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A news report caught my eye about a week back for two reasons. One, as far as publicity stunts go, this was a whopper. Two, it struck home exactly how small and interconnected the world has become.

In a nutshell, a mountain climber climbed Everest and made the world's first mobile phone call from the summit--on his splendid new Motorola phone, no less. He was able to complete his call thanks to a cell tower that was put in place on another mountain by China Telecom. The guy got the headlines, and Motorola got some nice publicity since they sponsored his climb.

Here's a link to one of the many stories written on the climb: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070522/wl_uk_afp/nepalchinabritain_070522085615

Some news reports also indicate that his first call was actually to check his voice mail, then he called his wife. He also had to strap his phone battery to his body so it wouldn't freeze, but thank God he made that call! Technology infringing on nature's majesty is what we all aim for, no? (All this, however, doesn't explain why my calls drop walking down the street in downtown Chicago, but that's another matter.)

Okay, so up next--what marketer is going to send the first mobile advertisement to be received by climbers on the mountain? Will it be an ad for air tanks? Blankets? Emergency sherpas? Tropical vacations?

Posted by Allison at 3:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The two top reporters of Web surfing data and statistics, comScore Networks and Nielsen//NetRatings, have agreed to allow third party auditors to look into their reporting methods to ensure the highest level of accuracy in their measurement of online behavior. Both groups use a hybrid of sampling and panel data combined with server data to develop their findings. But still, it hasn't been unusual for the two companies to be totally off from one another in their findings. So how accurate can reporting of online behavior get? Are sample-based projections in an online environment accurate enough to reflect the true behaviors of Web surfers?

Posted by Allison at 9:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

So the FDA has found that feed spiked with melamine--the same chemical that is suspected of causing the illness and death of pets via their pet food--was fed to animals intended for human consumption. According to news reports,

about 20 million chickens were quarantined over the weekend and then given the OK and released back into the human food supply chain. It is believed that millions more were fed the tainted feed earlier this spring and were already sold and consumed by humans. The piggies too. Now the news comes today that farm-raised fish got the same stuff (way to go USDA, FDA, and every other federal agency that supposed to be watching these things!). In all instances, FDA officials are saying that the contamination levels were likely to be so low as to be insignificant on human health.

Ok, sure, but of course they've got to say that in that whole CYA respect, and so not to inspire a mass panic that we're all going to croak from a bad pork chop. But really, how safe is our food supply? And how much should we really know about our food and how it gets to our plates? There's been a country-of-origin-labeling (COOL) initiative sitting on the back burner in food and grocery circles for several years now that would require agricultural products like fresh meats to be labeled with stickers that would tell the consumer from whence it came. Judging by the crazy regulations (or rather lack thereof) in China, which is where the melamine mixing was done intentionally, if COOL ever makes it to the meat counter I think it'd be wise to stay away from Chinese meat supplies, even if the USDA/FDA assures us otherwise. Because they're doing a *fabulous* job of keeping tabs on all this, and mad cow, and peanut butter, and spinach....Now, we all fall prey to media hype and I'm no exception. Maybe all these instances wouldn't have merited the level of fear-spreading they got if it wasn't for the Internet and the 24-hour news cycle. But still, the "USDA inspected" stamp used to mean something right? Or were we all just used to living in that 'ignorance is bliss' mode?

Anyway, okay, back to marketing. So marketers--what is going to be done to wipe off (or paint over) yet another black mark on the food safety record? After all, you all got me to buy bagged spinach again.

Posted by Allison at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The NBA has opened a fun-and-games destination in Second Life, and brought corporate sponsors like T-Mobile, Toyota, and Cisco Systems along for the ride.

SL avatars can visit the space, called NBA Headquarters, and participate in half-court shooting contests, move up close with the NBA trophy, and watch video clips of real life NBA content.

According to David Stern, the NBA commissioner, the association's SL venture is part of a larger strategy to use social media to engage with fans. In a conference call, also broadcast in SL, Stern said: "This is an area we find to be very exciting. It's causing us to rethink overall the concept of how our fans consume NBA content."

Separately, supermarket expert Phil Lempert and Kraft Foods will unveil Phil's Supermarket--a virtual supermarket that will exist only in SL--at the Food Marketing Institute show this weekend. Kraft Foods will showcase 70 new products in SL for attendees both in RL (real life) and SL to engage in virtually. Phil's Supermarket will live on after the show--and surely pique the interest of researchers wanted to view how a SL consumer shops as an extension of RL. The open architecture of SL, and the capabilities added for the supermarket site, will also allow retailers and manufacturers to upload images of their RL products for display (at no charge, at least initially) on Phil's SL shelves. The visitor will also encounter coupons, food tips, and in-store display and video ads, just like a RL supermarket visit.

Posted by Allison at 3:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)