SEO Werkt!

Jack Daniel's loves Independence Day. Last July, the whiskey brand built a campaign around letterpress printing, employing Yee-Haw Industries to create a bunch of patriotic posters and documented the process in a wonderful two-and-a-half minute documentary. Now, it's back with an encore. Working with Arnold in Boston, the brand has parnered with independent artists in Berkeley, Calif.; Austin, Texas; and Brooklyn, N.Y., to create five hand-made posters about independence. The agency explains: "The artists chosen represent a commitment to tradition and craft, just like Jack Daniel's. The posters they created were fashioned in a variety of traditional methods, including hand-painted on the side of a truck door, sewn and embroidered into a flag, carved from the charred wood of an actual Jack Daniel's whiskey barrel, and screen printed." Three videos documenting the process will be shown in bars across the U.S., along with the displayed original artwork from each film. See all the posters and videos after the jump.

If gargling whiskey or downing some mustard doesn’t sound like a pleasant way to ease your sore throat, you can get some relief just by popping a few marshmallows. More »

TV is about to go through the biggest radical rethink in decades as it becomes connected to the internet. And who is going to help manage this process of change? You, the digital marketer.

When you work in digital marketing, mentioning TV in the same breath probably conjures up pictures of Don Draper fraternizing with women, long lunches, and drinking whiskey from a decanter in plush offices. So not much has changed, then?

Everything has changed. That heyday of the creative director as demi-god seems a far cry from today’s ROI justifications to squeeze every lost drop out of every cent before being allowed the good fortune to even look at a dollar bill. For all the advancements in digital media, one thing is certain — we are still not working remotely on Hawaiian beaches (fragmentation passed off as innovation, DSPs passed off as an answer to declining CTRs, and interaction passed off as consumer engagement has ensured this.)

The very fact that TV still commands 50 percent of the half-a-trillion dollar global media budget is that it unashamedly presents itself in the homes of each and every consumer and says “look at this, it’s beautiful and you know you want it.” And lo and behold, the resulting “ker-ching” of cash registers proves this to be true.

Meanwhile, digital marketers are adjusting knobs and dials trying to figure out if consumers did click and, if so, where. Marketers are trying to figure out how to de-dupe consumers when they clicked more then once, or what happened if they didn’t click at all. This translates to excel spread sheets, late nights, etc. (Um, no thanks.)

Yet with the rise of smart phones and tablets, something has happened in the last few years that followed the meteorological rise of social media. That is when you are sitting in front of high value entertainment and something piques your interest when presented imaginatively, the passion spills over into intrigue and sharing.

It is estimated that 25 percent of consumers go online after seeing a TV ad. That’s a huge spike right there. That’s not to mention that half of all TV watchers have a second electronic device in their hands, such as a smart phone or tablet, whilst in a comatose state on the couch engrossed in anything from “The Vampire Diaries” to “Mad Men.” But whether you are checking your email or talking on Facebook, the habit is now truly synced for TV watchers. So much so, the biggest topic of discussion on social media by far is TV content. We just love it and we can’t get enough, because with every wave of consumer technology — from video recorders to X-Box and Hulu — technology just drives TV viewing up and up, and with it the potential for advertising dollars and media measurement.

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I need these on my face protecting my eye balls right now! They’re wooden sunglasses made out of old whiskey barrels. Each one is hand crafted and comes with a custom wooden crate and crowbar. A collaborative project between Shwood, Bodega and Bushmills Irish Whiskey. Seriously how cool?
via.

If you’re feeling under the weather, or your throat is a little sore, scratchy, or itchy, the solution may be as close as your liquor cabinet. Grab your bottle of whiskey—it may be all you need to soothe that sore throat and go back to work, school, or even just bed. More »

The Gillmor Gang — Robert Scoble, John Taschek, Kevin Marks, and Steve Gillmor — took a WiFi stroll through the forest that is Hollywood’s attempt to lock down our TVs. And by stroll, this one features @stevegillmor at a leisurely somewhat brain-cell challenged pace. You can almost see him think, except that there’s not much thought going on there. No, really. The others are in good condition, unless you count @scobleizer once he starts hitting the whiskey toward the end.

As to the battle for control of our TV, it’s really too late, what with SOPA boycotts, reverse engineering of the Apple AirPlay bus, and Microsoft’s slow fade from CES underway. But that doesn’t stop the Cartel from trying. It may turn out that you can someday move network news shows from Slingbox to iPad and back up to Apple TV over WiFi; for now the realtime bus is getting choked. In fact all things streaming are about to collide with bandwidth caps, at least in our house. With 4 Apple TVs and counting, it won’t be long before WiFi consulting becomes a trade school offering. Me, I’m off to Fry’s to follow the chat room advice. Happy Holidays.

@stevegillmor, @scobleizer, @jtaschek, @kevinmarks

Produced and directed by Tina Chase Gillmor @tinagillmor

Nothing says Christmas quite like a 26-foot-tall tree made of whiskey barrels. More than 100 white oak containers were used to create the tree, which is a "present" from Jack Daniel's to its hometown of Lynchburg, Tenn., and part of the whiskey maker's holiday campaign via ad agency Arnold. "We hope our barrel tree stands as a memorable way of wishing our many friends around the world a safe and happy holiday—and that they'll stand with us to gather in its glow," says master distiller Jeff Arnett. Hey, it beats a plastic candy cane filled with sample-size bottles of booze. The campaign includes a TV commercial (below), a socially minded holiday site and a Facebook game in which you can protect the barrel tree by hurling snowballs at bandits. After a few shots of Jack, that might be barrels of fun. Or not. Hope they're guarding the actual tree, lest some hammered yokels roll out a few barrels and send it crashing to the ground. Making-of video after the jump.