Last week, Hulu introduced its Hulu AdZone, which is presented by Toyota and offers easy access to historic Super Bowl ads extending all the way back to 1973. For the project, Hulu invited Advertising Age to highlight celebrity cameos and present expert picks for the most iconic Super Bowl ads of all time. On Sunday, February 5, tune in to www.hulu.com/adzone to watch all of this year’s ads in real-time, share them with friends and vote for your favorites. The best ad of 2012 will be announced early the next day.

On a personal note, I’m hoping for a well-matched battle between New England and New York, and I’ll also be watching for the first-ever Super Bowl spot for Lexus, which is one part of a multifaceted campaign effort produced by my clients at ATTIK. ATTIK’s work has made high-profile Super Bowl splashes in the past, to include their bold logo for Super Bowl XLIV itself just two years ago. Here’s wishing much success to everyone involved in what is sure to be one of the top media events of 2012!

The publishers of Brand Republic, the UK’s leading online destination for people working in the advertising, marketing, media and communications industries, offer an editorial on their website entitled “What’s the secret of a long ‘marriage’?” In that, Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO chief executive Farah Ramzan Golant offers these wise words: “The key to long-term client relationships is constant reinvigoration…. You should constantly be looking at how you can do things differently, keep freshening the account teams and stay ahead of the game.” As a PR practitioner providing ongoing, dedicated counsel to a small roster of clients, I firmly believe in these vows, and back in December, I participated in an enlightening webinar hosted by Vocus and presented by PR industry thoughtleader Deirdre Breakenridge, who is the author of “PR 2.0” and “Putting the Public Back in Public Relations.” Entitled “Eight Techniques of the New PR Champion,” the knowledge and insights Deirdre shared really blew me away.

I have been handling PR for innovative business leaders and their (often relatively small) businesses for more than 20 years, and I’m very proud of my accomplishments helping my clients consistently achieve phenomenal success. There are many aspects of my experience which I feel play well into my role (a few examples include my training and background in the U.S. Air Force Reserves, my high-level contributions in the world of network television production, my writing, editing and pitching skills honed over the years, and my previous posts handling PR, marketing and sales internally and externally for ambitious companies), and I feel I’ve learned how to make myself especially valuable to my clients’ business ventures even when PR is not a top priority.

More and more, I am encountering opportunities among seasoned executives who place even greater value on PR and see it as Deirdre presents it — forming the mission-critical center of virtually all aspects of business operations.

If you have further interest in the evolving role of public relations in successful business ventures, I highly encourage you to read Deirdre’s books, check out her videos, and otherwise immerse yourself in the lessons she offers. In the presentation I attended, she described in detail these eight “new practices” that are key areas where PR professionals are adding immense value to businesses:
#1 The Policymaker
#2 The Internal Collaborator
#3 The Pre-Crisis Doctor
#4 The Reputation Task Force
#5 The Master of Metrics
#6 The Relationship Analyzer
#7 The Communications Organizer
#8 The Technology Tester

Even before detailing these areas and providing insights into the tools she has developed and used, the processes she has embraced, and more best practices and benefits that come from putting them to good use, Deirdre paused to make a key point: “PR people are perfect for handling social media.” With her encouragement and the confidence I’ve gathered in handling my clients, and with all the amazing insights into how to manage PR across organizations of all sizes, I am absolutely ready to rock for my clients in 2012.

We are immensely grateful for the service of Mr. King, his father and mother Martin and Alberta, everyone in his family, and everyone giving what they have to keep his dream alive.

For me personally, this is the time of year when business takes center stage after many weeks of relative inaction. In my experience, strategic focus is essential at this moment in order to maximize the best opportunities while also understanding all the real imperatives of success and ensuring they are given top priority today and tomorrow.

Fortunately, I have many wise, experienced friends and counselors who have provided a virtual MBA of priceless information, motivation and inspiration over the past few weeks for free. Here are six links I feel are very likely to help your upcoming actions soar in the right directions. Some lead to articles, some to eBooks; each is highly recommended.

. “The Best Talks of 2011” by Madeleine Rebbechi for Portable.tv
. “The Digital Handbook 2012” from Popular Science, Esquire and Amazon.com
. “Exploiting Chaos – 150 Ways to Spark Innovation During Times of Change” by Jeremy Gutsche for TrendHunter.com
. “How to Become an Expert” by David Baker for ReCourses.com
. “Make 2012 Your Best Year Yet” by Erin Schulte for Fast Company
. “Three Ways Remarkable Leaders Get Noticed” by Joel Garfinkle for TanveerNaseer.com.

This spot for the Illinois State Lottery was produced by Energy BBDO in Chicago, directed by Dom Bridges of Bob Industries, and features visual effects from design-focused production studio Leviathan. As Leviathan’s Jason White recently explained to SCREEN Magazine:

“We appreciate this engaging story. Something we can all relate to. Effective and emotive. We really got behind the aspiration of the spot concept – capturing these amazing gift revealing holiday moments.”

Today, White and his colleagues reported on their very successful 2011 in SHOOT Magazine. Here’s wishing you many magical moments and dreams come true over the days ahead.

Tommy and I are very proud to announce that our book “Ewasko: Days and Lights” — which was nominated for Blurb’s “People’s Choice Award” — is now available as an instant ebook download for Apple iBooks (iPad/iPhone).

We’re also very psyched to announce the release of the first wave of high-quality art prints and photographic products of images featured in “Ewasko: Days and Lights.” By visiting RKDfind Ewasko Gallery you can now order prints with mounting and framing services from Mpix Lab and Photobox, and specialty gifts and photo products from vendors such as IYP Photo Products and fotoflot.

If you have any questions on orders, please call me at 1.828.264.8898. Thank you very much for your interest in this project — we hope you enjoy these images and we look forward to hearing from you any time.

In August of 2011, The Index Festival took place in New York City with the goal of bringing together individuals and groups who cognitively engage media culture. Among its offerings were four panels, each of which was held at the Harvestworks Digital Media Arts Center.

Panel 1: Festival Opening
Panel 2: Mediated Landscapes
Panel 3: Make Ready
Panel 4: Digital Born and After

The Index Festival’s organizers are committed to continuing to explore how media and technology impact our lives. For more information, please visit indexfestival.com

Today is World AIDS Day… and as made clear in these words from Nobel Peace Prize winner and former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, today’s mission demands that each of us take part:

I expect you already know about (RED) — the innovative, private-sector initiative launched in January of 2006 to enlist leading companies to channel a percentage of profits to assist in the fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic, which kills three million people every year. The money generated by the sale of (RED) products supports Global Fund-financed programs which positively impact the lives of women and children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. The Global Fund is a unique global public-private partnership dedicated to attracting and disbursing additional resources to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. This partnership between governments, civil society, the private sector and affected communities represents a new approach to international health financing. The Fund works in close collaboration with other bilateral and multilateral organizations to supplement existing efforts dealing with the three diseases. Programs supported by (RED) and the Global Fund have reached over 5 million people to date. Around half of the funding is being spent on medicines, mosquito nets to prevent malaria and other products, while the other half is for strengthening health services.

For more information on the work of the Global Fund or to make a tax-deductible contribution, please visit www.theglobalfund.org.

Please visit (RED) to read about partners and take advantage of their offers, to learn more about the organization, Global Fund and World AIDS Day, and to learn more about what you can do to make an impact today and tomorrow.

Today, please take at least one action to help turn the tide for those suffering from AIDS in Africa. We can make a difference!

Starting last Friday and for the next month, shoppers in New York City and San Francisco can use their mobile phones to purchase toys for children in need at two new interactive storefronts presented by eBay and Toys for Tots. The initiative conceived and produced by advertising agency Venables Bell & Partners features interactive displays created by international production company and design studio Brand New School (BNS) and its School of Interactive Media.

As reported by TheInspirationRoom.com, all web-connected shoppers can experience the Give-A-Toy Store and make donations online by visiting www.eBay.com/GiveAToyStore and www.Facebook.com/eBay.

This Vimeo album from King and Country presents some of the Santa Monica-based design-driven production company’s best projects in the Sports category. Enjoy these spots, promos and documentary projects for Chevrolet (via Goodby, Silverstein & Partners), Fox Sports Net, The History Channel, NBC, Sirius Satellite Radio (via The Martin Agency), U.S. Cellular (via Publicis and Hal Riney) and Versus, and for all the latest from K&C, check out www.kingandcountry.tv.