Lee Mikes ran a series of banner campaigns supporting new products being launched by one of his CPG clients. While the client was launching multiple products, not all of them were being promoted through advertising.

Shortly after launch of the campaign for his client, he began monitoring Twitter for buzz on the products and online campaign. Almost immediately, the tweets started raving about one of the new products that they didn't promote.

Armed with this information, they met with the client and got the green light to run advertising for this new product. The Twitter research worked: The campaign for the new product generated a click-through rate 55% higher than the rest of the campaign. The number of people actually tweeting about the new product was small -- maybe a few hundred. But the number of additional people who followed the new banners was an order of magnitude more.

Twitter has a been a great tool for them to monitor buzz about products or campaigns for their clients. Simply searching a few key terms will expose you to a wealth of tweets that can quickly let you know what the public is thinking. Not scientific, but very helpful.

It's an example of how, more broadly, social networking has taken conversations that previously happened around water coolers and put them online, making them searchable by marketers. What marketers do with that information is up to them.

Read the story here.

German agency DDB looked to the art world, specifically to acclaimed surrealists Magritte and Dali, as the inspiration for the new Volkswagen Polo Blue Motion ads.

The campaign slogan: "Absurdly low consumption."

I've been working on my resume lately and wanted to share a list of action verbs that make your skills shine, now you too can sparkle.


A
accelerated, acclimated, accompanied, accomplished, achieved, acquired, acted, activated, actuated, adapted, added, addressed, adhered, adjusted, administered, admitted, adopted, advanced, advertised, advised, advocated, aided, aired, affected, allocated, altered, amended, amplified, analyzed, answered, anticipated, appointed, appraised, approached, approved, arbitrated, arranged, ascertained, asked, assembled, assigned, assumed, assessed, assisted, attained, attracted, audited, augmented, authored, authorized, automated, awarded, avail

B
balanced, bargained, borrowed, bought, broadened, budgeted, built

C
calculated, canvassed, capitalized, captured, carried, out, cast, cataloged, centralized, challenged, chaired, changed, channeled, charted, checked, chose, circulated, clarified, classified, cleared, closed, co-authored, cold, called, collaborated, collected, combined, commissioned, committed, communicated, compared, compiled, complied, completed, composed, computed, conceived, conceptualized, concluded, condensed, conducted, conferred, consolidated, constructed, consulted, contracted, contrasted, contributed, contrived, controlled, converted, convinced, coordinated, corrected, corresponded, counseled, counted, created, critiqued, cultivated

D
debugged, decided, decentralized, decreased, deferred, defined, delegated, delivered, demonstrated, depreciated, described, designated, designed, determined, developed, devised, devoted, diagrammed, directed, disclosed, discounted, discovered, dispatched, displayed, dissembled, distinguished, distributed, diversified, divested, documented, doubled, drafted

E
earned, eased, edited, effected, elected, eliminated, employed, enabled, encouraged, endorsed, enforced, engaged, engineered, enhanced, enlarged, enriched, entered, entertained, established, estimated, evaluated, examined, exceeded, exchanged, executed, exempted, exercised, expanded, expedited, explained, exposed, extended, extracted, extrapolated

F
facilitated, familiarized, fashioned, fielded, figured, financed, fit, focused, forecasted, formalized, formed, formulated, fortified, found, founded, framed, fulfilled, functioned, furnished,

G
gained, gathered, gauged, gave, generated, governed, graded, granted, greeted, grouped, guided

H
handled, headed, hired, hosted

I
identified, illustrated, illuminated, implemented, improved, improvised, inaugurated, indoctrinated, increased, incurred, induced, influenced, informed, initiated, innovated, inquired, inspected, inspired, installed, instigated, instilled, instituted, instructed, insured, interfaced, interpreted, interviewed, introduced, invented, inventoried, invested, investigated, invited, involved, isolated, issued

J
joined, judged,

L
launched, lectured, led, lightened, liquidated, litigated, lobbied, localized, located

M
maintained, managed, mapped, marketed, maximized, measured, mediated, merchandised, merged, met, minimized, modeled, moderated, modernized, modified, monitored, motivated, moved, multiplied

N
named, narrated, negotiated, noticed, nurtured

O
observed, obtained, offered, offset, opened, operated, orchestrated, ordered, organized, oriented, originated, overhauled, oversaw

P
paid, participated, passed, patterned, penalized, perceived, performed, permitted, persuaded, phased, out, pinpointed, pioneered, placed, planned, polled, prepared, presented, preserved, presided, prevented, priced, printed, prioritized, probed, processed, procured, produced, profiled, programmed, projected, promoted, prompted, proposed, proved, provided, publicized, published, purchased, pursued

Q
quantified, quoted

R
raised, ranked, rated, reacted, read, received, recommended, reconciled, recorded, recovered, recruited, rectified, redesigned, reduced, referred, refined, regained, regulated, rehabilitated, reinforced, reinstated, rejected, related, remedied, remodeled, renegotiated, reorganized, replaced, repaired, reported, represented, requested, researched, resolved, responded, restored, restructured, resulted, retained, retrieved, revamped, revealed, reversed, reviewed, revised, revitalized, rewarded, routed

S
safeguarded, salvaged, saved, scheduled, screened, secured, segmented, selected, sent, separated, served, serviced, settled, shaped, shortened, showed, shrank, signed, simplified, sold, solved, spearheaded, specified, speculated, spoke, spread, stabilized, staffed, staged, standardized, steered, stimulated, strategized, streamlined, strengthened, stressed, structured, studied, submitted, substantiated, substituted, suggested, summarized, superseded, supervised, supplied, supported, surpassed, surveyed, synchronized, synthesized, systematized

T
tabulated, tailored, targeted, taught, terminated, tested, testified, tightened, took, traced, traded, trained, transacted, transferred, transformed, translated, transported, traveled, treated, tripled

U
uncovered, undertook, unified, united, updated, upgraded, used, utilized

V
validated, valued, verified, viewed, visited

W
weighed, welcomed, widened, witnessed, won, worked, wrote

The industry's largest holding company, Omnicom Group, is preparing a massive layoff of nearly 5% of its global work force of 70,000, according to executives close to the situation.

The executives would not confirm which divisions or agencies would be affected by the estimated 3,500 job loss, but it is believed that BBDO, the agency for ailing Chrysler, which lost its flagship U.S. brand Pepsi business this year, would particularly feel the ax. Earlier today, Ad Age reported that Omnicom media agency PHD was laying off 30 people and closing its Atlanta office.

The executives said not all Omnicom units will be touched. "Wherever adjustments had to be made, agencies that needed to make the adjustments made them," said an executive with knowledge of the situation. "That does not mean all companies made adjustments." And the current layoffs, to be concluded by year's end, may not be the end of it: Additional cuts could come in January across the holding company, executives said.

The depth of the layoffs is striking considering Omnicom already took measures to reduce its head count earlier this year. Just last month BBDO slashed 22% of its staff in Detroit as the office's embattled Chrysler client indicated it plans to reduce its marketing activity. Earlier this month, Ad Age reported that Chrysler, now in the midst of trying to win a government bridge loan to stay alive, is believed to owe the holding company some $80 million.

Omnicom, the parent company of agency brands such as DDB Worldwide, TBWA Worldwide and Goodby Silverstein & Partners, employed roughly 70,000 people worldwide by the end of 2007, up 6.1% from the end of 2006.

Omnicom Group in October posted $213 million in net income for the third quarter of 2008, up slightly from $202 million in the same period last year. But signs of trouble for the holding company were beginning to show in its third-quarter earnings statement: Its public-relations practice, which is made up of Fleishman Hillard, Ketchum and Porter Novelli, among others, showed negative growth for the quarter.

Read the article here.

If you haven't heard about Twitter lately you've been living under a rock. It's basically a free social networking and micro-blogging service, that allows its users to send and read other users' updates (otherwise known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters in length.

I must say it’s a new nifty tool to the arsenal of the PR person, especially if the media is Twittering. Now that BusinessWeek editors are on it we can easily build relationships by keeping up and interacting with their updates – that’s if you are vying for their attention. It helps with cutting the clutter and allows us to know what they’re interested in, which ultimately helps our job with pitching.

Now go on and follow them!

Adam Aston, Energy & Environment Editor, BusinessWeek, @adamanyc
Amy Feldman, Associate Editor for Personal Business, BusinessWeek, @amyfeldman
Arik Hesseldahl, Senior Technology Writer, BusinessWeek, @ahess247
Ben Levisohn, Staff Editor, Finance, BusinessWeek, @ben_levisohn
Burt Helm, Marketing Editor, BusinessWeek, @burthelm
Charles Dubow, Lifestyle Channel Editor, BusinessWeek.com, @charlesdubow
Chi-Chu Tschang, Bejing Correspondent, BusinessWeek, @tschang
David Sleight, Deputy Creative Director, BusinessWeek.com, @stuntbox
Doug MacMillan, Technology Writer, BusinessWeek.com, @dmac1
Francesca DiMeglio, Community Manager, Business Schools, BW.com, @francescaBW
Heather Green, Associate Editor & Technology Writer, BusinessWeek, @Heatherlgreen
Helen Walters, Innovation & Design Editor, BusinessWeek.com, @helenwalters
John A. Byrne, Executive Editor and Editor-in-Chief of BW.com, @johnabyrne
Jon Fine, Media Columnist, BusinessWeek, @jonfine
Lou Lavelle, Associate Editor, Business Schools, BusinessWeek, @louislavelle
Matt Vella, Staff Writer, Innovation & Design, BusinessWeek, @mattvella
Peter Carbonara, Senior Writer, Finance, BusinessWeek, @petercarbonara
Peter Coy, Economics Editor, BusinessWeek, @petercoy
Peter Elstrom, Assistant Managing Editor for technology, BusinessWeek, @pelstrom
Phil Mintz, Business Schools Editor, BusinessWeek.com, @pmintz
Rachael King, Technology Writer, BusinessWeek.com, @sfwriter
Rebecca Reisner, Debate Room editor, BusinessWeek.com, @rebeccareisner
Reena Jana, Innovation Editor, BusinessWeek, @rjmac
Rob Hof, Silicon Valley Bureau Chief, BusinessWeek, @robhof
Roben Farzad, Senior Writer for finance, BusinessWeek, @robenfarzad
Sarah Lacy, Technology Columnist, BusinessWeek.com, @sarahcuda
Shirley Brady, Community Editor, BusinessWeek.com, @shirleybrady
Spencer Ante, Technology Editor, BusinessWeek, @spencerante
Stephen Baker, Senior Technology Writer, BusinessWeek, @stevebaker
Steve Hamm, Senior Technology Writer, BusinessWeek, @stevehamm31
Steve Wildstrom, Personal Technology Writer, BusinessWeek, @swildstrom
Suzanne Woolley, Senior Editor, Personal Business, BusinessWeek, @SuzWoolley

And from their Business Exchange, you can find:
Ron Casalotti, who oversees user participation on BX: @roncasalotti
Michelle Lockett, BX’s topic maven & co-tweeter: @michellelockett

Xerox has taken it upon themselves to help spread the "thanks" to U.S. military personnel this holiday season by offering free postcards that you pick and personalize. Each postcard was designed by a child across the United States, and offer a child's eye view of the many faces of freedom. Simply choose the postcard of your choice, enter your message or pick one of the pre-written ones they have and hit send. Xerox will take all the cards, print and ship them out to the troops. It'll only take you a few seconds to do and I'm sure it'll mean a lot to the troops who receive them. I think Xerox got this right. It resonates with the spirit of the holidays and correlates back to the brand perfectly - way to go Xerox.

Send a card.

I wanted to share something I stubbled upon that I thought was a bit funny, which surprisingly hasn't existed till now. Gmail can't always prevent you from sending emails you might later regret, but recently they launched a new Labs feature called Mail Goggles which may help.

When you enable Mail Goggles, it will check that you're really sure you want to send that late night Friday email. And what better way to check than by making you solve a few simple math problems after you click send to verify you're in the right state of mind?


By default, Mail Goggles is only active late night on the weekend - as that is the time you're most likely to need it, genius. Once enabled, you can adjust when it's active in the General settings.


Hopefully Mail Goggles will prevent many of you out there from sending messages you wish you hadn't cause we know we all had them. Now to solve the problem of sending drunken text messages.

The creatives and marketing people working on the Batman film are pretty awesome.

The copy reads, "You wanna know how I get these scars?"

There's but one calorie in PepsiMax and, as we know, one is the loneliest number. So it only makes sense that a new flight of print ads from BBDO Dusseldorf show a cute, but sad little personification of a calorie committing suicide in a few ultraviolent ways, including a gunshot, a hanging, self-immolation and even slitting his little blue wrist with a razor blade.

Needless to say, message boards today have been popping with much anti-Pepsi sentiment, most of it centered on the claim that these kinds of ads are insensitive to the issue of suicide. Suicide ads have generally landed agencies and marketers in hot water. In 2007, General Motors got bogged down in a similar issue, when a Super Bowl ad depicting a robot considering suicide caused an uproar. Likewise, Volkswagen pulled an ad in which a man tried to jump off a roof.

Conversations are circulating that the posters look like a PR stunt to get the brand and its one-calorie theme mentioned on talk shows and blogs. It had better work out that way. BBDO’s position on Pepsi is increasingly shaky. It just lost the main Pepsi account in the U.S. to TBWA/Chiat/Day.