The Long A.A.R.M. of Steve O...

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Aimless
Assemblage of
Rambling
Musings of an over-caffeinated, slightly ajar yet well-meaning writer.

Has it really been since March 30th that I posted anything?  I do apologize for my unexplained and unplanned absenteeism. I'm sure you've wandered aimlessly awaiting my next post... 

Lots to go over so let's get to getting...

SOCIAL MEDIA CAVEAT EMPTOR...

I, like many others I am quite sure, am completely captivated by the juggernaut that is Social Media. I mean just that term alone conjures up many a visceral reaction. 

Social Media? Well that means Facebook and Twitter, right?

It means being social, yes?

I will not bore you with the numbers of folks who currently actively engage in one form of Social Media or another but needless to say, the numbers are staggering... truly. 

And numbers are really what it's all about, at least for me in many ways. Working in advertising, I realize the sheer power of Social Media and recognize its importance as part of a cohesive marketing and advertising campaign. 

As such I am always on the prowl for the latest and greatest facts and figures re: Social Media.

And just the other day I came upon a post from a great advertising blog, The Ad Contrarian. This particular post spoke to exactly what I was trying to convey in my subject title... Social Media Caveat Emptor or Social Media Buyer Beware.

The author wrote of receiving an email from Nielsen (yes the same company that does TV ratings) "that they were releasing the results of an important new (Social Media) study." The study was called Nielsen/Facebook Report: The Value of Social Media Ad Impressions.

Sounds pretty interesting, doesn't it?

Unfortunately, and I will quote the Ad Contrarian directly here... "from what I can tell, the report is complete bullshit." Gotta love a guy who writes like that.

In short, of the "more than 125 individual Facebook advertising campaigns" they studied, they only picked 14 of the top performers for this "case study, AKA the top 11%.

Huh?

You essentially ignore the 89% of the campaigns that failed or didn't fare quite as well and only present the best of the best and call it "research?"

My favorite part of the whole study as per the Ad Contrarian was this gem...

"This study demonstrates that advertising in the social context works for brands and works well."

No, this demonstrates that you clearly have a not-so-hidden agenda or as the Ad Contrarian put it.. "a new business pitch."

Moral of the story: Don't believe everything you read or hear when it comes to Social Media. 

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER...

Ok, so I'm a little late with this one... yeah, like you've never been late for anything. Please...

Back in December, Ad Age named their best TV spots of the decade. And yes, I have a problem with the list with one very glaring omission.

Here's a couple from the list that I do agree with...

Yeah, that's pretty much the only ones on the list I agree with...

And as for the glaring omission, how this spot was not on the list is nothing short of criminal.

Here's the full Ad Age list.

WANTED: A LIFE...

You know how we hear stories all the time of people protesting this or rallying against that and it turns out they're essentially doing it all for essentially an otherwise innocuous cause?

You know these kinds of people... the ones you just want to scream at the top of your lungs at...

GET A LIFE!

Well, meet Eugene Haag.

Ol' Gene has a problem and while I'm not sure it keeps up at nights, my bet is does his fair share of tossing and turning.

Now I'm sure Mr. Haag is a very well-meaning person but...

What's Gene's major malfunction?

Punctuation.

Yes, punctuation. 

Seems an unwanted apostrophe found it's way onto the World War II memorial outside the Clyde S. Jennings school in New Jersey... 60 years ago.

And now Gene wants it removed.

Located in the Bettlewood section of Haddon Township, part of the inscription reads:

"Bettlewood honors it's war dead"

Did you catch that? Don't blink cause you might miss it. There is a renegade apostrophe that's just scoffing at all of us, daring us to remove it.

The memorial should have of course used the possessive form "its" with no apostrophe.

"Bettlewood honors its war dead"

For his part, Haag, a history buff, said the typo was clear to him the moment he saw it but he claims he hasn't been able to generate much concern from the township.

Really?

That's disgraceful. Get me Arlen Specter on the phone immediately. Clearly there is a major conspiracy at play here and we need to get to the bottom of it. We can't have punctuation marks or other parts of grammar out there lollygagging around, thinking they can just go wherever they want.

No sir. Not on my watch. 

It will be chaos I tell you... chaos. We'll have dangling participles doing God knows what. 

GOOD GRIEF...

No this is not about Charlie Brown.

It's about The Good Clause (no relation to Santa).

Anyone over the age of say 35 should know what the Good Clause means and will have experienced it first hand.

Child: Mom, how long will it take to get to Uncle John's house?

Mom: Oh, I would say an hour... a good hour. 

Did you catch it? Did you see how the mother in this exercise invoked the Good Clause?

For those under the age of 35 and/or unfamiliar with the Good Clause, allow me to explain.

When you ask someone how long something will take, albeit it driving time, cooking time, whatever... and they add the "good" modifier in front of the announced time, you must immediately add a minimum of 30 minutes, sometimes as much as one hour, depending on where you are in the country. Hey, different time zones and all...

Now, let's go back to our original example, shall we? Only this time, I will add in the literal translation and show the horrific and mind-blowing effect of... the Good Clause. 

Child: Mom, how long will it take to get to Uncle John's house?

Mom: Oh, I would say an hour... a good hour. 

Good Clause effect translation: At LEAST an hour and a half, more than likely you're looking at a two hour ride in the back of your country squire station wagon. 

Now as a parent I have yet to invoke the Good Clause and my wife has strict instructions that if I do in fact ever invoke it, she is to proceed immediately to the nearest drug store for a large jar of Metamucil and the biggest box of Efferdent they have because I will have transformed in the blink of an eye into my father... God rest his soul.

Ok, that's all I got... for now.

I will try and not to be so AWOL in the future...but can't promise anything.

I will probably post something in a week or so... yeah, a good week. 

See ya in 6 months...

Thank you.





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The Long A.A.R.M. of Steve O...