So I wasn’t surprised to see that at least one digital media mogul agrees. In an interview with Digiday, Thrillist CEO Ben Lerer vigorously defended the power of good-ol’-fashioned electronic communication. His site now sends its roundup of the hottest in male-minded food, shopping, entertainment finds to some 4 million subscribers. All thanks to the power of email, which Lerer deems “completely fundamental to the way adult human beings communicate.” Couldn’t have said it better myself.

The numbers bear it out. According to a study last year by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 92 percent of adult Internet users use email. That’s a lot of people — well above the number getting their news online (76 percent) and those using social networking sites (65 percent).

Email’s clearly fundamental. It’s obviously ubiquitous. And well, it’s fun — I still get that jolt of dopamine when new messages cascade into my inbox. Fourteen years after Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan made that iconic computer ping a harbinger of true love, we’re still in a romance with email.

And talk about a long-term relationship! How long have we been tweeting? Less than six years. Facebook “liking” and (once upon a time) “poking”? Only eight. We’ve fallen in love with them, too, and we’ve had even more faddish flings (some of which we’d prefer not to name). But email is our steadfast companion. The one who didn’t get away. Now that’s worthy of a valentine.

But despite the ubiquity of billboards along my walk home, there was one in particular that stopped me in my tracks yesterday.  It was an image of an iconic car—the Volkswagen beetle—accompanied by three words: “It’s a boy.” I had seen these words before on blue cellophane balloons and baby shower invitations, but on a billboard? And since when do cars have genders? And then I wondered, if cars really did have genders, is this ad implying that everyone would want to drive a “boy” car?

In advertising and popular culture, the VW Beetle has been assigned various gender roles seemingly since it was first produced in 1938. Take, for example, the 1963 VW Beetle better known as Herbie in the 1968 Disney comedy, The Love Bug or the beetle known as Cruz Besouro in last year’s Disney-Pixar sequel, Cars 2.

When Volkswagen introduced the “New Beetle” in 1998, it instantaneously became the star of pop singer Mandy Moore’s debut music video, “Candy,” which presented it as the vehicle of choice for teenage girls and hip young women everywhere. Each car even came with its own plastic vase and flower in the dashboard that corresponded with its exterior paint color. The New Beetle was marketed so successfully that about 60% of its sales were to women, said a Volkswagen spokesperson in a September 2011 Wall Street Journal blog.

But now, with the new “It’s a boy” campaign, Volkswagen is attempting to broaden its appeal to male audiences. And so far, the campaign seems to be faring better than Dr. Pepper’s similarly male–targeted “for men only” ad campaign, which brandindex.com reported has not significantly increased sales and has even driven some female consumers away.

For a look back at some of the most memorable advertising campaigns VW has given birth to over the last few decades, visit cartype.com, greatvwads.com, and the New York Times’ Media Decoder blog.

That’s right. On Sunday, Super Bowl XLVI became the most watched television program in U.S. history, drawing in 111.3 million viewers. Fans took to the Internet to discuss the latest batch of Super Bowl commercials.

According to Twitter, there were 13.7 million Super Bowl-related tweets posted between 5:00pm and 10:00pm CST. Networked Insights reports 42% of Super Bowl-related conversations across social media platforms focused on the commercials, giving us a good idea of what went well, what’s played out, and what went (seemingly) unnoticed.

Networked Insights has Doritos at the top of the list, whose ads captured 14% of the commercial conversation. Their ‘fan-made’ commercials always seem to be a highlight of the game and, until they slip up, you can be sure there will be more of these in years to come.

Zeta Interactive (via Mashable) scored things a little differently. Rather than monitoring which commercial captured what percentage of the conversation, they chose to compare which commercials received the most positive reactions. It’s no surprise to me that people fell in love the Ferris Bueller all over again, with the nostalgic commercial receiving an overwhelming 91% positive feedback.

Don’t worry – it wasn’t all fun and games. People across the Internet seemed to agree that it’s time to put the E-Trade baby down for a nap. However, nothing was as universally canned as Go Daddy’s latest attempts to be the sexiest Web hosting company around.

Collective Intellect illustrated just how poorly these ads were received, reporting that 13.2% of the “bad commercial” talk surrounded Go Daddy. Even worse, 45.2% of the “offensive commercial” talk was centered on Go Daddy. If they were really as sexy as they say, you’d think they wouldn’t need to talk about it so much.

Finally, there was one commercial in particular which seemed to sneak under the radar entirely. In my opinion, it was one of the best of the night and, for what it’s worth, I don’t think it aimed to accomplish much. It plays to nostalgia, it’s very well done, and it has some nice shots of Devin Hester. Yes, one of my favorite moments of the night was this spot for the NFL.

If the entire Super Bowl spectacle wasn’t enough of an advertisement for the NFL, this ad would seal the deal. It wasn’t exactly something most people needed to be sold on but it certainly didn’t hurt.

Do you have a favorite from this year or was there a commercial that didn’t win over your Super Bowl party? Let us know!

I’d like to share with you my favorite ads from past Super Bowls. While I can’t name the MVP from last year, or even who performed at half time, I certainly remember these creative spots.

E*trade Baby

E*trade first introduced us to the business baby in a 2008 Super Bowl ad. The baby returned the next year, along with a Facebook page, Twitter stream and YouTube channel. This 2011 Super Bowl spot featuring the baby’s tailor, Enzo, is my personal favorite

Volkswagen and The Force

I think everyone remembers this little gem from last year. Volkswagen won everyone over with a miniature Darth Vader trying to summon the force against everything from a treadmill to his dog. Do you think this year’s spot will be as popular? I’m going to go ahead and say no.

Betty White and Snickers

I couldn’t even tell you who played in the 2010 Super Bowl but I know it wasn’t the Bears. I do however remember Betty White getting tackled in this Snickers commercial. They really nailed it with this comedic spot.

“1984” and Apple

I wasn’t around when this commercial aired during the 1984 Super Bowl but I think everyone in a creative field appreciates this spot. Ad Director, Bryan Buckley, says, “It marked the epic beginning of super bowl spots as far as an event and launching a product. The timing was right, the spot was right, the product was right, and all of those things sort of lined up and created something amazing.”

What are some of your favorite Super Bowl Ads? Tweet them to me @orangemagazine .

Although Facebook has always been about connecting, networking, and sharing photos and commentary with friends, the new Timeline uses the slogan “tell your story” to build a virtual narrative of your life, starting from birth and including major “life events” in relation to education, career, family and travel.

Not only can Timeline users essentially curate the text and images that appear in their “life story” by choosing which posts to hide or highlight, but they’re also able to customize their Timeline by choosing to add more than 60 different apps, which just became available last week, as Mashable reported.

With this new push for interaction through integration of apps from Pinterest to Foursquare to TripAdvisor, “no longer will Facebook user activities be defined by ‘likes’—and this is something that up until now every brand has worked toward achieving,” Technorati Media reported on Monday.

Brands still have some time to figure out how to shift their Facebook marketing strategies, however; brand pages currently don’t have access to the new Timeline profile. “We are currently focused on Timeline for individuals and will consider how to make consistent experiences for Pages,” a Facebook representative told Mashable in December, adding that “consistency and both functionally and appearance” are really important to the redesign of brand pages.

While brands will have to focus their Facebook efforts more towards driving engagement and interaction rather than measuring their number of “likes” or page views, experts like Patrick Toland, head of TBG’s North American operations, told Forbes that if and when the Timeline is enabled for brand pages, it will give them “an opportunity to strut their stuff in far more creative ways.”

In fact, ‘zines—short for a small, often self–published magazines—are facing a resurgence, according to an October 2011 New York Times article, which noted “the zine is enjoying something of a comeback among the Web-savvy, partly in reaction to the ubiquity of the Internet.”

Considering that print advertising revenues have been nearly cut in half in roughly the last decade, the decision to publish print media boils down to authenticity, said Aronow. “The era of quick-buck, over-saturated lifestyle marketing is coming to an end. The people they’re trying to reach are pretty… sophisticated by this point,” Aronow told Fast Company, noting that Internet communications can sometimes be as passive as they are innovative.

For this reason, those looking to share unique content have added printed materials to their portfolios, in addition to maintaining an active social media presence. According to ‘zine creators interviewed in the New York Times, ‘zines offer a respite from the endless onslaught of tweets, blog posts, I.Ms, email and other products of digital media.”

But not everyone agrees that print media is the answer to creating meaningful content. Saul Colt, a social media and marketing strategist that was named a 2009 Internet Marketing Leader and Innovator by iMedia Connection, believes “every major story should have three ongoing discussions so people can choose who they identify with and how they want to consume any individual story.” And unlike printed publications, social media—no matter how intangible—can easily facilitate multiple discussions and comments almost instantaneously.

Whether you choose to distribute your message in paper form or keep it strictly online, branding strategists and content creators alike agree that the content needs to have an authentic voice. “You’ve just gotta keep it real,” Aronow said. “It sounds kind of trite, but that’s the way that I feel about all this stuff, whether it’s doing branding or hosting a TV show or putting out a ‘zine.”

Here are a few examples of athletes sporting different products:

Vicks and Drew Brees

This back-to-back combo of recent commercials for Vicks products features NFL quarterback Drew Brees. Who would equate Vicks with the rough and toughness demonstrated in these ads?

Hanes and MJ

This is classic MJ in an early Hanes commercial along with his father and then wife Juanita. It’s got funny family appeal with an underlying message: Wearing Hanes makes you sexy.

Nike and Soccer

Soccer is a sport that pulls at the heartstrings of fanatics worldwide. In this ad, Nike features renowned soccer players from different countries, demonstrating how athletes break into pop culture celebrity status and of course, the advertising world.

Marketing via sports stars doesn’t come without its defects. Advertisers pulled Tiger Woods from ads when his personal life turned scandalous and their brands were at stake.

What’s your favorite commercial sporting an athlete?

In fact, in 2011, the most influential social networking site was not Twitter, nor was it Facebook, Tumblr or Google+ . It was, in fact, Pinterest – the image-based social networking site that has made its way into the top 10 social networking sites. Between June 2011 and December 2011, the site grew more than 40 times in terms of visitors, making it a viable platform for the latest brand marketing campaigns.

Beginning with a simple concept, Pinterest is rather self-explanatory to use. Members create virtual pinboards where they can archive photos into categories and follow other members to keep up with the photos they are “pinning.” The photos are simple — embedded with links to take a user back to the origin of the photo — and visually appealing in their high-resolution display. With the site’s increasing popularity and simplicity, brands are finding ways to capitalize on the network’s growing success.

But how can a brand use Pinterest to its advantage? PR executive Constance Aguilar explains to Mashable the strategy behind how Pinterest can increase brand awareness and consumer engagement:

Hosting Contests

Brands have the ability to connect and build awareness amongst their target consumers by hosting contests on Pinterest. For example, Aguilar suggests brands hold contests like “Best Pinboard” or “Most Repins.” So, if you’re a clothing brand, have Pinterest users post pictures of outfits using store merchandise or if you’re a food company, have members post pictures of recipes they have made using the brand’s products.

It’s as easy and engaging as the best photo contests that overwhelm brand pages on Facebook and Twitter. With Pinterest serving the community as a place for posting captivating pictures, brands can build a visual interaction between themselves, their products and their customers.

New Product Feedback

Every brand wants customer feedback and approval when launching a new product. Consider the 2010 backlash toward Gap when it released a new logo, only to revert back to its original after consumers reacted negatively toward the change. Companies need consumer reactions in order to gauge how they feel about a new product, and Pinterest can become a perfect platform for accomplishing this goal.

Since users can comment on photos “pinned” on Pinterest, brands can easily gather opinions, comments and concerns — both positive and negative — on any given image. It is the ideal platform for introducing a new product, idea or logo. And this is also one time when the smaller membership numbers of Pinterest, as opposed to Facebook or Twitter, can be used to a brand’s advantage. Comments will be smaller in number, more focused and easily organized under the one specific image.

Reveal your Brand’s Personality

Revealing personality is especially beneficial for brands that do not have a product line, such as magazines, celebrities, associations or foundations. For example, a nonprofit organization can create a Pinterest board showing photos of different philanthropic events, fundraising efforts and community interactions. Another example could be a magazine that can pin photos of past and present magazine covers, sponsored events and the behind-the-scenes shots from editorial photo-shoots.

All in all, if your brand is not selling something tangible, Pinterest can create a visual experience for your consumers. Therefore, just because you don’t have a retail presence, it doesn’t mean you are exempt from social networking. Pinterest can help your brand quickly connect with an audience by showing the brand’s story, history and everyday operations.

Pinterest has great potential for brands looking to interact with their consumers and create a more visually enticing online presence. Using photographs and the idea that “a picture is worth a thousand words,” brands can increase consumer awareness and engagement around their products and company culture.

So how will you stay competitive and engage your consumers on a new level in 2012? Try adding a Pinterest page to your brand’s social media efforts.

There have been many Januarys where I tell myself I am going to work out everyday and eat healthy, only to look down and see a glorious McDonalds double cheeseburger sitting in my hand.

But friends: This year is going to be different! You know why? I have a strategy!

Now is the best time for companies to step back and establish some goals. Maybe in 2011 you took the leap into social media and it’s an unorganized disaster, maybe your company hasn’t even taken that leap. With a strong strategy in place the sky is the limit.

Here are a few tips to avoid failing in 2012:

Have a goal

This may seem obvious, but in order to put a sound strategy in place you need to have a goal. In my case I’d like to be vain and loose 10 pounds. For your company you might want to increase brand awareness. Those are two goals we can both reach. Setting attainable goals are the key to a strategies success; goals too large can set you up for failure.

Know Your Target Audience

If you already know your target audience that’s great! If you don’t ask yourself these questions:

What am I selling?

Know your product and its competitors. Know what people like about your product/service and know where else they can get it.

Who is my demographic?

Know their age, know their gender, and know if they are married/single/divorced. What class are they in? How much do they make a year? This information lets you know who buys your product/service. Without this information your message will reach the wrong audience. The strongest strategies know the most about their demographic.

Psychographics

After you have determined your demographic it is essential to understand that people within that group have different perceptions about the benefits of your product, and will  be motivated for different reasons. You have to determine what will make your demographic want to buy your product. What music do they listen to? What car do they drive? Are they environmentally conscious? Where do they live? What is their lifestyle? What do they believe in? What are their activities and interests? Knowing your markets pyschographics will allow you to shape the right message and create the best way to distribute that message. For more on pyschographics visit the website How Stuff Works.

Concept Ideation and Channels.

Once you have a set goal and understand who your target audience is it is time to take a look at how to reach that goal. Let the brainstorming session commence! Come up with ideas on how to reach and what channels to use. Maybe your goal is to increase brand awareness. After coming up with some ideas you choose to take the dive into social media. Choosing the right channels to use is essential to its success.

Measure your Success

Measuring the success of the strategy you put in place is almost as important as your goal. Without it you won’t know if the plan was a huge failure or a major step in the right direction. For me it would be a scale, for you it might be to measure the ROI and use metrics to track engagement on your social sites and traffic directed back to your website.

Make 2012 the best year for your business, and start it with a strategy. Still lost? Whether you are B2B, B2C or an association, Imagination can help you determine the right strategy for your brand.

After gathering help from sites such as ProBlogger.net, IncomeDiary.com, and TypePad.com, I’ve put together a list of tips that can be helpful to all bloggers whether your outlet is a personal one, a news organization or a company blog.

A good title will attract readers (and search engines)

Try to go with something that calls attention, but doesn’t lead a reader into obscurity, where they have no idea what the purpose of the post is. Be precise with your title. Just recently, The Seven Deadly Sins of Email Marketing was posted in Imagination’s blog. The title lets you know that the post will be about seven transgressions committed in email marketing ventures and has enough character to spark interest in the reader.

Provide original content

Some of this is innate in that no two writers are alike, but with so much content floating around it may be easy to just copy and paste. Sourcing is okay, but be sure to bring some of your own ideas and content into the mix. A Business2business.com blog post on originality discusses the importance of bringing something different to the blogging game and incorporating what makes one unique into his/her blogging style.

Write in a personable way

This advice can be two-fold. There’s sentence structure and length, then tone and style. Think about your audience. Readers come to blogs for a different reading experience than, say, an academic journal. Keep that in mind and write in a conversational way that doesn’t bog readers down. A great example of this is the voice and tone featured in Southwest Airline’s blog. Their blog incorporates personal anecdotes, history references and useful information in a friendly tone that resonates with its audience.

Formatting: Don’t overlook it

Readers are going to scan your blog post for the information they want and need so why not play to that? Make use of bullets and numbering. Write a three-word sentence or paragraph, for that matter. Switch up your format, too. A fellow imaginer led me to The (Un) Official J. Crew Blog where you’ll find photo collages, text interspersed between large images, Q&A’s and more.

When applicable, add visuals to your post

If a reader wanted static, dense text to read, they wouldn’t go to blogs. Adding a video, infographic or even just a picture can make the reading experience more interesting for your audience.  Check out the infographic used in this piece about ringtone downloading on Mashable.com. It visually lets readers know how popular and profitable ringtone downloading still is and what tunes are downloaded the most.

Happy blogging!