Super Bowl Ads of 2010... What's Your Favorite?

What’s your favorite Super Bowl Ad of 2010?

This year’s Super Bowl proved to be an exciting one with not only a great come back for the New Orleans Saints, but also for Super Bowl Ads.

We all know this is the notorious opportunity for brands to show off what they’ve really got, and do it in the most creative way possible. The Super Bowl Ads even attract non-football fans (me included) who watch simply just to see what the biggest brands of the day have up their sleeves.

I popped into the Response offices today, to find out some of the favorites, as well as honorable mentions of the 2010 Super Bowl Ads.

Here are the office favorites:

1. Nick, the Creative Director, loved Google’s “Parisian Love”

Witty, simple and smart. This ad showed all the search features Google has to offer, not to mention that Google basically has the answer to all your questions… and you gotta love the cute love story just in time for Valentine’s Day. Bravo to Google for showcasing a great TV ad, especially with their competitor Bing showing a heave marketing campaign to gain more market share in the search engine industry.

2. Ben, the Art Director, found Snickers’ “Betty White” to really stand out

Rough, dirty and hilarious. Playing ball like a girl?... Grab a Snickers! This commercial was a typical guys Sunday morning football game… The trash talk was definitely relatable and humorous, bravo Snickers! I mean, who wouldn’t want to tackle Betty White?

3. Cassie, an Interactive Designer, could not stop laughing when she saw E*Trade’s “Milkaholic”

The E*Trade baby commercial's continue to be a hit... and they keep getting better and better. This video, where the E*Trade baby is skyping with his girlfriend and gets caught with another girl, or shall we say a "milkaholic" is classic! I am with Cassie on this one... what a great commercial.

4. Tarra, an Account Executive and David, the Account Director, both favored Monster.com’s “Fiddling Beaver”

The story line behind this commercial could not have been more on target for Monster.com's mission: to help with your job search and find you your dream job. Monster.com can even lead a fiddling beaver to success! Congrats to Monster.com's marketing team for really delivering a powerful message.

5. Julianne, an Intern, really ejoyed Budweiser’s “Human Bridge”

Budweiser, is the number 1 beer in sales for Americans... which is proven in this creative commercial where people will do anything to have a Bud... including forming a human bridge to bring in the beer when the bridge to their town collapses. Talk about brand loyalty!

6. Personally, my favorite was Motorola’s “Megan Fox”

This ad was definitely fun and sexy! The effects a beautiful woman has on a man was taken to a new level in this commercial... and in a pretty funny way. Good thing Megan Fox doesnt send out pictures of herself in the bath tub... the world might come to an end!

Some Honorable Mentions:

7. Audi’s “Green Car”

This clever commercial featured the “Green Police” arresting various criminals of not “going green.” Imagine police actually arresting you for drinking out of a Styrofoam cup, or using a plastic bag to bag your groceries… a lot of people would be found guilty! The execution was comical and definitely got the message across. The “Green Police” song has been hummed around the office all day.

8. Vizio’s “Forge”

Beyonce captivates attention at the beginning of this commercial, where you’re transferred into a dark robotic world. This spot features quotes from viral YouTube videos including: David after Dentist, to the infamous Numa Numa video. This commercial was totally on-point and an appropriate execution for Vizio Internet Applications.

9. Doritos' “House Rules”

This humorous commercial features a little boy telling it straight to his mother’s date when he picks up a Dorito and says “put it back, keep your hands off my mama, keep your hands off my Doritos!” This commercial was actually picked from Doritos' “Crash the Super Bowl” contest. We sure wouldn’t mess around with that little guy!

10. CareerBuilder’s “Casual Friday”

Thank goodness this is not the case around the office! This video, which features casual Fridays as no-clothes-Fridays, shows a different side of every employee… and in most cases, it wasn’t a pretty side. I'm with the main guy in the commercial... how uncomfortable!

Check out YouTube on Thursday to see the top picks of the Super Bowl Ads.

Meet Julie the Jersey Girl!

A new year, means new interns at Response. It is my pleasure to introduce the fabulous Social Media Intern, Julianne!

Julie is a Junior at Quinnipiac University where she is putting her creative talents to work pursuing a degree in Advertising with a minor in Interactive Digital Design. Julie loves Quinnipiac and Connecticut but she is a true Jersey girl at heart, which is where she was born and raised.

Getting to know Julianne, i can tell she is a totally down to earth diva. She loves the beach, shopping, music and hanging out with friends. One of her passions is drawing; her specialty is drawing people (She doesn't know it yet, but my plan is to get her to draw me :) before the intern program ends).

I asked Julie what she was looking to get out of this internship at Response and this is what she said: "I hope to continue learning about how advertising and marketing is implemented in the real world. Although college is an essential part of the learning process, it is detrimental to get real world experience instead of graduating only knowing business through a textbook. Learning how to advertise and market through online media is really beneficial being that everything is becoming so internet focused."

Julie and I share an office and we love to listen to music while we work- its inspiring. We constantly have the John Mayer station of Pandora on. This is how i found out that Julianne's dream job is to be a Music Artist... this is also how i found out that her voice is... well... lets just say she might want to find another dream job! (No offense Julie- i still like singing with you)

The other day, Julie confessed to me that she watches way too much TV. I asked her what her favorite shows were and she said she likes Nip/Tuck and Family Guy. She also could not stop talking about LOST. She spent her entire Christmas break watching seasons 1-5 and was so excited this Tuesday when season 6 started.

Well as you can all tell, we have another great addition to the Response team!

The Tale of Katie Mortimore

Once upon a time there was girl by the name of Katie Mortimore.

• Senior at Quinnipiac University in Connecticut
• Marketing Intern at Response Marketing in New Haven
• Born in Boca Raton, Flordia
• Currently resides in New York.
• Her passion is event planning
• Loves fashion, and social media (facebook, twitter ETC), the beach, working out, sushi, shoes, a good book and her family & friends.

One day, Katie applied for a marketing internship at a place called Response Marketing. Due to her hard work and determination, she received the job. But what did she hope to get out of it?

"I want to gain practical hands on business experience with this internship. I am also excited to utilize social media tools in marketing campaigns- since that is our future. Mainly though, I want to have fun. I love the marketing industry, it sort of like anything goes and i love being creative so i really just want to be able to put my mind to work and see what happens with it. Its really cool and satisfying to see your ideas come to life through your clients. "

Katie was asked to look into a crystal ball to see if her career goals would come true. What was in store for her future?

"If i could be the head of Global Marketing for a company like Louis Vuitton- that would be insane. Or Dolce & Gabanna, cause their marketing strategies are sexy."

Alike anyone her age, she watched TV.

• Lost
• House
• Gossip Girl - why? "because Chad Crawford is dreamy

Does Katie pursue a career in fashion? Does Chad Crawford become her prince? Only time will tell.

THE END

We're Looking For an AE...Could it Be You?

Response is an award-winning marketing agency based in New Haven, CT. Our work is challenging and equal parts exciting, sexy, and creative. We offer our clients an array of traditional and digital marketing services and solutions that deliver results: Integrated Marketing, Advertising, Promotions, In-store Merchandising, Web Development, Social Media, and more. For your next career move, perhaps you’re thinking about the people, the growth potential, and the culture. One of the great things about working at Response is that we're a fast growing agency and a place where you can make a BIG difference.

Our Account Executives are the link between the agency and our clients. You will work closely with our clients, understanding their strategic business objectives and be their partner in developing and implementing their integrated marketing plans. By utilizing the resources of our talented agency, you'll collaborate to create effective marketing campaigns for our clients.

Job Requirements:

• 2+ years Account Management Experience (Agency experience preferred)
• Highly, highly organized
• Well-versed in the digital marketing landscape, with a passion to keep your finger on the pulse of emerging trends and technology
• Works well under pressure and thrives in a fast-paced environment
• Strong attention-to-detail and time management skills
• Great communication/interpersonal skills for both internal and external communication with clients
• Ability to take direction and also be self-motivated
• Strong copywriting skills
• SEO, SEM, Ad Words experience a plus
• Energetic and positive team-player attitude and a great sense of humor
• Proficient in Microsoft Office programs including: MS Word, MS Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook

Interested candidates should contact Paul Lavoie – plavoie@thepowertoprovoke.com

OCD Style Social Networking

NutshellMail: Simplify Your Online Social Life from David Lyman on Vimeo.

Since when did social networking become such a hassle? With websites such as Facebook and Twitter booming out of control, people are becoming more and more involved in this internet supernova. Belonging to more websites has added more time and effort on the individuals who choose to use them. We all know how Facebook sucks us in, spending way more time checking friends’ profiles and reading live newsfeeds, that a five minute intended check magically becomes an hours amount of browsing. Now multiply that by the amount of websites in which you belong to.

Look at the table below. Jot down on a piece of paper how many minutes you spend on each site and then total it up.

Facebook __ minutes
Twitter __ minutes
MySpace __minutes
LinkedIn __ minutes
TOTAL minutes

If you are anything like me, you spend at least 180 minutes on the computer. That’s 3 hours! You don’t realize how much time you actually spend on these sites until you actually sit down and think about it. So what can we do to fix this?

Solution: Nutshell Mail

What this program does is combine all of the recent updates into one organized piece of mail sent directly to your inbox. So ignore the 50 e-mails from Facebook telling you that you have another friend request and focus solely on this one. It’s an OCD’s dream! And the best part is that you don’t even need to leave the e-mail to respond to wall posts and tweets! Goodbyeeeeeeeeeeeee wasted time.

State of the Union Address Goes Social

President Obama will be addressing the United States Congress with the State of the Union Address at 9 p.m. EST tonight. The president will report on the condition of the nation and outline his legislative agenda and national priorities.

Obama’s State of the Union Address is like no other. It will be the first address that is going social. Fellow Americans will have the chance to be more interactive than ever by utilizing social media.

Pause!! Let’s go back in time to the first State of the Union Address, presented by George Washington on January 8, 1790 in New York City. Back in 1790, NYC was the provisional U.S capitol, not Washington D.C. George Washington had to hand write seven pages of his address to be presented to Congress. The address was then discontinued in 1801 by Thomas Jefferson because he thought it to be too monarchical and was too similar to the Speech from the Throne presented in the United Kingdom. Instead of orally addressing the Congress, the address was written and submitted to Congress. In 1913 however, Woodrow Wilson re-established the oral address, and has been continued annually.

George Washington’s first State of the Union Address

Now lets jump back to 2010. The State of the Union Address is now reported live through a mixed media of outlets. It’s televised, streamed live on the internet, and even streamed on the iPhone!

Socially, Facebook and YouTube are key players in bringing together the interactions between the President and citizens of America. Facebook users can view a live stream of the address at the White House Fan Page, and participate in a live chat.

YouTube is streaming the address live, and also allowing users to post questions to President Obama at youtube.com/CitizenTube. Obama will answer some of these questions next week in his follow-up speech.

Mashable has made an excellent list of “where to watch online” to check out the best places to watch, listen and engage.

I will unfortunately not be near a TV or the internet, so I will be using my iPhone to stay updated with tonight’s address! Which media outlet will you be watching?

Avatar’s Historic Reign in China Cut Short

Avatar is the current leader in entertainment buzz. After spending millions of dollars in marketing and advertising; this movie has topped the charts and has broken film records. James Cameron, director of the massive box-office hit Titanic is the creative force behind this blockbuster, shown below discussing the historic release of Avatar in Beijing, China.

With high-tech and impressive IMAX 3-D visuals, the Asian-tech market was anticipating the release of the blockbuster. However, after ten days of both regular theatre and IMAX 3-D theatre showings, the film was discontinued in the basic, non IMAX 3-D theatres.

According to an Article posted by The New York Times-online, China has chosen to move Avatar out of basic theatres for a new domestically produced film-biography of the ancient Chinese philosopher, Confucius. The Chinese government prefers to protect its domestic film industry by only allowing 20 international films to be seen per. year for a limited time each.

Here are some facts about Avatar in China:

- The film has been in 2,500 theatres since January 4th

- Avatar has grossed over $76 Million in ticket sales making it the most successful non-domestic film EVER in China

- There are only 550 IMAX 3-D theatres available to the Chinese public

- Avatar has run in China for over the 10-day limit


Chinese officials have been known to do pull back on non-domestic media and entertainment when media hype gets too big, for its own political reasons. However a similar issue with censorship and Google makes it difficult for the “West” to capitalize on the fastest growing economy of all time.

It will be interesting to see what happens next upon the release of Avatar on DVD and online forms in China.

(Information and stats from http://www.thenewyorktimes.com/)