It has also given us the ability to have our questions answered by total strangers, anywhere, at any time. Any question. Taking a quick glance at Wiki Answers gives us a few ideas of how far we’ve progressed with the most magnificent tool of the this past century.

Here are some of the best unanswered questions.

The offhanded elegance of this question is what strikes me the most.

I can’t help but imagine what situation one might find himself in which this would be a problem. A dark alley, man walks up with a trenchcoat: “Yo, yo over here man.” Opens the coat to display dingy vials of Big Red Soda … a dark room with rotting hard wood floors and a few bean bag chairs spilling their white pellets … Where does one get this much Big Red Soda? And how does one come to the conclusion that this might be a problem? I want to meet this man. I want to shake his hand. I want to take his blood-sugar levels.

That really depends on its genetic make-up and molecular structure. So … umm … no, just … no. If it were, it’d be in stores next to the fat-free lard. I think Big Red Soda is though, so you can have a go at that if you find the right dark alley.

Healthy lung cancer can run at least five miles in the snow along Lake Michigan. Disease lung cancer is a much bigger fan of smoking, drinking and chugging down Big Red Soda.

This guy’s got a night planned ahead of him. Apparently, everyone is out to push their stomach linings and kidney prowess to the limit. I wonder if this is the same dude whose trying to overdose on Big Red. The best advice I have is don’t eat it in powdered form. That could get messy.

This one isn’t particularly funny in and of itself. But take a closer look at the category it’s under. “Death and dying.” This takes emo to a new level.

It means that wasn’t regular tea.

Not if she wants to avoid being struck by lightning. I mean, I suppose she can … but will she? That seems to be the more pertinent question for this poster to be asking.

Eleanor Roosevelt.

Oh, that’s perfectly natural. Especially if you are overdosing on powered gelatin, Big Red Soda and gluten-free gluten (I think they call that one “rice”). Or actually swallowing magnets. I wonder how long this poor poster waited for an answer before seeing a doctor or taking some pepto.

Yes. With questions like these being asked from all corners of the States, sure. It’s perfectly normal. In fact, I think I’d be confused if you weren’t walking around with a headache. That’s just the feeling of your brain knocking against your skull.

Ahh, the Internet.

It has the power to bring us together in ways we never before thought possible. Of course, it has amazing benefits as well. The amount of information at our fingertips … the ability to connect with one another … the endless hours of entertainment … the easiest way to find out what time the game is on (and who won) … the shopping … the fill in here makes the Internet truly a goldmine, just waiting to be completely discovered. And it will spread like wildfire.

Once something is on the Internet, the whole world can see it. Can learn from it. Can absorb it.

So dig in. Anything you could want is there.

And so, in honor of being whatever you want to be, let us celebrate the holiday of disguise with some festive videos. Be warned though, some creative monsters are scarier than others.

Happy Halloween!

First, these two apps turn your computer and headphones into your own beat lab. Satisfy your inner music producer with iNudge and this drum kit.

Need some ambient noise to drown our your weekend-ready coworkers? Start any of these YouTube videos at any time, play them together, alone or in any order, and you get a harmonious mix that won’t distract you.

Every wonder if  Raclette, Duddleswell or Pressato were names of fonts or names of cheeses? Well… okay, you may not have wondered about that. But when you start playing Cheese or Font? you’ll realize how little you know about cheese… and fonts.

A little Chicago spotlight–  The Oprah Show took the flash mob phenomenon, inspired by this viral video, and of course, Oprah-fied it and took it up a notch. They taught the whole audience of 21,000 a dance to the Black Eyed Peas’ performance of “I Gotta Feelin’” at the first episode of her 24th season. Just check it out. It’s happy.

We love what this interactive agency is doing to sell their t-shirts. Adds a little something to the usual online shopping experience.

Ever think that maybe the research you’re doing on the web might be more fun if everything was written LIKE KANYE WEST TYPED IT?!?!?!!!! Well, now’s your chance to find out.

All of these apps share something that makes them viral–  they strike a communal chord. Whether it’s humor, joy, or curiosity, something integral in all of these appeals to a shared experience. You almost like it  more when you pass it on and that person feels the same emotion. Keep that in mind when constructing your own attempts at viral fame. And  if those don’t keep you busy for the rest of the day, we don’t know what will.

Quizzes: Tools for Building a Community Around Your Website

I am a bit of a procrastinator. I also really like answering questions about myself. (Yea, I’m honest!) And, guess what, I’m not the only sometimes-distracted narcissist on the web. When used properly, online quizzes are rewarding marketing tools that will increase your site’s interactivity and traffic.

Anybody that spends any amount of time on Facebook knows that the personality quiz is a trend that is here to stay. They just don’t get old. As much fun as graphing-calculator-required exams were in college, with a few mouse clicks, I’d rather determine “How many kids will [I] have?”, and finally find out “What type of Vitamin Water [I am]” during my down-time.

The world wide web can seem like an ever-expanding assembly of strangers—quizzes, silly or serious, tell me who I am, and then let me post a link telling everyone else who I am, too. An article from the Search Engine Journal explains that well-designed quizzes, suited to your brand and your consumer are “a great way to engage your visitors (most people will take the quiz, thus [spending] more time on your site and will be more willing to browse it further).” And, because they are “eagerly shared” (people like sharing their personality with online friends they have never meant in real life), a user will link his quiz results to each of his social media outlets, drawing more even people to your site.

Companies like Avon have already discovered how to “generate quizzes that are tied to their web site’s topic.” Thanks to their “What Skin Type are you?” questionnaire, I realized that I am, apparently, not taking proper care of my sensitive eye area, and Avon has just the cream to correct my negligence. Thank goodness! A quiz may be purely entertainment, informative, or both; its fun-factor is not diminished by it’s interactive marketing possibilities.

In any case, in the piece he stresses that blogs are actually the perfect compliment to magazines. Magazines generally come out once a month, and in his words:

“Blogs can break stories; magazines can explain stories. Magazines can survey and analyze issues; blogs can archive as much data as necessary to back up your analysis. A blog can fill in many gaps that a magazine schedule leaves wide open.”

The GQ story, “America’s 25 Douchiest Colleges” illustrates the ability for blogs and magazines to compliment each other. When I first read the story, I was taken aback. I sat in my chair and thought, “This sounds exactly like something that would be on Gawker.” But then, as I continued reading the story I reveled in reading snarky and sarcastic blog content in a polished and tangible format. There was something special about reading a Gawker like topic in GQ. Interestingly enough, the link to the GQ article was posted two days ago on Deadspin.

This got me thinking. We are a competitive culture, and we always assume that one technology will destroy the one preceding it. We love to watch innovation, but for us, innovation generally means that something inefficient has to die. As marketers we need to keep in mind that innovation works at differing paces based on the idea and the product. It is our job to stay ahead of trends, and discover what the masses will adopt in the future.

But, we can’t get carried away. People still read magazines and watch television. Hey, people even still read the newspaper. It is about integrating new technologies with existing platforms that really allows products to take off. Here at the Ocean Agency we are constantly impressed by the way that the social web can act as a home for an entire media campaign. So, follow GQ’s lead, and create something that works effectively across a variety of platforms.

If you haven’t watched Mad Men before, or have a hazy recolection of what happened in season 2, or just want to read some writing that captures the essence of the series– the Handy article is for you.

While we could go on about the article, I want to focus on their season 3 preview. They stress the fact that season 3 will grapple with Sterling Cooper strugling to adapt to emerging technologies.

From the article:

“For another of the show’s ironies is that Don and his colleagues are dinosaurs not just in terms of the impending social revolutions of the 1960s but also in terms of the creative revolution that would roil advertising that decade.”

Marketers are desperately trying to stay in touch with the latest trends and constatly changing social norms. It is interesting to think about how the creative advertising revolution of the 1960s is similiar to the conversational media advertising revolution of today.

Can you compare the widespread adoption of television and television advertising to the emergence of social media marketing today?

Perhaps. But one of the greatest differences lies in the ways that marketers learn about new technologies and stay up on the latest trends. In today’s world, marketers are “early adopters”, hand on the pulse of the internet.

In the 1960s, joining the creative advertising revolution meant lots of market research and a gifted understanding of what the world wanted. Today, the barrier to entry is much lower. All you need is an internet connection and a voracious appetite for content. From these, original ideas and business plans form.

Luckily for today’s marketers, it is harder to be a dinasour. To find out what is going on, all you have you have to do is go online. For Don, he would actually have to hold focus groups and study the world around him. At Ocean, we like to think we do a little of both– We may have are ears and eyes glued to the internet, but we are also keen observers and active members of the real social word, not just the social web.

Join us for more discussions like this on the liveblog, Sunday at 9 PM Central/ 10 PM Eastern.

If Don Draper was both a real person and alive today (just go with me here people) I feel like he would be fascinated by the evolution of the advertising world. Most of all, he might salivate, in a very cool and debonair manner of course, at the integration of so many forms of mass media.

Playboy partnered with AMC and branded the archives section of their website. If you go to http://www.playboyarchives.com, the centerfolds from the 1960s are highlighted. The 1960s playboy archives fit perfectly with the look of Mad Men, and both Mad Men and playboy are fresh vintage in a way that they both influence the future. Smart move.

Mad Men is successful because it convincingly teleports viewers back in time, while still remaining relevant to Today’s world. The show captures classic cool, where characters carry themselves with class and confidence while remaining internally scared about an uncertain future.

Sound familiar?

Today’s social media gurus, interactive designers, viral marketers and the like are the Don Drapers of today. We sell happiness, while we all are uncertain about the future of our industry and the world.

Viral marketing agency Deep Focus, has put together a great viral campaign for AMC and Mad Men thus far. People are definitely buzzing about the premiere, from the Mad Men yourself website, to tweet ups and the like.

AMC’s marketing efforts are to be applauded. They have stayed true to the Mad Men brand (joining with classic Playboy is genius in its simplicity), while embracing the latest powerful marketing tools. Don Draper would definitely approve: A product with a clear message that hinges on nostalgia, powered by the best technology to reach a mass market.

The tools have changed, but maybe Don Draper would be a successful marketer today after all. What do you think? Even better, who is the Don Draper of today?

Oh, and don’t forget about the Liveblog. More news to come!

While many agencies are great at telling their clients how to succeed in a world of social and interactive media, their own presence is lacking.

At the Ocean Agency, we’ve had a lot of success building interactive web campaigns for clients, but now it’s time to practice what we preach.

We have a lot of fun in this office, and have characters with a lot of personality. We have strong opinions, and are just pretty interesting people overall. Over the next few months, you are going to get to know us. We are successful at what we do precisely because of the personalities of our employees matched with an office atmosphere that encourages both productivity and personal growth.

Great ready to hear more about what goes on here, on a personal level.

One of the things we love here at the Ocean Agency is the AMC television show “Mad Men”. In fact, Jacqueline Zenn (@jazspin, @seogroup), our Interactive Marketing Manager, seems to think that The Ocean Agency is the Sterling Cooper of 2009. Now, I won’t go that far, but it is amazing to work in marketing and think about how far we’ve come and what actually remains the same in marketing from Don Draper’s day.

So, if you’re a friend of Mad Men be sure to join us for our Liveblog of the Mad Men season premier on Sunday the 16th at 9 PM central.

Now, if you’re not familiar with what a Liveblog is, well, it’s essentially a real time conversation, but on the computer. Imagine if you were sitting chatting with your friends while you watched a TV show. Ok, now add laptops and you’ve got a liveblog!   You can even include all kinds of real time comments from Twitter and readers from all over the globe.  You can even include pictures, videos, and links in the platform.

All you have to do is come back on Sunday night and the Liveblog will be up and running. If you’re anything like us, you tend to be at your computer while you watch TV anyway– why not follow along with some entertaining and smart commentary as you watch?

Are you a big Mad Men fan? Would you like to be involved in the liveblog? Send a direct message to The Ocean Agency on twitter. Be sure to tell your Mad Men watching friends too! Can’t wait to see you (well at least virtually) on Sunday!

Their latest integrated campaign is for the release of the P Rod III, a new skateboarding shoe. In an extremely smart move they are generating buzz for both the product and commercial online before it airs on television. Many online marketing companies forget the power of integration–most well known sites and viral hits explode first online and then hit their tipping point because of mainstream  media coverage.

Nike has created a commercial that is so good that the commercial itself is the story. That should be the goal for every viral marketing campaign: Come up with a campaign so interesting, so unique, that it is a story in itself.

The commercial is also targeted perfectly. The background song, Ice Cube’s “Today was a good day” is a 90s west coast classic that is now primed for a resurgence. The feel of the video speaks to both skater rebelliousness and an effortless sense of cool that every skater (and teenager) tries to achieve. Nike has done it again– stayed on brand while remaining edgy, and leading the marketing pack.

While the Nike P-Rod commercial is not a typical viral video, it is having the same effect. Gone are the days when viral videos are only of pets doing stupid things, shot with a home-made camera.

The future of viral video lies in higher production values that retain the same viral spirit that created viral hits.

The Nike commercial works as a viral video because it is heavily stylized but it is still believable– P-Rod just might go to those skate spots and run into Kobe on any given day.

This exemplifies marketing in the new social economy.

Brand your company in a way that is genuine and open. Focus on targeting your advertising to groups online who will buy your product, and tailor your marketing plan to provide something of value to your customers.

If you provide something that is entertaining enough, or of enough value, you will then spark a conversation that cannot be stopped, especially once it is picked up by mainstream media. It all begins online, and video seems to be the medium of choice for sparking the conversation.

What is your brand doing with video online? Looking at this Nike video makes us at the Ocean Agency want to do a lot more….