Time flies. It’s true.

We have had so many of you ask about the happenings lately at Lava7. Thanks for your interest and inquiries. We have SO many good friends in the social media world—I thought we should share a quick note because we have been AWOL.

Because of the growth of our My Social Practice product, we have been devoting 90% of our bandwidth to it. It has been a very fun ride. Still is. But, we have not been able to do any fee-for-service consultive work.

However, please stay in touch with us. We value the many Lava7 relationships we have. And in the meantime, if you are interested, check out our dental product blog and Facebook page.

SO, LET’S SAY YOU HAVE AN $8,000 stereo system in your living room, and a new $4,000 HD flat screen TV. On Thursday nights you spend 30 minutes watching The Office—and that’s about it (maybe a movie on the weekend).

On the other hand, you spend 3 hours a day (over 20 hours a week) on the web using Facebook, watching YouTube, tweeting, listening to music on your tiny computer speakers, etc.

A new integrated media delivery concept called over-the-top-tv is about to change our media consumption habits—and, it isn’t going to take years and years. In my opinion, it will happen fairly quickly, given the powerhouse companies that are on board. Then, as soon as it gains tiny traction, major networks will follow and so will advertisers. Yes, this is pretty huge—and huge for social media marketing.

THE INTERNET BROUGHT CONTENT—lots of it. Today’s web, coupled with practical integration using sleek, remarkable tools is beginning to bring context to the content. Most importantly, it’s beginning to bring content’s relevant application to our businesses and our lives.

Meet Nelson, Coupland, and Alice—IDEO’s vision of tomorrow’s book.

SO, WHAT’S HAPPENED TO “ADVERTISING”? Last April, Chris Brogan remarked in one of his posts that, “…most advertising has fallen off its original premise: to inform.”

So, why do many companies (and the agencies that produce commercials like BlackBerry’s) become so far removed from informing, and telling people compelling stories that spread?  I think one of the answers is that as people stop believing advertising, some unimaginative advertisers believe the solution is to simply make ads “cooler” and/or more interruptive. I can just hear them in their creative meetings… “Yeah—that’s the ticket. Cooler will sell.”

I get clever, fresh, and cool. I love clever, fresh, and cool. But David Ogilvy once said, “Advertising is a business of words, but advertising agencies are infested with men and women who cannot write. They cannot write advertisements, and they cannot write plans. They are helpless as deaf mutes on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera.”

Again, quoting Chris Brogan, “I think there’s the potential for a renaissance of quality advertising. I think the tools are here. I think the opportunities are powerful. All that’s required next are the minds and the passions to deliver the new (and by new, I might mean very old) advertising to people who seek to be informed instead of entertained.”

What will your business do with this opportunity? The passion in advertising creativity—coupled with today’s new media tools that engage audiences along every point of the online continuum—will change marketing and advertising forever. It’s the change that fuels social media marketing vision.

I’m curious. Which phone would you buy, based on these two ads? And I’m not asking that as a loaded question just because I am an iPhone fan.

Please. Please. To BlackBerry and every other me-too. No more ads like your BlackBerry campaign. Give us something we can hold on to. And, do it in clever, compelling, engaging and entertaining ways. You can do it. Where will tomorrow’s brilliant marketing and advertising minds (like the ones in my BYU advertising class this semester) go with this?

What do you think? Please share:

SOME MAY SAY, “NO YOU CAN’T”.  Well, yes you can.

The business people in this video have… And you will too.

Yes, the following video is a little long by blog standards—about 10 minutes. But if you are looking for inspiration to “muscle up” and do what you are destined to do, invest the 10 minutes. It’ll mean far more to you than the 60 minutes you wasted watching LOST last night. Just go for it. Click the start button.
 

After you’ve watched the video, ponder the following ideas…

How do you muscle up? Stop whining… nobody cares. The energy is in just doing it.

Create your own fantasy company. What do you do well? What is your passion? Live the fantasy.

Are you using your website (and by the way, websites are dead… of course you know that and have a blogsite by now) to really let people know who you are…. to see how goofy you are…. to see how much fun you have doing your work? Slick is easy—and boring. Doing it “real and honest” is cool—and powerful.

Amazing things happen when you leave your comfort zone.

Collaborate. Collaborate. Collaborate. Somebody in your community has an answer to your question.

Of course we pay ourselves less than we’re worth! Think of your work as a “lifestyle occupation”.

There are days when I have to remind myself to eat.

Pretty pictures are not enough any more.

What do you think? Are you doing it?