Monday Music

" I want your everything, as long as its free."
Well, here it is folks, the most viewed YouTube video for the month of November; unless of course, the Muppets' Bohemian Rhapsody ends up with an additional 17MM views in the next 3 hours. Lady Gaga's Bad Romance had over 25 million views during the month of November. That's more than the entire population of Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil exporter. In case you missed it and want to know what the people who have time are doing, here it is in all it's glory.



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Stumped by Starbucks Facebook Fans

After realizing Starbucks had over 5MM fans on Facebook, I also became a fan. Not to get the goods from the brand but to observe how people are interacting with them in the space. I was stumped when I saw that over 10K people had said they liked Starbucks' "Happy Thanksgiving" message. Plus, over a thousand people commented back to the brand. Now, its so surprising to me that this many people wanted to join in the Thanksgiving happiness conversation. I guess when you love a brand enough to friend ( thanks Facebook for making friend a verb) them, you want to feel connected. So, that's what you do. You thank them for being open. You express how "yummy" they are. You let them know you stopped by your local cafe to pick up your favorite treat. You use the opportunity to wish them an early Merry Christmas. And lastly, you use exclamation points because that's what you do in the social media world when you wish to yell. Unless of course you work there. That appears to be a different story.

Subaru Snuggles Up with the Great Outdoors

To support the Canadian launch of the new 2010 Outback sedan, Subaru's creative agency DDB Toronto leveraged a simple insight that people are spending a lot of time indoors. Why you may ask? Thanks to Snuggie, they can now hold the remote, read a book, and answer the phone without getting tangled in an all-annoying blanket. Subaru and Snuggie, leaders in the out/indoors respectively (and both brands made the list of "America's Hottest Brands" by AdAge) have "united" to create this witty and disruptive campaign for fun-loving, outdoor enthusiasts. Despite the fact that the automotive category has been hit extremely hard over the last 18 months, Subaru has managed to pull in positive numbers. I give the brand a hand for not only selling a high quality product( yes, I own a Forrester), but also staying true to who they are and having a little bit of fun while they do it. If you don't agree, maybe you should get out more. ;)

Buddah Quote For the Day

"We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world"

Monday Wisdom

I'm trading in the music this morning in lieu of some simple wisdom. Think about it.

Top 100 English Words.

Can you name the most commonly used words in the English language? Click here to try; you'll have 12 minutes to guess the top 100. These words are all quite simple and frankly, I was embarrassed by my performance after I saw the comprehensive list.
This could be in interesting way to warm up your team's brains the next time you're idea hunting. Not only is it very simple to execute, it also reminds us of the power of simplicity.

Monday Music

"Just don't know what's for real anymore."
I'm lucky enough to have tickets to see Ray LaMontagne at the Ellie Caulkin Opera House here in Denver on Wednesday. Here's a clip of him playing Forever My Friend on Letterman.

Fulfill Your Maximus Potential...

Dear Reebok,

Like many, I have seen your new campaign for EasyTone and have a few questions for you.

Understandably, many women would like to tone up but often don't have the time to do it. That's where the EasyTone sweet spot lies. What I'm interested in knowing is, did you have any women on your creative team? No doubt a fit, minimally clothed body will catch anyone's attention, but I'm curious if talking breasts, naked silhouettes, and butt close ups are the best means to engage with women.

Kudos for keeping up your brand vision of originality and creativity on this campaign, but are you really asking me to, in your own words, "celebrate individuality" through a common sexual campaign theme? Also, according to your site, the Reebok brand purpose is to help underprivileged, underserved youth around the world fulfill their potential and live healthy, active lives. Do you feel this campaign fits within Reebok's empowering voice?

The EasyTone website states, 88% of men are speechless, 76% of women jealous. Presumably this is all fluff, but I'm still curious; Where did this information come from?

You are surely getting media attention from this campaign which is generally a win for your brand. Its not as though you partnered with KY or that Victoria's Secret doesn't have success selling sex to women.I don't claim you don't need emotional appeal, but do you think you may have slightly neglected the need to talk about the innovative product in more detail? You had an ex-NASA scientist on the product development team and its design is quite unique.

All that said, I'm about 83% sure the controversial campaign should not overshadow the product itself. People will always be interested in products like EasyTone that make fitness easier, if you can find the right way to speak to them.
Curious to hear your answers,
Ashlee

Summit on the Summit

In January 2010, five celebrity activists will leave Hollywood to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro, the world's highest freestanding mountain, to bring attention to the global clean water crisis. Kenna, Jessica Biel, Isabel Lucas, Lupe Fiasco, and Alexandra Cousteau will climb the 19,340' peak alongside photographers, climbing guides, aquavists, and a handful of HP notebooks.

HP is bringing its technology expertise and fully integrated marketing muscle ( TV, online and social media) to the team. HP's latest 'Computer Is Personal Again' commercial features climbers Kenna, Fiasco and Cousteau and the new notebook. A series of boot camp web films were released on Facebook. An interactive website allows readers to learn more, read bios, see the climb routes, and chip in to support the cause. The climbers plan to tweet and share the experience with the masses throughout the 10 day hike. What a great way to use technology to inspire actionism and fully shed light on the billions of people living with empty water glasses.

Monday Music

A good friend of mine sent me this link a few days ago. According to Flash Fiction, the linked songs have hidden writing inspiration.

Although my ear jury is still out, I like the idea of having my own little writing playlist that inspires me. So here we go:

Monday Music

"One. Two. Wait, hold on. One. Two. Three. Four". I may try this to kick off my next team briefing.
The "punkgrass" brother band out of Charlotte, NC trading in their beat stomping and banjo string popping ways for a seemingly more subdued gondola ride. Happy Monday.

So, you remembered to "fall back"...

... but did you actually get around to resetting your clocks?
Thank goodness for my best friend blackberry, for automatically resetting to the correct time so that I could once again procrastinate my way through the bi-yearly clock resetting tour. I'm so rarely without my cell phone in hand's reach. Along with the all important clock, I have immediate access to the morning news headlines, weather forecast, my schedule, numbers of everyone I want to speak to ( or avoid speaking to for that matter), a camera, music, my bank account, my email, and everything else on the web. Actually speaking to someone is probably what I do LEAST with my "phone". And I'm not the first to make this connection of course. I'm just waiting for an app that will update all my clocks automatically. Or maybe I just need to hang smart phones around my house.