I need to make a virus video.

Yes Jen Aniston, in the digital world of advertising and marketing you are insignificant. Kennan Cahill wins.

And this is exactly what I learned after a “professional” week in New York City visiting advertising agencies – talk about good timing finding this video today.

From March 2 to March 6 I hiked around Manhattan with a gaggle of journalism students. We literally looked like a gaggle, with two “mamma” seniors (Morgan and myself) out front who actually knew how to use the subways and about twenty baby geese non-New Yorkers following behind. Over two days we visited eight advertising agencies including VML, MediaVest, Ketchum, and appssavvy. And while each was very different, labeling themselves as PR experts, traditionally focused, or even media buyers, they all had one thing in common – digital campaigns were how they were getting attention for their clients.

Bros, brothers, brethren?

UrbanDictionary defines the ‘bro‘ species as “obnoxious partying males who are often seen at college parties. They usually just stand around holding a red plastic cup waiting for something exciting to happen so they can scream something that demonstrates how much they enjoy partying.”

You know the type. And if you are in college, chances are high you have partied with one, become friends with one, or (gasp) have turned into one. Bros aren’t a rare species, they populate and reproduce like crazy (opportune times: fraternity rush, sport’s team involvement, spring break).

The slightly media-frenzied story of the shut down of brosicingbros.com has brought the species of ‘bro’ (and our confusing adoration for them) to prominent public attention.

In a society which jumps from trend to trend like a child with ADHD, the trend of worshipping “bro culture” has always been around. Some times it ebbs and sometimes it flows like a newly tapped keg.

Right now, the bro-beer is flowing.

Though we had to say ‘hasta la vista‘ to the Smirnoff Ice worshipping website, an article on Time.com by Ella Quittner (yeah, even Time is talking about this) assures us we are not saying goodbye to “bro culture.” In fact, almost anywhere you look right now you can find bro-culture being held on a pedestal.

The site was merely one in a vast constellation of dude-oriented sites that get millions of page views each month.

Sites like Bros Like This Site, The Bro Bible, and Tucker Max’s Blog are the ultimate odes of bro tribute.

But the web is not the only place to get your bro-fix. Think about it. It is in the movies; I Love You Man, Old School, The Hangover. It is on television; Jackass, Bromance, Greek, Entourage. It is even in books (yes bros can read); I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell.

But why is there a ridiculous amount of worship and attention given to a culture that can’t manage to do dishes and must always drink from a red solo cup? Easy answer. It is marketable.

Here is how Time.com break this down:

It’s a petri dish–like environment just waiting to spread new germs — exactly the kind of environment, in other words, that marketers crave. “We’re constantly getting e-mails for websites and products,” says BroBible founder Doug Banker. “It’s a great vehicle to unveil new products and new trends.”

And currently it is the only vehicle marketers have been able to confidently tap into.

Time.com explains again:

Ever since Facebook first showed its face seven years ago, marketers have been struggling to crack the code and tap into the exponential growth metrics of social networking.

Over-acheiving bros used social networking sites (mainly blogs) to make fun of their own culture and promote it. For as much as you may disapprove of the beer-bong wielding set, you have to give them some credit. Bro culture is a professionally built machine. Yelling “frat, frat, frat” at a party didn’t get this done – some brother sitting in the back of the room saw a population that loved it’s culture and, even more so, loved to brag about it. That’s what makes it so marketable. Being a bro can get you made fun of, but it can also place you in an envious position. Therefore, it can be sold.

Being a college girl with a social life (shocking right?), I am plagued by this bro-demic. Bros are some of the best guys I know and they are some of the worst. But regardless where they fall on this spectrum, they have something undeniable – a marketing/branding power. Now is the time to “harness the power of the bro.”

Stop, drop, and stay still.

As a journalist (or future journalist if someone decides to hire me) I have an insatiable curiosity about advertising and public relations and how they all interact. They are step-siblings. When you get to the root of each, journalism, advertising, and public relations are simply different forms of highly organized gossip. So in my quest to self-educate, I scanned through some blogs today and came across this…

This was either an insanely genius publicity stunt or an epic failure that freaked out those not in “the know.” The news blurb accompanying the video explains more:

“All across the city green demonstrators simulated dropping down dead at exactly 12.15pm yesterday – to protest about a series of proposed nuclear power stations. Many onlookers who were not in on what was happening were frightened by the mass fall – which was similar to events in the hit show FlashForward.”

Combining the premise of a television show with marketing/promotion – I’m always on board for that! Watch carefully at :54 seconds, one lady falls down the stairs. That’s committing to your part.

10 ways social media will change in 2010.

Via Twitter, I discovered this article about the 10 ways social media will change in 2010. Not saying I am a social media guru, but I thought it would be interesting to looks at these 10 possible changes and weigh in my opinion – and, more importantly, have this post a year from now on record so I can either brag about being right or know for sure just how wrong I was.

Ten social media changes for 2010 as predicted by Ravit Lichtenberg, founder and chief strategist at Ustrategy.com and commented upon by me (read his entire article HERE at Read Write Web)! 

1. Social Media Will Become a Single, Cohesive Experience Embedded In Our Activities and Technologies

“From playing games to shopping to emailing and texting — nothing will be lost; everything we do will be gathered and streamed together, allowing people to view their world of activities as if it were projected in front of them.”

I have to agree with this statement. This week while on a ski trip in Keystone colorado I tweeted, facebooked and foursquared my entire trip, details from which slope I was on to what type of food I was eating and where gathered throughout the week. By the end I realized I had a comprehensive stream of information about my activities. People like this stream, it will only continue to expand.

2. Social Media Innovation Will No Longer Be Limited By Technology

“We will see a move to leverage existing assets — content and capabilities — in new ways, turning information to wisdom and insight to action.”

I am not really sure what limits we are facing now, so I don’t have a formulated opinion on this statement. However, I do think combining content and capabilities is an important idea. There are a lot of social media tools out there, now we must focus on which ones are effective for which goals. It is a lot like using multimedia in journalism – there is a lot of multimedia tools, but which actually tell the most effective story.

3. Mobile Will Take Center Stage

Duh! 2009 was the year of the i-phone and its subsequent competitors (ok, Verizon, we like the Android but I still really want you to get the i-phone). Literally we can walk around holding a phone with computer capabilities right in our hand. Social media will easily all be mobilized (isn’t really already there) and I am willing to say mobile will even become the most prevalent/most interesting way it is used.

4. Expect an Intense Battle As People and Companies Look To Own Their Own Content

“This means that content publishers will be able to determine where they make their content available and at what cost.”

I guess for a big established company, they do have the ability to choose how and where their content is distributed. So maybe for these companies this will be an accurate prediction for change. However, as a small unidentified, unimportant person putting content out “there,” I want my content to go everywhere! I don’t care who publishes it or collects it, I just want someone to be doing something with it.

5. Enterprises Will Shape the Next Generation of What We’ve Called “Social Media”

No comment either way on this predicted change, however here is an interesting statment to think aout.

“Having the need and the funds, enterprises will determine the next generation of social experiences. They will push enhancements that meet their needs, specifically around monitoring, automation, alignment with the sales cycle and integration with existing systems, expanding social “media” to encompass the ecosystem of social computing across solutions, and making them actionable for the company.”

6. ROI Will Be Measured — and It Will Matter

“Surveys show only 18% of companies say they saw meaningful return on investment from their social media activities while the other 72% report modest, no return or inability to measure the return on their investment in social media.”

For social media to remain relevant and matter it will need to produce more return on investment for the enterprises and companies pushing it forward. This will be solved simply because so many people are working towards this right now since so much potential for it is there.

7. Finally: Real, Cool and Very Bizarre Online-Offline Integration

“You’ll never need to ask for a business card again at events — and you may actually get promotions and discounts that match your interests.”

I hope so!

8. Many “Old” Skills Will Be Needed Again

“Expect to see job postings for social media managers, social media psychologists and social media executive administrators to help manage the infinite tasks involved with communities and social media campaigns.”

I agree with this and I think this is why you see a lot of college kids who are interested in journalism, PR, communication and even business spending a lot of outside time learning more about social media and self-educating on how to use it effectively. What do you think I am doing right now?

9. Women Will Rule Social Media

Women rule everything : ) 

10. Social Media Will Move Into New Domains

“Sites like I’m Too Young For This, and Know Cancer Community prove that no topic is too complex for social collaboration.”

Everything can somehow be integrated into social media. I agree with this and I think this is what will blur the line between social media and the cluster that we group “everything else” into. Social media has a huge audience, however once this line blurs the people who consciously choose not to participate in social media will have no choice and will, probably unknowing, do so.