It’s Contagious.

I love the new definition of contagious these days. Not medically speaking, of course.

For many businesses, the trend du jour is to be perceived as different, bold, edgy, creative and fun — and to have your message spread with a mind of its own.

The goal is to have your message reach potential eyes, ears, fingers, computers, ipods, ipads and mobile phones as quickly and as broadly as possible.

Undoubtedly, there are many an ad agency and product company who woke up this very morning hoping that someone on their staff would have a simply genius idea today. And they hoped that idea would result in a print ad, tv commercial or online video that in turn would then spark a contagious flurry of viral proliferation throughout every social media medium.

The Old Spice – If You Have It – commercial continues to have its own afterlife on the internet for instance, long after the actual spot aired on tv.

The ideal scenario is to have the germ (ahem, I mean concept) eventually disseminated across Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Plaxo, FriendFeed, Hulu, MySpace, Google and Bing, etc. The inspired graphic, the 30-second tv spot or the one-minute video would catch the imagination of the public and in a nano-second, we would see the idea-as-a-finished-product then proliferated across the world’s airwaves and web-ernet with immediacy and ‘contagious’ enthusiasm.

An example in point: the Roller Babies viral video produced by Evian cleverly spread the product’s targeted message across the internet through subtle fun.

Instead of virus symptoms being the topic reserved for doctor offices, we now spend time talking about viral basics in our conference rooms. We analyze an idea for success fundamentals such as message clarity and visual creativity. We probe ideas for elements of uniqueness, factors of fun, the possibilities for success, and hopefully, the potential for a full viral outbreak.

Last year’s amazing public singing debut of Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent swept through social and traditional mediums with a vengeance. Companies dream of a similar word-of-mouth success.

This new world of viral thinking has added a whole new world of fun and energy to business.

In essence, we have a new vernacular for successful marketing and advertising. And the word contagious now enjoys a whole new reputation.

Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment box below.

If you liked this post, please share it on Twitter, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, Reddit, LinkedIn, or Facebook. And, I’d be honored if you would like to follow me on Twitter @JoanneMaly or visit the Lincoln Maly Marketing Facebook Fan Page.

Feel free to join the Lincoln Maly Marketing Facebook page as well for regular updates on excellence, creativity, management, leadership, motivation, marketing, and corporate communications.

The Google Parisian Love commercial might just be the quietest, most creative, classiest, memorable spot of this year’s Super Bowl.

Super Bowl XVIV is now history – and the hundred-plus $2 million commercials have had their 30 seconds of glory – or not.

Part I of this casual look at the impact of Super Bowl commercials ended with the thought that perhaps this annual advertising ritual reflects who we are at this point in our history and perhaps also helps sew the very fabric of our culture. After tonight’s commercials, I am reflective.

Are you as well?

I don’t recall as intense of a pre-Bowl ad frenzy as this year. What impact has social media played in the global grassroots conversation about the good, the bad, the ugly commercials? How much Twittering, FaceBook posting and blogging was going on during the game between the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints? There might not be a definitive answer to those questions, but there is no mistake that Bowl viewers were anticipating some daggoned good ads to complement the four quarters of passing, tackling, whistle-blowing, chest-butting, touchdown dances, and on-screen animated scrimmage line drawings.

One of the most humorous 30 seconds in the game actually was part of the ‘real’ game, and not during the commercial breaks. The second half began with a mound of scrambling of 250 – 300 lb. men grabbing for anything that felt like loose pigskin. You had to laugh.

But I digress. There were definitely some good commercials as well during the 2010 Super Bowl including:

- Volkswagen’s Punch Buggy ‘That’s Das Car’ spot;

- the Doritos spot where the young boy warns his mom’s date to keep his hands off his mom and off the little boy’s Doritos;

- the Coke spot in which a sleepwalking man in the deserted outdoors opens a fridge and opens happiness;

- the Simpson-themed Coke commercial, again with the open happiness theme;

- the E*trade spot that added a young girl to the voice-over toddler conversation this year;

- the artistic Kia spot highlighting the company’s great car finishes.

For the consumers who wanted to have a say in which commercials they thought were the strongest, there were many options this year, including the MSNBC.com online ballot.

And not to be out-done by a competing network, CBS had their own website-driving concept.

Have you voted yet? Which was your favorite commercial in Super Bowl 44? Which commercial was your least favorite?

And… if you didn’t catch the Part I blog post of And Let the Annual Advertising Ritual Begin – The Super Bowl vs. The Super Bowl Commercials, you can find it here.

Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comment box below.

If you liked this post, please share it on Twitter, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon, Reddit, LinkedIn, or Facebook. And, I’d be honored if you would like to follow me on Twitter @JoanneMaly or visit the Lincoln Maly Marketing Facebook Fan Page.

Feel free to join the Lincoln Maly Marketing Facebook page as well for regular updates on excellence, creativity, management, leadership, motivation, marketing, and corporate communications.