“The television commercial is not at all about the character of products to be consumed. It is about the character of the consumers of products.”
Neil Postman
Happy Friday!
Last week, one of Vine’s founders launched Byte, a new 6-second looping video social network. Byte has the standard social features you would expect: a feed, Explore page, notifications, and profiles. Because of the heavy interest and excitement about Byte, I recommend brands proactively register their profile handles as a best practice. Maybe you won’t need it. But maybe you will. Do it right now before your brand’s handle is taken!
Speaking of new social networks that are absolutely blowing up, this week I’m quoted in this Forbes article about TikTok and its role in the Super Bowl. You can read my full take here. I’m excited for a new social network. New energy. New creativity. It’s a new place to advertise as a complement to TV. Bring on the new mediums.
Sunday isn’t just the Super Bowl, it’s Groundhog Day, and that’s a good time to reminisce about the 5 years I was the voice of Punxsutawney Phil on Twitter. Ah, the memories.
AND, this is the one year anniversary of my frozen polar vortex pants going viral. The backstory: My kids had a snow day from school and I said “let’s make something go viral!” And we did! With a big hat tip to Tim Brunelle for the inspiration. My frozen pants pants got picked up by BuzzFeed, IFL Science, BoredPanda, Distractify, Someecards, 22 Words, the front page of Imgur, and news pubs in Canada, Ireland, India, Spain, Japan, and Serbia!!
Two kids thought it was hilarious. One is still embarrassed to this day.
And that’s what it’s all about. Enjoy your weekend. Don’t forget to ignore the game and shush everyone during the ads. It’s the American way.
See you on the internet!
Greg
GREG SWAN 