It seems that there is more and more yoga in my advertising these days.

Agencies have found a new tact in the “sex sells” ideology, using yoga to push anything from corn chips to smartphones.

For women, it is the immediate and visceral reaction to the strong, self-empowered feminine.

For men, there is nothing sexier than a fit women… sweating (Ron Harris understood this back in the 80s).

Casio G’zOne Commando

Hey, a little rough with that cell phone… good thing it is as tough as she is.

Equinox

Whoa! Where can I learn to do that?

I’ve always said sex doesn’t sell, it gets your attention. Getting your attention, however, doesn’t mean you’re going to remember anything about the product if the “sex” has nothing to do with said product. For example, this Pão cu Manteiga commercial from Brazil (warning NSFW). Good for a chuckle but is this really the right message you want to convey for butter (would have liked to been a fly on the wall during that pitch).

Using sex in advertising requires balance. Be clever, relevant, and sexy.

In the ads above, both do it well but I have to give the edge to Equinox. A little voyeuristic given the sleeping “boyfriend” in the background but the camera angles keep it clean… watching Briohny Smyth do yoga in her underwear is like watching a performance artist.

Okay, Keenan Cahill’s lip-syncing videos are just a little freaky but that’s why so many people watch them… and there is no arguing with success. Over 50 million views of Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” (since August of 2010) has made BeenerKeeKee19952 not only an instant YouTube sensation but a hot viral commodity.

Now with over 170 videos, the success is surreal.

From the likes of Sean Kingston and 50 Cent to the casts of Glee and Nickelodeon’s Victorious, the teenager with MSP (a rare genetic disorder that affects physical and mental development) has stood next to more celebrities than Ryan Seacrest. He has even performed “Go NY Go” with Landry Fields and Andy Rautins of New York Knicks (along with the NY Knicks Cheerleaders).

He has appeared on Chelsea Handler’s show Chelsea Lately, helped Jennifer Aniston go “viral” for Smartwater, and has his own Web series called Keenan’s Crush featuring the always sexy Jessica Uberuaga. And the endorsement deals keep rolling in… from Julianne Hough promoting her Footloose remake to Axe body spray to Me Undies (there is just nothing wrong with women dancing in their underwear).

This is the power of the Web, unfettered, dreams can soar. Anyone can be a star. And if you’re an astute marketer paying attention to social media trends, get ready to hitch your wagon to the next Keenan Cahill and sit back (or should I say lean forward).

To promote Cellcom’s First Love branded content project of 150 Israeli teenagers’ love stories, McCann Erickson, Tel Aviv, commandeers the URL address bar on participating websites. Visitors to these sites could view short love letters right inside the browser’s address bar which in turn led them to the First Love website simply by pressing enter. From a tech POV, this is kinda cool. From a marketing POV, it effectively raised Cellcom above the banner ad din and yielded a 1.86% Click Through Rate (CTR), 37 times higher than the average CTR in Israel. My only real issue is this “refreshing” of the URL clogs up the browser’s history rendering the back button useless.

This is the complementary slideshow to my 10 minute presentation on Facebook basics I gave at a small business networking group (BNI) in Stamford. It is actually an “encore” presentation to one given earlier in the year about Facebook advertising ROI. Despite Facebook’s latest boast of having over 750 million active users worldwide, many small businesses are simply overwhelmed with all the social media hype. So this presentation focuses on just getting started with the current Facebook. Feel free to share and download.

Shortly after we launched the CONNECT Computer website, we were asked to design, write, and manage a monthly newsletter for ongoing client communications as well as provide useful insight into the IT industry for those who opt-in (via website, email blasts, and social media channels). After some A-B testing, this design layout below proved to be the most engaging for CONNECT’s subscribers. Each newsletter would have a different “theme” such as Security Issue, Support Issue, or Breathe Deep Issue (below). On average, we see 18% to 24% click throughs to full stories residing on the website (industry average for IT is only 15%).