Flying Dog, Yer Doin' It Right. Cheers.

Sometimes I miss the timliness boat for a good post and just say skip it.  Sometimes it's because I'm drunk.  When I was in NYC in January my friends and I dominated a couple beer towers filled with delicoius Flying Dog brew.  Before I could finish my first beer I got a comment on my photo from someone at Flying Dog.  Nothing pushy, just a friendly hello before saying that he was from the brewery.  I told him I liked their approach - not just an automatic follow because I mentioned their brand online.  I vowed to post my experience but then apparently forgot due to the beer towers.  

Anyways, last week the dudes over at Mashable had some kind words for Flying Dog.  In addition to everything they're doing right online, I think they are a perfect example showing that succeeding online isn't dependent on the size of your brand, it's about the size of your community.  Their fans are more passionate and involved.  Haven't seen that coming from any Bud drinkers lately. Cheers, Flying Dog, I'm a fan. 

May the best idea win...NOT.

With my impending graduation near, I think more and more about the industry I will soon enter. Is what they teach us in school really how the real world works. Do the best ideas always win?

Recently, as shared on AdRants, the site Killed Ideas sparked my attention. Most in the industry can attest they've had brilliant ideas killed by the agency or client. Why should these ideas die?

They shouldn't. And if it weren't for legality reasons, I'm sure there would be an addition to that book that proves it, right Chariot?

From my perspective it seems as if the best ideas are also the riskiest. Many agencies boast their desire to find all things creative and push the boundaries. Seems like a load of BS to me. If it doesn't make them quick ROI the idea doesn't make it past GO. What happened to long term commitments and brand perceptions? I may not always love CP+B work, but you have to give them credit for pushing the envelope.

I am not naive, I know money makes the world go round. But at times, this industry sometimes seems a little off to me. My opinions may be pegged as youthful idealism, but I'd like to hear from agency professionals out there. Is this how it works at your agency? Do the best ideas get shoved aside for the safer choice?

Yaybia Weekly Link Love: March 21 - March 27, 2009

ON THE WEBS

• Fargo is flooding. I normally hate on ND but I really hope everyone can pull through. Volunteers are mobilized via FB and Twitter.
• KFC (i cannot type that without typing FKC) wants to save your ass while before making your ass bigger.
• Get excited! Where the Wild Things Are trailer hit the webs. How many times have I watched it? Ohh so many.
• Why go to SXSW when all the recaps are online? Ok ok, just trying to make myself feel better about not being able to go. But seriously, good recaps!

ON YAYBIA

• Suze is back in the game with posts about our two fave video sites, YouTube and Hulu.
• Hey brands, Fargo is seriously flooding. What are you doing to halp?
• IDK if even customization will save magazines, but Time is giving it a go.

LOVERS & FRIENDS

• Our buddies over at Fallon launched a new site and a "life streaming" tool called Skimmer. The design is pretty, but let's not forget that Friendfeed failed because it's a clusterfuck. Two takeaways: we are SO glad that our companies don't publicize our tweets or blog posts and a big congrats for DOING instead of just TALKING.
• Boring? On Yaybia? As Griner puts it, "Adults use salty language. Adults have political opinions. Adults drink alcoholic beverages." We'll never be boring online . So uh, let's go drink.
  

LAWL

• Happiest funeral I've ever seen.
• Libby might die if Erin isn't online every minute that she is.
  
• NO, REN. NO! Relive your childhood and be glad you weren't a child star.

You Tube gets Educational

Yesterday, YouTube launched a new facet of their popular online video site, creating a new forum for colleges and universities to be heard.  YouTube Edu allows higher learning establishments to create channels and upload videos highlighting the schools' activities, research, and achievements.  Public relations score!  

My head is spinning with all the amazing ways this new addition can be utilized.  You Tube is one of the top five popular sites among people ages 18-34, and now with Edu it can be a great source of pride for students and recruitment for potential students.  Additionally, isn't an online video highlighting major research efforts and breakthroughs much more interesting that a formal press release?  The site is an easy hub to direct journalists to, who are interested in learning more about any university or college's major achievements.

Currently (and I'm really proud to say this) the University of Minnesota is one of the most popular channels among over 100 institutions creating channels as of yesterday.  The U of M's channel already hosts 95 videos ranging from highlights of U of M research to tours of the new TCF Stadium.  Way to be a leader, U of M.  First Twitter, now You Tube.  Universities, especially the U of M, are taking a head first leap into the world of social media, and people are paying attention.  

Gen Y Can't Get Enough Interaction!

Hey kids, I'm baaaack.  School and life caused a brief hiatus in my writing, but I'm back with a vengeance and ready to dive in to the social media scene once again.  So here goes.

Gen Y has an amazing regard for all things social. With hours spent online, Gen Y moves beyond face-to-face interaction and additionally seeks social interaction in a digital sense.  

My generation spends a large amount of time creating an online persona through social media. Facebook and Google recognized the need to add interaction to the mix long ago with their chat functions.  Now, moving beyond IMing and Facebooking, Gen Y is craving even more interaction with their online activities.

Hulu.com recognized this, and stepped up recently with their new friends feature, allowing users to not only watch their favorite shows (mine is The Office) on their own time, but to interact with friends while doing it.  Viewers and friends can simultaneously watch a show and chat about it using the feature.  

They also have the opportunity to shape their online persona even more by creating a profile, sharing opinions, and displaying recent activities.  

Good idea? Not sure until I try it, but all I know is this may increase the amount of "that's what she said" jokes now that I have an online forum as well....

No, Google. I want an IMAGE.

Text ≠ Image

The Role of Brands in a Disaster

Jameson has spent the last two nights sandbagging Fargo from the rising Red River.  Until 5:30 am, he was in the Fargodome stacking sandbags on pallets to be hauled out (and there's his roommate in the photo to the left!).  Call me crazy, but here is an opportunity for brands to follow through on their promises of "supporting the community" or being "dependable."  A few are doing it right:

• Area hotels are offering discounted rates to flood volunteers
• NDSU has become the backbone of the sandbag effort, donating meals, equipment, and students' time.  I read that over 3500 students have volunteered--that's 35% of the student population.  Go Bison!
  
• The Fargo/Moorhead Convention & Visitors Bureau has turned their Twitter feed into a central resource for volunteering, reporting articles, and monitoring the height of the river.
• Go Radio Broadcasting has created the resource ValleyFloodWatch.com. 

And some missed opportunities:

• Verizon has issued a press release about how they're fortifying their cell service to withstand the water.  Great, but why aren't they sponsoring (paying for, maintaining, and promoting) the volunteer hotline?  There's a text alert service; why aren't they sending their Fargo subscribers messages to notify them and let them opt-in?
• Local restaurants and coffee shops should be dishing out food and drinks to volunteers--along with a coupon for a return after the flood.
• Those who log 10 hours of volunteering should receive a discount on their utility bill.
• Even small gestures like handing out gift cards to volunteers would be appreciated.  If Jitters Coffee or Boppa's Bagels came through the Fargodome at 4:30am, I guarantee that Jameson and the other volunteers would remember them as partners in the fight and reward them for it.

I know some brands could be wary of Red River Flood 2009: Brought to you by Verizon Wireless!  I don't expect the sandbags to be decked out with sponsor logos.  But the impact of uniformed workers donating time and resources would not be quickly forgotten.  In this world of social and one-to-one, this is a chance to be a genuine force for good for the people of the Red River.  In times of crisis, people want to feel like their community is banding together, and the brands that join them are going to be the hometown heroes.  

Want to promote your own personal brand?  Donate.

Ad that makes me remember why I love this

Time Mine: Magazine Mashup

Everything is doom and gloom for print lately, but this nice little twist from Time might be a turn in the right direction. Time is test driving a service called Mine which allows readers to customize a single magazine with content of their choice. Mix and match from 8 different mags and your custom publication will be delivered to your door or inbox. Check it.

I've been wondering who the first company was going to be that could notice and embrace my variety of interests. I subscribe to Wired, Ad Age, Vanity Fair and Women's Health and this seems to be quite the range of topics for even Amazon to recommend products that are girly geek instead of just girl or just geek. I don't know that Time Mine is a long term solution, but it's a step in the right direction. Readers might not necessarily want to get locked in to a full year subscription of each magazine that interests them, but it might be a lot easier to drop $15/year on a subscription that covers more than one topic. Other thoughts?

VitaminWater + NCAA

Sports, Ahh, Sports! March Madness has occupied my conscious hours this weekend, which actually hasn’t been that many due to pain killer induced naps. Anyways, most of you know Yaybia's love for VitaminWater so I was excited to see what they were going to bring to the court after the NCAA allowed them to play. Here’s what they rocked.


Consistency. VW has 20+ flavors but decided to place Revive as the face of the NCAA promotions. We might be confused as to why our brackets were busted the first day, but we’ll never be confused about the purple and white VW cups behind the benches.

Direction. Commercials end by showing the facebook.com/vitaminwater URL which drops you into the videos section of the profile. This eliminates steps in the sharing process and makes it easier for me to learn more about the brand, products and promotions without dealing with their crappy Flash site.


Partnership. Uploading your recreated game winning moment at ncaa.com/revive could win you a trip to the Final Four. Sweet deal. Nice branded URL and nice to have it on the NCAA site for a little credibility boost.

Any other thoughts? Too much VitaminWater? Not enough G?

Recommended Reading

I know a lot of Yaybia's readers are advertising students, and I wanted to point out an amazing resource for advertising internships that I stumbled upon through my Google Alerts for CM. One of last year's Lucky 13, Jonathan Carmona, has turned his blog Carmonize into a resource for all things ad internships. His tips range from application advice to deadline reminders, and optimizing your Google search results to where to live in your intern city.

Besides creating a great resource, Jonathan has cleverly carved out a niche for himself. You can't throw a rock at the Internet without hitting an advertising blog, but Jonathan has created a unique space for showing he's serious about getting a job and (more importantly?) being a mentor. Way to go!

Yaybia Weekly Link Love: March 14-20, 2009

Just kidding! I was on vacation all week and Erin's having knee surgery today, so you'll have to sit tight and wait for next week's edition of Link Love. Happy Friday!

Interview with Kare11 News!

I sat down with Scott Goldberg to chat about using social media for job searching. Here's the link to the video and text version!

Yaybia Weekly Link Love: March 7 - March 13, 2009

ON THE WEBS

• Attention brands: get your email act together.  72% of 18-24s say the branded email they receive is irrelevant and 81% say social network ads are irrelevant.  Maybe that's why Facebook is allowing users to vote on ads now?  
  
• Take a step back from the Skittles mayhem and read this actual review from a 16-year-old NON ad/web geek.
  
• 95% of people who download free iPhone apps have quit using them after 30 days
• Thru-You = YouTube + Free Time x Steroids = Awesome
• Everyone at Wal-Marts 5 PR AORs now wants to die
• Razorfish released their...HEY LOOK CLOUDS...180 page digital outlook report ...OMG YOU HAVE CHEEZITS...but we have a hard time believing...BEER...people will pay attention for that long. 

ON YAYBIA

• Blog shaNAST!
  
• This isn't North Dakota, it's advertising. Let's ditch the silos.
  
• Much like Yaybia's namesake, some products are so iconic they don't need copy. 

LOVERS & FRIENDS

• Follow the #Fallon kids at #SXSW
  
• Our fave London blogger writes about UMN market research. Go Gophers!
  
• @halvorson dropped content strategy knowledge at CATFOA. 
  

LAWL

• Cannot. Wait. T-minus 18 days.
  
• Despite popular belief, Erin actually hates Libby. 
• Watch another NASCAR race, cuddle with Libby.  #fuckitlist

Youthful Idealism

My ideal agency looks less like this:

and more like this:

Planners would touch every strategy.  Media and creative would be BFFs.  Every department would get access to everyone else's research and insights.  There would be more research, more teamwork, more brainstorming, more internal presentations and (gasp) more meetings. 

Hopeless naïveté?  'Sac envy?  Gen Y "Everyone wins!" mentality?  Probably.  I know these ideas are impractical in most scenarios.  But while I know we can't eat sunshine and shit rainbows, occasionally I remember what made me fired up about advertising in the first place and I'm compelled to share it, for fear of forgetting.

What's on your Dream Agency wishlist?

Blog Smog - Dentyne Make Face Time

Look out, kids! Blog smog! This video is getting released into the wild interwebs tomorrow, but we're giving you a sneak peak.  This is the newest work in the Dentyne Make Face Time campaign. Sinuate Media hooked us up. Check it.

I shared my thoughts on the campaign a while ago and Libby also included it in her best of 2008 post.  I enjoy the quirky animation and LOLd when the stank breath dude mutters, "tags: breath, menace, satan, evil."  While it's a lot different than the current campaign, this could be a hit with the smaller blogging crowd, but there are few things to consider with this move away from the crowd pleasing "real instant message" ads.  Instead of providing a compelling reason to make face time, this spot focuses more on the minty side of Dentyne rather than the heart side.  Even though we're advertising bloggers, this video transcends the ad world and can become a topic among all blog writers.  Good thing LiveJournal is still hanging on, I can see this being a hit over there. 

Can a product be so iconic that you don't need any copy?

Maybe. I mean I know that packaging is iconic, but what about when you open a box. What is actually on the inside. What products are so iconic? I think cereal is a good one. Think fast:



Cheerios.

But are there products so iconic, that they could make an ad with ONLY their product. And like I said - not packaging. No label. No marking on the product.

Behold: the most recent banner click registered to this IP address (it was static, there were NO other frames):


I was curious. I am a vegetarian, and I could have sworn that they are Whitecastle slyders. Not just any burgers. Whitecastle burgers. I have never eaten a Whitecastle slyder, let alone set foot in a Whitecastle, but I knew exactly what they were. It led me to:


So there you have it. A brand where the product is iconic enough to identify itself.

I am curious - what other products can you think of, that with no packaging or copy can identify themselves? How do we feel creatively about this ad?

The Science of Watchmen - University of Minnesota

Are you ready to have your mind blown?  Twice?  Good.  

1. UMN is rocking everything with social media.  Are you?

2. The science of Watchmen. Are you kidding me? Whoah. Numbers. Physics. Movies. Awesome. 

This is the top video featured on YouTube today! 

So aside from awesome media placement, why is this video so great?

1. Relevant.  Watchmen opens this weekend and even the Yaybia crew will be checking it out at the IMAX theater.  

2. Interesting.  Despite being a bit long for my Internet attention span, I was mesmerized by the professor and the way the movie clips were integrated into his explanations. 

3. Credible.  Even if I put my Gopher roots aside, the physics department at the University of Minnesota is top notch.

4. On strategy. Last year the U lanched the Driven to Discover campaign and they OWN it.  Everything on campus is branded, and it's a public-facing badge that highlights the University's commitment to being one of the top research institutions in the country.  This video is just one example of putting their goals into action.  Good job again to OLSON for a great campaign.

Yaybia Weekly Link Love: February 28 - March 6, 2009

ON THE WEBS

• OMG OMG OMG WTF SKITTLES OMG.  
  
• Facebook keeps changing it up:  First it integrates with Oodle, a service that makes classifieds "social, not local."  Then it previews a revamped Home Page and makes Pages more like Profiles--and brands more like buddies. Of the 30 most popular pages, several were created by fans, so we'll be watching to see how brands react to fans' newfound power to interact through these Pages.
  
• Is Twitter a social search engine?

ON YAYBIA

• Our two cents on Skittles and Facebook stirred up some great comments.
• Time for spring cleaning--of your media habits

LOVERS & FRIENDS

• Advergirl juxtaposes her current media mix with what she should be consuming.  I like the commenter's post that this is still just the tip of the media iceberg.
• On News from the Herd, Dirk has great insight into how people really want to interact with brands in social spaces.

LAWL

• I wish I had thought of this ad.   Media + creative = awesome.
• Firefox Beta and OSX Jaguar!
• If this had existed when I was in college, I would have gotten to bed before 6am when my papers were due the next day.
• This makes me hungry.
• ... ... ...
• I accidentally busted out a "that's what she said" in front of the president of my agency yesterday.  Fortunately I'm still employed.

Facebook Makes Brands More Friendly

Facebook has overhauled Pages to make them look and function more like Profiles. "Soon you will be seeing updates from Pages in your news feed."

With this adaptation, Facebook flies in the face of Alan Wolk's claim that your brand is not my friend.  Now your brand can post links and pictures to my news feed, just like my friends...your brand's wall looks more like my friends' walls...soon will your brand write on my wall in return?  

Is this a reaction to the one-to-one communication on Twitter or to marketers pushing for more interaction?  Facebook users hate change; will this be a minor rustle like the last layout change or a major upheaval like Beacon and the TOS?

The TOS scandal was a wake-up call to a lot of Facebook users that maybe it's Facebook who isn't your friend.  They're out to make money by capitalizing on your private information.  And while getting relevant information that I subscribe to in a centralized place is great, Mr. Wolk has a point--is having a brand literally write on my wall (note:  I don't know if this is actually a feature, but that seems like where it's headed) going to cross a sacred invisible line?  Will it encourage a more human interaction like Twitter has?  Or will it just pare down a brand's fans to its absolute zealots?

It opens up a huge opportunity for brands to do things wrong.  Like Wolk said, if brands start using social networks to push out irrelevant product information and humanless hard-sells, users will drop them like they're hot.  I love crappetizers from Applebee's, but if random pictures of their mozzarella sticks and buffalo wings start showing up in my newsfeed, I will X out of that shit immediately. 

 

This isn't as much of a hazard on Twitter because brands start with zero followers; those who use it wrong simply won't attract a crowd of loyalists.  But many Facebook pages already have hundreds of thousands of fans and plenty of room for missteps.  So I'm viewing this as a great opportunity for PR agencies, digital strategists, and media professionals to guide big brands to play nice and act, well, friendly.  How about writing on my wall when a new Applebee's opens in my zip code?  It's all about providing value.

Thoughts and predictions welcome!

Setting the Ad Geek Aside

Being involved in the Ypulse Youth Advisory Board has given me an opportunity to create the "Our Side of the Screen" series, where I write about youth-targeted campaigns.  Since Ypulse is aimed at marketers who talk to ages 8-24, I try to express my reactions to the campaigns from a consumer standpoint, not an ad geek.  To be honest, it's really hard.

I started writing a post about Skittles.com this morning, and I had a tougher time than ever separating my consumer self from my marketing self.  What's that quote about not seeing the forest for the leaves?  The leaves of "OMG they didn't register @skittles_com and @skittlescandy" are blocking my view of the consumer experience.  Is this giving me the information I need?  How does it affect my perception of the brand?  Will I think about it next time I'm in the Target check-out staring at the gum--and not "I wonder if their sales have been impacted by the blog buzz?" but "Mmm, I like Skittles and should buy some"?  Well, I thi--OMG look, Flickr search!

I'm not saying that my own reaction is even close to a substitute for account planning research and analysis, and I don't want to even hint that my impressions are representative of my peer group's.  Article upon article has been written about the importance of putting aside our own biases and mindsets to create campaigns based on our targets' needs, and I could give you dozens of testimonies on the merits of planning research.  But we get so caught up in taking ourselves out of the equation that it almost becomes impossible to put ourselves back in.  

Erin challenged us to expand our horizons with media and events we wouldn't normally experience.  I'm challenging us to explore these experiences with a consumer's eye once in a while.  Not your target's or your agency's, but your own.  It will keep you grounded--not to mention help your sanity.  Now I'm gonna go re-visit Skittles.com as Libby the candy fan, not a researcher or media analyst.

Mixing up My Media

Last night while trying to catch up on Google Reader I came across two posts that are completely unrelated, but when brought together in the right context, make a lot of sense. 

First up, a clever little "photo of the day" post from Whitney Hess , a UX consultant in NYC.  She quickly noted how ridiculous the "wash hands before returning to work" instructions were, but I'm now thinking we need to adapt those instructions for non-foodie related work. 

Next, Advergirl is back in the blogging mode with a killer post highlighting the ways personal media consumption can impact the work that we produce. 

Given Advergirl's ideas about mixing up the media we consume, maybe washing our hands before work is more relevant than we think.  Let me explain.

I've done a lot of things to try and explore media out of my realm, even to the point of watching the Daytona 500 with Libby (with Keystone Light, of course).  But I often fall victim to the same industry blogs, client related news feeds and the familiar podcasts. I do these things so that I will be better at my job, but how much good am I missing out on by not stepping out of my boundaries more often?  I've never been one to play it safe, but when my "catch up on the interwebs" time is cut shorter everyday, it's not always easy to venture away from the go-to blogs or news channels.  

That being said, I'm going to start washing my hands [of familiar media] before work.  Before writing new posts.  And, gasp, even before catching up on daily LOLCats.  The familiar is great, but these two posts have reminded me that even a few minutes on a website, or with a magazine or video clip that I'd never thought I'd stumble upon can have a huge impact on the way I address projects and view the world. 

So let's start now.  This week I will watch the local 10pm news, watch a prime time television show in its natural form (not iTunes), and listen to my dad's favorite talk radio station.  I know it's not going to put me inside the shoes of someone else, but it's a start and it's important to be aware of all the options.  I'm curious to know some of the things you might to do mix up your media.  Do tell!

Skittles forgets to register all possible Twitter names, gets spammed on their own site

UPDATE 2: skittles.com now links to the Skittles Facebook page. And, as a plus, the REAL skittles is in there answering questions and responding to posts on the wall by group members. A little more control, and a bit better landing page visual if you ask me.

Well, there is a lot of debate about the new Skittles.com floating around. I'll weigh in my 2-cents: good experiment, I'm impressed that Agency.com was able to sell the idea through, but how much does this target your consumer? And on another note, way to rip off Mondernista! (which came from Minneapolis' own Zeus Jones). Yes, it got you buzz, but will it be short lived? According to Thought Gadget, it is already seeing a fall off. I will say though, it is impressive to get as much buzz as they did, and most brands would kill for that.



On another note, we have heard that a certain amount of control needs to be surrendered when you are doing a social media experiment. However, generally speaking it is a good idea to snatch up all domain names, twitter names, etc that would allow anyone to pose as your brand online. Skittles missed the boat big time on that one, leaving:
http://twitter.com/skittles_com
wide open. Someone is spamming the heck out of skittles.com, re-tweeting every 30 seconds or so:

Ooops.

Overall I'm glad to see a brave client, but I've never been a fan of using someones creative idea, even for a different product.

UPDATE: the same spammer has www.twitter.com/ _skittles_com, and I think we can expect more as the day goes on. Look at this screenshot of the homepage: