Yaybia Weekly Link Love: May 11-15

YAYBIA LINK LOVE: BACK WITH A VENGEANCE!

ON THE WEBS

• We learned three strengths of Twitter this week: it enables fandom, it breaks news, and it effects conversations. "Oprah mentions Twitter and registrations surge. That’s not the power of Twitter, that’s the power of Oprah’s fan community." (I'm looking at you, KFC.)
  
  
• Attention agencies: You won't know social media until you do it. And when you do, here's what you should be listening for.
  
  
• National brands take a step into "locally grown" with Lays chip tracker, which shows you which farmer grew yer taters.
  
  
• Moms love blogs. Will they love The Juice, Tropicana's branded section of BlogHer?
  
  
• Thanks to Miracle Whip, now there's an app to help me visualize all the snarky comments I make in my head. ZING!
  
  
• VitaminWater uses clever copy on the labels to partner with an online social network. LOVE.

ON YAYBIA

• Sometimes it's okay for brands to be my friend.

LOVERS & FRIENDS

• CATFOA wrapped up with Michael Lebowitz of Big Spaceship. I think we've decided that the future of advertising is better with cupcakes. 
  
  
• Have you seen Mullet Like Me yet? We're lucky enough to have seen it in person.
  
  
• Stuff About Minneapolis has been posting some exceptionally awesome pictures this week.

LAWL

• PRESIDENTIAL HEADPATS!!! Our greatest fantasy realized. 
  
  
• This is pretty much how I see the world anyway...I imagine it's similar to wearing Kanye shutter shades, only I just see Excel rows and columns.
  
  
• SOMEBODY ADOPT THIS PUPPY RIGHT NOW AND LET ME COME PLAY WITH IT

I Want Your Brand To Be My Friend

Last week Alan Wolk was kind enough to tip us off to some updates he made to his Your Brand is Not My Friend presentation after we offered up a few suggestions.  He has a few new examples of his theory related to Facebook's Fan updates, definitely worth the read. Anyways, it got me thinking about times when I might actually want your brand to be my friend.  

I just finished college. My fellow grads and I have been thrown into a huge transition, whether we want to accept it or not.  This is a time where we are seeking advice, information and guidance on how to make decisions regarding finances, insurance and all those fun adult purchases.  While we may be broke now and for the next few years, soon we'll be making significant purchases (cars, homes, kick-ass TVs) that I doubt brands would want to miss out on. I want your brand to be my friend. 

Who's missing out?

Apple and the PCs -- These companies welcomed us with open arms as freshman offering student discounts and handing out free iPods (and Zunes?). We got frequent deals throughout college because we were poor students.  But now what?  Acknowledging the next transition might be the simplest way of saying let's be friends for life.  It could be as simple as suggesting podcasts that give career tips or as extensive as email blasts about the benefits of Apple for small businesses.

TCF Bank (or other campus bank)  --  U of M students are pretty much forced into getting a TCF Bank account during freshman orientation.  They should be doing everything they can to keep grads as customers as they start to want and need more banking services. 

Amazon -- I would be surprised if their sophisticated user data didn't know that I had purchased textbooks at least once per year for the past four years.  While it might not be totally accurate for everyone, serving up recommendations for books that help me handle life after college (new job, home decor on a budget, M-word books) are likely to be well received. 

Car insurance brands -- I've received the good student discount for the past eight semesters and now I'm kicked off because I'm graduating.  But why aren't they scooping me up as an individual account? I have no idea what insurance to buy but if they presented me with a recent grad package I'd sign immediately.

And someone who's doing it right:

Mint.com -- The Financial Fitness 'game' helps users learn about their accounts and explore the options of savings and investment. It's perfectly targeted to help grads get their student loans and budget in check. 

Any other brands that you'd want to be friends with upon graduation?

Next on MTV: The 'SAC

Rumors are swirling this morning about AAF president James Edmund Datri's remarks to turn NSAC into a reality TV show.  Its impact on perceptions of the ad industry is debatable, but there are only two ways it could affect NSAC students:

SUPER AWESOME

• Potential employers would see the blood, sweat, and tears students pour into the campaign and would take NSAC seriously when considering job applicants.
  
  
• Speaking of taking NSAC seriously--the case for AIM referred to NSAC as an "exercise," and sometimes I feel like the AAF wants NSAC to exist in its own make-believe world as something "those kids" are working on.  I know NSAC is different from real industry work, but I hope the AAF would realize that NSAC participants view their campaigns in the context of real-world advertising, not just a paper assignment.
  

TOTAL DESTRUCTION

• I don't know about other schools, but the University of Minnesota's NSAC team has seen its fair share of drama that I wouldn't enjoy being broadcast.
  
  
• Teams once comprised of geeky ad kids could morph into attention-seeking actors.  Nothing could be worse for the perception of the ad industry.
  

Of course, selling an NSAC sponsorship as a reality TV tie-in will also attract certain sponsors and deter others.  Any brand to sign on will be bold and unafraid to try new things, which would be fun for students to work on, but not representative of real-world advertising.  Also, the past three campaigns have been targeted to Gen Y consumers, and I don't see this trend shifting if a TV element is added.

I sure wouldn't have minded having my ideas showcased on national TV for agencies around the country to see, though...

The Internet High Five

Your wait is over little kitteh! The Internet High Five is here.

RT gives cred, but often lacks personal touch.
HT just reminds me of old men.
IHF, now we're talking. High Fives have more enthusiasm. They imply friendship. They are playful and exciting. They are awesome.

I don't think it's just giving link credit. It's a thank you, a 'nice find' or a simple congrats. What else could it be?

University of Minnesota Takes the District 8 NSAC Title!

We here at YAYBIA! are proud to announce that our University of Minnesota NSAC team, a.k.a. Chariot, won 1st place at the District 8 National Student Advertising Competition in Minneapolis, MN on Saturday, April 25th. Minnesota State University Moorhead, South Dakota State University, and St. Thomas won 4th, 3rd, and 2nd place, respectively.

Big shout outs to those who came to support us as we pitched our campaign. It really meant a lot.

Also, I have to send my love to Danielle and Jeanine for their excellent delivery yesterday. I could not have wished for a better performance. And Erin- great work on the slides. Your dedication behind the scenes was essential for this win.

We're going to Nationals in Washington D.C.! Boo - ya! Go Chariot!

AAF National Student Advertising Competition

I'd like to invite all of our readers to attend the AAF National Student Advertising Competition this weekend on Saturday April 25th. The District 8 regional competition begins at 8am and the University of Minnesota team will present at 2pm. The presentations are in Willey Hall and attendance is free!

Student agencies around the country have been challenged by the Century Council to create a campaign to combat binge drinking among college students. Can't wait to see the campaigns!

Happy Earth Day!

The Yaybia Crew loves the earth! Hell, we ALWAYS recycle our beer cans (though mostly to get rid of evidence that we actually bought a case of Keystone Light).


There are lots of ways to celebrate Earth Day today using my favorite medium, Social Media.


Facebook: Join in the green efforts AND win awesome prizes by adding the Hot Dish application


Twitter: After only one minute of viewing the "Happy Earth Day" search on Twitter, I was notified that 44 new posts just appeared in the last 5 seconds! Join the trend and tweet your support!


YouTube: YouTube's spotlight videos all feature green news and tips, and to check out even MORE green online videos, check out the YouTube LiveGreen channel!



Blogs: One of my favorite social media blogs, Mashable, has posted 5 Inspirational Earth Day Videos, including the trailer for the newest Disney-produced movie "Earth," which opens today.



Happy Earth Day!!!

twitter suddenly totally uncool: too many celebrities and brands?

Hey brands: your twitter ideas might suddenly not be cool anymore, thanks to Kutcher and Oprah.

The blogosphere is a good place to start judging what is coming next, and nobody seems too thrilled over the twitter exploding on Oprah thing. "Byebye Twitter..." "It's so over..." etc seem to be clogging it up. CNN sure benefited from it, but will other brands hurt from it, as Twitters core group of users turn away from the diluting? Have no fear, because you can look to see if a user was on Twitter before Oprah.

I think that before anyone jumps to conclusions over the Oprah appearance, we'll have to all give time for things to happen. So in that time, I'm going to put some questions out there:

1. Can this much publicity really hurt something that as good as everything thinks at it's core?
2. What does this do to the follower count? (already discussed by TechCrunch)
3. What does this mean for brands?

My initial thoughts: I think that now a "Twitter campaign idea" will quickly become measurable ONLY by followers as far as brands/clients are concerned. With all the "OMGWTF how do I get Social Media ROI?" I think brands are going to look to this and go "oh but THEY got A MILLION followers, why can't I have that many??"

I can't wait until the Compete.com analytics come out for April so we can all see what Oprah really did. Until then, lets talk about what could happen next. Are you using Twitter less now because it is suddenly mainstream?

Time Mine: The First Issue

I received my first issue of Mine today. We discussed the pros and cons of this new personalized magazine combination from Time a few weeks ago. Here are a few first impressions.

1. I got an email three days ago saying that my combination might not be correct. Not a good start. And they were right, I got Golf thrown into the mix. If the articles were about drinking and racing golf carts then it would be a perfect match.

2. The personalized ads from Lexus tell a story throughout the issue. It's all golf centric, though. Hopefully they'll include a Mini and beach sports next time.













3. The content is bite sized. I love it. I have the attention span of a four year old. The full issues are just too much and I never have time for them. But I am definitely interested in the two best articles from each issue.

It's hard to tell from just one issue, but the content has potential to be more customized, much like the Lexus ad in this issue. I'll keep you posted. Anyone else receive their issue of Mine yet?

Twitter and YouTube for Crisis Control? Interesting..

Most of you savvy communicators have probably caught wind of the Dominos YouTube video incident. In case you didn't: two employees of a Norh Carolina Dominos store created an online video while doing disgusting things to the food they then supposedly served up to unknowing customers. Cheese in the nose and then on my pizza? Vom.




Anyways, Dominos obviously had a public relations crisis on their hands after the video became popular knowledge. I mean, afterall, I wouldn't be too quick to order a pizza from there after seeing that, even if I knew that MY Dominos probably was clean and law-abiding.

Dominos launched the usual crisis measures by reaching out to those who were aware of the video, and firing the employees responsible for this fiasco. They even filed for the arrest of the two offendors. The pizza franchise was criticized by some after this, for not taking a full-blown PR course of action. However, it seems as though Dominos was considering a different approach to the crisis.


Dominos seemed to recognize that an online crisis may be better handled with an online response. In the days after the incident, Dominos launched its first corporate Twitter account (dpzinfo) and vowed to "listen" to consumer's concerns regarding the video and other issues. They also posted information on the incident to its corporate Web site, and released its own YouTube video featuring the company's president Patrick Doyle. Doyle apologized to consumers for the incident and explained what the company would do to rectify the situation.


Using social media and online tactics, Dominos has responded to a crisis in a more direct way, allowing for direct feedback. I'm very curious to see how well this pans out for them!

Love the Brand Not the Product

Ninety percent of the time I purchase products because they perform well and I enjoy the brand. I'm usually open to trying new products and brands, but when I find something that fits it's hard for me to even think about purchasing or using anything else. But lately I've noticed a disconnect in a few brands that I find favorable but do not use or like the product.

Dentyne
I absolutely love the Make Face Time campaign. It makes me smile. I do, however, have to say skip it to the product. No matter how much I like the Dentyne brand, I will always purchase Orbit because I like the product better even though I couldn't tell you much of anything about the Orbit brand. I recommend the strawberry mint. Weird, I know.

Nike
I haven't purchased a pair of Nike kicks since The Great Blister of 2001. I didn't think I even owned anything with a Swoosh on it until I busted out my Twins t-shirt last week and found a small logo. But that doesn't stop me from loving the idea of Nike. I will probably never go out of my way to purchase anything Nike, but I can't help but like the idea of sport that Nike embodies.

Coke
I can't drink Coke, hurts my teeth. But even that "bad" product experience hasn't deterred me from getting a bit excited when I see a Coke Side of Life commercial or see some fizzy bubbles. Coke delivers on brand every time. I will always say I like Coke more than Pepsi. But I'll have a Sprite (with vodka), please.

A few others:

• Sony Bravia. Bouncy balls and rabbits bunnies. Enough said. But getting me to buy? Not unless it comes with the bunnies.

• PBR. The whole art thing is awesome. It's classic. But it still tastes like shit. Maybe even worse than Keystone?

Anyone else have this experience?

Yaybia Weekly Link Love: 4/4/09 - 4/10/09

ON THE WEBS

Nissan Cube marketed to Gen Y as a "mobile device." Yeah, but in MN, I still can't text from behind the wheel.

Facebook hits 200 million users, but for some, fatigue may be setting in. Twitter's growing faster, but it just reached 10 million worldwide uniques this month. We're ready for something new.

How to figure out whether your brand/company should Tweet. Pretty much dead-on.


ON YAYBIA

Coke's Ringtone spot is back!

We're digging Tide's "take care of your clothes" campaign, especially this promo.


LOVERS & FRIENDS

Aaron Landry helped us bid adieu to the best TV show of all time.

On Ypulse, Anastasia and Libby each talk about how Facebook might be on the decline among its original users.

ELY 2016!



LAWL

We didn't laugh at all this week. Send us links!

What's in a Tweet?

Complain all you want that Twitter is just a platform for people to share TMI about their personal lives. But that's what Twitter was for early users, until recently.

Who remembers the good ol' days (a whole year ago) when Twitter was just a place for your friends to hang? You'd have 20 friends, all of whom you have daily interactions.

Twitter is now used for a myriad of reasons. My favorites:

Job searches and posting resumes. It's probably the only reason some college students are on Twitter.

Giving free stuff. @punchpizza in the Twin Cities area does it right. This small, delicious business gives away free pizzas to its over 1700 (!) followers. I went to claim mine last Friday only to find the line ended down the block. Way to go smarties.

Tweeting for a Cause. Most of us remember a few months back when David Armano helped out a good friend by asking others to donate via Twitter. It still amazes me what can be accomplished when complete strangers band together.

Tweeting just to tweet. Twitter humbles us all. The mindless daily comments and interactions somehow bring us all together and remind us we're all still human. Ashton Kutcher is about to be the first to 1,000,000 followers. I'm still trying to find his "added value" through his Tweets but all I found was this:


So keep in mind, Twitter can be anything to anyone. Last time I checked, the only restriction Twitter gave us was to stay within 140 characters.

And just for fun...

It's For You

I had only seen it on TV once. Jameson and I were watching Whose Line Is It Anyway in my living room back in high school and this spot came on:



We looked at each other in disbelief at how good it was. I'd like to say that was the moment that I knew I wanted to be in advertising, but that's probably not true. But this spot has been my favorite ever since.

AND TONIGHT I SAW IT ON FOX!!! The ending was edited to say "Open Happiness" to match the new campaign, and it's promoting 99 cent 16-oz bottles. The fact that the spot transcends five years and two campaigns proves how much it truly embodies the Coke brand. I know that Nokia ringtone is on its way out, so I won't call it timeless, but it's as close as I've ever seen.

LOVE IT!!!

I'm Impressed

I bought a shirt at The Limited the other day and the cashier slipped this sample of Tide and Downy Total Care in my bag.



It's a win because:

• It wasn't forced upon me
• It matches the activity of buying new clothes
  
• I always wash new clothes because the thought of sharing pants with strangers creeps me out. Plus, I was out of laundry detergent.
  

Yaybia Weekly Link Love: 3.28 - 4.3.2009

On the Webs

• Good job, Iowa! We still won't change our thoughts on your sports teams. Go Gophers!
• MA in Social Media? Sounds more like a MA in BS. Good luck with that useless degree as everything you learned in the classroom will be irrelevant because you weren't out exploring the webs.  Internet, you're doing it wrong.
• Ypulse expands upon an idea from danah boyd about the fading passion that Gen Y has for Facebook. The Yaybies have had FB since before the photo feature was available. We'll continue to stick around, but things have definitely changed.
• TV Guide is no longer a TV guide. WTF. Why else would you ever even think about stopping on that channel?

On Yaybia

• In case you didn't know, Spam is made in MN. Gross. Social spam is also gross. 
• Beer + social doesn't just have to be at happy hour. 
• Even though we're new to the biz, we've already seen our fair share of killed ideas. A little fatherly advice in the comments keeps us tuned in to reality.

Lovers & Friends

• Loyal reader and drinking buddy Michael helped rock the social efforts at his agency to keep Fargo's head above the water.  Cheers!
• Our oldest ad friend could not have said this better - "Persuasion is not so much about making "strong arguments" as it is about making a human connection."

LAWL

• Why isn't Erin hanging out with this guy? They could be crutch buddies!
• And people wonder why we don't like kids?!
• I almost pee my pants every time I look at this. So effing cute.

Mmmmm, SPAM.

It was inevitable that when social media overtook emailing in popularity, the spammers would follow suit and target a new outlet. With advanced filters, spam mail hasn't become nearly as annoying as it was back in the early days of email. Social media spamming, however, has the potential to be the newest thorn in our sides.

While I know this is technically a communications tactic, my personal opinion is that spamming has to be one of the least effective ways to connect with an audience. Sure, annoying commercials have a tendency to stick in our heads, but annoying spams just end up in the trash, unread.

Smart social media networks do as much as possible to prevent this from happening. Below is my "Spam Report Card" for my favorite social media sites. Some are doin' it right, some... not so much.


FACEBOOK A- With formal methods available like creating Fan Pages, Applications, and other such additives, spamming doesn't make sense for most companies. Another bonus: when posting a link you are asked to identify your validity, eliminating the possibility for rogue links. One negative: the bout of viruses infecting profiles, creating fake status updates and wall posts for many users. Such as "CHECK THIS OUT: I JUST FOUND MY CRUSH" and then a link. Annoying, but as far as I can see, hasn't happened as of late. Facebook is quick to fix these glitches.

TWITTER: A Twitter has been fairly immune to spamming, however lately more and more Twitter handles are being created solely to "follow" users with a spam message. These messages are anywhere from the usual "win a free Kindle" type messaging from obscure sources, to legitimate companies spamming their products and coupons. The nice thing about Twitter is, if you don't click "follow back" to any of these handles, you are nearly uneffected.



MYSPACE: C- MySpace has been pretty spam-filled from the start, at least in my experience. There is a consistancy of new "friends" being created as a front for spam messaging. If you don't immediately protect your wall to be private, it too will be filled with spam messaging. Similar to Facebook's temporary problem, viruses are prominent, creating fake wall posts from you to your friend list. One plus is that MySpace seems to be as quick as possible to remove profiles that are created for spamming purposes.


Any others doing it right? Or others that are far from spam proof?

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.