The bridge is out! I’m not normally a big fan of Bud ads, but the sight of a whole town of people forming a human bridge to see a semi of Bud safely across a river was pretty funny.

I’m Mark Sanchez. Mark wants the women watching the Super Bowl to hear his heartbeat. What that has to do with CBS caring about women's heart health is completely beyond me.

Worst Super Bowl party ever. Usually the Super Bowl ads with tons of star power come off pretty badly, sort of like the movie Ishtar — so self-aware they’re embarrassing. This ad for the Letterman show was, I thought, pretty fresh and funny.

Casual Fridays — awesome! Unattractive naked people in offices are hot this winter. This CareerBuilder ad would have been funnier if DDB Chicago hadn’t already done the same thing for Bud Light this month.

I wear no pants. Umm…see above. Dockers/Levi Strauss, it’s time for an agency review.

William Tell Overture. The life of a married man in 30 seconds, brought to you by Dove Men Care. It was cute, but I seriously doubt it’s going to do much to get men comfortable buying into the Dove brand. To me (and I think most other guys), that cursive logo will always be about women in bubble baths.

Man’s last stand. This is the second ad I saw in the second quarter with a Zach Galifianakis look-alike in it. The Hangover has clearly made a big impression on Madison Avenue. What was this about again? Oh right, Dodge Chargers.

A Little KISS. I like seeing KISS on TV as much as the next guy, but the mini-me thing with height-challenged musicians in makeup…ouch. Not funny, Dr. Pepper.

Punxatawney Polamalu. We had an ugly naked people two-fer, a Zach Glifiakanis two-fer, now a midget celebrity two-fer. Was there something going on I didn’t know about, or is there a dearth of original thinking out there?

His girlfriend has removed his spine. Speaking of repetition, this was one of many “guy-under-the-thumb”-themed ads I saw during the Super Bowl. This one caught my attention though, because I’ve been wondering how well FloTV will stand up against SlingBox, and who will eventually lay claim to the title of Alpha Male of TV-to-mobile-device streaming services.

Don’t Miss a Moment. Now THAT was a great ad, in a totally different style from the aforementioned FloTV ad, but for the very same product. Interesting strategy on the part of FloTV…to do multiple ads, one in a standard silly comedy vignette style, another in a documentary montage style. Their second swing hit the ball squarely.

Psych!

It isn't. In fact a little time spent defining your company's brand will lead to big time (and money) savings down the road. How so? Well, by distilling and formalizing your company's key traits, value propositions, personality and values, you take much of the guesswork out of communicating. That means that every time you sit down to craft an email, a press release, an ad headline or a major campaign, the hard work of deciding how to present your company has already been done.

Because let's face it, marketers burn hours — days even — trying to decide whether this or that message is too serious, too silly, too creative, too sappy, too young or too stodgy to represent their company. Good branding works by establishing a set of rules by which all your communicators (staff, firms and vendors) play. The result is better, clearer, more consistent and more effective communications — and a lot of dollars saved in meeting and creative time.

So in summary: why brand? Simply to ensure that you don't have to reinvent the wheel every time you set out to speak to your customers, stakeholders or employees. Try it, you'll like it.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my ad firm sent to me
Twelve buyers buying
Eleven planners planning
Ten artists drawing
Nine geeks-a-coding
Eight reps-a-pitching
Seven writers typing
Six partners meeting
Five banner ads
Four e-blasts
Three web sites
Two Facebook posts
And a well-written Twitter tweet

On the eleventh day of Christmas my ad firm sent to me
Eleven planners planning
Ten artists drawing
Nine geeks-a-coding
Eight reps-a-pitching
Seven writers typing
Six partners meeting
Five banner ads
Four e-blasts
Three web sites
Two Facebook posts
And a well-written Twitter tweet

On the tenth day of Christmas my ad firm sent to me
Ten artists drawing
Nine geeks-a-coding
Eight reps-a-pitching
Seven writers typing
Six partners meeting
Five banner ads
Four e-blasts
Three web sites
Two Facebook posts
And a well-written Twitter tweet

On the eighth day of Christmas my ad firm sent to me
Eight reps-a-pitching
Seven writers typing
Six partners meeting
Five banner ads
Four e-blasts
Three web sites
Two Facebook posts
And a well-written Twitter tweet

On the sixth day of Christmas my ad firm sent to me
Six partners meeting
Five banner ads
Four e-blasts
Three web sites
Two Facebook posts
And a well-written Twitter tweet

On the fifth day of Christmas my ad firm sent to me
Five banner ads
Four e-blasts
Three web sites
Two Facebook posts
And a well-written Twitter tweet

On the second day of Christmas my ad firm sent to me
Two Facebook posts
And a well-written Twitter tweet

On the first day of Christmas my ad firm sent to me
A well-written Twitter tweet