Jeff Jarvis at BuzzMachine has posted an interesting piece predicting the end of the advertising-based revenue model for publishers, and, by extension, the end of advertising. Rupert Murdoch's decision to erect a paywall around The Times website has received a great deal of publicity and it seems as though Condé Nast may be following in his footsteps. However Jarvis believes that there is little chance that publishers will ever achieve the sort of revenues that they are used to simply through selling their content. Instead he thinks that the only way that publishers can survive in an era where scarcity has been removed as a means for inflating value is to enter the world of commerce. In other words start competing with the brands that used to supply those advertising dollars and sell the stuff themselves. Of course, having expertise in writing about fashion, for instance, in no way qualifies you to start operating as a fashion retailer.

I think there will be some tough times ahead for the publishing industry it has yet be shown whether consumers will ever be willing to pay a price for content that realistically reflects the true cost of generating that content - they are so used now to all of those free-to-access websites and magazines with cover mounted gifts. Sooner or later someone will develop a business model that works, and, who knows, maybe publishers will all become retailers. They will need to radically shift their areas of expertise first though.

We recently helped Spitfire Ale launch a trade campaign called Operation Landlord. Spitfire wanted to give landlords not already stocking Spitfire on a regular basis, added reasons to do so. This first phase consists of a two-pronged attack: edgy, funny, point-of-sale, for deployment around pubs was sent to landlords, and an on-cask text-to-win prize draw has been created where landlords can win their rent paid for a year. The campaign was promoted via trade press advertising and a campaign website where landlords can request the POS to be sent to them. The  campaign is now nearly over and so far it has been a fantastic success with sales up around 15% year-on-year.

The bloggerati have well and truly taken over the various fashion weeks around the globe, front rows filled with social networkers tweeting to their faceless fans. So how does an old-school fashion magazine stand out?

French Grazia magazine tackled the challenge recently at Paris Fashion Week with pug dog balloons. Of course!! Why not?? A simple, old-school talking-point stunt that certainly got their girls noticed. We're guessing they're referencing the chi-chi practice of carrying a lap-dog to such events. We're not sure why - but does this matter?

The game of marketing has changed fundamentally. Taking out uninspiring, run-of-the-mill print and TV ads doesn’t fly any more. Marketing a brand effectively requires exceptional ideas and concepts that are entertaining and unusual enough to capture the imaginations of today’s cynical, ad-wary consumers. Our advice is to go beyond the traditional media to capture your audience in other platforms as well – offline brand experiences that DEMAND consumer attention. 

Brave, new, exciting, entertaining offline experiences are talked about, blogged about and spread through social media. This is viral marketing at its best and most effective. If the idea is good, nothing can stop its spread. We spend all of our waking hours evaluating and creating such ideas. We see more innovation and ideas and concepts each day than we ever thought possible and the ideas we've created have achieved incredible attention.