It’s almost over, the year 2010. But commercials, ads, emails, and text campaigns are running strong. It’s beginning to look a lot like commercial Q4.

So, to top off the season of celebration, and a year of marketing, I am sharing some of my favorite commercials of the year.

The year started off with a bang for Betty White.  A public vote won her the SNL host spot and this little ditty from Snickers won the spot as my favorite Superbowl commercial:

Not to be outdone, the E*Trade babies just keep on keeping on. A great use of comedy and the gag of babies with adult voices never gets old. Add in a dog and an iPad and it continues to work. It really works:

In the category of “ANNOYING” I have to give Target’s crazy lady Black Friday ads a solid 10. However, Target does win my heart with the best rendition of Christmas morning joy without using a sappy x-mas song:

In the category of “Best Use Of A Celebrity” my vote goes to Logitech and Kevin Bacon. It is brilliant. It is funny and it puts an otherwise techy product on household name levels.

And, finally, I will now solve the “Biggest Controversy In My Household” category.  This is a story with two endings by Tommy Hilfiger. One commercial, two endings.

My family has been fighting all week about how the commercial ends. I say “dog”. My boyfriend says “girl”. With each commercial we wait to prove the other wrong.

I am happy to report the answer is BOTH.  It’s a smart way to shake up an otherwise humdrum spot from the Hilfiger team.

The dog.

The girl.

Who says TV advertising is dead?

I would love to hear about your favorite spots from 2010.

Great article on How To Stretch A Brand’s Digital Budget.  Take a read and let me know your thoughts.

Liz Ross does a great recap. My favorite quote from her article should hit all of us marketer’s hard:

We have to be better and more disciplined about discovering true insight.

I agree. So here’s to big ideas.

Along those same lines, did you see the call for the big digital ad idea? Check out the Ted Blog to read all about the Ads Worth Spreading Challenge.

Good luck and best wishes!
-Sling

I’m not talking about your horoscope. Nor the latest research from neuromarketing experts.

I’m talking about the good old fashioned sign.

I know, it sounds archaic in the age of blogs, facebook, twitter, foursquare, linkedin and the plethora of social media tools that connect you to friends, family, ex-coworkers and your numerous international doppelgängers.

The fact is, I still believe the easiest, fastest and most reliable way to tell people what you do is to make a sign.

Think of all the signs you see on your way to the mall, on your drive to work, or the ones you follow in the airport while trying to find the restrooms. The international image for restroom man and woman are easily recognizable.

That’s because signs are a critical piece of communicating what you offer — and what you do.

Do you have the right signs?

Think about all the ways you touch your consumer, from the sign that hangs on your front door to the customer service survey they pen on the way out, to your website, business cards and brochures. These are powerful marketing signs. Each one speaks volumes about what you do, what you offer and how much you care.

Signs are everywhere. Just to prove my point, please notice the large facebook and twitter buttons at the top of the page. It’s a sign from me to you — it says please share this post!

Here they are again if you missed it. Just want to be clear about my signs.

Marketing Sling: After I bought my grey Nissan Altima I noticed that everyone else had one too. They were following me to work in droves. This is a sign. My point is that our brains are conditioned to look for something very specific (a grey Nissan Altima for instance) just as a customer who needs your services is already out there looking for you!

It’s up to you to use the right signs.

Customer care should be “the Big Easy” of marketing.  You already accomplished the hard part— attracting a customer.

We just drove back from New Orleans and experienced the Jazz & Heritage Festival for the first time.  It was somewhat like being in the eye of the storm with a burgeoning oil slick, President Obama flying in to inspect the damage, and New Orleans continuing to celebrate their culture and music despite drizzling rain and pending seafood industry troubles.

New Orleans was amazing!
Our hotel was not.  We ordered a non-smoking room on the web service Hotels.com months in advance.  We found ourselves in a smokers haven.  The hotel informed us that they didn’t have any non-smoking rooms left and hotels.com will just book what is available.  News to me.  ::cough, hag, gulp::

I filled out a survey post-stay on hotels.com and voiced my complaint.

Today I received a “care”  team response that I must share because, frankly I am really disappointed in the plethora of  poor customer care in the world — and I think we can all do better.

What I am going to do:
1) share how I was treated and communicated with and then,
2) share a new solution that is both brand-centric and customer-centric

Marketing Sling: What if hotels.com would have given me a response like the one above — one that is both brand-centric and customer-centric?  Well for starters I wouldn’t have written back a really sad note today telling them I am through, done, and finished being a customer.  Additionally, I would feel like a valued client, almost a part of their team.  And who couldn’t use more resources these days?

The customer is or the company isn’t.

Want more customer service ideas?  See  Top 10 Customer Service Blogs

I did not consider myself a FAN of anything.

My boyfriend is a super fan of the New England Patriots.  He can recite stats and stats of past players and game winning plays.  He watches every game.  He has a ritual.  A favorite jersey.  A lucky hat.

I don’t follow the Patriots.

Hey, I enjoy watching others experience the game, I secretly make notes of uniform style changes and logo updates.  I actually sat through half of last year’s season opener and stupidly asked my man, “So, who does Randy Moss play for this year?”  He kindly and gently pointed out that Randy Moss was the guy who had caught the ball seven times and just scored.  Uh… right.

My friends are super fans of the Boston Red Sox.  They watch every game, follow the players, the ups and downs of the season, batting percentages and player trades.  I watch the game to see which brands are advertising during the game or in the stadium.  Going to Fenway with me is a history lesson in who use to have a sign there, a promotion here…

But, a Super Fan, it turns out I am.  It hit me during a sad moment of disappointment.

Here’s the story — I reached out to Levenger for a conference I am helping plan.  I thought they might have a fun item to donate to the gift bag.    A perfect target market for Levenger products as the conference attracts professional women, career oriented, influential decision makers.

Levenger said no.

In fact, they wrote a really nice email telling me why they can’t donate.  They have decided to focus on libraries this year.  I totally understood.  But I am their fan…. their Super Fan and they needed to know this.  So I wrote a note back telling them of my disappointment, telling them I LOVE their products, professing my loyalty and letting them know just how many people I have personally introduced to their product lines.  Then I pleaded for a coupon or something fun to add to the bag that would cost them little but be tailored to women at the event.

Guess what they wrote back?

Nothing.  Zip.  Nada.  No reply.

That’s the moment I realized I am a Super Brand Fan.  Because I was angry.

I already knew I loved this product line.  All my friends would tell you I am a huge fan of their products carrying my little Circa notebook with me wherever I go.  But, it didn’t occur to me I was a Super Fan until I got angry.  Because you know what — I am their brand ambassador!  How could they not listen to me?  I am a living human extension of their products.  And I took the time to introduce myself, to reach out and profess my love and all I got back was a canned (albeit kind) response and then not even a reply.

I was treated like a number.  A faceless, unknown name on a mailing list.

It’s time for brands to wake up.  This just doesn’t fly.  Faceless numbers do not a fan make.

Marketing Sling: What does it take for you to call yourself a “fan”?  How much do you have to love a product to call yourself a Super Brand Fan?  To tell your friends about it?  To actually associate yourself with a product?  To hit that glowing “fan” button on Facebook?  Think about this as you develop social media, customer service and other client facing programs for your products and services.

Technology is changing the conversations we have with everyone.  Customers are changing the way they interact with brands.  And, brands …well they are learning the hard way that the mood is shifting.  People are no longer numbers or targets.  They are human beings. If customers reach out, they expect to be counted, to be seen, to be heard.

It’s the human thing to do.

I can’t believe I am doing this.  Writing about Tiger Woods again (see Lions, Tiger Woods and Branding).  I hope he’s happy, getting the attention and chaos surrounding his mass media Master’s reunion.

And now Nike, the last standing sponsor is back too. Fast Company says it best. Call Tiger the comeback kid. Call it a last ditch effort on the part of Nike to save a massive product line based on his image. Call it what you will.  I call it creepy.

What’s a brand to do when the main pitchman goes rehab and then returns to the public arena? Anything but turn his dead father into a postmortem parental talking-to ad campaign.

You may say, “Hey if you’re writing about this then something must be working.”

To that I say: “Sorry Nike, this one doesn’t work. It’s a turn off, makes no sense, feels wrong with a capital W.”

Marketing Sling: Breakthrough campaigns are critical, attention grabbing content is even better but connecting with consumers is critical. Selling out your brand for a social/moral/personal talking-to spot (even though it is timely) isn’t compelling — not even when it comes from the grave.

Can’t we just let Tiger play golf and let Nike return to compelling ad campaigns we connect with and love.

Just do it.

Marketing to real people?  Just checking.  I assume you are of course marketing to people, of the real kind.

The fact is, many brands are  just talking to themselves.  They are so enamored with their brand story, heritage, promise, image, product…  they forget about the most important part of their brand:

Real People.

Real people have schedules, celebrate holidays, work, play and plan family events. Real people have dreams, goals and passions. Real people are stressed. They are looking for a release, they want a break, a vacation, some hope and some help.

So where does your brand fit in all this?  The intersection of real life and real wants or needs. If you don’t know what that is for your brand it’s time to reconnect with consumers.  Ask the hard questions and listen, really listen to their answers. If you don’t know where to start check out www.surveymonkey.com for  an easy customer survey template. If you want more power and technology check out www.surveyonthespot.com (my friend’s new company with cool iphone surveys).

Listen up and then deliver. The hard part is on your shoulders to make some tweaks or changes to your product or service. But real people will get it if you get real with them.

Marketing Sling: You might be in love with your brand. You might think it is the best thing since sliced bread (and it may be). The fact is, it doesn’t matter what you think.  All that matters is what the people think.. those special people called customers.

Get Real.

I can tell you what makes the Wigglebutt Inn wiggle… a great name.

After driving all the way from Vermont to Florida (highlights of the trip included passing through Raleigh, NC where a “fake snow festival” was canceled — because there was too much real snow and the trucks driving in the fake stuff were delayed) we arrived a day early for our conference and anxiously dropped off our dog, “Pup” for his personality test.

Pup was required to pass the Wigglebutt Inn’s personality test in order to be allowed in this cage-less doggie daycare facility.  They wisked Pup away from us and we stood waiting, wondering… what is this test all about anyway?

He passed.  He was wiggle approved. He was graded as being “social, happy and aware of his surroundings”.  Hallelujah! Pup was allowed to wiggle all weekend long.  And he did. By the end of each night he was all wiggled out.

Marketing Sling: No amount of marketing can replace a great name.  If you are starting a business or developing a new product keep in mind the power of a great name. We looked at many options for our beloved Pup to have a safe and healthy place to stay while we were in Naples. All else being equal, the option that stood out the most was the one with the best name: who can forget the Wigglebutt Inn?

Wiggle it. Just a little bit.

After spending almost 40 hours changing my cell phone provider from Verizon to Straight Talk let me tell you it comes down to one thing — value.

And it’s not how much they value me.  If Verizon really valued my account they would see that I spend hundreds of dollars a month and have done so continuously over the past 10 years.

So what did it take? Real value to my life.
It turns out I will sit through hours of customer service calls, hours of follow up calls and switching procedures just to cut my phone bill in half.  Because that adds more value to my life these days. I now don’t have to worry about minutes used, texting sent or images received on my phone.

It may feel a little risky to choose an off brand (but the rumor is Straight Talk is on the Verizon network anyway, so what do I have to lose?).  It is more important for me to know I have unlimited calling and unlimited data access, unlimited texting with all my clients, friend and family — for half the cost of a name brand provider.

Marketing Sling: If you want consumers to make a major switch to your brand consider what it will take to improve their life. What will really add value, provide peace of mind or just help. How can you make it easier, cheaper or more reliable for them to do what they need to do?

Go ahead, make a change.

I was watching Extreme Home Makeover last week when the importance of a dream room hit me.

The story was quite intriguing involving a family with one amazing daughter. Kori Cowan has raised over 38k for the American Cancer Society inspired by her friend Alyssa, who is battling cancer. It turns out Kori’s own home is dangerously toxic with mold and other toxins — who can’t hold back tears from that one?

Enter the ABC dream team.

Kori’s final dream room was decked out in post-it notes. Post-it notes? Yes. That’s because Kori is an avid fundraiser and uses her notes to stay organized. In the archives of Extreme Home Makeover I’m sure one could find more exotic rooms, more innovative designs. As it turns out this bright room (somewhat of an eyesore ) was just perfect for Kori.

So, I ask you: not what is your dream room, but — what is your customer’s dream room?

Marketing Sling: Just like the dream team over at ABC has made emotional heart tugging connections with their design skills, so can you with your marketing skills. Build the program of your clients/customer/guests dreams — not yours.  Listen to their wishes, make dreams come true.

Move that bus.