As a marketer, I obviously watch the Super Bowl for the commercials. While I was disappointed in many sub-par ads this year, below is the small collection of ads that did impress me. Also check out USA Today’s Ad Meter — even though I don’t agree with most of the ratings.
Dodge :: Man’s Last Stand My favorite ad this year. Naturally, it’s a car commercial.
Google :: Parisian Love Most inspiring ad of the year. A simple yet beautiful showcase of how Google is there for you – during all your life events — big or small.
Doritos :: House Rules. Just funny.
Doritos :: Snack Attack Samurai Pretty cool that this was made by a Minneapolis duo.
Coca-Cola :: Hard Times Smart attention grabbing partnership.
I’ve come to a few conclusions about people and life in the last couple weeks and I felt like sharing. Here goes:
Women are crazy. Men are stupid. [Stop. Read the statement again. You know you agree with me.]
War is atrocious.
Women gossip. All the time. It’s annoying. I am, self-admittedly, guilty.
Behind every great man, is an incredible woman. Behind every incredible woman, are her fabulous friends.
The level of infidelity and divorce in the country disgusts me. I see it glorified in movies and tv shows all the time. I overhear women talking it about the gym. I see my family endure it and my friends provoke it. How am I supposed to believe in the institution of marriage these days?
It is incredible how the capture of a moment via a photograph can make that instance so beautiful and glorified. It makes me sad to realize sometime those moments appear to be more intimate than they actually were.
Life is truly about the people you spend it with, not the things you have. Life is also precious. Rejoice each day.
Looking for a good resource of free high-quality images? The service, FreeDigitalPhotos.net provides photos for web use, free of charge, with proper attribution. They’ve got cool images too, like the one I found below.
To me, secrets are inspiring. They connect people to people through shared experiences. They make the world seem less lonely. The PostSecret books, created by Frank Warren, have moved me. His latest video takes it a step further; Seeing people admit their secrets aloud in public brings his project to a whole new level. Whether the confession is joyful or sad or humorous or full of anguish, it is beautiful to see people trust you with their confession. I highly recommend his latest book, PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death , and God. Actually, I recommend all of his books, which you can find on Amazon.
Zeus Jones and Puny are doing something really cool. They’ve recognized the students at the Minneapolis based Richard R Green Central Park School need some help as 97% of students at Green Central live below the poverty line. As this kind of poverty has an impact on learning, Zeus and Puny teamed up to raise $7,000 to send all 550 kids from Green Central on a field trip.
Google finds a intriguingly different way to showcase Chromes new features:
Speed: A faster browser means faster browsing.
Security: Shelters your computer from malicious websites.
Themes: You choose what your browser looks like.
Stability: Crashed tabs won’t crash your whole browser.
Omnibox: Type in a web address or search the web, all in one box.
Ingognito: Nobody can see what you saw online with incognito browsing.
New tabs: Shows the websites you visit most often every time you open a new tab.
Hi. I'm Ashley Vaness, a Minneapolis gal with a thing for smart advertising. Here you will find the thoughts, questions, ideas and opinions I have about the industry that muse about my mind. I'll promote brands, campaigns technologies and products I am a fan of. I will also post links, articles and stats I deem noteworthy of sharing. You'll find discussion around topics such as (but not limited to) interactive strategy, web design, social media, user experience, email marketing, SEO, SEM and web analytics. Want to know more? Visit my About page.
Said opinions are my own and not those of the companies or clients I work for. Interested in discussing? You can reach me at ashley.vaness@gmail.com
This industry is so new I am puzzled by how someone can say they are a social media expert. The one that is an expert is the marketer in the company that has found success by trial and error. — Michael J. Goldrich
It’s the orders you disobey that make you famous. — Douglass MacArthur
In a hyper-competitive market, competence is expected and only flawless execution is tolerable. But that's no longer enough. Today, the ultimate competitive advantage is passion. — Max Kalehoff
Wisdom is acquired by experience, not age. — Fortune Cookie
The most interesting effect of new communication technologies is, perhaps, not how we use them, but how they change how we use everything else. — Faris Yakob
We initiate projects on our own, rather than waiting for them to be assigned.
Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies or water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don't bother concealing your thievery — celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: "It's not where you take things from — it's where you take them to." — Jim Jarmusch
All that is necessary for evil to triumph and succeed is for good men to do nothing. — Edmund Burke
Don’t think. Thinking is the enemy of creativity. It’s self-conscious and anything self-conscious is lousy. You cannot try to do things. You must simply do them. — Ray Bradbury
It's always easier to ask for forgiveness than permission. — Carlos Abler
Nothing great has been, and nothing great can be, accomplished without passion. — G.W.F Hegel
Beware — this lifestyle is addicting. Once you start you will not be able to quit. You will lose days of sleep rambling on incoherently about the typeface names, Pantone colors and AS class structures you need to have for your current project. None of your non-designer friends will understand you and as you drift into the subculture, slipping away from reality day by day. But none of that matters, because you will love it. — Grant Eull
