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Last week at the 2008 MACU conference I was reminded of an amazing Apple ad titled “Think Different”. It manages to inspire me every time I watch it. As marketers I believe that we should all watch it…at least once.

I’m a big believer that what you choose to focus on will determine how you see the world around you. The same can be said about advertising. If you surround yourself with mediocre ads, you will produce mediocre ads. To create advertising that is unique, memorable and engaging you need the attitude of a rebel and good old fashioned courage. In a world of complacency and mediocre ads, sometimes it’s necessary to readjust your focus.

This video inspires me to strive for the unusual, to not settle for adequate, and yes, to think differently. I highly recommend you click this video.

Now go out there and create something amazing!

The Secret Strategies Behind Many “Viral” Videos
A detailed case study on how someone used viral videos to generate noteworthy traffic. It has some interesting insight and detailed advice. Worth a read.

The Digg Case Study
Interesting case study about Digg and how you can balance the two main drivers: novelty and popularity. For example, it discusses the rate at which items should be added on a website to maximize viral effects and to prioritize which ones should be displayed at the top to balance novelty and popularity.

This doesn’t have anything to do with viral marketing, but I think it’s just too interesting not to post. I found this political birthday card (click image to enlarge) at a local drug store. I was actually surprised that it’s produced by a major greeting card company like Carlton Cards.

Monday, something viral…promise.

Will Ferrell’s production company has partnered up with Sequoia Capital to produce yet another video hosting website. It’s called FunnyOrDie.com. This website is a little different than it’s competitors. It does something that I’m sure a lot of people wish YouTube did. They actually get rid of the bad videos. The website’s members can vote videos off the website. How great is that!  Just the good stuff…kind of.

I have to admit there is some gratification in knowing that I can personally help kill a lame video.

Is your viral video strong enough to survive FunnyOrDie.com?

For the past week I’ve been talking a lot about Web 2.0 and social networking sites. Part of the reason is that I’ve recently joined a very talented team of individual to help promote a great new product called Kinzin.

Kinzin is a website where families can share stories, photos, recipes, and plan special events - all in a private setting. If you have a geographically dispersed family, this product could be the answer to your prayers. Just think of all the money you’ll save on long distance!

The site is currently in public beta. So feel free to sign up, try it out and let me know what you think. If you have any suggestions for new features or improvements, I’d love to hear about them.

And hey, if you know someone that could use this site…pass it on.

Curious how much hype your site is getting from consumers, bloggers, analysts, reviewers and reporters? Well this is your lucky day…kind of. The Webbed-O-Meter utilizes a scale of 1-100 to determine your website’s buzz. Algorithms calculate the site’s word-of-mouth by utilizing ten authoritative sources such as: Technorati, Digg, Del.icio.us and Wikipedia. I don’t think you can do much with this tool, but it is interesting.

Here’s the really funny part. When you put Webbed’s website into the Webbed-O-Meter, you get this message: “Ah, very clever. There are some things even we don’t tell!” Nice!