It’s the beginning of a new month and Spikesters found examples of the blooming use of various social media forums in B2B martketing.

Rachel – It seems like everyone is interested in Pinterest these days- from collecting fashion ideas to planning weddings. But how can Pinterest be used for B2B? The Wall Street Journal is using Pinterest to collect infographics, technology coverage, and more on their pin boards. General Electric is using their account to collect images of some of their greatest creations. How can you use Pinterest for B2B? Here are some ideas.

Chris – Interesting article and statistics on B2B marketing and integration vs. B2C.

Kristen – Target delivers the “boutique experience”  in new The Shops at Target campaign.

Christian – The best advertising is that which stands out amongst the masses. Here are some brochure designs that businesses used to showcase their creative skills.

Martin – Here’s a video made by an agency called Doremus in New York for Corning called “A Day Made of Glass” to demonstrate the role of glass in developing products for the future. The only thing I don’t like about it is it make my iPhone feel like an old piece of junk.

Also, this one is a few years old, but I love the execution of it. Very Clever.

Gary – As B2B businesses move with the rest of the world into the land of social media, they might benefit from some essential advice on how to manage their public profiles.

Patty – The conversion to Timeline was an upheaval for many loyal Facebook users. However, these businesses used the design to their advantage and came up with the 10 best B2B Timeline Covers. Our very own client, Fluke Corporation, is featured.

Charlie – IKEA takes space-saving seriously. And to prove it, they’ve created the World’s Tiniest IKEA Store.

Though it was a busy week, the Spikesters still found time to find some new, innovative campaigns along with some promising statistics regarding the future of B2B marketing and interactive media.

Kristen – Mohawk unveils new logo and unique brand vision animation.

Gary – While extremely partial to all things Macintosh, Spike is interested in the fact that Microsoft plans to take a big bite out of Apple.

Rachel – It’s always interesting to see how marketing budgets are changing each year. eMarketer projects that in the U.S. market, advertisers will increase video ad spend by 54.7 percent and increase investment in standard banners by nearly 20 percent. Research shows that people exposed to banners that included online video were about 5.6 times as likely to visit a marketer’s site as those exposed to standard banners. It will be interesting to see how online advertising changes this year, in light of these projections.

Martin – Here’s an interesting site for an architectural firm in Poland. I don’t usually like sites that have strange navigation, but for the kind of firm they are and the execution, I think this one really works.

Tiffany – Cool awareness campaign mixing the new with the old…

Patty – As a youngster, it’s really interesting to see businesses creep into the social media world (or vice versa). It looks like even B2B marketers are utilizing Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Blogging and Pinterest.

Gary Meyers: My favorite Super Bowl commercial was the Audi Vampire.

Sharan: My favorite was the Doritos commercial.

Rachel: Two years in a row, Volkswagen has produced my favorite Super Bowl ad!
Kristen: VWs The Dog Strikes Back!

Natasha: The M&M commercial this year was my favorite, it definitely made me laugh!

Willem: Fiat commercial.

Gary: Spike noticed a difference in how academia viewed the Super Bowl commercials versus how America viewed them. In the eighth annual review by the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, four SB spots received the grade of A (naturally a university would use a letter grading system):

M&Ms Just My Shell
Skechers Bulldog
Dannon Oikos Greek Yogurt
Honda CRV’s Day Out

However, the top four spots as judged by the American public as reported by USA Today were:

Doritos Baby
Bud Light Weego
Kia Dream
Chrysler Halftime in America
M&Ms Just My Shell

Of course, this being an election year, it’s fairly obvious that everyone has their favorite, even if the candidates are TV commercials.

Tim: Seems like a good topic for this chilly week in December — some fun advertising from Columbia Sportswear featuring Wim Hof, the Legendary Iceman.

Jason: With Winter’s Chill firmly established Spike is thrilled to see a new ice skating rink set up in one of Seattle’s coolest neighborhoods… Capitol Hill

Gary G: Spike likes getting together with old friends, like at the Cole & Weber 80th Anniversary Party (left to right: Gary Graf, Christina Conte, Chuck Pennington, Steve Johnson, Peter Richards)

Kristen: My all-time favorite Christmas movie… Christmas Vacation! It never gets old

Rachel: I like getting in the holiday spirit! We got all of our Christmas lights up on our house, and our tree decorated. Next up for me is some holiday baking. Its beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

Tiffany: “Exploration is not a choice, really; it’s an imperative” – Michael Collins
My spike like’s this week is the Nasa Kepler Mission. In the past few months Kepler has discovered a Earth-like planet in the “habitable” zone of a star and a Tatooine planet with 2 suns. So far the Kepler telescope has spotted 2,326 candidate planets outside our solar system with 139 of them potentially habitable ones.

Natasha: Old song by N Sync but I love it for the holidays!

Sharan:

Gary Meyers: With all the great harvest foods out there during Halloween time, my favorite food that I enjoy is pumpkin soup.

Gary: I can still picture my kids in their various costumes over the years: My daughter as a red crayon, a lady bug, a dalmatian puppy, a present, Snow White, a ballerina; my son as a construction worker, baseball player, Spider man, a character from the Tin Tin comics, a mummy. But my most favorite memory is, after making the rounds with the kids, getting home out of the inevitable wind, rain and fog that seems to haunt Seattle Halloween nights.

Rachel: In my search for some Spooky recipes, I came across these Chocolate Mice, Ghostly Lemon Cake Pops and, my favorite, Mini Spiced Pumpkins.

Willem: A chaotic look at the carving of a pumpkin.

The Carved Pumpkin from Paul Whittington on Vimeo.

Kristen: Saturday night I’ll be at The Oxford Saloon in Snohomish, famous for being haunted with 18 ghosts! Let’s hope I make it back to work on Monday

Tiffany: One thing I look forward to every year is a new Simpson’s Treehouse of Horror episode!
This year will make the 22nd episode in the Treehouse of Horror series, and for once it is airing BEFORE Halloween.

Natasha: It doesn’t have to be all scary treats for your waistline this Halloween. Try these Skinny Pumpkin Cupcakes with Pumpkin Spiced Cream Cheese Frosting!! YUMM! Happy Halloween!

Erin: I love Halloween because its the time of the year that I can get my favorite candy: candy corn!

Jason: My favorite thing about Halloween is that it’s the only time of the year that people generally forget who they are and what they do for a living and try to recapture the honesty and fun of being a kid in a costume.

Spike loves art. And loves coffee. So, this fun idea appealed to him on a couple of levels.

Some of Spike’s friends Down Under used 3,604 cups of coffee into a giant Mona Lisa Painting. The cups were filled with different amounts of milk to create the different tones and shades.

Sharan: Dogs are awesome

Kristen: Cutest bear attack ever.

Jason: This is random, I realize… but I find it funny not that this guy got in a car crash… but that Mr Bean can afford a McLaren F1; which I believe are multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Rachel: Spending a lot of time in front of your computer? Check out this great infographic- Healthy Eyes in a Digital World!

Gary G: Spike likes it when the Mountain comes out to play.

Natasha: For the iPhone users:

Tiffany:
Sam Hopkins was a Texas country bluesman of the highest caliber whose career began in the 1920s and stretched all the way into the 1980s. Along the way, Hopkins watched the genre change remarkably, but he never appreciably altered his mournful Lone Star sound, which translated onto both acoustic and electric guitar. Hopkins’ nimble dexterity made intricate boogie riffs seem easy, and his fascinating penchant for improvising lyrics to fit whatever situation might arise made him a beloved blues troubadour.

Filmmaker Les Blank captured the Texas troubadour’s informal lifestyle most vividly in his acclaimed 1967 documentary, The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins. As one of the last great country bluesmen, Hopkins was a fascinating figure who bridged the gap between rural and urban styles.

Charlie: Everything you needed to know about making S’mores.

John: Ice Cream! A great place to visit is Molly Moon’s in Seattle, when the lines are short (Capital Hill, Wallingford, and truck locations). Here is a quick video of my son doing his happy dance after indulging in an ice cream cone.
BTW, my wife is going to kill me for providing this video, and I’m the one grumbling in the background because I thought I was only taking a picture.

Gary G: Spike likes dodging yachts, motorboats, sailboats, paddle boarders and seaplanes. Otherwise known as kayaking on Lake Union.

Rachel: Really fun and interesting use of location based mobile marketing.

While Spike is off designing his own firework display, our Spikesters are here to share their favorite things about the Fourth of July!

Natasha: This Red, White and Blueberry trifle is the perfect recipe for the 4th!!

Gary G.: Likes the fact that Summer in Seattle officially starts after the 4th of July weekend.

John: NYC fireworks displays. Always crowded, but always very impressive!

Rachel: Growing up, I lived in an area where it was still legal to set off fireworks of any size right outside your house.  Every year, we would go to Boom City to pick out fireworks for our own personal fireworks display.  If you are planning your own show- Boom City is the only place to go!  And the best part- negotiating is part of the deal, so you can get really great prices.

Charlie: Spike likes our national anthem – Hendrix style.

Kristen: Looking forward to spending the 4th of July with friends and family at a neighborhood block party.  Can’t wait to try my brother’s batch of Amber Ale homebrew!

Willem: I can’t remember much about the 4th. Probably because of these….

Sharan: My daughters marched in this parade for 6 years when they were young.  Supposedly, this parade is the largest 4th of July parade West of the Mississippi!  Below is a photo of their High School band playing, and you can see one of the performances here.

Andrew: For this year’s Independence Day Weekend, I’m looking forward to our traditional family BBQ, sipping some cold microbrews, and watching the thousands of fireworks from our backyard.

Lea: Spending time with my family and friends….and kickball.

Tim: Fireworks are great. And the make-’em-yourself kind are best. No, I’m not just talking about pinching a Piccolo Pete towards the bottom so it makes a bang. But in the interest of public safety (and little boys’ fingers), I’ll stop right there.

Chris: I like the Seattle weather forecast for this 4th of July. Could it be? Is it possible? We may actually be able to see the fireworks this year! Enjoy, be safe and have a happy Independence Day.

Spike Likes flying through Germany, visiting the Neuschwanstein Castle.