Remember when March Madness basketball brackets were on paper and took hours of the coordinator’s day? This is one thing the Internet has obviously made easier for us. (OK, there might be a few others, too.)

Now the office basketball brackets are online. Phew.

Over the last three or four years, more alternative interactive brackets are popping up. In addition to capturing all the eyeballs that make March Madness a huge advertising event, it’s expanding to all different interest groups. Sure they don’t all involve winning money, but it’s a fabulous way to bring together a community for a few weeks. The objectives are different for each – traffic, ads served, collecting voter info. And hopefully fun.

I did the Allstate BFF brackets on Facebook in 2011. It matched up random FB friends of mine and pitted them against each other to end up my BFF. Friends met friends from different parts of my life, which as you know can be good, or bad. (High school crush vs. Aunt Helen vs. work mentor.)

The ‘GoFugYourself” authors, Jessica and Heather, have put out Fug Madness  for a few years. Anyone can vote on different celebrities based on just how badly you think they’ve dressed in the last year. With links to different outfits throughout the tournament that review the year. You can watch voting live, just like the real games. The 2012 champion Vanessa Hudgens barely beat Lindsay Lohan, in a contest that surged back and forth for hours.

I’m always excited to see how our industry jumps in, both for our clients and our work.

Today I got an invitation to fill out brackets tied to our advertising world – one that pits cereal mascots against each other. It’s from Thrillist via Facebook.

Of, course I had to login to Thrillist and see all the ads, before I could get to FB and vote. And vote I did, via “Like” or “Comment.”

(I do think they skewed the results by switching up if a mascot on left got a like or mascot on right from pair to pair. Maybe it’s their seeding process?) And now I’m hungry for cereal, the ‘good’ kind.

Best of luck to the marketers behind each mascot,. I’m sure you’re hoping for the trophy. Or at least bragging rights.

One list of 11 alternative brackets is going around, and you can check out a list of 12 alternate brackets here. Famous beards? Boy bands? Saddest movies?  Beer? Careful, some are NSFW.

And if I don’t answer your email quickly in the next few weeks, you’ll know I’m busy watching my brackets.

Have you worked on an alternative March bracket for a client?

Tell us which brackets you’re doing.

I live in a household that still "takes" a printed newspaper - actually two: the Chicago Tribune and our local community weekly, The Landmark.

The local paper keeps us up to date with weekend events, house prices, town and school government gossip. We always read (and recycle) it within 24 hours. But in eight years, I've only gone to the Landmark's website a few times.

We have a different relationship with the Chicago Tribune.

Here's a typical day: Before 7 a.m., someone in our family walks the 50 feet out to the end of the driveway to get the Trib, without a coat most days. (I wear a coat.) My husband looks for work-related stories, checking to see if his own quotes made it into print, and he opens to the comics. Both kids read (and discuss) the comics, pointing out funny Dilberts to me. The older one checks the front page looking for a story that will get him extra credit in Western Civ. I flip through the front section quickly.

Both of us rely on the Trib website (and alerts) for breaking news. One of us is on the site constantly, and the other checks it at least once per day, sometimes through the iPad. You could say we're fairly immersed in the brand.

Over the last six months, the Trib is clearly trying to find a sustainable digital strategy. I'm not sure how well it's working.

Last winter, the Trib announced its Printer's Row Journal, sent me a few print issues, invited me into its fledgling online community, then asked me to pay for it. We're a bookish family, we were interested, until we saw the pricetag - $99 a year for current print subscribers, just to get the print and digital edition delivered weekly. No way. The Trib doesn't have enough credibility around book reviews to ask us to pay that price. 

Half a year later, they added free tickets to the Printer's Row events and a discount on purchases, and offered the booklet/digital edition for just $49 a year - to current print subscribers. Digital only is $29 a year. Not for us. Although I do know a family where the 80+ year-old parents take the print and the 40ish kids take the digital.

Then in June, the Trib launched a new website and reports 80,000 registered users in 4 months.

But as of November 1, like many other papers, the Trib put a paywall up on its website. Seven-day print subscribers get unlimited access - if you know your password. They'll let you read 5 premium stories a month for free.

A few weeks ago, we started receiving the digital edition of the Trib. We didn't ask for it, we don't pay for it. We took a look. It is literally just the digital edition of the daily printed paper. We'd rather go online and browse the website, which is part of why we never opened the digital edition again. The main reason we'll never open it? It comes at 6:15 p.m. That's more than 12 hours after I've seen the print edition and I've already been to the site a few times that day.

I understand the rationale behind extending a product line and searching for new revenue opportunities, especially as audiences move online. As a consumer with a relationship and fairly heavy print and digital engagement with this brand, I'm confused. I'm worried that instead of offering several ways to reach audiences in more formats, the Trib is going to push me where I don't want to go. I can get my news elsewhere, online or mobile.

Are you bundling all your print, online, digital, tablet space in newspaper brands into one buy?

Are you (and your clients) placing any value on the digital editions, or are they just thrown in?

Are you using the space in different formats for different objectives? 

Living with teenage and pre-teen boys, I get exposed to a range of YouTube sensations, not necessarily of my own choosing. Yes, we're doing things Gangnam Style and we've all attempted the sloopy swish (it's literally contagious).

This weekend, I got a new earworm. My boys (and then Adweek) showed me a bouncy, brilliant little PSA for the Melbourne Metro system created by McCann Australia called Dumb Ways to Die.

Cute little pastel creatures making incredibly stupid decisions, dying, and then singing about it. I watched several times and it just kept getting better. When the fourth chorus came in and the little creatures started talking about stupid ways to die around trains, it started to fall into place. "Wait," I said. "Is this about train safety?"

I couldn't believe this was a PSA.

I live within a mile of two different train lines and we lose someone on the tracks every year. This PSA, with its catchy tune and friendly yet graphic deaths, is really broadcasting a serious message in a light-hearted way.

Thanks McCann. Metro Melbourne, you should charge royalties and let rail systems throughout the English-speaking world use this. I'm glad it's sunk into the young brains around me - better than anything I could say ever would.

I'm not sure what it says about me that I don't mind humming this tune all morning, but it makes me happy. What's your favorite dumb way to die?

As consumers, we're probably over the political ads, especially those of us living in swing states. And working in the media business, the political ads are certainly squeezing out and driving up the cost of our client campaigns. It's happening in TV, radio, and even online, including online videos. Online video advertising company Mixpo says demand for online video ad space will outstrip supply by 20 percent or more in 11 swing states.

But it's the last crunch before the election; there's not a lot we can do.

On a more positive note, we're seeing some advertisers using the election in their creative and social media campaigns. 7-Eleven has promoted red/blue coffee cup selection for the past 4 presidential campaigns. A FedEx Office spot shows two candidates agreeing to a "clean" campaign while one is actually picking up snarky signs about the other. Boston Market is taking what might be a safer approach asking website visitors to vote between 2 meal choices, but using right-wing/left-wing language that might be inflammatory.

We've all used borrowed interest before, either for ourselves or for clients. In this heated environment, is the benefit of relevance worth causing annoyance with our audiences? Let us know if you're seeing it work, or (perhaps more interestingly) failing spectacularly.

I'm on a bit of a sweets binge. Here's a picture of how I celebrated my birthday:

This came a day after eating Baskin Robbins mint chocolate chip and rocky road ice cream, because I feel like I'm 8 when I eat it. I have lovely friends who helped bake and eat, and everyone at SRDS HQ appreciates all the leftovers today.

How does this relate to social media, and guilt? I posted pics on Facebook, to be sure, and we Skyped with a friend in California during the party.

But really, I wish I'd heard from Hershey's last week. Apparently they have a Facebook promo and in-person series of tasting events for their Simple Pleasures candy. The campaign invites you to "declare independence from guilt" about eating chocolate, because it will "make women feel relieved and empowered." The campaign is based on recent consumer research that 58% of women feel guitly about eating certain foods, and 20%+ about doing something nice for themselves.

Here's a New York Times article that lists the in-person events. Again, none in Chicago. :(

While the campaign is an interesting twist and I wish I'd professed my freedom from guilt before my recent baked-goods binge, I don't think Hershey's really has social media down yet. I searched Hershey's on Facebook, and didn't find any reference to this initiative, probably because they have so many different Facebook pages and groups. There's the Hershey's company page, and Kisses, and Bliss, and syrup and the park and chocolate world...

I can't engage with that many different pieces of a fractured brand (or maybe I need more chocolate).

How can parent brands with multiple product lines use social media better? And does anyone have anything salty to go with all this chocolate?

So Ben & Jerry's takes its scoop trucks on the road most summers, giving away tastesof its newest flavors. This year B&J has added a twist.

First, they're promoting frozen Greek yogurt, which supposedly "eats like ice cream." And they're asking followers to tweet and tell them where to park the truck.

Parking in one spot and tweeting to get customers to come to you is so last year.

Here's the map to see where they're going:

My question for Ben & Jerry's is not about how the frozen Greek yogurt tastes (I already know!). But didn't they notice they missed 85% of the country? It's hot here in the middle of the country, too.

Maybe if we tweet enough, we'll get them to make a stop in Chicago, or your town.

On a related note, here's a link to a study from the Hartman Group titled: CLICKS & CRAVINGS: The Impact of Social Technology on Food Culture. It breaks out social media users interested in food into 3 types.

• "Spectators" chatter about food, looking for new recipes and deals.
• "Dreamers" curate food-related content on their social networks.
• "Doers" create their own food-related content because they're more engaged in the food and the social.

Of course each group is best targeted online in different ways. It's all about targeting, isn't it?

Are you willing to let your audience tell you what to do with your promotions? And are you ever frustrated by the assumption that only the coasts matter?

I've mentioned Oreo's and their social media activity before. The brand has almost 27 million Facebook fans. I'm writing this mid-morning, and I'd really like an Oreo with my latest cup of coffee. But I didn't really WANT one until I saw a mention of this Facebook promotion. I just had to take a look at some of the industry press on it.

That's a strong statement for a major brand to take. And with over 37,000 comments, 224,000 likes, 68,000 shares, it certainly generated social activity.

As you would expect, people who took the time to comment were people with strong opinions either for or against. People who were surprised and pleased, as well as people who were outraged and ready to boycott.

People are talking.

I skimmed through the conversation about the rainbow image, but I certainly spent more time looking at the birthday fan of the day, the cool images with Oreo's, and downloading the recipe for ice cream pie.

Clearly the ultimate goal is to sell more Oreo cookies, and a stance on gay pride is not critical to that goal. What do you think about a big brand taking a strong stance on a controversial issue?

I'm walking to the corner store at lunch, and here's what I plan to do this afternoon:

I've been watching and reading all the coverage of social media as the place to be for branding. But my brands (Kantar Media and SRDS) are b-to-b, and I'm not sure how much attention I can commit to it or how much I can deliver in terms of an engaging experience in social media. I'm lucky if you're reading this post, and I'm hopeful, but realistic, that you follow SRDS on Twitter or on Facebook.

A recent study from the Rochester Institue of Technology says the 52% of U.S. online consumers have liked, followed or subscribed to a company, brand or store via social networking or email. But the kicker is that close to a third of these consumers later turn off the social connection, for a variety of reasons. And they view that entity they've disliked more negatively, shop/visit and spend less.

So how do we make the social media relationship meaningful, especially when each follower wants something different from the connection?

When we ask someone to follow us, are we really just asking them to give us their attention? What are we giving them? Within a few days of reading the study, I saw two big consumer brands actively giving something back to their followers.

Oreo is very active around their 100th anniversary, and there's a lot the brand is doing right in social media. Recently, they celebrated one of their millions of fans with this post: "Fan Lisa T. was born in 1912 - the same year Oreo cookies were introduced. Wish her a special happy birthday below!" It's part of ther Oreo Moments Gallery, which gives people a chance to interact with the brand. And it makes me eat more Oreos.

(Did you know they're making different flavored fillings for different global regions? How can I get banana filling in Chicago?)

And what about Kraft Mac & Cheese? I liked Frankie & Dottie in their #oldbirdsnewtweets campaign in April.

They followed the old birds up with Likeapella. The Kraft team called out the industry, saying does a brand 'ever LIKE you back? KRAFT Macaronie & Cheese does."

They had an a capella group since a song that thanked all the fans who liked their Facebook page on April 26. Sure, the song is almost 7 minutes long, and I didn't actually listen to it all. But I would have if I was listening for my name. And I would have reposted it.

I also have to mention Allstate's Mayhem. It's a bit different, because all I expect from him is a post every other day, and he just keeps giving. He's like a family member at this point. And it's working, if you read the posts and pictures on his wall from his fans. "I'm the annoying radio song drivers scramble to change when they should be watching the road. Who can guess what song I am?" received almost 4,000 comments in just an hour.

And you?

What are you doing to give back to your social media followers? Is your regular content building your relationship or pushing followers away?

So when did ice become the hottest media type? Were we disappointed by a warm winter? 

I loved the bright green Ice Ride bikes that appeared in the Twin Cities the week before Nice Ride bikes came out of winter storage. The ice melted all week, building anticipation for the first ride of spring. A concept, communicated, instantly. That's a success.

This morning all the news outlets are picking up the introduction of ice cubes shaped like Richard Brandson's head in 'upper class' drinks Virgin Atlantic airline. You have to see it to believe it.

Virgin Atlantic always has a weird ideas on how to build their quirky brand image, like its Upper Class Red lipstick and line of red shoes. And it's liberating to watch Branson live successfully as a non-traditional business exec. His book title Screw Business as Usual says it all.

Have you ever pitched a buy that included ice?

If you fly on Virgin Atlantic, will you go thirsty to keep your severed-head phobia safely tamped down? I will.

Have you seen Dove's "The Ad Makeover" campaign in the trades or on Facebook? It's giving me all kinds of mixed emotions.

Dove, building on its "real beauty" campaign, is setting its sights on those ads that remind women of "muffin tops" or "horrible acne." It's letting women sign up for a Facebook app that replaces the dancing ad that jiggles fat in front of my eyes with a colorful, positive message. Who wouldn't want that?

I did. I clicked right over and tried to customize my messages, and was disappointed to get the notice that they're "working to get the app ready in my country" (Chicago?). I wanted to start sending great, supportive messages to my friends instantly.

Probably the person that bought the space for the "muffin top" ad thought they had a guaranteed way to reach a target demographic. That might be you. If you spend more, can you still get space for your negative message?  I'm assuming the highest bidder will win regardless of the message. In general, apps blocking ads is an interesting option for Facebook to open to the world.

So, I'm:

• Happy about the campaign (as a target consumer)
• Annoyed that my ad could get pushed aside (as a marketer)
• Engaged because I took action, and
• Frustrated because I wanted to use it and can't

How would you feel if you had bought ad space that was bumped by the same consumer you're targeting?

Did you follow Frankie & Dottie doing social media for Kraft Mac & Cheese last week? 

I felt like I was at the table again with my Grandma Rosie and Aunt Helen when I watched the videos of Frankie and Dottie talking about social media and the world today.

I liked that it wasn’t a snarky "old people are funny" take. These videos and tweets were really honest; just two people enjoying learning something new that might have been frightening to them. And the fact that the Mac & Cheese is the comfort factor that connects us all.

Here’s their first youtube video:

Love the ladies themselves, and the Mac & Cheese noodle on their computer.

What brand spokesperson speaks to you?

From Chicago, please.

Love this interesting guerrilla/transit media buy. As part of their sponsorship of parking at Copper Mountain ski resort, FirstBank has a "helibus" with 25-foot blades. Its messaging of “Heli-Skiing, now as affordable as Free Checking.” plays right into FirstBank’s efforts to get 18-34 year olds to open checking accounts with Colorado’s largest regional bank. Unfortunately it can’t fly, just taking skiers from the parking lot to the slopes.

I’d get on it just for the photo op.

Read more here.

What’s the coolest guerrilla buy you’ve seen or done?