The tool-as-strategy trap is an easy one to fall prey to. It usually involves a shiny new form of media (Newspapers! Radio! Television! Internet! Telekinesis!) and a proclamation that all previous forms of media are forthwith null and void posthaste, etc. etc. Gurus arise (often of the self-anointed variety), agencies and clients are fleeced and large segments of the populace don’t notice a thing has changed.

The current tool du jour is social media. Social media includes such things as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and a bunch of other sites that promise to be different than Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn but really aren’t. Social media does not include such familiar anti-social media as television, radio, magazines and billboards. Because you enjoy those mediums alone, with nothing but the cold, echoing groans of your empty soul to comfort you.

Also, MySpace no longer counts as social media. It has carved a newer, niche-ier segment known as Perv-n-Indie-Band media. Also, kitties.

Companies as vast as General Electric and as tiny as the neighborhood dry cleaners are into social media, bombarding us with pleas to “like” their Facebook pages, follow them on Twitter and, as a favorite SM saying goes, “join the conversation.” Which is all well and good, assuming companies understand the difference between being on Facebook and Twitter and actually using the mediums to advance their businesses.

Because, as I may have alluded to a scant few sentences ago, social media is a tool, not a strategy. It’s like any other tool in advertising: Wield it well or be prepared to poke out an eye. Just as there is a wide gulf between great TV spots and anything starring Vince “Slap Chop” Schlomi, there’s a big difference between successful social media campaigns like Pepsi’s Refresh Project and Best Buy’s Twitter-based Twelpforce, and tossing your pizza chain’s locations up on Facebook and throwing some coupons to your 193 Twitter followers.

There are several attractive aspects to social media. First, it’s cheap to get into. Unless you’ve managed to hold onto to that TI 99/4a for the past 30 years, chances are your computer will load up Facebook and Twitter just fine. So, your initial investment comes down to time, which is often comes in the ultra-affordable form of intern-time. But that’s where too many companies and agency begin and end their foray into social media – with a young youth who either thinks he’s knows everything about social media yet knows nothing about the brand, or admits he knows nothing about either. Note the all-around lack of brand knowledge going on. So much for faking it till you make it.

Like all media, it is possible to create an effective campaign using social media alone. But, unshockingly, the best social media efforts tie into broader schemes. The best current example of this is Old Spice’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” campaign. This campaign originally launched with one thirty-second spot, a couple of fifteens and a microsite. And those spots exploded into all manner of glorious joy bits over YouTube, racking up at least 14 million views from my coworker Silver alone. Oh, and the thirty-second spot won the Grand Prix and Cannes. A nice piece of hardware, even if it stinks of mime.

Now, Old Spice and their agency, Wieden+Kennedy, could’ve kicked back, tossed out a couple more derivative spots and called it a campaign. And, in fact, they did do some more TV spots, although no one would accuse them of phoning those in. But then they did something that can really only be described as cool: They put their now über-popular character to the task of answering their fans with personalized videos. Pulling comments from multiple SM sources in real-time (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.), the creative team scripted responses that TMYMCSL (actor Isaiah Mustafa) delivered in his typical, manly style. Videos were posted to YouTube and their arrival disseminated via Twitter and Facebook. They did this for two days straight, answering comments from anonymous tweeters to celebrities to Mustafa’s own daughter. In the end, they had produced over 100 clips, lit up the online world and gained even more fans for the brand. It’ll probably win some more trophies next year. And, crazy of crazies, it was all part of a strategy.

Sure beats the heck out of “Who wants a coupon?” tweets, doesn’t it?

Later,

Fox

Until now, paid search has always been a pull medium with unknown amounts of inventory. The amount you get is dependent on the amount of times searchers hit the search button — which is currently around 530M times a day. This seems like a lot of inventory, but advertisers want more. Because of the consistently high ROI that paid search delivers, a lot of brands have allocated more and more of their budgets to it over the years. And even though this is good news for the medium, several industries are seeing a rise in rates to record highs — posing an uphill battle in continuing to achieve effective ROI metrics.

Behold…

Access to more scale is now available with search retargeting. Here’s how it works. I like to think of it like a boomerang.

A searcher types something into a search engine, but then they get distracted or they aren’t happy with the search results and walk away. A day or so later, that same person receives a display ad that is directly related to what they’ve recently searched for. In other words, it takes a qualified lead based on real and recent consumer intents, and gives your brand another chance to get in front of that person moving them along the purchase funnel. They threw something out there with search, and a relevant offer or product came back around to them through display – like a boomerang.

Even cooler are the different ways to target based on the search query data. You can target by keyword, topic or category. Location targeting is also an option. And frequency capping is another important consideration.

We’ve now met with over 10 ad networks that offer searching retargeting based on search queries from Google, Yahoo! or Bing. And as we introduce more clients to this product offering, we hope to have more success stories to share. There are endless opportunities for targeting scenarios and compelling creative! More boomerangs to come.

But the truth of the matter is that after the positive sales numbers are in, the guest counts are confirmed up and product has long since flown off the shelves, we like to know that our peers around the country (not just our clients) think we do some cool and interesting work.

Thankfully, after careful review and industry scrutiny, it appears that for yet another year, we don’t suck. In fact, building on last year’s One Show award, DFWIMA “Best in Show” and being featured in Archive Magazine, this year is also shaping up to be a great one.

-Five Telly Awards for both television and online video

-DFWIMA “Most Effective Non-Profit/Public Service” campaign

-Art Directors Club for “Eat Out for a Change”

-Dallas Society of Visual Comm. bronze award for television

Yes, when it comes to creative, we work in a very “what have you done for me lately” kind of industry. But this is proof that lately, we’ve been doing great work for great clients. More importantly, it’s achieved great results. And isn’t that why we got into this business in the first place?

While the banner was great for driving clicks (and in some cases he will still be good for this), the artist formerly know as the banner looks way different. He’s more about finding messaging opportunities and developing content, rather than advertising. His purpose is to inform and to entertain, to create an emotional bond.

You might not recognize this guy, but he does stand out as being rich – living among marketing and content. Whenever you hear him speak, he’ll want to exchange something that’s of value. A real 2-way communicator. Lastly, he’s a big believer in doing more — whether inside the ad unit or the context of the entire screen.

I think you’ll be glad you met him particularly as we see the value of the impression going down and the value of attention going up. With that said, impressions aren’t going anywhere — they’ve been around for years. To quote Doug Weaver, who’s also been around the digital space for years, “There’s a reason we call it an impression, not a transfer.”

Let’s all be prepared to hit play on the artist formerly known as the banner and get ready to be engaged!

As someone who spends a good bit of time in the world of retouching it is easy to forget that regular folks may not be aware of the magic that goes into any beauty shot, whether its cosmetics, fashion, or even food. This spot is a powerful illustration of the fact that perfection isn’t reality and is a spot-on way to communicate the mission of The Dove self-esteem fund.

A shout out to the folks at Dove who want to make a difference by “widening the definition of beauty” as well as the folks at Ogilvy for a fun glimpse behind the curtain. After all, who doesn’t need a boost to self esteem?

So enjoy the spot, and maybe even visit the campaign’s site.

Credits: Director Tim Piper, Ogilvy (concept, treatment and post production) and Yael Staav, Soft Citizen (live action)

Umm, what?

I know what telecommunications are. I also know what innovation is. But the former fits easily into a saleable package whereas the other floats free on the wings of the speckled-breasted jackasserobin. I’m not saying AT&T can’t pull this off, but it’s going to be a hard row to hoe. After all, are they going to be touting innovations outside of the communications field? Will I soon be able to get an AT&T insulin pump? I somehow doubt it.

Granted, I won’t be sorry to see the lame wonkishness of “Your world. Delivered.” go away. (The new tag is “Rethink possible.” which feels too derivative of Apple’s classic “Think Different.” for my taste.) Or those Luke Wilson ads die off (sorry, Luke, nothing personal). But when there are companies like Apple and even Dyson (check out their sweet new bladeless fan) roaming the Hills of Innovation, trying to climb that mountain seems like a slog worth avoiding.

But who knows. Maybe the work will blow me away. After all, BBDO does great work for FedEx. Bring it, guys. Prove me wrong. I’ll be happy to recant.

Later,

Fox

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Spots reviewed as they aired, more or less. Also, I don’t review regional ads (if I can tell they’re regional), film trailers or promos for CBS shows or the NFL.

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Bud Light, “Light House” – I’ll give Bud Light credit for refraining from the scatological (that means “poop”) comedy from years past, but this didn’t really have the feel of a Super Bowl spot. Good production values, of course, but it seem like, well, any other Bud Light spot. You could call that creative consistency, but I won’t. B-

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Snickers, “Betty & Abe” – This spot started off quite strongly with venerable comedienne Betty White getting walloped in a game of touch football and then talking smack. The payoff of “you’re not you when you’re hungry” however, was a let down (even if it is true as this diabetic can attest). If you’re going to intro a spot with Betty White at wide out, don’t change her to a pasty suburban dude halfway through the spot. Bonus points, naturally, for good use of Abe Vigoda in the stinger. B

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Focus on the Family, “The Tebows” – Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahha. Okay, the ad itself wasn’t great, but the strategy was brilliant. This “controversial” ad – dubbed so by pro-abortion advocates who hadn’t even seen the spot – was nothing more than a classic “please visit our website” ad. No mention of abortion. Not even a hint. Just a proud mom who speaks of her “miracle baby.” Me, I would’ve said “abortion” seven or eight times during the spot, but I’m ornery like that. Still, feels good knowing a bunch of so-called pro-choice (as long as you choose to agree with us) folks got their collective BVDs in a wad over this. Spot: B, Strategy: A+

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Hyundai, “Paint” – This spot for Hyundai’s new Sonata sedan, filled with classical music and well-done slow motion footage, had me right until the end when the someone insisted on inserting the supers “Better paint quality than Mercedes CLS550” and “Think about it.” Unnecessary and message-muddling. B-

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Boost Mobile, “The Shuffle” – Twenty-five years after the Chicago Bears won the Super Bowl and tainted themselves with the stank of “The Super Bowl Shuffle,” Ditka, McMahon, Singletary and crew are back for another shot at rhythmless fame. Teasers were released in advance of this spot, and now I’m wondering why. Too obvious jokes and poor use of a Rascal – comedy sacrilege! And whoever thought Ditka saying “That’s fresh” was fresh was more wrong than going to Bears game without having a brat and a heart attack. C-

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Doritos, “Bark Collar” – This first of this year’s winners of Doritos’s Let’s Tick Off Our Agency and Let Random People Shoot Our Super Bowl Spots Contest was fantastic. Not counting the hideous premise, awful CG and lack of understanding how a bark collar really works (sound and vibration). Did I say fantastic? I mean craptacular. D+

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Doritos, “House Rules” The second winner in the Doritos contest was much better than the first. A little predictable, but well shot and the kid was a hoot. B

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Bud Light, “Asteroid” – Strategy was a bit weird (is Bud Light really the sign of a good time or just a signal that a pack of D-bags is nearby?), but the spot gained momentum until the very end. And again, no farting horses. B

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Coca-Cola, “Hard Times – Mr. Burns” – Coke continues it’s “Happiness” campaign with what appeared be the entire cast of “The Simpsons.” Except we all know it wasn’t the entire cast as Hans Moleman didn’t die. Still, well played, Coca-Cola. Well played. A

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GoDaddy.com, “Spa” – Another year, another chance to berate GoDaddy.com for their skeeztacularly bad spots featuring never-a-role-model-to-my-daughter, Danica Patrick, with their pleas to “go online for the unrated version.” Oooooooooh. Please, GoDaddy, go away. F-

I never link to GoDaddy spots.

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Doritos, “Casket” – The third (of four, yowza) winner of the Contest That Shall Not Be Named. Doritos, you are dead to me. D

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Bud Light, “Voice Box” – Hmmm, the Bud Light spots are getting progressively better. Dare I hope for a spot equal to Apple’s “1984” by the end of the game? Eh, no. But this spot was both fun and, hopefully, a message to Kanye, T-Pain (who appeared in the spot and must be laughing all the way to Da Bankz, yo) and the rest of the Auto-Tune crowd that their trick was played out the moment Cher released “Believe” back in 1998. B+

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Monster.com, “Fiddlin’ Beaver” – A beaver playing a fiddle? Funny idea. A beaver playing a fiddle promotion something called “precision job search” on Monster.com? No idea how the two tie together. Especially when it appears that said beaver just practiced and played his way to stardom, no want ad required. C

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Bridgestone, “Whale of a Tale” – Had me until the end when the “Now that was a bachelor party” line turned it into a “The Hangover” knockoff. Could’ve used more physical comedy than verbal. And that’s saying something when were only two lines. That I remember. Don’t make me rewind the TiVo, people. B-

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Skechers Shape-Ups, “Joe Montana Testimonials” Ummm, what? D-

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Cars.com, “Timothy Richmond” – Stellar production value, nice writing and a welcome low-key style. But this is simply a retread of Cars.com’s “David Abernathy” spot from last year. There’s even a medical intervention, and the final scene is nearly identical in execution. If I hadn’t seen this spot before, I’d like it a fair amount (although I still say the genius-stumped-by-used-cars is a bit of a stretch). But I have seen it before, so, well, meh. B-

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Budweiser, “Bridge” – Nice buildup with the town rushing to the aid of the Bud delivery truck stuck at a downed bridge, but a little too much time was spent on the solution to said problem. Probably funnier if they’d just shown the tire tracks on the people’s backs at the bar instead. B-

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CareerBuilder.com, “Casual Friday” – I don’t know if CareerBuilder.com will ever trump their chimp-based campaign that spawned a thousand Monk-E-Mails between me and my friends, but this one ranks pretty high up there. Nice use of tighty-whities and the guy’s disparaging remark about pants near the end was spot on. Voice over line beginning with “expose yourself” was a bit too snicker-snicker-tee-hee for my taste, though. Nonetheless, nice pants, Terry. A-

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Dockers, “No Pants” – Wow, two spots in a row featuring people with no pants. In this case, all men. And in this case, much less satisfying. If you’re going to have men wander around in their unmentionables, have them do something besides march through a field singing about said unmentionables. I’ll bet the agency is hating their media placement right about now. C

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Hyundai, “Favre” – Jokes about Brett Favre growing old and repeated retiring should probably themselves be retired. But the execution of showing a 50-year-old Favre holding a hologram-producing MVP trophy (“Help me, replacement hips, you’re my only hope.”) and still waffling on retirement made me chuckle. B+

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Bud Light, “Stranded” – I assume this was a pretty spot-on parody of “Lost” given that I recognized as such while having only watched about 15 minutes of the series. Some good sight gags and slow burn looks from the (hold on, let me check IMDB) Kate knockoff. Still don’t get double tagline of “always the sign of a good time/here we go,” but anything beats the dreaded “Drinkability” campaign of yore. B

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Dove Men’s Care, “A Boy’s Life” – Awesome, awesome, awesome spot for the wrong product. Up until the product reveal: A, After: C-

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Dodge Charger, “Man’s Last Stand”If I’m putting up with all the stuff the soulless dudes in this spot apparently put with, I can tell you the car I won’t be driving in exchange for my subservience is a Dodge Charger. Car guys know this, so I can only assume this spot was aimed at fans of Ed Hardy gear. C

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Teleflora, “Dead in a Box” – If you’re going to get Don Rickles to voice your insult-spewing box-o-tulips, let him be Rickles. Instead, Teleflora reshot last year’s dud while cranking down the muted irony and cranking up the elbows to the ribs. Although I think the guy that used to be in the Bud Light “Dr. Galakowitz” campaign might have appeared in drag. D+

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Papa John’s, “Papa John Delivers” – I don’t mean to repeat myself, but ummmmmm, what? D

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Dr Pepper Cherry, “Dr. Love – Little Kiss” – Even midgets in Kiss makeup can’t salvage this “let’s deliver product benefits straight to the camera” mess. Dear advertisers of the world: The ratio of people who claim to think Kiss is cool versus the number of people who actually believe it is quite high. So stop already. C-

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truTV, “Punxsutawney Polamalu” – An Oompa Loompa version of Pittsburgh Steelers fave Troy Polamalu (who was a in a Super Bowl spot last year for Coke Zero) replaces the world’s most famous groundhog and promises six more weeks of football. Pretty well done, but feels like it just needed a little more something something to push it over the edge. C’mon, man, yank it! B

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Universal Studios Orlando, “Harry Potter’s The Wizarding World” – Universal Studios seems to run a Super Bowl ad every year. And every year I wonder why. C-

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FLO TV, “Jim Nantz” – Grr. Arrg. This spot should’ve been funny. Premise wasn’t overtly original, but you don’t have to be original to be funny. You just have to let the writer write. Or maybe they did. Shame on you, writer! Also, the Chia Pet-esque “where to buy” tag really classed up the joint. Yeesh. C

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Intel, “Sad Robot” – “Okay, here’s the idea: A guy talks about how cool Intel’s new processors are and, in the process, hurts the company robot’s feelings. The end.” Maybe Apple should switch to AMD. C-

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FLO TV, “My Generation Remix” – So FLO TV hires will.i.am to do what he did last year for Pepsi, only less creatively. Mmm-kay. C

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Miller High Life, “Small Businesses” – Not quite as nifty as last year’s one-second spot, but still a nice bit of minimalist awkward awesomeness. B+

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Acura, “MDX” – Woman sees symbols followed by ugly, Japanese version of the Aztek. D

No link; suspect this was regional.

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Motorola, “Megan Fox – Motoblur” – Megan Fox in a bathtub pimping something called Motoblur that is either a phone or a phone feature. I couldn’t tell. And not because I was distracted by Megan Fox in a bathtub. I see better version of that every day, people. No, really, my wife’s name is Megan. Anyway, a tired technique with a couple funny bits. At least it wasn’t a GoDaddy.com spot. C

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Volkswagen, “Punch Dub” – Stevie Wonder notwithstanding, anyone who’s ever played this game knows it’s Slug Bug and not Punch Dub. You hit when you see an old Beetle, not some jalopy of a Jetta. If you’re going to co-opt lore about your brand – lore you didn’t create – have the courtesy to not jack with it. C

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Denny’s, “Free Breakfast – Chicken Warning” – I really shouldn’t like this spot as much as I do, and maybe it’s just the Girl Scout Thin Mints talking, but I thought it was a hoot. Used a screenwriting technique known as “the Pope in the pool” (look it up) to make what is basically a talking head spot interesting. Too bad the chicken puppets weren’t Muppets like I’d originally read. B

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Michelob Ultra, “Little Bumps (Lance Armstrong)” – Let’s see here. Throw cash at famous athlete? Check. Throw cash at production? Check. Throw cash at media buy? Check. Produce memorable, relevant spot? Check please. D+

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HomeAway.com, “Vacation Teaser” – Hmmmm, the Griswolds return in a short film for a vacation home rental website. Spot wasn’t great as far as trailers go, but you had me at “Griswold.” Spot: B-, Strategy: A-

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Bridgestone, “Your Tires or Your Life” – If you’re going to make a gag about someone mishearing “wife” for “life,” make sure said “wife” doesn’t look like a “hooker.” D+

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KGB, “Sumo” – 500 pounds of dumb. Both the commercial and the service. D

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Coca-Cola, “Sleepwalker” – Well-produced, but not terribly interesting. C

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E*Trade, “Baby Girlfriend” – Okay, I’ve actually liked most of E*Trade’s talking baby campaign in the past because they put clever, adult dialogue into the mouths of a baby. Which is weird, but whatever. This ad? Well, let’s just say throwing in overtones of hot, baby action and a milkaholic floozy pushed it right on over the shark tank. C-

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U.S. Census Bureau, “Snapshot of America” – I do love me some Christopher Guest mockumentary action, but this spot (and the entire series) is just flat and a waste of my money. Do you understand why I want small government now, my hippie coworkers? Do you? C-

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Google, “Parisian Love” – I was so ready to dog this spot after the first five seconds, but dang if it wasn’t effective in showing how Google can answer so many of life’s answers. Now I’m just creeped out. Where’s my New Testament? Shoot, Google probably knows that, too. Not evil? Ha! B+

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Kia Sorento, “Sock Monkey Dreams” – Three words: Jet-skiing sock monkey. Okay, some more words. Great music, great direction, great editing, great ending line (which wasn’t spoken) to tie it all together. Bra-freakin’-vo. A

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Bud Select 55, “World’s Lightest Beer” – Was this a regional spot? Sure felt like it. Message delivered! And ignored. C-

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Vizio, “Beyonce” – Well, at least this year’s Vizio ad wasn’t as mind-numbingly dumb as last year’s Vizio ad. Might want to try for some more au courant internet memes next time, though. C

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Diamond Foods, “Emerald Nuts & Pop Secret” – Sad + sad = sadder. D+

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Electronic Arts, “Dante’s Inferno: Go to Hell” – EA makes an interesting choice in pairing footage from its ultra-graphic new video game “Dante’s Inferno” with Bill Wither’s “Ain’t No Sunshine.” The music actually works quite well, but the footage feels a bit too much like a standard-issue video game trailer. B-

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Budweiser, “Clydesdale & The Bull” – Well, there was 60 seconds of nothin’. D

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Honda, “Crosstour Squirrel” – Writer: So, how do we pimp this bloated Accord/SUV mashup that looks like a Honda-fied Pontiac Aztek? Art director: I dunno, put a squirrel in it? Writer: Done. C

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Denny’s, “Chickens Across America” – Worth it if only for the chicken screaming silently in space. B

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Audi A3, “The Green Police” – I’m torn on this one. I like how most of the spot exposes the utter ridiculousness of the über-greens. But then they turn around and connect their A3 TDI diesel to the same movement. Not as cool as last year’s “The Chase” spot, either. Still, a good use of Cheap Trick. B

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Taco Bell, “Charles Barkley – NBA Buck Box” – Third time’s the charm: Uhhhhhhh, what? D

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Doritos, “Snack Attack Samurai” – The fourth and final “winner” in the contest I gave up caring about years ago. C

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Bud Light, “Book Club” – Bud Light saves the weak sister for the end. Even the preceding Doritos ad was better. Ouch.C-

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Hyundai Sonata, “Built by Hand” – Reminded me of the original Saturn work. In a good way. Not especially powerful for a Super Bowl spot, but nice branding nonetheless. B-

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E*Trade, “Tears” – Did E*Trade switch agencies or something because, wow, not good. D

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GoDaddy.com, “News” – Another “go here for an unrated version” tease from my least-favorite advertiser extant. More Danica. More T&A. More fail. F

As usual, I don’t link to GoDaddy’s garbage.

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Denny’s, “Chicken Birthday” – Okay, we get it. C

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And in case you forgot, the New Orleans Saints beat the Indianapolis Colts 31-17.

I know that this is not exactly new, but have you seen this spot for Jameson Irish Whiskey?

I love it. Now, in the spirit of full disclosure, I really love gin more than scotch, and even after a visit to Scotland and the Glenkinchie Distillery, I have not developed the acquired taste for scotch like my brother. But, I got to tell you, as a novice, trying to distinguish the difference from one mossy, peaty glass to another is half the battle to acquiring the aforementioned taste. This work helps them stand out and I imagine gives people a personality they can identify with. At least enough to get them in the boat. Well done, credit for the spot goes to TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York. That work comes on the heels of a long standing word-of-mouth campaign that got them the growth they needed to eventually speak to a larger audience—thus the new (or relatively new) work.

Great piece of film. However, the print is weak and looks like an afterthought. Web presence looks like they repurposed an off-the-shelf techno widget and feels out of touch with the wonderful story telling foundation they have with John Jameson. So close and yet so far.

Next up, how about this idea:

Fun take on a product that has all the money in the world but a tough time getting people to pay attention. Not a lot of news in the “classic” part of this category. Yet they have given us a reason to pay attention and a reason to think happy thoughts. Credit and the cork go to Coca Cola and Definition 6. Well done.

Eager to hear what you think.

Look for the 60-second spot on ESPN during the second commercial break at approximately 7:13 p.m. (Thank you Firehouse media planning.) Here’s a sneak preview if you just can’t wait or are fearful that sleep may set-in after a day full of turkey: Interstate Batteries on YouTube