European rant #2

Lately, this new spot for McDonalds France is getting quite a few youtube hits and favourable reviews over at Good and PSFK. Pink News, a gay online news service, says the ad "has had a mixed reception from online viewers", however.

Well, my reaction is rather mixed as well. How does McDonalds "take a public stand for tolerance" in that spot? Not even the dad takes a private stand for tolerance here. In fact, not even the boy himself. He hangs up the phone on his boyfriend as his dad arrives with the food. He is secretely gay.

Did I miss the part where McDonald's great burgers make him come out of the closet? McDonalds want to tell me they "even" serve homosexuals, as long as they are not openly gay? McDonalds wants to emphasize that they will not ask for my sexual orientation when I order a Royal with cheese? Can somebody please explain that ad to me?

Bic prank rant

Apparently Bic pens sell everywhere like hotcakes- except for Germany. So Bic hired the much hyped and super creative agency Jung von Matt to change that fact.

Here is what they did: In a series of so called virals they ask so called celebrities to sign a so called autograph for them. But the stars actually sign things like a marriage agreement with a stranger, a job application as a store detective or a press release that they'll dedicate themselves to Austrian folklore. According to the videos this proves: "With Bic you'll sign everything".



In my view this just proves that no one is impeccable - celebrities are not and great ad agencies aren't, either:

First, don't preemptively call your videos "viral". Online plus video does not automatically equal viral. The very thing about virals is that they evolve because users like what they see. You can't decree virals. If your most watched video has 8.000 views, I would hesitate to call the whole series viral. Especially after you have advertised it on a popular student website.

Second, if you want to improve sales in a country via online tools, at least do your homework and provide a homepage for that country.

Third, the videos could have been really funny if they would have showed the reaction of the stars after they signed the fake autograph. The funniest part about a prank is usually when the victim realizes they just got punked. Without that, all we get to see is a gleeful presenter with a blurry sheet of paper. Unless the stars watch the video they'll never realize that they did something special with a special pen.

And fourth, the message - Bic is such a great pen that you'll want to use it at any price - does not work that way, either. The stars don't know what they sign, they don't care. They don't sign the fake stuff because of the great pen, but because somebody makes them believe it is a boring autograph just like the hundred other ones they sign every day. With Bic you don't think about what you write?

The core idea is still great, however. With or without celebrities: Show Steve Jobs as he signs a receipt for a PC. Show a punk signing a contract for a Wall Street Journal subscription. Show a Democrat signing an "I <3 Bush" flyer. You get the idea... (PS: Yes, Jung von Matt if you get the idea as well: I would be available for a job as a creative consultant with your agency. I would even sign the contract with a BIC pen).

What do you think about the Bic prank?

My pleasure

Congrats to Libby (and Alicia) for guessing the right answer: Last week's Guess what was an ad for Otrivin, a decongestant: The pleasure of breathing.



This week's situation seems to be less pleasurable. What do you think is beeing delivered by the robot? What could be its black box?

Guess what is back on stage

Ladies and Gentlemen, after a err...short spring break, we'll present to you today, the solution to our last Guess What puzzle and a new brainteaser from the wonderful European advertising scene.

Act 1:
Ze French want your organs. The good hearts of prematurely deceased homophobic racists can save lots of lifes.



Act 2:
The Belgians also want your organs. They just tell you differently.



Act 3:
Your turn. The quizmaster wants your opinion. What product or service is inside the black box?

Lesson learned.

Well, according to AdAge, Dawn is all over this oil spill in the gulf that I wrote about yesterday. I will admit a big fail on my part for not looking harder for it. However, in all my Googling, searching press releases and news reports, I saw NO documentation of this happening. It seems the only notifications were on Facebook and Twitter, which neither page showed up while I was Googling.

So today I ask myself - what more can Dawn do so that people actually know about this?

1. Donate More. None of the notes on Facebook + Twitter talk about additional donations.

2. More Press releases: Facebook + Twitter are not mainstream, and apparently not optimized for search. Look at this quote, and tell me that doesn't deserve it's own amount of attention:

"Which made us wonder: After all these years, is scrubbing with Dawn really the most advanced method of oil-bird cleansing? "It's the best product to date that cleans the birds," Holcomb says. (And not just because they give his group donations!) "It almost seems silly, but it really is the right thing." (Source)

I'm sure that in the coming days the clean up will become more intense as the spill hits the shores, and I hope that Dawn gets in there, front and center, with the non-profits that they are supporting. I know they are probably trying hard not to turn this into a huge thing where they get backlash for capitalizing on a bad situation, but Tide Loads of Hope keeps coming to mind as someone who did it right.

Turn Things Upside Down

This might be the second voice over + text commercial that I've ever liked.

Let's also take a quick moment to note the updated features and layout on YouTube. Nice work.

Dawn dishsoap and a big opportunity.

As the oil spill in the gulf spreads and nears the coast, BP is becoming bigger and bigger news (with some coverage directly hammering them for their "green" campaign), and as much as they try to make things right, they are going to continue to look like the bad guy. If you ask me, this press around the oil spill presents a huge opportunity for Dawn to capitalize

Currently, Dawn is running these TV spots talking about how their product is used to clean animals from oil spills. it is heart felt, and they are donating up to $500,000, but you have to get online to register your purchase (kind of a lame step if you ask me):



Well hey Dawn, here is your chance (and quite frankly, I hope that you are already planning this). Practice what you preach and get down there to help clean up the spill. Show up with a big truck, in the Tide "Loads of Hope" style, and make sure that every animal gets a big Dawn scrub down.

The stars are aligned: lots of negative press about one company not living up to their brand = opportunity to be a hero and live up to your brand. Plus, cute animals are all the rage right now on the internets.

NSAC District 8 Competition This Saturday

Hello to all in YAYBIAland! Just wanted to let you all know that the National Student Advertising Competition will be in full swing this weekend for District 8. The event will be on the University of Minnesota campus in Willey Hall on the West Bank on Saturday, May 1st.

This year's client is State Farm. Here is the schedule for presentations:

9:00-9:30 St. Thomas (Room 125)
9:45-10:15 University of Minnesota - Twin Cities (Room 175)
10:30-11:00 Minnesota State University Moorhead (Room 125)
11:15-11:45 South Dakota State University (Room 175)

11:45-1:15 Break for Lunch

1:30-2:00 St. Cloud Technical College (Room 125)
2:15-2:45 University of Wisconsin - Madison (Room 175)
3:00-3:30 St. Cloud State University (Room 125)
3:45-4:15 University of Minnesota - Duluth (Room 175)

Remember that even if you're a minute late, you will not be let in to the room, so plan accordingly. Doors open 10 minutes before each presentation.

I know that Chariot (U of M - Twin Cities) would love your support (IT'S FREE!), and it should be very interesting to see what such bright young thinkers can come up with for an insurance campaign targeting their age group!

GOOD LUCK CHARIOT! I know you will make all of us Ghosts of NSAC Past proud!

Facebook Ads: Fan vs. Like

You've all probably formed opinions of your own now that Facebook has officially rolled out the switch from "Become a Fan" to "Like" for subscribing to Page updates. So besides "WTF, Facebook?!" here's something I've noticed that I haven't seen many people talking about.

When setting up a Facebook social ad campaign, you can choose to "advertise something I have on Facebook" or "advertise a web page". Before the switch, it was clear which ads would keep you on Facebook when clicking and which ones were for external websites.

Now that everything is "Like", all the ads look the same. One of the advantages with the "Become a Fan" ad feature was that people could scope out your page knowing they'd stay within Facebook. All ads look the same now, website or not. It's no longer clear whether your click on "Like" will end up with a "you like this ad" or "you like this page". And it's not clear whether a headline click will take you to the Fan Page or to MyFreeCrazyPage4U.biz

So, out of these ads can you tell which ones are linking to websites or to properties within Facebook? Sort of like Facebook ad roulette, no?

Quest for ads continues

Last week's moving mystery was a spot for Belgium Natural Gas by TBWA Brussels and Lovo Film. The thermostat switches on in the morning and voila, the whole house is covered in symbolic warm wool. Simple, straight-forward idea vs. complicated and elaborate execution. The whole thing was shot backwards and required "a month of preparation, 4 days and night shoot, with a professional crew of over 40 men, shot live and in stopmotion with 4 different cameras." Watch the Making of the commerical here.

This week we return to a print ad, which is, well, rather not so warm. Who can guess what this friendly fellow's gut feeling is all about?

Nike, I'm taking your bait

Reactions are running the gamut from love to hate to confusion. I can't decide my reaction because I can't decide what Nike's goal was. Help me figure it out?

• Setting the stage to move forward. "We're not going to ignore the Tiger issue. We can yank his ads or we can run them like nothing happened...or we can do something awesome."
  
• Generate some BUZZ! "Dude, let's do something controversial about Tiger Woods. The bloggers will love it!"
• Branding. "Everybody fucks up, even the most successful athletes in the world. Face your shit, own up to it, get past it, and just do it. It's totally on brand. Let's get a writer on this."

I hope it's the third one but I'm not sure. What do you think? Is it succeeding?

Moving mystery

I am sorry to report to you, my dear loyal guessers, that unfortunately nobody was able to solve the Guess What Easter edition.

Umm... okay, okay, I plead guilty. It was an auto ad again. Far out for anybody except maybe engineers, race car drivers and experimental biologists. This time the ad was for BMW with the subline "This is why we don't have front wheel drives".



There you go! Now you finally know: BMW doesn't construct front wheel drives cause nature doesn't, either. Only Photoshop does. The print series also features a deformed horse and an immobile frog, but unfortunately no kangaroo or T-Rex. Well, at least you got to see a cute, handicapped bunny.

For this week's Guess What, I thought we'd try something new. No car ad and not even a print ad. Instead, I cut off the last five seconds of a very beautiful, artistic spot from Great Britain. New medium, same question: What does it advertise?

You Can Never Have Enough Lash Blast

So I finally got around to watching the Drew Barrymore movie "Whip It" last weekend and there was one line in the movie that was so obvious and out of place I swear it formed a physical entity and glared at me.

When Maggie Mayhem is applying eye make up on Babe Ruthless, she says "You can never have enough eye liner. Or LashBlast."

That's right, Drew Barrymore (the Cover Girl LashBlast spokesperson), in her directorial debut, squeaked that product placement in there. And IMDb confirms it.

I'm not outraged or anything, but for a movie that pretty much avoids mentioning almost any other brands and focuses on the underground culture of roller derby, it just didn't seem to fit the tone of the movie.

So, I kind of have to agree with Kevin Smith. As much as it pains me :-)

Yaybia Easter egg

This week's ad quiz was my personal favourite so far. I don't like the original ad at all, but I love all of your creative and entertaining answers. Fortunately nobody guessed the right source. All your suggestions were far better than the far-fetched original.



Uhm... yes that's right it's a car ad. Get it? Me neither.

Here is the explanation from a Volkswagen fan's website: Apparently the Touareg, one of their SUVs, has a very special engine. It is a 5-litre, 10-cylinder "Turbocharged Direct Injection" diesel engine, a V10 TDI. And this engine runs exceptionally stable and vibration-free. In fact, your trip in the Touareg will be so smooth, your spoon will literally stand still in your cup of coffee.

Quiet a stretch if you ask me. Then again, I am not the target group. I don't usually take china cups on my off-road trips.

Onward we go with the special Easter edition of yaybia's weekly mystery. Who will be able to guess what that Easter bunny is trying to market to you?

Here we guess again

Props to Libby - "German Tide - everything else is shit" - ,

Jeanine - "New: German Tide toilet paper - now you no longer have to use your T-shirts if you want to pamper your backside" -,

and Moritz - "If the ENT doctor couldn't help with that really bad smell every time you lift the lid of your laundry basket it's time to consult another specialist: Go and see your oculist before you can't see your bathroom anymore" -

for making me laugh with their creative ideas for last week's edition of Guess What.

The right answer, however, was again Alicia's and Jeanine's. The original subline is: Alcohol -damages more than you think. I know there are some experts on that subject among us, so what do you think of that ad? And by experts I mean, of course, those ladies that have worked on an anti binge drinking campaign with last year's NSAC team.

That one time when I drank just a bit too much, I remember that a cup of coffee helped against the hang-over. And now, after this truly elegant transition, here is the next picture puzzle for you:

Thoughts on March Madness

Okay... so I've been watching the NCAA tournament at work. I know I'm not the only one out there. (I'm still working... get off my back peeps.) But there are a few interesting things I've noticed.

A) I love the "Boss Button" it's located above the screen on the right hand side.


When clicked, this screen appears:



I just thought it was funny, and it speaks to the fact that CBS knows most people watching the streaming online video probably aren't supposed to be. (a.k.a. at work.) Giggles.

B) I also noticed that a lot of advertisers aren't really paying attention to the fact that a lot of online viewers aren't watching the games with sound. They just repurpose their TV spots in the online medium, not taking into account whether the commercial can be understood without hearing the dialogue.

However, Miller Light's ads aren't affected by the fact that their audience is momentarily "deaf." Their ads for their Tip n' Spin iPhone app have the dialogue written clearly across the screen, so even people watching without sound know specficially what the ad was asking them to do. (Note: I have no clue whether or not this was a planned strategy by Miller, this could very well be a happy fluke that turned out in their favor.)

Basically, it boils down to this... think about where you are placing your ads. Online streaming is a lot like television, but when you're placing ads online, you have to think about where your audience's computer is (work?), if there are any limitations to this location (sound?), and if so, think of ways to better craft your ad to that medium.

I'm not saying that the ads during the NCAAs should just turn into glorified banners. Sound should be there for those who get to watch the games out in the open. But if you want to get more action for your dollar bills, think about the environment they are being used in.

BTW, my bracket is tanking.

"I'll never let go, Jack. I'll never let go!"

How to get a job in advertising

I met with some NDSU kids last week and gave them the scoop on how to get a job in advertising. I can't lie, I was shocked to see the blank faces when we explained to them how potential employers check out your Facebook and how you need to be on LinkedIn. I told them, "Get a blog. You have. To get. A blog." It's 2010, am I right? You must take every single opportunity to surround your potential employers with your brilliance. When they Google you, don't you want to explode their search results with glowing insights and evidence that you get integrated communication?

It's like social media for brands, I guess. If you can post behind-the-scenes footage in social media and help your audience feel like they know you, why wouldn't you? If you have the opportunity to preview the product online as much as possible, aren't you way more likely to buy?

Go read my tips and please leave me some comment love over there so my co-workers can see that I have really smart friends and I don't just creep in my basement lair all day long.

(Also: all the Yaybies have stellar Google results. I love us.)

WCCO Introduces The Wire

I've always loved the Minneapolis new outlet WCCO for taking the cheese out of local news. I mean some stations act like good design costs more or something.

And now they are pulling on my heart strings with this new way to keep up with the news. The Wire. WCCO is now going to feature all their stories on a timeline and users can follow each story as it progresses. So now I'll know exactly when to go save Libby from the Red River.

The timeline is broken into news, buzz, events and comments. And one of the best parts is it integrates tweets from WCCO reporters and viewers. I like that it mixes the more serious news with random Internet goodies. And readers can also do some journalism of their own and submit their own story ideas.

It's always hard to say if these aggregation tools will catch on, but I think this one has a chance. WCCO has a loyal Minneapolis following and it's the same news I would get from the regular site, but organized by story. So now I can read all the dirt about Denny Hecker at one time and then comment about it!

The Wire is still in beta, so we'll see how it progresses. But this is just another great example of how WCCO interacts with their viewers. You should probably go try it out.

Yaybies, get hold of your guessing skills again

Physician: Your findings are back. I am afraid, I don't have good news for you today.
Patient: Oh ok, what's the diagnosis?
Physician: I am sorry. You have cancer and Alzheimer's.
Patient: Well, at least it's not cancer. *

In France, one million people can't get hold of their memories:





Last week's ad is for the Association France Alzheimer. J9 is back and with a vengeance: Congratulations for guessing the right answer right away!

And here is this week's challenge. It should have a familiar ring at least for some of yaybia's guessers. Have fun and good luck!



* I know that both cancer and Alzheimer's disease are very serious and the cause of dire distress for the patients and their families. When I worked on a dementia project for the biggest part of last year, I have learned that humour can be one way to deal with it. Not the only one of course, but one that apparently works for quite a few of the victims. I hope I have not offended anyone for whom it might not work. End of proactive excuse.

Cool city

Thanks to Alicia for sharing this image video about yaybia's great home town of Minneapolis.



Lovely. Now I am homesick (not that I am not homesick the rest of the time, this just didn't help).

They just forgot to mention that those "climate-controlled" skywalks are not only there to shield all the dynamic business people from the burning sun. Now, if you want to attract visitors and investors it's probably NOT a good idea to hush up the very fact that everybody associates with your city in the first place. Winter? Non of our business! Let the Florida people deal with that while we ride our bikes in our evergreen city. Yeah, sure very convincing...

C'mon you urban marketing folks, who do you want to fool? Be proud, but also be self-depreciating and funny and above all, be real.

Minneapolis is in fact a great place. But at times it is also a cold place. Everybody knows that anyways, so just tell potential visitors that they can still do all the exciting stuff they can do in every major city plus all that extra cool stuff they can only ever experience in an extra cool city. That certain chiliness is the very thing that makes Minneapolis and its inhabitants special. And I know from experience how very special they are! Anyone can act cool in a sunny place, but it takes a lot to be hot when your city is cold half of the year.

Also, they forgot to mention yaybia in their video about all things great from Minneapolis. Somebody should definetely shoot a realness remake to set the record straight.

Guest post: Tumblr is brainwashing Chase

Have you ever wondered the official requirements for being a Yaybia writer (or Yaybie, as the kids call us)?

1. You must have a sense of humor
   
2. You must be passionate about advertising
3. You must have unique insight into brand communications
4. You must have a vajayjay

Our buddy Chase meets 3 of those 4 requirements. Interpret as you will. For that reason he's not a Yaybie, but he is a Yaybia guest blogger!

Tumblr, the social blogging platform that has recently exploded in popularity, is poised to become a major purchase influencer for its users. Tumblr is mainly the domain of art and culture, the Internet go-to for the hip-minded. Tumblr is the bridge between Twitter and other popular blogging platforms; users can easily follow one another. Posts subsequently appear in a user's dashboard in real-time. Many users choose to follow friends, interests, or inhabitants of their locale. My dashboard is fairly evenly split between Minnesotans, New Yorkers, friends, and various design lovers.

When I see a product I like in my dashboard, I’ll usually click through to the product, and if no link exists I’ll investigate further. I’m following these people because I trust their opinions, so it’s the next logical step. Much of the product content that appears in my feed is made by individuals or small companies. Sites such as Etsy, Threadless, and other small outfits appear regularly on users' dashboards. I’ve bought shoes, shirts, books, cameras, and all sorts of products I became aware of via Tumblr users. Thus far, the companies themselves – whether big or small - have not jumped on this opportunity. They should. Take, for example, a J. Crew men’s feed that introduces new products and some background on their construction and purpose, straight from the designers who made the clothes. I guarantee I would end up buying products I wouldn’t normally be exposed to. With Tumblr’s newfound popularity, 2010 could be the year that brands start to jump in the mix.

I told Chase to write a bio or else I'd just put "Chase sucks." He didn't. Tell him in the comments if his post sucks.

I can haz QR code?

This is pretty cool, I just made a DIY QR code using Kaywa:



And here is another one:



And for anyone who doesn't have a reader for QR codes yet, I use ScanLife for my QR code reader, it supports iPhone and RIM (Blackberry). Check it out.

Slim Fast Drink

No guessing today. Just one of those surprising, yet oddly familiar ideas that leave me undecided between "Damn, that's cool!" and "Damn, why did I not think of that one?!" Or is it just my love of yummy water in clever bottles?



"Drink yourself slim with Bad Liebenzeller mineral water"

Apparently the media budget of Bad Liebenzeller mineral water was rather tight, so why not use what is already and inevitably around the water when you buy it. I am sure this idea will have a positive and very literal word-of-mouth effect for them.

The clever message in a bottle has been released by German creative agency Grabbarz & Partner (if you are into slightly trashy, geeky, witty webstuff - and as a yaybia reader I am sure you are - make sure to only check their website if you don't have anything important to do in the next couple of minutes. Or hours, for that matter).

Keep guessing

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to another round of Guess what!

So far, Mrs. Houselog is the the front-runner in our picture puzzle game. Boys club is not quite right yet, but again she came closest: "Let's turn this dilapidated building into something useful" would be a perfect copy for last week's ad.

However, the real tagline roughly translates to "You can visualize it, therefore you can build it." The ad was part of a 2008 campaign for the home improvement store Hornbach. Here are some more images from the same campaign.





Heimat/Berlin, Hornbach's agency, has been knocking out Hornbach campaigns four times a year, one more surprising and insane then the other. And that is not counting fairly widely discussed virals or the innovative "Haus der Vorstellungen", where artists and clubbers temporarily transformed a whole house into a walk-in showroom and dance-in party location. Honouring their craziness, creativity and courage, Hornbach has been voted ADC client of the year and Heimat won virtually every industry award. Most of them several times, in fact.

And apparently the marketing works as well: Hornbach has been opening new stores all over Europe for the past few years and steadily increased its sales volume in spite of the economic downturn. And Heimat is not longer the young and small agency they were when they took over Hornbach in 2002, either.

So, thumbs up (and believe me, I am all thumbs) for Hornbach and Heimat. They confirm their own tagline: There is always something you can do.

After so much Germanness, here is an ad from France for this week's quiz.



The race is on! Will someone be able to catch up with Alica this week?

Internet, this is the situation. The situation is this.

JESS3 / The State of The Internet from Jesse Thomas on Vimeo.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Fast Company has an article about a study Buyology Inc. and Elias Arts did to see what the most Addicting sounds in the world are. Sounds like babies giggling and a cash register make the Top 10 list, as does the sound of a vibrating mobile phone. This is yet another sign of the (obvious to most) dominance of mobile phones. As mentioned in the article:

"Psychologically speaking, this is not a happy discovery. Recent studies show that the first thing we do when we wake is check our BlackBerry. Going to the bathroom, brushing our teeth and eating breakfast takes a back seat. Increasingly people sleep beside their phones--that message that arrives at 4.00am, is now a priority! Even though the sound of a vibrating phone has taken second place to a baby's giggles, it seems that in just over a decade technology now provides the predominant sounds of daily life."

Imagine what else is going to be predominant ten years from now?

Also interesting in the article are the number of brands that make the Top 10: Intel, National Geographic, MTV, T-Mobile ringtone, McDonald's, and State Farm. 60% of the list is branded!

As the article points out, 83% of advertising depends on visuals, but the effect of sound seems to be the most powerful sense when it comes to recall. Perhaps if more brands relied more heavily on activating our senses beyond sight, that could be a powerful way to break through the clutter. After all, if a campaign came out that relied on your sense of smell, you'd remember that, wouldn't you?

From the study:

Non-branded and branded sounds:
1. Baby giggle
2. Intel
3. Vibrating phone
4. ATM / cash register
5. National Geographic
6. MTV
7. T-Mobile Ringtone
8. McDonald's
9. 'Star Spangled Banner'
10. State Farm
Top 10 Branded sounds:
1. Intel
2. National Geographic
3. MTV
4. T-Mobile
5. McDonald's
7. State Farm
8. AT&T Ringtone
9. Home Depot
10 Palm Treo Ringtone

Top 10 Non-branded sounds:
1. Baby giggle
2. Vibrating phone
3. ATM / cash register
4. "Star Spangled Banner"
5. Sizzling steak
6. 'Hail to the Chief'
7. Cigarette light and inhale
8. "Wedding March"
9. "Wish Upon a Star"
10. Late Night with David Letterman Theme

Are Older Men Closet Gossip Fiends?

Okay, this is just a question that I came up with when reading Facebook's February 2010 US Traffic by Age and Sex by InsideFacebook.com:

Are older men closet gossip fiends, or do they really just not care about this sort of thing?

InsideFacebook.com found that the amount of males joining Facebook is higher than females in the 18-44 range (at least in February 2010), but women are still much more likely (2x) to join than males among older demographics.

Initially, I thought to myself, "Yeah... this makes sense. Old men 'don't give a rat's ass' about who's doing what and when. They save that for the old bitties on their rocking chairs, trying to get a date for the socially awkward, but secretly charming 30-year-old neighbor boy."

But then I thought about the curious case of Mr. Houselog. Yes, my father pretends to be one of those gossip-averse older men, but that is nowhere near the case. He uses a "pen name" when it comes to Facebook: Darla Houselog.

Yeah, that's right. He pretends to be my mom.

He outright refused to get his own profile when my siblings and I decided to sign up our mom for Facebook, but now he does basically all of the updates, photo uploads, conversations, "friending," etc. I can honestly guess that my mother hasn't touched her Facebook profile for months, yet she somehow still updates her profile. Strange. He is constantly on Facebook through his iPhone, announcing when anyone does anything... my siblings, my old high school friends, my great aunts (weird.)

So, is this just a strange happening among a small sample (a.k.a. just my dad)? Do older men want to know what's going on with their friends/family, but don't want to be known as someone who wants to know? Or don't they care at all?

Second guess

Thanks for guessing, everyone! It was fun reading your comments.

I love your condom and viagra ideas, but unfortunately the ad promotes quite the opposite.
Alicia came closest with her remark about the dish pointing up to the sky.

Last week's Guess what! solution is:

[insert drum roll here]

Bible TV.

And here is the second edition. Have fun!

Second Favorite Commercial of All Time

You should remember that my favorite commercial of all time is Coca-Cola Ringtone. But the Vancouver Olympics and P&G have given me my second favorite.

Can't embed but click for the YouTube

Perfectly simple, perfectly emotional, perfectly on brand. I cannot get enough of this spot. Love.

Cloudy with a Chance of Mobile Phones

I haven't Yaybia-ed in a while. But, I was watching a movie today and was inspired to make a comment.

I was watching 2009's Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, and at the 54:32 mark, they show people in China watching the news on a cell phone.

Later in the movie, they also reference emailing a file to a cell phone.

I feel like an animated movie showing people casually and naturally using these cell phone features is just one of many little things that are really paying testament to the impact of new media. It's also a really cute movie.

Random thought - that's all for now!

Wedding Planning on the Interwebs... Google Style

Okay, so here's a little secret about me: I am obsessed with weddings.

I can't think of any activity I like more than going to weddings... they're so happy, fun & filled with alcohol and pretty dresses! I've been planning my wedding for as long as I can remember (despite the fact that I've been single for a depressing amount of time) and now my boss just sent out a link to Google Docs' Wedding Planning Templates. GENIUS!

I may have a head start on planning, but I would be the first to confess that I am not the most organized person in the world. (Cough... my room is a train wreck... cough!) These pre-made templates allow women (and men) like me to keep all of their wedding files in the same place and access them wherever they are.

This isn't completely a revolutionary thought. Google Docs have been around for a while. However, I like the idea of them offering templates like these. (Check out the Budget Planner... it is actually pretty impressive.) Some of the docs are super comprehensive, and no one wants to forget anything when it comes to the "Big Day."

If you check out the Google Doc Directory, you will find templates for resumes, personal budgets, business cards, etc. What other activities would be useful for Google to make templates for?

Wait... it's Valentines Day again already?

WTF, Converse/Pandora? Valentines Day was 10 days ago.

If I had a boyfriend and he was 10 days late on a Valentines Day present, it better be something imported from some exotic location, not a pair of Converse shoes.

Converse, work on your timing. KTHXBAI.

Guess what!

Well, hello again yaybia! It's been a while, I know. Trust me when I say that I have always been faithful to you, it's just that the whole long-distance thing kinda got me. It's so hard to know whether something that is relevant and exciting in my time zone is new and interesting on your side of the pond, as well.

But now it is time to get out of the bitter barn and stop complaining about not knowing what you guys over there might want to know. The flipside is: I know ads you don't know. Not yet, anyways.

To join the yaybia revival I am introducing a new category: Guess the ad!

The rules are simple. I'll post an European ad minus the copy, you use the comment section to guess the product or service that is being advertised. Next week, you'll get the solution and a new picture. The one who guessed it right will be awarded a poster-size reprint of the ad. Please arrange to collect it in Berlin within thirty days of the date of your win.

Here we go, #1:

From the morning after to the buzz about, here is what you need to know about this week on the Internets.

It was a big week in technology and social media. Here is what you need to know, in case, ya know, you were hanging out under a rock all week.

The Superbowl & The Morning After.
It was the year of social at the Superbowl. Neilsen revealed that 14% of all Superbowl watchers logged onto the web during the game. This is up from 12% last year. While 2% is nothing to sneeze at for a notable increase, it wasn't the jump that I was expecting.

The brand that got the "most buzz" was Doritos, but that could very well be due to the anticipation from the user-generated contest, or the pure volume of commercials for Doritos. The "most watched ad ever (in the history of the world)" went to Doritos "Gym"



Facebook's new look book
We all knew that it was coming, but Facebook finally rolled out it's redesign. Once again, it is more than just a reskin - it is a complete UX change. I get pretty accustomed to how my mouse moves on a website. I think most people do. I keep moving my mouse up to search in the upper right hand corner, and seriously not being able to find the search bar.

The biggest implication for marketers is that the boxes width is getting narrower (760-520px), but I believe this change is being rolled out gradually. While everyone was asking where that extra 240px is going, I'm wondering if they pages and profiles are going to start having the picture and that navigation up the whole time while you browse through the tabs.

Google Buzz...and the privacy battle.
While far less anticipated than the Facebook rollout (we really only learned about Buzz a week or so before, but Facebook we've been anticipating for months), both hit our screens around the same time. Buzz has been getting a whole lot of push back on privacy. I've always believed that Google knew everything about me, and well, now it is becoming evident how much they know about how we connect with and how we connect with them. It makes some people upset.

I think Buzz will land on its feet, and be something big. I believe this will be a bit like Facebook's previous turmoil with privacy (e.g. the changes in default privacy settings or the fiasco with Beacon). Services will f-up the first time around, figure out how to fix their privacy settings, and then be happy and continue to use the service. It is just more open that people are used to.

I think the future evolutions of Buzz are what are the most exciting. For example, check out what can happen when you use GoogleLabs.

New York Times gets cozy with Foursquare
While the New York Times reports from the Olympics in Vancouver, they will be sharing all the hotspots through Foursquare. They already have lots of friends on the site, I hope that they spend a lot of time interacting with those friends, instead of just feeding them information. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Barbie got geeks
Our favorite doll's latest career is as a computer scientist. This career was voted on by young consumers, and is a perfect exhibit of the "coolness" of geek.

And probably, most importantly:
You'll be hearing a whole lot more from the ladies of Yaybia now. It is like we are all Minnesotan bears, coming out of hibernation or something.

Soucie Billboard

Okay... so this is completely random, and also completely local... but has anyone else seen the Soucie Law billboard on eastbound I-94?
(This isn't the actual billboard, rather the top part of his website, but it's the same picture.)

I've been looking at it FOREVER during my drives back to the Cities, and the only thing that comes to mind is: is this guy related to Groucho Marx?


For real though... they're twins.

That's all. I apologize.

Okay... maybe not...

Google Buzz - The Hive is Missing Context

Not only will this be the 15th post you read about Google Buzz today, but if you're connected to one of our writers, you'll potentially end up seeing it 4 times because it will appear in your Reader, Twitter stream, (maybe) Facebook news feed, and now all up in your Google Buzz. No, I don't blame you for not wanting to see this post 5 times. I don't even want to see this post 5 times.

Libby and I have initial thoughts.

Erin: i don't think i like buzz
Libby: i don't like buzz. no context.
Erin: it's TOO much. i already follow these people. it's just repeat content. it's google friendfeed. skip it.
Libby: right! no, it's friendfeed plus the awkwardness of watching people you don't know comment on friends' FB statuses. why didn't google realize that friendfeed sucks for a reason? if i want tweets i go to twitter. if i want fb i go to the book. if i want flickr, usually people cross post it on FB. otherwise i arrive there because i'm searching for something.

This is not a new conversation for us. Maybe not for you either. Social aggregation is intended to make life easier, but it lacks context. In the land of 140 characters, you can expect conversations and shared items to be short, fun and drunk. On Facebook, you'll receive updates of photo albums along side Farmville invites that won't go away. In Reader, you get fresh content from marketing blogs and LOLcats from Alicia. Bringing all of this together doesn't simplify life; it actually makes me think harder when I try to skim through headlines and keep getting tripped up trying to identify where things came from.

Maybe groups/folders/tags will help, maybe not. Currently I'm telling Buzz to buzz off. (Libby wrote that, blame her.)

Silence of the Lam

I saw this first gem on my walk home this evening and then not an hour later I was greeted by this lovely Facebook ad. Ok, I GET IT, I haven't blogged in centuries. The Silence of the Lam is over. Hope you guys are ready.

Mrs. Tebow can't act and the no-pants trend on the Superbowl tonight

I thought that everyone seemed to be playing it a little safe in Superbowl Ad-land this year. I found most of the ads to be rather forgettable, but here are my thoughts on the rest.

The Tebow Spot:
Like I said, Mrs. Tebow doesn't have a future in Hollywood. That being said, overall that was a lot of hype for something so lame. And the production of the whole thing...little too much Apple and E-Harmony in there. It seemed to rely very heavily on the URL call to action at the end. However, no search terms about that spot made it into the Google search trends or Bing xRank, which means that either everyone remembered that URL and went straight there, or the spot was pretty ineffective, relative to other spots (more about those below).



The Beer Advertising Monopoly:
Anheuser-Busch is the ONLY beer advertiser in the Superbowl? And honestly have to say that I was a little disappointed in the overall beer ads. Beer ads used to literally run the Superbowl - what is up with them now? I think Budweiser is taking the horses a bit far now, and personally, of the beer ads, I only liked BudLight's T-Pain Spot:



The Car Spots (and lack there of):
I really expected more form the American car makers, but the Dodge spot was good. I found most of the spots pretty lame for Hyundai and Kia, but I think VW did a great job making a classic Superbowl spot. They took an idea so simple that everyone, from age 6 to age 90 can understand, and turned it into a spot. SlugBug. I liked it.





The Google Spot:
A first for the search engine, and it was definitely cute. Once again, points for being a very simple quick-get idea. I think most people can relate to it. But I find it interesting that this was loaded onto YouTube back in November, so obviously not made just for the Superbowl. Last-second media buy discount, or strategic move?



The Internets
Since people kept talking about social media and the Superbowl, I expected stronger calls to action driving to websites, social media, and texting in spots, but really didn't see too much. However, some naturals prevailed in search as usual. Dockers seemed to take the cake for most search terms on Google, and Bud and GoDaddy appeared to win on Bing. Most notable is that there was no mention of the Focus on the Family spot, or those Intel spots that were hell-bent on getting you to go submit a moment to their microsite. That means if there is a load of traffic, it is coming from direct entry of the URL, or it just isn't popular enough to get on those trends lists. Once all the buzz around spots happens over the next few days, I think we'll have some more info to report on.

Overall trend = No Pants
I couldn't really figure out why there were so many spots with guys not wearing pants? Dockers, Coke and Careebuilder.... Did anyone else find it funny that Careerbuilder.com's "Casual Friday" was played back-to-back with the Dockers "Men Without Pants" spot?

Funniest that I didn't talk about above: Snickers

Worst that barely deserve a mention: Sketchers and FloTV.

The Rest:
If you missed them, want a chance to see them all again, or just need some commenting material, check them out in Hulu's sweet little widget, below:

And maybe in life, too.

me: all you have to do to succeed in social media is be nice and be real

Erin: fact



Debate in the comments.

Twitter = New Water Cooler?

Mashable questioned whether Social Media could have been the cause of the spike in Grammy's viewership this Sunday, which I think is a cool idea to think about (as you saw from my last post), but the Bill Nye within me (that's what she said?) cries, "TOO MANY VARIABLES!" I mean, come on... you know half of the people, if not more, were tuning in to catch what insane circus act the Haus of Gaga would spit out. BTW - Elton John... fabulous.

But the most important part of the article, to me, was the idea of Twitter becoming our water cooler. (Of course, I'm not talking solely about Twitter, but any microblogging service or even Facebook's status updates.) Now, I may be somewhat nerdy and we ALL know how nerdy my friends are *cough*ERINandLIBBY*cough*, so I am wondering what you all think. Do you think that these sharing sites are creepin in on the watercooler's mojo among the greater Internet population? Do you think it is making next-day chatter at the office "like, SO 10 hours ago"?

I sometimes find myself not wanting to re-tweet articles when I know they've been out there for a few hours. I think, "Nah... this is old news..." I even considered not writing this post because the Mashable article was "so yesterday." But then I realized, maybe not everyone is as nerdy as Libby and Erin. Whoops... forgot to cover that up with a cough. My bad.

But then again, if you're reading this, it's very likely you're in the nerd boat with us. (And I mean no offense by this! Truly. I mean it in the endearing/smart/sometimes a little awkward sort of way.)

I'm the one on the right. Cuddlin'. Erin & Libby: you can fight over the other two.

I'm a Fan

Grammy's. This Sunday. Me = excited.

I've always liked the Grammy's, but I've never been particularly moved by its advertising before. But that was before....

This is now.

Shit's gone social.

I first noticed the social element of the Grammy's campaign when I saw the Beyoncé television spot with user generated YouTube video clips pieced together, making a visual and audio collage of awesomeness.

Don't get me wrong... the singing itself wasn't Grammy-worthy (in fact, it made me feel like I was back at Blarney listening to a bunch of drunk college girls screeching together into the microphone for karaoke), but the concept was so interesting. So social. So... modern.

We are all fans, we want to feel like we're a part of what's gotten the artists to this milestone in their career. In a way, we've all contributed to their nomination (or, if they're lucky, their award.) Every time I post a song to my Twitter followers, I'm helping spread the fan-dom. And the crazies that are ballsy enough to record themselves singing and post it to YouTube are helping as well... well... some not so much, but whatevs. (Lady GaGa TV spot here... I actually prefer this one because it's a little less shrilly.)

So, I was already excited, right? And then I saw the website.

GAAAA... I'M IN LOVE!

Now, I know I'm a social media nerd. I admit it. However, this site is not only beaUUUUUtiful (props to TBWA\Chiat\Day & Visible Technologies), it's informational, engaging & it drives viewers to create their OWN collage with real-time social media updates for their favorite artists.

Oh yeah. I did it. Check it. (May take a while to load, but SO worth it.)

Overall, well done. Loves it.

Pizza Turnaround; Breadstick Standstill

Jameson and I ordered Domino's tonight at my insistence because I've been totally mesmerized by the Pizza Turnaround campaign. Some will argue that it's an admission that Domino's had shitty pizza. Well, yeah, it is. But it's also the only way they could ever get customers (like me) who had made up our minds that Domino's = failfest to try it again. Also, it's an admission that they are listening to what people are saying, and their social media has gone from crisis management to being reactive and receptive.

Anyway.

The new pizza was pretty, pretty, pretty good. I'd say at least Pizza Hut quality. But I'm not here to talk about pizza. I'm here because online we ordered breadsticks:

Pretty standard, 8 pieces with dipping sauce. Yum. We received:

Perhaps Pizza Turnaround really was just an ad campaign, and not an actual recommitment to quality? Sad face.

Ninja Your Way into the Super Bowl

I'm not sure that I can say he's a hometown hero now that I live in New York, but our buddy Mike Rylander (who also made an appearance on Yaybia in 2008) is co-starring Snack Time Samurai, a finalist in the Doritos Crash the Super Bowl contest!

Now, it's no secret that I love ninjas, but my love for Doritos Nacho Cheesier throwing stars might be greater. Mike & his crew have already snagged $25K for making it into the final six, but if they take top honors (vote here!), Doritos is gonna give them a shit ton of cash.