By far my favorite commercial this year was this cute spot from Volkswagen featuring a pint-sized Darth Vader who gains the power to turn on a car using The Force.

Which Superbowl commercial was your favorite this year?

This tongue-in-cheek ad campaign for the Swedish newspaper “Dagens Industri” disguised as a case study in the future of advertising pokes fun of the social media phenomenon.

There’s no doubt that there are tremendous benefits to be gained through social media tools. Some of my best business contacts, church connections and even friends have come through social networking sites. However, it’s easy for organizations to go overboard and get stranded at sea, desperately clinging to the sinking lifeboat of failed social media attempts (hey, I’m milking this metaphor for all it’s worth!).

I’ve had a number of opportunities lately to advise organizations (especially churches) about the best way to integrate social media into their brand. While I’m hardly an expert, I do have a few suggestions. The advice I give most frequently? DON’T DO IT!

• Don’t do social media just because everyone else is doing it. Remember what your mom used to say, “Just because all your friends jump off a bridge…”
• Don’t launch your social media efforts prematurely. Splash around in the kiddie pool before you take off your floaty and jump into the deep end.
• Don’t do it all. There are a lot of fish in the sea. Throwing a few lines out is good but if you have too many you’ll probably get your lines tangled.
• Don’t venture into social media without a well-thought-out strategy. It’s an awfully big ocean out there and it’s easy to get lost at sea. Think through your strategy before embarking into open waters.
• Don’t do social media if you’re looking for a miracle fix. Social media is a tool to help your organization communicate with your fans and followers. It’s not a silver bullet. Jumping on the social media boat will not instantly make you cool, hip or connected.
• Don’t do social media if you can’t do it well. The social media ocean is littered with the floating remains of abandoned Twitter profiles, under-utilized Facebook accounts and YouTube accounts with one video from 2007. If you don’t have the time or people to do it well, wait until you can.
• Don’t do it if you’re looking for instant results. With all the buzz about viral campaigns some people think that after their first Tweet they’ll instantly start an international sensation and the followers will come by the thousands. Not true. Growing your presence in the social media landscape takes time.

These are just a few reasons I advise people or organizations to hold off on social media. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge social media advocate and love when I see companies that utilize it well. I would just rather see more organizations that look before they leap. There’s already enough abandoned ships on the social media ocean.

What advice do you have for organizations looking to venture into social media?

A German book company, Eichborn, decided to create an advertising campaign for their booth at the 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair that, uh, flies in the face of convention (sorry, I’m a sucker for bad puns). Eichborn’s “smallest commercial gimmick in the world” campaign was simple: attach physical banner ads to actual flies. Yes, they somehow tied small red Eichborn banner ads to flies and let them loose in the Frankfurt Book Fair. The result was flying advertising that nobody could miss.

(ht: @MichaelForsberg)

What do you think of the flyvertising campaign? Creative? Gross?

Historically, Microsoft hasn’t has the best advertising campaigns through the years. The “I’m A PC” ads were pretty lame and what the heck was that whole thing with Seinfeld? But just when you think things can’t get weirder…enter Microsoft’s Windows 7 Launch Parties.

Apparently someone at Microsoft thought it would be super cool to encourage all of their “fans” to throw launch parties celebrating the release of Windows 7. You know, because all the cools kids throw launch parties these days.

As if that’s not bad enough, they actually produced videos showing you how to throw the perfect Windows 7 house party. When I first saw this I could have sworn it was a joke.

How to Throw A Windows 7 Launch Party

Yeah, I only made it through the first minute. Wow. Pretty amazing stuff, huh?

But maybe I’m being unfair. If you’re a Windows user, will you be throwing a Windows 7 Launch Party at your house?

In spite of those announcements and the return of Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Apple’s stock fell $1.79 by the end of the day on Wednesday. The reason? Disappointment that the company “did not add as many new features as some analysts predicted.”

Forget about the fact that Apple has already sold 220 million iPods to date making it the most popular portable music player in the world by a huge margin. Nevermind that Apple bucked industry trends and partnered a mobile phone deal on their terms which has since over 30 million iPhones. Nevermind that iTunes is the #1 music retailer in the world selling over 8.5 billion songs.

On all accounts Apple has done an amazing job of reinventing itself over the last ten years. They did it by amazing innovations that have left competitors scrambling to catch up.

However, the challenge of creating a culture built on change and innovation is that your people begin to expect it. More change and more innovation = higher expectations.

The Challenge Of An Innovative Culture

The title to this post is a little misleading. Success through innovation isn’t necessarily a problem. However, it is a challenge that churches and organizations need to be aware of when creating a culture of change.

Initially people resist change. Just ask all the market analysts who said the iPhone would never sell (“There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance.” – Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer). But soon they begin to tolerate change and then eventually come to expect it.

Just remember as you build your organization: every building block of change and innovation that you lay on your foundation of excellence increases your chances of success, but also exponentially increases the expectations of your followers as well as their disappointment when you fail to live up to those expectations.

Thoughts?

That’s why it’s refreshing to see new ideas that help bring an interactive, memorable element to the advertising message. (ht: TheCoolHunter.net)

Nikon D700 Paparazzi Billboard

At a busy Seoul subway station, Nikon mounted a huge interactive, light-box billboard displaying life-like images of paparazzi that appear to be jostling and competing for the best celebrity snap. The celebrities in this case are the passersby, who automatically triggered a deluge of flashing camera lights as they walked past the billboard. The accidental superstars then followed the red carpet all the way out of the station and into a mall – directly into the store where they could purchase the new D700.

Fitness First Wait Watching

No more living in denial about the size of your waist line, thanks to this fantastic albeit terrifying guerrilla marketing initiative from the health club chain, Fitness First. Unsuspecting commuters in the Netherlands are faced with viewing their body weight in bright lights – quite literally – when they take a seat at this Rotterdam bus stop. Scary to say the very least, but extraordinarily clever. I’m curious, what would you think about this advertisement? Does it go too far or would it accomplish the goal of getting you into the gym?

Get Them Off Your Dog (People As Fleas)

A mall in Jakarta, Indonesia, has taken interactivity and creepy-crawliness to a new, flat level with the creation of this massive ‘floor sticker’ in an Jakarta shopping center. The ad, for Jakarta’s pet emporium JAKPETZ, promotes Frontline Flea & Tick Spray with the slogan ‘Get them off your dog.’ Viewed from the upper levels, the people walking on the ad look disgustingly flea-like which serve to help reinforce the ad message and probably lead to quite a few camera-phone pics.

Interactive Sharpie E-Cast

Most have a fascination with graffiti art. How many of you have ever looked over your shoulders to make sure no one’s watching when you scratch your initials in a freshly laid slab of cement? Yeah, me neither. The creative minds working for Sharpie, the ultimate in permanent markers, have discovered a way to satiate our desires to deface public domain.  Interactive e-cast billboards have been scattered around cities, which allow people to experience the rush of creating their own graffiti.  Choose some colours, write a message and Sharpie makes it possible for anyone to leave his permanent mark on the side of the bus stop or the public phone or anywhere else billboard adverting may be experienced. I’d be curious if, since it’s in a public place, the messages remain appropriate. Either way, it’s a great concept – a billboard that interacts with the customer.

Koleston HairCare Billboard

To promote the line of Procter & Gamble’s Wella Koleston HairCare Naturals hair colourant, H & C – Leo Burnett Beirut did this creative piece of outdoor where the woman’s hair, die cut out of the billboard, allows the colour variations of day and night shine through. While the message may be too subtle for most I think it’s an ingenious new take on a traditional ad medium that’s been around for years.

What ads have you seen lately that have really stood out in your mind?

You may not realize but the swine flu threat isn’t really new. The last outbreak occurred in the US in 1976 leading to these public service announcements:

1976 Swine Flu Public Service Announcement

Is this a public service announcement or a trailer for a horror film? You’ve gotta love the dramatic angle they took back then. I think their slogan was “Scare ‘em safe.”

This TV commercial for Austin Texas based Reid’s Cleaners and Laundry is an interesting mix of some old and new ideas for television advertising: the all but extinct ad jingle combined with the new trend of an indie female singer providing the vocals for the commercial’s catchy song (such as Yael Naim in the MacBook Air commercial).

The “Reid’s cleaner girl” singing and performing in the TV ad is Austin singer Erin Ivey, also known as “Austin’s urban folk sweetheart”. Erin Ivey, on the reaction to her Reid’s Cleaners commercial:

The impact so far has been surprising. I’ve been invited on television and radio programs to talk about the commercial and then been able to perform or promote my own music to their audiences. Austin is an interesting town for musicians. There’s great talent totally saturating a market that is growing and changing all the time. So, I’m excited about any boost in exposure that leads people to the music. Ultimately, that’s my focus: creating and performing my own music.

I hadn’t heard of Erin Ivey, the “urban folk sweetheart” of Austin, Texas before this but I’m loving her music. Found out that she’s on Twitter too.

Great music makes anything better, in any medium, and co-branding introduces musicians to a wider range of possible fans than they might otherwise reach. I am all for making a living in creative work, but it is imperative that the musicians are fairly compensated and agree with the ideals of the company being promoted. Hopefully musicians are in a position to make wise choices that way, but when bills are due and Dinosaur Corp. is at the door with a check, that’s a tough decision that each person has to make on their own.

She’s worth checking out on iTunes too for those who are interested in some new Indie music.

It’s nice to see TV ads coming out with decent music as opposed to the unbelievably irritating Toyota Saved By Zero ads that were so bad some said you could even die from watching it.

What’s the best or worst music you’ve heard in a TV commercial?

The most creative ad in my opinion came in the form of a 1-second commercial by Miller High Life. Not only did they save millions of dollars by not purchasing a 30 second spot, they generated buzz from people watching for the spot (if you missed it you can watch it on 1SecondAd.com).

This was also the first year to feature 3D commercials. I donned my goofy-looking glasses in time to watch the Sobe 3D Lizard Lake but ended up with a headache. And as ususual, GoDaddy (the lack of a link here is intentional) continued to try to push the envelope with their attempt at sensual marketing (yet another reason I hate GoDaddy).

Some of my favorites this year included Bridgestone’s Mr Potato Head and Dorito’s Crystal Ball.

What was the best/worst ads this year in your opinion? Cast your vote in the poll and leave a comment below.

Vintage Magazine & Newspaper Ads

The problem with women today is that they don’t know their place. Back then, women knew where they belonged. Apparently it was lying on the floor looking at shoes.

Every morning when I’m making breakfast I ask myself the same question. Exactly how much orange juice should I drink? A quarter glass? A half glass? Fortunately this cheerful lady with the red lips and creepy-long hand shows us how just much we should have with our bacon and eggs.

What’s the biggest problem facing marriages? Finances? Parenting? Lack of trust? No, it appears this woman’s problem is inadequate feminine hygiene. The solution? Douche daily with Lysol!

Don’t take my word for it…“Oh, the joy of finding Tom’s love and close companionship once more! Believe me, I follow to the letter my doctor’s advice on feminine hygiene and always use Lysol for douching.” All you need is a daily dose of douching with Lysol to win your way back into your man’s heart and lap.

All you single guys out there, are you having trouble hitting it off with the ladies? Have you tried blowing smoke in her face? According to this ad, if you do she’ll follow you anywhere.

Domestic violence is never acceptable…unless of course your wife buys the wrong brand of coffee. In that case you need to bend her over your knee and whack her good!

Which ad is your favorite?