Fuze Blog | ©Bryan Landaburu (aka Willie Vega) | Reno.Sparks Blogger

Reno Airport vs. Las Vegas Airport "Free" WiFi

So this is a post that came from a "Tweet".  Originally I posted these to TwitPic, but today, in an effort to get organized I was cleaning my desktop and came across these 2 photos that contrast the "free WiFi" in Nevada's 2 major airports.  It got me thinking that I haven't ranted enough on the topic.

Here at the Reno Tahoe International Airport (RNO), the local fishwrap (RGJ) has made it their charter to "monetize" free WiFi access at the airport...turning access into a profit center through the "magic" of abundant banner advertising. See ad's circled below:

In comparison, our friends to the South, Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS) have a version of "free WiFi" that is not littered with banner advertising. See below (notice no pink circles):

One must wonder how in the world Las Vegas survives and puts shoes on their kids without "monetizing" their free WiFi. Must EVERYTHING be a streaming ad? 

Speaking of RGJ...on the RGJ's redesigned site (which I think is a vast improvement over the previous rev) you are still served irrelevant ads non-stop - constant pop-outs, video ads, display ads, and random links disturb the user experience on the site. Other newspapers seem to manage without it (ex. TheGuardian).  So, if one must have ad's to keep ones publication alive, then cant one serve the ad's contextually and relevant?

The ad's on RGJ are rarely (if ever) served contextually.  Example: I am reading a story about Artown, so OF COURSE I am REALLY thinking about Carpet Cleaning (a video ad for Evergreen carpet care was served in the article).  An example of a good contextual ad here would be something for downtown bars/restaurants, art galleries, or something that GOES WITH ARTOWN.  My theory for the reason ads on RGJ.com are most often OUT of context and irrelevant is that they don't have enough advertisers to be contextual and relevant.  They just need to fill inventory.  To their advertisers, they call this Johnny Appleseed disbursement of advertising "value-add" but I call it "wasted-cash".

Anyway, I don't [necessarily] want to rant on our local news rag because they publish many (1) articles about Fuze and Me. I just think the free WiFi should be free.  Simple, no?

BL

How Much Information Can We Retain?

 

Starting to realize that I am reaching information overload. Its a fine line because I love to research and just "know" what's going on. Not just about my work, but my interests, travel, finances, passions, and of course there's always the enjoyment of simply being entertained.

Tonight after a couple [few] months of pile up (literally), I decided to organize my back-reading stock of magazines. See photo. At current count I subscribe to 48 magazines, 10 of which are weekly's. I realized after organizing them into piles that I am at a minimum 2 months behind on every publication. This means in most cases I am still reading about holiday shopping in the issue I am on.

This little project got me thinking...how much information can one person retain? I mean if I take all these magazines and then add the RSS feeds, blogs, websites, emails, etc, I shutter to think how many things I am requiring my brain to wrap around. I've always had a propensity for remembering things and a quest to know everything, but I think my current state borders on information addiction. Anyone else suffering from similar?

Well, I better get going on these mags, 48 mags x 3 months = 144 issues to burn through on their way to the landfill (errr recycler).

BL

(a treo post...sorry for the typos)   

A Tale Of Two Dennis' - American Greed Body Double

Boy oh boy, this has nothing to do with marketing.  As always, I have my CNBC running background in my office here all day and this afternoon I caught the first episode of their new docu-series American Greed featuring the STELLAR Dennis Kozlowski who stole millions from his company ($30Mil for his NYC pad, $1mil for his wife's 40th b-day party, etc.).  As I watched this guys rediculousness, I started to realize how much he looks like Northern Nevada's own pimp, turned business mogul, a one Mr. Dennis Hof. My friends, I think we have a body double on our hands:

   

Both named Dennis, both rich, both love women and hookers, yet, here is an interesting epiphany for the world: Nevada's most famous PIMP, owner and proprietor of the "world famous" Moonlight Bunny Ranch, is a better guy all around than the former CEO of the Tyco corporation.

Yes, I will be taking credit as the first one to put this sexy pair together.  Ohhh sweet irony...

BL

Fuze Icon Borrowed [stolen]

This morning my desk was graced with the presence of the Northern Nevada Addy Awards Program.  As I leafed through it, I noticed my prediction was correct that the great Walker Lake advertising swept pretty much every category from ads, to copy, to photography, to web, to eblast, to bathroom stall art, etc. While I don't really "get" the premise of the ads, they are in fact, lovely. Congrats to R&R. 

As I continued turning pages I came across a program ad that sure got MY attention.  Seems the Bauserman Group has paid their friends at Fuze an homage in the form of "bomb" advertising (as depicted below):

This simply MUST have been an oversight, right? Oh well, after 5 years, we're kind of tired of that bomb so if you guys want it, hell, keep it.

Sorry I missed the Addy's this year, I bet it was a hootenanny.  Alas, there was a re-run of Deal or No Deal on Friday night. Boy, I love that Howie Mandel.

BL

Airline musings. March edition.

Things are a little hectic around the Fuze camp. Primarily because I have been jetsetting like a madman. I just realized I am sitting across from David LaPlante from Twelve Horses on this flight. It was nice to catch up a bit since we've been trying for months to schedule a meal together. Anyway, I am heading out now on my 3rd venture to San Diego in 6 weeks. Lots going on down here. I am nearing speaking paralysis these days. I haven't done a slide count but I believe I have prepared about 200+ Powerpoint slides for various events in the last few weeks. I just wrapped up at SMX West and the Miva Developers conferences last week. This week is NFRA. See other posts for show wrapups.

The hive is buzzin with things to do. I think Calder and I (mostly Calder) have done an excellent job of positioning ourselves within the ad space in northern nevada which is keeping him, dan and the other artists plenty busy. David is hangin tough on the interactive side and is really becoming loved by the clients. Our development crew's plate is pretty full for the remainder of the quarter and our pipeline also looks good. That seems to be common among my peers in the space as well. Things seem steady on the web side. We've expanded our relationships and service offering with our email marketing providers, commerce platforms, testing platforms, and our analytics providers, further strengthening a line up that was already pretty strong. My charter remains to continue to cart our course to a diverse client mix that is industry & geo balanced. So far so good. We have also revamped our client review and project management processes to be much more systematic. We have formalized all our internal procedures - many of which were just in need of evolution vs. revolution. So anna our agency coordinator has her work cut out in order to keep all of us on track. We have added media strategy and media buying to our business, out of necessity mainly, but Fong is very capably manning that ship. Finally we have extended our services even further by adding full-service Public Relations through our partnership with RKPR who are helping us win, and manage these great new, and existing accounts.

We added the following new clients in Q1:

• Clearstar Credit Union - agency of record
• Magiko Carson Valley - agency of record
• NNDA (the other white meat in the Econ.Dev space) - agency of record
• Reno Tahoe Blues Fest - agency of record
• Lazaro SoHo - for email marketing
• Food Bank of Northern Nevada - interactive agency
• Cashill Law - agency of record
• True Blue Gaming - agency of record
• The Gaming Standards Association - agency of record
• Legends Reno Tahoe Open - while not a new client, we have formalized our relationship with the tournament and will take on all interactive Agency tasks in 2008
• Titan Construction Supply - agency of record
• JP Menante Real Estate - interactive agency

We have completed site launches for:

• The Entrust Group
• University Health System
• Boyd Gaming
• You Name It Events
• Fennell and Associates
• those are off the top of my head...there are probably others.

If you're wondering how we get it all done? Its with a team of about 15 folks who are dedicated to their craft and making big shit happen. We are also getting ready for another round of hiring, though the positions are already spoken for (in our heads). There is a lot on the plan for the remainder of 2008. We WILL launch a new website(s) to better represnt who the hell we are. Its brewin'. Trust me its brewin'. But, as most are aware, we are not big on exploiting our work, so in the meantime you probably won't see things like:

"Fuze awarded a website job", or "Fuze chosen to build an ad" in the business journal, awards events, or the local fishwrap. Those items are hardly newsworthy.

We rather enjoy our underground status...it let's me write from the cuff, typos and all, and simply let the work speak for itself.

Thanks to all who have helped get our 2008 off to a great start. Come on baseball season...opening day countdown. T minus 4 weeks...

BL


(another treo post...sorry for the typos)

Does luxury need to be for everyone?

I ask again, does luxury (in all its forms) belong in the hands of the masses? My frame of reference for this post comes from the folks at Bag Borrow or Steal but I'm gonna put a long tail on this kite so read on...

I've had this post brewin' for a while now because I have a strong opinion/concern about the state of the union and our desensitization to price tags, luxury brands, goods, cars, clothing, water, vodka, etc. I can remember a time when luxury was unknown, elusive, unattainable and generally "not for you".  On a recent trip to Monaco one of our lead designers (we'll call him Dan) was told this very thing when he tried to go to the world famous, ornate, baroque, Casino with his new wife...both dressed in their Sunday best (good enough to get them anywhere in San Francisco or Manhattan). They were greeted at the door, looked up and down and simply told, "It's not for you." Shocked, they courteously left.

This doesn't happen in the US, as long as you're willing to pay. $12 bottle of water, hell yes. $50K for a Hummer + $10K for rims, yes please. $300 for some True Religion Jeans, why not. My last trip to the Motocross I saw 20 yr olds carrying Gucci bags (to accompany their crooked Fox racing hat and their "proud to be a bitch" wife beater).  I will only guess that it was a swap-meet-Gucci, but the point is that the masses are all FASCINATED with luxury.  I am quite certain that a decent percentage of folks who buy luxury items can actually afford them, but more than can, do buy these items. Why? Tabloid magazines, MTV et al have become evangelists for the Bling generation where luxury is "in" and anything less is inferior. Is anything unattainable?  The concept of layaway (where you put a lil' somethin' on it) is a thing of the past. Now it's about instant gratification. Wealth, in general, has a completely different meaning to current generations than say my Grandfather who lived through the Great Depression.

And, what happened to normal brands?  They're all GONE.  At least when you look at advertising for clothing, travel, transportation, hotels, alcohol, entertainment, etc., etc.  Still in an effort to keep some sort of posh exclusivity, makers of luxury had to create a new Super/Ultra/Uber Luxury level, just to keep the riff-raff out. One of many examples of this illogic is in nightclubs. Last time we went out big in Las Vegas we went to LAX in the Luxor (where Paris Hilton frequently "makes it rain").  The only way to get a decent table with a view and some room to breathe (without dropping $20K at the gaming tables), was to buy our way in. I believe the night for 20 was in the range of $4,000. Who would pay that?  Everyone apparently, the place was PACKED!  And not just LAX, rather, every one of the Vegas super clubs was packed with people paying the same tabs we did. And at the very same time, equally packed were clubs in LA, New York, Miami, the ATL, etc.  I think we're all takin' crazy pills because this has somehow become the rule vs. the exception.

I really don't even know why I am on this rant. I consume luxury as much as the next guy, but at the risk of sounding egotistical, I am not [presently] bangin' it out paycheck-to-paycheck either. Still, nothing is going to change, until the economy forces it to.  Looks like here in 2008, the great economic equalizer may be ready to wield its sickle.

OK, back to the BASIS for this post.  Here is what got me juices flowin' on this topic.  I went to Babelfish (on the great Altavista) to translate something from English to French to send off to a colleague in Paris.  On the translation screen I saw this ad...

...and dammit I thought I was losing my mind.  Rent a f-ing handbag?  Yes. Now, in true Netflix fashion, the genius' at Bag Borrow or Steal [applicable name] will RENT you a Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, etc. bag, just to impress your [easily impressionable] friends.  Keep it a day, week, month, year, they don't care, its all razor blades as far as they're concerned. When you're done with it, you just send it back and they send you the NEXT one on your list.  What's next?

• Will people soon start asking what sort of lease rates are available on a new Versace clutch?
• Will my wife finally get her feet into those red-sole Christian Louboutin shoes because they have a payment plan?
• Will I soon be renting my William Rast Denim?
• Could I launch a new gum brand, packaged in a suede lined wrapper, available only at high-end boutiques, and get people to pay $15/pack just because Jay-Z & Jessica Simpson chew it to freshen their breath and whiten their choppers? [this is a topic in itself]

Don't laugh...all of this is theoretically possible. Part of me says brilliant, and part of me says that this is a sign that Armageddon is coming. You be the judge.

Whew, thats a lot of key bangin'. I'm glad I got it out. I feel so much better. I think I'm gonna go down to the CalAve and do some shopping.

WBV

San Francisco Supercross - attitudes & advertising

 

I blog to you from Club Level section 215 at AT&T Park in San Francisco and the 2008 AMA Monster Energy San Francisco Supercross. As someone who raced and appreciates the talent in the sport, I have been a fan of supercross for many years.  We are also very involved with the industry through our representation of LivFast Freestyle Motocross team - managing their events & sponsor deals, and their clothing line. I have to say I after tonights event, I am disapointed in the current state of MX for a number of reasons:

• team extreme - these are the black hoodie, flat bill hat, semi-adult, angst ridden, monster truck drivin, ready to fight in a second, inked sleeves and hardware faced extrEMEists who give the sport a bad name.  Its no longer about family and competition but instead its who's the baddest ass.
• the format - there are literally 6 races all night...not a lot of racing and not a lot to get excited about.
• no more heros - the greats of the sport are gone so there are no more riders everyone knows, no more rivalries, just riding.
• 10 lap main event BECAUSE OF RAIN - WTF??
• Commercials - worst of all.  In a 3hr program there were 6 races, each lasting about 10-20min - this means we watched OVER AN HOUR OF COMMERCIALS AT A LIVE EVENT. Holy crap what a waste. Not to mention every square inch of eye space covered with a logo of some sort. It's really overload - AN I'M IN ADVERTISING!

Anyway...thats my 2 cents on the state of supercross.  The sport is still one of my favorites to participate in and my son will have a tricked out mini bike when he's 3yo I am sure.  It was still fun but nothing like days past.

WBV

(another treo post - sorry for the typos)

Christmas is dead sexy!

I am not sure who decided to put the sexy in Santa Claus this year but 2007 sure seems to be the year that the exhibitionists get to whip out their revealing costumes and make it a par-tay before the dust even settles on Halloween's Grey Goose soaked bustier.

I find these sort of events the equivalent to caddie-day with alcohol, so I will probably be a great indoorsman this weekend. But, that doesn't mean I don't admire the efforts and creative savvy of those who vow to make Jesus' birthday as sexy as it can be.

Party on Wayne!

WBV

Reno is cool now...we have a District!

In an ongoing effort to "hang" with the big cities, we have our first official "district". Welcome to SoDo. It's official...we're real now.

Here are a couple potential other districts:

• SoMo - South Meadows area (obvious)
• NoDo - lets hurry and classify the university area NoDo because the University District takes too long to type.
• E40 - east of downtown on 4th street where you can easily score a 40. Don't tell me 4th street is all hip now cause my dad rustles off sleepy folks from his business porch daily.
• HoHo - this district is 5 miles east of sparks where prostitution is legal.
• JethHo - this is the area with the ill fated Park Lane Mall which was never acquired (but not for lack of effort) by Max Baer (Jethro Clampet)
• 2WD - a hip spin on double-wide for Sun Valley (our neighbor community to the north). Still sporting two entries in the Guiness for being the worlds largest trailer park, and for having the highest concentration of convicts.
• others? Submit some...I'll post 'em.

Ok you Reno purists, before you start flaming and hurling on me...take it easy...this is a joke. I like reno. I like living here. I like having my business here. I am a 4th generation native Nevadan...so I am authorized to make funnies about my home town. If we can't laugh at ourselves, then what have we become?

That said, I am starting to think we can't we come up with ANY ideas of our own. Does everything have to be a copy of what exists someplace else (and we have it too)? We have some cool "San Francisco style" restaurants. And a couple swell "Vegas style" nightclubs. We have some hip "New York style" urban highrises. What is Reno-style? Anyone know anymore? Sometimes I think we chase our tails trying to be a big city when the charm of this place is in the city's moniker: The Biggest Little City In The World. Still works for me.

I don't see our area as being cool because we have districts, and "xyz-style" stuff. Rather, Greater Reno(dash)Tahoe is unique because of the people, the mountains, the world class skiing, world class recreation, miles of open trails, 2 stroke vehicle accessibility, all the nearby lakes, the climate, the location & proximity to so much. The river redevelopment is cool, california avenue is cool, the first street bar & nightclub areas are cool, downtown Sparks & the marina are getting cool (though I am partial), Grand Sierra has turned into a very cool casino resort (and is doing original and interesting things people said "will never work here"), outside of Gotham center/urban-ia, our neighborhoods are still safe & nice, traffic ain't that bad (though the skill level of drivers is low), and in spite of rising/falling housing costs, this is still an affordable place to live - in comparison to a big city.

Folks, lets all vow to keep reno weird! Oh wait, that's Austin...oh well, use it till we sort something else out.

WBV

[another treo post - sorry for the typos]

Will [not] work for free - Constant improvement measures

I just got back from vacation and it was a full detach for me.  Honestly one of the first vacations i have had since i went into business for myself over 6 years ago. Now, don't cry for me Argentina...most who know me, know I take time off all the time. But, i have become the king of the 4-day weekend.  This is not the same as a vacation.  Those of you with busy lives and businesses probably have similar stories and feelings.  So, my vacation was great...thanks for [not] asking.

Anyway, the holiday could not have come at a better time because the last 2 quarters have been break-neck for all involved in Fuze.  All cylinders have been singin' a throaty rumble. We have a couple mega projects launching this month...over 6 months in the making, and boy are we in need of some breathing room to look internal at our business and breathe a bit.

We were actually supposed to make December a down month to work on our 'stuff'.  You know...Christmas gifts that we probably wont complete, holiday messages we will forgo in favor of getting client messages out, a new website long overdue, etc, etc. Obviously we wont fulfill all of these.  On the other hand, I am living vicariously through my pals in Leeds at Carsonified who decided to take 10 days off to work on their business (right on the heels of their rebrand). As always, Ryan's story is interesting to follow.  Really has me thinking about our business and some of our shortcomings which we are improving (competition read on):

• As of recent, we seem to be having some trouble working on our own stuff, and at the same time, we are troubled with wrangling clients and keeping some of our larger projects on a fast track.
• We've grown, and are managing more people, projects, and clients as well - need to keep all VIP's VIP's...no bad seats here.
  
• Our processes & Project Management systems have had light shined upon them and both need to evolve. 

All not lost, just a rant. Hopefully folks appreciate the honesty. We get things done, but with some process & system improvements, we would have more capacity and would provide an even better customer experience so things are a changin'.  While I'm at it, i am re-evaluating a few other things.

Like most good agencies, we get all too frequent requests/pipe-dreams asking us to do free work for our friends-of-friends, good causes, bad causes, etc.  I am a sucker for the most part when it comes to charity and community service which is why we have contributed, in 2007 alone, the equivalent of nearly 1000 hours of pro-bono services & donations. You do the math on that...it's a lot for an agency our size. I have always been a believer in giving back so we will certainly keep helping folks out pro-bono wise, i think that our criteria for selction of charities may well change.

So, pro bono will be re-focused, but we are going to start waving off another type of freebie here for 2008.  I am not a believer in trade out, and we have far graduated from a need to do "portfolio work", spec work, trade for ownership, etc.  Can't. Won't. No mas. To support this philosophy, I came across this funny animation (courtesy of Stefan Lucut) that i found fitting so i will share:

[click to view animation full size]

The animation got me thinkin': I think some people believe all we do here is draw pictures and play on the computer, and as a result, think that we are fully available to goof off for them - as if our time has no value. We don't have a lot of agency 'fluffers' here at Fuze, everybody is a contributor (not typical of an agency, but it works for us) so we don't have a scrub team we can throw on freebie side projects.  Hell we have 100's of ideas internally we would rather work on than someone's "build me a ..." job thats lobbed over the wall unsolicited. 2008 will see these requests get highly scrutinized before we consider them.

So my holiday resolutions are:

• evaluate client roster - make sure we have good fits
• visit with clients more often - sometimes I lose touch
• keep the projects good ones - no bad work
• don't waste time - don't waste money
• build new & better processes for all workflows
• narrow pro-bono to engagements where we can really make a difference
• expand client base into target markets & industries
• continue our community involvement
• continue to grow
• LAUNCH NEW G'DAMN WEBSITE(s)!
• ...

...well, this wasn't supposed to be a year end wrap up, so i will stop and save that for December 31st, but one thing i can guarantee is that, much like 2007, you can expect a new look and feel for everything Fuze in 2008. Ever forward...as always. Pardon our dust till we take the covers off...

WBV