Over the past month or so there is one commercial, whether in print or on the tube, that seems to fascinate me and keep me thinking after seeing it. While commercials with beautiful women, a funny beer ad or a combination of the two might jump into mind, its actually a company that you would never guess.

McDonalds? No. Burger King? No. ESPN? No.

The answer is Coleman. Yes that Coleman, famous for camping, cookouts and the outdoors. Their television ads tout that Coleman  is the original social networking site.

While at first it may sound hokey and just a grasp at a straw from the social networking revolution, I think that the ads are actually quite brilliant. Look at the core of the term social networking – Social. The  root of these networks is based on building a community and rekindling relationships.

Camping and hanging out with friends and families help build up these relationships. Seriously when have you not had a good time camping? Hell, I even had a good time on my trip to the white mountains.

Does it fit with social networking sites in general? Not really, but it does open up social media to a different demographic that may not have been exposed to it in the first place.

Here is one of their ads…what do you think? Cheesy or good, smart marketing?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyfO9sqEDtU]

There is no question that social media has benefits that are still being discovered each day. From managing an online reputation to positioning yourself for a job, the possibilities are endless. With that being said, a personal brand can be just as important as managing the information and flow of a large corporation.

For individuals there is a balance to strive for between endless self-promotion and providing a value back to the community of your followers and friends on your networks.  Doing this allows users to build up strong connections and to interact with people around the globe or to simply stay in touch with friends who may have otherwise lost track of.

While social media offers a lot of freedom and perks to individuals who utilize them, there are also countless benefits for businesses of all sizes. From micro-businesses to Fortune 500 companies, values are being found daily. However, much like the balance that needs to happen on the individual level, there is a much finer line to walk when coming to businesses.

Granted the CAN-SPAM laws don’t apply to sites like Twitter and Facebook, however both sites offer ways to cut back on rampant spam that clogs feeds from ad and affiliate networks, however with something social comes the term socially responsible and the communities closely monitor themselves.

So how does a business make a splash without crossing that line. While there are varying ideas about this issue, my take is that to make social media work for your company, you need to first offer value to your community through interactions and open and honest conversations with your base. While building up the network, you can also add soft-sells to your network to help drive traffic to your site. It is also important to interact with both existing and potential customers, and to respond to positive and negative comments. This will allow you to build up your reputation and show a commitment to making each customer have a positive experience with your brand.

As your network grows, you can also integrate more of a sales tactic, or build an offshoot account where you simply offer a deal a day or once a week, depending on the time that you have to devote to working on social media. As an example, I spend up to 60 percent of my day working on the social networking efforts of my company.

With a site like Facebook, you have more flexibility to enhance your offers and sales to a customer base. One interesting combination is to run exclusive deals on your fan page that can either be redeemed online or in your store, to help drive traffic to the page, you can promote it on Facebook through a targeted ad or via a link on your site or call out in your marketing materials.  You can also send out emails to your followers within the network to promote an upcoming event, run a poll or simply give business updates.

I’ve seen a number of companies build out their pages and create buzz through contests for best use of a product or funny photo uploaded to the page’s wall. This helps further cement yourself within the community and helps reinforce the brand as well as awareness.

That’s my take and you may completely disagree, however its something that I’ll be implementing with my company’s strategy. The biggest thing to keep in mind is the word balance – don’t slip up like this

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1lqpONbOKY]

Growing up in New Jersey, it wasn’t weird to ask folks what exit they were off of. It was only after moving away from the Garden State that I realized that was just a Jersey thing. However, every now and the, I feel a little nostalgic and want a piece of home. Its always difficult to find Taylor Ham or to grab a cheesesteak from the Midway – that has all changed with Flying Fish Beer’s Exit Series.

The Cherry-Hill based microbrewery’s new line will pay homage to the New Jersey Turnpike’s exits with this new series of beers.

There’s nothing inspirational about the clogged stretch of highway known as the New Jersey Turnpike. But don’t tell that to the Jersey natives at the Flying Fish Brewing Co. They’ve just embarked on a symbolic road trip to brew a unique beer for every exit on the turnpike.

Brewery founder Gene Muller says he was tired of going to beer conferences and having everyone make the same joke when they found out he was from Jersey: What exit are you from?

His response came in alcoholic form. Exit 4 is the location of the brewery and the first beer in the company’s exit series. The exit itself is a trash-strewn stretch of pavement populated with chain restaurants and cheap motels. Exit 4, the beer, is an American-style Belgian trippel with notes of banana and cloves and a nice bitter finish. Just like the turnpike itself.

It’s a good gimmick, but Flying Fish has vowed to come up with a different brew for each exit. It’s not easy.

“At first, we were going to have the alcohol level match the exit,” Muller says. “But Exit 1, 2 and 3 people really wouldn’t be interested in. And Exit 17 and 18, you’d probably start to get in trouble.”

- Robert Smith, NPR

While the beers sound tasty, they have some detractors at MADD and the NJ Turnpike Authority say they promote drinking and driving

Joe Orlando, a spokesman for the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, said it’s a bad idea to associate a highway with alcohol. Flying Fish has answered the authority’s concerns with disclaimers that the beer isn’t endorsed by the authority.

“There’s been a brokered peace here,” Orlando said. “But don’t expect to see it in any of our rest areas.”

That doesn’t satisfy Mindy Lazar, executive director of New Jersey’s chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving. “The combination of a roadway and advertising for any kind of a beer doesn’t make any kind of sense,” she said. “This is almost a mockery.”

Full story

While I see the benefit of airing these concerns, they are just truly foolish. Does Rocky Mountain Waters imply that Coors is good rafting fuel or Bud sponsoring NASCAR good for drinking and driving? No, but both are not little companies either where these organizations can take swipes.

On my trip home this weekend, I will try to pick some up and let you know if it tastes as good as my other favorites from home.

And if for any stretch of the imagination you were wondering what my exit is:

On Saturday night, we headed down to Gillette Stadium to check out the New England stop of the Billy Joel, Elton John Face 2 Face tour. While the concert had all the song’s you’d expect from the pianomen – From Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and We Didn’t Start the Fire to Pianoman. I also took my new Flip Mino camera to give it a good test run. I am glad that I did because I caught a gem that I am not sure I’ll ever see again.  During the breakdown of Billy’s performance of River of Dreams, he broke into an impromptu version of Dirty Water.

This was my first time I used the camera so I apologize for the shakiness.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APSXAzBNkJA]

I take it he’s a Mets fan as “Yankee Universe” would disown him.

Click here to check out all the videos I shot.

Like many of you I awoke to some devastating news. Not that Walter Cronkite had passed, but rather one of the most iconic absurdities and novelties, the Wienermobile, had crashed into a home in Wisconsin.

While this may be a horrible day for the Krupp family, they sure do have one heck of a story to tell. My only question is do you frame the picture and display it prominently in your house?

I sure as hell would.