Marketing

Guy Kawasaki
How to Avoid Gullibility

GuyKawasaki

8 Feb 2010 | 3:45 pm

We’ve all been sucked into doing something stupid, right? Fortunately, Steven Greenspan has written a book called Annals of Gullibility. In its conclusion he explains how to avoid gullibility, and I’ve provided a synopsis for you. Read the full story at the American Express Open Forum. More on psychology if you need the advice.
How to Be Empathetic

GuyKawasaki

4 Feb 2010 | 10:24 pm

By definition, good marketers are empathetic. That is, they have a capacity to understand and care for the needs of others. Bruna Martinuzzi explains how to be empathetic over at the American Express Open Forum.
How to Not Be Annoying on Twitter

GuyKawasaki

4 Feb 2010 | 10:19 pm

Amber MacArthur explains how to not be annoying on Twitter over at the American Express Open Forum. Sage advice for you to develop a great reputation and following on Twitter. More Twitter tips.
The Elements of Guyle: British Blogging

GuyKawasaki

27 Jan 2010 | 10:06 pm

Want to make your blog classier? You should blog like a Brit. I explain how to do this in ten easy steps.
How to follow the Apple announcement

GuyKawasaki

27 Jan 2010 | 7:56 am

Follow the Apple announcement at Apple.alltop. We aggregate over 200 sources there.

MarketingVOX - The Voice of Online Marketing
It's a Mobile World: How Does Search Adapt?

9 Feb 2010 | 9:30 am

Mobile SEO, still a nascent industry as it is, is getting even trickier. New developments in the mobile industry - such as growing mobile advertising opportunities and technologies, new...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/marketingvox/rss/~4/_jP4Rekl-1w" height="1" width="1"/>
AccuWeather Relaunches with Custom Content Ad Opps

9 Feb 2010 | 9:24 am

AccuWeather is relaunching its weather site next week with a streamlined site and the opportunity for advertisers to create custom content. It is making the new site available for preview as well...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/marketingvox/rss/~4/Xz9NSLpo16c" height="1" width="1"/>
Siri Finds Local Businesses, Makes Reservations

9 Feb 2010 | 9:21 am

Siri, a spin-off from Standford University, is releasing an app that marries cognitive software with voice-activated search. The result: a smarter search function that takes into account the users'...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/marketingvox/rss/~4/kYH5QQ52h5A" height="1" width="1"/>
Ad Network Use Grows as Marketers Promote Brands Online

9 Feb 2010 | 9:16 am

Sixty-nine percent of media planners and agencies now use online advertising networks as part of their digital ad buys - a 24 percent increase in the past 18 months, according to a new study...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/marketingvox/rss/~4/_VFKMlPPmuI" height="1" width="1"/>
Teens Text 10 Times per Hour: Nielsen

9 Feb 2010 | 9:14 am

American teenagers send an average of 10 text messages per hour they are not in school or sleeping, according to research by The Nielsen Company. By analyzing more than 40,000 monthly U.S. mobile...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/marketingvox/rss/~4/K7bD8Q5WPRY" height="1" width="1"/>

Neuromarketing
Cookie Framing

Roger Dooley

9 Feb 2010 | 5:34 am

Years ago, when The Tonight Show ruled late-night TV and when all the guests weren’t celebrities promoting their latest book, movie, or TV show, host Johnny Carson interviewed the Girl Scout who sold the most cookies that year. This young lady, Markita Andrews, set a cookie-sales record that has yet to be broken. [...] CommentsThe title of this post caught my eye immediately when it popped ... by Jon
Post-Super Bowl Briefing

Roger Dooley

8 Feb 2010 | 6:36 am

Very soon, we will be subjected to a variety of neuromarketing-based opinions on which Super Bowl 2010 ads worked, and which didn’t. While we are awaiting these analyses, I thought I’d point readers at a good article on one kind of neuromarketing study methodology by WIRED writer Alexis Madrigal. It’s accurate, largely devoid [...] CommentsHi Roger- Thanks for the post. You are correct that we are in ... by Ron Wright
Neuromarketing Foes Use Subliminal Text?

Roger Dooley

2 Feb 2010 | 5:08 am

Yesterday I wrote about the latest anti-neuromarketing flap in Guard Your Reptilian Brain! While researching that post, I found an interesting spinoff at another site, Progressives, South Bend. I initially couldn’t find the text “neuromarketing” on that page. When I searched the page text, I found what looked like a short horizontal [...] CommentsGreat catch Roger. As someone very famous once said : Judgment ... by christophe morinhahaha, and I even mentioned subliminals in my comment ... by Sculptor?!?Plus 2 more...
Guard Your Reptilian Brain!

Roger Dooley

1 Feb 2010 | 4:28 am

Every year or so, some fuzzy-thinking critic reads an article about neuromarketing, becomes extremely agitated, and tries to raise the alarm about marketers turning consumers into mind-controlled zombies. The latest push of the neuro-panic button began with an article on a site called Truthout (fresh out of truth, perhaps?). Truthout seems to be a [...] CommentsThe writers from Truthout are not fully aware that the ... by CindyLet's be fair. To those who don't understand something, it's ... by Brendon ClarkPlus 7 more...
WIRED Throwing Biometric Super Bowl Party

Roger Dooley

29 Jan 2010 | 10:21 am

Every year, there is a burst of neuromarketing-related activity coinciding with the Super Bowl. After all, that game features commercials that people actually watch, and the cost of airing each ad is the highest of any program throughout the entire year. One staple of Super Bowl Sunday is the party – millions will [...] Comments*reposted to my blog* Thanks Roger! by CindyI am a fan of neuroscience and marketing and am glad that there ... by CindyPlus 2 more...

Influential Marketing
Twiangulate Lets You Follow Your Followers' Followers

Rohit

9 Feb 2010 | 12:12 am

Let me go on the record to say that if you happen to be a vendor of some type of social networking solution or software that would be useful for an agency like Ogilvy, hands down one of your most effective methods of advertising has to be to target the Ogilvy network on Facebook with a customized ad. I have seen several ads like this for solutions and find myself always clicking on them - not because they say Ogilvy but because I presume that someone has done their homework and identified that whatever they are promoting is particularly relevant for someone who works at an agency like ours.
The Emasculated Man, Super Bowl Ad Themes & 5 Best Strategic Ads

Rohit

8 Feb 2010 | 7:31 am

For several years now, I've taken the slightly different approach to doing a recap post of Super Bowl ads and instead of focusing on which ones I thought were the best or most entertaining, I try to break them down from a marketing point of view to share some lessons for anyone in marketing who may not have been able to afford the $2+ million dollar price tag to experiment on the Super Bowl on their own (ie - most of us!). This year, there were lots of examples of what NOT to do, as there usually are. So to start, here are a few major themes across this year's Super Bowl ads, including a…
The 52nd Grammys Offer Hope For The Future Of Music

Rohit

31 Jan 2010 | 10:01 pm

Last night was an unlikely stage to unveil the future of music. The 52nd Annual Grammys were on the last Sunday in January as they have been many times before ... only this time they were up head to head against the NFL Pro Bowl being played for the first time in the week before the Super Bowl instead of the week after. Add to that the continued financial woes of the music industry and perception of recording studios as relics of a time past and you had the perfect recipe for a show that was at best mildly entertaining, and at worst completely irrelevant. That's what I might have thought a…
The Undiscovered Marketing Potential Of A USB Stick

Rohit

26 Jan 2010 | 3:58 am

My laptop doesn't have a CD-ROM drive. Like many owners of smaller notebooks, I don't see the value of having that piece built into my computer as I would rather save the space and have a lighter and smaller machine. As netbooks become more and more popular and the rumored tablet becomes a reality (either from Apple or other manufacturers), larger computers with built-in CD-ROM drives will be less and less common. Despite this shift, most content you can purchase today is only offered in two forms of distribution. You can either download something off the web, or you can buy a physical disk…
Social Media & The Axe Murderer: How Privacy Is Evolving Online

Rohit

25 Jan 2010 | 10:30 am

Everyone knows there are certain pieces of information that you just don't share online, right? What if you used Twitter or Foursquare to broadcast your location at a bar, and an axe murderer was reading your stream? You just signed your own death sentence. Or how about sharing details about where you live and or pictures of your family vacation, or even your innermost thoughts and emotions? All are things that are getting easier and easier to share online, both purposefully AND inadvertently. Combine this with a new generation used to a different standard of privacy and you have a recipe for…

Make the Logo Bigger
You’re a quart low.

mtlb

9 Feb 2010 | 10:05 am

Arla ecological cottage cheese has virtual cow udders. I guess it beats going door to door squirting people with a real cow. Now, go have fun.(By Perfect Fools.)
The flyover country edition

mtlb

9 Feb 2010 | 7:54 am

The pre-Super Bowl hype edition was recorded before the game, which means we didn’t say much about it, much. The flyover reference comes from the thought that more creatives should spend time with their audience viewing the final product while it runs, instead of listening to focus groups and planners before the concept stage. Keeps you grounded; least it does me. Toyota gets an ass kicking for its PR moves, while Second Life gets a second chance along with Foursquare (the latter two being two max-hype trends I just can’t get behind.) Jim Mitchem of Smash Communications, Dirk Singer of…
Super Bowl scraps.

mtlb

8 Feb 2010 | 11:32 pm

Not every part of the country saw the same ads, which is normal. Regional ad buys happen all the time, and Sunday’s game was no different. This series of :15 second CarMax.com spots from BooneOakley ran everywhere but the Northeast or Pacific NW. They feature the infamous prairie dog shock gag as part of their animal kingdom series. (2010 model also includes the optional Capuchin monkey, boxer or cockatoo sport packages.) Props to carmax for not releasing ahead of time. I would’ve rather seen these than a few of the ones I can no longer unsee now (*cough, cough* Skechers).
I’ll get back to ya.

mtlb

8 Feb 2010 | 10:17 pm

As real ya think it is. According to one blogger, this Wyoming, MN outdoor really is, even though nobody has claimed ownership. No Photoshop here under penalty of swear to God on a stack of bibles. But, since we’re asking a past POTUS hypothetical, screw Bush, I’d vote to bring Teddy Roosevelt back. See what he could do with Mr. VW Punch The West. Harness nuclear energy? HA! We’ve harnessed Jurassic Park™ technology and are currently homegrowing old school Real Man™ leadership somewhere in a secret lab.*(Via.)*Just need to hurry up and invent the super speedy DNA > grows to adult in…
I’ll have what she’s having.

mtlb

8 Feb 2010 | 10:06 pm

I already do. Eggs. Six of them in an omelette every day, and I still can’t do what she does. (Yes, eggs have their own Egg Board as well as a commercial.) I watched this thing over and over at first trying to spot the cgi, but then after someone claiming to be Lucy Romberg commented there that it was all real and no cgi, I watched in awe. Eggs—it’s what’s for breakfast.

Culture-Buzz
Search is the New Art of Storytelling

Angela Natividad

9 Feb 2010 | 4:37 am

Super Bowl Sunday's come and gone, but we're still reeling over the sublime TV debut of Google's "Search Stories" campaign. "Parisian Love," which aired in the third quarter of the game, relates a classic story — an American finding love in Paris — in a fresh new way: the language of search. The effort's interesting for a few reasons. To start with, Google went against common wisdom that if you're gonna blow cash on a Super Bowl spot, it better be on something incendiary and new. "Parisian Love" has been circulating the 'net for the last three months, and the positive responses it…
Don't Date; Get Down to the Digital Nitty-Gritty

Angela Natividad

9 Feb 2010 | 4:14 am

Being shocked over sexting is so last year. Literally. So what to do once the horror wears off? Admit it's the new face of romance, at least according to Red Tettemer. The Philly-based agency concludes "the world has moved past the quaint ritual of getting to know one another face to face." This means flowers, chocolate and dinner are dated analog rituals, and you should probably leave them to people that still have '90s haircuts. This year, grab the future by the balls and sext with Red Tettemer. You heard us: sext with Red Tettemer. From now through Valentine's Day, RedTettemer.com will be…
Pretty in Pink: The Fiat 500

Angela Natividad

8 Feb 2010 | 4:06 am

Hoping to draw more female clients (and kindly drain shelves of a product that chafes our eyeballs), Fiat introduces Pink My Ride, in which 131 bottles of pink nail polish are exhausted to paint a white Fiat 500 the colour of Pepto Bismol. This is compelling, if only because you don't have to witness the painstaking effort of one peppy-looking guy, varnishing a car with a teeny nail brush, in real-time. It takes us two hours to paint our own nails, and it took him four days to finish the Fiat; we bet he was vomming en rose by the end of it. Painfully adorable work. But — because the world…
App Saves Life of Haiti Aid Worker

Angela Natividad

5 Feb 2010 | 12:27 am

Here's a story that probably keeps Steve Jobs' toes warm at night: one Dan Woolley, an aid worker in Haiti, credited his ability to survive under rubble for 65 hours to the American Heart Association's Pocket First Aid & CPR App. When the story was picked up by CNN, he called the $3.99 application a "high-tech version of a Swiss Army knife that enabled me to treat my own injuries, track time, stay awake and stay alive." Impressive, given that our own iPhones won't even stay powered for six hours' worth of Bejeweled sessions. The resulting coverage hiked the AHA app to the top 50 paid apps in…
Playboy's Next Cover Girl Shall Rise from the 'Net

Angela Natividad

5 Feb 2010 | 12:05 am

Ahh, the internet finally comes full-circle. Playboy, which represents one of the classier ways you can sell your skin without gaining too much skank cred, has made it possible for aspiring cover girls to build their books on the 'net. CastingPlayboy.com, created by Grey/Buenos Aires, sports a virtual photographer who'll "shoot" girls in their own depressing little 40-square-meter studio apartments. Strut for dude while he records your best angles. At the end of this lonely pretend photo shoot, girls can compile their own digital books and invite friends to rate them. The books remain on…

Photostream from Daylife

NYT: Media and Advertising
Publishers Win a Bout in E-Book Price Fight

By MOTOKO RICH

9 Feb 2010 | 9:15 am

Publishers have managed to take some control — at least temporarily — of how much consumers pay for their content.
Findings: Will You Be E-Mailing This Column? It’s Awesome

By JOHN TIERNEY

9 Feb 2010 | 8:54 am

A University of Pennsylvania study found that readers of news in print and online had more exalted tastes than might be expected.
Advertising: Do-It-Yourself Super Ads

By STUART ELLIOTT

9 Feb 2010 | 8:36 am

Some of the most-talked-about ads during the Super Bowl broadcast were those created or suggested by consumers, not advertising agencies.
N.C.A.A. Fails to Stop Licensing Lawsuit

By PETE THAMEL

8 Feb 2010 | 11:08 pm

A district court judge denied a motion to dismiss a lawsuit headed by Ed O’Bannon and arguing that athletes should be compensated when their images are used.
Newsstand Sales and Circulation Fall for Magazines

By STEPHANIE CLIFFORD

8 Feb 2010 | 9:07 pm

Newsstand sales of magazines plummeted in the last half of 2009, helping to send total circulation lower.

AdPulp
Center Stage With Portland's Most Successful Communicator

9 Feb 2010 | 8:49 am

PORTLAND--It's only 5:30 but already Jimmy Mak's, the Pearl District jazz club, is full of people eager to hear from the silver fox. Before Dan Wieden ever takes the stage, it's a standing room only affair. So much for the idea that people don't like advertising, or the men and women who dedicate their lives to the practice. Tonight's event is hosted by Portland City Club and Portland Monthly magazine. Portland Monthly's editor-in-chief, Randy Gragg, with mic in hand welcomes Wieden and starts into his round of prepared questions about his relationship with David Kennedy, his work at Caldera,…
Refresh Everything, Including Your Browser

9 Feb 2010 | 7:30 am

Pepsi's decision to avoid running Gatorade, Pepsi, Diet Pepsi or Mountain Dew spots during the Super Bowl and to instead concentrate on a social media campaign with charitable giving at its center, seems to be working wonders. Atlanta Constitution Journal reports: According to Nielsen Co., PepsiCo is getting more attention on the Web than any other advertiser except Focus on the Family. PepsiCo got 21.6 percent of the online chatter about Super Bowl advertisers over the last two months, Nielsen said -- about 10 times more than Coca-Cola. "I've been doing digital for a long time," said Bonin…
SE Toyota Dealers Put The Brakes On Some TV Spots

8 Feb 2010 | 3:46 pm

I once had a client that knew her brand was going to be the subject of a negative TV news story on a local station she advertised on. Her first instinct was to buy even more spots to counterbalance the story. I'm not sure whether it would've helped or hurted, but I do remember my Account Director tried to talk her out of buying more spots, to let some time pass. In Georgia, Florida and a few other states, an organization called the Southeast Toyota Dealers pool their money to buy time. They're not happy with the coverage they've been getting from ABC, and are taking it out on local ABC…
Be A Man, Drive A Dodge Equipped With FLO TV

8 Feb 2010 | 12:23 pm

Did you notice the hen-pecked male theme last night? If not, take a second look.
Awesome + Awesome = Awesomer

8 Feb 2010 | 12:11 pm

This is one of my favorite spots from last night. It's the perfect product combo to advertise during the Munchie Bowl, and it's hard to turn away from humans pretending to be Sea World dolphins.

W+K PORTLAND
Super Bowl Sunday

Studio

8 Feb 2010 | 8:38 am

Coca-Cola "Hard Times"Creative Directors: Hal Curtis, Sheena BradySenior Agency Producer: Matt HunnicuttAccount Supervisor: Ryan PetersonCoca-Cola "Sleepwalker"Creative Directors Hal Curtis, Sheena BradyArt Director Patty OrlandoCopywriter Dylan LeeSenior Agency Producer Matt HunnicuttAccount Supervisor Ryan PetersonEA Dante’s Inferno “Hell Awaits"Creative Directors: Jason Bagley/Eric BaldwinCopywriter: Charles Gschwend/Kevin JonesArt Director: Dominic Orlando/Adam HeathcottProducer: Endy HedmanAccount: Team Becca MilbyExecutive Creative Directors: Susan…
Super Bowl

Studio

6 Feb 2010 | 7:37 am

This is an exciting year. Wieden+Kennedy have four Super Bowl Spots airing on Sunday. Two for Coke, one for EA and one for Dodge. Portland's KGW interviews Jason Bagley and Eric Baldwin, creative directors, for the EA Dante's Inferno Spot. This is EA first ever Super Bowl spot. The blogger boxes mentioned in this interview and additional kits are detailed here on Studio's blog. Huge hugs go out to our Business Affairs group. They are the ones who work with the networks to clear all images, words and tag lines.
Haiti Posters

Studio

5 Feb 2010 | 9:48 am

There was lots of great energy in the lobby last night. Thanks everyone for getting the word out. The Studio's effort and big hearts shined once again. For those of you who could not attend, or are miles away, you can still help out Haiti by purchasing a poster on the TEASE site for $25. Which mean $50 to Mercy Crops, since W+K is generously matching all the funds raised. wkstudio.bigcartel.com
Gotta Love Our Studio

Studio

4 Feb 2010 | 12:18 pm

Walker and Curtis burning the midnight oil, show time tonight 5:30. Go to W+K Goodness for more behind the scenes. Show up early, these posters are beautiful and will sell out.
Find the key to happiness at WKE

Studio

2 Feb 2010 | 1:35 pm

This is a big week at WKE. We have all the usual weekly programming, along with new monthly episodes of Through the Lens (with M. Blash—featuring a short film he made with Rita Ackermann and Lizzi Bugatsos of Gang Gang Dance), A rare team up of Story Time and Mixtapes with brothers Pat and Nick deWitt, and of course, WK Radio Presents. Plus Becky Stark and Ariana Delawari and Mia Doi Todd find the key to happiness on Califunya. Read on for the details, then head straight to WKE for hours of internet enjoyment. Califunya Episode 4: The Key Becky Stark finds the key to happiness. What’s it…

Buzz Marketing for Technology
B2B Marketing: Trust + Community = ROI

Paul Dunay

9 Feb 2010 | 8:34 am

Trust is not a new thing when it comes to marketing and communications as evidenced by one of the most awaited studies in the communications world is always the annual Edelman Public Relations Trust Barometer. Trust is not a new thing in the world of sales either – its a fact that people enjoy buying from people that they trust and in B2B Marketing part of our job is to shorten the time spent building trust so sales can have an easier time and focus on selling. Social Media changes that and elevates Trust to the individual level. This is actually good news for the B2B Marketer. We get…
B2B Marketing Content: Lure or Lasso?

Paul Dunay

4 Feb 2010 | 8:43 am

I picked this saying up from Gary Vaynerchuk’s new book called Crush It. I really liked the idea of content having dual purposes and not just the purpose of posting to your website or blog. The lure part is really about a steady stream of content that is consistent in its frequency which is why as people come to depend on it brings people back to your site time and time again. You can call it Inbound Marketing (like the folks at HubSpot do) or you could call it Content Marketing (like the folks at Junta42 do) but whatever you call it its the basis for all your online activity. The lasso…
Social Media is not a campaign it’s a commitment!

Paul Dunay

2 Feb 2010 | 8:47 am

A while back I created a post called – There is no “campaign” in Social Media because when marketers use the word “campaign,” it tends to suggest an initiative to get a message out to a targeted group of constituents. It also implies there will be a beginning and, somewhere down the road, an ending. And I still believe that is the case … And despite a number of comments I got about that post both positive and negative – I think I stopped short of really nailing the issue which is – social media is more than a campaign it a commitment! Its a commitment…
Influencers vs Advocates in B2B Marketing

Paul Dunay

28 Jan 2010 | 8:35 am

According to Wikipedia – Influencer Marketing is a form of marketing that has emerged from a variety of recent practices and studies, in which focus is placed on specific key individuals (or types of individual) rather than the target market as a whole. It identifies the individuals that have influence over potential buyers, and orients marketing activities around these influencers. In my own words – Influencers are individuals that write about Avaya but they also write about Cisco and Siemens in social media or otherwise. They are non partial and therefore they write about many…
Why is Google Scared and What it means for B2B Marketing!

Paul Dunay

26 Jan 2010 | 8:23 am

At a recent dinner with a buddy of mine from Microsoft (who helped launch Bing) – I learned a lot more about the search market and a very important trend that can effect the future of B2B Marketing. When you think about the search behavior of the average person online – we are mostly conditioned to search in very routine ways like pulling up a Google search page, using the toolbar in your browser etc. And we tend not to stray from that behavior now. It’s almost an unconscious choice for most of us. But when it comes to search on a mobile device we mostly use very specific…

JasonKeath.com
Cottonelle Almost Gets Social

Jason

22 Jan 2010 | 7:21 am

I really enjoyed the Cottonelle “How do you roll?” commercial when I first saw it last week, asking people how they prefer to present their paper, over or under (apparently the answer is over). But, for a campaign that can get people to the internet pretty easily, their integrated social media, if you can call it that, reminds me more of any empty roll that needs to be replaced. Yes they have two of their commercial’s characters on Twitter, and a Facebook page, and the poll itself with a nice map of results. But these small efforts are social for social’s sake with…
Social Media is Just a Hobby

Jason

19 Jan 2010 | 5:15 pm

Jason Falls delivers a little Gary Vaynerchuk impersonation at Social Fresh Nashville, a social media conference for marketers. A good portion of Social Fresh spoke to what social media can really do for business, including Jason’s talk on “Moving the Needle, Social Media for the Bottom Line”. In the quick video above, taken at the Social Fresh photo opp zone, Jason recaps why the social media purists (dirty hippies and treehuggers) do not get that if social media is not making you money, it is just a hobby.
Chipotle’s Organic Social Strategy

Jason

16 Jan 2010 | 5:47 am

While I was in Florida preparing for Social Fresh Tampa on Feb 8th, I got the chance to meet and speak with Chris Arnold, Director of Communications for Chipotle Mexican Grill, and we discussed their slow, but deliberate, adoption of social media as a corporate controlled marketing channel. From taking over a customer created 500,000 fan Facebook page to supporting consumer driven blogging, Chipotle is focused on staying true to their word or mouth and earned media roots while evolving their social media efforts. Not everyone has the good fortune of a massive and committed fan base, like…
Superbowl Commercials and Youtube with Bridgestone

Jason

20 Dec 2009 | 8:54 pm

Bridgestone has had several top ranking Superbowl commercials over the last few years and has seen great return from them. From this, they have begun to see the value in sharing that media through social sites like Youtube and are beginning to actively invest in these tools and social media as a whole. Michael Fluck, Director of Brand and Retail Marketing, had a quick talk with us about this and more. Bridgestone will be attending Social Fresh Nashville, a one day social media conference for marketers, on Jan 11, 2010 One of my favorites of their Superbowl Commercials
Who Made the Biggest Media Moves in 2009?

Jason

14 Dec 2009 | 7:01 am

My take on some of the biggest splashes made by media companies in 2009. Take fair warning, this list is completely subjective and purely my take on a vast landscape of evolving media. The list is also not a “who made the most money” but more of a “who made a big impact or a big move”. Answer the poll in the sidebar to let me know what media company you think made the biggest splash in 2009. Facebook triples in size from 125 million users to 350 million. They took major steps toward becoming more open and “twitter-like“. The status stream became the focus…

I Believe in Advertising
Feltrinelli: Blah Blah

Filippo

9 Feb 2010 | 10:28 am

Ad for a book written by Daniele Luttazzi, one of the most “antiberlusconian” and controversial comedian in Italy. Advertising Agency: Tita, Milan, Italy Executive Creative Director: Giuseppe Mazza Art Director: Annalisa Martinucci Copywriter: Davide Valenti Photographer: Enzo Monzino Published: December 2009
Feltrinelli Publisher: Leash

Filippo

9 Feb 2010 | 10:03 am

Advertising Agency: Tita, Milan, Italy Executive Creative Director: Giuseppe Mazza Art Director: Annalisa Martinucci Copywriter: Davide Valenti Photographer: Enzo Monzino Published: October 2009
Snickers: Game

Filippo

9 Feb 2010 | 7:53 am

Advertising Agency: BBDO, New York, USA Director: Craig Gillespie Production: MJZ Visual Effects: MassMarket
Audi First Choice: Labyrinth

Filippo

9 Feb 2010 | 6:08 am

“Now it’s easier to get in. Audi First Choice used cars.” Advertising Agency: DDB, Milan, Italy Executive Creative Directors: Francesco Taddeucci, Luca Albanese Art Director: Mattia Montanari Copywriter: Riccardo Ciunci Post-Production: Mozart Published: February 2010
MTV: Happy End, Lie, Tongue

Filippo

9 Feb 2010 | 12:49 am

Advertising Agency: Jung von Matt/Alster, Hamburg, Germany Executive Creative Director: Armin Jochum, Götz Ulmer Art Directors: Damjan Pita, Andre Price, Johannes Riffelmacher Copywriter: Henning Robert Designers: Johannes Riffelmacher, Andre Price Illustrator: Andriy Vynogradov Typographers: Johannes Riffelmacher, Andre Price

Brand Autopsy
Fit to Flexible (the skinny edition)

johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)

8 Feb 2010 | 4:41 pm

Todd Sattersten has written a smart ebook, FIT TO FLEXIBLE, about pricing strategy. He blends together research from economists, theories from businesses strategists, and writings from journalists to concisely share four lessons on how businesses have more flexibility in pricing than ever before. FIXED TO FLEXIBLE is good lunchtime read. (Gotta love it when you can digest thought-provoking business knowledge in the time it takes to eat a turkey sandwich.) Not sure its possible to condense Todd’s message further. I like a challenge... so here’s my attempt to share the gist of FIXED TO…
Tough Love For Starbucks

johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)

26 Jan 2010 | 2:16 pm

It’s been almost two years since Starbucks jumped into the deep waters of social media with their MyStarbucksIdea.com program. This is a website where customers submit and discuss ideas on ways Starbucks can improve its business. Over 80,000 ideas have been submitted and late last year, Starbucks informed us over 50 ideas from customers have been implemented. Cool. Sounds great. Sounds impactful. But wait, let’s take a closer look at these customer-driven ideas Starbucks has "implemented." Of the 53 ideas Starbucks has "implemented," my closer look reveals only a handful of ideas, SIX to…
LINCHPIN | a dramatic reading

johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)

26 Jan 2010 | 3:16 am

Experience Seth Godin’s newest book, LINCHPIN: Are You Indispensable, like you never thought possible ... thanks to this dramatic reading by the sultry “Miss Betty.” [NOTE: The Video Blog Association of America has given this video a rating of PG-13, some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.] >> DIRECT LINK to VIDEO [NOTE: I received a free, uncorrected proof copy of LINCHPIN. However, I will spend my money to buy the hardback version.]
PRICELESS | in less than 300 words

johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)

11 Jan 2010 | 11:40 am

Next up on the “Less Than 300” project is William Poundstone’s PRICELESS. (Truth be told, ain’t no way PRICELESS can be fully summarized in less than 300 words. No way. But, I’m giving it a shot.) PRICELESS | summarized in less than 300 words PRICELESS is an advanced studies book on pricing practices, perfect for MBA students, product marketers, and entrepreneurs. The author, William Poundstone, draws from studies by renowned economists to dive deep into the psychophysics of money to explain how the “mundane act of naming a price ... turns out to be a surprisingly tricky…
Less Than 300 Project | TRADE-OFF

johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)

8 Jan 2010 | 2:21 pm

Business books have been a mainstay topic on the Brand Autopsy blog. We’ve done straight-up reviews, shared summaries, and done inane dramatic readings. This year, I plan to share concise summaries of most every business book I read. Concise as in... less than 300 words. We kick off the Less Than 300 Project with Kevin Maney’s worthwhile book, TRADE-OFF: Why Some Things Catch On, and Others Don’t. TRADE-OFF | summarized in less than 300 words It’s common knowledge consumers make conscious decisions to trade up with some purchases and trade down with other purchases. Kevin Maney…

The Internet Strategist
Drive Blog Loyalty – How to Get Repeat Traffic

25 Jan 2010 | 1:00 am

click hereto retweet Anyone who pours sweat and tears into their blog, and actually succeeds in getting new readers as we discussed last week, should make sure it's not all wasted by finding ways to get those readers to come back! You can only do so much to build a solid, consistent and growing readership by constantly chasing new readers – you have to make sure you're keeping the old ones. Of course that starts with having good content, and many of the techniques we discussed for getting new readers will also help you keep the old ones because some of your existing readers will be found in…
Top 13 Ways to Drive Blog Readership

14 Jan 2010 | 11:05 am

click hereto retweet If you have a blog then you know that the biggest challenge next to content is readers. How do you get your audience, who are bombarded by hundreds (thousands?) of messages per day, to focus on your messages? Of course your first responsibility is providing content your audience will actually find relevant and useful. Your second responsibility is to tell them, often, that your content exists. If it sounds simple, that's because it is. There's no magic trick to building blog traffic if your content is good (and sometimes even if it isn't!) But it *is* time consuming –…
13 Must Have Blog Techniques & Tools

30 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pm

click hereto retweet Last week we talked about basic blogging tools and techniques you should pretty much always have. But when you think of maximizing what your blog can do for you there are some other tools you'll want to make sure you have. Blogging can be awfully time consuming and I want to help you blog smarter not harder. While there are a many many ways you can get the most out of your blog, some ways are simpler and more universal than others. Here are 13 of the simplest yet important tools and techniques you should be using to maximize the value of your blog: SEO support – if you…
8 Basic Blogging Features You'll Actually Use

24 Nov 2009 | 8:33 am

click hereto retweet Blogging tools are designed to be easy to use. They generally don’t provide all the advanced features of a complex content management system, but rather do one task — publishing a blog — very well. To this end, they can help you: Create posts. Since the purpose of a blog is to be able to post new text or information to the site frequently, creating posts is usually quick and easy. Upload or embed pictures and multimedia. Pretty much all blogs allow you to upload pictures to your posts. Some will also enable you to upload video and audio/mp3/podcasts. One significant…
Blogging for Coin

16 Nov 2009 | 5:00 pm

click hereto retweet In my last few posts we covered what a blog is, and the benefits of blogging as a technique to boost your business. For any blogging initiative you'll need at least three things: what are you going to blog about (covered in my last post) how will you set up your blog (software & hosting) how will you market your blog Last time we began the discussion of blogging software, focusing on ways you can build and maintain your blog for free using services like WordPress.com, Blogger.com, or Blogher.com. The key with free blogging software is knowing what you're getting. Here are…

Church of the Customer Blog
A tale of 2 birthday cards

Jackie Huba

4 Feb 2010 | 1:48 pm

It was my birthday this week, so that usually means birthday-related direct mail from women's retail stores. I have two examples that showcase distinct differences between doing the minimum amount and doing something worth buzz. Ann Taylor delivered a typical postcard: 15% off a one-time purchase in February. "On your special day, treat yourself with your Birthday Bonus," says. "It's your birthday. May all of your wishes come true." Anthropologie sent a card in a odd-sized bubble pouch featuring a perforated cupcake with a candle on it. The candle is part of a necklace. It, too, offers 15%…
Simplify your objectives

Ben McConnell

27 Jan 2010 | 4:50 am

Strategic objectives are the Holy Grail of a company's being. They typically involve big plans, so the natural inclination is to compose a lengthy description of each objective. That means strategies and tactics are often piled into the wording of the objective. That unnecessarily complicates the objective, making it less likely to be understood quickly and efficiently. Anything not understood easily is unlikely to spread. Here's a fictitious, slightly over-the-top example of what a top-heavy objective might look like: Understand how to create better innovation opportunities for our products…
Why it's important to be a linchpin and an artist

Jackie Huba

25 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm

If you want to succeed in today's world of work, author Seth Godin says you should focus on being a "linchpin." That's the title of his new book, so we asked him a few questions about it. Q: What is a linchpin, and why is it important to become one? A linchpin is the part you can't live without, the thing that makes a difference. In every organization there are one (or several) people like this. It might be the brilliant inventor who creates the impossible, but it's far more likely to be the great sales rep or customer service person who makes a connection, or the marketer who knows how to…
5 new ways to compete for book PR

Ben McConnell

18 Jan 2010 | 4:15 am

(Editor's note: This is a guest post from Barbara Henricks of CaveHenricks, a public relations firm for business books and authors. She's considered by many to be one of the best book publicists in the publishing industry. She can be reached at barbara@cavehenricks.com.) I’ve been in the PR business nearly 20 years, and there’s been more change the past two years than in the first 18. That’s created much fear and confusion. Readers are consuming content from more outlets and with a staggering number of devices-- via iPhones, computers, Blackberries, Kindles, Nooks and Sony Readers, to…
Please donate to Haiti earthquake relief

Jackie Huba

15 Jan 2010 | 10:49 am

If you are able, please consider giving to the Haiti relief efforts. We have given to Yele Haiti, a grassroots movement that builds global awareness for Haiti while helping to transform the country through programs in education, sports, the arts and environment. Yéle Haiti was founded in 2005 by Wyclef Jean, Grammy-award winning musician, humanitarian and Goodwill Ambassador to Haiti.

Advertising/Design Goodness
Resto Van Harte

Freddy

9 Feb 2010 | 1:33 am

Resto Van Harte sets up eating-houses where people from the same area can meet each other while enjoying a healthy and cheap 3-course menu. To continue this they depend on financial support of contributors. Loneliness is a problem for more than 300.000 Dutch who have no friends or family. Resto VanHarte wants to get those people out of their solitude and brings them together. To let the contributors experience what the effect is of social solitude, Lowe?Draft a confronting DM-package. Agency: Lowe/DraftFCB, Amsterdam
Super Bowl Commercials 2010

Freddy

8 Feb 2010 | 2:46 am

Yes, the Super Bowl was yesterday, which means commercial time. Did you know there was a survey done stating that 53% of people actually like watching the commercials more than the game? In case you don’t live in the US, you can click on the image above to check out this years commercials. Which one do you like the best? Sponsored By: check out adgoodness.tvview the best commercials, animations, virals, short films, and more.
Ansell Gloves

Freddy

4 Feb 2010 | 2:55 am

Agency: McCann Worldgroup, Bangkok, Thailand Chief Creative Officer: Martin Lee Creative Director / Art Director: Supachai Toemtechatpong Copywriter: Surakai Ngenmaneerongroj Sponsored By: Make some Cash from Your Site!Text-Link-Ads have been working great for adgoodness, so why not try them out!
VW Multivan

Freddy

3 Feb 2010 | 8:02 am

Tagline: Not every city slicker is as confident on the snow. The New Volkswagen Multivan. 7 seats, 4-wheel drive 4Motion Agency: DDB, Milan, Italy Creative Directors: Luca Albanese, Francesco Taddeucci Art director: Armando Viale Copywriter: Valerio Le Moli Sponsored By: check out adgoodness.tvview the best commercials, animations, virals, short films, and more.
Kitchen Aid

Freddy

1 Feb 2010 | 9:21 am

Agency: BBR Saatchi & Saatchi Tel Aviv Chief creative officer: Yoram Levi Creative director: Ben Sever Art Director: Aran Nir Copywriter: Tomer Gidron

Tom Davenport
Let's Tweet About Something Important!

Tom Davenport

5 Feb 2010 | 12:15 pm

Almost 50 years ago, FCC Commissioner Newton Minow suggested that the then-new medium of television was becoming a "vast wasteland." One could argue that the same fate is befalling social media. It's been a few months since I last fulminated on this issue. So it's time for another curmudgeonly post. A couple of recent studies suggest that the content of social media is trivial at best. An analysis of over 100 million tweets thus far in 2010 conducted by Sysomos found one bit of good news and lots of bad (from my perspective, anyway). The good news is that Barack Obama was the most common…
How to "Connect the Dots" in Your Business

Tom Davenport

26 Jan 2010 | 1:25 pm

In my last post I wrote about why intelligence agencies were apparently unable to "connect the dots" on the Nigerian underwear bomber. The post elicited a variety of comments, some from distinguished experts (Don Peppers in customer data, Sam Felton in strategic and competitive intelligence, Sanjay Poonen in enterprise integration, and Jeff Jonas in information security). Some felt that "connecting the dots" should have been an easy problem, but most agreed with me that it's difficult. In this post, I'll describe what needs to happen if you want to connect disparate pieces of information…
The Underwear Bomber: Why They Didn't "Connect the Dots"

Tom Davenport

8 Jan 2010 | 1:03 pm

Everybody, including President Obama, is criticizing the U.S. intelligence agencies for not keeping accused underwear bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab off the Christmas Day flight from Amsterdam to Detroit. Why didn't they "connect the dots" or "put the pieces together"? This is the same problem the intelligence agencies encountered with 9/11 — lots of clues that were not integrated in time. But is this really a fair criticism? Just how easy is it to connect the dots? Granted, there were numerous indications of Abdulmutallab's evil intent. But it would have been difficult to put them…
How You Lowered Your Information Standards

Tom Davenport

23 Dec 2009 | 10:35 am

In my last blog, I argued that people don't care enough about their information environments to prevent overload. This week I am focusing on a related behavioral change that has important implications for companies that produce information products and services: As information grows in quantity, consumers of it are willing to accept lower quality. I call this willingness satisficing — being satisfied with sacrificing quality. I am supported in this contention by one of The New York Times's "The Year in Ideas" items that appeared last Sunday. Called "Good Enough Is the New Great," it…
Why We Don't Care About Information Overload

Tom Davenport

8 Dec 2009 | 1:33 pm

I gave a presentation this week on decision-making, and someone in the audience asked me if I thought information overload was an impediment to effective decision-making. "Information overload...yes, I remember that concept. But no one cares about it anymore," I replied. In fact, nobody ever did. But why not? We've been reading articles in the press about information overload being the bane of productivity for almost twenty years. (Here's a link to a fairly recent article in Harvard Business Review on the topic called "Death by Information Overload" and a related blog.) And there is no doubt…

Bill Taylor on HarvardBusiness.org
The Rise of Business Populists

Bill Taylor

5 Feb 2010 | 6:52 am

These are angry times in politics and society. Populism is the mantra of the moment, whether it's "progressive populism" of the sort that targets the misdeeds of Wall Street and Big Money, or "pickup-truck populism" of the sort that targets the heavy hand of Big Government. In either case the spirit is the same. It's the people versus the powerful, the little guy versus the establishment, more about what it's against than what it's for. Many pundits have studied populism as a powerful social phenomenon. But I'd submit it's a powerful business phenomenon as well. Indeed, as I've read articles…
What's Your Company's Sentence?

Bill Taylor

13 Jan 2010 | 2:13 pm

My friend Dan Pink has just released a new book, called Drive, which explores "the surprising truths about what motivates us." In it, he identifies with clarity (and cleverness) the three big drivers of performance and success: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Dan's advice speaks to individual performance, but some of it applies equally to business performance. With regard to having a sense of purpose, for example, he urges individuals to ask a question of themselves that I believe executives should also ask of their companies. Dan tells a story about Clare Booth Luce, the playwright,…
70 Words of (Unconventional) Wisdom for 2010

Bill Taylor

14 Dec 2009 | 5:34 am

What better way for business thinkers to celebrate the holiday season than with the gift of great ideas? As the year 2009 — as difficult, divisive, worrisome, and hopeful a year since, well, 2008 — draws to a close, my friend Seth Godin, the innovator, writer, and blogger extraordinaire, has persuaded 70 other innovators, writers, and bloggers to participate in a project he calls What Matters Now. The idea is simple: Each of us suggests one word — literally one word — that all of us should think about in 2010, and then takes one page to explain why and how that word…
Should You Hold "Office Hours"?

Bill Taylor

2 Dec 2009 | 11:55 am

I have a rule that whenever I see three twists on the same idea, I need to look into that idea — on the theory that three of anything can mark a trend. Lately, my rule of three convinced me to check out the rise of "office hours" in business and finance. And it looks like a pretty sound idea. If you, as a busy and stressed-out leader, want to stay in touch with your colleagues and stay connected to the market, then clear your calendar for an hour or two each week, invite colleagues and customers to stop by your office, and answer their questions. What could be simpler — or, in…
Real Business Geniuses Don't Pretend To Know Everything

Bill Taylor

23 Nov 2009 | 1:53 pm

The Economist owes much of its popularity to its knack for challenging conventional wisdom. In a recent column, it applied its contrarian mindset to the question of what kinds of leaders make the best CEOs, making the case that what the world needs now are more "raging egomaniacs" and "tightly wound empire-builders" rather than the "faceless" and "anonymous" bosses running so many companies today — "bland and boring men and women who can hardly get themselves noticed at cocktail parties." The crux of The Economist's argument relies on what's known as the Great Man Theory of History.

Scott Anthony
Soothing the Customer's Itch

Scott Anthony

1 Feb 2010 | 7:27 am

The first welt appeared Monday at about 3 p.m. It was right at the corner of my mouth and looked like a big pimple. I wondered what it was, but didn't think much of it. Then my forehead started to itch. I looked in the mirror in my hotel room in San Diego, and noticed a collection of about four angry looking welts clustered on the upper right portion of my forehead. By the time I went to bed that night, I could count more than ten welts on my face, forehead, and on the back of my neck. It was not a restful night sleep. By Tuesday morning, there were about twenty welts. When I checked out, I…
Does the Apple iPad Make Strategic Sense?

Scott Anthony

27 Jan 2010 | 3:04 pm

You have to give it to Apple. The company has an uncanny knack for seizing the moment and whipping journalists and consumers into a frenzy. The latest wave comes from today's launch of the iPad tablet with iBookstore content store. As always, there's a lot to like about Apple's device. The user interface looks great, the bookstore seems intuitive, and Apple set a price point (at least for the entry level iPad) that positions the device well in the marketplace. The hype bar was set so high that inevitably some people were disappointed - Dan Frommer from Silicon Alley Insider called it a big…
Why Do We Care about Disruption?

Scott Anthony

22 Jan 2010 | 10:30 am

The other week, two of my colleagues were engaged in a fierce debate about whether a particular business was or not in fact "disruptive." When they asked my opinion, I surprised them by answering, "I don't really care." "But we're all about disruptive innovation aren't we?" one of them asked. "Well yes," I replied, "but we're all even more about building successful, sustainable, scalable businesses." It's natural to think that our sole raison d'être is disruption. Innosight's co-founder Clayton Christensen coined the term "disruptive technology," and we've built a business around putting…
The Disruptors of the Decade

Scott Anthony

14 Jan 2010 | 8:45 am

Near the end of December, I created a survey with a single question: "Which companies do you think have done the best job of driving growth through disruption — transforming what exists or creating what doesn't through simplicity, convenience, affordability or accessibility — between 2000-2009?" More than 3,000 individuals nominated close to 300 different organizations or individuals (a few may have been less serious, such as the three nominating my mother). I sifted through the nominations, and identified the most frequent nominations in three categories: established…
A Postcard of Disruption in India

Scott Anthony

7 Jan 2010 | 12:42 pm

While I'm busy tallying the results from the Disruptor of the Decade contest — more than 3,000 people nominated close to 300 different organizations — I thought it would be a good opportunity to highlight an emerging disruption in India. My colleague Vijay Raju went on a vacation in the last week of December that took him to the jungle areas on the border of the states of Kerala and Karnataka in India. He noticed a new advertising approach from many mobile operators that that made their advertisements even more ubiquitous than soft drink companies. If a picture is worth 1,000…

John Baldoni
How to Face Your Critics

John Baldoni

3 Feb 2010 | 7:49 am

When people criticize you, what's the best thing to do? Show up and face the music. President Barack Obama did just that when he met with Republican House members at their party conference last week in Baltimore. He met face-to-face with some of his sharpest critics, and in the process, demonstrated what it means to lead under fire. In doing so, the President, whether you like or dislike him, provided a template for leaders to use when they need to face critics. Here's what we can learn. Show up. Let your critics see you for the leader who you are. Adopting a "hide in the bunker" attitude…
How to Encourage Small Innovations

John Baldoni

29 Jan 2010 | 6:03 am

The announcement of Apple's iPad is turning many people's thoughts to the innovations behind big ideas. Innovations such as these play a critical role in a company's future, but companies often hinder themselves by focusing on finding the next big thing, when in reality, the next small thing might be more beneficial. The more that employees are encouraged to think creatively and apply that creativity, the more flexible in practice and nimble in responsiveness a company becomes. When you take pressure off people to come up with a "big" idea, you encourage the creativity that can bring about…
How Leaders Should Think Critically

John Baldoni

20 Jan 2010 | 1:29 pm

If you want to succeed in 21st Century business you need to become a critical thinker. Roger Martin of the Rotman School of Management figured this out a decade ago and as dean, has been working to transform his school's business curriculum with greater emphasis on critical thinking skills. As Lane Wallace explained in the New York Times, what Martin and many others are seeking to do is approach learning and problem solving from a multicultural platform that borrows from academia, business, the arts and even history. Critical thinking has always been a prized attribute of leadership, but over…
The Importance of Resourcefulness

John Baldoni

13 Jan 2010 | 11:15 am

With the recession forcing us to make do with what we have, being resourceful is now a necessary skill for today's generation of leaders. It is not simply a matter of doing more with less — companies have preached this for at least a generation. Rather, what's important is the realization that you can do more with less because you and your colleagues are more capable than you first believed. Resourcefulness is not a means of coping with deprivation; it can be a virtue that opens the door to greater accomplishment. Based on my observations of what resourceful leaders do, here are some…
How Will You Make a Difference in 2010?

John Baldoni

7 Jan 2010 | 8:16 am

What will you do to make a difference in your job this year? This is a variation on a question that Michigan Radio is asking citizens about how to make things better in 2010. Since Michigan is at the epicenter of the Great Recession, there is no shortage of suggestions about what to do differently. The challenge is in what individuals will do to make a positive difference. To me this question has relevance for leaders at every level, especially as we head into a new decade. And so I think it is worth asking, as you look at your job and the people for whom you are responsible, what will do you…

Rita McGrath
The iPad's Unlikely Markets

Rita McGrath

5 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am

It has been fascinating to watch the unfolding competition around tablet-style devices such as the Kindle, Barnes & Noble's Nook, and, of course, now the iPad. Pundits of all kinds have been quick to question whether the iPad, positioned as a convergence device that will replace several other devices, has a chance. Even long-time Apple fans scoff a bit at it — Where would I use it? What would I do with it? Indeed, one of the problems with previous versions of tablet-style devices has been that in spite of their cool factor, people just didn't know what to do with them. Let me suggest…
Kraft and Cadbury: The Plot Thickens

Rita McGrath

8 Jan 2010 | 12:46 pm

On November 19 I observed that Kraft's proposed acquisition of the English company Cadbury had all the right ingredients for a war of attrition. These are never pretty; the company that captures the target often pays far too much and winds up with a bad case of buyer's remorse. And it looked as though Kraft might be heading in that direction, having gone from the $16 billion they were proposing in November to about $17 billion in this New Year. In response to my article, several readers said that I had underestimated the savvy of one of Kraft's major shareholders, Warren Buffett's Berkshire…
Why Vertical Integration Is Making a Comeback

Rita McGrath

2 Dec 2009 | 12:26 pm

As a recent article in the Wall Street Journal noted, a spate of companies in the high technology/high-end services space has rediscovered the joys of vertical integration — you all remember (or at least those of you of a certain age remember) the excited discovery of "M" form organizations and the power of giving product divisions everything they needed to go to market under one roof. Indeed, for many observers, the heyday of this idea occurred when Alfred Sloan was still running General Motors. Now, whether you're talking HP buying EDS, Xerox acquiring ACS, IBM buying PwC, or Pepsi…
Kraft, Cadbury, and Hershey: A Not-So-Sweet Deal?

Rita McGrath

19 Nov 2009 | 7:51 am

Large-scale mergers often plague the "winning" bidder with what academics call the "Winner's Curse." The winner's curse takes place when a bidder does indeed win the object for which he or she was bidding, but the value of that object turns out to be less than what was bid for it. What's a recipe for a winner's curse in an M&A situation? Take one part highly visible transaction for a highly motivated, deep-pocketed acquirer. Add a bit of reluctant bride (or outright naysaying bride) on the part of the target firm. Add a potential white knight, preferably one that is despised by the original…
Remembering Russ Ackoff

Rita McGrath

17 Nov 2009 | 8:57 am

Last Wednesday's Wall Street Journal brought the news that Russell Ackoff had passed away at the age of 90, after a long life of influencing management thinking and practice. At the time he was having the most profound impact on my life — when I entered The Wharton School's PhD. program, and the Center named for him — Russ didn't even know me. When we met years later, I think he appreciated that he had left a legacy of many students, myself included. I was the last Ph.D. student ever to graduate from Ackoff's Social Systems Sciences program (founded in 1980) at The Wharton School.

Conversation Agent
How I Participate in Social Networks

Valeria Maltoni

9 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

I'm borrowing a page off the Communicatrix blog to lay out how I participate in social networks. Why? Because we all have a different strategy to how we spend our time and energy to be social and to achieve our goals and since we have a strategy, in the spirit of social, we should make it transparent. [hat tip to Skip Shuda for suggesting it]I've been getting more than many requests from several people in many networks lately. Requests to friend, requests to tweet, to forward, to bookmark, to stumble, the list goes on. Being online for the best part of my day makes me very accessible. That I…
Are You Customer-Averse?

Valeria Maltoni

8 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

We all know the story of how Comcast went from customer-averse to customer-friendly. It started online with a person, and it's making its way to the rest of the organization. You will agree with me that Comcast went from this episode, to this action, to this thinking. They went from customer-averse, to customer-friendly. It didn't happen overnight, still it did. Competition helps, too, so we keep our fingers crossed on any one company getting too big to care.Businesses continue to look for more ways to get new business either from new or current customers -- usually both, in this order. Shiny…
Trust in Media Down, Good News for Experts

Valeria Maltoni

7 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

Trust in business and Government has gone up in the last year, while trust in media seems to be declining across the board -- this is the latest finding of the latest annual Edelman Trust Barometer survey. Take a look at the executive report and see that:Trust in traditional media is trending downward: TV news dropped by 20 points radio news dropped by 17 points print news dropped by 12 points Trust in digital media is still pretty low, and although corporate communications are trending higher than social networks, they're still not that high.We've all witnessed the decline of stretched news…
The Future Online is Subscription-Based: Why I Joined Third Tribe

Valeria Maltoni

5 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

Clearly, the title left out a few pieces of information. I believe there is still a future online for free, but increasingly, the way to get things done, to go from conversation to agent, is subscription-based. Why? Accountability, resources, self-selected network, and opportunity to syndicate service, for a fee.The service for a fee model interests me most. That's why I joined Third Tribe as a member this week. The whole velvet rope community concept should make brands pay attention. This is not just a build a community to push your products, or just engage customers in your stuff kind of…
We Still Get Things Done Through Search

Valeria Maltoni

4 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

With all the talk about social networks and engagement, when it comes to getting things done, we rely on search. The image above was part of the set I used last Fall at the Inbound Marketing Summit when we talked about the importance of creating content for sharing.There was another interesting study I did not mention at the time that confirms a few of the following statements on social media as content delivery mechanism to: help conversions connect to value build relationships extend to influentials engage via education They are all outcomes I've had the opportunity to experience and…

PR, Social Media, and Marketing Mentor ?
An Unrelenting Passion to Make the World Better

Today is Beth Kanter's 53rd birthday. I have met Beth in person several times and have always (not so secretly) wanted to work with her on a project. She is a complete inspiration, one of my heroes, a person whose excitement and enthusiasm for using social tools to help a ...
Client Sutter Medical Center Castro Valley’s Social Media Program Wins a 2009 SNCR Award for Excellence in New Communications

An animated fly-over video of what the new Sutter Medical Center Castro Valley hospital will look like when completed in 2013. Produced by The Devenney Group, the architecture firm for the new hospital. Posted also by Cassandra Clark, Project Communications Director, on the Sutter Medical Center Castro Valley blog site. Sutter Medical ...
Society for New Communications Research Honors Award Winners for Innovation and Success in Their Use of New Media

For Immediate Release Society for New Communications Research Honors Award Winners for Innovation and Success in their Use of New Media Winning Social Media and New Communications Case Studies Published by SNCR San Jose, California, U.S.A. — November 12, 2009 — The Society for New Communications Research (SNCR), a global nonprofit research ...
Society for New Communications Research Issues Call for 2010 Fellows

For Immediate Release Society for New Communications Research Issues Call for 2010 Fellows November 11, 2009 — San Jose, California, U.S.A. — The Society for New Communications Research, (SNCR), a global nonprofit 501(c)3 research and education foundation and think tank dedicated to exploring the latest developments in new media and communications and ...
2009 SNCR Excellence in New Communications Awards Submission Deadline Extended to Thursday, September 10th

Each year, the Society for New Communications Research presents the prestigious SNCR Excellence in New Communications Awards. The deadline for application submissions for this year's awards has been extended from September 7th to Thursday, September 10, 2009, to allow applicants who are away for Labor Day Weekend to finish and ...

Thingnamer
We Are SO There.

29 Jan 2010 | 6:35 am

Okay, maybe not quite yet, but in about a month we will be.WE ARE MOVING! Nothing drastic, mind you, at least in terms of distance. We're moving about 15 blocks West on King Street to occupy a two story building about a block from the Old Town (King Street) Metro ...
iPad? No one has said it better than...

28 Jan 2010 | 2:09 pm

Mad TV ...
Baby Name Judgement: A %(*# Finding

27 Jan 2010 | 7:17 am

For those of you that don't yet know, my wife and I are the proud parents of another wonderful baby boy. On 1/16/2010 Sarah brought seven pounds, six ounces of newly minted Linden into the world. There were a couple complications after delivery, but I am exceedingly happy and proud ...
Misconceptions, Passion, Alligator Pits... Discuss

26 Jan 2010 | 6:49 am

(Warning... I'm running on little sleep and lots of coffee, so I may be a little off my game. That makes me even more dangerously passionate I suppose...)The most common misconception I find in organizations struggling to create or modify their brand is that their brand is something distinct from ...
Seriously?

25 Jan 2010 | 6:35 am

I thought this was a joke. Evidently it is not. Somehow that makes it even more funny and tragic. Click the link and read the details... Would you hire this team?If you would... then perhaps I'm not commicating clearly enough. Hat tip to @name_inspector ...

idaconcpts
What Consumers Want from Online Video Ads

Damian Davila Rojas

2 Feb 2010 | 12:38 pm

There are 3 irrefutable facts about online video advertising: 1. The number of US online video viewers is consistently growing year after year. 2. In Europe, online video ads have the highest click-through rate out of all types of online ads. This trend has been observed in the USA as well, but there are no specific numbers, yet. 3. In the US, online advertising growth is the format that is expected to have the biggest growth. Do YOU know what consumers want from online ads? The 3 Facts About Online Video Advertising First, let’s review the specific data supporting these 3 facts. Fact…
How Facebook Does E-mail Newsletters II

Damian Davila Rojas

28 Jan 2010 | 12:55 pm

Does Facebook roll you the welcome mat? In October 2009, we analyzed an e-mail newsletter from Facebook titled Ads Manager Announcement that was directed to the Facebook Ads users. This newsletter is a great example of how to implement permission marketing, how to avoid the brochure mentality, and how to do seamless product placement. Below is a snapshot of another newsletter release for Facebook Ads users on January 19, 2010: The newsletter design is good: short and informative. However, there is one big problem with this newsletter: the no-reply e-mail address from Facebook. The Problem…
Shutterfly’s Wink Brings Your Photos to Life

Damian Davila Rojas

19 Jan 2010 | 7:15 pm

During December 2009, while playing the iPhone app, Words with Friends, it was not unusual to find an ad promoting another iPhone called Wink. What is Wink? Wink is a great iPhone and web app developed by the guys and gals of Shutterfly. This photo app truly brings back your pictures into your life by not limiting itself to one single platform (it works both on the iPhone and on the web, and they are currently working on apps for other smartphones) and by playing well with your photo collections on Facebook, Flickr, and, of course, your own computer. The best part about Wink is that it offers…
LinkedIn vs Facebook

Damian Davila Rojas

31 Dec 2009 | 1:57 pm

More than 65 million visitors checked out career sites in June 2009. About 45% of HR professionals in the United States are using at least one social network to check on those leads. A summer 2009 survey for CareerBuilder.com conducted by New York based research firm, Harris Interactive, indicates that 47% of U.S. HR professionals use Google to search for the names of their job candidates. 29% of U.S. HR professionals use Facebook and only 26% use LinkedIn to check on the job applications that they receive. This is bad news for Linkedin because they claim to provide a service to benefit…
4 Steps to Get Started on E-mail Marketing

Damian Davila Rojas

7 Dec 2009 | 11:22 am

On early December 2009, a marketing intern at a Fortune 500 contacted me via LinkedIn and asked me how to get started on e-mail marketing. While responding to his message, I realized that it would be a good idea to share it with the readers of idaconcpts. The first step is to get acquainted with the tenets of permission marketing and how to apply them to create permission-based e-mail marketing campaigns. E-mail Permission Marketing: It works! A Guide to Permission Marketing The second step is to learn to establish clear objectives and understand some basic metrics to evaluate e-mail…

MarketingProfs How-To Articles
Five Simple Link-Building Tips

9 Feb 2010 | 8:00 am

Link-building services are the most commonly outsourced aspect of SEO. The process involves finding qualified and thematically relevant one-way linking partners who will link to your website. Spammy, automated products often never cultivate valuable links and tend to do more harm than good. Doing it right means link-building by hand. ...
Six Keys to Writing a Great Proposal

9 Feb 2010 | 8:00 am

:ooking for ways to create a proposal that sets you and your company favorably apart? Ways that capture the great things you have to offer? Here are six suggested best-practices intended to not only maximize your chances to stand out and land the job but also manage the risks.
Innovation Matters: Balancing Sustained vs. Disruptive Innovation

9 Feb 2010 | 8:00 am

While we struggle to emerge from a full-blown recession, marketers know all too well that advertising and (unfortunately) innovation are the first budgets that are most likely to get cut. So how can marketers continue to innovate?
50% Click-Through Rates? Yes, You Can!

9 Feb 2010 | 8:00 am

You'd think that to get half of your subscribers to click through, you might have to give away a million dollars every month. Publishers Clearing House actually does give away millions of dollars, but that wasn't enough on its own to earn a significantly higher-than-average response rate on its email ...
Revamp to Revenue: Five Ways to Turn on the Profits With Your Website

2 Feb 2010 | 8:00 am

In the current economic climate, more business owners need to evaluate their website and revamp it to turn it into a presales tool, lead-generation machine, or even a revenue-producing cash cow. Can it be done? It just takes a few tweaks to turn on the profits.

Social Media Globetrotter
How Comcast Approaches Social CRM

Jacob Morgan

9 Feb 2010 | 12:28 am

Since I’m speaking on the topic of Social CRM at the New Comm Forum in April, I decided to reach out to a few folks to get their ideas and impressions on what’s going on in the space. One of the people I reached out to was Frank Eliason from Comcast (many of you may know him on twitter as @comcastcares) to find out how they were approaching Social CRM. I chatted with Frank for over an hour and here’s what he had to say. Comcast monitors pretty much every social media channel that is relevant to them. In other words, they exist where their customer and conversations…
Forrester to Analysts That Have Their Own Blogs: Umm, No

Jacob Morgan

6 Feb 2010 | 3:23 pm

According to Sage Circle, Forrester is telling all of their analysts that have their own personally branded research blogs that they must either take them down or re-direct them to the Forrester site. Apparently Forrester feels like they can provide more value to their clients if they aggregate all of the content into one space, that place of course being Forrester’s site. My favorite comment on this issue came from Dave McClure who said: “What is the downside for Forrester? Likely not much unless there is a big stink in the blogosphere…” Seriously, do you think that’s the…
The Social CRM and Enterprise 2.0 Experience Continuum

Jacob Morgan

4 Feb 2010 | 1:53 pm

I’m a big fan of the work that Esteban Kolsky has been doing with Social CRM and he recently stated that he is going to be branching over towards the Enterprise 2.0 space. Social CRM and Enterprise 2.0 efforts need to work in conjunction with one another and that’s what this whole post is about. Dion Hinchliffe recently wrote an article stating that Social CRM is Ground Zero for Enterprise 2.0 and I couldn’t agree more. This is why I have been working with Esteban Kolsky on thinking through some of these ideas and developing frameworks around them. Esteban and I are…
Introducing Social Business One

Jacob Morgan

3 Feb 2010 | 12:50 am

Towards the end of last year I was approached by Bob Thompson from Customer Think and Axel Schultze from the Social Media Academy to be a part of a new type of community that just debuted a few days ago called SocialBusinessOne. SBO was designed to be a home base for everything from Enterprise 2.0 to Social CRM (anything social business related). There are plenty of other sites such as The Social Customer, The Customer Collective, and Social Media Today that all aggregate content and build a community around their specific topics. However, none of the other sites have as strong of a…
Don’t Forget About the Enterprise

Jacob Morgan

2 Feb 2010 | 10:28 am

Yesterday I had the pleasure of writing another post for Marketing Profs which I hope will get more people to think about social media and collaboration WITHIN the enterprise. Here’s an excerpt from the article: “Oftentimes when we refer to social media we refer to how a brand can engage with customers or prospects to build relationships. These relationships are external facing; meaning brand to consumer, and are used for functions such as product development, customer service, increasing sales, and marketing. Through social media companies seek to understand and do things…

PitchEngine
Social "Production" Mentality

Jay Deragon

With all the emphasis on social media ROI you would think that companies believe that social media is a production line in a factory.This mentality is reflective of how management thinking is still in the industrial era. Production thinking is about producing something for consumption by the masses. The results of "production" are reflected by subtracting the gross revenue from the cost. Thus the emphasis is placed on selling more to make more. To enhance sales opportunities companies adopted marketing strategies and tactics. The process of marketing has been focused on reaching the masses…
Front Page Coverage - That's What I Want!

Harry Hoover

Does everyone in business seem to think all you have to do is call the local daily paper and they come out to do a page one profile of your business? With all the downsizing, it’s hard enough just to get the media to open your emails or take your calls. Getting a front page story just because you want it: priceless. I was talking with a prospect once who tossed this off as if it was no big deal, “of course we’d like to have the paper come down, meet our principals and do a profile of our business.” Another one wants to become a “rock star-type celebrity” in his industry. Well,…
Yay! I Just Got Fired! True Passions, Here I Come!"

Jennifer Windrum

Yay, I just got fired! Woot! Most people don’t usually send a message out to the whole world announcing this, nor are they usually excited about it. But, really, the day I got “Trump-ed” was the best day of the rest of my life. Read the rest of the post here. Don't do status quo either? Join me here.
Chasing Social Media Results?

Jay Deragon

As 2010 begins a new year it seems that the marketplace is consumed with measuring the return on investment from social media activities. The demand for measurement of ROI will distract the marketplace from learning new methods to create ROI or it will create new leaders who focus on the "intent" which produces an ROI. In an article in Mediapost titled 2010: The Year Social Marketing Gets Serious Laurie Sullivan writes: "Marketers will need to start justifying social marketing plans with business cases, objectives and metrics, as the medium moves out of the test phase." "Forrester Research…
A story of crowdsourcing on Flickr

Ralph Davila

From my blog A Ton of Bricks: http://tonofbricks.wordpress.com/ The Flickr platform – part of the Yahoo company – has exploded in the last year, with the addition of social bookmarking and RSS feeds. The ability to integrate into Facebook with the widget MyFlickr and photo editing functions has also expanded its reach. But how are others using Flickr to engage in business conversations? A “soft” case study Interestingly enough, I read a recent blog post by prominent blogger Jay Baer, from Convince and Convert fame, on how one photographer has been using Flickr to “soft”…

HubSpot's Inbound Internet Marketing Blog
International SEO 101: Search Marketing for Foreign Countries and Languages

Rebecca Churt

8 Feb 2010 | 11:30 pm

Many businesses only target potential customers in their local markets, but inbound marketing also allows you to easily reach prospective customers in a global marketplace. Have you optimized your site for international search engines? Do you want your business to be found or shared with a broader audience? If so, here's how you can advance your international marketing efforts more strategically. Approach international SEO first with a decision on which countries you want to target. Research and gain insight on your audience (including culture), search results and competition. You will also…
Shocking Edelman Survey Results Reveal Less Trust in Social Media Referrals

Pamela Seiple

8 Feb 2010 | 3:23 am

Public relations firm Edelman recently released its 2010 Trust Barometer, which highlights some findings regarding social media marketing that may shock you. According to the latest survey, the number of people who view their friends and peers as credible sources of information about a company has dropped from 45% in 2008 to 25% in 2010, decreasing almost by half! I don't know about you, but as social media continues to be a marketing hot topic, I've seen a lot of discussion emphasizing the importance of company/product referrals and word of mouth marketing. So do these…
Social Media Save: How Facebook Can Work for SMBs

Kirsten Knipp

7 Feb 2010 | 11:14 pm

I'd like to share a personal story of how social media recently came to my rescue, highlighting an important opportunity for all you small businesses out there. This Friday was really stressful. I was up at 5:30 a.m. to prepare for the movers to come, followed by my cleaning service, all to turn my condo into a state fit for my new tenant in 24 hours! That stress only increased when the cleaning service, slated to arrive between 3 and 5 p.m., still wasn't there at 4:50 p.m. Their office couldn't get in touch with the ladies scheduled to clean my home and could give me…
HubSpot TV - Swimming with the Fishes

Rebecca Corliss

5 Feb 2010 | 5:30 am

HubSpot TV is LIVE every Friday at 4:00pm EST. Watch the show in real-time at www.hubspot.tv and chat with us via Twitter. Episode #77 - January 29, 2010(Episode Length: 25 minutes, 11 seconds) Intro How to interact on Twitter: @karenrubin and @mvolpe with www.HubSpot.tv in your tweet. Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.hubspot.tv Brian Halligan is speaking at the Franklin Club in Boston on Feb 1st at 6pm -- Cost $65 (Use coupon code hubspottv and save $10) Headlines Google Search Goes Social Search is getting more social"With Social Search, when we search for baby sleep patterns,…
What Did Jane Austen Know About Social Media?

Elizabeth Dunn

5 Feb 2010 | 1:00 am

With the final episode of Jane Austen's Emma airing on PBS this Sunday night, we've noticed that people are behaving a little bit more ... courtly to each other. Here's a handy guide to extending that exquisitely good behavior to the social media world. It is a truth universally acknowledged... that social media is being used by more and more businesses to engage meaningfully with their customers and to drive more qualified traffic to their sites. And while Jane Austen never blogged (she totally would have), or had a profile on Facebook, or posted status updates on Twitter, she…

mediabistro.com: AgencySpy
Old Spice Appeals to Ladies for Once

9 Feb 2010 | 9:38 am

The quick pacing of this ad kept me watching, but the actor's ridiculous abs will surely catch the eye of more than a few women. OK fine the abs were mesmerizing and as I type this I'm in a Duane Reade buying Old Spice. How the cricketcake did I get here? Unfortunately, women will forever hate the smell of Old Spice, so this ad was for not. Who did this, Wieden? Via Buzzfeed More: "NPH Next Old Spice Spokeswhore" New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Goodness Mfg., Trailer Park Merge

9 Feb 2010 | 9:10 am

Might as well call it a Crispin reunion in La-La land as sources familiar with the matter tell us that Goodness Mfg, the Venice, CA-based agency started by five CP+B alums in 2007, has merged with Trailer Park Studios to become "goodness Mfg, a Trailer Park company." In fact, Goodness Mfg's SVP/GM Tom Walker confirms this on his LinkedIn page and a Google search heeds the following results: With this merge, the Goodness principals are reunited with one-time Crispin colleague Matt Bonin, who left his VP/head of video post at the agency to take on the newly-created SVP, director of integrated…
Why Did the King of Web Ads, Google, Buy a TV Spot?

9 Feb 2010 | 7:17 am

Following up on yesterday's news that Google's Love Story was written by recent VCU grad Tristan Smith, the New York Times reports that the spot received a 98% positive rating, whatever that means. Also, Google wanted "to share our favorite one with as many people as possible," which means TV is not dead. That quote, from a Google spokeswoman, demonstrates what you all hoped to be true — even the Web's biggest advertiser admits that reaching the broadest audience means you have to buy a TV spot during the Super Bowl. More: "Google's Love Story Written by First Time Writer" New Career…
The White Stripes None Too Pleased with Air Force Super Bowl Spot

9 Feb 2010 | 6:55 am

An Air Force Reserve Super Bowl spot called "Grab Some Air" has riled Jack and Meg White for including a re-recorded version of their hit "I Fell in Love with a Girl" without actually asking the band's permission. The White Stripes took to their website to let it be known just how they feel about the ad, which doesn't appear to be up on the Air Force Reserve site; instead there are just wallpapers/screensaver downloads at this point. Maybe the Stripes' pretty clear-cut message below did the trick. Update: Rolling Stone reports that the video and page housing it have both been pulled from the…
Tuesday Morning Stir

9 Feb 2010 | 6:06 am

-Intel and Microsoft join forces to sponsor a cloud computing campaign. link -Yahoo has a craving for fast-food ad dollars. link -Nice Shoes hired Travis Taylor (pictured) to oversee sales & marketing. link -Howard Stern says he'll replace Simon Cowell on American Idol for $100 million. link -Alice in Wonderland was the most memorable movie trailer during the Super Bowl. link -MTV wants to protect the Jersey Shore "brand." link More: "Monday Morning Stir" New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The Steve Rubel Lifestream
Facebook Pulls Lexicon Analytics Tool

9 Feb 2010 | 2:04 am

Facebook has taken its promising Lexicon tool down from the site. Perhaps this happened when they pushed their new redesign. Lexicon, like Google Trends, provided limited yet interesting data on site-wide trends. You can read more about it here. From the Lexicon site.... "Thank you for your interest in Lexicon. We are removing the Lexicon product from Facebook for the time being. We may bring components of Lexicon back in the future, but we are focusing development on our analytics tools for Page owners, advertisers and Platform developers." Analytics remains a major focus…
Trust in Friends Declines, Trust in Experts Rises - Social Media and PR Still Win

8 Feb 2010 | 10:52 am

Last week Edelman, my employer, published our tenth annual Trust Barometer study. You can read the full report here. One of the more juicy statistics that Advertising Age and others noted is that trust in peers surprisingly dropped dramatically from 47% to 27%. Tom Foremski says this is bad for PR: "This is bad news for PR agencies because social media has been the ‘point of the spear’ for so many firms. This is what brings in new business." While he's right that social media has been a big business driver, I respectfully disagree with Tom that this is bad news for the PR…
Facebook Will Centralize the Social Web

8 Feb 2010 | 7:31 am

Michael Arrington laments about about the decentralized nature of social content on TechCrunch today... "The online social landscape today sort of feels to me like search did in 1999. It’s a mess, but we don’t complain much about it because we don’t know there’s a better way. You might be sick of hearing this from me, but strongly believe that Facebook is the next Google. It took me a while to "get religion," but now I have it. Just as Google brought a simple way to search the web, my observation is that Facebook is poised to do the same for organizing and -…
Facebook Could Eat the Web

4 Feb 2010 | 11:54 am

Photo credit: mastermaq Like almost everyone else on the planet, it seems, I am spending more time on Facebook than any other site. The lone exception is Google. The reason I know this is that Safari, my browser, lists Facebook as my most visited site when I access its top sites feature. In addition to using Facebook to check in on what my family, friends and colleagues are up to, I have been using it as a newsreader for months. The screenshot below is my reader. This is something that the company suggested everyone do here. Although I suspect that most users haven't taken the steps…
Go Big, Get Your Employees on the Bus or Go Home

3 Feb 2010 | 9:10 am

The following is also my column in next week's issue of Advertising Age. Go Big, Get Your Employees on the Bus or Go Home Photo credit: Traffic by scottpowerz The single biggest challenge that marketers face over the next ten years is attention scarcity. Bank on it. According to Andreas Weigland, Amazon.com's former chief scientist, more data was generated by individuals in 2009 than in the entire history of mankind. Human attention, however, is finite - and arguably, it shrinks as we age. The end result is downright ugly. It's like 25 lanes of traffic trying to squeeze through two…

PSFK
Box Bottle Bag: A Collection Of Design And Innovation In Retail Packaging

The collectors of compelling package design at TheDieline alerted us to their newly released work Box Bottle Bag, which features the best manifestations of design and innovation in retail packaging. TheDieline gives their description below: Box Bottle Bag showcases examples of the best of the best from the website, plus never-before-seen ...
iPhone App To Keep Track Of Our Politicians

Labour MP Derek Wyatt has taken the idea of "public servant" to the next level. Wyatt is allowing his constituents to follow his every movement via a free iPhone app called "MyMP." The app, which is available through the iTunes store, allows people to see where their MP is at ...
The Ford CNG Transit Connect, NYC’s Next Taxi?

The yellow New York City cab is an iconic element in Manhattan's streetscape. The taxi and limousine commission has put out a bid for a vehicle to replace the last of the aging Crown Victorias. Ford is eager to retain the contract to supply vehicles to the commission. They just ...
(Headlines) Spaceflight, Bookshops & Chinese Farms

Spaceflight, Bookshops & Chinese Farms - here are a selection of headlines from around the world. World Chinese farms cause more pollution than factories, says official survey Greece plans to ban early retirement The new eurobillions lottery Tech Average American spent $1000 on cable television, Internet connectivity and video games First results from Large Hadron ...
Ultra Thin Solar Panels Power Cold Weather Gear

German designer Yiran Qian's Endless Warm winter gear concept gathers light from the sun to power a heated glove/hat combination. Ultra-thin solar panels are fashioned into snowflake designs, allowing the wearer to gather energy during the day to keep warm at night. [via Ecouterre]

Grown Up Thinking
My (Not So) Secret Double Life on Twitter

David T

9 Feb 2010 | 9:08 am

At some point over the last year many of us have realized that some of what we post on Twitter may not be what we’d like to share with all of our followers. Unfortunately for those in that situation, Twitter does not have privacy settings like Facebook that allow you to choose who can see what information that you share, so what do you do when you realize that your personal life is crossing over into your public life? The answer is simple – make a second account! The first question you should ask yourself when doing this is, “Why am I using Twitter and what am I trying to…
Super LOL 2010: Ads That Made Us Laugh

giancarlop

8 Feb 2010 | 2:10 pm

Though I missed the Super Bowl entirely, I did manage to catch up on all of the ads after the fact thanks to YouTube’s glossy showcase of Super Bowl commercials: AdBlitz . I diligently viewed every ad from all four quarters of the game, and have outlined here a list of all the ads that made me LOL. Which, if you caught my previous post, you know that is something of a rarity. Here’s the rundown of the most LOL-worthy spots of Super Bowl XLIV: 1. Snickers: Game (featuring Betty White) For whatever reason, I’ll watch pretty much anything that involves Betty White. She’s…
You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby

Courtney C

5 Feb 2010 | 2:52 pm

Facebook is celebrating its 6th birthday this week, which seems a good a time as any to reflect on its path to world domination. Let us not forget Facebook’s humble beginnings as “Thefacebook”. As if they were concerned there could be another one, this was THE facebook for all your networking needs. That is- assuming you’re an ivy leaguer buried in books in the Bay State. May I remind you that at its inception “Thefacebook” was only available to students at Harvard, where creator Mark Zuckerberg held his dorm room brainstorm sessions. What you may not know…
Why I Owe Vampire Weekend Money, and Other Thoughts

Laura M

4 Feb 2010 | 11:41 am

The new Vampire Weekend album, Contra, came out a few weeks ago. As a fan, I did what I always do… I downloaded it illegally. I didn’t even think twice. Then a curious thing happened. One of my coworkers rushed to the record store to buy the very same album. Huh? He enthusiastically explained the beauty of having something tangible, described pouring over the inset, the liner notes, the bonus poster that came in the sleeve. Having the album ensures that you listen to the tracks in the order the artist intended, he said, the time and energy involved in tracking down the record made it…
Twitter on the Red Carpet

Erica

31 Jan 2010 | 4:32 pm

A quick note: Was amazed to learn of Imogen Heap’s Twitdress, red carpet Grammy fashion created to allow her fans to accompany her to the A list event by submitting photos through Twitpic. Amazing. I know very little about Imogen Heap, but this has inspired me to dive deeper into her catalogue. Perhaps she’ll even replace Lady Gaga as the soundtrack of choice in the creative cube… A girl can dream, can’t she? Wearable social media! YES! Next up, I’ll be displaying my FourSquare badges as I earn them in real time on a customizable scarf with Wifi access. Genius!

CenterNetworks
Thought Friendfeed Was Dead? Welcome to Google Buzz

Allen Stern

9 Feb 2010 | 10:37 am

Last November I wrote that Twitter was slowly becoming Friendfeed. And in October, the Friendfeed team said the service wasn’t going away. They were right! Well today we learned that another company wants to be Friendfeed. I’d like to welcome you to Google Buzz. You can read the real-time notes from the Google Buzz event from Techcrunch and RWW. I’ve been watching the live stream of the Google Buzz event and it looks and functions exactly like Friendfeed except that it’s inside Gmail versus a stand-alone Web application like Friendfeed was/is. I can only hope that…
WordPress Builds Posterous Importer

Allen Stern

9 Feb 2010 | 7:43 am

For Edelman VP Steve Rubel, Posterous is the hottest thing out there today. Last summer Rubel talked about how Posterous changed how he looks at blogging. Posterous is a simple way to create a blog by using email to create online content and store it for easy viewing and sharing. You send your photos, videos and text to Posterous and they make the posts on-the-fly for you. Your posts can then be shared on the social services including Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc. Your readers can also subscribe to content on your Posterous blog using RSS or email. Posterous co-founder Gary Tan was…
Welcome to AOL 2.0! Can You Guess Which Company It Is?

Allen Stern

8 Feb 2010 | 6:00 pm

Let’s start this journey by taking a ride back in time. Some of you are too young to remember the Internet of the early 90s. Back then one of the most popular ways to get “online” was to use AOL. This was the popular online service that came via disks you received in the mail. Prodigy and Compuserve were on their way out and this new service AOL was the darling of the time. I went to college in a small town in upstate New York which had no local number for AOL. I had to call to Albany to access AOL. And boy did I access AOL. One of my first months I received a phone bill for…
Did Techcrunch Become a WordPress VIP?

Allen Stern

8 Feb 2010 | 8:22 am

A couple of weeks ago, technology blog Techcrunch was hacked. At the time of the hacking they were using the Rackspace Cloud Sites service as their hosting provider. Today I noticed that everything on Techcrunch is now pointing to Wordpress.com. If you run a traceroute of the techcrunch.com domain, it points to Wordpress. Images and static files (e.g. s3.wordpress.com/wp-content/themes/vip/tctechcrunch) are also hosted by Wordpress. Most likely this means that Techcrunch has moved off of the Rackspace Cloud Service and has become a VIP customer. GigaOm is another popular blog that is also…
Startup Jobs – February 8

Allen Stern

8 Feb 2010 | 5:22 am

The Saints won the SuperBowl which shows anything is possible! Below are some of the latest jobs posted on the CenterNetworks Job Board. Subscribe to the CN Jobs feed and get all of the latest Web industry jobs delivered directly to you. Featured Jobs: Graphic Designer at Dow Jones Associate Project Manager, CBSNews.com at CBS Interactive Ad Operations Campaign Manager at About.com More Jobs: Principal Web UI Engineer – Art.com at Art.com New York City Editor at Citysearch Regional Manager at LetMeGo Ruby on Rails Developer at ekoVenture at ekoVenture Design Technologist at New York Times…

The Tom Peters Weblog
Link Roundup #12

Shelley Dolley

9 Feb 2010 | 8:20 am

Keller Graduate School of Management has an online roundtable discussion series on how "businesses of any size can encourage an environment of corporate entrepreneurship." The Job Search Difficulty Index "measures the difficulty of finding a job" either by state or major U.S. city. For January, as I'm sure you can guess, Michigan was the the most difficult state in which to find a job. With the current state of the job market, many people are turning to self-employment. Reader Stephen Garner pointed us to How to Succeed in the Age of Going Solo from the Wall Street Journal. If you're as…
Leadership: The Problem Isn't the Problem

Cathy Mosca

3 Feb 2010 | 2:16 pm

Tom argues that the reaction to the problem often becomes more of a problem than the original misstep would have been if dealt with honestly. As he's been known to say: "Foul up. Fess up. Fast. Fastidiously." You can watch the 2:10 minute video on YouTube and, if you like, download a PDF of its transcript.
Scary!

Tom Peters

1 Feb 2010 | 4:59 am

Scariest start of an article award 2010, from yesterday's New York Times: "China vaulted past competitors in Denmark, Germany, Spain and the United States last year to become the world's largest maker of wind turbines, and is poised to expand even further this year. China has also leapfrogged the West in the last two years to emerge as the world's largest manufacturer of solar panels. And the country is pushing equally hard to build nuclear reactors and the most efficient types of coal power plants. These efforts to dominate renewable energy technologies raise the prospect that the West may…
The Fortune Guy Is the One With the Problem

Tom Peters

28 Jan 2010 | 12:22 pm

There's a Fortune article on a Goldman guy who quit. ("The Man Who Walked Away from Goldman Sachs," William Cohan, 0208.10.) The Goldman guy was worried about Goldman doing a header like Lehman. The Fortune guy wrote: ""If Goldman's stock went to zero as Lehman Brothers' had ... then Winkelried's decades of hard work would be vaporized in the blip of a Bloomberg screen." What a horror. Namely, the fact that the Fortune guy could produce that sentence, presumably with no sense of irony. Suppose my net worth was 100.000% wiped out this morning. I would be unhappy. Very unhappy. But ... But…
What is Excellence?

Seth Godin

26 Jan 2010 | 3:59 am

[Our guest blogger is Seth Godin, who needs no further introduction here. We'd like to thank him very much for this, his first post at tompeters.com.] Twenty-five years ago, my life (and yours, too, probably) was changed by Tom and Bob's book, In Search of Excellence. After that, on a regular basis, Tom has provided us with shots of brilliance and unsettling reminders that we've got a long way to go to reach our potential as organizations and individuals. Along the way, there's a question that's been nibbled at but never really answered. I mean, I already know many of the 687 ways to create…

Technosailor.com
HipHop, PHP, and the Evolution of Language

Aaron Brazell

4 Feb 2010 | 8:37 am

A lively little discussion developed over the past few days on the DC-PHP developers mailing list. We have a very active developers group here in the DC area – much larger than most cities, in fact. Part of what makes our group great is the diversity of background and experience that is in the group. This was front and center over the past few days when one of our members, Hans, offered his opinions on Facebook’s new HipHop for PHP product. We have already expressed our intent to help make WordPress compliant with HipHop, something that will be beneficial to major WordPress sites…
Facebook’s HipHop and What it Means to WordPress

Aaron Brazell

2 Feb 2010 | 10:42 am

This was originally posted on my company blog and reposted here for posterity. By now, the news has hit the street about Facebook’s new PHP pseudo-compiler technology that is looking set to change the PHP world once again. It is called HipHop for PHP. Here at Emmense, we build on PHP and more specifically, we build on WordPress. The PHP community as a whole continues to innovate the language and Facebook has been a longstanding member of that community. WordPress stands on the shoulders who have gone before, and there are certainly instances of large-scale installs of WordPress that…
WordPress Bible Release

Aaron Brazell

28 Jan 2010 | 7:52 am

Last night, I got home to find my copies of the WordPress Bible at my door. This was tremendously exciting as I have been waiting for 8 months for this day. It was exciting and the buzz on Twitter has been tremendous. Pre-sale numbers were huge. The sharing and re-sharing of information about this book has been deafening. Below is a video of the unboxing. And of course, you can order the book today from Amazon and I hope you do. If not for the book, to support my efforts. Thanks to everyone who has stood by me during this process!
The Greater Good: Entrepreneurship, Open Source, and a Better World

Aaron Brazell

22 Jan 2010 | 1:22 pm

Last night, I was catching up with a friend who is as far from me in lifestyle outlook as you could possibly be. She is a extremely left wing type working for an environmental advocacy organization in DC. I, on the other hand, am an entrepreneur with one foot planted firmly on the right and one foot firmly planted on the left. The conversation came to an issue that I’ve only marginally thought in great detail about. I had made the comment about how I am potentially looking to leave the DC area because, as I put it, it’s not my scene. I feel like a square peg trying to be fit into…
How to Help in Haiti

Aaron Brazell

14 Jan 2010 | 9:44 am

After the very tragic and sad news that emerged out of Haiti about a devastating 7.0 earthquake that leveled the capital city of Port au Prince, the web quickly kicked into gear in a way not seen since last years Iran election disgrace and unrest. It was heart warming to see people put aside some of the more trivial discussions of the average day (it did not disappear, though) and focus on donation drives. Clay Johnson of Sunlight Foundation makes a poignant point though around the effort to leverage wireless and mobile to donate. A variety of these opportunities have been compiled at Mobile…

Brand New
Job-Free RSS Feed

Armin

9 Feb 2010 | 3:17 am

I don't know what other blog proprietor listens to its readers more than I do. Let the record show that I care! If job postings on your RSS Feed are an affront to your online reading habits please subscribe to the Brand New Job-Free RSS Feed. If we start receiving an inundating amount of job postings I will be happy to reconsider the individual postings on the home page; it might become an end-of-week post with all of them together. Let's give it some time. Don't forget to cast your vote about this post online
Full Time Senior Graphic Designer / Ahead, Inc

The Job Board

8 Feb 2010 | 7:28 pm

Ahead, Inc. is actively looking for experienced candidates to help in the design of graphics for golf headwear and apparel, as well as potentially doing artwork for labels, hangtags, and design for advertising/marketing materials. Ahead primarily works in embroidered graphics on our caps/garments, but do also work with applique, woven labels, screen print, and several other design techniques. See the rest of this job opening [Ed.'s Note: Thanks to Ahead, Inc. for being the first to post through Brand New. To our readers: this is how you can expect the Brand New-specific jobs to show up;…
Introducing the Brand New Job Board

Armin

8 Feb 2010 | 12:49 pm

It is our great pleasure to announce that Brand New has joined Coroflot, the most dynamic, relevant and effective job board available for designers today. If you know exactly what this means and need no further introduction, make yourself at home and go browse or post a job at the Brand New Job Board — a handy button has been added to the right of the logo. If you would like to learn a little more, keep on reading. For those Looking for JobsThe Brand New Job Board displays all job postings in the Coroflot inventory; you don't need to pay anything to see them. You may filter them through…
Comcast! You've got some Xplainin' to do!

Armin

8 Feb 2010 | 4:31 am

Based in Philadelphia, with approximately 100,000 employees worldwide, Comcast is the largest provider of cable, internet and digital phone in the United States with 23.6 million, 15.9 million, and 7.6 million customers respectively. To add to its media influence, this past December, Comcast became the majority owner of NBC Universal with a 51% stake in the company in partnership with GE, who owns the other 49%. Comcast also owns television networks like E! Entertainment, the Golf Channel and Sprouts. With a diversifying range of businesses, the parent company, Comcast Corporation announced…
Molson Canadian, Now More Canadian

Brand New

5 Feb 2010 | 3:36 am

First brewed in 1959 Molson Canadian has never shied away from wearing its Canadian-ness on its sleeve. Whether it be the pseudo rabble-rousing "I am Canadian" ads of the late 1990s, the Molson Mega Keg (an overt play on Canada's love of oversized monuments along the Trans-Canada Highway), or even the brand name itself. However Canadians have always had a bit of a love hate relationship with brands that speak so directly to the notion of being Canadian. So it's no surprise that recent examples of Molson Canadian's overt Canadiana often walk the line between patriotic and palatable by…

Andy Beard - Niche Marketing
I Use Aggressive Hype & Obnoxious Tactics To Fool People

Andy Beard

3 Feb 2010 | 2:08 am

I just read a sales page for an information productYou had to read the words carefully to find the guaranteeNo terms of serviceNo privacy policyNo mention of confidentiality expectations but suggestions of sharing candid informationNo contact form, just a company name in the footerNo trust marks of any kindThe Third Tribe is a published book by Rob Chidley – maybe a brand/trademark conflictThis is the exact premise of the sales letterOne tribe is called the Internet Marketers. They use aggressive hype and obnoxious tactics to fool people into believing there really is a “get rich…
MyBlogLog R.I.P Long Live Blogcatalog

Andy Beard

23 Dec 2009 | 5:49 am

I have long been a supporter of MyBlogLog and in many ways it was the many articles I wrote about how they could improve their site that led me to doing some limited consulting with Blogcatalog.So news of MyBlogLog possibly departing saddens me, and will affect the web materially.In many ways the only reason I still have a Yahoo account is MyBlogLog as I still log into their stats daily. The other reason is for Site Explorer and other webmaster tools – I don’t do paid search advertising with Yahoo.The silly thing is MyBlogLog whilst it has never lived up to it’s promise…
Vimeo – Remove Your Videos & Links Now

Andy Beard

22 Dec 2009 | 8:52 am

Paul had a nasty Christmas present, an email notifying him that his training videos were in breach of Vimeo’s no commercial use policy.You could believe his shock, with so many popular tech, web design & SEO blogs being allowed to flaunt the rules.A couple of months ago I pointed out that Vimeo isn’t for commercial use, but that message seems to be largely ignored.To me it seems that any large commercial undertaking using Vimeo fits one of the following scenarios:-Walking a tightrope with a demand to take their content down imminentIn some barter arrangement for link juice…
Warning: Amazon Blogger Integration Broken

Andy Beard

17 Dec 2009 | 3:43 am

Blogger (Google) and Amazon it seems have collaborated and introduced a way for people using Blogger to monetize their blogs using Amazon. I wonder if Google is making some money as a 2-tier affilaite referring so many affiliates to AmazonAnyway the implementation is broken for average usersThis is what the interface looks likeSeems very simpleYou search for somethingClick buttonsCode is inserted into your postPerfect… not!Average UsersAn average blogger blogspot user will seeThis as a nice text linkKindle Wireless Reading Device (6" Display, Global Wireless, Latest Generation)This…
Google Real Time Search Too Personal?

Andy Beard

14 Dec 2009 | 3:21 am

I think Google have got their priorities wrong with Real Time search, though I haven’t seen this on other “ego search” terms. I checked with Danny Sullivan and Michael Arrington to start with.As I have mentioned before, I could understand and even encourage Google to somehow decide to pull in my most recent blog posts as part of their real time search. Most people searching for me it is most likely a regular reader doing a navigational query looking for my latest blog posts, not my latest tweets.I see this with both a UK and US search, personalization switched off in the…

AdverBox
The Man Your Man Could Smell Like

axelk

9 Feb 2010 | 5:07 am
Vancouver 2010 – Samsung Mobile Explorer

axelk

8 Feb 2010 | 6:59 am

Client: Samsung Electronics Product: Vancouver 2010 – Samsung Mobile Explorer Title: “Slamdunk” & “Bboy” Media: Viral/Internet Ad Agency: Cheil Worldwide Creative: Andrew Berglund (Cheil), Joohee Lee (Cheil), The Viral Factory Seeding & Digital Media Planning: The Viral Factory Production Company: The Viral Factory Canadian Production Service Company: Transmission Inc. Director: Wayne Holloway with The Viral Factory Producer: Jon Stopp Line Producer: Demelza Jones Producer (Canada): Joe Lafleur Lighting Cameraman: Tony Mirza Offline Editor: Owen Oppenheimer @ The Quarry…
Fleggaard

axelk

5 Feb 2010 | 3:49 am

For girls For boys A Danish commercial, from Fleggaard, a store in G|ermany, by the border to Denmark.
Andes Beer: Teletransporter ambient

axelk

4 Feb 2010 | 2:26 am

The thing all men have been waiting for. Via: http://adsoftheworld.com/media/ambien… Advertising Agency: Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi, Brazil Chief Creative Directors: Maxi Itzkoff, Mariano Serkin Creative Director: Javier Campopiano Copywriter: Patricio del Sante Art Director: Carlos Muller Designers: Bruno Tortolano, Juan Pedro Porcaro Agency Producers: Adrian Aspani, Camilo Rojas, Patricio Martinez Account Director: María Lorena Pascual Account Executive: Jaime Vidal Booth designers: AD Productions Production Company: Primo Directors: Nico y Martin Executive Producer:…
Pink My Ride

axelk

3 Feb 2010 | 1:02 am

What is there about a male model, 4 days, 130 bottles of quality nail varnish and a beautiful little car that isnt to like? Especially when theyre all record breakers! Find out more at: http://bit.ly/pinkmyride

The Marketing Minute
Examples of social media policies

Drew McLellan

8 Feb 2010 | 5:35 am

In corporate America (and probably corporate World), rules get created when people make bad choices. It's how child labor laws came to be and why we now have sexual harassment policies. The few and the stupid are the catalyst to regulation.Which is why it's not a shock that companies big and small are beginning to institute social media policies. After the Dominos pizza incident and the world famous FedEx tweet -- who can blame business leaders from wanting to protect themselves by setting down some rules?I've put together a long list of social media policy…
Have you built a rock solid foundation for your personal brand?

Drew McLellan

5 Feb 2010 | 3:10 am

Whether you work for someone else, are a serial entrepreneur or anything in between -- in today's world, you can't afford to ignore the idea of personal branding.A generation ago, employees often stayed with one employer for the lion's share of their career. Today, most professionals will not work for several companies -- but they will most likely change their entire profession.And even in the unlikely case that you do find the employer of your dreams right off the bat -- you still want to distinguish yourself by standing out from the crowd.Enter personal branding.
Nuggets of smart

Drew McLellan

2 Feb 2010 | 6:21 am

I don't know about you, but one of my struggles is sifting through all the information out there to find the real nuggets of smart. I thought, from time to time, I might point out some of the really smart stuff out there so you don't have to go digging for it. I'd love to know if you find value in this sort of post. (Just click on the bolded text to get to each offering) New study on customer gratitude: Elaine Fogel talks about a new study done by the American Marketing Association that looks at the sales impact of generating a sense of gratitude in…
The best Superbowl commercial of 2010

Drew McLellan

31 Jan 2010 | 7:43 pm

Remember when the Superbowl was about the game? Now it's the halftime show wardrobe malfunctions and of course, the commercials. Here's one of my favorites from last year, to get you in the mood! (e-mail subscribers, click here to view) Want to get a jump on Sunday's new spots? Don't want to have to wade through 60 minutes of football just to see what Budweiser, GoDaddy and Doritos have in store for us?Head over to MSNBC's site where they are hosting an Ad Showdown. You can watch each and every spot and then in a nod to the NCAA tourney…
Extinction is right around the corner...

Drew McLellan

27 Jan 2010 | 7:22 pm

For getting lost, desktop computers and glaciers. At least according to The Future Trends book called Future Files by Richard Watson. (buy it by clicking here) As part of the promotion of the book, the author released the chart below. It's an extinction timeline...predicting that newspaper delivery will be gone by 2012 and FM radio by 2027. I promise you...you'll find this fascinating and its content will be your conversation starter for at least a week. If you're having trouble reading the timeline, you can click on the chart to open a…

Brian Solis
The State of Social Media Around the World 2010

brian

8 Feb 2010 | 3:09 am

If you were to look at Social Media the United States and many other parts of the world, you would believe that the world of Social Media was flat, dominated by social continents including Facebook, Twitter, blogs, YouTube, and Flickr. As we zoom in, we visualize other established and emerging social services that depict provinces and outlying settlements of our social atlas.Upon publishing the original Conversation Prism, which was the culmination of a year’s work documenting and organizing the social web by usage and conversational patterns, the world responded by creating…
The Roles of Facebook and Twitter in Social Media Marketing

brian

5 Feb 2010 | 4:14 am

Social Media marketing is rapidly earning a role in the integrated marketing mix of small and enterprise businesses and as such, it’s transforming every division from the inside out. What starts with one champion in any given division, be it customer service, marketing, public relations, advertising, interactive, et al, eventually inspires an entire organization to socialize. What starts with one, a domino effect usually ensues toppling each department, gaining momentum, and triggering a sense of urgency through its path. And, it also marks the beginning of our journey through the ten…
Mobile Internet Market to Eclipse Desktop Internet

brian

3 Feb 2010 | 4:42 am

Sounds like a sensationalistic headline, but if you read Morgan Stanley’s latest series of reports on the Mobile Internet, you’ll walk away with the same impression.Morgan Stanley’s global technology and telecom analysts documented the rapidly changing mobile Internet market to provide a framework for emerging trends and direction.To set the stage, Morgan Stanley forecasts that the mobile Internet market will be at least 2x the size of desktop Internet when comparing Internet users to mobile subscribers.According to the report, Apple’s iTunes + iPhone/Touch ecosystem…
The Human Algorithm: How Google Ranks Tweets in Real-Time Search

brian

1 Feb 2010 | 4:57 am

In 2009, Google struck a deal with Twitter, rumored at $15 million, to integrate tweets into keyword related Google searches. And last month, Google also integrated real-time search technology to surface blog posts and news content as they hit the Web – dramatically improving the previous five to 15 minutes its spiders would take to crawl the Web. I should also note that Collecta also offers the ability to search the real-time Web, but its results also include popular networks within the social Web. Between Google and Collecta, Twitter Search is starting to show its age.The opportunities…
Who is the ME in Social Media?

brian

29 Jan 2010 | 4:11 am

Good friend Stowe Boyd recently shared a quote by Gabriel García Márquez, “Everyone has three lives: a public life, a private life, and a secret life.”Indeed, quite simply many of us live life allowing specific, trusted individuals to know us in one or more of our personae. Our moral compass as well as outside influences affect how we balance our three lives. The size and permeability of our personal dividers vary in the separation of each life and resemble doors that open and close based on our desires. We nurture each individually with slight coalescence, but concentrate on…

Conversation Marketing
Dunbar's number and warp drive: Building your social network beyond 150

5 Feb 2010 | 3:45 pm

This is really, really geeky stuff for a Friday. Plus, I had to dig waaaay back to my college Sociology courses to figure it out. You've probably heard a lot about the fact that a person can only maintain relationships with 150 people before their brains are frappe'd into cottage cheese. It's a valid assumption. Try to keep actively in touch, day-to-day, with more than 150 people. It's hopeless. That 150-person limit is called Dunbar's Number. It's like the speed of light (C, if you're a hardcore geek): Current physics says you can't exceed the speed of light. You get more and more massive as…
10 questions to evaluate an SEO

2 Feb 2010 | 6:43 pm

One tradition in marketing: If something works, you beat it to death, and then some more, until it's a broad, flat spot on the ground. So, after folks loved my first piece, 10 questions to evaluate a social media expert, I've decided to do another about SEOs. Face it: If there's one industry that's even more rife with con artists than social media, it's SEO. One way to deal with it is to just say "Screw SEO, it's all a sham anyway. After all, Scoble says it doesn't matter." If you want to do that, fine with me - one less competitor. Another way to deal with it is to ask questions that'll make…
Introducing The Fat Free Guide: What I'd do on Groundhog Day

1 Feb 2010 | 6:53 pm

I'm talking about the movie Groundhog Day, not the day when we try to predict the weather using a large rodent (I know it's not really a rodent, but come on). Quick synopsis: Bill Murray lives through the same day again and again as the universe tries to show him the direction to take his life. Hilarity ensues. Bill gets clever, though, learning to play piano, preventing accidents that he's seen happen over and over again, etc.. I like it! If I got to live through 2/2 again and again, I'd: Memorize stock prices and become the ultimate day trader. Write a really good web site to teach folks…
2010 SEMMY Winner: You like me! You really really like me!

1 Feb 2010 | 10:06 am

I'm probably way too excited about this, but hey, it's stuff like this that compensates for lots of nights writing blog posts. Thanks to everyone who voted for my post, 10 Questions to evaluate a social media 'expert'.
My BlogTalkRadio Interview with Rey Ybarra

30 Jan 2010 | 10:12 am

Rey Ybarra of the New Media Radio Hour interviewed me last week. Here's the recording, if you want to listen:

Branding Strategy Insider
Brand Protection in a Global Market

Derrick Daye

8 Feb 2010 | 9:10 pm

Not long ago, brand owners could take comfort in the intrinsic barriers hampering black marketers. While most large cities have places known by its dwellers to be sources of cheap goods of dubious origin, consumers have to consciously decide to explore these markets in addition to or in lieu of conventional establishments. Canal Street in New York’s Chinatown is a well-known example. The street is lined with densely packed shops offering watches, purses, and other luxury items at prices that are corruptively low. Until relatively recently, these markets did not pose a significant…
Brand Messaging: Visual Over Verbal

Al Ries

7 Feb 2010 | 9:10 pm

In a song, what's more important, the words or the music? I think most people would agree that the music is more important. Take "Moon River," first sung by Audrey Hepburn in the movie "Breakfast at Tiffany's." The song itself won an Academy Award for composers Henry Mancini and Johnny Mercer, one of four won by Mercer. Later, Andy Williams adopted "Moon River" as his theme song. Here is the first verse. Moon river, wider than a mile I'm crossin' you in style some day Old dream maker, you heartbreaker Wherever you're goin', I'm goin' your way Johnny Mercer, in my opinion, was the best…
Brand Naming Origins: Academy Awards 'Oscar'

Steve Rivkin

4 Feb 2010 | 9:05 pm

It’s Academy Award season again, and movie buffs everywhere await the results of the annual competition. So how did Hollywood's beloved Oscar, the 8-pound gold statuette get its name? Most awards nicknames have obvious sources. For instance, The Tony Awards on Broadway are nicknamed in honor of actress/director Antoinette Perry, who died in 1946. The Tony Awards began the next year. The Grammy Awards, given by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, are a diminutive of "gramophone,” coined way back in 1887 to describe a device to record and reproduce sound.
Legal Influence And Marketing Decisions

Brad VanAuken

2 Feb 2010 | 9:26 pm

Lawyers are retained to minimize legal exposures and risks. Marketers are employed to sell more stuff. This is oversimplified but generally true. Lawyers can help marketers better understand trademark law, trade dress, copyright law, trade secrets and false or deceptive advertising.Companies vary quite a bit in the power afforded their attorneys. Most use them to deal with corporate legal issues and agreements and contracts. At Hallmark, I was advised by my boss, a corporate officer, that legal advice was just that, advice. He recommended that I seek legal advice when appropriate but that I…
How Color And Flavor Names Affect Choice

Steve Rivkin

1 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

Is Moody Blue a better name for a flavor than Glacier Freeze? How will consumers react to a color named Razzmatazz instead of Bright Orange? And what’s wrong with good old Fire Engine Red? Two marketing professors have been studying these shades of meaning and publishing provocative papers on color-coding and what it does to buyers’ expectations. So we went to Barbara E. Kahn (at Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania) and Elizabeth G. Miller (at Boston College) for some answers. Q: Is there anything wrong with good old “Fire Engine Red” to identify a nail polish? We find in…

mediabistro.com: PRNewser
Fusion PR Group Aims For App Market; Offers $750 Monthly Retainer

9 Feb 2010 | 10:14 am

There are millions of mobile applications out there, and getting good press is often key to helping different apps stand out from the masses. However, many mobile app developers don't have a large budget for PR. That is Fusion Group PR's pitch, as the agency is aggressively courting the mobile applications industry. The agency announced a new pricing model for application developers today with prices as low as $750 a month for a "basic media outreach program." "We recognize that many of these companies often cannot afford traditional PR retainers, yet PR services are critical for each product…
Reactions To Forrester's Analyst Blogging Policy

9 Feb 2010 | 9:04 am

PR and marketing professionals are sounding off on research firm Forrester's decision to make all analysts blog on Forrester.com as opposed to their own personal blog. The caveat being if the content on their personal blog is of the same topic as their area of coverage as an analyst. Waggener Edstrom Social Media Director Tac Anderson writes: The problem with Forrester's decision is the heavy-handed nature it is taking in implementing it. All three Forrester bloggers talked about the new blog platform being developed and the new capabilities it would have. This is the real missed opportunity.
Goldman Sachs PR Head Responds To New York Times Via Huffington Post

9 Feb 2010 | 8:02 am

In his first byline for the Huffington Post (and first blog post ever?), Goldman Sachs Head of Corporate Communications Lucas van Praag uses the platform to counter a New York Times story, "Testy Conflict With Goldman Helped Push A.I.G. to Edge." In a byline titled simply, "Goldman's Response to the New York Times," van Praag begins by stating "theories" in the article are "contradictory and many of the supporting 'facts' don't stand up to serious scrutiny." He then goes on to specifically address 10 NYT assertions, as he calls them, followed by Goldman's rebuttal. Reuter's Felix Salmon is a…
From The Recruiter's Desk: Digital Vs. Traditional Resumes

9 Feb 2010 | 7:42 am

We're happy to announce the return of our "From The Recruiter's Desk" columnist Lindsay Olson. Lindsay is back from maternity leave and will resume posting two columns per month. As longtime PRNewser readers may know, Lindsay is a partner and recruiter with Paradigm Staffing, where she specializes in helping companies and agencies find public relations and communications professionals throughout the United States. She has over ten years experience recruiting in the PR industry and also writes a career-related blog at LindsayOlson.com. You can find her on Twitter via @prjobs. Olson's latest…
Israeli PR Experts Debate 'Goldstone Effect'

9 Feb 2010 | 6:41 am

Is it the policies or the PR--or lack thereof--that's deteriorating Israel's image? At a recent conference, marketing guru Eyal Arad warned that the nation could become the South Africa of the 21st century. Yesterday NPR explored the PR ramifications of what Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the "Goldstone effect," named after the UN commissioner who reported war crimes on both sides of the Israel-Hamas conflict last year. It's agreed that Israel should have cooperated with the investigation, allowing for a stronger hand if they wanted to fight the results of the report. Now PR experts…

Hitch: Connecting Marketing Innovators
Ad Industry Innovator # 23: Victors & Spoils

David Wiggs

3 Feb 2010 | 3:59 pm

“You have a big budget that buys you the right to yell the loudest [but] where are you if you don’t have a large marketing budget? Marketers need options that don’t break the bottom line.” Today’s Ad Industry Innovator, Claudia Batten hails from Victors & Spoils. Victors & Spoils is a new agency Claudia founded with partners Evan Fry and John Winsor from Crispin Porter & Bogusky. The big news, besides their bench being A-team advertising super heroes, is that V&S is based on the principles of crowdsourcing. ”We plan to prove that crowdsourcing…
A Monday chuckle from Seth Godin

David Wiggs

1 Feb 2010 | 5:33 pm

I’ve been reading Seth Godin’s new book, Linchpin. His blog post today came right from the book and was about how busy doesn’t mean productive. I have to say, I agree with him 100%. So I’ve really tried to be disciplined about when I’m on these sites. “I’d like to posit that for idea workers, misusing Twitter, Facebook and various forms of digital networking are the ultimate expression of procrastination. You can be busy, very busy, forever [but] busy does not equal important. Measured doesn’t mean mattered.” But I had to laugh at the…
Friday Philosophy from The King of Madison Avenue

David Wiggs

29 Jan 2010 | 6:30 am

Today’s Friday Philosophy comes from David Ogilvy. I’ve been reading The King of Madison Avenue, the first ever biography of Ogilvy written by Kenneth Roman. Roman is the former Chairman and CEO of Ogilvy & Mather, Ogilvy was his boss. It’s a very well done book and I continually pick up nuggets as I’m reading so I’ve kept a journal close by to write down the epiphanies that apply to my own business. One of my favorite stories Roman tells in the book is about today’s quote. The story goes that Ogilvy once left Russian matryoshka dolls…
Ad Industry Innovator # 22: Wexley School for Girls

David Wiggs

26 Jan 2010 | 1:38 pm

Can your agency make it snow in Austin? What about whip an entire city into a frenzy over a new Football Club? Meet Wexley School for Girls where the“Secrets to Great Advertising” are practiced not just preached. Image shot for Inc Magazine by Gregg Segal. Today we’re taking to Wexley’s Brian Marr. He works there. I have no idea what he actually does. Wexley’s clients include Microsoft, the Seattle Sounders FC, WACOM, Copper Mountain and Bacon Salt. Founded in 2003 by Ian Cohen and Cal McAllister, Wexley’s goal: use non-traditional thinking to solve…
HEARTS FOR HAITI: An American Dining Relief Benefit

David Wiggs

22 Jan 2010 | 8:28 pm

HEARTS FOR HAITI: AN AMERICAN DINING RELIEF BENEFIT LAUNCHED BY BRAVO TV’S TOP CHEF CONTESTANT Top Chef Ron Duprat Teams with three Fellow Contestants & Fine Chefs Across the USA Valentine’s Day to raise funds for Haiti Up to ten percent of all funds raised will be donated equally to Hollywood Unites for Haiti and Kinship Circle Disaster Relief Hollywood, FL – Haitian-born Ron Duprat, perhaps best known from Bravo’s hit TV series “Top Chef” has teamed up with three fellow contestants, Mattin Noblia, Hector Santiago and Michael V. to welcome other fine chefs across…

ZackBrandit
GET YOUR ZACK PLUSH FREE!!

15 Jan 2010 | 2:09 am

Dear Friends, ZackBrandit would like to offer you in a gesture of appreciation, A FREE FAN ZILHOUETTE PLUSH. If you live in Europe Just click on the Widget “My... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Happy Winter Holidays

23 Dec 2009 | 9:32 am

[[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Guess what ?? Guess what ?? Guess what ??

4 Dec 2009 | 1:42 am

I have a super exciting announcement for you!! We are launching our e-commerce platform this week! I know eh? I’m so excited to start my holiday shopping on the siteJ. We added so many... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
The Word of Mouth Concept… Return to the Sources, Part 1

28 Oct 2009 | 7:14 am

Centuries ago, humanity like we know it today was different, especially from a technological point of view. Technology was at its first steps, influencing the methods of production,... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Blogworld or a World of Blogs?

22 Oct 2009 | 8:49 am

Once in a while you hear things like blogs are passé or blogs are losing ground to new social media platforms such as micro-blogging like Technorati posted recently.... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing
PR is Only Dying If It Isn’t Evolving

John Jantsch

9 Feb 2010 | 5:51 am

SharePR is Only Dying If It Isn’t EvolvingThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Marketing podcast with Brian Solis (Click to listen, right click and Save As to download – subscribe now via iTunes For this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast I asked Brian Solis, Principal of FutureWorks and co-author of Putting the Public Back in Public Relations, about the future of the PR industry as we know it. There’s plenty of doom and gloom surrounding the practice of public relations in the social web world, but Solis suggests, and I totally agree, that there’s a…
5 Questions You Should Ask Every Customer

John Jantsch

8 Feb 2010 | 5:33 am

Share5 Questions You Should Ask Every CustomerThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Constantly seeking feedback from your customers is a great way to learn how to market your business more effectively. If you’ve never done this before, do it immediately as it is one of the best ways to discover what you do that actually differentiates you from your competition. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve worked with a small business that had no idea what its competitive advantage was until we heard it right from the mouths of happy customers. Seeking feedback is also a great way…
Weekend Favs February Six

John Jantsch

6 Feb 2010 | 8:14 am

ShareWeekend Favs February SixThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing I’ve added a weekend post routine that I hope you enjoy. Each weekend I write a post that features 3-4 things I read during the week that I found interesting. Generally speaking it won’t involve much analysis and may range widely in topic. (Flickr image included here is also fav image of the week) Image credit: Dr Swan Enjoy! Good stuff I ran across this week: Siri – An iPhone app that acts like a personal assistant – you can ask to find things by name – nearest Starbucks or by broad category –…
Extending Your Presentations Through the Backchannel

John Jantsch

5 Feb 2010 | 5:18 am

ShareExtending Your Presentations Through the BackchannelThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing The term “backchannel” was coined in the field of Linguistics in the 1970’s to describe listeners’ behaviors during verbal communication. It is commonly used these days to describe the behavior or conversation going on in social media while a speaker is making a presentation. In some conferences the majority of the people listening may be actively Tweeting throughout a speech. Like it or not, managing the backchannel has become a part of presenting, in person or online.
Analytics from a Really Smart Guy

John Jantsch

4 Feb 2010 | 1:19 pm

Analytics from a Really Smart GuyThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing Marketing podcast with Avinash Kaushik (Click to listen, right click and Save As to download – subscribe now via iTunes Avinash Kaushik, author of Web Analytics 2.0 is one of those rare people who can take a somewhat dry and mathlike subject of web analytics and make it sound easy and even fun. I got to spend a few minutes with Avinash for this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing podcast for some tips about this important, but often overlooked topic. Web Analytics can seem like a scary subject, but it’s…

Dose of Digital
Monitor This, Forget That — “The Monitoring Continuum”

Jonathan Richman

9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

One of the most contentious posts ever on Dose of Digital was my post about social media monitoring for pharma and healthcare. The title alone was enough to set some people off: Pharma Should Forget About Social Media Monitoring. The point of that post was not that everyone should truly forget about monitoring, but that they should forget about it if they don’t plan on doing anything with what they find. In other words, if you’re not going to respond to discussions or don’t have a FORMAL plan to use what you find in some research setting (presumably to inform some brand…
The Seven Uses of Social Media in Business — The 7 “C”s

Jonathan Richman

3 Feb 2010 | 10:31 am

Whether it be healthcare or any other industry, different companies have come up with and rely on different uses of social media to meet their brand objectives. After surveying a bunch of different social media programs (including the hundreds found on the Pharma and Healthcare Social Media Wiki), I figured out that for the nearly infinite number of final executions, there are really only seven distinct uses of social media in business. Seven might sound like a lot, but it’s nothing compared to the number of channels within social media from Facebook to Wordpress to Flickr to Foursquare…
The Best Pharma Products According to Patients

Jonathan Richman

1 Feb 2010 | 8:08 am

UPDATE (Feb. 2, 2010): Based on some feedback from none other than John Mack, I’ve changed a couple of pieces of info from my original post, as well as some insights from iGuard about how they conduct their surveys. This can be found at the bottom of this post.] On a couple of occasions, I’ve talked about the potential impact of having product reviews for pharma products (see “Why Pharma Needs Product Reviews” and “One more Reason Pharma Needs Product Reviews“). You can check out those posts to see my rationale for why pharma might benefit from having…
How Google and Bing Plan to Eliminate the Need for WebMD (and Your Website)

Jonathan Richman

25 Jan 2010 | 8:33 am

Those of you who are regular readers know that I’m a big believer in search optimization. In most cases, it’s the single most powerful way to expose the right people to your brand at the right time. The importance of search as it relates to our digital lives is pretty significant. Consider this: 80% of all online sessions begin with search. Google has a 63.7% share of all searches. The point? Most people find things online by sitting down and using a search engine. It’s the first thing that happens 80% of the time. Two thirds of the time, these people are using Google. That…
Social Media in Pharma and Healthcare 2010: First Wiki Update of the Year

Jonathan Richman

22 Jan 2010 | 6:36 am

For those of you who are really interested in social media in pharma and healthcare, 2009 was a banner year for you. Literally hundreds of new programs were launched, as companies became more comfortable with the idea that it’s possible to use social media in pharma and healthcare. I like to think a very tiny bit of the credit for the creation of so many programs goes the Pharma and Healthcare Social Media Wiki. Why? As I’ve heard from many people, the wiki serves as a great place to show precedent. When your legal team or CEO balks at the idea of doing anything in social media,…

Marketing + Branding + Design
Create a social media dunking booth in your company

Chris Moody

8 Feb 2010 | 3:13 pm

After attending SocialFresh Tampa (#sofresh) and chatting with the Community panel Amber Naslund (@ambercadabra), DJ Waldow (@djwaldow), Rich Ullman (@richullman) and John Andrews (@katadhin) - I'm convinced that a dunking booth is the best analogy for gaining internal social media use.
Do you have questions about companies using Twitter and Facebook?

Chris Moody

3 Feb 2010 | 11:12 am

If so, there's an app panel for that. The Real Facebook and Twitter Results Panel at SoFresh Tampa will field your questions. Do you want to know how Twitter can help you handle customer complaints? How can Twitter increase your reach? How can you add content without being spammy? How can Twitter or Facebook improve the customer experience?
Everyone Needs A Dumb Guy – please vote! Money Back Guarantee.

Chris Moody

26 Jan 2010 | 6:10 am

I feel like I have a killer presentation for Ignite Raleigh. Too many times companies are made up of similar people with similar interests doing smart things in big conference rooms or dimly lit computer labs, but is that enough? I say no. To succeed you need a dumb guy. As this post goes active, I'll be sitting in jury duty (fun times) and I can't actively promote and engage folks to show them why this would be a great presentation. With that, I ask for a bit of your trust and votes so that I can unveil this to the world at Ignite Raleigh.
Want to improve your company, product, career or self? Be humble.

Chris Moody

20 Jan 2010 | 1:02 pm

It is extremely easy to keep pushing forward without evaluating your performance. Do you have a baseline? As companies and professionals, representing products and services, it is all to easy to find ourselves in the superiority bubble trying to inform the masses on why our widget is the greatest thing since sliced bread. Which coincidentally, the inventor of the bread slicer never made a huge impact...he sold the slicer and not the sliced bread.
Are You Really Listening to Your Community?

Chris Moody

11 Jan 2010 | 9:55 am

The folks at SocialMediaB2B.com had a great post on listening to your community. I was fortunate enough to be involved with the situation as the team at Bandwidth worked to provide a couple customers with great service.

Nettie Hartsock
If I Were An Author I Would…

Nettie Hartsock

7 Feb 2010 | 7:02 am

1. Spend most of my time researching blogs and online websites instead of kvetching that my traditional publicity firm is just not trying. 2. Understand that I don’t need a publicist, mygrandma or even my publisher to work on my behalf to get coverage for my books! I can compile a list of blogs and start participating way before my book is out! 3. Take to heart that it is an author’s job to help publicize their book. 4. Get on Twitter and start tweeting. 5. Remember that if I’m going to build a FACEBOOK fan page I’m not done working with it just because I built it.
You Can Save Yourself from Buying Social Media “Guru” Products by…

Nettie Hartsock

4 Feb 2010 | 1:51 pm

MYTH: You’re only going to find out the real deal on how to use social media off a long-copy sales page and a series of bonuses and webinars which you have to purchase. REALITY: There are tons of absolutely free and in-depth social media help sites. If you spend just one hour a week on them, you can learn everything you need to do. REALITY EXTRA: You cannot possibly learn any of this stuff by just reading – you have to start doing! 5 Sites That Give You LOTS of GOOD FREE Social Media MOJO: 1. For Facebook turn to Allfacebook.com – superb, updated daily and tons of…
GalleyCat and How it Benefits You…

Nettie Hartsock

3 Feb 2010 | 2:57 pm

I’m a giant fan of Mediabistro’s GalleyCat and think they’re doing a great job of providing resources for writers, authors, and idea-thinker uppers in regard to Web 2.0 tools. Their latest piece titled, “The Most Popular Book Reviewers On Twitter” by Jason Boog is something you should definitely read and take actionable insight from! What insight? The column gives you some top Reviewers on Twitter, two of my faves being Susanna K. Hutcheson (top Amazon reviewer too) and my friend Wayne Hurlbert of BlogTalkRadio’s Blog Business Success. They also give you…
How is Paid Content Going to Impact Your Local Paper and Your Obit…

Nettie Hartsock

3 Feb 2010 | 4:34 am

We’re just days away from seeing Journalism Online‘’s system put into action with several newspapers. Journalism Online is a relatively new start-up venture aiming to facilitate newspapers’ efforts to charge online. Here is a link to the full story , and I could not resist putting an excerpt from the story here, “”We’re starting small, so if this really turns people off, we’re not playing with a huge chunk of our readership,” Schreiber told the Times, reflecting a commonly-held fear among publishers of scaring away readers and losing…
Bloggers Want to Hear About Your Books

Nettie Hartsock

1 Feb 2010 | 12:33 pm

Don’t let any publicists convince you that you absolutely NEED them to do blog outreach on your behalf. To the contrary, it should always work as a partnership and it’s very important to put the YOU in the online outreach. While many of you might not have the time or inclination to reach out to bloggers, and will want to hire a publicist to help you, keep in mind that you still need to participate as much as you can in terms of blogging, building good content to repurpose as guest bylined articles, and pro-actively thanking (via commenting) bloggers for featuring the book. The…

GoMediaZine
Weapons of Mass Creation Interview: Fuel Brand Inc.

Adam Wagner

8 Feb 2010 | 10:38 pm

Welcome to the fourth interview of the Weapons of Mass Creation video interview series. Not sure what this is all about? Read the kick-off article to get caught up! We sat down with Adelle Charles & Joshua Smibert of Fuel Brand, Inc and chatted about their background, goals, and views on the design industry. You’ll find both the video interview & the typed transcript below. Enjoy. Adelle Charles: Alright, I’m Adelle Charles from Fuel branding, and I’m the CCO. Joshua Smibert: Joshua Smibert, same. I guess most designers would know us through the site Fuel Your Creativity.
iPad: Illustrators & Designers

George Coghill

3 Feb 2010 | 10:30 am

Whether you’re an Apple user or not, it’s been pretty tough to avoid hearing about the iPad. The question here at Go Media Zine: what does it mean for illustrators and designers? It may be limited as far as content creation, but it also may hold huge potential for a new wave of users who want kick-ass visual content — and that means more opportunities for visual artists. Of course none of us mere mortals have one of these devices in-hand, so much of what I am about to discuss is pure speculation. However as an iPhone owner I think there are some things easily extracted from…
Weapons of Mass Creation interview: Mark Weaver

Adam Wagner

27 Jan 2010 | 2:06 pm

Here’s the third installation of the Weapons of Mass Creation video interview series featuring designer & illustrator Mark Weaver. Not sure what this is all about? Read the kick-off article to get caught up! You’ll find both the video interview & the transcript (to make up for poor audio quality) below. Enjoy! GoMediazine: How would people know you? Mark Weaver: I’m a graphic designer & illustrator. And basically, I started doing this project called “Make something Cool Every Day”, which was started by Olly Moss who is kind of a famous graphic…
Interview: Film Poster Art with Tyler Stout

Jeff Finley

15 Jan 2010 | 8:38 am

GoMediaZine: So who are you and how would people know you? Tyler Stout: My name is Tyler Stout. And I would guess people know me by seeing my stuff somewhere, or personally meeting me at some point in my life. GoMediaZine: Those posters you’ve done for the Alamo Drafthouse are everywhere. Can you explain your relationship with Alamo and how you got started working for them? Do you get paid to do these insane posters? Tyler Stout: I started working with them due to my friend Rob Jones, who is very involved with the Alamo as well as being a big-time poster artist himself. He was putting…
Go Media featured in Advanced Creation: Illustrator

Adam Wagner

13 Jan 2010 | 7:33 am

Near the end of 2009 we were contacted by Stéphanie Guillaume & her team at the French outpost of Advanced Creation about re-releasing a couple tutorials from The GoMediaZine. We said “sure!”, and sure enough, the hefty 150 page special issue arrived in Cleveland just this week. Typically the French division of Advanced Creation focuses on Adobe Photoshop, but like I said, this issue is special! It’s packed full of content, including 20 full-blown Adobe Illustrator tutorials! Among those twenty are two from right here on The GoMediaZine. Bill Beachy’s awesome…

Digital Influence Mapping Project
Getting Serious By Segmenting Influencers

John Bell

8 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

We manage databases of influencers for particular subject areas and clients that are 500 influencers strong. We know them all in one way or another. We respect their authority and their interests. And we only want to engage them for things that make sense to them (and our client). We want to respect their time and expertise. We segment our influencers in absolute categories and in categories that are specific to a particular client project. Ever try engaging Food bloggers over a frozen food? You quickly realize that there are many segments of food bloggers. Some will put convenience on the…
My Event Strategy Starts With: We Are Like Minds - UK

John Bell

2 Feb 2010 | 9:00 pm

While my colleague, Thomas Crampton, winds down his annual pilgrimmage to Davos (see some of his coverage here), I am planning out my next event - keynoting at an unusual conference/summit/workshop in Exeter, England called We Are Like Minds. Every year, I re-evaluate conference and meeting opportunities to make sure I am doing all I can to make these significant time commitments - whether I am speaking or just attending - worthwhile. We are still in a recession and regardless of that who has time or money to travel to an experience that doesn't provide some superior value? My Core…
Three Reasons Not to Use Influencer Engagement

John Bell

31 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm

Influencer Engagement is when you identify a collection of medium-to-high influence social media publishers - people with their own blogs, Twitter handles or communities - and you invite them into play a role with a brand or organization via social media. Simple example is identifying the top 50 bloggers in a relevant segment or affinity and you invite them to HQ as part of a process to build a relationship with the brand. This is a bit different than simple "pitching" to top media bloggers. The goals of influencer engagementThere are three fundamental communications goals for…
Centralized Control of Social vs. Spreading Social Throughout the Organization

John Bell

25 Jan 2010 | 9:00 am

Should there be social media marketing and communication experts within your enterprise or should "social" be spread out across the business within existing job functions? This is a false question. Or at the least it is a question whose answer will predictably change over time. Ultimately, business will identify and adopt best practices in the disciplines of social media and embed those in pre-existing job functions. "Social" will be a way of doing things and found everywhere across the business. Media relations professionals have already largely…
Video Game Statistics in a Sharp Infographic Format

John Bell

23 Jan 2010 | 1:41 pm

Thanks to the ever-useful PFSK, here is a clever infographic of video game statistics. The Ogilvy NY Innovation Lab is all focused on gaming this month so perfect timing for this. The graphic comes from OnlineEducation.net which is filled with arcane knowledge (like a Day on the Internet) Source: Online Education

The Hidden Persuader
"Bar Fight-Friendly Pint Glass"

hidden persuader

9 Feb 2010 | 7:44 am

Another example of «branded-utility»?"With some 87,000 pint glass attacks every year, the U.K. bar scene is rough enough to make a cowboy shake in his boots--this ain't the wild west, and they don't use sugar glass. The NHS estimates it spends £2.7 million on bar-fight injuries yearly.Until recently, there have really only two choices for a safer glass: plastic, which everyone hates, and toughened glass, which breaks into cubes instead of shards, but is marred by high production costs, inconsistencies in toughness from glass to glass, and explosive breakage.Now, as part of the Design…
"Famous People Finder"

hidden persuader

9 Feb 2010 | 6:21 am

The next «big brotherian» app for smartphones.
"Insights into Augmented Reality"

hidden persuader

9 Feb 2010 | 6:02 am
Wittgenstein "88 Constelations"

hidden persuader

3 Feb 2010 | 11:54 pm

Love it.
"Area 22"

hidden persuader

3 Feb 2010 | 4:20 am

Client: GuinnessAgency: BBDO, Dublin

The AdHole
The Best Super Bowl Ad That Didn’t Air During the Super Bowl

J Fox

9 Feb 2010 | 4:53 am

If Old Spice had ponied up the dough to run this during the Super Bowl two days ago, they wouldn’t have won the Ad Meter – they would have melted it into a gooey pile of shame with its confidence and mawnsomeness (manly awesomeness, duh). Is this guy the black Bruce Campbell, or is Bruce the white this guy? Since Bruce is older – and Bruce Campbell – I guess the former. Sorry, new dude. But you are in Bruce’s league, so kudos to you. This spot reminds me of another favorite Old Spice commercial of yore. “Yore” being “2007.” To see more Manmercials, visit the Old Spice…
Super Hole IV: Nothin’ But a Tease

J Fox

7 Feb 2010 | 9:58 pm

Apparently it’s not enough to just have a killer spot on the Super Bowl. Or even a lame spot. No, in this day and age, you have to build an integrated campaign that spans media channels, demographics and Twitter feeds to create, wait for it, synergy. While not every brand on this list produced teaser campaigns, enough did so to make it this year’s Super Cliché. I, naturally, missed most of the teasers as I was busy pitching new business and changing diapers – often simultaneously – in the weeks before the game. But whatever, an ad needs to stand on its own in victory or die, lonely…
The AdHole Presents the Worst Television Spot of 2009

J Fox

11 Dec 2009 | 9:38 am

While three weeks technically remain on the calendar first developed by Rome-based insurance salesman Stephanus “Stevie” Stephanius (”Life. Home. Chariot.”) in 24 B.C., I feel comfortable in revealing this year’s Worst of the Worst in TV advertising. This spot originally broke (as far I can tell) in March of this year. And in the nine months since, nothing has come close to beating it. Note even the entire Kay Jeweler’s Christmas campaign. Impressive. Enterprise Rent-a-Car has been using the same “we’ll pick you up” shtick in its ads for…
Battery Powered Self-Pimpification

J Fox

7 Dec 2009 | 8:49 am

In the 3 1/2 years since I started the sporadic musifying that is The AdHole, I have promoted my own work only once. This has not been out of humility. Rather, the bulk of those 42 months was spent as a self-employed freelancer. As anyone who has freelanced knows, even when a project turns out well, it rarely feels like it’s really yours. Quite possibly, you only communicated with other members of the team via email, phone or web conferencing. And once your concepting/writing part was done, well, you were done, too – long before the final piece was produced. Such was life. At least…
iLove You, iLove You Not

J Fox

9 Nov 2009 | 9:50 am

Let me say up front that I am torn, like Natalie Imbruglia but without the naked floor writhing, by the new Verizon campaign for the Droid. Which is a phone that has long been sold exclusively to the moisture farmers of Tatooine. The campaign, which is meant to launch Motorola’s latest handset, directly attacks Apple’s iPhone. (The ads never actually use the word "iPhone," but you’d have to be a couple demographics north of the target market to miss the allusion.) Basically, Verizon is calling the iPhone a steaming pile of iJacksquat. On the plus side, I like that…

Everything's Better With Brentter
The Power of a Mixtape – Luke Snellin

Brent

30 Jan 2010 | 3:57 pm

This doesn’t have much to do with the site other than I think its both powerful & well, outright cool. It’s a recently BAFTA nominated short by 23 year old director Luke Snellin titled Mixtape. This piece reminds me of the charm, allure and sheer power that mixtapes can have in connecting people though the [...]
The Only Business Card With A Promise – ASW2010

Brent

25 Jan 2010 | 9:01 am

If you’ve ever had the chance to attend any type of marketing or tech conference, you’ve undoubtably experienced the madness that goes on in whatever area is designated as the exhibit/merchant or “Meet-Market” hall packed with companies looking for leads. Packed like sardines into booths of all sizes you’ll find merchants, advertisers, startups and well, [...]
I’m Growing A Mustache For Children

Brent

22 Jan 2010 | 5:04 am

A few of you may have already known this (especially if you saw me at ASW last week in Las Vegas), but I’m participating in a charity drive that supports this amazing foundation called DonorsChoose.org. The idea is simple, growing a mustache is pretty cool, but growing a mustache to support a charity?!? That’s absolutely [...]
Bogusky Accused Of Murdering Bears – Hilarity Ensues

Brent

14 Jan 2010 | 9:52 am

So apparently Alex Bogusky found a post-it note taped to his door the other morning accusing him and his family of being involved in some sort of plot intent on killing off the local bear population here in Boulder, CO. This of course was discovered by the anonymous neighbor when they witnessed that the Bogusky [...]
MADD Canada – Campaign 911

Brent

5 Jan 2010 | 2:23 am

In an effort to help raise awareness of the dangers of drunk driving, MADD Canada along with TBWA Toronto has released a series of short spots showing us a group of Drunk Driving Experts being interviewed about how they’ve been able to out-smart the system and stay on the road. I’m sure everyone has been [...]

Why Advertising Sucks
Honest to Post Its 36

Joker

9 Feb 2010 | 8:57 am
Mishka. The Talking Dog... which will scare the shit out of you.

Me

8 Feb 2010 | 10:16 pm
Steven Seagal = Yes, please!

Me

8 Feb 2010 | 10:11 pm
Honest to Post Its 35

Joker

8 Feb 2010 | 8:57 am
We need you to find us a new friend.

Me

7 Feb 2010 | 10:31 pm

Guys and gals out there... We need help! Yes, it's that time again when I whore up and literally beg you to share our blog with your peeps. We need clicks! More clicks! Loads of clicks! Come on, help us climb the ladder of the Ad Age Blog 150! They are kicking our butts down there! See that number in the red badge? We need to push it to be lower! New Years Resolution, get that number at least to

Brains On Fire Blog
Care is a big word

Spike

9 Feb 2010 | 8:04 am

This blog post was inspired by a with Kira Wampler, Word of Mouth/Social Marketing Leader at Intuit Inc. What do I care? Why should I care? What do your customers care about? For the company that doesn’t, “care” is a four-letter word. For the company that does, “care” is a big word. Huge even. Because when you care, emotion enters into the equation. For some companies, emotion is a scary thing. Because emotion doesn’t show up as a line-item on a P&L report. Emotion can make things very sticky. And emotion is unpredictable. But caring can be your…
Doodle Book…

Geno

8 Feb 2010 | 7:55 am

If I’m sitting in a meeting, or an airplane, or at dinner… I’m usually doodling. I’ve kinda refined my doodle’s to be a personal gathering spot for ideas, reflection, and fears. Last week I was traveling with Robbin Phillips to Austin, Texas and she spied on one my doodles. Robbin thought it was worth posting. This particular doodle is a continuous doodle thought…
Twitter. A love story.

Robbin

5 Feb 2010 | 7:37 am

Photo by the Hotel Saint Cecilia pool via Geno Church and his trusty iphone Okay. I woke up this morning – a gray day in Green Vegas – but the sun was shining in my heart. Can’t explain it really. Maybe it is because I am getting out of town. Austin. One of my favorite cities. And I have decided I might stay the weekend and play around. With that smile in my heart, I read this direct message from someone on Twitter. I won’t give his name but I want to share. Indulge me: yrs ago, i sent my wife a link to your site and said, one day i’m going to build my company like that:…
On anthropology and what you are doing for your closest fans

Eric

4 Feb 2010 | 7:56 am

Who’s heard of Robin Dunbar? For those of you who haven’t, his most widely known work as an anthropologist is called “Dunbar’s Number,” which proposes that the ceiling of ’stable interpersonal relationships’ that the average person can maintain is 150. Though his initial work studied groups of people offline, he has recently moved his research online to study the same principle in social networks. Aside from being thought-provoking in and of itself, the variety of responses that Dunbar’s research has drawn is also interesting. Some people use…
Invoulntary ambassador

Spike

3 Feb 2010 | 8:53 am

Maybe you’re not in a formal ambassador program or even consider yourself an ambassador of, well, anything really. But when you start thinking about it, you might be surprised that you choose or not choose to be an ambassador every day. Case in point, if you’re a runner and like to run outside in public places (like downtown), more than likely you’ve been stopped and asked directions by pedestrians or even drivers. At that moment, you have a decision to make. Because in that moment, you can choose to be an ambassador for your city. You can choose to take the time to stop and…

Where's My Jetpack?
The Apology Ad

9 Feb 2010 | 9:53 am

My first car was a Toyota, a hand-me-down Celica from my Dad. It wasn't mine for very long before I fell asleep at the wheel and rolled it on I-5 in San Diego early one morning. I promptly replaced it with another used Celica, this one a little newer and with one more gear. Since then I've owned two more Toyotas and there's one in the driveway right now. I've been a loyalist I suppose, and have always trusted the company to make long-lasting, reliable vehicles. If I could afford to, I would pay way too much money to own one of the original Land Cruisers, before Land Cruiser got all snotty and…
Don't Get All Bent Outta Shape

8 Feb 2010 | 10:59 am

A new logo for Indy.
Our Annual National Feast and Holy Day of Obligation

7 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

Pardon us, world, but this is our religion, and this morning even the space shuttle decided not to take off in deference to the Mighty Game at Hand. And we don't care if you prefer your silly soccer that you jokingly call football over our game. You WILL watch our game. And your commerce shall cease as all your eyes turn this way to marvel at our ability to put on a giant show. By now you should know the back stories. There's a guy who is helping survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Or maybe there are a bunch of those guys. There's another whose uncle recently died, and on his deathbed he told his…
Unemployment Will Make a Man Do Weird Things - Part 2

6 Feb 2010 | 9:05 am

Regular readers of this blog know that I'm a huge fan of Google Street Views. So I decided to tour the country and see every state capitol building. It was fun. Here is a record of my trip, with an original track by the insanely talented Fred Leo of Atlanta, on which I provided the whistle. I hope this little half-minute lark goes a long way toward healing the deep divisions that threaten to tear our country asunder, but I'm a realist, and some of these state capitols are hideous monstrosities of architectural incompetence, built by stupid people in stupid states where all the opinions are…
Bridging the NASCAR Gap

4 Feb 2010 | 8:35 am

While the Republicans hash out who they want as their nominee for the Senate race in Florida (Charlie "I Swear I'm Heterosexual" Crist, or Marco "I'm the Cuban Reagan" Rubio) one hopeful Democrat challenger is a South Florida Congressman named Kendrick Meek, and Kendrick's team has a brilliant idea. They're going to bring a little color to NASCAR. Meek is sponsoring a car in the Daytona Nationwide Series Race and wants you to join him and his family on Pit Road. Why do I like this? Let's be honest, NASCAR has avoided blacks forever, and I'd bet for the most part blacks have avoided NASCAR.

Junta42 Content Marketing blog
Seven Ways to Position Yourself for Unlimited Work

Joe Pulizzi

9 Feb 2010 | 7:17 am

As Junta42 continues to grow, we've started to branch out and hire freelancers and form partnerships. What I've learned through this process is that the way I make decisions on who I buy from or partner with has completely changed from just a few years ago. Whether you are an experienced freelance writer, a journalist/editor in a media company or brand, or even a marketing professional, there are things you must be doing now to make sure the work is always there (whether you work for yourself or someone else). It saddens me to find that people who I worked with for years at Penton…
Junta42 Announces Content Marketing Giveaway

Joe Pulizzi

4 Feb 2010 | 7:29 pm

Junta42 is again putting our money where our content is... Today we launched the $4200 in 42 Days contest where Junta42 will contribute $4200 toward a brand's content marketing effort. Simply put, it works like this. From now until 4/2/2010 any project submitted through the Junta42 system will be eligible for the $4200. All you have to do is sign up to the Junta42 content marketing matching service and select one of our expert, pre-qualified vendors. That's it. See more details here. Any thoughts or questions? Just shoot them over.
Social Media Usage in Content Marketing Jumps 500% in Two Years

Joe Pulizzi

3 Feb 2010 | 6:54 am

As a follow up to our 2010 Junta42 Content Marketing Study, we've been doing some comparisons between content marketing product usage in 2010 versus 2008. The findings are interesting, to say the least Here are the highlights: Significant Increases in Content Distribution Social Media (i.e., Twitter, Facebook) - distribution of content through those channels has increased over 500% in two years. Blog usage has more than doubled. Online video has jumped nearly 2x. eBooks have nearly doubled. Slight Content Marketing Increases Digital Magazines Podcasts Microsites Holding Steady…
David Meerman Scott on content marketing, social media & what's next

Joe Pulizzi

1 Feb 2010 | 3:57 pm

His book was a game changer. Now, David Meerman Scott's updated version of The New Rules of Marketing and PR promises even more. I had a chance to catch up with David recently and got his quick take on the book, social media and content marketing. Enjoy! JOE: From the previous version to the new version, what's the biggest change you thought you had to make? What's the biggest surprise - meaning something you'd never thought you'd actually update? DAVID: When I wrote the first edition of the book, Facebook was only available to those with a…
5 Keys to Success with Content Marketing

Joe Pulizzi

28 Jan 2010 | 6:16 pm

Here's a content marketing interview with me conducted by J-P de Clerck. I like the way J-P summed up the key successes and failures in content marketing for me. Hope they are helpful. The keys to success in content marketing: Understanding the informational needs of your customers Knowing how those informational needs mix with your marketing goals and objectives Developing a content program around those needs Being consistent (content marketing is a marathon, not a sprint) Listen and continually evolve the program Failure in content marketing: Selling, rather than…

Adrants
Hello Ladies. I'm on A Horse. And I Smell Like Old Spice

9 Feb 2010 | 9:25 am

In a witty jab at "smell like a lady" mens' fragrances, Old Spice whips out a full on man's man to tell us what real men are all about.
In Ad Spoof, Google Kidnaps Steve Ballmer's Wife

9 Feb 2010 | 8:38 am

It's not like a spoof of the Google's Parisian ad which ran during the Super Bowl is any surprise. It's how funny it is that surprises.
Chevrolet Makes Social Media-Style Road Trip to SXSW

9 Feb 2010 | 5:45 am

In a different kind of Movement, Chevrolet will send eight people on a road trip to Austin for SXSW.
Adrants Makes Up Awards for Super Bowl Commercials

9 Feb 2010 | 4:26 am

Every year we talk about the Super Bowl. And not becasue it's a sport.
Hot Ass Still A Workable Creative Solution

8 Feb 2010 | 2:03 pm

Hey, didn't some other brand just do the "your ass will look better if you wear our shoes" thing?

Remarkablogger
How to Increase Blog Traffic by Over 100% In 3 Days

Michael Martine

9 Feb 2010 | 4:16 am

This guest post is by Dan H., the founder and editor at Maciverse.com. Maciverse is a Mac Help website with tips, tutorials, and news for Mac users both new and old. Follow Dan on Twitter: @Maciverse. Maciverse.com is a website that covers everything about Apple’s Mac computers. It has been almost 2 years since we started the website and we are now really hitting our stride. We currently average 70,000+ monthly unique visitors, but that wasn’t always the case. In fact, most of our success has come during the last year. Twelve months ago we average 12,000 monthly visitors; we’ve…
Social Media Marketing May be about Driving Behavior, not Conversation

Michael Martine

7 Feb 2010 | 9:48 am

On February 1st, I attended the Burlington Social Media Breakfast in Vermont, where Adrian Ho of Zeus Jones gave a really smart presentation on social media marketing. The video is below. If you can’t see it in your email or reader, come on over to the blog to watch it. I think you’ll find watching this well worth your time. I’d take notes if I were you. UPDATE: Looks like the embed didn’t work for the video. Sorry about that. You can watch it at Digalicious, the site of Rich Nadworny (one of the BTVSMB organizers). Click here to watch the video. What did you take away…
Open Discussion: What are You Measuring?

Michael Martine

4 Feb 2010 | 9:15 am

They say that what gets measured, gets improved. So what are you measuring? Because if you’re not measuring, you’re not paying attention to the forces that affect your traffic, influence, and income. And how can you expect to succeed in marketing your business if you’re not doing that? Here’s where you come in: what are you measuring, how are you measuring it, and what do you do with the information? Tell us in the comments! Bonus question: what do you think you should be measuring? And if you’re not, why not? Email this to a friend? Tweet This! Share this on…
Social Media Marketing Done Right

Michael Martine

3 Feb 2010 | 1:58 pm

I recently had an interesting social media encounter with Eric Romer of HeadBlade, whose history is a great modern social media and internet marketing success story. To see what happened, watch the video below. If you don’t see it in your email or reader, you can find it by visiting the blog. I think Eric has set a great example for us to follow. What do you think? How are you using social media along with blogging to market your business? Email this to a friend? Tweet This! Share this on Facebook Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Share this on Mixx Post this to…
7 Things (and 3 Questions) Professional Coaches Must Know Before Starting to Blog

Michael Martine

2 Feb 2010 | 5:44 am

This is a guest post by Christine Livingston. So, you’re a coach and you’ve started to hear about blogging and social media. You see other coaches – me, for example – embracing this weird new world, and you wonder whether it’s really something you need to be getting into or not. Here’s a run-down on how social media can help you. And some health warnings to consider before jumping in. Advantages Keeps you ahead of moving trends Social media is not the future, it’s the present. In the business world Wordpress, an internationally used blogging platform;…

Stage Two's blog
WorldMate Integrates with LinkedIn, Bringing More Intelligence to Business Travelers

TeamS2

9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

WorldMate, the web and mobile personal travel assistant, has a ten year history of making travel easier for business travelers. Their newest features that go live today will give their members edge with location-based and social networking features through an integration with LinkedIn. Most of us have been in this situation. You’re going to a meet a few business contacts, some of whom you haven’t met before. Their names and backgrounds are a little fuzzy. You know you’d have an edge if it was all clear in your brain. Maybe it’s in the email conversations, maybe not.
12 Essential Strategies for Marketing in Real-Time

Jeremy

4 Feb 2010 | 3:31 pm

In the time it’s taken you to read this sentence, an approximate 1500-2000 people wrote a Tweet (more on this here), almost double that number of Facebook status updates occurred, and an hour of video was uploaded to YouTube. And many would argue we’re still in the early days of “update mania” and content creation. Now I don’t have any stats on the nature of those updates, but it’s fair to guesstimate that a decent chunk of them are people praising or lamenting about companies, products, and services. We’ve blogged before on how complex the modern…
Stage Two helps to feed those in need during Social Media Week

Ken Yeung

2 Feb 2010 | 3:54 pm

Today, the entire team from Stage Two spent the entire morning helping the community. For the second time this year, we were honored to participate in some community service at the San Francisco Food Bank to do some social good – a perfect tie in to Social Media Week in the city. Joining us this time were Alyce Lindquist, the president of the San Francisco/Silicon Valley chapter of the Social Media Club and Dana Oshiro, writer for tech blog ReadWriteWeb. While last time we had a good time packaging orzo pasta, this time we were needed to package cabbage and oranges that would be sent to…
Client News: Clicker.com & UCLA

David

2 Feb 2010 | 6:12 am

Clicker.com is partnering with a major, public CA university to provide access to an enormous index of online content. The University of California, Los Angeles has created a portal to Clicker.com on their student site, my.ucla.com This serves a number of different purposes: Original student-generated and University-generated content will be indexed on Clicker.com for student (and public) convenience All the regular (network and other broadcast content) indexed on Clicker is available to students This provides a comprehensive guide to legal content available on the Internet Rather than…
Camping out to kick off Social Media Week in San Francisco

Ken Yeung

1 Feb 2010 | 11:05 pm

Today marks the beginning of Social Media Week around the world. Social media enthusiasts gather in Berlin, London, New York, Sao Paulo, Toronto and here in San Francisco. To kick off the week, Chris Heuer & Kristie Wells of Social Media Club organized the Social Media Camp in the Presidio. Designed to be both a conference and an unconference, today’s event centered around helping people understand social media. Presenters offered much more than a “101″ view on social media and gave lively and informative discussions on things like how you can measure your return on…

The Viral Garden
Attention big brands, we had a blast on Twitter last nite, but where were you?

Mack Collier

8 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

If you were on Twitter last nite during the Super Bowl, you probably had a blast with the rest of us participating in all the chatter around the game, and the commercials. Many of us were using the #brandbowl hashtag to critique the ads in real-time, in fact I was seeing 100 new tweets coming in every couple of minutes. For reference, that's about FOUR times the volume of a busy #blogchat.But one thing many of us noticed was that the companies buying these very expensive Super Bowl ads, weren't doing anything to engage with us. I didn't see a single ad with a reference to the company's social…
Twitter-sourced smartitude; Getting a community site off the ground

Mack Collier

5 Feb 2010 | 9:15 am

This morning I actually had a few minutes to spend on Twitter, so I decided to get a discussion going about community sites. More specifically, what's the first consideration when starting a site, how important is it to be involved in the site itself, and how to sell it to your boss. I got dozens of great answers, and here they are:First consideration when launching a community site:MattJMcD @MackCollier making sure people want to be part of your community in the first place. jonnytee @MackCollier first question - Who's the audience and what's their common interest? tamadear @MackCollier…
#blogchat update for Feb - Music Marketing and Corporate Blogging!

Mack Collier

27 Jan 2010 | 8:40 am

Big update for February as a couple of super smart co-hosts have agreed to join us for #blogchat.First, if aren't sure what #blogchat is, it's a chat that happens every Sunday nite on Twitter at 8pm Central. We talk about topics related to personal, professional and business blogging. Occasionally we stray off and talk about broader issues relating to social media, but for the most part we are blog-centric in our discussions.You can follow #blogchat on the web here or here, and you can get the background on how it came to be here.Now for the real news; after getting feedback from you guys in…
#blogchat 1-24 recap; Dealing with and avoiding blogger burnout!

Mack Collier

26 Jan 2010 | 3:16 am

First, if you missed #blogchat, here is the transcript.Second, if you have no idea what #blogchat is, it's a chat on Twitter that happens every Sunday nite at 8pm Central. We discuss a different topic every week that relates to blogging. EVERYONE is welcome to participate, and here's a good way to keep up with the chat on the web. If you have a Twitter account, you can join by adding the #blogchat hashtag to your tweets.Our topic this week was dealing with and avoiding blogger burnout. This is something that I've been dealing with from time to time, and from the #blogchat crowd, here are some…
Case Study: How MarketingProfs uses Twitter

Mack Collier

22 Jan 2010 | 8:32 am

Over on MackCollier.com this week we've had a fabulous discussion about what happens if your company has 1 person that's handling your social media strategy, and then they leave. In the post, I referenced how MarketingProfs does a great job leveraging Twitter to connect with its users.And then I got to thinking that other companies could definitely learn from what MP is doing with Twitter. So I fired off an email to Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer at MarketingProfs (and all-round superheroine in the true 70s SuperFriends sense of the word), and she quickly agreed to share with us the…

Viaspire
Social Media Camp Presentation on Social Media Metrics

Viaspire

9 Feb 2010 | 9:39 am

Sm Metrics from Social Media Week View more presentations from PayPalX Developer Network.
Social Media & Open Government

Viaspire

6 Feb 2010 | 8:44 pm

Social Media + Open Government at NASA View more presentations from Nick Skytland.(@skytland)
Wireframing: Blueprints for the UX

Viaspire

25 Jan 2010 | 8:03 am

When you get to the point of doing a presentation in the form of visual design comps, often times, it's the first time people start to see and really understand "the work" you do. There is so much behind the scenes that happens before the design is applied. Wireframes, for one, draft the necessary elements that make up a page or series of pages. Wireframes are critical in defining the concept, testing the information architecture (the buckets, the pathways, the conventions used to create a user's experience) and outlining the real estate of the page to facilitate usable and functional design.
Seven Components of Design

Viaspire

17 Jan 2010 | 2:16 pm

Seven Design Components View more documents from Lori Shyba.
Presenting: 50 Social Media Tactics for Nonprofits

Viaspire

15 Dec 2009 | 8:00 am

This is a great slide deck of some quick tactics and tools non-profit should consider when looking to engage in social media for your organization. 50 Social Media Tactics for NonprofitsView more presentations from Chad Norman.

Churbuck.com
Links for 2010-02-07 [del.icio.us]

8 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

Mashpee Meetinghouse Reopens Oldest native American meeting house reopens. Possible 52Churches stop
Christ the King – 52 Churches

David Churbuck

7 Feb 2010 | 10:49 am

As I am back on Cape Cod sand after a weekend of exotic services in Istanbul, today I went to Christ the King, a large Catholic church in the neighboring town of Mashpee. This is the second Catholic church visited in this project, the first being a Latin mass in San Francisco over the holidays, but one I had highlighted as a key visit in my local peregrinations. I have visited the large, white and relatively new parish twice before: once for my eldest son’s soccer banquet and the second for the funeral of a friend’s father. It is the largest Catholic congregation in the…
Links for 2010-02-06 [del.icio.us]

7 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

Lenovo Soars in China, Struggles in U.S. - BusinessWeek Businessweek - HK on quarterly earnings for holiday/fall
Vitalic – new fave video

David Churbuck

6 Feb 2010 | 3:09 pm

Click here to view the embedded video.
Social Commerce: why we should care

David Churbuck

6 Feb 2010 | 10:19 am

And now for something completely different, a post on interactive marketing! Hat tip to Avinash Kaushik for tweeting this: Click here to view the embedded video.

Ries' Pieces
Super Bowl Ads 2010

Laura

8 Feb 2010 | 12:49 pm

Best ads of the game Google: Google transformed how we think about search and now Google has transformed how we think about Super Bowl ads. Without any celebrities, special effects or juvenile jokes, Google did what Google does best. It showed us in a simple clear how Google had changed the world. The ad is unlikely to win any creativity awards but unlike most ads I think it made a powerful, lasting impact in the mind on consumers. Doritos: Who needs a fancy award-winning agency when you can hold a contest and get your ads for free? Doritos showed us again that there are a lot of aspiring…
Verizon and its Atomic Bomb

Laura

27 Jan 2010 | 11:02 am

Marketing wars are fought with lots of words, but wars are won when you combine your words with a visual. We have seen several epic marketing wars: The Cola War of Coke vs. Pepsi, The Beer War of Budweiser vs. Miller, The Mouthwash War of Listerine vs. Scope and The Battery War of Duracell vs. Energizer. But they all fail in comparison to the money and firepower currently being expended in the Cellphone War between AT&T and arch-rival Verizon Wireless.
Domino's Should Apologize

Laura

12 Jan 2010 | 10:53 am

Everybody knows the rule. When you do something wrong, you say you are sorry. As a society we love to scold but we also love to forgive. And the simple act of just “saying” sorry goes a long way in righting many wrongs. But how, when and why you say you are sorry also matters. Say it too often and nobody will believe you anymore. Detroit has been begging for forgiveness for decades. Say it with advertising instead of PR and it looks phony. JetBlue…
It's what Tiger does next that counts

Laura

8 Dec 2009 | 2:02 pm

Tiger Woods was a rare breed. A phenomenal athlete who delivered consistent record-shattering victories on and off the course with style, grace and integrity. In an intense game like golf, Tiger built his reputation by performing under pressure. And like his idol Jack Nicklaus, Tiger transcended from being one of the best athletes ever to being one of the best celebrity brands ever. The latest Forbes Celebrity 100 list put Tiger at number five just behind Angelina, Oprah, Madonna and Beyonce. And ahead of…
Under Armour: Too Big for its Shirt?

Laura

4 Nov 2009 | 12:19 pm

It's amazing how many of the world's most successful entrepreneurs quickly forget what made them famous. The latest example is Kevin Plank, CEO of Under Armour. What made Under Armour famous? It wasn't a Super Bowl ad. It wasn't a massive marketing campaign. It wasn't ego or hype. What made Under Armour famous was "performance apparel" a new category Kevin created and carefully nurtured. As an ex-Maryland football player, Kevin Plank was sick of wearing sweat-soaked cotton T-shirts. So he visited New York City’s garment district and found a polyester-Lycra…

Ryan Stephens Marketing
Why You Can’t Work at Work

Ryan Stephens

8 Feb 2010 | 10:40 am

Lately we’ve been having some great discussions about things I’m passionate about improving in the workplace like having more successful meetings, and the importance of alone time. Rich chimed in with a potential solution for some of these problems, telecommuting. Today, I want to take that discussion a step further. Here’s a relatively short video (6:43) from Jason Fried* (37 Signals) on what’s wrong with the structure of the modern workplace: Some of Jason’s solutions are: shifting collaboration to more passive things to avoid disruption, changing managerial…
Book Review: Trust Agents & A Whole New Mind

Ryan Stephens

5 Feb 2010 | 1:49 pm

I don’t like making anyone think too hard on a Friday so I took the time to review a couple of books I recently finished. “Trust Agents” by Chris Brogan & Julien Smith and “A Whole New Mind” by Daniel Pink. (Both are affiliate links). I received “Trust Agents” via a contest giveaway on Twitter, and purchased “A Whole New Mind” based on recommendations from Jenny Blake and Charlie Hoehn. Both books are solid reads and worthy of your shelf. They were also really self-affirming, but not necessarily life altering or game changing (for…
6 Reasons Why Companies Should Allow Telecommuting

Ryan Stephens

3 Feb 2010 | 4:55 pm

[Ryan's Note: I have a lot of respect an admiration for my community of readers and as a result I've been protective of this space and reluctant to allow guest posts. One, it's silly of me to think that you could learn everything from me when there are so many smart people out there. And two, since I rarely do this you know that I think highly of Rich and feel confident he's delivered the goods. Enjoy!] I really love telecommuting. Want to know what I love more than telecommuting? Working for an employer that provides telecommuting as a productivity option. It is empowering to employees, and,…
Is Alone Time Important For the Workplace?

Ryan Stephens

1 Feb 2010 | 4:45 pm

A benefit of less, or no meetings is having enough “alone time” to let creativity flow and accomplish more without interruption. 37signals also prefers co-worker interaction to be the exception rather than the rule. Fried explains, “The conventional wisdom is to be together all the time. I think it is poisonous. Having too much of anything is bad for you. It’s better to appreciate the interaction you do have. We’ve made ‘away time’ the norm, and ‘together time’ the exception, so it’s something that people look forward to. — Jason Fried (37 Signals) I’ve been…
Lost Season 6 Preview

Ryan Stephens

30 Jan 2010 | 10:56 am

Two facts about me: I don’t like seeing hard work go unnoticed Despite Gary V’s insistence, I love LOST For those two reasons I wanted to take a break from business/marketing discussions and share one of my friend’s LOST Season VI Preview (Embedded Below). It’s extremely thorough and the design is tasteful and engaging. If you’re a fan of the show I think you’ll find it worth your time. If you are not, how could you design similar PDFs, slide decks, etc. to market and share something you’re passionate about? Your business? Lost Season 6 Preview View…

brandflakesforbreakfast
making tv more real

darryl ohrt

9 Feb 2010 | 5:09 am

If you're a fan of the Office, you know that Dunder Mifflin was just acquired on the show, and the characters are going through the typical process of a corporate acquisition.NBC has a great history of tying the on-screen fun to the internet world, and they haven't stopped with the acquisition. Check out the site for the new parent company, Sabre Corp. The employee welcome video featuring Christian Slater is especially heart warming. Thanks, RJ!
winter olympic fun with samsung

darryl ohrt

9 Feb 2010 | 5:03 am

Samsung just released a series of videos celebrating winter sports in a more fun way than the typical figure skating or half pipe riding.
don't have a valentine? how about the meter maid?

darryl ohrt

9 Feb 2010 | 5:03 am

Skittles has launched a promotion that's asking you to join their "mob the rainbow." A rainbow mob is like a flash mob, only it doesn't necessarily involve showing up to a particular place, and its goal is to spread happy rainbow goodness. (Like a flash mob for lazy people.)This particular rainbow mob is all about sending some random meter maid a valentine. If we all do it, she'll get a kabillion valentines and be the most loved meter maid in meter maid history. Or, she'll be really freaked out and give us all tickets.Nice idea, and great tie to the rainbow of deliciousness.
mardi gras, without all of the drunken nakedness

darryl ohrt

9 Feb 2010 | 4:40 am

This year's Mardi Gras is more than likely going to be better than ever. If you've never experienced Mardi Gras, or - if you've only experienced it as a drunken tourist, you owe it to yourself to check out My Mardis Gras Experience.It's a blogger's experience of Mardis Gras for the first time as a local. They've also channeled in plenty of the typical social media streams, so there's plenty of content for all to see.It's brought us by Tabasco, and promises to be family friendly. So you can show your kids without fear of boobies or man spears. From @scottmonty.
denny's: the series

darryl ohrt

9 Feb 2010 | 4:17 am

After you're done with this morning's free Grand Slam at Denny's, you can enjoy more Denny's internet goodness.Because many people didn't believe that the chicken takeover of the SuperBowl was enough, they've created more. More chicken videos, served up like a second helping of flapjacks. Or another Moon over Miami. (You can actually call Janeth at Denny's too - which is a nice touch.)

RefreshWeb B2B Search Marketing
Social Media in 2010 and Second Right Ideas

Sara Rasco

26 Jan 2010 | 1:32 pm

I’m in charge of coming up with search marketing strategies for our clients, then helping get the content that makes them work through the process of development and implementation. That means I do a lot of research and exploration to find out what lies in that lovely matrix of customer interest and market opportunity. What I do is all about possibility. It’s about sorting out the puzzle pieces and making something cohesive from them (which I love doing). My research takes me outside of the things that are my immediate domain because I need to have an understanding of what the…
Blogging for B2B SEO Success

John Rasco

30 Dec 2009 | 3:36 pm

Great how-to from Marketing Sherpa in November. This is the reason I like Twitter, by the way…the industry’s leading lights sharing what’s interesting and/or valuable to them. Lots of year-end best-of lists right now. This case study is a great resource, with excellent instructions on how to mobilize your company’s tribe of experts, what terms to use (not the same ones as you target on your site), and the results to expect. In this case, over half the search traffic is now to the blog…for the “other” terms that weren’t quite important enough for…
Thanks for the great review/year/programming!

John Rasco

23 Nov 2009 | 4:14 pm

This week, I’m thankful for my team, I’m thankful for our clients, thankful for our friends in the business like Mike Belasco, and thankful that our new service launch has gotten such a warm reception. Doug Karr, of the MarketingTechBlog, got a preview of the new, low-cost service offerings supported by the Software as a Service tool that we’re using to help clients monitor the performance of their sites. In his review, he called it an “incredible SEO dashboard,” and went on to say: There are three important elements of search engine tracking… the volume of…
Morphing from Selling Service to Product

John Rasco

2 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

If you’re come to the blog via the home page, you probably noticed all the design changes, namely boxes defining some prospects’ needs, pointing to new pages addressing how we can address this particular problem. This was all possible because last Thursday, we launched our SEO dashboard at InnoTech in Austin, in combination with more flexible, less expensive service offerings. This is a big milestone, because it’s the first fruit of our strategy to evolve into a product company. As a bridge from here to there, we’re only selling the dashboard in combination with…
TED strikes again…rethinking advertising

John Rasco

27 Oct 2009 | 11:24 am

A friend of mine who is an economics professor sent me this from the Global TED in Oxford. “The wonderful Rory Sutherland wows the audience at the TED conference in Oxford with a superb sixteen minute talk on advertising and aspects of behavioural economics.” As a repentant ad guy, it’s refreshing to see a “practising” ad guy leading the way for less is more. Enjoy!

Flooring The Consumer
Simple Marketing Now - January 2010 Update

8 Feb 2010 | 5:01 am

January 2010 Simple Marketing Now UpdateHere is the latest that I wrote about on the Simple Marketing Now side...[For those of you new to Flooring The Consumer, I also write the Simple Marketing Blog where I discuss marketing strategy and creative, practical, simple marketing approaches and share best practices - many of which may be relevant to you and your business as you consider what's possible. The blog also acts as newsroom for Simple Marketing Now.]More specifically, during January 2010, I shared Fascinating Marketing Presentations, Social Media Marketing Resources and Simple Marketing…
2010 Consumer & Marketplace Trends

1 Feb 2010 | 6:40 am

I'm fascinated with marketplace trends and how consumers react to social forces and economic conditions. After all, that's what affects the retail experience. As a result, I like to observe consumer behavior and identify patterns - by watching myself and those around me, listening to conversations and doing lots of research.In the process of doing research, I've come across several resources about the consumer and the marketplace. I share them with you here. I'd love to hear your reactions and how you see some of these trends reflected in your market and retail environment.2010 Consumer &…
Women: Separate, Equal & Consumers Worth Appealing To

29 Jan 2010 | 5:03 am

How Do You Appeal To Your Women Consumers?Marketing to women and appealing to female consumers are subjects I think about all the time. They inspired this blog about the consumer retail experience and have led to many retailer and industry presentations.Flooring is far from unique, but it captures a world of extremes. For the most part, retail and manufacturing are heavily male driven while the ultimate consumer is a woman.No wonder the resulting consumer experience often misfires! Although, for those wanting to engage with and delight their [women] customers, imagine the opportunities!I got…
Refresh The Store Experience With Light

21 Jan 2010 | 4:52 am

In response to my post Refresh Your Store Experience For The New Year, Arthur Corbin, retail and lighting wizard and author of Arthur Corbin's Retail Wisdom, contributes the following about light and retail to further refresh the store experience...Retail & LightingThe 1/3 of sales in the front of the store is misleading and likely the result of inadequate thought and investment in lighting technology.Customers walk towards the brightest light in the store (within reason). Light can be used to reinforce circulation patterns and can be used to highlight merchandise (the brightest area…
Refresh Your Store Experience For The New Year

18 Jan 2010 | 5:04 am

New year, new beginnings, so what's in store for your store? Perhaps it's time to refresh your store experience for the New Year? From Retail Customer Experience Magazine, here are 5 signs your retail store needs a makeover by Bob Phibbs.1. How does your store flow?How well does the traffic patterns you've established match up with those of your customers? Do you need to adjust them?2. How consistent is your store? My favorite example of retail experience consistency is Target. Signage, communications, baskets, even the bathrooms consistently say 'Target.' Are you that consistent? Could you…

Search Engine Watch Blog
IAC Earnings: Search Revenues Up, But $1 Billion Impairment Charges

9 Feb 2010 | 7:19 am

Despite loss, they beat the Street.Click to read the rest of this post...
Twelve bloggers blogging about SES London 2010

8 Feb 2010 | 11:55 pm

There are a lot more than "12 bloggers blogging" about SES London 2010. If you want to see a comprehensive list, go to the Search Engine Strategies blog.Click to read the rest of this post...
Justice Department Opposes Revised Google Books Settlement

8 Feb 2010 | 10:54 pm

Last week, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a brief expressing concerns over a revised Google book settlement. Click to read the rest of this post...
AdWords Offers Free Online Training

8 Feb 2010 | 1:09 pm

Google AdWords has launched a new site where you can get training on their paid search platform. For FREE.Click to read the rest of this post...
Bing Launches Winter Olympics Search Features

8 Feb 2010 | 12:45 pm

Instant Answers and Visual Search galleries are given the winter games treatment.Click to read the rest of this post...

Conversion Rate Optimization & Marketing Blog | FutureNow, Inc
20 Questions to Ask When Evaluating Optimization Services

Since the common predictions over the last two months have been that Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is going to have a big year in 2010, some of our GrokDotCom readers have expressed interest in how to evaluate the different CRO service providers out there. Despite an obvious bias, I still think ...
Can Conversion Rate Optimization Improve Lead Quality?

There was a question posed in the comments section of my last post on Pay Per Click optimization that I thought I'd try to address: "What are your thoughts on using CRO to improve the quality of leads?" Good question! Many people assume that optimizing for higher conversion rates in the ...
Avoid Asking for the Lead Too Early

My best girlfriend, Brittany was searching online for an apartment in Salt Lake City last week. She told me about her frustrating experience with Rent.com. I want to share her experience with you, to show you what NOT do on your site. This is a perfect example of a reputable ...
How To Optimize Pay Per Click Advertising & Control Costs

Every client I talk to who's using Pay Per Click (PPC) as part of their online marketing mix voices some level of concern about cost and ROI, and for good reason. With PPC, there seems to be a thousand different ways to spend too much money for not enough return. ...
Your Visitors Are Individuals So Treat Them That Way

I have a friend who is responsible for gathering & reporting all the stats for his company. In speaking with him, I found it interesting when he said “although stats are vital for reporting, they sometimes don’t tell the full story of what really is going on.” Numbers don’t report the ...

Being Peter Kim
What you can learn from Forrester's new blogging policy

Peter Kim

9 Feb 2010 | 6:02 am

I've been following the discussion around Forrester's new blogging policy. In case you weren't aware, I was formerly a Forrester analyst covering social computing and wrote some of the early drafts of the company's blogging policy. Now I'm building a strategy consulting practice at Dachis Group and advising companies on social business - wherein policies and guidelines play an important role. Based on my experience, I understand where Forrester's management is coming from. Forrester makes their money by curating information and social media poses a threat to its core intellectual property.
Super Bust XLIV

Peter Kim

8 Feb 2010 | 5:08 am

Outside of Indianapolis and New Orleans, most of the U.S. will have forgotten about Super Bowl XLIV by Monday evening. Across the US, most of the ads were forgotten by the time viewers fell asleep Sunday night. Enough about how bad the ads were in general. [Along with the halftime show.] Many ads deserve their own special recognition and I'd like to highlight some of them here, by category. The violent:1. Snickers2. The movie/video game trailers 3. Doritos The sexually suggestive:1. GoDaddy2. CareerBuilder3. Motorola The heartstrings appeals:1. Google2. Coca-Cola3.
Four years ago today

Peter Kim

28 Jan 2010 | 8:30 am

I started this blog on a snowy Saturday in Boston, telling you about how I learned to love the blog. A lot has changed in social media since then. Curiously, my early posts are closer in style to tweets or posterizing than the long form that I publish here more often. Thanks for reading!
Case Study: Managing Risk in Regulated Industries

Peter Kim

26 Jan 2010 | 7:00 am

Common wisdom says that being a large company in a regulated industry somewhat forfeits your ability to conduct business in a social manner. There are just too many rules; it's just too risky. Right? There is some truth to this belief, but we think there are several ways to engage. Think of social engagement in phases, balanced by the risk and reward of each. Dachis Group recently finished an engagement with a client that operates in a regulated industry. We conducted a thorough analysis of their social media landscape and recommended several ways to move towards becoming a more social…
The Marketer’s New Clothes

Peter Kim

12 Jan 2010 | 6:12 am

Not too long ago there was a marketer, who was obsessively focused on “the next big thing” and spent a great deal of his budget on the latest fads; his only ambition was to be written up in Ad Age and Brandweek. He did not care for sales spreadsheets and customer databases did not interest him; the only thing that really interested him was to focus on the next brand campaign. The industry in which he worked was very social and every day many new agencies from around the world gave him a call. One day an agency came calling and let everyone know they were social media gurus and could build…

TrishaLyn
Affiliate Marketing Fanatics 19: It’s a Search Tool!

Trish

3 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

Affiliate Marketing Fanatics – A couple of hyper-caffeinated affiliate marketers (Mike Buechele) and (Trisha Lyn Fawver) talk about all things Affiliate Marketing. From blogging to branding, social media to search, video and more! In this all-too-RARE episode, we reunite and make lots of fun of ourselves for being inconsistent in our scheduling and shows. We discuss some things that are kind of old and some things that are brand-spanking new. It happens. Incidentally, I realize I said the name Richard Attenborough when we were joking around and I was trying to reference those…
Interview with Lisa Riolo of Impact Radius

Trish

1 Feb 2010 | 8:00 am

A new kind of affiliate network was launched just a couple weeks ago – Impact Radius. They boast themselves as the first multi-channel performance marketing platform. Impact Radius links performance advertising to TV, radio, print and online distribution channels—delivering to advertisers and media partners opportunities for growth and profit. I’m happy to present you with an interview with one of the founders, Lisa Riolo. What is the Twitter (~140 Character) Definition of Impact Radius? Well, I’m going to cheat a little and send back-to-back tweets from @impactradius…
Internet Marketing From The Real Experts

Trish

29 Jan 2010 | 8:00 am

I’m excited to say that an article I wrote is included in the book Internet Marketing From The Real Experts, edited by Shawn Collins & Missy Ward. This is the first book to be published under the Velocity NYC Press imprint by Morgan James Publishing. The official author is “The Gang of 88″ as the book is a compilation of articles written for and printed in FeedFront Magazine. The book was given out to attendees of Affiliate Summit West 2010 and boasts 3 minute lessons on affiliate marketing, email marketing, search engine optimization, social media, and much more!
ASW10 Session: How To Get Motivated For Success!

Trish

28 Jan 2010 | 2:00 pm

Session Description: Get off your butt and get to work. Motivational tips, tricks & strategies that can put you on the path to online success. The featured speaker was: Jim Kukral, President, JimKukral.com This was a great session, a real kick in the pants to get off your ass and finish those projects you’ve put on hold. I picked up a lot of great tips to put into action here on my site, and I think you will too. Jim is a master motivator, without the cheese (for the most part). Bullet Point Review! Doers get what they want…everyone else gets what they get. Be remarkable.
ASW10 Tuesday Keynote Brian Clark

Trish

28 Jan 2010 | 11:00 am

Entreproducer: The Affiliate Marketer as Media Mogul Thin affiliate sites are disappearing from search engines, while social media is powered by content sharing, not sales pitches. It’s time to start thinking like a new media producer first and foremost, with affiliate relationships as just one form of monetization. The keynote was given by: Brian Clark, Co-Founder, DIY Themes Brian notes that this was his first keynote, so good job on one under the belt! It focused on creativity, which I really did connect with. Unfortunately it did get kind of dry in the middle and I admit, I lost…

WebMama's Look at the Web
STILL Reading Code to do My Job as a Marketer!

Barbara 'webmama' Coll

27 Jan 2010 | 8:45 am

When Dana Todd asked me what I am still doing today that I can't believe I am still doing, I said 'reading code'. I thought, as web marketing and search marketing matured that I would not have to look under the hood of a web page anymore. Not so. Yesterday was a banner day in just that, reading code, to get my job done. My job, FYI, is to generate high-quality leads via search marketing campaigns for clients who like to feed their sales reps. First it was Wordpress. It is a wonderful product for blogs and sites. It has themes that take most of the pain of 'coding' away but there are many…
Passion for SEM Secures Place on Top 100 Marketers List

Barbara 'webmama' Coll

11 Jan 2010 | 2:53 pm

Nice to get a mention (at #19) on the INVESP’s list of top 100 marketers 2009. Having worked in the marketing world for over 20 years, I’m still passionate about lead gen and direct response search marketing, especially at a time when so many folk think SEO is dead. I disagree, as do my clients; SEO is absolutely still alive and well, as an integral part of any comprehensive and smart web marketing strategy.Barbara Coll CEO, WebMama.com Inc.
Real-Time Content and the Enterprise - A report on the players

Barbara 'webmama' Coll

11 Jan 2010 | 12:38 pm

Sameer Patel released today a report on The Real-Time Enterprise. In the report he discusses the role of interacting real-time with customers as a vehicle for product definition, support, and employee communications. He looks at the companies with opportunities in this area.This area is something all search engine marketing companies and web marketing managers should be excited about. All external, real-time interactions add content to the web for a company - content that is being eaten up gladly by Google and Bing, and shared on twitter and facebook.The report is only available with a…
Internet Usage Worldwide - stats by Intac

Barbara 'webmama' Coll

8 Jan 2010 | 11:37 am

Thank you to Intac for this excellent map of internet usage today worldwide. Original image.Barbara Coll CEO, WebMama.com Inc.
MarketingProfs Asked for my B2B Resolution

Barbara 'webmama' Coll

30 Dec 2009 | 12:48 pm

MarketingProfs didn't want to know if I wanted to play more soccer, lose weight or visit with more friends - while those are all true - they wanted to know my new years resolution for the B2B space. My reply:Thanks for asking Ann.BarbBarbara Coll CEO, WebMama.com Inc.

AdFreak
Google's Super Bowl ad proves spoof-errific

Adweek Blogs

9 Feb 2010 | 8:27 am

Nowadays, it's a pretty big compliment when someone spoofs your TV spot. The Web is full of takes on Apple's "Get a Mac" spots. Well, make room for imitators of Google's "Parisian Love" spot, which tells a sweet story of romance through Internet searches. The ad has been online for months—and back in December spawned a Tiger Woods-themed parody, courtesy of Slate. Now, Upright Citizens Brigade has its own version (below), in which it sticks to Parisian love-story concept, but with the romance gone awry. With other imitators sure to follow, it appears Adweek critic Barbara Lippert was quite…
Pissed SE Toyota dealers pull ads from ABC

Adweek Blogs

9 Feb 2010 | 7:33 am

Ah, recalls. They're never good for business. But is it a wise idea for to cancel your advertising when people report on them? Toyota dealers have started pulling ads from ABC, though right now it's only in local markets in five states. OK, basically it's just Southeast Toyota, whose ad agency, 22squared, informed ABC that the decision was due to ABC's "excessive stories on the Toyota issues." Southeast Toyota sells 20 percent of all Toyotas in the U.S., so it's not a tiny chunk. More important, the headline in The New York Times makes it sound like all Toyota dealers are in on this. ABC says…
Enjoy a branded great time out in Logorama

Adweek Blogs

9 Feb 2010 | 7:01 am

Keiichi Matsuda's "Augmented (hyper)Reality" video, posted here last week, puts consumers inside a world of advertising. But H5's Logorama, screened at Cannes last year and recently nominated for an Academy Award, takes the premise even further, externalizing the marketing experience to the point where human existence has been completely subsumed by a landscape of living ads. (A clip is embedded below. You can watch the whole thing, in two parts, here and here.) Some 2,500 brand IDs appear, and mascots like the Pringles, AOL and M&M's guys, Ronald McDonald, the Michelin Man and countless…
Tooheys fans not above helping you urinate

Adweek Blogs

9 Feb 2010 | 5:26 am

The price of helping a mate fix a leak at his house? One case of Tooheys beer. The price of helping him take a leak? Ten cases. That math is brought to you by Saatchi & Saatchi in its new "Currency of the Beer Economy" campaign for the Australian brewer. Only Down Under, mate! See three more spots after the jump. One is impressively convoluted, with a guy helping his buddy through a whole relationship with a girl, from first date to breakup. Another involves a grandma and her boyfriend frolicking in the tub. Frankly, no amount of suds will wash that wrinkly image from your mind. Via Ads…
Let tiny aliens build you a lovely new Honda

Adweek Blogs

8 Feb 2010 | 11:03 am

This "Imagination" spot for the Honda Odyssey from Concept Café goes a long way toward explaining why America's manufacturing sector is in the toilet. How can we compete with adorable robot alien things that build cars on spec in people's driveways? They probably don't even have a union. They do have a DJ, although the background music he's spinning sounds a bit like the Tiger Lillies. If so, he should probably switch to something else once those kids show up.—Posted by David Kiefaber

Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim
Ask/IAC Q4: Bleeding Money, But Hey, Online Ads are Doing Good!

Jordan McCollum

9 Feb 2010 | 8:49 am

Ask’s parent company IAC posted $1B in losses largely because it wrote down the value of its search business. But, says the AP, this is actually good news for the online ad market (and not because a competitor is about to get out of the market)—because IAC didn’t do as badly as expected. No, because it beat estimates by 2¢ per share, a nine-figure loss “offered the latest indication that the online advertising market is improving,” as the AP says. IAC investors seemed to agree, since it the stock jumped four percent after the results were posted. In the most…
Please Email This Article; Researchers Say You’ll Feel Better

Andy Beal

9 Feb 2010 | 6:12 am

If fear, scandal, sex, and humor sell newspapers, it stands to reason that those topics would make for the most popular articles on news sites and blogs. Right? Wrong! Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have intensively studied the New York Times list of most-e-mailed articles and discovered that it was an entirely unexpected emotion that caused the average reader to share an article. “Emotion in general leads to transmission, and awe is quite a strong emotion,” [Dr. Berger] said. “If I’ve just read this story that changes the way I understand the world and myself, I want…
Google to Make Its Move on Facebook and Twitter?

Frank Reed

9 Feb 2010 | 5:11 am

The buzz around the Internet marketing and social media circles is humming with the news (or the rumor, call it what you want) that Google is getting set to introduce a new feature to Gmail. No, it has nothing to do with your e-mail but rather your ‘experience’ with Gmail and in particular your social experience. Looks like Google is getting into the social game. This comes on the heels of the talk of Facebook getting into the e-mail game as well. What’s going on? It’s like opposite day with Google going social and Facebook getting all e-mail on us. The Wall Street Journal…
Study Shows Facebook’s Retail Appeal

Frank Reed

9 Feb 2010 | 4:09 am

Everyone in the world of marketing whether you are online or offline (or hopefully the right combination of the two) wants to better define social media and its uses. Different sectors or verticals see how the various social media tools impact their particular type of business and no two seem to act alike. Much of that has to do with having too little real data to draw firm conclusions from and the learning curve that is occurring on the customer side of this equation. One sector that is well suited for the social media game is the retail industry. If you are a retail outlet of any kind, high…
Can Kindle Resist Apple’s Attempt to Douse It?

Jordan McCollum

8 Feb 2010 | 12:55 pm

Since its unveiling last month, the iPad has been labeled a Kindle killer. The parallels are obvious—the largest (and newest) Kindle has the same size screen, both have Internet connectivity, and both can be used to read books. But that just about sums up the Kindle’s selling points, and the iPad’s features list continues on out the door. So could a full-color touchscreen tablet computer and a B&W eReader really be considered the competitors the media continue to make them out to be? Heck yes, if Amazon has anything to say about it. Last week, Amazon acquired…

Lucid Marketing to Moms
Moved

Kevin Burke

9 Feb 2010 | 9:26 am

We are no longer blogging here.Please go tohttp://blog.lucidmarketing.com/
Links for 2010-02-08 [del.icio.us]

Kevin Burke

A Group of Women Entrepreneurs Are Making Their Mark With Healthier Children's Fare
Links for 2010-02-06 [del.icio.us]

Kevin Burke

At Container Store, Mothers Get Royal Treatment Moms on Facebook Are Savvy to Marketers [STATS]
Links for 2010-02-05 [del.icio.us]

Kevin Burke

Facebook Moms Are Marketing-Savvy
Links for 2010-02-04 [del.icio.us]

Kevin Burke

Study: At-home moms more likely to be social Ann Taylor Offers Bloggers Gift Cards In Exchange For Coverage

THE FUTURE OF SEX AND TECHNOLOGY
"The FSC and 14 other plaintiffs claim in a suit filed against the government at U.S. District Court..."

3 Feb 2010 | 12:59 am

“The FSC and 14 other plaintiffs claim in a suit filed against the government at U.S. District...
Tools for adult webmaster: At the seminar, I’ll be...

27 Jan 2010 | 5:13 am

Tools for adult webmaster: At the seminar, I’ll be conducting a thorough walkthrough of our newest MPA3 version, and also giving a sneak peek into our anticipated MAS 2.0 (via Mansion Productions to Showcase Solutions at XBIZ LA 2010 - XBIZ.com
SocialSafe - Save. Store. Explore. | Your Facebook photos,...

26 Jan 2010 | 8:54 pm

SocialSafe - Save. Store. Explore. | Your Facebook photos, profile and friends saved to your machine or device - now with Time Capsule!
Penthouse Porn Publisher FriendFinder Beats Facebook To IPO...

26 Jan 2010 | 8:48 pm

Penthouse Porn Publisher FriendFinder Beats Facebook To IPO Punch
5 Creative Ways to Hack Your Facebook Profile Photo

23 Jan 2010 | 2:20 am

5 Creative Ways to Hack Your Facebook Profile Photo

brandSTOKE
And the winner is … Google

Kirk

8 Feb 2010 | 5:49 am

In its Super Bowl commercial, Google tells an engaging little story of romance with simplicity and elegance. Appropriately, it uses keywords and search results only. Its logo is onscreen almost the entire time, while it demonstrates several of its features and benefits. It effectively offsets Bing’s recent efforts at malignment. Not only was the spot inexpensive to produce, but it stood out from the sophomoric humor and over-the top production of the majority of the commercials. Erik Sherman, in his negative review of the spot at BNET, misses the point that by airing the spot in the…
Advertising’s swimsuit competition: the Super Bowl

Kirk

5 Feb 2010 | 8:42 am

Let’s be honest. This week, when we chat online or around the water cooler about the Super Bowl commercials, we will not be judging them based upon which are most effective at doing what they are supposed to be doing, which is actually selling something. Instead, we will talk about which spots we “like,” which spots we find most entertaining. We’re judging style, not substance. In pursuit of being popular during and after the game, advertisers and their agencies push the limits to engage us. And we reward them with a couple of week’s worth of buzz. But how…
The branding of electricity

Kirk

2 Feb 2010 | 9:48 am

Electricity is a commodity. And therefore, it sells on price alone. But in 1998, local electric cooperatives from around the country, all of which operate independently, got together to distinguish the electricity they serve from that served by investor-owned utilities. A brand was born. The catalyst: energy deregulation. Since the late 1990s, many states have rewritten the rules in order to increase competition among energy providers. Facing the prospect of competing head-to-head with large, well-financed utilities, electric co-ops decided to unite their individual brands under one banner.
The rise of community bank brands

Kirk

25 Jan 2010 | 9:55 am

The customers of George Bailey’s “wonderful old building and loan” rallied to defend it from the money-grubbing Mr. Potter in It’s A Wonderful Life. Although the circumstances are different, small banks across the country are attempting to arouse the same kind of passionate community support. Hoping to attract consumers angry and disgusted with big banks due to the Federal bailout, the huge bonuses, and the arrogance in general, community banks are urging big-bank customers to switch accounts to them. The New York Times reports a number of local uprisings: a credit…
Warning: Your brand is being commoditized!

Kirk

20 Jan 2010 | 5:00 am

Remember the old days when coffee was a commodity? We may be headed there again. Starbucks, with its expansion in 1987, revolutionized how we drink and think about coffee. It convinced us to buy whole beans instead of grounds. It familiarized us with espresso, cappuccino and latte. It introduced us to an American version of the European café experience. Following Starbucks’ success, imitators, such as Caribou, The Coffee Beanery, and others, proliferated. McDonald’s, feeling the heat, changed its bean, ran a “Four bucks is dumb” campaign, and added its McCafé lineup.

Marketing Interactions
Is Your Marketing Content Wardrobe Complete?

ArdathAlbee

5 Feb 2010 | 9:59 am

A short time ago I wrote a post, The Focus of Content Marketing is Not Format. I've been thinking about that and trying to come up with a way to help B2B marketers understand why the way they design their content is more important than format (white paper, case study, article, etc.). I came up with a correlation to fashion. Yeah, I know. Stay with me.But first, I'm giving credit for the spark of this bizarre brainstorm Friday fun to a post Kelley Robertson (@fearlessselling) wrote - The Dangers of Sales Casual - about follow-up calls.The tone and style of how content is written is…
What's the Cost When Sales Tries to Do it All?

ArdathAlbee

2 Feb 2010 | 4:23 pm

I just saw some of the results that @Gerhard20 posted after reading an advance copy of CSO Insights' new 2010 Sales Effectiveness Study. I had a really strong urge to bang my head on my desk. Let's talk about three of the research findings:Research fact: Forty-seven percent of the companies surveyed (1,600 companies participated) reported that their salespeople generate their own leads. Research fact: Nearly 62 percent of all sales leaders surveyed say that their ability to generate new leads needs improvement. Anyone see anything askew in this picture? Now look at this:Research…
Prospect Intelligence is a Terrible Thing to Waste

ArdathAlbee

31 Jan 2010 | 1:26 pm

It always amazes me when I click to download a white paper or register for a webinar and am confronted by a 20-field lead generation form. Unless it's something I want very badly, I tend to click the back button and move on to something more appealing. Then again, I'm a marketer, so sometimes I fill out the form to see what the company will do in response. I have to say that I'm rarely surprised by something amazing and unexpected. I bet I've submitted my contact information close to fifty times during the last year. Maybe more. I do a lot of research for client projects.
When Should B2B Lead Nurturing Stop?

ArdathAlbee

28 Jan 2010 | 10:00 am

I was on a call this morning when a discussion came up about when B2B lead nurturing should stop. Many companies believe this should happen once the lead is qualified and handed over to sales for pursuit. I take issue with this approach because it maintains the division between marketing and sales, instead of promoting a fluid, more holistic approach that encompasses the entire buying process—and beyond. Here are a few reasons why putting a hard stop on your nurturing programs isn't the best idea: Stage in the buying process: Most of the companies I work with have a longer-term buying…
The Focus for Content Marketing is Not Format

ArdathAlbee

25 Jan 2010 | 9:36 am

I'm getting a lot of questions these days about content marketing. Thank you one and all! I love that B2B marketers are working on embracing the idea of content marketing, but I'd like to point out that there's a better way to go about it than focusing first on format. The focus for developing a content strategy should first be applied to: Buyers, Prospects, Customers and Influencers - in other words The People whose attention you want to catch...and to keep. Priorities, Problems, Issues, Objectives, Needs and Situations - in other words whatever it is they may need your help…

Biz Growth News
Are you doing Great Work? In conversation with author and coach Michael Bungay Stanier

Krishna De

6 Feb 2010 | 2:07 am

Are you doing great work? When I received an invitation to do a podcast interview with my internet friend Michael Bungay Stanier to talk about great work I was thrilled. Then he emailed me the questions he wanted to cover in the interview – well really thought starters for what he wanted to explore and my heart sank. Not they weren’t great questions. It’s just that Michael has this ability to make us think – to reflect – to self analyse. That is what makes him one of Canada’s leading coaches. Michael is on a mission to shake up peoples lives. He made me…
Using Google Local Discount Vouchers and benefit from the iGoogle coupon gadget to boost your business results

Krishna De

3 Feb 2010 | 2:50 am

Increasingly we are looking for value for money in the purchases we make. I cover the subject of creating an irresistible offer in my digital marketing and social media workshops and without question, the attendees agree that they are also on the look out for great value offers. Last year Hitwise reported that in the UK, Internet searches for discount vouchers had increased by 47.5% over the last 12 months (reported in August 2009). In a recent video tutorial about using Google Local to boost your online visibility results, I mentioned how Google Local also allows you to add a discount…
Google Local Business: How to get your business to appear at the top of the local search engine results at no cost

Krishna De

2 Feb 2010 | 12:31 am

Last year I recorded and published a podcast about using the Google.com Local Business Centre to list your business and enhance your online visibility using this free tool. I was recently explaining it to my client – and decided to create a short video tutorial to explain the benefits and how to get started. And I thought I would also share it here. Your business can optimise your listing in Google Local for the key words you want to be found for when people are searching for services and products that you offer in your town or city. In this video I cover a case study of the Westbury…
Life Lasting Success Workshop, Dublin, 5-7 February 2010: 20 Free Tickets To Give Away

Krishna De

31 Jan 2010 | 6:37 pm

I receive many emails each day from entrepreneurs and PR professionals across the globe asking for me to share information about their product or service to my community here, on Facebook or through my newsletter. Most don’t consider reading my tips on how to pitch to me. I do try to respond to most emails, but many I just delete – I should probably keep a file of them as they would make a fun compendium of how not to pitch your story! One email that did catch my attention was from Gary McGeown who is organising an event in Dublin this next weekend called ‘Life Lasting…
Coaches and Consultants – get more clients make more money: a podcast interview with Hannah McNamara

Krishna De

28 Jan 2010 | 3:45 pm

If you are finding the start of 2010 a little challenging and that you are not achieving the business growth with referrals and new clients that you want to achieve, today I have a content rich podcast for you with my friend and colleague Hannah McNamara (@coach_marketing) on Twitter) – you might recall I interviewed her last summer. I invited Hannah to join me for a conversation and a special edition podcast so we could discuss specific client attraction tips for coaches and consultants as I know a number of the Biz Growth Community are in that profession. You can either download the…

OnlineMarketerBlog
My Post On the3six5

OnlineMarketer

25 Jan 2010 | 5:23 am

Actually snapped this on my way to the competition. Chicago is awesome sometimes. Yesterday was my day for the3six5 project, which means my entry is featured there today. Check it out at: http://the3six5.posterous.com/january-24-2010-dj-francis Here’s a small snippet… Today, I did the nerdiest thing I’ve ever done. I competed in a board game tournament. Most people who know me would be shocked. They just don’t see that side of me. Most of them see me as a businessman. Some of them see me as a brother or son. A special lady sees me as a husband. But a board game…
Smart Gifts For Smart Marketers

OnlineMarketer

16 Dec 2009 | 4:19 am

I love this time of year. It’s the season when people slow down, plan, and re-focus on their goals. I do it. You do it. For smart marketers, a great way to stay up to date is through the very best information (makes sense, right?). So here are some of the books that I’ve found most helpful, most insightful, and the best guides for marketing in the coming years. You can purchase items I recommend at the OnlineMarketerBlog store, including Kindles and books like these that I reviewed in 2009: - Mitch Joel’s Six Pixels of Separation In my mind, this is the first post-web 2.0…
MOvember A Huge Success

OnlineMarketer

10 Dec 2009 | 3:59 am

I don’t often veer off the strict marketing road here at OMB, but the fight against cancer is important to me and millions of people around the world (and maybe you, too). I’m happy to announce that you – folks who care enough to read this blog, plus my family and friends – raised $300 to fight prostate and testicular cancer! Plus, my corporate team raised over $1,500! Thanks to many folks, including fellow marketer David Mullen, I raised several hundred dollars to benefit a good cause. And I never could have done it without such a committed, wonderful group of readers…
How Marketers Can Ruin Video Sites Like Hulu For The Rest Of Us

OnlineMarketer

7 Dec 2009 | 5:44 am

A Brief Intro… I started this three-part series with a discussion of “the new creativity” and asked if the freemium business model would be better for video content sites like Hulu. Then, I outlined 7 ways Hulu could benefit from a freemium model. And finally, after all of this persuasive writing, I’d like to examine how a few boneheaded marketers will probably f*ck up the whole “free video content” thing for everyone. Intrigued? I thought so. Let’s get into it. They’ll Never Pay For It. Until They Do. In my last post, I outlined a plan where…
7 Ways Hulu Can Benefit From A Freemium Model

OnlineMarketer

2 Dec 2009 | 5:54 am

This week I’ve been positing a theory to you folks: That the new creativity is ideally expressed through a freemium business model. And today, I’d like to apply this theory. Let’s kick this idea around: I believe a freemium model would best suit video sites like Hulu and others, rather than a traditional “subscription” model where some content lies behind a firewall. A bunch of video sites like Hulu are looking to monetize, but who will find the process that entices viewers to pull out their wallets? Today, I will outline 7 ways Hulu could package what they…

ClickZ News
Yahoo Craves Fast Food. Ad Dollars, That Is

Sponsors events to attract money from "local-national" advertisers such as quick-serve restaurants.
Video: A Talk with Bloomberg '09 Digital Strategist

View a Q&A with Jonah Seiger, lead digital strategist for Bloomberg's 2009 campaign at Social Media Week, an event sponsored by ClickZ and held in conjunction with Personal Democracy Forum.
Facebook Dominates U.K. Mobile Internet Use

Social network accounts for 40 percent of page views from U.K. mobile devices.
Mobclix Strikes Deal to Enhance Targeting on Smartphones

Adds Nielsen data based on Zip codes and other offline household information.
Tide Enlists Venus Williams to Serve Up Digital Campaign

Tennis star spearheads design contest, while posting for the brand on Facebook and Twitter.

A Source Of Inspiration
Digital Documentaries

Armando Alves

8 Feb 2010 | 10:56 am

Being lazy on a rainy Sunday has its payoffs, like finding these two great documentaries: PBS Frontlines’ Digital Nation: from information overflow to virtual worlds, Rachel Dretzin and Douglas Rushkoff do a great job on highlighting some of the challenges of the Millennial generation. Also engaging was BBC’s 3D Documentary Explorer for “The Virtual Revolution: How 20 years of the web has reshaped our lives”. Even with the 3D eating the CPU, the videos (with plenty testimonials of key web figures) are worthy of your next lazy Sunday. Beats watching American Idol…
Helpers in action

Armando Alves

5 Feb 2010 | 12:14 pm

Helpers-EU.com is not your traditional campaign, but rather a web series promoted by the European Union to raise awareness about the dangers of tobacco. In partnership with Daily Motion, but also with a Youtube channel the animated films are a fun way to inform young europeans, but also engaging them with the web series by allowing them to vote on the theme/tip for the next episode. The series depicts 3 super-heroes who try to save smokers and non-smokers from the negative effects of tobacco, by giving them absurd tips and advice. Chuck, Skinny and Loona, accompanied by Tapas, a masochistic…
Wrangler Blue Bell

Armando Alves

5 Feb 2010 | 4:27 am

The clothing collection is for the boys, but the site will surely please the ladies. Superb work on the video: fast, smooth, playful. How it always should be. And what a whicked background loop track. A small campaign site (nothing much beyond the main collection) but it does make an impression. Agency: Kokokaka, Gothenburg Client: Wrangler Flame mode: Do this in HTML5. via email by Chandinha. Content under a Creative Commons License. (Digital Fingerprint: bfff8c3002d3e0f3f95495bddf32fef0)Also of InterestOFFF Lisbon titles by Devoid Of YesterdayNothing But The TruthiSwitched
Super Bock Super Blog Awards

Armando Alves

2 Feb 2010 | 2:32 pm

Two years ago, the main portuguese brewery Super Bock created the main blog award event in Portugal, with over 2000 blogs competing to be elected Super Blog. In 2009, we have the 2nd edition with a few improvements, and a chance to see how Portugal’s blogosphere survived the pressure of social networks and microblogging. Disclaimer: I work for Fullsix, the interactive agency responsible for the online campaign.The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer or Super Bock. Registrations are still open until the next 23rd February for Portuguese blogs, with the…
Internet Online Website !

Armando Alves

27 Jan 2010 | 5:28 pm

Enough with technical jargon: at InternetOnlineWebsite.com you can learn all about this wonderful series of tubes. A resource created by Barbarian Group and Aquent, it addresses a common problem: “I want this thing on my website, but I don’t know how to get it, or even what it’s called!” Explain your client or even your mom what Search Marketing is, or what you need to get social media right. And though you may find this ironic/funny, the fact remains that a lot of people still need to be educated on the several components and disciplines of interactive marketing. For those…

AttentionMax
I’m Your Man: Leonard Cohen Interview

Max Kalehoff

7 Feb 2010 | 12:19 pm

Just stumbled across this good interview with Leonard Cohen, filmed at his home in Montreal, Quebec: Related posts:A Night With Leonard Cohen The Poutine Is Great In Montreal! My First Press-Interview Request Via Facebook
You Work Here, Therefore We Own You

Max Kalehoff

5 Feb 2010 | 9:46 am

“You work here, therefore we own you.” That’s the modus operandi for many white-collar employee agreements, which often assert that full-time employees should not take on any freelance work. And companies that do permit full-time employees to freelance often require prior written consent. My hunch is that most companies either turn a blind eye, or address violations through some sort of awkward discovery, admission and reconciliation (or termination). My enlightened friend Dave Balter, founder and CEO of BzzAgent, recently challenged this antiquated policy: “The fact…
Bullies And Morons

Max Kalehoff

2 Feb 2010 | 7:20 pm

We just released episode 7 of Cast of Dads. Our latest podcast probes some of the biggest challenges in parenting and fatherhood: bullies and morons. We toned down the tech talk to address some of these very real issues dads face. We’d love your perspective as well. Episode 7: We Were ALL Morons Topics discussed on this episode: Accents and dialects JetBlue, Lego and Atlantis Resort’s JetAdventure (C.C.’s take) Kids exchanging e-mails Chuck E Cheese Zhu Zhu Pets Leave Britney Alone toys? Pleo Nintendo DS Dogz game Stand alone Atari 2600 controllers Bullying –…
How To Be Happy, According To Professor Srikumar Rao

Max Kalehoff

31 Jan 2010 | 7:12 pm

Our culture and acquired mental models predispose many of us to unhappiness, but things don’t have to be that way. That’s according to Professor Srikumar Rao, the feature guest at the January 28, 2010 Interesting Café, Clickable’s innovators and culture event series. Following a successful career in corporations and then academia, Professor Srikumar Rao eventually pursued a different path: studying the world’s great thinkers and applying their knowledge to help people become more engaged in their work and find deeper meaning in it. He conceived the popular course…
Why Are Consumer Electronics Constructed So Cheaply?

Max Kalehoff

29 Jan 2010 | 11:16 am

I’m a gadget guy. I love consumer electronics. But there’s a critical flaw in the latest generation of devices: poor construction. Many devices I purchased in the late 1990s and early 2000s (and still own, believe it or not) still work like new, including video cameras, CD players, VCRs, stereos, tube televisions and answering machines — even an old Dell laptop. But it seems like everything I bought within the last four years has a lifespan of one to three years. Here are a few examples of recent product failures among some of the most highly regarded brands: My…

Strategic Public Relations
Thesixtyone Turns Social Media Up to Eleven*

Kevin Dugan

26 Jan 2010 | 7:43 am

Characterized by TechCrunch as “a Digg for Indie music,” my new favorite site of the week/month and beyond is thesixtyone. Thesixtyone serves up the latest Indie bands in a format that is as simple as it is dramatic, telling visitors that “new artists make music and listeners decide what’s good.”With well-established sites like the Hype Machine and Pandora indulging my online music needs, why am I proclaiming my love for this self-described music adventure? Well in addition to music, thesixtyone has several interesting elements in social media and design to catch my…
The REAL Wisdom of Flash Mobs, Crowd Sourcing and Social Shopping

Kevin Dugan

31 Dec 2009 | 9:06 am

Happy Holidays from FRCH from Dan Reynolds on Vimeo**When I see trends discussing crowd sourcing, wisdom of the crowds or flash mobs, I'm always reminded of the misconception of "free PR."The misconception behind all of these shiny topics is the assumption that in some capacity they're faster, they're cheaper, they're easier to execute or, in some cases, they're "free" because they involve passionate consumers.This could not be farther from the truth. he REAL wisdom behind all of this is the reality. You have to participate in the crowd and be a member of the community to get their wisdom or…
10 Years in One Picture?

Kevin Dugan

28 Dec 2009 | 9:25 am

The ability to boil down a lot of information without oversimplifying it is an art and a science. This NYTimes inforgraphic, "Picturing the Past 10 Years," illustrates my point quite literally. This opinionated summation of a decade of news reminds me that if you can't boil content down to something simple and easy to remember, perhaps it's too complex?
Using Visuals to turn Data into Content | Four Links | 11.22.09

Kevin Dugan

22 Nov 2009 | 6:51 pm

My appreciation for all things visual did not peak with my article on why PR needs visual thinking. My focus on the topic has increased and there are plenty of sites driving this passion. Here are just a few of them. The Popular Ones: It’s no surprise that Indexed and Post Secret have books stemming from their popular sites. Post Secret tapped into an entire world’s need for expression while Indexed shows us the power of simplicity. The Smart Ones: Flowing Data and Infosthetics are my two must reads when it comes to the latest in data visualization. They even point to great content like…
Fight Club 2.0: AdWeek’s Digital Hot List | Brian Morrissey Interview

Kevin Dugan

9 Nov 2009 | 7:06 pm

Reading AdWeek’s “2009 Digital Hot List” it becomes clear we’re in store for a dynamic and competitive digital landscape in 2010. As the brands on the list fight for market share, it almost reads like a script for Fight Club 2.0. Brian Morrissey provided Strategic Public Relations his opinion on some of these brands and, in the process, some insight into the Hot List. 1) Social networks are comparable to a bar scene. There's always a hot bar everyone goes to until it gets old and they move onto the next hot bar. How long can Facebook hold onto their hot bar status that, in part, put…

Kent's Official Blog
Interview: One Too Many Mornings

kentnichols

25 Jan 2010 | 5:47 pm

Back in 2003 when I worked on two cancelled shows on the USA Network, one of the people I had the pleasure of meeting was Anthony Deptula. I finagled him to be in my 48 hour Film project and another sketch comedy thing that has never seen the light of day. Anthony was always forward thinking and ambitious, so it came with little surprise and great pleasure that the film he’s been working on for the last few years — One Too Many Mornings — got plucked and put into the new “Next” program at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. (BTW, a great interview with…
Why Isn’t Avatar Competing Against Up?

kentnichols

18 Jan 2010 | 9:01 am

I’ve been thinking about this since A Curious Case of Benjamin Button went through the awards cycles last year. Where’s the line between Visual effects movie and animated feature. Last night in one of his acceptance speeches, Cameron said that every blade of grass had to be created. How is that different from Up or Kung Fu Panda? If that’s the case then the design categories, especially Production Design and visual effects need to be opened to films like Up. Last year Benjamin Button won for best makeup, but Brad Pitt was mostly CGI’ed. Watch this TED Talk…
The Queen Is Dead, Long Live The Queen (or What Oprah’s Exit Means to Media Guppies)

kentnichols

20 Nov 2009 | 6:55 pm

From Observer.com: But increasingly local broadcast TV stations are struggling to come up with the money needed to pay hefty syndication fees. In the months and years to come, whenever big programs like The Oprah Winfrey Show sit down to renegotiate their deals with local, broadcast stations they are likely to find a grim market where station-group managers are unable or unwilling to match the fees of yesteryear, let alone increase them. That leaves two options for the likes of Oprah. Lower your fees. Or pack up shop. The multiverse continues to grow. This move signals a further…
Filming Everywhere

kentnichols

10 Nov 2009 | 7:29 am

I love the video embedded above. It just looks so cinematic, something out of a romantic comedy, indie or otherwise. It was shot with a Canon 7D, but there are several other stealthy DSLR cameras that are just as capable of shooting high quality stuff. The death of film has been heralded several times over the last 50 years of video camera development, but now it’s finally coming to a head. Passing hundreds of feet of celluloid through a camera is dead, dead. The only projects still being shot on film are big Hollywood films and boutique art projects that delight in their…
On Not Sucking and Having “Something”

kentnichols

6 Nov 2009 | 10:23 am

There’s a great thread over Cinema5d.com on Making a Living: Being an Image-Maker in Times of Change. This comment from Chimay cuts to the chase: No matter how happens, one must embrace changes. Complaining will not put food on the table. New technologies are awesome. And, in the end, quality work will always prevail. Digital filmmaking is so affordable these days that lots of independent films are being released. Some of them are really bad! But, in the midst of all these, a few extraordinary talents are emerging. Yes! The real question is how can you be one of the emerging talents…

BLITZ | Blog
The League Season 1 Microsite

ccotillo

26 Jan 2010 | 3:11 pm

Being the first the first sports-oriented comedy on FX was exciting news for a network best known for edgy and controversial dramas—it marked a milestone and gave BLITZ creative freedom when tackling The League: Season 1 microsite. Since The League is a new series, and one that targets a completely different demographic than any other FX show, BLITZ helped define the brand and tone for the digital space. The microsite enables fans to access sneak peaks and browse video clips of deleted scenes or other filming specials, read production blogs, and get a behind-the-scenes glimpse at The League…
How CMOs will harness digital platforms in 2010

ccotillo

22 Jan 2010 | 3:40 pm

By Ivan Todorov – CEO/CTO Ken Martin – Chief Creative Officer Executive Summary In the coming year, savvy CMOs will utilize digital platforms in new ways to make their brands an integral and integrated part of their customers’ everyday lives. As the digital adoption rate by consumers continues to skyrocket with new trends like Twitter, Facebook, Augmented Reality, touch walls, gesture recognition and ultra-portable devices, marketers will no longer view these platforms as standalone touch-points, but instead, as seamless engagement opportunities that keep their customers continually…
SoDA predicts blue skies for digital marketing in 2010

ccotillo

20 Jan 2010 | 4:19 pm

Today, The Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA) released its annual Digital Marketing Outlook (DMO) report, and has predicted sunny weather for Digital Marketing in 2010. In fact, 81% of Brand Execs expect an increase in digital projects this year. The report compiles results of SoDA’s 15-question survey that is answered by thousands of worldwide digital employees. As a charter member, BLITZ not only completed the survey, but also contributed the article, “How CMOs Will Harness Digital Platforms in 2010 to Forever Change the Way Consumers Interact With Brands.” Nice, snappy title, huh? It…
Guitar Hero Prototype Interactive OOH Display

ccotillo

13 Jan 2010 | 3:57 pm

Kameraflage is a cutting-edge innovation that hides invisible graphics within traditional out-of-home display posters—the hidden visuals can only be detected– by camera phones, and not by the human eye. Such uniqueness makes this technology perfect for promotional tie-ins or advertising campaigns that leverage hidden messages, SMS short codes, secret Web addresses or special coupons that prompt viewers to take action. As means of dissolving the market’s perception that OOH ads are limited to static posters, BLITZ teamed up with the Kameraflage technology group to create a proof of…
Naked Juice Tradeshow Print Flipbook

ccotillo

13 Jan 2010 | 3:57 pm

Naked Juice has an impressive history that has spanned more than two decades. The company literally started on the beaches of Santa Monica. However, not all of their partners and distributors know this fact, not to mention the positive environmental efforts Naked Juice has been involved in throughout the years. To help educate their partners, and trade show goers, we created a rich booklet that’s chock full of Naked Juice goodness. It includes their history and philosophy, an updated product guide, information about packaging and suppliers, and a section about their environmental…

Business is Personal
Little, inexpensive things mean a lot

Mark

8 Feb 2010 | 10:54 am

photo credit: Dennis Wong What transforms an experience from “acceptable” to “cant wait to tell my friends”? To me, “acceptable” service starts with a smile, an effort to make sure the customer received what they came for, eye contact and a thank you. “Can’t wait to tell my friends” service doesn’t come *before* you do little inexpensive things, it comes *because of* little inexpensive things. That’s right – the things that transform your service to “cant wait to tell my friends” are often simple, inexpensive…
The Social Media Scoreboard

Mark

6 Feb 2010 | 6:55 am

photo credit: shoothead You’ve probably seen people on Twitter or Facebook yammering about “Wow, I only need 17 more followers or fans to hit 2000″ (or 10000 or whatever). If you’ve used Twitter, you know that there’s a curve there and when you round it, it’s like drinking from a firehose. Stowe Boyd talks a little about the social media scoreboard in today’s guest post, stating that quality rather than quantity is the important factor. Remember that each of those fans or followers are people. They have needs, wants and presumably they…
How’s that 2010 working for ya so far?

Mark

4 Feb 2010 | 10:19 am

photo credit: mark sebastian Did January sneak up and run out the door on you? 2010 is 1/12th GONE. So, with a 1/12 of your year gone, how’s your 2010 going? If you got a slow start, maybe a simple exercise will get you back on track. Simple doesn’t mean ineffective, simple means uncluttered. Down to the bare metal, if you wish. The goal is not to make this the best planning session ever, it’s to get you back on track and moving toward the right goal so that your next planning session has you standing there with a success in your holster, fired up to kick some butt. In other…
The size of the mountain doesn’t matter

Mark

2 Feb 2010 | 3:16 pm

photo credit: Alex E. Proimos A combination of events over the last couple of months has had me thinking more about the expectations we have for ourselves, our kids, our employees and holy moly, even our politicians. First, Jim Rohn passed away. Jim talked a lot about expectations and how delivery of them is on one person – you. I highly recommend Rohn’s stuff. While you can buy his books, videos, audio etc online, quite a lot can be found at no cost on his site and on YouTube. Next, four of my Scouts attained the rank of Eagle on the same day, after progressing together in Scouting…
Baiting the hook with opera

Mark

1 Feb 2010 | 5:50 am

Note the sign at the end of the video: “Ves como te gusta la opera?”, which translated roughly means ”See how you like opera?” Point being – how many of those shoppers had ever been to the opera? And how many *more* will consider it after that performance? Brilliant, guerrilla marketing. Just flippin’ brilliant. Before you think “I could never do that”…start planning how you could turn your business into performance art, some how, some way. When the stream in your backyard doesn’t have any fish, fish where the fish are. Like it?

Online Marketing Performance
Google puts some more social in its search

Scott McAndrew

1 Feb 2010 | 1:54 pm

Last week I did an internal presentation at Terralever talking about how search engines like Google and social networking sites alike were likely both attacking the idea of extending their understanding of both information and the social graph. Today I tripped over an example of Google Social Search and recollected on the presentation. In broad strokes: Facebook and its data Facebook’s value lies in the data it has regarding individuals and how the relate to one another. As it stands now, Facebook has incredibly deep information regarding how people connect to one another, what their…
Three Facebook Predictions for 2010

Scott McAndrew

1 Feb 2010 | 10:13 am

I recently had the opportunity to sit on a Facebook Deep Dive panel which allowed me to think about Facebook looking forward into 2010. Here’s a few of my Facebook predictions for 2010 that I shared: Facebook will go far beyond Facebook.com Facebook interaction isn’t always on Facebook.com, and that trend will accelerate in 2010. While Facebook would love for you to spend all of your time on their site, they know that they can’t force that agenda, nor do they need to. Content and interactions between real individuals and brands are the bedrock of their value, and while page…
Quick Tip: Click data on any bit.ly link

Scott McAndrew

15 Jan 2010 | 4:06 pm

Last night at the Social Media Club Phoenix meeting one quick tip that came up was how you can view statistics on any link created with the URL shortner bit.ly. In the event you’re thinking “Why would I do that?,” go try it on a bit.ly link one of your competitors made with bit.ly, not your own. Got it? Here’s the (incredibly simple) way to do it: Copy the entire bit.ly link Paste it into the address bar in any web browser Add a ‘+’ after the bit.ly link Hit return You’ll be directed to a bit.ly page that shows the statistics for that link. …
The long road to FeedBurner and Google Analytics integration

Scott McAndrew

26 Dec 2009 | 12:01 pm

Since Google acquired Feedburner back in 2007 there hasn’t been much good to say about the acquisition of the RSS reporting outfit. Under Google’s watch Feedburner fans have seen more pain than benefit. So, when Google announced (a long awaited) integration between Feedburner and Google Analytics many were excited about the news. Unfortunately, the integration wasn’t what most were hoping for. No, you’ll still need to log in to FeedBurner to review the majority of the stats that you’d hope to happily find on your Google Analytics Dashboard. The extent of…
Facebook’s money for nothing

Scott McAndrew

22 Sep 2009 | 9:19 pm

Virtual gifts are flying off of Facebook’s shelves. Since opening the Gifts store in 2007 millions of virtual gifts have been sent between Facebook friends using the Gift store alone. When words alone can’t express one’s feelings, a virtual cupcake, puppy, roll of toilet paper, bff charm or shot of tequila are just a click away. Although virtual, the lion’s share of gifts cost actual money in the form of a Facebook-only currency, called Facebook Credits. Credits are purchased from Facebook by credit card at an exchange rate of 10 credits per dollar. Most gifts…

American Copywriter
Do we really need the office?

Nick Kinney

29 Jan 2010 | 9:54 pm

It seems to be an often-asked question in the minds of agency people everywhere, and the answer seems to be that "there are just some things that have to be done face to face." One of those "some things" that comes up a lot in discussions I have about this very topic is brainstorming.Sure, we could just call in or get on iChat, but it wouldn't be the same. There's just something about the creative momentum that forms when a few talented people get together in a physical room that can't be translated into 1s and 0s. Shit. Maybe not. This bunch of obviously…
The Joy of Advertising

Nick Kinney

21 Jan 2010 | 6:07 pm

In my free time, I like to play a game called "watch hours upon hours worth of TED videos." My wife says that that's not a game, but we've agreed to disagree.Anyway, if you don't already know, TED is a series of talks given by people doing interesting things in the fields of technology, entertainment and design. They're smart, interesting and extremely addictive. But this particular talk, by a man with a french name but distinctly British sense of humor, hit me in a place where most of the TED talks can't. He says, at the end of his talk (and…
The Decade: Noted without comment

Tug McTighe

15 Jan 2010 | 6:47 am

And, if you're interested in what JJ and I thought about the Aughts, find out here.
Super Bowl's Greatest Commercials?

Tug McTighe

13 Jan 2010 | 1:19 pm

Of this group, I like the CareerBuilder spot from last year the best. But I think they forgot a couple. Which ones am I missing?
W+K (whoops D6) makes a happiness machine to shame creatives everywhere.

John

13 Jan 2010 | 7:46 am

Coke / Coca-Cola - The Happiness machine - (2010) 2:00 (USA) Shaming creatives with the thought, "Why didn't I think of this?" the Magnificent Bastards strike again. Great, great, great. Makes me happy just looking at it. Thanks to Dabitch for the find. UPDATE: AAK! We are informed the Magnificent Bastards were NOT the ones responsible for said same. We are happy to correct the record. This beauty was thunked up by Definition 6 in Hotlanta. Great stuff, D6.

Adverblog
Google Street View on the slopes of the Olympics

martina

9 Feb 2010 | 9:45 am

Google Street View is now on the sky slopes of Vancouver. You can see the venues of the upcoming Olympics and experience the slopes from the snowmobile Street View. So cool!...
Interactive basketball on Youtube

martina

9 Feb 2010 | 6:11 am

It's a weird day today posting about campaigns from our competitors... Anyway, after Puma, check out what Adidas has done in basketball. An interactive video taking great advantage of Youtube's feature. You can play with Dwight Howard slam dunks, make...
Football on Valetine's Day?

martina

9 Feb 2010 | 3:19 am

And if you want to go even more trash for Valetine's Day, try this website by Puma. What do you do when Valentine's Day falls on game day? The English version is nice. The Italian one... not sure I want...
A touch of romance

martina

9 Feb 2010 | 1:22 am

If you don't take Valentine's day too seriously, you might have fun with Romance Novel Yourself. Silly but quite viral online application that let you or your partner star on the cover of a romance novel....
Creative QR codes

martina

8 Feb 2010 | 1:27 pm

I'm not a big fan of QR codes, but this idea is worth being shared because it's smart and buzzworthy, at least among us, creative geeks :-) See Frisk mints in action... via...

The B2B Lead
Challenges and Priorities to Consider for 2010

In addition to starting the New Year with great optimism about the prospects for all of us marketers, I am excited and privileged to serve you as ReachForce’s new President. Based on feedback from you, I plan to continue communicating within our present theme of lessons learned, insights and tips ...
Increasing Engagement in User Communities

A lot of companies have created great online user communities filled with best practice content, forums and wikis. But depending on your customer base, it may be difficult to get them to take full advantage of the community. You might try sending weekly (or bi-weekly or monthly - up to ...
Funnelnomics: Four Steps to Accelerating Your Marketing and Sales Funnel – Step 1: Mapping Your Marketing and Sales Funnel

The number one responsibility of any B2B Marketer is to keep his or her company’s marketing and sales funnel full, with leads converting quickly to drive profits. In other words, to keep the company’s lifeblood flowing. The continuous battle to meet pipeline and revenue projections is frustrating when using traditional techniques. There ...
Increase Open Rates for Follow-up Emails

Coming back from a trade show, everyone is on a high. Your team tells you, "it was the best show EVER" and the sales team is ready to get all of those hot leads. As much as they may want you to, the last thing you should do is just ...
Pre-show Marketing to Drive More Trade Show Leads

Aren't we all looking for ways to draw more people to our trade show booth? Start by generating traffic before the show. Do whatever you can to get on the attendee's short list of must see sponsors. Here are a few ideas for pre-show marketing: Send pre-show emails and/or direct mail ...

All You Need Is A Good Idea!
MAKE YOUR VERY OWN IPHONE APP AND SAVE $50

Jay Heyman

8 Feb 2010 | 5:58 am

As constant readers of my blog already know, I have created a FREE iPhone app, named GOOD IDEA, and it is available at the iTunes store. (Or you can follow the link on the left side of my blog. The one that shrewdly says, “Click here for my free iPhone app.”) Unlike any of the 140,000 other apps available, this one is mine, but you can fairly easily and inexpensively have an app of your very own.I used a company named AppMakr to set it up and guide it through the Apple approval process. (Basically the app uses your RSS feeds, and you can have AppMakr publish it or publish it under your…
MR. CELLOPHANE

Jay Heyman

5 Feb 2010 | 6:06 am

Shown above is what your latest, committee-vetted marketing piece looks like to your target. Everyone has had his or her say, and everyone is more or less happy with it. The headline has been adjusted to talk to the largest number of people possible. Your peers are delighted that their input has been appreciated, and though there are one or two more things they wanted to add, overall the points they felt should be made have been included. Most important to top management’s agenda, no one should be offended by anything in the piece. There will be no nasty emails, no blog critiques, and no…
ARE YOU LOST?

Jay Heyman

3 Feb 2010 | 6:01 am

Image via Wikipedia Even if you are not a Lost lover, you still have heard of the TV series. Its final season started last night, and I was glued. My friends and most family members are really looking forward to seeing this final season, discussing, analyzing, guessing, pondering, and just plain enjoying.For the naysayers, who say, “get a life, it’s only a show,” (which is what I would be tempted to say to devotees of Desperate Housewives, most reality shows and Jay Leno), you’re certainly entitled. Just don’t block my TV screen.But what can we creative marketing types learn from…
THE PROBLEM WITH THE IPAD NAME IS NOT WHAT YOU THINK

Jay Heyman

1 Feb 2010 | 6:03 am

Image by cattias.photos via FlickrSince my blog is more about marketing ideas than products, I am not going to talk about the lack of Adobe flash, the missing multitasking, and the absence of a camera in Apple’s new iPad. Especially since most of us won’t even be able to hold one till March, to actually see if these are real deal breakers or not.But I will offer my opinion on the name. I don’t get it!I have heard the hullabaloo over the issue with the name’s similarity to products in the feminine hygiene category. And the question of “why didn’t they call it the”… iTablet, or…
YOU’RE FIRED!

Jay Heyman

29 Jan 2010 | 6:12 am

Image via Wikipedia I want to share a trailer I came across at mediabistro.com. It is for a movie named Lemonade, as in “When life gives you lemons, the best way to handle it is to make lemonade.” Sure, it’s a generic title, and perhaps a bit of a cliché notion, but what made it stand out to me was the category of the terminated…my fellow advertising folk. (Been there, done that.) In fact, the Executive Producer and writer, Erik Proulx , was a former ad agency biggie. The tagline of the film is that, “It isn’t a pink slip. It’s a blank page” and the stories are all about…

Seth's Blog
TEDthink

Seth Godin

9 Feb 2010 | 3:00 am

Can you factor this? If you're like most people, you get a little queasy at the thought. And when you were in tenth grade, you surely wondered why they were bothering you.(the answer is (x-2) times (x-2), in case you were curious.)It turns out that the real reason you needed to do this work was to be able to play with numbers in your head. Abstract numerical thought is an important skill among educated people.Which brings us to TED, a conference held every year in Long Beach. It's going on right now. Watch a few TED videos and try to get ahead of the speaker. They have an idea...it's probably…
Frightened, clueless or uninformed?

Seth Godin

8 Feb 2010 | 2:57 am

In the face of significant change and opportunity, people are often one of the three. If you're going to be of assistance, it helps to know which one.Uninformed people need information and insight in order to figure out what to do next. They are approaching the problem with optimism and calm, but they need to be taught. Uninformed is not a pejorative term, it's a temporary state.Clueless people don't know what to do and they don't know that they don't know what to do. They don't know the right questions to ask. Giving them instructions is insufficient. First, they need to be sold on what the…
The least I could do

Seth Godin

7 Feb 2010 | 3:35 am

One way to think about running a successful business is to figure out what the least you can do is, and do that. That's actually what they spent most of my time at business school teaching me.No sense putting more on that pizza, sending more staff to that event, answering the phone in fewer rings... what's the point? No sense being kind, looking people in the eye, being open or welcoming or grateful. Doing the least acceptable amount is the way to maximize short term profit.Of course, there's a different strategy, a crazy alternative that seems to work: do the most you can do instead of the…
iPad app of my dreams: the digital talking pad

Seth Godin

6 Feb 2010 | 8:10 am

Here's the spec. If you build it and it's great, I'll use it and I'll blog it.A while ago, I posted about the talking pad and a modern version of it.I think there's a killer app version of this for the iPad, and I hope someone will build it. The talking pad is an interactive presentation tool for smart people.OverviewIt's a very simple concept: a collection of pages (slides, images, type, let's call them pages) that are easy to navigate in a non-linear way. Along with the standard zoom features, I'd like to be able to write on any of them in real time using my finger. I can also call up, on…
The relentless search for "tell me what to do"

Seth Godin

6 Feb 2010 | 2:26 am

If you've ever hired or managed or taught, you know the feeling.People are just begging to be told what to do. There are a lot of reasons for this, but I think the biggest one is: "If you tell me what to do, the responsibility for the outcome is yours, not mine. I'm safe."When asked, resist.

MarketingProfs Daily Fix Blog
Trending ‘Functionall’

Ted Mininni

9 Feb 2010 | 4:28 am

Reinier Evers founder of trendwatching.com can always be counted on to weigh in on new trends every month. As is the case with all prognosticating, there’s always the risk of being wrong. But in Evers’s case, I think he’s had considerably more hits than misses. Trendwatching’s latest caught my eye more than most. The headline screams one word: “Functionall.” The subhead: “Why simple, small & cheap appeals to all.” The definition of Functionall: Captures the phenomenon of simple, small and/or cheap products and services designed for low(er)-income consumers…
MarketingProfs B2B Forum Ramp Up: What I Have Learned About B2B Marketing

Kathy Bushman

9 Feb 2010 | 3:36 am

As part of my journey in developing the content for an educational conference, in this case MarketingProfs B2B Forum, I do a lot of research. I spend a lot of time on the web looking at competitive conferences (and non-competitive conferences) as well as reading many white papers, articles and blogs. We also take seriously any feedback that we’ve gotten from the attendees at our last event and we poll the MarketingProfs community about topics they need education on through crowdsourcing, discussions on our community sites and in the form of questions sent out as tweets. But most important…
Guest Post: The 4 Pillars Of B2B Marketing-The Lifecycle Of a B2B Campaign

Ann Handley

8 Feb 2010 | 6:37 am

By Achim Klor SterlingKlor Communications I recently read an excellent post by Paul Dunay on Social Media Today presenting the 4 C’s of B2B marketing. We’ve known about the 4 P’s of marketing for years: Product, Price, Place and Promotion. Paul argues the 4 P’s are primarily a B2C mix. The 4 C’s, however, (Content, Connection, Communications, Conversion) illustrate the marketing mix for B2B. Sounds great, but how should B2B organizations implement the 4 C’s marketing mix into their campaigns? I would like to highlight an approach that has served our B2B agency very…
Interview With Seth Godin: Linchpin

John Wall Christopher Penn

8 Feb 2010 | 6:21 am

In this Marketing Over Coffee brought to you by MarketingProfs: We talk with Seth Godin about his new book: Linchpin Marketing Over Coffee with Seth Godin Direct Link to File Show length 23:30 00:52 What’s Linchpin about? 02:30 How do entrepreneurial linchpins fit in to large organizations? 05:40 Who are the artists? 06:55 Can you get beyond Dunbar’s Number? Gary V. is using Twitter to add two zeros. 08:10 What is The Resistance? What is Emotional Labor? 11:22 Thrashing – a classic Marketing problem, and yes, Duke Nukem! Real artists ship. 14:16 Is there any future for mass media…
How To Build a Brand Internationally

Paul Williams

5 Feb 2010 | 6:21 am

Congratulations! Your company is successful locally, and now you want to share what you do with the world. In many ways, the process will be like re-starting your business. Many of the activities you performed to launch your initial business are the same you will employ in each of your new international markets. However, much of your time will be spent translating (literally and figuratively) to ensure you are locally relevant to your new customers. A Brand = A Reputation The term “brand” can be confusing. Think of a brand as a reputation. Building a reputation in any new market…

Ogilvy Blog Aggregator
Plannersphere Top 20 - February 2010

9 Feb 2010 | 10:02 am

[I have accumulated a pile of requests for blogs to be added to the plannersphere list and to be indexed on the Plannersphere Search Engine. To everyone who has written to me, apologies for the delay; I'm working towards clearing the backlist soon.]The top 20 blogs in the plannersphere as of 9th February 2010 are: 01. Noah Brier dot Com 02. Nick Burcher 03. We Are Social 04. advertising lab 05. Only Dead Fish 06. The Musings of An Opinionated Sod 07. Herd - the hidden truth about who we are 08. adliterate 09. Mike Arauz 10. russell davies 11. Adspace Pioneers 12. Trendsspotting 13. The Hidden…
Job: China Correspondent for NPR

9 Feb 2010 | 1:22 am

Looks like a great job! Love the final line: “Occasional exposure to prevalent weather conditions.” xx To apply, email a resume and cover letter to careers@americanpublicmedia.org. Indicate position #154-10, China Correspondent. Please see job description attached for more details. Job Title: China Correspondent Date Written/revised: December 2009 Grade Level: LC FLSA Status: Full-time, exempt Reports to: Foreign editor Department: American Public Media, Marketplace Location: Shanghai, China Position Summary: The China correspondent develops, reports, writes and produces news…
Twiangulate Lets You Follow Your Followers' Followers

8 Feb 2010 | 7:12 pm

Let me go on the record to say that if you happen to be a vendor of some type of social networking solution or software that would be useful for an agency like Ogilvy, hands down one of your most effective methods of advertising has to be to target the Ogilvy network on Facebook with a customized ad. I have seen several ads like this for solutions and find myself always clicking on them - not because they say Ogilvy but because I presume that someone has done their homework and identified that whatever they are promoting is particularly relevant for someone who works at an agency like ours.
Facebook and the myth of QWERTY's inferiority

8 Feb 2010 | 4:58 pm

Writing about the impending 'technological lock-in' of the social operating system space by Facebook, Reuters in a recent article compared the site to the QWERTY keyboard layout. (Via Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics.)In the words of Reuters, technological lock-in is "the reason why the QWERTY keyboard layout, devised for typewriters in the 1870s, is still the standard despite the development of several more logical configurations. And Facebook, which has more than 100 million users in the United States and 350 million worldwide, appears to have nearly achieved technological lock-in,…
People still watch TV

8 Feb 2010 | 2:07 pm

As usual, yesterday’s Superbowl was accompanied by the Ad Bowl the annual contest for best TV commercial during the most expensive airtime of the year.This seems to be the only time of the year where marketers are still allowed to get excited about TV advertising.For the most part, TV has become a dirty word in today’s marketing world.Most marketers can’t wait to move as many of their dollars away from it.They claim is the medium of the past – for obvious reasons.Most people, especially younger generations, seem to be spending all their time online.They can’t possibly have time to…

adliterate
Getting tasty with the Tories

9 Feb 2010 | 12:27 am

Thought you might be interested in the first of our new Camera On, Camera Off campaign for the Labour Party aimed at proving that David Cameron (the leader of the UK Conservative opposition party) rarely believes what he says. We are interested in the way that political communications are now about establishing ideas voters can play with. We saw that unintentionally with David Cameron's 'airbrushed for change' campaign where people made their own versions by editing billboards or by uploading their own ads to sites like mydavidcameron.com. Obviously we'd like to encourage this approach with…
Is it me?

8 Feb 2010 | 5:36 am

Image courtesy of Josh.Brastead This website is usually known for its thoughtful opinion and considered approach. But I am having a Superbowl moratorium on well argued polemic. Is it me or were all the ads in the Superbowl complete arse? For christ sake if that is the best creative work that those brands and agencies can muster then heaven help American advertising. The madmen clearly have suffered worse head trauma than the players. I'd include a link to the inconsequential work that ran but you'd be better off spending the time reading a slim volume the worst poetry imaginable while…
More sex please, were British

4 Feb 2010 | 1:27 am

Image courtesy of Dave Gorman I have long believed that advertising is not a profession. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not embarrassed about what we do and I certainly have little sympathy with the sentiment of that terrible old joke. You know the in which someone asks that his mother is not told that he works in advertising since she thinks that he is the piano player in a brothel. However, there are a number of reasons why the idea that what we do resembles a profession rings a little hollow.
Josh's Band

6 Jan 2010 | 1:08 am

In the Autumn we went out and about on behalf of T-Mobile and asked people what they would do if they had free texts and internet for life - which is what you get as a T-Mobile Pay As You Go customer that regularly tops up. And in the course of this we bumped into a guy in Brick Lane called Josh Ward who said that he would us it to start a superband. Which sounded like fun. So we helped him and the single from the band that comprises 1107 musicians in total is released on Monday.
The price of everything and value of nothing

9 Dec 2009 | 9:15 am

Image courtesy of Neato Coolville As brand builders we have always instinctively felt that the sales lever so beloved by consumers, the price promotion, was not just grubby but also rather damaging to the long term health of that brand and business. That said, we have rarely been able to articulate our dislike of price promotions in a way that stands up to any kind of scrutiny, making us seem petulant and un-commercial in the face of the quick volume that can be delivered by discounting.

Marketing.fm
The Google Superbowl ad

info@marketing.fm (www.Marketing.fm)

8 Feb 2010 | 7:23 am

Google aired its first ever Superbowl ad using a video that resonated with many folks called Parisian Love. The video is embedded below. Search Engine Land has an excellent write up of all the details, including the fact that it had over 1MM views before the event – will be interesting to see how much that grows. It is also interesting that they took out SEM ads for most of the auto complete searches that came out of the video. This is the type of SEM drafting you hope to see whenever any messaging is put into a search ad. Google placing this ad in such a mainstream location is a…
Google Social Search and your neighborhood connections

info@marketing.fm (www.Marketing.fm)

4 Feb 2010 | 9:06 am

Google introduced the idea of Social Search back in October 2009, but I just recently started seeing instances of it in the wild. I think this is a social version of backrub and only the beginning. The way it is shown is at the bottom of search results: Results from people in your social circle for google social search – BETA – My social circle – My social content SERPs then show pictures of your connections, how you are connected to them, and hopefully relevant content they have written or linked to. Digging in further you can start to see how Google sees you and your…
NY Clothing Drive

info@marketing.fm (www.Marketing.fm)

1 Feb 2010 | 4:30 am

Everyone has extra stuff to clean out of their closet, but no easy way to donate the bags of clothes. For that reason my friend David Fraga and I organized the New York Clothing Drive, where we come pick up your old items for free in the NY metro area. It is a simple idea that has grown over the past few weeks since we launched the site, and we are now scheduled to pickup over 100 bags of clothes, and adding more every day. If you are interested in getting your items picked up please sign up – or if you want to volunteer please get in touch. When: Saturday February 6th, 2010. How: Make…
iPad Apple Tablet

info@marketing.fm (www.Marketing.fm)

27 Jan 2010 | 3:38 pm

Today we finally learn the details about the device known as the Apple Tablet. Is it revolutionary? Evolutionary? A new category? A glorified iTouch? What does this mean for developers and providers? How will this marketplace dovetail with the current app store? It is great to get details on a device that has received a ton of hype, press, speculation, and discussion – all before concrete details were even known. So is this a big breakthrough? Will this be the next device that defines a movement and rising tide that lifts the usability and product availability in the tablet space? Only…
Retiring the following 10 technology excuses

info@marketing.fm (www.Marketing.fm)

26 Jan 2010 | 4:17 am

Below is a list of technology excuses that plagued people over the last decade. I think we can safely retire most of these in the next 10 years; 1. Lost voicemails “I left you a voicemail, but you must not have gotten it” This is no longer acceptable. Smart providers and smarter phones mean that you can no longer get away with telling someone that you didn’t get their call. Voicemails, call logs, and now online records prove your alibi is B.S. 2. Lost emails You can no longer tell someone that you sent an email and it “didn’t go through”. If it really…

the weekly ramble
How does the underdog win?

David

8 Feb 2010 | 8:22 am

How does the underdog win? Or put another way… How can the favorite lose? By that I mean – a person, or group, or team that was a sure bet – the best bet in fact: the odds were in their favor – even the real money odds in Las Vegas – say. And yet they don’t pull through. What prompted this thought was the (to be 100% politically correct) United States Football Annual Championship Game – the Super Bowl – a night of sports, chili, beer, commercials and an occasional great game. This year the match up was between a team that had won before and had the undisputed best…
People are people

David

1 Feb 2010 | 8:22 am

Have you ever been optimized? Have you ever been dynamically served? Have you ever been experientially immersed? Yes, folks, people do speak like that – and I imagine that the 2020 version of Mad Men – Digital Guys – will make fun of the latest iterations of “ad speak.” However, I will indulge my cynicism on our lingo and jargon another time. Today I will direct my cynicism at the notion that we can affect mass movement by simply allowing computer rules to direct our conversations. Now before you jump down my throat – trust me, I get it – dynamic optimization and immersive…
What causes failure?

David

25 Jan 2010 | 7:42 am

What causes failure? We plan, we work hard, we are sure that we have done it all right – and then WHAM!!! – it all falls apart, like we had no idea of what we were doing or where we were going. What just happened? Ever get that feeling…? Sometimes we blame Murphy – as in Murphy’s Law. Sometimes we blame Karma. Or Kismet. Or we just say “C’est la vie,” or as is expressed in American slang. But sometimes all of the above is a mere cop-out, an excuse, a lack of accountability – you get the picture. I was reading a review of a book called The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get…
Here is a question

David

19 Jan 2010 | 9:54 am

Here is a question – What does a smart phone have in common with a car?Here is another – What does convergence really mean? Before I get to the answer… Last week I reported from CES – the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. I talked about the Candy Store feeling and all the wild stuff that was on its way. This week I’m reporting from Detroit, where I attended the Detroit Auto Show, which for over a century has defined Detroit’s power in the industry and for the past 20 years or so has helped to define the global market as well:…
That Candy Store Feeling

David

11 Jan 2010 | 12:54 pm

Do you remember that Candy Store feeling when you were a kid? You know what I mean…right? You had a favorite – no doubt – but when confronted with the full array of availabilities, your eyes grew wide; your certain choice receded into the background and a quick transaction turned deliciously agonizing for you (no doubt, not so for your parents…), and if you were lucky and the adults with you were in the right mood, you scored more than your original choice. How about the Toy Store? Same experience – right? Talk about wide eyes…you really, really wanted that Transformer,…

Hard Knox Life - Dave Knox Brand Management blog
Super Bowl Ad shows Google’s move from Tech to Consumer Marketer

Dave Knox

7 Feb 2010 | 6:43 pm

Back in 2006, Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt infamously said that brand advertising was “The last bastion of unaccountable spending in corporate America.” Yet during the 2010 Super Bowl, Google did what many would have called unthinkable just a few years ago… they ran a piece of brand advertising on the largest advertising stage in the world. Supporting their Search Stories campaign, Google ran their “Parisian Love” television ad during the 3rd Quarter of the Saints / Colts Super Bowl. Of course Internet companies have a long history of running ads during the…
Is it wrong to “aim out of the ball park?”

Dave Knox

1 Feb 2010 | 4:16 am

The other day, Miles Nadal, Chairman and CEO of MDC Partners, shared this quote from David Ogilvy, which I promptly retweeted: “Don’t bunt. Aim out of the ball park. Aim for the company of immortals.” The quote really resonated with me because it is the type of gusto we don’t see all that often in business any more, especially in the world of Consumer Packaged Goods. After all, when your sales are measured in $ Billions, Wall Street is going to reward you for consistency. But with that said, I was still surprised by some of the responses that I received when I sent…
“Hack vs Flack”…a social media point / counterpoint

Dave Knox

28 Jan 2010 | 10:36 am

It has been awhile since I posted a presentation up on Hard Knox Life. Luckily my friend Kevin Dugan is helping me put an end to that drought with this great presentation on the state of media relations in regards to the impact of social media. Provocatively called “Hack vs Flack“, I wish I had a chance to see him present this in person. Hack vs. Flack…a social media point/counterpoint
How a Brand Manager can make a big difference

Dave Knox

25 Jan 2010 | 4:19 am

Right before the holidays, a colleague gave me a copy of Paul Arden’s “It’s Not How Good You Are, Its How Good You Want to Be.” Even though the book is a quick read, it is packed with thought-provoking points. In particular, I was inspired by three essays that talked about how a Senior Agency Manager, Junior Ad Account Handler and Media Buyer “can make a big difference” in the world of agency work (pages 98 – 101 in the book). In fact, I thought the points were so powerful that I wanted to do my own riff on: How a Brand Manager can make a big…
Don’t make the mistake of giving up the Voice of the Brand

Dave Knox

21 Jan 2010 | 6:06 am

In the halls of Brand Management, Tom Fishburne is easily more popular than Dilbert. After all, he’s one of us. So it is no surprise that Tom perfectly captured one of today’s most debated brand management questions: “Who should represent a brand in Social Media?” It is the same question that was posed on the American Express OPEN Forum, when Ann Handley wrote an article entitled “The Right Voice for Your Brand Online is…?“ In the post, Ann suggested the right “person” could be: The CEO (or other high-level executive). The marketing…

Marketing Safari
Around the World in 80 Commercials - The Netherlands

Hjortur Smarason

3 Feb 2010 | 6:55 am

It's all about communicating. This commercial is one of the most popular ones on the Internet with over 14 million views, so you've most likely seen it before: It always helps when we understand each other ;)Hjörtur
Please, help me find Karen in Denmark

Hjortur Smarason

21 Jan 2010 | 4:26 am

Do you remember Karen from Denmark? The one who was looking for the father of her son, August, and then a new home for her fish? Well, she obviously wants to become a big YouTube star. I'm running a social media marketing workshop in Denmark next week, one in Aarhus on Thursday and one in Copenhagen on Friday. In the workshop I'll be helping people and companies to find their way through the social media jungle, so I though I might help Karen out and invite her to the workshop. But I don't anything about her except that her name is NOT Karen. So if anyone out there knows Karen, please show…
Around the World in 80 Commercials - Canada

Hjortur Smarason

20 Jan 2010 | 2:02 pm

This week we are heading to Canada on our tour around the world. It's a strong commercial from a medical company. I'm not going to say anything about it so I won't spoil it :) CheersHjörtur If this is your first time on my blog, you might want to consider subscribing to my feed or email updates (here on the left) or become a fan on Facebook. You can also follow me on Twitter.
The Forgotten Search Engines For Travel Marketing

Hjortur Smarason

19 Jan 2010 | 3:56 pm

When travellers start planning their next great trip, they usually start online and now over 25% make all their planning and booking online. First stop is on the search engines, where they will type in the destination. Search engines are therefore very important for all travel operators and they are focusing their marketing efforts increasingly on good SEO for their websites. The question is, are you targeting all the search engines you should be? Let's take a look at some standard search engine results. Here I've typed in "Grand Canyon" in Google: As we can see the first result is a Google…
Social Media Workshops and Internet Marketing Courses

Hjortur Smarason

16 Jan 2010 | 4:59 am

It looks like it's going to be a busy year in teaching and talking. The first course of the year will be a two day Internet Marketing course in Reykjavik, Thursday and Friday next week (January 21.-22.). The week after I will be in Denmark. I've got two social media workshops planned in Denmark, one in Århus on the 28th of January and another one in Copenhagen on the 29th. I will most likely be doing several more in other European cities in the coming months, so stay tuned for updates. I've got two other courses planned in Reykjavik, a weekend course over two saturdays, the 13th and 20th of…

DR4WARD
@DR4WARD Global tweets for 2010-2-8 Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Social Media, Higher Ed, Super Bowl

William Ward

8 Feb 2010 | 6:33 pm

@DR4WARD Global tweets for 2010-2-8 Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Social Media, Higher Ed, Super Bowl Thanks for RTs, convos & sharing @ifornez @sarahnewton @JaredMKohn @KentHuffman @Carolyn6285 @834baba @AMA_WM Going Global at Ferris St U - Prof Meral Topcu & Ahmet Demir discuss visit of Consul General of Turkey http://short.to/16ed6 #mktg441 5 things Brazil is famous for http://bit.ly/aHQmJ6 #mktg441 via @talk2brazil Teens Don't Blog, Don't Tweet, DO Facebook! The reason why may surprise you. http://ow.ly/14VkV via @sarahnewton @Eline_Kullock I'm looking…
@DR4WARD Super Bowl Ad Recap - Global tweets for 2010-2-7 + Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Social Media, Higher Ed

William Ward

7 Feb 2010 | 7:49 pm

@DR4WARD Super Bowl Ad Recap - Global tweets for 2010-2-7 + Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Social Media, Higher Ed In case you missed any Super Bowl Ads, here's another place to see them http://short.to/16dou #sb44 #sbad #superadbowl #brandbowl Watch Super Bowl ads on YouTube after they air http://www.youtube.com/user/adblitz #sb44 #sbad #superadbowl #brandbowl It was good to see Ferris State U marketing students Tweeting about the Super Bowl Ads. Thanks for sharing Thanks for RTs, sharing & convo - @ifornez @juansofa @BrianSlatts @maniactive @mkaPR @HeinzMarketing…
@DR4WARD Global tweets for 2010-2-6 Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Social Media, Higher Ed, Super Bowl

William Ward

7 Feb 2010 | 5:36 am

@DR4WARD Global tweets for 2010-2-6 Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Social Media, Higher Ed, Super Bowl Good resource. 100,000+ vintage advertisements to explore http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/ What can they do? AT&T's iPhone Mess ~ BusWeek http://bit.ly/dx1dGQ China threatened by U.S. arms sales to Taiwan & open internet interfering w/China domestic affairs (control) http://short.to/167v6 #mktg441 6 ?'s to Help Build Your Brand Value Through Social Media (Slideshow) http://bit.ly/9kCJY3 #mktg425 via @tobydiva Good ides to consider - The Air Force's rules of…
@DR4WARD Global tweets for 2010-2-5 Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Social Media, Higher Ed, Super Bowl

William Ward

5 Feb 2010 | 5:10 pm

@DR4WARD Global tweets for 2010-2-5 Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Social Media, Higher Ed, Super Bowl Thanks for RTs, sharing & conversations - @MidWestSnow @cultureguru @BurtonSnowboard @Mikinzie @DangerousDolly @Brandamentalist http://twitpic.com/11jp2b - Mike Cox shares The Good Book & @BurtonSnowboard w/ @dr4ward & Ferris St U #mktg425 students http://twitpic.com/11jo6n - Fr old school to new school - thx Mike Cox & @BurtonSnowboard for sharing w/ Ferris St U #mktg425 students http://twitpic.com/11jm98 - Mike Cox & @BurtonSnowboard school @dr4ward &…
@DR4WARD Global tweets for 2010-2-4 Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Social Media, Higher Ed, Super Bowl

William Ward

4 Feb 2010 | 6:13 pm

@DR4WARD Global tweets for 2010-2-4 Marketing, Advertising, Public Relations, Social Media, Higher Ed, Super Bowl Good follow suggestions & info/links being Tweeted at #mktg441 Thanks for sharing. Keep'em coming. Congrats! to @davidmrhodes RT Have a new addition to family born at 12:21 pm, Makayla Ann, 8lb. 8oz., 20", everyone doing great #mktg441 @CeciliaRouf Good to see you. Thanks for sharing. RT @mashable HOW TO: Find a Job on Twitter http://bit.ly/1iEZYY Getting sneak peak at multi-media materials our client will be presenting in #mktg425 tomorrow. Very cool. Can't…

Lip-Sticking
It's all bliss!

Yvonne

8 Feb 2010 | 11:46 am

I missed it. Did you miss it? Over 500 fantastic women were at the Blissdom Conference last week, in Nashville where they networked, laughed, learned, and did what women do: became sisters of the heart. I did win a $100 gift certificate to Dress Barn, the better to be gorgeous at Blissdom, but I never made it there. I'll be using that gift card soon enough - at BlogPaws, where all the pet bloggers will meet for networking, fun, and education. But, back to Blissdom... I'm so jealous that they not only had Wendy Scherer (@wendyscherer) whom I have yet to meet, but they had Harry Connick Jr…
It's Not Right But, It's (Not) OK

Lena West

8 Feb 2010 | 3:42 am

by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief of Social Media Strategy at xynoMedia(Another blog title ripped from a songstress...) It would appear that with the social media craziness, some of us have lost our minds when it comes to basic Internet marketing common sense. So, as a reminder, it is absolutely NOT acceptable - under ANY circumstances - to share people's contact information or add them to your mailing list without their permission. Period. I was recently invited to what appeared to be a very interesting (read: different) local networking event. Normally, I'm not a "networking event" type…
Women Doing Good and Getting Recognized for it

Yvonne

6 Feb 2010 | 7:45 am

Every now and then I get something really worthwhile in a pitch. This is one of those times. Yesterday, I was pitched the announcement from SELF Magazine about their program Women Doing Good. Essentially, the magazine is looking the the next "Women Doing Good" - described as "extraordinary women who are working hard and are determined to make a difference, whether it is within their community, environmentally, medically -- or whatever, the sky is the limit." Winners receive $10,000 donation to their favorite charity, they're featured in the September issue of SELF, and they are honored at an…
Do You Need Your Hand Held?

Mary Schmidt

5 Feb 2010 | 8:29 am

By Guest Blogger, Mary Schmidt, Marketing Troubleshooter I often use examples from politics in talking about marketing. Campaigns are excellent examples of target marketing (and its misfires) as well as using emotion – versus logic - to “sell” something. (Note: people didn't vote for "the Democrat" in the last election; they voted for change. Something neither party seems to quite get.) Then I run across this in a article, GOP Still Short On Women. Gee. Wonder why? Well, you don’t have to wonder once you read this: …
Thinking - Being - Doing

Yvonne

4 Feb 2010 | 10:47 am

It's no secret that I'm a book publisher in another life. We don't publish just any book that comes in our door - no fiction, no poetry, no children's books. We even turn away business books that aren't a good fit. Since launching The Lip-sticking Society and BlogPaws, we don't plan on publishing many books this year, at all. Mind you, we are working on a truly great leadership book that you'll learn more about in good time. But, for now...the concentration is on working with our readers and experts to create a truly useful, valuable and content-rich site out of this blog and its pages --…

Web Ink Now
Mumbai taxis and Apple MacBook Pros are really quite similar

David Meerman Scott

9 Feb 2010 | 7:40 am

As I was strolling the streets of Bombay (Mumbai), India, I noticed that the taxicabs are the same make of car, yet the owners of the cabs have personalized them with stickers and other do-dads to make them unique. It got me thinking of other things that are commonly personalized such as MacBook Pro computers like mine. Anyway, I made this very short video to show you what I mean. It is less than a minute. Direct link to the video here.
How to crowdsource videos for your company

David Meerman Scott

8 Feb 2010 | 3:44 am

Wouldn’t it be cool if people created videos for you? Perhaps like HP, you could hold a contest to get students to put forward their best efforts. The contest was simple. "Present an idea which promotes HP Workstations ability to bring to life anything the creative mind can conceive." This video filmed, edited and directed by Matt Robinson and Tom Wrigglesworth for the contest is just terrific. Please take a just 80 seconds to watch this amazing video. Direct link to HP Invent video by Matt and Tom here. While in Amsterdam this past week, I met Jan-Paul de Beer of BrandFighters, a company…
Enjoying a brand called Brand while listening to a Ramones tribute band

David Meerman Scott

6 Feb 2010 | 3:20 am

So last night I made my way to Pakhuis Wilhelmina, a funky former warehouse turned live music venue in Amsterdam to see what turned out to be a surprisingly excellent Dutch Ramones tribute band. (Click the photo to enlarge.) While the band was terrific, they only knew about ten songs and considering most Ramones tunes clock in at less than three minutes we heard each song twice. The crowd didn't care, getting more into it on the second go-round. (I think I heard Blitzkrieg Bop three times, but I can't be sure). So I look up to the chalkboard menu to see the brands of beer they…
DSBtheMovie: Crowdsourced film created quickly and with zero budget

David Meerman Scott

5 Feb 2010 | 4:03 am

While in Amsterdam where I keynoted the Marketing Pioneers event, I met Jan Willem Alphenaar, Producer and Director of DSB the Movie. The film tells the story of the Netherland's DSB Bank NV which was declared bankrupt by court in October, 2009. Amazingly, Jan crowdsourced everything for the film including the film's logo, producer, scriptwriters, soundtrack, editor, camera, actors, and publicity. The film will be completed in just four months and with zero budget. Here is my interview with Jan which includes the film's trailer at 0:55. Direct link to my video here. Direct link to the film…
Corporate comedy

David Meerman Scott

1 Feb 2010 | 6:14 am

Corporate comedy is one of those phrases like "jumbo shrimp," "smart ass," and "party down in Omaha" that seems a bit off. (No offense to shrimps, asses, or those from Omaha). Despite its rarity, comedy can be an extremely powerful corporate marketing tool. My friend Tim Washer, who is head of social media productions for IBM worldwide, is a comic genius. He pushes his colleagues at IBM on the value of hysterical videos and is in charge of producing them. I sat down with Tim to talk comedy. Specifically I wanted to find out how a marketer goes about convincing…

EmailKarma.net
Canada's Top 50 Marketing blogs

4 Feb 2010 | 7:07 am

Earlier this week Ad-links posted the Top 50 Canadian Marketing Blogs, as ranked by the AdAge Power 150, and I'm happy to announce EmailKarma.net made the list at #40. It's an honor to be included in such great company as the sites listed below. Thanks for reading and being part of the EmailKarma.net community. Top 50 Canadian Marketing Blogs: 01. John Chow dot Com 02. Dosh Dosh 03. Danny Brown 04. IttyBiz 05. Dave Fleet 06. Get Elastic 07. Web Analytics World 08. PowerShift 09. The Michel Fortin Blog 10. WebTrafficROI 11. Twist Image 12. Adgoodness 13. David Leonhardt’s SEO Marketing…
The Ultimate Contest SNAFU

3 Feb 2010 | 12:55 pm

Today I happened across a couple of web sites promoting a contest being run by Dr. Pepper - I hope you see this Dr. Pepper. The Contest encourages participants to head out to the convenience store (7-eleven) and purchase a Dr. Pepper product that contains a redeemable code for some free products. These sites had posted a number of reusable codes and provided instructions for individuals on how to redeem them without purchasing the required products.Background:Each participating Dr. Pepper product has a "non-unique" code associated with it that allows the person redeeming the code to a free…
Google Apps phasing out old web browsers

2 Feb 2010 | 11:32 am

Recently I began received notices at my domains hosted under the Google Apps solution about the planned phase out of older web browsers, mainly those no longer supported by their respective developers. IE 6, FireFox 2 and other old browsers will begin to have support issues with various Google applications beginning in March, and rolling out to the remainder of their services over the next several months.Did you know IE 6 still has a 30% install base for IE users and a 20% install for all web browsers? (Source: Usage share of web browsers - IE only breakdown - Jan 2010). Is this the beginning…
Links for 2010-02-01 [del.icio.us]

2 Feb 2010 | 12:00 am

Vishing Scam: Four More States Struck | Bank Info Security Quote: Financial institutions in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Mississippi report being hit by these "vishing" attacks in the past two weeks. Five different institutions -- three credit unions and two banks - say their customers have received vishing calls from fraudsters.
Links for 2010-01-29 [del.icio.us]

30 Jan 2010 | 12:00 am

Clearing the Segmentation Hurdles | Ogilvy QuotE: Effective, cost-efficient segmentation is the holy grail of email marketing. This Holiday season, a major retailer resolved to maximize revenues from the email channel by segmenting their customer base and sending more targeted emails. Call to banish virus-hit computers from internet | The Australian Kick infected PCs of your Network until customers clean the bots/virus - new voluntary ISP code of practices for Australia. Goodmail and Yahoo! breaking up? | Deliverability Quote: "Effective February 1: There will be a reduction in…

Online Marketing Blog
Two Biggest Advantages of Small Businesses SEO

Adam Singer

8 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

With search engine optimization, small businesses have two advantages larger competitors often can’t match: creativity and agility. By embracing these two philosophies as part of their digital marketing DNA, small businesses can carve out a search marketing strategy that runs circles around larger competitors. Today, we’ll briefly explore why creativity and agility are advantages small businesses have for search marketing, and some quick tips to activate each. Creativity as a search marketing advantage Large = more risk management – Small = creativity/individuality can…
5 Ways to Show Digital Assets a Little Respect

Michelle Bowles

5 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

Don't ignore digital assets in your optimization efforts Don’t fight it: Blended search results, and hence digital asset optimization, are here (at least for now). Text content may be your SEO poster child, but with images, video and audio content often appearing in standard search results, digital assets can no longer be treated as the ugly stepsister in the online marketing family. Many companies produce a variety of content and media that never make it to the public web. To this point, the majority of marketers have either overlooked or ignored optimization of non-text digital…
BIGLIST Update: SEM Blog Reviews Snarky Edition 020410

Lee Odden

4 Feb 2010 | 4:13 pm

Welcome to the newest BIGLIST review of Search Marketing Blogs. We have a little bit of everything today ranging from Chinese focused PPC to the World’s Greatest SEO to a steaming pile of SEO Bull$#*t. Enjoy! If you think your blog deserves to be included, then write a compelling and maybe humorous comment below. We’ll almost certainly ignore it but you never know. The SEO blog design recognition for this week’s BIGLIST update goes to a newer blog from an experienced search marketer: SEO Mofo. I like the clean, yet colorful (and irreverent) design of this blog by…
2010 MarketingSherpa Social Media Marketing Guide

Lee Odden

3 Feb 2010 | 9:00 am

One of the most trusted sources of marketing research and information is MarketingSherpa. I’ve been a subscriber for many years and always look forward to the reports on Search Marketing, Email Marketing and B2B Marketing. Last year MarketingSherpa started conducting research and publishing a Benchmark Report on social media marketing. The new Social Media Marketing Benchmark Report was recently released and I’ve had a few days to take a look and will provide a review for our readers. As you can expect, this guide is a “meaty” 250 plus pages of research, charts &…
Upcoming TopRank Social SEO & PR Events

Lee Odden

3 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am

Our team works hard to stay on top of current best practices and as a result, we’re asked to speak at a variety of conferences, workshops and webinars. One of the goals at TopRank Online Marketing is to help companies better understand the current landscape of the digital marketing & PR environment. That includes strategies that can be executed more efficiently and marketing programs that can adjust to persistent change. Hopefully you’ll find an event below that fits your needs. Feb 9, 2010 Webinar: Secrets to B2B Marketing Success TopRank, along with our client Marketo and…

Tom Martin: Positive Disruption
Three For Thursday - February 4

tommartin

4 Feb 2010 | 5:42 am

This week I wanted to touch on a couple of trends and one really cool branding idea. First the trends.Virtual Self-Service Kiosks I've been watching the insurance industry of late with a good bit of fascination. First there was Nationwide Insurance's iPhone app, then Geico got into the game and now State Farm has joined the fray. All three have launched iPhone apps that have a lot of bells and whistles but most importantly, all three offer Accident Claims Filing tools. If you remember not too long ago, it was Progressive that jumped the competition with their mobile claims cars that would…
What Dancing Taught Me About Customer Service

tommartin

2 Feb 2010 | 5:40 am

A few weeks ago I attended my daughter's state dance competition and I found a number of similarities between a dance team and customer service team. First, her team practice all year for one shot. There are no second downs or losers bracket. You either nail it or you don't. They only compete a few times a year but at each competition it is the same. One dance. All or nothing. Sort of like customer service. You practice, train and teach for that one moment when your team has a chance to deliver a great customer experience or at least recover from a bad one. But ask yourself, does your team…
Three for Thursday - January 28

tommartin

28 Jan 2010 | 5:38 am

If only this was a bit smaller and more fashionable. It's a Vicon Revue and it's a wearable camera you wear on a necklace or clip to your clothes and it can automatically take up to 30,000 pictures. The pics can be taken automatically on a timer or when you do something like get up, sit down, etc. And it will keep a GPS enabled log of where the photos were taken. So what you may be saying. So cool I'm thinking. Imagine if it was a bit smaller, less obvious and maybe a bit more designer. You could give this camera to a couple of hundred people and turn them loose for a week. Then get the…
Should You Be Trying To Create Demand or Desire?

tommartin

26 Jan 2010 | 5:35 am

What's more important for your business right now -- creating demand or the desire to demand?If you listen to the social media ROI folks, you'll hear them beat that demand drum all day and often well into the night. And while I agree with them -- ROI is important and you do have to measure it and ideally drive it, I wonder if this fanatical focus on ROI and more importantly trackable ROI, isn't a little bit of cart in front of the horse thinking. I'm not sure you can have demand before desire. I'm thinking that before you can have demand -- defined as people buying your product/service, you…
What Unifies Your Customer Base?

tommartin

20 Jan 2010 | 11:44 am

Is there a single image, sound, ethos or stimuli that would stimulate your entire customer base to have an almost Pavlovian response like the one above? If not, ask yourself how cool would it be if it did. What could you do with that kind of responsive energy? Let me back up a step. I snapped the image above this weekend at my daughter's state dance competition. As all the teams were sitting on the gym floor waiting for what seemed like an eternity for the judges to finish the scoring... there was cool dance music playing. At one point, One Time by Justin Bieber comes over the speaker and…

Ads of the World
Nike 10k: Street, 3

ivan

9 Feb 2010 | 9:25 am

Advertising Agency: Publicis Impetu, Montevideo, Uruguay Creative Directors: Mario Taglioretti, Esteban Barreiro Art Directors: Joaquín Rodríguez Frau, Carolina Fagget, Diego Bensenzoni Copywriters: Germán Lagamma, Roberto Genta. Photographer: www.love.com.uy Illustrator: Ricardo Salamanca Published: November 2009
Nike 10k: Street, 2

ivan

9 Feb 2010 | 9:25 am

Advertising Agency: Publicis Impetu, Montevideo, Uruguay Creative Directors: Mario Taglioretti, Esteban Barreiro Art Directors: Joaquín Rodríguez Frau, Carolina Fagget, Diego Bensenzoni Copywriters: Germán Lagamma, Roberto Genta. Photographer: www.love.com.uy Illustrator: Ricardo Salamanca Published: November 2009
Nike 10k: Street, 1

ivan

9 Feb 2010 | 9:24 am

Advertising Agency: Publicis Impetu, Montevideo, Uruguay Creative Directors: Mario Taglioretti, Esteban Barreiro Art Directors: Joaquín Rodríguez Frau, Carolina Fagget, Diego Bensenzoni Copywriters: Germán Lagamma, Roberto Genta. Photographer: www.love.com.uy Illustrator: Ricardo Salamanca Published: November 2009
Stadt Apotheke, Kreuzlingen: Skin Cancer Guerilla

ivan

9 Feb 2010 | 8:57 am

Advertising Agency: Wirz/BBDO, Switzerland Creative Director: Matthias Freuler Art Director: Kim Sokola Copywriter: Tom Zürcher Published: Summer 2008
MTV: Tongue

ivan

8 Feb 2010 | 10:23 pm

Don't put your nose where it doesn't belong! That's what your tongue is for. Welcome to bitches' playground. A shoot of love, charmschool and MTV Next. Weekdays from 4PM. Advertising Agency: Jung von Matt/Alster, Hamburg, Germany Executive Creative Director: Armin Jochum, Götz Ulmer Art Directors: Damjan Pita, Andre Price, Johannes Riffelmacher Copywriter: Henning Robert Designers: Johannes Riffelmacher, Andre Price Illustrator: Andriy Vynogradov Typographers: Johannes Riffelmacher, Andre Price

Advertising Lab: future of advertising and advertising technology
An Ad From Hell In Site's Source Code

8 Feb 2010 | 10:19 pm

Hats off to whoever came up with this: an ad for the Dante's Inferno game (launches today) done in ASCII and hidden in Digg's source code. Similar images were also placed on a few other sites. Each ad contains a password; collect all of them and enter them at hellisnigh.com (currently down) for something -- which obviously can't be very good for the humankind -- to happen. - via, via ---------------- I'm reading The Advertising Research Handbook.
Get a Free iPad (or Nine) Here

8 Feb 2010 | 5:14 pm

There's no point in this post other than general amusement, but I saw my first "testers wanted" banner ad today and got inspired to gather screenshots of nine different sites promising a free - FREE! - iPad after you buy a bunch of other stuff. Look, the top one uses a totally fake mock-up of the device (but throws in a FedEx cargo plane). ---------------- I'm reading The Advertising Research Handbook.
Jerzify Your Avatarized Self

5 Feb 2010 | 8:07 am

Too meta. See what your Na'vi Avatar would look like as a cast member of Jersey Shore at Jerzify Yourself. ---------------- I'm reading The Advertising Research Handbook.
Get Cheap Tickets For Oceanic 815

28 Jan 2010 | 6:31 pm

Awesome! Price-comparison engine Kayak "shows" tickets for the Sydney-LAX Oceanic 815 flight prior to the premier of Lost's sixth and last season. Search for a one-way flight on September 22, 2010 and it will be right there, departing at 2.55pm. Love the "click to see rates" link to Expedia (doesn't do anything, unfortunately). - via, via ---------------- I'm reading The Advertising Research Handbook.
Loose Lips Sink iPad Deals?

27 Jan 2010 | 11:08 pm

So how come McGraw-Hill's logo wasn't up on that Keynote slide of publishing partners that had cut distribution deals with Apple for the iBooks ebook store? Because of this interview by the publisher' CEO? As an LA Times' blog put it, "Terry McGraw shouldn't be surprised if he wakes up tomorrow with a horse's head in his bed." (image from Engadget) ---------------- I'm reading The Advertising Research Handbook.

Adland.tv
Puma - HardChorus - (2010) 2:00

Dabitch

9 Feb 2010 | 9:02 am

This valentines day, let your better half know how you feel.
Planned parenthood - Sean James and Al Joyner - (2010) :60

Dabitch

9 Feb 2010 | 7:54 am

Planned Parenthood got former college and professional football player Sean James and Olympic gold medalist Al Joyner to respond to the Focus on the Family Super Bowl ad. James and Joyner both declare their position that a woman has the right to choose, and her choice should be respected. The ad ends with Al Joyner saying : We celebrate family by supporting our mothers, by supporting our daughters, by trusting women.
Super bowl XLIV commercials, what went wrong this year?

Dabitch

9 Feb 2010 | 6:13 am

Ok, I've come down from my sugar-high caused by way too many soda pops and candy bars that kept me chugging through, staying awake from Sunday morning to late Monday night. It's not a good state to watch and try to judge the ads in, so I'd like to thank a whole bunch of people too numerous to mention, among them DDB, TBWA, FLO TV rep Edelman, Teleflora, Lynch Communications and Medialink Worldwide for sending their ads in early to help the process along here. Y'all rock and you know it. The 2010 super bowl XLIV commercials collection thanks you too. I always come down pretty hard, blaming my…
BK Burger King - Camel - (2010) :30

Dabitch

9 Feb 2010 | 3:05 am

This time the Arabian guys on hamburger dates with American girls trick the girls into believing that "The richer you are, the more humps you have on your camel". Hey ladies, did you hear that the word gullible is no longer in the dictionary?
Intel - Timeline - (2010) :30

Dabitch

8 Feb 2010 | 3:51 am

Me and these guys have way too much in common. Post-game

5 Blogs Before Lunch
Billboard in Minnesota has former President George W. Bush asking "Miss me yet?"

daveibsen

9 Feb 2010 | 10:11 am

There is a billboard along I-35 near Wyoming, Minnesota featuring former president George W. Bush and this question: "Miss Me Yet?" It is getting a fair amount of attention, for obvious reasons. But there is no apparent claim of ownership...
Big numbers for CBS Super Bowl broadcast

daveibsen

9 Feb 2010 | 7:09 am

CBS has set a Super Bowl record for commercial time, airing 47 minutes and 50 seconds of ads, compared with NBC's 2009 record of 45 minutes and 5 seconds, Kantar Media is reporting. There were 41 advertisers who bought time...
Another blow to Coke and Pepsi: Study finds soft drinks may cause cancer

daveibsen

9 Feb 2010 | 6:40 am

Apparently, sugary soft drinks not only rot your teeth and promote weight gain, they may also cause cancer. A long-term study of 60,000 Singaporeans found that sugary soft drinks drastically increase the risk of developing pancreatic cancer. Researchers at the...
Google to add Social Media tools to Gmail

daveibsen

9 Feb 2010 | 6:24 am

Google is planning to add streaming status updates and video-viewing capabilities to Gmail in an attempt to bring the service more in line with social-media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It's an attempt at trying to get users to...
PajamaJeans: the latest in indoor-outdoor clothing

daveibsen

9 Feb 2010 | 6:12 am

Bowing to the consumer trend of wearing pajama-bottoms in public, a company has introduced PajamaJeans--as comfortable as pajamas, but with the look of a pair of jeans.Promoted as "the pajamas to live in, and the jeans to sleep in." the...

MainStreet.com
Who's Hiring Part-Time: WIS International, Blockbuster and Panera Bread

Bobbi Dempsey

9 Feb 2010 | 10:04 am

Looking for part-time work? You’re in luck. Here are three companies with part-time openings available right now.
CD Rate Trends This Week: Feb. 9

Brian O'Connell

9 Feb 2010 | 7:57 am

As far as long-term trends go, it’s no coincidence that as U.S. debt levels rise, bank certification of deposit rates are in decline.
The Rise of Third-Hand Smoke

Seth Fiegerman

9 Feb 2010 | 7:40 am

Even after you put the cigarette out, the smoke follows you and could impact those around you. Being a smoker just got even more complicated.
Obama's Health Care Summit: All Talk?

The Associated Press

9 Feb 2010 | 7:27 am

Will the outcome of President Obama's proposed health care summit later this month be a piece of historic reform or just some political theater?
What's a MAGI?

Jeff Brown

9 Feb 2010 | 7:09 am

Like most people, you probably haven’t the foggiest idea of what your MAGI is. Luckily, MainStreet has an answer for you.

The Responsible Marketing Blog
Interns Wanted: Dead or Alive

Patrick Byers

20 Jan 2010 | 4:42 pm

This is a real picture of a former Outsource Marketing intern. No, he’s not dead. He’s drunk. Okay, we’d prefer our interns alive—and sober. Besides, dead interns would be irresponsible, wouldn’t get much done and would start to smell after awhile. Come to think of it, same goes for drunk interns. Seriously though, if you or someone you know is interested in learning about doing marketing responsibly, here are the gory details: PositionMarketing Internship (Unpaid) SchedulePart-time, approx.15-20 hrs/weekschedule flexible but regular—hours must be during…
Don’t cut corners on creativity

Patrick Byers

17 Jan 2010 | 11:03 pm

I’ve said it a million times: It takes creativity to break through the clutter. Here’s an ad that does just that: View on YouTube 2009 was rough year, and a lot of companies have dramatically cut their marketing budgets. A lot of brand advertising budget has been moved to sales promotion. You gotta do what you gotta do. But whatever you do, don’t cut corners on creativity. Bland and boring never sells. Subscribe to this feed Via illegaladvertising.com
Marketing puffery never pays

Patrick Byers

14 Jan 2010 | 5:45 pm

Seems we’ve been up to our eyeballs in positioning and message strategy work at Outsource Marketing lately. Of course, positioning should be the cornerstone of all your marketing communications—without meaningful differentiation, you’ve got nothin’, after all. But your positioning has to be more than simply unique and matter to your prospects. It has to be true, too. With that in mind, watch this: View on YouTube If you are selling “the world’s toughest phone” that’s “virtually unbreakable,” perhaps it should be. While Sonim XP1 CEO…
Should excessively noisy ads be banned?

Patrick Byers

16 Dec 2009 | 10:48 pm

One of the Seven Keys to Responsible Marketing is being message responsible. That means marketers should respect all their audiences by seeking permission, telling the truth, honoring privacy and avoiding clutter. Yelling at consumers isn’t very respectful, and the U.S. House of Representatives has recently approved a bill which aims to limit the volume of television advertisements. Eric Weaver at Tribal DDB in Vancouver calls it “A win for consumers, a loss for self-interested advertisers” and I couldn’t agree more. But what do you think? Should the government…
The Ringtone from Hell

Patrick Byers

16 Nov 2009 | 11:43 pm

View on YouTube “The Ringtone from Hell” is video six in our series of seven Responsible Marketing web shorts, but you could argue it has nothing to do with Responsible Marketing at all. Truth is, a few of our shorts are about character development and having fun with the angel and devil characters as they go through their days working at Outsource Marketing. We hope you enjoy it, and we’ll be back on message with video seven in a week or so. Subscribe to this feed.

russell davies
Links for 2010-02-08 [del.icio.us]

Multitouch + NUI: Audio Feedback and Calm Computing AudioUI
2,000 weeks

russell davies

8 Feb 2010 | 4:03 am

I've been enjoying all the people doing weeknotes, inspired by the BERGians (though Ben reckons they got the idea from us.) I particularly like the different way people have thought about their week numbering system - BERG started at week 217, Rattle at week 1189. I'm going to do them myself - starting at week 2000 - because, looking at some actuarial tables, I've realised that, if I'm lucky, I've got about 2,000 weeks to live. So counting them down, working out whether it was a good use of a week, might be 'usefully focusing'. (Or deeply morbid, but…
Links for 2010-02-07 [del.icio.us]

Another Chilly Morning - Home Anne's grandather's diaries as a blog. Minimal but very evocative - Feb 8th 1974 = "A nasty wet day with a strong wind and cold. Never went out. Miners' strike on and an election coming up."
Links for 2010-02-06 [del.icio.us]

The Nichepaper Manifesto - Umair Haque - Harvard Business Review
Links for 2010-02-04 [del.icio.us]

PersonalNews

Immersion Active presents Ageless Marketing
The Neuroscience of Screwing Up

David Wolfe

25 Jan 2010 | 6:52 am

I stole the title of this posting from an article in the January 2010 issue of Wired magazine. The Wired article caught my attention because of a new book I’m writing called Brave New Worldview. The main theme of my book is that we generally see the world through the lens of a three-centuries old worldview that is hopelessly inadequate for dealing with many issues we face in the 21st...
A Neurological Reason for Injecting More Right Brain into Our Worldview

David Wolfe

19 Jan 2010 | 5:54 am

Reader and brand manager par excellence Tony Kirton was moved by yesterday's post about a whole brain approach to viewing the world to send me the URL to an awesome article on the topic that appeared in the January 2, 2010 issue of the Wall Street Journal: http://tinyurl.com/yhfly5z Consider it a must read!
Avoiding the Half Brain Syndrome in Marketing Research

David Wolfe

18 Jan 2010 | 8:55 am

Have you seen the TED video of Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor, a neuroanatomist who had a massive hemorrhagic stroke in the left hemisphere of her brain? Taylor is a neuroanatomist. This gave her unique insight into her stroke as it unfolded. A hemorrhagic stroke is heavy duty trauma. In Taylor’s case it shut down her left cortical hemisphere, the side associated with speaking, reasoning and analytical activities. She was left...
Season's Greetings from the World’s Largest Plant

David Wolfe

29 Dec 2009 | 12:33 pm

(This is a reprint of an essay I have run before, usually at this time of year. As we leave the Winter Holiday Season and head off into a new year, Despite the fractiousness that has saturated public discourse throughout 2009, we all are connected. No sector of society stands apart from any other sector. This essay presents a metaphorical look at why we really have no other rational choice...
Achieving Meaningful Online Engagement in Boomer Markets

David Wolfe

30 Nov 2009 | 8:30 am

I want to talk about a new book called Dot Boom. But I must make a full disclosure first. The book is by David Weigelt and Jonathan Boehman, founders of the online ad agency, Immersion Active. Immersion Active is the sponsor of the Ageless Marketing blog. But wait. There is more. The theoretical foundation of Dot Boom is my own book Ageless Marketing. So, the question is, under these circumstances...

Random Culture
Quick Links: January 25, 2010

John Keehler

25 Jan 2010 | 11:15 am

Product Reviews Accepted on MobileTwo thirds of mobile shoppers say they'd buy more if they had easy access to reviews.Fashion Brands Embracing Digital Short-FilmsThe latest? Prada hires Chinese filmmaker to showcase Spring/Summer 2010 collection. [via Adverblog]Up to Snuff on Cloud Computing and Virtualization? You Should Be...ReadWriteWeb launches new ReadWriteCloud site. Sign of the times.
Three Digital Resolutions for 2010

John Keehler

13 Jan 2010 | 11:29 am

Check out my latest post on the Click Here Blog, Three Digital Resolutions for 2010. Here's an excerpt:"New Years has come and gone, and you’ve likely made a decision to work out more, or eat healthier… it’s always the things we know we should be doing, in the name of self-improvement. Why not consider the same for your brand? Here are three things all brands should be doing in 2010: 1. Create a Mobile Version of Your Website We’ve been talking about mobile for a while, yet a surprisingly small number of brands have created mobile versions of their websites. With the iPhone…
Twitter: Endure or Flourish?

John Keehler

5 Jan 2010 | 7:25 am

David Carr published a great opinion piece a few days ago, entitled "Why Twitter Will Endure." It's a thought-provoking read, and he hits on some really great points. Here are a few of the highlights that particularly resonated with me.Twitter = PlumbingHere Carr was quoting Steven Johnson, who's Time magazine article on Twitter produced a great quote: “The history of the Internet suggests that there have been cool Web sites that go in and out of fashion and then there have been open standards that become plumbing... Twitter is looking more and more like plumbing, and…
Quick Links: December 18, 2009

John Keehler

18 Dec 2009 | 11:26 am

Tweets as TestimonialsNew Trident Layers full-page newspaper ad incorporates real Tweets.2009 in Review: The List of ListsRex at Fimoculous posts the 2009 List of Lists, of everything interesting that happened this year... no really, EVERYTHING.The Future of Digital MagazinesBBH Labs has an interesting post on ebook technology and how it might affect the future of magazines.YouTube Connects to FacebookUsers on the popular video site can now more easily share videos on Facebook.
The Future of Mobile is... Money

John Keehler

1 Dec 2009 | 12:11 pm

You might have heard some buzz circulating about today's announcement that Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has just launched a new mobile payment system, Square. It's exciting to see this topic finally beginning to get some conversation, especially since mobile money transfer and payment has already gained some ground in developing countries. Click Here's own Jill Krumsick posted yesterday about this very topic. Here's an excerpt about what's already happening in the US, from her blog post, "Put it on my Mobile Tab.""The developed world isn’t going to see a…

Ypulse
Ypulse Essentials: MTV Reboots Logo, Teens In Tech 2.0, College Women Outnumber Men

meredith

8 Feb 2010 | 12:44 pm

MTV updates logo (for the first time in 30 years, dropping the "Music television" tagline once and for all. Also Vogue editor at large André Leon Talley's joins 'Top Model' adding some extra couture cred to this season's judges panel) (WWD) - Teens in Tech 2.0 Conference (check out this video of the weekend's happenings from ReadWriteWeb. Also look for coverage tomorrow from our own YAB member Enrique Gavidia. And MediaPost, reg. required on the "Social Media Marketing & Millennials" panel from Social Media Week in New York) - Women outnumber men on campus (prompting the New York Times,…
Super Bowl XLIV: What Ads Scored With Millennial Values?

meredith

8 Feb 2010 | 12:43 pm

Last week Ypulse Youth Advisory Board member Amber Gibson weighed in on whether Pepsi could strike a chord with Gen Y by staying on the bench this Super Bowl season. Today we tap our own Dan Coates, president of Ypulse Insights, for his expert take on the brands that stayed in the game and got it right. For all of the spots discussed below and more, check out this roundup from Ad Age reg. required. Super Bowl XLIV: What Ads Scored With Millennial Values? Sometimes it's a bad thing to be focused on a single subject, but we couldn't help but spot some advertisers playing to the values held by…
Our Side Of The Screen: Skittles.com Redesign

meredith

8 Feb 2010 | 12:01 pm

Today's Youth Advisory Board post comes from Libby Issendorf who lends her media analyst expertise to another installment of Our Side Of The Screen on the recently relaunched Skittles site, a slight departure from the brand's much buzzed (and panned) social media experiment of last year. Remember, you can communicate directly with any member of the Ypulse Youth Advisory Board by emailing them at youthadvisoryboard at ypulse.com…or just leave a comment. Our Side of the Screen: Skittles.com Redesign What is it: Not quite a year ago, YAB member Caro reviewed the Skittles.com site.
Ypulse Youth Media Movers & Shakers

meredith

8 Feb 2010 | 11:54 am

Today we bring you another installment of Youth Media Movers and Shakers. We've culled through industry publications looking for the recent executive placements we think you should know about. If you have executive news that you want us to highlight in our next "Movers and Shakers," email me. After just 10 months as president and CEO of Activision Blizzard's Guitar Hero division, former Yahoo COO Dan Rosensweig is packing up shop and relocating to online textbook rental startup Chegg where he will hold the same title. (ReadWriteWeb) Animation industry veteran Kathy Page is appointed…
Ypulse Essentials: PBS Kids' 'Lifeboat To Mars', Online Student [Free?] Speech, Jersey Shore Style

meredith

5 Feb 2010 | 12:27 pm

PBS Kids launches 'Lifeboat to Mars' (an online simulation game to teach kids about biology. Also Sesame Workshop unveils the Elmo Monster Maker iPhone app) (USA Today) (Mashable) - Barnes & Noble enlists Common Sense Media (to power a new "For Parents" section on the children's section of its site. Plus a young publishing professional offers the "Gen Y reaction" to Macmillan’s piracy plan. Hint: it's analogous to the Gen Y reaction to record companies. Also Scott Westerfeld’s Leviathan wins the 2009 Aurealis Award in the category of best young adult novel) (Digital Book World)…

Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog
The Top None

Futurelab

8 Feb 2010 | 2:57 pm

I'd planned in all sincerity to write an essay about the three Super Bowl commercials that I thought wouldn't get the recognition in most "top ten" lists, but that I believed might actually do something business-wise down the road. I meant it. I wanted to be positive...
Don’t Make Social Media Another Silo

Futurelab

8 Feb 2010 | 2:37 pm

Social Media Week in London saw a great set of events, thinking and presentations for all things social media. One of my favourite presentations from the week came from an event I wasn’t able to attend: Steve Bridger’s keynote from the Media140 Third Sector and the Real-time Web event.
Serious Games for a Better Future - EnerCities out of Beta

Futurelab

8 Feb 2010 | 2:04 pm

PRESS RELEASE Gaming For A Better Future Leiden, The Netherlands - February 3rd 2010 Following my prior post EnerCities: The First Serious Game On Facebook, on February 3rd, game developer Paladin Studios has launched EnerCities 1.0. It is an online game in which players are challenged to build a sustainable city. It will run online and on Facebook, and is available in six European languages. The game is part of an educational platform dealing with energy issues, backed by European Commission funding of €1 million.
Microsoft, Middle Management and Why Some Companies Can't Innovate

Futurelab

7 Feb 2010 | 12:55 pm

This week's op-ed piece (Microsoft's Creative Destruction) in the New York Times from Dick Brass, a former Microsoft VP, was a wake up call for the tech world. In a thoughtful but ultimately scathing piece, Brass describes how and why Microsoft gradually evolved from an innovative company with first-mover advantage to a technological also-ran scrambling behind just about everyone in bringing new products to market:
Vodafone, Twitter and the challenges of managing your brand in social media

Futurelab

6 Feb 2010 | 1:04 pm

It’s been an interesting afternoon for Vodafone. Their VodafoneUK Twitter account has attracted a lot of attention after one Tweet in particular stood out from their usual customer service conversations online. In between the Tweets resolving network coverage and other queries one stood out. You can read about what was actually said elsewhere.

SALES MANAGEMENT 2.0
where i get the response???

SITI HAWA BINTI MAT TIAL

I have been working in this supply PPE company in few months already. But i hardly get the response from my clients. Take for example; There is one client asking me to quote the 'safety signage'. So i did a proper layout for the design and i emailed her on Friday. Hoping that by Monday she would reply to me on the design, so i got time to discuss with the designer together with the price..until now it is Tuesday i have not received any feedback although i email her and call her. What a day??? Second story; i have two clients that asking me about body harness. So i do my best on the…
“I Can’t Get Customers To See Me!”

Dave Brock

When I speak to sales people, this is the second biggest complaint I hear. Sales people have trouble getting meetings. This isn’t just with prospects, but also with customers we know well. Let’s face it, everyone is time-poor. Everyone has more on their plates than they can possibly deal with, and the pile just gets bigger. In the face of customers being time-poor, in order to get a meeting, we have to have a compelling reason for them to invest their precious time in us. This probably bears repeating with emphasis: In order to get a meeting, we have to have a compelling reason for them…
Something Old and Something New

Colleen Stanley

The phrase "something old and something new," which is often heard while brides are getting married, can be applied to using social media tools successfully. Many companies jump on the new idea band wagon, often discarding old ideas and methodologies that still produce results. Let's take a look at two ways you should combine new social media with good 'ole fashioned sales principles. LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a great tool for connecting with people, raising profiles on search engines, and free advertising for your firm. The mistake many salespeople make is thinking that just because they connect…
Sales Management—Managing The Contradictions

Dave Brock

A little over a week ago, I wrote Sales Management, It’s About Inspecting The Process, Not Transactions. In talking to many people who contacted me about the article, we ended up talking about the confict sales managers face in doing their jobs. Yes, we are supposed to inspect the process, but at the same time, we need to focus on deals and specifics. Well, that’s life, sales management is about managing the contradictions. The only way we will be successful in managing the organization is to focus on inspecting the process, coaching and developing your people, and managing the overall…
Why Selling Is Better Than Sex - Part One

Alen Majer

The world’s oldest profession involves selling. One might even argue about which came first – the selling or the sex? In fact, selling and sex are so closely related that succeeding at either one of them can be euphoric, addictive, and good fun. Some people might like to argue that selling is not better than sex. They believe it’s the other way round. In this post (and other following this one) I will give you many different reasons why selling IS better than sex. For a start, it’s okay to make a sale in public. In fact, the more people that witness the sale you’re making and the…

mobileStorm » Marketing Blog
mobileStorm Product Update: New Feature – SMS Bounce Reports

Mobile Guru

8 Feb 2010 | 5:42 am

We at mobileStorm are always busy bringing you the latest and greatest in terms of features and functionality, and today we’re happy to announce that we’ve added a new feature: SMS bounce reports. The new feature breaks down SMS campaign bounces by type and carrier, giving you a better understanding of how and why your SMS messages aren’t being delivered. More information is provided about the exact subscribers who bounced by clicking on “View Details.” Various bounce types are returned based on specific reasoning, including: Hard — The cell phone number…
Laura Marriott Talk Mobile Marketing, Predictions For 2010

Mobile Guru

4 Feb 2010 | 12:34 pm

Laura Marriott, former President of the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA), recently sat down with TMCnet to discuss what’s going on in the mobile marketing industry in terms of it’s progress thus far and predictions for 2010 and beyond. One of the driving forces behind mobile marketing and its explosive growth is access to mobile data, according to Marriott. Five years ago, operators saw mobile data as an enterprise offering, without knowing the future value it would add for consumers. Now that the landscape has changed, and unlimited data plans are becoming commonplace,…
Banking on Mobile Marketing in 2010

Mobile Marketer

3 Feb 2010 | 10:44 am

The Mobile Marketing Association is forecasting that the rate in which consumers utilize mobile banking services will accelerate at a rapid pace by the end of 2010. As the pervasiveness of mobile services trickle down to much smaller financial institutions than the big guns of banking first to embrace mobile technology, the MMA anticipates the present 17% of adults using mobile banking in the US will jump to nearly 22% within the next twelve months. Aware of the increasing spread of mobile services and mobile marketing to smaller communities and the business that dwell within them, the MMA…
iPad Hailed as The Future of Mobile Marketing?

Mobile Marketer

2 Feb 2010 | 11:04 pm

The arrival of Apple’s tablet – the iPad – could very well prove more than just a revolutionary platform capable of changing the ways in which we read, play games, and absorb myriad forms of digital news, entertainment, and virtually any other content imaginable. Additionally, the iPad could represent the future of mobile marketing. At least that’s what myriad mobile app developers and marketers are thinking in the wake of the iPad’s debut. Since Steve Jobs unveiled the long awaited tablet, mobile app developers like those at Omni Group have begun shelving…
Survey: Deliverability Suffers In North America, Europe Stronger, Asia Pacific Strongest

Mobile Guru

2 Feb 2010 | 4:30 pm

A new survey published today reveals that deliverability remains a top concern for commercial email marketers, especially among those in North America. The survey, conducted by Return Path, compared deliverability based on geographic regions and ISPs to determine a global deliverability benchmark for the second half of 2009. The company tracked delivery, blocking and filtering for more than 600,000 campaigns, while also reviewing non-delivered data from hundreds of ISPs in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, United Kingdom and the Asia Pacific territories. Commercial…

The Retail Email Blog
Bird Watching: Top email myths

9 Feb 2010 | 10:24 am

If you’re not on Twitter yet, here are the kinds of conversations that you’re missing:@andrewkordek >> what would the top 3 myths of email marketing be? Curious as to your thoughts #emailmarketing (mine are Free/Cheap, Easy, Everyone wants)@remybergsma >> @andrewkordek successful blast, quick results, 100% deliverability ;)@rorycarlyle >> @andrewkordek - Easy, Quick, Anyone can do it. All myths.@RetailEmailBlog >> 1. Images are bad. 2. More email = more $$$. 3. They can always opt-out. RT @andrewkordek: What would the top 3 myths of #emailmarketing be?@AdamHoldenBache >> @andrewkordek I…
AM Inbox: Spurring sharing more than sales

9 Feb 2010 | 9:47 am

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:eBags, 2/8 — Last Chance - Extra 25% Off one item‏Your run-of-the-mill emails probably won’t see much sharing. Subscribers are much more likely to pass your email along or post it to a social media site if there’s a super deal in it, quirky messaging, a charity tie-in, etc. One of our copywriters, Darrah MacLean, also says that emails are much more likely to be shared if they have crazy products in them. Think Neiman Marcus’s Christmas…
AM Inbox: Above-the-fold experimentation

8 Feb 2010 | 11:11 am

The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:Walgreens, 2/7 — Hurry Cupid! Get Free Shipping + Valentine Gifts‏‏Walgreens has been testing a couple of changes to their email template above the fold. First, this is the first email to sport a second navigation bar under their visual nav bar. As discussed in Email Navigation Differs Radically from Website Navigation, we find that nav bars are a strong source of clicks. Second, this email uses a very concise single line of preheader text,…
Week-End Trends: Valentine's Day messaging peaks

7 Feb 2010 | 12:20 pm

Email activity and promotional trends during the past week:The Retail Email Index: Top online retailers sent each of their subscribers 2.5 promotional emails on average during the week ending Feb. 5, 2010. That’s down 1% week-over-week, up 4% from where it was four weeks ago, and up 4% year-over-year.The Retail Email Participation Rate: Friday was the most popular day to send retail emails last week.The Retail Email Seasonality Meter: Valentine’s Day messaging has peaked. Seasonal messaging will be pretty subdued over the next few weeks. Last week we saw our first reference to Presidents…
AM Inbox: Montgomery Ward email redesign

5 Feb 2010 | 12:59 pm

>>Oopsy Hall of Fame: Check out the 2009 inductees.The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:Montgomery Ward, 2/3 — NEW Wards' Membership Program: Save 20% Off Everything!Montgomery Ward has redesign their email template, going with a more limited color pallet and more neutrals, particularly in the footer. They’ve also consolidated their two-tiered navigation bar into a single one. Like the previous nav bar, this one is made of HTML text so that it renders when images are blocked. They…

Client Service Insights (CSI)
Need An Alignment?

Leo Bottary

1 Feb 2010 | 9:00 am

When I think about the term alignment, it usually conjures images of letting go of the steering wheel while driving along an open road. If I'm aligned properly, my car will stay straight. If not, it will veer to one side or the other in a manner that without correction, would yield catastrophic results.Last week, I attended a terrific presentation by Edgar Papke hosted by Vistage International on the topic of alignment. Essentially he offers a model that stresses the alignment of purpose, leadership and culture in order to win in today's hyper-competitive climate. It's not only great advice…
So Who Is Responsible?

Leo Bottary

24 Jan 2010 | 10:47 am

My post today offers a valuable communication lesson that comes from an unlikely source - an unfortunate chapter in my life at Broad Meadows Junior High School. In the ninth grade, I ran track for only that one year, largely because back in those days I hated running. I only did it because our rather large phys-ed teacher at the time made me do it. (This was back in the day when teachers/coaches could cause you bodily harm without any repercussions.)  I typically ran the mile, but at the last track meet of the year I was also asked to fill-in as the third leg on our undefeated one-mile…
First Who...Then What

Leo Bottary

19 Jan 2010 | 6:33 am

In the book Good to Great, Jim Collins describes the concept of considering who before what. To paraphrase, he states that leaders of good to great companies understand three simple truths: 1) If you begin with who before what, then you can more easily adapt to a changing world. Employees are there because of who is on the bus, not because of where it's going; so if changing direction becomes necessary, it's OK with them; 2) The right people are self-motivated and want to be part of something great. 3) If you have the wrong people, you'll never be a great company - even if you ARE headed in…
To Counsel Leaders, It Helps To Understand Leadership

Leo Bottary

10 Jan 2010 | 9:53 am

I spent about 20 years searching for a master's degree program that would meet my needs as a public relations professional. Having worked in PR all my life, I wasn't interested in a straight PR or communication graduate program, and an MBA just didn't seem quite right for me either.One day, I discovered Seton Hall University's Master of Arts in Strategic Communication and Leadership (MASCL) online program. The university has delivered this program to 25 Learning Teams in just over 10 years, and Seton Hall's experience in providing a rich and rigorous learning experience really shows. For me,…
2010: The Year of Client Service Excellence

Leo Bottary

4 Jan 2010 | 10:35 am

Let me start 2010 with a brief but important reminder. For many of you, today is your first day of the new year back in the office. What better time to commit to client service excellence and its critical role to growing your business.Back in 2006, Frederick Reichheld of Bain & Company reported:Over a 5 year period, businesses may lose as many as 1/2 of their customers.Acquiring a new customer can cost 6 to 7 times more than retaining an existing customer.Businesses who boosted customer retention rates by as little as 5% saw increases in their profits ranging from 5% to a whopping 95%.The…

Service Untitled
It’s nothing personal

Cheryl

8 Feb 2010 | 3:41 pm

Monday morning and an angry customer is walking into the office, and for your own self-preservation, you never want to trade insults, yell back, engage in sarcasm, or be intimidated. You must first understand an angry customer at the simplest level. They’re not angry at you; it’s only because you are an employee and representative of the company, but since you’re there in front of them, you naturally become the target. That angry woman who reminds you so much of your mother wants her problem solved, and your job is not to get her to that particularly hostile point…
Introducing the Service Untitled Team

Douglas

5 Feb 2010 | 8:15 am

When I started Service Untitled back in April 2006, I was the only writer. I’d have occasional guest writers contribute to the blog, but for the most part, Service Untitled was me and me only. Nearly four years later (!), I’m happy to formally announce and introduce Service Untitled’s team of regular writers. The writers page features a listing of the regular contributors to Service Untitled, along with the photos and biographies of the people who bring you customer service advice and insight five days a week. These people have been writing for Service Untitled for some…
How to build great customer relationships

Cheryl

5 Feb 2010 | 6:05 am

If you pick the top three companies known for their extraordinary customer relationships; Nordstrom, Amazon and Starbucks, it’s pretty easy to dissect their redeeming qualities. Nordstrom is known for their incomparable attention, Starbucks is renowned for its generosity to its employees and the personal touch, and Amazon uses small teams who are empowered to solve problems without having to ask permission of a superior. Consumers still want to buy from real people and want to buy and associate with people and businesses who carry similar values and good will. Nordstrom, Amazon, and…
Customer service gone bad

Cheryl

4 Feb 2010 | 10:51 am

It’s hard to tell if you’re losing business because of the economy or doing something wrong. Competition is so keen now, what once may have just been mildly annoying is now the reason your competition has claimed some of your customers. Perhaps it is time to take a closer look at the management support, training and motivation of your workforce. I’ve compiled a short list of the most annoying habits of customer service personnel which is almost guaranteed to have your customers running to your competition. Any of these sound familiar? Chewing gum. Can you think of anything…
Make Service Your Nature

Chip and John

3 Feb 2010 | 6:22 am

The economic recovery is on its way according to the animals around my house. And, they seem to be trying to let me know. I recall how my childhood dog got under the back porch steps if there was a storm coming. And, if she paced around a lot and whimpered, you could count on rain. She was never wrong. Nature seems to know the future. Two years ago I caught a quick glimpse of a red fox in the woods near my place. Last year it crossed the road in front of my car. But, this week? The fox sat right near the road and watched me drive by. I was impressed by its courage and wondered it was giving…

Email Experience Blog
A Call to Action for Standard Email Metrics

31 Jan 2010 | 3:43 pm

The email marketing industry needs standard reporting and metrics. Today it is impossible to compare and benchmark response and deliverability rates across the industry because marketers get reports with different terms based on different calculations. Marketers are restricted in comparing reports and synchronizing data when looking to evaluate or change email broadcast vendors.Inaccurate or inconsistent metrics diffuse the credibility of email marketers. If our own metrics cannot conform to benchmarks, we lessen our ability to convince senior management and fellow digital…
Facebook Integrating With The First & Largest Social Network

24 Jan 2010 | 9:00 pm

This week Facebook will begin giving marketers the ability to collect email address from users of our Facebook applications. This is welcome news and opens up a world of possibilities for creating integrated programs that leverage the strengths of each channel to drive business objectives and richer customer experiences. Currently, applications communicate with users through Facebook notifications - a constrained inbox with few opportunities for meaningful direct communications and limited opportunities for monetization. After Wednesday, marketers will have the ability to…
Key Email Marketing Trends to Act on in 2010

19 Jan 2010 | 10:00 pm

As CEO of ClickMail Marketing, part of my job is keeping up with, and even ahead of, trends and changes in the email marketing industry. In a world like ours, technology and tastes can change in a flash, leaving the unsuspecting email marketer playing catch-up once he or she finally does catch on. Spotting email marketing trends becomes, therefore, less of a fun guessing game and more of a critical strategic process. The common theme in 2010 as I see it is integration. To me, this indicates email’s lasting power, as it becomes more and more entrenched in the marketing framework. No…
Results from the eec’s Sidescrolling Seasons Greetings Email

5 Jan 2010 | 10:00 pm

When tasked with designing the Email Experience Council’s seasons greetings email this year, we wanted to do something out of the ordinary. After some brainstorming, we settled on a sidescrolling winter scene with lots of delightful bits of animation. Since we were asking reader to scroll right instead of the usual down, we wanted to build in a few visual cues to get them going in the right direction: (1) We used a headline and deck that stretched across the top of the design, so they’d have to scroll to read the whole thing. (2) We included a message under the eec logo for…
4 Reasons Why Email Segmentation Matters

3 Jan 2010 | 10:00 pm

Sometimes it sounds very "broken-recordish." Send timely, targeted, relevant emails to subscribers who have asked for them. It's my go-to message - my mantra of sorts - when it comes to email marketing. It's one of those things I recommend printing out and pasting to your desk. It's a phrase you should repeat when you're getting ready to hit the send button on that next email marketing campaign. It's the question to ask your team all of the time, but especially if you see your metrics on the fritz (declining open and/or click through rates, increasing complaints, poor deliverability, etc).

Toronto Marketing Blog - Bekhor Management, Toronto
Practice Development Digest - Updates From the Professional Press: The Series

Toronto Marketing Blog

5 Feb 2010 | 11:09 am

We recently introduced Practice Development Digest –Updates From the Professional Press, as a new regular feature at Toronto Marketing Blog. The digest showcases leading-edge marketing, branding and strategic planning articles from prominent professional publications and journals in all sectors of professional practice, including: healthcare, accounting, building and consulting:Practice Development Digest - Updates From the Professional Press: Edition 1Practice Development Digest - Updates From the Professional Press: Edition 2Practice Development Digest - Updates From the Professional…
Just Minutes to Reduce Workplace Stress

Toronto Marketing Blog

5 Feb 2010 | 7:17 am

Here are a few resources that show us how just a few minutes a day can reduce workplace stress: Stress Management: Stress Reduction Tips from The Stress Institute:...DISCOVER A MINI: When you are waiting in a long line at a store, in a car in heavy traffic or on hold on your telephone, use this as an opportunity for a mini. A mini is a 1-3 minute short meditation. Take a moment, if you are able, close your eyes (not in traffic), or focus your eyes on something, take several deep diaphragmatic breaths, and repeat a 1-5 word affirmation with each deep breath. I like to say, "Keep letting go…"…
Toronto Launches Green Initiatives Aimed at the Building Sector

Toronto Marketing Blog

3 Feb 2010 | 6:09 am

According to Canadian Architect, Toronto is launching two new green initiatives aimed at the building sector: The Toronto Green Standard and Green Roof Bylaw are key elements of the City's Climate Change Action Plan, an aggressive environmental framework aimed at reducing Toronto's greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050...To further encourage the business community to take action on climate change, the City also offers grants to help owners retrofit existing industrial, commercial and institutional properties with a cool or green roof...Building owners and managers in Toronto can also…
Practice Development Digest - Updates From the Professional Press: Edition 3

Toronto Marketing Blog

3 Feb 2010 | 5:30 am

Welcome to our third edition of Practice Development Digest –Updates From the Professional Press. This digest showcases leading-edge marketing, branding and strategic planning articles from prominent professional publications and journals in all sectors. It enables architects, engineers, accountants, landscape architects, interior designers, financial advisors, lawyers, dentists, veterinarians, naturopaths, chiropractors and other professionals to benefit from each others' resources.Here are some of the leading practice development themes from our December 2009 / January 2010 professional…
Marketing Definitions

Toronto Marketing Blog

2 Feb 2010 | 2:42 pm

Toronto Marketing Blog has published definitions for the following essential marketing terms, all within the specific context of marketing the professional practice:Marketing Strategy - DefinitionCommunication Strategy - DefinitionMarketing Plan - DefinitionPoint of Difference - DefinitionSlogan - DefinitionTagline - DefinitionPositioning Statement - DefinitionUnique Selling Proposition (USP) - DefinitionCall to Action - Definition- Sandra Bekhor, TorontoPresident, Bekhor ManagementVisit our Toronto Marketing Firm, Bekhor Management MarketingBranding,Strategic Planning, Business Planning,…

David Airey, graphic designer
Experimenting with a new portfolio design

David Airey

9 Feb 2010 | 8:04 am

I spent last night and today experimenting with a new portfolio design — one I think is better suited to my personal design tastes. The starting point for the coding was this two-column CSS template courtesy of Roger Johannson, and the goal of my design is to place emphasis on the portfolio work (at the time of writing, contextual imagery for design projects hasn’t been added). The eventual plan is to incorporate the new design into my blog here, and I might need to hire someone more proficient with coding. Either that, or simply link my portfolio tab on the blog over to my .co.uk.
AIGA’s response to NEA’s call for logos

David Airey

4 Feb 2010 | 8:43 am

On February 1st, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) asked designers submit logo design proposals for its Art Works initiative. The request was a speculative one, prompting Richard Grefé, executive director of AIGA — the largest and oldest professional communication design association in the United States — to respond by addressing a letter to NEA Chairman Rocco Landesman. I’ve picked out a few excerpts from Grefé’s letter (shown below), and the full response is linked to at the foot of the post. AIGA’s response to the NEA’s call for logos “This type…
Chip Shop Awards 2010 open for entry

David Airey

2 Feb 2010 | 4:11 am

The Chip Shop Awards 2010 is open for entry. The Chip Shop Awards is about fostering and recognising creativity with no boundaries and no rules. It’s an international creative awards, open to anyone with great ideas. Best Use of a Shop Window Postcard Space Client: Playstation 3 Company: the if agency Best Use of Plagiarism Client: Metropolitan Police Company: TCS Advertising Best Public Awareness Client: Durex Company: Malcolm Crews Design Best Viral Client: Richard Holmes, Marketing Director, Specsavers Company: Specsavers Optical Group More Chip Shop Awards nominations in a blog post…
Five days in Dubai

David Airey

31 Jan 2010 | 3:37 am

I’ve read a lot about Dubai that paints a sad picture, but Philip Bloom makes it easy to look beyond the dark side and witness the undoubted beauty of the man-made surroundings. This four-minute timelapse video was filmed in Dubai over five days and five nights, shot using a Canon 7D and a Panasonic GF1. It’s definitely best viewed full-screen. “I mostly shot aperture priority mode to cope with the light change. Sometimes in manual. You don’t need expensive cameras to do this. The GF1 is a cheap camera and there are even cheaper ones out there like some of the powershot…
What graphic design schools are lacking

David Airey

26 Jan 2010 | 3:01 pm

Photo from Terashima design exhibition Last month I sent out a call to design students and graduates, asking what should be included in an ideal graphic design course. Here’s the lowdown. What graphic design schools are lacking “Design school teaches you how to talk to other designers … there needs to be an entire course on talking to people who are not designers.” Stephen Lee Ogden “First-year students should be put through a rigorous programme of calculus, economics, history, composition, and public speaking. The goal would be to produce first a thinker, a…

PR-Squared
Social Media Abhors A Vacuum

Todd Defren

9 Feb 2010 | 8:07 am

One of the issues that large brands must worry about — especially franchise brands — is IF and HOW local affiliates and employees decide to participate online. For example, take a look at a well-known brand like real estate giant Century 21. In addition to the official @C21realestate handle managed by Corp Comms in Parsippany, there are over 350 Century21 employees and/or franchisees on Twitter. Their Twitter handles range from @C21_SUNBELT to @Cntury21, from @Century21Seller to @RealtorToCall (and any number of @firstnamelastname combinations, i.e., no C21 affiliation). Some of these…
Guess Who’s Talking: Social Media Ethical Dilemmas

Todd Defren

8 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

Continuing our series on Social Media Ethical Dilemmas, this post is about the guidelines related to agencies who help client contacts to identify and engage, via commenting, on industry/influencer blogs. The goal is to insert our clients’ executives and perspectives into industry conversations; to help them build up their credibility, and ultimately to create valuable relationships with influencers. How do you do this? How can you effectively inform and educate busy clients while also cultivating the bloggers’ goodwill in an authentic way? Here’s the general process… The Agency…
Will RSS Fall to Apps?

Todd Defren

5 Feb 2010 | 9:15 am

Several of my friends have launched iPhone apps recently. (I am lookin’ at you, Brian Solis, Chris Brogan, Tamar Weinberg and C.C. Chapman.) This is getting easier and easier to do, thanks to emergent services like Mobile Roadie and Motherapp. On the one hand, yea, I admit it, I smirked at each new announcement. Felt a little too self-reverential. Even Mitch Joel — no shrinking violet — called them “Golden Calf” apps. But I parleyed with C.C. about it, and read his post carefully. His point is not lost on me: RSS is a tool of the elite; most folks surf their Bookmarks…
SHIFT’s NYC PR Agency Debuts!

Todd Defren

3 Feb 2010 | 2:12 pm

Last Thursday was a banner day for SHIFT, as we cut the ribbon at the opening of our NYC office. We celebrated in style, ‘natch, with a party that included everyone from SavvyAuntie Melanie Notkin, to reporters from the Wall Street Journal, PRWeek, MediaBistro and RealSimple, to venture capitalists, and many more friends and colleagues. Full-house. Raucous and fun. David Parmet of Marketing Begins at Home probably did the best job of capturing the “real me” — an unmatched combination of goofiness and ego. I half-drunkenly stumbled out onto our NYC…
Trail of Breadcrumbs

Todd Defren

1 Feb 2010 | 4:20 am

A new survey conducted by Cision and Don Bates of The George Washington University’s Master’s Degree Program in Strategic Public Relations found that “an overwhelming majority of reporters and editors now depend on social media sources when researching their stories.” Specifically, “89% said they turn to blogs for story research, 65% to social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, and 52% to microblogging services such as Twitter.” Per the news release: While the results demonstrate the fast growth of social media as a well-used source of information for mainstream…

Adland.tv
Puma - HardChorus - (2010) 2:00

Dabitch

9 Feb 2010 | 9:02 am

This valentines day, let your better half know how you feel.
Planned parenthood - Sean James and Al Joyner - (2010) :60

Dabitch

9 Feb 2010 | 7:54 am

Planned Parenthood got former college and professional football player Sean James and Olympic gold medalist Al Joyner to respond to the Focus on the Family Super Bowl ad. James and Joyner both declare their position that a woman has the right to choose, and her choice should be respected. The ad ends with Al Joyner saying : We celebrate family by supporting our mothers, by supporting our daughters, by trusting women.
Super bowl XLIV commercials, what went wrong this year?

Dabitch

9 Feb 2010 | 6:13 am

Ok, I've come down from my sugar-high caused by way too many soda pops and candy bars that kept me chugging through, staying awake from Sunday morning to late Monday night. It's not a good state to watch and try to judge the ads in, so I'd like to thank a whole bunch of people too numerous to mention, among them DDB, TBWA, FLO TV rep Edelman, Teleflora, Lynch Communications and Medialink Worldwide for sending their ads in early to help the process along here. Y'all rock and you know it. The 2010 super bowl XLIV commercials collection thanks you too. I always come down pretty hard, blaming my…
BK Burger King - Camel - (2010) :30

Dabitch

9 Feb 2010 | 3:05 am

This time the Arabian guys on hamburger dates with American girls trick the girls into believing that "The richer you are, the more humps you have on your camel". Hey ladies, did you hear that the word gullible is no longer in the dictionary?
Intel - Timeline - (2010) :30

Dabitch

8 Feb 2010 | 3:51 am

Me and these guys have way too much in common. Post-game

Osocio Weblog
63 reasons to stop smoking

Reuben Turner

9 Feb 2010 | 3:20 am

This website collects dozens of anti-smoking campaigns from around the world. Fascinating to look at how the same brief can be approached again and again. Author: Reuben Turner
Campaign of the Month January: Aides

Marc

8 Feb 2010 | 12:27 pm

From now on we will choose the best campaign every month according to the Osocio bloggers. At the end of the year we will have twelve great campaigns from which we will choose the Campaign of the Year. I’m currently working on a rating tool meant for you. It’s because we love to hear from you, your choice isn’t necessarily ours. The campaign of January came in loud and clear. It got the most votes from us: Aides - Graffiti, the great video made by TBWA\Paris for the French Aids awareness organization Aides. A second place in January for three other campaigns: - Victims…
Webdesigner depot has 8 tips to design a Charity website

8 Feb 2010 | 10:49 am

Lee Munroe published last week at Webdesigner depot a useful post on webdesign for non-profits. Do check the article for more about the 8 tips that make a good charity website: A mission How sponsors will be helping Photos of people the sponsors will be helping Donate button Donations to date A funding goal Keep in touch How can people help Drop a few comments if you know of any more tips on how to create a sucessful non-profit website.
Zero Rupee note fights corruption

Reuben Turner

8 Feb 2010 | 2:28 am

Indian NGO Fifth Pillar have come up with a new weapon in the fight against corruption – a zero rupee note that can be handed to those demanding a bribe. Genius idea. (NB the organisation’s website is temporarily suspended, perhaps because of all the traffic this idea is generating. But you can search to find lots of inspiring stories about the note.) Author: Reuben Turner
Is Pepsi really refreshing everything?

Marc

5 Feb 2010 | 1:20 pm

I guess you already heard about the Pepsi Refresh Project. They are looking for people, businesses, and non-profits with ideas that will have a positive impact. Pepsi is accepting 1000 ideas every month will finance these projects. Very nice. But why is the enormous worldwide campaign needed? Sounds not very sincere isn’t it? The whole thing was irritating me this week and today Steve from zyozy.org send me the tip about the video’s as shown here. Is this a rip off! Above the Pepsi refresh campaign video, made by TBWA Chiat Day, where synchronized webcammers interact with each…

Greg Verdino's Marketing Blog
Get an education about social media in education

Greg Verdino

2 Feb 2010 | 4:40 am

If you're in New York for Social Media Week and plan to hit some sessions, be sure to check out The Future of Social Media in Education at noon on Friday Feb 5th at the McGraw-Hill building. It's a panel session hosted by McGraw-Hill and their GradeGuru startup, featuring GradeGuru's Yianni Garcia, Mashable's Adam Ostrow, Jatched.com's Mary Casey, a few others and of course me. Here's a summary of what we'll cover during our two-hour discussion: How is social media changing the way college students learn? How are digital applications changing how professors teach? What are the most…
The social media deadzone: why only tools focus on tools

Greg Verdino

27 Jan 2010 | 6:54 am

This morning I happened across the above graphic in an older Center Networks post and it triggered a quick thought on a familiar theme. I have often chided marketers for focusing too much on specific tools, platforms, sites and shiny objects. You know what I'm talking about. Your boss meanders into your office and casually asks you about some sexy social media thang that they saw mentioned in this morning's Wall Street Journal or the latest issue of BloombergWeek. Or your agency arrives to present -- iPhones, Androids and tablets in hand -- and they're all atwitter with talk about some…
Will we finally stop screwing around with social in 2010?

Greg Verdino

12 Jan 2010 | 6:47 am

It has been at least a couple of years since I've done a proper "predictions" post, although last year I contributed to a fantastic 2009 predictions ebook that Peter Kim pulled together. This year I contributed to a similar ebook, but this time with my new best buds at Powered, Drillteam and Stepchange.The book makes for some interesting reading and will give you a peek into some of the things the new Powered is thinking about right now. You can download it for free right now but I'd like to give you a little taste. I have just one prediction -- that in 2010,…
crayon to the power of Powered

Greg Verdino

11 Jan 2010 | 4:51 am

As y'all know, I've been holding down the virtual fort at crayon for the past two-and-a-half years. We've had our ups -- I've had the opportunity to work with some great people and some great clients. But believe me we've had our downs -- I've toughed it out at a couple of points during our history when Jaffe and I weren't quite sure the company would survive. It has been an interesting ride to say the least. But I'm happy to say it all ends today. Nope, I'm not "done coloring," haven't taken a position at Edelman, and believe it or not…
From New York City to Music City: new 2010 speaking gigs

Greg Verdino

7 Jan 2010 | 10:35 am

As the new year kicks into gear, my speaking calendar is already starting to fill up. Here are the details on my first two 2010 speaking engagements - a February panel appearance at the Engage! Expo in NYC and a March presentation at Custom Content Conference 2010 in Nashville. Hope to see some of you in the audiences. Read on to learn more... On February 17th I'm speaking at the Engage! Expo in New York City. This year's Engage! (the conference that grew out of the old Virtual Worlds event series) is co-located with the 2010 Toy Fair, and will have a big focus on toy marketing, youth…

CK's Blog
B2B Mobile Marketing: Why Mobile For *B2B* Companies?

CK (Christina Kerley)

4 Feb 2010 | 10:53 am

With 4.6 billion current mobile subscriptions projected to surge to 6.5 billion mobile connections by 2014, there's no denying it, marketers: Mobile has arrived—and it's changing how (and where) business professionals communicate with each other, and how (and why) business audiences interact with B2B brands. But while B2C marketers are tapping mobile tools and technologies in earnest, B2B marketers have not yet fully recognized *WHY* mobile poses a robust, revenue-generating channel for their efforts. After all, with a new set of media comes a brand new learning curve. As with all…
B2B Social-Media Case Study "Swap Meet": Join In The Challenge!

CK (Christina Kerley)

2 Feb 2010 | 10:40 am

I'm happy to announce that I'll be participating in the MarketingProfs Business-To-Business Forum 2010 this May 4th-5th in Boston. And I'm even happier to announce the subject matter I'll be presenting on, being it's a subject that every single B2B marketerand every single one of their bosses!is interested in learning a ton more about: Social Media ROI. We're even coining the session a "Case-Study Swap Meet". That means I'll be moderating a panel covering several case studies from several companies covering several points of ROI. We're not shying away…
Dear B2Bs: I. TOLD. YA. SO. (In fact, I've told ya many times over.)

CK (Christina Kerley)

26 Jan 2010 | 9:44 pm

IDC just released The State of Social Business: 2009 Survey Results, a study that surveyed 4,700+ U.S. workers which outlines the use of social media for BUSINESS purposes. And while the shared findings from the study have produced a whole lotta happy for my world, the implications should definitely be taken to heart by all marketers in the B2B world. Why? Several reasons that we'll get to in short order. But first, let me provide IDC's explanation of the study for some background: Broad in scope, The State of Social Business: 2009 Survey Results represents the current state of SOCIAL…
B2B Mobile Marketing: 5 Reasons Why Mobile Is Prime For B2Bs, And 5 Questions B2B Marketers Should Be Asking.

CK (Christina Kerley)

26 Jan 2010 | 9:23 am

In the B2C space there's a lot of buzz around mobile marketing, but in the B2B sector it's more likened to a whisper. Yet amid the low level of mobile chatter, B2Bs are missing out on SUPER-sized opportunities for integrating a valuable new brand touch point for their customers and establishing a dynamic new communications channel with professional audiences. Make no mistake about it, mobile has arrived—and it's changing how (and where) business professionals communicate with one another and how (and why) they interact with B2B brands. On that imperative, in my most…
B2B Mobile Marketing Best Practices: Marketers, Your (Mobile) Audiences Need "More Show, Less Tell."

CK (Christina Kerley)

24 Jan 2010 | 7:08 am

There are many best practices that have already been established in the mobile marketing sector... and many more that B2B marketers, in particular, will still need to learn and adopt. Why? Because mobile is an emerging new space with entirely new constraints on SPACE. And for complex B2B offerings requiring a lot of explanation for buyers, this is a BIG learning curve for B2B marketers who will need to start thinking "small". Take a look at that mobile device up there. Pretty snazzy, eh? To be sure, it's visually stunning and all sorts of cool. It's also very small. After…

Servant of Chaos
Im a Little Bit Country

Gavin Heaton

8 Feb 2010 | 2:24 pm

What happens when the cultural references of one generation echo into nothingness? What happens when a younger generation misinterprets an off-handed quip? Or tweet? It’s not simply a few words that disappear into the ether. There are legions of stories, anecdotes and shared experiences that are erased. So when I say, “I’m a little bit country”, what does it mean to you?
Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

Gavin Heaton

7 Feb 2010 | 4:26 pm

I am always astounded at not just the number of quality, well-written posts produced each week – but also at the depth of thinking that is made available to us all. I probably learn more from reading blog posts each week than I do from the dozens of books that I read each year. This weeks’ five must-read posts are great examples: Jay Baer shares 11 reasons that your company needs Facebook. Or more precisely, he explains why Facebook can be useful for your marketing efforts. Not exactly from last week – but Niko Herzeg writes about the need to focus our strategies and products not on the…
I Hate the Yellow Balloon

Gavin Heaton

5 Feb 2010 | 1:19 pm

NYE Originally uploaded by redrobin2008 There I said it.
A Cup of Chaos #28 - Channel 7 News - Finance Segment

Gavin Heaton

4 Feb 2010 | 12:07 pm

They say you should never do live TV with children or animals - nor bankers it would seem. In this segment from Channel 7's Sydney studio, there seems to be a little more action in the background than there is in the finance report.
Commonwealth Bank's 2013 Vision

Gavin Heaton

3 Feb 2010 | 10:14 pm

Monty Hamilton pointed out that comments have been disabled on the Commonwealth Bank’s 2013 Vision video. Yet they allowed the embed code. So I thought I’d drop the video in here and get your feedback. I was immediately struck by how little social interaction took place in the lives of the featured couple. I was amazed that there was no understanding of the way that technology is being used not for its own sake (or for economic/transactional productivity), but to connect with others, to exercise social judgement (especially around purchasing decisions) or to coordinate and maximise the…

Powerfeedback by Scott
Doctor heal thyself

3 Feb 2010 | 11:40 am

Here are 5 simple tips for medical practices. Though these may seem obvious, based on our recent investigation of over 881 physician practices, they are not currently being implemented. Make certain that your answering service knows what hospitals you go to. More often than not, patients and their families call after-hours and need this information. Surprisingly, in our research, most voice mail systems and answering services did not have this info. If you use an auto-attendant on your phone system, make sure that all of the extensions/departments actually work. Here too, we were stunned at…
Why doctors fail

31 Jan 2010 | 2:10 pm

8:18pm a good friend calls his doctor for advice regarding a stomach virus issues. After 11 rings, the answering service company takes the call and interrogates my buddy for 3-1/2 minutes and having put him on hold twice. 9:52pm the physician on call phones back. Obviously annoyed, the doctor offers my friend little comfort, short shrift, and no meaningful solutions. Instead, he advises to schedule an appointment for the following day. 8:07am the following morning my friend phones the office. After being disconnected once, left on hold three times, and asked the same questions two and three…
Energizing the staff, even in a economic slow down

21 Jan 2010 | 3:34 pm

Energizing the staff, even in a economic slow down: Please check out my post regarding my interview with the Wall Street Journal.
The team just got stronger!

18 Jan 2010 | 4:00 am

When you already have the smartest, most experienced, as well as in-demand team of professional market researchers, business analysts and advisors, its hard to fathom that things could get even better. Well they have! I am very pleased to report that Richard Bezozo, MD, has joined our team at Powerfeedback. Dr. Bezozo is the CEO Care Station Medical and MoleSafe. He is a highly respected physician and entrepreneur. Dr. Bezozo and his team will work closely with our healthcare clients to help reduce practice degradation, successfully implement and best utilize EHR and EMR, as well as offer…
You can't have your medical records

17 Jan 2010 | 1:45 pm

”Despite a federal law requiring hospitals and doctors to release medical records to patients who ask for them, patients are reporting they have a hard time accessing them leading to complications like the ones the Holliday family experienced.” This quote comes from a very intriguing, albeit troubling story from CNN. Powerfeedback works with medical practices as well as hospitals to address issues such as those outlined in this article. Sadly, in many cases that we see, it is usually the bureaucracy and the “procedure manual” that is the root of the problem versus the actual act of…

Dave Saunders » Blog
Who really is looking out for you?

Dave Saunders

29 Jan 2010 | 8:14 am

This ad ran in Time Magazine (June 30, 1947). That’s right, the headline reads DDT is Good for Me. When I make jokes about this, I’ve actually had someone respond with “well yes, but the benefits of DDT in Africa can’t be argued with.” Really? I understand that Malaria is a horrible affliction, but if you’re going to keep score, then put everything up on the board. According to research published in the Journal Science, The Lancet and other peer-reviewed publications, those same people who are being “saved” by DDT are going to also have to deal with the following:…
The Wrong Approach to Motivation is Ruining Your Results

Dave Saunders

28 Jan 2010 | 10:47 am

What if everything you thought you knew about motivating yourself and others turned out to be wrong? What if the old “carrot and stick” approach has been, time and time again, proven not to work? What if those tried-and-untrue tactics were also proven to hinder results and decrease performance? What if a Nobel Prize was awarded in economics to one of the people who has proven that old school management and motivation does not work in any creative thinking setting (which is anything outside of the most mundane of assembly lines)? Well buckle up because according to the decades of research…
Coke Gets a Clue

Dave Saunders

13 Jan 2010 | 11:23 am

Once upon a time, companies registered domains for everything. One frozen food company registered a .com domain for every single product they sold. The idea back then seemed simple enough (relative to a limited understanding of the Internet): There were no useful search engines, so why not make it possible to type “[productname].com” into the web browser (typically that ugly POS known as Netscape) to pull it up? Other companies used this approach to create a domain name for each advertising campaign. The search engines came along and after a maturation process Google rammed their…
Is Feedback Killing Your Results?

Dave Saunders

8 Jan 2010 | 10:34 am

For the last couple of weeks of December I listened to my collection of recordings from notorious grump and marketing master Jedi Dan Kennedy. During one discussion he mentioned how he never has “feedback forms” available for the audience. Why? Because a.) he doesn’t really care about their input. If people are buying, he’s doing things right. b.) the audience isn’t qualified to give him relevant input. The comments usually say more about the person making the comments than the recipient. This makes sense to me because “unqualified input” seems to come from everywhere. When…
Position Yourself for Online Success Through Personal Brand Positioning

Jean Klett

7 Jan 2010 | 8:40 am

When it comes to marketing on the Internet, your brand is your identity. It lets potential clients know exactly who you are and what you and/or your business are all about, and can go a long way toward separating you from the rest of the crowded Internet pack. Your brand is what it is based on who you are, how you do business, and how you provide value. That is why personal brand positioning is so important if you are serious about making your presence known online. Without it your website will quickly get lost in the shuffle. Here are a few steps that can help position yourself for success…

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Why I like a good content production strategy

Kate

8 Feb 2010 | 10:25 am

Can’t figure out where to start a “social media” marketing program? Why don’t you start with a content strategy. Frankly, I don’t think most social media programs should be done without a content production component, for a few reasons: It’s your starting point. It’s pretty hard to have a social media program without having content to put out. One way to get that is by pushing out other peoples’ content. But the best way – for obvious reasons – is usually to push out your own content. See below. It gives you credibility in…
Rant: You need strategy first…. DUH!

Kate

28 Jan 2010 | 9:46 am

This isn’t a rant about people who don’t develop a plan before jumping into social media marketing. This is a rant on people in the social media marketing field – myself included – who keep pressing the point about how important strategy is to a social marketing campaign. [For the record, I AM COMPLETELY GUILTY OF THIS] The problem is this – we all talk about it is as if it’s a new business concept, this idea of planning and creating a strategy, and thinking about goals and measurement and the bottom line. They way we should be talking about it is this:…
Quality vs Quantity in Content: The reality, and how to manage it with your clients

Kate

12 Jan 2010 | 10:56 am

I was just catching up on some podcasts, and listened to Mitch Joel’s Six Pixels of Separation Episode #184 with Jason Falls from last week. I was listening intently – more intently than I normally do to Six Pixels – because not only am I huge fan of Mitch, but I’m also a really big fan of Jason, who blogs over at Social Media Explorer, and I like both of them for roughly the same reason. They create awesomely high-quality content on a very regular basis. So I was delighted when they touched on this topic briefly in their discussion: We’re finding that some of…
2010 Marketing Predictions and Hopes

Kate

30 Dec 2009 | 10:11 am

Well, it’s that time of year again. What did we all just DO? Where is it all GOING? Here are a few of my predictions. Most of them I truly feel will happen, but some of them I just really really hope to have happen. Social Media will stop being a bunch of tools and will start being a legitimate strategy.We all know it, and have lamented it before. Too many people have completely ignored strategy when using social media in the past few years and have just started grabbing at the shiney new objects in front them. Social media will actually be viewed as part of your overall…
3 things I learned about marketing in 2009

Anya

23 Dec 2009 | 7:40 am

Ahh, the yearly round-up. Something about the coming New Years bash makes everyone sit down and write up summaries of 2009 and predictions for 2010. Reflection is always a good thing to start with before launching into another year, so I sat down to think over a few things I learned about marketing and social media in 2009. Here are my thoughts: 1) Measurement is essential, and really hard. We blog about the importance of measurement frequently, and tell all of our clients how important measurement is to the success of their marketing and social media efforts. But despite the use of myriad…

Madison Avenue
McDonald's Leverages Wi-Fi

H. Martin Calle

7 Feb 2010 | 8:19 am

In it's best marketing decision since Dick and Maurice McDonald put hamburgers on the menu and the Speedy Service System in place McDonald's has given America Free Wi-Fi at 11,500 of 14,000 locations ... an event equally rivaling America's first lunar landing in terms of being able to Socially Engineer or change consumer habits and practices.McDonald's has long been the bastion of the very young (moms with kids) or the very old (on fixed incomes). It was all they can afford. Now McDonald's has become the McDonald's for "the rest of us." While the maxim CQCQ means that McDonald's will continue…
Rave Praise for OraQuel!

H. Martin Calle

26 Jan 2010 | 8:55 am

Hi Martin, This is fanatastic 12 years ago I was the Head of Marketing For Bayer Professional Dental product (now owned by Hereus Kulzer) we knew these facts then but advised people to chuck out toothbrushes etc etc. Your OraQuel products really address the problem straight on.Your range and innovation sounds fantastic, where can we buy these products in the UK ? Are you looking for distribution here? Do heart specialists here know about the range?Kind regardsLouise
On Corporate Creative Comas

H. Martin Calle

21 Jan 2010 | 9:56 pm

Did you know that no one in the consumer packaged goods industry has launched a successful new product that's topped $319 million in sales (within the first year) in at least the last 30 years? I mention this particular number (for Frito-Lay's Baked Lays Potato Chips) because it is the least successful (#10) of the top 10 most successful new products of the past 57 years tracked by companies such as my own Calle & Company, IRI, NPD, ACNielsen and others.So why do many consumer packaged goods companies miss the big ideas and consumer cultures? I mean companies like Miller Brewing,…
Is This A BRIGHT IDEA?

H. Martin Calle

20 Jan 2010 | 10:01 am

Hi Everyone! My name is Martin Calle. I've invented a lot of successful consumer products including Baked Lays Potato Chips, Tylenol Gelcaps and Cold-filtered Miller Genuine Draft. I've also turned around sleeping giant brands for companies like Procter & Gamble turning $300 million Folgers into a business worth $1.6 billion; I've also grown Pampers by $11 billion over the last 10 years. Now I've launched my own company to make ORAQUEL®. ( http://www.oraquel.com/ ) I invented the name, the concept, the formulas, the whole works. ORAQUEL® is "HEART SMART ORAL CARE" because ORAQUEL®…
General Motor's Cultural Autism and Intimacy-Deficiency Disorder

H. Martin Calle

30 Nov 2009 | 9:36 pm

Is it any wonder that General Motors so dutifully displays it's intimacy-deficiency syndrome in ads for the Buick LaCrosse that claim IT is another reason for Lexus' relentless pursuit of perfection? Do you also find it laughingly unbelievable that Howie Long can schill for Chevy then throw in that in comparisons to Hondas Chevy doesn't make lawnmowers? Not to GM: When you are so far down a hole you have to climb up a ladder to get to the bottom you don't go around parading your cultural autism: a complete disregard for the consumer's cultural intelligence. Socially awkward does not even…

m-cause
The art of procrastination

Ryan

4 Feb 2010 | 1:51 pm

Is procrastination always evil? We know that we should stop focusing on day to day business, so we can devote more attention to building a brand that’s relevant for future generations. We know we should get around to planning properly for future competitive contingencies. We know we should really fix that leak that’s been drip, drip, dripping away. We know we should get off of social networks & build or do something that matters. Traditionally, according to this site, procrastination has been associated with perfectionism, which is a tendency to negatively evaluate outcomes…
A week that simply blew me away

Ryan

24 Jan 2010 | 4:01 pm

Martin Luther King, Jr. via last.fm Like many of you, I was horrified, inspired and amazed at different times throughout this tragic week. Horrified: Watching the horrific tales of desperately trapped people unfold during the Haitian earthquake was gut wrenching. We’ve all seen tragic events unfold on TV over the years & we’re used to seeing graphic coverage. But what was it about this specific disaster that gnawed at me so hard? Was it watching the poorest country in the W. Hemisphere get hammered by a disaster (again) & then being reminded that the country has more…
Edgy online shopping…will more people buy in?

Ryan

19 Jan 2010 | 12:00 pm

More and more people are starting to understand that they really can drive change using the simple power of their wallet (or purse). Today, online players like The Ethical Superstore in the UK are making it easier for people to buy a range of Fair trade, Organic, and Eco-friendly products through a provider that they trust. The Ethical Superstore is still very young…launched in Nov. 2006, they’ve recently merged with Natural Collection (a competing online ethical shop) and offer a big portfolio of products across a range of categories (ala Amazon.com). You can find energy…
Did Brand Management die in 2009?

Ryan

12 Jan 2010 | 1:49 pm

What is a Brand Manager and how will he/she play a role in building the 21st century? Given the tough business climate, mind bending tech. changes & dire need for innovation in the next decade & beyond, some (like Forrester) propose that we ax the command and control “Manager” part of the traditional Brand Manager title and go with something more relevant like “Brand Advocate.” Ad Age followed up with a similar article on this topic near the end of 09. Brand Managers today in many companies are really business managers that guide a multifunctional business…
Humility is dead…long live humility

Ryan

5 Jan 2010 | 2:11 pm

It’s Hard to be Humble, When your Perfect in Every Way…Country singer Mac Davis Humility is Dead… Like some of you out there, I enjoy watching the Apprentice. It’s interesting to watch cut-throat competition and “The Donald” say “you’re fired” to smart people every week. Watching “The Donald” push people past their limits is sadistically fun…humility was certainly never rewarded on the show, however. Humility is a virtue that is rarely discussed today in popular culture. You hardly ever hear anyone talk about it on…

Sales Lead Insights: A Blog About B2B Lead Generation, Marketing and Sales
B2B Marketing University 2010 Kicks Off March 3 in Washington, DC

Mac McIntosh

8 Feb 2010 | 10:43 am

If you are a B2B marketer or are responsible for B2B lead generation, do not miss this half-day seminar on March 3, 2010 at the Westin Grand Hotel in Washington, DC. This all-new-for-2010 session of B2B Marketing University is focused on helping you stay ahead of the curve and excel in the changing B2B marketing environment. Join us and take your marketing and lead generation to the next level. As one of the presenters, I can promise you that you and your fellow attendees will get expert insights into the latest strategies and innovation you can deploy today to get better results and a…
The Top 10 Silly Marketing Mistakes B2B Marketers Make: Your Input Wanted (and Rewarded)!

Mac McIntosh

29 Jan 2010 | 10:53 am

We can’t promise to make you famous, but if you share your top 10 list of silly mistakes that B2B marketers make, we’ll include you in our upcoming e-book. My good friend, fellow blogger and B2B marcom consultant Dianna Huff and I are putting together an e-book on the top 10 silly B2B marketing mistakes — and we want you to be part of it! Here’s how: Use our special survey link to tell us what you think are the top 10 B2B marketing mistakes that others make. These can be anything from email or PPC ad campaign no-nos and social media blunders to “old…
B2B Ads From the Past

Mac McIntosh

15 Jan 2010 | 10:19 am

I always find it interesting to take a look at the work done by our predecessors in B2B marketing. In post in Jackie West’s UK Industrial Marketing Blog, she mentions Richard Stone’s Insights into PR and Online Marketing blog post where he links to The Vintage Ad Browser. Simply click on one of the categories in the Vintage Ad Browser, or type something into the search window, and you will get to see some of the advertising work done by those B2B marketers that came before us in what then was called “industrial advertising.” Speaking of B2B advertising from…
B-to-B Lead generation: What Enterprise-size Companies Should be Doing Differently in 2010

Mac McIntosh

5 Jan 2010 | 8:06 am

If you are responsible for business-to-business lead generation at a large company, don’t miss this webcast! Lead Gen in 2010: Learn What is Working Best Right Now January 27, 2010 at 11:00 am PST (2:00 pm EST) This one-hour webinar will cover: The latest trends in B-to-B lead generation, and how you can leverage them; Which lead gen strategies and tactics are working best, and which no longer work for enterprise companies like yours; The pros and cons of various marketing media for generating, nurturing, and qualifying leads. Why not register right now? The webcast will…
B2B Marketing Strategies for Small Companies: An Interview with Dianna Huff

Mac McIntosh

29 Dec 2009 | 6:18 am

This is one of a series of occasional interviews with top practitioners on topics of interest to business-to-business lead generation, marketing and new business development professionals. My guest today is Dianna Huff of DH Communications. Dianna helps businesses with their B2B marketing communications content strategy and implementation. Dianna, what are some of the marketing mistakes you see smaller companies making with regard to B2B marketing communications strategy, and what should smart marketers do instead? Mac, that’s a good question. I see companies frequently making these two…

Experience: The Blog
Google, Gmail, Relevance Filtering & the Future of Social Media

Augie Ray

8 Feb 2010 | 9:31 pm

[This blog post was cross-posted with my new blog on the Forrester Blog for Interactive Marketers: http://blogs.forrester.com/marketing/2010/02/google-gmail-relevance-filtering-the-future-of-social-media.html Is the Social Media world about to change on Tuesday? Probably not, but all eyes will be on Mountain View tomorrow when Google announces their latest venture into the social sphere, reportedly a social add-on to Gmail. Let me begin by saying that I know absolutely nothing about what Google has up its sleeve, but let's speculate. Why? Because like Apple, Google is one of those rare…
My Thoughts on Forrester, Analysts, and Blogging

Augie Ray

7 Feb 2010 | 9:39 am

[This blog post was cross posted with my blog on Forrester.com: http://blogs.forrester.com/marketing/2010/02/my-thoughts-on-forrester-analysts-and-blogging.html Image via CrunchBaseA minor tempest in the research industry teapot erupted today on Twitter and elsewhere. A SageCircle blog post entitled "Forrester tells analysts no more personal blogs with interesting implications for analyst relations sparked a fair amount of dialog about Forrester and the rights and independence of analysts. SageCircle shared rumors that a change to Forrester blogging policies would prevent…
Who is the MVP of the Marketing Bowl: Social Media or Super Bowl Ads?

Augie Ray

31 Jan 2010 | 12:40 pm

This blog post was cross-posted with my new blog on the Forrester blog at http://blogs.forrester.com/marketing/2010/01/who-is-the-qb-of-the-marketing-bowl-social-media-or-super-bowl-ads.html Image by Michael Kwan (Freelancer) via FlickrIf you read this blog, you likely already care less about the Saints versus the Colts than you do about Super Bowl ads versus Social Media marketing. After all, the real money isn't earned from the battle on the field but in the battle that occurs during timeouts: Each player on last year's winning team earned a bonus of $83,000 while NBC earned around…
Risk Avoidance and the ROI of Social Media, Insurance, Guitars and Tires

Augie Ray

25 Jan 2010 | 8:54 pm

Image by kyz via Flickr This blog post was cross posted with the Forrester Blog for Interactive Marketers. There is a lot of buzz about Social Media ROI, and since the topic is complex, there will continue to be buzz about it for years to come. Brands want to know that Social Media works, what works, and how to invest their money. Much of the results generated by Social Media can be measured quantitatively and qualitatively: transactions, decreased customer service costs, increased awareness, improved sentiment, etc. But some of the advantages from Social Media cannot be measured, because…
Is Twitter Fading? For Marketers It’s not Twitter that Matters but Twitterers

Augie Ray

20 Jan 2010 | 10:29 am

This blog post was cross-posted with the Forrester blog for Interactive Marketing Professionals Image via CrunchBase If you saw the headlines yesterday, you might be excused for thinking Twitter was in decline: “Twitter's growth slows dramatically,” “Twitter popularity declines, growth slows down,” and “Is Twitter 'Traffic' Tanking?” Twitter was the story of 2009, growing from less than 5 million monthly users to almost 30 million in the course of six months. People joined, brands rushed in, and words like “Tweet” entered our common vocabulary. It was a heady…

Association Marketing Springboard (Now SocialFishing)
Mailchimp Introduces Geolocation for Email

Lindy Dreyer

8 Feb 2010 | 5:51 am

This is kind of a big deal. In a perfect world, we’d have clean email lists that include location data for each address. But my world is not perfect, and I’m guessing I’m not the only one. So when Mailchimp announced that they’ve enabled geo tracking in their latest release, I pretty much did the happy dance right on the spot. How do they do it? Basically, they are able to track IP addresses for people who interact with you during the double opt-in process, by opening your email and displaying images, or by clicking on a link in your email. Is it perfect? No. But…
Gearing up for #Tech10

Lindy Dreyer

5 Feb 2010 | 5:33 am

Maddie and I are getting ready for #tech10–the ASAE Technology Conference happening next week. Or, at least, we’re getting ready to get ready for #tech10. How did February sneak up on me? So…here’s what the SocialFish will be getting into while we’re at the conference next week. Our Session(s) RUTI Volunteer Town Hall: Building, Launching and Nurturing an Online Community–Thursday at 2:45pm. We’re gonna be talking about the process of launching an online community, using the ASAE Collaborate site as the case study. You’ll hear from people who…
Whitepaper tips on building capacity

Lindy Dreyer

20 Jan 2010 | 8:12 am

Building Social Media Capacity 8 steps from our new whitepaper SocialFish Food Tips These tips were originally sent in our kinda monthly email newsletter, SocialFish Food. Here’s the original email. Here’s how to subscribe. Here is an excerpt from our new, free whitepaper, Social Media, Risk, and Policies for Associations. The purpose of the paper is to help folks like you develop good social media policies for staff and top volunteers. We also discuss a more general plan for building social media processes into your organization. Here are the basic steps, as we see them. Monitor…
Going Viral isn’t Marketing…

Lindy Dreyer

22 Dec 2009 | 5:00 am

…it’s advertising. Or maybe PR. And there’s a lot of luck involved. “Viral marketing” has become such a buzzword, with so many vendors promising “viral results”–ugh. Would it be great to create the next Pink Gloves Dance and be featured on national news outlets? Sure. Would it raise a ton of awareness? Yes. And if that’s what you’re trying to do, than great. But it’s not marketing. Not really. I talk a lot about word of mouth marketing and community-driven marketing (homage to Jeremy Epstein). Using WOM is a discipline. It…
Build a better filter…keyword basics

Lindy Dreyer

4 Dec 2009 | 5:00 am

“It’s not information overload. It’s filter failure.” -Clay Shirky Listening through the social web is one of the core skills that we all need to develop. I’ve been doing it for years, and yet I’m always thinking up a better way, a more useful keyword, or an improved lens. I challenge everyone reading this post to get back to basics this week, and improve your keyword searches. That means using operators like AND and OR. It means negating certain words. You might try searching in a specific site or user. There are lots of little tricks to brush up on. To…

No man is an iland
Subscription forms: list growth and sign-up language

Mark Brownlow

3 Feb 2010 | 1:44 am

One newsletter publisher found that modifying the words used on their form's "submit" button changed sign-up rates by over 20%.Which suggests we should pay more attention to those forms. Should, but largely don't.We twiddle and tweak incessantly with content, offers, subject lines and button colors. Why not give due attention to the sign-up form, too?Once you've covered the basic elements (like location, privacy links, indication of email frequency etc.), what are some issues you might look at more closely?Here are three suggestions...1. How do you actually describe the act of joining a…
The future of HTML email design...

Mark Brownlow

1 Feb 2010 | 12:30 am

One solution to all those problems with mobile email and a lack of HTML email design standards:
The one question to ask of your email marketing in 2010

Mark Brownlow

28 Jan 2010 | 7:22 am

...and the question is a simple one: is it enough?One of email marketing's great strengths is (or was) its robustness. It was relatively easy to get a campaign or newsletter to justify the efforts that went into it.You could often make "mistakes" and still get a good return on your time and resources.And that mentality still pervades much of the email marketing world. Never mind that good returns hide the fact that many (most) people don't actually respond to what we send.Each year, various people warn against this complacency, suggesting that what was good enough before won't be good enough…
Twitter: lessons from one year of business use

Mark Brownlow

25 Jan 2010 | 7:14 am

My Twitter account had its first anniversary at the weekend, so time for some reflections on what I've learned about its value and application for business and marketing purposes.The bottom lineMy original goals focused on providing value and service to those who might find me on Twitter.Feeling all warm and cuddly about helping folk is rewarding, but does Twitter participation impact business goals? I run a content website, so does Twitter drive traffic to the site?Twitter's effect on visitor numbers is hard to measure. For example:Over the past year, Twitter.com accounted for 0.88% of total…
When spammers attack...Email Marketing Reports

Mark Brownlow

20 Jan 2010 | 3:07 am

In the early hours of the morning, malicious persons unknown hacked into the ad serving software at Email Marketing Reports in an attempt to turn the site into a source of spy/malware.The problem was identified with the fast and efficient help of my host (pair.com) and the ad software disabled. Email Marketing Reports was back to normal very quickly. Needless to say, I'm now looking for new ad serving software.Some people visiting the main site (but not the blog) during this brief period would have got malware security warnings from their browser and been unable to access the site's content.

The Harte of Marketing
Getting Management Buy-In For Integrated Marketing & Communications

Anna Barcelos and Beth Harte

4 Feb 2010 | 4:41 pm

There are a lot of marketers out there that understand that integrated marketing and communications (IMC) is a preferred way to do business because it is an outside-in approach. If an organization isn’t integrated, what are the best approaches to getting management buy-in? Anna Barcelos and I wanted to share nine key ways to provide management with the value of IMC. Sales-Oriented Vs. Market-Oriented – Which Are You? It’s often been said that the mindset of “If we build it, they will come” is not viable for long term business. To understand why, let’s look at the difference…
Integrated Marketing & Communications, Redux

Beth Harte

19 Jan 2010 | 5:50 am

The hiatus is over! For those who have been loyal readers of this blog, Happy New Year! And I thank you for hanging in there with me while I took the time to consider where to head next. For a long time I focused on marketing, PR and social media, but rarely the integration of them all. The focus of The Harte of Marketing for 2010 (and perhaps beyond) will be integrated marketing & communications. While integrated marketing communications (IMC) is nothing new, the embracing of social media surely puts IMC back in the spotlight as its principles are similar to long-standing IMC…
An Unscientific Test of Authenticity & Transparency: How Much Do They Really Matter?

Beth Harte

30 Sep 2009 | 8:04 pm

Although my blog is technically on “hiatus,” I felt this post was too important to not post it here (versus my digital marketing notebook on Posterous). I am still thinking about the direction my blog will be heading, but I know one thing for sure…it will include a lot more analysis, testing, and less opinion. As a marketer, testing is at the heart of what we do (or should do) and I for one have been lax when it comes to testing social media. Without testing all aspects of social media, we are, unfortunately, arguing from ignorance. The first test: Authenticity,…
Putting myself on a time out.

Beth Harte

28 Aug 2009 | 11:19 am

I wrote a really verbose post, but a good friend told me that what I had written didn’t sound like me (you know who you are…thank you again!). So, here’s take two. This past year has been truly exceptional and while I love blogging, I am not a writer. So from that regard, I struggle. I know this is *my* blog and I can do with it what I’d like, but I also don’t want to produce crap content. I have SO many thoughts rattling around in my head but the pressure to make them perfect stops me from writing them down. And the time to make them perfect doesn’t…
Gardening…The Social Media Way

Beth Harte

12 Aug 2009 | 6:34 am

Teresa Basich and I teamed up to write this post after discussing David Armano’s post. Teresa kicked off a group conversation by asking the insightful question “Now, what could we add to David’s blueprint beginnings?” Teresa wrote 3/4 of this post, so if you like the way her uber-smart brain works, be sure to check out her blog, Overcommunicated, too. Back in June David Armano of Dachis Corporation had an interesting post on debunking social media myths featured on the Conversation Starters blog of the Harvard Business Review. David discussed how organizations…

IanSchafer.com
All the Super Bowl Commercials. Right Here.

Ian Schafer

7 Feb 2010 | 9:02 am

Thanks to the fine folks at Forbes for assembling all the Super Bowl commercials in one player. I choose not to watch before the game. But if you like spoilers, here you go: You must have Adobe Flash Player 9 or higher installed to view this content
Facebook To Launch Gmail Killer (?)

Ian Schafer

5 Feb 2010 | 6:37 am

According to TechCrunch, Facebook is getting ready to launch a fully featured web-based email client with POP & IMAP support. In other words, their version of Gmail. This would undoubtedly be a major improvement over their existing way of managing communications, but the biggest news, well Michael Arrington puts it well: Email is all about identity. And Facebook is ahead of everyone else in the identity game via Facebook Connect. Facebook says more than 60 million people log in to 80,000 third party websites each month via Facebook Connect. Email now, mobile payments later. Email is a huge…
Is The Future of Media F#cked?

Ian Schafer

3 Feb 2010 | 1:15 pm

I'm getting progressively more excited about my panel with Rob Norman (CEO, Group M), Nick Denton (Gawker), and Joe Marchese (Social Vibe) tomorrow evening at 6:30 (details here). I realized that all of my thoughts on the media business can be summed up in one clip. Watch it. And let your mind be blown.
It's Time For Social Media Week. Are You Ready?

Ian Schafer

1 Feb 2010 | 11:05 am

This morning I participated in the official press conference to kick off Social Media Week worldwide. I was joined by Paley Center for Media's Chief Operating Officer Christy Carpenter; Pip Marquez de la Plata, chief marketing officer of Meebo; Frank Cooper, PepsiCo's chief engagement officer. Video of the event is available here (I show up about 29 minutes in): Watch live streaming video from smw_newyork at livestream.com And if you just want to read what I spoke, well, here you go: As far many areconcerned, “social media” isn’t a medium. It’s a term that represents the increased…
Is Toyota Mishandling The Communication of Their Safety Issue?

Ian Schafer

26 Jan 2010 | 9:22 pm

Sure, Toyota issued a product recall, then a product sales and production stoppage. But a) a video they had previously released of their CEO claiming this was a mat issue was deemed to be untrue, then b) they communicate the sales and production stoppage via a press release. Cars, especially family cars, mean a lot to people. And when something like this happens, people turn to the manufacturer and to each other. And when the manufacturer responds with a press release, consumers are forced to discuss the lack of action with each other. When those people are connected to others via social…

Cash Tactics
WEBINAR – Flipping sites for profit!

Kris

8 Feb 2010 | 9:22 am

I’m pumped. Here’s what I’ve got for you. I was able to snag Ryan Moran (Flippa.com’s authority on site flipping) for an exclusive webinar THIS WEDNESDAY (2/10/10) at 9PM Eastern! Here’s the Webinar link: https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/861127474 Click that link and join in as I grill Ryan on how his $6,147 mistake turned into one of the best marketing lessons, even if it was the hardest to learn… We’ll also talk about: How to skip most of the hard work in building online campaigns… How to sell your websites for three times market…
Series Update and Other Things

Kris

4 Feb 2010 | 7:59 pm

Hey everyone. I just wanted to give you a little update on the series AND I wanted to talk to you about some other things I discovered this week. The Series We’re still developing the website. It’s going slower than I had hoped. It’s hard working online when you don’t have the time because your family, work, and other obligations that you may have. The two guys that are working on the site have decided to devote a couple of hours each night to completing the website. This of course is a little difficult because they are still learning basic HTML. I’ve also found…
(Series) Building Out Our Site – The Squeeze Page

Kris

28 Jan 2010 | 11:10 pm

Before I begin this post I want you all to know that I am now taking two individuals through this case study/series. I will no longer be touching a thing but I will be training these two guys hands on. I flew out to their location in order to give them a basic lesson in HTML. Believe me when I say these guys have absolutely NO experience online! If you go to http://www.bestgolfswingsecret.com the main page you first hit will be full of links that you can use to navigate your way around the site as it’s being built. We will be rotating between two different squeeze pages to find…
ASW 2010 Is Over And I’m Ready To Rock

Kris

24 Jan 2010 | 8:04 pm

Well… Affiliate Summit West 2010 is finally over and I’m ready to get back into the grind. Before I do though I want to tell you about the event. I’m sure you have seen everyone else posting about it, and while I’m sure they have a lot of great things to say about the conference… I unfortunately do not. The Affiliate Summit conferences in general are very good. I enjoy them and I will continue to attend them. BUT… I honestly do not like going to the main event. The summit is way too crowded. It’s hard to walk around the meet market. I…
(Series) The Flow of Our New Site

Kris

14 Jan 2010 | 9:36 am

As we go through this series I want you to realize the importance of having a mailing list. There is a huge amount of money in owning your own leads so that you can email to them over and over again. Our goal is to have two lists by the end of this series. The first list is going to be for free loaders. The second list will be our buyers list. The buyers list will be our money maker. Not only will we have sold them our own product, but chances are we will be able to sell them a product that someone else owns to make an affiliate commission. Below is an image of our overall site flow. Here are…

The Future Buzz
Forrester Research Says No To Analysts Keeping Their Own Blogs

Adam Singer

7 Feb 2010 | 6:42 pm

Previously, I wrote that companies and personal brands have a symbiotic relationship. Smart companies nurture personal brands, those personal brands promote their employer, and situation emerges where all parties experience digital reputation benefits. When there is mutual respect and transparency involved, everyone wins. Employers should embrace team members interested enough to share thoughts on their industry on their own time under their own brand of media. Sharp employees understand the importance of career security, and if you’re hiring strategists how can you blame them for…
Analysis, Commentary And Controversy Are Proven Frameworks: Ignore Them At Your Own Peril

Adam Singer

7 Feb 2010 | 12:36 pm

I like Chris Brogan. I’ve even referenced him among social media power users I recommend this community connect with. With that said, I don’t agree with everything he says and have disagreed with him in the past. I’m going to disagree with him again today. Before I get further into it, I’d like you to consider this: in any industry, especially those that are new (at least to some) there is a natural tendency to agree as default with leaders. This is something that always bothered me about marketing industry conversations. What it creates are hordes of…
Some Thoughts On Redesigning Your Site

Adam Singer

3 Feb 2010 | 8:37 pm

Recently, I worked through the redesign process of this site. While I had my blog designer draft an overview from his perspective, I wanted to share some thoughts from mine. First up – it’s worth it: invest in a custom design I was using a free theme I customized myself up until the end of January, 2010. It was simple and did what I wanted it to do: share ideas and build a community. Although this worked, I should have invested in a custom design sooner. Many reasons to do this: If you’re going to vest time in anything, it’s worth investing some resources to…
Digg/Reddit And Marketers: A Love-Hate Relationship

Adam Singer

2 Feb 2010 | 6:05 am

I’ve made it no secret how much of a fan I am of Digg and Reddit and how much there is we can learn from these networks. In terms of horizontal sharing communities, they’re especially interesting because the entire community gathers around the same content. What this creates is a tribal culture due to the normalized experience everyone has. Whether I’m into business or technology, I’ll see all the stories that go popular if I’m subscribed to Digg’s main feed. Reddit is not exactly like this due to subreddits, but similar in that much of the…
How I Built A 6-Figure Facebook Fan Page

Adam Singer

1 Feb 2010 | 6:08 am

Visualization of a Facebook fan page I created for a brand eclipsing 6-figure fans between April-May in 2009 (it has since grown to +700,000 fans). Platform-specific communities can be a challenge to grow. It’s daunting because you’re probably already growing a voice for your brand on something like a self-hosted blog. But if you can spark rapid growth in a network external of your own, it can be a consistent organic referral source to the places you’re really interested in funneling traffic. Essentially, it’s a valuable outpost. Let’s first look at some of…

Ogilvy Blog Aggregator
Plannersphere Top 20 - February 2010

9 Feb 2010 | 10:02 am

[I have accumulated a pile of requests for blogs to be added to the plannersphere list and to be indexed on the Plannersphere Search Engine. To everyone who has written to me, apologies for the delay; I'm working towards clearing the backlist soon.]The top 20 blogs in the plannersphere as of 9th February 2010 are: 01. Noah Brier dot Com 02. Nick Burcher 03. We Are Social 04. advertising lab 05. Only Dead Fish 06. The Musings of An Opinionated Sod 07. Herd - the hidden truth about who we are 08. adliterate 09. Mike Arauz 10. russell davies 11. Adspace Pioneers 12. Trendsspotting 13. The Hidden…
Job: China Correspondent for NPR

9 Feb 2010 | 1:22 am

Looks like a great job! Love the final line: “Occasional exposure to prevalent weather conditions.” xx To apply, email a resume and cover letter to careers@americanpublicmedia.org. Indicate position #154-10, China Correspondent. Please see job description attached for more details. Job Title: China Correspondent Date Written/revised: December 2009 Grade Level: LC FLSA Status: Full-time, exempt Reports to: Foreign editor Department: American Public Media, Marketplace Location: Shanghai, China Position Summary: The China correspondent develops, reports, writes and produces news…
Twiangulate Lets You Follow Your Followers' Followers

8 Feb 2010 | 7:12 pm

Let me go on the record to say that if you happen to be a vendor of some type of social networking solution or software that would be useful for an agency like Ogilvy, hands down one of your most effective methods of advertising has to be to target the Ogilvy network on Facebook with a customized ad. I have seen several ads like this for solutions and find myself always clicking on them - not because they say Ogilvy but because I presume that someone has done their homework and identified that whatever they are promoting is particularly relevant for someone who works at an agency like ours.
Facebook and the myth of QWERTY's inferiority

8 Feb 2010 | 4:58 pm

Writing about the impending 'technological lock-in' of the social operating system space by Facebook, Reuters in a recent article compared the site to the QWERTY keyboard layout. (Via Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics.)In the words of Reuters, technological lock-in is "the reason why the QWERTY keyboard layout, devised for typewriters in the 1870s, is still the standard despite the development of several more logical configurations. And Facebook, which has more than 100 million users in the United States and 350 million worldwide, appears to have nearly achieved technological lock-in,…
People still watch TV

8 Feb 2010 | 2:07 pm

As usual, yesterday’s Superbowl was accompanied by the Ad Bowl the annual contest for best TV commercial during the most expensive airtime of the year.This seems to be the only time of the year where marketers are still allowed to get excited about TV advertising.For the most part, TV has become a dirty word in today’s marketing world.Most marketers can’t wait to move as many of their dollars away from it.They claim is the medium of the past – for obvious reasons.Most people, especially younger generations, seem to be spending all their time online.They can’t possibly have time to…

Interactive Marketing Trends
Ogilvy On Social

18 Jan 2010 | 4:10 am

OK it was me, not Ogilvy, talking about social at a being digital mashup event. I cover our approach to digital, structure for social, a lenovo case study, some internal social programs and the one number you need in marketing. In just over 7 minutes. I never realised I said umm so much.Tags: social mediamash upbeing socialgiles rhys jonesogilvy
White Christmas Guaranteed

3 Dec 2009 | 7:33 am

iPhone app from Ogilvy. Syncs with your camera and adds gently falling snow to any scene. Take a photo and send to confuse your friends. Disproves the mantra - An app is for life not just Christmas.Tags: iphone appxmasogilvygiles rhys jones
More Virtual Bums

1 Dec 2009 | 3:40 am

You wait ages for a virtual bum and then they all come at once. Love this online fashion tool from Fashionista too.
Does My Bum Look Big In This?

1 Dec 2009 | 2:05 am

A range of different sized virtual women model a variety of underwear. KnickerPicker is the best online shopping experience I have seen in a while. Practical for chaps - my mrs is a cross between blonde #1 & brunette #2 - and women can actually see what their purchase might look like. I love the "get your own Virtual Underwear Catwalk" feature and the effect it might have on my dwell time scores...Hmmm, I wonder if there is a market for PantPicker.com, with a selection of string vest and saggy boxers.Tags: knickerpickerexperiencegiles rhys jones
@Ogilvy Shortlisted - Golden Twits

10 Nov 2009 | 9:51 am

Your company: ogilvyTwitter username: @@ogilvyWhy do you deserve an award?: i harnessed ogilvy employees blogs to deliver a credible & representative voice to a large corporate & spread great marketing ideas globallyWhat were the objectives?: 1. to experiment, learn & walk the walk. 2. to spread & harvest great marketing examples, thoughts & opinions across geography & disciplineWhat have you achieved?: 16,500+ followers, #1 ad agency, 5%> unfollow rate, 1:1.5 RT ratio, positive anecdotal feedback & some good banterhttp://www.goldentwits.com/b2c/22-10-09182847/

Start a Company & Grow Your Business with ARRiiVE Sales Tips & Marketing Ideas
Keynote Speaking - Sales, Team Building, and Innovation

3 Feb 2010 | 3:26 pm

Event Planners: seeking a highly capable and entertaining speaker for your corporate event? Book Scott Andrews, CEO of ARRiiVE Business Solutions, for your Keynote: Description: Scott is an internationally acclaimed speaker who gives highly entertaining talks that combine common sense, practical knowledge, and a keen sense of humor that keeps audiences involved and entertained. His professional keynotes have ranged from 10 to 3,000 people.Current Topics: Cold to Gold: The Power to Get In David & Goliath: Selling to Large Corporations Millennium Team Building for…
Move Your Money For A Better Economy

31 Dec 2009 | 12:49 pm

For businesses in America who are frustrated with the economy, I have a simple question: Are you banking with one of the fourteen banks who were "too big too fail"? You know which banks I'm talking about... they were responsible for the last great depression and once again, they were responsible for the recent collapse in 2008/2009, too. Banks who are backed by the families named Morgan, Chase, Goldman-Sachs, etc., along with banks like Bank of America, Citibank, and, Wells Fargo, etc.. Are you going to continue to support the banking policies of these banks? If so, you might as well start…
Predictably Irrational Offers Rational Pricing Ideas

17 Dec 2009 | 12:08 pm

Would you like choice A or B? Human beings, when given a choice between: A or B will choose the better of the two... or will they? According to the research by Dan Ariely, author of "Predictably Irrational", and an academic, people will actually not always make the right choice if influenced by a number of conditions. For example, when presented with a slightly flawed "decoy" choice, which Ariely calls -A, the person will choose the choice that does not have the precondition flaw: So A or B when presented with a slightly flawed "decoy" choice, such as A- or B- when stacked…
10 Ways to Turn Failure Into Success

11 Nov 2009 | 1:18 pm

I once felt like a total failure when losses and lack of capital forced me to close my company doors (temporarily) and get a J-O-B. It was hard to do this - I'd spent hours and hours working on a product I felt could make my company successful. However, I hadn't yet learned the art - or science - of the launch process. As a result, my product launch failed, therefore forcing me to leave re-launch of my company for another day. My Mother was kind enough to remind me of that early business failure when I told her about my upcoming launch of Cold to GoldTM. But Cold to Gold is different than…
Using Tweetglide With Twitter To Add Traffic

29 Oct 2009 | 12:51 pm

I just downloaded this new Twitter App and it has already made tweeting a lotsimpler and less time consuming. The one thing I will warn you about is that the application contains a viral tool to add AOL addresses - I BLOCKED that part of the application as Kapersky felt it was a Trojan virus intrusion into my system and I agreed with that logic and have other ways to share products and links with my list of contacts than trusting an application to do it for me that I just started using. Just use your Kapersky and you'll be cool with the install.However, once installed I feel that Tweetglide…

Compelling Marketing Blog
Revealing Flaws is Smart Marketing in Undercover Boss

admin

8 Feb 2010 | 2:47 pm

Saying “yes” to the TV producer who wanted the CEO to anonymously work on the company’s front lines was a risky marketing move for Waste Management (WM). Especially since reality TV is all about drama…and the company was given no control and no say in what would air. So you can be sure they’ll choose the [...]
Copywriting Points Up in the Air

admin

2 Feb 2010 | 2:24 pm

… I saw the movie Up in the Air recently and thought it made a few interesting points about writing good copy Plot Summary: The main storyline is about Ryan Bingham (George Clooney), a “career transition counselor” (aka hired hatchet man) who’s always jetting off to fire employees for companies who don’t want to do the dirty [...]
Create an Online Swipe File with Delicious

admin

20 Jan 2010 | 12:55 pm

One way to make writing your own marketing materials easier to start creating a “swipe” file of things you like as you see them. Often people talk about using a swipe file to save examples of copy they can “borrow” ideas or words from later. (Of course, there’s is an art to swiping copy effectively–especially for [...]
5 Marketing Lessons from Online Dating

admin

10 Dec 2009 | 9:32 am

People often use dating analogies when they’re talking about getting clients and when you think about it, a ton of similarities exist. So here are some marketing lessons from an online dating site… 1. Whether it’s an online profile or your website, visitors usually don’t know a single thing about you–and they’re pretty skeptical. After all, everyone’s [...]
Ready to Hookup with Savvy Joint Venture Partners?

admin

1 Dec 2009 | 8:12 am

Then join us for the Raleigh JV Alert Impact Hookup on Thursday, December 3! Where: Tripp’s 3516 Wade Avenue Raleigh, NC 27607 When: December 3, 2009, 7-9 PM It’s the first meeting of the Raleigh area Impact/JV Alert Hookup to provide networking, fun, and a chance to meet others top-level local Internet marketers interested in joint ventures and affiliate relationships. We’ll mingle [...]

Damn, I Wish I'd Thought of That!
Free Kills

Andy Sernovitz

9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

Everyone is all excited about the idea of free. Free software, free content, and Chris Anderson’s book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price. But it’s not always good. When something is given away free, it kills the market for similar products. iTunes is a very adequate music manager. But it doesn’t work well for large collections, multiple users, or home networks. By giving it away to almost everyone, there is no more market for music manager software. No one is ever going to pay for it again, so no software developers have a reason to build something better. RSS feeds…
Job opportunity: We’re looking for a brilliant director of sales

Andy Sernovitz

8 Feb 2010 | 1:00 pm

We’re quickly growing here at GasPedal and have an immediate opening for a director of sales for our Social Media Business Council community. A few must-have qualities: Proven BtoB sales experience with VP- and C-level execs at large corporations Strong knowledge of social media and word of mouth marketing Consultative and approachable — our product is a long-term community membership; this is a relationship-building position Honest, trustworthy, and ethical Sales are brisk and the product is popular. Current members include Procter & Gamble, Dell, Wells Fargo, Microsoft, Home…
7 smart rules of social media manners

Andy Sernovitz

8 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

Some great business blogging advice (and life advice) from Christopher Burgess of Cisco: You Are Responsible: There are no do-overs. There is an adage, “Once posted, forever toasted,” which serves to highlight the reality that your information, data and content will be available to one and all, seemingly forever, and it is guaranteed to revisit you sometime in the future. Abide by the Rules: Individuals are accountable for their actions. This is a basic tenet of public discourse and elucidation. Don’t share your company’s confidential data. Don’t speak about…
Superbowl

Andy Sernovitz

7 Feb 2010 | 5:14 pm

Ze Frank speaks for me: Best line: “Everyone knows it takes millions of dollars to create compelling content.” Ze’s Website Share:
How to scare away new customers

Andy Sernovitz

7 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

We ordered a sample pack of a new kind of computer paper. We even paid $10 for the samples. They charged us $10 shipping. We ordered $150 worth of parts from a catalog on our first order. We forgot a few things, so we bought $20 more. There was a $4 ’small order fee’. There are certain moments when you know you just found a new customer: First phone call, first visit, asking for samples, new customer buys twice in a week. Set up a process to identify these actions. Give them extra samples. Send them links to how-to videos. Include a coupon for a free upgrade on the second order.

Bronto Blog
The New Goal for 2010: Value

Julie Waite

8 Feb 2010 | 7:08 am

Any email marketing blog worth its salt promotes relevance and timeliness as the ideal goals for email marketing; we here at Bronto have been saying this for years. But like anything related to marketing, we have to evolve with the times. Dela Quist has recently started a movement to promote value over relevance and timeliness – watch his short video explaining this concept here. Essentially what he’s saying is that you can be as timely and relevant as possible, but if your message has no value, it’s missing the mark. As he says, “Relevance is the cart and not the horse. Without…
Email Strategists’ Round Table: Legalities of List Ownership

Kelly Lorenz

4 Feb 2010 | 7:25 am

Are you up to date on all of the legalities around list ownership and CAN-SPAM regulations? Even if you answered “yes”, you may be surprised by the recent ruling by Maine’s Attorney General regarding free access to a government agency’s opted-in email list. Essentially, the Attorney General determined that it was acceptable for an organization to gain access to Maine’s Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife’semail list for free under the Freedom of Access Act. Our Email Marketing Strategists share thoughts on this precedent-setting ruling below:…
Do Open Rates Really Matter?

Kelly Lorenz

1 Feb 2010 | 8:27 am

What is the value of the open rate and what does it truly measure? Chris Wheeler, Bronto’s Director of Deliverability, and I share our thoughts on the topic in the video below. In it, we review why open rates are a popular success metric for email marketing, the impact of opens on deliverability, and where we feel the industry should be moving toward when looking at open rates. Have trouble viewing the video? Try watching it on YouTube or Blip.tv Key Takeaways: Focus on long-term engagement with contacts and go beyond measuring success by open rates alone. Open rates are an unreliable…
Strategists Sound Off: Facebook’s New Opt-In Functionality

Julie Waite

28 Jan 2010 | 6:35 am

If you haven’t heard the news about Facebook allowing marketers to collect email addresses of their app users, read this article first. To summarize: If you run an application on Facebook, you can now ask for users’ email addresses, and this request can be optional or required. This opens up a new opt-in channel for email marketers, but also could potentially step on the toes of their Facebook followers. I asked some of our Email Marketing Strategists to give their two cents on this exciting new development in the world of social media: Kimberly Snyder: I am not surprised that Facebook…
Let’s Use Email to Help Haiti: Free Sends Through Feb 5

Caroline Smith

27 Jan 2010 | 1:11 pm

It has been amazing to see how social media has worked so well in the aftermath of the earthquake in Haiti. The outpouring of support has been inspiring, to say the least. But so much more is going to be needed. Like many of you, Bronto desires to do whatever we can to support relief efforts, so we have partnered with the American Red Cross to launch the Free Emails for Haiti Relief campaign. As an Email Service Provider, we are offering our customers an official Red Cross template and message as a way to reach out to subscribers and ask for support. In the next week, emails sent on behalf…

MisEntropy
Plannersphere Top 20 - February 2010

blaiq

9 Feb 2010 | 4:32 am

[I have accumulated a pile of requests for blogs to be added to the plannersphere list and to be indexed on the Plannersphere Search Engine. To everyone who has written to me, apologies for the delay; I'm working towards clearing the backlist soon.]The top 20 blogs in the plannersphere as of 9th February 2010 are: 01. Noah Brier dot Com 02. Nick Burcher 03. We Are Social 04. advertising lab 05. Only Dead Fish 06. The Musings of An Opinionated Sod 07. Herd - the hidden truth about who we are 08. adliterate 09. Mike Arauz 10. russell davies 11. Adspace Pioneers 12. Trendsspotting 13.
Facebook and the myth of QWERTY's inferiority

blaiq

8 Feb 2010 | 11:28 am

Writing about the impending 'technological lock-in' of the social operating system space by Facebook, Reuters in a recent article compared the site to the QWERTY keyboard layout. (Via Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics.)In the words of Reuters, technological lock-in is "the reason why the QWERTY keyboard layout, devised for typewriters in the 1870s, is still the standard despite the development of several more logical configurations. And Facebook, which has more than 100 million users in the United States and 350 million worldwide, appears to have nearly achieved technological lock-in,…
How to forge a top-of-the-line cyborg planner

blaiq

3 Feb 2010 | 9:53 am

Clive Thompson points to this wonderful essay on computer chess by Garri Kasparov and draws our attention to an intriguing experiment in human chess-machine diplomacy.Undone by the brute calculative power of IBM's Deep Blue in 1997, Garri came upon a wonderful way to juxtapose the deep calculative method of chess computers with the intuitive and strategic approach of human chess players.He put together a tournament where humans and chess computers play together against other such 'cyborg' tag teams instead of against each other. Human and computer both would collaborate to play the perfect…
A Venn Diagram of the Good Stuff

blaiq

1 Feb 2010 | 8:26 am

Via
Plannersphere Top 20 - January 2010

blaiq

10 Jan 2010 | 10:35 pm

The top 20 blogs in the plannersphere as of 11th January 2010 are: 01. Noah Brier dot Com 02. We Are Social 03. Nick Burcher 04. advertising lab 05. Trendsspotting 06. Only Dead Fish 07. Talent imitates, genius steals 08. Herd - the hidden truth about who we are 09. The Musings of An Opinionated Sod 10. adliterate 11. russell davies 12. brand new 13. Make Marketing History 14. Mike Arauz 15. Servant of Chaos 16. positive disruption by: Tom Martin 17. livingbrands 18. Life Moves Pretty Fast 19. Adspace Pioneers 20. The Hidden Persuader a. The top 20 blog list winnows out the…

Jim Kukral - Small Business Consultant
Three Keys to Your Software Project

jim@jimkukral.com (Jim Kukral)

8 Feb 2010 | 7:52 am

…for non-software people by Mark W. Schumann, Critical Results I’ve been making software projects not suck for something like two decades, and it finally occurred to me that it might be helpful to show people how to make their projects not suck before they have to come to me to have them unsuckified. Because that would totally be a public service and all. I’m working on a book deal, and there will be a feature film, and my people are talking to Jodie Foster’s people about it, but for right now… let me share with you, for absolutely free, the three top things you…
Tracking Your Mobile Marketing ROI

jim@jimkukral.com (Jim Kukral)

5 Feb 2010 | 10:36 am

Cell phones have become extremely poplar over the last decade to the point where most people have one. Because of this, advertisers have slowly been toying with the idea of mobile marketing, and in the past few years it has been really taking off. Smart phones, especially, are making it easier for marketers to reach their target audience due to hand held Internet capabilities and email access. But are these efforts viable? And how can a company track their mobile marketing ROI? A new survey conducted by R2integrated states that, “more than half (52%) of respondents said their mobile…
Build Your Own iPhone App For Only $99 – Limited Time

jim@jimkukral.com (Jim Kukral)

4 Feb 2010 | 7:55 am

I did it, and it’s great. You can download the Jim Kukral iPhone app from the iTunes store right now. Or just click on the link in the sidebar of my blog here to get it. Pretty swanky, right? Ok, it’s not the biggest, fanciest, most robust app on the planet… HOWEVER, it’s very cool to have my own app, and you could as well. The best part is, it’s only $99 to brew your own over at Ubuildapp. Ubuildapp is owned by my friend Brad Waller, a long-time affiliate marketing legend. So not only do I know you’re going to get a good deal, I can guarantee that if you…
Free Stuff

jim@jimkukral.com (Jim Kukral)

4 Feb 2010 | 3:38 am

Everyone loves free stuff. I know this, and you know this. That’s why I’ve been working for years to create tons of free information to share with you. Why? Well, besides it being good karma, I feel it my responsibility to help people. I’m a teacher at heart really. I love help people. I love seeing people succeed. There’s no better feeling than having someone come up to me at a show or in the mall or at dinner and have them tell me that something I did or said or wrote or video’d or whatever, changed their success in some way or another. So here’s a…
Creating Passive Income Sharing What You Know With Susan Bratton

jim@jimkukral.com (Jim Kukral)

3 Feb 2010 | 11:10 am

I had the pleasure of sitting down and doing a podcast with ultra-famous, fabulous, podcaster and new media mogul Susan Bratton at the last Affiliate Summit in Las Vegas. If you have never heard of Susan and DishyMix, shame on you! You need to be subscribed to her blog and the podcast and everything she does. Because not only does she have the best guests on her show, she is also a big-time player in the Internet marketing space. We talked about my upcoming book. We talked about my second upcoming book, and we talked about Prfessor.com as well. Plus a litany of other things. Great interview,…

Snark Hunting
Successful marketing in one million adjectives or less

Jay

1 Feb 2010 | 10:28 am

This is a really great, amazing, wonderfully compelling, fantastic video summation of last week’s iPad lovefest:
iPad v. iPod

Steve

30 Jan 2010 | 7:38 am

In the Boston Apple store, how will they know if people are asking for an iPad or an iPod?
Revamped Igor Portfolio and new case studies

Jay

15 Jan 2010 | 1:05 pm

We’ve just overhauled the Portfolio section of the Igor website, improving the navigation and adding eight (!) case studies of recent naming projects: Aria, Boogie Board, Improv, Pulsar, Affinity, Firefly, Anthem, and Palo Alto University.
Here comes the Judge

Steve

6 Jan 2010 | 11:45 am

Paul Revere and the Raiders schilling for the ‘69 Pontiac GTO Judge. The “Judge” name came from the popularity of “Here comes da judge!”, a cultural catch phrase made popular on “Laugh-In”.
The Igor-named “Aria” resort and casino opens its doors

Steve

15 Dec 2009 | 11:22 am

Igor’s latest naming work, The MGM / Dubai World hotel and casino “Aria”, has its grand opening in Las Vegas tomorrow. This marks the fifth hotel thus far in Igor’s naming portfolio. MGM Aria, Las Vegas Via The Las Vegas Sun: The centerpiece of CityCenter — the Aria Resort & Casino — will open Wednesday, marking a day of grand opening celebrations for the $8.5 billion project… …The 4,004-room resort and casino will feature more than 150,000 square feet of gaming space, a 215,000-square-foot pool area with 50 cabanas and an 80,000-square-foot spa,…

David Binkowski.com
Improving the Social Media RFP

David Binkowski

13 Jan 2010 | 11:50 am

The idea for this post came from Josh Hallett's "Sorry We Work In Different Industries" blog post and was cross posted over on Shamable.com.Yesterday an agency posted their RFP criteria for companies looking to hire a social media firm. It's self serving as all get up, but not a bad start. I'm sure the agency will undoubtedly not let anyone forget that they were the first to post it on their blog, which as we know means a LOT. </sarcasm>There is one question missing from the RFP, however.How often does your senior leadership speak at conferences?I'm not asking this because I think…
Twitter Is Setting Marketers Up For FTC Lawsuits

David Binkowski

22 Dec 2009 | 7:33 am

As you know, the FTC recently published "blogger" and celebrity guidelines around disclosure. And, the most simple terms, it said that people should be able to discern whether or not you're being compensated for talking.On a parallel track, Twitter recently changed how their functionality works. Specifically, the common practice of re-tweeting, or saying what someone else said, has caused pains for a lot of users. In particular, the technology Twitter's using doesn't allow the original Twitterer to see that someone re-posted their content. Not a big deal, however for those of us looking to…
BusinessWeek Lays the Smack Down on "Social Media Experts"

David Binkowski

7 Dec 2009 | 5:30 am

You may have missed it, but there was a wonderful article on December 3rd in BusinessWeek about social media "experts" being snake oil salesmen. It's something those of us at agencies have wrestled with from day one - the combination of not having a job with the ability to self-publish and self-promote has opened the door for unqualified, inexperienced, ill-informed people to give advice and make claims without any evidence to back those claims up. And in the old days of PR that was the game - the more coverage the better. Although the game has changed a lot of people haven't -- credence and…
How People Can Protect Their Reputation Online

David Binkowski

2 Dec 2009 | 10:43 am

I was recently quoted in the New York Times Gadget Blog around protecting your reputation online. Specifically, the question was if individuals with unsavory content online should delete it in an effort to hide it from potential employers. Before I give my answer I'll give you the employer's perspective on the question:The Employer's PerspectiveAs an employer and marketer/advertiser, I can tell you that it's not that simple to just delete content and hope it goes away. I've seen companies and even individuals that go to great lengths to create additional content and spin incidents in an…
An Open Plea to the Marketing Community for Help

David Binkowski

17 Nov 2009 | 8:03 pm

Hi everyone,I would normally never hijack my own blog for something like this but when you have the chance to help someone you just do it. A fellow blogger and friend, Anissa Mayhew, unexpectedly suffered a stroke earlier today and is currently in the ICU. I'm uncertain on how she's doing as we only received an update via her husband on her Facebook status, but needless to say there are a lot of us hoping she's OK. Check out the outpouring of support on Twitter from all of her friends.Her group mom blog, Aiming Low, has a post on how you can help. Due to server issues I'm reposting this call…

Deliverability.com
Yahoo! MTA Connectivity Problems - Return

Len Shneyder

3 Feb 2010 | 11:10 am

Yahoo! posted a notice this morning that the MTA connectivity problems have returned. Here's the latest missive from Yahoo!_____At around 6am PST, we again started experiencing low connectivity on our MXes, and we have since been working incessantly to improve the situation. As before, the SMTP error message being generated by the issue will generally be the following: "420 Resources unavailable temporarily. Please try later <insert Y! MTA hostname" However, some senders may see our other "421" SMTP error messages as well, as listed here:…
6 years since Sender-ID and DKIM started

Joshua Baer

30 Jan 2010 | 11:39 am

I was digging through my closet today and found this hat. The hats were given out as chachka at a unique email industry meetup hosted by the Berkman Center at Harvard University on a very cold winter day in January, 2004. I think Trevor Hughes was responsible for the hats.I believe this meeting was one of the first times that SPF, Sender-ID and Domain Keys were revealed publicly. I remember Hans Peter Brøndmo speaking about the vision of Project Lumos a lot of passionate debate about the future of email and the need for Authentication, Accreditation and Reputation systems.My how far…
Goodmail and Yahoo! breaking up?

Dennis Dayman

29 Jan 2010 | 7:56 am

What is with the month January this year? Seems that a few celebrity marriages have taken a turn for the worse and caused them to separate. I'm not trying to make fun of someone's misfortunes, but wow.To make things more interesting in our terms of email, sometime this week a bunch of new buzz stirred up around Goodmail's and Yahoo! relationship. Are they breaking up? Taking a little break from each other? Who knows, but the chatter around the industry is that Goodmail has made phone calls or sent the below email to it's ESP partners and customers notifying then of such.
Is your list hosted at @iContact? It may have been stolen.

Joshua Baer

27 Jan 2010 | 9:17 am

We're seeing reports at OtherInbox of spam emails sent to email lists that are hosted at iContact. Our users give each website a different email address so it's easy to see when they get abused. I received an email with the subject "Pharmacy Best Product Vicodin.Viagra!!!!!" to an email address that was only given to Shoeboxed.com (a great service that I love). Other users are reporting emails to other companies that have no affiliation to Shoeboxed - but the one common thread seems to be that they all use iContact. Another list that is hosted at iContact and seems to be…
Yahoo! MTA Connectivity Problems

Len Shneyder

26 Jan 2010 | 3:14 pm

Yahoo! is having some MTA connectivity problems, from the Postmaster Blog:If you're seeing some queuing in your outbounds today when sending to Y! users, we're currently experiencing low connectivity across our MTAs, which started this morning. We're working to get things back to normal. The SMTP error message being generated by the issue should be: "420 Resources unavailable temporarily. Please try later <insert Y! MTA hostname>" Our apologies for the inconvenience.____________________In addition to the 420s it appears as though 421s are increasing so expect to…

BeRelevant!
links for 2010-01-29

Tamara Gielen

29 Jan 2010 | 1:00 pm

Protecting customer data Data security is not something that can be glossed over and ignored. Most of the cases I am aware of have actually been inside jobs. Data has been stolen either by employees or by subcontractors that had access to it and then sold to spammers. There are steps that companies can take to prevent leaks and identify the source when or if they do happen. (tags: security spam data)
10 Tips for Successful Email Preheader Text

Tamara Gielen

29 Jan 2010 | 4:27 am

Kristeen Hudson provides these 10 tips for successful preheader text on the Exact Target blog: Use a call-to-action Use positive wording Make your preheader text support you subject line Keep in mind the length of the preheader text that will be displayed in the inbox The marketing preheader text (aka the call to action) should be in the top left of the email If you make the pre-header text too long it defeats the purpose. Don't repeat the subject line as the preheader text Preheader text is generally smaller then body copy, but it should still be readable Write attention-grabbing…
links for 2010-01-28

Tamara Gielen

28 Jan 2010 | 1:00 pm

MailChimp's Project Omnivore: Declassified | MailChimp Email Marketing Blog In late 2008, MailChimp Labs began Project Omnivore. Our goal was to build a massively scalable tool for our abuse team that could predict bad behavior -- pretty impressive stuff!! (tags: mailchimp omnivore esp spam) Is your list hosted at @iContact? It may have been stolen. We're seeing reports at OtherInbox of spam emails sent to email lists that are hosted at iContact. Our users give each website a different email address so it's easy to see when they get abused. I received an email with the subject…
The 8 Guiding Principles to Hiring an Email Marketing Agency

Tamara Gielen

28 Jan 2010 | 4:39 am

All too often companies make their selection of an email marketing agency or consultant based on the wrong criteria, which causes heartache, inefficiency, and a significant amount of lost productivity and dollars. In this article Scott Hardigree, provides some useful tips on how to select the best person for the job:Things You Shouldn’t Do Don’t limit your search geographically. Don’t screen out professionals based on size. Don’t make industry experience a must-have. Don’t ask for (or entertain) speculative work. Don’t avoid questions about your…
Online Email Strategy & Tactics Roundtable, February 9, 2010

Tamara Gielen

28 Jan 2010 | 3:59 am

On February 9, 2010 at 8am PT (11am ET, 5pm CET, 4pm GMT) the Email Marketer's Club is hosting it's second online Email Strategy & Tactics Roundtable. During this highly interactive, 60-minute session, 2-3 email marketers are invited to present one email marketing issue they are facing in a 10-minute presentation. Tamara Gielen will review the material in real-time and provide feedback on the matters at hand. All attendees are able to join in on the conversations via a live chat. Only 20 attendees allowed so sign up quickly!Can't make it on February 9th? Check out the…

Martin Lindstrom
Brand vision - Absolut Branded Language

Disney, Kellogg's, and Gillette are three completely different brands with one commonality. Over the past decade, they've established a branded language, whether they know it or not. In my latest book, we found 74 percent of today's consumers associate the word "crunch" with Kellogg's. Another 59 percent consider the word "masculine" and Gillette as one and the same. Americans formed the strongest association of masculinity to Gillette, by an astounding 84 percent. Disney scored higher in purloined language than any other brand. This brand welcomes you to its kingdom of fantasy, dreams,…
Wireless strategy - Useful techniques - B2Branding

Let's discuss a product category that's excruciatingly boring: rolling bearings and seals. I want to look at SKF, one of the world's largest manufacturers of rolling bearings and seals. I don't know about you, but I couldn't think of a less sexy and uninspiring product line. If you didn't know this business or the brand, you'd think (when you visited SKF's site) you'd arrived at the wrong URL. SKF not only tells you about the company's support of one of the world's largest rock shows and how SKF products help their clients make delicious biscuits, it also has a special postcard section. The…
Wireless strategy - Product placement - Useful techniques - Future generations - BRANDchild

You may be surprised to learn that close to 80 per cent of all brands purchased by parents is controlled by their offspring. But what will undoubtedly startle you are the figures that show a whopping 67 per cent of all car purchases is also determined by the children of the home – and not by the parents. Tweens (8- 14 year olds) are an increasingly powerful and smart consumer group, which in 2002 alone, spent and influenced an astounding €1.88 trillion. Did you know that an average British kid between 8 and 13 years of age is exposed to 22,000 television commercials a year? In fact these…
Brand vision - Blogs

You can’t avoid them – the blogs. They’re so plentiful that the opinions they offer are forming part of news reports. Given the evident potency of blogs, therefore, the question is should blogs remain within their current sphere of influence, helping individuals to share their personal opinions on with the world, or should they be adopted by brands as communication tools? The fact is that the marriage between blogs and brands is no longer a vision. Personality brands, like Seth Godin or Tom Peters, already blog the net. And brands like Weight watchers, LEGO, Apple or Harley Davidson…
Optimizing sales - Brand alliances - Brand Alliances Put to the Test

I'll bet that, more than once in your career, you've pondered the risk of teaming up with some other brand in a co-branding deal. The deal probably looked good; the conditions were perfect; but the brand... would it damage your own? It would be an exaggeration to claim that a number of studies have examined co-branding. But, luckily enough, I've managed to get hold of one study that might help us shed light on the issue. The Journal of Consumer Marketing published the study I’m referring to in 2000. It reveals a lot of interesting data and highlights facts of which we are possibly…

Unbound Edition
CBS: Classic Super Bowl Coverage, at a Price

9 Feb 2010 | 6:44 am

Every year, in the weeks leading up to Super Bowl, we learn whose ads passed network muster and whose didn't. This year, CBS generated lively debate by green-lighting Focus on the Family's pro-life spot, while rejecting an ad from gay dating site ManCrunch.com. Much has already been written about CBS's implied endorsement of one "life choice" over another. But few question why slow-to-evolve CBS failed to capture a fraction of the value its platform created for either organization.
Why Brands Should Strive for Imperfection

9 Feb 2010 | 6:34 am

We've seen and heard this commercial a thousand times, the one with the flawless model posing in an ad for facial-blemish cream... an extremely powerful cleaner that removes every trace of dirt in one effortless wipe... the picture-perfect baby modeling the 100% waterproof diaper. In these scenarios, there's not even a hint of a single red spot, a stubborn stain, or a bedraggled mother. This is the story of the past 50 years of commercials, and they all have one thing in common: perfect brands in perfect environments. But there is a strong case to be made for imperfection. Nothing is ever…
Do-It-Yourself Super Ads

9 Feb 2010 | 6:33 am

Be afraid, Madison Avenue. Be very afraid. That seems to be the message in the aftermath of the crowded, frenetic advertising bowl that took place inside Super Bowl XLIV on Sunday. Among those commercials consistently deemed most effective, memorable and talked-about, many were created or suggested by consumers — or produced internally by the sponsors — rather than the work of agency professionals.
Foursquare Inks Deals With Major Media and Entertainment Brands

9 Feb 2010 | 6:33 am

Hello, Hollywood. On the heels of the Foursquare-Bravo TV deal, news of several additional major media partnerships involving the location-based social networking app have dropped this evening. According to various reports, Zagat, Warner Bros., HBO, the History Channel and ExploreChicago have all been added to Foursquare’s media and entertainment mix. Here are the partnerships that appear to be live or coming very soon:
Microsoft Seals Ad Deal With Interpublic

9 Feb 2010 | 6:33 am

Microsoft is getting cozier with Madison Avenue. The software company is partnering with advertising holding company Interpublic Group in a deal that will make Microsoft the go-to ad technology provider for the U.S. offices of ad giant's agencies, including McCann-Erickson, Deutsch, Hill Holliday and The Martin Agency. Microsoft, of Redmond, Wash., slashed its undisclosed rates, so that its ad server Atlas will become the default technology to deliver ads and analyze their performance.

The FastSpring E-Commerce Blog
FastSpring Client Praises SpringBoard UI

Dan Engel

21 Jan 2010 | 10:43 am

We received this nice note from one of our new clients, with special attention to the SpringBoard store administration UI: FastSpring is the most awesome E-commerce platform I have ever encountered, and trust me I looked at many before finding you. I absolutely love it. I am COMPLETELY impressed with the platform, the interface design, the performance and the features. It does everything I need, perfectly. To top it all off, the customer service has been absolutely phenomenal. You guys are the best, thanks for providing such a GREAT platform. If you haven’t yet, take a look at our…
FastSpring Clients Give Indie+Relief to Haiti

Dan Engel

19 Jan 2010 | 1:53 pm

In an exciting new development on the Haiti relief front - and right on the heels of our post yesterday - FastSpring has learned that several of its clients have committed to donating all proceeds received from sales tomorrow to the charity of their choice bringing aid to Haiti. Such charities include Doctors Without Borders, UNICEF and the Red Cross. The program is called Indie+Relief, and features an wide range of interesting contributions. It’s great to see the software development community getting involved in this program. The array of companies and products is truly astounding, as…
FastSpring Prepares Donation to UN World Food Program for Haiti Relief Effort

Dan Engel

18 Jan 2010 | 3:11 pm

FastSpring is preparing its annual 1% donation of annual profits to the United Nations World Food Programme. This commitment, one made in the initial start-up days of FastSpring back in 2005, is timely now due to the WFP’s role in bringing aid to Haiti after the recent devastating earthquake that has left Port au Prince and the impoverished nation in ruins and in great need of aid, food and support. This moment gives us a valuable opportunity to reflect on the pervasive need for corporations of all sizes worldwide to practice some form of social responsibility, to preserve the common…
FastSpring Featured in Pacific Coast Business Times

Dan Engel

11 Jan 2010 | 11:30 am

FastSpring received a nice gift for the New Year in the form of a strong review of company strength in 2009—and prospects for the future—by the Pacific Coast Business Times (www.pacbiztimes.com). The article is included below. FastSpring revenue soars on e-commerce by Stephen Nellis Pacific Coast Business Times Monday, 11 January 2010 Dan Engel had to learn the lessons that helped him build Santa Barbara-based FastSpring the hard way, but those lessons have paid off with 550 percent revenue growth over the past year. The 15-employee firm makes an e-commerce backend for companies…
Switching to FastSpring - A Client’s Experience

Dan Engel

29 Dec 2009 | 5:14 pm

We are gratified to learn of a new client’s positive experience recently switching from PayPal to FastSpring. ClickOnTyler, maker of four quality Mac products (VirtualHostX, Nottingham, Incoming! and Highwire), posted this to their blog over the holidays: "I’ve been wanting to switch my online store away from PayPal for quite a while now. Although there are a bunch of PayPal horror stories floating around the web, my main reason is to make my life simpler. As much as I like rolling my own solutions, it’s too complicated to offer quantity discounts, coupon codes, and multiple…

Marketing Technology Blog
Blogging for Business

Douglas Karr

9 Feb 2010 | 8:52 am

If you weren’t at the Webtrends Engage 2010 conference, you missed an incredible business intelligence conference. Engage is unlike any other company conference I’ve been to. The objective is to provide customers and industry professionals with exposure to some of the best and brightest experts throughout the online industry. Register for next year’s Engage in San Francisco – they always sell out! This year I was invited to do a sprint, a 10 minute powerpoint about something online marketing related and that I’m passionate about. I decided to do mine on inbound…
Can Retailers Strike Gold on Facebook?

Douglas Karr

9 Feb 2010 | 3:01 am

According to Foresee… yes. Foresee is releasing some findings on some retail statistics associated with Facebook today. Here are some of their findings: 56% of shoppers to top e-retail websites who interact with social media websites have elected to “friend” or “follow” or “subscribe” to a retailer on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. This is an amazing testament to customer loyalty and interest in social engagement. Shoppers are actually choosing to engage in relationships with retailers on social sites. Facebook is, by far, the best place to reach…
Super Bowl 44 Advertising – a 3 Star Year

Douglas Karr

8 Feb 2010 | 8:20 am

Not only was it a tough year for the Colts, it was a tough year for Super Bowl advertising. I was watching Twitter during the Super Bowl and there was a ton of criticism on ‘pantless’ juvenile commercials. AdAge’s Bob Garfield does a great wrap up of Super Bowl advertising this year (click through if you don’t see the video): The winners that Bob lists: This post was written by Douglas KarrDouglas Karr is the founder of The Marketing Technology Blog. Doug is President and CEO of DK New Media, an online marketing company specializing in social media, blogging and search…
Tracking Multiple WordPress Authors with Google Analytics

Douglas Karr

8 Feb 2010 | 3:39 am

I wrote another post on how to track multiple authors in WordPress with Google Analytics once before, but got it wrong! Outside the WordPress Loop, you’re unable to capture the author names so the code did not work. Sorry for the fail. I’ve done some additional digging and found out how to do it smarter with multiple Google Analytics profiles. (Quite honestly – this is when you come to love professional analytics packages like Webtrends!) Step 1: Add a Profile to an Existing Domain The first step is to add an additional profile to your current domain. This is an option that…
Sample Company Social Media Guidelines

Douglas Karr

7 Feb 2010 | 1:21 pm

While doing some research on the book, I happened across this wonderful little goldmine from Shift Communications PR squared blog… a Top 10 Social Media Guidelines. They put it out there and require no attribution whatsoever for commercial use. TOP 10 GUIDELINES FOR SOCIAL MEDIA PARTICIPATION AT (COMPANY) These guidelines apply to (COMPANY) employees or contractors who create or contribute to blogs, wikis, social networks, virtual worlds, or any other kind of Social Media. Whether you log into Twitter, Yelp, Wikipedia, MySpace or Facebook pages, or comment on online media stories —…

PsyBlog
Why The Media Seems Biased When You Care About The Issue

Jeremy Dean

9 Feb 2010 | 6:48 am

Research shows both pro-Arabs and pro-Israelis watching the same news reports think it is biased against their own side. The media may well be biased, in fact it would be a miracle if it were permanently and perfectly balanced, that isn't what this post is about. Instead this is about how you and I perceive the presence or absence of bias in the media. This study, conducted in the 1980s, helps to explain a lot of the heat and light that gets produced by those commenting on media bias across the political spectrum, including the remarkably vitriolic outpourings often seen in the comment…
Recruitment Closed: Online Expressive Writing Study

Jeremy Dean

8 Feb 2010 | 7:07 am

Update: Thanks for your interest in this study but recruitment is now closed. Are you currently feeling a little under the weather, fed up or stressed? Do you live in the United Kingdom? Are you over 18? Would you be interested in participating in an expressive writing study? If so, read on... About this research Many studies have found that when people write about past emotional events in their lives they can show improvements in physical or mental health. We want to test the effects of expressive writing in a study carried out completely online. Here are some brief details of the study,…
Why We Love Narcissists (At First)

Jeremy Dean

3 Feb 2010 | 3:02 am

Paradoxically we initially like narcissists more because of their exploitative, entitled behaviour—but it doesn't last long. Despite being self-absorbed, arrogant, entitled and exploitative, narcissists are also fascinating. And not just from a clinical perspective; the research finds that we are strangely drawn to their self-centred personalities, their dominance and their hostility, their sensitivity and their despair, at least for a while. Psychologists are fascinated by narcissists, both why we like them despite on some level recognising their dysfunction, and because they embody so…
10 More Brilliant Social Psychology Studies: Why Smart People Do Dumb or Irrational Things

Jeremy Dean

26 Jan 2010 | 4:18 am

Which is your favourite social psychology study? Over the last 7 months I've been exploring 10 more of my favourite social psychology studies, each with an insightful story to tell about how our minds work. This follows on from an article I wrote two years ago (10 brilliant social psychology studies). Key insights from each study are below but click through to get the full story of each experiment. Once you've had a look, vote for your favourite at the bottom of this page. Why You Can’t Help Believing Everything You Read By default are we critical or gullible? This study shows that…
The 7 Psychological Principles of Scams: Protect Yourself by Learning the Techniques

Jeremy Dean

21 Jan 2010 | 5:28 am

How hustlers trick 3.2 million people each year in the UK into handing over £3.5 billion. Good hustlers are excellent intuitive psychologists. Just like magicians they understand enough about how the mind works to exploit its vulnerabilities. Our fascination with hustlers is insatiable and, despite being criminals, they are frequently portrayed by Hollywood in a flattering light, in films like The Sting, Catch Me If You Can and the Ocean's Eleven trilogy. Of course the reality is nowhere near as romantic, especially if you've fallen for one of the cons. Frank Stajano, a security expert at…

As Was Marketing Hall Of Fame
Connecting With Us on Twitter and Facebook

As Was

3 Feb 2010 | 8:57 am

We're changing how you can connect with us. Here's what you need to know!http://twitter.com/aswas will be mostly business-related tweets with a few personal or observational tweetshttp://twitter.com/rocketplace remain as mostly eBay and eCommerce newshttp://twitter.com/dlev will be mostly the personal world of As Was CEO Debbie Levitt. If you're tickled by her observations, thoughts, and personal musings, please follow that Twitter.Our Facebook Fan page will start to get more use. I hadn't really done much with it since 2008, but I'll start using it more.My personal…
eHarmony Got One Right

As Was

26 Jan 2010 | 9:26 am

Well, I never thought I'd say this, but eHarmony seems to have gotten one right. If you read my blog, you know they got a lot wrong... and continue to. Looking at 9 new matches this morning, most sucked. Why? It's what they write in their profiles, which is not eHarmony's fault. It's about how you market yourself. I do not want to get to know the guy who says he's most passionate about UFC and mastiffs, nor do I want to meet the guy who filled out the profile with "I'll write more later."eHarmony matched me with a guy I'm calling Mr DJ. In the world of my…
When A Celebrity Commits a Crime

As Was

11 Jan 2010 | 4:00 am

A celebrity I used to be a fan of committed at least two crimes that recently hit the papers. One crime was stalking teenage girls in real life (he's 56 years old) as well as on Facebook. The other crime was breaching an order of protection (restraining order) his ex-wife had against him. He's on a roll!I run the official discussion forum where fans discuss this guy. Nearly everybody who is writing in is outraged by his behaviour. Some of the more diehard fans seem to think either that these crimes never happened, he was set up, etc... That's a very tiny minority.And I have a…
Posting to Other People's Facebook Business Pages

As Was

8 Jan 2010 | 4:00 am

Yesterday, we blogged about an OOPS where an online seller I know found some Facebook pages that looked devoted to what he sells. So he joined them, and when he was holding a sale, he promoted that. He figured hey, the people who are "fans" here tend to like what I sell, they'll want to know about my website.Seems like a good marketing idea.Except that the Facebook pages he was on were owned by a jeweller who had created them to promote HER website. So the pages look like they're for people who like cufflinks, but they're really there to be a subtle vehicle to push her…
Is Facebook Showing My Competitor's Ads On My Pages?

As Was

7 Jan 2010 | 4:00 am

Earlier this week, I mentioned someone who spammed me on Facebook. She saw I was a fan of a Facebook business page for a company that does cufflinks. She evidently sells some cufflinks, so she spammed me by sending me a Facebook message. This story has a weird ending, so make sure you read through the Epilogue, where I reveal the surprise ending! :)In her spam message, she told me that the company I was a fan of was actually very interested in her cufflinks, so I should check out her website. She linked me to her website. At the time, I wrote her back that she was spamming me, and that was…

"Making Good" with PMG Public Relations
Hey! We’re looking for YOU!

Nicole Ravlin

30 Jan 2010 | 5:57 am

PMG is, once again, hiring. We are looking for talented public relations professionals for the following full-time, salaried positions: Assistant Account Executive (AAE): Entry-level position. The ideal candidate will have a degree in communications, public relations or similar and have completed an internship with a PR firm or similar. A good understanding of social media and strong writing skills are essential. This is a growth position. Account Executive (AE): Two plus year’s agency or in-house public relations experience. The ideal candidate will have strong media relations…
Have You Thanked Your Mentor Today?

Nicole Ravlin

21 Jan 2010 | 5:42 pm

Often times, saying “thank you” to people in your life that have made a difference falls off the plate. We have the best intentions to call or write them to say, “Hey, thanks! You really have helped me on my path.” Fortunately, days like today, Thank Your Mentor Day, has us take pause to think about who our mentors are and thank them. From the associates at PMG, we offer the following words of THANKS: From Alicia DeMartini Throughout my college career, there are a handful of professors that stand out amongst the rest as influencers, teachers, friends, listeners, and mentors.
Partnership

Nicole Ravlin

6 Nov 2009 | 8:17 pm

Giving back to our local community is very important to all of us at PMG. Due to H1N1 and concerns around the wellness of children in relation to this, we have been advised and have decided not to host the Vermont Toy Share this year. Our intention is to return in November 2010 with this event. Thank you to the local community for all of the interest and support for this event – it has been overwhelming. When one door closes, another opens. After making the decision to shelf Toy Share for this year, we started to ask ourselves: how can we continue to make a difference within our local…
How Do You Self-Educate?

Nicole Ravlin

5 Nov 2009 | 6:13 pm

I have always been a big believer that you need to consistently be feeding your brain to be happy in life. I think most people feel that way. When it comes to my career, I long ago realized that my education did not end when I graduated from college. That was merely a starting point. As a professional, I need to consistently educate myself on new trends, practices within my field, changes in business, etc., etc., etc. Sure, in the past my employer has paid for me to attend seminars and get certifications. The problem with most of those “educational” experiences is that you lose what…
It’s an honor…

Nicole Ravlin

21 Aug 2009 | 5:53 am

…to be nominated, really! Sarah Evans (of Mashable, #journchat, and Twitter fame) started the Top 50 Tweeples to Follow on Twitter. Now in it’s second year, this award is a “people’s choice” style award where nominations come from the community and voting is open to anyone. The idea is that this list of 50 are the best people to follow to help other better understand Twitter and how to use it. There are several categories. Being nominated for this is really an honor for me as we do spend a lot of time trying to better understand social media tools and how…

Robyn K. Levin
Are You Addicted to Social Media?

robynlevin

22 Jan 2010 | 3:30 pm

Are You Addicted to Social Media? Social Media is one of the biggest Internet Marketing Trends of all time. The other day I was pondering if there’s a rise in depression from the social media craze and the anxiety it causes. My attorney baby boomer friend recently said, “This social networking is brutal.” I wonder how many other people feel that way. Do you? I ran across this quiz that helps you rank your social media addiction. I’d love to hear your comments below. How does social media affect your day-to-day emotions and relationships? Take the Social Media…
Mobile Marketing & Local Search

robynlevin

11 Jan 2010 | 2:06 pm

Mobile marketing looks like it will finally get attention and marketing dollars. Why? Smartphones & Apps have changed the way consumers behave, which affects their buying decisions and how they choose to get their information. The iPhone 3GS, became the top-selling handset in the US in 2009. In its Q3 earnings call Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt said that the company had seen “30% quarter-over-quarter growth in mobile searches in the third quarter.” Next year the US mobile Internet will cross 100 million users without too much trouble, according to a report in Search Engine Land this…

From Jere's Prospectiv - Online Marketing Up Close
Data Data Everywhere!

Jere Doyle

3 Feb 2010 | 6:55 pm

I atteneded the OMMA Performance show last week in San Francisco and I was impressed with the program, the presenters, and the audience, especially since it was the first time Media Post held a show completely dedicated to Performance Marketing on the Internet. All the talk at the show was around data, data and more discussion about data....What is data? How are marketers using it? What is the most important data that you need to drive conversions? How should marketer collect the data they need? And where are were headed as an industry in regards to privacy and…
Targeting Is Everything When Building Your Opt-in Email Subscriber List.

Jere Doyle

14 Dec 2009 | 9:45 am

We had a nice article in Digital Media Buzz this morning about our new Prism Pro targeting technology that we launched earlier this year. Barbara Gengler did a good job of describing how our technolgy successfully targets the most valuable customers for our clients, and she has some nice comments from several of our clients. Many individuals have worked hard in building our Prism Pro system, and it's very exciting to see it getting some meda buzz! You can see the article here.
Prospectiv Wins MITX Award For Best Use Of Analytics

Jere Doyle

18 Nov 2009 | 12:13 pm

Last night Prospectiv was awarded the 2009 award for Best Use of Analytics by MITX (Massachusetts Innovation & Technology Exchange). The award was for Prospectiv's ACUVUE Consumer Acquisition & Campaign Management, which featured our new AxisPro platform that we launched earlier this year, and was specifically for the analytics that were provided throughout the campaign. Winning this MITX award is a great honor and recognizes Prospectiv's commitment to technology and innovation in the online marketing space. This award reaffirms our belief that investment in technology…
Done Right, Email Prospects Flourish

Jere Doyle

6 Aug 2009 | 6:38 pm

I published an article in Adotas today about the value of email marketing. In the article I discuss how emailing your in‐house list is one of the most effective marketing tactics to drive sales. And it makes sense. Who better to target and engage than the very consumers who have asked for more information about your brand? In my Adotas piece I also discuss how growing your house list of quality customers who have opted-in to hear from you is more important than ever. Exact Target did a great white paper on this subject, which I reference in my article. And a big thanks to Morgan Stewart…
Quality Lead Generation Drives Email Subscriptions

Jere Doyle

22 Jun 2009 | 1:36 pm

Exact Target has been putting out some very good info lately on Email list growth. Morgan Stewart, Exact Target's Director of Research and Strategy, recently wrote about lead generation in his blog. Morgan points out how that lead generation done the right way can be an effective way to add subscribers to your email list, but points out how important it is to make sure you use a partner who utilizes best practices. He even shows an example of one of the programs Prospectiv is running that he likes. Exact Target also published a great Whitepaper called 2009 Email List Growth Study. In it they…

ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom
Superbowl Advertising Wrap Up

ScLoHo (Scott Howard)

9 Feb 2010 | 10:32 am

Looks like everyone has an opinion.I'll share with you a few from people I like and/or respect.This is Laura Ries take:Super Bowl Ads 2010 Best ads of the game Google: Google transformed how we think about search and now Google has transformed how we think about Super Bowl ads. Without any celebrities, special effects or juvenile jokes, Google did what Google does best. It showed us in a simple clear how Google had changed the world. The ad is unlikely to win any creativity awards but unlike most ads I think it made a powerful, lasting impact in the mind on consumers. Doritos: Who needs a…
It's the Service, silly

ScLoHo (Scott Howard)

9 Feb 2010 | 6:28 am

From Becky at the Customers Rock! Blog:The Social Customer Posted by Becky Carroll on February 4th, 2010 I have been reading quite a few blogs and comments lately about how social media and customer service need to come together. There has also been a lot of talk about the Social Customer and its importance. I wholeheartedly agree, and as you might imagine, I have a few quick thoughts on the subject which I will share below (inspired by some comments on left on Esteban Kolsky’s post at the blog TheSocialCustomer). Service is the New Marketing Been hearing that for ages; I even spoke at a…
Hints from Harvey

ScLoHo (Scott Howard)

9 Feb 2010 | 2:41 am

One of my favorite authors:Finding the "rubies" in your orchard A great product doesn't automatically sell itself, as just about any businessperson who has built a better mousetrap can attest. Effective marketing is a critical factor in priming the pump and selling the customer long before the product is actually in his or her hands. So imagine my excitement in finding a wonderful book by one of the most successful marketers in the business. At present, much of that business centers on pomegranate juice! Lynda Resnick, aka "The POM Queen," has authored a real gem in "Rubies in the Orchard."…
Monday Night Marketing News from Mediapost

ScLoHo (Scott Howard)

8 Feb 2010 | 2:45 pm

includes a wrap up of yesterdays Superbowl ads:Sports Saints Shine, Bud Disappoints, And Google Gains by Sarah Mahoney "The Bud ads, especially, were a big letdown," says Steve McKee, president of McKee Wallwork Cleveland, the Albuquerque, N.M.-based ad agency that has organized the Adbowl for 10 years running. "It's almost like the ads are frozen in time, and the Clydesdale spot, with the longhorn running aside it, was beyond bad." ...Read the whole story >> Automotive Acura Gets Design-Conscious For ZDX by Karl Greenberg Honda Motor's Acura division is running a national advertising…
Still wondering about "Social Media"?

ScLoHo (Scott Howard)

8 Feb 2010 | 10:31 am

Here's a post that I wrote in October from my unfinished book:Recently, I gave the following presentation to a group of business professionals who were curious about Social Media and Social Marketing... You may need to download the powerpoint presentation from here to watch the two videos that are included.Join The Conversation Social MediaView more presentations from scloho.

Affordable Internet Marketing
Success For Business Secrets

Case Stevens

6 Feb 2010 | 8:50 am

What are the success for business secrets? Lots of words have been written already on this topic. That’s because of the urgent demand from million of business people who -desperately- want to know what these secrets exactly are. They want to become successful too. Like their favorite idols, whoever they may be. Many of them talk about money when discussing the topic. They want to become rich. But that has nothing to do with the definition for success. After all… the richest man is not the one who has the most money; the richest man is he who needs the least! So, success is not…
Get Your Website Traffic From Forums.

Case Stevens

3 Feb 2010 | 12:46 pm

You undoubtedly know many ways to get your website traffic for free, don’t you? One of the best free traffic generating methods is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). That’s where you optimize your site in order to get a permanent high ranking in the search engines for the keywords or key phrases that you optimize. I’m not going in to this, that’s for another occasion, but by applying SEO you will certainly get your website traffic, although it takes quite some time. Photo credit: Pro-Zak Running an affiliate program is another way to get your website traffic for…
Video Selling Gets Boring

Case Stevens

27 Jan 2010 | 9:55 am

I receive so many emails lately containing some sort of video selling. My Gmail accounts are full of videos I HAVE to watch, otherwise …(fill in the blanks). It often looks like a matter of ‘Life or Death’. “Here’s a Killer video”, “You MUST see this video or else…” The main reason to use video selling or video marketing in my opinion is to quickly get to the heart of the promotion. Like the main benefit users will experience if they buy! Video selling enables you to ‘paint the picture’ in your prospect’s head. Video is…
Outsourcing Benefits

Case Stevens

22 Jan 2010 | 5:46 am

While outsourcing becomes more popular these days, reading questions on forums and comments on blogs, many people still don’t see the outsourcing benefits. You’ll enjoy your work much more if you can concentrate on what you’re best at and will be far less stressed at the end of the day. As a result, you’ll be far more productive than if you try to do everything yourself! And that’s one of the biggest outsourcing benefits! Another huge benefit is that outsourcing builds up your business much faster. And you develop quality relationships with the right, high…
Domain Check – Domain Names Quiz

Case Stevens

19 Jan 2010 | 1:30 pm

A domain check normally is where you check if the desired domain still is available. You do that, because you have this great product or service that you want to sell and you’re looking for a great domain name for a new website to promote it from. That’s when you do a domain check. You want to see what’s available and what’s taken already. If it’s taken, you can do a whois to find out who the owner is and make him/her an offer. If it’s available, you can register the name. Photo Credit: H Dickins What are you looking for when searching for a premium…

davefleet.com
Customer Service In The Age Of Social Media

Dave Fleet

9 Feb 2010 | 6:08 am

Yesterday I spoke with City News‘ Kris Reyes about the challenges businesses face in customer service in the age of social media. In Toronto we’ve seen numerous recent instances of “citizen journalism” highlighting problems at the TTC – a TwitPic of a TTC worker sleeping; a video of a bus driver’s unscheduled coffee break in the middle of a route and finally a perhaps ill-advised Facebook page set up by some TTC staff. It’s a tough time to work in a customer-facing job. It just takes one slip-up and, if you’re unlucky, you can find yourself all…
Launching The Social Mediators Video Podcast

Dave Fleet

8 Feb 2010 | 10:20 am

Today we’re launching the Social Mediators video podcast. Each week, Joe Thornley, Terry Fallis and I (three guys who, as Joe says, should never be on camera!) will chat about social media and its intersection with communications, organizations and society in general. As Joe put it on his site: “We’re always on, always connected. How are we taking advantage of the new capablities that gives us? And how is that affecting the way we relate to one another and how we organize around common interests? Finally, what does that mean for traditional organizations – companies,…
Use Social Media To Make Them Feel Special

Dave Fleet

5 Feb 2010 | 5:53 am

80+ tweets, dozens and dozens of Facebook wall posts and numerous private messages. That’s all it took (along with some kind and hilarious antics from my co-workers) to make me feel truly special on my birthday yesterday. Are you doing this kind of thing for your customers? Are you taking a few seconds (or minutes) to make them feel special? It really isn’t difficult – it just took a few seconds to post those messages, but the effect was disproportionate to the effort required. If you’re connected to customers in such a way (online or offline) that you know their…
More Journalists Prefer Bulk Email Than Personalized? Huh?

Dave Fleet

3 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

Last week saw the launch of a campaign entitled “An Inconvenient PR Truth,” aimed at trying to weed-out some of the black sheep in the PR family. Many of us in the profession have been arguing for similar practices to those advocated there for a while. While the campaign’s approach raised my hackles somewhat, the motives stated seem reasonable on the face of things. This post isn’t about the broader campaign though. Buried deep in a slide deck supporting the campaign was a slide about the way journalists prefer to receive “press release emails” (a term that…
Charlie Brooker Shows Us How To Report The News

Dave Fleet

1 Feb 2010 | 5:00 am

A little light viewing for you. You may have already seen this – if so, watch it again. Otherwise, take two minutes to watch it. It’s worth it.

Shotgun Marketing Blog
judging the book by the cover

Chris Houchens

29 Jan 2010 | 7:33 pm

Brand Zeitgeist will be available in March. Finally. I present to you the cover of Brand Zeitgeist. My book, which will be available in March, reinforces basic marketing and branding principles and illustrates how organizations can use fundamental aspects of human nature to develop a brand strategy. Click here to connect on the Brand Zeitgeist facebook page to stay informed about events and announcements about the book. I’ll soon be looking for some folks who want to review advance copies of the book and/or host a stop on the blog book tour. Stay tuned. bookmark or share this post
insurgents in your organization

Chris Houchens

26 Jan 2010 | 7:41 pm

Late last week, Alex Bogusky was elevated from CD of Crispin Porter + Bogusky to “Chief Creative Insurgent“ of the ad agency’s parent company MDC Partners. Hmmm. Since, by definition, an insurgent is a rebel who revolts against authority or acts contrary to the policies of their organization, Bogusky has his work cut out for him. He’s fighting against “The Man” while simultaneously being “The Man“. That’s tough work. While I typically despise jargon-ish job titles that have no meaning, the big idea behind this insurgent idea is right on…
punish your biggest fans

Chris Houchens

20 Jan 2010 | 7:33 am

A memo from the top brass at the New York Times was sent to employees about the plan to charge for online content at nytimes.com… Today we are announcing that we will be introducing a paid model for NYTimes.com at the beginning of 2011…we have chosen a metered approach that will offer users free access to a set number of articles per month and then charge users once they exceed that number. (Read the full memo here) There is no doubt that there will have to be a paid model for online news. Journalism is not free. But what’s the revenue solution for online news consumption? Hard…
christine is not jared

Chris Houchens

6 Jan 2010 | 1:10 am

Way back in the “early oughts”, Pepsico / Tricon (now known as Yum!) employed Jason “george costanza” Alexander to make the pitch that Kentucky FRIED Chicken was diet food. It was attacked as a stupid outrageous advertising campaign and was quietly shelved. But just because a stupid idea didn’t work doesn’t mean the same company can’t try it again a few years later. Here in 2010, Yum! is trying to get me to go on the Taco Bell Drive-Thru Diet. The most striking thing is how the disclaimers outweigh the copy on the ads. It’s like talking to Mr.
best of 2009

Chris Houchens

22 Dec 2009 | 9:22 pm

People hate year end lists. But at the end of each year that I have blogged, I have done a list of top / favorite posts from the previous year. You can peruse previous years here: [2005] [2006] [2007] [2008] I basically do the year end list for two reasons: Me. I enjoy going back in the archives and rediscovering posts I had forgotten. Doing the year end list also helps me organize each year’s good stuff from my not-so-good stuff You. New readers that joined later in the year may not have waded back through the archives. Or regulars may have missed one of these. The criteria for the…

The Accidental Product Manager
Case Study: What To Do When A Large Competitor Shows Up On Your Block

Dr. Jim Anderson

7 Feb 2010 | 8:01 pm

Image Credit NCR Is Getting Into The DVR Rental Business – Bad News For redbox Who Doesn’t Like A Little Competition? There’s not a product manager out there who doesn’t dream of the day in which their product is the only show in town. Man – wouldn’t that be great? You wouldn’t have to worry about any real competition, you’d just be spending your time working to grow the market. And then you wake up. The new-kid-on-the-block firm Redbox who has taken the DVD rental market by storm with their low-price, limited selection kiosks that have been popping up everywhere. For the…
Are You Listening To Your Customers Product Manager?

Dr. Jim Anderson

31 Jan 2010 | 8:01 pm

Image Credit It May Seem Strange, But Listening To Your Customer Really Works Why Bother Listening To Your Customers? One of the best interviews that I’ve ever read was with Steve Jobs (of Apple fame) in which he scoffed at doing things like focus groups and such in order to get input for the fantastic products that Apple makes. He said that since what Apple is doing is so revolutionary, getting input from potential customers wouldn’t help much because they couldn’t even imagine what a product could do. I do respect Steve, but could he be wrong? For those of us product managers whose…
Hey Customer: Would You Like Some Time With That Product?

Dr. Jim Anderson

26 Jan 2010 | 8:01 pm

Image Credit Don’t Mickey Mouse Around With Your Customer’s Time Quick: what’s the most valuable item in the world? Gold? Diamonds? Nope, it turns out that the thing that most of us would gladly give our left arm for more of is: time. Now since I can see that you are nodding your head in agreement with this, I’ve got a question for you. Why aren’t you selling time along with your product? Don’t Worry, Nobody’s Doing It Study after study of both consumers and businesses have shown that both share our view that time is the most valuable of resources. Nobody has enough of the…
Product Managers Need New Product Flop Insurance

Dr. Jim Anderson

24 Jan 2010 | 8:01 pm

Image Credit Even The (Seemingly) Best Product Ideas Can Fail Is there any part of a product manager’s job that is more exciting then being responsible for introducing a new product? For that matter, is there any experience that can be more nerve racking than introducing a new product? If only there was some way that we could take out “flop insurance” that would help to prevent our becoming known as the product manager who introduced the next “new Coke” disaster… Why New Product Fail In 2003 34,000 new products were introduced. 90% of them failed. In 2008 122,743 new products were…
Is Dancing With Yourself Wrong For Product Mangers To Do?

Dr. Jim Anderson

17 Jan 2010 | 8:01 pm

Image Credit How Will Microsoft What’s a product manger to do when your #1 competitor is your own product? What can you do if you spend a lot of time and money developing a new version of your product and then roll it out and the customers that you want to sell it to appear to be happy using the old version of your product? This is exactly the situation that Microsoft’s Office product managers now find themselves in… Done In By Their Own Success Everybody knows what Microsoft’s Office product is don’t you? It’s the premier suite of business software tools…

Take me to your Leader!
What is A Modern Marketing Organization?

Freddie Laker

22 Jan 2010 | 11:14 am

Does “tweeting” mean you’ve figured it out? Does knowing how to “friend” someone qualify you as a modern marketer of the new advertising age? Hardly. In fact, reaching that lofty goal is less about the tactics we employ, and more about our overall approach to the complexities of the modern consumer. Our jobs are becoming more demanding. Big businesses now operate in a multi-market, multi-lingual, and frequently multi-brand world. A world filled with commercial and cultural nuances. The modern marketers I respect are finding ways to address these nuances by…
Apple App Store Economy / Android and 4G thoughts

Rob Gonda

13 Jan 2010 | 7:14 pm

Thank you Gigaom So I’m an iPhone user, and so are most of my friends … but I really think the new gold mine is Android; I was playing with the HTC Hero and Samsung Moment today, Droid Eric over the weekend, and can’t wait to get my hands on a Nexus One … With 50 new Android phones coming out this year, an open app eco-system, and 4G coming out this year, I really can’t wait to see the outcome … Oh, I was playing with some custom phones I bought from China with Video conferencing over Wifi and it works awesome… so 4G/Wiki, Android OS, free cloud…
What does it take to make a successful iPhone application?

Rob Gonda

12 Dec 2009 | 6:00 am

What does it take to make a successful iPhone application? Before answering what does it take to make a successful iPhone application we have to define what makes an application successful. Sapient always asks why are we building something, what are we trying to achieve, and how are we going to measure it; so starting from top down, what are the business objectives, the key performance indicators, and all metrics. iPhone applications usually serve one of two purposes: drive brand or drive revenue. Objective: Drive brand Applications that drive brand most likely are free since they have to…
Social Media: Are you ready for real-time?

Rob Gonda

8 Dec 2009 | 2:31 pm

Alabama's Local 15 News Live Twitter Billboard A few days ago I found this shocking blog claiming “Live Twitter News Billboard Leads to Social Media Fail“… go ahead, read it and see if you agree. First, the fact that they pulled off a digital billboard with live tweets is awesome. So now ask yourself, what was the cause of this event? live tweets? twitter? social media? The answer is none of the above. The only reason this happened is due to organizational readiness. There are two factors here: 1. Are they ready to accept that people talk? Does it really matter if…
Omma Mobile Panel: Mobile Web Vs. Mobile Apps

Rob Gonda

8 Dec 2009 | 12:35 pm

I had the pleasure to moderate a panel for Omma mobile in October with a nice talented group of experts: Panelist | Jeannette Kocsis, SVP Digital Marketing, Harte-Hanks, Inc. Jeannette_Kocsis@harte-hanks.com Panelist | Ujjal Kohli, CEO, Rhythm Media lisa@rhythmnewmedia.com Panelist | Kyle Outlaw, UX lead, Razorfish kyle.outlaw@razorfish.com Panelist | Ken Willner, CEO of Zumobi ken.willner@zumobi.com Panelist | Jamie Wells, Director, Global Trade Marketing, Microsoft Mobile Advertising jawells@microsoft.com Moderator | Rob Gonda, Director of Digital Strategy…

B.L. Ochman's blog
Hey Old Spice and Time Warner! You were the laughing stock of social media week new york

BL Ochman

7 Feb 2010 | 8:05 pm

Old Spice was the laughing stock of Social Media Week New York when I showed this horrific photo from their lameass Residue is Evil campaign. Time Warner was close behind on the lousy campaign laugh meter. As I noted back in August 2009: "Ok, I'm not a 18 to 25 year-old man, so I'm not the demographic for the Old Spice Deodorant's Swagger contest. Nonetheless, I've never seen a more confused, obtuse, badly designed contest than the one that starts on this annoying page and gets weirder and harder to use from there. They've included their slickly produced commercials as examples, which rather,…
Toyota: Way too little, way too late & what they should have done

BL Ochman

7 Feb 2010 | 9:26 am

The Daily Show With Jon StewartMon - Thurs 11p / 10c
#socialmedia Tweet Chat #45 - The fear factor: Shift Happens

BL Ochman

2 Feb 2010 | 8:05 pm

I am immersed in Social Media Week New York, and wanted to share some of the highlights of my travels today. The theme of the day: Shift happens. Tweet Chatting with Borders Free WiFi Since there was no wifi at the new media conference I was covering today, (!?) I ended up at Borders, where the coffee was great, and the wifi was free, (thank you Borders!) so I could host the 45th edition of the hour-long weekly Twitter Social Media chat, produced by hashtagsocialmedia.com's Marc Meyer and Jason Breed. Just about everyone who's anyone in emerging media has hosted and/or participated in the…
Thistle Farms: Marketing With Hope, Love & Social Media

BL Ochman

31 Jan 2010 | 7:31 pm

Sometimes, the use of social media is a rather frivolous afterthought in marketing campaigns. In the case of Magdelene House and Thistle Farms, hope, love, and social media sell redemption. Let them show you what social media really can do. Last week, I went to a house party for Thistle Farms, a non-profit business operated by the women of Magdalene House, a two-year residential program for women who are recovering from sexual abuse, violence, and life on the streets, and who have paid dearly for their past. The party was held to celebrate the start of Magdelene's 10-city tour of prisons,…
2010 Social Media Week NYC: My Schedule & Recommended Events

BL Ochman

31 Jan 2010 | 6:27 pm

Social Media Week NYC kicks off Monday and scores of events - almost all aimed at newbies - are planned. I'm speaking at three events this week - one online and two at the Roger Smith Hotel. Details are below along with several other events that look interesting. Where I'm speaking 1- Social Media Tweet Chat Tuesday, Feb 2 noon-1pm EST on Twitter I'll moderate a conversation on Twitter about the business of social media. These Twitter chats have been moderated by a stellar array of social media luminaries including my friends Scott Monty, Ann Handley, Shel Israel, Charlene Li, Brian Solis,…

Twitter / jonpetersen
jonpetersen: Apple announces new device sized between laptop and smartphone to be called an iPad. http://CNN.com/Live

27 Jan 2010 | 10:53 am

jonpetersen: Apple announces new device sized between laptop and smartphone to be called an iPad. http://CNN.com/Live
jonpetersen: RT @socialmedia2day: Using Twitter to find Influentials http://bit.ly/80R14N thru TweepSearch.com. #smm #pr #publicrelations #marketing

1 Jan 2010 | 5:56 pm

jonpetersen: RT @socialmedia2day: Using Twitter to find Influentials http://bit.ly/80R14N thru TweepSearch.com. #smm #pr #publicrelations #marketing
jonpetersen: FastCo: No, I Don't Want to Be Friends With My Butter: Brand Relationships for the #SocialMedia Era http://bit.ly/74NgFf #smm #branding

1 Jan 2010 | 5:36 pm

jonpetersen: FastCo: No, I Don't Want to Be Friends With My Butter: Brand Relationships for the #SocialMedia Era http://bit.ly/74NgFf #smm #branding
jonpetersen: frm @theKbuzz: The Top 10 Most Important Tweets of 2009 http://bit.ly/4TonH5 "There’s a plane in the Hudson. Im on the ferry...

1 Jan 2010 | 5:32 pm

jonpetersen: frm @theKbuzz: The Top 10 Most Important Tweets of 2009 http://bit.ly/4TonH5 "There’s a plane in the Hudson. Im on the ferry...
jonpetersen: frm @theKbuzz: Top 10 Social Media Top 10 Lists of 2009 http://bit.ly/5OS3bK 1. 10 Ways Social Media Changed Our Thinking in 2009;

1 Jan 2010 | 5:30 pm

jonpetersen: frm @theKbuzz: Top 10 Social Media Top 10 Lists of 2009 http://bit.ly/5OS3bK 1. 10 Ways Social Media Changed Our Thinking in 2009;

The Creative Cooler
SuperBowl Ad Controversy

Christine

3 Feb 2010 | 3:26 pm

There's a big controversy brewing over a SuperBowl ad to be aired this Sunday, and no, it's not the latest censored ad from GoDaddy. This ad is controversial not just because of it's controversial subject matter, but because it's breaking a long standing SuperBowl rule. I never knew this before, but apparently CBS had long standing rule that advocacy ads were not accepted as advertising during the SuperBowl. The reason being that the SuperBowl is a fun, family friendly event and let's not spoil it by bringing up sensitive, heated issues. Honestly, I think that's a great stance. I don't want…
Typography Tip #2: Properly Using Dashes

Christine

18 Jan 2010 | 7:17 am

There are three types of dashes used in type. Yep, three. Most people, unless you are a writer or work in a publishing industry, are unaware of anything beyond the standard hyphen and unfortunately I frequently see hyphens placed where they shouldn't be. It's a big enough problem that our agency proofreader has a Word document he sends to people when he gets enough of their writing that doesn't use dashes properly. Since he spelled things out to nicely, I'm plagerizing a bit of it in this post. Here's the rundown on the different kind of dashes and how to use them: There are three categories…
The Taco Bell Diet?

Christine

15 Jan 2010 | 8:25 am

While it seems a bit like an oxymoron to me, it is, in fact Taco Bell's new ad campaign. I remember seeing one of the ads a few weeks ago and thinking the fast food company was almost making fun of itself and by parading a woman, Christine Dougherty, around as this Subway's Jared-like success case in losing weight on the Taco Bell diet. There's nothing wrong with this, it's awesome that Christine lost the weight, and I can understand why Taco Bell would want to showcase her the way Subway showcased Jared, but it doesn't quite fit. Initially your intuition and the years of learning that fast…
Typography Tip #1: Don't Double Space After A Period

Christine

11 Jan 2010 | 8:31 am

This is one of my biggest pet peeves and any professional designer is going to tell you it's a very common typography mistake. The history of double spacing vs. single spacing after a period, however, is rather long and complicated. Just take a look at this Wikipedia article that will tell you all about the English style vs. the French style and the various spacing changes with punctuation over time. It's long and kind of confusing, but the end result is that the modern typesetting rules for the U.S. are to single space after a period. But why did we all learn to double space after a period…
Attention Special Interests: Leave the First Family Out Of Your Ads

Christine

6 Jan 2010 | 1:15 pm

Back in August, I blogged about Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM), a thinly veiled vegan promoting activist group, referencing Sasha and Malia Obama in an ad campaign for healthier school lunches and plastered the ads all over the DC Metro. The White House, not surprisingly, was not pleased. It seems PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, is up to similar tricks but took it a step further by actually using Michelle Obama's photo in a recent anti-fur ad. The White House has said was never authorized. Um, why does PETA think they can use someone's image…

Marketing Voices
Social Media Adoption by Industries Not As Prolific as Believed Says Marketing Profs Director of Research Tim McAtee – Part 1

podcast_info@ConnectedSocialMedia.com (Jennifer Jones)

25 Jan 2010 | 7:17 pm

In an interview that is part one of a two-part series, the latest research from Marketing Profs Director Of Research, Tim McAtee, has released a new comprehensive study. It delves into the participation rates of companies in social media by industry. What they find is although the overall use of social media is high, the adoption rate is over just 1/3 in just a few of the top industries. They found that the majority of industries are NOT participating in social media. But what he does say is the usage of social media networks in B2B and B2C is similar. Facebook is the most commonly used tool…
Nate Elliott Of Forrester Research Tells Brands What Social Media Tools Work Best For Generation X

podcast_info@ConnectedSocialMedia.com (Jennifer Jones)

11 Jan 2010 | 4:29 pm

Generation X, those who were born between 1961 and 1981, are a group of people marketers are trying to reach. Nate Elliott, Principal Analyst of Forrester Research told me what he thought effective social marketing strategies are for this generation. He mentioned that there are many social media channels that work. He said that every marketer should identify their objectives and goals first then work to identify the social media tools. When I asked what program he liked and thought was most effective, he brought up the TV show Mad Men and talked about a launch strategy used to engage viewers…
Columnist Chris O’Brien of the San Jose Mercury News Tells how Social Media Is Impacting His Job

podcast_info@ConnectedSocialMedia.com (Jennifer Jones)

21 Dec 2009 | 11:38 am

Well known and respected columnist Chris O’Brien who works at the San Jose Mercury News of California talked to Marketing Voices about what impact social media has had on his job. He is trying to figure out how to leverage his time so he does not work 24/7 and yet has the time to blog, podcast and do a great column. He’s still figuring it out, and gives listeners his latest perspective in my December 2009 interview. Related posts:How Social Media is Impacting the Corporate Marketing and PR FunctionsNate Elliott Of Forrester Research Tells Brands What Social Media Tools Work Best For…
Digital Versus Traditional Advertising: Bill Predmore of POP Gives His Perspective

podcast_info@ConnectedSocialMedia.com (Jennifer Jones)

7 Dec 2009 | 12:09 am

What does 2010 look like for digital advertising? How will it fare compared to traditional ads? I asked Bill Predmore President of POP agency for his predictions. He believes marketers are definitely going to spend more on ads in 2010 and feels social media is still growing in its impact for brands. Mobile will grow due to the iPod’s popularity. Related posts:CNET’s Needleman on His Views of Traditional Versus New MediaMobile Marketing: The Next OpportunityAnytime, Anywhere Perspective from Neilsen Analytics Larry Gerbrandt, General Manager and Senior VP
Big Fix’s David Appelbaum: Increasing A Company’s Valuation By Integrating Social Media And Mainstream Media

podcast_info@ConnectedSocialMedia.com (Jennifer Jones)

30 Nov 2009 | 11:01 pm

Building a company’s valuation is instrumental to a company’s success. Using marketing communications techniques by integrating social media with traditional media is one way to build a better brand and value. Big Fix’s Senior Vice President of Marketing, David Appelbaum, knows how to create innovative, powerful programs and shares his thoughts with Jennifer Jones in this 7 minute podcast. Related posts:Paula Drum and Social Media Programs SuccessBigFix Wins Big by Creating Innovative Social Media CampaignSocial Marketing Metrics: Insights From A Corporate VP

The LEADSExplorer Blog: Lead generation - Website visitors - CRM - B2B
Content marketing: search engines vs social networks difference

The Leads Explorer

8 Feb 2010 | 10:26 am

Search You use search engines and go to the information. Social The information is presented to you by your network. Search Since many years we use search engines to find information on the Internet. This gives you the... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
The Starters’ Guide to Social Media Marketing

The Leads Explorer

6 Feb 2010 | 1:32 pm

The presence on the Internet presents a challenge for all: from large corporations over companies to sole-traders. During different discussions with professionals who are helping us with our business, the subject of... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
The hyped or not – the market decides in the end

The Leads Explorer

4 Feb 2010 | 10:44 am

Successful without any hype: the netbook Late 2007 Asus introduced the first netbook to the market without any hype under the motto: “Easy to learn, Easy to work, Easy to play” or EEE pc. It received little interest... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Is paranormal activity required to bound marketing and sales?

The Leads Explorer

2 Feb 2010 | 10:29 am

We all have heard and know about the gap between marketing and sales. Marketing has good intentions by creating awareness and generate leads, whereas sales is blamed not to follow-up on the leads provided. There is... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
Selling common products to a dull market isn’t sexy but challenging

The Leads Explorer

31 Jan 2010 | 8:51 am

Some markets are considered as sexy: information technology, mobile systems, aviation, fashion, … and even cars. However most businesses and markets seem to be dull with dull products: not at all sexy at all as... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

Insights and Ingenuity
Your Web Site Sucks. Now What?

heatherrast

4 Feb 2010 | 6:05 pm

When a consumer wants to learn more about eco-friendly cleaning services, where do they go? When they want to find a good pediadentist near their kid’s school, what do they do? The answer, of course, is the Web. Research indicates that peer reviews – recommendations made by friends or family – are extremely influential to a buyer’s decision-making. A thumbs-up sign from someone who’s bought from Company X or Brand Y is like the Everyman’s Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Those reviews, that word-of-mouth, isn’t enough though. Some folks will want more. Others will…
Video Interview: Convergence Journalism

heatherrast

2 Feb 2010 | 6:14 am

Nick Bergus is a teacher, a foodie, a writer, a videographer, and new media creator. He has business sense, a creative flair and an unflappable ‘approachability’ factor that makes intellectual discussions entertaining and satisfying at the same time. And he’s my second guest for the 10 In 10 Vlog series. I’m thrilled he had a few minutes to chat with me about journalism, new media, pay walls, and steeped traditional professions like hog farming in Iowa. Nick believes that multimedia tells a story, appealing to a consumer’s multiple facets through sound,…
More Than Meets The Eye

heatherrast

26 Jan 2010 | 7:37 pm

There’s More To The Story, If You Care To Look. As disorganized as some people are, as seemingly random and unintentional as some of our choices may be, our minds inherently operate mostly linearly. We make quick assessments based on first impressions and related experiences. Another way of putting it is that we’re most comfortable sorting the people and pieces of our lives into similar profiles. And once they’ve been placed and new (often validating, sometimes self-selected affirmation) bits of data layered on top, it’s difficult if not impossible to reassociate…
5 Social Media Lies

heatherrast

23 Jan 2010 | 2:07 pm

5 Lies Social Media { fill in the blank } Tell Their Clients “I’ve been doing this a long time.” “Do you have anything new going on? That’s what we need to focus on.” “It’s okay that the folks in <xyz department> don’t ‘get’ social media. We don’t need them.” “I can have <your brand> up and running in no time.” “Once I’ve set everything up, its pretty minimal upkeep from there.” First, the terms {“expert,” “guru,” “maven”} and the like…
Online Forums – Moderate Or Manage?

heatherrast

20 Jan 2010 | 6:49 am

A colleague and I were recently discussing some features of Facebook pages. An example frequently cited as a well-designed page (in the creative/app sense) is PINK by Victoria’s Secret. With 1,702,953 fans, this branded page certainly has an audience with its target demographic – late teen-to-mid 20-aged women and to a lesser extent, the males in their lives (not to mention males who simply appreciate the lingerie maker’s, er, assets). If you notice the brand’s wall, you’ll see a host of comments and announcements by the page’s fans. All kinds of people are shouting out…

The Email Wars
Get an Email Marketing Audit from eROI Team in San Diego

dylan@eroi.com (eROI)

9 Feb 2010 | 6:04 am

Ok the article title was meant to entice you, but isn’t that what subject lines are all about? At the end of this month we are happy to be spending 3 days in San Diego at the Online Marketing Summit February 22-24th. While there, besides speaking on one panel and doing one stand alone educational session, we will also be running a one on one email audit table where you can sign up and have one of our email strategy team review your situation, campaign, subscription center, welcome stream or overall plan and get our thoughts on how you might improve it. I know sounds too good to be true…
Videos from EEC 2010 – Email Idol: 3 Agencies Face Off

dylan@eroi.com (eROI)

8 Feb 2010 | 8:04 am

If you missed the most thrilling show in town last week in Miami at the EEC 2010 Conference, don’t fret I made sure to video them so that you can see how it went down. Three agencies took the stage to show off their best efforts at email stardom, redesigning three emails chosen by fellow Email Evolution Conference attendees. Watch as each agency busted out their best moves and unveiled their email redesigns. Watch as the votes were tallied by a live text vote for each round’s winner. Lisa Harmon from Smith-Harmon praised and critiqued the contenders, plus she dished out her own email…
Mastering the 5 C’s of Community Development

dylan@eroi.com (eROI)

8 Feb 2010 | 6:51 am

Some of you might be unfamiliar with the fact that at eROI we not only are focused on email marketing but our team works extensively in web development, strategy and idea execution across many areas. I wanted to share this latest case study from eROI as I personally worked on all of these projects. It has been a 2 year journey from when we started testing what community could mean to where we ended up for Wacom. Along the way we learned so much and continue to learn more each day still. Community can mean so many things. It is not simply building a stand alone community site. In the case of…
Leveraging the Mobile Web

dylan@eroi.com (eROI)

3 Feb 2010 | 5:27 am

So I wanted to “share” with all of you a new study we just released covering some clients we work with and how we went through the process of creating mobile versions of their website as opposed to building an app (for that). We love apps but sometimes they do not fit the need NOR does everyone need an app. See how we approached it and delivered an experience via a mobile version of the website content that was important. I would also cite this article as reasons for our approach to this change in content consumption from Read Write Web. eROI Whitepaper: Leveraging the Mobile Web…
Holy Subscription Centers Batman!

dylan@eroi.com (eROI)

2 Feb 2010 | 6:08 am

As a massive fan of email subscription and preference centers when it comes to email marketing I think that I stumbled on to the Holy Grail of email opt in pages. I was both amazed at the depth of this WSJ email opt in page while at the same time floored at the complexity and breadth of what they had to present. I had no idea that they published so many different versions of daily, weekly and unique emails until I stumbled upon this one. Now after scanning and trying to decide what I really wanted to get I dove deeper into all of the levels of complexity they made public facing. My hat is off…

OrangeSoda Blog
Should Your Company Waste Money on Traditional Marketing?

AJ Wilcox

8 Feb 2010 | 9:01 am

Traditional marketing can only give you an estimate on impressions. Digital and web marketing technologies can take you all the way. Let me give you an example. Traditional Let’s say that you purchased space on a billboard on the freeway. What information did the billboard company give you? Is it accurate? They can fairly accurately give you the amount of cars that drive past that point per month, but what does that tell you? Of those cars that passed your billboard, can they tell you: How many drivers looked at your ad? How many people were in each of those cars? What stage of purchase…
Conversion Rate Optimization

Clint Eagar

5 Feb 2010 | 9:00 am

As 2009 begins to blasts into 2010 I’ve been thinking a lot about how to do more with less, on how to focus on the most important, and on how to let good things not get done and instead focus on the getting the best things done. I hear over and over again, “We need more visitors to our site” or “We need to get 20,000 visits per month and we’ll be all set.” Lets step back a bit and think about what those visitors mean to the business. If my website gets 100 visitors today and I sell my product or service to 2 of them, then my conversion rate is 2.0%. Could I…
Website Monetization Mechanics

AJ Wilcox

4 Feb 2010 | 9:58 am

Ever wonder if there is a stable, predictable equation for figuring out if your ROI will be worthwhile on your Internet marketing investment? There is! There are lots of variables and assumptions you’ll have to make, but the more data you make these assumptions from, the better your prediction model will be. The Pieces of Website Monetization Search Volume for Keyword Click-through Rate from SERPs Site Conversion Rate Average Order Value/Value per Customer If these values are known, you just multiply across to get the amount of profit over the amount of time covered by your search volume…
Handling Less Than Ideal PPC Realities

Josh Summerhays

3 Feb 2010 | 12:45 pm

If you’ve been reading PPC blogs for any amount of time, you’ll notice that much of what you read seems to be tailored for businesses with big budgets and slick websites. Mind you, there’s tons of great advice and food for thought out there–it just may not help the SMB owner with limited development resources and budget. Working at OrangeSoda has equipped me with a wealth of experience in dealing with the challenges of using PPC effectively with a less-than-perfect website. Here are a few of the most common problems I’ve come across, along with ideas for how to work around the…
Traditional vs. Online Marketing for Small Businesses

Jay Bean

2 Feb 2010 | 9:00 am

I get the chance to personally meet with hundreds of small business owners as part of my job. I am always interested in what kind of marketing they are doing to grow their small businesses. Today’s economy means businesses are having a hard time keeping the lights on, and marketing is the last thing on their minds. As small business owners we have to ask ourselves this question: what’s more important, lights or customers? The only way to get new customers is to let the local marketplace know you are out there, but with so many ways to market your business, sometimes it hard to know…

Social Media Marketing
What's in a Name?

Scott Monty

27 Jan 2010 | 12:34 pm

The iPad. Unless you were in a coma, you probably heard about the launch of Apple's new tablet. A larger version of the iPhone, at 0.5 inches thick, 1.5 pounds, $499 (base model) + a $29.99 unlimited data plan, it's pretty impressive. You can read all about the reveal and product specs over on Engadget, who covered it live.There's an interesting subplot going on here, though. The hype around the event was palpable - even the Wall Street Journal noted "Last time there was this much excitement about a tablet, it had some commandments written on it." Indeed, everyone was speculating about…
2010 Digital Marketing Outlook

Scott Monty

24 Jan 2010 | 8:22 am

The Society of Digital Agencies - a group that serves as a worldwide voice of digital marketing professionals with a mission to advance the industry through best practices, education, and advocacy - recently sent me the results of a large survey they conducted. SoDA solicited feedback from over 1,000 digital marketing executives from agency and client-side worldwide and captured some solid insights worth sharing here.There is no question that digital marketing continues its upward trend. Certainly, when a company like Ford - from the historically lethargic automotive industry - spends 25% of…
Have You Got an App for That?

Scott Monty

21 Jan 2010 | 9:21 pm

It seems that app development is where it's at in social. According to a recent eMarketer article, mobile apps for social networks - in addition to phones - are under consideration by more marketers than ever before. As you can see in the graphic below, the leading platform for an app (unsurprisingly) was Facebook, followed by the iPhone.Fewer than half invested in mobile or social apps last year, but most plan to create one this year. Lest you think that this is simply marketers chasing the latest shiny object, or the boss claiming G.M.O.O.T. ("get me one of those!"), there's some solid…
Social Media Predictions for 2010

Scott Monty

2 Jan 2010 | 2:35 pm

I'm sure you've seen your fair share of social media predictions for 2010 by now. And while my posting is a little late, I hope I'm note treading too fine a line by waiting until 2010 hits before I make my predictions.Before I get into what I think will be worth watching this year, let's see how well I fared with the results from the predictions I made for 2009. Those included:Twitter will continue to achieve legitimacy. Check. There's no question that Twitter became mainstream in 2009. I won't rehash all of the examples, but suffice it to say that when your local news outlets are suggesting…
Global Social Network Figures

Scott Monty

22 Dec 2009 | 7:43 am

When any global company undertakes a social media strategy, there is an expectation that even company-wide initiatives will need to be customized for each region. Whether it's local customs, language or even the device on which the networks are accessed, it's vastly different all over the world. Facebook does not rule the world.Not yet at least. ;-)The growth of social networks globally is a sure thing. The question is, where are they growing and which networks are dominant in which markets? Last year, I shared some statistics. Naturally, things have changed.Here are some interesting…

Michael Myers
Great Google ad from the Super Bowl (video)

Michael Myers

8 Feb 2010 | 1:18 pm

Saw this ad yesterday from Google and it really speaks to how search plays into our lives. Enjoy!
Trust in peers on social media is down

Michael Myers

8 Feb 2010 | 10:49 am

A recent report by Edelman (featured on AdAge) shows that people don’t trust their peers as much as they used to. In fact it’s down 20% from 2008 (45% to 25%). As a matter of fact if you look at the overall “trust-O-meter”, all forms of media are down when it comes to trust and [...]
ITEC 4700: Class 10

Michael Myers

7 Feb 2010 | 8:08 am

10 classes down this past Thursday. I can’t believe how quickly it’s going. Two of the students did a presentation on Naked Conversations, a book by Shel Israel and Robert Scoble. The book focuses on how blogging is transforming businesses and they used the online tool Prezi for their presentation. Pretty cool collaborative, presentation tool. [...]
Apple. Your advertising partner.

Michael Myers

5 Feb 2010 | 9:06 am

I recently read the article in BusinessWeek entitled Why They Can’t Be Friends with Steve Jobs and Eric Schmidt on the cover. Sadly Bill Gates was left off the cover and for the most part is an afterthought when it comes to the web and mobile space. (That “Bing thing” may be worth talking about [...]
Seth Godin & Tom Peters on Blogging (video)

Michael Myers

4 Feb 2010 | 7:59 am

The topic of blogging came up the other day and I was curious to hear why people blog. For some it’s therapy and for others it is selling what they do. For me it’s more along the lines of what Seth Godin says in this video. Enjoy!

Connect - Digital Marketing Expertise from iCrossing
Mobile browser market share map

Dominic Parker

5 Feb 2010 | 6:10 am

This map shows the popularity of different mobile browsing platforms country by country, with some interesting results. Apple’s dominance can clearly be seen, with the iPhone and iTouch accounting for over half the market in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany and Japan. The Android platform has its largest share in the US and the UK, but has a much weaker share in other countries. This could change in the near future as new phones emerge that run Android, such as the Nexus One. Docomo and KDDI are the largest mobile phone operators in Japan, and account for 12% of the mobile browser share…
Open Site Explorer and Excel, a link made in heaven

Magico Martinez

1 Feb 2010 | 1:20 pm

As we all know, SEOMoz has recently launched its latest toy, an Open Site Explorer. I am going to assume that you have been playing around with it for a bit now. I will also recommend you to read SEOGadget’s post with some tips and ideas. But I am here to tell you how Open Site Explorer and Microsoft Excel combined can help you when researching links against your competitors. Let’s use the term “shoes”. First of all, let’s see how the top 10 compare in terms of external links. To do this, I will run all the URLs in Open Site Explorer. And then filter all links to show only Followed…
Proof: Site Links Increase Conversions and Visibility

Gregory Damas

29 Jan 2010 | 9:43 am

Sam Fenton Elstone wrote an interesting post on site links a couple a months ago. To recap; Google’s been offering the choice for advertisers to have 4 additional site links to their Paid Search ads. One of the major positive aspects of site links is to shorten the users navigation to conversion as well promoting seasonal services or products. However, another great benefit of the site links is… gaining visibility on highly competitive keywords. I’ve been running site links for one of our clients. One of the site links is based on the keyword ”Theatre tickets”.
The Hype: Apple iPad

Chris Eden

28 Jan 2010 | 6:53 am

I don’t claim to be an avid Apple fan, although I have owned numerous iPods and currently use an iPhone which i’ve been very impressed by. However, like many people, my curiosity and liking of gadgetry tech drew me towards the events that were to be announced yesterday night by Apple’s CEO, Steve Jobs. In case you haven’t already heard (most have!), Apple have announced the release of a new product, the ‘iPad’. It’s expected that it will be released in the UK June or July time. There’s still lots of people wondering what exactly it is/does,…
How engagement measurement will change the world

Antony Mayfield

25 Jan 2010 | 3:16 am

iCrossing: NMAlive presentation on engagement measurement View more presentations from Antony Mayfield. Last Friday I presented at the NMAlive event* on Online Engagement Demysitified event, running with the hopeful title “How Engagement Measurement Will Change the World” (see slides above). As ever, it was a good opportunity to revisit the theme of engagement measurement and think about how we talk about it at iCrossing. We’ve effectively spent the last four years looking at how you quantify and understand the concept of engagement. It’s only with evidence and…

Herd - the hidden truth about who we are
Word of Mouth: The Eyes Have it

Mark Earls

8 Feb 2010 | 11:05 am

pic c/o SodaheadListen, I think we need to sort this thing out.It's not that what people say to each other isn't important in shaping our behaviour. Nor, indeed that recommendation (or advocacy or whatever you call it) in particular, is completely irrelevant. It's just that the really important mechanism lies in what other people see, hear and feel going on around them: it's in the eyes and ears of the advocate's peers and not in the words of the advocate or recommendor. It's at the "influenced" end of the telescope and not the "influencer".
Tools from evolutionary science for understanding Human Behaviour

Mark Earls

7 Feb 2010 | 1:56 pm

Very excited about the session I'm running at the Market Research Society Conference at the end of March:I've got Dr. Alex Bentley and Professor Mike O'Brien confirmed for a session exploring how they have applied ideas and techniques from evolutionary science to the study of human behaviour. If you thought all evolution had to offer the study of contemporary human behaviour was Geoffrey Miller & Robin Wight's Peacock's Tailery (that most of what we do, we do to signal our reproductive fitness), then think again. Cultural evolution is now a highly…
Influence, the influentials and the influenced

Mark Earls

4 Feb 2010 | 2:46 am

Nice musings by chum David C and Stowe Boyd around this study that suggests it's the not the number of connections you have that determines your influence, but rather the nature of those connections - your "betweenness" as Stowe calls it:"It is not your follower count, or who you follow, per se. But, instead, do you have short paths into other social scenes, both incoming and outgoing? That is the deep structure of being truly connected: bridging over different social scenes, acting as a conduit, a vector, a filter and amplifier for ideas good and bad, the best…
Nigel Hollis and JFK

Mark Earls

1 Feb 2010 | 4:07 am

Picked up something from the twitterstream this morning that seems to have got a few chums excited.Nigel Hollis - chief adresearch guru at Millward Brown - has been musing on the relative roles of Mass & Social Media and whether on Here's the tricky bit of his post"All of this leads me to believe that social media is no way for a mass market brand to disrupt the status quo. It is simply an additional means to communicate and engage your loyal customers"Well, sort of. On the one hand, it's true that i. few mass market brands have (YET!) entirely switched their…
Why talk really is cheap

Mark Earls

31 Jan 2010 | 10:51 am

Pic c/o of the Fabulous Henry R Yesterday, my old chum David C pointed a bunch of folk like me to this piece in Adage by Steve Knox, the guy who runs Tremor - the P&G WoM/sampling outfit. Now, first of all let me say the two central points of the piece seem unobjectionable: 1. the idea of disrupting shared assumptions in a marketplace by what you do and how you say has been around in various forms (not least Jean-Marie Dru's masterpiece Disruption) for nearly 2 decades now. If you haven't come across it til now, I'd suggest you check your feeds (and the…

The Database Diva
5 Critical Sales Lead Management Mistakes – Part 2

Lori Feldman

25 Jan 2010 | 8:00 am

In my last post I gave you mistakes 1 – 3. In this post I’ll continue with mistakes 4 and 5. Mistake #4: Treating everyone on your database the same. Bill Cosby allegedly said, “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” If you can’t identify your most important contacts, you can’t give them the special handling they deserve. Other than “customer” or “prospect,” “A-B-C” or “Hot-Warm-Cold,” most salespeople have no database segmentation system. (Read my 14…
5 Critical Sales Lead Management Mistakes

Lori Feldman

13 Jan 2010 | 8:00 am

I’m often asked about the technology I use to keep track of my busy day. Because I’m a Social CRM consultant (formerly known as a Database Marketing Consultant), I’m expected to be “up” on the latest hardware, sofware, gadget and widget silver-bullet du jour. Actually, I’m an old-fashioned girl in this department. I believe “less is more.” On the “adopter” bell-shaped curve, I’m definitely a “Missouri Show-Me” late majority. There are too many time-suck temptations already. If I forget this lesson, all I have to…
MarketSTL, a St. Louis SEO Conference, Opens April 1

Lori Feldman

11 Jan 2010 | 8:31 pm

This month “google,” the verb, (not Google, the company) was chosen as Word of the Decade by the American Dialect Society. Not surprising when you consider that more than 90% of all buyers start the process by “googling” their object of desire–even if they use Yahoo or Bing to search for it. One of the final frontiers in search engine optimization (SEO) is local search. That’s how retailers, service businesses, local consultants and sales teams can level the playing field with everyone else on the planet who sells what they do by mastering local search,…
Drip Marketing Success Story

Lori Feldman

7 Jan 2010 | 8:15 am

Drip marketing is not something I just talk about, it’s the primary marketing strategy I’ve integrated into my business for the past 6 years. (I’ve actually relied on drip marketing for more than 20 years, but it’s only been recently that drip marketing automation software has scaled to desktop use for SMBs, small sales teams and consultants. Cost is no longer a barrier to entry; for under a few hundred dollars a month, any size company can compete digitally for more business with drip marketing automation.) I’d like to share one of my personal drip marketing…
How To Start a Drip Marketing Campaign – Part 2

Lori Feldman

5 Jan 2010 | 8:30 am

This is Part 2 of my article outlining a get-started drip-marketing checklist. You can read Part 1 here. Like any complex, overwhelming task, launching your first drip marketing campaign is easier if you break down big concepts into discreet, do-able action items. Here’s the second half of the checklist. Drip Marketing Campaign Checklist – Part 2 5. Set up your campaign in your drip marketing automation content editor. If you don’t yet have one, I recommend Swiftpage because it’s easy to learn and one of the least expensive (I am a reseller of this program).

Taylorisms
Social Shopping

7 Feb 2010 | 6:39 am

Social networking is now the most popular Internet activity. According to Hitwise, visits to social networking sites now account for more than 13% of all Internet traffic.As this activity has grown, social networks have become an increasingly important source of traffic for major retailers - year on year figures indicate a 37% increase in upstream traffic. Beyond the traffic flow, there also seems to be a measurable degree of intent. Hitwise conducted an analysis of internal searches on Facebook during the '09 holiday season finding that over 2% of the traffic to Facebook (that's 2% of 132…
Creative + Technology

30 Jan 2010 | 7:27 am

McDonalds advertising in Europe is generally much more interesting than anything I have seen from them in the US. For me, this is as true online as it is for their outdoor and TV efforts. Their latest online campaign, a tie in to the Avatar phenomenon, was created in conjuction with Oddcast a creative technology shop. The experience of turning yourself into a character from the film is well designed and fun -most importantly, the campaign has produced some pretty significant engagement metrics. The Avatarize Yourself" campaign was lauched in 18 counries and 7 languages accross the continent…
Google Mail

27 Jan 2010 | 5:16 am

The old adage that Google never advertises is no longer true.Indeed, it came as something of a surprise when, a couple of weeks ago I received a direct mail piece from the online advertising giant. Surprising in some ways but not entirely... I have long believed that direct mail, as part of a coordinated multi-channel campaign - far from being dead - is a powerful weapon, a great way to cut through the clutter that is my email inbox and to capture my attention.I read and retained the mail piece - the offer and call to action were good, but the fact that Google used a different channel to…
Biting The Hand?

17 Jan 2010 | 7:46 am

Google's inclusion of an Ad Blocker into it's Chrome browser seems incongruous when you consider that Google is the largest broker of on-site advertising in the world. The company takes a (at least explicitly) different view, Google engineering director Linus Upson said recently at Add-On-Con :"We think about this a lot at Google, because we make [just about] all of our money from advertising. It's unlikely that ad blockers will get to the level where they imperil the advertising market, because if advertising is so annoying that a large segment of the population wants to block it, then…
Company Culture & Customer Experience

10 Jan 2010 | 8:54 am

Zappos quirky, fun-orientated culture is the internal reflection of (and reason for?) its legendary customer experience qualities. I have referenced this before - they really have turned customer relationship and experience management into a major differentiator as they have integrated it into the fabric of who they are as a company.For a while now, Zappos has offered tours of its Las Vegas headquarters. 16 times a week, groups can visit and get an understanding of how they are set up and how they operate. Going a step further, they have now packaged their approach into a set of services that…

DemandGen Report
Seed Nurturing? Not Unless You’re Walt Whitman

John Gaffney

3 Feb 2010 | 9:05 pm

By Malcolm Friedberg, Principal, Left Brain Marketing I read the column on Seed Nurturing in DemandGen Report last week and was surprised by some of the recommendations it made. Not only did the column’s suggestions seem to run counter to best practices, they seem to be diametrically opposed to what marketing automation is designed to do. The article instructed BtoB marketers to, “Make valuable content freely available on social media sites.” It explained that, “By eliminating the need for registration in order to gain access to your whitepapers, eBooks, and other valuable content,…
“Seed Nurturing” and The Future of Lead Nurturing

John Gaffney

28 Jan 2010 | 1:57 pm

By Jon Miller, VP Marketing, Marketo BtoB marketing has dramatically evolved over the past few years. Early on, the primary focus was on “closing the deal,” investing dollars on mass marketing, advertising, and branding regardless of measurable ROI, and encouraging the sales team to reach out to every prospect regardless of level of interest or qualification. With CRM and marketing automation, marketers used lead management to better identify and prioritize leads, and realized tremendous revenue growth through lead nurturing — building relationships with qualified prospects regardless…
5 Ways DaaS is Changing The Way Marketers Think About Data

John Gaffney

19 Jan 2010 | 8:59 am

Jim Fowler, Chief Executive Officer, Jigsaw Data as a Service (DaaS) will do for the data business what Software as a Service (SaaS) has done for software. Ten years ago, every organization with a CRM solution was essentially in the business of procuring and managing software to run it. The advent of SaaS spared them the expense and the hassle. Today, anyone in the demand gen business is in a similar boat, stuck procuring and managing the records that comprise their database. But just as a wave of innovation around SaaS transformed the software industry, DaaS is poised to transform data in…
The Handoff Isn’t The Last Step To Support Sales Effectiveness

John Gaffney

13 Jan 2010 | 9:59 am

By Chris Frank, Director of Marketing, Treehouse Interactive For a lot of companies and marketing teams there is a natural progression from email blasts and simple lead capture forms to something more sophisticated. In many cases this includes sitting down with your Sales team, realizing you can’t filter all the garbage leads that come in and that you don’t have an agreed upon definition of what a lead really is. Translated: You’re not doing your part to make Sales effective. This realization can be very painful and very public, but if you make it through as a company and get beyond the…
5 Steps to Effectively Leverage Virtual Engagement

John Gaffney

4 Jan 2010 | 6:48 pm

By Joerg Rathenberg, Senior Director of Marketing, Unisfair The sales process is all about control – on both sides. Sales and marketing people want to control the conversation and often overload their target audience with sales pitches and marketing messages. This frequently causes people to run in the opposite direction. Similarly, prospects want to have control over their purchase decisions and the information they receive. Fortunately, virtual engagement, where vendors host conferences, road shows, roundtables and company meetings on the Internet, can provide a way out of this dilemma,…

The Web Pitch
Reflections from Social Media in the Enterprise Talk

Jas

5 Feb 2010 | 4:59 am

Welcome to Social Media Week! This week, conferences are taking place simultaneously in New York City, Berlin, London, San Francisco, Toronto and São Paulo. The overall goal of Social Media Week is to advance the use and understanding of social media and the impact it has on culture, business communications and society. Also, it is a great opportunity to meet other bloggers, tweeters and thought leaders in the social media space. I attended a talk entitled “Social Media in the Enterprise” at Cass Business School earlier this week. Each speaker had 10 minutes to present their thoughts to…
Keep It Simple – Coke’s New Social Media Principles

Jas

10 Jan 2010 | 4:31 am

Andy Serovitz posted a very interesting blog post on how Coca Cola have devised a new set of social media principles. Coke have developed 10 “Principles for Online Spokespeople” which make good sense for other brands to follow. You can read the main set below. Be Certified in the [Coca Cola] Social Media Certification Program. Follow our Code of Business Conduct and all other Company policies. Be mindful that you are representing the Company. Fully disclose your affiliation with the Company. Keep records. When in doubt, do not post. Give credit where credit is due and don’t…
Predicting Trends in 140 Characters

Jas

24 Dec 2009 | 2:21 am

Trendsspotting posted their annual Social Media Trends Predictions earlier this week. Predicting trends is a dangerous business especially in Social Media. However, the slide deck does offer some very interesting insights from a variety of social media commentators. I have included some of the ones that I found interesting in this post. Across many of the predictions, Trendsspotting identified the following trends that are “suggested” to influence Social Media in 2010: Mobile, Location, Transparency, Measurement, ROI, Privacy. Though, you could argue that these same trends were…
Gary Vaynerchuk’s Talk @ The Water Poet – London

Jas

9 Dec 2009 | 4:34 am

Yesterday evening, I attended the Gary Vaynerchuk Crush It event organised by Sprouter, at The Water Poet pub in London. Overall, Gary was on top form and shared some interesting insights with the audience. My rough notes from the talk follow below. But I recommend that you watch the complete talk to gain all of Gary’s insights. Consumer Expectation - Free Shipping was once considered the greatest thing that ever happened when consumers bought online. However, 10 years later, no one cares! It has become a standard and we are used to it. - Imagine checking into a New York based hotel and…
Chinese Social Networking Behaviour – 2009

Jas

27 Nov 2009 | 2:38 am

Picture Credit Andre Jenny The China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) recently published its “2009 Chinese Social Networking Sites User Research Report”. The report contains the results of phone surveys of Chinese Social Networking user behaviour conducted through July 2009. The report is in Chinese. However, Chinese Internet Watch has pulled some interesting data from the report, which you can read below. By the end of 2009, the number of Chinese online social media users is about to reach 124 million. Every social media user owns on average 2.78 social media accounts. …

Jim's Marketing Blog
Make it happen!

Jim Connolly

8 Feb 2010 | 2:15 am

Most people spend their lives wishing, instead of doing. The problem with that approach is that it doesn’t work! Dreaming is great, but if we seriously want to see our wishes become a reality, we need to get off our rear ends and take action. Don’t wish it was easier - Make yourself stronger. Don’t wish it was less expensive - Make yourself wealthy. Don’t wish there was less competition - Make your service beyond compare. The next time you find yourself wishing for something, write it down, in detail, and then start putting a plan together to make it REAL. Photo: Alice…
How to set your marketing goals so they motivate you!

Jim Connolly

6 Feb 2010 | 2:12 am

Marketing goals within small businesses are typically just a list of numbers. If you want to set yourself some motivating, inspiring marketing goals, ask yourself this question: If my business were perfect in every way, what would it look like right now? Marketing goals Your answer to that powerful, yet simple question, should be the foundation of your marketing. It will tell you the type of clients or customers you should be marketing to. It will tell you how many additional, high quality sales you need to make. It will tell you what your business needs to generate in revenue and…
Easy access to the marketing answers you need!

Jim Connolly

4 Feb 2010 | 6:12 am

I had one of those moments earlier, where something suddenly clicks into place. I figured out that Jims Marketing Blog is not actually a blog. Yes, it’s built using blog software, but it’s not a true blog. A blog (short for web log) was originally supposed to be an online journal. That’s why everything’s presented in date order; with the latest ‘news’ at the top. This format works brilliantly for news blogs or those offering time-sensitive information. However, this blog (like most other business blogs) doesn’t typically offer time sensitive…
What do your contacts say about you?

Jim Connolly

3 Feb 2010 | 6:55 am

I have a question for you: Which people or companies do you publicly associate with? The reason I am asking you this, is that potential customers and clients often look at the people or businesses we associate with, as a short-cut to determining the kind of people WE are. Trust and credibility can either be destroyed or boosted in seconds, depending on the individuals and companies we are aligned with or associate with. Bad company I recall being at a local business exhibition, when a young man joined a small group of people I was speaking informally with, before we entered the main…
2 Simple ways to improve your thinking

Jim Connolly

2 Feb 2010 | 2:45 am

When you are looking for new ideas or you need to solve a problem, do you think on paper? This post will show you 2 very simple, easy to use tools, which can help you become massively more creative and a superstar problem solver. I was working at my desk the other day, when a friend pointed out that he thought it was odd, that I was writing notes out using pen and paper, with all that hi-tech equipment around me. I explained to him that I find it far more effective to create, using pen and paper, than using a computer. It’s as if the ideas flow more easily for me, using a more…

60 Second Marketer
Hey Verizon, Can You Hear Me Now!?

AnnPruitt

9 Feb 2010 | 4:45 am

First off, let me say that I am very happy with my Verizon service. I’ve had it for years, and it serves its purpose well for me. Now let me say that I feel a bit overlooked as a customer. I just upgraded my aircard for my laptop. This is the device that attaches through a USB connector, and picks up the internet connection. So you can imagine my surprise when I received the email below, and discovered that my device has a speaker phone, text messaging capabilities, and voicemail service. Thank you for upgrading to the Verizon Wireless UMW190 Global USB Modem. Now make the most of its…
GoDaddy Super Bowl Follow-Up: What to do if You’re Danica Patrick

JamieTurner

8 Feb 2010 | 10:57 am

Our post yesterday about the embarrassingly bad GoDaddy Super Bowl campaign using Danica Patrick created quite a stir. You’ll recall that GoDaddy has generated monumental amounts of awareness for their brand by using sexually-gratuitous commercials for years and years. Despite the terrible missteps Danica Patrick has made by over-promoting her sexual appeal, there is still hope to refurbish her brand. Interestingly enough, the customer service at GoDaddy is top-notch and best-of-class. We should know — we use them for our hosting service! Every time we call them, they’re…
Biggest Loser in the SuperBowl: GoDaddy, with Yet Another Bad Commercial

JamieTurner

7 Feb 2010 | 6:38 pm

Once again, GoDaddy embarrasses itself with an awful commercial on this year’s Super Bowl. What’s up with these guys? Every year, they foist a horrible commercial onto America and this year was no exception. C’mon GoDaddy. Don’t you have anything better to do with your money? Once again, GoDaddy embarrasses itself with commercials that are not only off-target, but in poor taste. If you want to take chances, then do what Doritos did. Or what Coca-Cola did. Or what The Who did. But to create embarrassing commercial after embarrassing commercial year after year is just…
Toyota’s Marketing Mistakes Cost Them Their Brand Equity

JamieTurner

5 Feb 2010 | 1:27 pm

Let me start by saying it’s very, very easy to sit on the sidelines and critique Toyota for their bungling of their accelerator and brake problems. I’m sure they’re working around the clock to solve the problem, both from a technical point-of-view and a branding/PR point-of-view. But they seem to be stumbling badly on the branding/PR side of the equation. So far, in all the news reports I’ve seen, I’ve never seen anyone from corporate headquarters who directly addressed the problem with a news anchor or other journalist. Zero. Zip. Nada. (I’m not saying…
Best Marketing Mistakes of 2009

AnnPruitt

5 Feb 2010 | 10:38 am

In one of the most entertaining reads so far this year, BNet has published its top 77 Worst Business Blunders of the Year. Looking back over 2009, they picked out some doozies. I spent darned-near an hour, lost in capitalistic craziness. Here are some of our favorite marketing strategies gone awry. There are so many good ones, I’m having to publish some this week, and some next (so you’ll have something to look forward to). x Don’t worry, it’ll be fine: Nobody listens to Oprah anyway. KFC promotes its new Kentucky Grilled Chicken by having Oprah Winfrey tout a coupon for a free meal…

Steven Wilson Marketing.com
Come March 30, eBay Listing Fees Will Be Gone Or Lower For Some Sellers

26 Jan 2010 | 6:04 pm

Come March 30, eBay Listing Fees Will Be Gone Or Lower For Some SellersPosted using ShareThis
SocialToo Launches Twitter-Based Affiliate Program

11 Jan 2010 | 2:36 pm

SocialToo which provides tools for you to manage your twitter,and facebook accounts has released a affiliate program that provides messages including twitter tweets that are embedded with an affiliate link. Affiliates will earn a 20 percent commission on sales of their services.You will be paid via paypal platform for Twitter called Twitpay. SocialToo offers tools for capitalizing on Facebook
Key Trends in Social Media for 2010 | ReveNews

7 Jan 2010 | 12:37 am

Key Trends in Social Media for 2010 | ReveNewsPosted using ShareThis
Analytics for Twitter

4 Jan 2010 | 3:33 am

As all twitter users have noticed their are no analytics from twitter other than your friend/follow list. Ad.ly is poised to change all that.With Ad.ly you can see just what time of day you twitted,and the time of day you got retweeted .You also can see follower statistics like: gender breakdown, percent engaged, and location. They have a paid version of it as well. Ad.ly Analytics
Will MyBlogLog Survive Yahoo!’s Management Review?

31 Dec 2009 | 11:18 am

It appears that the social networking site MyBlogLog may be headed to the scrap pile according to a report by Andrew Wee.With the charge being led by bloggers irate that their beloved blog widget might be soon a footnote in Wikipedia’s logs. You can read the full report here.

SUSTAINABLE MARKETING BLOG
Making marketing environmentally sustainable: A model

Peter Korchnak

9 Feb 2010 | 8:28 am

This is the third post in a series on improving the environmental sustainability of marketing communications. Previously: Measurement, Part 1 and Part 2. Today: An outline of a model for making it happen. After establishing through measurement the environmental footprint of your marketing communications, it’s time to start the reduction process. The 5-step model outlined here may seem simple and partly familiar, but it requires creative thinking and constant innovation adapted to the needs of your company and your community. The five-step model for reducing the environmental impact of…
Review: Crowds are us

Peter Korchnak

5 Feb 2010 | 10:04 am

How times change: In the 110 years between the work of Gustave Le Bon (1895) and James Surowiecki (2005), crowds went from embodying stupidity to being wise. Compare and contrast: Le Bon: “In crowds it is stupidity and not mother-wit that is accumulated. [T]he crowd is always intellectually inferior to the isolated individual.” Surowiecki: “[U]nder the right circumstances, groups are remarkably intelligent, and are often smarter than the smartest people in them.” Reacting to “the entry of popular masses into political life”, i.e. universal suffrage, Le Bon…
Blue oceans and sustainability: How to affect change from within the system

Peter Korchnak

3 Feb 2010 | 2:18 am

How can systemic change toward sustainability happen from within the existing system? How can sustainability take advantage of the blue ocean strategy? Systemic change as a revolution After the fall of state socialism in my country and elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe, stories emerged of many newly-prominent individuals’ life journeys: they claimed to have joined the Communist Party in order to change the system from the inside. Most, if not all, got swallowed whole and failed to achieve their goals. It was people who stood on the outside of the system (e.g. dissidents) or who…
Measuring the environmental impact of marketing, Part 2

Peter Korchnak

2 Feb 2010 | 3:04 am

If Life Cycle Assessment for marketing communications would be a mean feat, measuring carbon footprint, a subset of LCA, would considerably simplify the process of evaluating its environmental impact, while still allowing for identifying greatest impacts and baselines for reduction. Carbon footprint Carbon footprint is “the total amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted over the full life cycle of a product or service or in a financial year for a business”. Because carbon dioxide is a major man-made greenhouse gas and because its measurement is…
Measuring the environmental impact of marketing, Part 1

Peter Korchnak

1 Feb 2010 | 3:20 am

Discussions about environmental sustainability in business rarely mention the environmental footprint of marketing communications. Yet marketing successfully consumes too much energy and produces too much stuff to be ignored in considering — and lowering — your company’s environmental impact. What is the environmental footprint of your company’s marketing? How can you reduce it without negatively impacting your results? Because you can’t manage what you can’t measure, the first step is to assess the situation and determine the environmental impact of your…

Transplant
WriteRoom wipes the canvas clean so you can actually, ummm… write, finish, repeat.

Michael Calienes

20 Jan 2010 | 12:53 pm

I’ve been talking about needing a program like this for a long long time. Fortunately, Jesse Grosjean from HogBay Software developed it. It’s called Write Room — a writing program that harkens back to the days when you could just open Word Perfect on DOS, put your head down, type, and finish a project all [...]
Google Search: Now You Suck or You Rule in Real-Time.

Michael Calienes

9 Dec 2009 | 7:52 am

Search on Google and you’ll note a big change in the results page about 1/3 of the way down: a scrolling list of results that appear just minutes and seconds after they’re posted online — and that includes results from Twitter (just note the post from “deckard256″ in the image above). What does it mean to [...]
When bending over backwards becomes plain old bending over.

Michael Calienes

24 Nov 2009 | 9:14 am

We just have to realize that some customers will never be good customers. They take advantage of our generosity because hey, times are tough, and we’re supposed to bend over backwards for the sale because then, if we do, they’ll tell people how much we did and wasn’t that sooooo nice of us? And besides, don’t [...]
Social Media Vigilance and a Chicken Salad Wrap

Michael Calienes

9 Nov 2009 | 5:09 am

On November 5, I published this post about The Red Elephant’s Manager, Jeff Hanson, going out of his way to please a long-time customer (me). The next day, at 11:30am, just moments before our Conversation Friday guests began arriving, Brandon (pictured at right) showed up at The Conversation Factory. He held out a brown bag, and [...]
The Red Elephant Knows the Way

Michael Calienes

5 Nov 2009 | 10:11 am

When I took my first bite, I chalked it off to kitchen having an off night — which is unheard of at The Red Elephant Pizza and Grill. When I returned three weeks later, the result was the same. Crestfallen, I asked our waitress if she wouldn’t mind getting the manager (my wife always loves [...]

Brand Rants
What next: 2010 Youth Trends Report

Sean Duffy

26 Jan 2010 | 4:30 am

"The future is here... It's just not evenly distributed." This quote from William Gibson is a fitting opening to Graham Brown's 2010 Youth Trends report. If you are marketing to this segment then I think you will find these three presentations of value. But even if your marketing is not youth-oriented, I would encourage you to take a look. This report is about youth, but it's just as much about what's next with regard to mainstream marketing. Concepts such as Co-Shopping, Earned Media, Peer-to-Peer and the overall shift to mobile platforms are not concepts that are exclusive to kids. It's…
Social Media ROI vs RODN

Sean Duffy

22 Jan 2010 | 4:21 am

Has anyone ever asked you to demonstrate the ROI of a $1M TV spot or $25K brochure? Me neither. But suggest to a marketing executive today that they spend a few thousand on a social media initiative and they won't budge — unless you can prove ROI beforehand. And it's not the recession that's to blame. These are the same marketers who still invest in traditional media without any more ROI data than "that's the way we've always done it." That is one reason why I find Erik Qualman's attempt to explain the convoluted world of social media ROI more useful than most. Like his previous social…
Kudos for Methodical Madness and a request for your vote

Sean Duffy

20 Jan 2010 | 8:57 am

It's been a good start to the new year for The Duffy Agency's other blog Methodical Madness. Social Media Examiner has short-listed the blog along with 20 others for the distinction of the world's Top 10 Social Media Blogs. Our fellow finalists include a roster of stellar blogs like Chris Brogan, CopyBlogger, Mashable , and Social Media Explorer . Winners to be decided soon by jury. Methodical Madness is also short-listed with 12 other finalists on Fuel Line's Ad Agency Blog of the Year. If you haven't read Methodical Madness, give it a look. And if you like what you see please VOTE before…
Old dogs & new tricks: Saatchi and the Yaris social media debackle

Sean Duffy

14 Jan 2010 | 5:30 am

Four years into the social media surge and I'm still not convinced that many of the large agency networks get it. The same way they didn't get branding in the late 80's, or the internet in the early 90's. The large agency chains that populate conglomerates like Omnicom, WPP and Interpublic seem stuck one evolutionary step away from their origins as media brokers. It's been 100 years since James Walter Thompson retrofitted a creative department to his media brokerage. Since that brave step, agencies have never demonstrated any capacity to evolve further. If they can't see 15% commission in it,…
An anthropological introduction to YouTube

Sean Duffy

17 Dec 2009 | 5:37 am

This is a video of a speech Dr. Michael Weschgave gave to the library of congress. As you will see, Dr. Weschgave is a delightful speaker and a lot more down-to-earth than the name given to his area of specialty at Kansas State University: digital ethnography. I'm not embarrassed to admit I needed a dictionary to figure out that it means a branch of anthropology dealing with the scientific description of specific individual cultures. He is interested in how digital media is impacting this. Academic? Yes. But also very interesting and applicable to anyone working with (and striving to…

Marketing with Meaning
How Magazines Are Becoming More Meaningful

Bob

9 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

A little more than a week ago, I spoke as guest of Better Homes and Gardens to a group of marketers and media planners in New York City. For the weeks leading up to this presentation I had been collecting examples of how magazine publishers are adapting to the new world of digital content and meaningful advertising. What I discovered is that despite the predictions that the magazine business is fading, there actually is an incredible rebirth of the medium going on. First let me call out that this breakfast at Better Homes and Gardens is itself an outstanding example of Marketing with…
Why Write a Book? For This Guy

Bob

4 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

This week I had lunch with an old friend who had not yet heard that I recently wrote a book. His first question was: “Why did you write a book?” It’s actually a question that I get a lot. It’s not that people believe that writing a book is a dumb idea. Rather, most people understand that it is a huge investment in time and energy on top of a day job, so they wonder what motivation drove me to make it happen. There are many answers that I give to this question. I usually talk about how I grew up with a father who wrote several books and his experiences struck a chord…
Don’t Fear the “Splintered Web”

Bob

2 Feb 2010 | 6:00 am

It didn’t take long for Apple’s iPad announcement to be co-opted by industries that worry about how the iPad will upend their legacy businesses. You might assume this to be the book publishers, who might fear lower margins on e-books, or newspapers, who are struggling to figure out how to profit from companies that make it easier to enjoy their content at no cost. But actually the biggest voice against the iPad so far is my very own industry: Digital Advertising. Late last week two of the leading voices of digital marketing emerged with very public warnings for the advertising…
Goldman Sachs’s Generosity Looks Hollow

Bob

28 Jan 2010 | 6:00 am

If there’s one profession that has probably dropped below advertisers on the respect level in the past few years, it would be investment bankers. Not only did they take their fair share of blame for the ongoing economic catastrophe, but now they are sinking to new lows in the court of public opinion thanks to the billions in bonuses that are about to be paid out. In fact, a recent WSJ study found that total compensation for bankers will be up 18% in 2009 to $145 billion—that’s amid a year that took a Fed rescue plan! One company in particular, Goldman Sachs, is facing a storm…
Marriott Mars Your Stay with In-Toilet Ads

Bob

26 Jan 2010 | 6:00 am

Every few weeks I feel compelled to share an example of how big companies are taking the marketing and advertising fields to new lows. Today’s example comes from one of my field operatives, Jonathan Richman, who spotted the advertisement for Toto toilets in his room at the Marriott Renaissance in Washington, D.C. It’s sad, but true, and a good opportunity to step back and think about the economics of this new ad space. Let’s start with an analysis of the advertising itself. Marriott is providing a platform for the Toto brand to advertise its innovative new toilet,…

Columbus Impressions
TiXiT Marks Another Columbus Start-Up

8 Feb 2010 | 10:08 am

Columbus, Ohio is a great place for entrepreneurs! After all it was recently ranked #13 for one of the greatest entrepreneur cities and #7 for best places to operate a business. Start-up business are always coming to life in Columbus!Columbus' Newest Start-up is TiXiT. I had an opportunity to interview TiXiT CEO, Mike Figliuolo and learn more about what TiXiT has to offer.You can read my
New Heinz Ketchup Packet

4 Feb 2010 | 7:57 pm

Forty-two years ago the Heinz ketchup squeeze packet was invented. Now 42 years later, a new and improved packaging breakthrough is introduced. According to the press release, the Heinz Dip & Squeeze dual-function package will give ketchup lovers two ways to enjoy Heinz Ketchup: either peel back the lid for easy dipping, or tear off the tip to squeeze onto favorite foods. The new package is said
Commit To Be Fit & Columbus Metro Parks Wellness In The Woods Video

2 Feb 2010 | 7:50 am

Last month Columbus Metro Parks and Commit To Be Fit held a Wellness in the Woods event. An incredible morning was enjoyed by all participants. Look for the next Wellness in the Woods coming in April.
One of the Largest Midwest Maternity, Baby & Kid’s Expo Grows To Columbus And Cleveland

1 Feb 2010 | 6:49 am

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact: Michele Savoldi, columbus imPRessions 740.816.3251 or Michele@columbusimpressions.comorKendra, Nicastro, K.C.’s Creative Events740.972.1471 or kcscreativeevents@yahoo.comOhio mom of two creates event that caters to expectant and young familiesBecoming a parent and raising a family is a difficult blessing and Kendra Nicastro knows first-hand what that is like. Being
Very Cool Site

26 Jan 2010 | 12:49 pm

Today I found a cool website worth sharing.Vintage Ad BrowserThere you can find vintage advertisements for various topics dating back to the mid-1800's.An early alcohol advertisement from the 1840's.A movie ad from the 1930's.Thanks All My Favs for this new website. I've definitely added it to my favs!

Writing Roads
Who needs statistics when we’ve got reality.

Julie Roads

9 Feb 2010 | 3:24 am

While many of my friends spent our junior year abroad in exotic places like Florence, Tanzania, Nepal, Paris and Argentina, I opted for the wilds of St. Louis, MO. My main gig was volunteering at a domestic violence agency where I researched and wrote the organization’s history, taught dating violence prevention in local schools and worked on the 24-hour crisis hotline. And in order to do this terrifying and terribly important hotline work, I went through an intense and long training program. I learned why women stay in abusive relationships when it seems so obvious to the rest of us…
If only my brain were pregnant.

Julie Roads

8 Feb 2010 | 4:04 am

You know how everyone makes all the usual jokes about pregnancy and food cravings? Pickles and ice cream will always be hilarious, but these cravings are a serious force to be reckoned with. If I could bottle them, I’d be rich. I remember distinctly a feeling of almost possession when I was craving something. Like the baby was calling for protein and my stomach wanted carbs and my bones wanted calcium and my mouth wanted butter and salt – so I ended up eating dark sourdough toast with a 1/4 stick of butter, feta cheese and smoked salmon, sprinkled with jalapeno stuffed green…
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo meets Writing Roads (another girl with a tattoo or three)

Julie Roads

5 Feb 2010 | 3:47 am

I’m bad at picking books to read at the bookstore, you know, when it’s just me and shelves of beautifully packaged words. Apparently I missed that gene. I get swayed by the cover or the fact that the author’s name kind of looks like mine and I’m blinded by the dream of being published. Anywho, the ones I pick up on my own almost always disappoint. Thank the good lord, I’m very good at taking book orders recommendations. I might be a little annoying about it too. I ask a million questions, like: Do any animals get hurt? (I literally can’t take it) and Is it…
Reason 731 to hire a copywriter or The demise of Steve Jobs

Julie Roads

4 Feb 2010 | 3:30 am

First, watch this video (or at least the first 30 seconds)… My dear friend and tech writer extraordinaire, Ron Miller, posted this video on his blog and sent me over to see it. And I have to tell you, I didn’t think it was funny at all. I was embarrassed for Steve Jobs and the whole Apple team. I cringed. NOT because of the name of the new product (personally, I think this whole hooha about feminine hygiene products is really, really stupid) and NOT because Mr. Jobs looks silly in that turtleneck with those bright white sneakers. (You’re a bazillionaire, Stevie, try a little…
What to do when it just won’t fit.

Julie Roads

3 Feb 2010 | 6:58 am

I haven’t been sleeping well. Even when I appear to sleep well (ie. I go to sleep at 10 and wake up at 6), I open my eyes and feel like I’ve been fighting a war all night. I’d say 99% of the time, I wake up drenched in a cold sweat. Last night at some point I had that horrible feeling like you’re plummeting to the ground that jerks you awake and freaks the shit out of you. And then, there are the dreams. My dreams are long, intricate, heavily detailed and almost always remembered in the morning with startling focus. Also, many of these night visions are recurring. Not…

burning the bacon with barrett
Tweet Digest from 2010-02-05

Phil Barrett

6 Feb 2010 | 12:25 am

Boring is the new evil – chris Robbins from wind mobile @ ad lounge 01:14:00 The mobile multiple: http://tinyurl.com/yat4rld 19:52:18 Mobile Ad campaigns are 5x more effective than online: http://tinyurl.com/y8qq7t8 – my experience has been at least 3x 19:53:45 More Canadians watching Super Bowl for Ads – not game… myself included! http://tinyurl.com/yh6tet9 21:15:17
Tweet Digest from 2010-02-03

Phil Barrett

4 Feb 2010 | 12:25 am

Nokia app store incorporates mobile games from greystripe: http://tinyurl.com/yaq6rqh – do north americans care? 00:42:40 DAVE Wireless announces new brand – mobilicity: http://tinyurl.com/ye6glj4 – better than DAVE wireless ) 00:45:20 foursquare checks in on TV – which media outlet is next? Which major brand will really capitalize first? http://tinyurl.com/yj3q3zb 00:53:27 RIM's secret sauce to long term success: http://tinyurl.com/ybdqbjw (take that Apple!) 04:10:12 Top mobile websites are: Google, Yahoo, facebook, Gmail, and weather channel:…
Tweet Digest from 2010-02-01

Phil Barrett

2 Feb 2010 | 12:25 am

MMA announces new leader of North American region: http://tinyurl.com/y98jl9e 14:37:18 Online Ad networks becoming more important than Portals: http://tinyurl.com/yc3nkk2 14:47:49 Finally – CPA for facebook? Facebook develops tool to track cost per fan acquisition: http://tinyurl.com/y85j36n 14:53:30 Apple's claims of being largest mobile company in world includes ipods and laptops.. and now ipad: http://tinyurl.com/yezx3wt 18:36:09 The gloves are off – Apple declares they will kick Android's butt in getting updates out to the iphone: http://tinyurl.com/yl3ahch 19:27:31…
5 reasons why i won’t be buying an ipad

Phil Barrett

28 Jan 2010 | 3:02 pm

The Jesus tablet has been revealed and the product hasn’t lived up to its hype. I’m intrigued by the device, but it’s not really a great mobile device – nor is it a great netbook. In fact, it’s not really even a tablet as we’ve defined them. It’s essentially a large ipod – or a Kindle on steroids. Here are 5 reasons why i won’t be buying the first version: Poor resolution – 1024 resolution is a major disappointment. You can’t watch full high definition video. No Camera – most laptops now come with a camera for things like skype…
Tweet Digest from 2010-01-26

Phil Barrett

27 Jan 2010 | 12:25 am

i must have one! QR Coded LinkedIn Profile With Tracking: http://tinyurl.com/yaut6rq 03:57:32 Metro leads innovation again – introduces foursquare partnership: http://tinyurl.com/ye7ede2 13:59:56 REALLY measuring mobile? http://tinyurl.com/yaf2pxc – but is the data available in Canada? 20:58:17 Mobile Ads that don't go away on smartphones – bad idea! http://tinyurl.com/yaksh5g 22:04:19 @JCDunn – Totally agree – but 3rd party data will help with planning and integration with non-mobile channels in reply to JCDunn 22:05:56

Drew Stevens Consulting
Can Social Networking Increase Patient Volume

drew@drewstevensconsulting.com (Drew J Stevens Ph.D.)

2 Feb 2010 | 2:43 pm

In the last several years the proliferation of social networking has increased ten fold. Millions of individuals are flocking to social networking sites to connect with friends, Romans and countryman. Herein lies the rub. While social networking provides an array of opportunities to connect with alliances and friends of yesteryear it is not the best business development tool. Sales and Marketing are resources required by physicians to help manifest brand and increase visibility. In many instances physicians attend years of education for the clinical side of the business but develop little…
Monday Momentum with Dr. Drew

drew@drewstevensconsulting.com (Drew J Stevens Ph.D.)

1 Feb 2010 | 6:10 am

The other morning I stepped out onto the driveway to retrieve my morning paper when I saw a noticed attached to my front door. A local realtor had placed collateral materials on my door in the hope of gaining my business. The problem- no value, no trust and no relationship. Too many of you today are conducting the same rote methods of yesteryear and gaining no traction. Today’s competitive landscape requires three things for sellers: 1) A relationship 2) An expression of value 3) The requirement of YOU taking command of the action steps Prospective clients are too busy and there…
Sales Fitness Friday with Dr. Drew – Customer Service

drew@drewstevensconsulting.com (Drew J Stevens Ph.D.)

29 Jan 2010 | 3:46 pm

One of the biggest impediments to selling is abysmal customer service. Over 50% of every client interaction involves servicing the customer well. I am aghast how poor some selling representatives are. I was recently asked to call the Division Manager of a recognizable national insurance chain to deliver a keynote. I have called three times from the referral mentioning the initiating person and yet no return calls. While I understand busyness I do comprehend tomfoolery. Not returning calls, monitoring caller id, not sending thank you cards and confirming appointments are all methods that…
Tuesday Sales Tuneup with Dr. Drew

drew@drewstevensconsulting.com (Drew J Stevens Ph.D.)

26 Jan 2010 | 9:05 am

During a recent workshop a student asked to name the three or four vital aspects of selling. After thinking about this for quite some time I realized that there truly is one important aspect of selling-believe in yourself. If you do not believe in what you are selling and you do not believe that you have the confidence to sell then you will not be able to sell anything to anyone. Selling requires the utmost and confidence as well as passion and conviction. Without these tools you will not be able to move the buyer to take action because they will not believe you. Customers today have many…
Monday Momentum with Dr. Drew

drew@drewstevensconsulting.com (Drew J Stevens Ph.D.)

26 Jan 2010 | 8:57 am

We are so bombarded by technology and clutter it is difficult to remain attentive to little things. There is simply not enough attention paid to the little things. It is interesting to find how many people are so into themselves and so on interested in the world around them. Self-centered mannerisms meet terminate people need to be more responsive to the world around them. Cell phones, text messaging and e-mail or all hindrances to making us pay attention to the world around us. Selling is not a myopic nor self-centered profession individuals need to pay attention to the customer before they…

Drew Stevens Consulting
Can Social Networking Increase Patient Volume

drew@drewstevensconsulting.com (Drew J Stevens Ph.D.)

2 Feb 2010 | 2:43 pm

In the last several years the proliferation of social networking has increased ten fold. Millions of individuals are flocking to social networking sites to connect with friends, Romans and countryman. Herein lies the rub. While social networking provides an array of opportunities to connect with alliances and friends of yesteryear it is not the best business development tool. Sales and Marketing are resources required by physicians to help manifest brand and increase visibility. In many instances physicians attend years of education for the clinical side of the business but develop little…
Monday Momentum with Dr. Drew

drew@drewstevensconsulting.com (Drew J Stevens Ph.D.)

1 Feb 2010 | 6:10 am

The other morning I stepped out onto the driveway to retrieve my morning paper when I saw a noticed attached to my front door. A local realtor had placed collateral materials on my door in the hope of gaining my business. The problem- no value, no trust and no relationship. Too many of you today are conducting the same rote methods of yesteryear and gaining no traction. Today’s competitive landscape requires three things for sellers: 1) A relationship 2) An expression of value 3) The requirement of YOU taking command of the action steps Prospective clients are too busy and there…
Sales Fitness Friday with Dr. Drew – Customer Service

drew@drewstevensconsulting.com (Drew J Stevens Ph.D.)

29 Jan 2010 | 3:46 pm

One of the biggest impediments to selling is abysmal customer service. Over 50% of every client interaction involves servicing the customer well. I am aghast how poor some selling representatives are. I was recently asked to call the Division Manager of a recognizable national insurance chain to deliver a keynote. I have called three times from the referral mentioning the initiating person and yet no return calls. While I understand busyness I do comprehend tomfoolery. Not returning calls, monitoring caller id, not sending thank you cards and confirming appointments are all methods that…
Tuesday Sales Tuneup with Dr. Drew

drew@drewstevensconsulting.com (Drew J Stevens Ph.D.)

26 Jan 2010 | 9:05 am

During a recent workshop a student asked to name the three or four vital aspects of selling. After thinking about this for quite some time I realized that there truly is one important aspect of selling-believe in yourself. If you do not believe in what you are selling and you do not believe that you have the confidence to sell then you will not be able to sell anything to anyone. Selling requires the utmost and confidence as well as passion and conviction. Without these tools you will not be able to move the buyer to take action because they will not believe you. Customers today have many…
Monday Momentum with Dr. Drew

drew@drewstevensconsulting.com (Drew J Stevens Ph.D.)

26 Jan 2010 | 8:57 am

We are so bombarded by technology and clutter it is difficult to remain attentive to little things. There is simply not enough attention paid to the little things. It is interesting to find how many people are so into themselves and so on interested in the world around them. Self-centered mannerisms meet terminate people need to be more responsive to the world around them. Cell phones, text messaging and e-mail or all hindrances to making us pay attention to the world around us. Selling is not a myopic nor self-centered profession individuals need to pay attention to the customer before they…

Inbound Internet Marketing
The Map Wars - Verizon and ATT

John Flynn

13 Jan 2010 | 2:02 am

Whoever thought of the Verizon Map campaign should receive a huge bonus. Not only is it a huge hit but it has caused ATT to dump a large amount of cash (in the millions) to rebut the ads. You win the Gold Medal of advertising when you cause your competitor to spend large amounts of cash to answer your campaign. ATT has taken the bait and is running many different ads just to compete against the Verizon run. Only if ATT just told the truth and let people know the real difference. The answer to the map question is that ATT covers 85% of the United States population. Verizon…
When in doubt start a new blog!

John Flynn

7 Jan 2010 | 2:03 am

Happy New Year! I have enjoyed working on this blog for a year and a half. I started this blog to join the social media conversation concerning the new media, media outlets, advertising and other marketing issues. Over time I have found myself interested in talking about the events of the day. I feel the need to break out a new blog that will deal with the politics and issues facing us. This blog is call "The Cynic's Bathtub". It can soon be found at www.thecynicsbathtub.com. Yesterday I posted my first entry. Now I can return to my original mission and address advertising and…
US Senate Democratic Nominee (MA) Martha Coakley throws us under the bus.

John Flynn

22 Dec 2009 | 2:02 am

Well that didn't take long. That "thump thump" feeling you have is the Martha Coakley Express driving over you. Many times during the campaign Ms. Coakley said time after time that she would not support a Heath Care Bill that does not have a strong public option or protects the rights of abortion. The present bill in the Senate does not have either and the Boston Globe reported yesterday that Coakley was supporting the bill. This is the exact opposite to what she said during the campaign. In fact Coakley blasted one of her opponents in the Democratic Primary Debate (Rep.
Obama got bitch slapped from the Left and he wasn't to pleased

John Flynn

17 Dec 2009 | 2:07 am

I watch the "60 Minutes" interview Sunday with President Obama and Steve Kroft. Mr. Kroft asked him some tough questions regarding Afghanistan, the economy, the failure of banks to lend capital, health care and other topical issues. In my opinion Mr. Kroft was speaking for the Left. We here on the Left have been watching "Hope and Change" going on for about a year. As many others I am very concerned with the Health Care Debate (have we given up on the Public Option?), the war in Afghanistan (more troops to track down about 100 terrorists), the economy (is this going to be a jobless…
What we have gained and what we have lost.

John Flynn

15 Dec 2009 | 2:03 am

With the boom of Social Media we have gained so much. Mainly information. We now have access to a staggering amount of information. If we have questions about any topic we can search the web for answers. If we can't find them we can turn to Twitter and other social media tools and search for solutions there. Never before in the history of mankind have we had such ability to gather information or be so connected with each other. It is truly the dawn of a new time for mankind. What did we give up. Privacy. We have been so busy connecting that we have given up our privacy. People…

Think Customers: The 1 to 1 Blog
Betty White and Lindsay the Milkaholic: Memorable Super Bowl Ads

Tom Hoffman

8 Feb 2010 | 7:23 am

Remember Super Bowls ads that were truly memorable? Like Apple's `1984' spot for the Macintosh? The Budweiser frogs? Monster.com's 'When I grow up'?
Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone

Mila D'Antonio

5 Feb 2010 | 10:59 am

The ability to innovate is an entrepreneurial quality that is essential for companies to succeed in today's fiercely competitive retail markets. However many companies may be locked in an inertia of change dictated by industry norms.
Hoffman's Hot Seat: Customer Data in the Cloud

Tom Hoffman

4 Feb 2010 | 6:05 am

CIOs have expressed some trepidation about managing different types of customer data in public and private cloud environments. Security, loss of control over data and regulatory/compliance issues top the list of worries. 1to1 Media's Tom Hoffman spoke with RightNow Technologies CIO Laef Olson about these concerns and steps that can be taken to address them.
Forrester's Moira Dorsey: The Future of Online Customer Experience

Guest Blogger

3 Feb 2010 | 12:16 pm

New technologies follow a pattern. They start by imitating older technologies before they evolve to their true forms. The first automobiles looked like horseless carriages. It wasn't until the Vintage Era of the 1920s that cars evolved to a form that we'd recognize today with features like front-engines, enclosed cabs, and electric starters. Televisions started off copying radios -- they looked more like an armoire with a small screen stuck on the front. In the process of working on my latest piece of research, it became clear that the Web has followed a similar pattern. Early sites imitated…
Guest Blogger James Castellano: The Truth About Motivation, and What You Can Do About It

Guest Blogger

2 Feb 2010 | 9:17 am

Motivation as a topic is quite popular. Whether in sports or in business, we talk about motivating others to perform better, to work better, or to help us accomplish our goals. But the best way to motivate can be quite elusive. We try all sorts of different programs and philosophies to get others motivated, but in the end, we are right back where we started. There is a very simple reason why this happens. The reality of motivation is this: We cannot positively motivate anyone but ourselves.