TV

January 05, 2009

BREAKING: Rick Sanchez @ CNN's Twitter Account Hacked?

Apparently, no one is immune to the account phishing scheme that has recently made its way to Twitter.

Here's CNN anchor and Twitterphile Rick Sanchez' latest tweet:

FirefoxScreenshot001.jpg

For more information on the phishing scam, and how to avoid it, click here.

Bottom line: If you think you may be a victim, change your Twitter password.

January 04, 2009

What's This a TV Spot For? A Missed Opportunity?

I saw this on tonight's SNL. My guess? It's for Gatorade. It's jarring, for some reason.

But a big problem I have with this, is that there is no way to find more information online. Luckily, they at least uploaded it to YouTube. But how about some search results to lead me down a rabbit hole, please?

December 17, 2008

Want to Watch the First Episode of Flight of the Conchords: Season 2? Click Here.

I've got it right here folks, before it hits TV.

Thanks to our clients at HBO, and our friends at FunnyOrDie.com, we were all able to pull together and make this happen.

Enjoy!

September 26, 2008

Deep Focus Partners with The Ad Council to Launch the Exponential Action Network.

What you see above is one of the first widgets deployed as part of the Exponential Action Network, a major social media initiative we created in partnership with the Ad Council.

When we were invited to work with the Ad Council we were flattered, and inspired.

We wanted to reimagine the Ad Council in today's era. For decades, the Ad Council worked because of donated media by cable and broadcast networks. But what if the Ad Council was rebooted today? We live in a world where people aren't just consuming media -- they are creating media. And if media were people-powered (like so much of the web is) we could create a whole new distribution and interaction mechanism for PSAs and their associated causes.

But wait, there's more. What if people that were donating their own media could actually see how much of an impact their advocacy had on others? And what if we got millions and millions of impressions donated by the likes of Facebook, MySpace, imeem, Netvibes, Clearspring and others to promote it?

Thus, the Exponential Action Network was born.

Check out the press release here -- it pretty much says it all.

We're proud to be doing good, and we're proud to be working with the Ad Council. Support a cause and share your voice today!

September 22, 2008

Watch My Panel on Branded Experiences in Social Networks.

From the Social Ad Summit last week in NYC, watch this fascinating (yes, 'twas) panel on Branded Experiences in Social Networks, featuring:

Me
Don Steele, MTVN
Scott Monty, Ford
Deborah Korb, JP Morgan

There's some great insight here into what brands think of branded experiences in a social networking environment, what they're spending, and how they're spending it -- now, and in the future.

September 16, 2008

Live at NY Television and Film Festival.

Paul Kontonis @ For Your Imagination blogs it best:

It's real, it's live and its all on the line at the NYTVF's "Creativity Live" mass participatory brainstorm on Tuesday, September 16 at 2:30pm at the New World Stages in NYC. Bringing together the sharpest and most creative minds in digital media - Toby Daniels from MintDigital, Paul Kontonis from For Your Imagination and Ian Schafer from Deep Focus -  with a 150 strong audience, all will be given just one hour to develop three cross-platform entertainment concepts. Can it be done? After the event people will be able to go to the NYTVF website, where they can vote on the ideas they would like to see taken forward. This promises to be a really exciting event. See you there!

This should be LOTS of fun, so if you'll be at the NYTVF, check it out!

September 12, 2008

Upcoming Events You Should Consider Attending.

The next two weeks are flush with events in NYC, orbiting around the sun of Advertising Week.

I'll be flush with events too, so here's a heads-up on how you can catch me...

Monday, September 15th

Social Ad Summit

Tribeca Rooftop, NYC

11:15am - 12:00pm

Branded Experiences on Social Networks

Large brands spend billions of dollars every year on advertising. Hear from a few of those large brands about how much they are allocating to social networks. Find out what has worked and what hasn’t as well as the hurdles for brands getting on social networks.



Thursday, September 18th

OMMA Global

Marriott Marquis, NYC

4:45pm - 5:30pm


Getting Social Sites to do your Work for You

Are you looking to precisely target based on demographics or activity? Targeted ad networks are showing promise for delivering more precise demographic segments for marketers than the big global networks. Could the same be true for vertical social networks? Social shopping, reviews, and more targeted groups can provide better engagement for those people you want to reach.


Moderator:

Brant Barton, Founder, Bazaarvoice


Speakers:

Adam Cahill, SVP, General Manager of Carat

Michael Carrier, CEO, StyleHive

John Riordan, Director-National Sales, Yelp.com

Ian Schafer, CEO, Deep Focus



Thursday, September 22nd

MIXX 2.8

Crowne Plaza Hotel, NYC

4:45pm - 5:30pm


The Self-Service Revolution


It sounds too good to be true: A completely automated process for setting up and executing highly-targeted ad campaigns. But how do we separate the hype from the reality? In this interactive session, you'll hear from marketers and platform-providers working together to define the automated future.

Moderator:

Michael Wolf, Partner, Farrallon Point, Inc.



Panelists:

Dan Ballister, Chief Operating Officer, TRAFFIQ

Aaron Finn, President & CEO, AdReady

Ian Schafer, CEO, Deep Focus

Jay Sears, EVP, Strategic Products & Business Development, ContextWeb



Tuesday, September 23rd

Advertising Week

Paley Center (formerly the Museum of TV and Radio), NYC

12:00pm - 1:00pm


Social Media: Giving Voice to Social Causes



The explosion of social media has created countless new ways for advertisers to engage consumers. It’s also created countless ways to promote social causes and increase civic engagement. Whether it’s social networks like MySpace and FaceBook or bloggers, widgets, twitter, or friend feed, these powerful tools can and are being used for the greater good. This panel brings together the best of the best to discuss where social networking meet social change.

Panel:

Moderator: Bob Greenberg, Vice President, Corporate Brand Marketing
Panasonic Corporation of North America

Douglas Atkin, Chief Community Officer, Meetup

Chris Colborn, Chief Experience Officer, R/GA

Lexi Reese, Head of Media Platforms, Google

Ian Schafer, Founder & CEO, Deep Focus




June 30, 2008

Television: A Gray Anatomy?

From the 'why TV needs to do more with the internet' files, according to Broadcasting & Cable, the average age of a network TV viewer is 50 years old.

50 years old.

The 50+ set does not have the same kind of value to the average advertiser as 17-34 year-olds. Historically, that's where the money is. And while there is certainly significant spending power with audiences 50+ (thanks Paula), the networks still must not be happy with these numbers.

Silicon Alley Insider has some more analysis on this, including network by network numbers. To put it in perspective, The CW has the youngest average viewer age, at 34.

June 24, 2008

Engage & Entertain: The Deep Focus/Yahoo! Study.

You asked for it, you got it.

As Multichannel News put it:

Viewers who go online to find out about new TV shows before they premiere are more likely to watch them regularly, and to even convince their friends to watch those programs, according to a study by Yahoo and Deep Focus.

The “Engage and Entertain” study also found that there’s a direct correlation between advertising for a show–whether on TV, through a portal or billboards–and online searches regarding a program. When asked what prompted respondents to go online to learn more about a TV show, 55% said because they “saw or heard an advertisement,” according to the study.

The research was conducted by Yahoo and Deep Focus to help TV studios figure out the best way to engage consumers online, even during the traditionally slow summer TV season.

The takeaway is that TV studios should use the Internet early on to build loyalty to new shows.

And, according to the study, TV studios should be engaging with consumers even before the new TV season begins. For example, viewers who seek out information on a show online before its actual TV premiere convince an average of 5.1 of their friends to watch that show, the survey found. The study also determined that people who seek information online about new shows before they debut are 46% more likely to watch the show regularly.

Below are the viewable, zoomable, printable, and shareable topline findings of The Deep Focus/Yahoo! Study, Engage & Entertain.

Read this document on Scribd: Turn TV Shows Into Brands

Read this document on Scribd: Online Engagement For TV Shows By Genre

If you've got questions, let me have it.

June 18, 2008

Michelle Tafoya Interviews Kevin Garnett.

It's not interactive marketing, but it sure is awkward.

And by the way, this is an example of how Redlasso is being used by bloggers to comment upon TV content -- and I love it, from a blogger's perspective, of course.

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