At one point during the (very boring) Oscars last night, Ellen Degeneris quipped that the stars nominated shouldn’t be nervous since there were “a billion people watching right now.” Al Gore also referenced the billion person number in his fake announcement of his presidential campaign One press release for some sort of drink included in the nominees’ gift basket even claimed two billion watchers. No one is better than Hollywood at making the impossible seem possible I guess. One billion viewers? That’s one in six people in the … Continue reading →

Over the past year, I’ve written a lot of scathing articles about branding. For the record, I still believe that spending $10 million to brand your truck as “tough” on the Super Bowl or tens of millions trying to convince Americans that American beer really isn’t that bad is still incredibly dumb and wasteful. But while I am still a fierce opponent of brand advertising, I must admit I am starting to understand the value of a brand. Simply put, creating a brand that associates your company with … Continue reading →

Today a new local search player formally entered the ring. Krillion basically helps people research product online and then locate the best local retailer to go and buy the product (full disclosure: founded by my good friend Joel Toledano) . How does Krillion work? Let’s say you’re looking for a new dryer. You enter your zip code into Krillion, type in “dryer” and voila, a list of stores like Best Buy and Home Depot within a few miles of your home that sell dryers. You can drill down … Continue reading →

The general consensus among my Super Bowl watching group was that the ads this year were “pretty lame” and I’d have to agree with that assessment. My quick review of the best and the worst ads (and I’m judging this based on how memorable they were and whether I think they will have any positive impact on the company’s actual SALES) is below. As I reviewed the list I realized that the list of the “best” in my mind is a list of just one ad. The worst … Continue reading →

Here’s a list of nine companies (top ten lists are so passe) that you should check out if you are into online advertising. Editor’s note: I’ve tried to avoid listing companies founded by friends, but a couple of these sort of break that rule. Nonetheless, I truly believe that each of these companies will have a significant impact on online advertising in the next two to three years. In alphabetical order: AdChemy: Next gen online lead generation. Like an Azoogle or Adteractive, but with an intense focus on … Continue reading →