As I head into my 20^th year in the world of work, I begin to understand the true value of the holidays. I see how important families can be. I notice the preparations and pains that my co-workers take to make these few moments that they will have with the people they love as special and memorable as they can.  Yet as marketers we do not, and in many cases cannot, linger in these very human and rich experiences.  We are forced to push the pace, answering and creating needs for consumers, and providing context for them to spend money that they would gladly give away, if in the end, they could spend a few more happy hours with their children, their parents, their brothers and sisters.

As marketers, we hold our breaths as the Black Friday numbers roll in. And as quickly as they do, we strip the mall of the red, white and green colored ornaments and dress it again, this time for Valentines day.  But everyday, in every conversation I hear, someone inevitably says “I can’t believe that it is already (month goes here)”.

I suspect, as I dash through my middle years, that one day I will regret not taking the time to wrap my arms around the “small hours” that make up the best parts of our lives. Maybe I will wise up, and enjoy every chance I get to spend some time with my incredible niece, my very strange, but very warm sister, my remarkably fun in-laws, and the few friends I have managed to stay in contact with.

Nordstrom is a retailer that may be getting it right.  They are asking us to give each holiday enough space to become meaningful, to be a full memory. They are making the request that we see the holidays as more than something we all “get through”. Instead, maybe we can embrace them as something we “get to do”. Something we get to do with the best people we know, if only for a few small hours.

From our family @Weltbrand to yours, a happy and safe holiday season!

Movember, the month formerly known as November, is a moustache growing charity event held during November each year, raising funds and awareness for men’s health in the process. Welt was able to interview Donny Killian, Movember’s US manager, to find out more about the event.

Welt: How did the idea originally come about?

Donny: It started in 2003 in Melbourne, Australia, with a couple of friends talking about ‘80s fashion and how everything cycles back into vogue. They decided then and there that the moustache was the perfect old school fashion that needed a comeback. That November, they got 30 of their friends together to grow a Mo, Aussie slang for moustache, re-naming the month Movember.

The rules were simple: Start the month clean-shaven, and grow a moustache for 30 days. The guys had so much fun, and were shocked by the amount of conversations started by the moustache. They decided to grow the following year, and to do it for a cause. Inspired by the breast cancer and women’s health movement, they chose an under-served disease that affecting 1 in 6 men, prostate cancer.

The following year, 450 Aussies raised $55,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia… And that was the beginning of the men’s health movement.

Welt: Currently in the US, $7,091,183 has been raised. What has not proven to be effective in your social media efforts to help raise this number?

Donny: We are thrilled with the amount raised so far this year (nearly $7.2M) and how far we’ve come from last year. In 2010, we had nearly 65,000 registered Mo Bros and Mo Sistas participating and they raised $7.5M ($81M globally, with 450,000 global participants). We are only 18 days into the month and already have 138,000 US participants and close to $51M globally! We are honored to have this overwhelming support.

Our community is a fun, strong and dedicated force – they understand our messaging, believe in the cause and spread awareness in their own unique way. We support our Mo Bros and Mo Sistas throughout their Movember journey by providing the tools and resources for them to have meaningful conversations, educate others and above all have remarkable experiences throughout the month.

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Ladies, how many times have you stood in front of your mirror and analyzed the different parts of your body? Have you ever actually gotten to the point where your body is exactly the way you would like it to look?

Let’s face it: we’ve used firming crèmes, lengthening mascara, push-up bras, Spanx, and hair extensions just to feel pretty. I’ve even gone so far as to wear colored contacts! Our definition of “pretty” is often defined by pop culture and advertisements that are endorsed by gorgeous models with perfect…everything. So, regardless of the assumption that even the models in these photographs don’t actually look that good without digital alterations, we still feel bad about ourselves.

What happened to inner beauty and character in flaws? Or the beauty in smile-wrinkles and, God forbid, letting your personality shine?

These ridiculous standards are contextualized in advertisements that we consume every day. We can always complain about this, but what exactly can we do to help minimize these standards?
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Social TV is the latest in social media trends.

Social TV allows audiences to engage in social interaction with their TV shows — enabling people to chat with characters, post comments, and even create trending topics for popular opinion, during and after airing. Rick Lieblind, director of digital strategy at Coyne PR defines the interaction between an audience and their entertainment as intermedia, adding that “as social TV gains momentum, savvy networks like [AMC, USA], Bravo, MTV and The CW are poised to take advantage by engaging their audiences in new and compelling ways.”

One of the hottest social media games: Psych's Hashtag Killer game, which releases a new part to the game every Wednesday. Participants earn points as they progress and share.

The whole point of social platforms is to engage an audience – social TV doesn’t just fuse audience and brand, but, rather, goes one step further and engages the audience with the components that make the brand what it is! After all, what would Jersey Shore be with out Snooki or The Situation? These characters are what audiences actually care about, and leveraging their popularity through social networks can increase engagement and ultimately, ratings.

AMC’s Mad Men was one of the first adopters as early as 2009, but recently reality shows on Bravo and MTV live tweet, post status updates, and even SMS text during airtimes, which allows viewers to better interact with the reality stars. A blog written by Anne Sherber on Digiday explains it best, citing how Lisa Hsia, EVP of Bravo Digital says how “convincing viewers to tune in to both channels of programming may have an effect on program ratings: engaging users with second screen experiences increases viewership during a program’s first airing.” In the article, Hsia is quoted as saying, “People want to meet in real time and talk about it as it is happening.”

So how do you convince audiences to participate? And what is better than being able to #fistpump along with Jersey Shore’s MVP?

Well, it seems that the more creative you are, the better the chance viewers will check-in. For example, USA Network’s show Psych embraced social TV by creating a social game called the #Hashtag Killer that evolves past the show’s airtime. What it is: a game that allows viewers to help main characters, Shawn and Gus, solve their next case. The game is progressive, meaning that you watch weekly episodes that build on previous episode experiences. There are a total of seven weeks and the game encourages you to check in every day as it progresses in real-time.
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If you’re not trying to build better relationships, open two-way channels, and deepen the engagement between your brand and your consumer, than why are you using social media?

As “civilians,” social media makes it easy for us to share our feelings, ideas, viewpoints and ourselves. We touch a lot of people in one post. But when you’re a business, or more importantly a brand, the implications and interpretations of this information are also limitless. There are many ways to abuse and over-use social media. More importantly, social media isn’t (necessarily) meant to take the place of other media, it’s a tool to improve our ability to connect, and in most cases should be used in conjunction with a solid mixed media approach. Social media requires support and a lot of hard work, right?

Well, considering we use social media to better connect with our consumers, it might be worth taking a look at how the platforms affect them. A research study at Edinburgh Napier University suggests that Facebook usage creates stressors that impact users anxiety levels. Psychotherapist Stacey Nunez agrees that Facebook can cause severe angst and even depression. She explains that cyber-stalking and romanticizing about photos makes it difficult for a person to connect via face-to-face interaction, it creates false expectations, and that it lowers self-esteem. In short, she asserts Facebook enhances stressors and makes it difficult for managing adversity.

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