As an AOL alumni and in fact VP of Communications for AOL Europe at one time, I was fascinated to hear of AOL France recently laying off 90 of their 140 strong workforce, who apparently spent their last day cutting a very amusing little video to the tune of "L'amour a la française." This little stunt, which has of course now done the rounds online, would have fallen into my lap from a PR perspective, and it reminds me of how much times have changed. While it has created some lighthearted jabs from the likes of Valleywag (you can also see the video here), all in all, I think it shows that even when facing the propects of unemployment at the hands of the company they worked for, the folks at AOL France managed to display some loyalty (at least for each other and the ride they were all on, if not AOL). It doesn't really surprise me. I spent a fair amount of time in the Paris office and while there was the usual "disgruntlements" and misalignments of operational direction one might find in a company facing extremely serious challenges, the folks in the trenches always displayed great passion for what they were doing and stuck together. Most of all, this video made me laugh and remember the fun times. It is just another example of the powerful voice we now have as consumers and employees. Great stuff, I love it -- but never in my day ;)
/dp
As a marketer, the idea of planting subliminal messages on T-shirts, movies and billboards that can only be seen with digital cameras might be pretty cool, right? Well, it's here and it's called context-sensitive display technology. It works by using colours that are invisible to humans but easily picked up by the silicon chip in your camera. Think about the uses! Very cool.
/dp
Seth McFarlane, creator of "Family Guy" has hooked up with Google, using its AdSense network to distribute original video shorts. The show, which will be paid for by embedded ads, will appear in banners Google serves on both its own and independent sites. The notion is that as ads, the videos will reach a larger audience than a website dedicated to the clips. For Google, it's a way to fill unsold ad inventory and prove the notion of AdSense as a distribution vehicle. By inserting content into ad banners, it could also have a longer term benefit of making users pay more attention to banners, something users don't often do these days. Either way, I am a big Family Guy fan, so I will be checking the new vids out.
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