Awhile ago I watched a documentary on the creation of Helvetica.  I was glued to the TV.  The efficiency, the directness, the flexibility and the simplicity of it is fascinating.  My wife on the other hand thought my watching the documentary only added to the list of things that make me weird to her.  So be it.  It made me think how things we consume daily on the surface appear very simplistic but when you scratch below that surface there is complexity.  Helvetica is the most used typeface in the world.  The theory behind its design was about efficient communications.  No serifs to get in the way!  But companies from IBM to McDonald’s and every important warning or directional sign in the world primarily use Helvetica for that same reason.  An efficient communication of what they want people to take away from their logo, brand name or stop sign.

This led me to begin thinking about logos.  They’re everywhere we go.  I’ve worked with brands who have either created new or updated their logos, but behind the assignment of “update my logo” comes with it the beautiful blend of art and commerce and making something complex appear simple. Here are some key examples:

Target is a great example. Some have told me that it probably took about two minutes of a designer deciding “I’ll just make the logo a target”.  But in actuality it took strategists, designers and clients looking through hundreds of options.  At the end “the Target” was selected.  It is one of the most recognizable logos in the U.S.

FedEx. The consumer foisted upon them a shorthand name they felt compelled not to fight but embrace. The FedEx logo has some design magic in it though. The aligning of the back of the D with the front of the E and making them touch. Look for the arrow. It is in there. Once you see it, you can almost not see anything else.

Jack in the Box. The immediate past logo has a Jesus fish in it.  Serious.  I have insider knowledge having been behind the creation of the new logo that it was put there intentionally by the CEO when it was designed in 1987.  The new logo though tips its hat to Jack’s famous smile.  It has a three dimensional look and embraces red in two hues.  Red is so predominant in QSR (quick service restaurant) logos to walk away from the color would have seemed an obvious move.  Nope.  Jack has two red’s.  Jack doesn’t back down, he doubles down.

California Thoroughbred Racing. Bailey Gardiner recently redesigned this logo for a timeless sport that needs to attract a younger audience in order to remain viable and relevant.  Horse and rider are one in a seamless silhouette.  Four hooves off the ground in what is the cover shot on every Sports Illustrated that features one of the Triple Crown winners.  You can feel the crowd cheering with the theme line “Fun Runs Here”.

San Diego Magazine just revamped its logo on the cover of its magazine.  Clean, simple, to the point – when it comes to America’s Finest City don’t let serifs get in the way!

A few months ago, we wrote about the launch of the highly anticipated Google+. Buzz built quickly with the exclusive invites and endless media talk about the new platform by Internet heavyweight, Google. It’s no surprise that G+ hasn’t fully captured consumers hearts just quite yet, but even though the site hasn’t gained the following and popularity that Facebook already has, I wouldn’t call it a day for the platform just quite yet.

There are several new developments worthy of our attention as marketers. To pick up where Katie left off in our first Google+ blog post, here are a few new features that will be key for brands as the platform continues to evolve and gain clout among consumers and our marketing industry peers.

1. Online Integration

I love how Google is truly integrating their services. Using the tool bar at the top of the homepage, I can navigate through each application linked to my personal account adding ease and efficiency to my day. This includes my Google+ account, Gmail, calendar, documents, photos, news, books, blogs, you name it. Also note that Google+ only allows profiles using one’s real name meaning you are unable to register for an account under a pseudonym. According to Gigaom’s blog post, this information is important to marketers because “users who are anonymous or pseudonymous are arguably a lot less valuable to advertisers than those who choose to attach their real identities, including their age and gender, location and other demographic details to their accounts.”

2. Video Conferencing

Google+ recently added “hangouts,” a unique video conferencing tool,which sets it apart from Facebook. Hangouts can host multiple live video conference participants in one place at the same time. If a group of Google+ users are “hanging out,” others can drop in and join the conversation. This new functionality isn’t just a fun way for consumers to engage with each other, but the feature can also be extremely useful for brands to engage with consumers. Imagine talking to a sales representative or customer service agent face-to-face instead of over the phone.

Macy’s has done an excellent job of highlight the hangout feature on Google+, using the video chat capability to incentivize and interact with the company’s Google+ followers. After the launch of the Macy’s G+ page,  the company rewarded nine trendsetters the opportunity to live chat via hangouts with Leah Chernikoff, Fashionista Executive Editor and mBlog Style Blogger for Macy’s. All in conjunction with Macy’s Facebook holiday campaign. The morale of the story here: brands don’t have to choose between Facebook and Google+, marketers should evaluate whether their brand is a fit for both and then build a cohesive strategy for each platform.

3. Brand Pages

After only allowing individuals to create personal profiles, Google+ announced earlier this month the introduction of brand pages. Businesses have already jumped on the network to get plugged into the community. Clickz and Mashable nail it in this article “Why companies should invest in Google+ brand pages.” Here are a few key points on why brands should adapt to the platform:

• Google+ hosts a more professional conversation driven by content, not games, birthdays and application updates like Facebook.
• Through the use of circles to divide fans, brands can communicate more targeted messages to different circles.
• Also, groups are taking advantage of hangouts. The Black Eyed Peas and the Muppets have already participated in some quality “hangout” time.

How do you feel about the developing platform? Are you currently using the site in your social marketing plans?

If you work in fashion you’ve heard of Tumblr, and have had a discussion about whether you should incorporate the platform into your marketing plans for your brand or client. In short, Tumblr is a micro-blogging community filled with visually rich content, and a network of users who love to share their experiences and interests, and obsessively reblog other content from those they follow. The fashion industry quickly jumped on the Tumblr bandwagon because their fans were there, searching for trends, fabrics and awesome fashion bloggers to follow and spread their findings to their own networks.

Now more general consumer facing brands,and multiple news publications, have incorporated Tumblr into the mix for its ability to quickly and effectively disperse content and information across the web. What’s more, Tumblr really gives a brand or entity an opportunity to personify itself as if the brand was a person, and/or provides legs and nimble content in support of integrated marketing campaigns. The people behind a brand can share with fans exactly what the brand’s interest would be outside of the standard product offering, and what inspires the brand, which gives marketers both more to create and relate to the various interests and emotions of their fans.

Some of my favorite tumblogs include Kate Spade, Maybelline, Topshop, GQ, and of course Vogue, so check out what they’re up to.

Tumblr for an Integrated Campaign

Recently we launched a campaign to encourage young bucks to release their “Inner Jockey” at the Thoroughbred racetracks of California, and wanted to create a microsite for our fans to learn more about the brand and interact with the fun content we created such as videos and a quiz to help you listen to your Inner Jockey. Here are a few reasons why we choose Tumblr to serve as a microsite for our Inner Jockey campaign:

• Because of the playful nature of the campaign and our targeted younger demographic, we decided Tumblr would be a great platform to really bring Cal Racing’s Inner Jockey to life, in addition to bringing Cal Racing’s digital community to fruition on Facebook and Twitter.
• Allows fans to playfully interact with the brand and discover all that Cal Racing has to offer within and outside of horse racing.
• Encourages more user generated content at the racetracks themselves.
• We want to highlight the joy and fun that takes place at the racetracks, and found that much of this content was already being created by fans on Tumblr.
• Fans do not have to sign up with Tumblr in order to view our content, take a quiz, or find out about the latest food truck festival. To the naked eye, it just appears as a normal website or blog. Win!
• Tumblr gives our brand an authentic personality that relates to our demographic, and if we can create that relationship with potential and existing fans online, we know it will only strengthen our relationship with them trackside!

Release your Inner Jockey!

Although we’ve only been live for a couple of weeks our viewership and interactions thus far have been fantastic. We’ve been able to introduce a brand to users who have yet to have a way of interacting with Cal Racing as a whole, or who simply have not been to a racetrack in California. Thus far, Tumblr is helping us release Inner Jockeys on the left coast, and we are excited to see what form it takes moving forward.

What do you think about Tumblr as a social platform for brands and organizations?

Most of us start to notice holiday ads the millisecond Thanksgiving is over, so what does that mean for an ad agency? It means we have to get in the Holiday spirit very early – we’re talking summertime at the latest. As we begin our holiday campaign planning for both clients and our agency, I started to browse through memorable Holiday ads from the past to get my head in the right place. Here are a few interesting directions companies have chosen to spread the holiday cheer:

All of these ads are unique but successful in their own rights. Let’s take a closer look at how each brand chose to implement its holiday campaign and why -

1.  Showcase Your Product with a Holiday Twist.

Hellman’s Mayonnaise created a unique spin on their usual ad by adding a Santa beard onto the spoon above their jar with the tagline “Hellmann’s, the only mayonnaise for Christmas.” This direction is perfect for a brand that isn’t so recognizable that they can rely on something very abstract or clever in their ads. If the product is as simple as mayonnaise and the only goal is to get people to buy mayonnaise during the holiday months, than this is a good way to accomplish that. Hellman’s is still showcasing their product, but using a subtle holiday twist.

2. Ditch the Product and Be Clever.

This strategy is usually left for the big dogs. The companies or products with the highest level of brand recognition and brand value can pull off a clever ad that doesn’t feature their product on the ad, just a funny image and a logo will suffice for them. These are usually the most popular campaigns during the holidays but are difficult to pull off without years of branding behind the company identity. I love what M&Ms does every season, and was very surprised by the cleverness that Tide brought last year.

The key to a successful, clever holiday campaign is paying your branding dues during the year. Neither of these campaigns would have the impact they do during the holidays if they didn’t have aggressive branding campaigns during the year to ensure that people know and understand their product and their logo. If you didn’t understand what the Tide detergent product does, would you understand their ad? Probably not.

3. Traditional. Tried and True.

A lot of retailers go the traditional route to supplement their main holiday campaigns – brands like Gap and Target usually run some more creative ads throughout the holidays, but they still maintain their very classic and traditional retail-focused holiday imagery.

Why do so many retail stores stick to traditional ads during the holidays? Large retail stores have been the core of holiday advertising through their ad placements and catalogs for decades, and a lot of these retail chains stay rooted in tradition and feature wholesome, family-centric holiday ads.

4. The Throwback.

Throwback advertising and packaging has made a comeback, and can be a nice nod to the past and the heritage of a company or brand. The best example of this is Macy’s: Macy’s has become a retailer synonymous with holiday seasons and are a brand that always capitalizes on that history. In their recent ads, they use throwback illustrations with a modern design to celebrate their 90th year of The Great Macy’s Tree at Macy’s on State Street.

5. Be Generous. Tis the Season.

What if your company or brand doesn’t have a tangible product you can motivate people to purchase during the holiday? As always, check out what Google did – in Boston International airport, Google sponsored the free wifi in the terminals throughout December as their gift.

In a time like the holidays when you are being bombarded by ads, products, sales, and stress – it seems like every company out there wants a piece of your holiday budget. It is always refreshing to see a brand that wants to give something back without trying to push their product or get you to spend more money. This is the type of gesture that can increase brand awareness and brand value to consumers.

And now for my personal favorite…. Agency Holiday Advertising

Agencies are experts at creating advertising for their clients, but my favorite part of the year is when we get to turn that talent inward and create holiday pieces for ourselves. Publicis Singapore did one of the best agency holiday ads I have seen in a while, second to ours at Bailey Gardiner of course.

Most companies do some kind of holiday gifts as a way to thank and appreciate the people and companies they work with. Holiday pieces are a great way for a creative agency to wish their clients, vendors, partners and appreciators a Happy Holiday in a fun way, as well as put our heads together to create something that represents our company culture and personality.

Now it’s time for your input: What are your favorite holiday advertisements? What companies hit a home run every holiday season? What gets you in the mood for the holidays? Which holiday commercials make you want to pull your hair out? And most importantly… if you had a brand, which direction would you take your holiday campaign?

Lisa Margolin-Feher is owner of Margolin & Associates, a public relations and marketing consultancy in Solana Beach, CA. Her expertise is in helping clients improve their business by creating clear, compelling communications. Learn more about Margolin & Associates by visiting their blog.

Five Best Practices for Effective Internal Communications by Lisa Margolin-Feher

A strong internal communication program, if done properly, will inform, motivate and influence your workforce. That influence translates into real profit as employees drive your brand forward in their dealings with customers and other stakeholders. Wouldn’t everyone like to be more like Zappos, which was a run-of-the-mill shoe retailer before exploding into an internet powerhouse? It wouldn’t have happened without the motivation and loyalty of Zappos’ workforce.

Here are the top five best practices in creating effective internal communication to motivate your employees:

1. Take Internal Communication Seriously. Communicate to your internal audience with the same zeal, care and creativity as you do your external audiences. Your internal communication department should include expert communicators who understand the corporate vision, and can create and deliver messaging in a compelling way. The head of this department needs frequent access to the lead communications executive or CEO. Your internal communicators will use the same practices to create effective communication as your external ones: high-level planning, compelling strategy and tactics, and consistent messaging. The result will be professional level communication that will move the needle.

2. Be Consistent. Every communication vehicle available to your business must be used to communicate the same consistent messaging with frequency. Your internal communication experts will create messaging based on the corporate vision and disseminate it frequently and consistently across all available platforms: intranet, newsletters, emails, voicemails, videos, facilities signage, employee meetings, etc. The internal communication team should be the clearinghouse for all of the above.

3. Align Communication with the Brand. If your internal communication is not effective, and you’re doing everything else right, it may be because your employees are living one brand while you’re trying to communicate another. Make sure what you’re communicating to employees fits the reality of what’s it like to work in, or be a customer of, your company.

4. Provide Ample Mechanisms for Feedback and 2-way Communication. This is one my client’s biggest priorities. They believe their communication is consistent, frequent, and reflective of the brand, but their culture and communication vehicles have not provided adequately for feedback. As a result, we’re implementing a robust two-way communication program that will help this client have a better understanding of the employee base.

5. Measure. As with any communication strategy, measurement is key. The easiest and most cost effective way to measure an internal program is to simply survey employees before and after communication, to determine if key messages have been heard and understood.

Comic-Con International: San Diego is a comic book convention, hosted in San Diego since 1970. The modest comic book convention, however, has grown tremendously in the past few years, becoming more than just a place to talk about comics. Comic-Con is a cultural icon, a show that is unique to San Diego. It’s a valuable opportunity for people who love and work in independent arts, comics, animation, video games, etc. to experience their virtual/imaginary world in real life.

My first experience with Comic-Con in 2002 was a complete culture shock. I couldn’t believe that people were so proud to dress up as their favorite comic hero and fight for freebies like t-shirts, pins, and rub-on tattoos. These promotional items essentially turn attendees into “walking advertisements”  for TV shows, TV networks, movies, video games, and anything remotely related to the entertainment world – these advertisers have become ingrained in the annual experience that is Comic-Con.

A giant bag was given to all attendees

Non-traditional ads have become a crucial part of the Comic-Con culture — the more swag one accumulates, the better, making this an essential marketing strategy for companies to tap into at the conference.

The most noticeable difference in marketing at Comic-Con this year, was the massive influx in social media promotions at the conference. In the past, companies gave out freebies and didn’t gain much back from the consumer, besides brand awareness. This year, companies took advantage of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and FourSquare combined with QR Code technology to engage attendees with the brand while also building their networks. I noticed a much stronger attempt to reach attendees through social media in conjunction with non-traditional ads. It’s no surprise that companies would tap into the power of social media to create buzz around a brand at this opportune time, but there were definitely a few key players whose social media strategies stood out to me.

Here are some key examples of companies that were using social media just right at Comic-Con this year:

Warner Bros's Microsoft Tag

Shark Night 3D Photo Booth

Moral of the story, finding ways to market your brand at a huge conference like Comic-Con isn’t just about shamelessly promoting your brand everywhere, but it’s more about offering a special experience or exclusive offer to gain loyalty and support. When advertising is integrated into the overall cultural experience of the event, a company will get more fans who are more likely to act as a brand ambassador.

Did you attend Comic-Con this year? If you did, what did you think about the marketing? If not, what are some of the examples you’ve heard about?

I have recently made a switch from the field of Market Intelligence to Advertising, and through the transition I have been reminded of the versatility and value of statistics. Statistics are often a vital piece of describing a target demographic or deciding what your perfect demographic should be.

It is important for advertisers to know and understand the audience we are communicating with in order to elevate the level of success a given campaign is capable of delivering. Therefore, in the spirit of valuable statistics, I wanted to share with you some campaign ideas on how to reach today’s youth and the so called ‘Social Economy’ they live in, after taking a look at some statistics from an article titled “The Truth About Youth”, published by the McCann Worldgroup.

What is The Social Economy?

The Social Economy is an academic term that describes how modern young people strive to define who they are not only by their job or possessions, but by their ability to connect, to share, and to broadcast. Here are a few characteristics of interviewed young people.

1.)  Technology as a fifth sense

• 53% of those aged 16-22 and 48% of those aged 23-30 would give up their own sense of smell if it meant they could keep an item of technology (most often a phone or laptop).

2.)  Community

• Commune is the most fundamental motivation of young people surveyed. Meaning, young people place the need for connection and relationships ahead of motivations such as justice, authenticity, emotional closeness, and rebellion.

3.)  The Social Economy and Brands

• Brands that understand today’s youth encourage young peoples’ ability to: share, entertain, broadcast, make and manage connections, and narrate their lives

These three findings stood out to me the most because they paint a picture of how all encompassing technology and community are for today’s younger generation. Therefore, as advertisers there are many avenues that can be leveraged to reach out to this demographic and help our clients be a part of this new Social Economy.

Fitting into this demographic myself, here are some off my creative tips to build a campaign that fits into the Social Economy and will reach today’s youth.

• Facebook Ads: Social Media is often the lifeline for the social economy. Therefore, do not be afraid to run some Facebook ads to target your demographic. I recently was shown the power of a “Sponsored Story” ad, which looks like a suggestion from your friend and not an ad at all!

• A mobile optimized mini-site: Mobile search is sky rocketing right now as more and more people, especially youth, grab smart phones. I love my iPhone! BG had one client recently that saw over 150% growth in mobile search traffic to their blog in June 2011 compared to June 2010.

• Online video ads: Youth love online video. They are able to watch their favorite shows and share their own personal videos with online friends. This means there is a large audience for online video ads. For example, Hulu serverd 1.3 billion online video ad impressions in May.

• Facebook game: Not all campaigns will be able to justify this outlet, but it is a great way to create social entertainment. For example, a client in drag racing could develop a game that allows youth to learn about the sport and interact with the brand as they race to the finish line against their friends. Think about the success of Zynga with Farmville…

With this information in mind…what would your campaign look like? How would you reach out to today’s youth and their Social Economy?

When is it okay to use bad grammar in advertising? I’d like to think we have free range and can be as creative as possible, but just because I feel that way, doesn’t mean it’s right.

Recently, I’ve come across two ad campaigns by Fortune 500 companies using the “word” funner. Funner is often misused in day to day conversation (even I’m guilty at times), but according to Merriam-Webster, funner is definitely not a word. That said, I continue to notice the use of the word in advertising on a daily basis.

I was walking through my local Target store when I spotted a large banner that read “Make Summer Funner” – I couldn’t believe the mega-retail store conglomerate would support such a grammatically incorrect advertisement. A few days later, I saw a :30 TV commercial using the same debatable phrase.

Target has always been known for its fun and out of the box campaigns — the holiday Tip Campaign featuring Maria Bamford, and the unforgettable Hello, Goodbuy Campaign from 2007 are two of my favorites, but it’s hard to understand why the major brand would promote and encourage such horrible grammar.

The initial draw behind the campaign makes sense — summer and funner rhyme. The phrase also has a young and playful ring to it, which is perfect for the summer months when kids are out of school and families are generally having more fun. The overall creative is compelling and catches your attention, especially when the boogie boarder jumps into the kiddy pool. Yet, why did Target choose to incorporate a grammatically incorrect statement? Does the phrase ruin a perfectly good commercial? Technically, the campaign could have achieved the same positive reaction by saying “Make Summer More Fun.” This leads me to believe the phrase was used purposely to spark conversation about the use of the word and also work with the playful visuals of summer fun throughout the campaign.

On the flip side…

Yahoo was actually called out for the use of bad grammar in its “Fast is Funner” campaign. Yahoo launched their new email program (which is 2 times faster than their previous one) with this campaign – ultimately receiving a lot of backlash for it, even having to pull it off the internet after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) banned the ad.

The problem with this campaign wasn’t just that it was grammatically incorrect, but also because the ads incorporated an image that angered a lot of people. The image portrayed two young women driving a convertible down an open road. People interpreted this as Yahoo promoting fast driving and the idea that the faster you drive, the more fun you will have. The disconnect is not just with the improper use of the word funner, but also gives the phrase a negative connotation of driving fast and having fun. A bad combination and disconnect all and all.

Ultimately, both Target and Yahoo had good concepts behind these campaigns, but the main difference between the two comes down to the delivery. Target was not scrutinized for its use of funner because its visual made sense with the copy. The phrase “Make Summer Funner” was in line with the concept behind the creative. Yahoo, however, provided an image that was disjointed with its tagline “Faster is Funner”, hence the backlash the campaign suffered thereafter.

What are your thoughts on using bad grammar in advertising? If the visual is compelling enough, should the words and grammar matter?

• E=MC2
• Pi=3.14159 26535…
• V=RSVP+N

The first two formulas should be familiar to you (at least I hope so). Anyone want to guess what the third formula represents? Continue reading my post for the answer…

Last week, the team at Bailey Gardiner had the pleasure of hearing insights from Paul Leinberger, Ph.D. and senior vice president and director of The Futures Company (formerly known as Yankelovich MONITOR, the longest running study of American consumer behavior).

It was two hours of pure geek heaven, chock full of statistics and an inside look into the consumer psyche to show us how and why consumers are spending money. From it we gained a ton of useful information that actually relates to our clients, colleagues and you. For this particular post I decided to focus on what he called the most important takeaway.

Dr. Paul began by explaining that a human’s value system is innate and it takes a pretty significant act to change even one of those values. In fact, the United States only experiences a value shift every few decades and wouldn’t you know it; we’re living through one right now.

“We’re at a watershed moment. The era of consumers living beyond their means is at an end.” Jay P. Feldman, Economist, Credit Suisse (April 30, 2008)

An interesting thing happens when our values change. Our attitudes about the world around us change. We’ve seen this first hand. The beginning of the recession marked a value shift in that people vowed to never again live a life of extravagance the way they did prior to 2007.

With economic uncertainty came a re-prioritization and a change in consumer behavior. Consumers began moving away from the fancy cars, big homes and expensive vacations to spending time with family, focusing on saving money and caring about the world they were leaving behind for their children and grandchildren.

Today, consumers are more mindful about what they purchase and limit their exposure to risk by being responsible about the brands they align themselves with.

Consumers are making smarter decisions about how they spend their hard earned dollar and remaining vigilant with each purchase they make in order to avoid buyer’s remorse.

Nearly three quarters of respondents in the 2009/2010 Yankelovich MONITOR survey said the economic downturn has helped them prioritize what’s important in life. The challenge brands face is that consumers are not only trading off within categories (e.g., MAC vs. Bobbi Brown vs. Maybelline) but across categories (e.g., lipstick vs. a glass of wine vs. a new dress). Meaning, it’s not just about which restaurant I’m going to bring my family to on Friday night, but how I’m going to shift my spending that week in order to feel good about my decision.

All of these factors combined with a person’s influential network (another topic for a different post) defines how they perceive value. Did you catch that? I just gave the answer to V= RSVP+N.

Value = Responsibility, Smart, Vigilant, Prioritization + Network

This new definition of value has had such an effect on consumerism that it’s changed the way brands market to consumers, how consumers interact with brands and has even shifted how people feel about (close your ears P&G) generic brands.

Now it’s your turn to sound off. How have your attitudes about the world changed your purchase behaviors? Are you spending more or less now than you did this time last year? Are your purchases based on impulse or are they carefully considered?

For those of you who’d like to hear about this new definition of value straight from the horses mouth, check out this short video interview that Indra did with Paul:

So this little thing called the Internet is starting to make a big push into brand’s pocket books. Not only are we hearing more companies investing in the display category (total revenue spent was up 15% last year) but now the advent of branded video content continues to push the space.

That’s right, TV — be scared…be very scared. Broadcast has traditionally been the mainstay and money maker in the media realm, but in my humble opinion this will change drastically in the next few years and I’m not the only one who is seeing trends of brand budget migration. This is just the beginning.

YouTube is pushing the envelope online by developing opportunities for original content development through its YouTube Creators institute. It is offering $35,000 grants to help up and coming producers on YouTube become the next big thing with its YouTube Next Up program. So what does this all mean? Well first, if you think you can create a bad-ass video in your garage that will generate a viral following, you should probably apply to one of these programs. Second, it means that original content generation on platforms such as YouTube has value to more than just dorks sitting at their computer watching web vignettes all day. People are watching this content.   Millions of people. Everyday. And that means that brands want to pay for the content and the space around the content. This will become a viable career.

It is time to recognize that online video is forever shifting how we consume content. Obviously my laptop hooks up to my TV. Yes, I have streamed Netflix and yes, there is a reason Blockbuster is going out of business people. I look at YouTube (who in addition to investing in content is also getting into the rental game) and I smell an opportunity for new media and advertisers. It’s only a matter of time until we see brand dollars pour into this space. I can’t wait.

And no I don’t work for YouTube. Google is just awesome.