Recently we announced Red Square Agency had been named finalists in the OMMA Awards for Online Advertising Creativity, specifically in the “creative use of Facebook advertising” category. The awards show was in New York last night, and we’re excited to share that we won. It’s humbling recognition on (quite literally) a national stage.

Other brands recognized for digital and social media innovation at the show were: Google, Major League Baseball, HBO, 20th Century Fox, Gatorade, Disney, Volkswagen, Coca-Cola, JetBlue, Fox Home Entertainment, Paramount, Levi’s, AMC, adidas and Jay-Z.

And us. Wow. Thanks to everyone at the agency who works tirelessly to make great work happen. Here’s to leveling the playing field.

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Nirvana’s Nevermind is singularly the most influential piece of art in my life. The very path my career, my personality and my interests have taken are a direct response to my listening to that album twenty years ago. The immediate effects were visceral and hard to articulate. But now I see why it mattered so much.

Sometime in September of 1991, I caught the video for “Smells Like Teen Spirit.” To call me mesmerized would be an understatement. In the following months I would buy a guitar and begin teaching myself to play.

In retrospect, here’s what I really learned: creativity requires discipline and practice, production values matter, critical and commercial success do not have to be mutually exclusive, maniacal attention to detail is a must, talent is a myth, and you don’t have to be classically trained.

I also gained an appreciation for dressing punk rock in pop music’s clothing and moving masses. Which is why I now practice advertising every day, thanks to Nirvana.

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Willingness to experiment is a key to success with digital and social media. Sure, there are emerging fundamentals, which (surprise!) mirror closely those of all media. Chief among these is the principle that people respond when something breaks from the center of the bell curve and delivers the unexpected.

Our own Facebook ads—a nice collection of them reside here—have been thusly treated as an experiment. We’ve been lucky enough to receive a good deal of press for our efforts, and now we’ve been named a finalist in the OMMA Awards for Online Advertising Creativity. Specifically, in the “creative use of facebook” category. Other OMMA finalists include the likes of Google, Disney, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, DreamWorks, Volkswagen, HBO, JetBlue and several other big companies my mother has heard of.

Our agency is humbled and honored to be mentioned in the same show as these brands. Winners will be announced in September in New York. Thanks to everyone for playing along with us.

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I was recently bantering with a friend and to illustrate a point, I quoted a popular comedian. My friend immediately said, “That doesn’t support your argument, [he] is only a comedian!” I’ve been pondering that statement ever since. Just because someone is labeled a “comedian,” or an opinion is presented in a comedic fashion, does this weaken credibility?

Many of the tendencies that make us innately human are hysterically funny. Advertisers have been using humor to establish intrigue, build excitement and communicate benefits for as long as there have been brands to promote. Allstate’s latest campaign featuring Dean Winters as “Mayhem” is a good example. The “Anthropomorphic Mayhem” plays various characters such as raccoons in the attic, teens recklessly driving pink SUVs, and GPS failures to communicate the disparity between Allstate’s product and “cut-rate” insurance. The scenarios that Allstate depicts are all potentially true, funny, and completely credible. Has anyone ever said, “I’m not buying [product X] because they have funny ads!” Humor can be an excellent way to present the concept to a cynical audience.

Credibility has been defined as “the quality or power of inspiring belief.” Inspiring belief can be as simple as being confident in your message and making assertions that can be verified. If that message can also entertain through the use of humor—even better.

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(In the style of The Autumn Wind – The Oakland Raiders Anthem)

The football nerds are gathering

With laptops and cheat sheets in tow

Constructing rosters, avoiding imposters

Drafting men with names like Bowe

Anxiety is on the rise

Your hair turns a feeble gray

A sense of gloom inside this room

And a smell that could linger for days

Fantasy Football sounds a rallied cry

Uniting fans in song

Opponents wage war over points galore

Until the season’s final game hast won

Red Square is for Football

Echoing with boisterous cheers

We’re quite cavalier until it appears

Our star Running Back is out for the year

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