the best things in life aren't things
Marketing
New era in brand communication
I believe we are witnessing a new era when it comes to brand communication, and clearly this picture below is the best example:
The communication strategy is not new, since it has already been seen before but it seems it is under constant refinement by our fellow marketing “masterminds”.
The story: Hugh Grant was caught drinking and driving by photographers
Facts: There was a beer can in Hugh’s car but it could have been the passenger on the right doing the drinking.
The communication strategy: A dubious photo agency made available this picture showing a catchy red circle zoom of the tasty alcoholic beverage inside Hugh’s car – the zoomed part is also suspicious (you can see why). News magazines and tabloids quickly jumped at the photo and published since people are starved for celebrities gossip (that’s the real reason you are reading this as well). They all wrote about a big celebrity drinking this beer in the car. Yes, Hugh Grant himself!
Consequences: Getting thirsty. You go to your local supermarket and buy Carlsberg. Heck, if Hugh Grant drinks it, why won’t you? 
P.S. I hate Hugh Grant.
Awareness test
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I strongly advise you to spend thirty seconds watching this video.
Fabulous work!
Thanks Seth for the tip.
Trendspotting
We are all aware that Google does everything better- even trends. Google Trends is the best thing since sliced bread and the wheel (probably even since man invented fire!). What’s it do you ask me?Well, it tracks trends in searching and gives a breakdown by such awesome categories as city, region, or language. Not only does it track trends, but it also provides a graph broken down to years and months.
Of course I couldn’t resist the temptation of searching my own name inside this nifty little webmaster tool that the almighty Google has bestowed us. It was pretty hard for me to think of the “competition, so instead I compared the search trends with my favorite artists I was listening at the time. Here are the facts (for last year):
Seems Brandon Flowers (lead singer from The Killers band) sure knows how to put up a fight. On the other hand take a look at Brian Molko, singer from Placebo – he is not even trying! (I rekkon it has something to do with Placebo‘s breaking up last year).
Of course, my name is no match against Oprah – I really think she is God! Oh well it was worth a shot.
In case you are still skeptical about the results, feel free to test these hard facts for yourselves. 
Test drive
What: New Audi A4
Where: Polus Mall, Cluj Napoca, RO
When: Yesterday
Event organized by Autoworld and Polus Center.
Things I enjoyed: design, quality look&feel, seating comfort, smooth automatic transmission.
The car handles great, especially in turns, and you can really feel the kick when you slam your foot on the acceleration. The test course was designed to really push the stability limits to the maximum – limits that can easily be broken by expert rally driver Bogdan Marisca, who was also on the track, giving enthusiasts the ride of their life.
I would like to thank Dan Paraschiv, sales manager for the Audi brand in Cluj. Thanks Dan, for your patience and guidance through the turns. When do we get to drive the R8? 
Pictures here:
