So, I'm pretty much addicted (at least until The Hills comes back) to a "reality" show on MTV called From G's to Gents. It's exactly like it sounds. Fourteen real-life gangstas including D-Boy, E6, Shotta, J Boogie, The Truth and my own personal fave, Creepa try to prove that they can leave their gangbanging ways behind for a new, gentlemanly lifestyle - and $100,000. Fonzworth Bentley (P. Diddy's former man servant) is there to give them lessons on the finer things and hosts weekly challenges for the G's to showcase their new skills.

During this week's episode the contestants learned how to write a resume, practiced interviewing skills and were then challenged to create a marketing plan for a new international hip-hop group called The Thunderkatz and then "present their presentations", as one contestant said, to Irv Gotti, the founder of Murder Inc. Records.

Group one's marketing plan is to create a music video for their first single. And... Nope, that's is. All the marketing that this group needs is a music video and they're set. Next.

Group two's plan is a little more robust. Their strategy included calling radio stations and DJs to solicit airplay and scheduling a concert in Miami. I'm sure making a video was in their plan too. Next.

That brings me to group three. I have to say, the point of this entire blog was to make fun of their marketing plan, but this group pleasantly surprised me. Their plan included making pages for the band on Facebook and MySpace, along with an interactive game that could be played on the sites. Hey, that might be something our office would recommend too.

It was interesting to watch people with no formal training or experience in this industry, create a marketing plan. My point is that a big part of this job is education and the knowledge you pick up along the way, but you have to have a bit of intuition and definitely be passionate about what you do to be successful.

(Also, a note to the ownership group: we may seriously want to consider hiring the winner of this competition. Go Creepa!)

I just saw the Sex and the City movie over the weekend, so I'm all jacked up on the love.  Since I'm still waiting for my very own Mr. Big, the current love of my life is Google...and it's taking over the world!

I recently learned that you can now book print ads in local newspapers through Google using their auction based system.  Some of the newspapers who are experimenting with this new way of booking space are the Courier Journal, New Albany Tribune, Jeffersonville Evening News, Seymour Tribune, E-town News Enterprise and Pioneer News, plus over 800 others, nation wide.  Through your AdWords account, you can select a publication, run dates, which section you'd like to schedule your ad in and the ad size.  The bidding starts on a scale, with the minimum level being the least amount the paper is willing to accept and the highest amount being right off the rate card.  Once you've determined what price you are willing to pay and upload the ad, your ad schedule is in the almightly hands of Google.

I didn't actually get to test the process to see how long it takes to get approved (or rejected) and to see what level of pricing a paper would accept, since I didn't have a real ad, but I can't wait to try it.  This would be perfect for a client that is running a branding campaign over time and has some flexibility on the run dates.  It's also a great way to get a better price on smaller volume buys that may not qualify for a contract rate.

So, in conclusion, two thumbs up to Google for continuing to evolve their services and doing so locally.  I will definitely keep you posted on what happens once I place a bid for print advertising with Google!

In Kentucky, we Democrats will pledge our allegiance to either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton on Tuesday.  Personally, I haven't completely made up my mind yet, although I'm about 75% there.  In addition to painting my bathroom this weekend, figuring out what each Presidential candidate is really about is next on my list of things to do.

When deciding who to vote for before the last Presidential primary I relied on information compiled on local websites and news stories to get the facts.  That helped although it wasn't really something I could relate to.

Today, there are so many social networking sites that people are obsessed with, it's possible to connect to your favorite candidate's site and be notified every time they do anything. Social networking is something that people can relate to have come to rely on as a source on information.

Social networking sites have allowed potential voters, especially young voters, to get to know the Barack and Hillary on a more personal level.  Both have profiles on the mainstream sites, such as Facebook and MySpace, however both are expanding beyond those sites to include LinkedIn, Eons and Twitter.

These are great ways to target younger or first-time votes who do not take part in traditional campaign activities, such as attending rallies or reading the newspaper.  Many younger, potential votes spend a significant amount of time on Facebook and MySpace anyway, so why not target them in their own environment?  In Kentucky, there are nearly 250,000 people on Facebook aged 18-65 and 44,400 people aged 13-17.  It's a great, viral way to reach potential voters and even get the attention of people who haven't reached the legal voting age yet.

Given how much of an influence emerging medias have had on society in the past two years, I really wouldn't be surprised if we can text in our votes for the Race for 2010!

When it comes to athletic footwear, Nike is not the shoe company to which I pledge my allegiance.  However, it is the company whose TV spots I will praise over the next few paragraphs.

Nike's "Become Legendary" campaign launched several weeks ago.  The campaign promotes the ultimate hoops legend and the Air Jordan XX3.  One spot features "new school" legends, such as Carmelo Anthony, Derek Jeter and T. O., before they were household names.  The first line begins with, "it's not about the shoe", although when you see these extraordinary stars, before they were stars, you realize it is all about the shoe -- with the right footwear, determination and talent, you too can be a superstar.

The next recent campaign that Nike launched was for the Nike SPARQ Training shoes and was themed "My Better." In addition to catchy tags like, "You're speed moves like a gravy bowl" and "You're agility owes my agility twenty bucks," the 30-second spot features top athletes like Adrian Peterson and Kevin Durant.  I actually look forward to seeing this spot because it is so entertaining.

Finally, my absolute favorite Nike spot is the third in the series from the "Become Legendary" campaign.  The spot showcases clips of well-known milestones in sports history, including John Tompson's Hoyas, the Appalachian Mountaineers and Jimmy V.

Since I'm a huge sport fan (or freak) I enjoy the emotional impact of all of the legends.  The impact does not stop there, as Nike's revenue grew 16% over the same period last quarter.  And to borrow a phrase from Nike's Become Legendary campaign, "My better is better than your better."  And in Nike's case, they're better because they don't have to tell you they're better.

In two days, we will officially be entering into my favorite time of year...March Madness. What's not to love for a self-proclaimed basketball freak like me? Basically, there is 12 hours of televised basketball every single day for at least three weekends, followed by two more weekends of buzzer beaters and make-or-break-your-season type games.

What's almost as awesome as Memphis losing last weekend, is that CBS has done some really cool things to promote the tournament. A couple of years ago, CBS introduced their "Free VIP Pass", which allows users to watch streaming video from each game. This comes in super-handy when don't have access to a TV or WLKY is showing Fordham University vs. USC instead of Indiana vs. Cincinnati.

New to the 2008 tournament is a Facebook application from CBS Sports. Greg Gumble and Seth Davis have been endlessly promoting this new application for the past two weeks. The application, which can be saved to your own Facebook page, allows users to watch every tournament game, vote for your favorite and most despised teams, check scores, view and add to team pages, post messages on the "Trash Talk Wall", join fan groups, along with lots of other stuff. This is the best example of a Facebook page, from an advertising viewpoint, that I have come across.

Just for fun...
Top Favorite NCAAB Team Pages
1. Tar Heels (12,188 Fans)
2. Blue Devils (10,313 Fans)
3. Jayhawks (7,271 Fans)
4. Hoosiers (4,323 Fans)
5. Wildcats (4,091 Fans)

Top Despised NCAAB Team Pages
1. Blue Devils (26,739 Haters)
2. Tar Heels (12,386 Haters)
3. Gators (4,390 Haters)
4. Buckeyes (3,397 Haters)
5. Hoosiers (3,041 Haters)

Everybody wants to be the person who stumbles across the next big thing. Mark Zuckerberg was they guy that created Facebook in '04. It was initially a big deal at Ivy League schools exclusively, but in the past 12 months, Facebook has official reached big thing status. Google decided YouTube was such a big thing that they paid over $1.6 billion to acquire the company in '06. According to TV week, the potential next big thing is Howcast.com, a site devoting to answering "how to" questions via amateur and professional videos.

The "how to" site is divided into 25 searchable categories or you can enter a keyword to find results on your own. This week's top viewed videos include How to Fake Being Sick, How to Debone a Chicken and How to Dance Without Embarrassing Yourself. The site is supported by advertising, although it's starting off just as simple as Facebook's advertising options used to be. Targeted sponsorships are available, but as the site takes off look for the options to become more vast and costly. For example, jetBlue is the sponsor of every video in the Travel section.

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