From buying a beret to sitting at Starbucks all day, here is Fast Company’s insightful infographic on how to lead a more creative life. We approve.

We’re also fans of Doodle.ly to get our creativity flowing. It’s definitely working…

Japan Earthquakes. WikiLeaks. Bin Laden. Egypt. Steve Jobs. Occupy Wall Street…
It’s been an incredible year for Americans and the world.

So what was our nation searching for the most in 2011?

Apparently, we were looking for Friday.

Rebecca Black, 13-year-old singer of the pop single “Friday”, ruled Google search in 2011. When Comedy Central posted “Friday” on their blog in March, searches for the teen skyrocketed, which lead to her video being viewed more than 167 million times on YouTube. Surprisingly, more people searched for Black’s Friday than they did for pop icon Lady Gaga.

According to Google Zeitgeist, Google+, the anticipated “iPhone 5”, Casey Anthony, and Adele were also among the most searched queries of 2011. Check out Google’s video representation of the year in search.

We are thrilled to announce season 2 of the Playtex Bra Makeover series! This time, we’ve mixed it up a bit and have selected four women and their #1 gal pal to receive bra fittings and star in their very open episode of the Playtex Bra Makeover series with style expert Alison Deyette. We have best friends, sisters and even a mother daughter duo, so stay tuned and see how Playtex bras help these perfect pairs find their perfect fit.

We’re excited to announce the launch of the new American Harvest website! American Harvest is organic vodka to which a proprietary blend of organic ingredients has been added, creating a truly unique vodka specialty. It’s a revolutionary way to look at the vodka category, so check it out here!

Only 5 days left in Dial For Men 30 Days of Dirt competition! Daily prizes from free products to ATVs! Over 73,000 people already Like it! Get your dirt on at Facebook.com/Dialformen (then use Dial For Men to get your dirt off!)

We are extremely excited about the launch of the second annual Avon Hello Green Tomorrow program. In 2010, the inaugural Hello Green Tomorrow program raised more than $2 million for the Atlantic Rainforest in South America. This year, Avon Hello Green Tomorrow is mobilizing and fundraising in more than 50 countries across six continents to help save two of the most critically endangered ecosystems on earth: the Atlantic Rainforest, once again, as well as the endangered forests of Borneo and Sumatra in Indonesia.

People everywhere can get involved by making a purchase from the collection of unique fundraising products created by Avon worldwide. All proceeds from the fundraising products will be donated to the Hello Green Tomorrow Fund.

Additionally, Avon is using its unique woman-to-woman network of 6.5 million Sales Representatives to help drive “green” education and behavior change, focused on the “Five R’s”: reduce, reuse, recycle, rethink and replant.

Night Agency won two IAC awards for our work with Playtex and Hanes. The Playtex Bra Makeover won Best Fashion/Beauty Online Video, and the Hanes Sock Drive won Best Fashion/Beauty Social Media Campaign. Together, they represent important agency goals to pioneer two of today’s most relevant platforms, branded content and social media.

We’re also proud to announce that the Webby Awards declared us an Official Honoree in their Integrated Campaigns category for our work with Keds on The Original Sneaker, which included activations at SXSW and a partnership with The Whitney Museum and Bloomingdales. Check it out here!

Thanks to our fantastic clients, and our amazing team of talented “Nighters.”

Marketers understand the importance of testing, and will often look to research, focus groups and raw data before spending a penny from their budget. However, a smart marketer knows the value of leveraging their social channels as a way to “pre-test” an idea or concept before ever setting foot inside a focus group.

When a consumer likes a brand or company, unless it’s just to get a coupon or enter a sweepstakes, there’s a good chance that they have a vested interest in that brand and are eager to interact and have their opinions heard. Engaging these fans and followers can prove invaluable for brands, often yielding insights not possible to uncover through traditional focus groups.

Here are a few best practices to keep in mind:

1. Don’t overuse these questions and bore your fans with endless surveys. You want to leverage this engaged audience without abusing your relationship.
2. Really listen, and follow up: look for the bonus insights that hide behind the questions you asked and the answers you get. Also, probe into responses; you’ll get more out of answers, and your followers will feel validated knowing that their tastes and opinions are important.
3. Get creative. You don’t need to ask a question to get good feedback. Be bold, and field test new positioning, propositions, and campaign directions.
4. Think outside your product. Post news items and interesting features to gain a more detailed perspective on the passion points that naturally engage your followers.
5. Don’t fire your research vendor. Social focus groups are valuable, but they can’t extract the same depth as a seasoned researcher. When you’re fishing for ideas, social media makes a great net. But, it’s not the harpoon that can spear the critical discovery.
6. Stay in control. Sometimes people don’t know what they want. It’s easy to go overboard and crowd-source your Big Idea, resulting in a diffuse, impotent message. Know what you want to accomplish before you engage.
7. Save some tests for the real focus group. Whether it’s a trade secret or campaign you’re not ready to share, there are some things that are best kept out of the social space. Expect that anything you say or share will become public knowledge, and know when to say no.

So before heading to a focus group, or spending hours pouring over data to figure out if your consumers prefer lime or lemon, engage in a dialogue with your fans and followers. They’re ready to share their opinions.

Twitter, Facebook, blogs and living rooms were abuzz last night with Super Bowl chatter, and while The Packers took home the win, it was less clear which brand came out on top. From a disappointing half-time show to a generally lacking line up of ads, the non-game time of Super Bowl 45 was a bit of a let down. This isn’t to say that there weren’t a few stand out spots, (we listed our favorite below) but for the most part the sentiment this morning is a resounding why? Why didn’t Snickers step it up, why did you do that Groupon, and GoDaddy, why oh why?

So which spots did we like?

And while not a “spot” per se, our collective least favorite moment of last night goes to A-Rod and Cameron Diaz.

Hanes and Michael Jordan are at it again. Beginning today Hanes is giving their Facebook followers the opportunity to meet Michael Jordan himself! One lucky Hanes fan will win a trip for two to meet Michael Jordan at a basketball game at the Time Warner Cable Center in Charlotte, NC on April 6, 2011. For a chance to win, Hanes fans must fill out an entry form on the Men’s Zone tab of the Hanes Facebook page before March 15, 2011.

Also exclusively on the Men’s Zone Tab is the challenging and highly addictive Hanes Basketball Three Point Shootout. Think you’ve got game? Go ahead and test your skills.

By Jason Spies, Director of Business Development/Strategic Marketing

Before coming to Night Agency I spent the majority of my career in the music industry. From helping market local concerts when I was 16 to starting one of the first new media departments at a record label, I witnessed the entire landscape change due to technology.  And the old formula of generating awareness and revenue drastically flipped upside down; MTV stopped playing music videos, Napster seeded the idea that music could be free, and eventually iTunes and iPods made individual songs more important than albums. Gone are the days of hefty radio promotions and huge marketing budgets for new artists. Today, a new artist’s success is heavily dependent on social media and growing fans and followers often trumps touring. What this means is that an artist can easily have thousands upon thousands of fans before they even sign a record deal, and that’s an attractive, often very targeted audience for a like minded brand.

Marketers today are turning to a number of different new tools to grow and drive their brands forward, but smart marketers know how to reinvent old ideas.  One such “old idea” is partnership marketing. Traditionally about sharing advertising, today partnership marketing means sharing your audience, and the changes within the music industry have created what could arguably be considered a new digital media channel: a bands fans and followers. There are of course still the mega deals to be made, but when a brand is trying to launch a new product, or generate awareness, creating a unique collaboration with a band or musician whose followers are like-minded can be instant marketing gold.

At Night Agency, we’ve been leveraging musicians to support campaigns for several years now including a program to see your favorite band for STA Travel and a music partnership with SXSW for Keds.  Our latest, a Hanes Comfort Rewards promotion in partnership with OneRepublic. Check it out here.

Wow! Only a week after announcing their second annual Sock Drive to benefit the nation’s homeless, Hanes has been named this week’s #2 most explosive brand on Facebook. According to AllFacebook.com, Hanes received 289,618 new fans last week due to their holiday promotion with The Salvation Army. Well deserved!

“Like” the Hanes Facebook page to get more information on how to get involved this holiday season. For each person who “likes” Hanes on Facebook, Hanes will donate one pair of socks to the Salvation Army. Help Hanes reach their goal of 500,000 donated pairs of socks by visiting Facebook.com/Hanes.

View the full article on AllFacebook.com.

Hanes is kicking off December the right way by getting into the holiday spirit and launching their second annual virtual sock drive!

For each person who “likes” Hanes on Facebook and clicks “Help Hanes Donate,” the brand will donate one pair of actual socks to The Salvation Army.

This year, Hanes wants to exceed last year’s pledge of 100,000 pairs and donate 500,000 pairs of socks! All donated socks will be given to The Salvation Army locations across the United States. For more information, and to watch the progress of the drive via the Hanes Sock-o-Meter, please visit Facebook.com/Hanes.

On Monday evening, Managing Partners Darren Paul and Evan Vogel attended the OMMA Awards, representing 3 major initiatives by Night Agency:

• TheOriginalSneaker.com, Advertising/Promotion Web Site or Microsite (Advertising Creativity)
• Hanes Sock Drive, Social: App as Advertising (Advertising Creativity)
• Keds.com Re-Design, Fashion/Beauty/Cosmetics (Web Site Excellence)

The OMMA Awards celebrate the year’s best in online media, marketing and advertising through three disciplines across 77 separate categories. We are pleased to share that Night Agency has been awarded the 2010 OMMA Award for Web Site Excellence in the Fashion/Beauty/Cosmetics category for Keds.com.

Night Agency helped to make a 100-year-old sneaker company cool again through the Design Your Own feature,  Keds Collective and Style Gallery.

The Design Your Own component is a full Flash tool that allows users to customize 5 types of Keds using colors, images, text and print. Consumers can leverage the design tool’s unique capability to upload images to their design and post their shoes for sale once complete, syncing perfectly with their entrepreneurial mindset.

The Keds Collective allows consumers to shop unique designs by independent designers from across the country. Short profiles and videos of the designers working and discussing their inspiration are available for consumers to explore and add a personal touch to the site.

The Style Gallery features photographs of real people wearing their Keds. In the gallery consumers can browse the photos and shop the featured shoes.

Tapping into the resurgence of Keds amongst trendsetters, stylists, and designers, Night Agency successfully created an experiential site to engage the target and encourage sharability. We would like to extend a hearty congratulations to all of the winners and nominees, and many thanks to MediaPost and OMMA for a fantastic event!

Starting today, design and buy your own custom Hanes^® t-shirt on HanesPink.com! For every t-shirt purchased, Hanes will donate 10% of the purchase price to Susan G. Komen for the Cure^®.

There are two ways to purchase a custom Hanes^® t-shirt:

1. Design your own t-shirt and purchase it for yourself or a friend.
2. Browse the Hanes Pink T-Shirt Gallery and buy a custom design created by another visitor.

All approved t-shirts will be displayed in the Hanes Pink T-Shirt Gallery. Browse the t-shirts, send your favorite design to a friend or share your t-shirt on Facebook!

Visit HanesPink.com to learn more, or start designing your own tee here.