Tweets become more powerful through hashtags. Simply put # before a word to tag it. For example, on this mournful day for Thriller fans everywhere, two of the biggest trending topics are #michaeljackson and #unfollowperez. On less momentous days, it is comforting to see issues like #iranelection topping the list.

In honor of one of my favorite people and a hint for my next post, here’s the Top 10 Celebrity Twitter Feeds according to Time Magazine.

1. Britney Spears
2. Snoop Dogg
3. Dalai Lama
4. John Hodgman, better known as The PC Guy
5. Claire McCaskill
6. Lance Armstrong
7. Shaquille O’Neal
8. Arnold Schwarzenegger
9. David Lynch
10. Ashton Kutcher & Demi Moore

If any other couple was using twitter to exchange notes like “unfortunately snuggling and a movie will have to wait” and “love you baby! Taking a meeting with ustream. thinking about you,” we’d probably all vomit. But something about these oddly matched lovebirds has people following them without questioning why they don’t just use text messages instead.

Still, the big question remains. Will twitter be a huge marketing tool in the future or is it just a flash in the pan that will fade before the next iPhone hits stores? Time will tell, but here’s what some are saying….

The Tweet Smell of Success
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/14/weekinreview/14cohen.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

The Future of Twitter
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1901188_1901207,00.html

Get the Most Out of Twitter #Hashtags
http://mashable.com/2009/05/17/twitter-hashtags/

10 Best Twitter Practices for Brands
http://mashable.com/2009/06/24/twitter-brand-best-practices/

The Top 10 Twitter SEO Tips
http://mashable.com/2009/06/25/twitter-seo-tips/

But Twitter? I never gave this a second thought. Who would care what I was doing at any given second? I certainly wasn’t interested in what kind of sandwich people were having for lunch or how many shots they just took, but what started as a social outlet to fire off quick thoughts to Twitter’s tag “What are you doing?” took on new significance. The Obama campaign used twitter to gather momentum. Celebrities were tweeting, earning a special “celebri-tweet” segment on E! News each night. Pro athletes started tweeting from the bench, giving a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the games. Authors, musicians, morning shows and companies were all inviting us to follow them on twitter.

Maybe the biggest marketing boost of all came with Oprah’s first official tweet: “Hi Twitters. Thank you for a warm welcome. Feeling really 21st century.” Whatever else I think of Oprah (I’m still digesting this week’s provocative and controversial article about her called “Crazy Talk”), I have to give her credit for tweeting herself. One of the strangest new jobs created from the mania has been “Twitter ghostwriter”. 50 Cent, Kanye West and Britney Spears are examples of stars too busy to tweet for themselves. Oprah’s twitter typo – duh, it’s Twitterers, not Twitters – at least shows she did it herself, or should fire her PR. You know celebrities must be busy if they can’t manage a message of 140 characters, Twitter’s maximum limit.

The Twitter lingo is just one of the many facets to the subculture it’s creating. There are tweets, twitterers and twitteratti. RT is a retweet, where you forward someone else’s tweets. DM is a direct message, basically email but shorter. FF is Follow Fridays, where you can help your favorite followers get more followers. The following vs. the followers is a status symbol for the 21st century. Want to make a snap judgment? Don’t ask where they went to school or where they work. Ask them how many followers they have. Oprah has 1,319,516. I’m relieved to report that Barack Obama has her slightly beat with 1,322,873. Sadly, Britney Spears kills them both with 1,699,095.

If it’s not already obvious, like I did with the Kindle, I caved and can call myself a Twitterer. I blamed it on my industry, claiming that I had a responsibility to understand how it works since clearly it is a significant tool for brands and businesses. This doesn’t explain why I tweet several times a day, almost manically check the tweets of those I’m following or get so excited when I get a notification of new followers, but at least my addiction is further testament to Twitter’s marketing magic.

My word of the week has been the disgusting-sounding “mouseburger”. I just started reading Jennifer Scanlon’s unauthorized biography, Bad Girls Go Everywhere about the life of Helen Gurley Brown, the legendary personality who was once editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan Magazine and is now dubbed as the original Carrie Bradshaw. Love her or hate her – and feminists and anti-feminists everywhere have loudly done both – her bestselling Sex and the Single Girl and her creation of the “Cosmo Girl” make her a necessary piece of any story about how women came to believe they could have it all. With beliefs that would later be somewhat incorporated into lipstick feminism, Gurley Brown was adamant that women could have successful careers and be doting wives, all while wearing a fabulous leopard print dress and red lipstick.

It wasn’t just beautiful women that Gurley Brown thought could achieve such lofty heights. In fact, of admittedly plain looks herself, Gurley Brown was less concerned with the naturally gorgeous and wanted to show the average woman how to enhance her features to get ahead. Her second book, Having It All, aimed to share her hard-earned advice for other “mouseburgers” or women who don’t possess natural beauty or intelligence and were not afforded a life with wealth or social advantages. Having written my Master’s thesis on feminist language, I was shocked to have never seen this word and started my search. Ironically, while googling it, I heard a morning show correspondent say that it would be wrong to mistake Elizabeth Edwards for a mouseburger.

The mystery is not much clearer. Dictionary.com lists mouseburger as “a humorous term for a drab, timid or unexceptional woman”, using a cleaning woman as their example in a sentence. Urban Dictionary defines it as a “plain, bland, nondescript person, usually female” with their sentence stating, “She is such a mouseburger, I never pictured her stealing my boyfriend.” This loaded entry implies not only that men are safe from this stigma, but also that these poor women are not to be trusted. There were surprisingly no entries in Wikipedia, the Oxford English Dictionary or the reference sections of Dictionary.com. Although, I did discover that there must be some themed menu item at Disney World by the same name.

I’m going to keep digging for the etymology of this one, and in the meantime will be on the lookout for any mouseburgers eyeing my husband.

Sometimes such permanent branding in the minds of consumers can run counter to the product. Crocs, for example. Born in Boulder, these shoes were functionally designed as a boating/ outdoor shoe. In what would be a great case study for Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, Crocs became a footwear phenomenon, with the most discerning trendsetters clomping around cities in the colorful contraptions. For more practical reasons, Mario Batali’s trademark has become a pair of bright orange Crocs setting off a culinary frenzy of aspiring chefs trying to literally follow in his footsteps with Crocs of their own. Somewhere along the way, consumers forgot the authenticity of Crocs’ core value and many – who would probably benefit from its comfort proposition – refuse to wear them on principle. Crocs even reminds us on their website that, “Despite our rapid success, we still stand behind the values of Crocs Footwear.”

Continuing the foot fetish, UGG’s success is a similar story. When UGG began 30 years ago with a surfer and some sheepskin on a beach in Australia, it is doubtful the founder could have realized that the millennium would find these boots strutting down the runways of Milan and Paris. In what was simultaneously a blessing and a curse, Paris Hilton and other camera loving socialites made furry feet a staple of their wardrobes inspiring copycats and earning rejection. Now annoyingly ubiquitous, it is easy to forget that wearing UGG boots is truly the warmest, most comfortable way to walk on a winter morning.

Then there are the people turned brands. Pint sized Mary Kate and Ashley with their unfathomable empire. Oprah in all her Oprah, O and Harpo glory. Martha. Prince turned symbol turned The Artist Formerly Known as Prince.

While not propelled by the creative fuel of agencies, the power of viral marketing or the strength of media buys, branding goes back. “Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese: Rivals in Renaissance Venice”, the news making exhibition now on view at the Museum of Fine Arts brings up a perfect example. The frantic competition of these 3 artists led to such an explosive production of personalities and paintings that their canvases were everywhere and became recognizable often without their names.

In less prestigious forms of art, branding is now infinitely easier with the accessibility of the internet. Anyone can create a website or blog about their thoughts. Like GG and her GGlog. Not quite Titian or Tintoretto, but hopefully not quite Paris Hilton either.

The good news is that consumers are gaining more control. Luxury goods can no longer afford to be lofty to customers. Walk into any high-end department store or boutique to see the change. The salespeople welcome you with a smile rather than sizing you up to see how they’ll treat you. Designers are creating items that are functional and flattering rather than pieces that look innovative on the runway, but horrible in real life.

Eventually, the economic climate will turn and blunt styles will grow back into carefree, just returned from the beach looks. Tailored, black skirts will get tucked into closets to make room for vibrant, floaty frocks. Hopefully, at least the current friendliness and accessibility will stay in fashion.

Since I love reading so much (and because my book collection was taking over our 600 square foot apartment), my husband started sending me links to the Kindle last year. At first, I was completely against it, but books were starting to get shoved under the bed and in the shelves of the nightstand. Eventually, I had to donate a huge pile, conceding that my husband did deserve to have a closet full of clothes, not books. A Kindle can store hundreds of titles. A Kindle would also be a perfect traveling companion. I travel a lot, and lugging enough books to read on the planes cramps my style. After all, several books don’t fit in a purse. You can download a book at takeoff and have it by the time it’s safe to unfasten your seatbelt. You can get your magazine and newspaper subscriptions. It definitely would make the mover happy who once told me to “rip up his card unless I sold all my books”.

I may be on the fence, but authors and avid readers are getting on board. Stephen King’s newest novella, UR, was written exclusively for Kindle. When Oprah Winfrey proclaimed that the Kindle was “life changing” and her “new favorite thing”, it quickly sold out. Toni Morrison supports it. So does James Patterson.

Still, nothing beats curling up with a paperback in a leather armchair on a snowy day or taking a stack of magazines to the beach. I definitely don’t see how it could ever be the same as turning the pages of a book with a child at bedtime. Plus, how do you pass the Kindle down from generation to generation? I still have my tattered copies of Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein and Roald Dahl. J.K. Rowling must agree with me since, so far, she has refused to sell Harry Potter electronically.

To me, this is similar to how most women shop for their wardrobes. The Kindle seems like a fabulous accessory, but it can’t replace those basic staples that you return to again and again. At $359, this is no cheap accessory. It’s a Coach bag instead of earrings from Claire’s. Apparently, Kindle didn’t get the memo about the recession.

Amazon.com – Product
Boston.com article
WSJ article

Often, especially with the mass airing of beer and car commercials during large events, a great ad is remembered more for what happened in the commercial than for the brand itself. I’m guilty…even with the commercials I admire most. When Cadillac launched their new ads with Kate Walsh revamping their image and challenging the stereotype that only men find cars sexy, I could easily recall every word of her last line: “No, the real question is: When you turn your car on, does it return the favor?” I probably remember every word because, as a copywriter, I wish I wrote that line. Still, I had to see the commercial several times to remember the car it was promoting.

With Hyundai’s recent spots, especially the one showing foreign bosses lashing out at their employees about Hyundai’s success, there is no way you’d forget the name, “Hyundai? Hyundai? Hyundai!” Add to that their insightful decision to create a return policy for new buyers who lose their job or income within a year of purchase and it seems that more and more Americans will be saying Hyundai’s name.

Usually, my main reason to watch the Academy Awards is to scope out the hits and misses on the Red Carpet, but this year I’ll have to stay tuned for Hyundai as well.

Read the full New York Times article at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/business/media/05auto.html?_r=1&ref=media or check out the spot at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr-wISyGSW0

So, what will Super Bowl 2009 have in store? More than ever, the often 3 million dollars that is spent on a 30 second spot seems extravagant, luxurious and almost insensitive. How many people’s jobs could have been saved for that spot? Still, it may be the only opportunity some businesses get to turn their brand around. This is probably why there are some newcomers to town, like Denny’s who is airing their first ever Super Bowl spot. Smart. People are dining out less and Denny’s has an appealing price point. Can they redefine the perception of the Grand Slam Breakfast? In a similar effort to reach cost conscious consumers, the Universal Orlando Resort will run ads to prove that much needed family vacations can be affordable. Even more interesting is that both Denny’s and Universal will be using their spots to announce promotions. This is a very unusual move by Super Bowl advertisers, and it just may be what makes those hefty 30 second spots pay off in sales.

Budgets aside, I can’t wait to see the creativity generated by agencies seizing the opportunity to shine by proving that their big ideas also generate big business. Promising previews include a SoBe spot with famous football players in white unitards and a Denny’s spot where mobsters are interrupted by a bubbly waitress putting smiley faces in whipped cream on their pancakes.

Whether the Cardinals or the Steelers come out on top, let me know who you think won the advertising game and post your favorite and least favorite commercials.

All of which begs the question…when are you doing someone a favor by pointing out mistakes and when should you keep it to yourself? I’ve struggled with this in many situations. I used to manage the recruitment process for open positions within our agency’s Creative Department, and I would get cover letters from candidates promising to be “oganized individuals” who would “proofreed carefully”. In the era of spell check, I’m not sure how these errors are possible. I do understand the “their” vs. “there” mistakes, but those red lines show up in our Word documents for a reason.

I always wondered if someone would want me to point out the typos that I found in their resumes. While briefly embarrassing, it would probably help them in the long run. A particularly interesting situation for me was always how to respond to emails addressed to Mr. Steve Morin. Inevitably, the person felt terrible and apologized profusely if I spelled my name right or mentioned that I was a woman in my response. However, confusing them when they showed up for a meeting with a man, and found me instead, was not a good solution either.

For now, I will continue to bite my tongue unless asked for help. A perfect example came recently. Following a networking event, the host posted a link to all of the pictures and listed the name of my company. Normally, the exposure would be welcome, except that it was listed as “Grammer Glamour”. Of all of the words to misspell, it was a very ironic choice. Does blogging about it count as biting my tongue?

A preview for TNT’s Trust Me gave me something to look forward to. I’m eager to see how Eric McCormack compares to the Creative Directors that I have worked with and met during my time at agencies. Monica Potter, formerly of Boston Legal, and Tom Cavanagh are seemingly well cast as his sparring partners and colleagues.

Despite a dynamic cast, I am less interested in the development of the characters and more interested in the development of the further blurring between advertising and entertainment in the increasingly saturated world of branded entertainment. As consumers, we quickly caught on when Top Chef contestants talked about hopping in their Toyota Sequoias to spend their budget at Whole Foods and when Project Runway members rushed to Mood Fabrics and then back to Parsons to prepare for a challenge.

As a business savvy advertising drama should, Trust Me has already pushed the boundaries before it has even debuted. Rothman Green and Mohr, the fictional agency of Trust Me, counts real life sponsors, Dove and Bertolli, among its clients. If done well, it will be difficult for consumers to discern the difference between these real life sponsors and the fictional clients.

Will this be thought provoking, laughter inducing, intelligently written proof that branded entertainment can be sophisticated and feel authentic? Or will it show that when consumers get TIVOs and DVRS that enable them to skip commercials, we instead cause entire shows to become the commercials themselves? We’ll see…tune in tonight.