Three For Thursday - February 25

Auto Ad Builder

 

I found this via @Springwise and I just don't know what to make of it. As an ad guy, maybe I'm biased but doesn't the quality of the message have some effect on the likelihood that a consumer will act on it? To think that some computer program can mashup an ad based on stuff some algorithm finds on the Internet seems like a con to me. Sure you can edit your ad, but if you as a business owner felt you could write compelling ads why would you need this service to begin with? Sometimes I think folks need to step back and think through the complexity of effective advertising. It's not just about putting some message in someone's face. You have to create something relevant and compelling -- else folks will just ignore it as useless noise.

Swagapalooza

I've been watching this one since I first saw it in Ad Age... and this week @Springwise had it in their newsletter. Frankly, I'm not sure what to make of this one either. I have to admit, I like the basic idea. You have a product, you get 5 min to share it with bloggers and they get to decide if they blog about it. Worst case, you're out a free sample. But here is what makes me think -- wait a minute.

Applicants will be selected based on quality of content, number of followers, and reader engagement.

Notice anything missing here?

What about relevancy? Sure you may have a lot of followers, great content and your readers love you...but if you're a tech blogger and it's feminine product Swagapalooza? You get the point. Once again, people confuse numbers for influence. BUT -- if relevancy was a primary driver of invites or if the folks over at Swagapalooza curated the invite list vs letting anyone submit -- and they didn't decide on the random make up (from the site: In total there will be 70 bloggers and 15 tweeters.) but instead focused on making sure the best available folks were in attendance now that is an interesting model. 

Crazy Inventions

Last night I asked Twitter for a third and final cool thing to include here. BryanRicard a Marketing Major at Rhode Island College, tweeted back a link to Crazy Inventions. Honestly, if you click no other link today, click this one. Amazing, funny and in some cases, just plain odd stuff here.

Personally I love the lunch kit and the "in stair" storage. Quite cool. Thanks Bryan for sharing.

What about the rest of you? Did you find something in Crazy Inventions that you found interesting? And I'm really interested in hearing what y'all think about Swagapalooza or the Ad Builder. Good or bad?