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Public relations. Marketing. Advertising. Publicity! If you want a tough twister that will boggle your mind as well, try saying that one ten times fast. The prior are four related, yet separate areas of the communication industry.

Marketing would likely be the area that the general public is most likely to understand and associate with. As a college student I was very involved in everything  from the student newspaper, to student government, service committee, tutoring and everything in between. Somehow, marketing was thrown in the mix when an old friend asked me to become the marketing director of the arts and lectures committee. Before this experience I had never realized how much marketing goes into keeping a university afloat. Marketing is such a large part of everyday life that many fail to see for what it is. Of course that are the common examples such as billboards and movie previews, but if everyone were r to think back to the letters that he or she recieved from assorted educational facilities , the purpose is to convince one to attend such facilities. The purpose of marketing is to create awareness of products and services while at the same time creating interest. In other words sales may finish the deal, but marketing convinces the buyer.

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I began watching this spot for Canadian Tire scratching my head thinking "What the heck?" But this is no normal spot gone awry; this is actually a well-executed concept. This is the type of commercial Philip K. Dick would've created if he had been in advertising. Philip K. Dick was a mind-bending novelist whose works inspired Blade Runner, and Total Recall. Indeed, such mind games are probably best suited to films and books, as they require more attention to detail than the average consumer normally gives to a 30-second commercial, but it works in this spot.

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Calling all shower singers, wanna-be rappers, pop princesses and bedroom yodellers: "LIPS" is finally here. The highly anticipated singing party game exclusively on Xbox 360, will be hitting stores on 21st November 2008.

Lips is the only music video game that comes with two wireless motion-sensitive microphones, allowing you to put your fantastic dance moves to the test! You can even get other people involved in your songs by having them playing percussion with your Xbox 360 controllers. Whether you're throwing a party for your friends or simply staying at home with your family, Lips will have everyone singing and dancing together to party favorites, backed by their ORIGINAL music videos, lyrics and scoring.

You can even plug in your MP3 player and sing along to your own music collection while a virtual music video accompanies your performance.

So if you feel like you want to bust a move or simply want to boogie tonite, then Lips is your best choice for a night of unbelievable entertainment in the comfort of your own home. Here is their awesome new commercial for the game.

TO WATCH THE AWESOME VIDEO VISIT: WWW.12POINTTYPE.COM

http://www.cellphonesgiant.com/ Ten years ago I read that cell phone service would be free. The cost underwritten by advertisers. You only have to buy the handset. No more prepackaged programs, no subscriptions. Why hasn't this happened? Will it? Can anyone shed any light on this subject?

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In 1977, the television show "Happy Days" ended a three-episode story arc by having the popular character Fonzie perform a stunt in which he jumped over a shark on water skis. The episode changed the show's direction, morphing it from a sunny and homey comedy about life in 1950s Milwaukee into a melange of anachronistic pop culture references.

The episode marked the beginning of the end for "Happy Days" but gave birth to the term "jumping the shark," which is now used to describe a poorly thought-out, game-changing and out-of-the-ordinary event that eventually leads to destroying the very thing that it was meant to help save or bolster.

Circuit City jumped the shark in the spring of 2007 when in a cost-cutting move the retailer decided to fire its veteran in-store workforce in favor of cheaper workers. The plan didn't work out.

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McNeil Consumer Healthcare created an advertisement for MOTRIN®, a product of Johnson & Johnson. See the video below. It did not go over well with Mommy Bloggers. Not at all. And it seems, their server went down almost 20 hours after the firestorm erupted. MotrinMoms has been at the top of the Twitter Trending Topics list for hours.

This is definitely not the result they were looking for. Their PR rep has a lot to clean up. You can read more about this here.

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Toshiba shines in it's newest spot from Grey, London. There have been very few spots that make me say wow…and this is takes first place. It's rather hard to explain the spot…except to say that this is spectacular! This spot was made not with special cameras, or special film…but with 200 of Toshiba's hand held video cameras. Andy Amadeo, Creative Director for Grey, London says: "This commercial is simply demonstrating Toshiba's commitment to staying ahead of the technological advancements that are being made in film and television." I have to say that they have accomplished that completely. You can watch how they made the spot here.

TO WATCH THE AWESOME VIDEO VISIT: WWW.12POINTTYPE.COM

Last night, America came together to make history. Our first African American President, it's about time people! Barack Obama's solid victory as the next president of the US not only is historically significant, but it will make a lasting impact on the communications sector. On the day of and the day leading up to the election...

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Now that the great race is finally over, I am thrilled that I lived to see what was previously unimaginable: An African-American candidate overwhelmingly elected President of the United States. Not as a protest or grievance candidate but as iconic symbol for change, with wide spread across the fabric of American society. This monumental achievement was in no small part made responsible by the truly brilliant strategic planning and the tactical campaigning of President-elect Barack Obama. No future presidential candidate will ever run a campaign the same way as a result of the Obama win.

This should be a harbinger of sound thinking process, cerebral approaches and hopefully better decisions borne out of improved judgment from past mistakes. Taking chances means making mistakes. This is what I see as strategic development that won an election.

BAD TIMES = BETTER CHANCES:
Tapping into a national, across-the-board mood of anger and unhappiness, Obama's brand embodied not only change, but more importantly hope, vision, challenging the status quo and then upsetting it like we've never seen before. The message was consistent, continuous, and coherent. Tap into the vein of meaning, need and relevance and people will buy what you are selling.

DEFINE, Don't Be Defined:
Obama's team managed and ran access to the candidate unlike any other Presidential candidate before. This came under a great deal of attack from the media, but what it did was important because it succeeded in Obama being able to manage the electorate's perception of him, regardless of the press' attempts to takeover how the voters saw him… Not since Presidents John Kennedy or Ronald Reagan has image been such a force of nature responsible for carrying a candidate in to the White House. Obama is almost a cult of personality.

PERCEPTIONS: More Important Than Reality
During the debates in September and October while the economy was crumbling all around us, neither candidate stepped up...

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What would you say that is? Pepsi? Coca Cola? Sprite? Iced Tea? Ginger Ale? Well, according to Bent Image, its Coca Cola. Their new ad features a little history lesson on how Coca Cola began. In Atlanta 1886, John Pemberton created Coca Cola, he chose the best spices from around the world to create "the unique great taste" of his drink. "The most uplifting drink of all time" are some of the things that are said in this spot. Personally, I am not a fan of Coca Cola…but I am a huge fan of history and how things were made so I think this spot is great. I always wondered where and how this drink came about. Now I wonder how he got the name "Coca Cola".

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4:30AM Rise and shine, whether I like it or not. Eat breakfast while taking in the news, because knowing what is going on in the world and community is an essential characteristic for any person involved in public relations in order to get the slightest idea of what the day might bring.

5:30AM Find something with a professional appearance to wear. After all, no person is going to take me seriously if I don't make an effort to like like I mean business. In the world today it isn't uncommon for people to make judgements based on appearance.

5:45AM Brave the commute, struggling to keep my temper at bay that I might not put off clients through-out the day as a result of the way my day began.

6:00AM Hit the ground running. Arrive at work welcomed by a frantic receptionist trying to give me a hug…scratch that, she is simply surprising me with the armload of paperwork that ironically enough, I have come to expect as my welcome wagon. She is also sputtering sentence fragments that I may not understand if it were not for the nature of my career. After a while a person gets used to speaking quickly and moving even more quickly.

7:00-9:00AM Returning calls, contacting clients and approving proposals. Everyone seems to desire my autograph! Unfortunately, as I am the person behind the scenes, few would recognize my signature, though it is of worth at least to those seeking my....

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The Biotechnology trade association, BIO, is using interest around CBS' new Eleventh Hour drama to tackle misinterpretations about its industry. The Washington, DC-based group launched an interactive Web site, eleventhhourfacts.com, on October 15 to educate the public. Jeff Joseph, VP of communications for BIO said....

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I have a younger brother, and when I was recently married he was strangely quiet. I say strangely because he always has something to say about everything. I understood though, he was losing his sister. Well, I talk about this because I recently say this old spot from Hallmark its from Leo Burnett. This cute 2 minute spot follows the brother of the bride throughout his sister's wedding. This poor guy who more often than not, should probably just keep his mouth shut. But with a little help from Hallmark, he makes his sister's day priceless.

Oh, and did I mention this spot is among 5 spots nominated for the Commercial Emmy this year? If you haven't had the pleasure of watching it yet, check it out below. It's worth a giggle… and a small tear. Here's to all the brothers out there - younger or older.

TO WATCH THE AWESOME VIDEO VISIT: WWW.12POINTTYPE.COM

I'm a Shepard Fairey fan. It may be because of his Andre The Giant work, and I'm a former pro wrestler myself. For whatever reason I've just always been a supporter of his. I was browsing around looking to see if he has made anything lately and I came across lots of new work, gallery openings and such. I was surprised to find a lot of crap said about the guy too. Mostly everyone was....

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Attention public relations graduates and those currently seeking a degree in the field; even before the economic crisis, one could notice a visible decrease in the job market. Do not be discouraged!

Don't Give Up

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the availability of public relations jobs in 2006 was 240,000 with a projected high of 286,000 as soon as 2016. Imagine. An 18 percent increase. That's only eight years from now and bear in mind these statistics refer principally to the job availability in PR firms. That leaves openings in government, health care, foreign relations and even free-lance.

The Time is Now

All of the jobs are not gone and considering the current condition of our countrys economy, we are needed more than ever. Veterans in the field have seen and handled many difficult situations leaving them with priceless knowledge to pass on to the rising generations. However, the next generation of public relations is not coming to the industry empty handed. The new and fresh knowledge that we possess as well as the life and career experience of the veterans will be needed to keep the media at bay during the crisis.

Challenges Along the Path of Life

Any public relations specialist can vouch that entry level work is not easy to find in this industry. The number of qualified applicants far exceeds the number of job openings. The reason is simple. By the time the situation has elevated to the point at which a public relations specialist is required to repair the damage, companies and individuals wish to have a seasoned expert on hand to manuever the crisis as quickly and smoothly as possible. No one wants to worry that the new guy might not be up to the challenge; and the same could be said for preparation measures.

Take Chances

While it's true that landing an....

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Like everyone at that time, I fell in love with Tom Cruise in "Risky Business". He was great singing Bob Seger's "Old Time Rock and Roll". It's a priceless moment that has been replayed, re-enacted, mimicked hundreds of times. 

Now, in my opinion Tom Cruise was the best at it. That is until I saw this latest creation from advertising agency DDB .  It features Kobe Bryant rocking the mic, Alex Rodriguez and Michael Phelps busting a move while ripping it up on the exhilarating new guitars, and Tony Hawk sliding in on a skateboard to play the drums.

I have only one word to say: HYSTERICAL!

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If you were walking down the street one day and came across a pedestal that had a plexiglass container on it, filled with $100,000 cash…what would you do?  This was a question that some New Yorkers in Brooklyn came across this past July.  Fallon, Minneapolis and @radical.media have created a thought provoking direct mail campaign for the recruiting site: The Ladders.  The Ladders, is a recruiting company that boasts that it is the market leader in $100K+ online recruitment.  Their line is: "$100,000 will attract a lot of people.  TheLadders.com helps you attract the right people."

In Columbus Park, they took a hundred grand in $10,000 wraps and set it up under plexiglass and sat back to look through 10 hidden cameras and see how people responded.  "We did make an attempt to make the pedestal look a little bit vulnerable. It's not a completely sealed box. There were some screws in some places that made it look like you could get to the money, and that was intentional. At one point six guys got together tipped it over and it smashed, and the security guards jumped into action."

I think it's a great way to get people talking, but it's not really aimed at the people who TheLadders.com caters to.  Do you think this will work for them?

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How to use Twitter, as a company. Yes, you can screw it up, so follow these rules.

1. Don't have your PR firm set up and be your Twitter account. That seems pretty simple, doesn't it? But, well, I heard a story at BlogWorld Expo of a PR firm charging $7000 for a week of Twittering, and have heard other stories of astronomical figures on setting up and monitoring the Twitterverse. How is a PR firm supposed to respond if they have to go back to the client and get the okay first? Um, social media and quick time conversations like Twitter do not work that way.

2. Don't follow everyone willy nilly. First, it makes no sense - if you follow someone, well, it does not matter unless they follow you back. Otherwise, you're a corporate shill that is just talking to nobody. You're talking to no one and it's obvious that you just are doing it to do it. And, well, if that's what you want, that's great. I have a lot of the Zappos people follow me … but I so rarely wear shoes and they don't sell Havaianas yet (come on guys, get on the stick). But, I like the company, and don't follow all of them back. But, hey, they must like me enough to follow. My strategy? If someone follows the corporate account first, I follow back. If they Tweet about the company more than once, I follow. If they are a blog that I read that is in the corporate space (or a journalistic space), I follow to see what they are working on. Simple and easy.

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Attention: high rollers and poker pros; Vegas, Atlantic City and yes, even Wendover. You have something to be desired. You possess a trait so coveted, that any business man or woman who would implement this trait would almost certainly improve his or her career.

The question is,what professional doesn't want to improve his or her odds? Go ahead. Make YOUR day, improve YOUR conditions, give YOURSELF the upper hand, after all, you deserve it.

The attribute that the high rollers and poker pros possess that a PR professional needs in order to be successful is a good poker face. An essential objective for any PR specialist is not that old cliché "don't let 'em get you down". We are all human and as such, there will be times of sorrow and dispair. Therefore, the essential objective is to not let them see you down.

At some point in a specialists career, there will be...

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This past weekend was full of firsts for Carnival Cruise Line.  It was their first weekend in their new campaign from Havas' Arnold, and it was their first huge beach ball attempt for Guinness World Records.  Their new campaign: "Fun for all. All for Fun." will be kicking things off with two huge record breaking events coming up within the next 2 weeks.  They are in a quest to create the world's biggest beach ball, and largest piñata. 

Their first event was on Sunday, Oct 26^th at noon in Dallas' Pegasus Park, downtown.  They had not one, but two beach balls that were approximately 30 feet in diameter and about 3 stories tall, bouncing around Elm Street.  This event also included music, ice cream and free Carnival Cruise giveaways.  On Sunday, Nov 2^nd at 11am in Philadelphia on 20^th and Market Street; they plan on breaking the world's largest piñata. 

It has long been thought that most cruise lines are stuffy and uptight. That you have to do what they want to do, when they want you to do it.  Well, through this campaign, Carnival Cruise wants everyone to know that their "cruise experience will be uniquely social, participatory, uninhibited and gives people the freedom to be who they are." Footage from both events will be used to create TV national spots.

Ruben Rodriguez, EVP, marketing at Carnival, said that "as today's world grows more chaotic and people become stressed out and overworked, it's important to remind consumers that their leisure time should be first and foremost fun, as well as an essential part of their lives."