But that’s not to nitpick or twist words. It’s just to build and ultimately get me to a point about how in social media or traditional media: If the goal is to move away from being a faceless corporation—or in more positive terms to be human—, then you should empower your employees to bring to life the personality of the brand. Whether they become faces of the company or not and whether you do it on Twitter or TV, it still about people. And when you encourage/enable them to add their own unique personalities to the mix, that’s when you get something really special – like @JetBlue which updates who is on Twitter duty or one of my all-time favorites, Southwest’s David Holmes:

You go airlines!

Perfect time for an update. Well, to be honest, tomorrow would probably be the perfect time given it will be exactly two months. But since I can’t guarantee there will be time write this post tomorrow, I’ll say today is the perfect time to write and tomorrow is the perfect time to read it. I’m glad we were able to compromise. Wait, but then I wonder if I should change that first line to address the many readers (double digits at least), who have better things to do than read this on Labor Day. At least those New Yorkers, who have been blessed with a beautiful one for tanning and barbecuing. (Okay, “blessed” is a bit much). And especially those people, who’ll be headed back to an office with a desk in it with a computer on it that they’ll be sitting in front of all day tomorrow. Or is it today? Tuesday? You there? Here?

Exhausted yet? Confused perhaps? I promise there’s a complete sentence. In the future. The update:

Since I (officially) started training on July 15th, I have run approximately 130 miles. That includes everything from my first 4 miles with the Run MS crew on that Tuesday night to yesterday’s 10K (6.2 mile) Nike+ Human Race, a global race which I ran solo on the West Side Highway and in which I’m currently placed 2936th (out of how many I’m still unsure). My longest distance has been a little over a half marathon, so I’m going to have to step up the mileage in September in order to have a nice taper toward mid October. That means stopping drinking and wearing white pants. (I don’t know which will be more difficult!)

In addition to training, I’ve raised $3,345 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society—only $105 short of reaching my total goal. And with 2 months left, while I’m hesitant to explain why I chose $3,450 as my initial target (fine, it was because I’m aiming to finish the marathon in under 3 hours and 45 minutes), I’m less hesitant to shoot for a new fundraising goal of a nice even $4,000.

That’s right. Four large. (I think that’s what large stands for but if not, just refer back to the four thousand dollar figure.) Before running at that goal, I want to thank all the people who have helped me to (just about) reach my (old) donation pledge:

Jess April, Stephanie Redlener, Andrew Tchabovsky, Hara and Michael Cohen, Matt O’Laughlin, Robert Nelson, Lisa Michel, Kirsten Shiroma, Eric Friedman, Kim Nguyen, Jeff Friedman, Jason Brupbacher, Steven Krammer, Sherri and Jeff Feinman, Matthew Jung, Mark DiMassimo, Vince and Ila Gaffney, Paul Garvey, Zach Lev, Eric Mishlove, Tom Theys, Larry and Linda Fields, Erica, Dave and Noah Ellenbogen, Barry Blyn, Jen Giroux, Eve Silverman, Jason Oke, Pete Brown, Justin Eshak, Ron and Diane Kaufman, Michael Katz, Matthew Johnson, Steven Fields, Leah Zamkow, Donna and Ed Mishlove, Tori Greene, Marie Shadi, Lee Goldstein, Chad Blakenship, Slyvan Garfunkel, Arthur Marino, Phyllis and Jarrett Pikser, Aki Spicer, Noah Brier, Evan Schepps, Sarah Saline, Sean Cox, Kamila Prokop, Genna McKeel, Steve and Patti Cohen, and David Buxton…so far :)

Once again, I really appreciate all of your support. It’s both touching and motivating. Almost as motivating as my new “Power Song” (which may or may not have been featured recently on The Hills – don’t judge):

For anyone else wanting to make a donation and see their name in the bright shining lights (read as: text) of this blog, you have plenty of time. Just click on this link to donate.

Thank you.

1. I did not calibrate my Plus pre-run. (This is especially important for people with the sensor pouch tied to their laces vs. owning Nike plus sneaks.)
2. I had the sensor turned the wrong way. (It should be facing up—orange side toward the sky.)

Feeling lack a jackass, I went to the gym last Tuesday evening after work to give it another shot. I got chivaned again. (For those who don’t know, “chivan” is a word I came up with in high school. It means dissed and can be used as a verb in any tense. Most often I’d call out a friend’s name, he’d turn around to find me gone or talking to someone else. He’d look around confusedly until I’d suddenly acknowledge him and hit him with a proud “Chivan.” Get it? I was 7 years old in high school.) Anyway, I attempted to calibrate on the treadmill 4 times in a row using 1 mile as the distance each time. The closest I came to correct distance and pace was .15 miles shaved and :50 added, respectively. I certainly was not going to upload these runs to nikeplus.com, and honestly, I was ready to give up.

That was, until this past Saturday afternoon when I was home on Strong Island for my girlfriend’s mother’s 60th birthday party. It was a surprise and deserves an entire post, which I’ll never write because having our relationship status visible on Facebook is more than enough info for everyone. Either way, I wanted to be relaxed, energized, and looking thin in the face (immediate results seen) so I decided to take it to the streets (yes, the streets of Dix Hills). I calibrated like a good boy should and was, as you can imagine, shocked to hear the right distance and pace. And then I was inspired to go double on my 2.5 mile training for soccer season loop. (I’ll run you up quick…two times!) Here are upload- and post-worthy results:

I’m still expecting some trash talk from Adrian, who called Mike and I out by challenging us (as you can see on the link) to beat a 4 miles at 6:15 pace. Anyone who runs knows I’m not even close. That minute-ten per mile is probably not going to happen. Thus, I may just ignore that pace thing and counter with a distance-focused challenge. (Of course that won’t happen until he heals—can’t take advantage of an injured old man. :)) Also of note, the next time I got on the treadmill the distance (and thus, time/mile) was off again. I’ve heard this is normal. Is this true even for certified Nike plus shoe wearers? Either way, it still sucks for the winter.

Regardless, this week’s Do Day is a follow-up to the last line of my first DD post. I think every other week will feature a different doer. (And while running may be a theme as I am most likely going to train for the NYC Marathon, the doers will be diverse.) Profiling people on a weekly basis is a bit too much—I wouldn’t be able to carve out the time to do them justice or keep my life open to spontaneity. Which sounds like a line for the ladies (they love spontaneous dudes), but as you see I have a woman, so you be sure it’s about protecting Seth time.

I have a Nano already; a little (RED) one came with my black MacBook purchase back in May 2007. I had given it to my dad since I was rocking the U2 Limited Edition (bought for the color, not the love of the band – yes, that’s how I roll and I can’t be the only one). But since I saw it still sitting atop the microwave in the kitchen unopened when I returned home for the beginning of the holiday, I’m taking it back. I will pass big old original on to my pops so he can add his Rolling Stones and Dr. Wayne Dyer to my Girl Talk and Dj. Khaled.

So, I went to the Apple store and picked up the Nike + package with the sensor and receiver as well as a nano-holding arm-band.

Now all I’m lacking (to my knowledge) is a pair of Nike + shoes. Any suggestions? As much as I’d rather use my Mizunos and respect the efforts of non-Nike wearing predecessors, I don’t see myself hacking this product.

Whatever the case, sometimes when these three things—advertising, music, and sports—come together something special happens. When watching some uploaded amateur videos from (my alma mater) Georgetown’s Midnight Madness, I came across this one below (introducing our center, Roy Hibbert). I couldn’t help but thank advertising for making it possible.

No, not for making Roy’s return to G-town possible (he came back for his final year even though he could have possibly been a lottery pick in the NBA this summer – you can see in the jumping around in the stands how much he loves being in college). Rather for giving students and all our fans the ammo/inspiration to show their appreciation, enthusiasm, and love together, chanting, “Roy, Roy, Roy, Roy…” Because without advertising, bringing Roy out to the Eye of the Tiger would not have never happened.

The video does also seem to make a compelling case for regular-people-made-ads. I mean, you put a swoosh at that end of this footage, and I’m sold – on my way out to cop some new Nike kicks.

We’ve seen more examples of this type of branded utility lately, with Charmin’s Times Square toilets to Nike+(iPod). These types of branded utilities pull in customers, rather than push a message out to them. It makes a deeper connection with them or becomes more integrated in/important to their lives. So if that is the goal, then the strategy is to understand people better and discover meaningful ways in which they can contribute to their lives. Arguably this should be easier for the customers a brand already has, but sometimes these are the people that feel ignored as brand look to get more awareness, more trial, and more acquisition.

However, over the course of the two-week U.S. Open, I saw and took part in a brand executing on the idea of branded utility to near perfection. That brand was American Express. Amex has long been a sponsor of the U.S. and long had an obvious presence on the grounds; yet, these past couple of years they have leveraged a major sponsorship in a bar-setting way. Instead of being happy with logos galore and a couple of booths, they have extended this through truely valuable brand experiences…and they have made both their customers feel valued and provided utility to all tennis fans.

This year, they offered branded utility in two main places: Flushing Meadows (the tournament site) and Madison Square Park and Rockafeller Center (in Manhattan).On the Open grounds, two things (utilities) really stood out: Radios at the Open with commenting by John McEnroe and TVs for other courts for cardholders. Additionally, cardholders got access to advance ticket sales (a utility for cardholders) and the U.S. Open club for eating better food with less of a wait.

In Madison Square Park, the main attraction was their live screening of the tournament on a big screens, where on those beautiful days (which lucky for the Open organizers, all of them were) people gathered to watch together. They had big tourney drawsheets up as well. Additionally, however, they offered all park-goers the opportunity to get an on-site Serve Analysis from a tennis pro as well as the video tape sent with more comments. Sure the comments are the same for everyone through email, but you get and have the video forever.

So you can tell I’m a fan of how Amex made being useful a priority. My only question is: Did all this utility come at the cost of entertainment? Of course, they had an amazing on-site presence for the over 650,000 attendees (it is the most attended annual sporting event in the world). But should Amex have spent a little more money trying not to annoy the around 100 million people who tuned in (many for most days and nights) with the same Johnny Mac commercial at every break for two whole weeks of matches? (By the way, is dispute resolution the most important message for Amex to get out these days? And if so, wouldn’t have sponsoring the ball cam and challenges been more appropriate? They couldn’t have outbid chase, who now has a 5-year deal on the review cam?)

Either way, I applaud Amex – tennis clap…and it seems to be applying this same customer understanding to other areas of business. Recently I read on Zeus Jones that Amex’s iPhone price protection covers the recent drop in price.

If anyone has other example of Amex’s branded utility at the U.S. Open or otherwise, or of the exact opposition behavior or policies at Amex, please comment below. (Sorry for all the or’s. Oops I did it again.)