My Favorite 2010 Blog Posts

I can't help myself, I need to do one more year-in-review list.

Monday I wrote a post on our favorite marketing moments of 2010 ... memorable events in our industry that my friends, followers, and readers picked and then I compiled.

Today's year-end list is a little different ... I reviewed all of my blog posts from the year and picked my ten favorites. I write a post nearly every day, and while I love all my children equally, there are a few that for me stick out as the most impactful.

So here goes, in rank order.

10 - Bed Bath and Beyond Dorm Rooms: Right place, right time marketing at its finest and a good example of what I call "The Experience Effect", that I experienced myself while touring college campuses with my daughter.

9 - Snickers "Not Yourself": Without a doubt, the best television advertising of the year featuring the come-back kid of the year, Betty White. A shining moment during the Super Bowl.

8 - Lady Gaga "Telephone": A star is born, scratch that, marketed ... along with some very strategic partnerships. Be on the lookout for a big announcement from her at midnight on New Year's Eve.

7 - Pepsi Refresh: A breakthrough in marketing and connecting and giving back ... funded by a cut in television advertising media.

6 - Kotex Gets Brave: The brand that finally said what we've been dying to say for years.

5 - Who Owns Your Brand?: A lesson that Gap and many others have learned this year. Did we learn nothing from Tropicana? Social media rejected the brand's new logo in a matter of hours.

4 - Royal Caribbean and Haiti: A no-win situation and the commentary in many of the industry articles proved it. Was the brand really helping the locals?

3 - Social Media on Election Night: Tracking election results on social media was far more interesting than on the networks. It was fascinating to see the commentary on twitter.

2 - New FDA Packaging for Cigarettes: How far is too far? New guidelines for cigarette package design answers that question. My most-read blog post of the year.

1 - I Love My Hair: The viral video from Sesame Street that teaches young girls (and the rest of us) self esteem. I'm sure the hair care brands were wishing they could have sponsored this little gem.

And one more for good measure ... yesterday's post:

Bullying: We learned that you can stand up to bullies and in fact it does "get better"!

My friends will notice my self-restraint ... not a single mention of The Real Housewives.

What's your experience? Jim.

PS - One last shameless plug for the year.

If you haven't read my book yet ... make it one of your New Year's Resolutions! :)

It's available in Nook, Kindle for iPad, Kindle, and hard cover here. Thanks for all your support!

Happy New Year!