At first, I didn’t understand the point. It seemed to me like it was simply people bragging about where they were eating or going out. But then I learned from someone saavier than I, about the tips that FourSquare can offer.

As the person who always orders the one gross thing on the menu, I was excited to use the tips to order with confidence and to know the hottest places to eat brunch or dinner.

The application resembles a game in awarding its participants with badges certain goals such as visiting 10 places are attained and even titles you “Mayor” when you visit a certain location the most.

Sounds fun, right?

I thought so up until the point I read a friend’s article in the Augusta Chronicle and had to think twice. The article mentions the dangers of applications like FourSquare and the stance that www.PleaseRobMe.com takes on the issue.

While the site is currently contemplating their future mission, they began as a source listing the idiotic Twitter posts that blatantly say, “Please Rob Me!”

@Fun4Robots left home and checked in 7 minutes ago:
I’m at Starbucks (1398 Columbia Ave., Lancaster). http://4sq.com/c7h4o5

@ClairWyant left home and checked in 7 minutes ago:
I’m at Desert Diamond Casino (7350 South Nogales Highway, Tucson). http://4sq.com/6VQxTK

Or even…

@LanceWeber left home and checked in 6 minutes ago:
I’m at Denver airport Concouse B (Denver). http://4sq.com/c37a7m

Here is an excerpt from www.PleaseRobMe.com’s “Why” page:

The danger is publicly telling people where you are. This is because it leaves one place you’re definitely not… home. So here we are; on one end we’re leaving lights on when we’re going on a holiday, and on the other we’re telling everybody on the internet we’re not home.

…The goal of this website is to raise some awareness on this issue and have people think about how they use services like Foursquare, Brightkite, Google Buzz etc. Because all this site is, is a dressed up Twitter search page. Everybody can get this information.

Perhaps before I become an early adapter and start racking up badges on FourSquare, I think I will reassess how valuable my personal items are and how risky this business of posting your location can be.

-Jessica V.

As an Old Navy customer, I receive weekly emails from the company. Most often I delete them, but the one I got today really caught my attention. Old Navy is on a search to find the next “Supermodelquin” for a chance to win $100,000 and be molded into a mannequin to be cast in the company’s commercials!

Here’s what I like about the contest- to enter the contest, customers go into Old Navy stores all over the country and snap a full-legnth pic posing with one of the stores’ mannequins. Next, you upload the photo onto the website and America gets to vote on their favorite pic. The pic with the most votes wins the prize.

I think this is a great promotion for the company. It’s fun, easy and interactive- the key elements to any good promotion. I’ve learned from experience that promotions have to be simple enough for people to participate in and they need to enjoy doing it. And the online voting aspect gives everyone a chance to be involved which increases brand awareness. Those who have entered the contest will encourage their friends and family to go on the site and vote for their pics. Kudos to Old Navy for a great idea!

There’s only 6 days left to go in the store and take your best pic. Check out the contest at www.iwannabesuper.com.

-Danielle K.

Big Communications, Inc., took home 23 awards from Saturday night’s ADDY gala, the Birmingham Advertising Federation’s annual awards program.

Among Big’s awards was the Mosaic Award for Diversity for Big Communication’s rebranding campaign for Jacksonville State University. Big also received a Special Judges’ Award for Production for Big’s “Red Hot for the Cause” poster for AIDS Alabama Casino Night, and Big Art Director Brian Curtain took home the title of Art Director of the Year.

“It’s definitely a Big year for Big,” said President John Montgomery. “This is the best showing we have ever had at the ADDYs. I am proud of the team and excited to be celebrating with amazing clients who put their trust in our ideas.”

Montgomery said taking home the Mosaic Award was definitely a highlight of the evening. According to the American Advertising Federation, the Mosaic Award recognizes companies who have embraced multicultural marketing techniques and diversity initiatives.

Curtain’s Art Director of the Year Award came as a surprise to the 26-year-old artist, who first joined Big Communications as an Intern in 2007, the same year he took home Best In Show among student work at the ADDY Awards.

“It is so exciting to be a part of the growth of talented young artists like Brian,” said Chief Creative Officer Ford Wiles. “His editing and animation work has really grown to be competitive with top art directors not only in Birmingham but nationally.”

Big also took home the following awards for the agency’s 2009 creative work:

Silver ADDY Awards
• Direct Marketing: IN T-Shirt for the Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Consumer or Trade Publication: “Where you’re going” print campaign for Jacksonville State University
• Consumer or Trade Publication: Birmingham Airport Print Campaign
• Interactive Media/Micro Site: Findyourelf.com for Colonial Brookwood Village
• Interactive Media/Micro Site: Whereyouregoing.com for Jacksonville State University
• Interactive Media/DVD: Admissions Video for Jacksonville State University
• Regional/National Television: Where you’re going TV spot for Jacksonville State University
• Mixed Media Consumer: Where you’re going campaign for Jacksonville State University
• Public Service Collateral/Poster: Crawfish Boil Poster for Red Mountain Entertainment
• Public Service Collateral/Campaign: Mountain Brook Village to Village Run campaign
• Logo: Top of the Hops Beer Festival logo for Red Mountain Entertainment
• Animation or Special Effects: Admissions Video for Jacksonville State University
• Music with Lyrics: “We know where we’re going” for Jacksonville State University
• Music Only: Music for Jacksonville State University
• Editorial Spread/Series: On the John University book covers for Books-A-Million

Gold ADDY Awards
• Mixed Media Consumer: In Again Campaign for the Birmingham Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Public Service Collateral/Poster: AIDS Alabama Casino Night poster
• Advertising Industry Self Promotion/Direct Marketing: Big Communications Baby Sleeper
• Animation or Special Effects: Find Your Elf TV spot for Colonial Brookwood Village
• Music with Lyrics: “Do you know where you’re going” for Jacksonville State University

Once a year, on a very special Sunday night, millions of Americans tune in and decide for a few brief hours to really care about commercials. In fact, a recent report released from Nielsen Media reports that a slim majority (51 percent) of people watching the Super Bowl care more about the ads than they do about the game.

And they don’t just watch the ads, they critique them, applaud them, ridicule them and sometimes talk about them for weeks and years to come. As an adman myself, I enjoy watching my friends outside of the advertising industry debate their favorite spot and distill it down to “I like it” or “I don’t.”
With all those critical eyes glued to the screen and some $2.7 million per 30 seconds on the line, advertisers take their airtime seriously. They know the pressure is on not only to be entertaining, but to be relevant and memorable, and their efforts often reveal something more than the latest line of potato chips. Super Bowl commercials are a reflection of the times.

In the wake of the cease fire in Vietnam, we got the 1974 Master Lock commercial where a gunman shoots the lock from close range to show that even a bullet hole won’t open it. A decade later, when we were all looking over our shoulders for Big Brother and searching for individuality, MacIntosh introduced its computer with an iconic ad about breaking conformity.

In 1993, fresh off the Dream Team win at the 1992 Summer Olympics, we got Michael Jordan and Larry Bird teaming up in an “off the expressway, over the river” game of horse in competition for a Big Mac.

In 1999, dotcoms dominated the commercial breaks, and Monster.com’s “When I Grow Up” spot won the hearts of GenX-ers who were entering the work force. In the ad, fresh-faced kids shared their dreams not to be firefighters or astronauts, but to be in middle management.

In 2002, a few short months after the country was devastated and united by the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, patriotism swept the nation. The top-rated ad for that year was Anheuser-Busch’s “Clydesdales pay respect to Sept. 11 victims.”

So, as we struggle to gain economic footing after the worst recession in memory, what will this year’s ads say about a new decade in America? A look at plans for this year’s spots seems to reflect our national uncertainty. Just as we lack confidence in the security of our jobs and our investments, advertisers are feeling hesitant.

In fact, some advertisers are opting out altogether. Pepsi and FedEx, two of the largest advertisers in past years, decided to simply skip Super Bowl 2010.

Another longtime Super Bowl advertiser, Anheuser-Busch, had decided to scrap the Clydesdales for a new creative this year. Then they started questioning the move and turned to viewers, asking for fans to pick their favorite of three spots on Budweiser’s Facebook page. Meanwhile, Career Builder took a page out of Doritos’ playbook and opted to let consumers submit spot ideas in an online contest. Sure, it could be argued they save on the cost of production and have more potential for viral success, but they also avoid any potentially risky decision-making on their end.

Other advertisers are dodging the issues of the day and seeking the security of better times. McDonald’s, in fact, is doing a remake of its 1993 success, this time with LeBron James starring. Volkswagen’s “Punch Dub” commercial is a play on the classic “Punch Bug” game that kids used to play in the Beetle’s heyday. Boost Mobile is bringing back the 1985 Shufflin’ Crew for “The Boost Mobile Shuffle.” Home-Away, a vacation rental Web site in its first appearance in the Super Bowl, has hired Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo to reprise their roles from the 1980s movie “National Lampoon’s Vacation.”

All in all, it seems advertisers are proceeding with caution this year, as are the rest of us. We go to work every day, hoping the cycle of layoffs will come to an end before we become casualties of the recession. We invest more carefully than ever. And we spend with great caution.

While the advertising lineup is a good reflection of the mood of America, the way to motivate cautious consumers to open their wallets is not to be similarly restrained. As always, it is those who risk much that will receive the greatest rewards. With that in mind, I’m expecting two experienced Super Bowl advertisers to rise to the top this year:

Hats off to Coca-Cola, which may have the only 2010 Super Bowl ad that tries to get a laugh out of the employment crisis. One of the Coke Super Bowl ads features Montgomery Burns from “The Simpsons,” who goes bankrupt and learns to enjoy the simple things in life — a Coke.

But the winner this year may be Miller High Life, which decided Americans may not be impressed with a company that drops millions of dollars on a commercial while they struggle to pay their mortgage. So, Miller opted to feature four random small businesses across the country in its ads. Hard to say how a Super Bowl spot will affect Loretta’s Authentic Pralines in New Orleans, but I, for one, would like to try one of Loretta’s candies with a cold Miller High Life.

Ford Wiles is partner and chief creative officer at Birmingham-based advertising and PR agency Big Communications. E-mail: ford@bigcom.com.
© 2010 al.com. All rights reserved.

I must say that their Twitter-presence was a great addition. They retweeted celebs reactions like the ones below and up-tp-the-minute coverage of what was happening.

RT @zacbrownband: Wow! Best New Artist & the performance. Thank you, Academy! about 2 hours ago from web

RT @taylorswift13: I will remember this night, this celebration, the screaming and hugging of people I love. The words on cards of hotel … about 2 hours ago from web

RT @jason_mraz: Sitting in the crowd a Grammy winner. Numb in whelm. Grateful for ten years of fan support. Thank you. I’ll follow up w … about 15 hours

RT @britneyspears: On my way to the Grammys. Can’t wait to see all the performances! -Britney

As I followed the #Grammys postings, I would have liked to see them interact with the public though. A response to so many people asking who the female singer with the curl during the Les Paul tribute, how did Ke$ha and Justin Berber get paired together, and what was Kanye’s reaction to Swift’s win.

So what could the Grammy’s learn from their endeavor into social media? PRNewser makes three suggestions. One: offer exclusive content like backstage outtakes or additional musical performances; you could easily take clips from rehearsal or backstage madness that fans would love to peruse. Two: hire prominent bloggers to keep up with the up-to-date content such as Stereogum. Three: Offer celeb tweeters a spot on your website with a Twitter feed or liveblog.

Jessica V.

When I start singing- “My bologna has a first name,” more than likely, you can finish the lyric. Oscar Mayer’s iconic jingle has transcended generations and is known worldwide.

So why would their new agency chose to axe the song?

McGarryBowen Agency, a unit of Dentsu Holdings, was awarded the Oscar Mayer account in May adding Oscar Mayer to Dentsu’s growing list of Kraft accounts including Maxwell House, Lunchables, Philadelphia Cream Cheese, Miracle Whip and Kraft singles.

Timothy Scott, managing partner for McGarryBowen, said he wanted to refresh the brand and get away from the product-specific ads.

“There was an opportunity for the brand to get back to that sort of joy and exuberance that I think the brand has used throughout the years,” Mr. Scott said. “It also offered the opportunity, in our minds, to take the entire product portfolio, and was there a way to align it under one idea when they hadn’t done it in forever? What we did not want to do was write jingles. We intentionally stayed away from having them sing about individual products — we didn’t want people singing about hot dogs or bologna, we wanted to capture the spirit of the brand,” Mr. Scott said. “I think those jingles, they’ll still live on in different places and in different touchpoints, but oftentimes certain jingles can hearken back to yesteryear.”

Click here to read the article and hear the song.

-Jessica V.

There had been no significant advertising outside of running groups and grassroots efforts until Big joined the race. We branded the event with a new logo and modern sense of style. The event was also moved to after the holidays and given a new route.

In addition to the new logo, we created a television spot to help get some increased awareness out about the race. The spot ran our media rotation of cable (HGTV, E!, History, Lifetime, ESPN) as well as with our local network partner FOX6

Big also procured multiple earned media placements through public relations efforts helping spread the word leading up to the race.

Success
The 2010 Village to Village Run had over 700 participants – a 460% increase over previous years due in large part to the branding and advertising surrounding the campaign.
In addition, the campaign won a 2010 Silver Addy for design of a Public Service Collateral/Campaign.