Skechers makes me fearful for my future

As the father of two girls, this terrifies me.

Social is a broadcast medium

Don't worry social media ninjas and gurus, it's still a game-changer for joining the conversation. If you do it with a touch of craft, meaningful engagement and valuable content are still social's greatest strengths.

But IPO & buyout fever has induced a more traditional approach of buying eyeballs instead of earning them.

Of course, it's all a waste if you don't follow this rule: Make something worth sharing and people will.

Pretty well executed example from Honda using a promoted celebrity tweet to drive views of a TV commercial:

Loved playing Dwight for 200 episodes but my new favorite role? A gummy bear who gets sucked into a @Honda! http://t.co/g4vHXhBHHI

— RainnWilson (@rainnwilson) September 3, 2013

UPDATE: @Honda did a ton of fun tweets to warn snack food brands about the Odyssey's built-in vacuum. A few examples:

.@Oreo Did we mention the #MegaStuf setting? pic.twitter.com/t4LY4o4GSq

— Honda (@Honda) October 2, 2013

@Honda The popcorn-devouring HondaVAC is in for a treat when it discovers and eats up lost Orville pieces!

— Orville Redenbachers (@OrvillePopcorn) October 1, 2013

@PopSecret but what if one of the kernels remains unpopped? That's when fear sets in. http://t.co/luwaBW0x59

— Honda (@Honda) October 1, 2013

Don't poison the well

More goodness from John and Tug at American Copywriter.

A great concept is just half the battle

Execution matters. Fuji posted this spot on youtube on February 19, 2013.
And Mercedes-Benz posted the following on September 23, 2013. I believe in coincidence. And I've have seen different teams come up with the exact same idea and different agencies pitch similar campaigns more than once. So I don't care if someone saw the other spot before executing theirs. What's interesting to me is if they did something to make it their own and make it better.

(I just saw both of these spots on AdTeachings.com, Suzanne Pope's fantastic blog. You should also follow her on twitter @SuzannePope.)

UPDATE:
The team behind the Mercedes spot, Art Director Lucas Osis and Copywriter Nico Baumann, were interviewed by Teressa Iezzi in this Co.Create article about how they made the spot.

Of course, this quote jumped out at me.

"We then remembered a video we’ve seen a while ago: a guy moving a chicken around while its head stood perfectly still: Exactly the same thing the Mercedes system is able to do. (A perfect analogy! But above all we wanted to create something that we would really enjoy to watch. So we tried to improve it somehow and thought: What’s better than seeing a chicken shaking? A chicken that is shaking to some funky disco music of course! And hopefully, people will agree with us."

I don't care if they saw the Fuji spot or one of other random chicken head videos on the internet. The key is this phrase, "So we tried to improve it somehow..."

Nokia destroys Samsung Galaxy in Android KitKat ad

Nokia Germany tweeted this ad parodying Android’s co-promotion for their next operating system named after KitKat.

Have a break... #Kitkat #Nokia pic.twitter.com/6OuEQIVLLj

— Nokia Deutschland (@NokiaHomebase)

September 4, 2013

(Via The Verge.)

"Gimme a break, break me off a piece of that KitKat bar."

The new consumes the old

Replacing all your vintage technology.

It's not a phone. It's a camera.

I take far more pictures than I make phone calls. No wonder smartphone commercials are focusing on their camera.
iPhone spot by TBWA\Media Arts Lab.

Windows Phone spot by Crispin Porter + Bogusky.

Which one do you like better?

(Full disclosure: Windows Phone is a client of mine.)

UPDATE: Nokia just upped the ante.

How to be interesting

How to Be Interesting by Jessica Hagy is a fun read and full of great advice.

More pages here.

This is social media in a nutshell

This is a blog post of a reply to the best tweet of the day.

Social inception RT @snerko This is a tweet of a Vine of an Instagram of a Tumblr post of a Facebook post of a tweet vine.co/v/bYmxJXuIbAb

— Brian Thompson (@BrandWriter) May 28, 2013

The most interesting paid tweet in the world?

Dos Equis paid Michael Ian Black to tweet about their new Facebook app and this is what happened.

I just turned myself into a Most Interesting Person with the new @dosequis Legend of You app. Check it out on.fb.me/166xmC6
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 10, 2013

.@michaelianblack #Wow! This looks #definitelywrittenbyyou and not by #somemarketingintern who was #paidnothing to #doyourshilling for you
— Joseph Fink (@PlanetofFinks) May 11, 2013

@planetoffinks No, they wrote it and paid me thousands of dollars to run it.
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 11, 2013

@michaelianblack interesting paradox cuz making a sponsored tweet for the"most interesting man"thing is the least interesting human activity
— Joseph Fink (@PlanetofFinks) May 11, 2013

@michaelianblack @dosequis cool, so Dos Equis loves 9/11 terror jokes too?
— ⚓ Dave S ⚓ (@amish1979) May 10, 2013

@michaelianblack fuck people. Anyone would copy and paste a tweet for 5000 dollars.
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 11, 2013

@chrissyteigen No shit. I'm certainly happy to do it. BTW, is there anything you need promoted?
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 11, 2013

@michaelianblack Gillette Venus and Olay razors 5 blades that work to gentle exfoliate and lock in your skins moisture!
— christine teigen (@chrissyteigen) May 11, 2013

.@chrissyteigen paid me 5k to tell you Gillete Venus and Olay Razors have 5 blades that gently exfoliate and lock in your skins' moisture!
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 11, 2013

Uh, I created The Harlem Shake. Ever hear of it?!? RT @bigv3999 @dosequis who is this ass hole
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 11, 2013

@panicshits @dosequis Obviously we've done our job.
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 11, 2013

@michaelianblack I am going to buy 50 cases of Dos Equis for my next party. #sold
— Mandy Boles (@WellReadWife) May 12, 2013

Yes @dosequis payed me to tweet. But because the blowback on it has been so unexpectedly harsh, I'm going to tweet it again for free.
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 12, 2013

I just turned myself into a Most Interesting Person with the new @dosequis Legend of You app. Check it out on.fb.me/166xmC6
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 12, 2013

@michaelianblack Hell yeah, dawg, fuck the haters. You gotta get that cheddar!
— Steve Agee (@steveagee) May 12, 2013

@steveagee Are you being metaphorical or is there some actual cheddar I can have?
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 12, 2013

@brianlynch @dosequis It's a terrific beer drink from Canada!
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 12, 2013

@michaelianblack @dosequis Canada is great! Can I only get it there, though? My point is, where can I buy this Dos Equis?
— Brian Lynch (@BrianLynch) May 12, 2013

@brianlynch @dosequis I literally have NO idea.
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 12, 2013

UPDATE: Whether you think this was good or bad for the brand, you can't deny that he's responsive:

@brandwriter @dosequis Ha!
— Michael Ian Black (@michaelianblack) May 13, 2013

A few of you have asked what my take on it is. I think the whole conversation is great. They got more traction with the ad lib replies that they would have with just the canned copy.
Successful brands on social have to be flexible and okay with giving up control. But I bet there were a few nervous conference calls.
The biggest lesson is to let a celebrity use their own voice instead of copy dictated by marketing and legal.