The Links - Pauls edition

1. The nastiest cult - Blackberry user. Read Why this is true.
2. Try to please everyone and you please no one. Use this visual to explain that statement to morons.
3. EVERYTHING IS AMAZING. Nobody is happy. Watch this. You'll laugh, you'll re-think everything. Seriously this is good TV.
   
4. Target & GAP launch iPhone apps just in time for the holidays. Read more here.
5. Sean Avery is an idiot. Don't waste your time watching this.
6. New Macbook commercial. Macbook has gone green.

Obama and New Media

A lot has been written about the Obama campaign being the greatest political campaign of all time. He raised more money than anyone (over $600 million US), dominated in the polls and created brand enthausists like nobody else.

A few days ago, one of his lead new media communication strategists - Rahaf Harfoush - gave a talk to the Rotman School of Business on the power of new media. For web 2.0 natives, the presetation might seem a bit basic but the strategies behind it are solid and proven.

My favorite tidbits:

- "4 days before the election, 3 million calls were made using the Obama Neighbor to Neighbor application"
- "639 million raised (in comparrison to McCain's $360)"
- "Half of all New Media Campaigns fail - find the sweet spot [and develop a good strategy to win]"

Yes We Did: Strategic Insights from the campaign that redefined modern politics

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: organizations politics)

Thanks to Nick for the reference and link.

Whoppervirgins.com

13 planes. 2 Dog Sleds. 1 Helicopter. A bunch of whoppers. A bunch of virgins.

In 3 days, 12 hours 40 minutes and 17 seconds from when I grabbed this screenshot the results of the taste test will be revealed.

CP+B and Burger King have gone to remote areas of Thailand, Iceland and Romania to ask people what they think about the Whopper and which they prefer; the whopper or the Big Mac.

I can't wait to see the footage on whoppervirgins.com

Thanks Dr. Steck for sharing.

Drink more water.

Remember. Drink a ton of water and, for God's sake, stay hydrated.

I Wish I Made This Spot

Could this be my new favorite spot of 2008? Quite possibly.

I wasn't sure what this was for prior to watching it and I'm not going to spoil it for you but the tone, examples and track (from Babel) make this a highly emotional piece. The quality of the shots is superb, acting great and the historical choices couldn't be better.

Take a moment out of executing random ads, writing contact reports, booking meetings and remember why you wanted to get into advertising in the first place.

Damn it feels good to be a banker - Wall Street Musical

Bankers and consultants throwing it down.

Oh Snap!

Political Crisis? Get the Ads Out! Now!

We've done a few posts on Canadian ads over the last few months and with the election only being about 7 weeks old, we had a lot of different ads to choose from.

For the last week, the political landscape in Canada has been on fire. Prime Minister Stephen Harper presented his budget package to deal with the recession and after lacking the details and positions hoped by for the opposition, they have formed a coalition and hope to shift the balance of power in the House of Parliament.

This coalition between the opposition parties (the Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois) has been met with severe disdain among many Canadians. For others, it's a chance to finally get rid of a hyper-partisan PM and ensure that we have a stable government that can properly deal with the economic situation.

All in all, on Monday there is the potential that Canada will have a new PM, reformatted government and a lot of citizens who are concerned about the leadership change, current economic stimulus package and the future of our nation -

How does this relate to advertising?

Well first off, the Conservatives are - by far - the leading party in Canada when it comes to finances. They have more money, more resources and more cash to spend on advertising than all 3 opposition parties combined. And in times of severe crisis like this, they are spending it. Fast.

They recently launched a radio spot and tonight they launched a new TV spot that we've posted below:



Their message is simple. Stephan Dion (leader of the Liberals) is trying to steal an election result that gave the Conservatives power and the Liberals it's worst defeat since Confederation. The message paints the opposition parties in a way that shows them as power hungry, opponents to democracy and political tacticians who only care about gaining power from Canadians. Layer on the close link to the Quebec Separatist party and you've got a pretty good 30 seconds of hate.

The radio spot follows the same them and I'm sure in the next day or so a similar TV spot will air but will feature the NDP leader Jack Layton at the end with a hyper-socialist message.

Is this advertising effective?

For starters, what is the objective? To raise awareness awareness about the coalition and the potential removal of the Conservatives (without a national election).

Check.

Key message takeaway? "I hate the opposition parties. I hate Dion. What can I do to help the conservatives stop this thing?"

Maybe.

The conservatives have been experts at running negative advertising. They love it and they've based a lot of their campaign tactics on the Rove-Bush tactics of 2000/2004. That being said, I think negative advertising in this case misses the mark.

The reason they are here is because of leadership. And the best way they can sway Canadian favor is to show that their leader is the strongest. Record a message with Harper appealing to Canadians for more time (it's only been 7 weeks). Give him a stage to spread his message and get the word out. Show Canada that he is a diplomat and that he can lead our country out of the economic situation. Tell Canada that this isn't the time to switch political leadership. That it's time to lead.

But instead, he's done what he's always done - gone negative. Gone partisan. Gone mean.

These ads make a point. They have a good message but they go at it the wrong way. Don't scare me. Tell my why - like a normal person - you are the one I should trust, believe in and stand up for.

Who knows what happens on Monday. But whatever the case, there will be more ads and they will be negative. What do you think? Does this sway you or turn you off?

Special thanks to Budman for the video link!

Ozzy is sure getting around

Ozzy in a WoW commercial. Haven't seen it on air yet. Love how every commercial he is in they make fun of his mumbles and of course he has to swear.

Santa has gone Centro

Do you like? Thoughts? Rate this commercial below.

The worlds most active twitter towns

A snapshot of the most active cities in the world based on twitter posts.

My home, Toronto came in at 14 which is much higher than I would have expected.

See the full list on TwitterLocal.

Thanks to David Armano for sharing the site.

Obamash-up

Pure Genius. Props HMatkin. Lets see if he is right. Will Obama never let us down, never gonna run around and desert us?

NY Agency Sex Tape [Seriously?]

Agency Spy recently wrote about a video they received showing two NY digital agency folks having sex in their office pod. Allegedly, the two are pretty senior and the video is making it's way around the web pretty fast.

Asylum just posted an anonymous interview with the guy who shot the video. He was fired about a week after the video went viral and claims that he sent it to two co-workers after he download the file from his mobile to his computer. Less than a week later, it was posted on top sites and HR found him and let him go. When asked how the video got out, he responded:

"I showed a couple of officemates on my phone and everyone was shocked and awed. I downloaded it to my computer and sent it on to two other co-workers and that was all the digital distribution I did and it just went viral from there. And a week later it ended up on Gawker and Mediabistro and then the word got back to me that all the creatives were sending it around. I freaked. I thought it was amazing how something could go viral and end up online so quickly when I had nothing to do with it really. I didn't call Gawker. I didn't e-mail anybody."

The two who were having sex kept their jobs and the video guy got canned.

A colleague of mine always says that ad agencies are just like high school only with cooler people and better clothes. It's stories like this (which are rampant at all shops) that help to reinforce this idea.

Agency hook-up's happen all the time. But they rarely are caught on camera and posted on the web. It wasn't right for this random dude to film this but would he have gotten fired if the act hadn't happened in the first place? Definitely not.

Still, it's a hilarious story for the rest of us and I'm sure the two people at this digital shop won't be there much longer...especially with the amount of embarrassment they are feeling right now.

I feel like this post is missing something...

...oh right. Here is the full video.

Thoughts?

Perfect Push-up. Less than perfect advertising.

Does Perfect Push-up really think that the fact a Navy Seal designed this will make me want to buy this?

Maybe "Used by the US Navy Seals" or something like that. I would trust a US Navy Seal to maybe design a Jail Break, an attack plan, or a gym routine BUT not engineer a piece of equipment.

What does a US Navy Seal know about industrial design, quality assurance, manufacturing or prototype testing?

Also, I think the average person is a little smarter than to think that this one piece of equipment will get you ripped in the absence of a diet, cardio and full body exercises.

The Links

Sorry for the delay on these. Check them out. Interesting few weeks (to say the least) and a lot going on out there. Feel free to send your own as well and we will be sure to post them.

- Seth writes about how "just doing your job" isn't good enough.
- Have you heard of the new book coming out called "This book will be famous"? It's written by 7 people and each one has to be famous. It starts by giving it to the most famous person you know and then asking them to write a chapter and do the same.
- Think that the 30 second spot is dead? You're wrong. TV usage has never been higher.
- Think the auto industry is screwed? You know things are bad when brands start pulling out of the Detriot auto show.
- Adidas just launched a global brand channel. Risky business but it could pay off.
- Want to find the perfect holiday gifts for a blogger? Here is the top 10 (hint).
- Even Capital C lead Tony Bennet thinks it's all about the brand experience.
- The world of cellphone's just got a bit smaller. Nokia has stopped selling handsets in Japan.

Why a picture from the worlds tallest structure made me think about brands.

This is a real picture from the worlds tallest structure in Dubai. Yes, it is an amazing photo but lets talk about brands.

Dubai is a major global business centre filled with thousands upon thousands of buildings, but on a day when the cloud rolls in only about 20 remain to be seen from the top.

Now think of the clouds as our current recession, as the most difficult economic times the world has seen since the 1970's. As this recession rolls in, the companies that have failed over the past 30 years to build a strong brand, stand out and create a loyal customer base or community will disappear below the cloud.

I have a set of brands that regardless of economic situation I will refuse to change. I will make sacrifices in other areas of my life to ensure that I can afford to purchase these few brands as I have come to rely on them, love them, trust them and they are a part of my life (John Fluevog shoes, L'oreal Men Expert lotions and shaving cream, BEDO sweaters, Tiffany's presents for Brit, Titleist golf balls, Starbucks coffee, Old Spice Deodorant, Burberry Cologne, and a few others.). All other decisions become based on cost, not a single brand consideration will cross my mind.

This doesn't mean that the brands below the clouds cannot break through and thrive in this economic environment but to do so they have a much more difficult journey ahead. They have a large investment and a lot of work to do to build their brand. This is not a time where I would want to be building a brand, but if they do not find a way there is a chance that once the cloud rolls away they will no longer exist.

The companies that are already above the clouds only need to maintain their brand and community of devoted followers. They are already have a skyscraper, they only need to keep it standing, looking good, and keep the lights on. If they do this they should come out of this economic situation with fewer competitors, a stronger brand and a beautiful view of the dawn of better times.

Lets see who survives. Who do you think is below the clouds and in trouble? What skyscrapers exist in your brand horizon? Please comment below.

Photo originally found on Dean Hunts blog.

Twitter ideas for bands

The Tweet: chrisbrogan RT @brackley: Anyone have info on Twitter use for bands/music? Not in a MySpace way. (Send your answers to @brackley)

I couldn't fit my rely in 140 characters or less so here we go. I took a little bit of time and thought of 11 ways a band could use twitter to connect with fans, build a community, activate the community and show the community that they care.

I hope it helps @brackley.

1. Twitpic the studio process. Share shots of the band hanging out writing music, laying down the tracks.
   
2. Share pics of random pieces of lyrics.
   
3. Tweet selected lyrics or choruses of new songs.
   
4. Even better tweet a line or two of lyrics. Have your fans following you on twitter @reply with their next line ideas.
5. Share a link to a song. Ask for fans to recommend song names.
6. Spill the beans on the set list for upcoming shows 30 minutes before taking stage.
7. Ask fans to tweet their dream set list for your band.
8. Ask the fans what they want to be the encore song. Maybe also what song they would love to hear you cover live. The most popular or best responses you play.
   
9. Use twitter to source and find opening local bands on a tour.
10. Ask your fans who you should get to design your new cover.
    
11. Do a free show. Send a twitpic or link to site where followers can print that picture to get into shows no line, no cover, etc.

I have got to get back to work. Brant Rackley I hope this helps.

AdJoke readers leave your comments below. Add to the list, criticize mine, whatever...just join the conversation.