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Maureen Holloway Q107

On the Q107 morning show with John Derringer and Maureen Holloway this morning, they began a discussion string with the fact that Britney Spears has announced that she's pregnant. Much blather followed, spattered with the words "skank" and "bloated". Whatever. Then, Maureen mentioned that the news of Britney's pregnancy was broken on Britney Spears' own blog. So then my ears pricked up.

Maureen then began talking about other celebrities who have blogs, such as Rosie O'Donnell (who appeared on Blogway Baby a couple of weeks ago), and Dave Barry. And then Maureen said:

"Why do they feel the need to communicate with people in this manner...I have no desire to have a blog or a Web site..."

Ouch. MAUREEN! You're breaking my heart!

First of all...if you could see how many hits Blogway Baby gets from the search term "Maureen Holloway" from a single article I posted in February (Blogway Baby | What's With the Big Glasses) you'd realize that YOU SHOULD HAVE A BLOG.

Come on Maureen: Jump in, the water's fine.

Meanwhile, MSN Spaces is ON FIRE...here's the next big aggregated community. Can dating be far behind? Apparently, 4.5 million people have signed up for the free feature in less than five months. There's an article in Ad Age today (sorry: Requires registration) that reviews the implications behind the fact that Volvo has taken a major sponsorship deal with MSN Spaces. Here is the article if you don't feel like signing up:

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Microsoft Corp. has signed Volvo Cars of North America as the sponsor of its recently launched blogging tool for the masses, MSN Spaces, according to the company. More than a million people a month signed up for the new blog-creating tool.

Pushed live as a Beta test in December, the MSN Spaces concept, which provides anyone with an easy way to start a personal Web log, has proven wildly popular. MSN said 4.5 million people -- or more than a million a month since testing began -- signed up to use the free feature.

WEB LOGS
MSN Spaces are Web pages with which users can quickly create a Web log, or blog, of personal writings, photographs, lists of favorite music and other personal tidbits. Users can choose to make their blogs available to the public or to keep them private -- accessible only to people they designate.

The new online venue of user-created content and advertising is one of several MSN has introduced recently as part of its reinvigorated branded-entertainment efforts.

"As the Web becomes more personal, what is the right way for the advertiser to integrate itself into an increasingly personal experience?" asked Gayle Troberman, MSN's director of branded entertainment and experiences team. "Once a user chooses to go to a branded experience -- the advertiser is not just creating an impression, they are creating an advocate."

VOLVO ADS
Volvo is advertising on the home page of Spaces and through text links with graphics at the top of users' personal spaces.

MSN has also introduced two new ad products through MSN Messenger, Microsoft's proprietary instant-messaging system. One, called theme packs, offers advertiser-branded characters, backgrounds, photos and audio messages that users can incorporate into their instant messaging. Advertisers include Coca-Cola Co.'s Sprite brand and Adidas.

For example, a user can choose the Sprite-obsessed animated spokescharacter Miles Thirst from Sprite's Web site to greet friends on Messenger. The Adidas theme packs, available in eight countries, will promote the new Adidas 1 shoe. Adidas ads will also be integrated into customers' MSN Messenger game plays.

VIDEO-MESSAGING ADS
Messenger is also debuting an audio-video instant-messaging service for which advertising is available. This product, for users who have a PC camera, will present an ad in the seven to 10 seconds it takes for one Messenger user to reach another. "Instead of an hour glass, we show a full-motion video ad," Ms. Troberman said. No advertisers have signed on to the audio Messenger service yet.

Some 155 million users log on to MSN Messenger service each month, according to the company. Messenger and Spaces appeal to an audience of 25- to 39-year-olds who are more Internet-savvy and more affluent than the norm, Ms. Troberman said.

I don't know about banner ads creating "advocates", but it's always exciting when mainline advertisers start adopting new media channels.

By Suzy Conn on April 13, 2005 8:34 AM | | Comments (0)


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