There are a handful of companies that are notorious for creating banned television commercials. Anheuser Busch, GoDaddy and Snickers are just a few of companies that have made an impact with their banned commercials on the internet.

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Whether it’s things we shared, wrote or were inspired by… here’s what made us tick in the month of February!

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What the hell is SnapChat you ask? It is a mobile application that allows for real time picture/video chatting with friends. It is also the most demonized youth fad since…whatever the last thing was. It is widely accepted that Snapchat serves but one purpose: for millennials to spam pictures of their genitals to each other. Or so major media and blogging outlets would lead you to believe. Why are we even talking about this; is the team Digital Surgeons actually just a bunch of degenerate Snapchat sexting enthusiasts? Yes, but that’s not the only reason we are talking about Snapchat. Snapchat is not actually based around sexting. Snapchat is a force to be reckoned with in the social sphere and it is only a matter of time before brands begin utilizing it to create unique consumer experiences.

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Historically as an agency, we have always believed that social media should be handled in-house. We recommend that if an in-house social media team is possible, brands should pursue that option. It now seems that brands are finally catching on as Nike has recently moved all of its social media activity in-house and there are rumblings that other iconic brands are poised to do the same. We don’t believe there is any black and white definitive answer to the social media question such as “All brands should do social media in-house” or “All brands should hire agencies to handle every aspect of their social media strategy” or “social media is the devil”. We will, however, try to shine some light on the facts to making the decision to bring social in-house vs. hiring an agency.

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Marketing:

Video will get bigger as a medium

People aren’t getting any less lazy in 2013. Why read a blog post when the same information can be conveyed to you in a 30 second video? With streaming quality increasing and camera prices decreasing, in 2013 it will be easier than ever to produce and then distribute content.

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Just in the nick of time. Ancient Maya whiteboard computation exercises uncovered earlier this year show calculations indicating that the world, as we know it, will go on for the foreseeable future.

“The deadline of the world has been extended,” declared triumphant anthropologists. “The universal consensus is that the Mayans knew we would need more time to get the ending right.”

While the new calculations refute the destruction timetable so long attributed to that vanished civilization, they also give us an opportunity to consider what we might be better off without starting in 2013.

Here at DS we’re truly grateful that the world is likely to keep turning. And, we would be even more grateful if the following design, technology, and communications stuffs would actually cease to exist by the end of 2012. Consider a mini-Maya end of days for the following.

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