CK's Blog

Feeling warm & fuzzy?

I'd be lying if I said I weren't looking forward to all the campaign craziness headed our way next year. While personally disgusted with what's happening, I'm fascinated by politics from a professional standpoint.

I watch both the Democratic and Republican Conventions end-to-end even though my vote is decided well ahead of these events. What I find interesting is how they message and strategize to garner more likability points, er, votes.

Platforms aside, it's amazing just how much "like" determines how we vote--or don't vote. Take last election, I didn't vote for Kerry because I liked him...I voted against Bush because I disliked him.

We buy on feelings all the time, makes sense that we also vote on them--and ergo, that we should be polling on them. But benchmarking emotions is precarious, which is why I'm intrigued by the "feeling thermometer" that Quinnipiac University Polling Institute is using.

That's right, they brand it a feeling thermometer because it ranks on emotions. Not the campaign issues. Not how well a job the candidate is doing (or not doing). Here's how the pollsters pose the question:

"I'd like to get your feelings toward some of our political leaders and other people who have been in the news. I'll read the name of a person and I'd like you to rate that person using something called the feeling thermometer. You can choose any number between 0 and 100. The higher the number, the warmer or more favorable you feel toward that person, the lower the number, the colder or less favorable."

Their most current poll ranged 20 politicos. How did the feelings play out? Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican, ranked first with a mean score of 64.2, followed by Democratic Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois, 58.8, and McCain, 57.7. Bush finished 15th with a 43.8 rating--behind Al gore who was 14th with a 44.9 rating. Senator John Kerry was dead last with a rating of 39.6.

Oh, and Hillary was 9th with a mean score of 49 to Bill's 5th with a mean score of 55.8. I'll be watching these polls throughout the election to see how well feelings predict results--stay tuned.

Can a trainwreck make a comeback?

The art of the comeback. Sometimes the fall makes you better and bigger. Sometimes you just should have stayed down on the couch (Cruise), off of the booze (Gibson), away from the stage (Richards) and out of Vegas (Spears).

Yep, the latest girl gunning for good graces is Britney Spears. Fed up with fame and focused on breeding, Brit waved "buh-bye" to the spotlight a few years back to bask in K-Fed's glow.

Problem is the spotlight never left her...it just illuminated her chaotic relationship, baby-bumbling brouhahas and post-baby weight battles--which wasn't post-baby weight for long since she was pregnant again in a matter of a NY minute.

It's not that the tabloids didn't have a field day with Brit before, it was just balanced with content on her chart-toppers. Understandably she thought they'd turn to Lindsay and Jessica. And that they did. But Brit was always in their peripheral vision--and gave them far too much fodder not to print.

Poof! Now she's back and, in working to regain her star power, her moves (and mishaps) have included:

• Filing divorce papers and, via text-message, apprising K-Fed he is FedEX.
• Slimming down the bod, bobbing-up the hair and making a surprise showing on Letterman.
• Become Best Friends with Paris Hilton (with baby in tow?)...and stripping to her fishnets in Vegas.
• Launching a perfume. Maybe she's working to appeal to any of our senses?
• Releasing a new album. Well, 2 new albums as I understand, a remix (that way she can get one out in '06) and then a truly original LP in '07.
• Going on Oprah, explaining her foolish decisions were cries for help and desperate pleas for "real" love. Oh wait, that didn't happen (but maybe should have).

A lot of stars leave the limelight only to come back with a vengeance. But when you do this much harm to your image does the public really want you back? I tried to map Britney to another songstress and the only one I could come up with was, gulp!, Whitney Houston--as even Jessica Simpson kept her career going through her breakup/breakout.

Maybe '07 will be the year of many train wrecks proving they're the little trains that could. Or maybe no amount of damage control can save these damaged goods. I ask you marketing brainiacs: How far is too far out of control to reclaim your audience? With two-failed marriages at 24, 2 babies and too much partying, can Brit still be a marketing machine...or just a mess?

P.S.: If Britney is going down, maybe she'll do the world a favor and take Paris down with her.

In memoriam: a model woman.

I lost my "Granny Kerley" this weekend, bless her spirit she was 96. In fact all the women in my family live long and healthy lives well into their 90s. Granny did great until the last month where her little body--she was all of maybe 5 feet--just let go.

The hardest part for me is adjusting tenses from "is" to "was". I guess in doing so I feel I'm focusing more on the death than the life. So in focusing on her life I thought I'd underscore her tremendous attributes:

• Sugary sweet. I could always count on Granny to cook up an Angel Food cake with butter-cream frosting (the frosting and the cake were at least 80% sugar). Lord knows why she wanted to make me any more hyper but I swear that woman is responsible for my sugar addiction.
• But oh so smart. She loved discussing--and debating--business and politics and never missed a beat. Her smarts truly empowered her and she always regarded them as a gift.
• Fiercely independent. She was so quick. And so independent for her day. I never felt like I was talking with a southern woman who knew her place--and I swear she's the only woman in my family who, even in her 90s, would tell me there's just no rush to get married (mom, are you listening?).
• Yet overly giving. She had her first baby during the great depression and while she did much to move past that tortuous time she never forgot to be thankful or give back. She fed a lot of people during that time. She said she just couldn't stand the thought of people going hungry, not in this country, no matter the time.

Bless you Granny. You fit a lot of life and touched a lot of people in nearly 10 decades, and gave me a great sense of self. You are (not were) a model for how women can be sweet, smart, independent and giving all at the same time.

The 'Sphere Grows Smaller (and more private).

While I've always looked at the BIG ol' blogosphere as a series of small networks, we may be trending even smaller...and more controlled.

Take Six Apart's new "personal blogging service" VOX, launched officially in late October. According to VOX: "Putting material online used to mean putting it up for anyone to see, search, criticize, record, or repurpose. Not anymore. With Vox, you can choose the privacy level for every post, every picture, every sound clip, every video. Put up posts for the world. Put up posts for just your family. Or just your friends. You can control everything."

Or take all the internal blogs that Paul Gillin penned about in his recent "unseen blogosphere" column for BtoB Magazine. According to Gillin: "IBM Corp. has more than 3,000 internal blogs. Procter & Gamble Co. has about 100 internal blogs and is expanding their use to private communications with business partners. Talk to companies that sell blogging software and they'll tell you that most of their corporate business is internal. It's not that big businesses don't "get" blogging; they just don't see a compelling need to do it in public."

Control is key with VOX, or I should say control is key with VOX's users. Control is also key with companies. Between family photos and proprietary corporate information, I understand the desire for confidential communications (but I do advocate that brand and R&D initiatives should invite public involvement).

The sweet spot then, for both of these consumer and corporate segments is that blogging is a superior alternative to e-mail--but only when conducted privately.  So maybe internal and "invite-only" blogs will be a small step to braver, open blogs. Or maybe, just as with websites, intranets and extranets, the blogposphere will continue to grow smaller as it gets bigger.

The Power of Parody.

In addition to the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, this past week NYC boasted another event with flying characters: this one sponsored by Target and conducted by magician extraordinaire--or more aptly coined "endurance artist"--David Blaine.

If you don't know of Blaine, he's the eerily cool Houdini of our times having been buried alive, suspended above the River Thaimes for 40 days, submerged for seven days in a lifesize fishbowl in Lincoln Square and so on.

This go 'round he's been placed in a gyroscope for 52 hours above his corporate sponsor where Blaine attempted (and succeeded) to escape from shackles while dangling four stories above Times Square. Besides the promotional value for Target and Blaine, the stunt gives 100 kids a $500 shopping spree.

I did catch Blaine's water act in Lincoln Square this summer but was out of NYC for his gyroscope action this Thanksgiving. Darn. Here's some footage of the action (44 seconds):

But in my searches for a video showing Blaine free himself and plunge to earth I found the BEST Blaine video...which, ironically doesn't include Blaine at all. It's a parody and it's very funny. Right over 4 minutes, it succinctly captures Blaine's hallmarks, namely: freaking out his audience with his trickery and his trademark stare.

That's the thing about parodies, they promote the person they're picking on as much as they poke fun at them: a way of loving and mocking them simultaneously. In a recent piece for Business 2.0, Jeff Hicks, CEO of Crispin, Porter and Bogusky, advises, "The brands that are adopted, blogged about, and parodied the most are the ones that are going to win because they're involved in the evolution of pop culture".

So for those aspiring fame, you might also aspire to be made fun of--pretty powerful marketing, eh? Here is the Blaine parody (psst: for all you younger viewers this does include lots of f-bombs...and "what the eff?!" bombs):

Let's focus on SHARE...not size.

According to the powers-that-be, I'm a "C-List" blogger. Wrong. I'm clearly a "CK-List Blogger" (duh!).  You see, this list shows how much authority I hold--or in my case, don't hold. But I'm only 9 blog links away from being a more authoritative B-Lister. Power is so close...yet so far away. Sigh.

The thing is, I view power as a collective force and fancy it being spread around, or shared. Don't kid yourelf: share unites us, rankings such as these serve to divide us. Less into size, I'm far more focused on share, as in:

• How much does your blog share with your audience?
• How much do you share in the conversation at other blogs?
• How much are you furthering this medium?
• How are you using social media to promote ethical standards?

If you share, you're on my A+ List. So in this Share Economy, size doesn't matter...aren't you glad to hear THAT from a woman?

Not for nothin', the ONLY reason I've even made it to the C-List is because I shared this goodie and scores of blogs picked it up. I didn't do it for that reason...but share begets share. And the best thing about it? I now have new relationships with great blogs--and bloggers--and the piece shares the love by linking to everyone that shared in its creation--and I'm still inviting more to participate.

Now that's the kind of power that's just, well, empowering.

P.S.: Thanks to Kineda's blog for letting me share my view on this--and for making the graphic pink!

P.P.S.: I have a groovy new program based on knowledge share...and it lauches in little over a week. Sorry I can't yet share it. Soon.

It's a bird, it's a plane...no, it's BS.

Boys, boys, boys when will you learn that sneaky behavior only makes you the butt of our blogging jokes? Did you actually think you could fool the community? There is a law--it stems from sincerity and share, put that in your boardroom--and there's a new Sheriff in town (psst: they safeguard us from your SPAM).

But hey, at least you're Internet famous now...this type of notoriety is a hard pill to swallow, eh?  The self-policing community, not Superman, is this girl's superhero :-).

From my pal David at Marketer's Studio: "This YouTube video documents Time Warner putting up “Superman Returns, The Movie” as a YouTube user, then having >7000 fans in a week. The “fans” are all accounts created the week beforehand. They’re stuffing the ballot box, as it were, to get more visibility for the Superman Returns movie. To me, this is spamming a Social Media community."

Well said my friend...and here's the illuminating 4-minute video:

Riddling left, right and center.

Riddle me this, readers: What's this so-called, newer-than-new-media, Web. 2.0 economy best called?  It's sure called a lot of things, eh?

We've been knocking around the "knowledge" economy, "innovation" economy, "creative" economy, "social" economy, "experience" economy and the "idea" economy. But where do knowledge, innovation, creativity, experiences, socializing and ideas stem from? What action--er, uh, interaction--fuels this fervor?

• It's Share. Yep, it's "The Share Economy". Can't really get smart, creative, social , innovative or otherwise without a whole lotta share. Do wish I could take credit for this gem, but I can't. It was Vaspers who threw it over to me in an e-mail months back and I've been singing it ever since.

This riddle ain't finished yet. Not even close.

So...what's the cost-of-entry to this Share Economy? Money? Nope. Power? Nah. Popularity? Negative. Fame? No way.

• It's Contribution. Whether you contribute: open-source software, smarts, new tools, tech, content, methods or best practices, contribution is your key to the hearts and minds of this medium.

Moving right along, then.

And what's the currency of this new media? Information? Ideas? Lots of links?

• It's Trust (just trust me on this one). Whether you're brand or being, you have to earn trust...in fact you must be worthy of it. Sure, you can have fans, but you can't build meaningful relationships--or respected brands--without first building trust with your audience.

Still with me? Cuz there's more still.

So what do we call the people in this new economy? Consumers? Not. Producers? Not always.

• We're Participants. At least that's the closest one I can find to fit the bill. I liked Ben and Jackie's idea of "Participatory Economy" but Share Economy rang supreme with me, however, insofar as people, "participants" rang right.

Almost there--just not quite.

And what's lies at the core of this era's core value proposition? What, above all else, are we more NOW than we were BEFORE? Smarter? Closer? Richer? Thinner? Yes, yes, probably not and not likely due to sitting on our butts blogging so darn much.

• What we are is Empowered. I've often said it's the Empowerment Era (but in order to not confuse clients or colleagues I'm trying to stick to Share Economy). They say there's a revolution, a disruption, a change...I don't think any of these things happen without new power being given to where/whom it wasn't before.

Done riddling, but not done sharing...matter o' fact, I have a program launching very shortly that's all about share, baby. Can you guess what it is? Here's a hint: the answer is hidden in the riddle (sorta).

Who am I NOT? (and a VICTORY!)

Want to call your attention to Stephen Denny's current post over at Note to CMO on "Profiting Badly".   If you don't yet know of Note to CMO, it's a beefy blog--in fact what Mario would classify a "steak" blogger--and takes the stance with each post of "If you could write a note to the CMO to straighten everything out, what would you say?".

Obviously there's a LOT to straighten out but this post really hit home. Since it was announced last week, the whole O.J. Simpson $3.5 million book deal (debacle?) has been weighing on me. If you've not yet heard, O.J. Simpson, in a two-part interview on Fox (surprised?), tells for the first time "how he would have committed the murders if he were the one responsible for the crimes."

The interview will air days before Simpson's new book, "If I Did It," goes on sale Nov. 30 (what, this makes for a good Christmas present?). The book "hypothetically describes how the murders would have been committed." Obviously I have strong personal opinions on the matter but hey, O.J. is broke and the only brand he can leverage is to put the victim's families through yet more torment (yep, right in time for the holidays).

But the real question is not to O.J., it's, as Denny points out, to the network and the publisher: what role should the business community play in matters of right and wrong?

When I commented on this post Denny brought up yet another stellar question: Our choices brand us -- after all, one of the key issues we face when developing robust branding is, "who am I NOT?" and consequently, "what am I willing to walk away from?".

In branding and strategy exercises for my clients I often look into who they are, how that is meaningful and how to differentiate them...but I've not always asked the question "who am I NOT?"  I'll not make that mistake again.

Thanks to Stephen for the heavy-lifting on this heavy issue. As for O.J., Fox and the publisher, you get no thanks --and NO bucks--from this girl.  Here's the post.

***MAJOR GOOD NEWS UPDATE (as of late Monday afternoon): NEW YORK —  NewsCorp., the parent company of book publisher HarperCollins and the FOX network, has canceled publication of the O.J Simpson book and television special "If I Did It."

"I and senior management agree with the American public that this was an ill-considered project," said Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman. "We are sorry for any pain that this has caused the families of Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson." Here's the article in full.

P.S.: Thanks Stephen for staying on top of this and for e-mailing me as soon as you found out :-).

Newbie no more...but just getting started.

Welcome this my 100th post. Am I tickled to have made it this far? Absolutely pink. Much learned, many colleagues and friends made and much, much more ahead than behind.

That's the thing really, making it to 100 makes me face forward rather than reflect backwards. Thanks for your patience, guidance, generosity and support while this newbie navigated her way through the first 100. Had I have known what all this medium and community would have given me 100 posts ago, I'd be on post 1000.

People say they don't know how I find the time to blog. I can't imagine not making time for it. People say they don't understand how social media adds value to their business. I say the value is both professional and personal. People say a lot of things--but we opt to share them with one another. A rising tide indeed lifts all boats. And a blogosphere bolsters all marketers.

And speaking of looking ahead: I have more than a few surprises up my sleeve still for this year and next...please do stay tuned.

P.S.: Actually, if you count the posts over at The Daily Fix, I'm 100+. But who's counting?

Won't you WOMMA?

Any of you crazy kids going to the WOMMA Summit Dec. 12th - 13th in Washington, D.C.? I'm going to be covering the highs and lows and giving a rundown over at MarketingProfs. I'd love to know who else from the community will be going...any takers?

And in true feedback fashion I'm planning on running some real-time polls while there. What's a real-time poll you say? Well that would be me, in, like, real time, armed with a few questions and a tape recorder aimed at a lot of mouthy marketers with varied, insightful responses--and if we're lucky, some humorous ones, to boot. Take heart folks, I'm not going to be doing anything like creating a collage, just reporting findings.

So...any thoughts on questions that you want me to ask a conference full of word-of-mouth marketers and word-of-mouth wannabees? Give me what you got...I'm all ears.

Clients can wait their turn: Blogger Meetup

What's better than meeting all you tremendous bloggers during all my travels near and far? Having bloggers come to moi! Well, my city at least. On Wednesday afternoon, in the heart of Times Square, I was fortunate enough to "lunch it" with Lewis Green, blogger in his own corner as well as over at The Daily Fix. That's us saying "cheese!' for all you bloggers.

You know what a strong writer Lewis is and you know how supportive of all we bloggers he is but now I can confirm that he is both nice and cool, too. He'll have to tell you about his rock-and-roll stories, his time working at Starbucks...and all the feisty protests he's organized. Power to the people, indeed.

Look for Lewis's latest book, Lead with Your Heart: Sell Happiness and You and Your Business Flourish, to do well (Lewis has published FOUR previous books). Lewis will no doubt apprise us all as to when the book will officially be in a bookstore near you, and me.

It shouldn't go without saying that Lewis's client was in town from Chicago and was ready to meet early...Lewis nicely told him--in front of me, no less--that he couldn't meet until the scheduled time since "he came into the city to meet CK, too". Lew, you've won my respect. Times two.

Lewis, I thank you for contributing so much to both the field and the conversation. Thanks for making time for me before your client meeting (and for making your client wait).

Marketer with a Mantra.

How do you spend less time chasing leads and more time choosing from them? How do you spend less energy pushing messages at your markets and more time pulling customers to you? Why you use my nifty mantra, of course!

Both my musings...and my mantra..are over at The Daily Fix. Just affirm to go right here.

Whether you're a marketing consultant, marketing director or marketing agency, my mantra applies (psst: prayers help, too). In case you're curious my mantra involves rivers flowing and revenues streaming so flow on over here, dear reader. Namaste :-).

Oh Marketers, Your Motives Are Showing (and you shine).

I wanted to create something that reflects what we value about this medium--and it's just not fair that posts get all the play when the comments have so many insights, and so much heart. Remember way back before Labor Day when I polled you guys? Of course you don't, a lot has happened since then. All the better...surprising you was part of my evil-genius plan.

I asked you one question. A BIG one: What is the single greatest point of value you receive from blogging? I sought the single, the uber, the most rewarding, robust and important point of value you receive from embracing these tools and investing your time.

The question centered on value because everything we do stems from there. Take choices: what we choose to do with our careers, which candidate we vote for, whom we choose to be our friends and how we choose to spend our time all rest in value. Same thing with motives: we're motivated and driven by those things and thoughts that hold the most value for us. So value isn't just a telling factor, it's the tell-tale factor.

With a bevy of wide-ranging results in hand I was going to make a video. But then everyone's comments flew by too fast for a 2-minute piece. So I was going to do a podcast...but having all your comments in my voice killed the whole point. It needed to be visual. Truth be told, I really wanted a mural. But where to find the wall? Plus, I can't paint for the life of me.

Most of all, it needed to depict everyone's individual contributions and then show how a lot of individual voices make for a larger, dynamic and far more powerful conversation. After all, that's what the blogosphere is, right?

So I settled on a collage (PDF here). A compilation of why--above all else--we invest the thought, time and trouble to blog. Look at what it reflects. Then look at what it doesn't. (psst: what's not on it is just as important as what is.)

I see a lot of value attributed to smarts, relationships and growth...not so much attributed to money, power and fame. In a time where marketers are called every name in the book, when findings show we're increasingly at a remove from our markets and articles claim we care far more about money than relationships, it gives me great pride to show the motivations of the marketers in this community--which increases in voices and power every single day. Thank you.

While I could only fit the keywords on the collage, full comments from each participant are listed on pages 2-5 of the document. Take ten minutes and read through them sometime. You'll likely draw the same conclusion as I but come up with different observations--yet another point of value we gain through blogging, eh?

Feel free to take a copy of it, it's yours after all.

PS: If you don't prefer downloading a PDF, a rich media version of the collage is right here.

Don't Vote. Do Sing and Dance.

Bravo to AARP's current "Don't Vote" campaign urging less ignorant ballots, more informed voters. As they aptly say, "vote the issues, not the personality". First, check out this 30-second ditty:

Notice how they wrapped their message in entertainment? They make a show of telling. Their site also point viewers to a handy-dandy map that connects users with information on how representatives in their respective states stand on the issues--as well as voter's guides, also by state. You needn't be 50+, check out the site for info. on the issues in your state.

Not for nothin', AARP is the largest circulated magazine in the country (20 million). With over 90-million U.S. residents over the age of 50 and someone turning 50 every 7 seconds, this 50+ market has power. And social security is but one issue AARP needs to generate INFORMED awareness around. Others? Medicare, long-term care, economic security and healthcare reform. Keep your eye on them as they'll be one of the busiest marketing machines going in '07.

On a political-news note, wanna watch some good TV at the top of this week? Stay glued to CNN, Fox or MSNBC (pick your poison). Nothing quite as interesting as watching the politicos and pundits battle it out during the last 24 hrs to poll time. And they say we women hold cat fights.

P.S.: All that said, I DO hope expect to see all you bloggers at the polls this Tuesday for mid-term elections. Sounds silly, but I'm always so proud of wearing my "I voted" sticker they give me at the polls. So vote, OK? Singing and dancing is optional.

Fan Armies in Action: Take THAT Bill, Baby!

Ah, the age of empowerment. Empower your fans to market for you and then...slap them with a $9,000 suit? What's a fan army to do? Tally up the hours of unpaid marketing expenses and slap 'em back with a $1,900,000 bill, baby!

Here's the gist: The 2005 movie Serenity was built on the Sci-Fi series called Firefly, a show created by famed director Joss Whedon. Problem is, the movie had budget issues so the studio (Universal) relied on the fans to do most of the marketing. Fans indeed spread the word...but to other fans...who were already amped-up to see the movie. Universal needed to reach other demos for this movie to turn a profit, so it needed some mainstream marketing efforts (but didn't have the budget).

And the thing is, the movie was quite good. While a fan of Joss Whedon's brilliant work, I never watched Firefly but the movie got newcomers right up to speed. You didn't have to be a fan of the TV show or a Sci-Fi fanatic to enjoy the action and connect with the characters.

Now Universal is threatening legal action against fans for utilizing the Serenity brand without a license. The irony here being that many of these fans were using the brand to create Serenity-inspired goods to... perform viral marketing. In response, the fans--who label themselves "The Browncoats" as a takeoff from the movie's heroes--are submitting an invoice for their time to Universal.

Here's the bill: While fans are still submitting their timesheets, man hours at the time of publishing this post were 25,908.

Fees: $1,943,100 (psst: take it from someone in the biz: at $75/hourly, you guys aren't charging nearly enough for your time.;-).

Here's an excerpt from the bill: "Rather than responding in a manner which might antagonize Universal, we thought that asking fans to tally those hours and publishing the totals for all to see would be a gentler way to make both the specific point about Browncoat marketing for Serenity and the more general point about the relationship between producers of entertainment and their increasing (and knowing) reliance in the 21st century on fanbases to help promote that entertainment."

Not a bill, but a POINT: The site goes on to say that it's not an actual bill, but "We simply believe that issues are raised in this area when a company knowingly has accepted the promotional work of fans...we just believe that there is a point to be made."

Here's the takeaway: Studios need to protect their brands. They also need to care for their fans (without your fans your brand is worthless). There is a better way--and a lesson to be learned.

• To the Browncoats: Point taken and dually noted. Bravo for playing the bill-me game.
• To Universal: Work with your fans and budget accordingly. Is a $9,000 lawsuit worth losing the support of this fiercely loyal, highly cosumptive audience? I understand you need to protect your brand's licensed assets but there exists a better way. No fans = no brand. And you need your fans more than ever since you need to recoup your losses through DVD sales.
• To marketers: Take note of how savvy these fan bases are--yes, I've said this before, but I call 'em "fan armies" because they're strong and organized. These are armies you want to empower, not infuriate. If you listen and respect them? They'll teach you some of the best marketing lessons to be had, and they'll do it for free. If you don't? Well then you best be on the lookout for the bill .

Shout out: Thanks to cathode tan for the heads-up on this priceless post.

When the guest star gets spun-off.

In this age of authenticity and accessibility, it's no wonder that it's hitting the stars. Take the FX show Nip/Tuck. I've been watching the show for all the years it's been on. Not for the gore (there are lots of surgeries and such) but for watching the show's Miami Plastic Surgeons work to improve themselves from the inside while their work involves improving everyone from the outside.

It was an edgy drama that did much for the F/X network. "Was" is underlined because, since Season 3, it's been a slippery slope from edgy into poor-form.

Still, from time to time, I tune in. The biggest score this season? A 2-part guest spot that's spun into a series all her own. Rosie O'Donnell had a 2-show guest spot where she played a white-trash, Montel-lovin' woman who won the Lottery.

Once she got monied up, she traded her trailor for a McMansion, tons of cellulite removal, diamonds and men. In gaining millions, she lost her family. Oh, she also lost an ear (she was sporting 5 karat earrings and got "ear-jacked"). But the thing is, through finding out what really matters--family and ears definitely; money and looks not so much--she not only moved viewers, she moved the network into a TV deal. You go, girl.

None of the program's others stars--including those 3 hotties up there who headline the show--have, to my knowledge, been offered any spin-offs, decent movie roles or ad spots. Why oh why on a show about beauty, money and sex does Rosie O'Donnell shine as the most bankable beauty of all? Because in two episodes she connected with viewers. She's given us steak not sizzle. Let's face it, we've been starving for meaningful dialog.

Marketers Listen Up: in this authentic era, start looking for more guest stars to steal the show. In TV and all other media. Now that's hot.

P.S.: Rosie's For All Kids Foundation has been doing tremendous work for the kids of Katrina. She's helped to move the kids out of the government-sanctioned trailors and give them more of a sense of permanency.  So Rosie has trumped both the Headliners...and FEMA. She'll be presenting her model to Congress to teach them how to be better prepared in the future. I'll say it again: You go, girl.

Marketer seeks Borat Movie Meetups (NYC)

As I'm not having luck finding any NYC fan meetups for Borat this Friday--and yet it was all too easy for SoaP, Buffy and Star Wars--I am posting the following. What else is a marketer to do?

Any NYC movie-goers that know where fans are meeting up for the Borat opening on Friday, please advise. In Times Square, the Village or Union Square? Do tell.

I'll likely enjoy the show either way, but it's always more fun to hang with all the fans -- and then ask you guys what you thought of it after (I am a marketer after all, but not the evil spammy kind).

For all readers, if the movie is half as marketing-gold as it appears, you can bet your budget I'll be reporting on it. In case you missed my first post on him, it's here (in which he's wearing far less than up top there).