It’s the Saturday before Super Bowl XLVII and the major ad agencies have once again concocted a group of humor-based television commercials for this year’s 2013 Super Bowl viewers.  A significant portion of the consumer advertisements work to tease our inner geekiness with almost all of them focusing on fun.  Friends, fans and foam (beer) generally create a fertile environment for planting these humorous seeds of sales, yet I’m afraid this year we will be present with many forgettable Superbowl ads.

That said, here are my 2013 Super Bowl ad picks:

Speaking of beer, Budweiser scores big with the old-skool, but still lovable, Clydesdale theme. This one may even bring a tear to your eye (even in rerun).

Second place, for the simple pleasure of it, goes to Volkswagen.  It may be due to my penchant for Jamaican style and a Partridge Family throwback, mon.

My third choice is Taco Bell. You will quickly notice that they’re targeting two new and diverse audience types while still firmly entrenched in last year’s target market’s lifestyle. Nevertheless, it’s a fun little mashup.

From what I have seen of this teaser, the biggest loser looks like it is going to be MiO Fit. Four million dollars is a terrible thing to waste. Prove me wrong Tracy.

The biggest ad spend category goes to GoDaddy with three independently-themed ads. Doing the basic math that comes out somewhere around a 12 million dollar ad placement cost. Unfortunately  I feel only 1 of the 3 will be remembered on Monday morning. (I won’t ruin it for you; you’ll know one I’m talking about when you see it)

Notable mentions that will make you smile include ads from Axe, Hyundai’s “Team” and Audi.  Really, all of the automobile ads are entertaining and worth watching, but nothing to ROFL.

You can view all of the 2013 Super Bowl Ads and vote for your fave at Forbes.

Enjoy the game breaks… シ

Every person walking around with a smartphone has a pocket full of apps. The basic consumer expectation is… “there’s an app for that.”  And rightly so…

Many times when working with a new client who wants an app developed for their organization, they approach it with the same simple expectation. We need an app for that… make it so developer.

The considerations for time and investment based on planning and complexity are rarely an initial client consideration.  Complicating the matter even more,  app developers are not always the best at explaining complex processes in lay terms, considering that communication is the key to the success of any development project.

The infographic below helps put the complex development process into and easy-to-understand perspective that will help the  development team and client common find ground for discussing the details of a well-executed project. Ultimately helping to better manage the client’s expectations.

Win for the developer, win for the client, win for the end user… シ

Generation Screwed – It’s not easy being a millennial

Millennials, young adults fresh out of college, entering a weak job market all doe eyed with lofty expectations about their value in the workplace, have a tough road ahead. When you consider the rising  cost of college education coupled with a weak employment market, you have to wonder, are the millennials the screwed generation?

Infographic created by OnlineGraduatePrograms.com

The new version of Gmail has been released with many new features and display options including – Line Spacing.  

The first thing you will notice when you invoke the new Gmail is that line spacing between things like email items, mailbox categories, etc. has gotten a lot wider. This line spacing setting in Gmail is called Display Density and is very easy to adjust / personalize.

Enjoy the control.

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If you haven’t looked at your Klout achievement badges in a while, you’d better go take a peek.

For those not familiar with Klout, it is a web service for measuring online influence, particularly in the social media arena. Klout has used badges, aka “achievements,” to represent differing levels of engagement with friends and followers. In early 2011 the original Klout achievement program was put on hold with the promise of something new and improved coming soon.

Well, the new style of Klout achievement badges started being phased in this week based on users’ current interactions with friends and followers with little little fanfare other than this tweet (to the best of my knowledge).

Below is a screenshot of a few of the initial badges to give you some idea of what to expect. Click on the Achievements tab in your profile to see your new badges.  You will notice that the new achievements in your profile are not retroactive and do not reflect historical activity or previous achievements.

Here is the list of new Klout achievement badges found to date with a description of each from the Klout website. Please let me know when you find something new — I would like to add it and continue to grow this list. Note: it will be helpful if you send a link to the profile displaying the badge as well.

• Klout OG – You’ve been around the block with us and then some. Thanks for being there in the early days and sticking it out… (This was the first of the new badges, coming out early in the year)
• Summer of Klout - Way to go! Your Klout Score braved the dog days of summer and still came out on top… (This was the second of the new badges, it was released in the Summer — I expect to keep us watching for more)
• Profile Surfer - You’ve visited “x” Klout profiles
• Klout Addict - You’ve visited klout.com “x” days consecutively
• Making it Rain +K - You’ve given +K “x” times
• Rolling in +K - You’ve received +K “x” times
• On My List - You’ve been added to “x” lists
• The 20s, 30s, 40s… - You’ve finally earned a Klout score in the “30s, 40s, 50s, etc.”
• Perk Magnet – You’ve received “x” perks

Achievement badges are always a great way to enhance and reward social media engagement. Way to go Klout… keep ‘em coming!

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I never was one for all things Apple. Particularly the controlling nature of their systems. However, one cannot deny that the way in which Apple products were developed, manufactured and marketed represent the best of the best.

Under Steve Jobs’ leadership, Apple changed the way we think and more importantly, changed the way we do. It was one of those companies that created products that truly represent the very best in American innovation.

Thank you Steve Jobs… you made the world a much cooler place.

Google’s tribute to Steve Jobs -

Google Tribute To Steve Jobs

Facebooks’s tribute to Steve Jobs -

Mark Zuckerberg Tribute To Steve Jobs

Apple’s tribute to Steve Jobs -

Apple Tribute To Steve Jobs

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Monday starts the week.

Next thing I know it’s Thursday.

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Where did the week go?

All the days are just a blur.

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It feels like putting

five days of work into three.

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Then you remind me,

time flies when you’re having fun.

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Friday here we come!

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In what appears to be a very well timed event, Google Plus has gone public… just as the world was wondering if it was dying on the vine.

 http://plus.google.com/up/start/

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We pause to reflect;

loves lost, heroes remembered;

one nation, one heart.

#haiku

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I am always impressed when I see someone kicks off a great social media or search marketing presentation with a witty quote that sums up the current trends in the world of social media marketing. I also like creating lists to help me to remember all of these bits of wit, wisdom and double entendre.

Terms, conditions and other medium-fine print: I will update this list periodically when something new strikes my fancy. You are welcome to send me your favs as well. If something in this list is yours, let me know I’d be more than happy to attribute.

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My list of favorite social media quotes and other quickly outdated social marketing cliches and double entendre:

– LinkedIn is for people you know, Facebook is for people you used to know, Twitter is for people you want to know.  Author Unknown

– Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell. @ThisIsSethsBlog

– In social media marketing, viral is an verb not an adjective.

– Social media is like a cocktail party, don’t be that over-assertive guy.

– Focus on how to be social, not how to do social.

– Social Media puts the “public” into PR and the “market” into marketing. @ChrisBrogan

– Social media doesn’t create negativity, it uncover’s it.

– Social media is the ultimate canary in the coal mine.

– Social media is an ingredient, not an entree.

– Social Media is like teen sex. Everyone wants to do it. No one actually knows how. When finally done, there is surprise it’s not better. Author Unknown

- Passion is the gasoline of social media.

- Social media isn’t inexpensive, it’s different expensive.

- The goal of social media is to turn customers into a volunteer marketing army.

- Activate your fans, don’t just collect them like baseball cards. @JayBaer

- It’s not viral unless it is.

- Social media allows big companies to act small again.

- Facebook fan pages are newsletters with smaller pictures.

- The problem with trying to determine ROI for Social Media is you are trying to put numeric quantities around human interactions and conversations, which are not quantifiable. @JasonFalls

- Social media changes the relationship between companies and customers from master and servant to peer to peer.

- You must fight social media fire with social media water.

- Every company is not its own TV station, magazine, and newspaper.

- Social media is about people, not logos.

Initially inspired by Jay Baer’s presentation “18 Social Media Quotes My Wife is Sick of Hearing Me Say“ and other random tweets and googley searches.
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