With 2012 quickly becoming a distant memory, the Bs decided to take a look back at our favorite ads of the last year. As individuals, we each had a different set of criteria for our choice of favorite ad: whether it played on emotions, spoke to our sense of humor, or simply struck us with its sheer ingenuity.

After a lot of deliberating, we narrowed down the competition to share with you our top picks for favorite ads of 2012:

1. Allstate "Mayhem"

You must live under a rock if you haven't seen an Allstate "Mayhem" commercial on TV. The campaign began in 2010, when we were introduced to the now infamous "Mayhem" character, played by Dean Winters. Whether Mayhem is the blind spot of your car sending you into an occupied lane or a less-than-vigilant guard dog letting thieves walk away with your valuables, we've learned – in a comical way – that mayhem is everywhere and Allstate can help. Our favorite pick for 2012 goes to Allstate's "Mayhem: Super Fan." It's easy to see why:  

2. LEGO "Imagine"

Designed by Jung von Mutt for LEGO, the "Imagine" ad campaign is clever yet deceivingly simple. Initially, the audience may be unaware of the image within the image, but with a little imagination you might be able to decipher some of your favorite cartoon characters.  

3. Chipotle "Back to the Start"

The emotional and endearing stop-motion short film "Back to the Start" portrays a farmer grappling with the choices he makes on his farm. Ultimately, the choices he makes cause he and the audience to question the welfare of the animals and the industrialization of the food industry. With an evocative soundtrack of Coldplay's "The Scientist" covered by Willie Nelson, "Back to the Start" definitely earns its spot as a top contender for our favorite ad of 2012.

4. SportsCenter "John Clayton"

Beginning in 1994, SportsCenter's "This is SportsCenter" campaign has many years of practice making its audience keel over with laughter. In 2012, SportsCenter debuted their "John Clayton" commercial featuring real-life ESPN writer and reporter John Clayton – a seemingly dorky and unassuming character – who is revered for his professionalism and contributions to the company; however, within seconds, the audience sees Clayton finish his segment from his childhood bedroom, and the rest you'll have to watch for yourself:

5. Ultimat Vodka "Stop Working. Start Drinking."

Guerilla marketing at its finest, Ultimat Vodka's "Stop Working. Start Drinking." ad goes sky high to intimately reach its target audience. Watch how these window washers get the message across to men and women at work in New York and Chicago:

Find out which ad each Balcom Agency employee chose as their favorite for 2012:

Ali finds this Starburst Flavor Morph "Mean Streets" commercial funny every time. Besides the humor, it earns points for tying in the product with the fun, youthful demographic that enjoys the candy.

Ashley chose this Crest "3D White" Whitestrips commercial because of its ability to speak directly to the problem.

Alan and Carol love Allstate's "Mayhem" campaign and its vitality over the years. They agree "Mayhem: Super Fan" wins as one of the best of 2012, but runners up include "Mayhem: Raccoon" and "Mayhem: Blind Spot."

Jamie picked Allstate's "Mayhem: Guard Dog" ad. As a whole, the campaign has found virtually endless ways to dramatize the central idea — talk about a concept with legs!

Chip chose Ultimat Vodka's "Stop Working. Start Drinking." ad because of the unique approach to reaching the target audience.

Eric chose this hilarious Carlton Draught "Beer Chase" ad – an original take on not drinking and driving that is still able to show people's preference for the beer.  

Jeff gravitates towards minimalistic ads, so it's no wonder he chose this simple and effective LEGO ad "Imagine" as his favorite. It forces the viewer to do the work, but the payoff is great when you see it.

Jennifer chose this NFL Evolution commercial about a mother's concern for her little boy playing football, and how the NFL is making the game safer. The irony that Ray Lewis is her son is hilarious, and hearing Tom Brady call him a "cute kid" never gets old.

Kim chose the Canon "Imagination" ad because of the brilliant concept and stunning execution of the commercial, which shows people capturing amazing shots with the camera. 

Krystal chose Proctor & Gamble's "Best Job" video – a salute to moms worldwide – which went viral on social media during the 2012 Olympics.  

Lauren M. loved the Fiat "Immigrants" commercial because it grabs your attention when the cars drive into the sea. Overall, it taps into cultural associations and the international appeal of the car.

Lauren T. picked AT&T's "Hello" ad because of three reasons: it's about football, it's a viral social media piece and it's inspiring. 

Lesley & Steve appreciate the deadpan style of the "This is SportsCenter" ads, so it's no surprise that they both chose the hysterical "John Clayton" ad as their favorite for 2012.

Lynne's favorite ad of 2012 was Shiner Wild Hare Pale Ale's "Breeding Habits," a great play on Mutual of Omaha's "Wild Kingdom."

Stephanie has a soft spot for jingles, so IHOP's 2012 "Everything you love about breakfast" anthem sang straight to her heart … and also left her hungry for pancakes!   

Toni picked Chipotle's "Back to the Start" stop-motion short film as her favorite ad of 2012. The emotional and endearing ad makes the audience question the industrialization of the food industry.

Susan enjoyed the skilled air drums in Volkswagen's "Passat Rocking Out" commercial, but it also garners praise for being memorable and true to life.

Trey picked this clever, compelling Land Rover S1 Phone ad for the tough yet sophisticated look of the vehicles, the connection to Africa/wildlife (his favorite place) and the heritage of the brand.

Have a favorite ad from 2012?  Please share it with us in the comments below!

Photo credit: Dots in Sights

A new year’s resolution list should always be a mix of “gimmees” – things that you know you can accomplish – and loftier goals that are going to require a little more commitment.  It’s in this spirit that we offer four marketing resolutions for 2013.

Dance with the one that brought you
By which we mean: focus on customer retention. This one should be easy peasy – after all, these are people that already know and love you, right? It’s cheaper to retain an existing customer than acquire a new one, and you can create loyal brand ambassadors who will act as evangelists – effectively doing some of the customer acquisition work for you. 

Find your sweet spot – and stay there
You know the saying: Jack of all trades, master of none. When it comes to your marketing efforts, identify the channels and tactics that make the most sense for your business and perfect them. Don’t spread yourself thin trying to be all things to all people – or trying to ride every trend wave.

Get mobilized 
That being said, mobile is one channel that every business needs to commit to in 2013. For more and more consumers, mobile devices are quickly becoming the linchpin in the buying cycle, while social media mobile apps are growing exponentially in use. To realize the best ROI, get smart about your mobile strategy before investing in a lot of technology. 

Measure up
For many, this is fast becoming a perennial resolution. Our ability to track data keeps getting better – but it also keeps getting more complex, and trends like so-called “big data” can be daunting. But marketing metrics doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing proposition – and the payoffs are more than worth the investment.

You may be thinking, “easier said than done.” Not to worry. In the upcoming weeks and months, we’ll be posting longer entries on each of these four topics to help you make the most of your marketing this year.

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I'll let you know the first sign someone is NOT creative. It's when they utter the phrase, "I'm just a creative person." That is the most tell-tale sign that someone is the farthest from being creative. That phrase is usually followed by some obscure vision that isn't rooted in any reasonable reality.

Here's why: creative people create.

Steve Jobs created the iPhone, iPad, iMac and much more.
Richard Branson created the Virgin line of companies.
Leo Burnett created great ads.

To be creative, you have to create. Period. End of story. You don't have to create art or words or music. You can create anything.

I look around the office and everyone is creative. Lynne has amazing ways to figure out the nuts and bolts of how to make our client's dreams come true. Mike finds ways to solve complex problems with programming. Alan finds unique ways to meet new clients. I could go on and on.

We can even take a look outside of the office:

• Moms (and Dads) find new ways to organize the house so it is clean, but everything can be found.
• Cops find ways to catch bad guys.
• Doctors find new ways to treat diseases.

Notice something in common? They all have deliverables: a clean house, guys in jail and new treatments.

Guess how you can be more creative. Create something. It can be anything. It could be a love note to your significant other, a unique thank you note, an unexpected homemade gift, the painting you've always wanted to create or the poem you've always had in the back of your head.

You'll find that it opens up the brain to think in new and interesting ways. The creation process is what makes you creative.

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I had the opportunity to speak at the UNT PRSSA’s meeting last night in Denton (they’re a very fun and bright group of students who are about to hit the job market *wink wink employers*), and thought I’d share a few of the talking points with other prospective graduates.

1. Do your research

This goes for anyone in the industry, not just jobseekers. The key to success as an ad pro or employee is knowing people. Do whatever it takes to understand who you’re selling your product, service, or self to.

2. Don’t be that guy (or girl)

Nobody likes the embarrassing co-worker who tells weekend stories too loudly. Similarly, nobody wants to hire a “frat bro” with the ol’ shirtless beer chugging Facebook profile picture.

3. Don’t stop learning

You’ll soon find that your formal education leaves you unequipped to manage the day-to-day changes of the marketing world. Keep up with blogs like Mashable, TechCrunch, Buzzfeed, follow the news (both global and local), and you just may want to keep up with those Kardashians so you actually hold conversations with the highly intellectual people around you.

4. Hustle

Do what you have to in order to get the job done for a client, employer, teammate, etc. If that means making copies, cleaning the fridge, or videotaping a someone else’s child’s ballet recital... do it. Don’t forget to smile the entire way through, because guess what - everyone’s watching.

5. Everyone loves a good story (and to tell their own)

Not only is this extremely relevant in the advertising world (Facebook’s transition to the Timeline layout is an excellent example), but in our personal lives. Asking other people about themselves is the most successful way to make them like you. Fact. Make sure you have an interesting story to tell too, which leads me to our final point...

6. Be memorable

Whether it’s in a campaign you’re designing, an interview you’ve landed, or a conference you’re attending, make them remember you (in a positive way). Being different isn’t always bad, and being loud isn’t always good. Find a part of you that is important and unique, then build your brand around it.

Have questions about post-grad life or career goals and expectations? We’ve got plenty of Bs who’d love to help you out! Give us a shout in the comments below, or shoot me an email personally at ali@balcomagency.com. Good luck!

Whenever I speak, I almost always get asked, "What's the next social network?" I have always said, and will continue to say: Facebook. It's not Pinterest, it's not Twitter and it's not Tumblr. Why? Because Facebook is totally ingrained into our lives.

• The average Facebook users visits the site four times a day.
• Facebook accounts for about 9% of all internet traffic.
• But here's the biggest deal: Millions of users use Facebook by not going to Facebook.com. They login to their favorite site (ESPN.com, for example) or like a page or listen to a song on Spotify.

If you were to erase Facebook today, people would freak out - thousands of websites wouldn't work and the number one website destination in the world would be gone. What if you deleted Twitter? People would probably shrug their shoulders and turn back to Facebook. 

If the Twitter immigrants didn't like the way Facebook showed their information, they could create an app that displays it the way they want. With the new Twitter rules, this is a big no-no.

Facebook wants to be the glue for the web, Twitter wants to be the book. You can't make a book without a whole lot of glue.

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Is your website easy come, easy go? You may have optimized your site to get great organic search engine results – and lots of visitors – but if people don’t like what they see when they get there, they’ll bail. The bounce rate indicates how often that happens by giving you the percentage of visitors who view only a single page of your site before leaving. Deflate your bounce rate by making sure you have valuable, relevant content that encourages visitors to stick around – and keeps them coming back for more.

AdWords is Google’s paid search advertising program. Through AdWords, you identify keywords that describe what you’re selling, then write short text ads that include those keywords. When people search using those keywords, your ads show up in the paid ad section on the search engine results page. With AdWords, you bid on keywords to determine the placement of your ad (versus your competitors’ ads) and how much you’ll have to pay when people click on it.

Think of local search like you would the yellow pages – only without those annoying tissue-thin pages. While you want to make sure you include geographic information so that your site shows up in organic searches, you also need to pay attention to local search engines like Google Places. Local search engines automatically create listings, but it’s up to you to “own” your business and add as much detail as possible. Things like photos, hours of operation, even videos will all help you show up higher in the directory results.

Instagram is a photo-sharing application that was recently purchased by Facebook for a whopping $1 billion. With Instagram, you use an app to take a photo with your mobile phone, apply a filter to that photo, then upload it and share it on various social media sites. Instagram photos have a retro, quirky vibe, but the real advantage is the ease with which you can share photos across social platforms. And while it’s fun for individuals to use, some of the world’s biggest brands are using Instagram as a marketing tool to engage customers and create a sense of community through visual storytelling.

RSS, which stands for “really simple syndication” or “rich site summary,” is a tool that delivers frequently updated web content, like blogs or e-newsletters, to subscribers. You just choose an RSS reader, like Google Reader and Feedly, and then choose what content you want delivered to you. It’s a great way to stay current with your favorite sites, but it’s also an ideal tool for Internet marketers to keep people engaged. But just having an RSS feed on your site isn’t enough – the content it delivers needs to be valuable and relevant (see content marketing).