Most Creative Band. Ever.

When it comes to marketing and creating buzz, Nine Inch Nails know what they are doing. It was confirmed today that they will be releasing their own iPhone application. They will be releasing a custom version of "Tap Tap Revenge" which is basically an iPhone version of Guitar Hero.

This adds another creative marketing tactic to their list. Taking a look back in time, they have had some remarkable marketing campaigns. My favorite has to be the release of Year Zero, which involved leaving USB drives with new tracks in restrooms of clubs.

Why do their campaigns work?

1. Dedicated fan base
2. Creative tactics
3. Most important: They get fans involved. They are not just pushing a CD on their fans. They get them involved in the process and to contribute their input. This is something more companies need to do. You will be a lot more effective if you engage in a conversation, rather than just yelling your slogan.

Advertising vs. PR

With the daily increase in ads that I see and the news of NBC locking up over $1 billion in ad revenue for the Olympics, it got me thinking -- is advertising worth it?

Many ad campaigns have generated a considerable amount of public appeal, but they fail to do the one thing they are supposed to: increase sales.

Some notable campaigns:

- Got Milk campaign. Hugely popular and famous campaign. Did milk sales increase? Nope. They continued to fall year after year since the campaign.

- Yo quiero Taco Bell. Remember that campaign with the dog? Massively popular and parodied, but it didn't increase sales. The agency behind the ad campaign was also fired.

- Whassup? Arguably one of the most popular ad campaigns in the last 20 years, but sales of Budweiser have been declining steadily. They went from 50 million barrels in 1990 to less than 35 million in 2000. Bud Light has been doing well without the Whaasup campaign.

I'm not saying that advertising is never effective, but I believe it is widely overspent and often irresponsibly. Advertising should be used to defend a brand and keep it relevant.

PR should be used to build the brand. Often times companies try to build a brand/product through advertising alone.

More thoughts on this to come. For a more in-depth look at advertising and PR, check out this great book.

Publicity Stunt, Literally

Michael Ian Black, for those of you who don’t know, is a commentator on “I Love the ‘90s”, as well one of three stars on the cancelled Comedy Central show “Stella”. He now contributes to McSweeney’s occasionally, and is working on a book. (His salami article is my favorite.)

In a publicity stunt, he’s trying to fight noted blogger Tucker Max, who has just published the most hideous movie script ever (highlights can be found on Gawker). Not exactly the new blogger turned Juno writer that Diablo Cody was. Anyway,apparently David Sedaris was Black's first choice, which seems kind of unfair, since he’s like, you know, sixty. Tucker Max accepted, and I’m pretty sure he’ll win, despite the fact that he promised to show up smashed drunk. But hey, you never know.

Kids these days!

The Olympics on YouTube

YouTube will be streaming clips of the Olympics to 77 countries.

This is be a nice feature, considering the major time difference between China and other parts of the world.

Pabst Blue Ribbon: The Hippest Beer

Rob Walker's new book "Buying In" is definitely on my short list of what to read next. The New York Times just ran an article on it, and in between sentences bemoaning capitalism there was some pretty great story.

Pabst Blue Ribbon, the beer of hipsters, is apparently hip thanks to some brilliant marketing. When PBR started failing, there was one market that continued to grow: the Pacific Northwest. Hipsters in Portland and Seattle liked the idea of PBR as the working-class beer, the one that doesn't care about reputation. Marketing directors took that idea and ran with it; they began sponsoring small art shows, book readings, etc. without any signage. Providing tons of free beer and footing the bill paid off; now the company is surging as an independent, small label that doesn't care about rep. This reputation is incidentally totally inaccurate, they're actually a division of Miller and obsessed with marketing, but whatever. It sells. The most ridiculous part is that some kid got a PBR logo tattooed on his back. Something tells me that's going to be a source of regret someday.

Viral Marketing Monster?

The Montauk Monster story was posted by Gawker a few days ago. The tipster, along with several witnesses, found a scary-looking creature washed up on the shore near a government animal testing facility. Gawker projects it's viral marketing, which begs the question, for what!? Is monster.com really hurting that badly for hits?

Also, I feel kind of bad for this little guy. Sure, he's ugly, but why are we calling him a monster? Maybe he has a great personality underneath it all.