Archive
Text messaging turns 19: A timeline from Tatango
Tatango, a Seattle-based SMS marketing company, has put together a nifty timeline that looks at key moments in the history of text messaging. Of particular note: texting’s role in American Idol season 2 in 2003 and lewd texts that Brett Favre admitted sending to reporter Jenn Sterger.
Source: Tatango SMS Marketing
Toyota Venza girl does an ad for McRib
ED’S NOTE: This post reflects my interest in advertising as a marketing student. The opinions expressed here are mine and in no way reflect the opinions of my employers.
UPDATE 8-12-12:Toyota Venza girl is angry about Triscuits.
UPDATE 11-03-2011: Like the ad?
Show Allyn Rachel the love on her Facebook page.
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I think I’m going to change the name of this blog to the Allyn Rachel & Other Stuff Blog. She’s all you people want to read about this year!
J’s Pages commenter Sarahbelle tipped me off that the “Toyota Venza girl” is also featured in the new commercial for the McRib, another bewildering food marketing success.
The McRib ad is a clever bid for mobile users, much like the new eBay ads. In the McRib spot, newlyweds Rachel and a Steve Zahn lookalike are about to embark on their honeymoon when he gets a text that the McRib is back! (“I’m gonna miss it!”)
I married a 14-year-old!
~ Allyn Rachel,
as McRib Bride
The ad does a great job of showing that all the characters have obeyed McDonald’s call-to-action for mobile users: “Get the word out: McRib is back!”
And it’s worth noting the spot fails to answer the question: What the hell is a McRib?
At the time of this writing, this HD version had 379 views, the SD version 2,546. There were 8 likes, 1 dislikes and 7 comments.
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See more of Allyn Rachel’s work on YouTube, Twitter, this blog and other Web 2.0 outlets.
UPDATE 10-27-2011: Allyn Rachel on Twitter
EARLIER:Toyota Venza Girl on MSN
EARLIER: Toyota Venza Girl on Yahoo!
EARLIER: More on the girl in Toyota Venza commercial
EVEN EARLIER: Toyota Venza: ‘That’s not a real puppy’
Amazon’s new Fire heats up tablet race
Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) unveiled the Kindle Fire on Wednesday, a 7-inch tablet that The Wall Street Journal says could be Apple’s “biggest” challenger to the almighty iPad. 
Much like iPad’s Android competitors, the Kindle Fire’s price is sure to compel consumers to give it a second look: It’s priced at an attractive $199; the cheapest iPad2 is $499.
The Kindle Fire was just part of Amazon’s growing Kindle family: Also announced were a lighter, cheaper Kindle ($79), the Kindle Touch ($99) and the Kindle Touch 3G ($149). Read the full news release about the Kindle family here.
The Amazon Kindle Fire at a glance:
- Weight: 14.6 ounces (413 grams)
- Size: 7.5″ x 4.7″ x 0.45″ (190 mm x 120 mm x 11.4 mm)
- 1024 x 600P resolution at 169PPI
- 8GB on-board memory
- Battery Life: Up to 8 hours of reading or 7.5 hours of video playback, with wireless off.
- Full charge in approx. 4 hours
- Free cloud storage for all Amazon content
- Audio: 3.5 mm stereo audio jack, top-mounted stereo speakers
- Wi-Fi: 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, or 802.1X standard
- USB 2.0 port (micro-B connector)
- Warranty and service: 1 year limited
- Supported formats: Kindle (AZW), TXT, PDF, unprotected MOBI, PRC natively, Audible (Audible Enhanced (AA, AAX)), DOC, DOCX, JPEG, GIF, PNG, BMP, non-DRM AAC, MP3, MIDI, OGG, WAV, MP4, VP8
EARLIER: Acer Iconia A500: A honey-sweet alternative to iPad? ~J’s Pages, May 26
EARLIER: A honey-sweet alternative to the Xoom? ~ J’s Pages, April 9
eBay polishes its new act in ‘Salon’ commercial
ED’S NOTE: The commentary here reflects my interest in advertising as a marketing student. No products, services or agencies are endorsed. The opinions expressed here are mine and in no way reflect the opinions of my employers.
Not long after I wrote about the Toyota Venza Girl in the eBay “Blue Jeans” commercial, I caught another ad from the “When it’s on your mind, it’s on eBay” campaign. Even after I write about an advertising strategy, I like to find commercials “in the wild.” I have a very short attention span, and if a TV ad catches my attention as I’m studying/doing laundry/cleaning/blogging while half-watching a show I recorded, that tells me other people are likely to be noticing, too.
(Post continues after video.)
She was here once. She had toes like a sloth.
~ Snarky pedicurist on tabloid celebrity in eBay commercial
This time, we the consumer get to eavesdrop on 20somethings as they get their weekly mani/pedis in “Salon,” a 30-second spot with an ADHD-inspired script that shows how quickly we can fall in love with those “amazing shoes” we see in US Weekly or Talentless Bimbos Daily or whatever rag we’re force-fed while strapped to a chair at a salon. Our heroine — the targeted “shopping enthusiast” — uses her eBay app to find “this heel” that is “so fabulous!” (“Mine! Look at that!”) She was fast with the swipe, and no sooner had we found out Maui’s mom built a yacht lake house for her pug, our mobile shopper had purchased what was on her mind: the amazing shoes she saw just seconds ago in the tabloid.
For readers who didn’t catch the last post, the “When it’s on your mind, it’s on eBay” campaign” is designed to expand the ecommerce giant’s footprint in mobile commerce, a daunting task for a company seen primarily as an auction marketplace. With the “Buy It New. Buy It Now” call to action, eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) urges shoppers to take advantage of the 62% of 200 million live listings that are “fixed price,” and the 70% of those products that are new. (Like the new jeans that actress Allyn Rachel orders in the “Blue Jeans” commercial.)
According to the press release announcing the campaign, eBay is targeting the “shopping enthusiasts,” the category of shopper who are most likely to shop using mobile devices. The first step in reaching those shoppers is through legacy media: Six 30-second TV commercials began airing Sept. 14 on national cable network shows including Top Gear, SportsCenter,Tosh.0, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Top Chef and The Rachel Zoe Project – about the time Googlers started hitting this site looking for more information about the actress in the “Blue Jeans” ad.
At the time of this writing, this “Salon” clip (uploaded Sept. 13, 2011, on YouTube) had 12,336 views, 39 likes and 36 dislikes. A fan’s comments tipped me off to the name of the woman playing the “shopping enthusiast.” She is Kestrin Pantera, an actress, producer and voice-over artist who has a band and studies at the Groundlings. You can read more about her on IMDB.
About the eBay YouTube Channel
(As of Sept. 26, 2011)
- Channel Views: 185,968
- Total Upload Views: 1,724,434
- Joined: Oct. 30, 2005
- Subscribers: 1,272
AGENCY: Venables Bell & Partners, the folks who convinced us that Slim Jims are “mantastic!”
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EARLIER: Toyota Venza Girl in eBay ‘Blue Jeans’ ad
EVEN EARLIER: Toyota Venza: ‘That’s not a real puppy’
FLASHBACK: JUST IN: Toyota Venza girl does an ad for eBay
UPDATE 8-12-12: Allyn Rachel, aka the Toyota Venza girl, is angry about Triscuits.
UPDATE 11-03-2011: Like the ad? Show Allyn Rachel the love on her Facebook page.
ED’S NOTE: This post reflects my interest in advertising as a marketing student. The opinions expressed here are mine and in no way reflect the opinions of my employers.
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UPDATED with details 9-20-2011
Googlers have been hitting this site to see whether the “Toyota Venza girl” is also featured in the recent eBay commercial entitled “Blue Jeans.”
She is — as you can see here. I don’t have any information about this clip right now, but I’ll see what I can dig up. She plays Susie, the daughter with the super hip mobile device iPad.
(Post continues after video.)
This commercial is part of eBay’s “When it’s on your mind, it’s on eBay” campaign designed to expand the ecommerce giant’s footprint in mobile commerce, a daunting task for a company seen primarily as an auction marketplace. With the “Buy It New, Buy It Now” call to action, eBay urges shoppers to take advantage of the 62% of 200 million live listings that are “fixed price,” and the 70% of those products that are new. (Like the new jeans that actress Allyn Rachel orders in the commercial.)
According to the press release announcing the campaign, eBay is targeting the “shopping enthusiasts,” the category of shopper who are most likely to shop using mobile devices. The first step in reaching those shoppers is through legacy media: Six 30-second TV commercials began airing Sept. 14 on national cable network shows including Top Gear, SportsCenter, Tosh.0, The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Top Chef and The Rachel Zoe Project — about the time Googlers started hitting this site looking for more information about the actress and the “Blue Jeans” ad.
At the time of this update writing, this YouTube video (posted Sept. 17) had 1,271 379 views, 3 1 likes and 0 dislikes.
AGENCY: Venables Bell & Partners, the folks who convinced us that Slim Jims are “mantastic!”
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See more of Allyn Rachel’s work on YouTube, Twitter, this blog and other Web 2.0 outlets.
UPDATE 10-27-2011: Ally Rachel on Twitter
EARLIER:Toyota Venza Girl on MSN
EARLIER: Toyota Venza Girl on Yahoo!
EARLIER: More on the girl in Toyota Venza commercial
EVEN EARLIER: Toyota Venza: ‘That’s not a real puppy’
RELATED: How Lady Gaga helped me get off Facebook
Alexander Calder: Mobile artist — no, not for Apple
Today’s Google Doodle honors mobile artist Alexander Calder. I know the name, I’ve seen the art, but when I read “mobile” these days, I think of portability — as in personal tech. (“Where can I take this?”) Ah, but there is another definition.
Per Webster’s New World Dictionary:
mobile — n. a piece of abstract art that aims to depict movement, as by an arrangement of thin forms, rings, etc. suspended and set in movement by air currents.
Calder (b. July 22, 1898) is the American sculptor credited with inventing mobile sculptures, such as those shown in the National Gallery of Art. You can learn more about his life and work here, at the Calder Foundation website.
UPDATE: PC Mag says the Calder doodle is the first designed in HTML5. If you’re using Firefox or Chrome, you can change the doodle’s movement.
EARLIER: Google honors choreographer Martha Graham
What are you toting? Tablets vs. e-Readers
The percentage of U.S. adults with e-readers doubled between November and May, from 6% to 12%, according to a new study from the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Interestingly, tablet usage among adult users isn’t growing as fast.
Spotted on a trolley
Mobility means different things to different people. You can’t charge an iPhone with this.
Twitter grows up — sort of
Pew Internet & American Life Project has released a great report that looks at Twitter’s expanding adult user base: 13% of adult Internet users are on Twitter! And they’re not just “younger adults.” Check out the jumps for these groups from November 2010 to May 2011.
Also of note: 95% of Twitter users polled own a mobile phone, and 54% of those users access Twitter on their personal device.
Extra! Extra! Business Insider has Windows 8 pics for tablets
Click the link.
Business Insider has pics of Windows 8 for tablets. Headline declares it "pretty cool." http://t.co/jmZMAqP (via @alleyinsider)—
Jacqui Barrineau (@JBnotes) June 02, 2011
Who’s J?
I am Jane Q. Public: consumer and citizen. As I go, so goes the nation. Sometimes.
(But really, click the link.)
At work
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No, really, who’s J?
Jacqui Barrineau
Editor. Writer. Consultant.
I'm an editor and writer with certifications in public relations and e-Commerce. I also have a background in information technology. (In another life, I was a systems analyst.)
When I'm not editing copy for USA TODAY, I write an occasional short story or poem. My work has appeared in Calliope and the feminist journal So to Speak, and I'm a regular flash-fiction contributor to Paragraph Planet and Doorknobs & Bodypaint. Also on occasion, I interview editors for The Review Review, a comprehensive guide to literary journals and the people who produce them.
My points-of-view are collected on such esteemed outlets as Wordpress, Facebook and Twitter. The views expressed here and elsewhere are mine, not my employers'.
I live in the suburbs of Washington, D.C., with my husband, Trey, our Shetland Sheepdog, and two unhelpful-but-funny cats.
