Nothing seems to bring out the creativity of ad execs like beer. It’s a fun product that seemingly would sell itself. The trouble is that the market is crowded. That’s when commercials can really make their mark and set brands apart. Here are my favorites. Think you can make a great beer commercial? Prove it HERE and submit an entry to LoneRider Brewing Company’s Commercial Contest.
Didn’t see your favorite in my list? Post a comment with a link! Oh and don’t forget to enter the LoneRider Contest. We’re giving away beer!
Social media and beer are a natural combination. Just look at all the microbrews connecting with customers on Twitter and Facebook! That’s why Click Optimize and LoneRider Brewing Company are teaming up to bring you a great night of tasty beer and social media connectivity.
Who: LoneRider Brewing Company and Click Optimize What: Tweetup and Social Media Convergence Where:LoneRider Brewery When: 3/12/09 7 PM – 9:30 PM How: Admission is free courtesy of your pals at LoneRider and Click Optimize. Make sure to RSVP HERE by clicking the yellow “Accept Here” button on the right.
This event will include:
Music- Rock your favorite tunes for the crowd via Blip.fm as we crowdsource the role of DJ.
Food- Find the perfect food pairing for Shotgun Betty and DeadEye Jack. Chow down and then vote on your favorite pairing via twtpoll.
LoneRider’s First Commercial Premier- Ever thought that you could make a great beer commercial? Here’s your chance to prove it. Click Optimize will choose the best video from a pool of entrants and premier the ad at the Tweetup. The winner receives growlers of Shotgun Betty and DeadEye Jack, four LoneRider glasses and has their video hosted on YouTube and Vimeo. Check out the details HERE.
Social Media Presentation- The folks at LoneRider will talk about how they’ve leveraged social media to grow their business.
Brewery Tour- See the process of brewing up close and personal. Of course, you’ll get to sample the beer free too!
Sound good? RSVP for the event HERE by clicking the yellow “Accept Here” button on the right.
On October 20, 2008 writer Paul Boutin ruffled feathers all over the Internet by quipping, “Thinking about launching your own blog? Here’s some friendly advice: Don’t. And if you’ve already got one, pull the plug.” He made this claim in Wired Magazine in an article titled, “Twitter, Flickr, Facebook Make Blogs Look So 2004.” This left many people wondering what exactly the future of blogging is. I’m inclined to disagree with Boutin’s bleak view and narrow definition of what a blog is.
Shorter
One of the replacements offered by Boutin for blogs is the service known as Twitter. This “micro-blog” offers users the chance to share their thoughts in 140 characters or less or the equivalent of about two sentences. These bits of data can convey headlines from the day’s news, links to interesting articles or sites around the web or broadcast to the world what you’re up to this instant. This seemingly mundane concept has caught on like wildfire and over 2008 Twitter experienced 752% growth in traffic according to www.mashable.com.
So Twitter isn’t a blog killer so much as it is a metamorphosis of the blogging medium. It’s still a text-based form of expression that you can share with others. You can follow other folks and they can follow you. The main differentiating factor between Twitter and a blog created using software like WordPress or Blogger is that the data set is homogenous. This allows software to sort the data generated by millions of people creating text on Twitter easily. They can identify trends and watch a virtual fishbowl that tells you what’s hot on the web right now. Using a website like www.twitscoop.com one can find out what people are talking about in real time. This can be powerful when assessing the public relations damage done by a Hollywood star or when a president is looking to gauge the popularity of an economic stimulus package. You can use Twitter to be nimbler, by blogging shorter.
Faster
When trying to convey a message to your audience online speed is crucial. Social networking sites have taken away the customization options offered by flexible programs like WordPress and Blogger and offered stripped down blogging platforms instead. Facebook’s “Notes” section is just a blog with a different name. The social networking site creation tool Ning also provides a simplistic blogging tool as part of its offering. The advantage is that you can type out your thoughts quickly and have a tidy package to present to your readers.
We’d be remise to omit Twitter when talking about speed. Nothing is faster or more timely. People love the instant gratification it provides. The future of blogging will certainly be tied inextricably to creating entries faster and distributing content instantaneously throughout your network through “one click solutions” offered by widgets like Share This.
Louder
Text is great for blogs but users on the web hunger for audio and video. One needs to look no farther than the success www.youtube.com and www.music.myspace.com to grasp this. New mutated blogs are seizing upon this potential and taking it to the next level. Services like Seesmic offer a video-only answer to Twitter. Seesmic users can upload video directly from their phone to enhance the speed and intimacy of their entries. Their fans can reply with videos of their own and the site goes out of its way to limit the amount of typing their users do. Across the Internet users are getting louder and engaging their audience on a more visceral level.
What does this mean for those firms with a web presence? These changes can be a positive evolution for many companyies who blog.
• Use your micro-blog of choice to share a positive review your company received on a local business site to attain great public relations exposure in seconds.
• Want to stimulate end of the month sales? Create a coupon code and distribute it to your Facebook Fans to see results in hours, if not minutes.
• Show the quality of your products through a live demonstration on a video blogging site. Let your prospects see the benefit of your offering with their own eyes.
Has all the air gone out of the blogosphere? I don’t think so. Blogs are an integral part of what experts term Web 2.0 because they represent the forefront of content creation, sharing and audience interaction. They’ve gotten shorter, faster and louder but at the end of the day they’re still blogs.
Click Optimize proudly sponsored a great event at Edge Office in Downtown Raleigh, NC on Febrary 12, 2009. We helped raise money for Charity: Water. Check out the fun!
As a young guy I ran around with a funny crowd of characters. We loved fast music and valued personal freedom. As a general rule our t-shirts were black, our appearance was unkempt and our record collections were huge. It was an unruly clan that had no hierarchy and was devoted to fun, great music and the perpetuation of the ideology of punk. Our soundtrack wasn’t The Sex Pistols as much as it was Fugazi, Kid Dynamite, Against Me! and The Bouncing Souls. It wasn’t about nihilism as much as it was about creating an enclave of DIY ethics, authenticity and mutual support. Reflecting recently, I realized that the reason social media makes so much sense to me now was because I learned all the essential aspects of it ten years ago from the punk rock community.
DIY
In my punk days we did it all ourselves. We made our own t-shirts using spray paint, stencils and clothes picked up from dollar stores. We recorded our own records in the basements of our friends’ homes and burned copies of it to distribute at shows we organized in living rooms and VFWs. These days I’m using this same guerrilla style in the professional world.
This aesthetic works for social media because its quick and dirty. You can blast out fresh content to your audience using crude tools like Flip Minos, iPhones or laptops. You edit it yourself and put it up on the blog you manage. This is the very essence of “Do It Yourself” and the emphasis is on speed and having control of what you create. It’s about keeping it authentic.
AUTHENTICITY
Punk rock kids are not known for being forgiving. When a band would roll into town with a smoke machine, professional equipment and a tour manager we would snicker. This wasn’t punk! Too much production on an album? Not punk! Trying too hard to fit the mold? Still not punk!
The key was to be natural and be yourself. That came across in how the people we interacted with presented themselves and acted. It was clear who was out to become a rock star and those who really cared about the community. I’m sure you’ve come across sharks in the social media waters. The most successful folks in this industry are personable, real and knowledgeable. They stick to what they know and offer real value to their audience.
MUTUAL SUPPORT
I can’t tell you the number of awful shows I’ve been to and the piles of CDs I own for bands that played less than 10 shows and knew less than five chords. Why did I bother to plunk down my cash for a seemingly worthless product? I supported these bands because they were my friends. We all supported each other.
In the social media realm there is intense competition for attention. Without someone plugging your blog on their podcast, retweeting what you post or blasting an email to their list about your webinar, you don’t stand much of a chance. I try and support the people in my sphere that I feel are excellent human beings and that provide expertise with regard to their core competency. Punk rock is about community and so is social media.
Social (Media) Distortion
Today I’m a lot more mellow and even wear a tie to work (sometimes). I’ve still got tour stories, silkscreened posters and the ideals of my old life underneath my professional veneer. It brings a smile to my face to inject a little punk into the social media campaigns I work on and to see the parallels that connect the two seemingly disparate worlds. Feel free to link up to me on Blip.FM or on Twitter to talk punk, social media or to request a photo of me with a mohawk!
I’ve been enjoying watching the clever bit of sometimes subtle and sometimes overt alignment that Pepsi has been practicing with regard to riding on Obama’s coattails. Did you catch it?
I have to imagine that when the Obama camp debuted its logo that folks in the legal department at PepsiCo scoffed and that the marketing department cheered. Pepsi as a brand had to be pleased that the two logos shared more than a little in common. The Obama camp benefited from having a logo that seemed familiar and had positive associations. Pepsi also grabbed some momentum at being associated with such a historic, popular and youth-driven campaign. Pepsi has seemingly taken the next logical step and made the two logos look even more identical with a new redesign.
In a recent ad entitled “Word Play/Yes You Can” the alignment was as explicit as possible. The commercial featured emulation of the “Yes We Can” motto from the Obama campaign, the flashing of messages such as HOPE and ALL FOR ONE and a soulful tune in the background. Fixing one’s corporate wagon to a star such as a popular president who is awash in media who gush over his every move is a smart yet risky move. The latest Obama adulation from Pepsi came during the Super Bowl where they aired an ad that featured ardent Obama supporter and recording artist Will.i.am. For those unfamiliar with him you might remember the anthem he penned after Obama’s original “Yes We Can” speech.
From a corporate perspective this juxtaposition of president and beverage isn’t as far-fetched as it might seem. PepsiCo has an impressive history of promoting minorities to leadership positions within its organization. Perhaps that’s part of the story Pepsi wants to tell? That as an organization they had a role to play in advancing equality in this country. Or perhaps their aim is to share the enthusiasm of the moment with a new “Pepsi Generation.” Does it cheapen a great moment in history by attaching crass consumerism to it? I’m not sure. All I know is that I’m thirsty. Does anybody have a Pepsi?
Posted on February 26th, 2009 by Nick
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