I am always a little creeped out by how targeted marketing and advertising can be. Around Christmastime I was shopping for a dried Forsythia wreath – to this day I still see remarketed ads informing me that the Forsythia wreaths I had been looking are…still the same price.

Or how when I updated my Facebook status with a picture of a Snow Owl that I had come across in passing, my sidebar filled up with ads about Snow Owls. Snow Owl necklaces. Snow Own earrings. Snow Owl rings.

And not one real, live Snow Owl for sale gosh darn-it.

The point – or, rather, the question – is how personal is too personal? At what point does a so-strategic-it’s-almost-evil ad cross the line and become downright creepy?

This Neuromarketing article by Roger Dooley, ‘Forget Evil, Don’t Be Creepy!’ sheds some light on the matter.

First, Dooley50 percent of social media users don’t like having ads targeted to them based on information in their social media profiles.

That, of course, means that 50% of people DO like these uber-targeted ads.

But, unfortunately, companies need to not creep out ALL of the masses. Not just 50% of the masses.

To reduce your chances of being creepy, Dooley recommends:

• Don’t overpersonalize: Read his article – you’ll be blown away by how something VERY creepy can become something not-so-creepy-at-all…)
• Ask for Permission to Personalize: It’s not creepy if your consumer volunteers for it
• Stay Positive: Don’t associate your consumer with anything negative. For example, ‘Need a Job’ ads intrinsically make sense…but they can also work to make your consumer feel subconsciously inadequate.

So, now that your company knows how to avoid creepiness in marketing and advertising…let’s sit back and watch other companies come under public fire for their creepy advertising fails!

This just heard on a recent phone call with a potential new client: I want to get involved in direct mail. And I want it to bring in two new clients each week.

This is what I wish I heard: I want to bring in two new clients each week.

The goal, after all, is the bottom line. How you get there, well, it takes more than direct mail. Or email marketing. Or radio ads. Or any single-channel strategy you can concoct.

Of course, this is where I come in. To right the wrongs of single-channel marketing. To help implement a multi-channel marketing strategy that is seamlessly aligned with the goals of my client.

Selling this multi-channel marketing strategy, however, can sound a little like ‘cha-ching, cha-ching’ to a new client.

I am not a mechanic. I am not creating marketing problems that require costly repairs. I am simply trying to tell you how to best reach your marketing objectives.

Every industry requires a different mix of marketing channels. But every industry requires a mix. This Marketing Pilgrim article by Frank Reed, ‘All Marketers Should Be Multi-Channel Marketers‘ presents compelling data and statistics on the multiple devices that consumers may be using simultaneously.

But it goes beyond multiple devices…multiple CHANNELS is more than just devices. Multiple channels encompasses social media marketing, referral marketing, branding, advertising, promotions, tradeshows and more. All of these channels funnel down into one end-result: your marketing goals.

If you are convinced that your business needs only one marketing channel, good luck. You may see some results. But the best results will be from a multi-faceted marketing approach that leverages the various marketing channels that your target audience is exposed to.

Of course, multi-channel marketing is null and void if your messaging misses the mark. But that is a blog for another day (and another reason why, hey!, hire me!)

Does anyone else remember the very first Budwesier ‘Wazzzzuuup’ commercial? I don’t mean the first ‘Wazzzzuuup’ campaign. No, I’m talking about the debut of the very, very first ‘Wazzzzuuup’ commercial.

I swear that my father and I were the only two people who noticed that ad.

It aired during Monday Night Football in December of 1999. I can remember thinking that everyone would be talking about it in school the next day. And no one was talking about it. Not a soul.

Just another painfully awkward moment in high school, I guess.

But my dad and I, we shared that commercial. We called each other just to say, ‘Wazzzzuuup…’ and we laughed every time we said it. We waited and watched and watched and waited for the the commercial to air again.

But it wasn’t until Super Bowl of that year that the ‘Wazzzzuuup’ campaign really gained traction with the masses.

I don’t want to say that the ‘Wazzzzuuup’ campaign was responsible for my venture into the marketing and advertising world. But it certainly was a major influence in my decision to pursue a career in this industry.

But now, NOW!, my how times have changed. The advertising innovation that we once saw during Super Bowl is no longer. I’m sorry to say that. But it’s not. I’m not even looking forward to this year’s roster of ads. I am expecting a series of gimmicky ads that try so hard to stand out that they do nothing but blend in.

And this year, for the first time, advertisers are ‘generating buzz’ for their ads by pre-releasing not only ad teasers, but also the full length spots. Stuart Elliot writes about this phenomenon in his New York Times article, ‘Before the Toss, Super Bowl Ads.‘

And of all the teasers mentioned and linked to, not one of them intrigued me. Not even the 10-second teaser for the Honda CR-V commercial, starring Matthew Broderick, paying homage to his 1986 hit movie, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. Elliot describes the teaser is mysterious. Let me tell you something. If you don’t think you’re in for a series of Ferris Bueller-like shenanigans, you’re wrong.

Funny? Potentially. Creative? Innovative? Memorable? I doubt it.

I think what advertisers are struggling with is two-fold: (a) marketing budgets are under more scrutiny than ever before and a risky Super Bowl ad is a $2 million risk thatg most CEOs just aren;t willing to take and (b) there’s not a whole lot of marketing taboo anymore, not a whole lot of envelopes that haven’t already been pushed to their furthest limits.

So, what I anticipate is a bunch of ads that teeter between pragmatic and risky. And teetering is the biggest risk of all.

Go big or go home. If your CEO, CFO…whatever…isn’t going to buy into you creative Super Bowl ad 100% – if he is going to scale it back to be more safe – just go home.

And, perhaps, that same message should be shared with a certain contending team in this year’s big game?