DG FastChannel, Springbox’s parent company, served up the commercials that played during the 2010 Super Bowl. More specifically, DG’s role was to digitally transmit the commercials to the individual broadcasters. That got me wondering about this, that and the other but mostly about ROI and web traffic stats on those top-dollar spots.

For just under a few million dollars and 30 seconds of airtime, you can jumpstart next month’s sales by 11%. That’s 250 times greater than that of a regular TV ad. Admittedly, that’s the high end, and those numbers are variable of course, based on a brand’s industry, strategy, maturity and other factors.

Automotive ads are particularly effective, with an ROI that’s almost twice that of an average TV spot. Speaking of auto ads, Honda touted its Accord Crosstour during the Super Bowl and pointed to a website that Springbox had a hand in: You can read more about our rockin’ Flash Developer Matt Skoog and the technology behind our Crosstour Flash module here.

I was, however, mostly interested in how the commercials affect brands’ web traffic. As it turns out, the Crosstour page views increased by 14% from one 30-second slot. Not too shabby, but surprisingly it was actually at the low end of the auto ad/pageview ratio. (CarsDirect suggests that may be because the actual vehicle only made a brief appearance and at the tail end of the commercial.) But, Hyundai’s Sonata traffic increased by a whopping 166%, from three 30-second ads. That looks like a win, but time will tell how that translates to actual vehicle sales.

Most sources agree that Super Bowl advertisers primarily strive to drive viewers to their websites these days over physical locations. There are even big players (Pepsi) who decided to forego the Super Bowl scene altogether this year and instead put that chunk of change toward internet campaigns. Double score for the interactive industry!

I was lucky enough to attend TEDxAustin this past weekend where I heard from a number of presenters in a variety of fields. While the theme of the event was Play Big, the speakers that focused on the little things stuck with me the longest.

Chris Shipley of Guidewire Group made a compelling argument for the agility and innovations of small business, noting that we are often the most creative when we are resource-constrained.

Doug Ulman of LIVESTRONG shared the story of his diagnosis and explained how important the little yellow wristband has been in reaching out and uniting cancer survivors.

Steven Tomlinson of the Acton School of Business took us through the unique career journey that has led him to a place of success and more importantly fulfillment. He explained that rather than worrying about our next big move, or chasing after a silver bullet, we should focus on our passions and commit to consistent incremental effort.

Carrie Contey, a prenatal and perinatal psychologist, shared some research about neurological development that highlighted the importance of pauses. She explained that as we learn and develop we not only need to have experiences, but also the downtime to process them. To that end as adults, we need to appreciate the value of being, not just doing.

When recited plainly, many of these observations may seem obvious, and indeed some of them are, but that doesn’t make them any less powerful. As a creative working in a technical and often fast-paced industry, it is all too easy to forget about the little things, to ignore the power of simple ideas, or to not value time spent just being. So my takeaway from TEDxAustin is to put more focus on the little stuff, because I got a great reminder of just how big that stuff can be.

It’s no secret that the social revolution has completely changed communication, marketing and — let’s face it — life as we know it. It is now commonplace (even natural) for us to live out loud on the World Wide Web and leave a trail of lifestreams as we go. We look to the social sphere as our outlet for entertainment, information sharing, recommendations, connecting with long lost friends. It’s a no-brainer that, if folks are willing to use social media for all of these activities inherent to daily life, the next step in this crazy game is social commerce.

It’s clear that consumers are already willing to at least consider making purchases in their respective social worlds — especially if there is a special incentive to do so. On the flipside, companies in the social space are eager to take engagement with their customers to the next level and monetize their social marketing programs by introducing conversions to the mix. Some trailblazers are already taking this leap, and the formula for success is still being determined. As we dive into the world of social ROI, here are some best practices we bequeath to our clients to help them pioneer this new frontier.

Create a value proposition. If consumers want to shop on your website, they will go to your website. Social shopping should be a unique experience that provides exclusive benefits for participation, such as elite discounts, product offerings and VIP benefits. If customers receive a reward they cannot find anywhere else from the experience, it is likely they will partake.

Set reasonable and measurable goals. Consider creating a pilot experience with a limited product selection rather than your entire product line. Continuously optimize the program based on user participation and conversion. And articulate clear success metrics up front that promote a long-term goal and can be consistently monitored. It is in this way you’ll be able to keep your eye on the prize a midst of sea of social clutter.

Be “one of the guys.” Don’t forget that the primary reason consumers use the social sphere is to connect with people. As a brand in that space, you should have a humanized identity that folks can relate to. You want to be the cool kid at the party with the new sneakers that everyone wants to know more about, not the awkward stranger in the corner trying to sell a ShamWow out of a briefcase. Make it easy and attractive to your consumers to participate in your experience, and be sure to respond to them when they reach out to you. Use native functionality so you blend seamlessly into the user’s daily experience.

We’re still trying to crack the code for success in social commerce, but we’ve got at least a few of the numbers down.

The earthquake that struck Haiti was (and remains) a heart-wrenching catastrophe by any measure. When the news first broke, the outpouring of aid — in mass or by individual text message — was an illustration of human compassion. But help is still needed. As a designer, I wanted to lend my talents to the cause.

Thread & Water is a group of designers working with The Water Project, a non-profit dedicated to bringing relief to communities around the world who suffer needlessly from lack of access to clean water.  On the Thread & Water site, you can purchase T-shirts and prints created by designers. I contributed a design to the site. All of the proceeds go toward providing clean drinking water for Haitians affected by the earthquake. You can follow Thread & Water on Facebook and Twitter.

It's a worthy cause. Every donation helps, as the rebuilding process is likely to take years.

Toward the end of last year, the Springbox Rich Media team was tasked with building an interactive 3D view of the interior of Honda’s CrossTour model. The client wanted a Flash application that was flexible enough to handle additional vehicle models moving forward. This presented an interesting challenge because the 3D had to be interchangeable as well.

After reviewing all of their requirements, I decided to build an XML-driven Flash application that utilized the Away3D open source Flash library. The creation of the application went a lot smoother than I had expected. I had used Papervision (an alternative 3D Flash library) in the past, but I wanted to explore something different. I have to say that, after building this application, I’m a huge fan of Away3D.

The 3D engine performance is great, the documentation is very clear and the implementation of the code is very logical. The toughest part of the entire project was finding a way to plot points inside of the 3D view of the interior. After that was sorted out, it was smooth sailing. Check out the live app for yourself.

For those looking to explore other options in the 3D world of Flash, I highly recommend Away3D.