Ever since I've lived in New York City (almost eight years now), the five story-building at the busy corner of Houston and Lafayette Street has been used as a billboard to advertise Calvin Klein.

Unilever's Axe has built an effective, integrated campaign in the US that leverages different media to reach young, hip males with unconventional messaging to promote its grooming products, but it was a recent promotion in Japan that broke through dusty marketing techniques with exceptionally personal reach.

In these days of shrinking budgets and climbing costs, many businesses have moved toward smaller direct mail formats. However, that isn't the case for Jerry Baker, author of several "tips and tricks" gardening books.

Apple is well known for its progressive digital marketing approach, and it is a no-brainer to market pre-orders to the faithful Apple audience. It's not that different than the iPhone launch, with its sensationalized TV spots and unparalleled pre-buzz.

If you have kids, you know what Transformers are. They're toys that may look like a jet, for example, but move a few parts and it turns into a robot.

There is something about the phrase "new and improved" that doesn't feel genuine. It gets about 170 million results on Google. Instead, level with people. That is what Domino's delivers with its new "Pizza Turnaround" ad campaign, and the message is on target.

It's been a tough year for advertising, but Super Bowl Sunday — the pantheon of advertising greatness — was our time to shine. Advertisers shell out $2.8 million for a chance to showcase their brand to more than 80 million viewers.

The commercial looks like a typical Apple offering: Upbeat music (MoZella's "Magic") playing over a simplistic white background with plain black text, flashing phrases, each starting with Apple's omnipresent "i." "iDon't have a real keyboard," and "iDon't run simultaneous apps." Suddenly the ad shifts. The screen bursts with abstract, metallic visuals and garbled robotic sounds, followed by the tagline, "Droid Does."

Remember when people used to mail direct mail packages with lots of stuff packed inside? That was back in the good old days, before the economy went bust, and everyone panicked and started mailing little postcards, invoice mailers and fliers that all look alike.

Estée Lauder's new social media strategy is a good example of channel marketing as an advertising approach. The cosmetics marketer needed to reach digitally oriented, social media-active consumers, and social media enables it to bridge the gap between online and offline advertising.