Ten years is a long-term relationship—especially in the “this-week’s-most-eligible-bachelor” world of advertising. But in our decade-long partnership with the YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities, we’ve learned a lot about what makes an agency-brand relationship stand the test of time.

Over the course of our 10-year partnership with the YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities, we’ve experimented with our strategic and creative vision for the non-profit—and that tenure has instilled a lot of trust along the way. Luckily for us, the folks at the Y don’t have the hefty budget of some of their competitors, so they know they need to embrace creative risk. And the combination of their incredibly hard-working team and our intelligently risky work has helped to generate more than 800,000 new members in those 10 years.

Normally you don’t mess with what’s working. But last year, the governing body of the Y-USA kicked off a rebranding initiative designed to focus and rekindle the organization’s roots as a beacon of health and wellness with a variety of community programs. All the Ys in the nation adopted this new strategy. So the YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities turned to us to help change people’s perceptions about the organization.

So far six other markets have adopted our work as well, from Florida to Delaware.

Looking back to look ahead, we’ve noticed five key themes that have defined our partnership with the YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities—but they could just as easily be applied to a for-profit enterprise as well. Without further adieu, here are our five takeaways:

1) Leadership continuity creates trust and brings greater focus. No doubt, the advertising business is always roiling with change, whether it’s grappling with new technologies or countless shifts in agency-brand partnerships. But our 10-year relationship with the YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities has involved the same marketing director at the Y and the same agency managers closely involved with the business. Trust takes time—and being in the trenches together helps everybody know who’s got their back.

2) Create movements, not ads. The marketing world is all a-flutter with audience engagement strategies these days—and for good reason. After all, an audience of willing brand ambassadors spreads the word about your brand faster and more effectively than almost any other form of communication. But even more importantly, a movement allows—even demands—that client team members at every level of the organization get involved with the marketing effort, and that empowers them to make it work much harder than mere ads ever could.

3) Breakthrough work has a proven ROI. The YMCA of the Greater Twin Cities brand is distinct from any other health and wellness organization—and its communications reflect that. What would seem like an unacceptable creative risk to a big-budget chain health club is a vital strategic necessity to an organization looking to maximize a budget that wouldn’t keep the other clubs in spandex and lip gloss for a week. Blending in doesn’t help a small brand’s competitive odds… Or its bottom line.

4) Be real. Sure, this one is a little nebulous. But it’s important to figure out what separates your brand from the competitive pack and then to stay true to that insight. Creativity without a solid foundation soon falls down.

5) Turn your community into active participants. Incite your community. Give it something to believe in—something that actually matters outside of marketing. Communications that focus on what an audience can do for a brand—buy stuff, for example—ends up in the proverbial marketing graveyard. But if you speak directly to your audience and concentrate on their needs, then they’re far more likely to engage with your brand.

‘Tis the season in which brands gift their customers with holiday-inspired sites designed to keep them coming back for a dose of holiday cheer. Of course, their ultimate goal is crystal clear: engage shoppers even when they’re not shopping so they shop a particular brand in this season of gift-giving mayhem. Even so, a few marketers have created some pretty noteworthy digital efforts that blend savvy strategy with clever creative.

And we’re willing to bet that some brand enthusiasts will be sad to see these efforts slip into the archives once the holidays have come and gone.

Target’s “Hot Or Not” Snowmen

Ever wondered about a snowman’s social prospects? This year, Target takes that quandary to an entirely new level with its “Hot or Not Snowmen” effort. The concept is as simple as simple gets: Just hit “Hot” or “Not” as each snowman bachelor appears on your screen. Clearly, Target’s collection of photos represents the most eligible snow gents in town. In any town. Viewers can also share the site with friends and check out the latest weekly promotion to save some pennies while shopping at Target stores.

Macy’s “Letters to Santa”

You’re never too old to write a letter to Santa—at least that’s what Macy’s is hoping with another round of its “Letters to Santa” campaign this holiday season. The annual effort even has a happy story to go with it: “In 1897, a girl named Virginia wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Sun asking if Santa truly exists,” the site informs visitors. In response, the editor published a letter explaining that Santa exists “as surely as beauty and joy exist.” Once on the site, visitors can pen a letter to the Jolly One and decorate their masterpiece before delivering it to one of Macy’s Santa Mailboxes. For every letter, Macy’s will donate $1 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, up to $1 million.

Starbucks’s “Let’s merry.”

Sure, the Starbucks “Let’s merry” site is, well, all about Starbucks—but we’re willing to bet that there are plenty of enthusiastic coffee drinkers that would love a little caffeine for the holidays. The site features happy, scarf-bedecked skaters and sledders—in addition to a tribe of nutcrackers and snowmen—that also star in e-cards that visitors can customize for their friends. For the first 12 days of December, Starbucks will offer an exclusive deal on its products, and the site offers gift suggestions for all of your coffee-loving friends and family members.

Caribou Coffee’s “Sweater Maker”

In the spirit of ugly (er, festive) sweater season, Caribou Coffee just launched a “Sweater Maker” app on its Facebook page. First things first, you pick your “favorite” holiday sweater style—think unnatural, oversized blue snowflakes or a collage of bows, wreaths and reindeer—then select a background, upload a photo and then share it on your personal page so everyone can make fun of you. Every time someone creates a sweater, Caribou will donate a sweater to the Salvation Army (up to 10,000 sweaters).

Gap’s “Shop Yourself Social”

This holiday season, Gap has launched a blend of social media-focused initiatives under the moniker “Shop Yourself Social”—and the collective effort is shepherded by the company’s “Social Shopping Advisor,” Cacky. Yes, you read that right: As she says, “Cacky, like the pants.” Realizing that shoppers are often overwhelmed by all of the holiday deals, Gap launched the campaign across all of its branded store lines in an effort to help customers wade through the “social media deal chaos” to find to gifts they really want to buy. In addition to the one-stop shopping guide site (shopyourselfsocial.com) where people can easily access all of the latest deals, the campaign also features a blog series in which Cacky offers up her fashion advice, a live Twitter feed and a “Magic vs. Tragic” Facebook  contest. People can upload photos of their best holiday finds (“Magic”) and their unfortunate mistakes (”Tragic”), and then visitors will vote on their favorites in each category. Winners ultimately walk away with $5,000 cash prizes.

Lewis & Luke’s “Art of Dancing”

Admittedly, we have no idea who these two gents really are, but one thing is certain: They’re pretty wacky. And that’s exactly why we love them—and why they’ve nearly created their own “Art of Dancing” brand. An advent calendar of sorts, the site showcases a different video of the blokes dancing in unexpected spots (think parking garages and stairwells) for the first 24 days of December. One of them looks like an average Joe, while the other one has a set of unusually long, spidery legs—and their dancing prowess is rather, um, interpretive. And their annual advent calendar effort has gone decidedly viral. If the holidays are all about cheeriness, their dancing shenanigans will definitely make you crack a smile.

While a lot of folks make fun of their neighbors who get a little lights-crazed during the holiday season–or feel a tad irked by blinking and jingling–it’s still fun to see homes with soaring Santas and LED snowmen. After all, there’s one truth almost universally acknowledged: Lights are festive.

But why leave the toasty comforts of your home when you can take a lights-filled tour right in YouTube’s living room. This month we bring the glittery displays to you.

Witchita Falls, TX

Duluth, MN

Alberta, Canada

Darboy, WI

Round Rock, TX

Sure, Apple products are the gadgets-of-choice in the advertising world—after all, the company’s design aesthetic represents what a lot of us try to achieve for our clients. But Steve Jobs was a genuine innovator. And for that reason, we offer up a trilogy of perspectives on his legacy.

Dear Steve Jobs,

My name is Kate, and I’m a PC. I don’t own an iPad, iPod or iPhone. Mostly out of spite for the Apple monopoly  (you know, Apple products only working with other Apple products). Despite all this, you’ve had a pretty remarkable impact on my life.

To me, you’re a symbol. You represent innovation. Not just innovation in technology—although your legacy at Apple and Pixar will be something that future generations read about in history books—but innovation in the way people think, the way we  see the world. When I think of listening to music, my first thought is of iTunes, not the radio. When I want to get the news, I look online, not on TV.  When I think of a cell phone I see a mini-computer that allows me to search the Internet with the swipe of my hand. You have influenced and helped refine all of this.  You’ve been able to make unthinkable advances real, and it has changed the world for all of us.

Your greatest legacy is something you left all of us, and it will continue on long after you’re gone. You’ve left us with ideas. You’ve given us just a glimpse at your own ideas, but also shown us that our own personal ideas are actually conceivable. You’ve given us a chance to think the impossible and believe that we can make it a reality. This is your greatest accomplishment.

Thank you, Steve, for all you’ve given us in your lifetime and all you continue to give us after you’re gone.

Kate

I’m a designer, so, you could say I’m hardwired to love Apple. I could easily write paragraphs about the company’s beautiful, functional innovations and how they’ve impacted my life and work. Steve Jobs spoke often and eloquently about the value of design. His dedication to the discipline is one of the many reasons I’ve loved Apple products for so long.
But the thing I most admire about Steve Jobs? The thing that saddens me more than anything about his passing? It’s sort of summed up by this quote:

“Creativity is just connecting things. When you ask creative people how they did something, they feel a little guilty because they didn’t really do it, they just saw something. It seemed obvious to them after a while. That’s because they were able to connect experiences they’ve had and synthesize new things.”

There’s an inherent optimism in his words — this notion that anyone can be and is creative. As long as people stay curious and thoughtful, we’ll always find new ways of doing things. Creativity is a means to solving problems, and we all do that every day.

For me, his legacy isn’t so much about how he helped shape the way we consume and communicate–it’s how he encouraged us all to connect the dots.

–Clarissa Hernandez

The grief that I felt when I heard Steve Jobs had died seemed out of proportion.  While I do like Apple products, I never met Mr. Jobs in person and, to my knowledge, have never even been in the same room with the man.  When I started thinking back, though, I realized he had a major impact on my life.

From the first time I laid hands on a computer –an Apple II—I was fascinated.  My uncle taught me BASIC programming on that Apple II when I was nine.  Over the next few years between school, my uncle’s house and the “portable” Apple IIc my parents bought, I spent countless hours playing games, writing simple programs and listening to horribly tinny MIDI music files on Apples.

Years later, I have a digitally-driven career.  I love gadgets and in general believe that technology can be fun, interesting and useful for everyone.  All this can be traced back to the fact that two guys in their garage believed these same things.  Thank you, Steve Jobs, for being one of those guys, and for being crazy enough to think you could change the world.

–Demian Brink

No doubt social media has spurred a frenzied school of anthropology all its own—especially as more and more brands have leveraged platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare, among others. As marketers, we crave a surefire understanding of consumers’ motivation in interactive arenas, and we want to know what springs them into action. And social sites continue to grow at astonishing rates as more people gain Internet access at home, work and on their mobile devices. As research powerhouse Nielsen reports, “In the U.S., social networks and blogs reach nearly 80 percent of active U.S. Internet users and represent that majority of Americans’ time online.

Hot off the press, Nielsen just released State of the Media: The Social Media Report for the third quarter of 2011—and there are a slew of solid demographic nuggets that should pique a savvy marketer’s interest. In this installment of our e-newsletter, we offer up some of the most cogent insights revealed by the Nielsen report:

• No surprise here, Americans spend more time on Facebook than any other site—which is why competitors such as Google+ and MySpace face such an uphill battle.
• Think social networks are reserved for the under-35 crowd? Think again. Relying on mobile Internet access, users over the age of 55 are propelling the growth of social networks. And the 55+ demographic’s presence has doubled in a single year.
• Americans spend 22.5 percent of their time online visiting social networks and blogs, while online games are a distant second at 9.8 percent. Compare those numbers with the discovery that people spend a mere 7.6 percent of their time online with email and you gain a solid argument for brands entering the social media space.
• Here’s the breakdown of the most active social networker: She’s likely an Asian/Pacific Islander woman between the ages of 18 and 34, who lives in New England, has earned at least a bachelor’s degree and makes under $50,000 in income.
• But while women are the most avid visitors of nine out of the top 10 social networks, men are more likely to visit LinkedIn and Wikia. In particular, LinkedIn is three-times more likely than other social networks to attract an audience with a post-graduate degree.
• It turns out that blogging platforms offer brands access to highly specific demographics. For instance, 41 percent of Blogger’s audience earns more than $75,000—while female teens are flocking to Tumblr.
• Maybe 2012 really will be the year that mobile marketing goes gangbusters. Nielsen reports that nearly two in five social media users access social platforms from their mobile phones. And social networking app usage is up 30 percent from the third quarter of 2010.
• More women view videos on social networks, but men spend 9 percent more time watching video and stream more videos than their female counterparts.
• While online, 60 percent of social media users create reviews of products and services—and brands are starting to take note. After all, consumer-generated reviews and ratings are the most popular source for information about a brand’s offerings. And here’s food for thought: 53 percent of active social networkers follow a brand.
• Globally, Australians spend the most time visiting social networks and blogs, with an average of seven hours and 17 minutes spent per person. While the sites may differ from country to country, the extreme popularity of social networking sites and blogs is definitely an international phenomenon: 60 percent of active online users globally flock to such platforms.

A little insight goes a long way for a brand’s social media efforts—after all, no two audience segments behave precisely the same online. But no matter how you slice and dice it, social media offers brands the perfect opportunity to see strong results from niche targeting.

Every now and then, we stumble into a new Control or Command key short-cut that dazzles us with its usefulness, simplicity or coolness. It’s as if the collective pantheon of Computers-Should-Be-Easy gods and goddesses have suddenly smiled upon us. Who cares if your version of PowerPoint is circa 1997—you know how to use CTRL-F!

This month, we’ve discovered a bunch of short-cuts that we deem worthy of sharing. So go forth and hit the Control or Command key to your heart’s content.

1)      Let’s start with the one we’ve already mentioned because—surprisingly—many people are still in the dark about it. If you hit CTRL-F, a little box will either open at the top or bottom of your screen, allowing you to type in a specific word or phrase you’re looking for in a site or document. And then, with swift magic, the function highlights every mention of the word or phrase and lets you skip around until you find just the spot you’re looking for.

2)      Can’t find the short cut that’s right for you? Well then, it’s a good thing you can create your very own personalized short cut to access folders or applications you use all the time. According to www.makeuseof.com, here’s how: “This will only work for shortcuts located on your desktop. First you need to create an actual desktop shortcut. Right-click on the application and select > Create Shortcut from the context menu. Make sure the shortcut sits on your desktop. Now right-click the shortcut and select > Properties. You should see a line that says “Shortcut Key: <none>”. Click that line and then click a letter on your keyboard, for example P. A shortcut will be created, in this example [Ctrl] + [alt] + [P]. And there you go, now you have your own personal shortcut key.”

3)      Are you a fan of Firefox? Instead of scrolling through myriad open tabs, you can just hit CTRL + 1 through 9 to access a specific tab. If you happen to know exactly which slot it sits in, however.

4)      If you’re too young for reading glasses—or if you wear reading glasses and crave a nifty trick—then try using CTRL + the mouse wheel to change the font on the screen.

5)      Not sure which programs you have open at any given moment? Just hit ALT-Tab to open a small window showing you all the programs you’re running. And then, if you keep hitting the Tab key, you can choose which program you’d like to switch to.

6)      Bonus round: If you’re not sure what CTRL-C, CTRL-V and CTRL-X are all about, then we’re pretty sure there’s no hope for you. But in case you’re late to the short-cut party, these three options could very well blow your mind. To copy text, highlight what you want and hit CTRL-C; and then top paste that text in another spot, hit CTRL-V. To cut text altogether, hit CTRL-X; and then when you want to put it in another place, hit CTRL-V. Yes, it really is magic.

Feeling a little savvier yet?

With increased competition from Google+, Facebook turns up the heat with new features of its own. Aimed at user engagement, they could be a boon to marketers who want to deepen their reach.

Last month, we catalogued some of the innovative features that Google+ offers social media users—but we don’t want to neglect Facebook, which in addition to practically ruling the world, has also launched a few new offerings as well. While the jury is still out on the Google’s ability to steal some Facebook thunder, there’s no question that the social media giant continues to evolve in ways that benefit brands and individuals, alike.

But unless you’re a tech reviews and news junkie,  it can be tough to track the latest Facebook developments. Unless, of course, you discover that your personal page or newsfeed has mysteriously changed overnight.

Without further adieu, we offer up a list of Facebook features—some of them new, some of them not so new—that are still flying under the radar:

1) Instant messaging app: Building on the instant messaging feature that’s already popular among users, Facebook’s new mobile app, Messenger, builds on the service with a collection of new tools and features. Plus, it synchronizes with the messages users send through the full-browser version of the platform so that contacts and messaging history are better organized. Available on both iPhone and Android platforms, Messenger takes you straight to your contacts and messaging screen—and it lets you send messages to Facebook friends and to the people listed in your phone’s address book even if they aren’t Facebook users. Even better, the app also offers group messaging capabilities, so you can now send a single message to a group of friends, family members or colleagues.

2) Zip code-targeting for Facebook ads: In the olden days of yore, marketers often targeted their Facebook ads at particular cities. But now Facebook advertisers can hone their ads to specific zip codes—a boon to small businesses that aim to reach a few slices of an urban or suburban population.  And the feature is already driving strong results just weeks after its initial launch. According to Blinq Media, a major Facebook Ads API tool provider for ad agencies, zip code-targeted ads generate click-through rates that are twice as high as the city-targeted ads—and that could significantly increase a brand’s advertising recall, and drive more clicks and foot traffic.

3) Non-profits on Facebook: While cause pages have been a part of the Facebook fabric for quite some time now, the social media network recently launched a new resource center called Non-profits on Facebook. Geared at helping non-profit organizations add muscle to their Facebook efforts, the site includes educational materials, tutorials and a downloadable non-profit guide. According to Mashable, “The Resource Center will also include a spotlight section for successful non-profits and a success stories app where Facebook will showcase best practices and try to build a community around shared stories and advice.” While Facebook has already launched the Resource Center, the site also features a newsfeed that tracks non-profit news and announcements.

4) Video chat: In July, Facebook announced a partnership with Skype to offer video chatting capabilities on the social network—a move that was probably motivated by the threat of the impending launch of Google+. Free video chatting is now fully incorporated into the site and promises to keep people on the network for longer periods of time. At the time of the announcement, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg hinted that video chat would soon be available for larger groups, though the service now only supports one-to-one chats.

While August signifies the end of summer’s reign, it brings with it a sense of Midwestern camaraderie—as we take on the arduous task of stretching our stomachs in preparation for the Minnesota State Fair. It’s easy to get distracted by visions of deep-fried delicacies dancing in our heads, but luckily, the PK team has a handful of fair gurus on board who have perfected the Great Minnesota Get-Together experience.

Here are a few of our tips to keep you safe, sound and happily scarfing your favorite food on a stick—so next week you’ll be able to go forth and prosper:

1. If you don’t want to get sh*t on, don’t walk behind a goat.
2. Think twice about placing your fate in the hands of an amusement ride whose manufacturer won’t include said ride in its catalog. We’re looking at you, Zipper.
3. Concert goers, beware of gale force winds.
4. Time your Ferris Wheel ride with the nightly fireworks show.
5. Just because you can drink an unlimited supply of milk, doesn’t mean you should.

Got a few of your own? Please share them with the masses…

Sure Facebook has drawn a large nation of users, but the newly launched Google+ is sure to steal some of the spotlight. After all, it’s powered by the unstoppable Google machine.

Google might have stumbled a bit with its Wave platform, but the Internet giant has also benefitted from waiting in the wings to launch a full-blown social media alternative to Facebook and Twitter. Aiming to lure some of Facebook’s 600 million-strong user base, Google+ incorporates much of what people love (friend-focused news feeds, photo sharing, messaging), while adding new features, tighter privacy guidelines and—no surprise here—an easier way to search and share content.

The most sweeping difference between the two social media platforms is that Google+ allows users to group their contacts into “Circles.” If Google+ takes off, this new feature could signal the end of mass-sharing while ushering in a new era of targeted broadcasts to select groups of people. For example, if I want to post a photo album documenting my adventures in Bali, I can elect to show it off only to Circles of friends and family members instead of my entire network.

While the platform is still in beta—and Google is waiting to launch a version for businesses later this year—there’s already a flurry of speculation about how Google+ will impact a brand’s social marketing efforts. As PC World puts it, “the barrier to going viral on a platform like Google+ is higher,” and that means brands will have to craft far more compelling, relevant content if they want users to share with multiple Circles. This shift also suggests that brands will have to realign their social media goals so that they focus less on the number of “follows” and far more on the impact of their online customer relationships. In a nutshell, the topic of engagement takes on an entirely new layer of significance in the world of Google+. In Google’s own words, the platform aims to make “connecting with people on the Web more like connecting with them in the real world.”

Of course, there are critics who doubt the power of Google+ to steal much of Facebook’s momentum. But since the platform debuted to a select group of users at the end of June, it’s already attracted nearly 5 million users. Still, we’re not interested in making any predictions at this stage of the Google game—though we’re definitely paying attention. Here’s a breakdown of the noteworthy features rolled into the new Google+:

Circles: Sure we already mentioned this feature, but as one of the defining new elements of Google+, it probably bears repeating. More streamlined than Facebook’s groups or Twitter’s lists, Circles allows users to divvy up their networks into specifically targeted groups. So instead of broadcasting updates, photos, video and content to the proverbial masses, Google+ users can elect to share information with their Circles.

Hangouts: A video chat feature on par with Skype, Google+ allows users to invite up to 10 friends to “hangout” in a live webcam session. Users can also invite their circles to engage in a little face-to-face time while scrolling through the web.

Google +1 Button: Because Google dominates the search engine market, it figures that the company would devise an easy way for people to share content. When someone hits the +1 button next to a search result or on a web page, the item will appear under the +1 tab on their profile, where they can also choose which ones to share publicly and to which Circles. The upside—or downside, depending on your perspective—is that the more you +1 something, the more refined your Google search results become.

Sparks: Naturally, no one has enough hours in the day to endlessly search for fascinating content on topics that interest them. That’s where Sparks swoops in to the rescue. Google+ users can browse a selection of topics or search for another one of interest. Once added to their list of interests, the platform automatically curates content from around the web and delivers it to that topic-specific feed. Google bills the feature as a throwback to the days when your dear old gramps used to snip stories from the paper and send them to you.

Huddle: Just as Hangout lets users meet in groups to chat via webcam, Huddle allows them to turn singular texting sessions into group chats so everyone can discuss at once. Let’s say you and three cohorts plan to meet for dinner, but can’t decide on a spot with the perfect outdoor patio. Instead of sending one text to each friend, you can gather everyone together on Google+ and hammer out the details collectively.

Instant Upload: Of course, Google+ also comes in app form, which allows users to, yes, instantly upload photos to their profiles without having to stumble through the phone-to-profile transfer. Rather, the app automatically posts photos to a private album on a user’s page so they can later sort through which ones to post publicly. Instant Upload = instant gratification.