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It’s A Book. It’s An App. It’s Do or Die And It’s Innovative.

It took me nearly a year to finally get my book ready to publish on Amazon, so it was interesting to hear the backstory behind Do or Die, the new app/e-book/something by Clark Kokich, the Chairman of Razorfish. Co-written with Larry Asher of Worker Bees, Do or Die looks at the way advertising and marketing is changing.

Those changing forces affected the final product. As mentioned on the book’s website, Clark talks about what happened as he was working out the book’s title with the publisher:

Two days before I hit the “send” button on that email with the 39 titles, something a bit more earthshaking happened in the world of publishing: The first Apple iPad went on sale. Many people — including more than a few book publishers — failed to realize at the time just how transformative this news was…

As we brainstormed, we began to imagine a book optimized for the iPad and other tablets — one that would include videos of interviews with CMOs, plus ways to view case histories by allowing readers to access live websites and Twitter feeds embedded into the stories, and then give readers a way to comment and share ideas with each other. In short, it would be the ultimate expression of practicing what we preach.

So the book was nearly two years in the making. The result is anything but a traditional, linear book experience. You can read the narrative, listen to audio of the narrative, read case studies (from many different agencies and brands) see and play embedded videos and ad samples, watch interviews, make comments at the end of each chapter that get added to an ongoing discussion, and jump off to Facebook and Twitter or email directly from the app. And that’s all for starters.

The format takes some getting used to, and it’s easy for an attention span-challenged person like me to go down a side path. Which will mean publishers who work on projects like this will have to consider the effect: that readers may simply skip whole parts of the book altogether, quite possibly not knowing where all of the content is.

But Do or Die is quite an innovative work, even if it promotes Kokich and Razorfish as much as it advocates new ways of thinking. For AdPulp, I get way too many “the whole world is changing” books by new media types that come in an old-school hardcover edition. I like books you can hold, but Do or Die brings the experience to a heightened level.

Is this the future of publishing? Possibly. As rich as the content is, it truly takes a large group of people to pull this off, as reflected in the credits. It seems to me we’ll see a great chasm in the publishing world—folks like me who can publish books as a one-person show, and people like Clark and his team who can produce multi-layered, content-rich experiences that take books to a whole new level.

Do or Die is available starting today in the iTunes App Store.

The Marcus Graham Project Wants You To Give — Or Give Back

Any regular reader of ad industry trade pubs knows that there’s a lot of talk about diversity in advertising, but very little action.

The Marcus Graham Project is dedicated to changing that, and they’d like your help.

Monday December 12 marks the first day of 12 Days of Gifting, which will help MGP fund its many initiatives, including its ICR8 Summer Bootcamp program for aspiring advertising professionals, and a GO Fund which helps fund trips to seminars and conferences.

Of course, donations of volunteer time are accepted as well. There are a lot of great parts to the Marcus Graham Project that anyone can access, including an ongoing podcast series on BlogTalkRadio.

Who On Your Team Speaks Fluent Google?

Molly Wood, Video host at CNET, speaks to iMediaConnection about how advertisers can go about working with Google, Facebook, Amazon and Apple.

Wood has some nice zingers in this reel. For instance, about Apple’s closed systems she says, “Apple is in charge and you will definitely feel it.”

She also says, “dealing with Facebook as an advertiser, is sort of like dealing with a toddler. So it’s going to be a lot of work and patience.”

“Amazon is interested in customers, not partners,” she says, which makes them hard for advertisers to work with.

Wood’s favorite of this new media bunch appears to be Google, thanks to “all their data.”

Hopefully The End Of Business As Usual Won’t Have The Usual Readers

I always get a little suspicious when I hear someone proclaim “The End Of…” something related to marketing. See here. And there’s nothing subtle about the title of Brian Solis’ new book, The End of Business As Usual: Rewire the Way You Work To Succeed In the Consumer Revolution.

While other folks do a better job of shouting about change at the top of their lungs, Solis is much more methodical. So the structure of the book is quite instructional, from outlining the new ways people connect to providing a framework for the way sales cycles function these days.

That said, I’m a little curious as to who this book is meant for. There’s nothing here that’s incredibly new, and not much that hasn’t already been said many times over on blogs and in business publications. Solis does have a way of presenting all the information very well and very comprehensively, making this book worthwhile. But are there people out there who still don’t get it? Even companies who don’t incorporate social very well probably understand that they should be expanding their marketing methods. There’s just a legion of obstacles in the way.

One thing I will say, is that the actual old-school hardcover paper version of The End of Business As Usual is chock full of pictures, infographics, and screen captures that help illustrate the point. So I can’t say whether the Kindle version packs as much punch. But if you need a good stocking stuffer for the CEO or CMO who’s been asleep at the switch for too long, consider this book.

Special thanks to Wiley for providing me with a review copy.

Are Social Media Agencies Being Anti-Social When They Fail To Respond?

Yesterday, I took an interest in a series of Tweets from Rebecca Jablonsky, an artist, dancer and writer (with a Masters in Psychology) who is presently seeking work with some of the premier social media agencies in the New York City area.

The thing that grabbed me right away is how public the hiring process is now. We talk about transparency all the time, and how a brand can’t hide behind poor customer service, etc., but even companies dedicated to these high ideals can be dealt a blow in social channels because that’s where people gather to talk and sometimes listen.

One person who listened was A.J. Vaynerchuk, Gary V’s brother and co-founder of Vayner Media. He contacted me when he saw on Twitter that AdPulp was interested in this story, and he contacted Jablonsky to hear her side of the story and to apologize for any misunderstanding.

Jablonsky has since written the episode up on her blog, which provides a fuller picture of what went down. The short story is Jablonsky used a targeted Facebook advertising campaign to get Carrot Creative’s attention. But they did not pay attention, which led her to update the Facebook ads, one of which said, “I have an interview at VaynerMedia tomorrow. Why don’t I have an interview with you?”

According to Jablonsky, someone at Carrot made someone at Vayner Media aware of the Facebook ad and that someone then cancelled Jablonsky’s interview. Which is what led to her Tweets, my interest in the story, A.J. Vaynerchuk’s interest and Jablonsky’s blog post.

I’m interested in this story for several reasons. As I noted above, the hiring process can be extremely public now. Which means that HR departments, and everyone on staff, has to understand that everything they do goes in to creating the brand experience. If someone’s curt on the phone, it’s a ding on the brand. If someone fails to reply to a job applicant, it’s a ding on the brand’s reputation. And so on, which makes building and maintaining modern brands a tricky job, to put it mildly.

I’m also interested in helping people find meaningful work and work they’re deeply interested in doing. Those of us on the inside know what a insular world the agency business can be — after all these years I still feel shut out by it, some days more so than others. Anyway, it’s hard to learn how to properly convey one’s value to an agency, especially at the beginning of one’s career where actual experience is thin and ambition high.

I left a comment on Jablonsky’s blog that spells out what I think about the Facebook campaign she created, and how she needs to do more to gain traction with Carrot Creative, Vayner Media or other top players. She replied and said she still thinks a response from Carrot is necessary. I replied that no response, sadly, is a response.

Dr. Pepper Dangles Tuition Money In Front of College Students

“Dr. Pepper is changing lives” is not the kind of promotional come on we’re used to hearing from a large packaged goods brand. Which makes this “marketing as a service” campaign from the beverage brand sort of interesting.

But does it sell more soda? You be the judge…

Here’s a new entry in the brand’s 2011 $1,000,000 Tuition Giveaway consumer generated media contest, which is presently the featured on the DrPepper.com home page.

I’m happy to see Dr. Pepper stepping up in this way to help, but I am troubled by the fact that the majority of our nation’s young people can not afford a college education.

When Black Friday Comes…

Target’s Flo-like character has been busy promoting Black Friday, which starts five hours from now on the East Coast.

The character (invented by Wieden+Kennedy) has 15,361 followers on Twitter at this time. Pam Mandel is not one of them.

Seldom Is The Question Asked: Is Our Washington Learning?

I just saw this spot on CNN. It certainly is attention-getting:

The website WashingtonCouldLearnALot.com is sponsored by something called the Public Notice Research & Education Fund (PNREF), though it’s unclear who the source of their funding is. The president of Public Notice appears to be a former spokesperson for the Bush administration and/or a Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) for Public and Media Affairs, depending on who’s writing the description. As always, you gotta follow the money to find the agenda.

PR Is __________

What is PR?

Here’s the industry’s own definition: “Public relations helps an organization and its publics adapt mutually to each other.”

Say what? PR is a channel companies use to gain media recognition, and by extension public awareness.

My definition is easier to understand than a sentence with “adapt mutually to each other” in it, but is my streamlined definition right for today’s consumer-driven media?

According to The New York Times, the Public Relations Society of America is embarking on an effort to develop a better definition of “public relations,” one more appropriate for the 21st century.

“The definition is ripe for a refresh,” said Adam Lavelle, a member of the board of the Word of Mouth Marketing Association who is the chief strategic officer at the iCrossing unit of Hearst.

“Before the rise of social media, public relations was about trying to manage the message an entity was sharing with its different audiences,” Mr. Lavelle said. “Now, P.R. has to be more about facilitating the ongoing conversation in an always-on world.”

In other words, PR professionals now have direct access to the consumer, which makes PR much more like advertising than it was before.

Previously on AdPulp: Heard Over Lunch: Spruce Up Your Online Newsroom (Unless You Want To Be Invisible and/or Boring)

Expensive Electric Vehicle To Get The Content Treatment

According to Ad Age, Ford is investing in lifestyle content to help drive interest in its $39,995-plus electric Focus hatchback, which is about to roll out in 19 selected markets nationwide.

Citing research indicating that nearly half of potential American car buyers don’t know the difference among a hybrid, a plug-in car or a battery-operated fully electric one, Ford has enlisted SHFT.com, a “new-media platform” developed by actor Adrian Grenier of “Entourage” fame and film producer Peter Glatzer, to promote green thoughts and eco-consciousness to a young audience.

Ford is funding a series of short documentaries for the site, whose purpose is to push forward concepts of sustainability by using elements of pop culture such as film, music and design. The documentaries will look at innovators “shaping sustainable businesses,” and SHFT will collaborate with Ford to promote the brand at events such as film festivals.

The Focus Electric is equipped with a 92-kilowatt electric motor, roughly equivalent to 123 horsepower. Its 23 kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack is liquid-cooled.

Top speed for the hatchback EV, which is powered by a 92-kilowatt electric motor putting out the rough equivalent of 123 horsepower, is a mere 84 mph; in addition, the vehicle is not compatible with DC fast chargers, though it can re-juice using an optional 240-volt charger in “just over three hours,” according to Ford.