Facebook’s interest in Instagram isn’t too surprising. After all, Facebook has a history of acquiring digital startups like group texting service Beluga, location-based social network Gowalla, and mobile application platform Snaptu. Also, considering Facebook’s impending IPO, proving the company can be a major player when it comes to mergers and acquisitions will inevitably charm potential investors. (Although, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, a purchase of this magnitude is not indicative of Facebook’s future business tactics. Sure, Zuck. Whatever you say.) Finally, Facebook undoubtedly viewed Instagram as its main competitor in the realm of online photo sharing. Better to buy than have to compete, right?

What IS surprising is Instagram’s price tag. To put this in perspective, we’ve decided to call in a favor to our Sotheby’s rep. and conduct some comparative analysis that illustrates what a huge deal this is.

Hedge your bets, as we count down the Top 11 Things That Are Worth Less Than Instagram.

11. The Heart of the Ocean necklace from Titanic: Replica created for Celine Dion by jeweler Garrard and Co. valued at $3.5 million in 1998 (link).
10. Sue the Tyrannosaurus Rex: Bought by the Field Museum in 1997 for $8.36 million (link).
9. MySpace: Purchased in 2011 for $35 million (link).
8. Kim Kardashian: Net worth in 2011 estimated at $35 million (link).
7. Jay-Z: Net worth estimated at $450 million in 2010 (link).
6. Pinterest: Estimated to be worth nearly $500 million in March 2012 (link).
5. The Country of Samoa: Had an estimated nominal Gross Domestic Product of $600 million in 2011 (link).
4. The Chicago Bulls: Valued at $600 million by Forbes prior to the 2012 season (link).
3. Mega Millions’ Biggest Jackpot in History: $656 million in March 2012 (link).
2. The Chicago Tribune Company: Valued at $920 million in 2011 (link).
1. John Hancock Tower: Sold for $930 million in 2010 (link).

This year, Social Media Strategist and Community Manager Bob Marshall will be at the festival, repping Plan B and acting as our “man on the inside.” Bob will be live-tweeting the events through Plan B’s Twitter account (@ThisIsPlanB), and you can get in touch with him during the festival by sending him an email at bob@thisisplanb.com. He’d love to hear from you.

Now, this isn’t Bob’s first rodeo; he reported on the music portion of the festival in 2008 and 2010. So, while many others will inundate you with blog posts over the next week about what you need to know about SXSW, Bob thinks a better use of your time would be a blog post about what you need to bring with you for your trip to Texas. So, without further ado, here are Bob’s Top 11 Must-Have Accessories for SXSW.

11. Comfortable Shoes: You’ll more than likely be on your feet about 10 hours a day every day of SXSW. Considering this isn’t your typical outdoor festival, most of your time will be spent standing and walking on hard concrete. If you’re looking for the most comfortable shoes possible, go with a pair of New Balance 405’s. Sure, they may look nerdy, but then again, you’re at SXSW. Nerdy is cool here.
10. Business Cards: During SXSW, more business cards are exchanged per second than during any other time of the year (statistic totally made up). As much as this is a festival, it’s also a networking event. Not coming prepared with plenty of business cards is the equivalent to showing up to work without pants: Sure, it’s one less thing to worry about, but at the end of the day, it’s just unbecoming.
9. A Smartphone: Imagine going to a concert without having your phone to play with the whole time. Frightening, yes? Even more horrifying: Imagine going to a concert and being forced to actually watch the band play! Bring your smartphone to avoid this kind of devastatingly awkward situation.
8. Cash: It might be an illusion brought on by the southern heat, but during SXSW, it seems that all ATMs in Austin charge about $6 per withdrawal. Even 1 percent-ers don’t want to pay this sort of outrageous fee. Do yourself a favor and stock up on bills before you hit the downtown area every day.
7. An iPad 3: On Wednesday, March 7, Apple will announce the release of the iPad 3. So, by the time SXSW Interactive starts on March 9, you had better have one unless you don’t mind being ridiculed by thousands upon thousands of Apple fanboys and girls. At SXSW, conspicuous consumption is worn as a badge of honor.
6. An Open Mind: In the age of social media, you’re required to listen to someone for a total of five seconds at a time. So, when discussing ideas within your industry with another festival goer, keep an open mind for five seconds before yelling over them with your own opinion. Realize you’ll only have five seconds to yell, as someone else will be yelling over you by then.
5. Hometown Pride: Buy at least one t-shirt that prominently displays the city you hail from. For one, it’s a conversation starter. (“Oh, you’re from LA? Well, I’m from the Windy City, and we go HARD with Pinterest in the Chi, know what I’m sayin’?”) Also, it’s an easy way for locals to identify where the people destroying their city are from.
4. Swagger: As is the case with most if not all “professional networking events,” SXSW is a wonderful opportunity for many to find that special someone. Where better to find a soul mate than a place crawling with like-minded folks traditionally obsessed with the same off-putting interests that you have? To attract a potential mate, keep your jeans tight, your glasses bulky, and your shiny iPhone 4S (the ultimate aphrodisiac) visible at all times. Ask Siri for some pickup lines should you run out.
3. A Passing Interest in Texas Culture: Austin embraces the fact that most out-of-towners that come to their fair city seek a genuine, “authentic” experience of the Lonestar state. Of course, this actually means a desire to see walking stereotypes. (Cowboy hats! Accents! BBQ!) Luckily, locals deliver during SXSW, supplying eager shoppers with more cowboy hats, fake accents, and slabs of BBQ than any tourist can get “back home.” It’s not a bad way to make some quick cash off of clueless vacationers.
2. A Thirst for Adventure: You might have a highly detailed Excel spreadsheet that breaks down your daily schedule into five-minute chunks of fun. Hey, there’s nothing wrong with that. But, SXSW veterans will tell you that the most noteworthy parts of their yearly pilgrimage to Austin are those that defied any intensive planning, where spontaneity paid off and they found themselves at a star-studded secret concert in the wee hours of the morning (when one would otherwise scheduled for restorative, REM intensive sleep).
1. Highlight: Each year, a new mobile app or social network becomes the talk of the festival. Some (like Twitter in 2008) use the SXSW buzz as a way to launch into huge financial and commercial success, while others (like GroupMe in 2011) fail to ride the hype wave to lasting popularity. This year, new location-based iOS app Highlight may be lauded as the “next big thing.” If you’re attending this year, download Highlight, use it frequently, and make sure you have a fully formed opinion by the time you get back home so you can blog about it for all your new friends.

This year, we’re happy to share some of our favorite images from the showroom of the largest convention center in the United States, Chicago’s McCormick Place. Ride shotgun as we recount the Top 11 Lessons We Learned at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show.

11. A good business card goes a long way. A great business card plays music on a giant, interactive DJ table.



10. Whether you call it “Scrabble” or “Words with Friends,” it’s hard to resist a spelling/vocabulary challenge.



9. If you want to create an interactive experience that consumers will remember and feel comfortable using, make a giant replica of an iPhone.



8. Monopoly’s much more fun as a ride than it is as a stressful, five-hour board game.



7. Sometimes, giving the consumer a full showroom experience requires going “halfsies.”



6. In the 21st century, all screens are for touching.



5. Add shiny cars to psychedelic graphics to ensure a mob of people at all times.



4. Talking about your storied history is one thing. Showing it is quite another.



3. If you want to showcase your car’s durability, send it through an obstacle course. It you want to make it special, build it indoors.



2. Like the Miami Heat, you should always lead with your “Big Three.”



1. At the end of the day, it’s what’s under the hood that counts.

Of course, these predictions always leave us with a few questions: How are tabloids scooping more reputable news sources on these prophecies? How can someone who has been dead for more than 500 years prophesy from the grave? Why does this all sound eerily similar to 2Pac’s ability to posthumously release albums on an annual basis?

But, we digress. In the spirit of the season, we thought, hey, if a dead guy can hypothetically make a fortune guessing about the “end of the days” and all that jazz, then surely we, the living, can profit by making more accurate (but sure to be debated) conjectures. So, we gave it a shot, resulting in the following Top 11 ‘Controversial’ Advertising Predictions for 2012.

11. Google+ will remain much less relevant than Facebook or Twitter. But, its rapid growth will continue and bloggers will still laud its importance.
10. We’ll see many more Instagram-based marketing campaigns. GE, Levi’s and Barack Obama are setting the tone. When Instagram comes to Android in spring, many more brands will jump on the amateur mobile photography bandwagon.
9. Digital ad spend won’t surpass TV ad spend. Yes, the gap is closing. But, with NBC selling out its inventory of $4 million 30-second ad slots for the Super Bowl more than a month before the big game, we don’t see digital overtaking TV by the end of the year.
8. Tim Tebow will be offered hundreds of endorsement deals. Move over, Tiger Woods. “Tebow Time” will continue long after the NFL season ends. Who knows? We may soon see the Broncos QB in the Republican presidential nominee’s campaign ads.
7. Facebook’s impending IPO will be initially hailed as a success. Wall Street’s eyes are fixed upon the world’s biggest social network as it moves toward becoming a publicly traded entity. Like Groupon, Pandora, and other web 2.0 companies before it, we predict a highly successful opening day of trading. Unlike those other companies, we see Facebook having a bit more “staying power” on the market.
6. QR Codes will either get much more creative, or gradually fade away. Marketers are quickly realizing that the “throw a QR code on it” mantra of last year just isn’t producing viable results. The industry will either have to employ some very outside-the-box thinking, or we’ll start seeing widespread abandonment of QR codes.
5. The #Occupy hashtag will inevitably be used in an actual campaign. When it does, it will no doubt generate some pretty negative publicity. It probably won’t be a giant international brand using it (we hope). Our money is on a small real estate firm or a residential building.
4. Flash mobs will end, once and for all. Okay, so this is more of a wish than a prediction. In reality, the appearance of flash mobs in the Justin Timberlake/Mila Kunis romcom, “Friends with Benefits,” and Howie Mandel’s new show, “Mobbed,” are indications that we’ll have to suffer through yet another year of a marketing strategy that was already played out before 2011 started. #snore
3. Tablet apps will keep some print publications from going out of business. Right now, magazine publisher Conde Nast is charging an extra $5,000 for ads that hyperlink to a brand’s website in iPad editions of publications like GQ. More surprising than this price tag: Brands are buying in.
2. Ad agencies will lose old business and win new business. So, make your New Year’s resolution not acting shocked when this happens to you. It’s happened every other year, and 2012 won’t be any different.

The New Guy at The Office from Plan B [the agency alternative] on Vimeo.

See more of Kris’ Yuletide shenanigans by clicking here.

The Internet had some nice words for our Man in Red. Thanks to the following publications for the articles!

Business Insider: “Plan B Hires Santa as a Freelancer”

AgencySpy: “Kris Kringle Pulls Double-Duty as Nightmarish Freelancer”

The Chicago Egotist: “Stick to Your Day Job Santa”

AdPulp: “‘Snowflake’ isn’t a Verb”

Gapers Block: “Santa’s Plan B“

We know that forgetfulness is a common symptom of getting swept up in the holiday shopping hubbub. Your gift list is probably seven or eight feet long, what with all the friends, relatives, and people who expect to be treated as friends or relatives. Not to mention the assorted pets and coworkers you feel obligated to shop for.

Now, we’re not trying to be pushy or anything. But this year, don’t forget the hardworking boys and girls at your favorite agency alternative, Plan B. We didn’t forget you; we have a surprise (showcasing our own special brand of holiday bliss) coming soon. But, should you choose to spread around some of the seasonal cheer that we rightfully deserve are kindly requesting, consider these: the Top 11 Things On Plan B’s Holiday Wish List. After all, we’ve been very, very good boys and girls this year.

[Editor’s Note: We’ve included links for your shopping convenience.]

11. Terry Mertens, Creative Director: “I wish I was a little bit taller.” link
10. Margie Shabazz, Controller: “Olivia Newton John leg warmers.” link
9. Matt Marcus, Director of New Business: “World peace as described in the 1985 supergroup rendition of ‘We Are The World.’” link
8. Dannalyn Prado, Account Executive ”A new desk chair. Specifically, the OSIM uAstro Zero-Gravity Massage Chair.” link
7. Andrew Ortolano, Developer: “Anything from The Foundary collection.” link
6. Bob Marshall, Social Media Strategist: “An exceedingly awkward interaction with a newly-wed Kiera Knightley.” link
5. Jacqueline Zenn, Digital Strategist: “A pet snow leopard. Not only would it be rare, exotic, and fabulous, but no one messes with the chick who has a snow leopard. Also, out of all the big cats I think a snow leopard would coordinate with my wardrobe the best.” link
4. Colleen Moore, Office Manager: “I really like hot water. This year, I’m asking for the gift of hot water.”link
3. Dan Ptak, Account Manager: “I want the snakeskin jacket from the Heineken commercials and the Most Interesting Man in the World’s cougar.” link and link
2. Cole Orloff, Copywriter: “This year I would like a Dyson Hot™ fan heater. With an ultra-efficient brushless DC motor and Dyson’s patented Air Multiplier™ technology, the Dyson Hot™ projects heat throughout the whole room further and faster than any competition; thereby ensuring that my lonely father won’t freeze to death after imbibing his traditional holiday 6×6 (six six-packs of Old Style tallboys), opening all of the windows in the house because it’s ‘hot as the devil’s buttcrack in here,’ and then passing out on his retro collection of Playboy Magazines.” link

In the world of advertising, this is best exemplified through the annual agency holiday card. But, like hanging over-sized socks above the fireplace in the hope that Santa stuffs candy canes and Slinkies inside, the true purpose behind this tradition has become muddled over the years. No longer are these holiday cards a way to send clients and friends a warm, fuzzy holiday greeting. Rather, agency holiday cards aim to “go viral,” pitting ad agencies against one another in a fight for creative supremacy.

Spoiler Alert: Unlike Charlie Brown, ad agencies know that attempting to find the beauty in a dilapidated tree is a naive approach to discovering the “true meaning of Christmas.” Instead, the holiday season is REALLY about shocking people so much that they need to seek immediate medical attention for their hot cocoa burns. Rest assured, we have a totally mind-blowing holiday card on the way, but in the meantime, here are the Top 11 Rejected Agency Holiday Card Concepts (and why they were rejected). If you must insist on giving to charity this holiday season, we suggest looking into Chicago’s own Mercy Home for Boys & Girls.

11. Give boxes of Lucky Strike cigarettes to all clients. (Mad Men already did it.)
10. Live-streaming a creative director chain-smoking in a life-sized snow globe for 24-hours. (No way to get new packs of cigarettes into snow globe once sealed and supply inevitably runs out.)
9. Creating a mini claymation nativity video. (Offensive to those who don’t believe in claymation.)
8. Doing that unused brilliant idea from last year. (Unfortunately, Africa’s Western Black Rhino was declared extinct earlier this month.)
7. Baking cookies that feature agency employees’ faces on them. (HR vetoed the idea because it promotes cannibalism.)
6. Live-streaming agency-wide karaoke contest. (Strangely, only songs agency knows are from Barry Manilow: Because It’s Christmas.)
5. Bring in mall Santa to work in agency for a day. (Noxious fumes of cheap whiskey and urine distracting.)
4. Re-create scenes from “A Christmas Story” with employees as actors. (No volunteers to lick freezing traffic sign pole outside.)
3. Send a personalized holiday greeting to all of agency’s Twitter followers. (Could potentially hurt Klout score. And, if only like 20% take it personally, it’s just not worth the effort, you know?)
2. Stand next to Salvation army bell ringers around Chicago with own bell and money bucket, accusing the actual bell-ringer of being an imposter. (Legality cloudy, to say nothing of the karma hit.)

No, we’re not describing a first date, although it’s pretty close. Actually, we’re talking about a new business pitch–a production that, like dating, will send you through an emotional roller coaster of highs, lows, and debilitating nausea. Hey, it’s not all bicycles built for two and long walks on the beach at dusk. In fact, pitching and dating are both basically well-worn routines of crippling paranoia, nervous anticipation and devastating rejection.

So, when you think it might be time to start seeing new people, remember these, the Top 11 Ways Pitching New Business is Like Dating. (And, for the record, it’s not you; it’s us.)

11. You both awkwardly try to analyze how much money the other has.
10. Neither side can determine how much of their service they want to give away for free.
9. After the first meeting, you have to wait three days until you call.
8. Small talk usually consists of local sports or the weather.
7. If both sides aren’t aroused, it probably isn’t going to work out.
6. Lots of money or extremely good looks are really, really helpful.
5. If a prospect keeps postponing a follow-up call, they’re just not that into you.
4. No matter how much they say it doesn’t, size matters.
3. You’re always paranoid that they’re secretly playing the field
2. They’ll never tell you the true number of partners they’ve had before you.

Let’s be honest, the event will probably consist of a handful of people milling about to see if anything actually happens. But, in our fantasy, Occupy Madison Avenue will become a full-fledged movement on a similar scale to it’s more politically focused predecessor, with art directors and account executives alike cuffed and shoved into paddywagons, all the while screaming obscenities at “the Man.” In our dream world, these will be the Top 11 Protest Signs You’ll See at Occupy Madison Avenue. (And, of course, they will all feature very professional art direction.)

11. “We are the 99% (of people who used this protest as an excuse to get out of a client meeting).”
10. “#Occupy holding companies. Ours stopped returning our calls.
9. “I’m a person, not a commodity. But, everything else is fair game.”
8. “Can we all just agree on never using QR codes ever again?”
7. “The revolution will be live-streamed (with commercial breaks you can’t skip)!”
6. “Blogs, not bombs.”
5. “Show me what democracy looks like! Seriously, these 2012 election TV spots aren’t going to concept themselves.”
4. “This protest is a total rip-off of a protest I saw on Tumblr.”
3. “The NYC protest scene is totally dead. Portland is where the REALLY creative protesting is happening these days.”
2. “I’m a Miami Ad School student, so you old farts probably don’t ‘get’ my sign. But, I assure you, IT’S GROUNDBREAKING.”

In this new epoch, we’ve seen online marketing brew some odd positions at otherwise very admirable and respected agencies. Has the world of advertising gone mad from the confusion? Not completely, but perhaps one symptom of the impending outbreak of lunacy are these, The Top 11 Most Ridiculous Advertising Job Titles. (And before you ask, yes – they’re real.)

11. Interactive Evangelist: Despite what you may think, this isn’t the word of God you’re preaching.
10. Social Media Ninja: If we can see you, you must be a pretty terrible ninja.
9. Innovator-at-Large: Overcompensating for something, buddy?
8. Chief Creative Insurgent: Marketing ain’t the armed forces, chief.
7. Brand Champion: You know you have to win something to call yourself a “champion,” right?
6. Chief Blogging Officer: Odd, since you probably report to a “Junior Copywriter.”
5. Global Chief Growth Officer: A long-winded title and a six-figure paycheck does not an actual job make.
4. Brand Strategy Guru: We can picture you now – sitting in a lotus position and doling out insights that barely make sense.
3. Director of Emerging Media: Why not “Media Midwife?”
2. Web Alchemist: No matter how hard you try, pixels and HTML aren’t going to turn into gold.

Indeed, it seems a tweet sent 20 minutes ago is already old news in today’s frenzied media cycle. In these rapidly changing times, how can any marketer expect to stay relevant or stand out amidst the never-ending avalanche of content that buries consumers every waking minute of their lives? Is it time to throw all of your tried and true marketing tactics out the window?

Probably not. Before you commit a R.A.D. (Random Act of Desperation), take a breath, count to 10, and find comfort in knowing that marketers don’t need to re-write the rule book every day. Rather, a smart marketer needs only make subtle edits to the rule book (in pencil.) We can’t tell you exactly what will happen next year (according to the Mayan calendar, the world will be ending in 2012 anyway, so stressing out about it might be a huge waste of time), but what we can tell you is what every marketer needs to know today, right now, this second.

So…cheer up, buttercup! And get familiar with The Top 11 Things You Need to Know About Marketing in 2011.

11. Your customers can and will talk about you on social media and review sites. Don’t let them talk about you behind your back! Pay attention, respond, and participate in the conversation.
10. A clever commercial will get more engagement on YouTube than it ever will being aired during prime time.
9. If customers can’t find your brand’s presence online easily and quickly, they’ll stop looking and go with a competitor they CAN find. Ditto goes for directions to your physical locations (if applicable).
8. Speed and response time are key. If you can’t react within 24 hours, don’t even bother.
7. Mobile matters. Your customers aren’t just viewing your website from a computer, or your ads in print magazines and on billboards, they are accessing your content and looking for your products on the go from their smart phones. Can they find your brand when and where they need it?
6. Integrate traditional media buys with new media buys. Neither should be ignored.
5. Consumers are your new content creators, and they will remix, alter, change, and otherwise use your brand as part of their identity. Ignore these influencers at your own peril.
4. Technology has allowed consumers to be targeted more now than ever before. To stand out, don’t be the first to talk; be the first to listen.
3. As the shelf life of ideas shrinks, so do does the shelf life of a marketer. Ask questions, and accept that seemingly inexperienced or uninformed sources might hold key insights that can’t be taught.
2. The fall of newspapers is an opportunity for marketers to take up brand journalism. Just remember, consulting Twitter doesn’t count as fact-checking, and erroneous information will always be exposed.

Call us old fashioned, but we think your marketing budget would be better spent on things like, well, MARKETING your business. Yet when you look at how some of these big agency folks are living it up in their downtown digs, you have to wonder.

We don’t wonder. We came up in that world. And we’ve seen creative budgets burn up in some pretty creative ways. Think this top eleven list is an exercise in hyperbole? Think again.

That’s actually been a big reason for our success. We never adhered to the industry-standard “less-for-more” model. Sure, it’s a wild and outlandish concept to give clients what they pay for, but it’s an approach that’s served Plan B (and our clients) quite well for over ten years.

It’s funny, but when you take away the wasteful retainers, the smoke and mirrors of middle management, and all those miscellaneous “mystery” expenses, all you’re left with is great thinking at a significantly lower cost.

So we’ll continue leaving the exotic accoutrements to those money-farming desert barons in Dubai. That way, all our clients will ever have to pay for is top-tier talent with a bottom-line focus. As for the agency DJ, well, we do have one of those. Her name is Pandora and she doesn’t drive.

Find out more:

An Unconventional Pay-For-Performance Model

Reducing waste – A Case by Case study

About the Plan B experience

We could have written a long drawn-out philosophy to explain the idea of what Plan B is all about and how we think. But watching it unfold in a video is much easier and more fun.

Let’s not kid ourselves – times are still tough. And while the primo parking spots are definitely filling up faster in the morning, few of us are ready to declare the economy fully recovered. That means marketing money remains tight, as purchasers are challenged to do more with less yet again.

Enter Plan B.

From the day we first opened our doors, we’ve been focused on efficiency. It’s a value that’s hard-wired into our agency DNA. We didn’t simply decide to become price sensitive after realizing the economy tanked. All along, our clients have been getting the most for their money because they haven’t been paying for the redundancy of middle management, bureaucratic red tape, and rent on a skyscraper lease.

Nope – all our clients pay for is top-tier talent, a bottom-line focus, and our uncompromising commitment to value. All qualities we’ve found work really well in ANY economy.

So even as the rock star parking is slowly disappearing, rest assured there’s one place you’ll always be able to get rock star treatment. It’s good to have a Plan B.

Find out more:

An Unconventional Approach

Reducing waste – A Case by Case study

About the Plan B experience

Vote for your favorite Top 11 here

We could have written a long drawn-out philosophy to explain the idea of what Plan B is all about and how we think. But watching it unfold in a video is much easier and more fun.

Far more than a trendy new channel to add to your marketing mix, social media is the evolution of something remarkable. It takes the oldest communication channel in the world — Word Of Mouth — and supercharges it with Internet speed, unprecedented and mass-individualized reach, and a world of third-party endorsement credibility.

That’s why it’s important to put the same rigor into your social media execution that you’ve always applied to the rest of your media spend. This assures your social media conversations don’t simply revolve around speaking to niche audiences with strong brand affinity, but instead deliver a sense of empowerment that gets everyone talking about, and actively transforming, your brand.

Unfortunately, too many “social media marketing” agencies are focused on simply creating and maintaining a social presence – without the forethought and strategic planning required to fully, and safely, integrate social with the marketing architecture of an existing brand platform.

And that’s why it’s always good to have a Plan B.