Some are calling gamification “the next big thing in marketing.” I have to ask, Is gamification really “the next big thing?” Or is it something that agencies and brands already offer that now has a hot new buzzword?

The first example of gamification that comes to mind is FourSquare. FourSqaure was a recent adopter of gamification; rewarding users for engaging in, otherwise, pretty mundane tasks (checking-in to locations). Users check-in when they arrive at al local, are awarded virtual badges and mayorship, can see where their friends are and can earn discounts to retailers who choose to offer them.

Where FourSquare seems to fall down is, once the excitement from the first few days of being awarded newbie badges, battling for mayorships and seeing your friends check-in wears off, you’re just left with a few, mainly lame, discounts for places you already frequent, and you become just another FourSquare stalker.

A real-life example of seemingly smart gamification are frequent flyer miles (FFM). Here, both the airline and the passenger are rewarded handsomely -- the airline gets the passenger’s business and the passenger grows closer to a discounted flight. Save up long enough and passengers can earn a free flight. Kinda makes virtual badges and mayorships seem pretty lame when you’re headed off to the beach on your free flight.

So why is this word “gamification” so popular now, when things like loyalty programs and FFMs have been around for quite a while? There are several projects we have worked on here at CM where gamification was involved. One example CurrentMarketing created gameification was developed for our friend, the little German, with a game called Polka Hero. While users are trying their skills at playing the game, they are also engaging with the little German -- and the brand.

What are your thoughts? Do you think gamification is, “The Next Big Thing” or just a buzzword that is just now catching on?

This is the first in a 3-part series on what to get for the advertising professional who has everything. Today: The Designer.

Designers can be tough to buy for. Most of them are high-strung and temperamental and they tend to lash out when provoked. And since they don't usually wear ties to the office, that old standby is out. So maybe try one of these suggestions this year.

1) Pantone Swag
Pantone, the color matching system, is ubiquitous in the design world. It's how a designer let a printer know exactly what color they want to see on a printed page. And along with numerous color match books that designers use to spec colors, they also sell a line of accessories that let a designer show off their "street cred" with coffee mugs, iPhone cases, and my favorite, cufflinks. Very cool gift.

2) A Whack on the Side of the Head
No, I don't mean you get to take a shot at that designer that keeps giving you static about making the logo bigger. I'm talking about the book by Roger von Oech.  It's one of my all-time favorite books on creative thinking and it has tons of tips on how to train yourself to think outside of the box.

3) Cintiq 24HD
How much do you love your designer? Do you love them $2500 worth? Because if you do, they Cintiq 24HD is kind of gift that makes sure your projects rush to the top of their task list every day. It combines the best of Wacom tablet technology and a 24" HD display so you can draw directly on the screen. I'm an old-school mouse kind of guy, but I'd love to take one of these for a spin.

4) Designer's Guide to Color
Most designer start a collection of design inspiration books when they get their first job. Books of logos. Books of business cards. Books of web sites. They can be great sources of inspiration and are fun to read, but I rarely pick them up anymore. Not a lot of repeated reading value. But the one series of books I use all the time is the Designer's Guide to Color. A five-part series of small paperback books, they are basically a color combination cheat sheet. They have pages and pages of two and three color combos. When I find myself in a "blue rut," I'll grab one of these books and find some grey and orange combination that I would never instinctively reach for.

5) A Lynda.com Subscription
On the rare occasion that we have some downtime in the studio, I love to browse through the tutorials on Lynda.com and pick up new tips and tricks and they have tutorials for pretty much every software package you could want. Want to learn to program websites from scratch? Lynda has a video. Want to learn a 3D fundamentals in Photoshop? Lynda has a video. I highly recommend checking them out.

Next up: What to get the Account Executive who wants has everything.

For the first time since the chain opened in 1969, the fast food restaurant Wendy’s has decided to change their burger.  Unable to compete with McDonalds' healthier-choice menu and new chains like Smashburger and Five Guys popping up, the company decided to reinvent themselves.  The transformation didn’t happen over night, however.  The process took 2 years with every detail examined, almost every ingredient changed, and tons of market research along the way.  Among the many changes are a thicker patty, a toasted bun, crinkle cut pickles, red onions instead of white, and no mustard.

The question is will the risk pay off?  Not only may consumers not like the changes made to a burger more than four decades old, but they may not like the price.  Higher quality ingredients and a fatter burger mean higher costs.  Last year Wendy’s also received numerous consumer complaints after changing to naturally cut sea-salted fries.  If history is any guide, however, execs say after an initial resistance, those sales are doing better than ever.  Time will tell if the change to Wendy’s Old Fashioned Burger will pay off.

In case you’ve been living in a nuclear fallout shelter a la Blast from the Past, we’re in what the economists are calling a bit of a recession.  The economic downturn has many consumers pinching pennies and employers spooked.  Bank of America, the largest bank in the U.S., is set to lay off 30,000 employees.  As such, industry throughout the nation is taking less risk with bold new products, opting instead for “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.’’  This trend of producing low-risk products is especially relevant in the gaming industry.

With many concerned about job security, and the average gamer age at 37, fewer games are flying off the shelf.  In fact, August saw another decline in games and gaming hardware purchased, this time dropping 23%.  The downward trend has lead some game designers to put new, bold ideas on the back burner and rehash old favorites. In the coming year PS3, XBOX360 and Nintendo will remake the following: Halo: Combat Evolved, Shadow of the Colossus, Ico, God of War, Sly Cooper, Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill, Zone of Enders, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Star Fox 64 and Resident Evil.

Risk, however, is a part of any successful business venture.  You don’t expand your brand and turn heads by always playing it safe. Developers who are taking risks by putting out new titles will, if their game is a hit, earn a cadre of new fanboys and girls eager to snatch up any new game they release. Take industry giant id Software, which is widely credited for inventing the modern FPS genre.  id didn’t opt to make an HD version of Doom; instead, they developed a new story with new heroes and gave us a new world to save with RAGE.  RAGE was released on October 4th and has been widely regarded as the most polished game on XBOX 360.  While there has been some ire from the PC Gaming community about frame rate, RAGE has been a huge hit for id.

Developers at Techland and Deepsilver took similar leaps.  While they did trade in on an older and successful trope, the Zombie Apocalypse, they have added an RPG element to their smash hit Dead Island. They caused a stir with their visceral teaser trailer and have sold over a million units to date.  The success of Dead Island has all but guaranteed that any new release from Techland and Deepsilver will generate pre-orders and anticipation that only a new release can inspire.

What do you think?  Are you, like me, salivating over the new release by Bethesda Games or would you rather replay an HD version of Halo?

I am a self-admitted label whore.

I’ve been this way my entire life and am a sucker for designer clothes and accessories. We all know that coupons and fashion freebee's are excellent incentives to get customers purchasing and aware of new products, especially in today's economy. Instead of the traditional direct mail coupons and ads, some companies are beginning to turn to new methods.

Diane von Furstenberg, better known to the more fashion acclimated crowd as DVF, recently used Twitter to promote a fashion event in NYC. She purchased a Promoted Trend and used various related search terms for the event and her flagship store, which is located in Manhattan.

Her team monitored Twitter and check-ins using Foursquare. Every hour a lucky Twitter Follower would receive a direct message notifying them that they had won a bottle of DVF's new fragrance that won't hit stores until late September. The recipients also received directions and a special password to her brick-and-mortar store to claim their prize.

DVF did this in hopes of bridging the gap between social media and brick-and-mortar stores, thus increasing interaction between consumer and designer. Many think that brick-and-mortar stores are on their way out. WRONG. Even though our society lives in the digital age and a lot of consumers shop online- there are things you cannot receive online that you can in the store. A recent Google "Mobile Movement" study found that fifty-five percent of consumers who research and browse for goods on their mobile device visit a store afterward, with forty percent making an actual purchase from the brick-and-mortar store.

This company is not the only one beginning to launch products via social media. Burberry is also rolling out a campaign to send samples of their new fragrance, which doesn't hit stores until mid-September, to their Facebook Fans. You simply "like" their page and go to the Burberry Body tab to request a sample.

Since I am a label whore, I immediately logged onto Facebook and requested a sample! Who doesn't love a free bottle of perfume?  I signed up for a similar trial in High School. I was sent a free huge bottle of Ralph Lauren Rocks perfume and have been a loyal buyer of it ever since.

Beauty researchers have found that Facebook fans tend to be the most loyal and engaged customers. This soft launch act not only creates awareness but increases "likes" on their Facebook page, and surely draws traffic to their other social media sites and website. It also generates word-of-mouth buzz which is still one of the most trusted forms of advertising. After receiving the free bottle of Ralph Lauren perfume, I bragged to all my friends about it and now they steal a few sprays every time they come over!

I believe that these companies may be onto something. Maybe the rest of the advertising world should begin to market and send samples to brand loyalists. If social media truly is the way of the future, companies and agencies should look at turning Facebook Fans into brand evangelists--ones that will sing their praises of favorite brands to the heavens.

If you were charged with the task of helping a cheese brand stand out from all the other cheeses, what would be your first thought?

A cow print, print ad? A TV spot with a Steve Urkel reference, perhaps?

I go for the first impression. The packaging consumers see on the shelf has to be different in order to stand out from the masses.

The German advertising Agency, Kolle Rebbe had the same thought and put it to use for their Client, The Deli Garage.

The Deli Garage wanted a creative way to package their three different types of Parmesan cheese and also allow a user-friendly function for the consumer. Kolle Rebbe took that information and developed Cheese Pencils.

The cheese is packaged to look like oversized pencils in a pencil box, where the “lead” of the three different pencils is a different flavor of Parmesan cheese -- truffles, pesto and chili. The concept is completed by a cheese grater designed to look like pencil sharpener.

The back of the box offers serving suggestions and even lists calorie information that correlates to how much of the “pencil” is sharpened (think butter packaging).

Pencils in the cheese aisle? That would grab my attention! I’m not sure if it would be something I would want to purchase though; thinking of my cheese as lead isn’t really appetizing but I would probably chuckle at the idea. I guess I’m not who Kolle Rebbe was targeting, though. The limited run of these pencils more than made consumers chuckle, the 500 sets sold out in just two weeks.

How would you react to seeing such unexpected packaging? Would it interest you or turn you on to something more traditional?

I had the experience of dealing with someone illegally using my checking account for their personal gain. Do you realize the hassle you  have to go through to secure that it doesn't happen again?

When I discovered the unauthorized deduction from the checking account, I immediately called the bank and asked them how could they let someone deduct from the checking account without having their name associated with the account!

So, when you make an online payment,  you enter the your bank account number and the routing number. Once you submit, the payment is accepted.  The banking institute doesn't really have any way of checking who entered the information.  They accept the payment and proceed to process the payment.   It's up to you to reconcile your account to match your authorized deductions.

Once I informed the bank that is was fraud,  I had to go to the bank, fill out the paper work with the Fraud Department and file a police report against the perpetrator.  I was fortunate to be able to contact the payee and make them aware that it was an illegal deduction and stop it from happening again.

For a month, I had to send a report to the bank's Fraud Department on all transactions that I wrote out of the account even the ones that I made over the internet on a daily basis.  The one suggestion that the bank made was for me to close the account and re-open a new account.  It sounds simple, but do you realize if you have automatic  authorized withdraws from the account for payments towards any loans that you've set up, you would have to call and inform them of the changes?  If you forgot one, the payment would be declined and then you could end up paying a late fee.

What a hassle!  Will that person realize all the trouble that they caused with the unauthorized deduction from my account?

My take on this is that if a bank really wants to get a competitive edge in the marketplace, they will make accounts completely theft-proof.

Hallmark Holidays:

We have Valentine's Day and then in the month of October we have Sweetest Day, but what's the real difference?  The third week of October has been referred to as a "concocted promotion" created by the candy industry to increase sales*.  Many people insist that the Sweetest Day is a day to be thoughtful, considerate and "sweet" to our loved ones and to show them how much we care, but it's obvious that card companies and the candy industry are milking this one... and maybe me too :-)

Electric Toothbrushes:

Sorry to disappoint, but there is not a significant advantage of an electric toothbrush over the standard toothbrush except "ease of use", which can be arguable. Your dentist does not care whether or not you are using a normal $2 toothbrush, or a $80 electric toothbrush- as long as you are brushing daily, you will win their approval.  Electric toothbrushes were originally invented by a doctor in Switzerland for patients with limited motor skills in 1956, with GE rolling out their version in the early 60's*.  Again, a marketing scheme that has us all fooled into thinking the benefits of an electric toothbrush are worth the extra $80 we spend on a toothbrush.

The Obsession with Hair and Getting Rid of It Altogether:

Razors have been around since the Bronze Ages, but Gilette created the world's first two blade razor in 1971*.  Since then, shaving and getting rid of hair has been a phenomenon.  Both men and women have become terribly insecure about hair on their bodies, and it's created quite a craze.  In our media department, we announce about every 2 weeks when Groupon has an offer for laser hair removal.  I'm definitely not knockin' the process.  I think it's awesome that you can get rid of unwanted hair for a lifetime by a few laser treatments.  Marketing and advertising put a stigma on unwanted hair, and this obsession has created a billion dollar industry. Kudos to them!

*Source: Wikipedia

Have you heard about Milk's new campaign?  According to Milk, it cures PMS. The campaign is called "Everything I Do Is Wrong." The print ads have a sorry-looking and confused guy  and are using headlines like,  "We can BOTH blame myself" and "I apologize for letting you misinterpret what I was saying."

The print ads send you to microsite that tracks the global PMS level and helps men create apology videos with big-eyed flying kittens.

Really?

Really?

So, when a girl is PMS'n, her guy should just hand her a glass of milk and it will cure all?  I am pretty sure a glass of milk is the last thing a girl wants when she is PMS'n.  Not to mention that some guys will try and hand a glass of milk to their woman and it won't even be close to her time of the month.

What a disaster.

Milk based its campaign on a study by the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology in 1998.  The article states that vitamin D lowers PMS levels.  While it may be true that vitamin D lowers PMS levels, is that really an effective angle around which to build a campaign?  Milk is good for a lot of things and for ALL people of ALL ages...not just women and not just women who are hosting their monthly visitors.

This campaign is a total bust and I think they've lost sight of the core audience.  To me, this is just disgusting.  Milk and PMS?  It doesn't even make sense.  They have managed to alienate a lot of people, including a TON of women.  AND, it is probably the women who are probably doing the grocery shopping.  I bet a lot of people switch to soy.  What do you think?   Funny or a total bust?  Will you continue to buy milk?

Join in the talk on their Facebook page. Or check out the funny knock-offs.

In college, summer meant three things. Insane heat, the end of school and internships. I served as an intern at two different agencies as a student, which helped me prepare for a future career in this business.

Now, I find myself on the other side of the table. As CurrentMarketing's internship coordinator, it is my job to find the best and the brightest  and give them a peek at life inside an ad agency. Since I have been on both sides of an internship program, I thought I might share five quick tips that might help you land that perfect agency internship.

1. Be Unique. As simple as it sounds, the easiest way to eliminate yourself from getting an internship is to have a bad résumé. Internship coordinators receive hundreds of resumes each year, so the first step in the elimination process is to pitch resumes with typos, grammar issues and bad designs. Instead, try to keep your résumé short and succinct. No résumé should ever be more than one page.  Also be sure to use a type face that is readable and never use a résumé template. Instead make your résumé unique whether it be a different paper size or an interesting layout. Just remember internship coordinators can tell when you have used a template. Be sure to send your résumé in multiple formats, but always include a PDF version. This way, the coordinator can easily print and review your information. The key is to have a resume that is unique, professional and easy to read. If you can do that, you are well on your way to landing a spot inside an agency.

2. Be Confident. The number one trait I look for in an intern is confidence, especially in interviews. This is the time to brag on yourself, tell the interviewer why you are better than every other candidate. Bring work samples and share stories about your experiences as a leader. Confidence also means dressing appropriately. Although you are seeking an internship and not a full-time position, you need to dress as if it were a job interview. Guys, buy a suit and get it tailored. For the ladies, be sure to sport your best business suit. As always for interviews, be on time and armed with extra copies of your résumé and relevant work samples. If you can stick to these basic guidelines, your interviewers will know that you are confident, well prepared and ready to take on the challenges brought on by an internship.

3. Be Passionate. Regardless of the agency, all of us want interns to have a passion for advertising, particularly for the world advertising agencies. That being said, be sure you are well read on the industry. If you don't already read the trade pubs (Ad Age, AdWeek, etc.), be sure to do so before you apply for an internship at an ad agency. Passion will always outweigh skill. A candidate who lacks experience, but has a passion for the business will always trump someone who might be more qualified but has no idea what goes on inside an agency. Similarly, make sure you do your research on the agency. Familiarize yourself with their clients, work and people. The more you know, the better you will look in your cover letter and interview. I always ask candidates which client of CurrentMarketing's they would most like to work with. As you might imagine, those who give me a blank stare in return never set foot in our agency as an intern.

4. Be Patient. This lesson is the hardest to learn, even looking back at my own experiences as an intern. The fact is that internship coordinators have other positions in the agency. They might be account executives, creative directors, media buyers or in my case, a research analyst. That being said, please be patient during the application process. Do not bombard the internship coordinator with telephone calls and e-mails as this might ruin your chances. Just remember we have not forgot about you and we will get back to you as soon as possible. So, try not to worry. The best thing to do is respond quickly when an internship coordinator reaches out to you and remain patient throughout the selection process.

5. Be Yourself. This one seems obvious, but it's very important. The primary purpose of an interview is to see if you are a good fit for the agency's culture. If you have made it to the interview round, know that you are qualified and now its more about your personality matching the agency. This is why you want to be yourself. If you're a comedian, crack a joke. If you're shy, admit it. Perfectionist? That's okay. Agencies are made up of all sorts of people, but honesty is the golden rule. After all, you don't want to get the position only to realize you hate everything about the agency life. Its beneficial for both parties to be honest in order to select the intern that best fits the agency in terms of qualifications and personality.

So there it is. Five quick tips to help you land the perfect internship. Internships are the best way to prepare for a career in this business, regardless of your course work or preexisting knowledge on advertising. Here's one more piece of advice. Keep in mind that everyone fails. To give an example, I applied for more than 100 internships throughout college. So never get down on yourself if you don't land your first, second or third choice of internship programs. So, be confident, passionate, patient and always be yourself. If you can manage that, I have no doubt spending a summer in an agency will be one experience you will never forget.