I've been called a lot of things in my 25-year PR career-some of them unprintable. But no one's ever called me an "energy healer." Recently, I reconnected with a colleague who actually answers to that title.

Lately I've been hearing Gotye's "Somebody That I Used To Know" a lot, in fact a bit too much. So, it's not too surprising that Gotye's song got me thinking about brands, marketing and consumers. After all, understanding consumer relationships is key to successful marketing. And perhaps we can learn a bit from Gotye's lyrics.

Apologies for the Robbie Williams/Oasis mashed-up headline. The mid-Nineties just called and they want their songs back. There has been a lot of chatter lately about brands becoming publishers and, more specifically, turning themselves into entertainment channels. In this article, I'll look at the reasons why this makes sense and try to explain how brands can transform themselves into entertainment channels, easily.

The nature of trends is to die out-especially on television. So last Earth Day, I was amazed to see Captain Planet, the star of the 1990s TV series "Captain Planet and the Planeteers," trending worldwide on Twitter. Don't get me wrong-I love Cap. He was one of my favorite "stars" to work with when I was vice president of PR at Turner Broadcasting. After all, he had great hair (how could you not love that green mullet?), a catchy theme song, and a message you could really get behind-and not just because it was my job.

Duran Duran's "Hungry Like the Wolf" seems like an appropriate song for this week and perhaps captures some of the sentiment I've been hearing in the Twitter-sphere, blogosphere and across the social web about Facebook's acquisition of Instagram. The cacophony ranges from backlash in the Instagram community about the app being gobbled up by the wolf [Facebook], Facebook overpaying for a company that has no revenue and another group wondering if Facebook is crazy ... like a fox.

Originally, this column was going to be a fun, snarky piece about big-budget Hollywood boondoggles, like Heaven's Gate, Ishtar, Waterworld and, now, John Carter.

How a kids' network spoke up against bullying

Perhaps it was a late-night re-run of "Gomer Pyle" playing in the background that got me thinking about the wisdom of "shazam." And just maybe Gomer was onto something with all his shazaming.

It's awards season-which means we're seeing a lot of Brand Clooney, Brand Jolie-Pitt, and Brand Gaga strolling red carpets and answering the timeless question, "Who are you wearing?" Of course, not every celebrity can be described as a brand (Brand Streep? Not so much), but the combination of instant recognition, clearly defined assets, and ownership of one's own image is a powerful tool in a bottom-line-driven industry.

If you were one of the 110 million people parked in front of the TV Sunday night to watch the New England Patriots play against the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLVI, then you have a lot to discuss with your coworkers on Monday. The post-Super Bowl buzz is usually 10% game plays and 90% commercials. Why are they so memorable? Why so noteworthy and why always the center of attention the day after the big game?