Celebrating Bad Hair – Horrible Haircuts To Judge Online (GALLERY)

(TrendHunter.com) I love this new bad hair website, Don’t Judge My Hair! Of course we are going to judge it, that is why we are here.

The concept for the bad hair website comes from the people behind, Look I Fixed It.…

Tradgic Tattoos – Incorrectly Spelled Tattoos Mortify Purchasers, Become Viral on the Web (GALLERY)

(TrendHunter.com) I will never ever get bored of badly spelled tattoos – surely it is one of the most unfortunate situations to be in.

I am very concerned about receiving badly spelled tattoos and paranoia did set in…

Honda conecta fãs da marca no Facebook

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A Honda sabe da enorme taxa de fidelidade entre os seus novos e antigos consumidores. Por isso pensou em utilizar o Facebook para conectar os apaixonados pela Honda e aqueles que conhecem alguma pessoa que adora um carro da montadora.

Lançou uma página exclusiva na rede social (www.facebook.com/Honda) e agregou nela sub-páginas de alguns recém lançamentos, como o Honda Insight, Accord Crosstour, Element entre outros.

É possível encontrar outros fãs dos produtos da montadora, através de uma pequena enquete que definirá quem, além de você, tem as mesmas “preferências automotivas”.

Os primeiros usuários que participarem mais ativamente dessa grande comunidade social da Honda, postando, comentando e “espalhando” a ferramenta, poderão ser escolhidos para protagonizar as futuras campanhas publicitárias da marca.

Taco Bell Wants to Reach More Consumers Via Social Media


CHICAGO (AdAge.com) — Taco Bell, hoping to connect with more of its young consumers online and through social media, has hired R/GA, San Francisco and New York, as its digital shop of record. The chain said R/GA will begin by revamping the fast feeder's website from what the company calls an "entertainment portal" to a more user-friendly destination for information.

Barclaycard App Becomes Top Free, Branded iPhone Game Ever


LONDON (AdAge.com) — Not many branded iPhone games have broken through, but a new one from U.K.-based Barclaycard has quickly become the most popular free, branded game in the history of the iTunes App Store.

Viewers Break Up With ‘Jon and Kate’


MINNEAPOLIS (AdAge.com) — "What do women want?" wondered Sigmund Freud. Of course, to be fair, he should have asked the same of men. Had he been around in the era of reality TV, he probably would have at least been able to answer "to not watch TV together." Monday's schedule, for instance, featured Jon and Kate, breaking up. So, to some degree, did viewers with "Jon and Kate Plus 8," the TLC reality show that showed up at the top of the ratings race when the show had its season premiere and the last time it ran an original, when the couple announced their irreconcilable differences.

Owl-Inspired Autmobiles – The Halcyon Concept Car Is Light, Quiet and Quick (GALLERY)

(TrendHunter.com) At this rate, sooner or later we’ll just teleport everywhere and cars will become obsolete. I guess in the meantime we can field brilliant concepts like the Halcyon car from Ralph-Tayler Webb.

This car…

Stella Taps Swinging ’60s, Grolsch’s Mobile App, an ARG for ‘Tron: Legacy’ and Other New Work


On this week's episode of Creativity's Top 5, Mother, London, recruits illustrator Robert McGinnis to lend his sultry '60s style to Stella Artois; Artist Jimena Oddi and director Jorge Jaramillo create visuals as frenetic and eclectic as the N.A.S.A. track it showcases; Grolsch challenges your sobriety with a mobile app; 42 Entertainment executes another ARG success for the upcoming "Tron: Legacy"; and Best Buy brings its customer service to the Twitterverse.

PG’s Bow-Tie-Paper-Towel Injunction Tripped Up by Birkenstock

A federal judge in Columbus, Ohio, has decided those little bow-tie patterns on paper towels don't make much difference after all, putting to rest for now a question that had kept that part of the marketing industry focused on tissue products on the edge of its seat.

Gang Culture Photography – Donna De Cesare Captures Faces Emotions of US Gang Members (GALLERY)

(TrendHunter.com) Gang culture photography may sound disturbing, but it’s a glimpse into the reality of many people’s lives.

The gang culture photography by Donna De Cesare shown in this gallery focuses in on “extensive…

Don’t Ignore Brand Assets in a Bad Economy


The dollar just isn't what it used to be. But that doesn't mean you can let your competitors and online "entrepreneurs" debase the value of your company's most priceless assets. When the chips are down, brand owners must shore up the foundation of what connects them most with consumers — the brand — and not let it crash and crumble in hopes of future — and costly — repair

Freeloader Among the Rich, for a Night



Freeloader rarely turns down an invite to a party where A-list celebrities are guaranteed to be in attendance. So you can imagine how quickly our RSVP trigger finger was activated when we were mailed an invite to TV Land's party for "How'd You Get So Rich?" The soiree was held at host Joan Rivers' Upper East Side apartment.

Social Media: 5 Reasons to Love It

social-media-marketingToday somebody asked me why I love social media. There are so many reasons and it’s hard for me to choose only a few. So I did what any other social media savvy individual would do: I posted the question on Facebook, Twitter and other outlets. I was able to use social media to explain why I love social media and I think fellow blogger Jenna McWilliams says it best: “Social media is not a trend, but a fundamental human urge to communicate,” and now we have more ways to do so. So, my top five reasons:

1. 1-800 customer care number? Consider it a thing of the past. Remember the time when we had 1-800 numbers? We’d wait on hold for eternity to finally get connected to someone in another country who was so far from executives that we were sure our complaints or problems would never be heard. Social media has changed that. Now companies have to listen to their customers because unhappy ones can broadcast their displeasure through social media. Also, it’s no longer a one-way conversation. Some companies have jumped onto the social media bandwagon (as they should) and created accounts to ask consumers to help create and improve their brands.  Two most notable examples are Starbucks’ My Starbucks Idea and Burger King’s Whopper Sacrifice.

2. Efficiency of reaching consumers. Look at social media this way – imagine all of your customers coming together on a daily basis and talking about topics that pertain to you and your company, thereby spreading even more information about your company and gaining more recognition and consumers. One of my favorite quotes comes from my mentor and good friend, Griffin Farley of 22squared: “Don’t plan for the ones you reach, plan for the ones they reach.”

3. Being connected (this was the most popular answer I received after posting the question). When something happens to ourselves or to someone we know, we share it with others through pictures, comments and tweets.  More importantly, it’s a new way to get news, support, and advice on anything.What better way to educate yourself on advertising and marketing than by following an expert in a specific field? Who knows, it could even get you a job (Tweeter Neal Schafer had it happen to him after he started his blog and web site).

4. Creative campaigns. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – if I had a TiVo, all I would record are commercials. I like advertising, but not because I want to learn about the products. I like the  creativity used to showcase a product to consumers. And now with social media, they’re becoming even more creative. Viral videos, Twitter giveaways, Facebook fan pages, etc. I can’t get enough of them. Old school + new school = awesome, consumer-activity-inducing campaigns.

5. The best thing about social media? It is changing the way we think. And with the exponential growth of it, no social media professional can be sure of where these new media will lead. But I can tell you that it’s exciting to see the evolution.

Megan Green is a freelance propagation planner who has had her work published on PR News Wire, as well as many other outlets. Contact her on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or at megankategreen@gmail.com.

TV Upfront Negotiations Nearly Done


NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — Negotiations in the upfront market with the five major broadcast TV networks are close to wrapping up, according to media buyers, with several anticipating volume in the one-time $9 billion-plus market to be off by as much as 10% to 15%. A good portion of the cable marketplace has moved as well, buyers said, with volume likely to be down anywhere from 7% to 12%.

The best Eternal Moonwalk of Michael Jackson

Ertenal Moonwalk is the best tribute to Michael Jackson. It’s combining an infinite number of videos from people moonwalking. The video are creating a chain. Really cool.

Europcar targets car hire prospects with Twitter campaign

LONDON – Car rental firm Europcar has launched ‘Hot Summer Tweets’, a Twitter campaign to encourage prospects to hire cars for their summer holidays and weekend breaks.

FC Barcelona and Microsoft set for sponsorship deal

LONDON – European champions FC Barcelona are set to sign a sponsorship deal with Microsoft, according to reports in Spain.

Don’t Take the Monkey From Your Employee’s Back


If I take on my employees' problems, they don't learn, grow, gain confidence or feel gratified.

Sky chief’s pay package up 20% to £2.34m

LONDON – BSkyB chief executive Jeremy Darroch took home £2.34m in the year to 30 June – up nearly 20% from £1.96m the previous year, company filings reveal.

FT.com increases users and launches new clippings service

LONDON – One of the UK’s only paid-for newspaper sites, FT.com, has exceeded 1.4 million registered users since its launch in 2007, it revealed today (4 August) as it launched a new online clippings service.