So what exactly are SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protection IP Act)? They’re bills being proposed by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) that will ultimately block or “curb online piracy, specifically piracy facilitated by ‘foreign rogue websites,’ meaning sites that are hosted outside of the United States, and thus outside the reach of US Law.” It should be noted that the main supporters of this bill taking affect are the entertainment industry (T.V., music, and movies).

What does that mean in layman’s terms, it means that when you search on Google, Wikipedia, and your beloved Facebook your search will be blocked because it can “potentially” direct internet users to a website that utilize pirated services.  If this bill goes through it would “allow federal authorities to shut down portions of the internet without due process, and fundamentally alter the Internet’s ability to provide a platform for free speech.”

Currently websites like Google, Facebook, You Tube etc. already have a system in place that allows you to turn in someone that is using your information without permission or inappropriately. These websites will gladly pull off information if it causes any type of conflict or problems to the original party. So why then if a perfectly good system is already implemented to we need to change it? As the old saying goes, “if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it.” These websites only ‘link’ their users to information, they don’t tell you how or what to do with it once you have it. There is no need to punish, or limit, the functionality of websites that in the end only help us have knowledge at our fingertips.

Most internet users can’t remember the last time they had to go to a library just to get information. What about all the owls that are doing their best work in the wee hours of the night or the student that needs information for that afternoon paper that’s due.  Even a library’s internet archives could be affected if the bill goes through because they collect, preserve, and offer access to cultural materials. All of these tools will be blacked out.

Unless we want to turn our lights off and have limited rights and use the internet like our neighbors half way across the world or if we can imagine going back to using resources that have now all become digital we need to think twice about how two bills could affect not only free speech but out right to search and be informed. You do the math.

When it comes to media, it’s the same thing. Buying media isn’t hard. You call the media company and hope they give you decent times at a decent rate. The difference with Connectivity is that we don’t just “buy media” – we are Media Strategists. We look for efficiencies across mediums and demographics. We look to see where we can create cross synergy and maximize a campaign’s reach to help ensure strong return on investment.  We also know that the more succesful we are at building a  targeted media and marketing strategy, the more our client’s business will grow… so it all comes full circle. It’s not unusual for our clients to see 20-40% more leads, year over year, when using our custom YouConnex Marketing and Media Strategy platform.

In addition, we will typically save an average of 5-10 hours a week of our client’s time – that adds up to over 250 hours a year! This often allows their current marketing team to focus on other areas of marketing and/or areas that they can help maximize business performance.

Success, however, is the best barometer, and we are off to a rocket start for 2012 with many of our clients, including:

Now more than ever, having an education is a hot commodity.  What many undergraduate students don’t seem to understand is the responsibility that they’re education will eventually leave them with.  Any individual can spend their valuable time and money to chase a degree, but it is only those who take the responsibility of fully utilizing and reinforcing their skills and values who actually become successful (and happy).  This is especially true of those pursuing more creative degrees, such as design.

Being a responsible designer means that everything should be done in order to successfully communicate a clients’ message or idea, not simply making it look or sound “pretty.”  It also means that nothing should be done which may hinder or detract from a message’s intended purpose, which sometimes happens when a designer attempts to do too much with new technology and software.

Design has nothing to do with decorating things and everything to do with making things functional and applicable.  That’s what many design students don’t realize.  New technologies are making it all too easy to fall into the trap of just “dressing something up” without taking the time to sufficiently research a client and their challenges.  Technology has the capability to help make more people aware of an idea or message quicker than ever before, but showing garbage to millions of people will leave you in the same situation that showing gold to no one will (with no customers).

The days of physically setting metal type are long gone, and even traditional forms of print media such as newspapers or magazines are starting to fall by the wayside.  The role of a typical designer is evolving every day, and it is not possible to expose design students to every possible situation that they will face in the professional world.  With the constant onslaught of new technologies and software emerging on an exponentially increasing basis, Design students need to understand that they must first learn how to THINK and be RESPONSIBLE before they can begin to make use of new technologies and techniques.  Once a designer develops those qualities, then they should be ready to tackle any challenge, no matter what medium clients are looking to take advantage of, be that print, web, interactive, or all of these.

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 The results were very strong sales for WWE during the promotional period as well as several hundred additional likes for Circle K tied into the promotion.

Perfect example of funny and memorable? Volkswagen’s The Force commercial which enjoyed a bit of pre-release internet fame, and even a viral following after it aired. (The video has over 45 million views on YouTube.) The commercial’s classic Imperial March, and beautifully relatable concept give us the laughing-at and laughing-with feelings while we enjoy the young Vader’s heartfelt passion. This is a perfect example of humor in advertising that doesnt target anyone but the consumer and in the end, thats really the only goal.

A second example of a slightly-chuckle worthy ad is the recent addition to the Yellow Peanut M&M and Red M&M spokescandies for M&M’s chocolates. A unsuspecting Red is magically transported to a desert island (Or dessert island, if you will! Hahahah!) where a Genie has just granted the wish of a stranded man. The ever-dry and cynical Red then comments on the logic behind the man’s wishes as a group of lovely cheerleaders create fanfare surrounding a sports car in the background. Though a bit dry, the commercial is worth a laugh, and is a good example of humor in an advertisement that is tasteful and effective.

-Brian Walsh