Maris, West & Baker had a strong showing at the American Advertising Federation of Jackson’s 2012 Addy Awards. We won 6 gold Addys, honoring work for the Mississippi State Department of Health, Cadence Bank and the Mississippi Children’s Museum. The agency also received 20 silver Addys.

MWB won two of the evening’s best of show awards. The first was Best of Show – Public Service for the agency’s flu prevention campaign for the Mississippi State Department of Health. The second was the Graphic Designer of the Year award, presented to Keith Fraser for his work on the Shack Up Inn poster campaign.

Mississippi has traditionally had a very high teen pregnancy rate. Currently, it’s the highest in the nation and, according to a 2008 estimate from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, it’s costing our state at least $159 million per year. Teenage parents are more likely to forgo higher education and rely on public healthcare and child welfare programs. Their children are more likely to be incarcerated, too. It’s a heart breaking situation any way you look at it.

Our teen pregnancy rates have been declining a little. The rate has dropped about 23% since 1991. Still, there’s a long way to go. Fortunately, it seems like momentum is building for some real evidence-based strategy and intervention. Our new Governor, Phil Bryant said in his state-of-the-state address:

“…the epidemic of teenage pregnancy in this state must come to an end. Churches, schools, community organizations and most importantly, families, must realize that the highest teen pregnancy rate in America will eventually cripple our state. Such a change in a societal norm is possible. Forty years ago many of you here today would be smoking during this ceremony. It was the norm and few would have noticed. Society, however, decided that smoking was harmful and a slow but certain repudiation of the habit began. A similar repudiation of teen pregnancy must begin throughout Mississippi society.”

We couldn’t agree more. In fact, as the advertising agency that helped develop Mississippi’s youth tobacco prevention and cessation strategies, this kind of talk gets our gears turning. More to come…

MWB is pleased to announce the agencies four newest hires (pictured clockwise from top left): Kathleen McPhail, Lee Norris, Taravia Harris and Patience Ainsworth.

Kathleen McPhail joined the agency in December 2011 as Senior Account Executive. McPhail brings over 15 years of successful marketing and project management experience to MWB, having worked with SkyGuard and SkyTel. McPhail holds a bachelor-of-science degree in merchandising from Northeast Louisiana University in Monroe, Louisiana.

Elizabeth Lee Norris joined MWB in November 2011 as Social Media Manager. Norris has been an independent business consultant specializing in social media marketing and has used her skills to help multiple clients in Mississippi raise their awareness and engage with customers. She is also an experienced writer and has written for numerous print and online publications, including Portico Jackson, Stages Mississippi, and Greater Jackson Business. In addition to being honored as the new president of Jackson Friends of the Library, Norris serves in multiple capacities on numerous boards and was appointed by Governor Haley Barbour to the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service in 2003.

Ray Harris joined MWB in August, 2011, as Account Coordinator. Prior to joining MWB, Harris was Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator with the Madison County Economic Development Authority. Harris holds a bachelor’s degree in Business & Marketing Management from Mississippi College, and is a member of the Public Relations Association of Mississippi (PRAM) and the American Marketing Association (AMA).

Patience Ainsworth joined Maris, West & Baker Advertising (MWB) in Jackson as Media Buyer/Planner. Ainsworth holds a bachelor’s degree in advertising from the University of Southern Mississippi, with a minor in marketing. Joining the agency in July, 2011, Ainsworth brings almost 10 years of experience to MWB.

Here are some things to think about:

• Is your website current? Considering how fast Internet technology is advancing, five years is like an eternity. Are the pictures small and fuzzy? Are your product descriptions still accurate? Do you have pages missing? Do you have a “coming soon” notice that has been in place since your website launched? Or, worse yet, are there typos and inaccurate information?
• Can you update your website yourself? Several years ago, content management systems required a lot more technical expertise. So simple website updates were often left to the experts – at a fee of $100 or so a pop. Those days are over. Content management systems are now much easier to use, and simple updates can be made easily.
• Is your website mobile friendly? Having a mobile website is a good idea. But, at the very least, your website should use mobile friendly technology (i.e. not Flash).
• Can search engines find you? Sure, your company pops up on Google when you enter your company name (eg: Bob’s Diner). But does your name show up for non-branded searches (eg: Jackson, Mississippi restaurants)? Do your competitors show up higher on the search results page?
• Is your website easy to navigate? It may seem easy to you. But test your website on a few people who don’t know your business as well as you do. Can they find information easily? Or is it more of a chore?
• Do you have access to your website’s analytics? It’s your website. Shouldn’t you know how many people are visiting it? How about these questions: What search keywords brought them to your website? How many pages did they check out? Where in the world did your visitors come from? Here’s the answer: You can get very comprehensive reporting with a quick, free installation of Google Analytics. It’s a must have. After all, not have access to analytics is like not being able to tell how many people walked through the front door of your brick-and-mortar business.

If you answered “no” to any of the above questions, then it’s time to make updating your website a priority.

MWB is pleased to announce that our VP of Public Relations, Janet Zito, has been selected by the Mississippi Business Journal as one of the “50 Leading Business Women” of 2011.

The annual program honors an elite group of senior-level business leaders who are having a positive impact on the state economy. In recognition of this honor, Janet will be profiled in an upcoming special issue of the Mississippi Business Journal. Zito has traveled internationally as a corporate communications consultant, specializing in media/spokesperson, public speaking, and executive leadership coaching. She joined Maris, West & Baker in 2010 to lead the agency’s public relations services.

“I’m very pleased, but not surprised, that Janet made the list,” said MWB President, Peter Marks. “Janet’s leadership and unique skill set represents a tremendous asset to our company—and to her clients, as well. To see her name on the list with so many other impressive women is a wonderful testimony to all she’s accomplished so far in her career.”

Asking people to like your posts on Facebook does actually increase the number of likes you get. Likewise (pun intended), asking people to leave comments increases the number of comments you get.

It shouldn’t come as a huge surprise. But now there’s some evidence: Momentus Media, a company that develops Facebook marketing software, recently posted their research findings in this post: Asking Users To “Like” Gets 216% Higher Interaction Rate.

Momentus analyzed nearly 50,000 Facebook posts and found that asking for likes more than doubled the post’s interaction rate, which they define as the number of likes and comments an individual post receives divided by the total number of likes for that page.

Why it matters.

Here’s why those likes and comments are so important: Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm factors those likes and comments into an equation that directly affects how many people see your post. You’ve probably noticed that Facebook now gives you the option of sorting your newsfeed by Top News and Most Recent, right? Well, Facebook determines Top News using an algorithm called EdgeRank, which plugs engagement factors into the calculation. High EdgeRank posts are positioned higher in the feed, and low EdgeRank posts may not show up at all. And, as a result, Top News items get seen by more people.

Other factors which influencing EdgeRank include the type of media you post (pictures tend to get more engagement), how you post (using Facebook’s platform works better than third-party apps) and something they call affinity— how close Facebook considers the relationship to be between you, the creator, and the potential viewer of your post.

But can “like bait” backfire?

All this begs the question: Is there a tipping point where gratuitously asking for likes has a negative impact on brand perception?

For example, I recently saw a post from a local news station that linked to the story of Casey Anthony’s acquittal. It was accompanied by the message, “Click ‘like’ if you are upset by the Casey Anthony verdict.” Wouldn’t it have made more sense to measure public sentiment by using Facebook’s Question app to conduct a poll? Of course, it would have.

But then, they wouldn’t have gotten all those likes. Obvious “like bait” posts like these do seem to work, as lots of people are willing to click the thumbs-up button as an easy means of self-expression. But you have to wonder how many people see through the scheme and are turned off by it.

I’d be interested to hear your opinions. Do these types of posts have a negative effect on how you view brands? Or is it just good social media strategy?

Oh, and if you like kittens, puppies and rainbows, be sure to click “like,” leave a comment, and share this post with all of your friends.

Here’s a nice writeup from the Memphis Commercial Appeal about our client, Cadence Bank, and the branding campaign we put together for them. View on the Commercial Appeal’s Website or read below:

Cadence Banking On New Customer-Focused Message
Commercial Appeal By James Dowd Posted July 7, 2011

“It’s more about people than products.”

Such is the motivation driving a new marketing campaign from Starkville, Miss.-based Cadence Bank, according to CEO Mark Abernathy.

Cadence, which has five Memphis locations, becomes the latest area financial institution to launch ads in an effort to rebrand and reinforce its image.

The move comes at a time when the banking industry is trying to reinvent itself as stable and trustworthy and re-establish personal bonds with consumers after the economic meltdown of 2008. To do so, bankers are finding that a return to the past offers the key to success in the future.

Cadence Bank “Memphis” TV from Maris, West & Baker on Vimeo.

Take Cadence’s multimedia campaign, which includes 30-second TV spots developed by Maris, West & Baker of Jackson, Miss., and filmed in Downtown Memphis and in Starkville. The bank’s ads recently began airing on local and regional stations promoting a simple message that its leaders listen.

“Historically, the process has been about developing products and then going out and trying to get people to buy them,” said Abernathy. “All that changed following the last recession. … Now the focus is on listening to what people want and responding to that, rather than the other way around.”

Cadence Bank “Columbus” TV from Maris, West & Baker on Vimeo.

Locally owned Financial Federal last year launched its first-ever multimedia marketing campaign. The blitz celebrated the bank’s 25th anniversary while promoting its personal approach to banking.

“We still believe that word-of-mouth is the best kind of marketing campaign you can have, but we wanted a way to introduce ourselves to the community after a quarter-century of being in business” said William Tayloe, Financial Federal president. “We’ve found it helpful to remind people that we’re here and that we’re focused on providing them the kind of individual attention they want from a bank.”

Similarly, the former Memphis Area Teachers’ Credit Union, which now operates under a federal charter, on June 21 publicly changed its name to Orion Federal Credit Union and launched a marketing campaign to alert people of its identity.

“When we were founded back in 1957, our membership was limited to educators, but that hasn’t been the case for several years,” said CEO Daniel Weickenand. “We chose the name Orion because that constellation is a great metaphor for what we are: An organization of individual members, that when taken as a whole, create something pretty special.”

Emphasizing that larger institutions can also be devoted to individual customers, Bruce Hopkins, First Tennessee Bank’s president for the West Tennessee Region, said the Memphis-based bank has put forth a lot of effort during the last couple years strengthening its customer relationships.

Occasional marketing campaigns reflect the bank’s latest products and services, Hopkins said, but employees also spend a lot of time interacting with clients, and the bank even offers free financial planning evaluations.

“Sitting down with clients and going over core financial planning is a key service for us and relates to our mission of maintaining a strong presence in this community,” Hopkins said. “We’ve been around since 1864, but there’s no question that the last few years have been difficult for us and everyone else in this industry. We’re continuing to focus on customers’ needs and by building relationships with them, we’re helping build dreams.”

Joe DiNicolantonio, president of Regions in West Tennessee, agreed.

“From our branches to our call centers to online, exemplary customer service is our first and foremost mission,” DiNicolantonio said. “Our branding campaign says that it’s time to expect more, and we stand behind that. We’re ready and able to deliver it.”

And it’s that sort of mindset that Cadence leaders believe is best for customers and for banking.

“The industry learned a valuable lesson about being bulletproof, or not, and you’re seeing a return to the one-customer-at-a-time model,” Abernathy said. “Banking 50 or 100 years ago was about personal relationships, but the industry got away from that and became sloppy. I’m happy there seems to be a return to that kind of thinking.”

Maris, West & Baker’s work for the Shack Up Inn has received a 2011 One Show award, one of the most prestigious honors in advertising. The One Show is a global advertising competition judged by representatives of the world’s top advertising agencies. The campaign was the only American entry to win in the poster campaign category.

“Our work was honored alongside Brazilian work for Volkswagen and Nike, a German campaign for Lego, and posters from India for Hewlett Packard,” said MWB President, Peter Marks. “To me, the most exciting thing about this win is it demonstrates that the work we’re doing right here in Mississippi is competitive on a global level.”

The Shack Up Inn is a business in Clarksdale, Mississippi, which offers overnight lodging in renovated sharecropper shacks. Their posters were designed by Keith Fraser (Associate Creative Director) and written by Randy Lynn and Marc Leffler (Creative Directors). The campaign was previously honored with a national Addy Award from the American Advertising Federation in 2010.

Here’s what happened: Facebook linked your profile information—your likes, interests, and other information—to actual Facebook pages. They call these “connections.” Sometimes your connections lead to official pages and other times, they link to generic community managed pages. Unfortunately, there are some problems, right now, as far as businesses are concerned. If you’re like most people, Facebook won’t allow you to link to your company’s official Facebook page from your employment profile.

I’d call this a bug because it’s clearly not working as intended. Instead of your company’s profile icon, there’s just a generic blue briefcase. If your business has more than a few employees, it’s likely several of these generic company pages have already been created—one for every possible variation of your company’s name.

Fortunately, it is possible to correctly link to your business page. Here are three possible solutions, starting with the easiest:

Delete and Redo

This is the easiest solution, and it should work if your company actually turns up the search box Facebook gives you for your employer listing.

• Click “edit profile.”
• Go to “education and work” on the left menu.
• Delete your current employer listing.
• Start typing in the box that says “Where have you worked?”
• Look for your company’s official Facebook page in the suggestions that pop up. If you see it, click on the icon and you’re done.
• If this doesn’t work, there’s still hope. Click on the button that says “Add Your Company’s Name” (where “Your Company’s Name” is the actual name of your company). Then click “Add Job.”

At this point, one of two things will happen: If you are lucky, the generic blue briefcase will be replaced by the profile icon of your company’s Facebook page. If you’re not so lucky, then it’s on to Plan B.

Become a Temporary Admin

For reasons which do not make sense to me, but are probably obvious if you happen to be a Facebook programmer, my company (Maris, West & Baker, an advertising agency in Mississippi) will not show up in the employer search box. Instead, Facebook offers a number of other suggestions: Marmara University of Istanbul, Marvel Comics, Margaritaville… some group called “Marijuana is Safer.”

I’m not sure what logic is used to determine which companies show up as search results. Whatever it is, it’s not working. Tons of people have been complaining about this problem on Facebook, their blogs and other places, but so far no action. It’s been almost a year now, and Facebook still has not fixed the problem.

But there is a solution, and it has worked for everyone in my agency: You become an admin of your company’s official Facebook page. I don’t why it works, but it does. Here’s the procedure:

• Ask your company’s Facebook administrator to make you a temporary admin.
• Go to your Facebook profile
• Click the link that says “edit my profile”
• Click “education and work” on the left menu
• Delete your current employer listing
• Start typing in the box that says “Where have you worked?”
• Facebook gives you a list of suggestions, probably none of which are your company. It doesn’t matter. Type the full name of your company, exactly as it’s spelled on the official Facebook page.
• Now click on the button that says “Add Your Company’s Name” (where “Your Company’s Name” is the actual name of your company)
• Click the “Add Job” button at the bottom.

At this point, the generic blue briefcase icon should be replaced with the profile icon of your company’s official page. You did it!

Try The Web Developer Add-On for Firefox

Of course, it’s possible that your company’s Facebook admins don’t trust you and would rather not endow you with admin superpowers. Or maybe you don’t have a clue who maintains your company’s Facebook page.

Whatever your reasons, there is an option of last resort. But, let me warn you, it’s not for the faint of heart and it only works with the Firefox web browser. Since this approach is already covered on several blogs, I’ll just provide the links and a smattering of commentary.

First bit of commentary. It didn’t work for me. Maybe it will work for you.

• Download and install the Web Developer Add-On for Firefox
• Restart Firefox
• Then follow the instructions here: How to Add Official Facebook Page to Your Profile Employer Link
• Note that your will need to know the unique page ID of your company’s Facebook page. Since your company probably has a vanity URL, you’ll need to do a little digging. Check out this page: 2 Easy Steps to Find Your Facebook Profile/Page ID.

Don’t let my experience keep you from trying it. These trick has worked for others recently, according to various Facebook posts I’ve read. Give it a shot. If any of these solutions worked for you, be sure to leave a comment and show us some Facebook love using the like button below.

Unfortunately, many brands have very little personality at all. They’re just a boring salesman in a nondescript gray suit, reciting memorized features and benefits in a monotone voice. Others are overly enthusiastic—a little too eager, a little too loud, like a cheerleader shouting through a megaphone at a dinner party. There’s the self-absorbed type, constantly talking about himself but never interested in anything you have to say. And let’s not forget the scam artist. Always looking for some sucker to fool so that he can make a quick buck.

Boring, loud, obnoxious, self-absorbed, deceitful. It seems obvious that all of these personalities are unlikely to win many friends. In contrast, the people and the brands we love, share many of the same positive characteristics: They’re trustworthy, cool, funny, interesting, helpful, dynamic, sincere.

Marketing, in many ways, a big corporate popularity contest. We choose brands that possess qualities we value: Brands that can tell a good joke, give us something interesting to think about, or help us do something important. Sometimes, we even like brands that make us seem a little more interesting, ourselves.

Just like in real life, a great personality can be the key to winning people over. That means paying a little more attention to how your brand relates to its customers and how your company treats them, as well. Whether you’re the the world’s most conservative bank or the edgiest skateboard company, people relate to your brand according to the way its personality is expressed through ideas, words and visual impressions.

The key to truly relating to your customers is thinking of them as real people, not an abstract audience. And then think about how your brand relates to these people on a human level.

Here’s a series of shots Tate took of our building in each of the four seasons, including one from the “Blizzard of 2010″ that took a lot of Mississippi residents by surprise.

To see more of Tate’s work, visit his Flickr gallery.

Often, small business owners believe that their website is properly optimized because, when they search for their company’s name, it shows up on the first page of Google. But, the reality is, good “branded search” results don’t necessarily indicate good SEO. Performing well for non-branded searches is really the key is being competitive on the Web.

Think of it this way: Let’s say you own a store that sells diamond rings. Most people who are searching the Web for your company’s name (let’s say Maris Jewelers), already plan to do business with you. They’re just looking for your address or phone number. So you haven’t really won a customer. You’ve just made it easier for your customer to find you.

Now let’s say someone hasn’t decided where to buy their ring. Google and other search engines want to deliver the best search results to their users. So they rank relevant Web pages highest in their search results. Relevancy is determined by factors like what keywords appear in key places on the Web page. For example, let’s say someone Googles “diamond rings.” A Web page with the the words“diamond” and “rings” in the title bar, main headline, and several places throughout the page is very likely to contain that relevant information.

The domain name is an especially important factor for SEO, but one that’s often overlooked when businesses build their first website. Using the above example, the URL “diamondrings.com” would rank higher on the search engine results page (SERP) than, say, marisjewelers.com. It seems obvious, but most small business owners don’t factor SEO when choosing the domain for their first website. And, many of us, built our first website many years before the rise of SEO. (Our url is mwb.com. It’s a trade off: nice and short, but keyword poor.)

Location is another extremely important consideration for small business SEO. We used to advise clients that more than half of all search queries include geographic information like city or state. But Google Instant now automatically suggests location data as you type your search query. So it’s likely a much larger percentage of searches now include location content. And it’s critical for small business websites to be optimized for their location.

Many website design, ad agencies and consultants claim to be knowledgeable about SEO. But we see major blunders frequently from firms that should know better. One client (formerly with another agency here in Mississippi) came to us complaining that their website wasn’t showing up on search engines. There were lots of problems with the website. But one of the main ones was that the firm had placed spaces between each letter of the company’s name in the title bar of each page. It looked like this “C O M P A N Y N A M E.” Maybe that looks nice to some people. But many search engines won’t likely connect the letters together to form words.

Another word of caution: Some SEO consultants promote the sneaky tricks (sometimes called black hat SEO) they use to game the system. Don’t buy it. Search engines like Google are constantly adapting their algorithm to account for tricks like keyword stuffing, invisible page text and dummy redirects. Many of the tricks that worked in the past often have zero impact today. Some of them will actually get you blacklisted or at least penalized from Google searches.

Good SEO is more about building your website correctly, providing high quality content, marketing through appropriate online channels, and networking with like-minded people (bloggers, online news editors, online forum participants, etc), and getting in-bound other relevant websites (especially those that Google considers to have higher authority).

So, ultimately, it all boils down to good, old-fashioned hard work. The key thing to remember with SEO is that search engines seek to deliver the best and most relevant content to their users. So the best way to rank high in search is to offer exactly that.

Sometimes that means encouraging people to not do things that are unhealthy, unsafe or have a detrimental effect on society (smoking, teen pregnancy, underage drinking). Other times, we’re trying to encourage positive behaviors (childhood immunization, healthy diets, higher education).

Then along came MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and all the others. People started referring to those websites as “social media.” And pretty soon marketers came on board and starting talking about “social media marketing.” Often that got shortened, by mistake, to “social marketing.” You can see how this has gotten a bit confusing. Our agency offers both types of marketing services to our clients. We use social media marketing platforms for social marketing campaigns. Ugh.

Apparently, the market research company, Jupiter Research, holds some of the blame in this big mess. In 2006, they launched their Social Marketing Research Service, despite the protests of social marketers. Forrester Research made a similar mistake but then later corrected it. Then in 2008, Forrester acquired Jupiter. But, by that point, it was already common to use the terms social media marketing and social marketing interchangeably.

At some point, hopefully, distinct names will evolve for each discipline. But, for now, get used to some level of confusion. Just this week, a twitter user that focuses on social media sent out a tweet about our social marketing TV reel that we had uploaded to YouTube. And, of course, that tweet got retweeted by several other social media fans.

Maybe some of them are interested in social marketing, too.

It’s different from advertising, where the conversation is typically one-way. With traditional advertising, you get to tell the public only what you want them to know about your company and, obviously, the emphasis is all positive — great products, wonderful customer service, happy customers and so on. While the perspective may be skewed to your favor, that’s your company’s prerogative. After all, you’re the ones paying for the ad. Customers understand this arrangement and factor it into their decision-making.

Things can get a bit more complicated with social media. Suddenly, the conversation is no longer one-way. It’s now a two-way street, a public forum where the customers are the ones in control. If they want to lift up praises about your company, they have that freedom. But they can also choose to air their grievances, just as publicly. Of course, there are privacy concerns, as well.

So what’s a business owner to do?

First, recognize that it’s no longer possible for most businesses to tightly control their communication with customers as before. You can choose not to do any social media marketing. But that doesn’t prevent customers from pushing you into the spotlight. On Facebook, anyone can start a community page about your company and say anything they want. And anyone with a Twitter account can tweet about your company and share it with their followers.

Of course, this sharing can work to your advantage when times are good. But, even when your company is taking a few knocks, it’s better to be engaged in the conversation. After all, companies that are known for their great service don’t always get things right the first time. But, when they do make a mistake, they correct it quickly. Even if the problem is, from their perspective, not a problem at all.

If this discussion leaves you longing for the good old days when you just had TV, radio, print and outdoor to choose from, take heart. Ask yourself, would your company be stronger if you could develop closer relationships with customers? Would your marketing be more dynamic if your best customers would simply tell more of their friends about you? Of course.

Consider this: Facebook is currently the second most visited website in the world, after Google, according to Alexa. Over 80% of Americans over the age of 18 visit social media websites. Roughly half of the same group visit Facebook on a regular basis. And social media use is highest among wealthy individuals.

Social media is mainstream and, like it or not, it’s here to stay. It’s where your customers are already, and they just might be looking for you. Are you there?

While there are certainly advantages to fifteens, the article fails to mention some of the drawbacks. For one, fifteen-second spots create a more cluttered programing environment. Your message has a better chance of sinking in when it’s one of four spots during a commercial break, versus one out of eight. Budweiser touts the opportunity to hit viewers with more repetitions with the campaign for its new brand Budweiser Select. But the trade-off is engagement. It’s much harder to really connect with your audience in just fifteen seconds. Compare that to the fun thirty-second Geico spots, like Woodchuck that are so engaging that they feel like fifteens, even though they’re thirty seconds.

That said, fifteen-second spots can be effective and engaging if used correctly. Here are five situations where they make the most sense:

• Your brand is familiar – The goal isn’t building awareness, but reminding consumers.

• The message is easily communicated – You don’t have to explain, educate or convince.

• Your media buy emphasizes frequency – Engagement is less important with high repetition.

• The spot is part of a larger multimedia campaign – Your spot plays a support role, reminding viewers of messages appearing in other media.

• The commercial builds on an existing story – People already have the basic idea. You’re just building on it.

Want to stay up-to-date on all things MWB? Follow us on Twitter for news, announcements and insight into current marketing issues.

Marketing Week is referring to the episode as the “Gap logo debacle.” Our opinion? Well, it certainly made the company look foolish in some marketing and design circles. But the average Gap customer probably doesn’t have any clue that they were even considering changing the logo. And most of those customers could care less about The Gap’s logo choices. (We know it’s important. But the concept of “brand equity” doesn’t mean much to the average Joe who just wants to buy some khaki pants.)

So, in a way, you could see a bright side to The Gap’s blunder. Social media critics helped prevent the company from releasing a poor decision into the marketplace.

There were, however, some agencies last year that were not so successful at winning the hearts and minds of the American consumer with their TV commercials. Consumerist.com tallied more than 100,000 votes for the Worst Ad In America For 2010. Check it out and see if your most-hated ads are on the list. Me, personally, I can’t stand that McDonald’s coffee guy with the bad attitude. Sheesh… some people!

I am sooo annoying.