Be specific. That’s my marketing takeaway from the highly unusual Adwords contest around John McCain’s highly unusual VP pick.

As in all things related to marketing, generalizations fall on deaf ears. People search for, remember, and follow up on what is very specific to them, not what is important to you.

See Jason Baer’s lessons learned.

Here’s a hilarious song that’s going to spread because, well, it’s all about how things spread via social media.

The writer is Ben Walker, who makes wry comments on where all this is going. Such as:

“Now you need to publish every movement
And every single thought to cross your mind
I’m told the Twitterverse is full of rubbish
But most of us are actually quite refined”

And there’s the dig at self-promotion:

”We validate each other’s insecurities
And brag about the gadgets that we’ve bought
We laugh out loud at every hint of jolliness
And try to self-promote without being caught.”

Listen to it here.

If you think of Green Summit as a door that has been pried open, there’s going to be a rush for seats from now on. In fact, it could soon turn into a stampede –figuratively speaking, of course!

The person behind this huge conference and expo that begins in Phoenix tomorrow, is Chris Samila, who is still an ASU student and evangelist of green business practice. He says his student project has now taken a life of its own. I told him his timing couldn’t be more prefect. He is amazed at the response the conference (more than 10,000 people are expected to attend) is getting from businesses. I am not. Consumers are pulling at one end, the media is pushing at the other, businesses have no choice but to go along.

Sustainability is more than a fun project, just as ‘going green’ is not just a flavor of the month. Politicians are embracing it, local governments and cities have made it their mantra, Walmart has bought into it.

I see this first hand at the Decision Theater. In fact I just presented to a group of people who came in to look at some of our projects around sustainable cities and water management and the key question are not ‘why is this important?‘ but ‘how could this apply to ”(name of city here).” Lots of architects, urban planners, even designers and students recognize where this is all headed.

Samila says he finds it interesting how even marketing and HR people have signed up for the conference. One theory: Potential hires are beginning to ask if the company they are considering has a green building policy.

The conference looks at alternative futures with regard to building design, energy, water, even green foods and green careers! The doors are wide open to this exciting area. Like to join the stampede?

Green Summit dates: Sept 5th and 6th, from 10 am to 5 pm

Venue: Phoenix Convention Center

Check these summit tracks

As a ‘native’ of Arizona I have seen many sides to John McCain that the traditional media don’t do a good job reporting, partly because they are stuck with the labels they have created for him, and partly because they play to the stereotypes –POW, oldest candidate etc. So if you look at the coverage, it always falls within these confines.

Meghan McCain’s blog, however, sidesteps all of this and gives us the daughter-as-citizen journalist view of a McCain. Her posts, and her photojournalist Shannon, capture images like this. A picture that tells a story of not just a celebrity governor, but a working mum under the glare of the cameras.

And this. A narrative of not just a been-there-done-that senator, but a hardworking man who isn‘t catching his z’s on the campaign plane.

Meanwhile from the Republican convention, we are fed the same old, same old. Slogans, campaign pins, and speeches, with the rest of them tiptoeing around Palin.