Mind you, I have nothing to do with advertising at the Baltimore Sun, but this is too juicy to not comment on:
MGH, a marketing firm, took out a full-page ad in the Monday paper to highlight its expertise in social media marketing. (See above) In an eloquent bar graph, MGH depicted its Facebook fans (aka "likes") at 2,174 -- far more than 10 other competing agencies.
MGH basically called them out, by name. Yowza! Of course, I first learned of this on MGH's Facebook page, which had attracted some great discussion on the ad, so they must be doing something right -- and hey, one could argue the ad worked to a certain extent. It got people talking. Some even wondered why a modern marketing agency bothered advertising in the "declining" Baltimore Sun. Ouch. Hey - don't shoot the messenger, folks.
But it gets better: Matthew Pugh, who works at R2integrated, the firm with the second most fans, laid down a challenge on MGH's Facebook page, which MGH apparently accepted. And Baltimore Social Media Club jumped in on the action! All we need is a steel cage, Randy "Macho Man" Savage and Ms. Elizabeth to crash the event!
Here's part of the exchange on the MGH Facebook page clipped below: