David A. Huey

David A. Huey

David Huey  //  David Huey's Facebook profile

View David Huey's profile on LinkedIn

www.FirstImpressionMarketingGroup.com

Feb 8 / 8:49am

Top 5 2010 Super Bowl commercials

by David Huey
Since I didn't like either team this year, (the Saints' fans are simply obnoxious, and the Colts beat the Bears three years ago) I focused on the commercials and the food.  I think I gained 10 lbs.

Close, but no cigar:
I think I'd have enjoyed the Dodge Charger commercial more had they advertised a better vehicle.  The Challenger would have been perfect for that spot!  Can't believe they dropped $6mm on a 60 second spot advertising a Charger?!?!

Honorable Mention: the McDonalds H.O.R.S.E. commercial that aired in the pre-game.  They've been running a version of this for years, and it's always awesome.  It gets an honorable mention since it wasn't an official in-game commercial.

Top 5

5.) Punxsatawney Polamolu (for TruTv)

4.) Lift off (for the NFL).  All this commercialization would be nowhere without the game
 

3.) as a Bears fan, this is ultimate nostalgia (for Boost Mobile)

2.) the spineless guy (Flo.tv)

1.) the Doritos kid
 

See them all here: 

Final thoughts: I think if your'e going to drop $3mm on a 30 second spot, you had better hope it doesn't just provide laughs and water cooler talk, it has to generate revenue or at the very minimum loads of web traffic and brand name recognition that will eventually bring in the revenue.
Godaddy and flo tv probably both hit huge homeruns.
Loading mentions Retweet

Comments (0)

Feb 7 / 6:19am

Not sure why this kid brought his Cheerios into Steak & Shake??

by David Huey

Sent via BlackBerry

Loading mentions Retweet

Comments (0)

Feb 2 / 8:09pm

doppleganger madness

by David Huey

I'm being a sheep and playing the celeb look alike game:

(Doogie Howser M.D.)

I was known as "doogie" my entire freshman year

(Jason Newsted) when pissed off

(Justin Timberlake)  - this one prob. looks most accurate now

 

(Lyle Lovett) me in 10 yrs

I've heard all these - which do you think is most accurate?

 

Loading mentions Retweet

Comments (4)

Feb 1 / 1:54pm

Cannot wait to start reading this.

by David Huey

Seth Godin's Linchpin

His book Tribes was the best book that I read in 2007.

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //  Seth Godin   thoughts on business/entrepreneurship  

Comments (0)

Feb 1 / 8:25am

My thoughts on the Grammys ... and how it may relate to your company

by David Huey
I have one word for last night's show: irrelevant
I tuned in for about ten minutes last night.  
I watched the Jackson tribute and a few minutes of Bon Jovi, then turned it off.  I caught up on the winners this morning, and had a few thoughts that I think relate to all business, not just the music industry.
I'm not a big Michael Jackson fan, but for all he did for music, I think he deserves a more fitting tribute than having people like Celine Dion & Carrie Underwood sing his songs.  That was ridiculous.
Then they trot his kids, who he tried to shelter and hide his entire life, up on stage to exhibit to the world.  I'm sure that's exactly what he'd have wanted!
A few tidbits to show how irrelevant the show was:

Up for Best Metal Performance: 
Judas Priest, Lamb of God, Megadeth, Ministry, & Slayer.  Except for Lamb of God, you'd think this was the 1985 Grammys. Where was Mastadon, Underoath, or Shadows Fall?  Lamb of God should have won in a landslide - it was the only thing on the list that people under 40 are listening to.
Nominees for Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance:
Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty, Bob Dylan, Prince, Neil Young.
Again, is this the 1985 Grammy Awards Show?  Springsteen hasn't written anything worth listening to in 15 years.  Who knew John Fogerty was recording?  Bob Dylan is an incredible songwriter, but a horrendous vocalist, and shouldn't be nominated for anything that has the word "Performance" in the title.  Neil Young is one of my all time favorites, but the Fork in the Road album was pure rubbish.  Prince has never been rock.  Who wins? Springsteen.  Guess there's no real winner in that group.
Best New Artist
Since the nominees for the other categories are hopelessly mired in the past, it shouldn't be a surprise that the New Artist category was awarded to an Atlanta country band (Zac Brown Band) that's already on their third album. My personal favorite in this category was Silversun Pickups who released their second album a year ago.  Maybe when Manchester Orchestra's drops a third album in 2011 they can win Best New Artist and I can be happy.
The Record of the Year went to King's of Leon's Use Somebody - great song, but it dropped in 2008.
Oh, and Nickelback got nominated for a Hard Rock performance, hahahaha!!
People wonder why the music industry is dying.  I'll break it down for you.  
The 2010 award show had more roots in the 1980s than in the new decade.  It's the same way in any industry, music, business, technology, churches, medicine, law - if you don't constantly adapt and re-invent yourself, you become a big dinosaur.  Make sure to honor the people who have paved the way, but don't be afraid to change.
Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //  Bruce Springsteen   Lamb of God   music   Neil Young   Silversun Pickups   thoughts on business/entrepreneurship  

Comments (1)

Jan 29 / 7:40am

2010 Running Goals

by David Huey

1. 500 miles total

Running 10 miles a week will get me here.

2. Run the Peachtree 10k 
I've done this the last 2 years and I plan to make this one a yearly tradition.

3. Cobb 10k
I've done this 3 times so far.  It's the most grueling race I've run (including the half marathon I did last year).  The first 1,000 finishers (out of about 13,000 entrants) get a medal.  I want to not just run it, but medal for the 4th time.

4. Run a marathon 
After taking 4 months off of running for the wedding and holidays, I'm back at it.  It's going to take a lot of running, lifting, and changing eating habits to get back in running form, but I'm starting to work towards this.  I don't have a specific race picked out, but sometime this year, I plan to run one.  Goal is under 4 hours.
Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //  2010   goals  

Comments (0)

Jan 29 / 7:25am

Can't wait for this!!!!

by David Huey
Wall Street 2 - Money Never Sleeps

</object>
Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //  movies   thoughts on business/entrepreneurship  

Comments (1)

Jan 26 / 9:11pm

Thoughts on Online Monetization

by David Huey
A few random thoughts on monetizing online information/applications.
I saw two articles today:

The first (http://www.observer.com/2010/media/after-three-months-only-35-subscriptions-newsdays-web-site) was written about the Newsday website - who spent $4mm revamping their website and began charging $5/week to access their website.  
After three months, they have 35 subscribers.  That's right, I said 30-freaking-5.  That's $9k in revenue, and $3.999 mm down the tubes.
I don't care what magazine or website you have, people are used to getting their online content for free!

The second (http://www.insideredbox.com/rough-start-for-youtubesundance-online-rentals/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+InsideRedbox+(Inside+Redbox)&utm_content=Google+Reader)  talks about how YouTube made several Sundance films available for rental at $5 a pop.  After a huge media blitz, they had a grand total of 1,500 films rented.  That's $7,500.  Even if they didn't pay licensing fees and paid the film-makers on rentals, they had to spend more in PR then they grossed.
So much for online movies becoming a cash cow.  There's just way too much content on youtube for me to spend $5 on your indie flick unless I'm your mom and am dying to support you (more on this later).

I read an interview with Ashton Kutcher, who has over 3 million twitter followers and an upstart company, Katalyst, that's based around monetizing social media.  He said "When I have a conversation with someone and they say, 'I'm not worried about monetization yet', that scares the shit out of me".

Banner ads aren't the solution.  Adsense may be profitable for google, but only because there's still enough internet rookies out there who think the ads are part of the search.  So, what is the answer?  

People are used to getting things online for free.  They don't want to pay for your subpar content.
I can't tell you the last time I clicked on an adsense ad.  I can find better info on my own, and the info I find is probably more accurate.  The more that people become internet savvy, the less adsense is going to make.  You can't finance something like google through internet newbies forever.

Maybe Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins) has it right?  He plans to release a 44 song album over the next few years for free, then sell a limited edition run of physical cds.  Judging from his recent musical forays, he had better hope the music straight up rocks, or no one is buying anything except a few die-hard fans.

Seth Godin tells his followers they need to build a Tribe.  A loyal following who will be with you until the end of time and buy / experience everything you put out.  Perhaps Corgan has done this?  Since he's self producing, distributing, his revenue per is probably 10 times more than he'd have on a label, so he can sell 10k and rake in some serious dough - especially if we're talking deluxe boxed sets and autographed versions.
I'd probably classify myself as part of google's "tribe".  I use their search, email, maps, online docs, and voicemail almost exclusively.  Unfortunately, google isn't making much money off of me. 

I'm also a huge fan of the posterous blogging platform.  I think monetization for them is hoping that a giant like Apple swallows them up.

I don't have the answers, but I think companies are going to have to start looking past banner ads, adsense sidebars, and charging people to look at their stuff.
Build a fanbase (or tribe), deliver great content that people want to physically own.  I don't buy many cds anymore.  I download everything on lala, or amazon, or itunes, or whoever has the cheapest mp3 files, but when Manchester Orchestra drops an album, I want the vinyl, the EP, the poster anything I can get my hands on.

What are you doing to build a tribe?

Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //  movies   thoughts on business/entrepreneurship  

Comments (1)

Jan 26 / 9:10pm

Bruce only wishes he could do this

by David Huey
</object>

(watch and you'll see the reason I love Eddie Vedder)
Loading mentions Retweet
Filed under  //  Bruce Springsteen   Eddie Vedder   music   Pearl Jam  

Comments (0)

Jan 18 / 7:43pm

FOX News vs CNN

by David Huey

I forced myself to sit down and watch the Haiti coverage tonight.


Typically, I never watch the news.  
I keep up with what's going on by scanning the headlines once or twice a day, and seeing what topics are all over twitter.
I just try to avoid the negative stuff, and sort of isolate myself from seeing images of all the violence and destruction going on in the world.

Here's my perception - and yes, I only watched for 30 minutes, but it didn't take that long to get what was going on.
I watched Fox for a few minutes.  They had some timely coverage of the Massachusetts Senate race.  <commercial>, flip to CNN, Anderson Cooper is running around in the streets of Port Au Prince in Haiti, carrying a camera, in the middle of a looting spree.  Then some kid gets hit by a rock, blood gushing out of his head, Cooper picks the kid up, jumps over a barricade and carries the kid to safety while the locals do nothing.

 <commercial> Back to Fox.  Some talking heads debating whether Pres Obama sent aid in quick enough.  <get sick of that, turn back to CNN>  Some doctor is performing surgeries and saving kids lives.

Say what you want about FOX News being the conservative stronghold, CNN is down in the trenches, helping people.  Maybe CNN has a liberal slant, but I'd rather get my news from someone like that.
Loading mentions Retweet

Comments (2)