For some its an addiction. They need it after every meal. Before going to bed. Catching a quick hit while at a stoplight.

Its not nicotine calling their nameits Facebook. Whether youve been enticed by trying to catch up with old friends, staying in touch with family, or just trying to accumulate more friends than your spouse, Facebook has probably sucked some time out of your life. And for the most part, connections are made and relationships strengthened. Sounds great, you say. What downsides could there be? Well, there are a few.

For instance, Ive been stood up by a friend on FB15 minutes before we were meeting for dinner. Did she really think I FB that often?

I also no longer feel the need to attend my 20-year high-school reunion. Ive seen all of these people on FB and experienced the fly on the wall effect which was all that I was looking for anyway.

And, Ive seen one too many posts of husbands talking to wives (or vice versa) via their FB posts. I mean, is this really how you communicate, or is it for the benefit of your friends?

In the world of advertising, were constantly talking about how social media is changing the way our clients talk to their customers. How they need to have a presence in this new world of communication, otherwise theyll be replaced by another business more technologically savvy than they are.

For most of us, we probably know which friends we can communicate with on FB and which need more outdated, I mean traditional, forms of communication, such as e-mail or (aghast) a phone call. We also know for which occasions social media is better suited. For example, you might post on someones wall, What are your plans for Friday night? But, I hope youd have the good sense not to post a cancer diagnosis or family death.

We should keep this same idea in mind for our clients. Some clients simply lend themselves more easily to a presence in social media. Their consumers are already on these sites and might even be looking for the type of information they have to share. However, some business categories are viewed as more conservative or conventional, and their place in this arena has not yet been carved out.

So, I suggest treading carefully when leading some clients down this road. For now, Facebook and other forms of social media may not be a replacement for traditional advertising.

Lets remember our messages, and most importantly, our consumers.

Lewis recently helped create a successful joint promotion for Whole Foods Market and the Black Warrior Riverkeeper. A portion of proceeds from a day’s sales went to the Riverkeeper, and sales for the gourmet market were up by 5% the day of the promotion. Lewis also created a new educational brochure for the Riverkeeper.

I like history, always have. Even as a kid I preferred a good war movie to Star Wars and cartoons. The future was all lasers and space. Phooey. History just seemed more exciting. And, it actually happened, it was true, it was real. Luke Skywalker couldnt hold a candle to Magellan or Robert E. Lee.

For a time, before getting into advertising, I worked towards a PhD in history. I quit my studies mid-way. As it turned out, I preferred reading history to researching it. Still, many years later, I get a great thrill from reading a solidly researched, well written historical tract. Nothing beats it, except golf.

It bothers me that people dont know or appreciate history. I think theyre depriving themselves of an important part of being alive. Theyre missing the richness of appreciating where they exist in time. They dont get to absorb the happenings of another place and era. And, sadly, I believe their ability to fully make sense of the present world is compromised. Because man is a creature of memory, custom, and ritual, and the past will always be with us. For good and for bad. The future is coming; Im here to tell you so is the past.

Well, for my money theres no better supplemental training a creative can have than a grasp of history. Each day I face the blank sheet of paper. It can be daunting. But thanks to my passion for history, I dont look down on that empty whiteness alone. I have inspirational helpers as I search for a concept to tackle a clients problem. You may know some of them Napoleon, Buzz Aldrin, James K. Polk, Cortez, Thomas More, Erasmus, Hannibal, Pericles, Botticelli, Peter Abelard, Chester Nimitz, Plato, Hadrian, Otto Von Bismarck but enough name dropping.

Stony Brook University Medical Center captured the Gold Award for best total campaign for an Academic Medical Center at the 2009 Aster Awards. Individual honors went to Stony Brook’s microsite and print advertising. Clients Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and the University of Virginia Health System were also recognized for a total of nine Aster awards. In addition, Lewis Communications clients received ten honors in the 2009 Healthcare Marketing Awards.

According to communications research company IDC (IDC.com), Internet usage in December 1996 was limited to only 36 million people, or 0.9% of world population. By June 2009, Internet World Stats measured nearly 1.7 billion Internet users worldwide, accounting for 24.7% of the global population.

For those of us in the marketing and communications industry, the difference between 1996 and 2009 is huge. Although the essence of what we do is unchanged in many ways, for us it has been like learning a new language as we work to tap into the vast potential of an always on and available online home for our clients brands, messaging and promotions.

And now, although Facebook and Twitter have been around since 2004 and 2006 respectively, these new web-based communications channels are again revolutionizing how virtually anyone with a message communicates with an audience.

But, it feels different this time.

The Great Recession of the last two years has really changed attitudes very quickly. Some of the same clients who even last year werent interested in a Google search campaign are now very open to new strategies that involve dialogue and engagement through social networking.

So although all of us will be glad when the recession is over and sustained economic growth returns, the pain of a downturn will not have completely been in vain. The quick leap of advancement being made in marketing and communications practices will be good for our industry and good for our clients. And Im convinced these advancements would have taken a great many years if not for the financial pressures of the current recession.

Viva la Revolucion!

A print campaign for Tiffin Motorhomes and a poster announcing the 2008 Birmingham ADDY Awards were each featured in the Graphis 2009 Advertising Annual.

Graphis, the International Journal of Visual Communication, invites leading professionals across the disciplines of photography, illustration, and graphic design to be submit work for inclusion in their annual books. Among the thousands of entries, a jury selects the most compelling work of the year in each category for inclusion.

This is the second consecutive year that Lewis has been so honored by this prestigious, international publication.

Okay, I admit it. I am hooked on Snapped, a true-life crime show on Oxygen, the network that encourages women to live out loud. Which in this half-hour of programming is defined as first-degree murder. Despite the titles promise, no one ever explodes into an ax-wielding frenzy. These homicides are premeditated, usually motivated by jealousy, greed, or boredom, and carried out in such a ham-fisted way that Helen Keller* could probably solve the case. But I do have to give these ladies props for their courage, even it if they do end up as sunken-eyed inmates with bad hair.

Lesson #1. Dont be afraid to take risks.
A note pad, a spare afternoon, and boxed sets of CSI can be a literal lifesaver for someone looking to get away with murder. Case in point, the fate of the ladies on Snapped. How might their lives have been different with tips, such as: Dont dispose of incriminating evidence in your own trashcan. When staging a burglary, break the window from the outside. Homicidal motorcycle gangs are extremely rare, especially in suburban Connecticut. And my favorite: after murdering your husband, dont plop into your hairdressers chair and say, with a giggle, Guess what Ive been up to?

Lesson #2: Always do your homework.
Inappropriate behavior during a 911 call is an immediate red flag in a criminal investigation. When reporting an emergency, most people tend to be frantic, terse, and unguarded. Unlike the callers on Snapped, they seldom laugh, make jokes, answer call waiting, attempt a British accent, sound as if theyre reading, or ramble on as if chatting with a girlfriend while folding laundry. So I was making chili for Troys Scout meeting (many minutes later) and my husband is bleeding from the neck.

Lesson #3:
Use the appropriate tone when communicating with your target audience.

* Note: No offense to Ms. Keller, who would be the first to admit she is not qualified for police work.

Lewis recently completed six new television spots for Alfa Insurance. The spots were shot by director Kevin Donovan and employ a wide range of comedic (and occasionally poignant) moments to illustrate Alfa’s superior value and responsive claims service. This is the fourth year of the ongoing Let’s Talk About Tomorrow campaign the agency has crafted for Alfa.

An integrated campaign themed “Never Settle” to promote the Birmingham Addy Awards was itself honored with a gold National Addy in Arlington, Virginia on June 6. The call for entries made use of candid photographs of the messy desks of top advertising creatives in the city, encouraging people not to stop at the first good idea. Elements included a giant piece of crumbled paper atop a downtown building and a microsite, keeptrashing.org.