Creative

For some time, Pandigital has made digital photo frames. Soon it will combine this function with an HDTV and a digital cookbook to create the ultimate kitchen-based gadget. The 15 inch screen will display programs, photos, and even recipes. But I'm thinking down the road. With such a device hooked up to the internet, imagine preparing a tuna casserole recipe and getting in-recipe ads for Starkist and Campbell's mushroom soup. I don't know if Pandigital is thinking this way, but it should be.

Commenting for iMedia Connection, Chris Autry suggests that it's time to rethink online display ads -- a "push" format that guarantees a lot of potential viewers won't welcome them. What does offer promise, he suggests, are what we call widgets, but what he calls "advertising as applications." That's an insightful encapsulation for a "pull" ad format that offers consumers value they associate with the advertising brand.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau's latest initiative is to define digital video ad formats. It has released its Guidelines and Best Practices document for public comment, covering video ads both linear and non-, as well as companion ads. For a rare opportunity to perhaps influence a meaningful standards debate, check out the draft at IAB.net. Embrace your Web 2.0 self and comment!

Funny how many engagement debates settle themselves with bribery. The Guinness adult beverage site has rolled out an advergame called "The Legend of the Golden Domino." You watch video clips to find clues, which you use to find codes, which in turn unlock dominoes that release video clips -- which you can ultimately assemble into a finished Guinness ad. If you succeed you can win a solid gold domino.

If businesses are to be successful in getting people to do what they want them to do through the implementation of Web commercials, they will need to learn that success ultimately depends on an understanding of the psychological influences behind the four communication elements that constitute effective Web-presentations: scenario, sight, sound, and score.

Cisco seems to be showing up in all kinds of entertainment mediums, and is bringing digital signage to the forefront when advertising or doing product placement in those mediums. In addition to the digital signage placement in the video game Rainbow Six Vegas 2, Cisco is also working closely with major networks such as CBS, FOX and NBC to integrate its products into TV shows, such as Heroes and CSI.

Many marketers just don't trust online advertising media, causing a large proportion to avoid online marketing altogether. Almost 70% of marketers surveyed for The Fournaise Marketing Group's Global Marketing Effectiveness Report said they were unsure if they got what they paid for from online media. They were also suspicious of reports from media owners, including any traffic metrics provided.