Confrontainment, Conflict and Anti-Social Media.

By Dorn Martell

It’s an epidemic.

From the howling of radio hosts and talking heads to the heckling of the President, our entertainment and dialogue has somehow degenerated into an ugly, counterproductive, screaming match. Reality TV like Big Brother, America’s Next Top Model, The Surreal Life, The Apprentice and others have become more of a showcase for the ugliness of personal conflict than they are about the original premise. I was so disappointed by the History Channel’s “Expedition Africa”, a reality show tracing Stanley’s route across the Congo. Instead of a show about history, African culture and the legacy of Stanley and Livingstone, it became a show that should have been re-named “Everyone hates Pasquale” (the bush guide) because all it showed was people arguing about nothing. This mentality has transformed our political system into a self-destructive hate-fest. It has mutated personal communications into a “cage grudge match” and has transformed a great deal of social media into a school yard argument.

Follow threads on YouTube, FaceBook and even LinkedIn and you will find that some of the most popular threads are nothing more than an on-line argument. As companies look for the holy grail of ad platforms and get heavier into social media, they will find there is a huge risk when you ask “What do you guys think of our new pizza?” Inevitably someone will post “I think your pizza sucks, loser.” Try to comment about a band, a sports team, a work of art or anything on healthcare, guns, the environment, religion or gay rights and see what kind of immature and inappropriate responses you will get.

As we strive to create a dialogue with our customers we must be aware that the internet is a lot like a bar. Some people can handle the freedom and conduct themselves properly while others are there to pick fights, hit on girls and make asses of themselves. That’s why bars have bouncers. Is this the answer in social media? Will every discussion require a moderator who is filtering content in real time? And at that point, what will be the value of an “open forum”? Do we need bouncers on the floor of the Senate to keep elected officials from throwing chairs and chanting “Jerry, Jerry”? Polls show that Americans are getting quite fed up with this tone. Many people have opted-out of social media because it was getting “creepy”. And talk about creepy I have one word ChatRoulette.

Will social media be the greatest source of dialogue in history or will it be the ultimate forum for bullies and perverts? I guess it is what we allow it to be and our programming, politics and personal interactions will be governed by what we opt-in to or out of.

Apple’s iAd Mobile Advertising

by Gio Gutierrez

Apple is set to deliver a mobile ad platform by the name if iAd to one billion devices (iPhones, iPads and iPod touches). This ad platform isn’t just banners and text links. It is robust brand advertising that is as fully functional as a website or an app itself. Yes, ads that are apps within an app. iAds will be defining mobile advertising and will definitely shake up the mobile market. People aren’t searching on mobile devices, they are using apps so it only makes sense to enhance this experience. No one is happy clicking a banner and leaving their current site/app. This alone is brilliant. The ads have been hinted to be “premium” which sounds expensive. Sure they’ll make money from all this but I think it’s more for Apple to be the leader in this market. They want to to be the innovator in mobile advertising, reshape the industry and stick it to Google. Another tidbit is they’ll offer 60% of the revenue back to developers (ala Google Adsense) to help the creation of great apps on the App Store. And then HTML5! Every Flash shop in the country better be sharpening their HTML5 skillz. Anyway you see it, Apple’s new iAd is an exciting move.

Only problem is Apple will now massively once again control something else. Will they approve our anti/parody Apple ad?

Thanks to all our partners for our great showing at the Awards shows.

By Dorn Martell

As many of you know, Tinsley and our clients have done extremely well at the Addys, The Advertising Admissions Awards (for College Marketing) and the Aster Awards (Health Care Marketing). The awards usually list the CD, AD, Copywriter and Producer, but without the talented people we work with, none of this would be possible. This includes directors, photographers, composers, actors, editors, crews and assistants. These people are not just suppliers to us, but partners who have as much invested in the outcome as we do. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to our success especially: Mike Neumann and Sung Hwang of One World Productions, John Martyn at Audacity Recording, Jeb Milne and the animators at WIT, Mateo Garcia, Sid Hoeltzell, Stephen Frink, Alan Maltz and Chris Irving at Ithink Studios.

 

We really appreciate all that you do for us and our clients.
Thank you

Tinsley Advertising Wins More Addys than any Miami Agency

It was a great night at the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami. The Miami Chapter of the Advertising Federation of America gathered to honor the best ads of 2009. It was a record year with over 800 entries. The competition included brands like MTV, Rolling Stone, Royal Caribbean, McDonalds, The Miami Heat, Converse, Ford, Volkswagen, Honda, AT&T, State Farm and Wrangler.

And yet, in this competitive field, we walked away with 37 awards, the most of any agency in Miami.

We won in virtually every major category, for almost every one of our clients.

We would like to thank our clients for believing in us, the judges for their good taste and everyone at Tinsley Advertising for their dedication and hard work.

Here is a list of our 2009 Addys:
Collateral Material
(Annual Report, Color)
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Miami Children’s Hospital
Title: 2008 A Report to The Community

Out-Of-Home
(Mass Transit, Interior)
Award: Gold Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: The Water is 360º,Year Round
(Mass Transit, Interior)
Award: Gold Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: Call In And Say You’ve Caught Something
Award: Gold Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: This Is How We Roll
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: Please Step To The End Of The Line
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: Schedule A Play Date With Your Family
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: Call In And Say You’re Feeling Green
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: Head To Key Largo. It’s Only Natural
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Nova Southeastern University
Title: Going Places? Get An MBA Online

Consumer Or Trade Publication
(Consumer/Trade, Fractional Page, Color)
Award: Gold Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County,TDC
Title: More Male Bonding
Award: Gold Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County,TDC
Title: A Ghost Tour You Won’t Soon ForgetAward: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County,TDC
Title: Tie One On And Get In A FightAward: Gold Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County,TDC
Title: Flaming And Fabulous

Award: Gold Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County,TDC
Title: More Male Bonding, No Boys Allowed & Flaming And Fabulous


Interactive Media

Mobile Marketing
Award: Gold Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: There’s No App For This

Internet Commercials
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: Cat Cam

Internet Commercials
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: There’s No App For This

Webisodes
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Super Clubs Breezes & Hedonism All-Inclusive Resorts
Title: “What To Wear” , “Broke Bed”, “Good Night John Boy” & “Pool Toys “

Online Campaign
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: Your Thermometer, Defrost, Cat Cam & There’s No App For This


Radio

Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: Summer Radio


Television

(Local TV Campaign)
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Nova Southeastern University
Title: Undergrad, Grad & Financial-Aid

(TV Self-Promotion)
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Nova Southeastern University
Title: NSU Business School Image Spot

(National TV, Consumer Products)
Award: Gold Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: Road To Recovery

(National TV, Consumer Products)
Award:Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Super Clubs Breezes & Hedonism All-Inclusive Resorts
Title: What To Wear

(National TV, Consumer Products)
Award:Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Super Clubs Breezes & Hedonism All-Inclusive Resorts
Title: Broken Bed

(National TV, Consumer Products)
Award:Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: There’s No APP For This

(National TV Campaign)
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: “Cat Cam”, “Go Green”, & ” Road To Recovery”

(National TV Campaign)
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Miami Children’s Hospital
Title: Perfect Fit “Guitar”, Perfect Fit “Sandwich”


Mixed/Multiple Media

(Mixed-Media, National Consumer)
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: Road To Recovery


Advertising For The Arts & Sciences

(Arts, Magazine)
Award; Gold Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: Portrait Of An Artist

(Arts, Magazine)
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: Product Of Our Environment

(Arts, Out-Of-Home)
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Nova Southeastern University
Title: Bansky Outdoor Board for Ft.Lauderdale Museum of Art


Public Service

(Public Service, TV)
Award; Gold Addy® Award
Advertiser: NOAA
Title: Don’t Feed The Wild Dolphins

(Public Service, Interactive)
Award: Gold Addy® Award
Advertiser: NOAA
Title: Don’t Feed The Wild Dolphins


Elements Of Advertising

(Music Only)
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: Road To Recovery

(Music Only)
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: Go Green

(Music With Lyrics)
Award: Silver Addy® Award
Advertiser: Monroe County, TDC
Title: Cat Cam

Digital Detritus

by Dorn Martell

digital-ditritus

We have a room at our agency filled with fairly new, obsolete electronic devices. It seems that we live in an age of almost immediate obsolescence. There are monitors that cost more to ship than they are worth. Printers that are cheaper to replace, than to buy new ink. Piles of peripherals read like layers of techno archeology; the Syquest era, the Zip layer, the Jazz era, all as useless as the media that fed them. We even bought a state-of-the-art HD DVD player only to watch the market shift to Blu-Ray.

The effect of this is more that just the environmental costs of plastics and heavy metals in landfills. It leads to a sense of impermanence and an over-emphasis on “the shiny new object”. Software developers tend to overly “trick-out” new versions just so it appears radically different from the old version.

I recently got rid of a perfectly good phone to get the new Droid. I actually felt bad for my abandoned little Razor. CRT TVs, once the focal point of American family life, are kicked to the curb and replaced with plasmas that are replaced by LCDs which are replaced by LEDs that will be replaced by new 3D TVs (or some version of netTV).

The battle of the mega-pixels seems to have reached a stalemate as the average household has multiple digital cameras with twice the resolution of just a few years ago and at an average price of $150 the industry has nowhere to go.

The “Splinternet effect” will soon force Nooks and Kindles to have a deathmatch with the iPad and the last tablet standing will be the one with the corner on the content market.

Which leads to an interesting conclusion. Content is still the last frontier for innovation. Regardless of the platform, content creation and intellectual property ownership will be the deciding factor for all technology. All of these items are just “dumb machines” that only come to life when they are infused with human ideas.