Great Photo

Seen on the streets of Austin....


Thanks to Martin, our fab creative director here at Pierpont, for the image.

Protect your brand -- and pay Godin $400

I tweeted about this yesterday on the AMA Houston Twitter feed, but in case you didn't see it, here's the scoop: Seth Godin, marketing mavrick and blogger extraordinaire, just launched Brands In Public, a site that aggregates internet comments (think Twitter, blogs, YouTube, etc.) about brands into one simple, easy to use dashboard that anyone can access. The twist -- if there's a page about your brand, you'll have to fork over $400 bucks to "coordinate" it. What does this mean? Basically, you can't change the content that's rolling in but that you can highlight the positive tweets, direct readers to your own company's videos, blogs, or sites, and defend your brand from any comments that may appear. Essentially, you're "curating" a clearinghouse of consumer buzz about your brand.

"Pay me my money -- or your brand gets creamed."

Thus far, Godin has introduced about 100 or so pages for some of our fave brands, and a few (Allstate and Home Depot, for example) appear to have forked over the dough to coordinate their dashboards.

Others are holding off for right now....and many are pissed. Why? Duh -- they feel backed into a corner where they have to pay Godin or potentially risk having a page on the web that highlights all things negative about their brand.

We'll see where this goes and if it takes off. I think what's really going to impact how seriously brands take this new venture is how well the Brands in Public pages show up in search engines. It'll also depend on how well consumers take to the new site. So far, all the talk about Brands in Public has been from marketing and branding folks like me, but if the site is going to take off, consumers are going to have to bite into it and use it.

Thoughts on all of this? $400 bucks isn't that much when you're a Home Depot, but do you think its fair to "hijack" (as some bloggers have said) comments about a brand and then force 'em to pay to defend themselves? And the most important question of all -- will this really help consumers make better decisions about brands??? Let's discuss.

Emmy Red Carpet, 2009....

My faves (and not so faves). So without further ado....

WINNERS:

Mariska Hargitay. Simple dress but she still looks smoking. Her hair is a bit sloppy, but perfection is hard to find.

Entourage cast: Hot. I am especially digging Perrey Reeves' look.

Holly Hunter: Y'all know I love things that sparkle. So obviously, I'm loving this dress. Fits her like a glove too.


John Krasinsk: Um, hello John. Yum. Where's your hotel room?

Heidi Klum: WTF? She's about to pop and still has a hotter body than me. This dress is AMAZING on her.


Debra Messing: Debra Messing looks smoking in this dress. I love the one-shoulder look, too.


Blake Lively: She's a terrible actress but I love her anyways. Plus, this is a great dress....sexy and fun.

LOSERS:


January Jones: January's fashion choice is quite, er, chilly.

Josh Segal: So I admit that I have a secret crush on Josh Segal (I like dorky guys!) but even I've gotta draw the line somewhere. This suit looks like something he got off the rack at Big & Tall. On sale -- or clearance.




Sarah Silverman: Great color....and that's about it. Ew.


Shar Jackson: Omigod, omigod, omigod. What the hell was she (or not) thinking???