Pure Thinking

Subway files lawsuit against Quiznos UGC

We've talked a lot about how advertisers can take advantage of user-generated content (UGC) to encourage deep brand interactions and to create relevant, low-cost content that advertisers can use in other channels.

Well here's a New York Times story about a lawsuit between Subway and Quiznos over a particular application of this idea. Subway alleges that Quiznos created a user-generated video contest that  encourages Quiznos fans to make false claims about the quality of Subway sandwiches. Quiznos defends that it was simply encouraging fans to share their reasons why they prefer Quiznos over Subway.

Here is a video of the winning entry in the Quiznos contest, which received $10,000 and exposure in Times Square. (Not bad)

The court case is scheduled for 2009, so it will be a while before we learn the implications for future campaigns. The fear is that a ruling in favor of Subway could greatly discourage advertisers from using  contests that give consumers freedom to express their thoughts on competitive companies.   

In my mind, the question is: should a company be responsible for the competitive claims of its customers when that company solicits these comments and then provides a forum to air them to the world?

Talk advertising at Denver's Coffee Mornings

Wanted to plug an advertising-related event happening this Friday morning, and every other Friday after that, down at the Common Grounds coffee shop at the corner of 17th & Wazee in Denver.

Sean Miller organizes an informal session called Coffee Mornings where anyone can go drink coffee and talk all things advertising. Here is Sean's Coffee Mornings blog page for the write-ups from these meetings so you can get a taste of some of the topics and see who attends.

I've gone twice now and both times it was interesting to meet new advertising professionals and see what was on their mind. If you might be interested, here is my recap from my first and second appearances. And here's one when our intern Sarah went in my place and everyone was working on a project to help a non-profit.

There are also several talented people there who are in between advertising/branding jobs, so go get some business cards if you know of any Denver-area job openings!     --Ken

What the Pure Thinking blog is all about

If you've recently stumbled onto our site and like what you see, here's a list of our 10 recent topics so you can get a better feeling of what Pure Thinking is about. You'll quickly see that we are intentionally all over the place with our posts. As long as they 1) entertain you or 2) provide some insight into improving your marketing and public relations, it's fair game. And our goal is always 1) and 2).

• The best ad campaigns of 2007
• Advertising with Facebook
• Best practices in tourism marketing
• Un-funny Budweiser commercials
• Creative ways to go Green in public relations
• Creepy websites that stalk you
• PETA's well done video microsite
• Denver Egotist's new essay contest
• Taking advantage of the falling dollar
• Where 18-24 year olds spend their time

If you like what you see and want an easier way to receive our stories, just click the Subscribe link in the top right of this page to have just the headlines delivered directly to your web browser via an RSS reader such as iGoogle or My Yahoo.    

Build it (a list) & they will come

We are definitely having fun with our new blog. We've met lots of influential thinkers from Denver and around the country and have stayed current on the latest trends, campaigns, and other things that piss people off in the marketing world. We love opinionated bloggers.

And we've received great response from our posting on when it makes sense for your organization to blog, since many people have been confused by whether they even need one. (The answer, obviously, is it depends.)

More and more we are coming across great lists of blogging best practices, especially for company blogs. So today we've compiled some of our favorites. Pick the ones you like, try them out, and let us know what works.

• 10 Rules for Responsible blogging (We're a big fan of #5)
• 25 Tips to Optimize Your Blog for RSS Readers and Search Engines (#7 is so important, but not everyone does it)
• 9 Grammar Rules All Bloggers Need to Know  (I screw up #3 all the time, however)
• 56 Ways to Get Traffic for your Blog (from Seth Godin. I heard that his head is one of the most recognized icons in marketing. Wow.)
• 20 Usability Tips for your Blog (#5, show your ideas visually, is a favorite)

NYT's 8 best ad campaigns of 2007

For your Friday entertainment, it's a little late, but here's an interesting link to the New York Times' 8 best campaigns of 2007 (The photo at left is from the Doritos Ad)

At the beginning of the year it really was a hot topic. Not sure why it's taken us 3 weeks to get to it, but  we also like this list of the Best & Worst from 2007, from iMedia Connection.

Facebook wants married men to cheat

Here's an instance of online ad targeting gone very, very wrong.

According to this graphic, Facebook apparently placed an ad to "Meet 30+ women" on the page of a user that is clearly listed as Married.

Yes, often times companies don't pay attention to--or blatantly ignore--the information that users provide about themselves when placing ads.

It can happen.  And the companies who pay for the ads are usually the ones that receive the bad press for such a move even though it can be the advertising agency, media buyer, or ad serving network that actually dropped the ball.

Tourism marketing + social media = BFF

Dave Taylor over at the Business Blog posted a question about how to best use social media to help market a state and its attractions. It's a great question that shows how flexible  social media like YouTube and FaceBook can be for your marketing goals.

If you're a Dept. of Tourism, you want to get people excited about the attractions in your state. Start by focusing on your current fans and getting them to spread their love to other prospects. This can be much more effective than speaking directly to your prospects--say, people in neighboring states--and using photos of your attractions to get them to visit.

Consider a user-submission contest on YouTube or Flickr where fans of that state create a video or photo gallery of why they love the state. Then make it easy for these users to display and share this content. Other visitors can vote on and rate these submissions, and the winners can receive exposure in high-profile channels, such as the state's tourism website or an email campaign.

Here's an example from Florida's tourism department.

Get your most loyal fans to do the marketing for you!     --Ken

I think I am being set up

As I watched Budweiser's new "Lager Lessons" commercials that filled practically every commercial break on Sunday's NFL playoff games, I couldn't help but think there's a sucker punch coming.  In them, a smug spokesperson  spews a banal brewing primer, none of which is the least bit interesting. 

These spots are too uninspired and insipid to actually be all there is to it.  Please, Budweiser, tell me this is a hoax.  You're going to blow him up or take him out sniper-style or something, right?  As David Ogilvy said, you can't bore people into buying your product.   --Gregg

Just another way to go Green

These days there’s a big push in the national and local media to go Green.  Making the switch to compact florescent light bulbs, shrinking our carbon footprint and now recycling cell phones.

Cell Phones for Soldiers is one campaign that I’ve donated to. Sibling founders, Robbie and Brittany Bergquist, have received national media attention as of late for their efforts. Watch an interview with them on The View describing their program here (be impressed, they're only 16, and have raised over $1.4 million for our troops!).

The Bergquists merged two great ideas--helping the environment and our troops at the same time--and are now making an impact at home and abroad. I encourage you to check out the rest of their site.

Last week, I also came upon an article from PR Week describing how the EPA is starting a campaign motivating cell phone users to recycle their outdated phones.

What do you think?  Is the campaign to go Green going to fizzle out in 2008, or be here to stay?   —Adam

They knew I had visited their site

This was the intro paragraph to the email I received today from an email marketing company.

Not sure how I feel about this. On one hand, I am a big fan of knowing your audience and then using that information to deliver them a highly relevant message. No one likes unwanted messages. That was my logical response

On the other hand, I did feel a bit uncomfortable that a strange company knew I was on their website. I do remember visiting the site, but I know that I never left my contact info. They must have looked at my email provider's IP address and figured out my company name from that. It got me wondering: Did they know anything else about my web surfing habits that they weren't telling me? That was the more emotional response.

What do you all think?

Is there a happy medium where they still send me an email but simply omit the strong language about knowing where I have been? Can't they just go right into their pitch for an email vendor and leave me feeling impressed that their timing was so perfect?    --Ken