Our 101st post on hookorsink.com, the newest and coolest kid in the marketing discussion world, will be more of an interaction. As of January 2007 Apple commands a 72.7% market dominance in the mp3 player world. Sandisk comes in second and Microsoft’s Zune is a distant third. While Apple still gets consumers to look at their product and think “what CAN it do” instead of “what CAN’T it do” (like they do with Microsoft) how do you create a competitor?

Seriously, this is an interaction. What are your thoughts?

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Marketing was recently turned on its head when “HeadOn” caught the attention of anyone who saw it. Known for being “that annoying ad” it’s branding retention has been impressive when it comes to sales. AdAge reports that Miralus Healthcare grew this product from $1.9 million in 2005 to $6.5 million in 2006 and is already on pace to double it again.

Anyone who’s worked in marketing is shaking their head and reaching for the nearest headache remedy when the thought of this repetitive, highly aggravating commercial pops into their thoughts. Nobody would be proud of creating it. Nobody would reward it for outstanding creative. But everybody is jealous of the increase in sales.

The method behind their madness is “recall”. Using focus group feedback HeadOn quickly realized that traditional advertising produced weak results and got lost in the clutter of television commercials. Yet, the focus groups and television consumers agree that “HeadOn” sticks in their head! Enough with the bad puns.

The original worked well and the follow ups were very appropriate. Using different actors, probably based on segments, the HeadOn commercial begins as normal and then someone walks onto the screen and mocks the message saying “I can’t stand your commercial but your product is amazing”.

The Addy’s might look past them but the HeadOn commercials get a “hook” rating from HookorSink.com, applied directly to the company. The Addy’s might look past them but the HeadOn commercials get a “hook” rating from HookorSink.com, applied directly to the company. The Addy’s might look past them but the HeadOn commercials get a “hook” rating from HookorSink.com, applied directly to the company.

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Playing on the competitive nature of consumers eBay has launched a new campaign with the slogan “It’s Better When You Win It”. Using overweight, nerdy actors riding along on horses who follow the sounds of blood hounds eBay takes you on a hunt for an Evil Kinevil lunch box. It’s odd but the execution of the message catches your attention. Ordinary people like you can win too.

Check out the commercial for yourself. What are your thoughts?

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Today’s the day one of the most anticipated video games ever is released, Halo 3 (Check out this incredible commercial). You shouldn’t be interested just because of the incredible graphics (although they’re almost worth it alone) but because it sold more than a million copies before it even launched. As much debate goes into which console is better it’s clear that the top game goes to Microsoft.

It’s so anticipated that it borders on a cultural phenomenon. Check out CircuitCity.com, BestBuy.com, or even Buy.com to see the prime real estate on their site dedicated to Halo 3. In fact, each has their own section within the site to specialize in the video game and accessories. Not even Madden 08 did that.

Don’t sigh yet, the most impressive part of Halo is the revenue. The Halo franchise is estimated to be worth over $1 billion. Halo 2 generated $125 million in the first 24 hours after its release in November 2004. If you’re one of the willing gamers to plop $59.99 down you won’t have to look far, it’s going to debut in a limited number of retailers. 10,000 to be exact. The most recent edition of Harry Potter opened in 4,285 theaters, not even half.

About the only place you won’t find Halo is on Apple.com. Are they working on iHalo? Don’t buy it right away, it will be discounted two months after release.

The Halo franchise, and certainly Halo 3, gets a $1 billion “Hook” rating from the premier marketing discussion website on the Internet, hookorsink.com.

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Adage.com has reported that NFL Marketing Chief Lisa Baird has resigned to spend more time with her family. That sounds like a great reason to step down from any position and would be tough to rebut. However, has the job she took in 2005 bored her already after stints at IBM, General Motors and Procter & Gamble? Probably not.

Already during her tenure Lisa has been a part of major achievements including the advent of user-generated commercials and the update of the NFL logo. Why so suddenly did she have a change of heart to spend more time with the family?

Could it be the marketing nightmare she’s been dealt by the NFL lately? How about Pacman Jones getting caught into multiple criminal situations? Worse yet was one of the premier players “guilty” plea in accordance with illegal dogfighting rings, Michael Vick. Even the elite football franchise New England Patriots got caught red handed stealing signs from the New York Jets recently.

The products Lisa is used to marketing have never been arrested or even been committed a misdemeanor so it should be no surprise that she suddenly wants to “spend time with her family”. There’s only room for one person in the NFL to get glory from trouble and Roger Goodell, league commissioner, is doing a fine job of that.

For using the “family” excuse to bow out from the latest crime-sports league Lisa Baird gets a “Sink” rating from hookorsink.com a fair and upfront marketing discussion blog.

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The hip-hop music world took a different turn recently when 50 Cent declared he would “retire” if Kanye West sold more albums then him, since they were released on the same day. It seems that the line between boxers and rappers just got a little fuzzier and if you believed 50 Cent then you are a sucker!

50 Cent sold 697,000 albums in the first week, not even close to Kanye’s 957,000. Is he going to retire? Uhhh, no. For the fools who wondered what would happen when 50 Cent lost they were given another bone when 50 altered his declaration. Now the Eminem & Dr. Dre prodige says if West’s sales drop less than 70% the second week he’ll retire.

Hello? Here’s what you missed in the “pre-fight hype”, the last time two albums released at the same time was in 1991 when Guns N’ Roses Use Your Illusion I narrowly lost to Use Your Illusion II. The rap rift sold nearly 200,000 more albums then that though.

This hip-hop hype may be the first time we’ve seen this in the music industry but judging by its success it won’t be the last. Maybe we’ll see some musicians start biting each others ears off.

50 Cent and Kanye West, laughing all the way to the bank, get a Platinum “Hook” from HookorSink.com, the premier marketing discussion blog on the Internet!

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The mention of Ashtun Kutcher as a member of a serious business is enough to make anyone cringe, at least anyone who’s familiar with the hit MTV show “Punk’d”. However, the Creative Director for the Telecom startup Ooma may make you take a second look. Ooma may be trying to compete with Vonage but they don’t have the marketing budget to play fair.

Kutcher is responsible for creating a half dozen viral marketing movies that will be responsible for driving traffic to their website and their brand. He’s already prepared a product demo using a child as the spokesperson. Before you click away, it’s actually quite compelling. Check it out.

Ooma hasn’t sold anything yet but their take on the land phone market may be enough to help spread word of mouth. Using a broadband VOIP connection similar to Vonage they are selling unlimited calling for a one time fee. No kidding, monthly fees will be a thing of the past. Buy an Ooma unit for $399 (soon to increase to $599), plug it into your Internet connection and don’t pay for land phone use any more!

In addition to the base unit you can also purchase a “Scout”, or second mini-base, for $39.95. The unique features of this service is like chocolate frosting on a chocolate cake, almost too much. What about checking your voicemail online or… nevermind, take a look for yourself.

And don’t bash Ashtun Kutcher until you see his viral videos. Then feel free. Here’s the very first one launched today (Sep. 20th, 2007).

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A pinch of inspiration, 1/4 cup of outstanding football players, 15 ounces of computer graphics baked for two hours in the Nike oven. Voila! A great football commercial is ready to devour. How many other companies use a total of four words, brand themselves well and leave you wanting more from a commercial?

The beginning of the football season means more football commercials. We can all look forward to companies putting their best foot forward for this lucrative sport. Of course, the climax will be the final football game of the year, in February, the Superbowl.

This Nike ad is worth checking out. It starts out with Shawne Merriman making some incredible tackles through several different atmospheres, even spinning an unknown Oakland Raider in the air. The sequence never stops but you see time, and games, pass by as the ball is handed off to Steven Jackson who runs the opposite way. The final frame has Jackson leaping through four Steeler players to barely inch the ball over the goal line and then fades to “Leave Nothing”.

Wieden + Kennedy have done it again! Check it out .

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Just about everyone has some kind of curiousity about Unidentified Flying Objects (UFO’s). Every now and then the news buzzes about the most recent UFO sighting and then goes away nearly as fast. Most recently, the UFO video on YouTube has exploded with popularity and immediately deflated after the true origin was linked back to a film maker.

But our fascination goes deeper than a news headline. Most noteably is the constant conspiracy theory surrounding Area 51, a military site with as much mystery as the whereabouts of Michael Jackson’s nose. Roswell, New Mexico thrives off of UFO tourism swarming to the area after a Air Force press release mistakenly identified a balloon as flying saucer. The Roswell Chamber of Commerce website even incorporates the alien theme.

So how do you market the concept of life on other planets? Less is probably more as it encourages a certain amount of mystery and allure that a cover up is only moments away. Then again, being direct doesn’t hurt either. “E.T.”, the movie, is dedicated to an alien visiting earth and is the fourth highest grossing film in U.S. history. It doesn’t stand alone either, with top-grossing films like “War of the Worlds” and “Independence Day” bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars.

Here’s how you do it:

1. Get creative, don’t hold anything back
2. Relate the topic to a fear we already have (like making a movie about crop circles)
3. Decide if you want to make money or not
   1. If you don’t then put your “amateur video” in a spot that will be found and give very little information – chuckle at night on your broke-down couch
   2. If you do, hire a big time actor like Will Smith, Mel Gibson or Sigourney Weaver to play the lead in your soon-to-be-created movie script – chuckle at night on your fancy Italian Leather couch

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No doubt about it, the competition to be #1 is fierce with enormous implications to the victor. The race to become the best requires the best products. But at what point did the need for innovation turn into acquiring a company that’s already innovated? Doesn’t Yahoo! create anything on their own? Google does, kind of. They’re no purists either though. Let’s not even go down the ugly road of a discussion about AOL and MSN.

Yahoo just acquired Blue Lithium, the fifth-largest online-advertising network, soon after paying in full for Right Media Exchange earlier this year. The two deals alone are worth nearly a billion dollars. If Yahoo had top-quality engineers and innovators would they really spend full-market price for something they should be able to do in-house? What happens to all the innovative people when they are acquired? Maybe we should ask AOL what happened to Netscape when they acquired the leading Internet browser company. Sorry, low blow.

AOL just acquired Tacoda, an ad targeting software based on user behavior. They didn’t create it, they bought it. Instead of $200-$300 million dumped into research and development they took the quick way out.

Google is trying very hard to compete with Microsoft’s business applications, with online software like Google Docs & Spreadsheets. To compete with Powerpoint they have acquired Tonic Company to help work on Google Presentation. Or how about the purchase of JotSpot to integrate Wiki’s instead of creating them? Should Google invest $625 million into R&D or buy Postini to help bolster their “Office 2.0″ applications?

If acquiring small innovative companies doesn’t do the trick try buying the companies that bought the companies. It’s long been rumored that Microsoft has courted Yahoo.

Who could forget Apple’s purchase of Next Software in a move to get Steve Jobs back to the company he co-founded. $400 million is a lot of money. Need an Advil after that one? Me too.

Even the companies that innovate aren’t the corporate Einstein’s you may think they are. Innovation isn’t coming from within, it’s realized through acquisitions. And the race to be #1 is VERY expensive!

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