#YourCampaignIdeaHere

Does your campaign have an official hashtag? Is your campaign cool? Well it should be both. It's safe to say when #ThingsLongerThanKimsMarriage trends for days on twitter, hashtags have reached mass usage in the US (unless you're targeting the 60+ crowd). Most campaigns aim to generate buzz and awareness through social channels, and to do that, marketers need to do some preparation in seeding the conversation by designating a campaign hashtag in the creative. Sometimes (rarely), campaigns are EPIC enough to sprout and carry conversation on its own but most brands can't afford to use Justin Bieber.

Hashtags are innately social as its intended use is to create a thread of conversation around a specific topic on twitter, and now, photo sharing sites like Instagram also have tag searching functions.

Here are some recent hashtagged campaigns:

1) #WalkofShame - Harvey Nichols

2) #BasketballNeverStops - Nike

3) #SWATH (Snow White & the Huntsman)

Wow, Lockerz Has A Much Cooler Fail Warning

Forget the Twitter fail whale, meet the Lockerz FAIL ASTRONAUT!

GSP Tweets, Late Adoption Better Than Thoughtless Adoption

There is a lot of pressure for Advertising Agencies to keep up with emerging media, technology and whatever is the latest and greatest that many times the adoption of new trendy media is rushed into without much thought as to how it can be BEST used for a brand, company or campaign. I have seen brands demand to join Facebook without any idea of how they want to connect with their fans or what content will live on the page. I am not saying that there isn't a benefit to being the first to integrate with foursquare or the first to reach a million fans on twitter, I am saying that there should be smart thinking (if any thinking at all) behind the adoption of new media.

I bring this up is because one of my longtime favorite ad agencies Goodby, Silverstein & Partners joined twitter last week--somewhat late for an agency as innovative and creative as GSP--with the handle @GSP (not to be confused with @GeorgesStPierre the Canadian MMA fighter). GSP debuted their Twitter with a The Office-style documentaryesque video that captures the universal challenge of figuring out "How the hell do we use Twitter?!" while demonstrating the unique thinking the agency puts into their work. Great job GSP!  

"What if we posted something really artful like a semi-colon..." - Rich Silverstein

Staying Connected With Hawaii During A Tsunami

I woke up at 9:30 am EST today, and like every Saturday, I turned on my computer and checked my Facebook wall, which was scattered with status updates from friends in Hawaii who had posted about a Tsunami warning.  I was instantly concerned.  As all of Hawaii was still asleep (it was 4 am there), I was in New York trying to figure out how serious the situation is back home.

Until today, when I needed to know what was going on halfway around the world in real-time, I did not understand how useful Twitter, Facebook or online streaming video can be.  I have been watching streaming live video of Hawaii's shorelines on CNN, reading tweets from total strangers in Hawaii about the progression of the Tsunami and viewing mobile uploads of crazy gas station lines in Hawaii.  It is interesting to see how a sudden, urgent event plays out online:  UFC champion BJ Penn has been video blogging his preparation for the disaster on his site BJPenn.com and Hawaii's newspaper The Honolulu Advertiser (@HonAdv) needed some help learning how to tweet.

Social media is surely changing the way we get news, and obviously, media channels are learning to adapt; however, the easiest and quickest way to find out what's going on is a phone call, and after talking to my family, I know that they will be okay and I have nothing to be concerned.  Stay safe Hawaii!  

H&M Cuts Holes In Unused Clothes? TRUE!

After the NY Times and several other New York publications and blogs revealed how some H&M New York stores are destroying and trashing unused clothes instead of donating them, people are voicing their distaste for H&M through H&M's Facebook Page and Twitter Feeds.

My friends Larissa, Ilana and I know first-hand that H&M does cut holes and trash unused clothes on the street, because ten months back, while searching for the famous chicken and rice stand we stumbled upon a giant pile of trashed H&M clothes outside the 51st St location and took them. There was rings, bracelets, hair clips, beanies, heels, sandals, scarfs, shirts, sweaters, etc. The only issue with the clothes was that there were randomly cut holes in it and the shoes were missing its matching pair.

You can read about it in my dumpster diving escapade post. Here's a blurb:

'Larissa on the other hand is more interested in digging in people's trash. We pass by H&M where there's a four foot high pile of bags of shoes, clothes, accessories, swimwear. It was all crap, but for some reason, we thought we struck gold. I grab a box and we throw all sorts of crap in it, heels, tights, bracelets, corsets, thongs, etc.

We are sitting on the sidewalk digging through a box of stuff that is cut up, shoes are mix matched and I give up. Larissa, my hero, doesn't and uses an existing garbage bag to hold all the stuff.'

Here are some photos of us dragging the trashed clothes:
H&M took down these photos after they were posted on the Facebook fan page saying it was an isolated incident.

At least from this PR nightmare, H&M is aware of the problem and select stores will change their ways. I'm still a fan of the store and its affordable, stylish clothes. So no hard feelings... but stop cutting holes! And donate the clothes, it's cold. Really Cold.

Why Twitter is Good for Mindless Entertainment

I was skeptical at first about joining Twitter, but it turns out Twitter is a gold mine of awesome information like ridiculous websites. It all comes down to who you "follow".

If you're a fan of FML (Fuck My Life)... then you'll love these sites I found from people's tweets:

• Rename the Swine Flu - Don't ever want to hear the phrase "Swine Flu" again? Rename it.

• The Fucking Weather - Find out what the weather is like where you live

• Texts From Last Night - Who drunk dials anymore?

• Lamebook - Because this is the road Facebook is heading on

This type of crowdsourced, specific content is where I think the internet is going. Creating social networks, microsites and viral videos is so mid-2000s because there's enough of those out there. Internet users want to be entertained, informed... and these one-off sites are pretty damn funny. Plus, all the work is done because users are submitting content. Genius.

Creative Cafe and Screening of Art & Copy

Today was an advertising-filled day. First, I had a portfolio review, organized by COM, with Boston art directors and copywriters. Met with Art Directors from AMP Agency and Connelly Partners, founder of Embryo and a freelancer with 20-years of industry experience.

Here are some useful pointers I got:

• A book should look polished (use better paper, high-quality print outs, trim edges, etc.)
• Some Art Directors (especially those with design backgrounds) are looking for technical skills and a strong understanding of design
• Call an agency's receptionist to find out what the office culture is like to decide what order to present work (i.e. a hipper agency may like more non-traditional/graphical work)
  
• Read creative books + annuals
• You can't always teach a designer to concept, but you can teach a conceptual (big idea) kid how to design
• San Francisco is like Boston, they're secondary cities (to LA and NY respectively), but much more creative than LA or NY
• Blow out all concepts into full campaigns (print, outdoor, online, DM, packaging)
• Have at least four of these full campaigns
• Don't do things by formula
• Take a bad ad and redo it for (fun and) practice
• Volume is not important in a portfolio
  

Secondly, I headed down to the ICA for the Independent Film Festival's screening of "Art & Copy" a documentary about advertising creatives directed by Doug Pray, who also did Surfwise, Scratch and Hype!. Pray said the film's concept is: "If you hate advertising, make better advertising."

I didn't love the film as much as I loved the people in it... David Kennedy (Wieden+Kennedy), George Lois ("I want my MTV" campaign), Hal Riney (Reagan reelection), Lee Klow (TBWA/Chiat Day, Apple), Mary Wells (Braniff Airlines), Goodby, Silverstein... these people defined/shifted/revolutionized advertising and I admire their work and character so so much.

Long day, sleep time.

Twitter.Me.Crazy.

I've known about Twitter since last summer and have avoided it at all cost. Until the presidential elections when CNN was using this dreaded thing (still baffled). Then starting two months ago, it's all I hear in my apartment and in class: "Do you have twitter?", "I just tweeted", blah blah blah blah...

Twitter is definitely a marketing/advertising industry thing. EVERYONE HAS ONE. C'mon person who is reading my blog, why haven't you signed up for one?? Has your college education not taught you the importance of brevity (140 characters biatch), because I'm in COM and was trained to summarize Abraham Lincoln's life in three words: Top Hat, awesome.

Or, maybe you haven't signed up for Twitter because the burden of updating your facebook friends and tweeters about your life is so overwhelming that you STOP LIVING.

Here is why I will never be a true twitter fan:

• I do not own (or want) a smartphone (Crackberries, MePhones) - It was only last August that I gave up my Nokia Brick. I like being disconnected to the internet at times.
• TinyURLs scare me - a link I posted ended up being: http://tinyurl.com/cugsum... it kept looking like 'cumcum' to me. How do we know that people aren't posting sick pictures on twitter??
• Tweet sounds like Teet - and I don't like to be called a nipple.
  

There's a hilarious video about Twitter on Current.com, I can't seem to embed it into the post, but if you have a minute YOU NEED TO WATCH THIS (*update: fixed it). Hilarious. Ironically, I heard about this video on Twitter through Federated_Media.

There are some redeeming qualities about Twitter. I follow adagencylayoffs and can find out how screwed I am post-graduation through its real-time coverage of people being let go daily, hourly, minutely...

Has anyone tried drunk tweeting before? This maybe an all-time low and first for me.