#GrandNewBrew

Okay, call it what you will -- narcissism, shameless advertising, whatever -- but there is no way that I could miss the chance to blog about the epic-ness that was last night's show, Grand New Brew.

Featuring the Gold 'n Blues, The Studio 13 Refugees and Hype Dance, the show was a myriad of collegiate talent on Marquette's campus.

The most impressive thing, however, was not the singing, dancing or improv comedy. The real showstopper was the marketing and advertising that preceded the event!

Grand New Brew was, in my opinion, a perfect example of the power of social media advertising. With the combined force of Twitter and Facebook, the Gold 'n Blues produced what could be called Marquette's most successful student marketing campaign to date.

Their tactics included a numbered countdown for all the members Facebook profile pictures, multiple daily status changes with the links to the Facebook event page and Gold 'n Blues website, and Twitter promotions including discounted tickets for Twitpics of our sidewalk chalk advertisements.

The turnout for the show was one which made history for the Gold 'n Blues and for the venue, The Varisty Theatre. Thanks to the relentless social media advertising by the Gold 'n Blues, the Fugees and Hype Dance, almost 900 people came to watch Grand New Brew.

As of yesterday #GrandNewBrew was still out-trending Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn and Thanksgiving in Milwaukee.

You can sue me later for such a blatant pat on the back, but to say the least, I think that this show perfectly encapsulated how much social media has changed our society and the way we give and receive news and publicity.

For all those who came, thank you for helping make Gold 'n Blues' history.

"Serve"-ing up controversy

Serve Marketing -- the country's only volunteer, nonprofit advertising agency, which gives under-served charitable causes a stronger voice in the community -- has received much media attention in the past week because of their newest public service campaign for the Milwaukee Health Department. 


The agency, headquartered in downtown Milwaukee, created ads about the dangers of co-sleeping with infants which frightened and engraged some parents. 


The ads, like the one below, feature infants sleeping in their parent's bed gently tucked next to an enormous butcher knife. 

Now, I am not a mother, so I can only imagine how terrifying it would be to look at this ad and picture your own child sleeping next to a gigantic butcher knife. The ads are most definitely scary and controversial and I am not surprised that they have received so much backlash from parents. 


That being said, I have to admit that the ads are, in my opinion, incredibly effective. 


Whatever anyone has to say about the imagery used, the next time any parent who has seen these ads thinks about co-sleeping with their baby, I am pretty positive the first thing that will pop into their heads is a big, gleaming butcher knife.