Last night, while perusing my Twitter feed, I came across a tweet from one of my favorite users, Single Girl Problems (@snglegrlprblms), that I thought was particularly hilarious.

It reads as follows:

Exactly. #singlegirlproblems #valentinesday

But then I started to really think about this tweet and how far off from reality it really is. Whether we admit it or not (which we usually don’t) single girls freak out about Valentine’s Day. No matter how much we tweet about how we love being single or about how excited we are that our Valentine’s date is either our best friend or a bottle of wine, we all know we’d rather be with a dude.

So why are so many of us in denial? I’m not saying we have to get all depressed and drown in our sorrows, but let’s at least not lie to the world and be all proud that we’re single. Therefore, this Valentine’s Day I propose that all of us single ladies tweet what we are really thinking – love sucks unless you are in love, then it’s incredibly awesome.

Try something like this:

I’m desperate. #singlegirlproblems #valentinesday

Who’s with me?!

I truly do love getting into the holiday spirit. Whether it’s listening to Mariah Carey’s holiday classic “All I Want for Christmas is You” or decorating the Christmas tree, I can’t help but smile. As much as individuals like myself are getting into the spirit, so too are retail stores and internet sites. BING—a web search engine from Microsoft— has launched its new holiday marketing campaign which features everyone’s favorite red nose reindeer…Rudolph! Rudolph and his friends are displayed in four advertisements for BING doing things such as popping bubble wrap and hot yoga. It’s a lighthearted marketing strategy set to reach a global audience on many different platforms during the holiday season. At the end of each ad, BING’s promotion is clear. It should come as no surprise that companies are busting out their best holiday marketing ideas to hook potential customers and set them apart from the competition. This time of year, new and creative ideas built around “holiday cheer” will flourish. BING is a great example of this. Don’t believe me, see it for yourself: Here is one of BING’s ads for your holiday enjoyment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6-KJui_meA&feature=related.

Attention all Coca-Cola lovers! Have you seen the latest Coca-Cola can logo? If you haven’t you better read this blog. Starting November 1st, Coca-Cola will release 1.4 billion white Coke cans in the U.S. and Canada. This temporary redesign features polar bears against a field of white and is part of a campaign to protect the arctic territory in which our friends the polar bears reside in. The campaign is a joint effort with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Between Coca-Cola and the WWF organization, fundraising will take place to affirm why the iconic polar bears that our nation has grown to love deserves a longer chance at life. Due to global warming, the predictions for the polar bear population to go extinct is as soon as 2050. Let’s come together to preserve the survival of these awe-inspiring animals. Get in on the fight to
save the majestic polar bear.

You can show your support on Facebook or Twitter. Check it out TODAY!

Drum roll please…. introducing the new intern Nadvia at JB Chicago!

Wassup Everyone! This is Nadvia coming to you live from the front desk. I recently became the new Marketing and Communication Intern here at JB Chicago about a month ago and I thought it would be fitting to tell you a little bit about myself. I’m originally from Minneapolis, Minnesota and recently moved to the Windy City to pursue my masters degree in Journalism. In addition to pursuing my masters degree I wanted to gain some working experience. From there I applied to various companies throughout Chicago and was blessed with an opportunity to join the JB Chicago family. Already I have begun learning what it means to work for an integrated marketing firm where advanced social media and exclusive graphic designs stand on the forefront.  I look forward to soaking in all the tricks of the marketing trade from the dynamic team of Steve, Carly, Sara, Connor, Christina and Jonathan. Hope you enjoy the blog postings I’ll be putting up throughout the fall.

Peace out. Nadvia

For many Americans, Black Friday is an extension of the Thanksgiving holiday. And now, thanks to marketing directors at Macy’s, an extension is exactly what consumers will get. For the first time this year, more than 800 Macy’s retail locations nationwide will open their doors at midnight the night after Thanksgiving. That’s right…MIDNIGHT. A large part on Macy’s extending their hours was to appeal to consumers’ requests and this marketing strategy is expected to increase sales for the billion-dollar retailer and put it in the forefront for Black Friday madness.

Competitors have used similar strategies, including Sears and Kmart whose stores opened Thanksgiving morning last year for the first time. Also Toys R Us stores opened at 10 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day, and Wal-Mart opened many stores by midnight the evening of Thanksgiving. So far Target has already announced its Black Friday hours this year.

Consumers won’t want to miss deals on the usual flat screen TVs, DVDs and Christmas toys alike. Stay tuned for the release of other retailers hours and deals within the next week! Wherever you plan to shop on Black Friday, remember to wake up early, trap on your fanny pack and race to the doors. Let the Black Friday shopping frenzy begin!

It was only a matter of time, but social media has hit the marathon scene full speed in the last few weeks. Now marathon participants can multi-task when they’ve signed up for free social media messaging services which debuted October 16^th at the Marine Corps Marathon, a national organization. This event introduced a new timing system that will send an automatic message every 10 miles to your followers on Facebook or Twitter while tracking runners in the race. Now instead of cheering on your friend at the finish line, you can cheer from your comfortable plush couch. Although I’ll have to admit, posting to Facebook or tweeting while running 26.2 miles doesn’t sound like an easy task, but these tech-savvy runners show it can be done.

Even though the latest runner-tracking technology has been launched, there are still kinks that need to be worked out to perfect the system. So far with the mobile apps it’s never guaranteed that race pace texts, e-mails or Twitter and Facebook alerts will show up on time — if at all. The fact that free mobile tracking apps and GPS devices have reached social media platforms is a huge advancement in of itself.

Keep an eye out for new updates that allow spectators to track runners live. And who knows, this time next year when you have a friend who’s running in the Chicago Marathon while posting to Facebook in the middle of the race, don’t be surprised! For more information check out Marinemarathon.com for social media messaging and Mcmlocator.com for directions to mile markers, water points and other race landmarks.