The Big News: Day one of Web Attack!
by Ryan Monceaux, Editor In Chief
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NEW YORK - On the first day of Iconocast's Web Attack!,
Editor and CEO Michael Tchong promised that the
second-year industry event would turn up the heat on
it's competitors, delivering a form of "infotainment"
unmatched by other Online Marketing conferences. And so
far, Tchong has been dead-on accurate. Web Attack! has
produced not only meaty content, but a sleek conference
highlighted by the off-Broadway premiere of Tchong's
own goofy idea-turned musical, "King.com."
"King.com" is a spin-off of the story of King Kong (the
promotional material for Web Attack! features the king
of gorilla marketing himself) with the Internet as "the
beast who tramples other forms of media" and teaches
them "a lesson or two about life in the e-Marketing
jungle." A cast complete with Broadway performers,
stand-up comedians, a former Rockette, two
choreographers and a full orchestra, "King.com" is
performed in short vignettes, just before each session
begins. Tchong's vision will indeed up the ante on the
way industry conferences are executed, as this has been
a unique experience for everyone in attendance.
The most interesting session of the morning featured a
topic that expounds on the ideas of last year's Web
Attack! In 1999, offline branding was one of the
mainstays of the event, as special guest Dennis Rodman
brought offline branding to a new extreme. This year,
Web Attack! presented four companies that have brought
"Extreme Offline Branding" into the forefront,
examining how thinking outside of the box can pay huge
dividends for online marketers. AskJeeves,
Headhunter.net, XmarksTheSpot.com and WebEx
demonstrated their offline marketing strategies that
have gone beyond traditional print and television
campaigns.
AskJeeves made history last year as it became the first
dot com to be a featured float in the Macy's
Thanksgiving Day Parade. The appearance of the 36-foot
tall float, with the trademark Jeeves sitting on a pile
of books, accounted for 128 million impressions on
Ask.com, far surpassing the hopes of the AskJeeves
marketing staff. The company said it would definitely
be back in November at the parade.
Another offline branding tool which has worked wonders
for AskJeeves is it's fruit label campaign dubbed, "Ask
Jeeves Owns the Produce Aisle." Over 175 million pieces
of fruit, including apples, oranges and bananas have
gone to market with an AskJeeves label. Again, the
company says the success of the campaign has
overwhelmingly surpassed expectation.
Headhunter.net presented it's impressive mobile
marketing strategy to the attendees of Web Attack! as a
cost-effective way of getting your message face-to-face
with your audience. While unemployment remains at an
all-time low, Headhunter.net was able to hit 30 major
markets in 192 days with it's traveling caravan of
African headhunters. Headhunter says it will see a
return of $5 million on an initial investment of $1
million through the use of this tactical campaign.
XMarksTheSpot.com, a cost per acquisition marketer,
debuted it's application at Web Attack! under mixed
reviews. The company has spent tons of money in a
publicity-stunt campaign driven towards getting PR from
San Francisco-area television and radio stations. The
company's trademark car, the X car, was suspended from
a crane near a busy highway during rush hour, well,
until San Francisco police made the company bring the
car down. The startup also drove the bright-yellow car
cross-country in an attempt to get publicity, but did
not seem too successful in doing so.
The question that came to mind for the CPA marketer is
why waste money trying to get your name out to the
general public via stunts when the people who should be
seeing it, online marketers, make up a very small
percentage of the general public? It seems a much more
targeted campaign, one with a little less gimmick, would
have been suitable for such a publicity launch.
The final company that presented it's Extreme Offline
Branding campaign was WebEx, an online meeting network
who has used drag queen Rupaul as it's spokesman
(woman?). The line, "Meetings can be such a drag" has
become Rupaul's theme throughout the campaign, hoping
the personality of the former singer/talk show host
will be a clincher in branding to the masses. The
company spent $1.2 million on a Super Bowl ad but has
mainly relied on small, regional buys as the chief way
of getting it's name out. "Hyperbranding," as the
company calls it, has worked incredibly well on radio
spots, since the audience is captive and a great
demographic. WebEx has attempted to rise above the
clutter of other dot coms with its creative campaign,
something the 6'7" Rupaul will definitely help with.
The first morning of Web Attack! was an absolute smash
hit. Hopefully for all of the attendees, the afternoon
will continue to roll. While the entertainment value is
second to none, the content provided has been
exceptional, something Iconocast stakes its
reputation on.
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