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.

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!

New Age of Education

In my Psychology of Advertising class, John Eighmey is meshing social media and teaching through his new blog and twitter account. In my opinion, this is the new age of education. It's easy for students to follow curriculum (um are we seriously still using WebCT?) and even interact outside of class. Not all of us like to speak up in a huge lecture and, having an online forum would facilitate discussion among the entire class.

Forget just interacting with your class, why not the whole advertising community at the J-school? I know some of the Yaybies would have loved to take a class with John Eighmey but couldn't because of scheduling. They now have a chance to hear his thoughts on creativity and the industry through his blog. We've got so many brilliant minds at our J-school, I'd love it if all the profs started creating blogs. Would you follow them?

WTF is Wrong with that Ad?

Funny Ad Placement on Oddee today. I was ready an article called 15 Ads that'll make you say WTF? and it took me a good minute to realize that the second ad for Medifast was not part of the article, but an actual ad that had been placed there. I was wondering what was so WTF about it. Even though I know they didn't specifically place their ad in this article, I'm going to call this a Win, since I did look at that banner ad for a good minute and now know that, apparently, 15,000 recommend it.

I Knew That Fail Whale Looked Devious....

Nothing has quite fired me up more than when I checked my Google Reader the other day, only to find that in my “MediaBistro: PRNewser” feed was an article with this offending question “Do We Need PR Anymore Now That We Have Social Media?” If I wasn’t going to sound crazy at work in my little cubicle, I probably would have jumped up and yelled, “UM, YES?????”

I calmed myself a little bit when I realized that the article was sparked from a panel discussion called "Is Social Media Killing PR?" which recently took place at The Horn Group to address the issue of social media and PR’s relationship.

The event was inspired by the growing number of blogs questioning the necessity of PR in this time of a social media boom. As the Horn Group described the event in an online invitation:

“Jason Calacanis thinks you should fire your PR agency. Robert Scoble thinks you should ignore it. Michael Arrington says PR is "broken." Jeremiah Owyang sees value in it, but has challenged PR people and their critics "to engage in a head on discussion".”

Possibly feeling the same sense of fiery objection that I did, Girls in Tech and The Horn Group got together, gathered a panel, and decided to tackle this issue head on against critics of PR and with advocates of the profession (you can catch a liveblog of the event HERE).

A great point brought up is the fact that social media is a TOOL. Public relations is so much more than that. In public relations, we use every communication tool at our disposal to get a message out to the public. We have strategy, we have tactics, and we have contacts that ordinary people may not have the access to.

There is one way I feel that social media could threaten public relations: if as professionals, we ignore its importance as a tool and do not make the effort to learn how to use it in the right way. Already though, agencies are working to understand the growing medium to its fullest.

Padilla Speer Beardsley, for instance, has created a team of social media experts within the agency called the SMERF team (Social Media Elite Response Force). The team holds frequent meetings to share new social media findings, and to educate those in the agency who wish to learn more about different types of social media. In the crunch of a new client pitch, the team can be called upon to generate ideas and help others understand the medium. In December, the group plans to hold a Social Media Boot Camp, so that all who wish to become proficient with this tool, can. (I get to give a speech about Twitter…. I love my job).

If agencies keep up to date on this medium, then I see no reason why we can not coexist peacefully, despite the grumblings of Jason Calacanis and others. Social media is another tool for strategic communications to use to spread a message. In the end, what really matters is that you have a good message that people are willing to listen to and take seriously. Kara Swisher of the Wall Street Journal’s “All Things D” said it best at the end of the panel discussion:

“What's important is that you're representing a company that genuinely has a good product. You cannot (do) PR (on) a crappy product and it doesn't matter how many press releases you get on a website. All that really matters is that you have a really good product. I don't remember the last time I picked up the phone and went ‘Oh my God, it's a communication tool...’ Focus on the product!”

Land of ideas

Yaybies and Gentlemen, I am back. Not for real unfortunately, but with a vengeance.

For various reasons, mostly this and that, I have been silent for quite a while. Sadly, I can't sit and scrabble and sip with you on a regular basis anymore. And I can't realize the national ad trends and analyze the local ad scene with you, either. Thankfully, yaybia helps me not to lose my connection to all of that. On the other hand, I felt that I lost my privilege to contribute to it.

But today is Reunification Day, my friends! I take Germany's national holiday as a reason to not just read but write again. In honor of my country's age of consent (18 years ago, two officially became one again), I figured it would be time to return to that country as well. Not only physically but mentally, too. Every decent blog should have its own foreign correspondent, right? Expect the best and and the worst, the funniest and the weirdest, the outdoorsiest and onlinest. And the smoothest English natürlich. I will try to present you the most interesting ideas, campaigns and brands from my top-brand state.

According to the recently published Nation Brands Index by GfK Roper Custom Research and Simon Anholt, Germany is a top notch brand among its fellow countries. What an impressive comeback! I take that as a commitment and incentive at the same time. Welcome to Germany, the "Land of Ideas" and serious, beautiful and smart girls in advertising.

The (Online) Tipping Point Part Two

A few weeks ago I tackled the first couple chapters of The Tipping Point and merged what I was reading to what I was absorbing online. I finally had time to knock out another hundred pages this weekend and here are some of my thoughts regarding The (Online) Tipping Point: Mavens. 

Mavens, as defined in the book, are information specialists.  They are people that we can rely on to connect us with new information about their specialty.  They know their specialty inside and out and are eager to share it with others.  Online mavens are much easier to identify than connectors and salesmen.  They are the bloggers, the social bookmarking obsessed, and the shared friends on Google Reader.

Bloggers: These mavens often collaborate with other mavens on the same topic to share their thoughts and insights with their readers.  We turn to our favorite bloggers because we trust their content, even if we have never met them.

Bookmarkers:  These mavens have built a tag cloud of specialty information from the sites that they visit regularly.  Labeling their specialty sites with keyword tags allows others to see which topics they are most familiar with. While social bookmarking sites are becoming more fragmented, the die hard users that are mavens are easy to spot.

Google Readers: I have about 15 people in my Google Reader shared feed.  I'm sure many of you do the same or have a similar RSS sharing application.  After a while, you'll begin to see that certain friends become notorious for sharing the most and best articles related to their specialty. Libby is the first to share the latest LOLcats (oh and media news!), Lindsay and Tyler know more about fashion than my brain can comprehend, and Lauren does her photo thing.  These are all off line specialties also, but they are amplified online.

Unlike connectors and salesmen, I think it's definitely possible to become a maven online but not in real life.  Someone could read every single blog/article about Twins Helmet Sundaes and make social connections and share their specialty information.  Their ability to spread their information would be limited though because of their lack of experience at being a maven off line.

Next up: Salesman and Stickiness. Hang in there. Or sit, that's cool too.

Yaybia's Favorite Blogs Round One: Libby

Many recent posts have been tagged teamed by Erin and Libby. This is no exception. Check it!

If you’ve ever paid attention to the Shared Items links over there on the right, you know that we’re addicted to our Google Readers. Personally, I subscribe to over 120 RSS feeds, but I know that can be overwhelming for those who might be just starting to overcome their digi-cap and venture into the world of RSS aggregators. I thought I'd give you a rundown of some of my most-shared blogs so you too can obsessively follow news of the ad world, technology, the interwebs, and LOLCats.

1) Advergirl. If I could only read one ad blog, this would be it. Advergirl offers less commentary on ads than someone like Copyranter (who is hilarious, btw) but she gives her readers a window into the world of agency life. She offers clear, thoughtful insight into social media and online marketing. Most notably, I referred to her series for young professionals dozens of times as I was sending out resumes and interviewing for my first agency job. Thanks Advergirl!

2) the daily (ad) biz. need we (say) more?

3) View from the Bottom. The Girl Riot describes herself as one of “the adstar wannabes climbing the corporate ladder…as yet uncorrupted, somewhat uncouth, and utterly unrestrained.” She chronicles her first year as a copywriter and her thoughts on social media. Bonus points for using the phrase Digital Natives!

4) Newly Corporate. It’s good to know we’re not alone when facing awkward first career experiences and life after college . Email? Jabber? Are meetings ever on time?! Ahh!

5) Wired Gadget Lab. We. Love. Technology.

6) KillerStartups.com - It’s always fun guessing which sites will take off and which ones will Fail Whale it.

For pure entertainment, check out Cute Overload, LOLcats, Overheard in Minneapolis (or your city of choice), and Best Week Ever. I get more tech news from Digg/Technology and national news from CNN or the Huff Post. For local happenings, I check MNSpeak and the Strib. MediaPost and AdAge MediaWorks keep me up to date on the industry, and of course, no advertiser should go a day without AdAge Latest News and New York Times Media & Advertising.

Google Reader takes seconds to set up and is worth trying solely for its “suggested feeds” feature. And don’t forget to add all the Yaybia writers as Google friends so we can all keep sharing.

twitter.txt NO INDEX, NO FOLLOW

(12:39:14 PM) Libby: i guess i think of twitter as a way for those who already have a following to CONTINUE to self-promote
(12:39:20 PM) Libby: like i will follow my fave bloggers
(12:39:34 PM) Libby: but when a "blogger" tries to follow me, not becfause i'm his fan already but because he wants new readers, im' like naw bitch
(12:40:28 PM) erin: oh yeah for sure
(12:41:02 PM) erin: its a way to talk to your following or meet/extend readers through mutual online friends - not through twitter cold calling

Note in Yaybia: Is Google Reader Killing the Casual Blog?

My last post ended a nearly month-long Yaybia hiatus. I still felt connected to ad news and events, and while I was busy, I definitely had more free time than I did during school. So why wasn’t I blogging?

Then I realized that Google Reader added its “Share with Note” and “Note in Reader” functions on May 5, a few weeks before my blogging dropped off completely. I kept sharing, but I shifted to a smaller audience. Through each other’s shared items and notes, my Google friends and I kind of created a little Digg—I browse through everyone’s shared articles every day, and if more than one person has shared it, I know it’s a must-read. My comments and ideas moved from blogging to Noting in Reader.

(Speaking of friends’ shared items, today Jacey posted a link to a tool that will make sharing sites even easier. Awesome Highlighter makes it easy to point out the important parts of a forwarded article. More easy sharing that’s more non-committal than a blog!)

So what does this realization mean for Google? There are links to shared items as a webpage, but I think a better integration would be a “Blog this” button. Yeah, you could get a Blogger toolbar for essentially the same thing, but I’d prefer instant one-click access from any browser.

In any case, I’ve realized the error of my ways. YAYBIA!

Chocolate for a Blog?

I feel the need to pop my Yaybia cherry. While this may not pertain directly to advertising, I still find it relevant to Yaybia. Apparently Blogher.com recently released a study regarding the passion women feel for their blogs, and what they would give up to keep writing and reading them:

55% would give up alcohol
49% would give up their PDAs
42% would give up their i-Pod
43% would give up reading the newspaper
20% would give up chocolate

What would you give up?