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Sell the sizzle along with the steak. That advertising mantra is exemplified in STA Travel’s (@statravelAU)  I Want To Know viral video marketing campaign (the above video is 1 of 3).

Karl Krantz of the Start Up Daily (@thestartupdaily) says it’s “an example of advertising done right....it makes me want to travel....for a video commissioned by a travel agency, you can’t get a better emotional response than that.”

It's not important what your marketing says, it’s important how it leaves people feeling. Show your customers what could be, inspire them to live better.

Nick Morris of Internet Marketing Adelaide (@WebMarkAdelaide) interviews Adam Fyfe, the “Move, Eat, Learn” campaign coordinator. Morris asks, “What were your objectives for this project?” Fyfe says,

At a brand level we had a need to increase awareness of our brand. At a more personal level, it was about putting some excitement back into what should be an inspiring industry.

Read the interview in full.

Let Somersault help create a strategic and effective ad campaign for your brand.

An article in SplatF (@splatf) by Dan Frommer (@fromedome) displays the new “red vs. blue” map published by Jumptap (@Jumptap), a mobile ad network, which highlights the dominant smartphone platform in each state. In particular, it seems that the South and West are Google Android country, while the North and Midwest favor Apple’s iPhone. And New York is still BlackBerry-dominated.

Something to consider when creating mobile apps.

Creativity (@creativitymag) reports that The New York Times (@nytimes) has launched beta620 (@beta620), a site that highlights experimental and ongoing projects at NYTimes.com. It’ll also be a crowdsourced venture, where Times readers can offer feedback and ideas – taking, essentially, formerly live events and making them virtual. The "620" refers to the Times' street address on Eighth Avenue in New York.

It’s similar to Google Labs, Google's experimental playground that shuttered last month, where users could suggest projects and Googlers could share what they were working on. At the Times, just like Google, some ideas may be turned into real products.

Read the Creativity coverage in full.

Nat Ives (@natives), media editor at Advertising Age, describes the 7 projects beta620 has launched with for consumers to try out and comment on:

• The Buzz, which shows how much traction Times articles are getting on social media
• Times Companion, which lets you summon information on topics in the article you're reading without taking you away from the page
• TimesInstant, a search page that shows results as you type
• Smart Search Bar, which sorts results and displays them without taking you away from the page you're on
• NYTimes Crossword Web App, an HTML 5 version of the puzzle's aging digital versions
• Longitude, which plots the day's Times articles on an interactive Google map
• Community Hub, a dashboard featuring stats on your comment history, a feed of comments on Times articles and, soon, Facebook friends' comments.

Read the AdAge coverage in full.

Should your website host a crowdsource section to test new publishing ventures?

Celebrate with us! Alltop (@Alltop) has selected the Somersault (@smrsault) blog to be included in its category of top Publishing resources on the Web. We couldn’t be happier!

Alltop is a valuable service that, as it says, “collects the headlines of the latest stories from the best sites and blogs that cover a topic.” Alltop is a “dashboard,” “table of contents,” or even a “digital magazine rack” of the Internet. It groups collections of RSS news feeds into individual Web pages, displayed in hundreds of topical categories. Topics run from adoption to zoology with photography, food, science, religion, celebrities, fashion, gaming, sports, politics, automobiles, Macintosh, and hundreds of other subjects along the way. It says it provides “aggregation without aggravation.”

ReadWriteWeb (@RWW) says Alltop is “a valuable resource for anyone wanting to research a certain subject or industry.”

The Somersault blog strives to be a voice for thought leadership in a variety of subjects that matter to publishing and marketing executives. We explore topics such as leadership, innovation, publicity best practices, and the future of publishing, as well as many others. It's an honor to be recognized by Alltop as a valuable resource for readers. 

Look for Somersault under Publishing, about half-way down in the right column. Also visit Somersault’s own personalized Alltop page of the RSS feeds we find interesting and useful. You may want to create your own Alltop page. If you do, be sure to add Somersault to it.

And be sure to bookmark and use daily the SomersaultNOW online dashboard that we built specifically for publishing and marketing executives.

You may also be interested in receiving any of our 10 paper.li newspapers -- daily source material comprised of Twitter-fed stories and information in the areas of audiobooks, ebooks, futurist news, innovation, literary agents, mobile, publishing, research, retail, and leadership.

KCI in Grand Rapids, MI, helps brands communicate their marketing messages through a variety of services, from digital to print to data management to mailing to fulfillment. One element KCI recommends to its business clients is the use of QR codes. In fact, KCI believes in the power of QR codes so much that it displays a giant one on the side of its van. When a smartphone with a QR code reader is pointed at it, the code takes the user directly to the KCI website. General manager Eric Liggett says the code will soon take users to KCI's dedicated mobile site, for a more small-screen friendly experience.

Putting a QR code on the side of a brand's vehicle is innovative; it goes beyond merely displaying the brand's URL address. It attracts attention, it's fun, and it helps users quickly access more information about you without having to remember and type in a long URL. Great thinking, KCI!

Technology writer Dan Frommer (@Fromedome) of SplatF (@splatf) airs his grievances with QR codes on Business Insider’s (@businessinsider) SAI (@SAI). He says, “Mobile barcodes can be confusing and can waste time. And as mobile technology progresses, they probably aren't even necessary.”

Most people, before scanning their first barcode, have to download scanning apps manually and figure out how to use them. Then, each time there's a barcode to scan, they have to make sure they're using the right scanning app for the right barcode. That's because different types of barcodes, like Microsoft's "Tag" codes, don't always work in all the same apps.

He goes on to criticize how advertisers mismanage the creation and use of QR codes. He says

...in the future, if “near-field communication” mobile technology takes off, you may be able to just bump your phone up against a sensor to tell it to do something, whether it be to check you into a bar on Foursquare, take you to a website, or even pay for dinner. That's faster and easier than a barcode, too.

But then he ends in a turn-around:

Yes, obviously, barcodes have a place in the world. They are simple and cheap for commerce and logistics, and barcodes are widespread.

Read this in full. And be sure to read the comments.

Somersault (@smrsault) believes in the value of QR codes, when used properly, to attract attention and communicate effectively with those comfortable in using them. The key is strategic thinking. For example, read our blogpost "A Mobile QR Code - Literally."

Let Somersault help you in all your marketing communication plans.

Brandchannel (@brandchannelhub) writes, “If any brand name seems to be loved by all who come in contact with it, it's Moleskine (@moleskine). This 14-year-old Italian iconic brand became known for a simple notebook.” It goes on to explain how Moleskine encourages consumer generated media to help foster its brand.

It isn’t just the brand’s positioning that makes it so special — it is the manner in which the company nurtures and interacts with its fiercely loyal fans and retailers.

Marco Beghin, president of Moleskine America, told The New York Times (@nytimes), “We let our fans speak for themselves.”

Fans are only too happy to share their stories. They post sketches on Moleskine's Facebook page, which has attracted almost 90,000 followers, and they make videos (favorited on Moleskine's channel) demonstrating how much fans love the brand. They also attend special events around the globe organized by Moleskine, such as a recent ‘sketching event’ at Bloomingdale’s in New York. Shoppers could stop and make sketches of a model using Moleskine pencils and notebooks.

This product has always been considered a platform and a culture product. A tool for self-expression."

Read this in full.

Watch this video to see how a person who loves the Moleskine concept hacks that same idea into Bibles: Moleskine Bibles (@MoleskineBible)

But also read how a raving fan can be lost, in Michael Hyatt’s (@MichaelHyatt) “Why I Ditched My Moleskine Journal.”

Based on the book Socialnomics by Erik Qualman (@equalman), the above video is the latest attempt at capturing the world of today’s social media culture.

Compare where we are today with these previous videos summarizing the social media revolution.

Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you navigate these accelerating changes in social media.

On his blog Social Media Examiner, Michael Stelzner (@smexaminer) explains that authors today have “an amazing advantage” from pre-Internet days, when they’d have to depend on traditional media, long lead times, and mercurial reporters as their only hope for book publicity. Now, he says, “not only are there millions of bloggers whose collective audience is larger and more engaged than that of the traditional press, there are also millions of consumers who are one click away from sharing your work with their friends on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.”

If you can make it easy for people to share and get excited about your book, you won’t need to spend big bucks or hope you make the list of some old newspaper that no-one really reads anymore.

Here are his 9 suggestions:

1. Embed a Retweet button in a free chapter of the book
2. Create a “Spread the Word” page
3. Design a Facebook photo contest
4. Organize a Top 50 Bloggers promotion
5. Broadcast live videos with experts
6. Add social share buttons
7. Add Facebook Comments
8. Leverage photos on Facebook
9. Create fun videos

Read this in full.

Let Somersault (@smrsault) help you use social media to launch your book. Be sure to use the free SomersaultNOW dashboard for publishers and marketers; especially the Social Media tab.

Hitwise (@Hitwise_UK & @Hitwise_US) believes in the benefits of social media and that Facebook in particular is becoming critical to the success of multi-channel marketing. Leveraging its unique data sets, it’s determined that every new fan retailers acquire on Facebook is worth 20 additional visits to its website over the course of a year. Fans are clearly worth the social media effort.

Read the report in full.

According to Business Insider War Room (@tbi_warroom) Facebook fans and Twitter followers have an avalanche effect. “As hard as it is to get that first handful of followers, thanks to news feeds and retweets, your social media fans can grow exponentially. Plus, users are far more likely to ‘Like’ a page that thousands of other people have already ‘liked.’” It offers tips on how to “get millions of business followers”:

• Use targeted advertising on Facebook
• Pay for fans
• Incentivize clicking “Like” or following on Twitter
• Piggyback off hot-button issues
• Notice trending hashtags
• Target popular tweeters
• Create good content
• Update frequently
• Engage customers’ conversations
• Respond to complaints

Read these in full.

According to an analysis by Ben Elowitz (@elowitz), of Digital Quarters blog, Facebook, online video, and mobile consumption are causing the rest of the Web to shrink. He says in the future brands will need to spend less time on SEO and more time optimizing for Facebook.

Read the analysis in full.

As for Somersault (@smrsault), please Like our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter. Then tell your friends to as well. Thanks!