Rob Frappier: Marketing Writer, Blogger, All-Around Nice Guy

I originally wrote this blog post for Digital Pivot.

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Like most of the marketing community, I was generally disappointed with this year’s Super Bowl advertising (see my post at Beyond Madison Avenue). Generally, I felt they were uninspired, they failed to make a strong connection with their intended audience, and with the exception of the user-created Doritos ads, they lacked originality.

With that being said, one redeeming moment came. Thanks to the good people at Vizio, we now have proof that Gary Brolsma, aka the Numa Numa Kid is alive and well.

If, for some weird reason, you’re unfamiliar with the Numa Numa Kid, check out this Wikipedia article and the corresponding video below. Essentially, the Numa Numa saga is the story of how a Web cam, a super-catchy Romanian pop song, and the power of YouTube turned one nerdy kid into a worldwide sensation.

I remember laughing pretty hard the first time I saw this video over five years ago. It was as ridiculously goofy then as it is now. Of course, that didn’t stop it from racking up tens of millions of views and leading the way for countless imitations, interpretations, and parodies.

In fact, Mr. Brolsma has taken his unexpected Internet fame and turned it into an actual career. Long after I thought the video would have faded away, the dancing doofus (and I say that lovingly) has remained a vital part of our popular culture, and he’s not the only one.

In Vizio’s Super Bowl ad, which touted the Web functionality of the company’s new televisions, viewers were treated not only to Gary “Numa Numa” Brolsma but also the silky baritone voice of Tay “Chocolate Rain” Zonday and the world-famous Dramatic Chipmunk.

While I thought Vizio’s ad was only mildly effective (the peak of both Brolsma and Zonday’s popularity hit several years ago), it really made me think about the nature of celebrity in the Internet age. The things that we do online have never been more important to our real life successes and failures. Post a stupid picture of yourself on Facebook and you might lose your job. Post a crazy video of yourself on YouTube and you might turn it into multiple sponsorship opportunities, two music video appearances, and a spot in a $3 million Super Bowl ad.

What do you think makes an Internet meme go viral, and how long do you think these Web celebrities can keep milking the spotlight?

I originally wrote this blog post for Beyond Madison Avenue.

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In case you haven’t noticed, nerdy is the new sexy.

Don’t believe me? Just look at how much nerd culture has spilled over into mainstream society in the past decade. From movies (“The Dark Knight” showed superheroes could be serious, while James Cameron’s epic “Avatar” showed space opera is a billion-dollar genre) to video games (“Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2″ recently eclipsed the $1 billion mark) to the widespread adoption of social media technology (if Facebook were a country, it would be the third-biggest country in the world), things traditionally associated with geeks have become mainstream.

The latest example comes courtesy of Adidas. Recently, the company rolled out the Star Wars Collection as part of its ongoing Originals series.

To kick off the campaign, which features a collection of pretty awesome “Star Wars”-themed shoes and apparel, Adidas put out a star-studded commercial featuring professional soccer player David Beckham, rapper Snoop Dog, and famed music group Daft Punk.

You can check out the commercial below.

While I don’t think the spot is particularly effective (What does stickball have to do with “Star Wars”?), I was impressed by the dance remix of “The Imperial March” and the mysterious appearance of Daft Punk at the end of the commercial.

What do you think? Would you buy anything in the Star Wars Collection? Personally, I’m digging those Luke Skywalker kicks.

I originally wrote this blog for my company, ReputationDefender.

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Have you heard of Foursquare yet? If you haven’t, expect to soon. In November, Pete Cashmore, the founder and CEO of the popular social networking news website Mashable, predicted in a column for CNN that Foursquare would be next year’s Twitter. Cashmore isn’t the only one high on Foursquare either. In a blog post last September, tech blogger and web celebrity Robert Scoble did Cashmore one better saying “I think this lame little location game is going to be bigger than Twitter.”

What’s so special about Foursquare? First of all, it is a location-based application. By this, I mean that it is used primarily on GPS-enabled smartphones that can trace a user’s location. The goal of Foursquare is to use the application while you’re out on the town to check-in to different venues. Secondly, as you check-in, you earn points and, eventually, a variety of badges for your profile. If you check-in to a place more than anyone else, you become its “Mayor,” which, in some cases, gets you discounts on products or services.

The competitive aspect of Foursquare (it’s fun to oust someone as the mayor of a place) combined with its function as a sort of mobile city guide make it a fairly addictive application when you’re out. Since I started using the site myself, I have been focused on Foursquare more than almost any other social networking application I use.

As much fun as Foursquare can be to use, however, there are some natural privacy questions about the service. For instance, is it safe to tell the world exactly where you are every time you go out? If someone was monitoring your Foursquare profile, how easily could they establish your pattern of behavior? Before Christmas, we advised our readers not to share their travel details online to help protect their homes from burglary. If you’re using Foursquare all the time, doesn’t the same risk apply?

As ReputationDefender CEO Michael Fertik shared in a recent interview with the Financial Times, the dangers of oversharing online are plentiful. Truthfully, effective online reputation management can be a double-edged sword. In order to protect yourself from Internet slander and promote your personal and professional brand, you have to maintain a strong presence online. However, the more you share on the web, the more you have to work at preserving your digital identity.

To this end, the key to using sites like Foursquare (and Twitter or Facebook for that matter) is intelligence and moderation. Consider what you’re sharing before you post it. If you’re late to work because you stayed out late, will you be able to explain it to your boss? Not if they can see that you checked into five bars last night and were out until the wee hours of the morning.

Staying on top of the latest trends in social networking is an important part of proactively protecting your reputation online. Foursquare is a useful and fun tool for finding new places and connecting with friends. As long as you commit to sharing responsibly, you shouldn’t be afraid to try it out.