Is it a bird?  Is it a plane?  Nope… it is Kanye West making his Twitter Debut today.  After being a strong advocate against Twitter, Kanye threw in the towel.  I guess if you can’t beat ‘em, follow them.

I am sure that he will soon start giving us much more than we could ever expect.

Check him out @kanyewest on twitter.

According to a recent published report, the number of people who watched video during television viewing hours increased 14% in the last year. This brings our user count to 65 million viewers who tuned into video online instead of their televisions in the evening during the week. This redefines the term “On Demand”. At the same time, viewers are watching a broader range of content during their overall viewing time. What does this mean for advertisers? Well, there could be some extended relevance for brand exposure as more people are watching a broader range of topics and are open to the viral aspect of video watching. Experiment with your advertising on different categories that could offer some extended relevance for your target market.

We talk so much about how marketing and advertising has become authentic and real.  In reality (excuse the play on words), marketers have just gotten more in tune with the hot buttons that fuel our human desires.  With the uprising of social media, it’s not an us and them – it’s a “we”.  As marketers and branding agents, we have had to come down from our “take our word for it” pedestal and become part of the conversation.  And the conversation is about taking a stand for something.

In a world of uncertainties;  with our recession peeking back in, jobless rates, a war that rolls on, natural disasters and man made oil spills, our American nature is to stand for something.   Hold on to something that we can call our own.  Harmlessly, this has taken the form of new brand loyalty.  We LOVE this brand, We HATE that sports team and we are JEALOUS of what we are not.

The “we” approach is prevalent in social media.  I can’t think of one medium that isn’t “social” now.  Television commercials are becoming more entertaining and campaign for our loyalty.  Print campaigns (those that are left) are usually geared towards connecting online.  Most brands are not trying to appeal to everyone, especially now.  They understand the value of discernment.  The rise of social media and citizen journalism put a microscope on trying to be everything to everyone and blew the whistle on brands that speak out of both sides of their mouth.  Some people will love them. (Harley Davidson is still the #2 tattoo right after “Mother”)   Some people will hate them and choose what they consider to be a polar opposite brand, those who are not in the target brand demographic.  And some will be jealous, that could be people who may not be able to afford the brand (as in fashion), but align their loyalty and plan on obtaining as much as they can of the brands products.  Jealousy is a marketers savings account. It will realize itself in time if the public does not become fickle and the brand stays true.

“Jealousy is the fun you think they had”, Erica Jong

So, how are marketers using the Holy Trinity of human nature?  We are asking you to “join”, “like”, pass on to connections and friends you haven’t seen in 20 years.  And, it works.  Social Media has, in some ways, reinvented the “high school clique” on a mass basis.  And as the old saying goes, you have to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.  We take that to heart.  We join, and then we buy.

Bold marketing is closer to the reality than “authentic” marketing.  Eliciting a response is what it’s about.  TV commercials are viral entertainment and they have to be to remember when we are saddled with more than 10,000 advertising impressions daily.  They have taken on a whole new level of production quality as well.  Check out Kia’s CGI TV spot, though it’s short, it speaks to a youth audience and captures the attention of those who may buy with song and imagry.  The response solicited is love.  Cute, furry animals, an old school song favorite and CGI.  Recipe for viral video and love.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfJnqbudMzs

Being an Aquarian, my personal marketing style is to encourage consumers to fall in love.  But, remember that love in marketing isn’t gooey, emotional or fake.  Loving a brand is about being entertained.  With the need for levity, the most effective way to become “we” and have consumers is to relieve their stress.  Make them laugh, show them that life doesn’t have to be so “heavy”. 

Being a girl, also means we are pretty darn good at “jealousy” marketing, as well.  It’s the “don’t you wish your girlfriend was hot like me” syndrome.  Jealousy marketing can quickly turn against you if you don’t have enough brand equity to back it up.  You are essentially saying in your advertising messages that your brand is the cool kids, and you are not.  But, you want them to join.  Fine line.  And as I have said in a hundred conference speeches, it is the old rules of dating that apply here.  Tease them with messages, leave them wanting more.

Hate is not negative campaigning.  It’s one brand vs. another.  Apple and PC are the best examples of this type of marketing.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcDpFLSTZWU  Negative campaigning hasn’t ever really caught on with our social culture.  But, tongue-and-cheek, “we are cooler” has.

One thing to remember when you are putting together a human emotion trigger campaign, is that we experience all of these things in a cyclical cycle.  Love, Hate, Jealousy.  We cannot only hold one of these in our brains for long.  Be ready to move your consumers through that cycle, or they will get bored.  Break up your messages to your medium and see what’s most effective there, chances are you will be hitting all three in a one year marketing plan.  The script has flipped, and it’s no surprise.  We are slaves to the citizen journalism of today’s online society.  All media should affect your message, what’s going on in the news, what daily challenges are your consumers facing?  Do they need a pick me up?  Do they feel out of control and need to take a stand?  They move through the cycle and so should you.

A continuation on our list of things that don’t get enough real estate on searches. Enjoy.

1. Is Stephen Hawking faking it?
2. Who is actually afraid of the Big Bad wolf?
3. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, lawsuit
4. Places I can wear plaid
5. How to successfully take a wrong turn on a one-way road
6. Who is more deserving than me?
7. How to get a pony for my birthday
8. Is my sibling {insert name her} directly descended from the devil?
9. Team Jacob or team Edward, when the hell did they start forming teams?
10. Is the Old Spice guy Team Edward or Team Jacob?
11. Top ways to decorate the house like the movie ‘Twilight’
12. If a zombie/vampire had a baby with a werewolf, what Movie Star would the baby look like?
13. Who keeps drinking all the milk in the fridge and putting the carton back
14. How to blog and lose money
15. Can I sell Google adspace on my body?
16. Confuscius’ failed years as a plumber
17. 10 funniest ways to freak out on an airplane
18.  Top 10 longest DMV lines
19. Lincoln, Gandhi, fist fight winner
20. How to see all of Europe in 45 minutes

Foursquare is fast becoming a popular social networking site with more than 700,000 “check-ins” each day. As networks like Foursquare gain popularity with users, we all start asking ourselves how we as businesses and brands can capitalize. Well, here’s a start.

If you don’t have a Profile on Foursquare, start one. Every business who is looking for foot traffic and repeat visitation should be on this community. Check Foursquare.com first to find out if your business is already listed. If it is, you can click “Claim Your Venue.” Don’t forget to promote your Foursquare presence inside your store or business. The web site offers downloadable PDFs and window clings for display. Essentially, users can access the business from their smart phone and “check-in” when they arrive. A user can see connected friends who may be at the same location or nearby, share and fine insider tips, coupons and ultimatly earn points. The more points a user earns, the more badges are received and the higher a status is met. The top point-receiver is crowned “Mayor.”

This engaging and competitive community is a brand driver. Users may not be aware that they have such an influence for others but they do. The goal of every user on Foursquare is to become Mayor of their favorite local businesses…restaurants, shops, bakeries, etc. Because a user must check in from the business itself, it requires a lot of frequent visitation. Nearly every business and brand is built on repeat visitation and brand loyalty. At the same time, businesses can reach out to Foursquare Mayors and frequent visitors with real rewards and discounts. You have the choice of whom to reach out to. Find that user that has a good amount of friends that can be encouraged to visit also. But don’t forget to save the best deals for the Mayor.

This Just In!! Twitter Places was just released allowing the ability to geo-tag tweets on the fly from a browser. Foursquare users can integrate their account with Twitter Places so when you click on a Twitter Place, you can also see check-ins. Twitter is also releasing an API functionality that lets developers integrate places into their applications. Even more reason to jump on Foursquare now if you haven’t already.

So, have you come up with a reason not to be on Foursquare yet?

With the world concentrated on the top trends in search engines, Twitter trending topics and everything that is most searched on the internet, I wanted to pay homage to things that don’t get nearly enough real estate when it comes to searches:

1)    How to lose money on real estate
2)    Things I like about Lindsay Lohan
3)    Where are my keys?
4)    Why can’t the Trix rabbit ever get Trix cereal?
5)    Why I shouldn’t microwave a closed can of corn
6)    Hobo fashion trends
7)    Why my grandma keeps spilling her drink
8)    Where can I send a check to Microsoft, just because they deserve it.
9)    How to carve a potato hat
10)    What royalties does Al Gore get from the invention of the internet?
11)    How to lose muscle mass in 10 days
12)    What can I say to lose all my Facebook Friends?
13)    How to ride a zombie without getting bucked off
14)    Stories about woodchucks
15)    Stories about chucking wood that don’t involve woodchucks
16)    How much wood would Wilt Chamberlain chuck if Wilt Chamberlain could chuck wood
17)    Top ten uses for pie
18)    I am 42 – how do I convince my mom to get me a baby sister for Christmas
19)    Memorable quotes from the Smurfs
20)    Things that won’t burn
21)    How can I tell if I am breathing?

As I’m sure you’ve heard, there is a huge uproar about the iPhone 4 and its apparent problems with the antennae.

People are up in arms about recalls, etc.  On Monday, Consumer Reports said that they would no longer be able to endorse the iPhone 4 due to its design flaw causing the signal strength to drop if you hold the phone in a certain way.  They even went as far as to suggest using duct tape to alleviate the problem.  Now comes the rant …

Consumer Reports on the iPhone4

1)    Have you ever seen anyone with an iPhone that doesn’t have a cover?  I haven’t.  A cover would alleviate any of the antennae problems.

2)    If you are opposed to number one, then learn to hold your phone differently.  Mobile phones are changing daily.  When I got my Motorola Droid I would often have calls disconnected due the ‘end call’ button touching my cheek.  Guess what? I didn’t threaten Motorola for their design flaw, or enter into litigation with my parents for my face shape … I simply learned to hold the phone in a way that worked.

3)    Do people really have that little to do that they are losing their minds over this issue? Class actions are in the wings.  If you chalked up all the time spent on this issue …  including mine … there would be a hell of a lot of wasted time.  Shouldn’t we concentrate more of our time on things that matter, like what trouble Lindsay Lohan is getting into this week or googling you own name endlessly?

4)    This one is for Consumer Reports:  Thank you for protecting the consumer, but if you are going to make a tongue in cheek remark like putting duct tape on the phone at least make it funny …  maybe taping a chicken nugget to the phone or putting it inside a turkey.  I’m just sayin’…

The bottom line is that this issue is not a big deal.  Everyone just needs to take a ‘chill pill’.

We live in a digital age. And in today’s world, it’s hard to discount the importance of the worldwide web. However, many marketers operate under the assumption that television and other forms of traditional media are still the most important when it comes to influencing consumer behavior. A new study shows that the internet is by far the most influential media channel.

According to the 2010 Digital Influence Index, by Fleishman-Hillard International Communications with Harris Interactive, “Of the seven nations the study addressed, four reported the Internet to be the most important source of information. China ranked the web highest in importance, followed by Germany, Japan, and the U.K., placing it above advice from friends, family or coworkers, television, radio, newspapers, magazines, postal mail and email.”

In the U.S., the internet tied with peer advice in regards to importance.

So what about traditional media – how does that rank? Well, “Magazines, radio and postal mail had the least importance among respondents, with an average of 10, 12 and 15 percent reporting each respective media as ‘absolutely essential’ or ‘extremely important.’ Newspapers and television received similar average rankings of around 16 percent.”

Additionally, the report mentioned that while the internet dominates in regard to influence, it does not dominate in advertising dollars spent, and marketers have yet to capitalize on the overwhelming importance of the medium.

Not that you needed to tell us that.

So for any marketers looking to target a global market, the internet is absolutely key, and should be first and foremost in your overall marketing plan. When it comes to research and recommendations, the internet is where consumers across the world turn for information – so marketers need to be acutely aware of that fact.

Organizations need to make sure they have a robust presence across the web, and address consumer questions, complaints and other brand issues directly and quickly. The report also mentioned that microbloggers trust companies that listen and respond in real time – so be sure you’re keeping an eye on Twitter, Tumblr and other microblogs for brand mentions.

As Android smartphone market share continues to grow on a daily basis, it falls behind in only one area: the number of available apps. So, Google has now created a new tool to help boost this number. This tool, entitled “App Inventor”, works as follows (according to Google): “To use App Inventor, you do not need to be a developer. App Inventor requires NO programming knowledge. This is because instead of writing code, you visually design the way the app looks and use blocks to specify the app’s behavior.”

The tool was tested in schools across the US, so apparently it really is child’s play!

Many are already arguing that that will lead to an increase in quantity, but a decrease in quality when it comes to Android apps. However, others think it could have long term positive effects for the search giant. Pete Cashmore, of Mashable.com, said: “We’ll see thousands of new Android apps, but will they be of a “cookie cutter” nature, offering very little value? There is, however, an upside in the long term: If App Inventor is so simple that schoolchildren can make apps, some those same children will soon become coders themselves and perhaps choose to develop apps for Android rather than iOS.”

Personally, I think this can only help Google in the long run. This is bound to get more laymen interested in application development and the Android marketplace. And who knows, a schoolteacher or retail manager might be the next great application developer, once they learn more about the process! Great ideas come from everyone, especially the people who use smartphones on a daily basis, developer or not. Additionally, this tool sounds very cool and offers lots of options, so we should see some great products come out of it.

The internet has forever changed the travel biz. Online travel planning is a booming business, and it’s growing exponentially. So, it’s only natural that Facebook would eventually acquire a travel related social site, and so they have!

TechCrunch reported yesterday that the almighty FB acquired nextstop, a social travel recommendation site.  According to TechCrunch, “The startup, which launched in early 2009, mixes social recommendations with search and adds a reputation system and elements of gameplay.”

Nextstop will be shut down as of September 1st, but apparently the founders are working on a way to make the content accessible through a creative commons license, and allow current users to upload their content to other social sites.

Have you used Nextstop? How do you think Facebook will integrate this type of technology into our day-to-day usage?