Presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama is about to be the first presidential nominee to announce his choice for Vice President by text. Supporters were told they could sign up to receive e-mail or text messages "the moment Barack makes his decision."

"You have helped build this movement from the bottom up, and Barack wants you to be the first to know his choice," the campaign explained to e-mail subscribers. "No other campaign has done this before. You can be part of this important moment."

The notice also urged supporters to forward information about the opportunity to friends, family, and coworkers.

Those who want to receive the information via text sent a text with "VP" to 62262, and they could also sign up to receive periodic updates on the campaign. This is a great way for Obama to reach out to young American voters, who are notoriously hard to get to the polls. It is also a great way to prove how young and hip he is, in contrast to John McCain, who is still learning how to do "a Google." Also, Obama’s cell phone and e-mail database is sure to grow exponentially. So far, it seems they have not been abusing their subscribers, and no spam has been reported by people who have signed up.

Obama is expected to announce his running mate as early as tomorrow morning.  See Obama’s texting thumb below.

Text message to reveal Obama’s VP nod (CBC.ca)

It’s ironic that you’ll use Google to find Cuill

It’s Cuil (I think pronounced Cool), a new search engine built by some of Google’s former brain-trust and lots of funding.

Its simple, easy to use and follow, seems to have a better grasp for what you are looking for, and is currently completely underutilized.

It will:

Search 121,617,892,992 web pages!

which is 3x as many as Google.  Or, perhaps 3x more irrelevant?

To find out more about them, click here.

For fun, I Cuiled myself, “Brian Wylie PHD” and it froze solid.  Better get those kinks worked out…

Prepare for the next wave of new media - Pitvertising

You will have to go to jolly ole England to see this one in action.  Right guard has a squad of people sporting small screens where their armpits are located.  It is currently in a trial period, so we will have to wait to see if this expands in the U.K and then be available here in Canada

http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_2931476.html?menu=news.quirkies

Who’s brainchild was that?  Telus and Bell will be charging an extra 15 cents for incoming messages later in August, but only to those who don’t have a bundles package.  Rogers haven’t announced anything yet, but they have their own issues with the iPhone.

Two things come to mind here:

1) How soon can Shaw get wireless here in Ontario?  We really need their customer service and aggressive pricing plans because we have so few options.  I hear the auction is almost over…

2) What impact will this have on the already slow acceptance of text messaging as a marketing vehicle?  A few clients have recently asked how this will impact their potential investment into SMS.  They are already leery of taking that leap, now they will be even more shy.  It would be great if someone from that industry got on the phone with the marketing press to tell them what this means…or send them a text at least.

I sure hope Captivate does not start charging for elevator rides anytime soon…

With the pilot episode shot in Toronto and approximately $10 million dollars invested on the pilot alone, Fox’s ‘Fringe’ has the financial backing for it to be television’s next big hit.  Fox and JJ Abrams look to take advantage of what most critics are calling a soft Fall season for new shows premiering this Fall.

The pilot was never released by Fox/JJ Abrams with fear that it would leak onto the web.  However, we got the opportunity to view the pilot here at PHD.  The pilot was suspenseful and kept you entertained, if I could explain it to those whom have not seen the pilot, I would describe ‘Fringe’ as “X-Files meets Lost”.  I think J.J Abrams and the folks at Fox only hope Fringe can become half the cult hit that X-Files was…

Only time will tell.

Here are 2 articles/perspectives from today’s Toronto Sun and Toronto Star…. 

From left, John Noble, Anna Torv, Jasika Nicole and Vancouver expat Joshua Jackson are on the trail of a biological terrorist threat in Fox drama Fringe.

Leaked on the Internet and popular with critics, Fox drama could be next cult phenomenon

See the entire Toronto Star  article at http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/Television/article/460219

See the Toronto Sun article at:

http://www.torontosun.com/Entertainment/Television/2008/07/15/6160466-sun.html

Gino Di Giulio

Phd

The station rankings are pretty consistent to the previous survey, however a few stations increased their audience tuning with others losing audience.

CHUMFM remains number 1 however with the loss of Rick on the morning show ( and soon to be, Roger), and the adjusted play list, it will be interesting to see where the station nets out in the next book.  The morning show audience has declined over the past 2 books, with CKFMFM and CHFIFM increasing their tuning in the breakfast drive period.  CHUMFM seems to be going after the younger demo of Women 18-34, at the expense of CFNYFM, CIDCFM and CFXJFM.

CJAQFM was the winner this book moving up from # 11 rank to #7 rank.  The revised JACK format is now starting to draw listeners.

CFNYFM took a big hit to the core demo of 18-34, however, still retains the top morning show for the demo. 

A great example of a relatively unknown brand taking advantage of an internet viral legend…

You may or may not be aware of an internet phenomenon going on known as Chuck Norris Facts. In 2005, outlandish and incredible statements were being quoted as Facts about Chuck Norris. Things really took off when a quote generator appeared in the wildly popular game World of Warcraft, an online game that boasts 10 million active users at the start of 2008. The next step has been taken with a quote generator on Facebook.

They are very funny and deal with how strong, fast and manly Chuck is. For example – “There is no chin under Chuck Norris’s beard, only another fist” or “Chuck Norris’s tears cure cancer, ironically, he never cries”…there are hundreds more.

I’m sure most of you have seen the new campaign launched by Dos Equis Beer. Entitled “The Most Interesting man in the World”, the multi-media campaign (TV, Radio, Online) has made their spokesperson superhuman and above most other people.

He can do things like post a letter without a stamp, but it will still get there. The police often question him, just to hear his voice.

What we see here is a creative execution based on something that began on the web. The concept of humour is nothing new to the beer category but this is a fresh take on it. The fact that they have taken something that was basically created on the web and applied it to a brand, speaks volumes to the power of word of mouth and the internet as a tool to reach your target.

http://staythirstymyfriends.com/

http://www.chucknorrisfacts.com/

The attached article published on CEP News website delves into the growth of Conventional TV versus Digital TV. A snippet of this article was also published in today’s issue of Metro. Digital TV gives television viewers the opportunity to customize their viewing preferences, be it through pay-per-view, time-shifting, VOD or an array of specialty channels available for my viewing pleasure.

Personally I agree with where digital TV is going as a majority of my television viewing comprises of Specialty channels. Some of my favourites include, Food Network for great recipes, MTV Canada for various reality shows, HGTV for great home reno ideas, Discovery Channel for amazing facts and pictures from around the world, Slice and W Network for a variety of shows that appeal to women, and mostly to watch ‘Brides turn into Bridezillas’. 

(CEP News) Ottawa - Conventional television revenues fell for the first time in a decade in 2007 amid a slump in advertising revenue, while pay and specialty television revenues continued to grow, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday.

Advertising revenue increased by only 1.8% in 2007, the smallest growth in 10 years.
Public and non-commercial conventional television was hardest hit by the slowdown, which affected both its advertising revenue and grants.

The pay television segment had the strongest growth in the whole sector, driven largely by the increasing popularity of pay-per-view television and video-on-demand. Revenues from those services increased 25.8% in 2007 to $197.8 million, accounting for almost two-thirds of the growth in the pay television segment.

The specialty television segment also had a strong year, with revenues up 8.0%. Its two main sources of income, subscriptions and advertising revenues, increased, although less so than in 2006.

Conventional TV Income - See Full Article

About the website -  CEP News is one of Canada’s most established sources for global economic and financial news. Our online services, daily reports and real-time newsfeed are where the global investment community turns to for unbiased and timely reporting of breaking and developing economic news and information. CEP News Website

It’s not surprising these days to see big brand name sponsors supporting many Hollywood parties but Lindsay Lohan has just raised the bar.

The young star recently celebrated her 22nd birthday and with the help of a promotions agency, opened up various components of the party for branding and sponsorship. This obviously isn’t the first time that a star has endorsed products, but this event offered logos on the invite, product availability on site, and images of Lindsay posing with the product… not exactly subtle.

If purchasing all media space surrounding a hollywood star’s birthday is in line with your brand image, then it might be a worthwhile investment.

I am however undecided on who would want their brand at Lindsay’s party…

Check out the website for Lindsay’s sponsorship opportunities at:   http://www.dizmajiz.com/clients/tr/18.html