Ten GY&K team members weighed in on this year’s Super Bowl marketing.

In our office there’s more speculation about Super Bowl advertising than about who will win the actual game. That’s partially because we have a lot of confident Patriots fans, but mostly because we’re marketing geeks and there’s no better night to watch brands flex their marketing muscles.

With that in mind, we gathered Super Bowl advertising insights and predictions from a few GY&K team members:

Looking forward to the big “Ferris Bueller” tease with Matthew Broderick! Great pre-air buzz, gone viral and created tons of pressure for a sequel to one of the seminal coming-of-age comedies of all time! There’s a big secret here and lots of speculation about the advertiser. Any one else think this is a cool idea? Anyone..Bueller?

Pat Griffin
Chairman

I love how a few years ago Google cleverly told a story through the eyes of someone actually using their service (“Parisian Love”). I’ll be anxious to see if more brands use this tactic, which I think is a more effective method to actually encourage product usage, as opposed to the typical off-the-wall attention grabbing spots.

Travis York
President

There’s no doubt that social media integration within branded Super Bowl ad campaigns has been growing rapidly over the past several years. But this year, analysts are dubbing Super Bowl XLVI as ‘The Year Social Media Changed the Game.’  USA Today and Facebook are co-branding an app that features all the national ads that will appear during the game, along with a five-star rating button that let’s Facebook users judge, share, comment, and spread the ads — and their reactions — as they watch. Even the Super Bowl itself has received a social media facelift with their very own social media command center manned with a team of social media strategists analyzing, optimizing and responding to digital fan chatter across Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels.

Liz Steinhardt Pollock
Public Relations Manager

I thought last year’s Doritos Crash the Super Bowl spots were hysterical and these user generated gems have ranked #1 on the USA TODAY Ad Meter for two of the last three years. Based on that, I’m excited to see what spot wins this year. I love the social media aspect of this promo requiring very few marketing dollars. The stats are awesome – almost 500,000 votes for 5 videos, 2.7MM+ likes, 200K+ conversations. Plus, this year’s winner gets to work with Andy Samberg’s Lonely Island on a future Doritos project. Mmm Cheesy!!!

Shana Malik
Director of Media Relations

Chevy is trying to take advantage of the fact that Americans no longer simply ‘watch’ TV. Instead, they interact with it, experience it, vote on it, comment on it, tweet about it, etc. So understanding this, Chevy created its very own app helping consumers interact with the Super Bowl like never before. Users of the app receive a special license plate code, and during the Super Bowl Chevy will air commercials with the winning code. The app also allows members to login and post everything to Facebook or Twitter, encouraging them to share the app with their friends and followers. Chevy didn’t just decide to advertise to America’s largest television audience; they made a strategic decision to start a dialogue with them. I believe this is truly a winning approach.

Mike Stevens
Senior Marketing Planner

Looking forward to seeing if Bud-Light pushes their new product “Bud-Light Platinum.” It’s advertised as the same light beer but with a higher ABV at 6.0%. Bud Light is a favorite for getting some laughs during the big game, so I’ll be curious if they extend the Bud Light brand and theme to Bud-Light Platinum, or if they give it a new and distinct feel from the core BL brand. Anheuser Busch is always a player when it comes to humorous Super Bowl advertising, but I expect them to remain true to their roots and feature the more emotional Clydesdale spots in some fashion too.

Mike Giovinelli
Account Supervisor

This week I finally pulled the trigger on canceling my cable TV service. Fortunately, the Super Bowl will be streamed live online for just the second time this year. I’m anxious to see how advertising will be handled in the online realm and if it differs from the standard TV broadcast.

Ben Peirce
Multimedia Producer

Psyched to see that some of my favorite concepts will be back, especially the “office monkeys” from careerbuilder.com. Love that one! But the biggest shift to watch is how brands will further integrate across all mediums and dive deeper into the social well. To quote a great article from Harvard Business Review, “The TV spot has become the trailer for something bigger, broader and more interactive.”

Sophia Cigliano
SVP Client Services and Account Planning

I will be looking for how brands embrace the “second screen” phenomenon. Will advertisers be able to convince football fans to take their eyes off the game to watch more ads on their phones? More importantly, will the additional content be worth it?

Andrew Harris
Associate Creative Director

One of the most amusing games to play at Super Bowl parties is to guess what brand/product is being advertised before it is mentioned by name or a logo is shown.  Are companies trying to create memorable connections between the :30 spots and their brand, or are they trying to make the most over-the-top and most talked-about commercial? Also, I look forward to NOT logging on to GoDaddy.com afterwards to see more of Danica Patrick.

Nathaniel Grimes
Business Development Coordinator

Many brands are hesitant to use Facebook and other social media outlets because they are unsure of how to best deal with negative comments. Miracle Whip isn’t worried. In fact, they are encouraging everyone to share their feelings about the controversial dressing/mayonnaise combination condiment.

Earlier this year, Miracle Whip encouraged Facebook fans to post whether they loved or hated Miracle Whip, and why. Through its website and social media outlets, Miracle Whip is encouraging consumers  to “Take a Side” and asking “Are You Miracle Whip?” Just last week, Miracle Whip released a video announcing the “Not For Every Relationship” contest, which will award $25,000 towards the wedding or divorce of a couple whose relationship has been affected by the foodstuff.

Miracle Whip has embraced a  controversial personality for their brand in the past, including a direct response to late-night comedian Stephen Colbert’s mockery of the product on his television show. Even their newest packaging design is a radical departure from their previous looks. In their newest efforts, they are not claiming to be the best mayonnaise alternative. They are just asking consumers to sample Miracle Whip, and share their feelings. A quick scan of the Miracle Whip Facebook page reveals two interesting details. First, most of the comments are positive. Second, the fact that Miracle Whip has encouraged negative comments seems to have taken the teeth out of those responses. There is no vitriol, and most of the negative responses seem to be lighthearted. Kraft could be censoring the comments, but it is more likely that the proactive, engaging approach has allowed consumers to distinguish between their feelings about the taste of Miracle Whip and their feelings about the Miracle Whip brand.

Because Miracle Whip is not limiting their consumer engagement to fans of the product, these promotions have a much greater reach than a traditional “tell us why you love us” campaign. And allowing consumers to align themselves as  ”Team Miracle Whip” or “Team Mayo” ensures passionate responses. What other brands could benefit from such a polarizing strategy?

Nathaniel Grimes is the Business Development Coordinator at Griffin York & Krause

Nike and the NCAA have always had an interesting and nuanced relationship. The NCAA is always on the lookout for illicit money going to amateur players, but for many schools, their football programs are the largest source of revenue. Nike sponsors over 85 different college programs, and they keep those teams in the flashiest, newest, most eye catching uniforms possible.

Nike Chairman and University of Oregon alum Phil Knight has been responsible for the school’s over 400 different uniform combinations. In recent years, Nike has introduced what they call “Nike Pro Combat Uniforms” to complement their consumer line of Pro Combat gear. They select ten elite NCAA football teams and outfit them in special uniforms for specific (nationally televised) games.

Today, Nike streamed their uniform introduction event live on Facebook, and allowed viewers to share their thoughts instantly. When the presenter from Ohio State took some time explaining the history behind the 1942-inspired uniforms, users complained about “a history lesson.” When Michael Irvin pointed out that the green helmet for his beloved University of Miami reminded him of money, users made jokes about NCAA compliance, which was a timely reminder of all the recent NCAA investigations into agent/amateur player relationships.

These uniforms were not just for the players – Nike actually sold a limited number of these uniforms as fan packages.

Other sporting apparel companies sponsor NCAA football, but Nike owns it.

Companies are always looking for new ways to promote their brands, and these days many have begun sponsoring artists. The video above, released by Converse, is a collaboration between Rostam from the band Vampire Weekend, Bethany from Best Coast, and Kid Cudi.

This song has been on my playlist since it came out. I love this song and video, and love Converse, so I am ignoring all the years of absorbing the punk rock ethos that I should abhor any art so directly related to a corporation.

But the more I think about it, the more I am impressed by this kind of content. Today’s changing marketing landscape is forcing companies and brands alike to change the way they approach advertising. This includes more original digital content that is made to live outside traditional advertising channels.

This Converse campaign was designed to be the kind of branded content that you want to share with your friends. I first saw it on a friend’s Tumblr, “liked” it, and shared it with my Facebook friends with the accompanying message “This reminds me, I need to buy some new Chucks.” Because really, even though the song only mentions Chucks once, there is a real connection to me between the vibe of the music, and Converse, the canvas throwbacks that people wear when they want listen to music and have a good time. At least that’s how I think of them.

Not only is Converse using a unique tactic to reach their fans, but they are also taking a risk by using a trippy video with artists wearing papier-mâché heads while constantly switching them back and forth until you have to remember whose outfit is whose.

The genius here was bringing together artists from different genres (I don’t know for sure whether this was the work of the agency or the artists) and then allowing them to come up with a really great song, without a marketing type telling them how many times they had to say the word “Converse.” This really sounds like three great artists that just worked well together.

Thankfully, this video is not the only thing Converse is working on. Converseblog.com showcases the creativity of their fans – from music to photography to fashion – and they share a link with instructions to create your own paper head like the ones in the video.

The word “viral” is thrown around a lot these days. Everyone wants a viral, organic campaign. Converse is showing you how – make a good product, and then share your messaging in a way your audience wants to receive it.

Like the entire staff at GY&K, Google users were met by some surprise this morning – the search engine’s former minimalistic approach was taken over by a full-color photo “wallpaper” on the homepage.

And while all this buzz was chalked up to a publicity stunt, I felt that Google was calling out to their users to affirm what they’re already doing right – dominating the ‘less is better’ approach.

If you’re like me, when I saw the homepage today, I was immediately turned off by it (clutter!). And because I can’t stand page clutter and I can’t resist tinkering with things, I used the “Change background” function to display a solid gray background.  Once I did, I found the “remove background” option in its place and quickly went back to the good ‘ol familiar Google. 

Is it a bit contrived?  Sure.  But it has us talking.  And for a Google loyalist like myself, it took me on a little trip to remind me what I like about them. And if they can show that a significant number of users did exactly what I did, it will be a pretty powerful statement that the Google way is the right way. You’re welcome for the market research data, Google.

I discovered something the other day that made my media scanning days less daunting: Google Fast Flip. I’m in love.

If you haven’t heard, Google Fast Flip is one of the newest ideas to come out of Google Labs. It’s their answer to making articles YOU want to read NOW easily accessible without loading media-rich content through your browser (which can take 10-20 seconds, depending what Internet speed you have.) Fast Flip lets you browse through all recent news, combining print and online articles, as well as individual feeds from top publications all over the country and beyond. Fast Flip also does what many search engines do now: make the experience personal for the reader. For example, if you are reading a lot of technological news, Fast Flip will show you more content in that topic. It’s pretty darn cool if you ask me. Not only does it “remember” what I like to read, it makes finding and reading those articles much faster, and I’ve been enjoying learning about other publications I normally wouldn’t browse. And they keep adding more and more partners to the site, which means more publications to get content from. Right now I can quickly breeze through top articles from the Washington Post, BBC News, Bloomberg.com, US Weekly Magazine, etc., and if I want to read more than the few paragraphs presented, I can always go to the link on the bottom of the page and click that to go to the full article with comments.

What better way to get up-to-date on all the latest news? Do you know of other services that are presenting similar concepts?

Recently, internet users all over the globe have been fascinated by the Web’s latest hit, Chatroulette.

Like a mix of StumbleUpon, Skype, and YouTube, Chatroulette randomly pairs you with another video chatter from anywhere on the planet. Spend five minutes on Chatroulette and you will come across all types of people- men, women, children, singles, groups of friends on one screen, public figures, and some of the strangest characters the Internet has to offer. Once users have been paired, either side can click “Next” to spin the imaginary roulette wheel and instantly be partnered face to face with someone new.

Naturally this new phenomenon has many marketers and brands wondering how they can take advantage of the platform. Here are a few considerations:

1) An important aspect of advertising and sponsorship is associating your name with a positive experience. Often marketers will link their names to hit shows, music, events and personalities. Chatroulette does not fall in any of these buckets. While many people enjoy the experience of using the site, some are disgusted by the high level of weirdness, nudity, and insults on the site. Realize that you will be right there alongside some very questionable and inappropriate material if you chose to participate. It may not be an experience that you want associated with your brand.

2) Some may be tempted to stream TV style ads on repeat, but this may not be worth the time or effort. Unlike TV, there is no way to target specific demographics. Chatroulette is completely random in assignments and users come from all over the globe, making geography another challenge. In addition, streaming content would not capitalize on the “chat” aspect of Chatroulette. Users expect to connect and interact with people, therefore anything other than that would be considered interruption advertising.

3) Product placement is another way brands and marketers may think they can benefit from Chatroulette, but again this is not the best platform for that type of marketing. By design, you can only reach one person at a time on Chatroulette. Sites such as UStream.tv allow for large audiences to tune into one channel, which would be a much better location for a celebrity endorsement or product placement. On Chatroulette, you are just as likely to come across Joe Schmo as you are Joe Montana. There are many rumors of celebrities on Chatroulette, but this POST by Vayner Media shows that most are fakes.

Many enhancements could be made to Chatroulette and the platform will certainly evolve. However, until it is possible to narrow down the audience you will chat with, it is not a great choice for most brands. The only viable player at this stage may be a large, multinational brand interested in casting a very wide net. In this case they could run a contest or tie their activity on Chatroulette to another platform to extend the experience. Even this would be very difficult to control, so in my mind Chatroulette is currently a tool best reserved for personal use.

Do you have any ideas on how Chatroulette could be used by marketers?

Tim Allan is an intern with GY&K.  He is currently a full-time student at Plymouth State University, graduating this spring with a major in Business Administration.

Chatting with Nathaniel here at GY&K – here’s an interesting new way to window shop:

While reading today, we discovered Google is giving mobile users another way to use barcode scanner applications on their mobile devices. Now you can walk up to a business listed as a “favorite place” and scan a barcode in the window to get a direct link to the businesses mobile site, which may include reviews, coupons, and more information to help you make a decision on where to shop or eat. Google’s blog calls this “a whole new way to window shop.” They are launching this in 9,000 towns and cities.

Our question is, do people still window shop? Would this be something you would use to help you decide where to spend your money?

Rules. From our earliest recollection as a toddler, we were taught to “obey the rules.” I’ve always been a do-gooder (yep, I was that kid) so this has been easy for me. However, if rules are written in legal-ese, it takes a bit longer for me to figure out how to do right.

In our industry (marketing, and in my case in particular, PR) we have a responsibility to be current on the rules set forth by the mediums we use in order to best serve ourselves and our clients. For example, there are rules to using Twitter. Some are common sense (don’t say anything inappropriate while representing your brand), some are best practices (RT people whose work you admire and you found helpful), and some are set forth by the medium itself (follow, update, and API limits) .

Today I want to highlight a very important “rule change” the happened in November one of our most popular mediums: Facebook.

Do you have a business Page on Facebook? Have you ever thought about giving away a t-shirt to your 1,000th fan? Think again. Facebook changed its promotion guidelines on November 9, 2009. Now, before you do any “promotional activity” on Facebook you need to ask permission. And they need to grant you permission. This could take a week or so – make sure you budget in the time. When Facebook approves you have to give them credit too. Maybe this will help them police the promotions? Lend credibility to the contest?

Oh, and Cabot Cheese? Sorry, but you can’t give away a block of your oh-so-yummy cheddar via Facebook anymore. Dairy is excluded, as is tobacco, gambling, firearms, prescription drugs and a few other things.

You can no longer win a contest by becoming a fan. OK, this one isn’t that bad – it just means we have to be more creative. So maybe I’ll hold a best photo contest and have fans post to the photo page! Nope, disqualified as well. You can no longer have a winner post a comment, post to the Page’s wall, or several other ways – all using Facebook as a medium. Creativity, here we come. Third-party aps can help overcome this hurdle. My favorite radio station gave away a trip to an awards show a few weeks ago and all I had to do was fan the page to qualify (no, I didn’t win). That can no longer happen. I’ll have to work harder as a fan.

Now, if you make it though all these steps and you are a legitimate promotion you may need to contact a winner. Get this: you cannot notify the winner through Facebook. This one makes me say Hmmmmm…

Finally, if you chose to give away a gallon of milk to the 28th person to post a comment about why they love milk, Facebook can banish you. They may just remove the offending material, but they do warn of their ability to disable your account or page. Yikes.

So, without passing judgment on every little decision Facebook makes, I find myself wondering how I can best capitalize on the new rules set forth for my clients. These rules will definitely reduce the amount of spam that is on Facebook. But from a personal standpoint, I am left wondering how much effort will it now take before I can win Kohl’s gift card before Christmas?

What do you think about the new rules? Fair or impossible? How will you creatively combat a system desperately trying to monetize itself?

Hulu has quickly become one of the most popular online destinations for viewing quality television content. Initially I was surprised to see NBC and Fox teaming up on this venture, but their success clearly demonstrates an opportunity for otherwise unlikely bedfellows to collaborate in the digital space.

In addition to repurposed television content, you can now find shows with high production value developed exclusively for online audiences. Unfortunately, videos can be difficult to discover because they are scattered throughout cyberspace.

This past week at TechCrunch50, a new site called Clicker launched with the goal of becoming “the complete guide to Internet Television.”

Beyond the comprehensive search functionality, the site is also a recommendation engine introducing viewers to new content. That will be helpful given these impressive stats on the number of videos the have aggregated:

“Clicker contains more than 300,000 episodes, from over 5,200 shows, from over 1,200 networks – in addition to 1,200 movies (soon to be 14,000 movies with addition of Netflix), and 50,000 music videos from 20,000 artists. All of this programming is organized by episode, show, network, media type, title, and artist, as well as over 1,000 categories and sub-categories.”

The site is currently in Beta but you can request an invitation on their homepage.

As Internet Enabled TV’s (IETVs) become mainstream, Clicker may prove to be an even bigger threat to cable providers.

Are you shifting some of your attention to online video rather than traditional television? If so, how do you discover new shows?