Some cool sightings this week!  First, “The Judy Cup” ...

One of client Judy Gruen‘s quotes is featured on a Starbucks cup as part of their The Way I See It series.  Since learning about this, I’d been secretly scouring the Grande cups looking for a souvenir.  So I had to laugh out loud when I read her column, Woman Walks into a Starbucks:

I didn’t want to draw attention to myself, but I realized my behavior was decidedly peculiar and bound to attract attention. I walked into a Starbucks with my friend Laura, but instead of waiting patiently in line for an organic, Ethiopain Antigua Supremo (refined with vibrant flavors and refreshing acidity), we boldly strode to the head of the line, where I began to riffle through the stack of grande sized cups on the counter. I rejected the first one I pulled, and the second, but I eagerly commandeered the third cup, and the sixth and the ninth cups in the stack. I thought about asking permission to take them, but the manager had told me on the phone to come in and get them. Besides, I felt a certain sense of entitlement.

Unfortunately, an actual paying customer (unlike a cup pirate such as myself) had been watching me with suspicion. As we turned to leave, cups in hand, he shouted, “Hey, what are you doing, taking those cups?"I didn’t realize Starbucks had undercover security.

(Read her entire hilarious column here.)

I had better luck at my local Starbucks, the manager also gave me the “What the heck are you doing?” look, but as soon as I explained that one of the quotations was written by a client, she wanted to hear all about it!  Last week when my boyfriend dropped in, she handed him one of the cups.  The dear hearts had been looking for “The Judy Cup” for weeks and had saved it for me (mind you, I go to Starbucks a couple times a month tops, so I was impressed).

Voila!

Next, my clients over at Snow City Cafe are no strangers to press coverage.  They’re often written up as the place to eat breakfast when visiting Anchorage and consistently win awards as a locals favorite as well.  As I was checking my mail yesterday, I popped in to say hi to my neighbors and drop off a fresh King Salmon steak my dad caught in Homer last week, they pulled me in “Look at this!” and proceeded to show me the cutest illustration featured in this month’s Runner’s World. 

(Click to embiggen)

And last but not least, MommyAuctions has an incredibly awesome write up in Globe & Mail by Rebecca Eckler, author of “Knocked Up, Confessions of a Hip Mother to Be” and columnist for the national Canadian paper.  Read about it on MommyAuctions.  OH!  And MommyAuctions has a new MySpace page so be sure to check them out!

A little over a month ago one of my oldest and dearest friends, Heather Correa, forwarded an article published in the Seattle PI that featured stories of moms-turned-entrepreneurs (or “mamapreneurs”—love that).  Heather’s business—which features the All Weather Woobee blankets, burps and bibs—has grown from a small operation to an incredible success story with a celebrity following. 

It is the year of the baby-biz boom.

Shortly after, I was contacted by Samantha Stack, founder of MommyAuctions.com.  I was intimidated by the thought of working on a complex community auction site, but she had that spark and enthusiasm that screams this is going to be a great client.  And by great client, I mean one that is deeply committed, cares passionately about her vision, remains open and flexible to input and ideas, and is just generally an all-around likable and approachable person.

My gut was absolutely correct. 

Her idea to build a niche auction site for moms, by moms, combines many of the hottest trends in business today.  Simple. Brilliant.  And powered by a passionate, savvy and ruthlessly energetic entrepreneur. 

As soon as I became pregnant with my daughter, Savannah, I began obsessing over baby products. I searched the web for product reviews, information, and of course, the best prices! During this search, I noticed that there are a ton of maternity, baby, and children’s stores, but no dedicated place for moms to go to buy and sell each others items. Of course we all know of the auction powerhouses that are out there, but I found that they were extremely cluttered. There are so many categories that it is a little overwhelming and frankly disorganized!

Then, after I had my daughter I realized that I didn’t need half of the things we bought for her!  I was getting frustrated with putting things in storage that I knew I didn’t need or want. So, that’s when I thought of Mommy Auctions. I thought it would be great to have an online auction community where moms alone are the demographic and we could all share product reviews, mommy advice, sell the products that we no longer needed, or buy products both new and used.

Mommy Auctions is a clutter-free place to buy and sell maternity, baby, & children’s items galore! This is a community for moms, not just an auction site. It was started by a mom for moms, so we know what you want and need!

I look forward to watching this business and community grow and wish Samantha much success.

Visit mommyauctions.com

Kevin Bacon’s SixDegrees.org places 7th in Marketing Sherpa’s 2007 Viral Marketing Hall of Fame.

Endeavor Creative is credited as the agency, which is a huge honor.  However—it was the direction, vision, and brilliance of the talented marketing minds at Network for Good that deserve full credit for making this campaign what it is. 

I have great clients, kinda makes my job easy truth be told.

I love to see great marketing and design translate into results.  But it couldn’t be more satisfying to know that the success of this project means that a lot of good is being done.  One donation at a time. 

Buzz Generated:
Strong media coverage (USA Today, CNN, Access Hollywood, US Weekly, In Touch, OK Magazine, People, Entertainment Weekly, ‘The View,’ ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show,’ Morning Radio Tour in 20 markets, ‘The Tonight Show,’ AOL, Associate Press.

Specific (Goal-Related) Campaign Results:
500,000 visitors to the site; $550,000 in donations to charity; 4,500 people fundraising for their cause and using our tips/suggestions; 1,300 AIM Pages created; 50 celebrities on board—all in less than three months.

Biggest Learning:
That celebrities drive traffic but not donations—what made this go viral was people being celebrities for their own cause.