where amiel's footprints stopped

this is the spot where amiel alcantara died. it is now marked with flowers and lit candles.
read more about it here: http://wawam.wordpress.com/

prayers for Amiel Alcantara, grade 4 student, ateneo de manila grade school

amiel alcantara is a grade 4 student at the ateneo de manila grade school. he died at the hospital today after a vehicular accident at the ateneo campus.

may we please ask for prayers for amiel from the readers of WAWAM!

read more about it here: http://wawam.wordpress.com/

super bowl XLIII (2009) tv ads : e-trade babies

babies usually do it for ads. e-trade has done babies before. while this is cute, kinda, don't know if it really works. it's not like this is the world's cutest baby tv ad. that is what it needs to take to make this baby tv ad work well at the super bowl.

21st (2009) Philippine Advertising Congress : November 18 to 21, 2009

double click image for larger view

super bowl XLIII (2009) tv ads : doritos score big

this is one the top ads during the super bowl. what makes it more interesting is that madison avenue didn't make them.

Dallas marketer scores Super Bowl winner with Doritos ad contest

Andrew Robinson underestimated the power of America's imagination, and he and his client couldn't be happier with this miscalculation.


The 50-year-old senior vice president of the Marketing Arm created a contest three years ago in which ordinary Joes submit homemade commercials for Doritos. The top entries air during the Super Bowl.

Robinson and his team suggested a twist for 2009: Frito-Lay would pay a million-dollar bonus prize if a "Crash the Super Bowl" ad was voted the most popular ad during the big game.

That would mean dethroning Budweiser, the decadelong king of USA Today 's Ad Meter, which monitors the responses of a focus group to ads aired during the Super Bowl.

Robinson – and Frito-Lay – never imagined that a homemade ad would beat the high-paid minds of Madison Avenue.

Two self-described "nobodies from nowhere" did.

"It's absolutely the best million dollars we've ever spent," says Frito-Lay spokesman Chris Kuechenmeister. "Anybody here would tell you that."

Joe and Dave Herbert, unemployed 30-something brothers from Batesville, Ind., made marketing history with a funky 30-second spot called "Free Doritos!"

It featured a Dilbert-looking guy predicting free Doritos for the office, then shattering a vending machine with a crystal ball (really a snow globe).

The brothers spent $2,000 – mostly for food for the crew and five panes of glass – to beat out 51 high-dollar contenders for Ad Meter's most-liked spot.

Other indications that it won viewers' attention: More TiVo customers replayed the Doritos snow globe ad than they did Steelers linebacker James Harrison's 100-yard dash for the end zone. Doritos got the biggest image boost in a Super Bowl research survey by comScore. And the ad won YouTube's Ad Blitz 2009.

The going rate for big-game airtime was $3 million for a half-minute, so this was no small gamble on Frito-Lay's part.

It also paid for the second-place finisher, "Power of the Crunch," to get 30 seconds of fame. A guy eating Doritos magically causes a beautiful woman's clothing to fly off, an ATM to dispense a flurry of money and a policeman to turn into a small monkey. When his Doritos bag is empty, the guy gets hit by a bus.

That spot finished fifth.

Competing with pros

"We've always been blown away with the creativity and the passion of Doritos fans," says Kuechenmeister. "They showed this year that they can compete with the best in the business."

The Marketing Arm handles all of Frito-Lay's promotional advertising, Robinson says. Crash the Super Bowl is an evolution of his initial work on the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl that began in 1995.

Back then, it was just him. Today, nearly 60 agency staffers are assigned to Frito-Lay's account. Nearly a dozen worked on this year's contest.

Robinson came up with the quirky campaign in 2006 as a way to engage Doritos' core consumer – young males. It's open to everyone, but most of the entries – and all of the finalists – were submitted by men.

Millennial guys – those under 28 – instantly shun advertising that even hints of marketing mind control, says Robinson, the father of three sons ages 7 to 19.

"They live in this hyper-life. They have their iPods on. They're doing IM and watching TV while doing their homework." Robinson says, sitting in a Marketing Arm conference room in downtown Dallas.

"What better way to show your authenticity than to provide the opportunity to produce your own commercial and have it aired on the biggest advertising stage of the year?"

But when he presented the idea to Frito-Lay, almost everyone was taken aback. They asked Robinson if he really thought any of the commercials would be worth millions to air. He confidently assured them that creative geniuses were just waiting to be discovered.

"In reality, I had no clue," Robinson says.

When the "really God-awful" entries started rolling in, Robinson was certain his agency would be fired. "But slowly, as we drew closer to the deadline, they got better and better."

Expectations exceeded

That first year, Marketing Arm winnowed 1,000 entries into 20 potential finalists. The Doritos brand team picked five that were put on a Web site for public vote.

"We were trying to manage expectations," Robinson says. "No matter what anyone says, you're advertising in the Super Bowl, and you're worried about that Ad Meter. Someone has to finish last. And you hope to God it's not you."

For the first and second years of the contest, Frito-Lay's top online vote-getters finished fourth.

"The mojo on the brand started to come back," he says. "It's been kicking butt since then."

In the months ahead, the two Super Bowl ads and the other three finalists will air as part of a national campaign, Kuechenmeister says.

Planning for next year will start in April or May, Robinson says. "This is not official, but the nice thing about finishing No. 1 is it sets up pretty easily as 'defending the crown.' "

As for a repeat of the $1 million bonus, both Robinson and Kuechenmeister say we'll just have to stay tuned.

source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/bus/columnists/chall/stories/DN-Hall_11bus.ART.State.Edition1.4bcc92e.html

memo to microsoft: how to make windows 7 succeed

recent news reports says microsoft has hired a vice president whose task is to set up retail stores for microsoft. first time i read it, i imagined it would be a store full of windows OS and windows office. that could be a real boring retail store. they can of course add their gadgets, but considering their gadgets are really going nowhere, it would by logical inference a store full of boxes and boxes of windows OS and windows office.

"The purpose of opening these stores is to create deeper engagement with consumers and continue to learn firsthand about what they want and how they buy," Microsoft said in a statement.

Microsoft indicated that it wants to use the stores as a platform to hawk its forthcoming Windows 7 operating system. "This is an exciting time with our strong lineup of upcoming product releases including Windows 7 and new releases of Windows Live and Windows Mobile," said Kevin Turner, the company's chief operating officer, in a statement.

source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h_wsZ3ujT_uUqmXumH3ChOsGGcCAD96AE3NO0


"I am excited about helping consumers make more informed decisions about their PC and software purchases," Porter said in a news release, which added that his first task would be to decide when, where and how to open the Microsoft-branded stores.


source: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-microsoft14-2009feb14,0,6850234.story

the second paragraph, above, is what i am referring to - boxes upon boxes of windows 7, windows live and windows mobile. sounds exciting.

we don't know that the details are and we also don't how it will be exactly. the guy they hired for the job will only report middle of this week, but it looks like the last paragraph, above is the real reason for microsoft's venturing into retail stores - they want to give potential buyers of windows 7 a venue where they can experience windows 7.

that means the retail store is a marketing tool for them. it's not meant to make them any money, perhaps contribute slightly to building market share but its really more to give consumers a chance to get some positive experience on windows 7. people will see windows 7 operate well inside a controlled environment with the assistance of a very biased sales clerk.

building equity, in this case recovering a destroyed brand equity is a good thing to do, its what microsoft needs to do now. and doing it via the retail stores can be a viable thing to do, but is it the smartest way to do it?

we think there is a much better way of doing this - microsoft should GIVE AWAY FOR FREE their windows 7 software to all vista users.


why will that work?

• what ails misrosoft now is the product failure vista. the failed vista has caused damage to microsoft's brand image. windows 7 is supposed to remove the pain of vista from the minds of consumers and the brand. giving away windows 7 for all vista users does that in one full sweep.
• the above will certainly generate a lot of goodwill among vista users who will benefit from the miracle of windows 7. this will square things out with "disappointed" vista users.
• they should do this a few months ahead of the formal launch of vista to give vista users who now use windows 7 time to enjoy and heap praises on windows 7.
• one of the selling points of windows 7 is that it is a much better vista, this will prove that once and for all. there is no better testimonial from a former vista user heaping praises for windows 7. it will totally eradicate the fear and questions on exactly how good windows 7 is. you will now have an army of endorsers of windows 7.
• the business cost will be high but i don't think it will be as high as setting up retail stores across america and the rest of the globe. giving away windows 7 is a one shot deal, something you can do in a couple of months, retail stores is a forever thing. the cost of giving windows 7 away free to vista users will be much cheaper in the long run. it is also much less complicated.
• the real target market of windows 7 are actually the users of XP who did not switch to vista and new users. XP users still account for a large percentage of the market, 60%. they did not switch to vista because they got spooked by vista. we think the most effective way to convince XP users to switch to windows 7 is to get vista users to convince them that windows 7 is not vista and is a much better product.
• if microsoft does this, they need to take stock and prepare for what they are facing : vista users will be over-critical and over-sensitive, so microsoft need to double-up and triple-up customer service when vista users start calling to ask for help on windows 7. microsoft do not want complaints to languish and keep boiling over. they need to address them in a much faster fashion than they have done it before. this needs to be industry leading kind of customer service. remember that thinking is these vista users will be next army of endorsers for windows 7
• rather spend a lot of money on the retail stores, they should just put all of it on advertising. and these converted vista users could be source of some great materials for windows 7 ads and consistent with what they are running now. it shouldn't be what they have know, but they can find a way to make a good transition to new material coming from where they are now.
• an army of satisfied ex-vista users will be a much more potent and effective than all the retail stores microsoft will be able to put up in selling windows 7.

this idea in one stroke removes the biggest pain and smudge on microsoft's brand image - it removes from the face of the earth the failed vista. at the same time microsoft makes nice with the legions of vista users who felt bad they got trapped into it. and if windows 7 is that good, then microsoft will automatically have a whole army of endorsers for windows 7.

the above will work on the assumption that windows 7 is a great as what microsoft is saying it is - that it does not have the porblems of vista and that it performs much better than vista and XP. if they are not sure of any of those, they should not do it then. in fact, they probably postpone thee luanch of windows 7 until they get it to that level.

10 Ways Microsoft's Retail Stores Will Differ From Apple Stores

just too good not to publish here:
(source: http://www.pcworld.com/article/159521/10_ways_microsofts_retail_stores_will_differ_from_apple_stores.html)


10 Ways Microsoft's Retail Stores Will Differ From Apple Stores

Brennon Slattery, PC World


Microsoft announced plans to open retail stores, hoping to boost visibility of many of its products and its brand. The move seems to be an effort to mimic the success that Apple has had with its retail stores. The news is just too tempting not to have some fun with. So here are some yet-to-be-officially-revealed details about the Microsoft stores.


1) Instead of Apple's sheer walls of glass, Microsoft's stores will have brushed steel walls dotted with holes -- reminiscent of Windows security.

2) The store will have six different entrances: Starter, Basic, Premium, Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate. While all six doors will lead into the same store, the Ultimate door requires a fee of $100 for no apparent reason.

3) Instead of a "Genius Bar" (as Apple provides) Microsoft will offer an Excuse Bar. It will be staffed by Microsofties trained in the art of evading questions, directing you to complicated and obscure fixes, and explaining it's a problem with the hardware -- not a software bug.

4) The Windows Genuine Advantage team will run storefront security, assuming everybody is a thief until they can prove otherwise.

5) Store hours are undetermined. At any given time the store mysteriously shuts down instantaneously for no apparent reason. (No word yet on what happens to customers inside).

6) Stores will be named Microsoft Live Retail Store with PC Services for Digital Lifestyle Enthusiasts.

7) Fashioned after Microsoft's User Account Control (UAC) in Vista, sales personnel will ask you whether you're positive you want to purchase something at least twice.

8) Xbox 360 section of the store will be organized in a ring -- which will inexplicably go red occasionally.

9) DreamWorks will design a scary in-store theme park ride called "blue screen of death."

10) Store emergency exits will be unlocked at all times so people can get in anytime they want even if the front doors are locked.

american idol season 8 top 36 changed to respect the american psyche

there is a palpable change in the way they are doing season 8 auditions of american idol. and we think this change was done to be more in-synch with american sentiments. american idol, down the top 36 is more upbeat with a significantly higher number of good and positive sequences than negative ones. we are sure there have been as many sad and unhappy scenes like before but the show has chosen to be more on the happy side this season.

we think they did that to be more respectful of american sentiments where there are simply too many bad news all around them with all the job losses and the bad economic news that appear on american tv and press almost on a daily basis.

this is one time when america can use more good news than bad and american idol is being on that side of the page. it's an excellent decision. very well done for american idol.

chris brown's wrigley doublemint gum ad we won't see for awhile

with the recent event with his girlfriend rihanna, the good boy image of chris brown is on a tailspin. and with that goes endorsement deals with consumer products. first up, well actually down or at least on hold is wrigley doublemint gum which announced they will put on hold airing of the chris brown tv commercial.

it's a very well made ad, specially from the point of view of brand it advertises. in this celebrity endorsement ad, the product, wrigley doublemint gum is the star of the ad. you see the brand in almost all shots in the ad, the idea of the new slim pack which is the point of the ad comes across very well. that is shown not only through it's easy ability to be flipped around but also at the end of the ad where it easily fit inside chris brown's back pocket.

production values are great. it actually reminds us of many of the spectacular nike ads - just the star endorser, action shots, good lighting and good moves. the green halo/lighting reminds us very as an ad for wirgley.

it could have used a much better song with a more uplifting melody but that's really a minor complaint. the dance moves, something chris brown is also know for, compensated for the could have been better song.

but this is on hold for now. we wonder if many more will be. looks like chris brown simply had to much to chew. (reports from TMZ.com says girlfriend rihanna had bite marks on her. pun intended.)

the man that "doing the right thing" made a hero - reunion of flight 1549 passengers

we really can't have enough of this hero. the cbs' 60 Minutes  is a must see for everyone.



read other posts on chesley sullenberger here : http://the-wawam-file.blogspot.com/2009/01/hudson-river-miracle-miracle-doing.html

oops! starbucks' world domination push put on hold

we recently read that starbucks in the US are in the process of closing a few hundred stores. we think starbucks' store location strategy has always been defined as Broadstreet corner Mainstreet, so now with these store closings, they'll probably have less broadstreet than before.

but that wasn't just the news that got us to think their world domination push has been put on hold. now here is this consumer report where starbucks did not even figure among the top regular coffees in a taste test. argh! argh!

Consumer Reports Picks the Best Cup o' Brew

Our top-rated Colombian coffee is also a CR Best Buy
By ConsumerReports.org

Folgers, Maxwell House, and Starbucks are America's best-selling ground coffees. But all three were iced by Eight O'Clock Colombian coffee in our taste tests. As for Starbucks, it didn't even place among the top regular coffees and trailed among decafs.


Our tests of 19 coffees also show that some of the best cost the least. At about $6 per pound, Eight O'Clock costs less than half the price of Gloria Jean's, Peet's, and other more expensive brands.

Like your joe without all the caffeine? Dunkin' Donuts and Millstone were the front runners among the decafs. But Folgers Gourmet Selection Lively Colombian came in close behind and costs up to $3 less per pound. But even the best decaffeinated coffees couldn't match the best regular brews in our taste tests.

read in full here: http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/204/consumer-reports-picks-the-best-cup-o-brew;_ylt=Aoxh7AIt.RiVjlRMWC8UVQDWn414

what? starbucks not good tasting! we are so shocked now that we need coffee.....

manny villar's "itik" tv ad - a good lesson in continuity errors, itik or no itik

on january 26, 2009, we posted at 2010 presidentiables villar's ad at youtube that had a continuity error - villar at the middle of the ad was shown wiping his dirty hand on his shirt but at the end of the ad, villar's shirt turned miraculously clean. continuity is a very basic production and editing watch out. committing it is a mortal sin.

this version has the continuity error and is proof of what can happen if you don't do a comprehensive and exhaustive pre-production meeting.



they have now revised the ad to correct the continuity error. read about it here : http://2010presidentiables.wordpress.com/

windows 7 originally had 7 versions, took out 1 to simplify, now 6 versions

what was microsoft thinking? i bet they originally had 7 SKUs of windows 7, then they decided to cut it by one, so now they will sell 6 SKUs of windows 7.

thought they had learned their lesson with vista? one of the complaints on vista was they had too many versions that consumers found it difficult and confusing to choose what is best for them.

we also thought microsoft will make an effort to recover from the vista failure and do better. looks like they also forgot that part.

of course, the idea behind proliferation of SKUs is aside from wanting to confuse consumers, it allows them to sell some versions at a premium and therefore bigger profits. profits versus consumer confusion? we know which one won here.

IF they need to have several SKUs, then we think all they need are 3 versions : (1) starter edition for netbooks, (2) premium version for everyone and (3) professional/enterprise/business would be the last.

the simpler, less number but feature packed versions is also a way to make amends, make peace with the consumers they angered and frustrated with the failed vista.

super bowl XLIII (200) tv ads: pepsi refresh, my memory

i don't get this ad. is this supposed to be like an intro to pepsi's new logo and new thinking? the jingle is about the new generation but it has bob dylan in it who very few of the youth, who we assume is pepsi's target market, know about. wil i. am is there, they know him but what is the point of being sentimental when only a portion of the audience can relate to? sentimentality works with the old, but not the youth.

the coke ad that started the super bowl tradition

Gold Derby
By Tom O'Neil
Los Angeles Times

Super Bowl ads draw almost as much attention as the game itself, and this year was no exception. After all, the right ad can make a lasting impression. In 1980, the Pittsburgh Steelers were making their fourth Super Bowl appearance, and while that was memorable enough, a first-quarter ad featuring their defensive tackle — "Mean" Joe Greene — became an instant classic. The spot featured a limping Greene coming off the field and given a Coke by a young boy who is rewarded with an unexpected smile and the player's game jersey.

The commercial went on to win a Clio Award— advertising's highest honor — and even spawned a TV movie. And that 60-second spot launched a Super Bowl tradition. Four years later, the Apple ad depicting "1984" come to life raised the bar even higher. Now, with the eligibility period for the upcoming Clio Awards extended, which if any of the 2009 ads will make the grade?

read in full here: http://goldderby.latimes.com/awards_goldderby/2009/02/could-super-bow.html

super bowl XLIII (2009) ads : bud light's joke during a meeting

the intensity and passion that they have on their bud light is very much like what security officers have at airports where if you so much as say the word "bomb" inside an airport or inside an airplane, security officers will certainly arrest you and kick you out of the plane or the airport.

that is what this ad is trying to say. we all know it's hyperbole at the extreme, but we buy into the story and we like it.

super bowl XLIII (2009) ads : bud light's conan o'brien's sweden tv ad

hilarious! conan is a great fit for this. they could have made the conan routine just a bit more edgy but it's ok the ad got out a laugh from us. beer is about light moments and just silly fun. this ad fits very well into that brand character.

Super Bowl XLIII (2009) ads sold out, NBC makes $208 Million

we are of the view that even in times of economic crisis such as the one we are having one, spending in advertising and marketing is very much needed. in fact, we argue that it is in times like these that brands need marketing and advertising the most.

the only difference between now and during times of plenty is that you need to be much more selective in what you do. and more importantly, if you decide to do something, make sure it works. or at least your confidence at success is extremely high.

NBC being able to sell out all their ads, worth $208 Million, at $3 Million per 30 second spot is perhaps one of the more eloquent statement that demonstrates the virtue of our position.

we will be posting in the next days what we think advertisers should do and how to do advertising in these times of economic uncertainty.

NBC Sells Out Super Bowl Ads

TAMPA, Fla.--NBC has announced that it has sold all of its available ad spots for the network's Super Bowl telecast Sunday.

The network generated a record $206 million in advertising revenue for the game telecast and $261 million for the entire day, NBC announced."These advertising milestones show the power of the NFL brand and the strength of the Super Bowl as a TV property in this economic climate," Jeff Zucker, the president and CEO of NBC Universal, said in a written statement released by the network.

"The Super Bowl has become one of our country's biggest holidays, a uniquely American day, and advertisers recognized the value in being a part of it, as their commercials are nearly as big a part of the day as the football itself. This is an extraordinary story for NBC against the backdrop of this economy."NBC sold 69 ad spots for the game telecast, according to a network spokesman.

http://views.washingtonpost.com/theleague/nflnewsfeed/2009/01/nbc-sells-out-super-bowl-ads.html?hpid=topnews