In a slow week of tech, marketing and social media headlines, it may appear that you already read everything important and know all things timely and trendy. Do not be lulled into this false sense of security! We here at Brandsplat have sought out five more jewels of wisdom and curiosity to add to your treasure chest of knowledge.

1.) Marketing, Dead Head Style: This blog at Huffington Post from David Meerman Scott outlines what every company can learn from the marketing geniuses of The Grateful Dead. After all, the Dead have been a thriving and viable brand for decades with a following that seems to, well, never die. So in depth are the marketing lessons of the Grateful Dead, Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan even wrote a whole book about it, Marketing Lessons From The Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn From The Most Iconic Band in History.

2.) Infusing Glee & Branding In PSAs: This week LG, makers of some of the most distracting phones on the planet, enlisted the comedic talent of Emmy nominee Jane Lynch to help stop teens from texting while driving. The Glee actress stars in a series of humorous spots aimed to show the dangers of texting behind the wheel. They’re funny ads that deliver a message while also promoting LG’s phones — and Lynch is red hot right now so all the way around it’s a well-thought-out campaign.

3.) Saving Time On Social Media: This quick read from Bloomberg is a smart reminder that our social media marketing need not suck up all of our time. Good to remember when you’re tweeting instead of, you know, actually working.

4.) Lionel Richie. Period: So we always like to give a shout out to the weird advertising moment of the week, and Lionel Richie doing a chip commercial in the UK pretty much fits the bill. We heart the smooth, soulful sounds of Mr. Richie and we think he could be on the brink of a kitsch advertising comeback ala William Shatner. Plus, he has prior experience.

5.) Digging The New Digg: From the way folks have reacted, you would have thought that the new, more Twitter-esque version of Digg was a mind-controlling weapon destroying humanity. Nope. The new Digg is just an easier-to-browse version of the old standby and the most amazing thing about it? The relaunch actually has people talking about Digg again! We kind of like the new Digg and we like a good old fashioned brand comeback even more.

Here’s something to think about: We are in the midst of a major creativity crisis. So much so that the situation has been discussed in Newsweek and pondered over in education journals. Technology and the starved state of arts in education are cited as the big reasons for the dip in visionary thinking. Nationally, the lack of creativity can found everywhere from pop music to the dearth of ingenious solutions for environmental problems.

As marketers, we see the best and worst that creativity has to offer, all while witnessing the drought firsthand. Rehashed and recycled ideas are arguably the bread and butter of the marketing industry. Likewise the media, specifically Hollywood, unabashedly live by the code of “everything old is new again.” Still being force-fed new versions of the Karate Kid and The A-Team doesn’t exactly inspire the masses to think outside of the box. If anything, the parade of stale ideas convinces the masses to do the same- old, same-old, therefore adding to the problem. Instead, this famine of imagination should be utilized, not feared. The gauntlet has been thrown down to marketers and small business owners. It is a challenge to stretch our creative powers. So how do we do we not contribute to the creative world in decline?

The ideal answer is that we lead, not follow. But if we as marketers are going to borrow, we should swipe from the best. Take a gander at the big boys who appear to possess an endless fountain of brilliance. Why not tinker their techniques in our own DIY fashion to market our small business? Social media campaigns and talked-about viral videos are tools that can be used cheaply and effectively. Secondly, to contribute creatively we should hang with the artsy kids. Don’t be afraid to hire that weirdo from the arts college or the girl with the chatty music blog. They might be sitting on the next great ideas. Plus artistic types can make for great collaborators. Finally, and most importantly, all of our marketing materials should say something. The Internet is littered to the max already with blah, blah, blah. Enough. Nobody is going to read boring copy or respond to bland-looking promotional materials. Well-written, smartly-designed and thoughtful output doesn’t only combat the creativity crisis but it actually gets our stuff noticed, which is the point, right?

You’ve heard what we think, so let’s throw the mic over to you, our ingenious readers. How will the creativity crisis effect the next generation of copywriters, marketers and ad execs? What music or book gets your creative juices flowing? And is there a marketing campaign that you’ve noticed suffering from the creativity crisis? Share your genius in the comments section below, won’t you?

Ah, long holiday weekends. You eat a few hot dogs. You watch some stuff explode in the sky. You completely shut your brain off from all things business. Then you return to your desk and — wham! All sorts of online marketing and social media headlines have piled up faster than bad Nike World Cup commercials. Friends, have no fear: Brandsplat is here. We’ve sifted through the mother load of media and marketing headlines and put the gold nuggets in a new weekly feature entitled The 5 Things You Might Have Missed List. So without any further ado, let’s get to it.

1.) Time Magazine’s Best Blogs of 2010 A list on top of a list? Insanity, you say? Under normal circumstances, perhaps, but Time’s article is so worth a read, I’ll risk being called crazy. This comprehensive list covers the merits of Gawker to Ebert to ZenHabits and beyond. It is an inspirational push for blogs big and small to stay relevant, well-written and timely.

2.) A Major Plug For Social Media Marketing: The latest ringing endorsement came from everybody’s favorite paper to read on the airplane, USA Today. Sure, snicker at USA Today’s goofy pie charts and tame celeb interviews, but the paper remains the most read daily in the country so an article on social media is big stuff. Columnist Steve Strauss outlines the hows and whys of social media marketing and its importance to small business. Strauss emphasizes that social media isn’t going anywhere and gives tips on how to make the most of it.

3.) iPhone 4 Update: Right here in this little blog, we had some harsh words about how Steve Jobs & Co. handled the PR for faulty iPhone 4s. Now, we don’t want to take all the credit, but mere hours after we posted our critique, this little story emerged. Apple now will be fixing the antenna issue. It’s still a band-aid for perhaps a larger problem, but Apple did make an effort… which is better than its previous response. So no hard feelings, Steve-O.

4.) Playgrounds Go KaBoom!: Nothing blowing up here except community involvement, thanks in large part to social media. KaBoom is a non-profit that helps build clean and safe playgrounds for kids across the country. With the help of Twitter and Facebook, the organization whipped up some 200 volunteers last week to build a playground in Wilmington, N.C. KaBoom operates nearly entirely through online marketing and word of mouth. Even Michelle Obama rolled up her sleeves with KaBoom last year in San Francisco. And we think that’s pretty awesome.

5.) Starburst’s Musical Mash-ups: To promote its “juicy contradiction” tag-line, Starburst has teamed up with Billboard to present a series of web videos featuring artists performing songs you might not expect. Seen on YouTube, the Starburst site and, of course, the brand’s Facebook page, these performances are a fun way to promote the candy as well as good time killers. See Neon Trees covering Justin Beiber (no, really!) for further evidence.

Okay readers, your turn: What’s on your hot list these days? Holler in the comments section underneath.

Ah, summer. This season makes me reminisce about riding our 10-speed bikes down to 7-Eleven to load up on candy and play video games until the guy behind the counter yelled at us to leave. After all, 7-Eleven is a brand that evokes images of ice-cold Slurpee, sizzling rotating hot dogs, lottery tickets and… FarmVille?

This summer, everybody’s favorite 24-hour convenience store is partnering up with Zynga, makers of social media’s most popular games, for a unique promotional campaign. Merging the Hot Pocket crowd and the time killing gamer group, the two companies launched www.buyearnwin.com on June 1st. The six-week program involves more…

Diva smack-down alert! Record and concert sales for music performers of all genres are melting faster than a Bomb Pop® in the scorching summer sun. So some of the music industry’s hottest-selling female artists are taking to new media for a full-contact publicity battle. Here’s a peek at how some of the biz’s toughest chicks are using social media and online marketing to get attention in this crowded market.

Christina Aguilera’s new record, Bionic, is due June 8th and the little gal with the giant voice is employing everything from social media to online videos in hopes of squashing the competition. But some of her most recent online activity has been spent on the defense: Aguilera made waves when more…

Louder and more irritating appears to be our unspoken code when trying to gain someones attention. It worked flawlessly as children, after all, and so it is no surprise that we employ the same methods in marketing and more…

Okay so maybe that title is a tad dramatic but the little coupon is certainly generating a lot of talk these days.

The New York Times recently ran this somewhat cautionary piece outlining how online coupons could really be giving retailers access to vital and private information about their shoppers. This mutated coupon hybrid is loaded with super bar-codes that when swiped can pull up everything from your address, Facebook page information, and even the keywords you more…

The reality TV juggernaut American Idol, which somehow manages to generate more tabloid covers and Entertainment Tonight reports than any television show ever, has run out of gas. Simply put, nobody cares this year and the hot button water cooler buzz that surrounded AI has now evaporated. Likewise, the new batch of summer movies is failing to excite in previews as the majority of them are sequels. From Toy Story to Iron Man, there’s a cultural sense of deja vu going on. Entertainment, still one of the this country’s highest grossing exports, seems a little tired; like it could use a time out and a nap.

New media and marketing have also experienced a dip in creativity as of late. Shortly put, when the best Facebook press of the week involves Hamster torture, the well appears to have dried up. The climate can truly lead to feeling uninspired and exhausted. So it is easy to hop on the everything sucks and nothing is original bandwagon in times like these. But have no fear- I rustled up a few examples of marketing lights at the end of the tunnel.

To start things off, I think a special shout out is order for Hanes and their commercial that touts the company’s foray into using environmentally friendly fabrics. The clip features a Hanes wearing guy who an announcer tells us is doing the right thing while his friend James, whom he strolls through the mall with, is not. James receives menacing looks from babies and toddlers (read: the future generation) who look as though they’re ready to take the guy out for not being environmentally friendly. It’s a funny spot with a good message from Hanes. It also marks a departure in style from those ”Look! Jennifer Love Hewitt in a bra!” ads of a few years back.

Also on the environmental tip, is this ad for Sun Chips. User created by Heather Kramer of Brooklyn, this sweet little commercial promotes the new 1005 compostible Sun Chips bag. Kramer, who was chosen by Al Gore as the winner of a nationwide contest, provides a voice over while a the chip bag takes a little journey. Chosen as AdWeek’s clip of the week, the Sun Chip commercial is a step in the right direction for the brand.

Lastly, Diesel jeans gives there “Be Stupid” campaign a shot in in the arm by leaning on Twitter and Facebook to spread the word that stupid is the new smart. The company’s website and Facebook page feature contests and videos submitted by fans on how to do crazy dances. Sounds a little uh stupid, right? That’s the point and Diesel in the meantime is reinventing themselves by returning to the edgy marketing that put them on the cultural map during the 1990′s. The whole  dumb thing turns out to be pretty ingenious.

Still not inspired? Looking to the past is a good way to start the juices flowing and to combat our current state of cultural boredom. Old movies, vintage television shows, and bad ass art books are a good place to start. But enough from me- how do you, dear readers, fight the media blahs? Any tips you’d like to share with the class?

Emmy winning hit Mad Men notwithstanding, turning to big agencies has fallen out of vogue. Between that blasted “economy sucks” excuse and the ease of using freelancers and more…

It was the gastric gut bomb heard ’round the world when Kentucky Fried Chicken unleashed The Double Down Sandwich a few weeks back. This culinary concoction made of two fried chicken breasts serving as a bun with melted cheese and two strips of crispy bacon, created a marketing frenzy and set off a blogging firestorm unlike any fast food product we’ve seen in quite some time. At nearly 600 grams of more…