Check out this guy

Or as this author puts says, search as we know it is dead.  Search becomes social, essentially:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4259135.html

And apparently Microsoft is working on just this thing, with collaborative searching:

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4292830.html?page=2 (see #7, collaborative search)

My mind’s too simple to make sense of it all, but it looks like there are some big things coming.

Motrin’s got a mom problem. Why? This:

This is a web ad that was launched as part of a print and online advertising campaign for Motrin on Sept. 30th, and it’s a great example of two things:

1) Copywriting matters.

2) Word of mouth combined with web 2.0 is powerful thing.

So, what happened here is Motrin designed a campaign that is obviously targeted to a very valuable demographic: women with children. Their primary message can be found in the Clintonesque tagline they’ve used at the end of this ad: “Motrin. We feel your pain.” Nice, right? Simple enough. Makes sense. And then it all goes downhill.

Someone at Motrin decided that the best way to make this connection would be to focus on the aches and pains associated with wearable baby carriers – which have become popular with parents over the past several years because of the unique bonding experience they provide. This too, is all well and good, until you read/hear the first line of the ad:

“Wearing your baby seems to be in fashion.”

Hmmm. Right off the bat, you’ve got problems. First, this statement could (and coincidentally, did) imply that wearing your baby in a carrier has more to do with appearing fashionable or hip than bonding with your child (think Paris Hilton clutching a miniature dog on a red carpet). Generally, anything that may compare someone’s child to a celebutant’s chihuahua is unwise. But, there’s still an opportunity to clarify with the follow-up statement, which includes the phrase:

“Supposedly it’s a real bonding experience.”

So close! Replace “Supposedly” with “There’s no denying that” and you’re home free! Until this next doozy:

“I’ll put up with the pain because it’s a good kind of pain. It’s for my kid.” (getting warmer…) “Plus, it totally makes me look like an official mom.” (Cold)

Clearly, nobody ran this copy past anyone from the target audience-or a good editor (which, for the record, is almost always a wise move). As you might expect, mothers of America were none too pleased, and they voiced their dismay in a big way. The ad was pulled after two days of a massive mommy 2.0 backlash on Twitter and blogs across the internet.

Motrin’s new PR problem is a perfect example of how little appealing graphics and a good idea (or intentions) mean if the copy isn’t right.

Put two spaces between your sentences.  It’s not proper typesetting (which Cathy also pointed out).  I’ll work on it. 

I came across this site a while back and thought it would be great to share.  It’s an Austrian site that’s selling T-Shirt’s with your blood type written on the front.  It’s simple, yet clever, but their site is what really caught my attention.

http://www.rhesus.at/

I’m working on a logo, and I was considering Trajan as a font choice. But how the heck do you pronounce it? So I Googled it, sorry, performed an Internet search for it… Turns out the “j” makes a “j” sound, not like in Spanish. Anywho, I didn’t realize just how widely Trajan is used, until I saw this…

I think I’m gonna use it anyway…

Can anyone guess who won the ROI Challenge: PPC or Print Advertising.  I’d like to say it was an exciting match…

Check it out: http://www.thoughtprocessinteractive.com/roi/

…Hyundai first introduced cars here in the US?  They were tiny, egg shaped, econo cars that, if I remember correctly, you could get for $5k or $6k.  Apparently they’ve come a long way in 15 years or so.  They’ve got their new Genesis that they’re advertising, and they’ve got a pretty slick microsite for that model.

http://www.hyundaigenesis.com

I’m pretty impressed.  Makes good use of video, some cool pseudo 3D stuff, and… I got there by clicking on a banner ad, so their ads are good too.  Pretty nice campaign altogether.

I found the following article interesting. SilverPop is an email marketing company that has apparently developed a new product that bridges the gap between email marketing and Social Network Marketing.

http://www.silverpop.com/news/press/10_02_08.html

The new bailout bill does officially include a tax credit for employers to help reimburse bicycle commuting employees.  It’s a $20/month credit per cyclo-commuting employee so that the employer can reimburse for reasonable expenses incurred by the employee “for the purchase of a bicycle and bicycle improvements, repair, and storage, if such bicycle is regularly used for travel between the employee’s residence and place of employment.”

So, that new bike you’ve been eyeballing at the bike shop, now’s the time get it.  Maybe save $20 to $40 a month in gas, plus $20 from the gov.

http://www.bicycleretailer.com/news/newsDetail/1878.html