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In case you missed it here is a great article related to consumer frustrations at the frequency of Apple product releases, by Heather Somerville from the Mercury News.  In the article, Heather begins to capture the fatigue associated with maintaining ‘early adopter’ status, as well as the disappointment of consumers who have to pony-up repeatedly to maintain their place at the top of the pyramid.

If nothing else, it’s good to know that we’re getting to the point where it’s physically impossible and financially challenging to keep up with the latest and greatest.

This is very rare water we’re treading in, as there have been few occasions where product releases have captured this much of the nation’s attention for a prolonged period of time the way Apple has with their multiple variations of the iPod, iPhone and iPad.

You can argue that McDonald’s has mastered the ability to create annual excitement through their menu items (McRib, Shamrock Shake) and promotions (Monopoly), or that EA’s Madden franchise has created a footprint for all other annual video game releases to follow, but there haven’t been too many products that have entered the marketplace and have driven this much clamor upon each new release.

In fact, a quick survey of the office could only drum up two: Nike’s Air Jordan line from 1985-1993, and the publication of all seven Harry Potter books from 1997-2007.

In both cases the anticipation of each new release was felt across generations and demographics, exploded demand, and featured midnight releases where complete strangers were gleefully high-fiving each other at checkout and posing for pictures out front.

An additional feature was the brief – but explosively lucrative – existence of a reseller market that serviced people not able wait for supply to catch up to demand.  In some cases, demand lead to violence (the stories of mobs of kids jumping people with iPhones was eerily reminiscent of the stories that came with kids getting jumped for their Air Jordans in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s).

What’s important to note here is that the fervor subsides.

In Harry Potter’s case, Voldemort died and JK Rowling wisely decided that nobody cared about Harry’s middle aged years.  In Nike’s case, the importance of the Air Jordan started to dwindle at MJ’s first retirement in 1993, and has survived an incredibly prolonged death from his return in 1994 through to today where the Jumpman logo can be seen at Niketown stores across the US and nowhere else.

While Apple can’t retire their current push, they must be cognizant of the wear-out factor among consumers.  At this point, the iPod branding that has carried on through multiple iPhone and iPad launches is now entering its 12th year, but still maintains that creative voice that merges creative, simplicity and magic into a single effective message.

It will be interesting to see how long they can fan the flames of Apple fans.  Granted, when we look back at the commercial that started it all, it’s hard to think that this company knew exactly what it was getting itself into…

It’s already November and before we know it we will be ringing in the New Year. Between now and the end of December, shopping becomes most people’s hobby and habit. In the digital media world, we speak frequently about the successes of targeting shoppers on their mobile phones, but there might be another opportunity we are missing out on.

A recent study conducted on behalf of TargetSpot, the digital audio network, found that consumers listening to internet radio are multitasking. They found that 57% of listeners buy products online while listening and 56% research future purchases.

Targeting streaming audio listeners that are shopping allows ads to be present at the point of purchase. It’s something a little out of the box for most retailers, but if the opportunity to target is there, why not take it? Especially when the largest retail push of the year is upon us.

Have you ever listened to internet radio while you shopped – either on-line or in the store? Tell us about whether it influenced your purchases, in the comments section below.

Was 2012 the “Year of Mobile” as many players in the space have preached, promised and prayed it would be? While I’m not thrilled to say it, it probably wasn’t. Mobile advertising remains nestled in a space of spending limbo in the grand scheme of noted brands’ advertising budget.

Like a tireless, broken record, advocates aim to shift advertiser’s perceptions with a variation of these words: Mobile consumption remains one of the most frequently used media channels that many advertisers barely or rarely allocate budget for.

I don’t think anyone questions that the exponential rise in mobile consumption confirms the relevance and viability of the medium as an advertising canvas. (Get it and got it, daily e-newsletters!)

However, referencing sizeable consumption of content on mobile devices and the rapid growth of smartphone penetration as the core reasons for adopting mobile to a media mix might be a shortsighted viewpoint. Those two contentions alone don’t address a key issue that keeps skeptics wary of the space: The presentation of mobile ad executions themselves.

A recently published Bloomberg Businessweek article notes that despite the convenience and personal nature of the platform, mobile users are commonly greeted with interruptive executions that are a far cry from advertisements in alternative media spaces.

For instance, online and print ads are typically presented as adjacencies that users accept as placements alongside content they are consuming. Television, broadband and radio ads are placed in pulsated intervals that users easily anticipate as they consume sight and sound-based content. Furthermore, TV and radio ads are often executed in narrative formats that naturally grab a user’s attention.

It’s therefore no surprise when advertisers feel skeptical of mobile, especially when many brands have broken into the mobile space by testing static banners, a format that visually does little to catalyze a user’s desire to engage.

These might seem like ironic words coming from a mobile strategist. But ultimately, in order to most effectively serve as ambassadors for the space, mobile advocates must do two things:

1)      Keep clients aware of the medium’s capacity to reach consumers where they regularly seek content and

2)      Showcase mobile executions’ capacity to play less of a disruptive role and more of a desirable opportunity for users to willfully engage with a brand via mobile device (i.e. mobile rich media and mobile video).

As mobile evangelizing continues and more advertisers recognize new execution opportunities available in mobile, 2013 is now better set up as a contender for the “Year of Mobile.”

A recent article on ClickZ spoke to a partnership between publisher Gannett Co., Inc. and comScore. The publishing powerhouse will be using comScore to implement viewable impression measurement across ad campaigns appearing on USATODAY.com.

The recent development of viewable impressions has tail-spinned into a conversation about how publishers will verify viewability.

When reading the article, I found some interesting things.  Although it first mentions parent company Gannett, it indicates that comScore is verifying impressions only on USA Today and not on any of their other sites.  I think it will be much easier and important for larger brands like those to start embracing this new metric first because they will set the stage for more widespread adoption.

Of course, eventually, all sites are going to need to embrace this new metric if they want to compete for brand dollars, but it’s a must for the national publishers to take the first steps since they are the most dependent on brand advertisers.

Also, it mentions that USA Today just re-launched their site. “A revamped USAToday.com went live on September 15, featuring a de-cluttered layout designed, aiming to provide a better environment for advertisers.”

This is key: Sites will need to – and should start thinking and talking about how they can – optimize their page layouts to better compete in a space where each impression will be cataloged. By providing advertisers a better environment in which to run their ads, publishers will go a long way toward effectively supporting such metrics.  Also, by optimizing page and ad layouts, sites might also benefit from improved user experience and inventory demand.

One thing that’s for sure: While everyone in the industry will need to embrace this new metric, there is still a lot of work required from all players before we get there. It’s a complex topic which warrants a deeper discussion and we’ve got one for you.

Watch Tom Sosnoff, host of Get Tasted, a show on the internet-based channel The tastytrade Network, interview Centro CEO Shawn Riegsecker for their regular feature: “Bootstrapping in America.”

Sosnoff, founder and CEO of tastytrade – “America’s fastest growing financial network” – brimmed with enthusiasm as he and Shawn discussed the quality of web advertising today, whether advertising has become a true commodity and how content is today’s greatest driver of effective marketing.

Along the way, the gentlemen discussed Centro’s growth and Shawn’s philosophy about building a company based on great character, integrity and happiness. Watch it here, now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=c5hnxrJYxtk

One of the top stories on this Election Day is the unprecedented amount of money that has been funneled into campaigns. For marketers the juiciest subplot has been the portion of it that has been allocated to digital versus traditional media.

According to FEC filings, in September of 2012, President Barack Obama spent $2.5 million dollars on on-line advertising and Mitt Romney spent $3 million – numbers that don’t reflect spend in paid search and social.

AdWeek’s Washington Bureau Chief Katy Bachman nailed the shift in her story today:

“If 2008 was the year politicians woke up to the Internet, 2012 may well be known as the election when online political ads became a budget line.”

In her piece, she talks about how candidates have used video ads for branding and fundraising and she interviewed Centro CEO Shawn Riegsecker about the lack of on-line video inventory in the closing days of the election.

Read the full article: “Race Tightens, and So Does Ad Inventory” from AdWeek.