truly.

The Next Tiger?

How young is too young to get a Nike deal? Mark Walker is 3 and he’s got mad-h00p skillz. Lookout LeBron!

Square Peg, Round Hole

Every day that goes by, the advertisers/marketers who want to reach consumers are losing small battles in the bigger war. As prescribed by Ries & Trout, the positioning battle takes place in the mind of every consumer.

So what is the current status of our grey matter? People hate ads on the Internet more and more powerfully. Sean Carton seems to have grasped this concept and is calling for Applications, Not Ads. Trying to fit the square peg (traditional media) into the round hole (interactive media) just isn’t working.

REbranding Humor

Hollow and typical. That’s the kind of inaccurate language being used all over the country by business. These folks are trying to set a new direction by REbranding. Of course, these brands mock as they teach.

No Wonder No One Likes the French

I don’t want to merely pile on, but having 1 in 3 French desire Saddam Hussein to win against the coalition, means I’m not spending money on: Car & Driver magazine, Dannon Yogurt (Yoplait is General Mills), Evian, L’Oreal, Maybelline, Michelin Tires, Motel 6, RCA, T-Fal, or Universal Studios. [full list] It’s one thing to be against the war, but it’s quite another to hope the evil dictator kills your neighboring countries soldiers.

Poor Marketing Judgement

Read some things today that praised Ad-aware, software that scans and removes unwanted spyware. One thing though, their tagline—”the morning after pill for the internet”—is insulting. It could be paraphrased to read, “If you downloaded a bunch of nasty pron, don’t worry, our software deletes your sin so you can still lust without consequences.” Bleech.

Leaflets: Strategy or Propaganda

Ever wondered what those coalition leaflets looked like?

Brand Master

How well can you remember a company’s logo? Some are definitely more easily recalled. monochrom decided to test a few brands by asking some people to draw them from memory. Coke seemed to fair the best while Apple’s namesake seemed to thwart the “artists.” Interesting stuff. [via Presurfer]