Smart targeting meets dumb advertising: the Internet opened marketers' eyes to the power of networks outside the broadcast ones. But it turns out the web is not the only marvelous distribution system

Communication World, March-April, 2005 by Angelo Fernando

Have you recently noticed a pop-up ad on the bottom of your TV screen? These are called snipes, and they are one way that TV is trying to beat the commercial killer, the digital video recorder. These pop-ups have the potential to be micro-targeted and created to match the mood or content of the scene in which they appear.

It may not be cutting-edge advertising, but it is an indication of the degree to which the envelope is being pushed. If you need a quick glimpse into why the new channels of infotainment will no longer be TV, radio and print, look no further than a Japanese wristwatch whose face is a tiny color TV screen. It won't be long before marketers find ways to deliver personalized pitches to us in formats that may not look like advertising at all.

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* Chanel, the 83-year-old design house, is plunking down US$10 million for a campaign that is essentially mini-movies featuring Nicole Kidman. A few years back, BMW pioneered this strategy through short films that were featured on BMWfilms.com.

* Fuse, a cable channel, began selling something it called "totally uncensored advertising." That's right--it sold ads to the public! The CD-ROM featured uncut, R-rated commercials. Priced at US$29.95, the CD got around the U.S. Federal Communications Commission ruling about explicit material because the ads were sold, not aired.

* Toyota has created a desktop toolbar for your web browser. The ad (if you can call it that) features the Toyota Scion sports coupe and can be customized just like the Google search bar. Find it at www.wanttc.com.

* In the same category, Honda tried a novel form of brand promotion on the street. With its Odyssey minivan placed close to the Reuters sign in New York's Times Square, the integrated campaign allowed people to have their picture taken next to the minivan and have the digital image "broadcast" on the Reuters sign!

* In Japan, NTT DoCoMo, the mobile phone company, has its smartphone featured in a TV series called "Keita Deka." The main character, a teen detective, solves mysteries using her DoCoMo smartphone.--A.F.

Angelo Fernando is marketing communications director at Imperial Capital Bank and a freelance writer based in Tempe, Ariz., USA, covering business, marketing, media and technology. He can be reached at angelo@swink.net.