I’m hyper-passionate about this stuff, I actually get excited to talk about it. So, thank YOU, U of M’ers, for letting me rant — extra thanks to those in the class who got involved in the conversation on Twitter. I mean, it is an interactive class. It seemed appropriate.

I really appreciate hashtagging during class. Does it get much better than actually using social in class? I like it. Actually… I love it. Er. Um. Well, maybe not. I really, really like it, I think.

Ah, I can’t decide.

If you can’t tell, I’ve got commitment issues.

#JOUR4272

Check out the presentation we prepared. Some of it is a bit confusing without the dialogue explaining it (mostly me screaming “SOCIAL MEDIA!” over and over), but hopefully it can still be of value to you.

Make sure to pause and watch the videos (embedded below) as instructed on the presentation. Bonus points to anyone who can correctly name the voice-over on the smartenUP Business video. I’ll give you a hint: his name rhymes with shan’t. Speaking of, shan’t is an extremely under-utilized contraction. I strongly suggest you start working it into your daily vocabulary. No worries either way though, you either shall… or you simply shan’t.

Old Spice Case Study

Fun Theory Video

smartenUP Videos

Listen closely.

Follow me on twitter, @grantspanier, and let me know what you think of the presentation (or leave a comment). Did you love it? Did you just like it? Did you despise it? Is it worse than this?

Wide range of options, eh? I’d even accept the standard 1-10 rating system.

I’m far too kind, I know.

PS here is a picture of Chad and I talking. Thanks @jensrheig!

Now, don’t get me wrong – I think that technology is wonderful, and I use it every single day. I know that this topic of “physical” vs. “digital” and the question I have posed have been discussed over and over, but I have yet to find a satisfying answer. Has anybody, really? Hence, this is why we keep talking about it.

By the way, my name is Kelsey, and I am a design intern at OMG. I have been with OMG since January. Never having worked for a marketing agency before, it’s interesting to experience how OMG looks at technology. It’s a whole new world of perspective. They have a respectful way of using technology for a purpose. OMG doesn’t simply advocate certain varieties of digital technology for clients just for the hell of it. There is always a reason with the creativity.

As a graduating student, I have been doing a lot of networking which begins with a lot of time on the computer. I’m on Twitter, Tumblr, WordPress, Behance, AIGA, MIMA, Ad Fed, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, 3 different emails, Walker, and MIA. And there are still more networks that I am not on – DeviantArt, Flickr, Photobucket, Blogspot, Flipboard, ect. There are so many networks to be apart of that it can get out of hand quickly. As a student, people are always telling you to join this or get in on that. It is refreshing to see how OMG approaches the digital space with purpose, and I found myself wanting to “spring clean” my own digital connections.

After going through and organizing, I was reminded of how much there is to do and see that does not take place digitally. It seems so easy – just click here, type a couple words there. All of a sudden you have 15+ sites and blogs that you follow. Considering this, I sat and looked in my room. I had about 3 different canvases sitting on my desk and a handful of bike parts for my bike I am working on. I counted 9 different books that I had bought but not read yet. My yoga mat was rolled up in the corner. I found my dog sitting next to me snuggled close with his toy on the ground not far away. I came to realize that I had removed myself from the things that originally inspired me to design. Had I completely evolved into something digital?

I was not happy with this realization, and this initial question arose in my mind – have I removed myself from the physical world?  I don’t hate technology. I am quite fond of it, actually, but when does it become too much?  Finding the balance is hard to do and takes good time management. I am trying to fit a little of both “digital” and “physical” world into my daily schedule. If I want to look something up on the web, I will do it quickly or draw a quick sketch. I try to make legitimate time to do what keeps the balance, and I have found myself already more relaxed and calm. My schedule has not gotten any less busy, and I don’t have more time in the day. I don’t wake up earlier or go to bed later than my normal obscure schedule. I have found, though, that if I make time for both activities in the digital world and the physical world, I seem to live a happier life. I am more optimistic, more productive, and more energetic.

I suppose the point is to not answer the question of when do we leave the digital world and enter the physical world but rather to look at what we do each day and find our balance between the wonderful world of the web and the wonderful world in front of us. Find the balance, practice the balance, and keep the balance.

Now, your average Minnesotan is a critic. It has something to do with the whole passive aggressive thing. But they often raise good points. Minnesota’s Caribou stores claim almost 50% of the pie; in no other place in America will you find more Caribous. So their market here, the tried and true, represents a significant voice. Caribou’s life-long customers will often give negative sentiment towards the new look and feel of the brand, saying things like the new logo is too metropolitan or simple and the branding itself just isn’t genuine. This kind of feedback is unfortunate to hear for customers who are used to the Midwestern feel. How can Caribou improve its ongoing implementation to once again own their brand and distinguish itself to all of the soul-nurturers, the explorers by nature?

Don’t get me wrong, I usually tend to love Caribou’s new product offerings, and I’m glad they are making the foray into food to help sales in the later dayparts. But maybe it’s time to start taking budget away from product development – they are at a good point to maintain current product lines, especially with the strong gourmet chocolate platform launched in Q4 ’09 – and into following through with their rebrand commitment. Let’s see some updated permanent signage in and out of the stores. Let’s start noticing a genuine change in our barista’s attitudes (no pun intended). Let’s have opportunities to interact with the brand when we’re not in the coffee shop, and not just on Facebook and Twitter.

The original social network

Not so long ago in Seattle, Starbucks invented a unique addition to our routines. The function and fashion of coffee culture became a staple and exploded in growth throughout the 90’s and 00’s. Many smaller chains across the country, including our own Caribou Coffee, introduced the world to regional coffee shop dialects. Caribou of the past did a great job of personifying its Midwestern roots. The evolution of the brand attempts to satisfy the needs of its new and shifting customer base by taking the values of its foundation and turning them into a universal experience: the search for inspiration. What opportunities does Caribou’s evolved brand have that are unfulfilled? How could Caribou connect with its customers on a more personal level and become a model for the twenty-first century social brand?

It’s no question that our lives are becoming increasingly more digital. However, one habit that isn’t likely to change is our morning (and mid-morning, late morning, early afternoon, etc) coffee shop visits for whatever reason: be it collaboration, relaxation, or caffeine. We have the perfect opportunity to rely upon our tangible, every day social networks like this for fulfillment. Coffee houses are naturally great places for fostering social interactions. When you add our digital lives into the mix, the possibilities are insurmountable. We can interact digitally with the same barista who poured our coffee this morning to get other great coffee recommendations. We can chat and meet new people – the very same people that answered the same “What’s your favorite _____?” question in chalk on the wall at Caribou this morning. We can build communities, both in and out of the stores, with the brand at their core.

When Caribou’s customers en masse are becoming inspired to be greater, better, or do more… Caribou’s brand has evolved. People’s feelings, perceptions and attitudes are what the brand is all about, not just the new “forward leaping” logo and inspirational body copy. Caribou has recently become more cognizant of nurturing its online communities – but it’s not even close to optimal level. Getting a grasp on what social media is all about is the first step in becoming a modern brand. It’s time now to see the social initiatives connect with the baristas and other in-store initiatives.

When will we begin to experience Coffee Shop 2.0?

But before I dive into the commercials that I think failed, let’s back up a second. Allow me to (re-)introduce myself. My name is Hov, oh… just kidding. I’m Emilee and when OMG has public relations needs, well, I’m their girl. I’m one of the few people in the office that isn’t a part of the team to work on accounts, and for that reason, I consider myself to be one of a kind.

Let’s get onto the commercials. Seeing as I couldn’t possibly dissect every commercial that aired during the Super Bowl, I picked the three that made the biggest impact me:

Hyundai

I want to point out that I loved the Hyundai commercial. In the commercial, Hyundai workers, from all levels of the company, sang the “Rocky” theme song. I thought the commercial was really catchy, and I found myself humming the tune well past the end of the advertisement. At which point, my boyfriend called to my attention the fact that the foreign vehicle company highlighted a classic American tune. That got me thinking: Did this commercial awesomely accomplish relating a foreign product to our “American-made only” culture, or did Hyundai sacrifice their culture for publicity? So I guess this commercial wasn’t a complete failure because it was catchy, but it may be classified as a partial failure because Hyundai sacrificed its brand and the culture of its home country to connect to our society.

Audi – LED headlights

Did anyone see the Audi LED headlights commercial? The commercial is clearly a spinoff of the Twilight saga because of the books’ (and films’) continuous mentions of Audi vehicles. But gosh, the commercial just wasn’t consistent with the material they were trying to play on! In the books and films, the Cullen family of vampires sparkles like diamonds in sunlight, rather than die in sunlight like Dracula. Any pop culture fanatic (or pre-teen girl) would notice this dramatic difference that really kills (no pun intended) the awesomeness of the commercial. Dear Audi: Next time, do your homework! And for this blatant inconsistency, I dub your commercial to be a complete failure. Get with it!

H&M – David Beckham Bodywear

The David Beckham Bodywear for H&M commercial was one that left me confused. Why was it aired during a predominantly male television event? (Note: I tried not to let my boyfriend notice my sudden uninterrupted attention toward the TV.) First, let it be known that any commercial shown during the Super Bowl will touch a chiefly male audience. Shocking, I know. That being said, why would any of the Super Bowl commercials sexualize the male body? I can answer this question – to engage the female audience. Yes, that’s obvious, but why target the miniscule female audience (in relation to the male audience) when you could reach so many more men with a manly advertisement? C’mon, get it together. Instead of motivating the male audience to get David Beckham Bodywear because “it’s manly,” this commercial successfully made some of the male audience uncomfortable. Because I’m still trying to understand what demographic this commercial was trying to reach, I will consider it a complete failure until I figure out why it was even aired.

If we’ve learned anything valuable from this post, it’s that commercials should consider the product or message they’re projecting and if they’re projecting it in an appropriate way and to the appropriate demographic. If all of these companies are spending millions of dollars on these advertisements, they should be sure that their plan is completely thought out.

Some things are just better live and in person – a concert, a movie in the theater, the um… Super Bowl. The emotion and raw energy of your surroundings, combined with the overpriced drinks and raucous noise, join together to form one hell of an experience.

If you watch football, you’ve probably seen this upcoming matchup before. Four years ago, in Super Bowl XLII, the Giants upset the undefeated Patriots. We know. Sadly, I wasn’t there to listen to Jordin Sparks (yes, really!) deliver the Star Spangled Banner, nor did I have to brush off any confetti after the game was over. No. I sat at home, comfortably, and enjoyed the game with some friends. #party

I wish we could have Super Bowl parties more than once every February. It’s a time when I, like so many others, anticipate and watch the commercials with curiosity and a critical eye. It gives everybody at the party, then the following week at work, something to talk about regardless of the outcome of the game. We watch. We listen. Then we talk.

So here we are in 2012, watching a “rematch” of that crazy finale . To celebrate, I thought it’d be fun to revisit some of the ads that were played then and see how different it was even just four years ago. Here are three ads I specifically remembered and enjoyed.

E*Trade – Talking Baby

The original. A good idea that has unfortunately been played over and over again. You’re going to see him again this year. 

Diet Pepsi Max – “What is Love?”

Try and tell me you, too, didn’t obnoxiously bob your head for days after seeing this.

Tide To Go – Talking Stain

My favorite one out of the lineup. Such a simple idea, but executed down to the T. Personification can go far when you’re trying to send a message. 

What are some of your favorite Super Bowl spots, and what made you like them?

Every year, I seem to make the same ‘ole resolutions. Eat better. Work out more. Those are all good and dandy, but I never seem to get that much out of them. Yes, for as long as I can stick with Pauline Nordin’s Butt Bible or Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred, I feel fantastic. But as I thought about my resolutions for 2012, these resolutions just felt, eh, recycled. Been there, done that. I longed for an inspiring outlook on the whole “better yourself” idea behind New Year’s resolutions.

And then I started thinking.

It’s 2012. The Mayan calendar ends. It’s the end of the world. Wait, what? Could this quite possibly be my last year on Earth? (Queue the panic panting.)

Once my over-thinking mind had a chance to stop snowballing and breeeeathe, I thought to myself – What will make me even happier this year? What will give me butterflies and that excitement for life that will put a little skip in my step?

One word popped into my head. Indulge.

Yes. That was what I was going to do this year. I was going to indulge myself in my favorite things that I never seem to make time for. So in 2012 I vow to go for that pretty looking red velvet cupcake. I vow to let myself take a break from the constant working and studying and catch up on those guilty pleasure TV shows (Welcome back into my life, Neal Caffrey).  I vow to indulge in conversations with those acquaintances with whom I usually only make time for a quick, generic “Hi, how’s it going?”  And all of those bands that I would love to see live but let the concert dates sail right on by? Well, you can bet that I’ll be there, dancing and screaming with a giddy grin plastered on my face.

So here’s to a wonderful year filled with little indulgences that make me smile. Hey, it’s the end of the world. Live a little.

What inspires you? What is it exactly that causes some kind of an internal force that motivates you to embrace a better future, motivating you to become more focused, more encouraged, and able to inspire those around you to do the same?  That can be one of the most difficult questions for someone to answer because there is no right or wrong answer, and it can be different for everyone else. The answer also doesn’t need to be singular, as I find inspiration through more things than I can count.

About 6 months ago I was inspired by a quote I heard by Ayn Rand. “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”  This was the cause of my internal force for motivation.  This was the motivation that I needed to make me want to become a harder worker, a more understanding friend, a more reliable person, and a more loving community member.  The only person that can stop me from reaching my goals is myself; therefore I must pursue my dreams intensely. How was I going to achieve all these goals, and more from this quote? I decided to start a blog where I have begun collecting photographs, quotes, design, and other forms of art that represent what inspires me.  The collection mainly contains items that relate to social change, advertising, music, design, love, beauty, and inspirational quotes.  This blog’s purpose is to act as a digital inspiration board where I can post these pictures and be able to go back and reflect on them at any time.

Now being inspired is one thing, but inspiring others to do the same can be extremely difficult.  You must be able to express your passion with others and “practice what you preach.” If others can see your passion in your actions it will ignite the same inspiration within them.  This can be seen in many famous leaders of our time.  We follow these leaders not because we have to but because we want to. Not for them, but for ourselves.  Leaders inspire us to respond to a call of action.  We follow them not for what they do but for why they do it and what they believe in. Take for instance Martin Luther King Jr. He believed in a change for our nation. He didn’t know how he was going to achieve this dream, but he knew what had to be changed.  He shared this dream that spread throughout the country, joining together those who also believed in a change of civil rights. Those who believed in MLK’s dream were able to join together and figure out how they would make a change, and what do you know they did! You can’t change the world alone; and if you can’t inspire others to join you the world will remain as it is.

Do you have a great idea for a new business or mobile application that will change the way we interact forever, but you have zero business experience or have no idea whatsoever as to what even goes into building a mobile application? Don’t worry – you don’t need to. Share your passion with others and your ideas will spread. The next thing you know you have yourself a business plan and a developer, and you are on your way to success.  It may not be that simple, but sharing your ideas is the first step into finding others who share them with you. Together, then, you can solve any problem.

What inspires you? If don’t know what that is – go find it. Once you have found it, inspire those around you to do the same. Dedicate yourselves to identifying and clarifying your dreams, and then pursue them intensely.

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit. – Aristotle

As one of the co-founders of OMG I have conditioned myself into becoming a more open-minded person when it comes to risk. It seems that many people know the term, “the more risk, the more reward.” But then why does everyone seem to “settle”? That’s the big topic on a micro and macro scale for start-ups and even our country’s future.

I have had the opportunity to work at four other start-up companies and each and every one of them takes risks. Even the fortune 100 companies in which I have worked take major risks, often at a much higher monetary scale. As a start-up person, or rather an “entrepreneur,” I don’t have the luxury of something consistent like a 9-5 job. Still I have come to realize that I’d be taking the biggest risk of all if I did indeed work a 9-5. If that were the case, I couldn’t help but ask myself “what if”? What if I worked at a 9-5 sitting in a confined cubicle for 8 hours, and one day I realized that I could be out doing something better and meaningful for myself, and better yet, for society. That’s what OMG, ByME, Moddev and Connect to Me (my four ventures/start-ups I’m working on) have provided me with.

The biggest takeaway is that by not risking something, you are essentially risking it all. In my mind, that’s the root of regrets. If there is someone or something that you know that you want, then why risk it all by letting it walk by you? I’ve found that all the people I work with, and even more specifically, those people at OMG Agency, embrace the idea of going out and actually doing it. They take risks by trying something new, making mistakes, or just plain messing up. This is what it takes to go to the next level. I’m proud to have the opportunity to take risks at a personal and a company level with OMG. At the end of the day, an agency or start-up is only as good as the people that make it real. Whatever mission you have, as a company or as an individual, you must go all out or nothing. Being confident in the risks that you take and sharing with others what you have learned will only help you grow faster – as a company or personally.

By creating mass amounts of klout, you are essentially setting up a minefield, hoping that an unsuspecting victim lands on one of your posts and gets sucked into your site. By treating your online presence like a minefield, you are going to make them bounce. You need to follow through with the audience pathway.

It’s not baiting that wins leads – it’s persuading. So instead, treat your content, such as your blog, social or site pages, as a way to not just pull your audience but pull them in with hospitality. Set up a few hypothetical pathways for your audience to follow and determine what elements should be available to keep them comfortable inside and engaged throughout the pathway.

For instance, you start with Google. Your audience clicks on your Google Adword, and it goes to a specific page, such as a blog post or web page. Next, they go through your content and end on your lead generation page which is often your signup/demo/contact page.

Google — Adword — Page/post —  Signup/Demo/Contact

Take the above audience pathway. On each step, in order to ensure a successful pathway, you need to ask yourself some questions:

What does my audience want to see, specifically on my page? 

Make sure you explain who, what, where, why.

Do I need to consolidate my site pages? 

Sometimes it is helpful to make pages more methodical to control the audience through the pathway.

Does your audience need an easier navbar? 

Navbars can become clumsy – keep it simple.

Will increasing my Adwords budget improve my success? 

Analyze the competition through places like SEMrush.com or through Google Adwords. Another option is to simply experiment to find out what is best.

I cannot stress this enough: Once you have made changes to your pathway, don’t change it! You need to test your improvements out for a minimum of one month to evaluate the effectiveness compared to prior time periods. If you constantly change things, you may undermine your evaluation. And, never underestimate the power of small changes – they can make a big difference.

What’s everyone’s experience with this? Any tips/methods you found successful? Questions? We love to chat about this stuff all day, every day.

I don’t think I can say there is anything much better than seeing your freshly designed assets finally going live. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to the websites of clients I’ve worked on just to see the hard work of our team in action. Design is sexy. And in my experience, for many smaller and less technically savvy clients, it’s one of the easiest parts of a campaign to sell.

However, a website alone can be almost worthless to certain clients. As an Internet junky, I constantly need to remind myself that a client’s domain does nothing to put itself in front of the customer. Consider forms of more traditional advertising; outdoor advertising, broadcast, print, all of which reach an audience. A website, on the other hand,requires a response to a call to action. When a visitor arrives at a site, they have already made the decision to do so, which was affected by some other source of information. A stand-alone website just isn’t enough.

I believe it’s beneficial to think of a web page as a second storefront. It’s important to have an informative and well-designed store, but you cannot be sure new customers are going to stumble upon it and make the business successful. SEO, social media, paid search, email marketing, display campaigns, and affiliate partners are all often overlooked as options with some of our smaller retail clients. They want to believe their business is enough to drive traffic on its own, and the added expense of a full interactive strategy is unnecessary and often only just confuses them.

Reminding a client the measurability of these forms of advertising is a key component. If the amount of traffic being driven from any source included in an interactive campaign isn’t meeting expectations, it can be adjusted. Start with a small budget to test which channels are effective. Constantly measure and optimize. Then, re-launching with an increased budget will be more effective and easier to sell to the client. Proven success and transparency is important, especially to small businesses with limited budgets.