The Art of the Super Bowl Ad

Quick post but I am wondering your reaction. Is a $3 million super ad justified in this economy? With layoffs aplenty, is this a smart spend? I have to applaud Miller for their creativity in addressing the subject (though they are spending quite a bit on spots).

What went from being a partial advertising an initiative is now all about having companies one up each other. Being the good marketer I am, I do understand the utility of having your ad talked about by all the key media with both pre and post Super Bowl coverage.

Should brands be looking at other ways to spend these dollars? If you were in charge, how would you spend $3mil?

Offline vs. Online Communication

So I had an interesting lunch the other afternoon where the discussion was about technology and the utter dependancy we have upon it. Now -- I use Facebook and Twitter just as much as the next person but I also can appreciate the time to enjoy something new without picking up my phone to post an update or send a text. 

So often, I see my dear friends updating their social media channels on a feverish basis and I have to wonder? How are they able to focus? How are they able to connect? Trust me, I see the value and utility behind all of these technological innovations but I also worry that we are starting to become "one trick ponies." Instead of sending updates every five minutes from the football game -- why not relax with your friends/family and enjoy it? Maybe take a moment to take in life instead of documenting every inch of it.

I worry in a society where technology is king and speed is vital -- what does this mean for process and thought? We are raising a generation of children who are used to having everything and FAST! A society where if the answer isn't present they can just Google it. What about innovation? What about creativity? What about communication? All of these things take time and practice but with some many short cuts what might happen? 

How do we create a balance? On Fridays, I encourage my staff to stop communicating via email and have conversations with each other. I foster an open door policy because I would rather have someone have a conversation with me than just shooting me an email. I suppose the fascinating juxtaposition about this post is discussing the importance of offline communication through an online channel this is where I think there needs to be a balance -- what do you think? How are you fostering that balance? 

Plan, Plan, Plan, Plan

Has anyone ever felt that we often plan ourselves to death? Now I come from the school of thought that to develop solid, strategic, thoughtful public relations programs that show tangible and meaningful results you have to be very planful. But sometimes I think organizations and professionals take that too far.

There comes a point where you can plan yourself to death and all these documents are worthless if action is not taken. It can almost be troublesome when you are developing time lines and plans without kicking off the actual work. I have seen brilliant professionals become paralyzed with fear because there are too many documents floating yet no one leading the charge to execute them.

How do you overcome thing? Has anyone seen the problem in action? When is enough -- enough?