Marketing

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  Guy Kawasaki

• The 19 bloggers Inc. thinks you should read

  GuyKawasaki

  6 Nov 2009 | 6:20 pm

  Inc. named 19 bloggers that you should read. We’ve aggregated them all in one place: Inc19.alltop.

• How to Get Found

  GuyKawasaki

  4 Nov 2009 | 3:29 pm

  The reality is that people and technology is getting better and better a blocking out unwanted interruptions—aka, “marketing.” Brian Halligan is the CEO of HubSpot, and he explains in my post on the American Express Open Forum “how to get found.” It’s all about creating great stuff and letting Google et al do what they do: find great stuff.

• How I tweet

  GuyKawasaki

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:47 am

  By popular demand (and some complaints), I’ve done a FAQ with myself about how I tweet. Hope this helps you use Twitter for your business too. I explain how I use ghostwriters and why I repeat my tweets among other “unusual” practices.

• Current Twitter Demo Script

  GuyKawasaki

  28 Oct 2009 | 2:26 am

  This is the set of links that I used to demo Twitter by going down through this list to show why Twitter is such a valuable marketing tool. Introduction Home page Profile page Monitor Search Guy Kawasaki or Alltop Starbucks VIA introduction Search for “Prius” or “Civic” Sell Dell Outlet Kogi BBQ Support Comcast Cares Engage JetBlue Virgin America Fandango Prospect Camaro Camaro near Palo Alto Advanced searches Surfing or skateboarding (shows how to eliminate extraneous results such as “surfing the web” How I Tweet - Find Alltop MyAlltop helped me find this.

• How to Avoid Twitter Cluelessness

  GuyKawasaki

  26 Oct 2009 | 4:24 pm

  Over at the American Express Open Forum blog, I explain how to not look clueless on Twitter. The first five ways are: Don’t tell other people how to tweet. Don’t tell the world that you unfollowed someone. Don’t ask people why they unfollowed you. Don’t constantly tweet mundane updates and babble. Don’t use a small picture for an avatar. To read all ten and why they impugn your intelligence, click here.

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  MarketingVOX - The Voice of Online Marketing

• Twitter's Commericial Push Signals Move to Monetize

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:18 pm

  In a move that appears to signal an attempt by Twitter to finally monetize its user base, the company will start selling corporate accounts to brands by the end 2009. Though Twitter co-founder Biz...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/marketingvox/rss/~4/BUP3u6Sd7Jc" height="1" width="1"/>

• NASA Puts Social Media on Rocket Trajectory

  20 Nov 2009 | 3:15 pm

  NASA's move to give 100 Twitter users front-row seats at the Kennedy Space Center for the Nov. 16 liftoff of the space shuttle Atlantis propelled the US space agency into the stratosphere of trending...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/marketingvox/rss/~4/WF8H3y5TTcA" height="1" width="1"/>

• Don't Tell Facebook: Video Ads Stumble on SocNets

  20 Nov 2009 | 3:02 pm

  Video ads on social media and gaming sites have lower dwell rates and lower video fully played rates than they do on news websites, sports sites or those in the music and finance sectors, according...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/marketingvox/rss/~4/ZudYZ_AV-XA" height="1" width="1"/>

• Toys R Us 'Mobilizes' Holiday Shoppers

  20 Nov 2009 | 3:20 am

  Beginning the weekend of November 21-22, 2009, retailer Toys R Us will offer mobile shopping capabilities to its customers that go beyond just informational services. The move, which promises to take...<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/marketingvox/rss/~4/bjCp7bnDLoo" height="1" width="1"/>

• Industry Buzz & Snippets: 11/20/09

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:30 am

  Ad Strategies: Marketers hop on augmented reality bandwagon to promote 'Avatar.' AT&T's anti-Verizon ad is a stinker. Social Media: Facebook Ads customer support found  lacking. Google Chrome OS...

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  Neuromarketing

• The Outsider Effect

  Roger Dooley

  16 Nov 2009 | 4:52 am

  Trying to juice up your next ad campaign? Develop a clever new product strategy? Research shows that adding an outsider to the mix can improve the thinking of your team and produce better results. According to a study published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Better decisions come from teams that include a [...]

• Management Lessons from Airplane Crashes

  Roger Dooley

  9 Nov 2009 | 6:40 am

  Airplane crashes don’t happen often, and when they do they are no doubt among the most-studied failures in any industry. Most bad business decisions, by contrast, are pushed into the past as quickly as possible. That may be one lesson – studying why a business strategy proved to be a failure might prevent similar failures [...]

• Emsense Raises $9 Million

  Roger Dooley

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:09 am

  Neuromarketing firm Emsense has raised $9 million in additional capital. The new round was led by an investment from Technology Partners with existing investor the Foundry Group also participating. This funding will allow EmSense to continue its global expansion in support of its many market research partners. The funds will also enable the company [...]

• Want Some Emotion with That Website?

  Roger Dooley

  3 Nov 2009 | 5:01 am

  As a web community guy, one of the most common problems I see is the failure to communicate emotion properly when people interact online. A remark intended as humorous can be perceived as a personal attack, or an expression of sympathy can be taken as cruel sarcasm. While I always suggest caution (particularly [...]

• College Branding: What if Harvard Moved Next Door?

  Roger Dooley

  2 Nov 2009 | 5:06 am

  Why do most college branding efforts end up as meaningless pablum? I think it’s because most colleges have been relatively insulated from the effects of devastating competition. In fact, historically there have been major barriers to competition in the cozy world of higher education. The biggest have been geography, cost, and reputation. [...]

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  Influential Marketing

• Don't Call Me A Social Media Guy

  Rohit

  18 Nov 2009 | 6:48 am

  Yesterday I hosted a conversation on Twitter all about authenticity and what that truly means. It's a buzzword, to be sure, but it was interesting that the 140 character based conversation yielded many different perceptions of what authenticity means. For most honesty was a big part of it, as was having real one on one conversations with people and not taking yourself too seriously. As I thought about my own use of social media both in building my personal brand as well as what I do for clients working my day job at a big marketing agency ... I realized that I'm not a social media guy. Social…

• 6 Ways To Protect Your Brand With Social Media

  Rohit

  17 Nov 2009 | 6:48 am

  Just about every week I see an article or have a conversation with a client about the potential risks of social media and how to manage them. Quite frankly, there are many ways that social media can go wrong and cause problems for a brand, and as someone who shares advice on using social media for marketing - I can readily admit that. What I haven't seen as much discussion about is how social media could be used to protect your brand. Not fighting back after a crisis happens, but proactively as a tool to prevent people from hijacking, corrupting or negatively impacting your brand. What if you…

• What You Don't Know About Surgeons

  Rohit

  13 Nov 2009 | 4:29 am

  What if you only had to do your job once or twice per year? Apart from the tempting thought of how great your life would be without work, imagine the practical fact of how your skills that you use on a daily basis might be affected by only using them once or twice per year. How much would you forget in the time between using your skills? How much of what you do could be like riding a bike - just inherent knowledge that you'll always have? Now imagine if you were a surgeon doing procedures on patients. Seems like a fairly complicated thing - and we generally tend to trust in the surgeons that…

• 100 Ideas To Save The Planet (And What They Can Teach You)

  Rohit

  11 Nov 2009 | 11:07 am

  For the next three days the World Bank here in Washington DC is hosting a world changing event that few people know about. Called the Development Marketplace - it is a gathering of organizations behind 100 innovative ideas from 50 different countries on how to save the planet. The ideas can affect everything from a small village of 60 to a large population of millions. The only requirement is that the funding request from organizations participating must be less than $200,000. As I went through the list of projects that are being featured in the marketplace, there were 10 that stood out to me…

• Passport Marketing At The Berlin Wall

  Rohit

  9 Nov 2009 | 6:39 am

  Today is the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall and people across the world are focusing on this momentous day. Last week I was in Berlin and spent an afternoon looking at remnants of the Berlin Wall and its defining place in German history. As the German chancellor from the time (Helmut Kohl) said, "we [Germans] don't have many reasons in our history to be proud, but as chancellor I have nothing to be more proud of than German reunification." Seeking to see if an experience I had written about some time ago still existed, on a free afternoon in Berlin I headed to a place called…

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  Make the Logo Bigger

• Let’s do this!

  mtlb

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:15 pm

  Forget return trips to the moon or putting a man on Mars, let’s build rings around the Earth. No, I mean it. This is cool. (Not sure they needed a nice Ave Maria to sell it in, but, hey, whatevuh.)(Via Nerdcore.)

• Crazy Canon Camera time!

  mtlb

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:25 am

  CANON - Freeze Tag from Saman Keshavarz on Vimeo.Cool stop-motion live-motion thing, but if someone dropped my camera like that? Be somewhere else.**Not that, you know, I’ve ever dropped a camera before. Maybe.

• “That's a funny spot!”

  mtlb

  20 Nov 2009 | 7:43 am

  Bud Light - Dog Training - (2009) :30 (USA)The current Bud Light Too light, Too heavy spots are running as you know by now. The dog version came on during last week’s NFL games, and, sitting with a bunch of hard-drinking non-ad pros, all you heard over and over when this or the nail gun spot came on was “That’s a funny spot!” Whereas I’d go the difference is plausibility, it’s easy to forget that the other half of the audience thinks these are the shit.I return you to your Friday.

• AdVerve Server Fun Fixed.

  mtlb

  20 Nov 2009 | 7:21 am

  The squirrels that chewed through the servers’ wires have summarily been dispatched and all AdVerve shows are available again. Download you some:

• When nature calls, will you answer?

  mtlb

  19 Nov 2009 | 9:59 am

  Rhett & Link’s latest. Rhett wonders about the reaction, but I think the spot misses some of that local flavor slash interaction with real people found in their previous spots.

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  Culture-Buzz

• The Body Shop: The Love Etc... Pre-Launch Event

  Acia Baghdadi

  19 Nov 2009 | 8:02 am

  There were 40 of them, they were full of enthusiasm, but most importantly they were with us for a whole weekend in Marseille, France, for the presentation of the new The Body Shop fragrance: Love Etc...™. It is in a kind of crazy but mostly relaxed and a little magical atmosphere that the BuzzParadise team met up with 40 of its bloggers from France and Switzerland on a Saturday to embark on a very special train journey to Marseille. In honor of the launch of its new Love Etc...™ fragrance, the ethical beauty company decided to invite the blogging ladies to the French metropolis Marseille…

• The Internet: The No. 1 Purchase Persuader In France

  Julien Delubac

  18 Nov 2009 | 2:25 am

  According to a study by Ifop Nurun, in France the Internet has become the decisive media when it comes to purchasing, even surpassing the power of television and print. Among the people polled, 29% say they trust the Web and say that it can help them make relevant decisions when it comes to making purchases. Sources emarketer The original post on culture-buzz.fr Translated by H. Turner Source images emarketer

• The Big Warm-up: An Interview with Susan Sachatello

  Thierry Daher

  18 Nov 2009 | 1:35 am

  Please introduce yourself: Susan Sachatello, Senior Vice President, Marketing for Lands' End What is Lands' End's mission statement in the US today? What is the promise the brand brings to its clients? Lands' End promises to give our customers a great shopping experience where they will find stylish, high-quality products at an amazing value. We strive to be the beacon for what's real… real value, real people, real difference. Can you please describe the campaign and how it came to life? The Big Warm-up was inspired by a similar endeavor in Boston known as the Big Boston Warm-up. In…

• Tweet Level: Measure Your Influence On Twitter

  Valentine Nancy

  13 Nov 2009 | 1:58 am

  Tweetlevel is a new tool developed by Edelman that allows you to measure your own influence and credibility on Twitter. Do you want to find out? The answer is at tweetlevel.edelman.com. Sources Tweetlevel The original post on culture-buzz.fr Translated by H. Turner Image source Tweetlevel

• Listorious: Discover The Best Twitter Lists

  C. Werle

  13 Nov 2009 | 1:53 am

  Recently, we told you about the new Twitter function that allows you to create lists and share them with your followers. Listorious has now made a list of the 140 most popular Twitter lists. Among them, you will find the list that Vanksen has dedicated to international buzz, advertising and web agencies. You can follow us on twitter.com/vanksen_com. And how about you, what are your favorite lists? Sources listorious.com The list of the best advertising agencies on Twitter The original post on culture-buzz.fr Translated by H. Turner Image source listorious.com

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  NYT: Media and Advertising

• New Leaders in Japan Seek to End Cozy Ties to Press Clubs

  By MARTIN FACKLER

  21 Nov 2009 | 12:36 am

  The authorities are expanding access to journalists who don’t belong to cartel-like media groups that analysts say have produced a relatively spineless press.

• G.E. and Vivendi Halt Talks Over Stake in NBC

  By ANDREW ROSS SORKIN and TIM ARANGO

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:47 pm

  The sides appear to be at least $500 million apart on how to value NBC Universal, which G.E. is hoping to sell to Comcast, the big cable television company.

• An Unsteady Future for Broadcast

  By TIM ARANGO and BILL CARTER

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:38 pm

  Analysts and executives are wondering if the economic model of broadcast television, which is more heavily reliant on advertising than cable, is irreparably broken.

• Winfrey Bets on Her Future With Cable

  By BRIAN STELTER and BILL CARTER

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:05 pm

  Oprah Winfrey will end her daytime talk show in 2011 as she prepares to start a cable channel of her own.

• Talk to The Times: Editor for Digital Initiatives

  20 Nov 2009 | 5:07 pm

  Jim Schachter answered questions from readers.

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  AdPulp

• Hipsters At War

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:50 pm

  CANON - Freeze Tag from Saman Keshavarz on Vimeo. "This is an independent promo for CANON France, not commissioned," says writer/director, Saman Keshavarz. However, it's in the works to be (officially) released over the Web, he says.Special thanks to ProtoShare for sponsoring this month's RSS feed.One third of the cost in interactive development is in rework. ProtoShare helps developers engage stakeholders, gather feedback and iterate early. When you routinely reduce rework and eliminate headaches you’re able to produce a better experience, satisfy clients and increase profits.

• A Gap In Perspective

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:30 am

  What's going on is 10 Vancouver-area Gap stores are offering consumers a credit on any merchandise that goes on sale within 45 days of their purchase. To promote this offer, Gap flipped the script and turned everything in its Robson Street store on its head. There's more information at MySprize.com. [via BrandFreak]Special thanks to ProtoShare for sponsoring this month's RSS feed.One third of the cost in interactive development is in rework. ProtoShare helps developers engage stakeholders, gather feedback and iterate early. When you routinely reduce rework and eliminate headaches you’re…

• Self-Promo Ad #7

  19 Nov 2009 | 2:54 pm

  Yesterday, I had a great talk over Skype with Bob Knorpp of The BeanCast and Cool Beans Group. Like me, Bob is a freelance copywriter and brand consultant, who is fighting for a foothold in the scree field of this economy. One of the things we touched on was the need to be better self-promoters, and by that we mean we need to be more obvious about our service offerings. Bob runs a popular podcast--Danny G. and I will be on again Sunday night--and one might think that clients and agencies would connect the dots and see that Bob's the guy to call when podcasting is the solution that's needed.

• Spotlight on NW Creative: Designers Don't Read by Austin Howe

  19 Nov 2009 | 1:28 pm

  Designers Don't Read by Austin Howe began as a series of weekly essays sent every Monday morning to top graphic designers. It's now a 208-page book from one of Portland's more well known "mad men." Howe and Mike Doherty launched the hybrid advertising agency AKA Advertising and Sass (where I showed my book to Doug Lowell in 1995). After selling the agency, Howe spent the next 8 years freelancing as a writer and creative director for firms like Wieden+Kennedy, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, TBWA\Chiat\Day and Deutsch. Here's a passage from the new book: Clients are tiring of agency self-interest.

• Jonah Bloom on The Rise of Media As A Marketing Service (A Favorite Topic Herein)

  19 Nov 2009 | 9:19 am

  "We now have countless examples of the success of marketer as media owner," Bloom says. Then he kindly lists them. J&J's BabyCenter.com had 3.6 million views last month P&G's HomeMadeSimple.com and Pampers.com pulled in close to a million visitors P&G is launching its beauty mag, Rouge, to six million Americans next year Walmart with its money saving tips on YouTube Grey Goose with its entertainment division American Express with its small business blog network Mountain Dew's record label And the list goes on... If you would, please add to more examples of media as a marketing service to the…

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  W+K PORTLAND

• Smells of Butter and Brown sugar this morning

  Studio

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:15 am

  Pie contest is today at 3:30. Who will have the quality pie?jump over to our studio's blog to purchase a shirt. 

• Front desk Pam

  Studio

  19 Nov 2009 | 6:46 pm

  So beautiful and so sweet, who knew she had a dark side? Obviously, trained by Gwen.

• Turning Flour into Gold

  Studio

  18 Nov 2009 | 4:40 pm

  Last night in the sixth floor kitchen facility, Robin Rosenberg held a bowl of pie crust up to her ear and whispered its secrets for a lucky few.  Those who enrolled in Food Academy: Pie Workshop Edition walked in as raw shafts of wheat, but emerged as golden seed pods, ready to be ground and bagged. To the entrants in the upcoming W+K Pie Competition: be prepared to get crust fucked.  Yes, Robin introduced us to a rich world of pie humor, some of it base. If you’re offended take your pie pan and go elsewhere. In the class, we worked with our heads and hearts, but mostly with our…

• How do you say 2010?

  Studio

  16 Nov 2009 | 4:23 pm

  Do you say twenty-ten or two-thousand-ten? Listen to what W+K Art Director, Jimm Lasser, has to say about it on NPR’s All Things Considered with Robert Segal.Jimm makes his debut at time code 3:00.

• A THANK YOU FROM LAIKA

  Studio

  13 Nov 2009 | 5:39 pm

   This original piece of art was created by Kingman Cruxent Gallagher and presented by our client Laika to W+K as a thank you for the hard work and success of the movie Coraline. It measures 8' x 8' and is a three dimensional representation of the button eye Bobinski character. It's so cool. We love it. Thank you, Laika.

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  Buzz Marketing for Technology

• CMO Challenges in Driving Data into Insights

  17 Nov 2009 | 5:47 am

  A good friend and former colleague of mine Dan Neely, CEO of Networked Insights reminded me recently that there will be more data created in this year than in the previous 5000 years combined!With all this data the question many CMOs wrestle with is – How to manage so much data from so many sources and separate systems to drive insights on how customers behave? With the goal being a seamless and consistent experience as customers and prospects pin pong across a variety of channels.A recent Forrester report called The Intelligent Approach to Customer Intelligence does a good job outlining…

• What to look for in a Social Media Marketer?

  13 Nov 2009 | 5:26 am

  Now that we are beginning to feel the relief of the economic uncertainty that has been hanging around us for the past few months, I am beginning to hear a lot about the invention of some new roles inside organizations looking to get “social media”.Typically this means hire someone who knows our “space” really well and someone who is an expert in social media.Well it’s the latter part that is the hard part. Consider that in Malcolm Gladwell’s latest book The Outliers he goes into a discussion about Violinists and how long it takes them to become a master at their craft. So without…

• 5 Tricks to B2B Marketing Socially

  9 Nov 2009 | 11:36 am

  Whenever I ask members of sales team from around the globe what they need – the answer never changes – more case studies. Its not to say that we don’t respond but for whatever reason it takes a village to get a single case study done.The reason the sales team loves case studies is it gives them evidence. Evidence for them to start a conversation around your solution and gauge whether there is a need with the potential buyer they are talking to.Then how do B2B Marketers use that content with Social Media to do the same - here are 5 tricks to Marketing B2B content socially ...1) Tell good…

• The Tipping Point and your Contact Center

  3 Nov 2009 | 6:06 am

  Back in the year 2000, Malcolm Gladwell published his landmark book called The Tipping Point. And little did he know 9 years later he would have set the stage for how many Contact Centers handle Social Media?Let me explain …Many of the most Socially advanced Contact Centers today are using tools to listen in on Conversations. Conversations that are happening about their brand, conversations that are happening about their competition, and of course conversations that revolve around Customer Support! Customer Support makes for an easy anchor of any good Social Media strategy so it stands to…

• Some Weeks are Hard to Top!

  1 Nov 2009 | 4:45 am

  Last week was the perfect storm of 3 major life moments all coming together in one week to form the perfect trifecta. It’s a week that is going to be hard to top in Dunay history but don’t put it past me to try!It all started Friday, Oct 23rd when my wife came into the house and said “oh yeah, I think your books have arrived – I saw a whole bunch of boxes out by the garage”. Little did she know in that moment I became a published author! I spent the weekend packing up copies of Facebook Marketing for Dummies (Wiley) and sending them to family, friends, long time mentors but most…

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  JasonKeath.com

• The Democratization of Advertising

  Jason

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:26 am

  The Democratization of Advertising Presentation Transcript The Democratization of Advertising JasonKeath.com Santa Claus is Real YES Kids Love Santa. Mostly YES Adults Love Santa. EVEN Dogs Love Santa. Just One Problem NOW Everybody is Santa. HOW Does the Original Santa Keep Up? Psst. Santa = Advertising Just go with it. Santa needs A New Sleigh Maybe even a New Suit OK Enough Bad Metaphors WHAT Does All This Social Media Crap Mean for Advertising? Long Story Short… Advertising MUST CHANGE The Audience is Bored They are Sheep No More It is Now About Community They Want Innovation They Want…

• Topless Photos Only

  Jason

  14 Nov 2009 | 10:15 am

  It is hard to beat simple, creative ideas. That is what a sign read over a chair at the first local beach bar we stopped at in Cozumel, Mexico today. We were the first ones there and every group of tourists that happened upon this little reggae bar spent time talking about or taking photos in front of the sign. As photo pops go, mission accomplished. I am currently on the Social Fresh Cruise with a great group of folks (more on that later). Our stop in Cozumel has been amazing and filled with simple pleasures. The water, beaches, and event the guacamole are amazing. This little island is…

• Simply Remember to Take It Offline

  Jason

  14 Oct 2009 | 12:34 pm

  We all know real world relationships are the goal of our networking. We talk to people a world away online. We form relationships with people all over the country on Twitter. But the real tangible benefit of these relationships, personal and business, happens offline. It is important to not get stuck inside of social networks and the virtual interactions they make so easy. Take the conversation to email, call someone, meet them for coffee. When you go to conferences or visit other cities, look for people from your online networks there. Experiences within social media are most engaging when…

• Social Media: The Bad and The Ugly

  Jason

  11 Oct 2009 | 9:09 pm

  In response to Patrick O’Keefe’s ManagingCommunities.com post on his BlogWorld Expo Panel “Social Media: The Bad and the Ugly”. My ugly social media is simply the knee jerk attack responses that I seem to see more and more of each day. I try not to be negative at all online outside of customer service complaints. But especially when a more constructive response or the offering of a solution would be a better response. I hope more people will decide to stay positive when reacting to individuals and companies that are making a strong effort to enter the social media…

• 4 Free Tickets to Social Media Business Forum

  Jason

  8 Oct 2009 | 8:55 pm

  Social Media History Trivia October 9th, 1pm EST Follow @jakrose for questions Random draw from the first 5 correct answers wins a ticket for each question 4 Questions 4 Free Tickets to Social Media Business Forum (October 23rd – Durham, NC)

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  I Believe in Advertising

• Prime TV – Mad Men Season 3: How Don are you?

  Filippo

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:19 am

  Be honest, we’d all like to be a little like Don Draper, wouldn’t we? Well, with the third season of Mad Men, we can. By watching each episode, we’ll all soon be chain-smoking, shagging and drinking on-the-job like there’s no tomorrow. Well, that’s what DraftFCB Auckland would have us believe. The TV and radio spots, plus outdoor and online work all challenge audiences with the line ‘howDonareyou.com’ – which, you guessed it, is the address of a site where we can all get a helping hand increasing our ‘Don-ness’. DraftFCB even gave journalists a helping hand, by sending…

• Rolling Stone: The best cover in the last 150 years

  Filippo

  19 Nov 2009 | 4:47 pm

  “I sincerely believe I am by far the best prime minister Italy has had in its 150-year history (since unification in 1861),” Mr Berlusconi said in a televised news conference in Sardinia with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. September 10th 2009. Advertising Agency: D’Adda, Lorenzini, Vigorelli, BBDO, Milan, Italy Creative Directors: Stefania Siani, Federico Pepe Art Director: Luca Menozzi Copywriter: Luca Bartoli Account Executive: Anna De Gaetano Account Director: Chiara Panci Published: November 2009

• UNICEF: Toy Soldiers

  Filippo

  19 Nov 2009 | 1:33 am

  The African Continent has the world’s highest number of child soldiers, fighting in wars they don’t believe in, for causes they don’t understand. UNICEF extracts many of these children from combat and reintegrates them into society. We sent out a direct mailer that garners support for UNICEF’s child soldier programme. Initially, the mailer appears to be a typical packet of toy soldiers, but once opened, the recipients find that the figurines are in fact children – reading books, playing soccer, riding bikes and doing other childhood activities. Advertising…

• Roland Semprie Personal Trainer: T-shirt

  Filippo

  17 Nov 2009 | 4:25 pm

  Self promotion T-shirt for Roland Semprie, Personal Trainer. Advertising Agency: GJP Advertising + Design, Toronto, Canada Chief Creative Officer: Alan Gee Creative Directors: Lisa Greenberg/Trevor Schoenfeld Copywriter: Ross Pryde Art Director: Chris Duchaine

• Feltrinelli: War

  Filippo

  17 Nov 2009 | 2:59 pm

  Advertising Agency: Tita, Milano, Italy Art Director: Emanuele Basso Copywriter: Giuseppe Mazza Photographer: Enzo Monzino Producer: Sonia Rocchi Published: October 2009

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  Brand Autopsy

• File Under: MISSED OPPORTUNITY

  johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)

  17 Nov 2009 | 6:23 am

  Something doesn’t make sense with this poster ad on the DFW Airport skylink tram. Do you see what I saw? If I’m advertising a “treat yourself” occasion at the airport during the hullabaloo of holiday travel, I’m choosing something more treat worthy than a low-fat soft pretzel. There are lots of "treat yourself" opportunities at DFW Airport that out indulge a basic pretzel.

• Beloved Companies Make The Right Decisions

  johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)

  11 Nov 2009 | 2:22 pm

  As a customer loyalty-focused marketer, Jeanne Bliss has been in the marketing game with some notable brands: Lands’ End, Coldwell Banker, Allstate, Microsoft, and Mazda. She has seen how making the wrong decisions can lead to forging customer disloyalty and how making the right decisions lead to fostering customer loyalty. I’ve known Jeanne for a couple years. Smart gal. And her latest book, I LOVE YOU MORE THAN MY DOG, is a smart read for businesses wanting to earn loyalty from customers. (Since Jeanne is a friend, she gave me a copy to read. Friends are nice that way. Thanks Jeanne.)…

• Business Lessons from a Soda Jerk

  johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)

  8 Nov 2009 | 11:45 am

  John Nese is a modern day soda jerk. He’s passionate about “flavored water with a lot bubbles.” Soda makes him smile, makes him happy. He’s the proprietor of Galco’s Soda Pop Stop in Los Angeles. His store sells about 500 different sodas from small, independent-run soda makers. His business is a prototypical purple cow, worthy of word-of-mouth. Watching the video below will not only make us smile and happy, it will make us smarter about business strategy and jealous we don’t have the same passion for what we do that John Nese does. We’ll become smarter because we’ll see…

• No More Starbucks Gold

  johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)

  6 Nov 2009 | 8:04 am

  Lots of chatter online about the revamped Starbucks “rewards” program. Starbucks will discontinue its Gold Card program it began a year ago. The Starbucks Gold Card program was designed like many membership rewards program where customers pay a yearly $25 fee and in return they receive free refills on brewed coffee, free wi-fi access, and 10% off on all purchases. Beginning December 26, Starbucks will replace its Gold Card program with a "My Starbucks Rewards" program offering customers a free beverage after 15 purchases. (There are a few other small perks in this program but it's…

• WOMMA's Creating Talkable Brands Conference

  johnmoore (from Brand Autopsy)

  31 Oct 2009 | 5:01 am

  *** My WOM Enthusiast hat is on with this post. It’s a few weeks until WOMMA’s Creating Talkable Brands Conference (Nov. 18 – 20, Las Vegas). Sign-ups have been strong. And for good reason — the agenda is strong. There are over 40 sessions with 4 learning tracks and 4 keynotes addresses (.pdf agenda). For each of the breakout sessions, WOMMA is pairing up a Brand with an Agency. So you’ll hear both perspectives, the brand-side and the agency-side, in each breakout. To help make sense out of the packed agenda, I’ve been sharing highlights from Day 1 and Day 2 on the ALL THINGS WOM…

• 
  The Internet Strategist

• 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…

• Build Your Blog

  27 Oct 2009 | 1:45 pm

  We are knee deep in the basics of blogging! 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. If you've decided you'd like to blog, or if you just want more information before taking the plunge, there are a few more steps, namely: what are you going to blog about (this one's kinda important) how will you set up your blog how will you market your blog Deciding what you'll write about is clearly a highly subjective decision that goes beyond our scope for today (although maybe a good idea for a future feature?

• Blogging's 11 Big Payoffs pt 2

  12 Oct 2009 | 2:00 pm

  click hereto retweet From the comments and emails I've received, the benefits I described in the first half of Blogging's 11 Big Payoffs have hit home but also helped you think of new ways that your blog can help you build your business. I liked the issue raised in a comment by SaveMoneyCostCutting from last week. Sometimes it is a fine line between too much marketing and just enough. It is important to establish a position on this that will work based on what you're selling and to whom you're selling it. There's no one-size-fits-all on that one. Blogging is a tool you can use creatively to…

• Blogging's 11 Big Payoffs

  5 Oct 2009 | 9:34 pm

  click hereto retweet In last week's article I discussed what a blog actually is and its relationship to both your business and to your regular Web site if you have one. The purpose of blogging in general, is usually to establish and/or support an existing brand with an understanding of how that brand generates revenue. This week, as promised, I'm getting into the real payoffs. Why does it make sense to spend hours of time each month, writing content, then giving it away for free and if that's not enough, even more hours marketing that free content to make sure people will know it's there?

• To Blog or Not to Blog

  29 Sep 2009 | 1:24 am

  click hereto retweet Outside of the fact that you happen to be reading one right now, I find that there are lots of smart, business savvy folks out there who when placed in the position of having to explain, strategize or build a blog (or decide if one should be built at all) are at a bit of a loss. Blogs are usually easy for most people to recognize but harder for folks to define. When I hosted a free class on the subject (as I do from time to time) it "sold out" (in the way only free classes can!) the room filled to capacity. Even those who can sort of describe a blog, often find it hard to…

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  Church of the Customer Blog

• New company, new history

  Ben McConnell

  18 Nov 2009 | 1:14 am

  When Jackie Huba and I decided eight years ago to start a company, we envisioned it as a consulting firm that would help clients create customer evangelists. It was March 2001. We'd both just left the web development company we had worked at for three years. Online advertising was king then, but we wanted to explore why some brands experienced strong word of mouth while others didn't. We wanted to understand what fueled the evangelism, how it happened, and how could we help others do the same. We started with a website and an email newsletter in an era that could only be described as Before…

• Advertising without advertising

  Ben McConnell

  12 Nov 2009 | 12:16 pm

  Sometimes a movie quote is the best way to capture what you're all about.

• Kicking out unwanted customers

  Jackie Huba

  30 Oct 2009 | 10:35 am

  "Don't talk during the movie or we will take your ass out." If you've been to an Alamo Drafthouse, the movie theater chain in Austin, Texas, then you've seen that semi-serious warning couched in a fun "public service announcement" before a movie showing. Theater founder Tim League knows that talkers mar the movie-watching experience for everyone else, and he does not tolerate them -- even if they punch the windshield of his car.See, Tim was a customer recently at one of his theaters. A nearby loud-talker was asked by a theater waiter to keep it down. The customer protested, loudly, demanding…

• Twitter: the killer app for customer service

  Jackie Huba

  22 Oct 2009 | 10:31 am

  "Hello, this is Sam Kaufman from the AT&T Internet Executive Office, and I am calling about your tweets."That's what I heard yesterday after posting a few tweets about my less-than-stellar customer service experience with an AT&T DSL technical support rep. The rep was trying to diagnose my DSL problems and after telling me to stay on the line for 10 minutes, he never returned after 30 minutes. I hung up. He never called back.With a few hours of my AT&T tweet, @ATTJohnathon, a customer care rep on Twitter contacted me, asking if he could help. I DM'ed him my account number as he…

• Fees are penalties. Always.

  Jackie Huba

  19 Oct 2009 | 1:24 pm

  It's a wonder why some businesses can't grasp this. Consider the U.S. airlines last month: Southwest reported an 8.8% increase in revenue passenger miles. Its load factor, the percentage of seats that were filled, increased 11% from a year ago, to 74.7% — a big increase for a month in which schools reopen and summer vacation travels stop. JetBlue saw a 9.8% jump in passenger miles. Its load factor rose about 1% from the prior year, to 77.6%. Compare those numbers to other airlines. Delta: Down 5% on its mainline operation. It also cut capacity by 5%. American: Down 2.6% domestically. It cut…

• 
  Advertising/Design Goodness

• Yellow Pages

  Freddy

  19 Nov 2009 | 7:05 am

  Agency: Ade, Bogotá, Colombia Creative Director: Nacho Martínez Art Directors: Leonardo Silva, Cristian Borrero, Tomas Casallas Copywriter: Leonardo Silva Photographer: Cristian Borrero

• Roland Semprie Personal Trainer

  Freddy

  18 Nov 2009 | 6:33 am

  Self promotion T-shirt for Roland Semprie, Personal Trainer. Agency: GJP Advertising, Toronto Chief Creative Officer: Alan Gee Creative Directors: Lisa Greenberg/Trevor Schoenfeld Copywriter: Ross Pryde Art Director: Chris Duchaine

• DDB Save Paper

  Freddy

  17 Nov 2009 | 4:57 am

  Printing out e-mails is a needless waste of paper. An application was installed on all DDB computers. It turns the mouse-pointer into a little motor saw icon accompanied by the appropriate sound, each time the user presses the ‘print’ button. At the same time a small description field pops up and shows the message: ‘Save paper, save trees. Please do not print out this e-mail. Thank you!’ If the user presses ‘OK’ for printing, he will hear the sound of shivering wood and a falling tree. If the user presses cancel’, the saw stopped and he heard birds singing. Agency: DDB Berlin,…

• 2012 Wave

  Freddy

  16 Nov 2009 | 3:59 am

  Agency: Espaço/Z, Brazil Creative Director: Antônio Guerra, Zé Maria de Oliveira. Art Director: Filippe Vidal, Murilo Silvio, Julio Costa, Antônio Guerra Copywriter: Felippe Mendonça

• Weight Watchers

  Freddy

  12 Nov 2009 | 6:16 am

  WeightWatchers helps its members to adopt a healthier way of life through the supportive environment of group meetings. The idea of losing weight together is conveyed in a simple yet elegant way in form of a tear-off poster layout everyone knows from supermarket blackboards. Agency: Euro RSCG Zurich, Switzerland

• 
  John Quelch

• How to Price US Citizenship

  John Quelch

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:51 pm

  In the for-profit sector, there are three basic ways to price a product: The cost plus profit margin method; benchmarking versus competition; and pricing based on customer value. But how should we think about pricing in the public sector? Let's take an unusual example: the price of US citizenship. Legal immigrants to the US who are resident for five years (or three years for those who marry a US citizen) can apply for US citizenship. Currently, citizenship application and processing fees in the US are $675 per person, up from $60 two decades ago. These fees, which exclude the costs of…

• How GM's Chairman Aims to Please

  John Quelch

  15 Oct 2009 | 10:56 am

  Lee Iacocca did it. Dieter Zetsche of Daimler Chrysler tried it. Now Ed Whitacre, General Motors' new chairman, has become his company's television advertising spokesperson. There are five reasons why this campaign makes sense (and three big reasons why it doesn't!). First the positives. By being the frontman, Whitacre is: Taking charge. GM is now largely owned by taxpayers. GM advertising is being paid for by you and me. Whitacre was appointed by the government. The ad shows he's not in hiding. He's stepping up to take responsibility. Boosting internal morale. The boss is on the front line,…

• How Corporate Responsibility Can Survive the Recession

  John Quelch

  22 Sep 2009 | 5:31 am

  Corporations engaged in recession-driven cost-cutting are trimming or eliminating corporate responsibility initiatives. Though corporate survival is key and consumer skepticism of business CR initiatives at an all-time high, such actions are short-sighted. Now more than ever, businesses need to be saying "yes" rather than "no" to their social responsibilities.There are five key reasons: 1. Critical cross-border global issues require multinational corporations and their CEOs to lead in the search for solutions, recession or not. 2. Recession results in more poverty and exacerbates problems…

• How (Not) to Complain

  John Quelch

  17 Sep 2009 | 6:37 am

  Serena Williams berates a line judge for a questionable call; Kanye West hijacks Taylor Swift's acceptance speech; Joe Wilson accuses President Obama of lying to a joint session of Congress. The worlds of sports, entertainment, and politics seem to be long on self-promotion and especially short on trust and respect. In contrast, the commercial marketplace runs on trust. Billions of transactions occur daily in which both parties in the exchange end up satisfied. Almost all sellers - from multinational companies to individuals selling on eBay - are concerned about their reputations and realize…

• How Harvard Licensed its Brand

  John Quelch

  9 Sep 2009 | 9:00 am

  In a recession, marketers and institutions with strong brands may be tempted to license their names and trademarks. But while licensing can generate easy revenues, those royalties come with a potential risk to the brand. Consider Harvard University's recent ten year licensing arrangement with Wearwolf Group Ltd. of New York to develop and sell a line of preppy apparel bearing the "Harvard Yard" brand and crimson trim. The University, presumably mindful of possible negative reputation effects, carefully avoided licensing the Harvard University logo or name. However, no matter how carefully…

• 
  Tom Davenport

• Why Health Care Reform Is Vulnerable to Smart Analytics

  Tom Davenport

  19 Nov 2009 | 8:13 am

  Insurance — and health insurance in particular — has long been about the pooling of risk. It may be impossible to know what diseases and accidents will befall a particular individual, but if the risk is spread over a large pool, the cost of insuring the entire group is close to average. Therefore, when a company or organization seeks health insurance for a large group of employees, the particular attributes of those employees aren't usually assessed in detail. Increasingly, however, life and property & casualty insurers have attempted to increase their profits by predicting just…

• The US Is GM

  Tom Davenport

  2 Nov 2009 | 1:02 pm

  The United States, my beloved home country, has become the General Motors of nations in its lethargy and complacency. This is ironic, because the US (and Canada) own a majority share of GM, but I am focused more on economic similarity rather than ownership. The height of complacency for GM was probably about 2004. In that year the automaker still had the title as the world's largest maker of cars, a title it relinquished in 2007. GM was still profitable in 2004 — but not very much so — and it was losing market share in many of its major markets. That was the year that GM abandoned…

• Forwarding Is the New Networking

  Tom Davenport

  30 Sep 2009 | 7:57 am

  Michael Schrage recently wrote a post on this site about the importance of forwarding information as a way to enhance network relationships. He's right about this, although the title — "The Disadvantage of Twitter and Facebook" — is misleading (and inaccurate, since people retweet things all the time — but sadly, editors know that anything with Facebook and Twitter in the title gets a lot of page views and retweets). Forwarding is the new networking. The fact that you can't do it easily on Facebook is about as relevant as the inability to do it over the telephone or the…

• Are Social Media Contributing to the Decline of Civilization?

  Tom Davenport

  10 Sep 2009 | 11:40 am

  I was recently sent a PR message encouraging me to blog about a new "social media for celebrity sightings" website called "OMGICU." (Get it?) Given the sad state of our society, the site will probably be successful. How could it not be, having combined the two greatest time-wasters of the current era: social technologies and celebrity worship! To save you from visiting the site and increasing its page view count, here's a typical sighting: Jill Zarin seen in Upper East Side nnekaj10 says: "And now Jill Zarin and husband have joined their daughter at California Pizza Kitchen... Jill looks…

• How to Make the Classroom as Exciting as a Video Game

  Tom Davenport

  1 Sep 2009 | 11:50 am

  Children in the Northern Hemisphere are headed back to school this time of year. The great majority of them will go back to the traditional classroom, in which every student studies the same subjects in the same way at the same time. The fact that this approach doesn't work very well doesn't seem to hinder its popularity. We know that students are interested in different things, learn in different ways, and proceed at different paces. So why the "forced march" approach to education? This time-honored but silly approach to education, however, is beginning to crack. This summer, for example, 80…

• 
  Bill Taylor on HarvardBusiness.org

• The Rise of the Teaching Organization

  Bill Taylor

  17 Nov 2009 | 6:34 am

  Ever since the publication, nearly two decades ago, of Peter Senge's monumental bestseller The Fifth Discipline, we've been in the age of the "learning organization." Executives have come to understand that for their companies to stay ahead of the competition, their people, at every level, have to learn more (and more quickly) than the competition: new skills, new takes on emerging technologies, new ways to do old things, from manufacturing to marketing to R&D. Gary Hamel, the influential business strategist, likes to say that one of the most urgent questions facing leaders (and thus their…

• Sizing Up Jack Welch: Is "Too Big to Fail" Really Too Big to Succeed?

  Bill Taylor

  9 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  Last week, I got to spend nearly an hour interviewing Jack Welch, the legendary former chairman and CEO of General Electric, in front of an audience of several thousand bankers from around the world. It was a fun and stimulating conversation that ranged from the toughest leadership challenge facing financial institutions (his answer: energizing rank-and-file employees, who used to be the "friendly neighborhood banker" and are now seen as responsible for the country's economic mess) to the launch, in January 2010, of the Jack Welch Management Institute — basically, his version of the…

• The New Logic of R&D: Rip Off and Duplicate

  Bill Taylor

  4 Nov 2009 | 11:40 am

  There's not a lot of good news coming from the business side of newspapers these days, and nowhere is the situation more grim than at the Tribune Company, which just sold the beloved Chicago Cubs, still owns the struggling Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, and has been operating under bankruptcy protection since December 2008, with little hope of emerging any time soon. But as Plato, that noted corporate strategist, famously said, necessity is the mother of invention — and the troubles at the Tribune Company have inspired at least one intriguing approach to unleashing some…

• Amazon and Zappos: A Savvy Deal

  Bill Taylor

  23 Jul 2009 | 1:40 pm

  It's been one heck of a July for Tony Hsieh, CEO of Internet superstar Zappos.com. A week or so ago, Hsieh passed the one-million-follower mark on Twitter — putting him in the company of Martha Stewart, Miley Cyrus, and 50 Cent. And just yesterday, Amazon.com accounted it would spend more than $800 million worth of its stock to buy Zappos — even as it promised to keep its hands off the company, so Hsieh and his colleagues could keep doing things their own way. So good for Tony! Congratulations. Good for Jeff Bezos, too. Not only is he adding a huge new category of products —…

• Decoding Steve Jobs: Trust the Art, Not the Artist

  Bill Taylor

  23 Jun 2009 | 12:47 pm

  Steve Jobs is back in the headlines, which got me thinking about this unique leader's legacy — and what, if anything, the rest of us can learn from how Jobs does his job. Whoever uttered the words, "trust the art, not the artist" must have had Steve Jobs in mind. There's no doubt that the Apple CEO will go down as one of the most creative, visionary, and high-impact leaders of his generation — or any generation. How many corporate executives can make a legitimate claim to have reshaped not just one industry but four: computing (the Mac), music (the iPod), mobile communications…

• 
  Scott Anthony

• What Innovators Can Learn from Bill Belichick

  Scott Anthony

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:09 am

  Even non-football fans probably heard about Bill Belichick's "blunder" of a call on Sunday night. Believe it or not, the call — and the firestorm that followed — has important lessons for innovation managers. A quick recap. The New England Patriots led the Indianapolis Colts by six points with two minutes to go. It was fourth down, the ball was on the New England 28 yard line, and the Patriots needed just two yards for a first down that would almost certainly have sealed a victory. Conventional wisdom called for a punt, but Coach Belichick decided to go for it. After the Patriots…

• Is the Tata Nano Really "The People's Car"?

  Scott Anthony

  13 Nov 2009 | 12:14 pm

  Last week I was riding through the bustling streets of Bangalore when my colleague made a provocative statement: "I think the Tata Nano is going to be a flop." It was a strong statement coming from an Innosighter. After all, we have been talking about the disruptive potential of the "people's car" — priced as low as $2,000 — for years. "But look around," I said. "That family will surely flock to an affordable car that projects social status and provides a safe, comfortable ride." I pointed to the husband, wife, and two children who were precariously perched on a scooter zooming in…

• Why Great Innovators Spend Less Than Good Ones

  Scott Anthony

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:25 am

  A story last week about the Obama administration committing more than $3 billion to smart grid initiatives caught my eye. It wasn't really an unusual story. It seems like every day features a slew of stories where leaders commit billions to new geographies, technologies, or acquisitions to demonstrate how serious they are about innovation and growth. Here's the thing — these kinds of commitments paradoxically can make it harder for organizations to achieve their aim. In other words, the very act of making a serious financial commitment to solve a problem can make it harder to solve the…

• Constant Transformation Is the New Normal

  Scott Anthony

  27 Oct 2009 | 9:13 am

  I picked up an interesting vibe at the Magazine Publishers Association Innovation Conference the other week. For the most part, the industry has had a tough year as it grapples with recession, changing consumer behavior, and a range of disruptive technologies. Yet signs of economic recovery and a sense that the magazine industry could learn from missteps from cousins in the music and newspaper business produced an unexpected sense of optimism. One point I made in my remarks is that the forces at work in the magazine business — increased competition, rapidly shifting technologies, and…

• Nook: Too Soon To Call It a Kindle-Killer

  Scott Anthony

  21 Oct 2009 | 9:01 am

  If nothing else, developments in the e-reader market provide substantial fodder for online commentary. It seems that every week features a story in a mainstream publication about the latest "Kindle killer" followed by endless chatter and eager speculation in blogs and on Twitter. This week's discussion centered on Barnes & Noble's "Nook" device. It's not hard to see why this particular device sparked such discussion. The slick-looking device has unique features, such as the ability to "lend" books that friends can view on multiple platforms for 14 days, use of Google's Android operating…

• 
  John Baldoni

• New Study: How Communication Drives Performance

  John Baldoni

  19 Nov 2009 | 11:54 am

  "Courage, innovation and discipline help drive company performance especially in tough economic times. Effective internal communications can keep employees engaged in the business and help companies retain key talent, provide consistent value to customers, and deliver superior financial performance to shareholders." Watson Wyatt 2009 According to Watson Wyatt's newest communication survey for 2009/2010, companies that are effective communicators "have the courage to talk about what employees want to hear," "redefine the employment deal based on changing business conditions," and have "the…

• What It Takes to Lead Now

  John Baldoni

  13 Nov 2009 | 12:17 pm

  A majority of managers just don't understand what it means to be a leader. That's a conclusion that I draw from a recent global survey by McKinsey and Company about what it takes to manage corporate performance. Only 48% of managers surveyed believed that they need to inspire and only 46% believed it was their responsibility to provide direction during this crisis. The numbers for inspiration and direction actually drop to 45% and 39% respectively when considered as behaviors for how to manage post-crisis. More troubling, only 30% of managers felt that they needed to motivate their employees…

• Use Humility to Improve Performance

  John Baldoni

  5 Nov 2009 | 6:43 am

  I've written before about the importance of humility as a leadership trait. But, as was recently pointed out to me, humility is an important trait in employees, too. When people act humbly, they are acknowledging their limitations and accepting that they cannot go it alone. This mindset is valuable to a team because it serves as an invitation for others to help. Humility, however, is not an excuse for slacking. It also means having the willingness to help others do their jobs when the need arises. It is a means for allowing different personalities to coordinate with each other. Rick Hensley,…

• How to Create Clarity Amidst Uncertainty

  John Baldoni

  29 Oct 2009 | 12:15 pm

  Companies have the right to demand that employees pay attention to their jobs — it is a base requirement for performance. However, as the recent incident involving two Northwest Airlines pilots illustrates, when other issues are pressing, employees lose focus. As the story goes, the pilots were trying to figure out the new Delta scheduling system that now governs what flights they're assigned. (Delta acquired Northwest last fall.) In doing so, they overshot their destination by 150 miles and did not respond to repeated queries from flight controllers. As reported in the New York Times,…

• Developing Your Leadership Presence

  John Baldoni

  21 Oct 2009 | 2:30 pm

  What about when you are pushed in front of the microphone or given very little prep time for something like an introduction of a guest speaker? This question came from Tonya in response to my previous post on developing your leadership pitch. Here's the quick answer, you walk to the microphone and you smile. You take a moment to size up the audience and then you say what you have to say briefly and to the point. Most importantly, as they advise running backs who score touchdowns, act like you have been there before. The great ones hand the ball back the referee; the wannabes whoop and holler.

• 
  Rita McGrath

• 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.

• Create a Special Unit to Drive Growth

  Rita McGrath

  15 Oct 2009 | 11:08 am

  As the economy shows some signs of shrugging off its doldrums, growth is back on the agenda. After cutting costs for a year or more while repeating the mantra "do more with less," should companies be looking to special groups to jump-start growth? Corporate venture groups, incubator "greenhouses," and other units dedicated to identifying and incubating growth opportunities have a checkered corporate history. Often begun with flashes of significant enthusiasm, they are often first on the chopping block when executive sponsors change, costs need to be cut, or the fashion of the day swings away…

• Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the Battle for E-Books

  Rita McGrath

  5 Aug 2009 | 11:01 am

  There's a battle emerging over the industry structure of e-books: Amazon has one approach, Barnes & Noble another. Will the clash play out like the computer wars of the late 80s, or the music wars of the late 90s? Let's take a look. Years of declining music sales reflect a grim story for the music business — the amount of music people are willing to pay for has dropped dramatically, the unit of business has shifted fundamentally to music by the song, and the preferred medium for acquiring music is now downloading individual songs, rather than purchasing a complete CD. Who is winning in…

• Hiring the Already-Employed: Savvy or Sad?

  Rita McGrath

  2 Jul 2009 | 7:06 am

  A fascinating article in yesterday's Wall Street Journal caught my eye. It suggests that even with so many great people out there looking for work, employers would still rather hire someone who is already working, thank you very much. Apparently, many believe that those that are unemployed were their former employers' lower-priorities, poor performers or otherwise non-superstars. By hiring someone who already has a job, they reason, they are reducing their risk of picking up someone who is a second-class performer. I guess this is the modern-day version of Groucho Marx's old line that he…

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  Conversation Agent

• Twitter and Google Reader Aren't at War

  Valeria Maltoni

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  There have been conversations recently about abandoning RSS readers, and specifically Google Reader in favor of using Twitter as a human filter for information. The idea is that if you follow smart people, they read good material and will pass that along to their network - you. Part of me says, maybe. Somehow I think that if you come across a really good post filled with juicy information that will make you look good when you implement it, you'll probably keep that more to yourself. Maybe use it to build on when you write on your own blog. How far off am I? Others, are in favor of continuing…

• What is Your Purpose for Blogging?

  Valeria Maltoni

  19 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  Personal Branding In A Wired WorldView more presentations from Valeria Maltoni. That is the first thing you need to think about if you're planning to be strategic about your blog. Then, instead of focusing on success, focus on the path that will keep you on purpose. Why? Because success changes and stays in the future - be honest, you keep upping the ante. While the path, part of which is a process that will help you stay productive, is the here and now - the decisions you need to make tonight, every day and every week. Dan Pink quotes the recently departed Russell Ackoff (emphasis…

• Architects, Meet Collier Ward, Content Creator

  Valeria Maltoni

  18 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  As an architect, he writes, I believe that, even in the current economy, there are institutions, firms and individuals which could benefit from professional architectural consulting and design services; even if only to be poised for the next construction cycle.Collier Ward is a member of the architecture and author community - and of this community. He shared his thoughts on the About You page and returns with us for a more in depth conversation__________ Why are you online? Collier: Being online maximizes the number of meaningful connections a person can make. I took the opportunity of being…

• Is Social Media a Marketing Thing?

  Valeria Maltoni

  17 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  In the last couple of weeks, we've been talking about leveraging content to start or continue a conversation with your customers or prospects. Offering something of value in exchange for attention towards a mutually accepted goal or direction goes to the heart of communications. There is still plenty of unrealized opportunity for B2B companies to unlock this value through social media. That's because the greatest value to the organization that gets involved in social media is not the cool promotional glitz. We talk about customer support regularly. What about customer acquisition and real…

• Customer Contributions Build Preference

  Valeria Maltoni

  16 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  During our conversation at the Inbound Marketing Summit, we talked about writing engaging content for the next web and the socializing of information. One of the slides in my deck visualized the customer contribution part of content, which we said gives you permission to connect. I stack ranked the ideas in order of complexity - with the simplest being a "like" button.I think many companies are not implementing that on their Web sites because they're somewhat anxious that nobody will like their pages. So why, oh why, is the site still static and displaying the same stale content? What if you…

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  PR, Social Media, and Marketing Mentor ?

• 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 ...

• Some Social Media Humor for Summer Vacation…

  Occasionally in social media training, some humor is called for, and The Onion Newsfeed video clip above takes on the big issue of search engine privacy rights—specifically, while using the ubiquitous Google—and gives us a tour of "Google's Opt-Out Privacy Village." And then, there's this HubSpot spoof on Twitter ...

• Web 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 — Where is the Web Going, and What is the Semantic Web?

  Sometimes, the best way to learn about something is without using words. Here's a creative example of a video explaining the difference between Web 1.0 and 2.0, by the clever Not in Words producers: Now, back to words and some basic drawings, as we move on to Web 3.0 and beyond. ...

• Join us at NewComm Forum and Inbound Marketing Summit in San Francisco!

  The 5th Annual New Communications Forum April 27th - 29th, 2009 The Marriott Hotel, San Francisco, California   I just wanted you to know that there are still a few seats available for next week's NewComm Forum 2009. Don't miss this special opportunity to participate in a highly-interactive, exclusive gathering of the most notable ...

• Flutter

  OK, I haven't posted here for a while, due to being SO busy, I've barely had time to eat, sleep or recuperate from one of those annoying seasonal colds that seems to drag on while you're doing everything else. So, even though social media is central to my work (the ...

• 
  idaconcpts

• How to Use Twitter in a Marketing Campaign

  damiandavilarojas

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:46 pm

  This is a question that I get on a daily basis. Everybody wants to know the answer. Here’s an excellent example of how to use Twitter efficiently and effectively in a marketing campaign. Note: screen shots were taken by Amit Gupta from Photojojo. He’s  an amazing entrepreneur and all-around-nice guy that I had the pleasure of meeting back in my iLovePhotos days. Here’s a great interview with Amit that I edited. Twitter Marketing Campaign from MacHeist From Wikipedia: MacHeist is a website that resells Mac OS X shareware. The site has become known for its marketing tactics.

• How Does Twitter Spam Happen?

  damiandavilarojas

  5 Nov 2009 | 11:38 am

  Some application developers request access to your Twitter account in order for their applications (e.g. Pandora, Mashable, TweetMeme) to work. Here is an example of the application TweetMeme asking you to grant it access to your Twitter account: After granting an application access to your Twitter account, it will be included in your list of Twitter connections. Here is a screenshot of TweetMeme having access to a Twitter account: Twitter Spam happens when application developers abuse that access that you have granted them to your Twitter account. How do you get rid of Twitter Spam? Follow…

• 4 steps to Get Rid of Twitter Spam

  damiandavilarojas

  4 Nov 2009 | 11:49 am

  On the past 2 weeks, I have received a lot of Twitter direct messages (DMs) with offers about “making money with Google” or “make $500 a day online”. It appears that I am not the only one. These Twitter direct messages are not only annoying but they kill in less than a second all the reputation that we took so hard to build through our tweets. 4 Steps To Get Rid of Twitter Spam Step 1: Login to your Twitter account at http://twitter.com/login Step 2: Go to http://twitter.com/account/connections. Here you will see all the applications that have access to your account.

• How to check if your Google Analytics is installed properly

  damiandavilarojas

  29 Oct 2009 | 7:32 pm

  Installing the Google Analytics code into your website is simple as I showed earlier on the post about how to install Google Analytics a a real state brokerage website. This clear step-by-step guide can be applied to any kind of website. (Note: the  website used in the article is currently under renovation.) Why do we need to check if Google Analytics is installed properly? Because you might be missing on key analytics data from your site! Consider this discussion thread recently posted at the Google Analytics group in LinkedIn: The page in question is http://www.contek-office-tech.com. The…

• How Facebook does E-mail Newsletters

  damiandavilarojas

  23 Oct 2009 | 12:38 pm

  On 10/23/2009 Facebook sent out an e-mail newsletter titled “Ads Manager Announcement” to its Facebook Advertising 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. How to Implement Permission Marketing Click here for a full explanation of e-mail permission marketing. Facebook provides its users with a check-box so they can decide whether or not to give you permission to contact them. Here is a list of the Facebook ads e-mail notifications: Facebook is asking its users:…

• 
  MarketingProfs How-To Articles

• Start Smart: A 10-Step Social Media Guide for B2B Marketers

  17 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

  There's no escaping it, marketers: Amid a flurry of headlines, bestsellers, and reports documenting social media's meteoric rise... the future has arrived. But for a B2B executive tasked with making sense of it all, wouldn't it be nice if the future came with a road map? Follow this 10-step guide.

• Yes, Facebook Is a Business Tool

  17 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

  Is Facebook really a tool for business? Paul Chaney says yes. Much the same way a power company connects homes and businesses with electricity, Facebook is a "social utility" designed to facilitate connections between people as well as businesses. Accordingly, it can be highly useful as a business tool. This article ...

• Mobile Coupons: Your Message on the Move

  17 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

  Ask most US consumers whether they want to receive mobile-marketing messages on their cell phones, and they will usually answer with a resounding "No." Consumers worry they'll start receiving unwanted Viagra ads and messages from a prince in Kenya. Nothing could be further from the truth.

• Write From Your Reader's Perspective

  17 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

  When potential customers arrive at your website or look over your marketing materials, they immediately want to know what's in it for them. If that's not obvious, chances are they will move on quickly. By using the word "you," you begin to establish a connection with readers because you address their ...

• The Surprising Evolution of Online Marketing in Software Sales

  17 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

  Online marketing is nothing new for software marketers. It's only natural that the software industry and computer-software users migrated to the Internet early on. So although the idea of online marketing isn't new, how software is marketed online continues to evolve.

• 
  Social Media Marketing Strategy, Tactics, and Tools

• Welcome to My New Site!

  Jacob Morgan

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:52 pm

  In case you haven’t noticed this entire website has been completely reworked and redesigned thanks to my friends at Blue Sail Creative; the same folks that did the new website for my company Chess Media Group.  I’m very excited with the new look and feel for the site and would love to hear what you think about it.  The new website design is supposed to accomplish a few things: Integrate a travel section into the site to share my stories and experiences and let you share yours Increase the amount of interaction and comments, I really want to here more from all of you Make…

• Are You Interested in Travel?

  Jacob Morgan

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:24 pm

  As many of you may know, traveling is among one of my greatest passions (yes and chess as well). I travel quite frequently both domestically and internationally and usually share my travel photos and experiences with people on Flickr, Twitter, and Facebook. I decided that since I love traveling and sharing my experiences so much that I should incorporate a whole section devoted just for travel into my blog. I’m actually VERY excited to have this new addition to the site. This is going to be a great way for me to centralize all of my travel content into one spot so that I can share…

• The Social Business Process

  Jacob Morgan

  20 Nov 2009 | 12:02 am

  Over at Chess Media Group we’ve brainstorming steps that companies and consultancies need to take together in order to really be able to create a social business.  We’ve developed what we consider to be a pretty solid social business process that is broken down into three key areas: strategy, creativity, and results.  The steps we have outline are obviously not set in stone but they should serve as a good foundation or framework for most organizations.  Here is what we developed: I’ve broken down all of the ten steps into high level bullet points to make them easy to…

• My Presentation on Social Media ROI

  Jacob Morgan

  19 Nov 2009 | 12:09 am

  If you missed my keynote presentation on social media ROI from this afternoon during social media tools week, I put it up on slideshare.  It’s also embedded below: Social Media ROI Presentation

• The Players Vs the Game

  Jacob Morgan

  18 Nov 2009 | 1:34 pm

  We’ve all heard the saying right?  “Don’t hate the player, hate the game.”  Usually this phrase in uttered in a different context (I hope you know what I’m talking about) but just work with me on this.  Try to look at this from a social business standpoint and ask yourself what’s more important, the players or the game?  The players are the users of the various social business tools and applications and the “game” refers to the platforms and tools themselves. The “game” gives us unique opportunities to connect with people and…

• 
  PitchEngine

• What Is The Market's Intention?

  Jay Deragon

  Marketers act as thought we are all cattle waiting to be herded into a transaction. It seems as though the prevailing thought about all this social technology is that it enables organizations to "herd" us into their community and they use trick of the trade to do so. Ever consider what is the intention of the large social networks? Facebook wants our traffic so they can sell ads to the marketers. The market still fails to understand that we don't want ads rather we're looking for conversations that have an affinity to our own intentions. What Is Your Intention? Doc Searls writes: My thinking…

• Why You Shouldn't Use Social Media

  Jay Deragon

  Using social media just because everyone else is does not mean you should, at least not yet. Before jumping into all the chatter and all the advertising organizations would be better served by asking themselves a series of questions. Finding the answers to the questions will require you to "think" about critical issues which will have serious impacts on the use of social media. First you need to understand what it should be used for vs. what it shouldn't be used for. To answer these questions you must think about how effective are your current communications, internally and externally. Why?

• Public Relations can be Social, Imagine That...

  Jason Kintzler

  PitchEngine member, Esther Steinfeld, interviews the founder and CEO of PitchEngine, a social media platform that supports communication between public relations individuals, journalists and bloggers. And isn’t PR about communication anyway? Could this be a return to the way it always should have been? Esther poses the tough questions and Kintzler replies with no fear. (“Press releases suck!”)

• Are Your Directions Wrong?

  Jay Deragon

  Social media doesn't come with directions. Instead it is a never ending process of learning what, where, when, who, how and why you individually and your entire organization should use it purposely. Social media doesn't come with a manual and it isn't something you should learn by simply copying others. Social media is simply a new communications system and instead of thinking about social media people should think about how communications has changed as a result of social media. What Has Changed? In the past communications was a one way marketing system aimed at getting people's attention.

• Face to Face

  Maria von Losch Rohloff

  Does anyone meet face to face anymore? With all the social networking going on, it seems that meetings are now being handled virally. I'm not putting down technology or all these new platforms (I'm a closeted tech geek) and I love that it's convenient and time efficient. I miss the good 'ol days of meeting face to face. I understand that people are busy these days, heck, I'm busy too but I'm never too busy to meet someone in person if they ask. I'm fully aware there are networking groups that meet once a month at a designated place for mixing and connecting but most of these cost a small fee…

• 
  HubSpot's Inbound Internet Marketing Blog

• Learning From Leaders: The Inc. 500 and Social Media Usage

  Shannon Sweetser

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:29 am

  For the third consecutive year, the Center for Marketing Research at University of Massachusetts Dartmouth has concluded that social media is on the rise among businesses. Just released is a rare, in-depth study of how social media is being used by the US’s fast-growing private companies. The study should be an exciting find for any marketer or CEO looking for data on how US companies are navigating the social landscape online.Social Networking and Blogging is on the RiseThe most important takeaway from the study is profound proof that knowledge about social media is on the rise. The study…

• HubSpot TV - The Long Tail and Pigtails with Guest Mike McDerment

  Rebecca Corliss

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  NOTE FROM THE PRODUCERS: Have you ever caught the live show? We broadcast in real-time every Friday at www.hubspot.tv. Click here at 4:00pm ET today to watch the show live.  Episode #66 - November 13, 2009(Episode Length: 23 minutes, 33 seconds)  Intro How to interact on Twitter: @mvolpe @repcor and @MikeMcDerment with www.HubSpot.tv in your tweet.Subscribe in iTunes: http://itunes.hubspot.tvYesterday we loaned the stage to Pokin' Holes of Dart Boston Special Guest Mike McDerment: FreshBooks CEO and Co-Founder So, What's FreshBooks?What was your background before FreshBooks?You…

• What Inbound Marketers and Microsoft Can Learn From St. Vincent Hospital's "Pink Glove Dance" Video

  Shannon Sweetser

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:00 am

  Today I came across a dancing themed video that rocked the khaki pants off Microsoft’s awkward experiment with viral video.  The video, posted this week, features the entire staff of St Vincent’s Medical Center in Portland, Oregon donning pink gloves and dancing for Breast Cancer Awareness. As the grand-daughter of a Breast Cancer survivor, I thought the video was touching. As an inbound marketer, I thought it was incredibly fresh and different from the other videos I’d seen of its type. So what’s the deal? Why is this video succeeding while the Microsoft employee video was…

• Top 5 Inbound Marketing Stories of the Week: Online Marketing Dominates

  Pamela Seiple

  19 Nov 2009 | 10:05 pm

  Do you (or your boss) still need some convincing that modern inbound marketing is more overall effective and successful than advertising and the other outbound marketing techniques your business has relied on since the Stone Age?  Well, we've found a nice little list for you that explains how. The top article on InboundMarketing.com this week offers a concise list of 10 ways online marketing dominates traditional advertising (that's right - just like a ferocious lion dominates its prey)... 1. Top 10 Reasons Why Online Marketing Dominates Traditional Advertising Author: Kim Kolb of…

• Twitter's New Retweet Feature Makes Quality, Unique Content Even More Important for Marketers

  Pamela Seiple

  19 Nov 2009 | 4:59 am

  Twitter sure has been busy lately.  First, Twitter lists.  Now they've recently rolled out their new Retweet function to a beta group of users, making it easier to regurgitate others' tweets.  The feature was rolled out to me today, but after testing it out I've started questioning, Does the new feature enhance or diminish the quality of the retweet? Explanation of Retweet Features: The following is Twitter's example of a retweet.  Retweets appear in a user's timeline as the original tweet with a note below indicating the user (the person you're following) who retweeted…

• 
  mediabistro.com: AgencySpy

• Le Monde: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi Sees the World as a Breast

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:08 pm

  Via adsoftheworld Advertising Agency: Publicis Conceil, Paris, France Chief Creative Officer: Olivier Altmann Copywriter: Thierry Lebec Art Director: Bénédicte Potel New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

• Friday Odds and Ends

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:34 pm

  Deutsch NY promoted Stephen Murphy to executive VP, customer and data strategy and a host of others. link Brent Smart was named EVP/MD of BBDO West. link -Twitter reaches out to its premium accounts. link -Luxury brands are embracing the web. link -YouTube adds auto-captioning. link -The ad industry added 800 jobs in September. Phew. link -Conde Nast unveiled an initiative to build digital mags. link -Digital firm Tribal Fusion welcomed former Yahoo! Europe Head of Ad Product Strategy, Tim Brown, as European General Manager. -Digital media predictions for 2010. link -You want your Black…

• You Need a Couch? Dis Guy's Got it Fa Youz

  20 Nov 2009 | 12:12 pm

  Forgetting to turn the caps lock off, Jerks in Your Area has another amusing post from this guy: YO THIS SHIT IS THE BOMB IST A FUCKING DOPE ASS MATTRISS N THIS SHIT IS MAD COMTFORABLE! I BET DIS SHIT LIEK 2 G'S AT SLEPY'S OR SOME SHIT BUT YO SINCE I FOUND IT BHNED THE PIGGLY WIGGLY IM JUS SLEEING IT FOR LIKE 12 BONEZ. I JUS GOT TO GET DAT CHEEZ T GET MY BLUNT ON YA HEARD! N YO THIS MOTHERFUCKR IS FULL SIZED SO FUCK THAT TWIN SIZE SHTI!!! Hair gel, the club Hunka Bunka (kid above for reference) and terrible grammar seem to be a plus. More: "Your Contextual Ad Flub of the Day" New Career…

• Farfar Co-Founder Joins Mother NY

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:52 am

  Mother NY appointed Farfar alum Nicke Bergstrom as creative director. Bergstrom--who co-founded Swedish firm Farfar in 2000 and won a Cannes Lion Grand Prix in the process--will report to ECDs Linus Karlsson and Paul Malmstrom and will serve with CDs Michael Ian Kaye and Tom Webster. kstrong>More: "Mother NY Welcomes Eugene Fuller to the Fold" New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

• Google Takes Care of Your Bum

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:13 am

  If you're Apple, Microsoft, etc., you might want to take advantage of pooing on this Google-branded toilet paper. While the Mountain Valley, CA giant hasn't said anything, Engadget offers a slogan that seems lost in translation: "Very long, soft, smooth. Of high vacuum, because you always!" Via HuffPo More: "Rupert Murdoch Wants to Boycott the Digital Newsstand" New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

• 
  The Steve Rubel Lifestream

• The Apple "Tablet" and Chrome OS are Meaningless - the Phone is the Future of Computing

  19 Nov 2009 | 5:20 pm

  If you're paying any attention to the techosphere today there are two stories dominating the headlines. Both involve non-shipping products. First, Google showed off the first demo of its Chrome OS. Download Squad does a nice job breaking it down.... "So what exactly is Chrome OS? It's an operating system based on a web browser called... Google Chrome. The idea is that you won't have to (or be able to) install a single application directly on your PC. Rather, all of your apps will be run from the web and all of your data will be stored in the cloud." Second, a mythical unicorn called the Apple…

• Ten Common Phrases That Could Soon Be History

  17 Nov 2009 | 6:43 pm

  Earlier this week Oxford University Press declared "unfriend" its word of the year. This got me thinking... now that we are entering an era of media reforestation what common phrases could soon be history? Here's 10 that I came up with. You may disagree but I believe all of these have faded or will be gone soon. (All images are from Flickr via Creative Commons and are credited.) Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• Google Fast Flip Nearing Launch?

  15 Nov 2009 | 4:29 pm

  Google Fast Flip appears to be nearing a full integration into Google News. I wasn't able to replicate this in other browsers so right now this appears to just be a cookie test. Stories from Google Fast Flip started appearing at the bottom of my page - even when I logged out of my account. In addition, Google News searches now show links to Fast Flip results at the bottom of the page. This is visible to all users. Update 11/16/2009 - Chris from Google News notes in a comment below that this is indeed a test. Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• Reviews Stripped from Google Search Options

  15 Nov 2009 | 3:13 am

  I make heavy use of Google Search options in refining my queries. I was surprised this morning to see that the "reviews" option is now gone. This was one of the more handy features. Anyone have any insight here? Search Options before (image via Search Engine Land). Note under that "Reviews" is the last link under "All Results." And now today... Permalink | Leave a comment  »

• The Next Big Trend? It's All About Curation

  13 Nov 2009 | 1:02 pm

  Fact: Information sources are exploding. More information will be created in 2009 than all prior years. Fact: Attention is finite. We're becoming media agnostic, but when we're interested in something we dig down into our interests. This is why I and others like Robert Scoble are really excited about digital curation. Facebook and Twitter lists are one level of curation. However, there are others. Posterous and Tumblr are fantastic platforms for soliciting contributions from groups of people around a shared interest. And they're platforms that will enable all of us to curate together. Here…

• 
  PSFK

• NYC Announces a Better Bus Ride

  In an exciting announcement, New York's MTA is working on new, streamlined developments for its bus line.

• Visual Inspiration: 3D Fractals

  The Imaginary Foundation points us to a fantastic project where fractals were rendered in 3D.

• IdeaPaint: A Blank Canvas For All Your Good Ideas

  IdeaPaint provides analog inspiration by transforming any flat surface into a dry erase board.

• (Pics) Rotterdam Market Hall

  Dutch architecture firm MVRDV has designed a stunning building for the city of Rotterdam which stylishly mixes public and private space.

• French Hotel Offers Guests the Chance to Experience Life as A Hamster

  For 99 euros ($148.10) a night, one hotel in France is offering guests the chance to live the life of a hamster.

• 
  Publishing 2.0

• High-End Brand Publishers Need to Sell Scalable Premium Ad Solutions, Not Commodity Ad Space

  Scott Karp

  26 Oct 2009 | 9:26 am

  Newspaper online advertising has not benefited greatly from the recent upswing in online ad spending, according to the New York Times and most of the recent newspaper company quarterly results. This is no surprise because most newspaper websites sell SPACE for commodity advertising — display ads and classifieds — and thus are hard pressed to compete with ad networks that specialize in selling commodity ad space by the megaton (or giving it away for free, in the case of Craigslist). Back when newspapers where the only game in town for ad space, they could charge whatever they…

• Content Doesn’t Matter Without the Package

  Scott Karp

  16 Sep 2009 | 8:25 pm

  In response to the launch of Google’s Fast Flip, I observed that Google is correctly focused on creating a new user interface for news, when most media companies are not. A lot of people responded that Fast Flip is not an innovative or effective UI for news — which may be true, but that misses the point entirely. It doesn’t matter so much whether Google succeeds or fails with this particular experiment. What matters is that they are trying to solve the right problem. The challenge for media companies is not to figure out what to do with their content — content in and…

• What Google Understands About the Future of News and Publishing That Publishers Do Not

  Scott Karp

  14 Sep 2009 | 5:37 pm

  Google knows a lot about the future of news — more than many publishers. It’s evident in Google’s new product, Fast Flip, which allows news consumers to “flip” through news stories. What’s striking about Fast Flip is that Google is innovating precisely where publishers used to lead innovation. Fast Flip is a new package for news. The publishing business has always been about packaging content. Newspapers. Magazines. Newsletters In digital media, on the web, the news package is now a function of software — which is why Google is innovating precisely…

• The Briefing: Start at Y Combinator, finish at EveryBlock

  Ryan Sholin

  17 Aug 2009 | 1:54 pm

  It was a busy Monday morning in two corners of the hacker journalist community: EveryBlock is acquired by MSNBC, and Y Combinator announces a “request for startups” to address that whole “future of journalism” question hanging out there in the open air. Want to catch up? Start here: Msnbc.com acquires local news Web site MSNBC.com | August 17, 2009 Ryan Sholin says: MSNBC acquires Everyblock. This brief includes a reminder that they bought Newsvine some time ago. Not a bad stable of news sites to have around. Tags: Media & Journalism, EveryBlock, msnbc, Adrian…

• What I Read Today: Facebook Buys FriendFeed Edition

  Scott Karp

  10 Aug 2009 | 5:17 pm

  Why Facebook Wants FriendFeed GigaOm | August 10, 2009 Scott Karp says: Om Malik calls it “the problem of plenty.” Facebook is trying to solve it by acquiring FriendFeed. Will news orgs compete? Facebook Takes FriendFeed To Take On Twitter TechCrunch | August 10, 2009 Scott Karp says: M&A, as always, is driven by startups building what incumbents should have but couldn’t. karaswisher: Now That There’s FaceFeed, Does That Make Twoogle More Inevitable?: http://bit.ly/fET9I Twitter | August 10, 2009 Scott Karp says: Winner – Best FF/Facbook Post Title mathewi:…

• 
  CenterNetworks

• Twitter COO Costolo: Advertising Coming To Twitter Soon

  Allen Stern

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:40 am

  Twitter COO Dick Costolo was intererviewed today at the real-time crunchup event and part of the discussion centered around how Twitter will (and does) generate revenue. Clearly they are earning revenue from Twitter’s deals with Bing and Google. More importantly, Costolo noted that Twitter will launch an advertising model “soon”. He went on to say that soon means most likely early next year. He continued, “It (the advertising) will be fascinating, non-traditional, and people will love it.” The final comment from Costolo noted that partners like TweetDeck will…

• Today’s Startup and Entrepreneurial Updates

  Allen Stern

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:49 am

  TGIF! Here are today’s startup and entrepreneurial updates Kaltura Integrates its Open Source Video Platform with Artivision’s Video Monetization Technology – Kaltura Use Centrl to pick a place to meet a friend – Centrl Dual Launch: I Love Traffic and I Hate Traffic – Armor Games (these two are very addictive) Major Update to Glue for Internet Explorer – AdaptiveBlue Getsatisfaction.tv: New Look, New Content, New Feed – GetSatisfaction CenterNetworks Partner: Check out CloudContacts for your business card transcription and scanning needs.

• What’s Up With Yahoo Mail Delivery?

  Allen Stern

  19 Nov 2009 | 6:53 pm

  I am a happy Yahoo Mail user. I’ve been a Yahoo Mail user since the early days. I also know that I am a bad tech blogger and early adopter because I don’t use (and make love to) Gmail. I regularly get noogies at tech conferences when others learn about my choice. Lately I’ve noticed issues with email delivery to my Yahoo Mail account. Sometimes emails are delivered on time, but many are delivered late. And the delayed delivery seems to vary – I can’t put my finger on it. Even the exact same email can be delivered in real-time on one test but another test takes…

• When A Competitive Ad Goes Wrong

  Allen Stern

  19 Nov 2009 | 1:23 pm

  This morning we included a link in our startup updates to a post on the VerticalResponse blog. The company provides email marketing services for businesses. VerticalResponse CEO Janine Popick noted, “I’m all about getting new business, but we’ve tried to steer clear of going after our competitor’s customers because we think there are enough businesses out there that need  email marketing services.” I agree with Janine and that’s why you rarely see a post on CN that says x is dead because of y. Janine’s post notes that one of the company’s…

• Today’s Startup and Entrepreneurial Updates

  Allen Stern

  19 Nov 2009 | 4:02 am

  Here are today’s startup and entrepreneurial updates: Scanning Coke or Water? Why? - Big In Japan New advanced features give you absolute control in analyzing your cash flow – moneyStrands The Do’s and Don’ts of Presentation Fonts – SlideShare Profiting Across Search Networks: Expanding Your Reach to Microsoft adCenter – Clickable A Friendly Suggestion to Our Competitor (this is an awesome post) – VerticalResponse CenterNetworks Partner: Check out CloudContacts for your business card transcription and scanning needs.

• 
  The Tom Peters Weblog

• Leadership as a Sacred Trust

  Shelley Dolley

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:44 am

  In the latest installment of The Little BIG Things video series, Tom describes leadership as a sacred trust. He says that the decision to lead is the decision to be responsible for the growth and development of your fellow human beings. You can find the video on the top of the right column here on the front page of tompeters.com, or by clicking here. If you'd like to see previously posted videos in the series, be sure to visit our Video page (direct link to TLBT video series).

• My Heart (and Body) Are in San Francisco, God's Gift to City-hood!

  19 Nov 2009 | 5:53 am

  I spoke at an Inc. magazine event last night in San Francisco, commemorating the winner of an entrepreneur-to-be contest with a hearty financial prize. Incidentally, in the name of Chinese ubiquity, much on our minds these days, the event is sponsored by the powerhouse Chinese B2B outfit—Alibaba. In preparing, I put together a list of ten key factors that I believe characterize entrepreneurial excellence ... Entrepreneurial Excellence TEN "Insane" Passion for and commitment to the idea. Can explain the idea in Simple English and Excite others about its Uniqueness in ONE MINUTE (or…

• Cool Friend #144:Bob Waterman

  17 Nov 2009 | 1:13 am

  If you're a fan of Tom's first book, In Search of Excellence, don't miss reading this interview with his coauthor, Bob Waterman. We're glad to add Bob as a Cool Friend, and we all enjoyed working on this interview. (Yes, he does share a few secrets about what went on during the writing of the book.) I think the most fascinating aspect is examining another path taken from the same jumping-off point. Bob was no less successful than Tom, just not as publicly. He describes to Erik how ISOE/In Search came to be and what he's been up to since then. Bob also talks about his involvement with the…

• Excellence Slides: Press Ganey

  17 Nov 2009 | 1:02 am

  Today, Tom met with about 2,000 health care senior execs, mostly from hospitals and hospital systems in National Harbor MD, right outside of Washington D.C., hosted by Press Ganey, researchers and consultants who provide solutions and resources to their clients to help them provide high quality health care. Press Ganey is significant because of their focus on this one industry. As their website states: "Health care is a unique industry in which success is not measured simply by financial returns. The most successful health care organizations act upon the needs of all customers [doctors,…

• Excellence Slides: Seminarium Ecuador

  16 Nov 2009 | 8:10 am

  The slides I'm posting are for an event that took place last Wednesday. Tom's been all over the world and had Internet access, but the mountains of Ecuador proved too big an obstacle. We hope he enjoyed several days of being out of touch. In a scenic location. Sounds good to me. The event was the Seminarium Ecuador in Quito, short for San Francisco de Quito, the capital city. Be sure to look at google maps, wikipedia, and other websites to learn more about this fascinating place. It's in the same time zone as Boston, but worlds away. If you attended the Seminarium, please give us your…

• 
  Technosailor.com

• WordPress and PHP 5: Be the Change You Want to See

  Aaron Brazell

  18 Nov 2009 | 10:46 am

  The other day, I wrote the popular 10 Things You Need to Know About WordPress 2.9. As usual, most people are very excited about the new release which is now in beta and available for testing. In the article, I made a few fundamental errors which I have since corrected. Notably, I mentioned that WordPress 3.0 would be going to PHP 5. This was based on conversations I had with a core developer which I now realized I misunderstood. Kinda. WordPress will probably not be dropping PHP 4 support in WordPress 3.0 but as core developer Mark Jaquith suggests: Some things already require PHP 5, like…

• The WordPress Bible: A Writing Redux

  Aaron Brazell

  17 Nov 2009 | 11:07 am

  Back in July, I noted that I had accepted and was beginning the process of writing The WordPress Bible for Wiley Publishing. You can read that post here. It’s now November and almost everything is in the bag for me. I’ve written the book with an average of 20-30 pages per chapter. I’ve gone through Author Review (A.R.), more commonly called “editing”. I’ve taken screenshots. Wrote code. Sifted through pages and pages that have so many changes, from three different editors, that the page appears to bleed. I’ve survived. Sometimes barely. I want to talk…

• 10 Things You Need to Know About WordPress 2.9

  Aaron Brazell

  11 Nov 2009 | 2:36 pm

  Gentlemen, start your engines! WordPress 2.9 is just around the corner. Unlike WordPress 2.8, which Mark Jaquith describes as the Snow Leopard of WordPress since most of the basis of the WordPress 2.8 upgrade was complete rewrites and optimization of the infrastructure that ran WordPress instead of providing lots of new features in the same way Apple’s new OS X release is a focus on improved performance instead of features, WordPress 2.9 brings major new “bling” to the table. As a reminder of WordPress 2.8, you can see the writeup that Jonathan Dingman brought us last time…

• Will the Real Tech Community Please Stand Up

  Aaron Brazell

  30 Oct 2009 | 11:39 am

  Our world today is diluted. The lines have blurred. Everyone has bought into this concept of community – that everyone has something for everyone and we’re one big happy family. Specifically, the concept of the “technology community” which is a term that has come to mean anyone who has a blog, uses social media or Twitter and engages online in some way or another. Though this has been a trend that is akin to the frog happily boiling in an ever increasing pot of hot water, the reality struck me today as I saw this Wall Street Journal article about how Facebook and…

• Payola, Extortion and Market Correction

  Aaron Brazell

  19 Oct 2009 | 12:52 pm

  For the last two weeks, I’ve been mulling this concept of market correction as it pertains to the web. There are a variety of stories that have been related, in addition to signatory bubble characteristics that I have observed for some time, but it’s all coming into a lot more focus as time has gone on. A market correction is an economic term describes a natural occurrence when a certain market sector becomes “over sold” or hyperinflated, or when a sector becomes irrelevant to the market and is put out of its misery, or re-capitalized. It is a “coming to…

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  Brand New

• Groovy Lines

  Armin

  20 Nov 2009 | 7:14 am

  Now in its seventeenth year, the London Jazz Festival (LJF) has grown from a showcase of local talent to a world-class event spanning ten days of what are surely life-affirming sounds. There are a couple of reasons why we are turning our attention to the LJF today. The first is that, well, it's a striking identity job by London based IWANT Design, who created what amounts to a visualization of the various sounds and energy emanating from the festival. The second is that I first saw this work right around the time we were covering scribble-heavy identities like Telecom and Burnley and my first…

• B is for Blue, Beer and Bavaria

  Armin

  19 Nov 2009 | 7:38 am

  Brewing beer since 1719 — a good hundred years before its main competitor, Heineken — Bavaria is the second largest producer of beer in The Netherlands. I'm not a beer connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination but I drink enough of it and any kind of it, that I'm somewhat familiar with plenty of large brands but, for whatever reason, I had never heard of Bavaria. Or maybe I had and I may have even drank it, but the reality is that its existing look is so beer-generic and non-distinctive that I wouldn't be able to pick it from a beer line-up if a party depended on it. Last…

• Follow-up: Art Directors Club

  Armin

  18 Nov 2009 | 4:51 am

  In retrospect I should have originally approached Trollbäck + Company for further details on the new Art Directors Club identity. I typically do but, for whatever reason, I skipped that part of the process. To make things right — especially since the comments were very, let's say, spirited — and to give the identity the fair overview it deserves (just as the rest of everything we show here) this is a follow-up showing the complete identity system. Whether this makes the logo more palatable or not is, of course, up for discussion. Jakob Trollbäck has shared with us a PDF…

• Odd Building, Odd Logo

  Armin

  17 Nov 2009 | 7:26 am

  So, wow, the Art Gallery of Alberta building in Edmonton, Alberta is weird. I don't mean to dumb down my critiques with such a thoughtful opening statement but sometimes you just have to go with your gut reactions. Since I'm not an architecture critic I may be missing something from this 41-year-old building designed by Don Bittorf, but the best I can equate it to is this is to Frank Gehry what Arial is to Helvetica. But I'll better stick to identity criticism. Last week, the Art Gallery of Alberta announced a new logo designed by Edmonton based Vision Creative Inc. to accompany its new…

• An Iconic Lion for an Iconic Institution

  Armin

  16 Nov 2009 | 5:05 am

  Few places in New York have the undivided reverence of its inhabitants as the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on 5th Avenue and 42nd Street: The New York Public Library (NYPL). From its grand foyer, to its inspiring reading room, to its secluded microfilm archives, to any of its special collection rooms, nearly everyone who has visited has a favorite space they can quickly bend your ear about. But the NYPL is more than just one building flanked by two massive lions — named Fortitude and Patience — it is a network of 86 physical libraries in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island…

• 
  Andy Beard - Niche Marketing

• Fairly Useless Feedburner Google Analytics Update

  Andy Beard

  13 Nov 2009 | 1:25 pm

  Feedburner apparently has integrated analytics with Google Analytics… woopie dooI suppose it makes things simpler for people who weren’t already doing something similar for feeds, and at least they are segregating clicks between email and RSS, something their competitors for RSS > Email such as Aweber, Feedblitz, Mailchimp etc have been able to do for a long time.What they can’t do is track RSS signups as a goal, and until they can do that from a marketing perspective RSS is fairly useless.Google Reader is also still misbehaving – even if you use a 307 temporary…

• Friday 13th – A Very Bad Day for Comment Spammers

  Andy Beard

  13 Nov 2009 | 11:59 am

  Nice search engine friendly links are a great way to reward valuable members of the community of any blog, but they are certainly not a right, and still find myself deleting 50+ worthless comments every day.Most disturbing of all though are the SEO consultants and agencies who I have caught commenting on behalf of their clients, or as themselves with a link through to a client’s site. Some of them are totally dumb about it.I now have a new comments policy in force though most of it is just a clearer interpretation of what has been in place for the last 3+ years.Comment Policy Update:…

• Why Tweetglide Matters – seriously

  Andy Beard

  27 Oct 2009 | 9:45 pm

  When Mike Filsaime first mentioned Tweetglide, I signed up to his notification list but I wasn’t really that interested in the concept. I thought it had a few flaws in the business model he was proposing, and there were already enough Adobe Air Twitter applications on the market.I am saying this as someone who even considered hiring some developers to make an app, or picking up a dying project and adding some viral life to it. There are ways to leverage the Twitter application market that will be attractive.Before Mike really started selling information products, he had a huge amount of…

• Value Trojans & Free Training Webinar (Wednesday 10/28/09 10:45 PST)

  Andy Beard

  26 Oct 2009 | 4:09 pm

  I was meaning to get a post out on this most of last week but I was tied up helping lots of people big & small.Mike Hill is the only guy I know that teaches this stuff, but you will find Value Trojans all over the place when you realise the simplicity and powerful concept behind it.I also mentioned when I offered my bonus for Stompernet that I had plans to add some kind of Value Trojan to this site.Mike goes into incredible detail in his free promotional videos for his launch of sales tsunami and normally charges $25000/day to teach this stuff as a consultant, so it is well worth taking…

• Product Launch Manager Bonus & Video CDNs

  Andy Beard

  23 Oct 2009 | 7:51 am

  If you have been following the theme of Jeff Walkers Product Launch Manager launch, a large chunk of it is that online marketers often have far more knowledge than they think they do – they just have to go out there and sell it.So my bonus is along those lines and will reveal a lot more of my long term plans, which I even hinted at long ago in a comment on Jeff Walker’s blog when he first launched PLF over 3 years ago.Best Existing Solution By FarThe other day I felt compelled to write about Quansite because it is the closest service to what I want to achieve.If you are looking…

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  AdverBox

• Sun

  Michel Parra

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:02 am

  Nacho Gayán directs this epic ad for the argentinian market. It’s a dark while uplifting story for the new Ford Ranger. The script mixes mythical narrative and fables with the hard reality of farming work to highlight the central values of strenght and sturdiness. ——————————————————————————————————- Title: Sun Client: Ford Argentina Product: Ranger Director: Nacho Gayán Agency: JWT…

• The Crisis and Us

  Michel Parra

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:01 am

  The new feature film by Johan Kramer -founder of Kesselskramer agency- is a modern fairytale about the impact of the financial crisis in the lifes of different human beings in Tokyo, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Amsterdam… and specially Ponzisson. The Crisis And Us has premiered 15th September. In 15th September of 2008, the Lehman Brothers bank [...]

• Coin

  Michel Parra

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:00 am

  Hugo Menduiña directs this ad for Volkswagen Golf that advises not to be cheap when it comes to make a wish. The trickiest part of the shooting? Dropping the car exactly in the narrow space between two ships… now you can talk about the boat(s) that rocked! ——————————————————————————————————– CREDITS Brand: Volkswagen Golf Director: Hugo Menduiña Agency: DDB Barcelona Executive…

• Amazing Blind Artist First to Paint New Volvo S60

  axelk

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:08 am

  No one will have seen the all-new S60, Volvos most exciting car to date, until it is launched next year. But this autumn Volvo offers an exclusive preview of the car to a blind artist with remarkable skills: Esref Armagan. He will feel the car with his hands and then make a painting of it. http://www.facebook.com/volvo

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  The Marketing Minute

• A creativity whack for your head...and your iPhone!

  Drew McLellan

  19 Nov 2009 | 4:57 pm

  Roger von Oech is responsible for whacking me upside the head more times than I can count.  20+ years ago, he created a fantastic creativity tool called A Creative Whack Pack.  It's an illustrated deck of 64 creative thinking strategies that will whack you out of habitual thought patterns and enable you to look at your life and actions in a fresh way. It's an awesome way to think different, to see something fresh and to get yourself unstuck. Well, it's 2009 and so of course Roger has created an iPhone/iTouch app for thiscreativity powerhouse.  And...he's…

• You can put a dash of brand just about anywhere

  Drew McLellan

  15 Nov 2009 | 2:51 pm

  There's nothing less interesting or more standard than a bar code, right?  Not according to the people at Design Barcode, where the status quo is anything but!Check out these jazzed up bar codes. (click on the images to see a full-size image in a pop up window)   Lest you think this is a new idea, apparently Rick Tharp was doing it (see his version) way back in 1986.  (Hat tips to Beverly Koehn and Beth Wampler for sharing this Fast Company article on the bar code designs)

• Calling all art directors, designers and logo creators - win $250

  Drew McLellan

  13 Nov 2009 | 5:24 am

  I will try to make this brief.  Last spring, I was approached by a company in the UK called Logo Inn who creates logos and identity packages online.  They wanted to do a contest, demonstrating their services.So I did a series of posts on logo design and offered one organization a chance to win a free logo....as long as the entire process could unfold here on the blog, so we could all learn from it.The series looked like this:. We talked about 5 tips for designing a new logo Announced the contest and gave the rules Shared a creative brief, with questions you should ask yourself…

• Turn your sales letters into workhorses!

  Drew McLellan

  11 Nov 2009 | 10:24 pm

  Neil Sawers, a 25+ year corporate writing veteran can show you how.  In his new book, How to Write Proposals, Sales Letters and Reports, he spells it out in easy to understand, follow and learn examples and guidelines.But don't take my word for it.  Listen to what the Midwest Book Review (one of the most respected reviewers out there) had to say:"Examples, recommendations of common tools to organize one’s thoughts, and a sprinkling of solid business advice fill out this superb, easy-to-use guidebook recommended for business writers of all skill and experience…

• 5 ways to promote internal training and events

  Drew McLellan

  10 Nov 2009 | 11:18 am

  I had a meeting with a client this morning and one of the topics on the agenda was how could they better promote an internal training event that was optional for the employees.When I asked how they would normally promote it, they said...we'd make up a flier with all the information and attach it to an e-mail.  We'd send it out to everyone.  We might send it out a couple times or ask their supervisors to also send it out.There's nothing wrong with what they're doing.  But, there's not enough right. You've got to toss a lot of messages and media into…

• 
  Brian Solis - PR 2.0

• The Social Media (R)evolution: Your Time is Now

  brian

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:23 am

  Source: ShutterstockThe Future of the Social Web is here today and we’re learning that engagement is not a matter of if or when, but to what extent, how and what value can we deliver and derive from it. The Social Web is much more than a window into information and interaction, it is a completely transformative medium that is changing how we forge relationships, interact with one another, and distribute and discover information. In many ways, the online social revolution is reminiscent of the Industrial Revolution.Access to free and expansive media platforms and distribution channels has…

• On Twitter, What Are You Doing Was Always The Wrong Question

  brian

  19 Nov 2009 | 10:18 pm

  What are you doing?Perhaps, Twitter asked the wrong question all along.In all honestly, who cares…it was really never about “what you were doing” that inspired your network to stay connected nor was it the siren for attracting new followers. We chose to follow you because you moved or encouraged us to do so – with every update.For many of the users on Twitter, the question that engendered a response and also also aroused a cultural movement was, “what are you doing?” It was a prompt that, for the most part, was taken quite literally. Its answer served as…

• On Twitter and Social Networks, Brands Benefit from Conversations

  brian

  19 Nov 2009 | 4:40 am

  Source: ShutterstockA recent study revealed 20 percent of tweets published are actually invitations for product information, answers or responses from peers or directly by brand representatives. Now we learn that Twitter users are actively paying attention to brands on the popular information network.According to research conducted by Performics and ROI Research, about half of Twitter users who were introduced to a brand on Twitter were compelled to search for additional information.The companies studied the activity of 3,000 users of social networks in the U.S. Of those polled, 70% use…

• The Golden Triangle

  brian

  18 Nov 2009 | 4:11 am

  Source: ShutterstockPrior to keynoting the PACA conference in Miami, Maria Kessler, president of the PACA Association, asked me if I had read a recent post by Fred Wilson entitled “The Golden Triangle.” We were deep in conversation as I was seeking an alternate title for my next book that identifies the divide between brands, information, and consumers and how we can, as social architects and engineers, build the bridges between people, contextual relationships, and technology. While “The Golden Triangle” isn’t a contender for the name of the next book, it did get me thinking.In…

• With Klout Comes Influence: How To Find Influencers on Twitter

  brian

  17 Nov 2009 | 8:20 am

  This is the uncut version of my latest post on TechCrunch…Measuring individual influence in Social Media is as coveted as it is elusive. While many tools claim to calculate authority, it is the definition of influence that requires clarification in order to grasp the relevance and differences of existing tools and services.For the sake keeping this discussion on track, let’s define influence. According to Merriam-Webster, influence is having the power or capacity to cause an effect.San Francisco-based Klout is no stranger to measuring influence on the Social Web. The company launched…

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  Conversation Marketing

• 11 ways to be a schmuck

  19 Nov 2009 | 9:09 pm

  Use Twitter auto-follow tools. Cut other people down. Sell products you know are crappy. Don't take advice. Ever. WRITE E-MAILS IN ALL CAPS. Misuse words. Amelioratingly. Latch onto one idea and don't let go. Two legs good, four legs baaaaad. Whatever you do, never admit you're wrong. Whatever you do, never stop reminding others of their mistakes. Let fear rule your marketing. Sell to the loophole, not the customer.

• The speed factor: Google algorithm change favors small business

  18 Nov 2009 | 4:16 pm

  I'm here tonight to clear up a little misconception: Douglas Karr wrote an article a few days back titled "Is Google really trying to make the web better?" He talked about Matt Cutts' implication at PubCon that site load speed is becoming a search ranking factor. Karr implies that this favors businesses with deep pockets, I'm assuming because they can spend more on improving load speed. Mashable picked up the thread, too: 1. Favors big / powerful sites: As Karr notes, big companies are best able to plow resources into technical prowess. This could disrupt Google's egalitarian basis, and the…

• 7 Tips for StumbleUpon Success

  17 Nov 2009 | 3:50 pm

  If you want to learn about StumbleUpon and what it is, read my previous article about Stumbleupon traffic quality.. StumbleUpon is my friend. In a weird, they-just-showed-up-and-were-nice-to-me kind of way. I'll write an article about, say, The Plague that is Powerpoint. Nothing happens. I shrug and move on to the next piece. Then BAM, weeks later traffic goes ballistic: Pretty dang cool. I have no idea who started that Stumblefest, but thanks! No manipulation First: I am not manipulating StumbleUpon. I don't have 50 accounts so that I can stumble my own stuff. In fact, I no longer stumble my…

• 7 Reasons PubCon is a must for next year

  16 Nov 2009 | 4:03 pm

  I go to conferences, eat the dry sandwiches, sleep in the hotel room and then head home. Usually, it's a wash - I learn a thing or two, bounce around outside the circles of the 'in' people like the smallest puppy in the litter, and that's it. This year, though I went to my first PubCon. And it was fantastic! Here's why: I didn't attend a single session that was a 50-minute sales pitch. That's a first. Not one speaker I heard said something that set my teeth on edge: No recommendations like "Optimize your keywords meta tag" or "You'll rank #1 when you get 35 links". I learned. A lot. I'm not…

• Using eBay as a keyword research tool

  12 Nov 2009 | 8:24 pm

  Quick post tonight: I've been using eBay's keyword research tool for a while now. It may just beat the more established toolsets when it comes to commercial keyword research. Here's how you use it: First, go to http://labs.ebay.com/raghavgupta/demoto/to?. Type in your query: When you click 'submit' you'll get a report like this: The 'Popularity' column shows searches performed by eBay users. You can't define the time frame - eBay does that for you. The 'Availability' column shows the number of items returned, on average, when you search on eBay. And the 'Bay Estimate' column shows how many…

• 
  Branding Strategy Insider

• How To Be A Good Advertising Client

  Derrick Daye

  16 Nov 2009 | 9:10 pm

  The wisdom of David Ogilvy lives on in this reminder to client side marketers... How To Be A Good Client:   1. Emancipate your agency from fear.   2. Select the right agency in the first place.   3. Brief your agency very thoroughly indeed.   4. Do not compete with your agency in the creative area.   5. Coddle the goose who lays the golden egg. (provide enough time and resources to do the job well.)   6. Don’t strain your advertising through too many layers.   7. Make sure your agency makes a profit.   8. Don’t haggle with your agency.   9. Be candid and encourage…

• The Anti-laws of Luxury Marketing #18

  Derrick Daye

  15 Nov 2009 | 9:10 pm

  18. Don’t relocate your factoriesReducing cost prices is vital in the mass consumer markets, and this often means relocating factories. Luxury management does not apply this strategy. When someone buys a luxury item, they are buying a product steeped in a culture or in a country. Having local roots increases the perceived value of the luxury item. BMW, which is successfully pursuing a luxury strategy, builds all of its automobiles in Germany – apart from the entry line: the 3 Series – and is keeping production of the Mini in the United Kingdom. Keeping production of its models and…

• Brand Naming and Acronyms

  Steve Rivkin

  14 Nov 2009 | 9:10 pm

  An acronym is a pronounceable word formed from the initial letters of a name (WAC, for Women's Army Corps), or formed by combining the first parts of a series of words (RADAR, from Radio Detecting and Ranging).As these examples suggest, once an acronym becomes embedded in the language, most people forget -- or never bother to learn -- the underlying words. Just ask someone what "laser" actually stands for. (Ready? It's "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.")Naming a product or service with an acronym is like an Olympic diving competition. The best efforts carry a high…

• The Language Of Brand Names

  Steve Rivkin

  13 Nov 2009 | 9:10 pm

  Names not just "are," they "do." As a part of language, names identify a business or brand, but also subtly suggest certain types of action.To explain, we must wade into the pond of language. Scholars have pointed out that every utterance has three functions:# The locutionary function involves what the expression denotes.# The illocutionary entails how it functions as a speech act, which philosophers of language define as an utterance considered as an action.# Perlocutionary functions include all the effects an utterance has on the receiver.Brand names, like other words, use all three…

• Social Media Not The Answer For Weak Brands

  Al Ries

  12 Nov 2009 | 9:10 pm

  If you were a first-time visitor from Mars and you happened to drop into a marketing meeting somewhere in the United States, you might assume that marketing people do nothing but talk about "TGIF."That's Twitter, Google, the internet and Facebook.There's no question these four revolutionary developments have forever changed the marketing function. Word-of-mouth has now become word of finger.A key difference: Word-of-mouth leaves an invisible trail in the ether. Word-of-finger leaves an electronic trail on the internet.In the past, nobody paid much attention to word of mouth, even though by…

• 
  mediabistro.com: PRNewser

• Sarah Palin's Twitter Problems

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:22 pm

  Sarah Palin again left us scratching our PR noggins this week. Fan or not, she's crushing it in terms "Going Rogue". So why did her people outright kill her sizable AKGovSarahPalin Twitter account and open SarahPalinUSA to promote the book? Are they people who run the 7-figure Facebook Fan page? The new feed has been languishing all week at between 24,000 to 25,000 followers. You can maintain a following with a simple Tweet announcement after simply changing one's screenname. We thought it had something to do with public offices or PACs needing to migrate to a personal brand for legal…

• Fort Wayne's PR Problem

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:56 am

  The city of Fort Wayne, Indiana (pop. 250,000) is handling public affairs more like a village of 50. Until this week, the city's image was handled by the same guy who owns and edits the weekly paper, and owns a PR firm. Public Information Director Vince Robinson stepped down from his city job this week, after he and his girlfriend filed protective orders against each other. The two allegedly brawled during two separate incidents in October. Robinson held the same position for the city in 2000-2001 under a different mayor, and started Diversity Media after leaving the first time. His company…

• Spin the Agencies of Record

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:25 am

  Account wins in this edition of Spin the Agencies of Record includes large online travel and flower sites, Greek drama for the troops, and an online tool for estate and will planning: Expedia.com flys with the HL Group as agency of record MWW's relationship with 1-800-FLOWERS blossoms to bring more Popcorn Factory, Fannie May and Cheryl&Co gift baskets to you and yours Dan Klores (DKC) goes Greek for the Theater of War, a production company contracted by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury to bring the plays of Sophocles to military audiences…

• Ogilvy PR Adds Digital Strategists

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:18 am

  Digital Strategists Jackie Titus and Dan Schreibstein joined Ogilvy PR's 360° Digital Influence division today. Prior to joining Ogilvy PR. Titus consulted on corporate social responsibility (CSR) and environmental platforms for Unilever in the United States and worked with organizations including the National Park Foundation and Boys & Girls Club of America. Schreibstein will specialize in email marketing strategies. Previously, he headed email acquisition marketing for online financial publisher The Motley Fool. New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

• GOP Continues Social Media Push

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:24 am

  How much of a role did social media play in powering Barack Obama to the presidency? The topic is still being debated. Regardless, Republicans have upped their efforts in the social space, hiring new media managers and building social networks. The GOP has also formed a "New Media Caucus." Ryan Walker, chief of staff for Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), a founding member of the New Media Caucus, told The Hill, "[Latta] saw a void in our own offices communication after the Obama campaign ...and we've been running with it ever since...It's been easier than I thought to get people on board." Of course,…

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  Hitch: Connecting Marketing Innovators

• Friday Philosophy: Russell Ackoff

  David Wiggs

  20 Nov 2009 | 12:35 pm

  Another great thinker died last week  Russell Ackoff “All of our social problems arise out of doing the wrong thing righter. The more efficient you are at doing the wrong thing, the wronger you become. It is much better to do the right thing wronger than the wrong thing righter! If you do the right thing wrong and correct it, you get better!” Russell Ackoff obit in WSJ.

• Friday Philosophy: from Whatcom Middle School

  David Wiggs

  13 Nov 2009 | 6:20 am

  A great old school building burned last week in my town.  It happened while renovations were taking place. Today’s Friday Philosophy was a quote that was etched into the granite above the front doors and I’d often see it going through town–as did every student who’s walked through those doors since 1903.  I’ve always loved this quote.  I hope they save the stone it’s etched into–no matter what happens to this grand old building. Since the school’sfate is now unknown, this saying has shown up everywhere around town in tribute to all who love…

• Ad Industry Innovator # 19: NEMO

  David Wiggs

  10 Nov 2009 | 2:49 pm

  Trevor Graves is a founding principle and the GM of Nemo Design.  I got to know Trevor a bit better recently when they were on the shortlist for a recent ad agency searchI conducted. NEMO lives Youth Culture.  From its roots as a three man shop in Portland, Nemo has grown into an internationally recognized marketing/design firm, with multi-million dollar clients like Nike, HP, ESPN, Fuel Television network, Smith optics, Bell helmets, Timbers MLS soccer, Salomon and Timberline–to name a few. When asked that makes NEMO different, Trevor says “We never make ads: advertising is…

• Friday Philosophy: Anne Friedberg

  David Wiggs

  30 Oct 2009 | 2:06 pm

  This week’s Friday Philosophy comes from an industry thought leader in New Media, Ann Friedberg, who unfortunately succumbed to cancer two weeks ago at the age of 57.  Yeah, cancer sucks.  A brilliant mind and well respected woman. “How the world is framed may be as important as what is contained within that frame.” -Anne Friedberg

• Watch What Happens! Marketing a Top Chef

  David Wiggs

  29 Oct 2009 | 6:00 pm

  I help companies find their ad agency –An Agency Search Consultant.  It’s a great gig.  I love it.  I’m good at it. Usually I hear from CMOs, Marketing VPs, start-up companies, established brands.  Today I got a call from a Top Chef!  After the surprise wore off, we had a great chat. Since we try to keep searches confidential, I’ll decline to say who it is.  For now, I’ll just call them “Chef”. I enjoyed watching Chef this season as they moved through the competition and was sad to see them eventually go.  But, that’s the way the cookie…

• 
  ZackBrandit

• 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! ]]

• We’ve Got Some Nouvelles!

  31 Aug 2009 | 6:24 am

       Our platform is improving day by day and so will our communication. I come to you today with 4 headlines: We have finally launched our French blog.... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Conan the Barbarian Changes Our Social Behavior

  31 Aug 2009 | 3:29 am

  While drifting through my Friendfeed account I discovered a funny little thing that made me realize something big is happening.   I present to you... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• Can Social Media Survive Without Cheerleaders?

  3 Aug 2009 | 3:57 am

  Twitter this, Facebook that, Friendfeed here - and you know what!?! We’ve been under the spell of social media for some time now, trying different platforms and every day seeing new... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]

• 
  Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing

• QuickBooks 2010 Expends Beyond Accounting

  John Jantsch

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:59 am

  QuickBooks 2010 Expends Beyond AccountingThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing The latest version of QuickBooks is a big step outside the box for the leading small business accounting software. Building on Intuit’s Connected Services Strategy announced last year, QuickBooks connects to several new online services that enable small businesses to extend the power of their information already in QuickBooks QuickBooks Pro and Premier 2010 feature the all-new Intuit App Center, providing users access to scalable, Software-as-a-Service business applications directly from within QuickBooks.

• What the Heck is Integrated Marketing Anyway?

  John Jantsch

  18 Nov 2009 | 7:07 am

  What the Heck is Integrated Marketing Anyway?This content from: Duct Tape Marketing When I first started my business, several decades ago, I was determined to tell people that, mine was an integrated marketing firm. To which, I generally received polite nods and the occasional more truthful – “What the heck is integrated marketing anyway?” Well, c’mon I would mutter, “everyone knows it’s a management strategy and meta-discipline focused on the organization-wide optimization of unique value for stakeholders[1].” Right, see the problem with the term was…

• Is Social Media Changing Selling?

  John Jantsch

  17 Nov 2009 | 8:44 am

  Is Social Media Changing Selling?This content from: Duct Tape Marketing Marketing podcast with Mike McLaughlin (Click to listen, right click and Save As to download – subscribe now via iTunes Social media has certainly changed marketing, but few people are addressing just how dramatically it’s changed sales. In this interview we hit that subject pretty head on. My guest for this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing podcast is Mike McLaughlin. He’s the author of Winning the Professional Services Sale, which offers professional service providers, business development managers, and…

• 3 Tools to Make Twitter Lists Even More Useful

  John Jantsch

  16 Nov 2009 | 7:37 am

  3 Tools to Make Twitter Lists Even More UsefulThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing I’m a big fan of the newish Twitter List function. I wrote about it last week – 5 Reasons to Use the New Twitter Lists Feature Now that I’ve you pumped up about using lists, I want to talk about a few tools that I think can make the feature even more useful. Twitter List Widget - (example above) this is a homegrown Twitter feature that’s pretty well hidden. Scroll to the bottom of your Twitter homepage and look for the link called Goodies. Then click Widgets, MyWebiste, ListWidget.

• Winner of the Social Media Library

  John Jantsch

  15 Nov 2009 | 6:02 am

  Winner of the Social Media LibraryThis content from: Duct Tape Marketing In case you missed my post on Friday I offered one signed copy of One these seven books: Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith, New Community Rules by Tamar Weinberg, Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel, Web Analytics 2.0 by Avinash Kaushik, Duct Tape Marketing by well, me, Whuffle Factor by Tara Hunt and CrushIt by Gary Vaynerchuk to the person that most creatively answers the following: I get the biggest return for my business using social media when I [fill in the blank] – Here’s the original…

• 
  Dose of Digital

• Three Things I Learned at the FDA Social Media Hearings and Three I Wish I Had

  Jonathan Richman

  17 Nov 2009 | 9:59 pm

  It’s almost been almost a week since the FDA hearings on social media wrapped up. If you missed it, then you missed a bit of history. Well, you sort of missed a bit of history. It’s not the fall of the Berlin Wall or anything, but it’s pretty rare that the FDA has a hearing like this. I’m not going to begin to try to give you all the links you need to review what happened and instead I’m going to point you to the source for the latest and greatest on all things FDA social media, the #FDASM site created by Fabio Gratton. That’s where you can get links to all…

• November Pharma and Healthcare Social Media Wiki Updates

  Jonathan Richman

  11 Nov 2009 | 1:19 pm

  In honor of tomorrow’s FDA social media hearings, I thought it would be a great time to update the Pharma and Healthcare Social Media Wiki. While many companies remain on the sidelines of social media, others are passing them by. The wiki has hundreds of examples of pharma and healthcare companies using social media TODAY. No hearing required. No special permission. No guidelines. So, study up before the hearing and see what people are doing now. One thing to keep in mind for all the conservative regulatory and legal folks out there: not a single program on this wiki (now over 250…

• 166 Reportable Adverse Events Equals One Red Herring

  Jonathan Richman

  10 Nov 2009 | 7:53 am

  With just a few days until the long awaited FDA hearings on pharma’s use of social media, the buzz in our little community has certainly picked up. Heck, there’s even a site to track it all courtesy of Fabio Gratton. If you want the latest about these hearings, this site is a pretty good place to start. You can get a bunch of logistics information, see the Twitter buzz, and even download the presentations of those people who have made them available (you can get mine here). It’s all great. We’re finally going to have some guidelines around social media, which we all…

• A Sneak Preview of My FDA Social Media Hearing Testimony

  Jonathan Richman

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:20 am

  It’s almost that time. One more week until the FDA hearings that everyone has demanding for more than a year. As a refresher, on November 12-13, the FDA is holding a public hearing on the use of social media by pharma and medical device companies (and others). Officially, the title of the hearing is: Promotion of Food and Drug Administration-Regulated Medical Products Using the Internet and Social Media Tools (Document ID FDA-2009-N-0441-0001). I recently posted the agenda for the meeting, but it has been updated. You can download the new agenda here: Updated Agenda for FDA Social…

• FDA Public Hearing on Social Media Agenda and Speaker List Released

  Jonathan Richman

  30 Oct 2009 | 5:05 am

  As most of you know, in a couple of weeks (November 12-13), the FDA is holding a public hearing on the use of social media by pharma and medical device companies (and others). Officially, the title of the hearing is: Promotion of Food and Drug Administration-Regulated Medical Products Using the Internet and Social Media Tools (Document ID FDA-2009-N-0441-0001). Catchy, right? In any event, since this is a public hearing, people were allowed to request both a seat to attend the meeting and also to speak at the meeting. If you haven’t already applied for a spot, forget it, as the deadline…

• 
  Marketing + Branding + Design

• Update on the Social Media Class at NC State by @cammicam

  Chris Moody

  5 Nov 2009 | 1:09 pm

  As the semester has flown by, Social Media & Management has had a great lineup of guest speakers. @cammicam recently graced the class with her presence and has a great writeup at her blog.

• Social Networks, Media, and Marketing – Evolution: a Prezi by Brent Ward

  Chris Moody

  26 Oct 2009 | 5:53 pm

  Brent Ward's innovative take on social networks and their evolution.

• Social media and its impact on basketball recruiting

  Chris Moody

  23 Oct 2009 | 7:48 am

  Kyrie Irving (@kyrieirving) has been one of the most sought after point guards in the country for several years. Recruiting has traditionally been a bit mysterious and the only way to follow along was listening to rumors, inside sources, and following reputable blogs and journalists...that is changing quickly. Over the last few years, there have been more press conferences, hat donning, and even a few fake announcements. The recruitment of @kyrieirving has been interesting to watch for two reasons: 1) he is very active on Twitter, and 2) one of the universities recruiting Irving has…

• The power of well used typography in a music video by Eric Hutchinson

  Chris Moody

  18 Sep 2009 | 1:01 pm

  It is amazing to me that @erichutchinson isn't huge by now.

• How to ACE Social Media: Alignment, Control, and Engagement

  Chris Moody

  18 Sep 2009 | 8:44 am

  Remember ACE: Align your efforts, Control your message, Engage your community.

• 
  Nettie Hartsock

• 7 Signs Your Social Media “Expert” is Not So Social…

  Nettie Hartsock

  19 Nov 2009 | 1:27 am

  7 Signs Your Social Media “Expert” is Not So Social: 1. You ask them about measuring metrics and they say, “Metrics, metrics, we don’t need no ‘steenking’ metrics.” Helpful Tip: Measurement of social media activities should be happening using tools like Radian6, HubSpot Grading tools, and some from Mashable’s list here. 2. Early on, you ask the expert how often you should tweet and they say, “As much as you like, just keep in mind never to do it in mixed company.” Helpful Tip: See Guy Kawasaki’s post on Twitter Cluelessleness. 3. You search for the profile they were…

• FiledBy Inks Deal with Scribd

  Nettie Hartsock

  18 Nov 2009 | 11:28 am

  Image via CrunchBaseFiledBy has made another incredibly smart move and partnered up with Scribd. Both of these companies are truly outstanding in terms of the new revolution in publishing they are empowering. Excerpt from release - Nashville, Tenn., November 18th, 2009 – FiledBy (www.filedby.com), the leading online directory of authors, writers, illustrators, photographers and other book contributors, today announced the integration of the Scribd Reader technology into the online toolset provided to its fast growing community of authors and other creators. Scribd (www.scribd.com) the…

• 7 Ways To Succeed In Social Media

  Nettie Hartsock

  18 Nov 2009 | 9:27 am

  1. Build your personalized Google profile today so you are visible in search. 2. Add Twitter to your LinkedIn.com account – you can do this now and it will help folks see your “mindshare” on LinkedIn.com too. 3. Be committed to sharing your actionable insight on your blog and then go DIGG it as well. 4. Claim a Twitter account if you’ve not yet done so. Twitter is not going away and it will continue to be refined for better usage and accessiblity. 5. Add your URL to Google. I recommend people submit them at least twice a year just to make sure that Google-bot is…

• You Might Be A Social Media Junkie If…

  Nettie Hartsock

  17 Nov 2009 | 3:44 pm

  Nielsen recently released an interesting study on social media usage and social media junkies. I thought I’d post my own list of items for you to determine if you are a true social media junkie or not. For someone (me) who is always trying to balance the online with the offline, I feel your junkie pain. You Might Be a Social Media Junkie If… 1. You’ve told your immediate and extended family that the best place for them to find out what you’re up to is on Tweetdeck. 2. Instead of an emergency phone number on your children’s school information – you’ve…

• Don’t Put All Your Social Media Eggs in One Basket

  Nettie Hartsock

  5 Nov 2009 | 3:27 pm

  As a former (decade long) technology journalist I think it’s very important for people to understand that it is important to not put all your social media eggs in one basket. Always be aware that social media tools are ever-evolving. This is one of the reasons I don’t ever like being called a “social media expert.” No one can really be a social media expert, because even if you live this stuff 24/7 (which sometimes it feels like I do) you’ll still not be ahead of the developers of these tools and the new options or frameworks they are building with them. While…

• 
  GoMediaZine

• Win “Go Media” Posters and Platinum Imagekind Account

  Jeff Finley

  19 Nov 2009 | 5:39 am

  The kind folks at Imagekind are letting us give away 2 free prints of Go Media artwork. All you need to do to enter the contest is browse our Imagekind store and link us to the print you want and tell us why in the comments. That’s it. We’ll draw 2 winners at random. The first place winner will also receive a free Platinum account from Imagekind. A Platinum account includes up to 250 galleries where you can have an unlimited number of images. You are allowed 100 tags to classify your work, create an unlimited number of groups, and you have 8 categorization options. You can also…

• Ten Ton Dreamweaver DVD offer ends Friday

  Geoff Blake

  18 Nov 2009 | 9:00 am

  Way back on October 5, we held a giveaway where readers could land themselves a copy of Ten Ton’s latest training DVD, Ten Ton Dreamweaver. On October 13th, we announced our randomly drawn winner, and we made a special announcement about a promotional offer where you could land yourself an exclusive Go Media promotional DVD. We’ve received a lot of great comments, and many readers have scooped up the offer — but we wanted to remind readers that this Friday, November 20th is your last chance to order Ten Ton Dreamweaver with the exclusive Go Media promotional DVD included! As…

• Flipping Websites with Designer Henry Jones

  George Coghill

  17 Nov 2009 | 5:30 am

  GoMediaZine: Hello Henry, for those who aren’t familiar, can you tell us about yourself? Do you work alone, or with a team? Henry Jones: I am a web designer, developer, blogger, and an entrepreneur. I have been designing and developing for the web for about 8 years now, but it wasn’t until recently that started blogging and got the entrepreneur bug. I am actually working on finishing up my last client contract within the next few months, at which time I will officially be a full time blogger. This has been my goal since I started blogging in early 2008. Up until this month I have…

• Freelancers, what’s your largest business expense?

  Adam Wagner

  13 Nov 2009 | 7:02 am

  It’s nearing the end of the year. Americans are out hunting turkeys and folks around the world are pinching pennies in preparation for the winter holiday season. So, I’m curious: Where are you spending the most in your freelance business? Where do you think you could afford to save a bit? Should you cut back on a few subscriptions to magazines or web services? Buy year-old computer gear instead of the latest & greatest? Or hey, maybe business is booming and you could care less about expenses right now. Whatever the case, cast your vote in the poll and share your thoughts in…

• Foil Stamping: A Finishing Favorite

  Nick DeTomaso / Jakprints Inc.

  12 Nov 2009 | 11:56 am

  Foil stamping is always a fan favorite, due to the elegance and high visual impact that it can provide. Foil stamping (also called hot stamping, dry stamping, foil imprinting, or leaf stamping) can be used to add flair to products like business cards, book covers, gift cards, office folders, and a whole host of professional or personal items. Instead of using plates or inks to print words and shapes, foil stamping uses dies, or sculpted metal stamps. Foil Stamping: How it’s done The heated dies seal a thin layer of metallic leaf/foil onto a surface. The foil comes in a wide roll, large…

• 
  Digital Influence Mapping Project

• WOMMA Looks at the FDA Social Media Hearings

  John Bell

  14 Nov 2009 | 3:59 pm

  After the first day of FDA Hearings, WOMMA, Ogilvy and LiveWorld held a tweetup at Ogilvy with WOMMA's legal counsel, Tony DiResta. Tony guided WOMMA through our work that led to the recent FTC Guidelines on Endorsements and Testimonials. He's also author of the WOMMA Blog, DiResta the Law, where he shares on the legal side of social media and word of mouth marketing. He offers his own perspective on the first day and where he thinks this all may lead. After spending most of the two days there myself and [presenting to the FDA on the second day], I would say that all of his first day…

• WOMMA Presents at the FDA Social Media Hearings

  John Bell

  14 Nov 2009 | 2:47 pm

  I attended most of the the two day FDA Hearings on use of the Internet and Social Media and was pleasantly surprised. The agenda was jam-packed. It was like speed-dating or some other rapid-fire challenge. While I was skeptical of the format and whether there would be substantive suggestions and ideas, both worked out well. Speaking on behalf of WOMMA, Melissa Davies (member company Nielsen) and I delivered two different "testimonies." WOMMA FDA Presentation November 2009View more documents from jbell99. I addressed questions 1 and 3 from the FDA docket. My goal was to share our recent…

• FDA Social Media Hearings Live

  John Bell

  12 Nov 2009 | 5:42 am

  The FDA "socal media" Hearings are going on all day today and tomorrow. Packed agenda - 60+ speakers including Ogilvy and WOMMA. You can watch it live here from the FDA.

• Join Us for a Post-FDA Tweetup in DC

  John Bell

  8 Nov 2009 | 9:05 pm

  WOMMA and Ogilvy will be presenting at the FDA "Social Media" hearings this week in Washington DC. I will be speaking on behalf of WOMMA in my role as President of the Board. Rohit Bhargava will be presenting on behalf of Ogilvy in his role spearheading our Digital Health business. We have all been waiting for some time for the FDA to engage and start evolving their guidlines to address the changes wrought by social media. The 2-day hearings is just a start. And a ton of experts will speak over those two days. On Thursday night, November 12th,  from 6:30pm - 8:30pm, WOMMA and…

• WOMMA to Present at FDA Hearings on Social Media

  John Bell

  1 Nov 2009 | 9:01 pm

  On Friday, November 12th, Melissa Davies, Research Director at Nielsen, and I will present on behalf of WOMMA during two sessions with the FDA. These are part of the long-awaited FDA foray into considering new guardrails for health products marketers in social media. Pharma, one of a few heavily regulated industries, has stepped cautiously into social media over the past few years. Still, pharam is not as paralyzed as some would suggest. Dose of Digital maintains a great list of pharma social media activities from Twitter to communities. WOMMA has just gone through a productive year…

• 
  The Hidden Persuader

• "Esquire: Beyond paper"

  hidden persuader

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:15 am

• "Less action, more talking"

  hidden persuader

  18 Nov 2009 | 2:32 am

  "3 in 10 Chicagoans say they’d give up sex for a year rather than give up their mobile phones, according to a Samsung Mobile survey. 36% of women and 15% of men chose the phone. 30% of those surveyed also said they use their phones for texting more than talking."-- CHICAGO TRIBUNE 10.6.09[Via Iconoculture

• "Real Life Adventures"

  hidden persuader

  18 Nov 2009 | 2:27 am

  Real Life Adventures by Gary Wise and Lance Aldrich

• "Life's a list"

  hidden persuader

  16 Nov 2009 | 4:25 am

  Life is made of lists: wedding lists, shopping lists, baby names lists, contacts lists, places to visit lists, food we should eat lists ..."We Like Lists Because We Don't Want to Die", Umberto Eco in Der Spiegel.

• "Share a taxi"

  hidden persuader

  13 Nov 2009 | 8:41 am

  "Taxi2": Aother interesting example of "branded utility".

• 
  The AdHole

• 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…

• Technical Difficulties

  J Fox

  14 Oct 2009 | 7:21 pm

  The joy of WordPress upgrades has wreaked havoc on The AdHole. All posts have been restored (I think), but I will have to redo Categories, Links and the About section myself. Since I have forgotten whatever PHP I had to learn when I first set this up as WP blog, things should get interesting. And not in a good way. Copyright © 2009 The AdHole. This Feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this material in your news aggregator, the site you are looking at is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact legal@adhole.com so we can take legal action…

• Some Things Don’t Need to be Rebranded

  J Fox

  7 Sep 2009 | 11:40 am

  Last April, President Barak Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. The act created a National Day of Service and Remembrance. Hmmm. Service and remembrance. Two things that, while valuable on their own merits, aren’t typically seen combined into a National Day of Anything. It’s not as if service and remembrance are the peanut butter and chocolate of things in need of a national day, yet not quite important enough to have one individually. Oh, wait. Looky there. The National Day of Service and Remembrance is 9/11. Of course, how silly of me. It makes perfect sense…

• Mmmmmmmm, Donuts

  J Fox

  1 Jul 2009 | 2:44 pm

  Finally found something worth breaking my two-month-long silence for: This campaign for Dunkin Donuts from Hill Holiday. Featuring famed OU and Dallas Cowboys football coach Barry Switzer, these spots follow Coach Switzer as he attempts to instill the fighting spirit of football into other sports. Honestly, they don’t make a lot of sense from a traditional branding perspective. But they’re hilarious (if you’re into that sort of “Arrested Development” or “Rushmore” aesthetic). Which makes me love Dunkin Donuts all the more. Which is kind of the point…

• We Really Can All Just Get Along

  J Fox

  30 Apr 2009 | 6:32 am

  This commercial was produced by a couple of guys named (maybe) Rhett and Link. The duo claim to make “Custom-built, Micro-Budget Commercials for MicroBilt Customers.” I think that’s all the introduction this spot needs. Later, Fox !Viagra and buy^ !Buy diet online phentermine pill prescriptioncom viagra^ !Cialis medicine online order rx viagra^ !Wwwrxfamilycom buy cheap cheap kamagra uk viagra^ !Viagra online purchase^ !Buy onlinecom phentermine viagra^ !Buy cheap cheap kamagra uk viagra niy cheap cgeap kamagra^ !Buy viagra for cheap^ !Mail order viagra in uk^ !No…

• 
  Everything's Better With Brentter

• Burger King Does Brazil

  Brent

  17 Nov 2009 | 12:31 pm

  After years of trying to find a way to connect their American fast food brand with South American consumers, I think it’s safe to say that Burger King has finally done it with their latest campaign ~ The King In Brazil. These are so bad I don’t know where to start. In this first one [...]

• McDonalds – Favourites

  Brent

  23 Oct 2009 | 3:23 am

  It is copywriting like this that gives me hope for the future of advertising. Warm and with a hint of playfulness, the narration for this McDonalds spot is simply beautiful. A tip of the hat goes out to creative-pair Tony Malcolm & Guy Moore from Leo Burnett London for dreaming up this piece. Credits: Agency: Leo [...]

• A Great Example Of “Living” Statistics

  Brent

  23 Oct 2009 | 1:45 am

  Here’s a pretty creative example of combining seemingly random bits of statistics to form something that is visually stimulating. Created by Gary Hayes and featured on his blog, PersonalizeMedia, the flash widget uses various reported statistics to compute the running totals. Sources range from use-data mentioned in the official YouTube blog all the way to [...]

• Skype Launches Click-To-Call Program in EU

  Brent

  6 Oct 2009 | 5:29 am

  Skype just announced a new business spin-off of their popular VOIP service partnering with European Directories to offer free click-to-call services for their business listings (free to the consumer at least). Pretty much it takes your typical yellow pages a step further by allowing the user to connect directly to the service provider by clicking [...]

• Sesame Street Mad Men

  Brent

  1 Oct 2009 | 12:30 pm

  Sesame Street decided to do a Mad Men sketch and the result is 3x more awesome than the level of awesomeness you’re currently imagining it could be. Yeah, that awesome. Enjoy!

• 
  Why Advertising Sucks

• Honest to Post Its 23

  Joker

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:50 pm

• Agencies vs. In-House Departments

  RestrictionsApply

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:26 am

  The other day I got into a heated argument with a friend of mine – let’s call him Eddie. We started discussing the joys of eating red meat, and somehow ended up talking about how all brands should do their advertising in-house. Eddie foresees a near future in which traditional advertising agencies will cease to exist, an industry in which brands will take matters into their own hands. Clients

• When I get pregnant... I want this sonogram pic!

  Me

  19 Nov 2009 | 6:24 pm

  PS: Today is my last day of taking any type of pills, injections, patches... over! Scared shitless! Yey! via digg.com

• Awwww. Me likes Cute Dragons.

  Me

  18 Nov 2009 | 10:24 am

• How I wish I had this job... and this camera.

  Me

  18 Nov 2009 | 10:17 am

• 
  Brains On Fire Blog

• People are just amazing.

  Robbin

  20 Nov 2009 | 7:02 am

  “Closeness to customers” is something I have been studying lately. I wrote about the effect it has on your company here. I also believe it is huge part of what we help our clients do. We help our clients create deeper more meaningful, emotional connections to the clients they serve. So in an effort to practice what we preach, I’m in the process of spending time “interviewing” our clients and some of our client’s customers. And here is what I have to share with you: Do it. NOW. If you’re part of company or organization and you have customers or advocates,…

• Patagonia presentation - 2009 WOMMA Summit in Vegas

  Spike

  19 Nov 2009 | 10:12 am

  This morning at the WOMMA Summit in Las Vegas, The VP of marketing for Patagonia, Rob BonDurant, took the stage to talk about one of the most fascinating, word of mouth worthy, mission-driven, cult-like brands around. And he didn’t disappoint. You could call the whole talk a highlight, but here are the tidbits that resonated with me: We would rather inspire than promote. We would rather earn credibility over a purchase. Advertising should be used only as a last resort. The three charters of Patagonia. It’s what they adhere to and live by. We don’t create stories. We publish them. These…

• Stories make Connections

  Geno

  18 Nov 2009 | 9:50 am

  I’m lucky to be the grandson of a storyteller. My grandfather told me a ton of stories growing up; they were a combination of tall tales and family stories. Often the storytelling took place in usual environments - in his garden, or sitting on the hood of his car eating hot dogs on the edge of the Greenville Downtown Airport. And so it goes… I seek out storytellers for our clients. I’m captivated by how people use stories to connect, especially when un-prompted. As fate would have it Brains on Fire is now working with the granddaddy of storytelling… Colonial Williamsburg. The…

• On devoting your time to what works

  Eric

  17 Nov 2009 | 10:17 am

  Spike said in his last blog post that “technology can be a trap.” We rant all of the time around here about how ’social media is a tool’ and how ‘it might not be best for your business’ and on and on. But it reminded me of a real story about technology as a trap. Do you remember way back, well, actually, a short time ago when Twitter first started to grab headlines and brands began to view it as a business tool? Companies everywhere started to question whether they should ‘be on Twitter.’ Some time after that initial uproar I was out to dinner…

• Twitter, you’re not a person

  Spike

  16 Nov 2009 | 5:51 am

  Rumor has is that the panel that’s choosing TIME’s Person of the Year is split between Twitter and and The Economy. Wha? Okay, according to a WIRED article, this isnt’ the first time a non-person might win the award. In 1982, “The Computer” got the nod. Since then a fair amount of non-persons have won: The Endangered Earth (1988), The Peacemakers (1993), The Whistleblowers (2002), The Good Samaritans (2005) and, of course, You, in 2006. I get it. I know that naming Twitter person of the year would get a lot of buzz. But let’s take a look at some of the reality: via…

• 
  Where's My Jetpack?

• Vehicle Graphics

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:41 am

  Designed for an as-yet imaginary vehicle to be used in an as-yet imaginary endeavor. But we traffic in imagination. The emblem on the corner of the trailer is from another imaginary endeavor.

• Match the "Celebrity" with their Bio

  18 Nov 2009 | 9:25 am

  T-Mobile and their MyTouch, in association with Google, is reaching out to all you boomers who still think these people are funny. To me this only says T-Mobile is desperate.a. I was an original SNL cast-member, but quit after I imagined the show was all about me. Cocaine will do that to a person. I did a few very forgettable movies and one good one, then disappeared, got fat and lost all my hair. Now my friends at NBC are trying to help me revive my career by putting me in a supporting role on a sit-com that is doomed to fail.b. I did impersonations on SNL. I also did a thing with Mike Myers…

• It Usually Starts WIth a Title and an Image

  18 Nov 2009 | 8:22 am

  A new project*, coming soon** from Jetpack Productions.* "Project" is the loose term we give to things that have not been developed in the least, and only exist as a URL and a few vague notions.** "Soon" is the undefined timeframe we give to things that may be here next week or next decade.

• Hug The Mountain - Brand Shatner

  18 Nov 2009 | 5:30 am

  Why am always late to the game on these things that have been seen 500,000 times already since May?To put this clip in its proper setting: William Shatner is doing a promo here for some sort of schlock show like "Entertainment Tonight," shilling an upcoming Star Trek movie, probably in the '80s. And someone has set it to music. Brilliantly.In this post-Ironic age, where you are your own brand, or an amalgamation of rotating logos, clothing trends, hairstyles, gadgets and apps that define you, look to the Canadian King of Self-Mockery for a little lesson in consistency.Does he know he's…

• Starry Eyed Dreamer

  17 Nov 2009 | 7:42 am

• 
  Junta42 Content Marketing blog

• 10 Corporate Blogging Tips and Strategies

  Joe Pulizzi

  18 Nov 2009 | 5:33 am

  Ambal from Click Documents asked me if I had any tips/strategies for corporate blogging.  The presentation below is a corporate blogging basics presentation useful for beginning bloggers.  That said, here are the main takeaways.  For more indepth understanding of a content marketing strategy, this content marketing white paper will help. A blog is just a tool, nothing more, nothing less. BUT, it can be a powerful tool to distribute consistent and valuable information to your prospects and customers.  Be sure to focus on the informational needs of your customers, and…

• Custom Publishing Council Announces 2009 Pearl Awards

  Joe Pulizzi

  16 Nov 2009 | 6:41 pm

  Had an outstanding time last Thursday at the 2009 Custom Publishing Council Pearl Awards (Junta42 was a sponsor of the event). A sign that the recession may be over? - many more attendees at the awards event this year over last year. A great site to see.Finally, congrats to Junta42's parent company, Z Squared Media, on their silver place best blog finish in association with Razorleaf Corporation. Here are all the winners below:Winners are listed by category, title, custom publisher and client name, included in parentheses. DESIGN | Best Cover Less Than 50,000 Gold: Lamborghini Desk…

• Create Content that Sleeps, Creeps and Leaps

  Joe Pulizzi

  13 Nov 2009 | 9:10 am

  I had a great conversation today with Dr. Sandra Bauman from Bauman Research about start-up companies.  She shared with me the idea about "sleeps, creeps and leaps." In the first year of a business launch, the brand sleeps.  In year two, you start to see the company creep toward success.  But it's in the third year that the business leaps and really begins to grow.Fascinating concept.The same principle can be applied toward corporate content marketing.As the corporate content program starts (let's say with a blog, white paper, enewsletter strategy), success…

• Top 10 Twitter Basics Questions Answered

  Joe Pulizzi

  10 Nov 2009 | 5:51 am

  Just about every day I answer a question about using Twitter, the microblogging tool. I've put them together in this handy post.  Enjoy, and, if you like getting information on content marketing, feel free to follow me @juntajoe. Question #1What is the easiest way to find someone's @ name? If I read an article or hear them speak, how do I easily find their Twitter call sign. Use Twitter Name Search Question #2What are other ways to find twitter names? If Twitter Name Search doesn't work for you, try Twellow, the Twitter Yellow Pages. Question #3What does the # mean and how…

• Custom Print Magazines - Why Can't MasterCard Produce Inc. Magazine?

  Joe Pulizzi

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  I don't know about you, but I've been reading more print magazines lately.  Seems odd at first, but in a way, it makes perfect sense. I spend most of my business day and night on the computer. When I'm on my computer, I need to get things done. But when I want to relax and engage in an inspiring story, print is my choice...books and magazines. At the top of the list is probably Inc. magazine. This month's article about how 37Signals founder Jason Fried spends his day was priceless. Speaking of "priceless", shouldn't MasterCard be producing an Inc-type…

• 
  Adrants

• Pilgrims Get Sexy Makeover in Muscle Milk Thanksgiving Video

  20 Nov 2009 | 12:12 pm

  Teachers, hide your students! The traditional Pilgrim is about to get a deliciously sexy makeover by Jason Reed for Muscle Milk.

• Canon Plays Digital Version of Freeze Tag

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:11 am

  Likening action photography to a game of freeze tag, a group of people were given Canon cameras to use in a game of photographic freeze tag.

• If Honda's Choir Sung With Helium...

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:56 am

  ...it would be a terrible Alfa Romeo commercial.

• Your Blackberry Storm Will Kill You With Lightning

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:37 am

  We're not quite sure a brand would associate themselves with life-threatening lightning but McCann-Erikson New York has chosen to for Verizon's Blackberry Storm 2.

• Method Trashes Dow's Horny Scrubbing Bubbles

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:35 am

  In the most hilarious cleaning product commercial in recent memory, Method has some fun with Dow's Scrubbing Bubbles.

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  Remarkablogger

• WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org – The Definitive Overview for Business

  Michael Martine

  19 Nov 2009 | 6:31 pm

  Do you feel as though blogging is more complex than it’s been made out to be? When you’re new to blogging, choosing a blogging service or software is overwhelming. Many people never even learn that there’s a version of WordPress you can put on your own domain. The dot com version of WordPress is the first thing they encounter and off they go. If you are aware there are two versions of the world’s most popular blogging software, you’re now faced with a decision–one you don’t feel qualified to make. You feel there’s a lot riding on this decision,…

• How to Bake a Blog

  Michael Martine

  17 Nov 2009 | 3:40 am

  I’m not exactly the Ace of Cakes. I’m a decent cook, but I’m no baker. Knowing this about myself, but wanting to bake a birthday cake for my step-daughter’s birthday, I did what any normal man would do: I bought a cake mix and a can of frosting. You’d think it would be foolproof. All I had to do was follow the instructions on the box. Water, vegetable oil, three eggs, a bowl, a mixer, and a 9″ x 13″ cake pan. How hard could it be? I mixed it all up, poured the batter into my cake pan, and tossed it into the oven (which I had even remembered to…

• Headway 1.5 Now Available

  Michael Martine

  14 Nov 2009 | 8:34 am

  People have been asking us for weeks now when the new version of Headway is ready for download. I’m happy to announce that it’s ready, and you can now get it. I’ve been showing you some of its capabilities over the past few weeks, and the comments and tweets have been really encouraging. Briefly, though, let me outline the main improvements from 1.0 to 1.5: True WYSYWIG Layout in the Blog Theme: The Layout Editor is now the Visual Layout Editor, and it is truly visual: you work directly on the blog page as though you were viewing it on the web, and you can simply click on…

• WordCamp NYC is the Place to be this Weekend

  Michael Martine

  11 Nov 2009 | 2:30 pm

  Have you heard of WordCamp? Not word as in writing, but word as in WordPress. They happen all over the world, and they’re a great place to learn all things WordPress. The ones in the bigger cities are, well… bigger. WordCamp NYC looks like it’s gonna be a good one. I’m going to be there, so if you’re around, be sure to say hello! You can still get registered to join and it’s NOT expensive. There are educational tracks for beginning, intermediate, and advanced WordPress users, so there’s something for everyone. This will be my first time in Manhattan,…

• How to Really Understand Marketing

  Michael Martine

  10 Nov 2009 | 3:50 am

  In spite of everything you read about marketing, do you feel as though you still don’t have a solid overall picture in your mind about it? You’re not alone—far from it. The way we consume information and learn online is a fragmented experience: a blog post here, another one there, an ebook about a singular topic out of context… this is how most of us learn about marketing online. Does that sound like your experience? No matter how good the information, you’re only getting bits and pieces of the puzzle. It’s like trying to read The Lord of the Rings in…

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  Stage Two's blog

• Client News: Pogoplug Unveils 2nd Gen Device – Pretty Darn Cool In Pink

  KPBrown

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:21 am

  The New Pogoplug! At a great late night event held in their SF headquarters, Cloud Engines – creators of the ubercool award-winning Pogoplug “multimedia sharing device” unveiled the next step in their Pogoplug product evolution (see picture). A very select group of techgeeks got a very special sneak peek and hands-on with the new Pogoplug, which boasts 4 USB ports (a big crowd pleaser), very cool new design, and a bunch of new features: Automatic sync with your music, movies, photos…really any folder you want Bulk uploading Improved data display for media – cover…

• Client News: BOKU announcing 12 major partnerships at once

  David

  19 Nov 2009 | 9:06 am

  BOKU has a big announcement today, which includes 12 major partnerships with some of the biggest names in free-to-play and social / casual gaming.  BOKU offers a direct mobile payments system for virtual goods.  Want some digital alfalfa for your virtual horses in Barn Buddy on Facebook?  BOKU lets you pay for it with your mobile phone. The new partnerships account for more than 200 million (yup, million) new customers with access to BOKU to pay by mobile for their virtual goods.  BOKU is a global outfit with offices in the US, South America, the UK and Singapore. Their release went out…

• Client News: Clicker is live and ready for Prime Time

  David

  12 Nov 2009 | 6:46 am

  Great news for Clicker today – they’re launching out of Beta, making the service available to anyone in the world.  Clicker has also increased their content index dramatically, partly through collaboration with Netflix and Amazon to index all of their video-on-demand content – this brings Clickers content index up to: 400,000+ episodes, from over 7,000 shows 30,000+ films 50,000+ music videos And, they have some great new feature enhancements thanks to all the Beta feedback they received.  This includes features like use of  Facebook Connect (to create an account using…

• Client News: worlds collide as Blake Krikorian joins board of Clicker.com

  Jeremy

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:23 am

  We had a great announcement this morning from one of our newest clients, Clicker.com.  Blake Krikorian, the founder and former CEO of Sling Media (makers of the Slingbox) has agreed to join the board of directors at Clicker.  He’s also investing in the company personally. This has special significance to me as Blake was my old boss back in the day. Blake joins CEO/founder Jim Lanzone (former CEO of Ask.com) on the board, along with Bill Gurley of Benchmark Capital and Geoff Yang of Redpoint Ventures.  Clicker’s mission is to be the ultimate programming guide for television on…

• Client News: VUDU Internet Apps are live

  David

  5 Nov 2009 | 10:15 am

  VUDU today releases their Internet Apps for the embedded streaming HD movie service.  This means that VUDU customers on embedded devices like the Mitsubishi Diamond Unisen HDTVs will be able to use some of the hottest Internet apps around, including Pandora, Flickr, Picasa and others.  Owners of the original VUDU box will recognize this as the VUDU Labs feature. Now it has come to VUDU enabled embedded devices. A few folks have picked up the news, which went out via blog post on the official VUDU blog this morning. We will update the list of coverage below as we see it. Engadget Engadget HD…

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  The Viral Garden

• Social media tool roundup!

  Mack Collier

  18 Nov 2009 | 11:22 am

  I wanted to share with you a few tools I've come across in the past few weeks that might help you out as well. Over at MackCollier.com I recently did a review of Monitter. Monitter is great for local/retail businesses because it lets you do location-based searches on Twitter! Instead of just monitoring Twitter for relevant terms, think of adding the additional layer of only finding people that are tweeting about those terms, but in a specific zip code! Great way to identify potential customers for a small, local business!Another tool that looks interesting is a blog platform created by…

• Twitter traffic flattening, but Bit.ly surging

  Mack Collier

  11 Nov 2009 | 4:42 pm

  For the second straight month, Twitter's traffic has declined, according to Compete. The micro-blogging site had just over 23 million visitors in October after peaking at 23.5 million monthly visitors in August. Now to be fair, Twitter's traffic has only been down fractionally since August, falling only 2.11% since September. But it does indicate that the site meteoric traffic rise is finally leveling off. Twitter's traffic is still up a staggering 577% for the year.Facebook continued to chug right along, growing its traffic by 3.5% in October and posting just under 129 million visitors for…

• Is your blog losing its identity?

  Mack Collier

  11 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

  "Individuality is fine, as long as we all do it together." - Major Frank Burns, M*A*S*HIn Google Reader, I get new posts and articles from over 100 blogs and sites every day. I get dozens of shared items well. For the past few months I've noticed that the majority of the posts fall into two categories:1 - They are 'Guide/How-to/Steps-to' posts. Here's the formula: The (Celebrity/Fictional character) Guide to Better/More Effective (blogging/tweeting/etc). Or "X Steps to Better (social media term)".2 - Echo posts. It seems like every couple of weeks, a blogger (usually a popular one) will hit…

• #blogchat update and how you can be involved!

  Mack Collier

  7 Nov 2009 | 6:09 am

  As many of you know, for several months now we've been meeting on Twitter every Sunday nite at 8pm CT for #blogchat. This is where we discuss various topics concerning blogs and sometimes other forms of social media.The chat has become very popular (thanks to you!), and that's gotten me to thinking about how that popularity can relate to this post on how we need to find ways to focus on new voices.You see, one of the things that's been sorely missing from #blogchat is someone that can do a recap of each week's chat. I simply don't have the time, and it's really tough for any one person to…

• Stop asking the wrong blogging questions

  Mack Collier

  2 Nov 2009 | 6:47 am

  Whether you are a new or seasoned blogger, many of you likely have many of the same questions:"How do I get more readers?""How do I get more comments on my posts?""What about blog subscribers? How do I get more of them?""How can I use Twitter to drive more traffic back to my blog? Or Facebook, or Friendfeed?"Notice that all of these questions are focused on YOU, the blogger. How YOU can get something.What if you instead asked this question: "What superpower will I give my readers?"I'm totally channeling Kathy Sierra here, but think of your blog as a telephone booth, and your reader is Clark…

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  Viaspire

• The Social Media Landscape for the Classroom 2.0

  Viaspire

  19 Nov 2009 | 12:23 pm

  We mentioned last week that we spoke at the CASBO CBO Symposium on Social Media - Using new technology to deliver information to staff, students and the public.The session was very beneficial to school business officials who have opportunities and challenges presented with how and when to leverage social media to reach, inform and engage.Much like we reported in our presentation, there are so many opportunities and tools available that understanding what tools and services are out there right now is a great first step alone.Today, we learned of an excellent mind map created by teacher, Jesper…

• Leveraging Social Media in Education

  Viaspire

  12 Nov 2009 | 10:00 pm

  We'll be presenting today at the CASBO CBO Symposium 2009 in a special breakout session on Social Media - Using new technolgoy to deliver information to staff, students and the public. In conducting some field research for our presentation, we came across a couple of videos, we think provide further insight on how digital learners and teachers today interact and engage in online communities, co-collaboration, user-generated content and constant conversation. Digital World: Teachers Today A Vision of K-12 Students Today A Vision of Students Today By Digital Enthnography at Kansas State…

• You and Your UX Team Of One

  Viaspire

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:39 pm

  UX Team Of One @ IA Summit 2008 View more documents from Leah Buley.

• Is Email Dead in the Era of Facebook, Twitter & the iPhone?

  Viaspire

  6 Nov 2009 | 2:09 pm

  Clara Shih, author of "The Facebook Era," examines the question is email dead in the era of Facebook, Twitter and the iPhone? With eight billion minutes being spent on Facebook a day, people are not only logging in, they are engaged and communicating actively there. So what role does email play going forward? Watch this BNET video to learn more: Also, be sure to take BNET's poll: What’s the Etiquette for Social Media and the Workplace? Give them your insight.

• FLF 10.30.2009 - Procrastination

  Viaspire

  30 Oct 2009 | 9:00 am

  I guess it wouldn't be hard to imagine that I actually came across this great video short story while procrastinating on a Thursday afternoon. While I am surprised that a creative would describe Procrastination as finding the perfect pen, making a cup of tea, or looking out the window, the message itself is - if you are doing anything outside of getting at the heart of the task, well, um, you are procrastinating. Now, I feel this may fly in the face of the creative process, because many "bird walks" can lead to a perfect and innovative solution, it's just that these bird walks are a detour to…

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  Churbuck.com

• Links for 2009-11-18 [del.icio.us]

  19 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  Hetemeel.com : Dynamic images Einstein's blackboard tool

• Whereabouts — Nov. 16-30

  David Churbuck

  15 Nov 2009 | 9:02 am

  Monday – Nov. 16: Cotuit Tuesday-Thursday: Nov. 17-19: Morrisville, North Carolina Friday -Monday: Nov. 20-30: Cotuit, Thanksgiving vacation Returning to the east from California today — intense day of phone stuff tomorrow, sttategy review with COO on Tuesday, digital marketing team stuff for the balance of the week, then home for the holidays. Thus ending a solid month of travel from RTP to Beijing to San Francisco to RTP. Next road trips — back to back weeks in RTP the first two weeks of December, then west back to San Francisco for XMas and eventually CES in Vegas the…

• Links for 2009-11-14 [del.icio.us]

  15 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  Internet Archive: Free Download: Grateful Dead Live at Colt Park on 1976-08-02 My first Grateful Dead show

• Links for 2009-11-13 [del.icio.us]

  14 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  Lenovo will offer new 'smart book' - Local/State - NewsObserver.com N&O on Lenovo Smartbook

• Word of the day: Triskaidekaphobia

  David Churbuck

  13 Nov 2009 | 9:07 am

  Friday the 13th …… http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triskaidekaphobia

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  Ries' Pieces

• 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…

• Brand Makeover for the Swift School

  Laura

  28 Oct 2009 | 10:47 am

         I am proud to announce that the branding makeover of the Swift School is almost complete. The process has taken many months but the results are extraordinary.    Just to recap, back in April 2009, I was part of the On The House team that donated a total of $100,000 worth of services to a local non-profit organization in Atlanta. The winner of the prize was the Swift School, a non-profit school that serves elementary children with dyslexia.     The mission of On the House was to give a branding makeover to a non-profit that was doing great work, but was not reaching its full…

• How Crocs Crashed

  Laura

  21 Oct 2009 | 3:00 pm

    Success is sometimes your own worst enemy. Just ask the management and stockholders at Crocs.   A hot brand ends up in one of two different ways. It burns bright too fast and fizzles. Brands like this are known as fads. Or a brand burns hot then continues at a steady simmer. Brands like this are known as iconic.   Believe it or not, whether your brand will become a fad or an icon depends on your strategy more than you think. The good news is the fate of your brand is very much in your control. The bad news is it may be too late for Crocs.  While it’s true that no…

• Starbucks is Shooting Itself in the Cup

  Laura

  1 Oct 2009 | 10:45 am

            Starbucks latest offensive isn’t against McDonald’s or Dunkin’ Donuts it is against itself. And if Starbucks weapon is as successful as it says it will be then they could be shooting themselves in the cup.           Starbucks new weapon is its Via instant coffee, a brand that went nationwide this week after several months of testing in Seattle, Chicago and London.            To support the Via launch, Starbucks…

• GM & the Implication of the Opposite

  Laura

  15 Sep 2009 | 3:09 pm

                             Sometimes the harder you try, the worse off you are. Why is that?             Branding can sometimes be like trying to pick up girls. It is not what you say that counts. But the implication of what you say that counts.             Asking a girl out for a Saturday night date on a Thursday afternoon doesn’t…

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  Ryan Stephens Marketing

• Why Resumes are Lame

  Ryan Stephens

  18 Nov 2009 | 5:12 pm

  First of all I think resumes are a waste of time for many fields. This is especially true of PR, marketing, social media, advertising, et al. Why? Because they tell me virtually nothing about you that truly matters. How strategically do you think about complex problems? Would you be fun, interesting, inspiring to work with? I don’t care that you can hold a job, even it sounds cool. You could’ve been a cog in the wheel. You could’ve embellished. Resumes go in big stacks. They don’t get read, if they do you have something like 15-20 second to impress someone with a piece of paper you…

• How to be an Awesome Intern

  Ryan Stephens

  13 Nov 2009 | 6:35 am

  Dear Interns, You’ve got your foot in the door. That was the easy part. Now you have to bust your ass to prove to whoever hired you that they made the right choice. By landing an internship, you significantly increased your chances of being hired on full-time if you prove that you have what it takes. For the record, in this economy, that entails working your face off. Sometimes you have to welcome the boring, tedious, mundane projects. That’s reality. Put your head down and get those done and it will speak volumes about your character. At SMC we have lots of interns. Ask Jackie Adkins why…

• How to Guarantee People Want to Work For You

  Ryan Stephens

  7 Nov 2009 | 7:35 am

  I was reading Jason Fried’s “The Way I Work” last night and it didn’t take long to realize that I had a new man-crush to rival those of Ryan Reynolds, Bill Simmons, and David Stehle. When I run my own company, I will run it with a very similar approach to the one Jason takes with his employees. It virtually guarantees you’ll have talented people wanting to work for you. (And tons of idiot’s too.) “Employees come to the office if and when they feel like it, or else they work from home. I don’t believe in the 40-hour workweek, so we cut all that…

• Do You Work Harder Than Your Boss?

  Ryan Stephens

  2 Nov 2009 | 4:44 am

  Ryan Holiday shared a slide show with me from author Robert Greene and some guy named 50 Cent. The slide show, 10 Lessons in Fearlessness (embedded below), features 10 short lessons adapted from the book “The 50th Law.” There’s a lot of value within, and one of the slides addresses something I’ve been encountering and thinking about a lot lately. “Complaining and haranguing people to work harder has a counterproductive effect. You must adopt the opposite style: Imbue your troops with the proper spirit through your actions, not words. They see you working harder than…

• How Many Posts Should You Write a Week?

  Ryan Stephens

  29 Oct 2009 | 5:11 am

  Easy Answer: However many you want. But in thinking about the nature of blogging lately I’m wondering if I should be blogging more often. Why Should You Blog Every Day? It’s easy to see that many of the top bloggers post virtually every day. Of the bloggers I regularly read David Armano and Jason Falls are two of the exceptions. Seth says you should post every day. (Sure, you think he’s over-hyped and you’re tired of him and his books are too short, blah, blah… but he’s never steered me wrong.) I can take a quick glance at my stats and see that I get significantly more traffic on…

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  brandflakesforbreakfast

• ad council ads all in one handy place

  darryl ohrt

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:52 am

  Finally, all of the American Ad Council ads are neatly packed together all in one place. Not that searching YouTube was a real chore, but it's cool that they've created a "channel" for anyone who needs quick access to the body of work. Nifty.

• free legal lets bloggers take on the man

  darryl ohrt

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:40 am

  The Citizen Media Law Project is launching a new program for bloggers who need legal help dealing with copyright, defamation or other legal issues.The program looks to help bloggers who might not be able to afford the support they need on their own. There are income and revenue requirements to qualify, but this is an awesome step to help keep blogger voices loud and proud.(Your lawyer will likely not be sporting a Mexican wrestling mask. But you have to admit that "Chalko" looks like he's ready to take on the man.)

• nothing but sugary goodness

  darryl ohrt

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:18 am

  The Cereal Project is your center for everything breakfast. Browse through the sweetalicious package designs, cornball tv spots and loads of other tasty treats. From Flavorwire and @pete_theECA(Yes, Dinky Donuts was made by Ralston Purina, the same company that's now more famous for Purina Dog Chow. Scrumptious.)

• escalator to heaven

  darryl ohrt

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:14 am

  You've heard of elevator pitches: where you have the time of a short elevator ride to share your pitch with the investor that could change your world.Launch Memphis has taken it literally - with a twist, and created the escalator pitch contest. Eight finalists and three walk on contestants will get a magic escalator ride tomorrow, and a chance to make a pitch to win a $10K marketing package and $1000 in cold, hard cash.Great idea. You should totally try the same thing at the escalator in your local mall, just to see what happens. From @jameshutto

• greenalicious design that tastes great

  darryl ohrt

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  Imagine a product design that looks super hot. Then imagine that design could reduce air pollution. And reduce water pollution. And save energy. A product design change that can accomplish all of that?Meet the "naked" coke can. There are 24 billion coke cans produced every year. That's a lot of Coca Cola red paint. Not only does that create boku waste in manufacturing, but removing the paint adds a step to the recycling process. Eliminate the paint and you reduce manufacturing crap, and make recycling easier. Gizmodo has all the math proving this is the most awesome greenalicious package…

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  RefreshWeb B2B Search Marketing

• 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!

• This time, don’t forget to budget for SEO

  John Rasco

  1 Oct 2009 | 12:19 pm

  October is usually the month that companies are working on budget for the next year, so I wanted to be prompt in reminding you that the continual improvement offered by site optimization is a great investment. We talk to a lot of companies who a) didn’t know they were missing 90+ percent of their potential new prospects by having an unoptimized site, b) had no idea they would need to rework their website to reach these people, and c) didn’t budget for it. Well, what other marketing investment is going to increase your leads and web sales by 50-100%? That makes the ROI on the…

• Bing: Do Something Amazing!

  patrick

  1 Sep 2009 | 10:58 am

  Now that all of the excitement has died down from the launch of Bing and the announcement of the Yahoo-Bing partnership, I would like to reiterate the words spoken by Gord Hotchkiss to all of Google’s competitors before all of this took place. Last December at the Search Insider Summit in Park City, Utah, he took Yahoo and Microsoft to task for not mounting a more significant challenge to Google’s dominance. In short, he said, “Do something amazing!” We now know that Microsoft is spending $80 to $100 million on a branding and marketing campaign to promote Bing. This is…

• At Last: How to Optimize PDFs

  John Rasco

  31 Aug 2009 | 9:53 am

  Here is a great post for B2B marketers on “What you don’t know about optimizing PDFs can hurt you.” While my pet peeve is the PDF that gets posted using the designer’s PDF, which was intended for the printer (say, using 17×11 paper), the real shame is the wasted potential of PDFs. One of the most effective contributions we make to optimizing a B2B site is to go in and specify the document properties, thereby creating a title tag and description. This is a comprehensive guide to best practices. Read it and reap!

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  Flooring The Consumer

• Listening To Women Customers

  18 Nov 2009 | 5:44 am

  How do you go about listening to your customers, particularly your women consumers?I'm focusing on women because women make or influence over 80% of the purchase decisions in the United States. That means that they - and what they say - really matter to retailers and to flooring retailers in particular.Listening is one thing, though. The more challenging task is interpreting what you hear, making sense of it so that you can truly deliver a memorable experience for your customers.Thanks to a Tweet from Learned On Women's Andrea Learned, I came across this article by Mary Lou Quinlan titled…

• Higher Calling For Retail Brick-and-Mortar Stores

  16 Nov 2009 | 5:03 am

  Did you catch the 9/28/09 article from AdAge titled Boost, Microsoft market via bricks, mortar [registration required, but here is link to pdf of the full article]? It's mostly about cell phone providers, with a dash of banking thrown in, but it includes significant insights for flooring and non-flooring retailers alike. Particularly those with brick & mortar stores!More specifically, according to Wachovia Bank research, "brick-and-mortar investment was the single biggest contributor to customer acquisition, outpacing advertising..."Now, that does that capture your attention? It did…

• Meet Bethany Richmond, CRI Communications Manager

  12 Nov 2009 | 4:58 am

  I met Bethany Richmond, Carpet and Rug Institute [CRI] Communications Manager, at Surfaces 2009 when we got to talking about writing and communicating stories, particularly as they related to flooring and carpet.In the back on my mind, I thought I might convince Bethany to get involved in the Carpetology Blog... as a break from the technical writing she was doing. I never imagined that she would become my client.I'm not surprised, though, that she is as critical a content creator for the Carpet and Rug Institute Blog - which just celebrated its 6 month anniversary [see The Carpet and Rug…

• Arthur Corbin's Retail Wisdom

  9 Nov 2009 | 5:02 am

  The following post comes from Arthur Corbin, talented retail & lighting wizard and faithful subscriber. He wrote it in response to Behind The Retail Scenes & Anticipating The Holidays and graciously agreed to share it here. In this article, Arthur addresses inventory, story telling, value at retail, social media, the retail experience, lighting, online and why local retailers will thrive. In other words: retail wisdom!----------------------------Retailers (ideally) complete their Christmas planning and buying by late June. Many finalize their Christmas plans in January. Retailers use…

• Simple Marketing Now - October 2009 Update

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:03 am

  I'm late issuing the October 2009 Update for goings on at Simple Marketing Now...Blame it on getting ready for my very exciting User Friendly Thinking Radio interview taking place tomorrow, Friday, November 6, 2009 at 1pm EST with Paul Chaney and John Munsell from Bizzuka. I hope you understand... It's going to be great fun and I'd love it if you would tune in.Back to the October Update...If you are new toFlooring The Consumer, I also write theSimple Marketing Blog where I discuss marketing strategy and creative, practical, simple marketing approaches and best practices - many of which may be…

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  Search Engine Watch Blog

• Google News Updates Mobile Site for iPhone, Android, and Palm Pre

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:39 am

  Google has made some enhancements to its mobile news site. The updates are just for the iPhone, Android, and Palm Pre. The look and feel is pretty much the same. What's new is more stories, sources, and images. A new "Jump to" link brings a pop up box offering quick access to a specific news category. Any personalizations you make on your desktop will be accessible via your mobile now, as well (as long as you're signed into the same account on both). Screenshots: News.Google.com on an iPhone Jump to

• Yahoo! Adds Tweets, Breaking News to News Shortcut

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:50 am

  After announcements from Google and Bing about incorporating Twitter into their search results, Yahoo! is throwing hopping on the real-time results news bandwagon. Yahoo!'s Twitter integration is part of a new update when the News Shortcut is implemented in the search results. Yahoo! is also recognizing when there's breaking news and indicating as such on the News Shortcut. Here's a screenshot of a search for the space shuttle Atlantis shortly after launch earlier this week (per the Yahoo! Search blog): What do you think of these updates to the Yahoo! News shortcut? Let us know by leaving a…

• Twitter Consults the Ghost of Fred Berry for New Status Prompt

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:23 am

  Twitter has announced that the question that appears in the status update box will no longer be "What are you doing?" Now, it will be "What's happening?" My immediate reaction was this (and I wasn't the only one):

• Google Tests Permanent Sidebar for Results, Blue Submit Buttons for Homepage

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:07 am

  Lately, Google is experimenting more than Sheldon Cooper on their homepage - and now, also on their search results. They're testing a permanent left sidebar in their search results, which would turn the results into three columns: new sidebar, organic results, search ads. Hmm, this reminds us of Bing. And Bing reminded us of Ask's 3D design (which they've since abandoned). Additionally, after experimenting with removing the submit buttons on the homepage, now Google is bringing back the buttons and testing them with a new color: bright, primary blue. In the Google help forums, two screenshots…

• YouTube Launches Automatic Captions; Great for Accessibility and Search

  19 Nov 2009 | 8:47 am

  YouTube is introducing machine-generated automatic captioning to YouTube. The captions can also be translated. This obviously has incredible implications for the hearing-impaired and language translation. But it also has great implications for search. Automatic captions will be generated using Google's automated speech recognition (ASR) technology and the same voice recognition algorithms used in Google Voice. Additionally, auto-timing is being introduced. If you provide all the words in the video, Google will automatically time the captioning for you. Of course, having what essentially…

• 
  Being Peter Kim

• Measuring your way to a good night's sleep

  Peter Kim

  17 Nov 2009 | 4:17 am

  I've been spending the past month using the Zeo, a consumer electronics device that measures sleep patterns and provides sleep coaching guidance. Schneider Associates sent me the device (much appreciated). I had just read about Zeo in Delta's Sky Magazine and was curious - unfortunately, I don't sleep well on business trips, which gets to be a problem when you travel as much as I do. The Zeo stands as a proof point in the ongoing consumerization of technology. The only sleep studies I'm familiar with are ones from TV, where subjects spend the night in a lab hooked up to wires and…

• FourSquare and Social Business Design

  Peter Kim

  11 Nov 2009 | 8:11 am

  Judging from the number of invites I'm getting for FourSquare these days, its slope of new users must be getting more vertical every day. (If you're not familiar with the service, read their overview.) After using FourSquare for a while, I've been thinking about its implications for business - and they're deeper than you might think, extending far beyond happy hours and local advertising opportunities. At initial consideration, this may seem ridiculous. I'm not going to tell you that FourSquare is the next Twitter - it's not. It's different. But just like so many people were initially…

• Using Twitter at scale

  Peter Kim

  9 Nov 2009 | 8:45 am

  In three short years, we've witnessed the evolution of Twitter from a way to exchange "inconsequential information between friends" to a business communication tool with a US$1 billion valuation. As Twitter's user base has grown into the millions, companies have followed their consumers onto the service and started participating in conversations. You're already familiar with companies like Comcast, JetBlue, and Best Buy, among the hundreds of companies with corporate Twitter accounts. But many of these companies are starting to face the scalability issue; a single person can manage the…

• Binary thinking

  Peter Kim

  3 Nov 2009 | 6:03 am

  A couple months ago after Snow Leopard was released, I was speaking with a friend about base 2, base 10, and base n numbers in general. Over the past month, I've been thinking about the definition of Social Business Design and considering the range of reactions from supporters and detractors. All business discussions can be reduced to a single binary argument focusing on the bottom line. Does it improve profitability, yes or no? In practice, the range of decisions a manager must make consists of a multitude of choices better described by real options theory and system dynamics. To make a…

• A conversation with Gary Vaynerchuk

  Peter Kim

  27 Oct 2009 | 6:01 am

  A couple weeks ago, I had a public, online conversation with Gary Vaynerchuk aka @garyvee. He’s on a PR blitz to promote the release of his new book “Crush It.” If you’re not familiar with Vaynerchuk, he’s a self-trained wine expert who has used social media, online video in particular, to drive exponential growth in his family's wine business. At the same time, he's built a kingpin personal brand, signing a seven-figure, ten-book deal in Spring 2009.  Vaynerchuk stands as proof of how participating in one’s customer ecosystem leads to business success. To view the entire…

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  TrishaLyn

• Do You Poken?

  Trish

  20 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  Poken seems to have taken over the techie space as the next big thing in conferences and networking.  Don’t know what a Poken is?  Well, it’s basically a USB drive with a cartoon character for a cover.  The drive has software installed on it that automatically connects to the Poken website when you plug it in.  It also has a sensor on the hand that flashes when you “high 4″ with another poken, effectively exchanging virtual contact information. I first learned of this product at Affiliate Summit East 2009, thanks to Peter Shankman mentioning them in his keynote. …

• Affiliate Marketing Fanatics 17: Coming Soon – Black Friday!

  Trish

  19 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

  Affiliate Marketing Fanatics – A Publisher (Mike Buechele) and an Affiliate Manager (Trisha Lyn Fawver) talk about all things Affiliate Marketing. From blogging to branding, social media to search, video and more! Well, it’s been awhile, hasn’t it?  Schedules have been ca-razy lately and Mike & I just haven’t been able to get together to record.  So, welcome back as stand in co-host Eric Nagel!  We got back to our roots in talking strictly from the affiliate vs. affiliate manager discussion.  We come in at a cool 42:50.  In in this episode we discuss: The new…

• 60% Off Create or Die Artwork

  Trish

  18 Nov 2009 | 10:45 am

  A couple years ago, I had a pleasure of attending a real estate trade show in San Francisco where Hugh McLeod was the keynote speaker.  At the time, Hugh spoke at length about his work for a small tailor in London and with the Stormhoek Winery.  He also talked about his humble beginnings as a struggling copywriter who started to doodle on the back of business cards while sitting at a bar.  He has parlayed his art into the social media marketing space very effectively.  His ideas were incredibly interesting, and I instantly became a fan. Ever since, I’ve made it a point to follow…

• Free Toolsday: Digsby

  Trish

  17 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

  I know it’s been probably over a year since I did a Free Toolsday post, but I want to get them going again.  So if you know of any good free tools to share, let me know and I’ll review them! This week I’m going to review an application I use daily.  I was a big user of Trillian for a long time in an effort to effectively manage all the different Instant Messenger programs I have friends on.  Digsby goes one step forward and not only allows you to connect to multiple accounts on MSN Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ, and Google Talk, but you can also…

• Game Changer: Prfessor.com

  Trish

  15 Oct 2009 | 11:14 am

  According to a May 2009 report by the U.S. Department of Education, “Online learning… is one of the fastest growing trends in educational uses of technology.”  This is a great opportunity for ANYONE to share their knowledge of any subject with others and actually make some money.  This is a game changer as it takes education to a level more easily accessible for everyone.  Anyone with extensive knowledge on any topic can create their own university and spread knowledge to others. Prfessor is to online universities what Blogger is to online weblogs – a super easy, brandable way…

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  WebMama's Look at the Web

• Using Keyword Clouds for SEO and User Insight

  Barbara 'webmama' Coll

  4 Nov 2009 | 9:43 am

  Using Keyword Clouds for SEO and for User Insight is a valuable tactic in the goal of high visibility in search results. First two definitions:A Keyword Cloud or Tag Cloud is a visual representation of frequently used words on a website. Keywords having higher density are displayed in larger fonts, so the more frequently a word appears on your site, the larger it appears within the cloud. The following is an example of a keyword cloud that appears on the TrustTheVote.org. In this case, the tags link to a page of community postings that are tagged with the keyword.Keyword Density is the…

• Do Searchers Still Start with Google?

  Barbara 'webmama' Coll

  2 Nov 2009 | 2:48 pm

  In reading a report/analysis on the ecommerce market I read with interest the following statement: Bazaar Times: Online Specialty Retailers Thrive. Deep selection, wide variety, product information, interactive education and shopping tools, as well as third party product reviews and recommendations will continue to drive retail sales to online specialty retailers, in our opinion. Companies such as Art.com, Blue Nile, eBags, Hayneedle, U.S. Auto Parts, and Zappos are positioned well to thrive in this long-tail environment.Each of these sites has created a way for the engines to navigate the…

• eMarketer's Revised Online Ad Forecast for 2009

  Barbara 'webmama' Coll

  19 Oct 2009 | 8:21 am

  Factors Behind eMarketer's Revised Online Ad Forecast - eMarketerHighlights from ReportIndications such as relatively strong Q3 results from Google suggest an increase in search spending. Even in down years, second-half growth is stronger. eMarketer predicts a smaller second-half 2009 decrease of 2.9%, which will mean a decline of 2.9% for the year. (Note that 52% of 2009 spending will occur in the second half of the year.) Internet video advertising will be the main channel for these deep-pocketed companies to increase their digital brand marketing spends, said Mr. Hallerman. Search…

• The Synergy of Search and Social Media - eMarketer

  Barbara 'webmama' Coll

  15 Oct 2009 | 11:57 am

  eMarketer has produced a quick overview of some reports that are saying social media mentions/visibility/advertising increase search volume for the subject's brand. Any increase in search volume whether through the paid search ads or natural search visibility should increase sales or leads. I agree with the premise of the article. Care must be taken so that people don't replace search engine advertising with social media efforts. The social media work, paid or not, increases the volume of searches. If your brand and/or product is not represented on search, then you have lost the benefit of…

• 10 Mind-blowing Microsites - Definition and Uses

  Barbara 'webmama' Coll

  13 Oct 2009 | 8:32 am

  Microsites let you take more risk? As corporate content continues to fragment more and more, is a microsite a way of controlling some of that fragmentation or does it just mess with the brand message? Different groups within a company will certainly give you different answers.If you look at from the Search point of view: it gives you a targeted destination for converting keywords, it provides more content associated with your brand that you control, and the sites may get you another place on the coveted first page of results. On the down side: many developers of microsites do not design them…

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  AdFreak

• 'Tis the season for 'sexist' U.K. commercials

  Adweek Blogs

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:54 am

  Considering how much advertising gets squeezed into the holiday season, life for the U.K.'s Advertising Standards Authority must be hell from October to mid-March. They're already fielding complaints about this Marks & Spencer's Christmas ad, whose final scene is supposedly "offensive and demeaning to women" because the actor, Philip Glenister, likes seeing hot girls in their underwear. Shocking that a guy in a bar could be so crass. As usual, the aggrieved come off like they've never watched TV before. This ad is juvenile, but hardly demeaning. Now GoDaddy, that was demeaning.—Posted…

• Polar bears more screwed than you thought

  Adweek Blogs

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:13 am

  The U.K. is on a roll with its climate-change PSAs. First, there were the dogs drowning in rising seas. Now, we get this gruesome spot from Mother (posted below) for PlaneStupid.com, in which polar bears fall from the sky to splattery deaths—to make some point about airplane emissions. "An average European flight produces over 400kg of greenhouse gases for every passenger … that's the weight of an adult polar bear," the spot says. There's plenty to find objectionable here—the nonsensical connection between that stat and the rain of bears, as well as the general airplane-skyscraper-death…

• Get naked, say the pervy scrubbing bubbles

  Adweek Blogs

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:26 am

  What's really inside your household cleaning products? It could be a bunch of dirty-minded chemicals, who are all bright and bubbly and innocent in TV commercials but who indulge in debauchery off camera, hanging around long after cleaning time to watch you give your naked bod a good scrub in the shower. That's the warning in the video below from Droga5 and Method, the maker of environmentally friendly cleaning products. "When did clean become so dirty?" the company asks, and wants you to ask your elected officials. The goal is to require all cleaning products to list their ingredients on…

• Muscle Milk pilgrim sexing up Thanksgiving

  Adweek Blogs

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:46 am

  Considering how naughty Halloween has gotten, it was only a matter of time before someone took a crack at Thanksgiving. That someone is Muscle Milk, the athletic drink brand, which channels Justin Timberlake in this spoof hip-hop music video "Sexy Pilgrim" (posted below), courtesy of ad agency Pereira & O'Dell. It's fairly similar to the Smirnoff "Tea Partay" video from a couple years back. The clip is mildly entertaining, although I doubt many people will take Muscle Milk up on the download-the-song option at SexyPilgrim.com. (The coupon might do better.) Muscle Milk is pretty absent…

• Prostate cancer gets a proper street beating

  Adweek Blogs

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

  TBWA\Chiat\Day goes the high-testosterone vigilante route in this pair of anti-prostate-cancer PSAs. The guy in the cancerous-mass suit looks like an alien from '70s Dr. Who or the grotesque but misunderstood Horta from Star Trek. Sure, it strikes the first blow in the spot above. But the thing was cornered by that gang of scruffy toughs with their "Movember" men's-health-month moustaches and was basically just defending itself. And the dudes are so ... unlikable. It's unfortunate when PSAs drum up sympathy for the diseases they're battling against. Contrast this approach with last month's…

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  Andy Beal's Marketing Pilgrim

• Cup of Joe: How Not To Go Viral and Look Like an Idiot

  Joe Hall

  21 Nov 2009 | 3:02 am

  (via) So, ever since I came back from Vegas, I have had a pretty bad head cold. But, I have been diligently applying my favorite remedy: Watching mindless YouTube videos! Seriously, it makes me feel better. I am not sure why, but I am sticking to it! One thing I have noticed is that the most popular videos have at least one of two things; authentic, original content, or very well polished and produced material. Basically, if the video has authentic, original content then it doesn’t really matter if it’s “put together” well, because the content alone will sell it.

• Closed Captioning Brought to You by YouTube

  Jordan McCollum

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:40 am

  Google announced that closed captioning is coming to YouTube. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we know it was already there in many videos where the creators took the time to add the subtitles for the hearing- or speaker-impaired. But now, for selected participating partners (mainly universities), YouTube itself will be adding the captions. The captions will be machine generated and automatically timed to match the video (and still be readable, I hope). Just like any dictation program, I suppose, they’ll listen to the audio from the clips and transcribe it. Now, normally, you know I’d be in…

• Google Testing Permanent Sidebar

  Jordan McCollum

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:46 am

  Search Engine Land talks to Marissa Mayer about Google testing a new search interface among a select few users. The new interface uses a left-hand pane to display search options—but instead of being off by default, with a link to turn on the pane, the new search options will be on permanently, and Google will lose the top blue bar over its results. Other options, including results from other Google properties (Images, News, Maps, Books) will join the left-hand panel. Search Engine Land has screenshots of the news options test: Meanwhile, as a refresher, here’s the present Search…

• Woman Loses Benefits, In Part, Due to Facebook

  Frank Reed

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:00 am

  So I had to open my big mouth on my previous post today and say that Facebook is keeping its nose clean with regard to news as of late. I guess it still is despite this particular incident that happened to a woman living in our neighbor to the north, Canada. You remember Canada. The place where Facebook had to adhere to their privacy policies for threat of shutting them down? Well, I wonder how that privacy deal is working out because it looks like companies working on Canadian soil may need a lesson in privacy. The CBC reports A Quebec woman on long-term sick leave is fighting to have her…

• Where Marketing Pilgrim Leads, Google News Follows!

  Andy Beal

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:52 am

  Did you know that Marketing Pilgrim is more awesome than Google? Seriously! I can prove it! Google has just announced that Google News is now more mobile friendly–meaning it will recognize that you’re viewing the site from your iPhone, Droid, etc, and serve you a page optimized for your phone. This new version provides the same richness and personalization on your phone as Google News provides on desktop. Our new homepage displays more stories, sources, and images while keeping a familiar look and feel. Also, you can now reach your favorite sections, discover new ones, find…

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  Lucid Marketing to Moms

• Links for 2009-11-19 [del.icio.us]

  Kevin Burke

  iVillage Launches New Food Site For Moms

• Links for 2009-11-18 [del.icio.us]

  Kevin Burke

  Mom Blogging as a Business

• Links for 2009-11-17 [del.icio.us]

  Kevin Burke

  Opinions and advice for today’s moms Arm & Hammer Diaper Pail Finds Fresh Use for Baking Soda

• Links for 2009-11-15 [del.icio.us]

  Kevin Burke

  Blogging moms wooed by food firms

• Links for 2009-11-13 [del.icio.us]

  Kevin Burke

  Why 'Millennials' Are Impulse Shoppers Listen Up, Marketers: Women Aren't Telling You The Whole Truth

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  THE FUTURE OF SEX AND TECHNOLOGY

• Typo Generator for adcanced communication skills. KGen : Synonym and strike errors alternatives suggestion system

  20 Nov 2009 | 7:34 am

  Typo Generator for adcanced communication skills. KGen : Synonym and strike errors alternatives suggestion system

• Best of the Bears 2009

  18 Nov 2009 | 4:03 pm

  Best of the Bears 2009

• Some really good SEO “secret” tips for you. Keyword...

  18 Nov 2009 | 9:53 am

  Some really good SEO “secret” tips for you. Keyword Research to SEO Strategy

• datedick_men_091022_540 on Vimeo (via Vimeo)

  18 Nov 2009 | 9:46 am

  datedick_men_091022_540 on Vimeo (via Vimeo)

• Poornography

  16 Nov 2009 | 8:13 am

  Pornography made with an extremely low budget. Known for having lower casting standards than normal...

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  brandSTOKE

• Patagonia: They also sell clothes

  Kirk

  18 Nov 2009 | 5:07 am

  There are brands and then there are affinity brands. The difference? Community. You don’t just experience an affinity brand. Your identity is enmeshed with it. You are a proud member of the club. “Cult Brands aren’t just companies with products or services to sell,” says BJ Bueno, co-author of The Power of Cult Branding: How 9 Magnetic Brands Turned Customers into Loyal Followers“To many of their followers, they are a living, breathing surrogate family filled with like-minded individuals.” Few brands exemplify affinity branding as well as Patagonia.

• Schmoozing the brand samplers

  Kirk

  12 Nov 2009 | 5:42 am

  Next time you are practicing your oral hygiene, think about this: Why can’t Colgate and Crest, the two top-selling toothpaste brands, achieve the customer loyalty of Tom’s of Maine? And more importantly, if loyalty is the ultimate purpose for branding (as consultants say), why doesn’t Tom’s of Maine dominate the toothpaste category? Are you familiar with Tom’s? In 1970, Tom and Kate Chappell decided to make and sell their own natural products in rural Kennebunk. They started with a $5,000 loan and the philosophy that their products would not harm the…

• Your social media marketing linchpin: branding

  Kirk

  10 Nov 2009 | 10:11 am

  I’m pleased to share the following guest post by Gary Moneysmith. Gary is the Interactive Strategy Director and social media guru at Conrad | Phillips | Vutech (where I work). Be sure to visit his blog, Social Media @ Work & Play, for more insights. Ever watch your grandmother sort through her (postal) mail? If your granny is anything like mine, she carefully inspects and opens piece after piece. You just want to scream, “Just scan and throw it out — it’s all junk!” Having grown up in the era of bulk postage rates, we’ve developed a ninja-fast ability to discern what’s…

• Retail clinics vs. your doctor: it may come down to branding

  Kirk

  4 Nov 2009 | 6:06 am

  They treat cuts, burns, sprains, rashes, allergies, fevers, and infections. They are called MinuteClinic, Take Care Clinic, RediClinic, The Little Clinic, The Clinic at Walmart, and Target Clinic. They are located in the aisles of Walgreens, Walmart, CVS, Target, and Kroger. There are more than 1,100 of them in the U.S., and more are on the way. (Find the one nearest you at Merchant Medicine.) They are retail-based medical clinics — and your doctor doesn’t like them. The primary advantage of retail clinics (also known as walk-in clinics and convenient care clinics) is convenience.

• Absolut Strategy.

  Kirk

  2 Nov 2009 | 7:55 am

  BrandSTOKE Book Review: ♦♦♦ The Absolut Vodka ad campaign is so well established and formulaic that it now seems as if any art director could develop a new ad in the series. Even Richard W. Lewis, author and account director, says, “Some people say we had an easy time.” Which is to say the campaign is brilliant. What is obvious when reviewing the beautifully reproduced ads in Absolut Book.: The Absolut Vodka Advertising Story is how well crafted they are, featuring interpretations by renown artists (Warhol), photographers (Newton), fashion designers (Piccone), and many more.

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  Marketing Interactions

• Dreamforce 09 Day 1 - Lots of Chatter

  ArdathAlbee

  19 Nov 2009 | 7:54 am

  The first thing I have to say about Dreamforce is WHOA! 19,000 people registered this year, from 60 countries. So many were in attendance that they had to have an overflow room for about 3,000 to watch Marc Benioff's keynote from afar.Salesforce.com clearly wants to see everything in the cloud...their cloud. What's not to like? A multi-tennant, pay-as-you-go, elastic platform that allows your company to expand or contract as needed is pretty compelling. And according to IDC, it's 5X faster and about half the cost to build apps in the cloud. IDC found that companies were able to…

• Manticore Technology VII is All About Marketers

  ArdathAlbee

  17 Nov 2009 | 7:24 am

  I've known the folks at Manticore Technology for quite a while. I've been watching their progress and I've been impressed by their interest in learning what's working and what's not for the companies who implement marketing automation. Based on feedback from their customers, they've taken note that a one-size-fits-all mentality doesn't work for marketing, nor does it work for the technology that supports it. Bravo! Manticore Technology's VII release has a really intuitive user interface that allows each marketer to customize their display so they have…

• Nurturing and Engagement - Webinars and Book Giveaways

  ArdathAlbee

  15 Nov 2009 | 7:37 pm

  I'm excited to share some events coming your way. I'm participating in two webinars that will help you get a handle on designing nurturing programs that drive sales and how to integrate 3 "must have" components to make it happen.How to Design Nurturing Programs That Drive SalesDate: November 19, 2009Time: 11AM Pacific, 1PM Central, 2PM EasternBrian Carroll, CEO of InTouch, and the B2B Lead Generation Roundtable are sponsoring this webinar where I'll share insights to help marketers create a nurturing program that parallels how your prospects move through their buying…

• Audit Your B2B Website for Engagement

  ArdathAlbee

  13 Nov 2009 | 10:53 am

  B2B companies say that improving their websites is a priority for 2010. I'm not sure exactly what they're thinking, but I do know that — before they do anything — they need to evaluate the website they have now in order to create a renovation plan. I suggest that an audit be conducted for each web page, or at least your main pages if your site is really intense. The benefit of doing this audit will help to position your web pages to generate more responsiveness from your prospects and customers. Some of the things overlooked on B2B websites include: Web pages are not…

• eMarketing is Not a Formula

  ArdathAlbee

  11 Nov 2009 | 7:50 am

  I've been asked a lot of questions lately about formulaic approaches to eMarketing. People want some kind of measuring stick to compare their results to those of others. Some kind of way to prove they're succeeding in comparison to the guy down the street.I'd like to propose that that kind of perspective is a bunch of bull puckey.Buyers are not the same. They don't think the same ways and they don't go through their buying process in the same order of activities. Their thought processes and their situations have different nuances that won't match up with a…

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  Biz Growth News

• Online Video Insights From Phil Scott of Kodak

  Krishna De

  17 Nov 2009 | 5:31 am

  At the Content is King conference, Phil Scott, VP of the VP of the Consumer Digital Group of Kodak spoke about the transition that Kodak has made from photography to video. He presented the history of Kodak and a few dates caught my attention: 1975 – worlds first digital camera prototype was developed by Kodak 1997 – they created the world’s first 1.0 mega pixel camera. He then went on to share some thoughts about online video and suggested that before we create our online video we need to start with is defining what success would look like in terms of the number of views…

• The 3 most common issues that people have when looking to implement their website in a different language

  Krishna De

  16 Nov 2009 | 2:07 am

  This is the second in a three part series in conversation with Mark Rodgers, the Managing Director of Cipherion Translations where we discuss the opportunities that the internet presents to us if we wish to expand our business internationally. In the first article we explored under what circumstances we should consider translating our website into another language. I then went on to ask Mark what the three most common issues people have when looking to implement their website in a different language. Mark: I think the first issue is that so many Irish business people seem to have this notion…

• European Study Predicts Online Advertising To Increase By More Than 7% in 2010

  Krishna De

  16 Nov 2009 | 12:38 am

  The Marketers’ Internet Ad Barometer, forecasts that online ad spend across Europe will grow even more rapidly in 2011 with budgets expected to grow by 15% year-on-year. This forecast by the European Interactive Advertising Association – which counts AOL, BBC, MTV, eBay and Conde Nast as members – will raise hopes that marketers are beginning to regain confidence and increase their budgets across the board. EIAA also found that while TV ad spend may be under pressure, websites such as ITV.com that offer programmes online are starting to catch on with marketers. via…

• When should we translate our website into another language?

  Krishna De

  13 Nov 2009 | 8:33 am

  I recently had the opportunity to meet with Mark Rodgers, the Managing Director of Cipherion Translations and we started to talk about the opportunities that the internet presents to us if we wish to expand our business internationally. Mark ’s business provides a translation and localisation service and are based in Dublin. Cipherion Translations regularly work with Irish organisations as they take their first steps in developing a global presence. Mark also heads up the Irish Internet Association’s International Strategy Working Group. I suggested to Mark that he might like to share…

• Dublin Twitterville Tweetup With Shel Israel Thanks To @Twtvite

  Krishna De

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:54 am

  I’ve always wanted to find an excuse to use the great Tweetup platform of Twtvite after I saw an invitation for an event that my friends Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson were organising for a Tweetup in the US. Today I tested out the platform when creating a Tweetup invitation for an event with another Shel – this time Shel Israel author of the new book Twitterville. Long time podcasting pal, Adrian Moss, who I met a few years ago at the Corporate Podcasting Summit where we were both speaking,  dropped me a direct message on Twitter some weeks ago to say that his company Parity…

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  Marketing Strategy | Business Articles

• Commissioned Sales Opportunity

  Mark F

  17 Nov 2009 | 11:39 am

  Do you have a heart as big as the world and feel a need every day to make the world a better place. Tina Ferguson International an organization all about empowering women to live the life of their dreams is getting ready to launch their commissioned sales and affiliate programs. If you are ready for that next step and to get paid a great commission while sending love out to the world contact Tina Ferguson International today: Commissioned Sales Opportunity Contacting Tina Ferguson International today will make sure that you are one of the first ones on the list when they send out the official…

• The Power of Love – Business and Personal Development

  Mark F

  14 Nov 2009 | 5:31 pm

  Amazing Books, Audio Books, and Meditations by Tina Ferguson The Power of Love The book that started it all. You are a divine being of God, lit from within with the illuminating creative spirit of All That Is. Would you like to be able to feel and access your spirit each and every day? In this simple, practical guidebook, the teachers known as Alliseah share easy ways to connect to the Truth of who you are. Their loving energy can be felt on every page as they guide you to remember all you are here to be. If you dare to be all that you know you are, then this book is for you! Buy The Power of…

• Getting the Job (or life) You REALLY Want

  Mark F

  4 Nov 2009 | 12:16 pm

  Getting the Job (or life) You REALLY Want Posted using ShareThisSimilar Posts: Proven Life Coaching as seen on NBC… Therapy Services in Plano TX that Get your Life back Faster. VisionClarity VisionBoard Workshop Plano Frisco McKinney Allen Richardson Texas August 23 engadget.com Recession – I hear you struggling business owners Post Words: marketing, marketing strategy, services marketing, executive coaching, Marketing Ideas

• Free Think and Grow Rich Book

  Mark F

  29 Oct 2009 | 10:34 am

  Tell us where to send it, and we’ll send you the number onesuccess book of all time. My friends Vic and Lisa Johnson are doing this crazy marketingtest where they’re giving away Napoleon Hill’s “Think & Grow Rich.” I’m helping them with their big giveaway and wanted to make sureyou got your copy before they take this offer down. Get the details here: http://www.FreeTGRbook.com/rapidsuccessnow Feel free to pass this on to friends. They can get one too if theyact right away. This is one of my favorite books.  I know you’ll love it! Tina…

• Integrating Talkshoe with Wordpress Blog

  Mark F

  28 Oct 2009 | 10:47 am

  So you have a show on talkshoe and would like to do more with your RSS feed by integrating it with your wordpress blog. It is easier than every with just a few tools. Tina Ferguson has integrated her blog with talkshoe and here is how she did it. Well her husband and Troy at http://veluzarwebdesign.com/ design did it.   What  you need for talkshoe and wordpress before you get started. Feed wordpress Plugin – http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/feedwordpress/ A self hosted wordpress blog – http://www.site5.com or some other host FTP access to your website or some way to get…

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  OnlineMarketerBlog

• One Of The Best Tools For PR Pros

  OnlineMarketer

  12 Nov 2009 | 4:22 am

  If you are considering a career in PR, or are just starting out in the biz, you might be surprised by one of the most important skills you need. To find out what it is, watch the video below or on YouTube. What do you think? Am I so right or so wrong? I’d love to hear from PR pros as well as folks just starting out. Please leave your thoughts in the comments section below. Tweet This Post! If you enjoyed this post, consider signing up for free updates via email or RSS. Otherwise, I hope you share it on digg, StumbleUpon, or the other social media tools found below.

• Why The New Creativity Changes Everything And Will Punch You In The Face

  OnlineMarketer

  10 Nov 2009 | 4:21 am

  If you’re a marketer in love with the status quo, you should quit right now. This isn’t a post about the fast pace of change or an “X is dead” post; rather, it’s an “I friggin’ love our business and evolution of marketing” post. Yeah, I said friggin’. Fundamental business models are changing – you can see it everyday. We hear news all the time about another sacred cow being slaughtered (newspapers – Moo!). But not everyone is losing money. Why? Innovative businesses are using what Joseph Jaffe dubbed “the new creativity” to reach and connect with a new generation of…

• Experience Marketing

  OnlineMarketer

  3 Nov 2009 | 4:11 am

  (This is guest post contributed by Yolanda A. Facio who writes about marketing at MarketingUnhinged.com. Follow her on twitter @yolandafacio.) Are You Giving Your Customer Something To Talk About? It’s spa day, I’m jazzed. I’ve been waiting all week for this! Time to relax, unwind. Just mellow out! I pull up the spa’s website one more time; the pictures look great, so peaceful. And now I’m thinking I might need to get one of those cucumber things… It’s 10: am, I’m on time. I pull open the big glass door and pull off my sunglasses… and blink. And, then I blink again. It’s…

• The Most Difficult Conversation? – The Marketing Minute #2

  OnlineMarketer

  31 Oct 2009 | 1:33 pm

  Last week’s Mad Men inspired my second Marketing Minute vlog. I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section below. Tweet This Post! If you enjoyed this post, consider signing up for free updates via email or RSS. Otherwise, I hope you share it on digg, StumbleUpon, or the other social media tools found below. You can also show some love by buying stuff from the nice people advertising to the right.

• MarketingProfs Digital Mixer Was Definitely A Different Kind Of Conference

  OnlineMarketer

  29 Oct 2009 | 5:08 am

  Last week I attended the MarketingProfs Digital Mixer here in Chicago. It was, in short, a fantastic event. I’ve written about it in detail on Experience Matters (Critical Mass’ blog). I really encourage you to read it. The information provided and connections made were great. But this conference went beyond that. In fact, it’s become something of a living, growing thing. Connections are still being made. Attendees are still pouring over presentations and research reports that were shown. Here’s a short quote from my post: Now, conferences have to be more. Your…

• 
  ClickZ News

• At 15, Salon.com Tries Once Again to Reinvent Itself

  The company's CEO discusses his vision for saving Salon.

• HP Builds Digital Replica of a Real Mountain Climb

  'Kilimanjaro' Campaign aims to raise awareness of clean water crisis while hyping HP notebooks.

• Dynamic Logic Offers Optimization Tool for Brand Metrics

  Online ad optimization has always been about performance metrics. With a new tool, Dynamic Logic aims to make the practice relevant for branding campaigns.

• Execs & Accounts: Sapient, R/GA, Organic

  Sapient hires Sion, R/GA does Times Square for Verizon, Organic makes holiday cheer for Intel.

• AOL to Cut One-Third of Work Force

  Updated: Layoffs could exceed 2,000 as company seeks to shave $300 million in operating costs.

• 
  A Source Of Inspiration

• Shameless PromoTion: Sapo Pond

  Armando Alves

  20 Nov 2009 | 3:40 am

  It’s been a while since my last Shamess PromoTion, where i highlight projects created by friends, mostly from Portugal. The project i’ll be describing today was developed by SAPO, where some good friends managed to deliver one of the most solid web applications i’ve seen lately, specially considering that Lisbon isn’t exactly Silicon Valley. So, what’s Pond ?  It’s an aggregator and publishing tool for social media services, that allows anyone to manage their social graph on a single place. You can import your friend list from social web services, merge…

• Create Your Canvas

  Armando Alves

  17 Nov 2009 | 2:39 am

  If there’s one place where creativity excels is on a blank canvas. You “just” have to figure out what to make of it. Fashion brand Land’s End is here to help with a new website developed by EVB, taking full advantage of Facebook, Twitter and Flickr to help you unleash creativity. Altough they should have used a password anti-pattern with Twitter like OAuth (there’s no way i’m sticking my Twitter password on a brand website) the Facebook Connect showed me just how my friends are the new paintbrush. Oh, and they sell clothes too. And just in case you…

• UFOs: Abduction by the marketing hype cycle

  Armando Alves

  15 Nov 2009 | 10:23 am

  Last week was short on posts, as i was busy finishing up my talk for Upload Lisboa, a meeting that gathered this Saturday about 300 people to discuss the impact of web 2.0 on society, marketing and communication. First, congratulations to @VirginiaCP and @vanessaquiterio (along with @brunoribeiro and @brunoamaral) for having managed to build this event without any serious experience as conference organizers. Besides their entrepreneurship, the amount of enthusiasm and whuffie built on the web, does make this sort of thing possible. The event was mostly a success, and i do believe that next…

• Inside The Human Race 10k

  Armando Alves

  7 Nov 2009 | 4:23 pm

  Nike. Racing. Twitter. Voice recognition. Oh, just watch the video. Using an iPhone strapped to their arms and an earphone, simply by pressing a button, the runners were able to share their experiences with the world in real time. The voice message was turned into a text message that was automatically published at thehumanrace.com.ar/envivo/, in their Twitter accounts, and banners on sports vertical portals and news sites. Good run by BBDO Argentina. Content under a Creative Commons License. (Digital Fingerprint: bfff8c3002d3e0f3f95495bddf32fef0)Also of InterestOnline Video for creative…

• The Box

  Armando Alves

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:35 am

  The third movie of Richard Kelly (@JRichardKelly) of Donnie Darko fame premieres tomorrow, with some promising visuals in the trailer (even if the first reviews aren’t that promising). And one thing i love about the fantastic genre is the extra care establishing their internet presence. With The Box website, i was particularly impressed with the visuals (and no, it was not about Cameron Diaz) and the masterful aural experience. Along with the typical sections (downloads, cast, trailers, etc) i’m starting to detect some ARG inspiration integrated in movie websites, by launching…

• 
  AttentionMax

• Saving The Inventive Way Of Life

  Max Kalehoff

  17 Nov 2009 | 8:05 pm

  I had breakfast earlier this week with Bug Labs CEO Peter Semmelhack, a friend who is passionate about empowering others to invent. He explained that his recent European travels underscored how apprenticeships remain a bigger part of life there versus the U.S. More important, that contrast highlighted how apprenticeships are gradually declining everywhere. While this trend is not a sudden crisis, it creates a long-term tragedy. Why? The decline of apprenticeships signals the erosion of an important form of knowledge transfer – both technical and cultural. It also signals a loss of…

• Be On Purpose

  Max Kalehoff

  16 Nov 2009 | 9:44 pm

  Ever heard of the importance of being on time? Well, it’s perhaps more important to be on purpose. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a one-on-one meeting, a presentation, a formal event, a passive observation or even a nap. Time and attention are scarce and their allocation can have compounding impact — positively or negatively. That’s why your investment in them should not only be on time and focused, but invested with purpose — on the right things. In everything you do, it’s important to ask: What is your purpose? Do your goals and actions realize your…

• Halloween Season

  Max Kalehoff

  15 Nov 2009 | 5:32 pm

  The latest in the Sony DigiDads project centered around a Fall class field trip. My two kids are one and two years old, so documenting a field trip was out of the question. Instead, I photographed three Halloween events: the Pelham Newcomers Halloween Party, the Clickable Kids Halloween Party and trick-or-treating on Halloween night. Grandmom (my mother-in-law) got the kids their costumes this year — a monkey costume for Julian and a bee costume for Celeste. Celested loved her costume, and hated taking it off. Julian liked his at first, but I think it was too bulky and caused him to…

• Planning A Funeral? Purchase Your Casket At Costco

  Max Kalehoff

  9 Nov 2009 | 7:08 pm

  I’m not easy to market to. I’m loyal to few brands. I shun most advertising.  I’m a jaded consumer. (I think that’s what makes me more effective as a marketer.) Which is why I love Costco, the wholesale warehouse club. I can get good deals on a huge variety of necessities and luxuries. I feel like Costco is on my side – doing deals with manufacturers of good products to benefit me. Importantly, Costco doesn’t aggressively market to me in irrelevant ways. In fact, Costco is there when I want it, and otherwise out of my face. At the risk of appearing like a pathetic suburban…

• Interview With Caterina Fake

  Max Kalehoff

  7 Nov 2009 | 8:08 am

  Caterina Fake, co-founder of Flickr and Hunch, recently gave an inspiring talk at Clickable’s Interesting Cafe, our monthly culture night and community open house. Below is a four-minute video interview I did with her after the group discussion. She shared insights on innovation, design and usability, being a female entrepreneur, and leaving a product legacy.

• 
  Strategic Public Relations

• 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…

• Fort Hood, Twitter and Real-Time News

  Kevin Dugan

  5 Nov 2009 | 7:22 pm

  Social media detailed a tragedy today.   While I learned of the Fort Hood shootings earlier this afternoon, it was a late afternoon scan of Twitter that connected me to the real-time news source set up by The Austin American-Statesman.   @fthoodshootings is an account quickly set up by the paper to create a dedicated line of real-time news around this sad and tragic story. In just a few hours the account already has more than 3,200 followers and is on more than 85 different lists as of publishing this post and climbing.   Unfortunately it’s not the first bittersweet…

• Storytelling’s Link to Social Marketing Success | SummitUp 2009

  Kevin Dugan

  20 Oct 2009 | 8:37 pm

  SummitUp brought together some of the best and brightest in Ohio's social media scene as well as industry luminaries like Chris Brogan and Bob Garfield. Fueled in no small part by the passion and determination of David E. Bowman, the event was a complete success and I was honored to kick it off with my keynote presentation. "What's Your Story?" details how the craft of storytelling can help us deal with the challenges social media creates. I consider these challenges a bit of a paradox as my slides and video will explain. But the very technology that is bringing us together with people from…

• Marketing Meets Augmented Reality

  Kevin Dugan

  14 Oct 2009 | 10:53 am

  Like most marketers, augmented reality popped up on my radar when GE used it to unveil its Smart Grid technology.The ability to create a digital hologram is intriguing, but it always seems to be applied to sci-fi technology or futuristic plans. I’ve wondered how someone might put it to more practical use.Meijer*, a client of Empower MediaMarketing, answers my curiosity with the “Be Transformed in 3-D” promotion.Having Fun with MasksThe microsite allows you to try on four different masks – using a web cam and augmented reality. You can record a :30 second video message using a voice to…

• AMP, #PepsiFail and staying on brand

  Kevin Dugan

  14 Oct 2009 | 6:03 am

  There's been lots of discussion around the iPhone App "AMP UP Before You Score" from Pepsi's AMP Energy Drink. Let me see if I can sum it up. The Issue: The AMP app profiles 24 types of women, from "Cougar" and "Athlete" to "Out of Your League" and "Married." Each profile provides unfortunate content including pickup lines and other information to help the user "score." It also has a brag function which allows users to promote and share their efforts via email, Facebook or Twitter. The app states: "Get lucky? Add her to your Brag List. You can include a name, date and whatever details you…

• 
  Kent's Official Blog

• 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…

• Thoughts on 10 Years of Digitalfilmmaking

  kentnichols

  1 Nov 2009 | 7:50 am

  Writing this and not coming off as a grumpy old man is tough.  But we truly are living in the most exciting time ever to be a filmmaker.  I am approaching the 10th Anniversary of my leaving college to become a professional storyteller, and in that time we have seen such an amazing growth in the capabilities of the tools and an intensification of the competition.  It’s almost unthinkable where we will be in the next ten years. When I started editing movies I used the first iMac with Firewire and the first version of the iMovie.  The 1.0 of iMovie didn’t even have an…

• Thoughts on the First Streamys

  kentnichols

  30 Mar 2009 | 11:46 am

  Well the Streamys happened and it was a marvelous party.  It was one of those nights that was a marker in the quick history of online video.  Ten years ago at the edge of Web 1.0 there were some brave video pioneers making shows for the net alone in the wilderness with no standards of delivery, business model, or format.  Shorts like 405 and series like Homestar and Red vs. Blue and many, many others that haven’t endured are the giants upon which we all are standing. Four years ago the second wave of video shows appeared, embracing podcasting and the first iterations of flash video…

• 
  BLITZ | Blog

• BLITZ Sends John Mayer into Augmented Reality

  ccotillo

  7 Nov 2009 | 5:53 am

  New Application Brings Full Interactive Music Video Experience to the Desktop LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–BLITZ, a leading integrated marketing agency, today announced the release of a new augmented reality (AR) music video for John Mayer’s single, “Heartbreak Warfare,” from his forthcoming album, “Battle Studies.” The video, available now on www.JohnMayer.com, lets fans enjoy a whole new experience by interacting with the settings around Mayer while he performs the song, delivered via the Adobe® Flash® Player software, which is already installed on 99% of…

• SoDA 1/2 Day unConference and Mixer in NYC

  ccotillo

  26 Oct 2009 | 3:30 pm

  Society of Digital Agencies (SoDA)’s next event is a dynamic unConference being held in NYC at the Art Director’s Club on Tuesday, November 3, 2009. The conference will feature an afternoon of knowledge exchange and networking 2pm to 5pm. The great conversations will continue during our evening Mixer from 6pm to 8pm and will feature an array of hors d’oeuvres and cocktails. You may register for the full-day or for the Mixer only but this is an intimate event so register soon because seating is limited! To register and learn more about the event, please visit:…

• Adobe Peapods earns FWA Site of the Day

  ccotillo

  23 Oct 2009 | 11:17 am

  This might be the third blog post about this incredible project—yeah, I guess we’re a bit biased—but our quite discerning design and development community has spoken. Today, October 23, 2009, marks the day our Adobe Peapods Plant Your Ideas campaign has earned a spot on The FWA as Site of the Day. w00t! w00t! As an agency who regularly visits the popular Web site about “favorite” Web sites, we’re pretty dang ecstatic around the office today (can you hear our BLITiZen banshee cries?) about receiving the honor. Again, congrats to all who put their heart into this project. It really…

• BLITZ brings home two W3 Awards

  ccotillo

  21 Oct 2009 | 10:44 am

  Look ma’, more awards. The other day we received news from the W3 Awards that we scored a couple wins for NakedJuice.com and Gormiti.com. Both sites received “silver” awards for outstanding Web sites—and we can’t agree more, they’re pretty dang outstanding. The W3 Awards recognizes exceptional work in regards to the online space—our normal playing field—and honors creative excellence for Web sites, video and marketing programs. Both of our wins are for Web sites within the Food & Beverage and Toys & Hobbies categories., respectively. Congrats to all the team members…

• It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Season 5

  ccotillo

  19 Oct 2009 | 2:26 pm

  For season five of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”, FX wanted to create a site that builds upon the growing community and devoted fan base. In designing and developing the show’s online extension we drew upon the BLITZ-created template, as a means of maintaining consistency with the overall FX microsite structure, and the show’s city-based façade, as a way of incorporating the urban, Philly concept. Beyond being a standard EPK site, we wanted to give users more ways of engaging with the show and its quirky characters. Elements nested within the experience include…

• 
  Business is Personal

• Happy New Year! Take the next six weeks off

  Mark

  20 Nov 2009 | 12:18 pm

  photo credit: (A3R) angelrravelor (A3R) Happy New Year in November? I don’t mean the Chinese New Year, the Jewish New Year or the new Federal fiscal year. I’m talking about the regular old New Year that happens on January first. Are you ready for 2010? Or will you start getting ready for it on January second like a lot of businesses do? I know some that simply don’t do much of *anything* in December. Their business is open, but strategically, it may as well be closed till 2010. If your business is struggling, I suggest you reconsider that strategy. In fact, I think…

• Overheard in the frozen food section: What’s all that crap you post on Facebook?

  Mark

  17 Nov 2009 | 5:10 am

  photo credit: Mads Boedker Last night in the grocery store, 2 moms stopped me in the frozen food section. I thought I was safe since their kids swim with mine on the Columbia Falls Swim Team. As I stood embarrassingly close to the frozen sausage and egg biscuits and pre-fab hamburger patties, they did it… They asked me a question about Facebook. If I remember accurately, it went something like this: “Mark, What’s with the gibberish-filled crap you post on Facebook?” Specifically, they asked about posts like “RT @idealfool Lakecam now!!!:…

• Test your ability to influence others for the right reasons

  Mark

  16 Nov 2009 | 8:33 am

  photo credit: myuibe Here’s a little quiz about influencing decision makers: http://www.influenceatwork.com/CialdiniQuiz.html Tell me how you did – and what you think about your answers (a key/explanation is provided after the quiz). I got a 90%. The one I “missed” I disagree with because I think the right answer requires a mix of two possible answers ( the only two that make sense on the Microsoft question). One important thing to take from this: Your ability or desire to influence stems from knowing that your solution will truly HELP someone and/or their business.

• Forty six recession-busting “secrets” from Tom Peters

  Mark

  14 Nov 2009 | 5:53 am

  photo credit: lepiaf.geo Today’s guest post is from a pinnacle of business wisdom, Tom Peters. First, a quote: I am constantly asked for “strategies/‘secrets’ for surviving the recession.” I try to appear wise and informed—and parade original, sophisticated thoughts. But if you want to know what’s really going through my head, see the list that follows” – Tom Peters Here’s the list Tom is talking about. While you might think Tom’s remark is unusual, my experience has been that – without exception – every one of the “pinnacles”…

• Hold that plane

  Mark

  11 Nov 2009 | 1:56 pm

  photo credit: Unhindered by Talent Something amazing happened to me during my trip to Vegas late last month: An airline exceeded my expectations. “Exceeded” is a bit of a misnomer because my expectations are so low with airlines in general, but the fact is that they treated me like I would expect to be treated. These days, that’s exceeding expectations. I was flying Alaska Airlines from Vegas to Seattle and we had a terrible headwind that made us 45 minutes late.  Normally, I wouldn’t care but I had a 55 minute layover and had to change terminals. After waiting an…

• 
  emergencemarketing.com

• links for 2009-11-13

  delicious

  13 Nov 2009 | 12:01 am

  American Airlines fires an employee for…customer engagement | Blog | Econsultancy Freedom to surf: workers more productive if allowed to use the internet for leisure : News : The University of Melbourne The Über-Connected Organization: A Mandate for 2010 – Conversation Starter – HarvardBusiness.org No News Here: Forrester Says Consumers Don’t Trust Corporate Blogs | Debbie Weil on Corporate Blogging and Social Media

• Brand positioning takes on a new meaning in a Hyper-Social world

  francois

  10 Nov 2009 | 11:19 am

  Some pundits will tell you that you should do away with brand messaging and positioning all together, since you cannot control it anyway. Not so fast! People need to know what bucket to put your offering in, and if they can’t, they won’t know how to assign value to what you have to offer. Tivo ended up in that pickle, with consumers not quite sure what category of products to compare the offering with. Was it more like a DVD player or was it more like a computer? Knowing that a good positioning will impact your revenue and profits, and realizing that you still have a seat at the customer…

• Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-11-06

  francois

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:41 am

  @kencamp – I would love one in reply to kencamp # @SherylBreuker @kencamp – thank you both! # (for me too – we need an insomniac community) RT @jhagel: Hope for me – drugs may save memory of sleep deprived http://tinyurl.com/yg4fug6 # funny how I have been anti-social while finishing a book on hyper-sociality….happy Halloween everyone # @SherylBreuker – just got the invite, thank you! in reply to SherylBreuker # lurking is a style of participation in communities that has value – http://bit.ly/3pmK4P # @mbjorn fascinating, how "active"…

• CMO 2.0 Conversation with Gail Galuppo, CMO at Western Union

  francois

  2 Nov 2009 | 2:16 pm

  My CMO 2.0 Conversation with Gail Galuppo, the CMO at Western Union was both fun and refreshing. Talk about the challenge of being in charge of a legacy brand that totally had to transform itself, with the added complexity of serving 15,000 distinct customer communities. Not an easy task, for sure, but one that Gail and her team seem to enjoy thoroughly. As usual we started off with Gail giving us some context by describing her background. In her case, she learned to put the customer at the center of all decision making while being trained on Six Sigma at GE Capital. She then had a career…

• Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-30

  francois

  30 Oct 2009 | 6:41 am

  @iceman65 – thanks for the comment on my blog in reply to iceman65 # Really interesting discussion on whether brand communities exist or not – what do you think? http://bit.ly/1Zx8hK # @prem_k @mlees – thanks for the RT, I am interested in your opinion… # @dc2fla – great point…I am familiar with the Ben & Jerry, I interviewed the Mother of Inventions there…not familiar with Nutella comm in reply to dc2fla # @dc2fla – I just noticed that, but Nutella is also known for a vibrant community in Europe in past – looking it up and emailed CMO…

• 
  American Copywriter

• American Copywriter #65 is Hot.

  John

  19 Nov 2009 | 7:14 am

  The Crotchety Old Edition That's right, episode 65(ish) is out and available for your listening skills. Don't diss, check it out posthaste. Make sure you're subscribed (or resubscribed) on iTunes. Notes:0:00 Juno Music and Titles3:27 Interlude I: Wakarusa5:23 Police Academy Noise Mouth Guy9:00 Deutsch Wins VW. Tug channels Jason Elm.13:38 The Point of the Story16:05 Taylor Swift etc.20:56 Interlude II: JJ's Halloween22:25 Holiday Creep27:00 Lights on!30:16 Done

• My day-to-day life in 5 simple words.

  Nick Kinney

  10 Nov 2009 | 10:42 am

  "Strawberry Flavored Juice Drink Blend"Take a second and read them again. Done? Good. Let's proceed.These words appear in the photo below (centered, just above the tree line) and on the front of every Strawberry Capri Sun pouch being produced at the moment. But why do they resonate so well with this young copywriter? Well, let's think about how they were created: It all started when Mr. Capri Sun asked Mr. Junior Copywriter's agency to come up with a name for the contents of his exciting new drink pouch. Ms. Account Coordinator then wrote up a job order, asking him to…

• Attention Media: Quit fucking trying to terrify parents.

  Tug McTighe

  4 Nov 2009 | 1:11 pm

  Jesus. Fucking. Christ. Am I sick and tired of the media's constant attempts to scare the shit out of us. The latest target: Rice Krispies. Seems they've got an added antioxidant claim on their box. (Antioxidants, if you didn't know, are being pimped hard lately because they theoretically help keep you from getting sick by strengthening your immune system.)But what really chaps my hide about this situation is this quote from a USA TODAY article. "Kellogg, based in Battle Creek, Mich., said it has heard very little concern from consumers about the claim, but is responding to…

• An Era Ends as Cliff Freeman & Partners closes

  Tug McTighe

  3 Nov 2009 | 2:19 pm

  If you're a Gen Xer ad creative, then, like me, as you read the news yesterday about the passing of heralded agency Cliff Freeman & Partners, you most likely felt a terrible pang of loss over this agency and the work it created.Because, you see, when Cliff & Co were in their heyday, I was in my truly formative years in our business. I was soaking advertising up and was striving to learn everything I could about who was doing what, where they were and how they were doing the kind of work I could only dream of. When I first learned about Cliff & Co, I had no idea how they could…

• Booking an Audio Session: So true, it's almost not funny.

  Tug McTighe

  29 Oct 2009 | 1:54 pm

  Thanks Marty.

• 
  Adverblog

• Adidas storytelling for a jersey

  martina

  18 Nov 2009 | 2:19 pm

  Since I work for Nike, I'm surely not in the best position to judge Adidas work but, as you know, my editorial line focuses on showcasing great digital creativity in a objective way with a personal touch. Nike and Adidas...

• Converse: buy, make play

  martina

  18 Nov 2009 | 1:30 pm

  Converse has recently launched a new brand website with ecommerce fully "embedded" in the experience. Navigation it's pretty straightforward: buy, make or play. The first option is to buy in-line product, the second is to customise your shoes and the...

• Toshiba Space Chair

  marka

  16 Nov 2009 | 5:32 pm

  Toshiba sent a biodegradable Space Chair up 98,268 feet using balloons and 4 GPS systems. It was filmed using Toshiba IK-HR1S cameras. I love the very end of the clip - freaked me out :)...

• Hit the bitch

  Rocco Stallvord

  16 Nov 2009 | 11:46 am

  Sorry for the strong language, but this is the title of a new social campaign from Denmark. The campaign is literally in your face as you have to punch the featured girl to get the message. Most disturbing is that...

• Housekeeping goes social (and mobile)

  martina

  13 Nov 2009 | 2:39 pm

  Branded iPhone applications need one characteristic to be successful and appreciated by consumers: they need to be useful and, possibly, worth talking about to friends. I was quite doubtful when I received an email from Tide PR people promoting "The...

• 
  The B2B Lead

• 7:30am Really? – Marketing WTF

  We’ve just recently sponsored a few events.  Some smaller very targeted B2B Marketing events, some with about 500 attendees like partner events and then a mega show with over 15,000 attendees.  Here’s what I don’t get – why are we standing at our booths with smiles on ready to go ...

• Seven Infectious Diseases of B2B Marketing — And Their Cures: Sleep Apendea

  Kathryn Roy, marketing consultant and friend of The B2B Lead, has a great eBook, Seven Infectious Diseases of B2B Marketing — And Their Cures, that we want to share with all of our readers.  We will post excerpts that cover the diseases one by one but feel free to download ...

• Email Personalization Gone Bad – Marketing WTF?

  I have heard mixed reviews on using personalization in email marketing.  And if you have dirty data with things like LEIGH ANNE or Leigh Anne (don't call til Q1) in the first name field of your CRM, using personalization can be pretty scary and it might be time for some ...

• Outbound Marketing to Your Inbound Marketing Activity; Leverage!

  Inbound Marketing seems to be all the hype these days.  B2B marketers are getting their feet wet with new social media tactics, online marketing is bigger than it’s ever been and word-of-mouth strategies are being built into most marketing plans today.  But what are you doing with all of this ...

• Seven Infectious Diseases of B2B Marketing — And Their Cures: Checklistosis

  Kathryn Roy, marketing consultant and friend of The B2B Lead, has a great eBook, Seven Infectious Diseases of B2B Marketing — And Their Cures, that we want to share with all of our readers.  We will post excerpts that cover the diseases one by one but feel free to download ...

• 
  All You Need Is A Good Idea!

• TODAY’S POST, WRITTEN BY EINSTEIN, BEETHOVEN, MENCKEN…

  Jay Heyman

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:27 am

  Here are some quotes I have accumulated that I thought I’d share with you. None were written with marketing in mind; all are excellent for helping you get in the mind frame to generate good ideas. Fires can’t be made with dead embers, nor can enthusiasm be stirred by spiritless men. James A. Baldwin Imagination is more important than knowledge. Albert Einstein The world is in perpetual motion, and we must invent the things of tomorrow…act with audacity. Veuve Clicquot There is always an easy solution to every human problem—neat, plausible and wrong. H. L. Mencken The best way to get…

• I CAN’T THANK YOU ENOUGH. HECK, I CAN’T EVEN THANK YOU AT ALL.

  Jay Heyman

  18 Nov 2009 | 6:13 am

  When I check my blog’s visitor activity (almost as obsessively as I check my book’s Amazon ranking), usually there is link info, so I can tell immediately where people came from without any further searching. But I occasionally click through to URLs that are unfamiliar, hoping to learn a little about where those who have shown up had heard about my blog. When I did this Monday, I landed on a page where someone I had never heard of, or from, had listed me on her blog roll. (And thanks to the wonders of our alphabetizing system, I was first on her list.) I wanted to thank her for her…

• I WOULD CHANGE ONE WORD

  Jay Heyman

  16 Nov 2009 | 7:00 am

  The article was about Black Friday. The main point was that, after an unfortunate death of a shopper last Black Friday (which as you know is the big shopping day after Thanksgiving, when most retailers are supposed to start being in the black for the year), retailers are planning new safety measures. What caught my eye was the last paragraph, a quote by Ellen Davis, spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation. “No matter how seamless and airtight you think this is, the unexpected can happen.” I thought about the statement in regard to all our marketing plans, and so would change her…

• FIVE DOLLARS A FOOT

  Jay Heyman

  13 Nov 2009 | 7:04 am

  I had a Subway Buffalo Chicken foot long yesterday. Scooped out, toasted, with cheese, and every vegetable they had behind the counter. Then doused with ranch dressing. I meant to save half the sandwich for today, but this blog is not about my appetite. It is about the amazing Subway pricing. That entire sandwich cost me five bucks. And for someone stronger willed than I, it would have made two days of lunches. I was reminded of all this by an article in BusinessWeek, by Matthew Boyle. He talks about how the 3.8 billion in sales generated nationwide by the $5 footlong alone placed it among…

• COMPANY’S COMING

  Jay Heyman

  11 Nov 2009 | 6:35 am

    This may be nitpicking. But if you print an ad with only six short paragraphs of text, you may want someone to proofread it. Twice. Because a typo will certainly stand out on a page with fewer than 75 words. What do you thinke?  

• 
  Seth's Blog

• Benefit of the doubt

  Seth Godin

  21 Nov 2009 | 2:11 am

  It's almost impossible to communicate something clearly and succinctly to everyone, all the time.So misunderstandings occur.We misunderstand a comment or a gesture or a policy or a contract.And then what happens?Well, if we're engaged with someone we like or trust, we give them the benefit of the doubt. We either assume that what they actually meant was the thing we expected from someone like them, or we ask about it.If we're engaged with a stranger or someone we don't trust, we assume the worst.The challenge, then, is to earn the benefit of the doubt. How many of your customers, prospects,…

• The amateur scientist (that's us)

  Seth Godin

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:41 am

  Many people buy a car (probably their single biggest discretionary purchase) based on slamming a door, kicking a tire and judging the handshake of a salesperson.We choose a surgeon based on the carpeting in his office and a politician by his hair cut.During the first week of swine flu vaccines in New York, most parents (more than half!) chose to keep their kids out of the program.Interviewed parents said things like, "I'm not sure it's safe," and "I wanted to see if it affected other kids..."No mention of longitudinal studies or long-term side effects. No science at all, really, just rumors…

• Embracing lifetime value

  Seth Godin

  19 Nov 2009 | 2:46 am

  If you walk into a company-owned cell phone store to sign up for a contract, what are you worth?Given the huge gross margins at AT&T and Verizon and the standard two-year contract, I think it's easy to figure on more than $2000 in lifetime value.If you ran a business where a customer represented an additional $2,000 in profit, how would you staff? How long would you make someone wait? If staff costs $25 an hour, how long would that extra person take to pay off?Few businesses understand (really understand) just how much a customer is worth. Add to this the additional profit you get from a…

• Some books for November

  Seth Godin

  18 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pm

  Random thoughts from all over for those of us hungry for new ways to think. This month's list is here. The previous list was blogged in September.

• The reason they want you to fit in...

  Seth Godin

  18 Nov 2009 | 2:03 am

  is that once you do, then they can ignore you.

• 
  Marketing Profs Daily Fix

• Paul Williams: Three Ps For Better Leading: Pace, Process, Pulse

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

  One of the characteristics of a great leader—no matter whether that leader is a person, a brand, or a company - is the ability to stay "tuned-in" to the needs of their audience. Are they still "with" you? Do they get where you're going? Do they have confidence in the direction? Out of college, my first job was at Walt Disney World in Orlando. I was a tour guide at the "Listen To The Land" boat ride in Epcot's Land Pavilion. I led Guests on a 20-minute journey through farming methods of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. It was one of the easiest "leading" jobs I've ever had. I didn't have to…

• Stephanie Miller: Are Email Preference Centers Worth It?

  19 Nov 2009 | 3:40 am

  Add global compliance and cultural custom to the list of why email preference centers are really hard to sell internally and build well. I had a meeting this morning where we started to list out all the different country and local laws governing choices across various brand service agreements, and it quickly became overwhelming. It was no help that the database guy kept saying, "That'll cost you more."No wonder the director of marketing looked at me and said, "Is this really the best way to spend our precious time, energy and IT resources?!" So many email marketers say that they know a…

• Ann Handley: Innovation Matters: Balancing Sustained Versus Disruptive Innovation

  18 Nov 2009 | 5:06 am

  This is a guest post by Eric Zeitoun, president of Dragon Rouge USA, a leading independent brand and design consultancy. 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?Before we answer this question we need to go back to the definition of innovation since it has become a very popular and often misinterpreted topic. There are four distinct types of innovations: Product optimization (which seeks to optimize a…

• Elaine Fogel: Cash-for-Grades Fundraiser Just Another Marketing Incentive

  17 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

  What's all this outrage for North Carolina school principal, Susie Shepherd, for supporting her parent advisory council's innovative use of marketing incentives? Who are we kidding? I used to teach, so I know how some schools operate like they're in the third world, without proper books and resources. This school was just looking for creative ways to raise much-needed money.In my opinion, the outpouring of disdain is hypocritical. The days of doing well in school for the intrinsic value are waning, as more parents offer reward systems. Read Barbara Coloroso. The kindergarten sticker turns…

• Ted Mininni: Taking a Bite Out Of Apple

  16 Nov 2009 | 6:10 am

  Indications are that Apple--long admired for setting the bar high when it comes to beautifully-designed, innovative, game-changing consumer products--may be facing some stiff competition. According to Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey: “Apple is under threat on the brand front in a way they haven’t been in recent years.”A recent Brandweek article: “Amid Transition, Rivals Are Descending on Apple,” questions whether the company’s competitors are finally launching products that might take a bite out of Apple. Apple’s response doesn’t seem reassuring, either. New ads have…

• 
  adliterate

• Shock and awe

  27 Oct 2009 | 2:42 pm

  From 30 ways to shock yourself. Image courtesy of Bre Pettis If there is one enduring fascination the mainstream media has in our business it is with shock advertising and specifically whether shock advertising actually works. Other preoccupations of the journalistic classes come and go – greenwash, teaser campaigns, neuroscience and the like – but the one they keep coming back to is shock.

• Who is to blame?

  22 Sep 2009 | 2:48 am

  Image courtesy of Planoscorpio Say what you like about Cannes but at its best it still serves as a barometer for where our industry and our product is heading. Most notably the Titanium shortlist, packed as it is with the coolest work from the coolest agencies and representing the new creative dividend that is on offer to brands that put participation at the heart of their work. But the obvious question is that if this is the sort of work we all admire from the sort of agencies we all admire how come the UK is so poorly represented? Having offered the industry creative leadership for so many…

• Dynamic micro brands - Toms

  14 Sep 2009 | 1:54 am

  Image courtesy of StephanieNguyen I’m a bit of a latecomer to the Toms party but then I’m not an environmental activist and I don’t live on the West coast. So I had to wait until the TED Global goodie bag to come across this brand of ethically driven footwear and mighty fine they are too.

• Is it the end of the line for the digital agency?

  14 Sep 2009 | 1:31 am

  Image courtesy of Ackers-Schoolboy Hero!!!! Some time in the early summer the Met Office rather confidently predicted that this would be the summer of the BBQ, so hot, dry and altogether splendid was our weather going to be. Alas it turned out to be a rather different meteorological kettle of fish and once again this summer has been unremittingly dreary, anything but the summer of the BBQ. Similarly at the beginning of this recession the soothsayers of the digital community rather confidently predicted that this would be the recession of the digital agency, basking as they would be in the…

• Brand respsonse - a case of having your cake and eating it

  8 Aug 2009 | 2:41 am

  Image courtesy of Blake E. Marquis. Eddie Izzard has a standup routine about how useless the Church of England would have been at the Spanish Inquisition, because everyone appearing before it would have been given the option of cake or death. Naturally most people end up choosing the cake option.

• 
  Web Social Architecture

• Where to Start? 20 Questions for Corporate Social Media

  Ryan Turner

  19 Nov 2009 | 3:48 pm

  Our social media engagements typically start with some kind of assessment, with varying degrees of formality and scope. We have an internal list of questions we use to plan these assessments, some of which are more relevant and important for a given engagement than others. Here they are: 1. Have you formalized the goals, KPIs, and reporting for your social media activities? This gives us a sense of the degree to which social media efforts are aligned with the business, as well as the current state of listening, analysis, and reporting. 2. Do you know who’s talking about you online, what…

• Where to Start? 20 Questions for Corporate Social Media

  Ryan Turner

  19 Nov 2009 | 3:44 pm

  Our social media engagements typically start with some kind of assessment, with varying degrees of formality and scope. We have an internal list of questions we use to plan these assessments, some of which are more relevant and important for a given engagement than others. Here they are: 1. Have you formalized the goals, KPIs, and reporting for your social media activities? This gives us a sense of the degree to which social media efforts are aligned with the business, as well as the current state of listening, analysis, and reporting. 2. Do you know who’s talking about you online, what…

• ZAAZ Needs a Social Media Strategist / Planner / Consultant (Freelance)

  Ryan Turner

  10 Nov 2009 | 2:40 pm

  Updated: SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIST We are looking for a candidate that can thrive in a creative environment where collaboration, innovation and passion for the web are a must. This position will start out on a contract basis and has the potential to move into a full time position. This position is located in Seattle at ZAAZ World Headquarters (no relocation). Responsibilities: Help define and execute overall social media strategy. Required Skills: 5-7 years online strategic planning, product management, and/or marketing experience. Experience implementing online community/web 2.0/social media…

• Too Much Marketing

  Ryan Turner

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:35 pm

  I really like David Armano’s Conversation Starter post from earlier this week with predicted trends in social media for next year. In particular, his first point hits on exactly what I think is going to be the key to success for marketers in social media: 1. Social media begins to look less social With groups, lists and niche networks becoming more popular, networks could begin to feel more "exclusive." Not everyone can fit on someone's newly created Twitter list and as networks begin to fill with noise, it's likely that user behavior such as "hiding" the hyperactive updaters that appear in…

• Vote for the Presentation Youd Most like to See October 15th at ZAAZ

  Ryan Turner

  1 Oct 2009 | 8:51 am

  Below are the submissions for our next social media event. Read the descriptions here, and then vote over on our Facebook page. The eight with most votes will be our presenters for 21 Slides! For those not in Seattle, by the way, we are working out details on setting up a webcast for the event. We’re considering TwitCam, but we’re happy to here any other suggestions, if you have a favorite tool. 1. Lessons Learned from LOLcats. There's a lot to be learned from the popular LOLcat meme. Why is www.icanhascheezburger.com so successful? What attracts users and keeps them coming back? Are…

• 
  Marketing.fm

• Never Launch, Just Iterate

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

  17 Nov 2009 | 7:45 am

  Image by digitaltree515 via Flickr Last week I hosted a group of NYC entrepreneurs who came out to hear from Steve Blank. It was a great event and I am working on getting the video online. During the night Steve asked the audience a great question; “when did Google launch?” It was met with blank stares as nobody really knew the answer. The answer is that they never officially “launched”. Sure they opened up the product to a larger sample, but from the first index of sites, to the next 100,000, to the next 1,000,000 then just kept having people use the product. They…

• Voice Blogging Test

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

  14 Nov 2009 | 12:48 pm

  click the image to listen! Auto-transcription:This is a test audio post on marketing.fm using the twilio a API and hopefully this works and you hear the post. The above post was done using the code and instructions found on Twilio here Post from: Marketing.fm - Eric Friedman You should follow me on Twitter

• Does Page Rank matter?

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

  12 Nov 2009 | 5:40 am

  Image via CrunchBase When consulting with companies about “how their website is doing” one of the first things people checkout is the Google PR or Page Rank of the site. To check the PR of your site officially you have to install the Google browser tool bar which will show you a small green bar from 0-10 with a black box algorithm used to calculate your score. The interesting thing that has happened in the past few years is that this score has become default off with the toolbar, little mention from Google, and an industry directing people that your PR is no longer that important.

• Launching the new USV.com

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

  10 Nov 2009 | 7:05 pm

  I was very happy earlier this week to launch an updated version of the Union Square Ventures website. The site was designed by Phoebe Espiritu who did a great job working with our team and iterating on our design direction and brainstorms. We ended up with a very clean design with a few dynamic features I have wanted for a long time. As Albert noted, we now have a focus page that is updated when a new post that shows some insight into our investment thesis gets written. We have an updated blog running the latest Moveable Type software as well as added dynamic content to the USV team pages and…

• Motorola Droid Review

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

  9 Nov 2009 | 4:42 am

  I started using the Motorola Droid on Friday and have been using it as my primary device all weekend. In a sense this is a comparison against other phones out there, but primarily against the Blackberry as that is what I have been most satisfied with to date – specifically the Blackberry 8900 with T-Mobile. Using a phone for voice/apps/email/misc. gives you a full understanding that simply browsing a website or jotting down a note on the memo pad gives you, so if you are thinking about switching make sure you test everything out. “So your saying there’s a chance” This…

• 
  the weekly ramble

• Note to self

  David

  16 Nov 2009 | 7:44 am

  Note to self:  Less is more. OK, not all less is more – trust me, we all agree on that – no need to elaborate. But sometimes – it can be way more. Know the expression “TMI”?  Too Much Information.  That pure, squirming and uncomfortable feeling we get when someone tells us too much of a personal nature? How about Foot in Mouth Disease – when we spill the proverbial beans, giving away more than we need to or should, and we watch relationships and deals and personal connections shrink away from us – all because of a few too many words. Here is another – Verbal Diarrhea –…

• Doubters

  David

  9 Nov 2009 | 7:14 am

  Doubters!!! Continue doubting. Skeptics!!!! Continue being skeptical. Cynics!!! Continue being cynical. And you get the picture… I want to finish the thought I began a couple of Rambles ago. We need to dream – meaning, don’t accept the status quo or the limitations that are imposed on us by others. We need to doubt – meaning, don’t believe everything you hear…most especially about what is possible and what is not. So here is a final and wonderful thought that sums it all up… Listen: Ninety percent of everything is crap. —Theodore Sturgeon What a great way to stay fresh and…

• Dream on

  David

  2 Nov 2009 | 8:52 am

  Dream on…greatness comes from marrying actions and dreams: http://weeklyramble.wunderman.com/ad-tech/tweet Now – let me add another twist. Truth. Truth is what we often mistake for credibility; facts (which we often mistake for truth); proof of our positions and points of view and a general certitude that we are right and others are wrong. Needless to say, the more on the fringes you are, the more your truth is the truth – the only truth; the ultimate truth. In politics it always amazes me how many True positions can be found around one seemingly simple issue; in life it’s astonishing…

• Tweet

  David

  26 Oct 2009 | 7:57 am

  Tweet, BBM, IM, ICQ, Ping, Email, Post, Call, Fax (still) – all are methods of communication that allow us to correspond quickly and efficiently. And they are all ways that allow us to answer questions, make our opinions known, get a point across and, in general, feel in control of the communications stream – 24/7. To that end – we carry devices that enable our connectivity – Microsoft Windows based, Google platformed, Apple supported, Nokia sourced, RIM facilitated. Our Smartphones, iPhones and BlackBerries are always on – instant response mechanisms that enhance our control and…

• Millions long for immortality

  David

  19 Oct 2009 | 8:17 am

  Fame and fortune. Your name in lights. Stardom! Who doesn’t want a shot at it? The question is how do you achieve it? Some people just seem to have the knack for it; others work hard at it; there are those that actually earn it; some stumble into it; and others pursue it forever and never achieve it. Think Paris Hilton for the knack; think Madonna for the hard work; think Captain Sully Sullenberger as one who deserves it; think Susan Boyle as the stumbler; and the ground is littered with the remains of those who have tried – and tried hard – but never achieved it. So you have to ask…

• 
  Hard Knox Life - Dave Knox Brand Management blog

• Fred Wilson’s perspective on the rise of Social Recruiting

  Dave Knox

  15 Nov 2009 | 9:01 am

  Fred Wilson from Union Square Ventures always puts together amazing presentations that really stretch your thinking.  Last month it was his look at what makes the New York City Startup Scene so special.  And now Wilson is moving onto the theme of “Social Recruiting” or how companies are finding the best talent by leveraging Social Media. People are your company’s biggest competitive advantage and attracting the best talent is probably one of the toughest jobs in business.  Social Media is quickly emerging as an invaluable tool for attracting the best employees and the…

• Sometimes it is better to not have an “end goal” in mind

  Dave Knox

  11 Nov 2009 | 7:28 am

  This week while at an offsite brainstorm, I was reminded that sometimes not knowing what you hope to accomplish is actually the best approach.  So often we are challenged to identify the “end game”…the goals we hope to accomplish.  People want to know the objectives of a meeting, the agenda for a trip, etc.  This is especially true in the world of marketing and brand n management where time is seen by many as the most valuable commodity. But there is something to be said about taking the complete opposite approach.  There is real value in going into a meeting with eyes…

• The Virtual Goods Gold Rush

  Dave Knox

  31 Oct 2009 | 8:40 am

  I have to admit, I have been fascinated by the Virtual Good / Social Gaming market lately.  It is something I am going to be thinking / writing about more often in the coming weeks for sure.  In the meantime, here is a great presentation that was recently given at the Virtual Worlds Conference.   Great primer for those new to this space.  [presentation embedded below]. Virtual Goods in Asia View more documents from Benjamin Joffe.

• Digital Strangelove (Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Net)

  Dave Knox

  24 Oct 2009 | 2:28 pm

  Talk about a presentation getting some nice buzz.  First Fred Wilson posts about this new presentation he just saw and then Henry Blodget writes about the same presentation on Silicon Alley Insider.  Looks like David Gillespie knows how to catch the eye of the right folks in the marketing blog world. But then again, after taking a look at the presentation myself, I needed to jump on the bandwagon because it really is filled with some great insights.  Hands down my favorite quote is this: Advertising got really good at speaking in 30 second chunks to a captive audience… Then quickly…

• Mary Meeker’s Web 2.0 Summit thoughts on the Economy & Internet

  Dave Knox

  22 Oct 2009 | 5:04 am

  For the past 6 years, Morgan Stanley’s Mary Meeker has been one of the highlights of the Web 2.0 Summit.  Last year was the first time I saw her presentation in person but every year is a must read report / powerpoint.  This year is no exception as Meeker gives an overview of the economy and then dives deep into why the “Mobile Internet is and will be bigger than most think.”  The full PowerPoint is embedded below and filled more valuable nuggets than I could possibly hope to capture in a summary.  Take the time to read this thing all the way through…it is a must…

• 
  DR4WARD

• Twitter Roundup of Peter Shankman's (@skydiver) presentation to Haworth / American Marketing Association West Michigan

  William Ward

  13 Nov 2009 | 1:57 pm

  I've listed some great live Tweets below (including my own) from Peter Shankman's presentation "It's Not Web 2.0. It's Not Web 3.0. It's Simply Life."  I attended the presentation Thursday, November 12, 2009, along with 150 plus professionals from Haworth and members of the American Marketing Association West Michigan.  Peter (@skydiver on Twitter) is an entrepreneur, the founder and CEO of The Geek Factor, founder of Help a Reporter Out (HARO) (@helpareporter on Twitter) and offers new ways of thinking about Social Media, PR, marketing, advertising,…

• Teaching with Twitter

  William Ward

  20 Oct 2009 | 7:26 am

  Last week I spoke on "Teaching with Twitter" to a group of educators in Michigan. Here is the presentation which includes teaching with Twitter examples, links to resources, and teachers/social media experts to follow and learn from.  Below the "Teaching with Twitter" presentation you will find links to other Social Media / Social Network resources to supplement your teaching and help improve student learning. Teaching With Twitter View more documents from William Ward. I make the case that we must use Social Media / Social Networks to supplement our teaching and improve…

• DR4WARD International Twitter Interview on Cross-Cultural Marketing with Cindy King

  William Ward

  16 Oct 2009 | 6:47 am

  On Tuesday, October 13 I had the privilege to participate in an international Twitter interview with Cindy KIng on cross-cultural marketing.   Here is the international Twitter interview.Cindy is based in France and is an expert on cross-cultural marketing and international sales. I am based in the U.S. and teach international marketing at Ferris State University . I have brought over 200 students to study abroad in other cultures including attendance at the Cannes Lions International Adverstising Festival. I also taught international marketing to 40 Chines students at the College of…

• Despite clever ads, is Volkswagen a Lemon?

  William Ward

  8 Aug 2009 | 8:31 am

  Does Volkswagen quality and service create long-term brand damage? I have been teaching marketing and advertising classes since 1996 and using Volkswagen advertising and marketing as positive examples in my classes. The clever Volkswagen ads from creative legends Bill Bernbach and Helmut Krone in the 60's and 70's changed the face of design and advertising to usher in the "Creative Revoulution".  I now have new reasons to speak about Volkswagen to others. Despite the clever ads, the recent unpleasant Volkswagen experience of a friend has me asking the question "is…

• Diana Verde Nieto, Founder & CEO of Clownfish, to Speak on Avoiding Greenwash at West MI AMA

  William Ward

  22 Sep 2008 | 2:31 am

  I am looking forward to seeing Diana Verde Nieto, Founder & CEO of Clownfish, speak on Avoiding Greenwash - How to Align Your Communications with Sustainable Principles and Practice this Thursday, September 25, 2008 at the West Michigan American Marketing Association luncheon speaker series. Green Marketing is the marketing of organizations, products or services that are presumed to be environmentally safe. Other similar terms are Environmental Marketing and Ecological Marketing.Green Wash is a term that used to describe the perception of consumers that they are being misled regarding…

• 
  The Marketing Vortex by Marketing Dynamics

• The Rise of the Marketing Producer

  Andy Valadez

  28 Oct 2009 | 7:06 pm

  By Andy Valadez, StealthMarketer Are you paying attention to the times? They are crazy and the old has passed away and the new is a scary course for many. There are more demands placed on Marketing than ever. Unfortunately, there are those in the field who claim to be Marketers, but in fact are something else. There is a lot more to Marketing than people realize. The chatter about what

• Coming to EBC Broadcast: "Technology in the News"

  Andy Valadez

  13 Oct 2009 | 5:22 pm

  We've been busy supporting the formation of The Entrepreneur Broadcasting Company for and about entepreneurs. Here is a sneak preview of one of our shows. We plan to create a major network that champions business owners. Visit: www.EBCbroadcast.com for more information.To contact Marketing Dynamics visit: www.TeamMarketingDynamics.com or call 281.463.4560.

• 10/13 EBC Live Cast NSTA "State-of-the-city Technology Report" Mayoral Candidate Luncheon and Expo

  Andy Valadez

  7 Oct 2009 | 3:15 pm

  Viewers will be able to review top tech companies in the Houston market and hear from prospective mayoral candidates who must lead one of the largest tech oriented cities in America, Houston, Texas.Date: 10/13/09Time: 10am to 2:30PM CSTWhere: Hyatt Regency DowntownTo attend in person, visit: www.NSTAworld.orgA Invitation from Kirby Lammers, President of EBC BroadcastView Live Here on 10/13

• The Floral Maestro of New Orleans Lee Page

  Andy Valadez

  3 Oct 2009 | 6:34 pm

  Just created this video for Lee Page of Le Jardiniere Florists here in Houston. Hope you like.To contact Marketing Dynamics visit: www.TeamMarketingDynamics.com or call 281.463.4560.

• World Record: World's Fastest Motorcycle - "Seven" 367.382 MPH

  Andy Valadez

  29 Sep 2009 | 8:42 am

  Our client and friend, Denis Manning and driver/pilot Chris Carr break another world record with "Seven" - The World's Fastest Motorcycle at 367.382 MPH (September 20, 2009). Congratulations Team BUB Racing!!To contact Marketing Dynamics visit: www.TeamMarketingDynamics.com or call 281.463.4560.

• 
  Lip-Sticking

• The First Three Things I Do Every Morning

  Mary Schmidt

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:15 am

  By Guest Blogger, Mary Schmidt, Marketing Troubleshooter From my "match your marketing tactics to your (best) customers" fileAdmit it – were you anxiously awaiting this to pop up in your RSS feed?  Are you waiting in breathless anticipation to the next email popping up in your in-box? No? Well, same here. Here’s what I do every morning, first thing in the office: 1. Open up maryschmidt email. Delete several unopened. This even when I know the sender. There are several well-meaning people that bombard me with emails on everything from lost cats to unrequested/unneeded meeting notices.

• Ways to Measure Social Media using Key Conversation Indicators

  Donna DeClemente

  18 Nov 2009 | 1:59 pm

  By Guest Blogger, Donna DeClemente, Donna's Promo TalkYesterday I helped plan and execute a breakfast event for RAMA, our local Rochester chapter of the AMA (American Marketing Association). Our speaker was David Berkowitz who came to share his insights on ways to measure social media. This is a question that most marketers and business owners are asking since we are now seeing a phenomenal growth from those of all ages engaging online in some form of social media. Not a black and white, easy thing to deliver at this time, but as Jeffrey Hayzlett, CMO of Kodak, said last week when he spoke…

• On the road to Colorado

  Yvonne

  17 Nov 2009 | 4:34 am

  OMG! OMG! OMG! WE'RE OFF! Today starts our week long road trip to Colorado. We'll be living near one daughter and one granddaughter (have two of the first but only one of the second). Will try to post and send pics, via the phone as we go along. Many of you know that I have a 17 year old kitty (the Wabby Wibby, herself) who will be riding in the back and wailing all the way, methinks! She is already confused (and much displeased) over the interruption in her life as we pack everything away and empty the house. Stay tuned for news from the road. And many bits of whining as we will arrive in…

• How *NOT* to Ask Someone Whom You Don't Know to Use their Social Juice to Help You

  Lena West

  16 Nov 2009 | 12:20 pm

  by Guest Blogger, Lena West, Chief of Social Media Strategy at xynoMedia Warning: This blog post is long, but worth it.Last week, on November 8th at 12:26pm, I received a voice mail from Michelle Christie representing a group of local women who were getting together having some sort of event. They called themselves Motivators & Creators and they were having a Women's Expo on November 23rd, at a local hotel and wanted my help promoting the event.As this was my first week back from being out of the office for a retreat, I asked my assistant to call her back and get the pertinent details. (I…

• Researching the Women's Market - What They Leave Out

  Mary Schmidt

  13 Nov 2009 | 9:32 am

  Raise your hand if you: a. are over 50. b. are happily single; c. weren't born a female; d. aren't a mother; e. aren't heterosexual; f. some combo of a-e. Oops! You're invisible (right along with me and most of my friends.) By Guest Blogger, Mary Schmidt, Marketing Troubleshooter I've designed and conducted quite a bit of market research and analysis over the past three decades.  And, here's an inherent problem with any kind of research: no matter how objective you want to be - you tend to skew research to fit your world view and interpret any findings via that same view. (Eating a lot of…

• 
  Web Ink Now

• Making stuff up

  David Meerman Scott

  19 Nov 2009 | 3:48 am

  How do you market your company, products, and services? Are you sitting around your comfortable offices with your colleagues just making stuff up? Or do you really understand your buyer personas and what problems they have that you can solve? I share my thoughts on making "stuff" up in this short video. Thanks to Stacy Melillo Spognardi at Cisco for asking the question that prompted this answer. I spoke with Stacy in my office (yes that's my junk you see in the background of the video). The six-part series resulting from our discussions called “Social Media Marketing for Telcos” will be…

• A surprisingly fun and interesting B2B ebook from CareerBuilder

  David Meerman Scott

  18 Nov 2009 | 10:09 am

  Most B2B communications is dry and boring. Most B2B content offers send buyers to a squeeze page requiring an email address. As a result most buyers just can’t be bothered. I really enjoy when I find a B2B ebook that surprises me by its originality. Here's one from CareerBuilder. Once you get to the landing page, you can punch that big, sweet Download Now button to get the ebook right away. Better Recruitment Starts with Better Search CareerBuilder's Search Smart eBook: The insider's guide to better resume database search (with tips and tricks for finding the best resumes)…

• Online video as lead generation

  David Meerman Scott

  16 Nov 2009 | 12:17 pm

  Video has been available on the Web for years and with YouTube it is simple for anyone to create and post a video online. However, a legitimate criticism of video (especially from B2B marketers) has been that it is tough to do lead generation. Sure you can have a URL mention at the end of a video or you can embed a video within a landing page with some lead offers, but that's not fully integrated. My friends at VisibleGains have developed a video application that solves this problem. Here is an example program we created from the four videos I shot at GM a few weeks ago. The VisibleGains…

• Hey B2B marketers: It's okay to have fun!

  David Meerman Scott

  13 Nov 2009 | 7:14 am

  Why is so much business-to-business marketing dreadfully boring? I think it's because the marketers involved think "business" as in "I am marketing to a business" and this results in an overly serious tone. After all, if you are marketing to, say, technology companies that’s different than consumer marketing, right? Wrong. B2B marketers seem to forget that what all marketers need to do is communicate to people. People want to do business with people and the companies that understand that in the B2B world develop a following. National Instruments is a B2B supplier of measurement and…

• Eugene Mirman is on television, is very nice, and likes seafood

  David Meerman Scott

  9 Nov 2009 | 10:33 am

  "There is no middleman between me and an audience," says Comedian Eugene Mirman, known for his work in Flight of the Choncords, his book of satire The Will to Whatevs: A Guide to Modern Life, and appearances on Comedy Central and Late Night shows. He has a blog, a Facebook page and is on Twitter. "I want to be entertaining on the web," he says. "That's what's fun for me. While there is a store on my Web site, the push is to provide things to entertain people." And entertain he does, Eugene's Twitter bio reads: "I am television's Eugene Mirman. I am very nice and like seafood." Sample tweet:…

• 
  EmailKarma.net

• Links for 2009-11-15 [del.icio.us]

  16 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  Anti-spam bill by end of year || Dalhousie Gazette Quote: “We have been pushing for this law for almost a decade,” said Neil Schwartzman, executive director for the Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial E-mail, a continent-wide, volunteer-based consumer advocacy organization.

• Links for 2009-11-10 [del.icio.us]

  11 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  ACMA accepts undertakings after Spam Act investigation into Coca-Cola SMS marketing | ACMA The Australian Communications and Media Authority has accepted enforceable undertakings from three companies—Vodafone Hutchison Australia Pty Limited (VHA), New Dialogue Pty Ltd (New Dialogue), Big Mobile Pty Ltd (Big Mobile)—and issued a formal warning to Coca-Cola South Pacific Pty Ltd (CCSP) after investigating alleged breaches of the Spam Act 2003 arising from a marketing campaign that promoted certain Coca-Cola products through SMS. Texas Attorney General Reaches Agreement with Social…

• Links for 2009-11-03 [del.icio.us]

  4 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  Spamhaus Blog - Some Good News From Downunder Two New Zealanders well known to Spamhaus have been fined for their roles in the biggest pharmaceutical spamming operation in the history of the internet, officials of the nation's Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) said on Monday. Hat Tip: @boxofmeat Latest Ad Scammers: Faux Ad Agency Execs | Advertising Age Quote: Ads have long been a gateway for spammers and hackers to distribute malicious code, but now the crooks are showing a new level of sophistication by posing as agency executives walking right into the front doors of well-known…

• Karmasphere Reputation Service is shutting down

  2 Nov 2009 | 11:36 am

  I received this note today from the team behind the Karmasphere Project, a community based DIY Reputation service, stating that the service will be shutting it's doors in a couple of weeks.Hello,As a registered user of Karmasphere Reputation Services, we wanted to let you know that we are discontinuing the service, effective November 16, 2009. If you are using the services through DNS, BQuery or email plugins, please make plans to adjust your configurations ideally prior to November 9 and no later than November 16, 2009.On that final date, we will disable the reputation servers so that you…

• Bill C-27 Status and Breakdown - Part 1

  30 Oct 2009 | 9:56 am

  Before I start a special thanks to Industry Canada for providing a behind the scenes look at Bill C-27 and for educating me on the following.Background on C-27:In 2004 Industry Canada formed the Federal Anti-Spam Task Force (aka. FAST-F) to bring together all of the major industry players that would be effected by any potential legislation. This group was formed of several Large ISPs and Telcos, Marketing Associations, anti-spam organizations, larger corporations and Email Services Providers. This group worked together and published the document; Stopping Spam (PDF). I suggest everyone read…

• 
  Online Marketing Blog

• SEO for Flash: 5 Tips and Best Practices

  Michelle Bowles

  19 Nov 2009 | 10:32 am

  SEO for Flash – is it a reality yet? One of the most common issues for web sites with poor search visibility involves Google not being able to crawl and index a site’s content. Web sites made entirely with Flash are problematic because there are often no links for search engine crawlers to follow or HTML text to copy. According to the Opera (browser) developer center, somewhere between 30% and 40% of all pages tested contained Flash files representing a lot of content that may not be included in search results or only partially indexed. Despite a large number of sites publishing…

• Google: Social Media is a Party, SEO is Bullsh*t, Advertising is Good For You

  Lee Odden

  19 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  I noticed someone using Google suggest in another story today (honestly forgot where) and thought I’d see what Google “thinks” about social media. Then I tried SEO. Not surprising. Funniest of all, considering Google’s business model, was advertising. Pretty telling when you think about it. Of course this isn’t what Google “really thinks” about social media, it’s Google’s response to search queries and effort to predict what we’re really searching for. Google Suggest works by drawing from searches by other Google users, sites in…

• Book Review: Socialnomics by Erik Qualman

  Lee Odden

  17 Nov 2009 | 11:33 am

  “It’s a people driven economy stupid” and “Online word of mouth has made many traditional marketing strategies obsolete”. Those are powerful words and central to the theme in “Socialnomics” by Erik Qualman, Global VP for Online Marketing for EF Educatio, the world’s largest private educator. I appreciate Erik’s characterization because it’s how I’ve viewed social media since our digital marketing & PR agency started blogging and using social news/bookmarking sites in 2004: as technology that facilitates word of mouth. At…

• Why Use Social Media For Public Relations

  Adam Singer

  16 Nov 2009 | 6:34 am

  Recently, I presented at PubCon on the intersection of social media and PR.  The session title was “experts on PR and Twitter,” however the session description went on to discuss a variety of networks.  Therefore my interpretation was to speak on the intersection of social media and PR, and not just PR and Twitter. The social web is far more than just Twitter, and if Twitter is the extent of your participation you’re missing out.  Lee’s diagram of social media and channels of distribution presents a visualization of a strong approach, where the centerpiece is a blog.  The…

• 5 SEO Tips for Online Retailers

  Michelle Bowles

  13 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  Online retail websites face a unique set of obstacles when it comes to improving sales through better search engine visibility.  Repetitive product descriptions, a lack of content and frequent churn of products can all be hurdles to overcome. But with these specific tips for retail search engine optimization, online retailers can turn those challenges into opportunities and maximize their organic search traffic. 1. Add fresh content to the website. Many online retail websites focus on selling products rather than informing and providing value to customers, and hence severely lack content.

• 
  Tom Martin: Positive Disruption

• Three for Thursday - November 19

  tommartin

  19 Nov 2009 | 5:30 am

  Ok...time for another Three for Thursday, where I share three things I stumbled across this week that I thought were really cool. The Future of Mobile?Ok, so that the FTC doesn't fine my ass, this first one is actually an example from the firm I work for - Zehnder Communications. But really, that doesn't diminish the cutting edge cool technology that is powering this application. Layar is really interesting. It's like putting a heads up display (think fighter jets) on your mobile phone. This display allows you to superimpose virtual data over your physical world. The applications and…

• Painless Prospecting

  tommartin

  18 Nov 2009 | 5:38 am

    Earlier this week I had a chance to talk with a bunch of Realtors about how they might consider using Social Media and digital tools to sell more houses. During the course of the talk I mentioned how social media helps them to painlessly prospect. A few seemed to take the idea to heart and I thought I'd expand on it here as the whole concept, painless prospecting, is relevant to lots of folks who read this blog. And while this post is written with the realtor in mind, I'll take a chance here and there to more clearly explain how the same concept applies to us non-realtors. Twitter SearchI…

• Three for Thursday - Nov 13

  tommartin

  13 Nov 2009 | 6:18 am

  Reposting this today because it didn't go live yesterday... so enjoy.First up is Minggle which the really smart Jason Falls posted about recently. Like other multi-platform update tools, Minggle pulls all your various fees into one place and gives you the ability to post to all platforms in a single update. What I think is really nice though is Minggle gives you an option to selectively update. So for instance, if I'm about to do a marketing talk for a conference and I want to notify everyone, I can post that to LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter with one update. But if I just want to post a…

• The Modern B&B Hotel

  tommartin

  11 Nov 2009 | 5:42 am

  I've been doing a lot of traveling lately -- both for business and pleasure. And for whatever reason, my travels have often been booked in places like Hilton Garden Inn, Courtyard by Marriott, Embassy Suites, and Hampton Inn & Suites. The common theme in these types of hotels is good value, clean room, and usually free extras like WiFi, breakfast and in the case of Embassy -- my personal favorite -- Happy Hour. These aren't the high end hotels with lots of high end services. That is a very different type of hotel and a different type of stay. No these hotels are clearly aimed at providing…

• Creating Brand Passion - The Movie

  tommartin

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:42 am

  If you've been around this blog for a while you know how passionate I am about brands and more importantly, how you create and sustain brands for a competitive advantage. Earlier this week I was invited to speak at the Iowa Chapter of the American Marketing Association and to share my views on how brands, even every day brands, can create and sustain passion. Here is the video of the talk -- as always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Tom Martin as a speaker, and the concept of creating brand passion via the 9-steps I outline in the talk. 

• 
  Ads of the World

• PETA: Grace

  ivan

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:17 pm

  Advertising Agency: Matter, Los Angeles, USA Directors: Dave Laden, Über Content Editorials: Patrick Griffin, Arcade Edit

• Toshiba: Space Chair

  ivan

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:58 am

  Advertising Agency: Grey London, UK Creatives: Andy Amadeo, Nils Leanord Producer: James Covill Production Company: Hungryman Director: Andy Amadeo DP: Harris Producer: Matt Jones Editing Company: The Whitehouse Editor: Russell Ike & Ed Enayat Post Production: The Mill Producer: Chris Batten Colourist: Seamus O’Kane Lead 2D: Adam Grint Flame Assist: Da Kit: Baselight/Flame

• Coife Odonto Dental Clinic: Smile

  ivan

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:23 am

  Don't hide your smile. Advertising Agency: Prósper Comunicação, Vitória, Brazil Creative Director: André Duque Released: September 2009

• Music One: Stevie

  ivan

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:16 am

  It only takes 2 minutes to kill a legend. Stop illegal downloading. Advertising Agency: DM9JaymeSyfu, Manila, The Philippines Executive Creative Directors: Merlee Jayme, Eugene Demata Creative Director: Jerry Hizon Art Director: Miko Quiogue Producer: Jess Ramo Copywriter: Biba Cabuquit

• Music One: Jagger

  ivan

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:15 am

  It only takes 2 minutes to kill a legend. Stop illegal downloading. Advertising Agency: DM9JaymeSyfu, Manila, The Philippines Executive Creative Directors: Merlee Jayme, Eugene Demata Creative Director: Jerry Hizon Art Director: Miko Quiogue Producer: Jess Ramo Copywriter: Biba Cabuquit

• 
  Advertising Lab: future of advertising and advertising technology

• Branded Biographies

  19 Nov 2009 | 11:50 pm

  If you had only 160 characters to introduce yourself, what words would do you pick? Would any of these words be a brand name? I've looked at how people associate themselves with brands in their Twitter bios using a nifty Google query ("bio * keyword" site:twitter.com). And chances are that if your tiny blurb includes a brand name, you either sell it, work for it, or really, really like it. On Twitter, people like Apple. Lots of "apple fans",  but no "IBM fans". And yes, there are "Microsoft fans". Eight of them. Microsoft, people work for. Mazda, and Chrysler, and Toyota, they sell. Once…

• Graph Media Activities With a Wheel Chart

  19 Nov 2009 | 10:59 pm

  This hand-drawn "media wheel" shows what media people consume when and where, based on data points from a syndicated research.  Here's how me made it.  ---------------- I'm reading The Advertising Research Handbook.

• Honesty in Advertising: Mobile Home Company

  19 Nov 2009 | 2:06 pm

  I wonder whether the company, with its spot hitting 800K+ views on YouTube, isn't going to make more money selling their $15 t-shirts than it does selling trailers. Watch the "making of" video, too. - via ---------------- I'm reading The Advertising Research Handbook.

• There Is This Company

  19 Nov 2009 | 5:50 am

  Here's something I've been thinking about for some time now. You see, there is this company. It publishes over a hundred RSS feeds and several email newsletters, but not a single blog. The only conversations this company entertains are the ones it starts itself or is subpoenaed into. Conversations it doesn't like, it tries to silence. It has sued some of its biggest fans. It is not known for responding to online complaints about its products. On MySpace, the profile that should have belonged to this company is occupied by a DJ. On Flickr, it's someone from Japan. Last month, it has…

• Vending Machine Sells Ideas

  18 Nov 2009 | 10:51 pm

  50 cents a pop. Maybe it can be hacked to sell slogans? - BB, via ---------------- I'm reading The Advertising Research Handbook.

• 
  Adland

• Verizon Wireless- Lightning- (2009) :30 (USA)

  RazPR

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:54 pm

• Radiotjänst Tackfilm - Thank you for paying for your TV Licence viral

  Dabitch

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:30 am

  Radiotjänst Sweden have this viral film where the idea is to send it as a thank you to your pals as a Thank you for paying for your TV Licence guilt-trip. Or and honest thanks, depending on if the recipient paid or not. The setup is a press conference that the whole country, in fact the whole world, is paying attention to, where the speaker goes on at length about this single hero who has ensured that everything you hear on TV and Radio is independent and free from hidden agendas. She keeps singing the praises of publicly funded programming that remains independent from government, short…

• Eurobest is next week: 4020 entries from 35 countries duke it out

  Dabitch

  20 Nov 2009 | 5:46 am

  Germany is in the lead with 802 entries, followed by France with 521, Sweden with 383 entries and Belgium with 346. Apart from the award show great seminars will be held, Paul Lavoie, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of TAXI is bringing a professional knife thrower Norbert, psychologist-turned-pornographer Jennifer Lyon Bell and a surprise secret guest to his seminar on Wednesday where they'll explore "the importance of creating an atmosphere of trust to allow creative collaboration to flourish". Later that same day Jeff Kling, Executive Creative Director at Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam has a…

• Screen Australia - Javelin - (2009) :20 (Australia)

  Teen Champions

  20 Nov 2009 | 5:28 am

• Screen Australia - Bike Jump - (2009) :20 (Australia)

  Teen Champions

  20 Nov 2009 | 5:25 am

• 
  MainStreet.com

• A Gourmet Thanksgiving Meal for $70

  Emily McKenna

  21 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  It’s easy to spend hundreds preparing complicated recipes for the holidays. Here, a simple, delicious menu for less than $70.

• Great Thanksgiving Wines, $10 or Less

  Emily McKenna

  21 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  The mishmash of Thanksgiving flavors — buttery, creamy, tart, roasted and savory — can make choosing wine a pain. Here are some frugal picks.

• Geithner: Saint or Sinner?

  David Seaman

  20 Nov 2009 | 12:00 pm

  Some are calling for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to resign—fair request, or no?

• Holiday Gimmicks to Lure Shoppers

  The Associated Press

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:00 am

  As you rush into the holiday shopping season, you may catch a whiff of cookies baking at the mall or find a note from a roving elf on your iPhone.

• 5 Dumbest Things on Wall Street: Nov. 20

  Gregg Greenberg

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:43 am

  Here are the not-so-smooth moves you missed this week on Wall Street.

• 
  The Responsible Marketing Blog

• 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.

• Channel strategy: What you need to know now

  Patrick Byers

  27 Oct 2009 | 12:31 am

  By Herman Kwik, Ph.D. When I work with entrepreneurs or inventors who are excited about their new products and eager to get busy “marketing,” I often have to urge caution – for two reasons: Because when they say “marketing” they really mean “selling,” and that’s a different operation altogether. Because entrepreneurs don’t always consider the sequence of events necessary for “marketing” to be properly deployed. In launching a new product—as opposed to offering a service—there is one strategic element that is rarely given its proper due: deciding on the…

• The 7 Keys to Responsible Marketing in 2 Minutes

  Patrick Byers

  21 Oct 2009 | 12:31 am

  Want to know what Responsible Marketing is about but don’t have the time to read our white paper on the topic? Well, here’s “The 7 Keys to Responsible Marketing in 2 Minutes,” featuring the characters you’ve grown to love (or hate) in our Responsible Marketing web shorts. View on YouTube There ya go—with a video that short, now everyone has time to learn about Responsible Marketing. Share away. Subscribe to this feed.

• Climate hype? Where there’s hype, there’s $

  Patrick Byers

  15 Oct 2009 | 4:37 am

  For Blog Action Day, I started crafting a post regarding the UN Climate Summit in Copenhagen in December, but then I realized, hey, this blog is supposed to be about Responsible Marketing! Here’s an interesting Google Earth tour on the topic. Right after I’ll get to my real post. View on YouTube Okay, so I’ve decided it’s time for me to get something off my chest. You see, I’ve been called a tree-hugger. A green-weenie. And most recently, an “eco-lib.” Whatever. Sticks and stones and all that. I doubt I’ll convince anyone reading this blog that…

• We’re going to need to talk about your TPS reports

  Martin Pierce

  8 Oct 2009 | 10:14 pm

  By Martin Pierce Ah, ah, I almost forgot…I’m also going to need you to go ahead and come in on Sunday, too. Mmmmmkay? Thaaaaaanks! We here at Outsource Marketing like to think that our office culture doesn’t resemble that of our good friend Bill Lumbergh’s Initech. But we do relate. Don’t know who Bill Lumbergh is? Never heard of Initech? Then you haven’t seen Mike Judge’s 1999 cult masterpiece “Office Space.” You don’t know what you’re missing. Here’s the trailer: View on YouTube A couple months back we took time out of our busy schedules to have a little…

• 
  russell davies

• Links for 2009-11-19 [del.icio.us]

  SPIEGEL Interview with Umberto Eco: 'We Like Lists Because We Don't Want to Die' "The list is the origin of culture. It's part of the history of art and literature. What does culture want? To make infinity comprehensible. It also wants to create order -- not always, but often. And how, as a human being, does one face infinity? How does one attempt to grasp the incomprehensible? Through lists, through catalogs, through collections in museums and through encyclopedias and dictionaries. There is an allure to enumerating how many women Don Giovanni slept with: It was 2,063, at least…

• in praise of fragments

  russell davies

  19 Nov 2009 | 10:40 pm

  Something Tom Coates entweetened about blogging the other day has stuck with me. The urge to write longer things makes blogging more considered and therefore harder. Some would say that's a good thing. Filtering out the chaff. I'm not sure. For me, blogging is about momentum and 'more considered' makes momentum harder. Interesting things emerged from the less filtered rush of words. I enjoyed blogging because there was room for fragments of thought as well as something polished and finalised. But we were seduced by the speed and reach of twitter and started putting our…

• Links for 2009-11-13 [del.icio.us]

  How to Ship Anything - Joel on Software

• Links for 2009-11-12 [del.icio.us]

  Urban Screens Chris? Shall we go? Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch (In Patagonia) | MetaFilter

• Links for 2009-11-11 [del.icio.us]

  Making the game that doesn’t exist « Enemy of Chaos Play a Game with Mundane Imagination « The Usable Learning Blog Bunchberry & Fern: Simple but no simpler GCM #04 flip thru on Vimeo

• 
  Immersion Active presents Ageless Marketing

• WalMart's Sustainability Campaign

  David Wolfe

  18 Nov 2009 | 6:41 am

  P.S. to yesterday's post: See this piece http://tinyurl.com/ygxdoz4 from today's Fast Company Now Daily email report -- which if you don't get you should. Check out the hot link items as well.

• The Maturation of Walmart

  David Wolfe

  16 Nov 2009 | 8:42 am

  Who am I – now that I’m not who I was? As indicated in my last post those words form the title of a new book by a friend. Everyone reading this can aptly ask their selves that question because we are indeed never who we were at any point in life. However, certain milestones in our developmental journey through life that stands out more prominently than others. The onset...

• Dissolving a Brand’s Persona to Reveal its Authentic Essence

  David Wolfe

  26 Oct 2009 | 2:36 pm

  A good bit of our youthful psychic energy is spent trying to look better than we really think we are. Call it the marketing of the self. In societies modern and primitive this timeless ritual plays a crucial role in perpetuating the species. Randy males compete with each other to wrest away the affections of comely lasses who are just as much consumed with marketing themselves. Humans, of course, are...

• Worldviews: Key to Understanding the Difference Between Brand Persona and Brand Personality

  David Wolfe

  24 Oct 2009 | 1:16 pm

  Paraphrasing George Burns’ famous witticism about sincerity, authenticity is everything in marketing. If you can fake that, you've got it made. My good friend Joe Pine and his partner Jim Gilmore, authors of The Experience Economy recently came out with a new book on the growing importance of authenticity in business entitled simply Authenticity. From the earliest snake oil salesmen, authenticity has been a high priority in marketing and sales....

• Branding: How Many in Marketing Really Understand What Branding Is About?

  David Wolfe

  18 Oct 2009 | 5:30 pm

  Brand husbandry is one of the least understood functions in marketing.

• 
  Random Culture

• Quick Links: November 20, 2009

  John Keehler

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:23 am

  Twitter Traffic DecliningComScore, Compete and Nielsen all report traffic to Twitter.com declining, after months of continuous growth. Has Twitter reached it's plateau of users?Video Game Marketers Use Social MediaGreat insights into how social media is providing value to video game marketers, not just in reaching players, but understanding them.More Mobile Commerce: REIYet another retailer is enabling mobile commerce. REI has now added the ability to buy through their iPhone app.

• Introducing Twitter Lists

  John Keehler

  9 Nov 2009 | 6:39 am

  My latest post on the Click Here Blog is an introduction to Twitter Lists, and showcases a few of the more notable examples. Here's an excerpt:"There are several ways that Twitter Lists are being used. We’ll look at two very important differences in how people can utilize Twitter Lists, private and public. Private Twitter Lists Private Twitter Lists are used to organize the people you’re already following. For many people, this may be as simple as dividing up co-workers and personal contacts. However, lists can be as granular as you’d like them to be. Perhaps you’d like to…

• Quick Links: October 29, 2009

  John Keehler

  29 Oct 2009 | 8:41 am

  Today's links are all about "crowdsourcing" Victors & Spoils: A New Ad Agency Built on CrowdsourcingJohn Winsor of CP+B fame has started a new agency that's creating quite a buzz. Using talented creatives to harness the power of crowdsourced ideas. Crowdsourcing Your BioDan Viens, one of my students at Boulder Digital Works, decided to crowdsource his bio, rather than try to write it himself. Crowdsourced Car Design?Local Motors is hoping to create a new standard in the automotive industry.Portland Art Museum Uses Crowdsourcing for ExhibitionGreat example of a museum…

• Mary Meeker's Trends 2009

  John Keehler

  21 Oct 2009 | 9:08 pm

  Each year, Mary Meeker from Morgan Stanley gives a great Internet Trends presentation at the Web 2.0 conference. This year is no different... View the presentation on SlideShare below: Economy Internet Trends 2009 from Morgan Stanley

• Quick Links: October 12, 2009

  John Keehler

  12 Oct 2009 | 8:15 am

  Say What? iCrossing's iPhone AppThe folks at iCrossing have launched a social media monitoring iPhone App that allows you to quickly see what's being said about your brand, no matter where you are.While You're Flying, Lufthansa Updates Your FacebookNewly released "MySkyStatus" allows you to send information such as altitude, location, arrival and departure times via Facebook and Twitter.Uniqlo Runway: 2009 Collection Site LaunchesYet another interesting site from the folks at Uniqlo.

• 
  Ypulse

• Ypulse Essentials: Disney Debuts Branded Web Show, The Return Of Layaway, Deprogramming Helicopter Parents

  meredith

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:53 am

  'New Moon' at midnight (doesn't disappoint fans. Shocker. Also see YAB member Chelsea's review for more. Plus Sweden rethinks its original restricted rating. And the livestream of the 'New Moon' premiere on MySpace draws more than 2 million unique visitors, and nearly 3 million total viewers) (Los Angeles Times) (Variety) (MarketingVox) - Disney considers the 'Possibility' (announcing its first foray into branded-entertainment with the debut of "The Possibility Shop," a web show sponsored by Clorox. Plus Sesame Street targets "iPhone moms" launching a Grover-branded app) (Ad Age, reg.

• YAB Review: 'New Moon' @ Midnight

  meredith

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:26 am

  Today's Youth Advisory Board post is from Chelsea Swiggett, one of our newest members (look for the official announcement on Ypulse next week!) and a Twilight fan who was among the masses that took over theaters at midnight last night. As always, 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 below. YAB Review: 'New Moon' @ Midnight What was the biggest draw for you to see this movie? The stars definitely didn’t hurt. It’s no secret that most girls find Edward and/or Jacob…

• Ypulse Jobs: Campus Media, The Hired Guns & More

  meredith

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:21 am

  Today we bring you our weekly sampler of the cool youth media and marketing gigs you can expect to find on our Ypulse Jobs Board. If your company has an open position in the youth media or marketing space, we encourage you to post there. Post a job today and we'll feature your opening in our weekly Ypulse Jobs roundup. Don't forget to join the Ypulse LinkedIn group if you haven't yet for focused career networking! OOH (Out-of-Home) Advertising Sales at Campus Media Industry: Advertising/Marketing/Sales Location: Minneapolis, MN Description: The friendly folks at Campus Media Group in…

• Ypulse Essentials: 'New Moon' Madness, Presidential PSA, Gen Y Wants Small Cars

  meredith

  19 Nov 2009 | 12:42 pm

  'New Moon' madness (officially descends with movietickets.com reporting that fans have already ensured that 1,300 showings of the movie around the country are sold out including 900 midnight screenings. Wall Street Journal rounds up the reviews… as if the critics make a difference? Also Newsarama on the connection btwn Twilight, superheroes and comic books) (Los Angeles Times) - Presidential PSA (as a joint effort between the NFL's Play campaign and President Obama's United We Serve effort, a spot to raise awareness about childhood obesity featuring president Obama and New Orleans…

• Facebook Ranks In Top 3 Video Sites: Who Should Be Nervous?

  meredith

  19 Nov 2009 | 11:57 am

  While MySpace has been drawing attention lately for acquiring every i-related music service in sight, this week also saw some interesting developments on the Facebook front. According to Nielsen’s latest VideoCensus numbers, Facebook jumped to No. 3 behind video powerhouses YouTube and Hulu in terms of total streams, up from No. 10 just last month. And while a good number of those 217 million streams in October come from personal footage posted and the viral video clips embedded from YouTube and elsewhere shared and shared again via walls and newsfeeds, we wondered in terms of…

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  Marketing & Strategy Innovation Blog

• Graph Media Activities with a Wheel Chart

  mro

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:46 am

  This hand-drawn "media wheel" shows what media people consume when and where, based on data points from a syndicated research.  Here's how me made it.

• Apple Envy

  mro

  19 Nov 2009 | 2:49 pm

  'Tis the season to diss Apple in some very creative and entertaining ways. I'm just not sure whether it's a sign of strategic marketing insight, or fishbowl-like confusion of message over meaning.

• When Innovating, Seek Out More, and More Varied, Ideas

  mro

  19 Nov 2009 | 2:14 pm

  I’ve been reading the book “Innovation Tournaments” by Christian Terwiesch and Karl Ulrich of the Wharton School. The book sets out a methodology (the “tournament” of the title) for companies to generate and systematically winnow down innovation ideas to eliminate all but the most exceptional opportunities.

• What Shaun White and Snowboarding Can Teach You about Innovation

  mro

  19 Nov 2009 | 11:56 am

  One of the best articles that I've read about innovation this week actually had absolutely nothing at all to do with business innovation -- at least on the surface. Hannah Karp of the Wall Street Journal recently took a closer look at When Snowboarders Baffle the Judges. Faced with the prospect of judges that are not always on top of radical new snowboarding techniques, innovative snowboarders like Shaun White have a choice -- either keep their innovative snowboarding tricks under wraps until major competitions, or step-by-step unveil these innovations to the judges before the actual event.

• There Is This Company

  mro

  19 Nov 2009 | 11:12 am

  Here's something I've been thinking about for some time now. You see, there is this company. It publishes over a hundred RSS feeds and several email newsletters, but not a single blog.

• 
  SALES MANAGEMENT 2.0

• Make People Want to Buy

  Alen Majer

  Whenever a new commodity appears, we ridicule it, and oppose it, and refuse to buy it at any price. Then the salesperson trains his energies on us. We fight for a while, and finally we surrender. But we give no credit, or glory, to the salesperson. We walk up to the counter and buy the commodity, remarking to the clerk that it is just exactly what we needed for the past twenty years. It is not true that new products are manufactured to supply the demand. There is no demand. Both the demand and the goods have to be manufactured. The public has always held fast to its old-fashioned discomforts,…

• Infectious Leadership

  Kathie Bloom

  What kind of infectious agent do you want to be? Infectious like humor or infectious like the plague? For good or ill the senior leadership of every organization is infectious. By this I mean that leaders’ behaviors tend to be transmitted to their direct reports, who pass them on to the next level, and so on down through their organizations. Over time, they permeate the organization from top to bottom, influencing activity at all levels. Eventually they become embodied in the organizational culture, influencing the types of people who get promoted and hired into the organization, creating a…

• Conducting Corporate Diplomacy

  Kathie Bloom

  The higher you rise in organizations the more you need to be able to practice the corporate equivalent of international diplomacy. Whether you are striving to transform your organization internally or working to shape the rules of the game with government officials externally, the essential challenge is the same: If you want to achieve your objectives, you need to learn how to effectively identify alignment and build alliances in order to get things done. Failure to master this critical skill can lead to trouble: it’s easy for leaders who are used to wielding authority (and making decisions…

• Dispelling The Salesperson Stereotype: The Key To Being More Effective In Today's Economy

  Xavier Sotelo

  As salespeople, we can get very enthusiastic about our business and offerings. As tempered as this enthusiasm may be, we run the risk of being overwhelming, or worse being too “salesy.” This has contributed to the stereotype of the average salesperson as pushy, aggressive, and overly excited. The result is, invariably, a degradation of the sales process. By virtue of this stereotype, internal feelings of pressure and tension are instantly created within prospects and clients alike. The prospect feels he or she would rather be anywhere else other than speaking with you. The reality is that…

• Building Trust through Empathy: A Practical Guide

  Eric Gilroy

  Trust is the single most important purchasing factor in any sale. Trust is the buyer’s confidence that the seller will do right by them, and becomes more important as the level of vulnerability (risk, significance of the decision) and dependence (technical, knowledge, time) rises. As I am sure you can imagine, the importance of trust is highest in a strategic sale. Buyers will never work with a seller that they don’t trust, and will most likely choose to work with the supplier that they trust the most. The irony with trust is that most buyers don’t trust sellers. Look at mainstream…

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  mobileStorm » Marketing Blog

• Bridging The Gap Between In-House & Digital Marketing Platforms Via API Integration

  Mobile Guru

  19 Nov 2009 | 12:17 pm

  A key innovation that’s made itself known recently in the world of digital marketing is the concept of API integration.  The ability to easily transfer data to and from different platforms and software within a single marketing campaign has made life much easier for any digital marketer. A single digital marketing campaign can include things like email marketing, RSS-based marketing, and even mobile marketing solutions such as SMS, mobile coupons and a variety of other things.  Each aspect of that one digital marketing campaign includes specific software and platforms that help…

• Ensuring Quality Control With Email Marketing

  Mobile Guru

  19 Nov 2009 | 10:45 am

  Despite continued innovation and sophistication in regards to email marketing platforms and software over the past ten years, quality control measures remain largely unchanged with responsibility remaining in the hands of the email marketer themselves. A few months back, the Email Experience Council (EEC), a leading email industry group, came under fire after repeatedly including errors in a series of email communications.  It signaled a growing need for basic quality control in email marketing campaigns big and small, given the fact that even the so-called “industry ambassador”…

• The British Invasion of Mobile Coupons

  Mobile Marketer

  18 Nov 2009 | 4:11 pm

  The British are coming! The British are coming! With their mobile coupons, that is. A new Juniper survey reveals the impressive growth of mobile coupons in the UK with an estimated three million Britons having already redeemed coupons through their mobile phone. According to the report, the popularity of mobile coupons is the result of an aggressive mobile marketing push from British brands now reporting a six-fold increase in response rates due to mobile coupons. Although the results of “The Mobile Coupons Consumer Survey” from Juniper come as music to the ears of mobile…

• A Tale of Two Cities for Mobile Marketing

  Mobile Marketer

  13 Nov 2009 | 7:44 am

  It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. For mobile marketing, a tale of two cities has emerged. And it’s a story with which many mobile marketers are already familiar. Although mobile marketing is growing by leaps and bounds as an industry, issues remain with the consistency of consumer engagement among various demographics. A new study from BIGresearch suggests that while a vast, wide open sea of opportunity exists for the mobile marketing industry as a whole, choppy waters thrive in the short term for consumers who continue to express reluctance or outright disdain for…

• The Value Of Text-To-Screen Consumer Data-Collection

  Mobile Guru

  12 Nov 2009 | 12:20 pm

  Text-to-screen campaigns are an aspect of mobile marketing that seems to get overlooked all to often.  Beyond the basic uses in sports stadiums, concerts and other large public venues, text-to-screen provides a method to interact with your audience on a very unique level. Text-to-screen is a concept that enables a brand to engage their audience and compel them to participate in a variety of ways, while still allowing them to see results in real-time as well.  By enlisting a simple short code, keywords and a large screen, brands can leverage the group-aspect of any crowd to both interact and…

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  The Retail Email Blog

• Ping Time: Preheaders, opt-out pages, frequency transparency, etc.

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:22 am

  Our latest spin around the mediasphere turned up the following nuggets:>>Stefan Pollard of Responsys offers some great and very current advice on how to optimize your preheader text. >>Follow the ping>>Bryan Quilty of Email Marketing Voodoo discusses Shop It To Me’s opt-out page, which gives subscribers lots of options besides actually unsubscribing. >>Follow the ping>>Jordan Jane at Email Responsibly discusses an interesting Zappos email that sets frequency expectations for the weeks ahead. >>Follow the ping>>Dela Quist of Alchemy Worx encourages marketers to use a little search engine…

• AM Inbox: Shipping deadlines approaching

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:49 am

  >>Retail Email Guide to Multichannel Engagement: Download this free 28-page report.The Retail Email Blog monitors the email marketing campaigns of more than 100 top online retailers. Here are highlights from my inbox this morning:Nike Store, 11/19 — Act Fast: Order Customized Gifts in Time for Holiday Delivery‏While the end of guaranteed Christmas delivery with standard shipping is a little less than a month away for most retailers, there are a number of early shipping deadlines approaching. For instance, customized and monogrammed products often have earlier deadlines, as Nike promotes…

• Retail Email Guide to Multichannel Engagement: Executive Summary

  19 Nov 2009 | 6:58 am

  Multichannel marketing is becoming an imperative as the number of channels has grown. And rather than weakening email marketing, the proliferation of channels has made the channel even more dynamic and powerful. At the same time, as the number of channels available to marketers has grown, a multichannel approach to marketing has become a more urgent best practice if a campaign is to have significant reach and impact.“Cross-channel coordination with your email program is critical,” says Heather Blank, director of strategic services at Responsys. “Consumers are changing and so are their…

• AM Inbox: Isolated microsite or subscriber profile builder?

  19 Nov 2009 | 6:41 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:Neiman Marcus, 11/18 — STYLE RADAR tracks fashion as it happens‏In this email, Neiman Marcus promotes their new Style Radar, which presents products that fit into various style categories. It’s hard not to see echoes of Spiegel’s style segmentation efforts (see Mar. 17, 2008 AM Inbox) in this, but I think Neiman Marcus has given it a fresh enough twist to make it their own, with their style and city categories. The big question now is…

• Season Finale: Breast Cancer Awareness Month 2009

  18 Nov 2009 | 12:20 pm

  A look back on seasonal trends, email activity and standout B2C marketing:Start to finish: The first reference to Breast Cancer Awareness Month was on Sept. 8. The final reference was on Nov. 12.The distribution curve: The biggest day for Breast Cancer Awareness Month emails was Monday, Oct. 5, followed by Thursday, Oct. 8. Retailers sent the majority of their Breast Cancer Awareness Month-themed emails after Oct. 11.Year-over-year comparison: After Breast Cancer Awareness Month references fell 26% last year compared to 2007, this year references rebounded, increasing 60% over last year. This…

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  Service Untitled

• You’re Closer to Reward Travel Than You Think?

  Service Untitled

  17 Nov 2009 | 11:28 am

  I have two frequent flier accounts with Continental Airlines. One is an account that my parents opened for me when I was maybe five or six years old and another is one that I opened myself a few years ago when I started traveling pretty regularly. About two years ago, I found the account my parents had opened for me and transferred all of my frequent flier miles to that account. However, the newer account (which now has no miles) is still open and active. As such, Continental emails me about it. The screenshot to the left is from an email they sent me yesterday. I haven’t use this…

• Customer Escalations and You

  Service Untitled

  6 Nov 2009 | 12:13 pm

  Many customer service managers (especially in small to mid-size businesses) spend quite a bit of time handling something I always refer to as “escalations”. Escalations are usually from angry/vocal/important customers who are having a problem and are going “up the chain”. The escalations might come down from the CEO or the President, across from PR or the Internet, or up from floor supervisors and regular agents. Where exactly escalations originate from depends a lot on the particular company and how its customer service organization is setup. The question is: is it…

• Exam Room Flags for Customer Service

  Service Untitled

  28 Oct 2009 | 10:53 am

  If you’ve been to a doctor’s office in the past, you’ve probably noticed those colorful things outside of each exam room. I recently learned these are called exam room signal flags. I have no idea what each color means (and I imagine they vary from office to office), but the idea of them is interesting and appliciable to other industries as well. The flags do just what their names imply – provide signals to doctors and other personnel about what needs to be done or what’s going on. If a patient is in the room waiting for a doctor, I imagine they have a flag color…

• Call Abandonment Basics

  Service Untitled

  21 Oct 2009 | 10:57 am

  Phone systems (also called IVRs or PBXes) usually measure something referred to as a call abandonment rate. How exactly the call abandonment rate is defined varies from company to company and from phone system to phone system, but in general, the inbound call abandonment rate tracks the number of people who hang up before they start talking to an employee. (There are call abandonment rates for outbound calls that telemarketing companies track, but that’s a different thing entirely.) Some companies actually strive for high call abandonment rates (a higher proportion of people who hang…

• Customer Service: Better or Worse?

  Service Untitled

  15 Oct 2009 | 6:45 pm

  The ‘50’s version of Dilbert was a very popular comic strip called Mutt and Jeff. The clever “tongue in cheek” style made many a reader chuckle over their eggs and bacon before rushing off to the office. One strip had Mutt and Jeff enjoying a bit of verbal sparring. “If everyone saw like I did,” boasted Jeff, “Everyone would want my wife.” “If everyone saw like I did,” quipped Mutt, “No one would want your wife.” It provided a humorous lesson on the “eye of the beholder” side of understanding relationships and experiences. When someone asks us, “Why has…

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  Email Experience Blog

• Managed Email Marketing: The Benefits of Outsourcing Your Email Marketing

  15 Nov 2009 | 9:00 pm

    If you’re still managing your own email marketing campaigns without any outsourced expertise, you might want to take a look at the benefits of outsourcing. Here are just a few of the many benefits of outsourcing for better managed email marketing: Increase your deliverability rate Improve your email design and email rendering Gain a deeper and more actionable understanding of your reporting and metrics · Protect your online sending reputation with expert advice Have more staff time for other initiatives Add the highest caliber email marketing expertise to your team without…

• Where Does Your Email Really Go?

  12 Nov 2009 | 3:11 am

  The internet was designed to be a free exchange of information wherein anyone, upon a loose framework mainly having to do with networking and rendering capabilities, could join, share and digest what they wanted. Email was developed as a predecessor to the internet.  Again, one in which, as long as you had the most basic SMTP compliancy between networks, messages would be handed off between point A to B.Today, email has turned into a monumentally powerful marketing tool and communication channel that still rivals the internet and other upcoming social networks, regardless of which side…

• Spreadshirt (and Durham) Rocks!

  28 Oct 2009 | 2:35 am

    Does a personalized subject line work?Back in my Bronto days, I blogged about personalized subject lines. I provided a generic "It depends" as my answer ... followed by a more detailed explanation. Since that post more than a year ago, I've continued to receive emails that include personalized subject lines. However, most of those emails use my first name as the "hook" to get me to open. This never works for me. Never. I know it's fake. I know it's not genuine. I know it's a "mail merge" of sorts. Then, the other day, I received this email from Spreadshirt. Why This Email Rocks First…

• Email Nirvana Q&A with Jeanniey Mullen and Loren McDonald

  15 Oct 2009 | 3:39 am

    If you attended this week's Email Nirvana Webinar, you heard eec member Loren McDonald and founder Jeanniey Mullen give quite a presentation. It was so captivating that they almost didn’t have time for questions. But they wanted to make sure everyone’s concerns and questions were heard and so they agreed to answer some of the most frequently asked questions right here on the eec blog! More questions and answers can be reviewed on the Silverpop and OMS blogs as well. We will add the links soon.Now, on to the questions...How many words do you recommend for effective subject…

• Is Email Video Ready for Prime Time Viewing? Or Still Just a Pilot Program?

  22 Sep 2009 | 3:09 am

    Video in email. Not a week goes by without a webinar, blog or email newsletter mentioning the topic. But is video in email the real deal? Or is it still too early to start whipping out the camcorders and hiring scriptwriters? To get a better handle on the topic, I turned to ClickMail Marketing’s CTO, Cameron Kane, for some insight. Cameron is paying close attention to the video vibe and was deploying video for clients way before the hype. But whether or not video is ready for prime time is the topic I asked him to speak upon. First off, Cameron says you need to be clear on your…

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  Toronto Marketing Blog - Bekhor Management, Toronto

• Practice Development Digest - Updates From the Professional Press: Edition 2

  Toronto Marketing Blog

  18 Nov 2009 | 6:26 am

  Welcome to our second 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 October / November 2009 professional…

• Create Winning Formula for New Economy

  Toronto Marketing Blog

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:39 am

  Create Winning Formula for New Economy was previously published in The Bottom Line, Mid-September 2009. As hope gradually emerges that the end of the current recession is near, the accounting profession faces a brave new world that will be defined by a changed, and perhaps, ever-changing economy. Companies are running leaner. They have adopted a new value equation for accountants and other professionals.Their concerns over business risk and cost-cutting have heightened. The widely available sophisticated accounting software products have commoditized many of the number-crunching activities…

• Strategic Social Media Marketing for Veterinary Practices

  Toronto Marketing Blog

  6 Nov 2009 | 5:29 am

  Strategic Social Media Marketing for Veterinary Practices was previously published in Canadian Vet, September / October 2009. As social media mania reaches ever-increasing heights, veterinarians and other professionals have taken notice.With the availability of Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, blogs, and other web 2.0 applications, professional practices face challenging questions:What role, if any, can web 2.0 play in practice development?How can this role contribute to professional brand identity?Will tangible benefit result from such participation?If there is risk, how can it best be managed?

• EI for Self-Employed Canadians

  Toronto Marketing Blog

  3 Nov 2009 | 9:24 am

  Big news is in the making for self-employed Canadians. Self-employed Canadians will have the opportunity to opt into employment insurance (EI) as of January 2010:The Fairness for the Self-Employed Act will extend maternity, parental, adoption, medical and compassionate-care benefits to self-employed workers...Self-employed workers can sign up for the plan beginning Jan. 1, 2010, and can start claiming benefits one year later.Once self-employed workers access EI, they would have to continue paying premiums for as long as they are self-employed...- Sandra Bekhor, TorontoPresident, Bekhor…

• Call for Action on Your Website

  Toronto Marketing Blog

  29 Oct 2009 | 12:37 pm

  How do you measure your website's performance?Inquiries?Appointments?Subscriptions to a newsletter?Your prospective clients will be more likely to behave the way you want them to if you call for a specific action.DEFINITION: A 'call to action' is a phrase that specifies how you want your prospective client to respond to your marketing program. For example, in the context of professional services firms a call to action could make reference to an initial consultation or a demonstration. The manner in which you present your call to action will impact how prospective clients respond to it.

• 
  David Airey, graphic designer

• A book by its cover

  David Airey

  18 Nov 2009 | 3:06 pm

  The front cover and spine are final, and it’s just the back cover that needs a final check by my editor. You can download the full size PDF here. When asked if I wanted a matte or gloss finish, I chose matte, and asked if I could have the word “DESIGN” embossed. Waiting for confirmation. With a little help from Photoshop I created a digital mock-up showing how it’ll look once printed and bound. It’s getting very close. Published on David Airey, graphic designer Related posts on David Airey dot comMilton Glaser on design studios (6)Logo Design Love book available…

• Milton Glaser on design studios

  David Airey

  15 Nov 2009 | 7:30 am

  Photo from PRWeb “The great benefit of this [everyone sitting together in a single room] is that you can hear what everybody’s saying. I’ve never written a memo in my life, because everybody knows exactly who I’m talking to and what I’m doing. Everybody here knows everybody’s business. If you have a deep sense of privacy I don’t think that you could work for me.” Milton Glaser of Milton Glaser Inc. quoted in Studio Culture: The secret life of the graphic design studio. Review of the Studio Culture book to follow here soon. Published on David…

• The past seven days

  David Airey

  9 Nov 2009 | 8:19 am

  Photo by: simpologist What’s been happening with me in the past seven days. Book tweaks I’m currently tying up the final details of my design book, working closely with my copy editor to iron out any kinks. It’s looking much better than I hoped, and although the last-minute addition of an extra chapter created more work, that’s good news for anyone wanting to buy a copy. The cover design has been passed to the publisher for feedback. Once ready I’ll share it here (my internal design was settled at the start of the project). Teaching in Mexico Out of the blue, I…

• Viagra is 10

  David Airey

  9 Nov 2009 | 6:58 am

  That little blue pill from Pfizer is celebrating its 10th birthday. Let’s reminisce together about the flood of Viagra spam we’ve each deleted. Watch on YouTube if you can’t see ad above. The video, developed by French agency BDDP & Fils is being shown to the Pfizer’s European staff as part of the 10 year celebrations. Via I Believe in Advertising. Published on David Airey, graphic designer Related posts on David Airey dot comHP invent (34)New not improved (26)Creativity for a moving world (17)A brief thank you video (124)Sex, Lies and Photoshop (59)

• The design responsibility

  David Airey

  2 Nov 2009 | 3:21 pm

  Image courtesy of net efekt How will design shape our future? How are we, as designers, taking responsibility for the products we help put to market? The following TED talk by architect and designer William McDonough was filmed in 2005, and posted to the TED website in 2007, so there’s a fair chance you might’ve seen it. But if you haven’t, and if there’s just one thing you watch today, spend 20 minutes listening to what McDonough has to say about design and the world in which we all live. (There’s a full-screen icon in the top-right of the video panel you should…

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  PR-Squared

• The Future of Movie Marketing

  Todd Defren

  16 Nov 2009 | 8:58 am

  My family recently spent a rainy Saturday morning watching upcoming movie trailers via the “Front Row” app that came bundled with our Mac. I wryly noted that they would likely only see 10% of the actual movies — which led me to wonder if Social Media could be better leveraged to make the maxim, “Hollywood’s business is America’s business” even more of a truism. After all, when it comes to marketing, Social Media’s power is derived from the ability for consumers and brands to directly interact. Yet when it comes to movies, it’s a more significant challenge: you’ve…

• The Future of Marketing

  Todd Defren

  11 Nov 2009 | 6:05 am

  I hesitate to say that the Social Network Race is over – look at AOL, MySpace and Friendster, all of which used to dominate – but let’s face it, all of these former giants now pale compared to Facebook and Google (and Twitter, if we’re also measuring based on buzz). Unlike those early players, today’s winners are holding a much more winning hand.  Google and Facebook are shooting arrows in the backs of those original pioneers. The reason Facebook and Google will be the long-term winners: it’s not just the fact that they have critical mass, but that that critical mass comes at a…

• Curating the Signal:Noise Ratio in the Social Graph

  Todd Defren

  9 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  Charlene Li of the Altimeter Group is widely quoted as suggesting that, eventually, “Social Media will become like air,” i.e., it will be built-in to every aspect of our online lives. I don’t doubt this is true.  Increasingly we will rely on the wisdom-of-crowds approach to decide on activities (“worth it to go to this movie?”), and purchases of all sizes and types (“experiences with this car model? with this restaurant? with this real estate agent? this plumber?”), etc. There are different gradations of support we will want from these crowds.  For example, most folks will…

• 4 Ways to Build Relationships with Web Content

  Todd Defren

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:04 am

  This is a guest post by Shannon Paul (find her on Twitter, too).  A prolific online personality, in her “day job” Shannon is the communications manager for PEAK6 Online. On the PR/marketing side of the equation we know good products go unnoticed without proper promotion, but we’re often reluctant to make the same admission about content. If it makes you feel better, I’m not going to blame this problem on the proliferation of new channels of communication brought on by social media, etc. But, please know that great content does not market itself. Rather than going on…

• “Too Smart For Your Own Good?”

  Todd Defren

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:03 am

  I’ve written more than once in the past about the need for marketers to avoid Shiny Object Syndrome and, more recently, to Think Organically when it comes to Social Media. Guess what?  Not everybody reads my blog. As we have found ourselves increasingly competing not just against PR firms but against different types of marketing agencies, e.g., advertising, marcomm, branding, we have on occassion lost the bid because the Other Guys wowed the underinformed prospect with the snazziest aspects of Social Media. Will these happy-shiny approaches work?  Likely not.  But after you’ve spent a…

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  Adland

• Verizon Wireless- Lightning- (2009) :30 (USA)

  RazPR

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:54 pm

• Radiotjänst Tackfilm - Thank you for paying for your TV Licence viral

  Dabitch

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:30 am

  Radiotjänst Sweden have this viral film where the idea is to send it as a thank you to your pals as a Thank you for paying for your TV Licence guilt-trip. Or and honest thanks, depending on if the recipient paid or not. The setup is a press conference that the whole country, in fact the whole world, is paying attention to, where the speaker goes on at length about this single hero who has ensured that everything you hear on TV and Radio is independent and free from hidden agendas. She keeps singing the praises of publicly funded programming that remains independent from government, short…

• Eurobest is next week: 4020 entries from 35 countries duke it out

  Dabitch

  20 Nov 2009 | 5:46 am

  Germany is in the lead with 802 entries, followed by France with 521, Sweden with 383 entries and Belgium with 346. Apart from the award show great seminars will be held, Paul Lavoie, Chairman and Chief Creative Officer of TAXI is bringing a professional knife thrower Norbert, psychologist-turned-pornographer Jennifer Lyon Bell and a surprise secret guest to his seminar on Wednesday where they'll explore "the importance of creating an atmosphere of trust to allow creative collaboration to flourish". Later that same day Jeff Kling, Executive Creative Director at Wieden+Kennedy Amsterdam has a…

• Screen Australia - Javelin - (2009) :20 (Australia)

  Teen Champions

  20 Nov 2009 | 5:28 am

• Screen Australia - Bike Jump - (2009) :20 (Australia)

  Teen Champions

  20 Nov 2009 | 5:25 am

• 
  Osocio Weblog

• Contemporary Beauty Ideals

  Marc

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:20 pm

  After Ingres. The bather of Valpinçon, Oil on canvas, 146/98cm. 2009 These paintings made by Remus Grecu are part of a campaign from earlier this year made for ANAD, the German eating disorder aid foundation. Is the museum the place to show the beauty ideal? The three oil paintings where shown in the Städel Museum in Frankfurt with a lot of impact (see the video after the break). On a plaque next to the painting: Beauty ideals change. Today, the media and the cosmetics and fashion industries all promote body measurements that are unattainable for people with healthy eating behaviors,…

• Know The Signs

  Marc

  20 Nov 2009 | 11:51 am

  On October 29th 2009, Heineken officially launched its second global responsible drinking campaign. After the success of last year’s Enjoy Heineken Responsibly campaign, Heineken continues to talk about the signs people start to show when they’ve had one too many. The user is provided with tools through which they can show their friends something about self-awareness on a night out. With the iPhone “Breathalyzer” and the social network application “Tag of Shame” Heineken is enabling a conversation between friends. The brewery want to prompt greater self-awareness amongst Beer…

• Breastfeeding: Learning Makes it Natural

  Marc

  19 Nov 2009 | 11:56 am

  On Oct. 1, 2009, the first day of World Breastfeeding Week, the Department of Health Promotion and Protection in Nova Scotia Canada, launched a new social marketing campaign. The main message of the campaign is: Breastfeeding: Learning makes it natural. Research with mothers, families and health care professionals revealed that moms often don’t feel prepared or have realistic expectations about breastfeeding. Many think it’s going to be easier and more “natural” than it feels when their babies are first born. They also say they need more support and want to know where…

• If you give 1 to us, there will be nothing for them

  Marc

  19 Nov 2009 | 10:14 am

  Most people that destroy the environment know that they are doing the wrong thing, however, their desire to accumulate wealth often overpowers their sense of right and wrong. All they see is money. They are so blinded by the prospect of getting rich that they fail to notice that they are destroying their lives as well. Greenpeace doesn’t need the amount of money the greedy businessmen dream of, only the tiniest fraction of it. If you donate just one euro via SMS to Greenpeace Romania, they promise to fend off the attackers of the environment, until, one day, they will stop seeing value…

• Giving a $%@#

  Marc

  17 Nov 2009 | 12:12 pm

  Holiday shopping stinks! So, make the right choice this year: give manure ($12) from Oxfam America Unwrapped. Author: Marc

• 
  Techno//Marketer - Matt Dickman on Digital Marketing and Social Technology

• Behind the Work: Jack Schulze goes deeper into Nearness [del.icio.us]

  mattanium

  RFID Rube Goldberg machine

• MySpace Strives to Recover Its Cool [del.icio.us]

  mattanium

  Interesting move, but is it too late? MySpace still is the leader in music, but can they get traction again?

• Where you at, Matt?

  Matt Dickman

  15 Oct 2009 | 8:09 am

  A number of you have noticed that I have been scarcely around the blog and Twittersphere over the past couple of months. I have a lot going on and wanted to step back and gather my thoughts. I just wanted you to know that I am not gone, I am just on a short hiatus. I have a couple of big announcements coming up as well as a little branding overhaul for Techno//Marketer. Long story short, I'm going to be back soon, better than ever (I hope), so thank you for reading and I'll be back in the conversation with you very soon. If you liked this post, you can subscribe to the Techno//Marketer RSS…

• Facebook Connect Goes Mobile [del.icio.us]

  mattanium

  Facebook is extending its Connect data portability technology to developers of mobile sites and applications, following its launch six months ago for iPhone developers, the company announced Thursday in an official blog.

• Want better digital strategy, ban seven dirty words

  Matt Dickman

  8 Aug 2009 | 2:13 pm

  If you love strategic planning as much as I do then I am sure that one of your biggest pet peeves is when people jump to tactics straight away in a planning meeting. Despite your most desperate attempts to steer things back on course, and define what the overall strategy looks like, you die a little when someone blurts out "Let's set up a YouTube channel and Tweet about it!". How do you get around this? Here is what I have started doing in my initial planning sessions and it seems to be working well so far. I've banned what I consider the seven dirty words of digital strategy. They are:…

• 
  Greg Verdino's Marketing Blog

• So ya wanna start a blog...

  Greg Verdino

  18 Nov 2009 | 5:48 am

  Just a friendly reminder that I'll be co-presenting a free blogging basics webinar tomorrow afternoon (11/19/09). The event is hosted by Target Marketing magazine and sponsored by Compendium Blogware, and takes place online at 2pm ET. There's still time to register (or refer your clients and friends who could use a primer), and I hope some of you will be able to tune in. My portion of the agenda explores the building blocks for creating a compelling, sustainable corporate blog that the people you're looking to reach will actually want to read (basically an updated version of my Blog DNA…

• Tim Goggin: looking for love in all the social places.

  Greg Verdino

  9 Nov 2009 | 9:28 am

  Meet Tim Goggin.  He's a single 32-year old entrepreneur who is (if you believe his pitch) the "most interesting  man in San Diego." He's also pretty frustrated with the tried-and-true dating scene and thinks social media may be good for more than just a poke. A couple of months ago, Tim created a mock-infomercial and posted it to YouTube, in hopes of attracting the woman of his dreams to a site where she might claim her "free date." Now, I'm not all that interested in single guys in San Diego but I am interested in some of the creative, low cost ways individuals--and by association…

• Upcoming speaking: free blogging basics webinar

  Greg Verdino

  4 Nov 2009 | 4:23 am

  You're probably not a blogging n00b but you probably know someone who is -- a client, a coworker, someone new to the industry or your mom perhaps. If so, you should let them know that I'm taking part in a free blogging basics webinar at 2pm ET on November 19th. Target Marketing magazine will be hosting an hour long conversation (part presentation, part Q&A) featuring Compendium Blogware CEO Chris Baggott and me sharing everything we know about how companies can get started with corporate blogging and what this means for their SEO programs. Look for practical tips about how to get one of…

• Podcaster J.C. Hutchins has killed the president

  Greg Verdino

  27 Oct 2009 | 2:30 pm

  Not the real president and not in real life. And technically speaking, J.C. didn't do the deed -- but he dreamed up the child/assassin who takes down America's main man in the opening lines of his sci-fi thriller 7th Son: Descent.Regular readers know that I have a bit of a mancrush on J.C., who has the social media chops so many brand managers can only dream of. His last print novel, Personal Effects, was a participatory, multimedia tour de force (learn more) and with 7th Son he does it again.Now, for those of you who haven't been poking around the social media space for the past few years I…

• What's the price of five dollars?

  Greg Verdino

  22 Oct 2009 | 8:57 am

    That wasn't meant to be a trick question, but rest assured the answer isn't five dollars.Here's the scoop. I drive a Nissan Altima and I've been reasonably happy with it. It's neither the best car I've ever owned nor the worst, but I'm not a car guy so if it gets me from point A to point B safely without costing me an arm and a leg in gas money I'm satisfied. The Altima more than fits the bill.I don't mind telling you that the lease runs me about $315 per month and I'm pretty diligent about paying right on time, almost always by check through the good ol' U.S. mail. This month though, I…

• 
  CK's Blog

• B2B Social Media Objections: Meet Fear, Irrelevance and Overwhelm.

  CK (Christina Kerley)

  15 Nov 2009 | 11:51 am

  Since I've written on building the B2B business case for social media and penned key tips for breaking through the knowledge barrier, it's only fitting that I take a post to focus on the main B2B objections to social media, and some strategies for overcoming them. Because even in this all-digital, always-on world I hear objections a great deal. And it's imperative that those of us who have been working and participating in social media for years take a BIG step back and remember that this space is still brand new to most B2B companies... and change takes time (and comes with…

• B2B Marketers: If Your Markets' Needs and Behaviors Have Changed... Why Hasn't Your Marketing?

  CK (Christina Kerley)

  3 Nov 2009 | 6:15 pm

  Reports, statistics and factoids are marketers' best friends. After all, data gives us information from which we glean intelligence to build our business models, marketing strategies, plans to increase market share and programs to cut through clutter. And rock-solid data is the fuel we need to drive change within our departments and across our organizations.Devoid of statistically sound findings, however, we're left relying on gut feelings and our personal views of how we perceive things to be... which can turn out to be perfectly correct or miserably myopic. So research gives us…

• Social Media Marketing Collection: Where in the (Web 2.0) World To Start?

  CK (Christina Kerley)

  2 Oct 2009 | 12:24 am

  Clients and colleagues often ask me "Where in the (Web 2.0) world to start?" when they're looking to learn about marketing with social media, the profound shifts taking place with their target audiences and the new best practices they need to grasp. So instead of sending them a long list of links, I've compiled a collection of posts, presentations and series into this slideshow... as it seems a better format for marketers to pick and choose where they want to begin. And you might just enjoy it, too. The slideshow is below (and is best viewed in full-screen format). RSS and…

• Building The B2B Business Case for Social Media Marketing: A 10-Benefit Slide Show for B2B Professionals.

  CK (Christina Kerley)

  19 Sep 2009 | 1:38 pm

  I've written and spoken plenty about the tremendous benefits that B2B companies can yield by leveraging social media. And while more B2Bs are integrating social media into their marketing mix, many are still not convinced that these game-changing media apply to their businesses. What do they need to make this leap? Rationale. B2Bs need the business case explained to them in a way that speaks to the unique objectives, needs and challenges of B2B companies (vs. those of B2Cs). To that end, I've developed this presentation for "Building the B2B Business Case for Social Media."…

• Web 2.0 Rule #8: Social media gives people more control over brand messages... but marketers (still!) ultimately influence what those messages will be.

  CK (Christina Kerley)

  30 Aug 2009 | 9:30 am

  Note: This post is part of a current series that explores 10 (Essential!) Rules That No Marketer Should Pass The "Web 2.0 Go" Without. All posts in the series are archived here. In this post we illuminate:  Web 2.0 Rule #8: Social media gives people more control over brand messages... but marketers (still!) ultimately influence what those messages will be.The tools of social media are empowering because they give everyone with access to the Web a voice. From corporate professionals to college students, seniors to teens and everyone in-between,…

• 
  Servant of Chaos

• Seeing the Trees in the Social Media Forest

  Gavin Heaton

  19 Nov 2009 | 4:30 am

  With each passing day there are more and more case studies, examples and justifications for brands to use social media. There are best practices emerging (or easily found with a Google search), thousands of “how to” blog posts explaining every aspect of social media (or perhaps the same aspect repeated 1000 times) and agencies devoted to social media as their core competency. But it seems to me that we are beginning to swim (or is it drown?) in data. Because our social media interactions are digital, we can measure plenty of things – the time you spend on our sites, the things you click…

• Five Must-Read Posts from Last Week

  Gavin Heaton

  15 Nov 2009 | 9:54 pm

  In the last week there have been a plethora of posts looking at short term futures – what’s ahead of us, what it takes to get there and even some suggestions of how real change takes place. There’s Plenty to read for marketers on the client and/or agency side. In this Ad Age article, Jacques-Herve Roubert suggests that Digital Agencies are Ready to Lead when it comes to engaging clients, creating campaigns and building their clients brands. Neil Perkin explains that it could just be social media that saves mainstream TV. In The Socialisation of TV, Neil suggests that scheduling and…

• Can Curating the Crowd Work?

  Gavin Heaton

  12 Nov 2009 | 10:29 am

  Having worked on two, and heading into the third Age of Conversation book (bringing together hundreds of thought leaders in a single, crowdsourced book), not to mention our recent efforts around The Perfect Gift for a Man (30 crowdsourced stories reinventing manhood), I feel like I have a fairly good grasp on crowdsourcing and its potential. But can it work for advertising? Will it work for agencies? And, perhaps, most importantly, will it work for the communities which emerge almost spontaneously to become part of a crowdsourcing project? Unilever are putting this to the test. Via Idea…

• One Wish - The Charter for Compassion

  Gavin Heaton

  12 Nov 2009 | 6:45 am

  If you had a wish, what would it be? Would you direct it inwardly or towards others? Would it be personal or would it be communal? Would it be larger? Would your wish be transformative, transactional or fanciful? Could you name it, nail it down, write it on a sign? Is it something you could share or would it remain a personal secret? Would you wear your wish upon your sleeve or swallow it like a burning truth? Karen Armstrong has a wish. The TED Prize winner’s wish is as follows: I wish that you would help with the creation, launch and propagation of a Charter for Compassion, crafted by a…

• Ten Ways to Kill Community

  Gavin Heaton

  9 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pm

  Sometimes the best way of understanding HOW to do something is to think how NOT to. In this fantastic short presentation, Marilyn Pratt steps through the 10 things that you can do to kill off the community that has begun to grow around your brand (or products, services etc). There is some great insight that can be applied to any business’ community – and each point is backed up with the hard won experience of working in, building up and evangelising a large corporate community. Marilyn is one of SAP’s community evangelists and knows first-hand what works (and doesn’t) – but does…

• 
  The WebMarketCentral Blog

• How Trade Publications Can Capitalize on Content Marketing and Social Media

  Tom Pick

  18 Nov 2009 | 8:57 am

  Last week I asked the question: will content marketing kill trade publications? Gordon Plutsky seems to answer in the affirmative, contending that marketers need to set up their own content distribution channels, bypassing the trade media. Ted Bahr, on the other hand, not only won't concede the death of trade magazines but isn't willing even to give up on print versions of them.Personally, I believe that trade pubs can continue to play an important role in the distribution of industry-specific, niche content to focused groups of readers due to several advantages they have over other channels.

• Marketing Automation Update: Manticore VII Released

  Tom Pick

  17 Nov 2009 | 9:49 am

  Marketing automation / demand generation software provider Manticore today announced the release of Manticore Technology VII, which includes a fully customizable user interface, email and landing page folders, an email delivery wizard, and drag-and-drop list building functionality. The company made the announcement at Salesforce.com's Dreamforce conference in San Francisco. Although the improved UI is the big change, the new version also adds integration with SalesForce.com for AdWords campaigns and improved lead generation capabilities.Manticore was founded in 2001 by Nick Walker, who is now…

• Best of 2009 (So Far): SEO Guidance, Part 2

  Tom Pick

  16 Nov 2009 | 4:51 am

  What two simple words answer almost every SEO question? What common SEO mistakes should you watch out for? How do you create a 301 redirect? Better yet, how can you avoid having to create one? What key trends in search should you be aware of, and how can you adapt to them?Discover the answers to these questions and others here in more of the best articles and blog posts on the practice of SEO so far this year.Blog SEO Tips: Top SEO Mistakes to Avoid by BlogsessiveAlex Cristache details five common SEO mistakes bloggers make that cause their sites to fare more poorly than necessary in search…

• Which is Better for Driving B2B Blog Traffic - Twitter or LinkedIn?

  Tom Pick

  11 Nov 2009 | 9:55 am

  I recently did a little test to determine whether Twitter or LinkedIn was more effective at driving traffic to a few specific posts on this blog. While the results aren't scientific by any means, they are enlightening.Various posts were promoted on Twitter (with retweeting encouraged) and to three relevant and popular LinkedIn Groups focused on social media, PR and b2b lead generation.The results? For a minimally retweeted post, Twitter drove about twice the traffic of LinkedIn. For a heavily retweeted post (Will Content Marketing Kill Trade Publications?), Twitter provided six times the…

• Best of 2009 (So Far): AdWords Tips and Tactics, Part 2

  Tom Pick

  10 Nov 2009 | 6:19 am

  How can you utilize rich media ads to take advantage of the coverage provided by Google's content network? Which AdWords reports are the most critical, and how you can take full advantage of the information they provide? How is AdWords Quality Score calculated, and how can you improve that score in your campaigns? How can you calculate the potential advertising value of AdWords before making a costly investment?Find the answers to these questions and others here in more of the best articles and blog posts on maximizing the value of Google AdWords from the past year.Setting up PPC Campaigns…

• 
  Powerfeedback by Scott

• Market Research made me millions

  17 Nov 2009 | 9:04 pm

  We (Powerfeedback) have done a considerable amount of presentations to new potential clients in the last 10 days. One common thread that continues to pop up and amaze me is how clients view market research. Instead of looking at business intelligence as well as market and consumer research as a profit center, firms seem to be viewing this as a cost center. I don’t get it! In every project that we do, we always look at how the results of our work will help companies improve their bottom-line and profitability. Why is this so foreign to our competitors? Why do some many clients only look at…

• Is the recession bringing you closer?

  14 Nov 2009 | 9:36 am

  With more families dining out less, staying home more often and taking “staycations”, we are wondering if the current economic tsunami has brought you and your family closer together. Please take a second (literally!) to vote in our 1 question poll. Results will be released next week. Thanks!

• Opportunities in Adversity

  11 Nov 2009 | 7:45 pm

  Along with 19 other CEO’s, I had the pleasure and privilege of participating in a special roundtable event at the NYSE Euronext in New York sponsored by Chief Executive Magazine. We discussed opportunities in adversity and what it will take for businesses to survive and thrive in the years to come. It was an honor to represent Powerfeedback and Confidential Counselor at this event! I encourage you to check out this recap from the brainstorming session.

• Thank a Veteran today!

  11 Nov 2009 | 3:55 am

  Though we should do this every day, today is a special day to take a moment to remember and to thank those brave military personnel who defend our liberty, both home and abroad. If you happen to have the honor of encountering an active member or a veteran of the military today, please take a moment to shake their hand and to thank them for their service and sacrifice for our country. On behalf of everyone at Powerfeedback, may God Bless all members of our military on this Veterans Day.

• Who do you trust?

  9 Nov 2009 | 3:40 pm

  With less than 60 days left in 2009, our attention is much more focused on 2010. What lies ahead for 2010, and what will be the mantra? I am now convinced, more than ever, that 2010 will be the year of “trust.” Though trust has a broad meaning for many people, in business, it will come down to with whom do you trust to do business. Why is this? In 2009, could we trust the banks, Wall Street, politicians, Detroit? Not hardly! Even if the economy starts to, or actually does recover in 2010, I do not think that things will ever be the same, again, or, at least, not for a very long time!

• 
  Ad Your Comment Here

• Making Graphics Sexy Does Make a Difference

  Kate

  17 Nov 2009 | 5:00 pm

  Sami Ben Gharbia passed along a good link on Twitter about how you can never have too many graphics in your data representations.  The CNN article focuses on government and organizational data, which, to date, has been considered highly useful, but pretty boring.  Where is this trend going? “A booming interest in data visualization, which can transform boring stats into compelling graphical presentations explaining our world.” This concept obviously translates into any environment, and I couldn’t agree more. You know how important first impressions are?  How wearing your…

• HubSpot TV Episode #65 – Social Media, digital activism and Girls in Tech

  Kate

  16 Nov 2009 | 9:20 am

  6 November episode of HubSpot TV discussing social media news, DigiActive/digital activism and Girls in Tech. You can get the full show notes on the HubSpot Blog. More »Powered by Bookmarkify™HubSpot TV Episode #65 – Social Media, digital activism and Girls in Tech is a post from: Ad Your Comment Here

• Managing Meeting Madness

  Anya

  11 Nov 2009 | 12:26 pm

  I’m going old school this week to rant about something I actually haven’t faced in awhile but that is beginning to crop up again and drives me nuts. Meetings. Meetings about meetings. Being in meetings and having someone suggest, maybe we should schedule a meeting to discuss this. Really? We’re already IN a meeting! We’ve been in it for an hour and half! How could we possibly need more meetings? (Insert various expletives and, as my mother would say, using the Lord’s name in vain) Meetings are the bane of productivity. Ok, correction, SOME meetings are the bane…

• Check out HubSpot TV this week for a discussion on digital activism

  Kate

  3 Nov 2009 | 1:35 pm

  I’ll be on HubSpotTV this Friday as a guest.  We’ll spend a few minutes talking about digital activism before diving into a week of news. You can either view online or, even better, if you’re in Cambridge, come on down to HubSpot (see site for details).  There’ll be food from Lansdowne Pub as well! More »Powered by Bookmarkify™Check out HubSpot TV this week for a discussion on digital activism is a post from: Ad Your Comment Here

• What’s this thought leadership thing all about?

  Anya

  29 Oct 2009 | 9:06 am

  PR agencies, consultants, industry experts and your board of directors are all talking about it. Thought leadership! The latest industry buzzword, the serious business’s way of talking about social media and a more stoic way of saying “we’re gonna make you a star!” What B2B company CEO doesn’t want to be considered a thought leader? Who doesn’t want the rest of their niche industry flocking to them for visionary ideas and insightful analysis of trends? In reality, most companies and CEOs have been striving for this for years. The marketing team didn’t…

• 
  m-cause

• Inspired to Change History: A Motivational Guest Post from Shawn Seipler of Clean the World

  Ryan

  17 Nov 2009 | 12:00 am

  Clean the World co-founder Shawn Seipler has provided m-cause with a very motivational guest post today.   In the post, Shawn talks about his burning desire to change his life and help others.  Shawn will get you fired up to go out there and make some change this holiday season–and beyond! So enjoy the guest post…big thanks to Shawn! Have you ever gotten up in the morning and felt absolutely convinced that you could change history? I mean, you can see change right in front of you- an opportunity to alter something in the current state of our world that would change history.

• MyVetwork: Help spread the word on Veterans Day

  Ryan

  11 Nov 2009 | 6:03 am

  In the USA, Nov 11th is Veterans Day. This year, in a show of support for Veterans and active duty servicemen/women, P&G is sponsoring Digital Veterans Day (DVD).  On Wednesday, digital leaders from P&G, Google, Microsoft, Facebook & Yahoo will descend on Cincinnati to support the non-profit social networking site MyVetwork. The goal of the night will be to leverage social networks, buzz & targeted online ad buys to deliver 100,000 new registrants on the non-profit site. Below are some of the benefits of MyVetwork… Connect To a New Career Despite Veterans’ proven…

• Polluting the Brand Purpose Ecosystem

  Ryan

  3 Nov 2009 | 1:08 pm

  “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. Utterly meaningless! –Ecclesiastes 1:2 Responsibility, Integrity, Communications, Excellence –Core values adopted by the now defunct Enron I’ve written a lot about brand purpose lately on this blog and for the most part I believe its good business practice for companies & brands to have a distinctive purpose.  Lately, a lot of companies seem to be getting quite good at succinctly articulating their reason(s) for being. I’ve pulled a couple of examples of brands that I like from a book by Roy Spense called…

• Action driving personal change–Clean the World co-founder Shawn Seipler

  Ryan

  28 Oct 2009 | 2:51 pm

  As life is action and passion, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of his time, at the peril of being not to have lived. Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. Shawn Seipler has an inspirational story. A couple of years ago, Shawn was looking for new business opportunities in the “red-hot” green business sector.   Little did he know that he would find himself on the CBS evening news (click here to watch), presenting his non-profit success story Clean the World just after incubating the idea. Not only did Shawn experience quick success with a fantastic…

• Fake Brand specialists. No Produkt placement? No problem!

  Ryan

  21 Oct 2009 | 10:00 am

  “In appearance is the promise of what doesn’t appear” Theodor Adorno, German cultural philosopher A few weeks ago, I sat down to watch one of the most famous (and longest running) German TV shows–Wetten Dass (Wanna Bet?).  Wetten Dass does not only do well in Germany; it is also the most successful TV show in Europe–deftly combining Celebrity talk show ambiance with bizarre tricks from “the average Joe” (or Fritz in this case).  Wetten Dass only airs every couple of months, but the show is long…lasting about 2-3 hours without commercial interruption.

• 
  Sales Lead Insights: A Blog About B2B Lead Generation, Marketing and Sales

• 2009’s 50 Most Influential People in Sales Lead Management

  Mac McIntosh

  16 Nov 2009 | 6:56 pm

  I promised to link to the list of the top 50 most influential people in sales lead management. The ballots are counted. (Imagine the drum roll.) And the winners are: http://www.salesleadmgmtassn.com/news/2009_Top50_SalesLeadManagement.htm To those of you who voted for me, my sincere thanks! -Mac If you'd like to learn more, please use my Contact Form, call me directly at 1-800-944-5553 or +1-401-294-7730, or check out the marketing consulting or speaking and training pages on my website.

• B2B Copywriting: Interview with Miller McMillan

  Mac McIntosh

  16 Nov 2009 | 7:58 am

  This is one of a series of occasional interviews with top practitioners on topics of interest to B2B lead generation, marketing and new business development professionals. Miller McMillan is a copywriter who worked on high-profile accounts at ad agencies in Atlanta and Boston before establishing his copywriting boutique in Los Angeles. Miller has worked with such clients as CNN, Hughes, Nestlé, Avery and Microsoft. His copywriting capabilities include websites, direct mail, email, ad campaigns, brochures, slogans and names. Miller, it seems to me that copywriting plays a big…

• The Top People in Sales Lead Management in 2009: Friday, November 13th is Your Last Chance to Vote!

  Mac McIntosh

  12 Nov 2009 | 9:36 pm

  Don’t miss this opportunity to vote for your top five candidates to be among the fifty most influential people in sales lead management in 2009. Why? Because the Sales Lead Management Association (SLMA) is closing the polls at Midnight Pacific Time (UTC-8) on Friday, November 13th. Both members and non-members can vote. So why don’t you click this link to cast your votes right now: www.salesleadmgmtassn.com/top50_vote.htm  Then be sure to watch for the results on November 16, 2009. I promise to publish the list of winners right here, whether I make the cut or…

• Web Inquiry Management: Interview with Mike Wallen

  Mac McIntosh

  11 Nov 2009 | 8:48 am

  This is one of a series of occasional interviews with top practitioners on topics of interest to B2B lead generation, marketing and new business development professionals. My guest is Mike Wallen, CEO of The Lead Dogs, a B2B lead development company that provides sales lead generation, telemarketing and telesales services. Mike, I understand that you recently published a special report about the handling of web inquiries, titled "The Truth Behind Web Inquiry Management." What do you include under the definition "web inquiries," and why did you focus the report on them?

• Your B2B Lead Generation Budget: Start by Cutting It Into Thirds

  Mac McIntosh

  9 Nov 2009 | 11:58 pm

  Here is a simple and effective way to allocate your business-to-business lead generation budget. Use the first third of your B2B lead generation budget for Internet marketing. Start with: Search engine optimization (SEO) so your web pages will be found when prospects are using the leading search engines to find companies, products or services like yours Improving your website so it does a better job of helping visitors move from awareness to inquiry to consideration to purchase (Help yourself to my complimentary Web site design checklists for B2B marketers.) Adding your company and its…

• 
  Experience: The Blog

• Chip Conley and Authenticity vs. Transparency : Which is More Important?

  Augie Ray

  6 Nov 2009 | 4:01 pm

  Transparency and Authenticity are both important in Social Media and in our newly Social World, but what's the difference and which is more important?  The two are often used interchangeably, but authenticity is not  the same as transparency. Complete transparency may be thought of as revealing every private, confidential, or personal thought or experience; complete authenticity is more about being true to your ideals and never being fake or untruthful. Chip Conley, CEO of Joie de Vivre hotels, has provided us a lens through which we may evaluate the difference between--and the…

• The Principle of Transparency: A Tale of Two Employers

  Augie Ray

  27 Oct 2009 | 11:24 pm

  Social Media practitioners use the word “transparency” frequently, but it seems to mean different things to different people. To me, transparency isn’t something organizations bring to their Social Media efforts but instead is a fundamental change in corporate mindset being accelerated by Social Media’s growth and adoption. It isn’t a choice made on Twitter but the way an organization may choose to live. In short, transparency is a principle, not a strategy or tactic. Some recent experiences with Fullhouse and Forrester, my current and future employers, have helped me to…

• Marketing is NOT Changing; Just Ask Paul Revere

  Augie Ray

  26 Oct 2009 | 10:15 pm

  Image via WikipediaWe Social Marketers love to tell others how marketing is fundamentally changing, but what if that is not only counterproductive but also inaccurate? This was the provocative hypothesis explored tonight during a 20-minute car ride I enjoyed with Jeremy Epstein of Never Stop Marketing. (Apparently, I should have driven slower in order to enjoy our fascinating conversation for longer.) Clearly, something is happening in the marketing realm--traditional media is stagnating, media consumption habits are changing, individuals have access to tools that furnish mass-media-like…

• Reach, Sentiment, and "Balloon Boy"

  Augie Ray

  25 Oct 2009 | 7:02 pm

  Attaining reach in traditional media is easy--buy an ad. Attaining reach in Social Media can be more challenging--marketers can buy ads to guarantee impressions on Social Networks, but those impressions are far less impactful than the ones that occur when consumers praise, recommend, or share their enthusiasm for a product with others.All impressions are not equal, so it is important that metrics-obsessed marketers take care to consider subjective sentiment along with objective measures of scale. The difference between reach and sentiment can be demonstrated by assessing the impressions and…

• My New Adventure with Forrester

  Augie Ray

  21 Oct 2009 | 8:25 pm

  As some of you who follow my Tweet stream may know, I am leaving Fullhouse (a place I love full of bright people I respect) for an exciting new opportunity; I'll be joining Forrester's Foster City (Bay area) office as a Sr. Analyst of Social Computing.You may have noticed that my blog production has been down a bit recently; that's because Forrester's recruiting process is thorough and time consuming, but also very fun and exciting. I got the chance to write my first Forrester report and then present it in their Cambridge, MA home office. (I hope to share more about this report--exploring the…

• 
  Association Marketing Springboard (Now SocialFishing)

• Clarity and your social media team

  Lindy Dreyer

  29 Oct 2009 | 5:00 am

  Following up on Maddie’s 10 steps for building an internal social media team, and my little clarity over control post, here’s a little something for all you visual people. On the top, you see what happens when an organization sets up their social media team as the gatekeepers of all online social interactions. Below that is a depiction of the social media team as a service to the organization, providing the framework, structure, training, and clarity for the rest of the organization to run with. When you remember that the more people you know, the more you can do, one of these…

• Test post: Ignore this. Sorry.

  Lindy Dreyer

  13 Oct 2009 | 2:29 pm

  96k83t4jig

• Rant Alert: Forget Perfect

  Lindy Dreyer

  13 Oct 2009 | 5:19 am

  My other half likes to say “don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good.” He picked the phrase up from a senior executive in his organization. So here’s my little rant for the week. Forget trying to find the perfect technology tool for your organization’s social media needs–you’re procrastinating. When the tool finally comes around, you’ll be so far behind it won’t help. Stop trying to force your old business processes onto social media tools–we’re not handcuffed by fax machines and mimeographs anymore, people. And yes, some…

• 5 Ways Clarity Can Replace Control

  Lindy Dreyer

  7 Oct 2009 | 5:00 am

  It’s one of the things Clay Shirky said at ASAE09–control is a thing of the past. Clarity should be the goal for today.  Clarity and control are not new topics among some of my favorite association blogs. Still, the way Clay Shirky framed the issue was, well, very clear. Scott Briscoe talks a little about what Clay said at ASAE09 on Acronym, and I wanted to think about the practical side of it here. Clarity takes courage. I just did what feels like my thousandth interview about the risks of social media. There is just so much fear out there. What if someone criticizes us? What if…

• Crowdsourcing ASAE Marketing Insights

  Lindy Dreyer

  30 Sep 2009 | 7:54 am

  Fresh on the heals of the latest Associations Now crowdsourcing experiment, the ASAE marketing section is trying it for their Marketing Insights eNewsletter. Be among the first to suggest and vote on topics you want to see covered in Marketing Insights. Volunteer five minutes for the marketing section right now. You know you want to. Not familiar with Marketing Insights? Allow me to change that. You might have picked up that it’s the eNewsletter for ASAE’s marketing section. If you’re in the marketing section, you’re probably already getting it. Right now, it’s…

• 
  No man is an iland

• Best, safe and optimal practices in email marketing: not always the same thing

  Mark Brownlow

  19 Nov 2009 | 3:34 am

  If you're looking to take the next big leap with your email marketing, one way is to distinguish between two types* of best practices.There are best practices that help optimize your email marketing. Truths that are as near-universal as we can get them. A good example is sending new sign-ups an immediate welcome message.It's hard to imagine a scenario where not sending some kind of welcome message is the best course of action.That's what best practices are supposed to be about: proven approaches that are better than the alternatives.But there's another type of best practice. One that does not…

• Future of deliverability: resources, tools, further reading

  Mark Brownlow

  16 Nov 2009 | 3:46 am

  Part 1: User interactionPart 2: AuthenticationPart 3: Domain-based reputationPart 4: CertificationPart 5: B2B and sender reputationAnd so we come to the end of this series. To finish, I compiled a list of 192 deliverability resources available for you at this site and elsewhere.These cover: introductory articles, themed article collections (e.g. authentication, sender reputation), blogs, Twitter accounts, tools/services and a special section on deliverability's future.If you have any recommended sites, services etc. to add to the list, use the comments to let me know. Though 192 is a nice…

• Future of deliverability: 5. Sender reputation and B2B email marketing

  Mark Brownlow

  10 Nov 2009 | 1:06 pm

  Part 1: User interactionPart 2: AuthenticationPart 3: Domain-based reputationPart 4: CertificationYou can't avoid the idea of reputation when talking about deliverability.And we've already seen how your reputation as a sender of email will become associated with your domain, making you more accountable for your email activities.[Accountability is a good thing as long as you're delivering true value to your subscribers. It helps keep bad emailers out of the inbox.]Still, some marketers wonder just how much attention to give sender reputation.OK, it plays a major role at big B2C webmail…

• Email software popularity: 5 lessons for your list

  Mark Brownlow

  5 Nov 2009 | 12:36 am

  Who cares what software people use to read your emails?If you have a "safe" email design, you know each message displays gracefully whether viewed in Outlook 2007 or Gmail.The only exception is when people use a mobile device, but you can get round that with the assumption that they'll save your mail to view on a desktop later.But there is value to knowing exactly where your emails are viewed.Getting the statsYou may be wondering how on earth you can tell whether people are viewing your messages on AOL or Apple Mail. It's only recently that the right tools have become available.I used the…

• Future of deliverability: 4. The role of certification

  Mark Brownlow

  30 Oct 2009 | 6:39 am

  Part 1: User interactionPart 2: AuthenticationPart 3: Domain-based reputationIf your emails are certified by an authoritative third-party, then you get priority delivery treatment at ISPs that recognize that certification.Sound good?Yes, no, maybe: the pros and cons of getting your emails certified are outlined here.In theory, certification simplifies life for ISPs and others managing incoming email by pre-identifying "good" messages.So some might suggest (I have in the past) that certification is the future of email deliverability.But does our panel of experts agree?Will certification become…

• 
  IanSchafer.com

• Serendipity & Anonymity

  Ian Schafer

  12 Nov 2009 | 7:59 am

  via vimeo.com From the Hive Awards (of which I am on the advisory board): THE BUZZ: EPISODE 1 The Buzz is a series of panel discussions about the evolving state of the digital world, sponsored by The Hive Awards. Hosted by Adweek Digital Editor Brian Morrissey, The Buzz is designed to stimulate, provoke and delight. This episode's panel includes Noah Brier, Head of Planning & Strategy at The Barbarian Group, Ian Schafer, Founder & CEO of Deep Focus and Alan Wolk, Blogger, Creative Strategist and Executive Director of the Hive Awards.

• Why Google's Acquisition of AdMob Isn't Just About Advertising.

  Ian Schafer

  9 Nov 2009 | 6:48 pm

  In case you missed it, Google acquired mobile ad network AdMob for $750 million in stock. There is a lot of speculation on why, but the obvious reason is that Google wants more direct access to what they are betting heavily on -- that mobile is the next great advertising medium. They've made a huge bet on mobile with Android -- which is an obvious move to own the mobile search ad market, but now they've got their hooks into the mobile display ad market as well. But what many might be missing could be the biggest reason Google bought AdMob: the data. With the acquisition of AdMob, Google now…

• What's Wrong With Facebook's Friend Suggestions?

  Ian Schafer

  4 Nov 2009 | 7:40 pm

  Wait a minute. That's not Joanne Bradford's name OR photo. Anyone know why this would be happening?

• My Next Appearance: Dow Jones/Nielsen Media and Money

  Ian Schafer

  4 Nov 2009 | 1:29 pm

  I'll be speaking with some folks I greatly admire on November 13th at the Roosevelt Hotel in NYC at the Dow Jones/Nielsen Media & Money Conference, on an agenda that includes Tim Armstrong, Kara DioGuardi, Gregory Maffei, and a hero of mine, Steve Tisch. Here's my session: 10:25 – 11:10 AM Part II: The Advertiser's Perspective: Harnessing Social Media Leading advertisers debate real opportunities in the rapidly expanding digital world and discuss how to foster a deeper connection with consumers. Growth in mobile media and social networks represent the latest in a string of new…

• Apple Takeover of Wired.com

  Ian Schafer

  30 Sep 2009 | 9:48 pm

  via vimeo.com In case you missed it, Apple did a very cool takeover of Wired.com. It comes very close to overdoing it, but stops just short. It's an ad that makes you want to hit "replay". In fact, I did.

• 
  Cash Tactics

• Dear Ryan Moran Imposter… Are you retarded?

  Kris

  18 Nov 2009 | 4:28 pm

  How retarded can you really be posting on a blog under someones name that isn’t yours. It’s not like I’m ever going to see you in real life… So why don’t you use your real name? Or at least the username people know you by in forums… Is your life that sad that you have to hide behind someone else? Why would you be stupid enough to make a comment on a blog and then ask for the comment not to be shown? “Were is Ruck we miss him. he use to provides lot of good shit. know it’s all random junk on this site. i hope u read this and take action to take this…

• They did it again (this time for free)

  Kris

  13 Nov 2009 | 10:03 pm

  Hey Guys and Gals, It’s been a while since I’ve posted on here. I do apologize for that. I’ve had a lot of things going on with several product launches and just life in general. Anyways I want to tell you about a pretty AWESOME and FREE tool that the guys over at PPC Bully are giving away. It’s… A tool bar… Thats it really… But this toolbar has some pretty good functionality in it for PPC marketers! Now, if you are like any other affiliate in the industry then you know very well how quickly you can have ” Information Overload”, especially when it…

• Server Move is Done

  Kris

  11 Nov 2009 | 7:04 pm

  If you did anything in the last 24 hours on the site ie left a comment or forum post chances are it is no longer there. So… if you want it back there… You’ll need to go back in and post it. ShareThis Related posts:Downtime Expected Server Change I got a ton of offline work to try and...C2M’s BOLD move and my thoughts on it. If you are out the the CPA sphere then this...

• Moving Servers

  Kris

  9 Nov 2009 | 1:04 pm

  Just giving you a heads up. I’ll be moving servers here in the next 2 days. So if the site goes down for a second then it will be back up shortly! Kris ShareThis Related posts:My first CT blog post! Hey everyone, I would like to thank you for your...Check out my Interview. Hey guys and gals. I just wanted to give you...Killer Social Media Tactic With Image Hosts I almost forgot how easy this tactic was, until I...

• Why The Traditional Advertising Agency Model Is Broken

  Kris

  3 Nov 2009 | 7:59 am

  This is a guest post by Ad Hustler Not long ago “Traditional Advertising Agencies” ruled the advertising landscape. Companies would hire these traditional agencies as their “agencies of record” and the agency would put together their media plans, do their creative work and negotiate their media buys. Advertising agencies would do all of this for a 15% commission of the monthly media buys. To give you insight as to how traditional advertising agencies make money here is a little tidbit of info. Most traditional media sources have 2 prices. The net price and the gross…

• 
  The Future Buzz

• When You’re Not Sure About An Idea…

  Adam Singer

  20 Nov 2009 | 5:49 am

  You should probably try it.  There’s a reason you’re unsure.  Perhaps you’re unsure because it involves taking a chance or you don’t think it’s perfect.  Yet the ideas – especially the creative variety – that you’re unsure about are probably the most interesting.  They’re also probably interesting because they are imperfect. Perfection isn’t as pleasing to us as imperfection because it’s not natural.  This is where so many get the web wrong:  ideas which are overly polished don’t resonate with people, they resonate…

• In A Connected Society, Comprehension Of Sociology Is King

  Adam Singer

  17 Nov 2009 | 6:01 am

  Something strange has happened.  It’s more than just your marketing being dated, although that happened too.  There is a deeper shift that has occurred and few have caught up with it. It’s that marketing itself was disrupted.  We need something else.  And what’s next is going to look more sociology-driven than something taken from a marketing best practices book. Traditional marketing tenants were designed for a society where communication from the few to the many was the norm.  We were all taught them.  But they’re sort of useless.  Hear me out:  it’s…

• Social Media Before SEO Is Putting The Cart Before The Horse

  Adam Singer

  13 Nov 2009 | 6:10 am

  Everyone is buzzing about social media marketing.  You can’t turn your head without hearing about it at a conference.  Marketing and PR professionals are either engaged today or thinking about how to engage tomorrow.  Everyone is suddenly claiming expert status (by the way:  you don’t need a social media expert, you just need a good marketer). None of this is surprising.  Social media doesn’t require knowledge of technology or staying on top of  trends and technologies.  Not in the same way SEO does.  In comparison social media is easy to get right.  You just need…

• To Blog Is To Lead

  Adam Singer

  9 Nov 2009 | 5:45 am

  A few weeks ago, I shared 50 blogging lessons to help out those who are new.  It sparked quite a few discussions external of this blog – and one particularly interesting thread by book review blogger Jackie Bailey. The original lesson on leading was as follows: 12.  If you’re not a leader, don’t even bother.  Your writing will show it.  The best bloggers are natural leaders and exude confidence.  You have to be if you hope to stand out in a world of infinite choice.  It’s basic sociology, why else would anyone listen to you? Let’s look at Jackie’s reaction to…

• Shift Your PR From Push To Pull

  Adam Singer

  5 Nov 2009 | 5:51 am

  Something interesting has happened with the advent of all people and companies becoming media.  It is now possible to shift your PR from the infinite treadmill of push to the more reliable and greater returns of pull. This is a complete 180 from how PR used to be done.  But it’s a higher value path because it is organic and scalable – your influence grows by virtue of your presence if you fully embrace a pull strategy.  Bring your desired audience to you where they will listen intently as opposed to unartfully pushing your messages to them. I could speak from a strategic level…

• 
  Interactive Marketing Trends

• @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/

• BK Augmented Reality Dollar

  31 Oct 2009 | 8:21 am

  another great use of augmented reality. i say 'another' but there are very few out there. good to see people are starting to realise how to use this nice shiney object, rather than just doing it for doing its sake. who do you think will be the first to tag their whole product catalogue - unilever or p& g; hold up a product and it tells you how to use it, shows you a recipe or adds it to your basket...Tags: augmented realitybkdollar billgiles rhys jones

• Let Me Entertain You

  30 Oct 2009 | 4:30 am

  I also do this.Tags: ogilvy entertainmentbranded content

• Its All About Mobile

  22 Oct 2009 | 1:33 am

  Mary Meeker's Internet Presentation 2009 Slide 29 on. Nailed.Tags: web 2.0mary meekermobilegiles rhys jones

• Ogilvy Speak At TED

  14 Oct 2009 | 12:10 pm

  What value the intangible? Everyone in marketing should watch Ogilvy UK Group Vice Chairman, Rory Sutherland speak at TED on how advertising adds value to a product by changing perception. That change in perceived value can be just as satisfying as what we consider “real” value. Comments suggest this is up with the best TED talks ever...Disclaimer: I am lucky to work with Rory/hang on his coatails.Tags: advertisingTEDrory sutherlandgiles rhys jones

• 
  Start a Company & Grow Your Business with ARRiiVE Sales Tips & Marketing Ideas

• 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…

• King Solomon's Wisdom and Building an Organization

  27 Oct 2009 | 10:50 am

  I'm working on a new book based upon an article I published at AspireNow called "Great Leaders Series: How King Solomon's Wisdom Built a Kingdom" that I'll be rolling out along with several other books and workbooks this next year. Articles related to leadership, sales, and success are now published here at the ARRiiVE: Innovations In Business blog.Have you seen the article on using King Solomon's Wisdom To Build A Team?In the article, I bring up several issues and questions entrepreneurs face:How to align your organization for optimum chances of success?Where to focus your efforts to…

• Are Sales and Relationships Synonymous Terms

  22 Oct 2009 | 12:33 pm

  I am talking to a bank manager about the possibility of creating a sales training program for her bank.It's an intriguing opportunity, for several reasons. For one, she mentioned to me that she likes the idea, because her firm currently does not have any formal sales training."We call it customer relationship skills but same thing," she corrected herself."Is it?" I replied."Well, in the end, we want more business," the bank manager said.This comment is causing me to think about sales in the way my client thinks of sales: where each sell is not really so much about the sell, itself, but about…

• Focus: Starting A Business

  21 Oct 2009 | 10:00 am

  Utilizing the power of FOCUS is key to starting a company or launching a product successfully.If you're an idea person, as many entrepreneurs tend to be, you're likely at some point to attempt starting a business. Hey, it's challenging, it's fun, there's a thrill in the success, and well, there's also a bummer downside. But, nevertheless, if that spirit is inside you, there's probably nothing you can do to fight the urge.Now, if you're like me, an idea person with so many ideas it is hard to keep up with them all, then your biggest challenge in starting a business might just have to do with…

• 
  Compelling Marketing Blog

• Copywriter’s Hit List: Victim Verbs

  admin

  17 Nov 2009 | 5:45 am

  Your English teacher probably called them passive verbs but I think “victim” paints a clearer picture of what they’ll do to your copy. It also nicely sums up what you’re looking for—sentences where something is happening TO the subject, instead of the subject making something happen. But whatever you call them, victim verbs make your copy blah, wordy [...]

• Who Do You Celebrate In Your Network?

  admin

  11 Nov 2009 | 8:50 am

  In addition to honoring our military heroes here in the U.S., Liz Lynch–author of Smart Networking: Attract A Following In Person and Online– has also suggested we celebrate our own personal heroes as part of Network Appreciation Day today. Because even if you’ve thanked someone for the help they gave you at the time, they may [...]

• Winning Back Former Customers–Kennedy Style

  admin

  9 Nov 2009 | 7:40 am

  When it comes to killer marketing, the Kennedy Glazer folks are usually at the top of the list. And when it comes to “lost” customers, it’s no exception. I let my subscription to the No BS Marketing Newsletter lapse a few months ago and recently received a 6 x 9 envelope touting the No BS Insider’s [...]

• Pull the Trigger on New Clients

  admin

  4 Nov 2009 | 1:19 pm

  Zeroing in on events that prompt prospects to realize it’s time for a new solution (aka “trigger events”) are a great way to find new prospects because it focuses your efforts on a market of ready or nearly ready buyers. Whether you love or hate him, the election of President Bill Clinton was a HUGE [...]

• Joint Venture Mistake #5 — Thinking Small

  admin

  30 Oct 2009 | 8:30 am

  As Michael Jordan says, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. So identify the rockstar joint ventures you would love to have and approach them. All they can do is ignore you or say no. One of my clients was looking for speakers and JV partners for an upcoming telesummit and was happily surprised [...]

• 
  Damn, I Wish I'd Thought of That!

• How Coca-Cola empowers fans all over the world — live with Adam Brown

  Andy Sernovitz

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pm

  We’re bringing together an all-star group of word of mouth marketers for Word of Mouth Supergenius: The “How to be Great at Word of Mouth Marketing” Conference on December 16 in Chicago. We’ll feature 12 how-to classes, 12 real-world case studies, and 6 brilliant authors. You’re going to learn practical, hands-on techniques to get people talking about you the next day. Our lineup of speakers includes word of mouth supergenius and Coca-Cola Group Director, Digital Communications, Adam Brown. Here Adam shares a few tips based on the case study he’ll be presenting:…

• Microtesting: Sell it before you build it

  Andy Sernovitz

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:00 am

  Before you build a product, test it by offering it for sale on your website. If no one responds, you’ve just saved tons of time and money. If the responses include suggestions, you’ve just improved the product before you even started. If people give you money — bingo! This sort of testing is faster, cheaper, and more informative than any generic study or focus group. From Inc. Magazine: Consider the method used by TPGTEX Label Solutions, a Houston-based software company that specializes in bar codes and labels for manufacturers and chemical companies. Like many companies,…

• How Starbucks used fan feedback to help launch VIA — live with Matthew Guiste

  Andy Sernovitz

  19 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pm

  We’re bringing together an all-star group of word of mouth marketers for Word of Mouth Supergenius: The “How to be Great at Word of Mouth Marketing” Conference on December 16 in Chicago. We’ll feature 12 how-to classes, 12 real-world case studies, and 6 brilliant authors. You’re going to learn practical, hands-on techniques to get people talking about you the next day. Our lineup of speakers includes word of mouth supergenius and Starbucks Social Media Manager, Matthew Guiste. Here Matthew shares a few tips on using fan feedback based on the Starbucks case study…

• Newsletter #757: The “Inspire People” Issue

  Andy Sernovitz

  19 Nov 2009 | 8:15 am

  [Welcome back to the Damn, I Wish I Thought of That Email Newsletter. This is text of the great issue all of our email subscribers just received. Sign yourself up using the handy form on the right.] It’s more rewarding to work at a company that does its part to make the world better. You can do it without pushing an overly-political agenda or getting ultra-hippie; here are three ideas to get you started inspiring people: 1> To help local communities 2> To be eco-friendly 3> To do awesome things 4> Check it out: Oddly Specific 1> To help their communities Give your…

• Will It Blend? Our 4-part series on creating content people love to share

  Andy Sernovitz

  18 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pm

  As a preview for Word of Mouth Supergenius: The “How to be Great at Word of Mouth Marketing” Conference here in Chicago on December 16, we’re dedicating a full week to our halftime celebrities from Blendtec’s Will It Blend? video series on our Word of Mouth Marketing Blog. We’ve long been big fans of Will It Blend’s simple, cheap, and brilliant formula for creating content people love to share, and we’re thrilled to have Blendtec’s VP of Marketing and Sales, George Wright, join us for our big event next month. Installments to check out in our…

• 
  Bronto Blog

• Deliverability Forum: Pivotal Veracity

  Chris Wheeler

  20 Nov 2009 | 7:08 am

  Bronto Blog’s exclusive “Email Industry Experts Speak Out” series continues with a great Q&A session with Deirdre Baird, President & CEO of Pivotal Veracity.  Deirdre launched Pivotal Veracity in 2003 to help email marketer optimize the deliverability, design and reputation of their digital communications.  I recently talked with her about some of the burning issues in the world of email marketing deliverability: Chris - Q) How critical is authentication to filtering heuristics? Deirdre - A) Heuristic Filters work by applying a series of rules to a particular…

• Best of the Blogosphere: Increase engagement, social media and more

  Kelly Lorenz

  19 Nov 2009 | 7:24 am

  How is social media changing the way we shop? Looking for a stellar example of an unsubscribe page? Need to explain to your C-suite why email is still a useful marketing tool? Hoping to increase subscriber engagement? Looking for the kick in the butt to clean out your unengaged contacts? Look no further than the excellent articles below: Julie Anne Reda conducted a survey of consumers on their use of social media for the upcoming holiday season. The study speaks to what consumers are looking for from retailers when communicating through social networks. Our very own Joe Colopy explains via…

• Where does your email really go?

  Chris Wheeler

  17 Nov 2009 | 12:21 pm

  The Internet was designed to be a free exchange of information wherein anyone, upon a loose framework mainly having to do with networking and rendering.  Email was developed as a predecessor to the internet.  Again, one in which, as long as you had the most basic SMTP compliancy between networks, messages would be handed off between point A to B. Today, email has turned into a monumentally powerful marketing tool and communication channel that still rivals the internet and other upcoming social networks, regardless of which side of the “email is dying” debate you fall under. With email…

• Be a Data Detective: Tips to Test to Lift Engagement - Part 2

  Kelly Lorenz

  16 Nov 2009 | 5:36 am

  In the first post in this series, I posed some questions you should be asking yourself when reviewing and analyzing your message reports. In the next couple of blog posts, I’d like to cover some tips and ideas around what to test to lift your engagement metrics: opens, clicks and conversions. Consider testing… An open incentive - Opens are the gateway to your marketing message. Consider providing an incentive to procure the open. Southwest recently ran a promotion where a subscriber could win simply by opening their marketing messages. When running a promotion like this I would…

• Email Industry Experts Speak Out: Deliverability Forum

  Chris Wheeler

  13 Nov 2009 | 6:18 am

  You may not be able to readily email or call email industry experts with questions, but in a new Bronto Blog series, you’ll be as close to them as a fireside chat.  I recently took some time with experts from FTC, Pivotal Veracity, Razorfish, Cloud Mark and Return Path to ask them some timely questions about the state and future of email deliverability.  “Email Industry Experts Speak Out” will include discussion around CAN-SPAM, domain reputation, filtering, new innovations and more. For today’s blog post, I talked with Ethan Arenson, Spam Coordinator at the FTC…

• 
  MisEntropy

• Plannersphere Top 20 - November 2009

  blaiq

  7 Nov 2009 | 4:43 am

  The top 20 blogs in the plannersphere as of 6th November 2009 are: 01. advertising lab 02. Noah Brier dot Com 03. We Are Social 04. Nick Burcher 05. Only Dead Fish 06. Adspace Pioneers 07. Herd - the hidden truth about who we are  08. brand new 09. russell davies 10. Interactive Marketing Trends  11. Servant of Chaos 12. adliterate 13. livingbrands  14. Mike Arauz 15. Influxinsights 16. Make Marketing History 17. positive disruption by: Tom Martin  18. The Hidden Persuader 19. Talent imitates, genius steals 20. paul isakson a. The top 20 blog list winnows out the planning/strategy blogs…

• ten things i didn't know until last week

  blaiq

  1 Nov 2009 | 12:18 am

  1. In the Biblical account of Genesis, the first task God entrusted to Adam was to give names to all the animals.More details2. Password aging is a feature in software that forces users to change their passwords after a specified period of time.More details3. According to long-standing protocol, Brazil always speaks first at the UN General Assembly and is followed by the host country.More details4. Jazz musician Stan Getz's real name is Stanley Gayetsky.More details5. Silent movie superstar Clara Bow was the original 'It' girl - heralded as such in 1927 for appearing, appropiately enough, in…

• Plannersphere Top 20 - October 2009

  blaiq

  6 Oct 2009 | 5:04 am

  The top 20 blogs in the plannersphere as of 6th October 2009 are: 01. Noah Brier dot Com 02. Nick Burcher 03. russell davies 04. advertising lab 05. We Are Social 06. adliterate 07. Only Dead Fish 08. News from the Herd 09. Influxinsights 10. Adspace Pioneers 11. paul isakson 12. Life Moves Pretty Fast 13. Herd - the hidden truth about who we are 14. brand new 15. Servant of Chaos 16. Mike Arauz 17. The Hidden Persuader 18. livingbrands 19. From The Head Of Zeus Jones 20. Talent imitates, genius steals a. The top 20 blog list winnows out the planning/strategy blogs from the AdAge Power 150…

• Why scam ads are like pedigree dogs

  blaiq

  10 Sep 2009 | 5:19 am

  Leafing through an old issue of New Scientist magazine, I came upon this op-ed column that expresses outrage at the cruelty and insensitivity inherent in breeding pedigree dogs.It seems that pedigree dogs are so efficiently bred for narrow award-winning characteristics that as a result they often end up suffering grave ill-health and a greatly reduced quality of life.That immediately struck me as an appropriate way to describe something closer home - a scam ad. After we are done condemning the creatives and agencies behind scam ads (whenever that would be), it isn't too difficult to see the…

• Plannersphere Top 20/20 - September 2009

  blaiq

  5 Sep 2009 | 10:44 am

  The top 20 blogs in the plannersphere as of 5th September 2009 are:01. advertising lab02. Noah Brier dot Com03. Nick Burcher04. russell davies05. Adspace Pioneers06. Only Dead Fish07. We Are Social08. News from the Herd09. paul isakson10. Mike Arauz11. adliterate12. Influxinsights13. The Hidden Persuader14. Servant of Chaos15. The Hidden Persuader16. From The Head Of Zeus Jones17. Make Marketing History18. brand new19. Get Shouty20. Interactive Marketing TrendsThe top 20 posts from the plannersphere in August 2009 (actually top 27, as that's how many are tied with the same score) as ranked by…

• 
  Jim Kukral - Small Business Consultant

• This Is Why I Love Affiliate Marketing

  jim@jimkukral.com (Jim Kukral)

  20 Nov 2009 | 12:34 pm

  I was working out today and when I came back I checked my email and saw this. Dear jim kukral, new sale / lead was registered by our affiliate program. Sale details: Total cost: 164.00 Commission from this sale: 54.12 I made $54.12 during my workout, for doing nothing. When I teach students about this, it blows them away. This is what good affiliate marketing can do for you. These are the kinds of things that happen multiple times a day for me because I put the right pieces in place to drive visitors to content that includes my affiliate links. Make high-quality, problem-solving content and…

• Passion

  jim@jimkukral.com (Jim Kukral)

  20 Nov 2009 | 4:44 am

  The other day I posted about how to do a successful Webinar. One of the things we didn’t have time to cover in that podcast was passion, and how important it is for you to show it in your voice. I do an enormous amount of online teaching as well as teleseminars, podcasts, Webinars, videos and online teaching for the University of San Francisco Online. If there’s one thing I pride myself on is my passion for the topic at hand, and specifically how I convey it through my voice when I’m speaking. On stage in person too. When I’m talking to someone on a class who’s…

• Greed=Failure

  jim@jimkukral.com (Jim Kukral)

  19 Nov 2009 | 10:34 am

  If you’re going to charge more for your product/service, then you better make sure you deliver more. I’m constantly amazed by how greedy business owners can be. They work so hard to build up a brand that people love, and when the first sign of success hits them, they scale back and raise prices and make their product not as good. That’s pure greed. Here’s a tip. You can raise prices, fine. But you can’t scale back quality at the same time. Restaurants do this all the time. My family used to frequent Boston Market all the time as a Friday night dinner spot. But…

• Webinars

  jim@jimkukral.com (Jim Kukral)

  19 Nov 2009 | 8:25 am

  I just wrapped up a podcast with friend Greg Friese about Webinars. If you are at all interested in using Webinars to close more business or train or educate a group of people, a Webinar is for you. Download here. More specifically, you will learn: What software options to use for Webinars How to promote your Webinar How to use a Webinar for training, sales and education Other fantastic tips and tricks both Greg and I use This is one of the most informative podcasts I’ve ever done on a niche topic. Please let me know what you think, and share any tips you have in the comments.

• Disclosure

  jim@jimkukral.com (Jim Kukral)

  18 Nov 2009 | 7:43 pm

  I have a disclosure policy now, do you? Do you have one? If you don’t, you may want to get one in place soon as the FTC will be tightening up the noose on bloggers coming on December 1st, 2009. It’s funny, as an affiliate marketer and long-time blogger, I’ve learned these things. 1. Disclosing actually strengthens your affiliate links 2. The vast majority of readers really don’t care, or even know, and once they know, they don’t care. Assuming you’re not trying to deceive them that is. Ted Murphy at Izea just released another round of super-juicy, well-done…

• 
  David Binkowski.com

• 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…

• Twitter Integrates with Google, Bing and Yahoo! - Now What?

  David Binkowski

  29 Oct 2009 | 9:21 pm

  Twitter finally lands a few business deals, but at what cost?

• Truth in Advertising

  David Binkowski

  9 Oct 2009 | 6:30 am

  Last week Two weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending, networking, connecting and speaking at the Type A Mom conference in Asheville, NC. Kelby Carr did an amazing job and I was proud to bring my clients to the conference to help support the blogging community.One of my panel sessions was called "Working with Companies", moderated by the lovely and talented Lucretia Pruett, aka GeekMommy. She and I spent quite a bit of time together discussing the industry and where it's going, but I'll save that for another post. The session was a split between a moderated discussion by the panel and an…

• Contest: Vote for my SXSW Panel

  David Binkowski

  18 Aug 2009 | 6:20 am

  I tweeted this earlier but if you go vote for my South by Southwest panel - and I make it - I'll take you with me. No joke, I have set aside marketing budget and will pay your travel (hotel, flight) and ticket. How can you enter?Click this link to the SXSW Panel picker, then retweet it and you're entered to win. You can enter every day, as much as you'd like until the voting ends.

• What the Twitterfication of Facebook Means

  David Binkowski

  14 Mar 2009 | 8:06 am

  Facebook unveiled their new home page Wednesday and I have to say - it's awfully Twitteresque. The center well, or "stream", of content on the page is now an ajaxy, auto-updating time line of your network's status updates. The language at the top has changed as well, from "David Binkowski is" to "What's on your mind?". (Twitter's call to action has always been "What are you doing?")I think this signals a "game over" for Twitter for several reasons. I'm not saying they're going under, but the site will never achieve the sort of growth MySpace or Facebook have, and without a suitor it's…

• 
  Deliverability.com

• MySpace Email Client is Overlaying Ads on Emails In The Inbox

  Len Shneyder

  20 Nov 2009 | 3:51 pm

  Repost from Pivotal IQ BlogDuring routine testing today we discovered a problem with the MySpace Email Client. It appears that emails sent to @myspace.com email addresses are being overlayed by a right hand tower ad. The right side of the email is vanishing under the ad and making it impossible to see what's beneath; this poses a potential brand integrity problem for senders.ImplicationsThis appears to be a problem that only affects emails that are sent to @myspace addresses. For messages sent within the MySpace network, the Ad on the right doesn't appear to overlay the message. As…

• Me want cookie!, Me eat cookie!, Om Nom nom nom

  Dennis Dayman

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:01 pm

  Well I'm not sure how the cookie monster will take this news, but if you haven't heard online advertising and tracking is threatened by Europe's new cookie law. If the new law is passed within the next few weeks, websites in the EU will be required to seek consent from users before serving cookies which will ensure more pop-ups for customers to click on for consent. This requirement will go into effect eighteen (18) months after the bill is signed somewhere around December 14th. Now of course your asking yourself, why didn't I heard about this? Well don't worry, your…

• The coming Gold Rush with Domain-Based Reputation

  Fred Tabsharani

  16 Nov 2009 | 2:10 pm

  So, what are the benefits to a solid domain-based reputation?  What are the ramifications of a suspect domain? Will an ESP still send for me if my domain reputation is less than stellar? How will the actions of my subscribers influence my deliverability?  Is my domain portable?  The dawn of domain-based reputation is upon us and legitimate senders everywhere are celebrating, albeit soberly.   In a recent Pivotal Veracity report, many leading ISPs have begun to employ domain-based reputation as an effective technique of measuring a sender’s reputation by…

• Future of Deliverability: A Series

  Chris Wheeler

  16 Nov 2009 | 1:42 pm

  Mark Brownlow posted a great series on the future of deliverability at his site Email Marketing Reports.He started off with getting some well known deliverability experts in the industry together (and I am humbled to have been one of them), got our thoughts and opinions on certain topics ranging from authentication to recipient engagement to spam complaints.  And then, he put it all together in a nice chronological series coming out with a new post every week or so giving you time to digest the previous one.This is a fantastic tool and resource for folks who aren't as savvy in email…

• The First 11 Days - Holiday Deliverability Means Being Relevant

  Len Shneyder

  12 Nov 2009 | 2:39 pm

  Repost from Pivotal IQ Blog It's the time of the year when you start thinking about how many pounds your turkey will have to be to feed all of your relatives and what kind of shenanigans will ensue when Uncle Bob has one too many highballs. However pre-occupied you may be with family and the impending feasts, there's a little voice—a scared little voice—wondering what you could possibly do to improve your overall deliverability and marketing performance. Let's face it, times are tough, economics being what they are, we all must deliver a command performance to ensure our…

• 
  BeRelevant: Email Marketing Best Practices Blog

• links for 2009-11-19

  Tamara Gielen

  19 Nov 2009 | 1:01 pm

  Managing Your Email Subscribers' Expectations During The Holidays | Email Responsibly Zappos.com does a great job at managing their email subscribers' expectations – they notified their email subscribers about what they can expect to see in their inbox from Zappos.com this holiday season. (tags: cases frequency tactics) Eight Tips for Effective E-mail Preheaders When you use the preheader to expand on the subject line, add a secondary offer, or emphasize a deadline, you help the reader decide quickly what to do with the message. The easier you make your e-mail to open, read, and…

• links for 2009-11-18

  Tamara Gielen

  18 Nov 2009 | 9:05 am

  More Evidence E-mail’s Not Dead Someone forgot to tell small-business owners e-mail is dead. According to a just-released survey done by Hurwitz & Associates on behalf of e-mail service provider Campaigner, 46% of businesses with 20 employees or fewer use e-mail marketing today and of those who don’t, 36% plan to begin doing so in the coming year. (tags: study)

• links for 2009-11-16

  Tamara Gielen

  16 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pm

  Writing effective email copy - Blog - Campaign Monitor In this post Campaign Monitor's Ros Hodgekiss highlights some considerations when writing effective email copy, including tone, personality, keeping it concise, offering value to the reader and testing. (tags: copywriting)

• links for 2009-11-15

  Tamara Gielen

  15 Nov 2009 | 1:00 pm

  Digital Marketing Mixer Lessons 33 top digital marketing tips & best quotes of the event (tags: events) Future of deliverability: 5. Sender reputation and B2B email marketing It is true to say that reputation-based filtering plays a smaller role in B2B than it does in B2C. But that doesn't mean reputation is irrelevant in B2B. The idea that B2B deliverability is only about content filtering is a myth. Here are three reasons why B2B marketers also need to worry about their sender reputation. (tags: deliverability b2b) Cisco Launches WebEx Mail What? Another one? Email's…

• Full-Day Workshop: What's Working Now in Email Marketing

  Tamara Gielen

  15 Nov 2009 | 8:13 am

  Join Jeanne Jennings and myself for a full-day email marketing workshop organized by ClickZ on Monday, February 1, 2010 in Miami, FL. Jeanne and I will guide you through real-life examples of how a wide variety of businesses are implementing small changes which are increasing both the effectiveness and profitability of their campaigns. More details here. Register today and save up to $200 - now through Nov. 20 with our advanced rate. You can also lock in an additional $100 savings today when you use discount code: CL100.

• 
  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

• Miracle Whip Finds Its Brand Voice

  Rachel L. Newman

  20 Nov 2009 | 12:56 pm

  Back in June, Miracle Whip broadcasted its condiment manifesto to Gen Y. Punctuated with the official quivery chalkboard script of all advertising-spawned youth movements and set to a swaying, poly-ethnic crowd kickin’ it kiddie-pool style, a bored (yet defiant!) voice-over proclaims: “We are our own unique, one-of-a-kind flavor. We are Miracle Whip. And we will not tone it down.” Hmmm. A hipster decree from a 76-year-old sandwich spread most famous for its supporting role in my great aunt’s deviled eggs? The campaign was hard to swallow.

• Submitting Culture to the Rack of Metrification

  20 Nov 2009 | 7:41 am

  It's an unpleasant, abominable idea, submitting something as delicate as culture to the rack of metrification. But here's why it's necessary. There's so much going on "out there" in culture, so many different people creating so many different innovations, subject to change so violent and frequent, that unless we have metrics at our disposal, well, we're done for. We have no real hope of canvassing all that water front.

• There Is This Company

  20 Nov 2009 | 7:40 am

  Here's something I've been thinking about for some time now. You see, there is this company. It publishes over a hundred RSS feeds and several email newsletters, but not a single blog. The only conversations this company entertains are the ones it starts itself or is subpoenaed into. Conversations it doesn't like, it tries to silence.

• The Social Media (R)evolution: Your Time is Now

  20 Nov 2009 | 7:39 am

  The Future of the Social Web is here today and we’re learning that engagement is not a matter of if or when, but to what extent, how and what value can we deliver and derive from it. The Social Web is much more than a window into information and interaction, it is a completely transformative medium that is changing how we forge relationships, interact with one another, and distribute and discover information. In many ways, the online social revolution is reminiscent of the Industrial Revolution. Access to free and expansive media platforms and distribution channels has democratized…

• The Brand Touch Cycle

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:58 am

  A discipline that I consistently see organizations struggling with is in fully understanding the importance of touchpoints of their brand. Yes they understand the basic idea of a touchpoint—that interactions with their brand is a touchpoint that influences the overall perception of their brand. And yes they know that it is to their advantage to integrate the touchpoints of their brand as much as possible.

• 
  Marketing Technology Blog

• Masterful Branding: West Baden

  Nila Nealy

  20 Nov 2009 | 8:25 pm

  My husband, the fabulous and talented creative director Steve Nealy (shameless plug), and I spent a few days this week at the historic West Baden Springs Hotel in southern Indiana. Let me say before I get into the meat of this that if you live within a drive (or even beyond) of this hotel and the rest of the French Lick Springs Resort and haven’t seen it (or even if you have), you should make a visit. It is gorgeous. As a marketer and brand strategist, I was most impressed with the attention to their brand. Both hotels have storied histories that include visits by dignitaries of all…

• You Are Not Your User

  Travis Smith

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:35 am

  If you are an expert in your business, you know more than almost anyone about what you do and about the details of your product. Your product, by the way, can be a service, a website, or a tangible good. Whatever constitutes your product, you can likely see your expertise and genius in every part of it. The problem is … your customers can’t. Customers need to complete a task with your product so they can move on to other tasks they need to complete.  All your customers see in your product is a tool to help them accomplish a goal. In order to make a successful product, you need to…

• You’re Not Sexy, Now What?

  Chris Lucas

  20 Nov 2009 | 9:07 am

  We once had someone tell us that we, or rather our form building application, wasn’t “sexy”. In some respects I guess that person was right. Forms, by themselves are not sexy, but to the people who use them and depend on them to gather data, they are, if not sexy, pretty damn important. So how do you, a business owner, marketer, etc, that has a product or service that isn’t “sexy” make it “sexy”? Here are a few ways. Tell Your Customer’s Story: Chances are that you have some interesting companies using your service or product. Create case studies. Let customers guest…

• Promote your Brand at Conferences with a Laptop Skin

  Douglas Karr

  19 Nov 2009 | 4:34 pm

  The first time I noticed a cool skin on a laptop, it was Jason Bean’s bnpositive logo on a skin on his laptop. It really makes him stand out in a sea of laptops and is noticeable from across any conference room. I decided to go design my own skin for my MacBookPro and went through a number of websites before I found one that was simple to use and fully customizable. The site I decided on was Skinit. The interface to design the skin was incredibly simple to use… and you provide the model number of your laptop so that it’s sized perfectly and even precut around the logo. The…

• Web 2.0 Information Overload

  Carissa Newton

  18 Nov 2009 | 4:49 pm

  Overwhelmed with the amount of information, apps, and new solutions coming at you?  I know I am!  Call me silly, but some of the items I mention today may be old news to many, but with so much information out there, who can really keep up.  Unless you are Douglas Karr or Kyle Lacy – which by the way, I am convinced they don’t sleep! I’ve started using some new organizational tools to keep all of the details in check.  Here are just a few that I find helpful: Delicious Okay, okay, I know many of you reading this may already know about Delicious.  I’ve known about…

• 
  PsyBlog

• The Chameleon Effect

  Jeremy Dean

  19 Nov 2009 | 9:52 am

  Does mimicking other people's body language really make them like us? Self-help books, persuasion manuals and glossy magazine articles often advise that mimicking body language can increase how much others like us. But is it really true that mimicry causes others to like us, or is mimicry just a by-product of successful social interactions? Although it had long been suspected that copying other people's body language increases liking, the effect wasn't tested rigorously until Chartrand and Bargh (1999) carried out a series of experiments. They asked three related question: Do people…

• Self-Study Positive Psychology Courses

  Jeremy Dean

  18 Nov 2009 | 6:27 am

  Sponsored post: Positive psychology self-study courses available at Intentional Happiness How can you live a happier life? How can you discover your strengths and build on them? What is the case for hope and optimism? Dr. Robert Biswas-Diener, a happiness researcher and life coach, addresses these important questions in a workbook aimed at helping you understand and apply the lessons from the latest research in positive psychology. The Invitation to Positive Psychology workbook (PDF, $17.95) uses an engaging style to introduce the burgeoning field of positive psychology. This workbook,…

• The Psychological Immune System

  Jeremy Dean

  12 Nov 2009 | 10:36 am

  We get over bad moods much sooner than we predict, thanks to the covert work of the psychological immune system. One of the most incredible things about the human mind is its resilience. Let's face it, life can be pretty depressing at times, and yet people generally push on much the same as they always have, sometimes even with a spring in their step and a smile on their face. How come one day it seems like the world is going to end and the next there's hope? And how come our bad moods lift so unexpectedly, like a brick sprouting wings and disappearing into the clear blue sky? The reason is…

• Why Do People Bother Voting?

  Jeremy Dean

  31 Oct 2009 | 5:17 am

  Why we overestimate the power of our own vote. It might seem like an undemocratic question but it's one that's always plagued me: why do I bother voting? Most people know their own tick in the box is hardly worth it when weighed against the effort involved in getting registered and actually going to vote, let alone when weighed against all the other people voting. Quattrone & Tversky (1984) had a hunch that there was another, more complex psychological reason that people vote, to go along with the usual explanations. Not only, they guessed, do people vote because of their democratic duty…

• The Truth About Self-Deception

  Jeremy Dean

  27 Oct 2009 | 10:56 am

  Can we pull the wool over our own eyes or do we see through our mind games? In theory the one person we should never, ever, lie to is ourselves. Surely lying to ourselves is counter-productive? Like calmly and deliberately shooting yourself in the foot or taking a hot toasting fork and plunging it into your eye? But look around and it's not hard to spot the tell-tale symptoms of self-deception in other people. So perhaps we are also deceiving ourselves in ways we can't clearly perceive? But is that really possible and would we really believe the lies that we 'told' ourselves anyway? That's…

• 
  marketing 2.0

• Zappos’ HR manager on social media

  Lois Kelly

  20 Nov 2009 | 1:09 pm

  I’ll be moderated a session on how social media can affect employer brands at the Dec. 1 and 2 Conference Board “Extending Your Brand to Employees” conference, with an amazing panel of executives from Zappos, Starbucks, LIberty Mutual Group and Prudential Financial. I’ve asked the social media panelists to give us some pre-conference views on social media, using James Lipton’s “Inside the Actors Studio” question format. Here are comments from Hollie Delaney, senior human resources manager at Zappos.com. What is your favorite social media word?

• Niche-o-nomics for Technology

  Paul Dunay

  16 Mar 2008 | 5:08 am

  More and more these days it seems that the raw material for technology firms is less and less the silicon chip (oh so 1990). Instead, the startup has replaced those tiny wafers in the 21st Century. This leads us to a much more specialized type of startup company – one that can form around discrete aspects of a very narrowly defined segment. Its founders create it, own it and then manage their risks accordingly. Think about how many startups long to be bought out by Google. Not because they are in trouble, but because that is their mission in life. Seriously. Their mission statement is…

• Is Social Media more difficult in B2B than B2C?

  Paul Dunay

  12 Mar 2008 | 5:05 pm

  I submit that it is! Please hear me out. When I say Ralph Lauren, Nine Inch Nails, Vineyard Vines, GAP – or even Apple – you get a sense of a very homogeneous type of person. You get a picture of exactly who I mean and the “lifestyle” that brand portrays. When I say Ralph Lauren, it’s like reading the preppie handbook. But what happens when I say Unisys or Delco or even Oracle? What mental image, what picture of homogenous people comes to mind, if any? Probably nothing, right? Now, consider Nine Inch Nails and their use of social media. The band printed tour…

• Upcoming community effectiveness study

  Francois Gossieaux

  26 Feb 2008 | 12:13 pm

  There’s a lot of buzz about online communities, but how much business value are they providing – and how are companies measuring success? In order to provide some answers to this questions, and in a partnership between Deloitte, The Society of New Communications Research and Beeline Labs, we are conducting a research project on how companies measure progress and success within their business communities. If you are involved in managing online communities for your organization, you are invited to participate in the 2008 Online Community Effectiveness Study. To take the online…

• This site is under construction

  Francois Gossieaux

  26 Jan 2008 | 11:16 am

  We are building a new thought leadership community around the future of marketing. For now this site is under construction…I you would like to be notified when the site will go live or would like to participate, please email info@marketingtwo.com. Thank you - Francois

• 
  As Was Marketing Hall Of Fame

• Dove and Walmart Remind You You're Ugly

  As Was

  29 Oct 2009 | 7:47 am

  Do you get these commercials where you live? A bunch of women are signing a song to the tune of "Do Your Ears Hang Low" (not sure what that's really the tune of), and they are going through a litany of physical characteristics that women traditionally may not like about themselves?The words to this car wreck seem to be:Do your eyes sit wide Does your nose turn to the side Do your elbows kind of crinkle Do your knees sort of wrinkle Does your chest tend to freckle Do you have a crooked smile Do your eyes sit wide Do your ears sort of wiggle Does your hair make you giggle Does…

• I'm Moving Back to Tucson

  As Was

  26 Oct 2009 | 5:00 am

  Yeah, I'm moving back to Tucson. Say what? What's with Deb moving around so much? Well, first of all, I can. I own my businesses, I work for me, I work from home, and I'm single with a dog and cat. The cat is really cool about the car, and the dog knows, "New house." That means no kids to pull out of school or away from friends. So I can live wherever I like, whenever I like, and why not. Do it while you can, I say.All my phone numbers will still work... no matter what area code and number you're dialing, it'll ring at my desk.In March 2005, I finally escaped…

• How Your Wish Your Staff Operated

  As Was

  25 Oct 2009 | 7:50 am

  I went into a local Greek place last week to order lunch to take home. It was after the lunch rush. Two tables had patrons, there was nobody behind the counter, and I didn't see a waitress.I walked up to the counter, and a girl offered to take my order. I gave her my order. She got a guy out from the back, and had him put the order in. I then noticed she didn't have an apron or anything, and asked if she really worked there. She said yes, but her shift just ended.So she could have let me wait. Or she could have asked somebody to come deal with me. But she took my order. I found out…

• Do NOT Bank with Citizens RSB Bank

  As Was

  15 Oct 2009 | 11:09 am

  I have never had such a horrible experience, and want to make sure everybody knows what horrible fraud and ineptitude goes on at Citizens Bank.I moved away from where Citizens has branches, and have been trying to close my account. I called in mid-Sept asking them to close my account. They said they couldn't until I brought the balance to zero. That turned out to not be true (as in not the only way to close my account), but that's what I was told. I told them to please close the account and cancel my debit card so that if I bring things down to zero, no vendor who might have my card…

• When a Customer Goes From Awkward to Abusive

  As Was

  4 Oct 2009 | 4:38 pm

  When you sign onto inkFrog, you get some automatic emails during your trial. You get a welcome message from me. You get "your trial is going to expire" and "your trial expired" which still come from the CEO. But if you hit reply to any of these emails, they right now go to me. I help everybody I can. I don't have all the answers, but I do my best. I got an email last week from a guy who was throwing around swear words, and complaining that nobody is responding to his emails. Well, I haven't seen an email from this guy, and now he's asking for the…

• 
  "Making Good" with PMG Creative

• 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…

• Who are your Tweeps?

  Nicole Ravlin

  16 Aug 2009 | 5:38 am

  I have been a little slack in updating the PMG blog, but with good reason… as they say, the cobblers children have no shoes. I have four, what I think, are great posts in the works.  Watch for them to make it to the blog over the next week or so (I have a lot of plane time!). In the mean time, Sarah Evans (who is one to watch in her own right) is bringing the Top 50 Tweeps award to Twitter once again.  Check out the details on her blog, and then search #Top50Tweep on Twitter to see who has been nominated. Nominations are open until THIS tuesday, August 18, 2009.

• PMG’s Lunch Adventure

  8oh2

  12 Aug 2009 | 9:36 am

  Hello everyone, my name is Chris Garafola and I’m honored to say I’m one of PMG’s new PR Interns. I’ve only been working here for about a month and I’m already amazed at how much I’ve learned. Having the opportunity to have a hands-on learning experience is invaluable. Currently, I’m a senior at The University of Vermont and I’m majoring in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing. Sometimes we PMG’ers like to get together and grab a nice lunch on the town. However, since there are so many great places to eat, deciding on where to have lunch is…

• 
  Trends in Internet Marketing

• How Online Video Prolongs Website Visits: Warren Buffett w/Business Wire

  Robyn Levin

  2 Nov 2009 | 2:35 pm

  One of the big trends in Internet Marketing is the growing use of online video to drive traffic to your website and keep your visitors entertained and engaged. Today, I received an email from Business Wire about their new online video with Warren Buffettand reacted exactly how they would want me to-- I read the email and clicked to watch the video. But I took this 1-step further & blogged about how you too should consider using online video as part of your integrated marketing efforts. Educational videos are a very effective marketing tool, as I shared while teaching last month at Temple…

• Social Media Marketing Boot Camp, Oct. 29th in San Francisco

  Robyn Levin

  25 Sep 2009 | 9:24 am

  Want to learn social media marketing strategies to improve your marketing results? Come to the next GET SMART Marketing Boot Campin San Francisco, Thurs., Oct. 29th. This is for entrepreneurs, small business owners and professionals that want to leverage technology to increase sales.It's a full day of content and semi-private training. Past attendees got leads a few days after the seminar.   Sample topics of what you’ll learn: Harness the power of social networking like Obama did using Twitter, LinkedIn & YouTube Discover secret PR strategies that will get you FREE publicity worth…

• Inc. Start-Up Toolkit - Marketing-Keep it Brief with Robyn Levin

  Robyn Levin

  14 Sep 2009 | 10:13 pm

  Inc.Blog: Marketing-Keep it Brief  by Howard Greenstein from the Start-Up Toolkit for Entrpreneurs on Inc. websiteA movie magnate was once quoted as saying "If you can’t fit your idea on the back of a business card, you don’t have a clear idea." Brevity is popular these days – try Twitter. And then there’s the somewhat timeless metaphor – entrepreneur writes out her ideas during a meeting on the back of a cocktail napkin – and success soon follows. There's entrepreneurial wisdom in brevity. As a marketing and PR veteran for over 20 years, Robyn Levin found the Entrepreneurs and…

• Warning: Wordpress Blogs are Under Attack

  Robyn Levin

  13 Sep 2009 | 6:45 pm

  This is a warning to Wordpress Bloggers-- Upgrade NOW to the new Release, 2.8.4 to avoid potential problems.

• Social Media Marketing in 30 Minutes A Day

  Robyn Levin

  13 Aug 2009 | 8:40 am

  Read this article to learn how you can promote yourself using social media marketing in just 30 minutes a day."Thought article was dead on and just what the doctor ordered for me. I get too involved with trying to do everything at once."Social Media Marketing in 30 Minutes A Day    Are you overwhelmed with all the social networking sites (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube) and trying to figure out how to incorporate these tools into your marketing mix? You're not alone. Many clients often ask me how much time should they devote to social media marketing for…

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  From Jere's Prospectiv - Online Marketing Up Close

• 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…

• Email Spending To Double By 2014

  Jere Doyle

  17 Jun 2009 | 2:01 pm

  According to a recent Forrester study on email released yesterday, spending on marketing emails will double in the next 5 years, growing from $1.2 billion in 2009 to over $2 billion in 2014. Forrester research says that retention email to your permission list will make up the largest share of the more than 25 messages a day that consumers will receive. Retention email will represent three quarters of the spending, as reported by Ken Magill at Direct. Marketers will be even more focused on building there own in-house email lists to ensure they have a sufficient number of qualified customers…

• Acquire and Retain Your Customers

  Jere Doyle

  19 May 2009 | 12:10 pm

  I saw a couple of great studies discussed in the emarketer newsletter today on the importance of acquiring and retaining customers in this recession. David Hallerman discusses tactics such as search and email as two very cost effective ways to acquire and retain customers. I'd add Lead Generation to the list of very cost effective marketing tactics. In fact, the latest IAB/PWC study shows just how fast performance marketing has been growing the past 18 months. Marketers are demanding more for their dollars, and are holding their agencies and marketing partners even more accountable to deliver…

• 
  ScLoHo's Collective Wisdom

• Eye Contact

  ScLoHo (Scott Howard)

  21 Nov 2009 | 2:25 am

  From SalesDog.com:Eye Contact at Closing by Mark Hunter When you're ready to close the sale, your eye contact should only go in two places. Either looking at the item you're selling, which may include the contract, or directly into the eyes of your customer. Looking at anything else shows a sign of weakness and your customer will notice. When you are verbally delivering your close and the price, you need to make sure your eyes are squarely fixed on the eyes of your customer. If you can't give your customer eye contact when you're closing, how do you expect your customer to believe in what…

• Friday Night Marketing News from Mediapost

  ScLoHo (Scott Howard)

  20 Nov 2009 | 3:00 pm

  Food, Phones & Fun: Restaurants Let's Eat: 5 Chains Target Nontraditional Retail by Karlene Lukovitz The joint strategic development initiative will enable the chains to bundle and leverage their brands and key personnel to efficiently expand into these locations, which are estimated to attract three to five times the traffic seen in traditional locations such as shopping malls, shopping centers and strip malls. ... Read the whole story > > Retail Recession Increases Affluents' Happiness Levels by Sarah Mahoney A recent Luxury Institute survey shows a rethinking, says founder/CEO Milton…

• Deceptive Numbers

  ScLoHo (Scott Howard)

  20 Nov 2009 | 10:38 am

  Yesterday when this appeared in my email, I thought to myself, "there they go, playing with the numbers again".The headline seems to say that newspaper readership is 74%, which if were true, would be great news for those in the print business.Problem is, if you only read the headline, you'll miss the truth. And the truth is that mainstream printed newspapers are dying. They won't die completely, because enough of them are smart enough to redesign their business models to be profitable.Here's the story from MarketingCharts.com:74% of Americans Still Read Newspapers Despite the seemingly…

• Social Media: The Mobile Future

  ScLoHo (Scott Howard)

  20 Nov 2009 | 6:02 am

  From MarketingCharts.com:Mobile Social Networking Grows; Top 10 SocNets By the year 2013, 43% of global mobile internet users (607.5 million people worldwide) will be accessing social networks from their mobile devices, according to a new report from eMarketer, which characterizes mobile and social as still-emerging channels that are each helping drive the adoption of the other. In the US, mobile social networkers will total 56.2 million by 2013, and will account for nearly half (45%) of the mobile internet user population, eMarketer said. The report, “Mobile Social networks: Marketing by…

• Are you doing it Wrong?

  ScLoHo (Scott Howard)

  20 Nov 2009 | 2:57 am

  You have to understand this (from Seth Godin) if you are going to be above average:Can't top this Getting someone to switch is really difficult.Getting someone to switch because you offer more of what they were looking for when they choose the one they have now is essentially impossible. For starters, they're probably not looking for more. And beyond that, they'd need to admit that they were wrong for not choosing you in the first place.So, you don't get someone to switch because you're cheaper than Walmart. You don't get someone to switch because you serve bigger portions than the…

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  Affordable Internet Marketing

• How To Install Wordpress – Free Beginners Guide

  Case Stevens

  19 Nov 2009 | 3:49 am

  If you don’t know how to install Wordpress, here’s a free beginners guide. Wordpress is one of the best content management systems available on the Web. That’s because you only have to learn how Wordpress works and that doesn’t require any technical skills. Anyone can do this in a couple of hours and thus have a great website. Photo Credit: Wolfgang Staudt WordPress is so popular because it is: easy to use, whether you’re an Internet beginner or advanced website builder, search engine friendly, therefore search engines love Wordpress content and index that…

• 6 Awesome Viral Marketing Tips

  Case Stevens

  18 Nov 2009 | 5:33 am

  Viral marketing is an excellent way to generate a great online income. Another big advantage is that it’s relatively cheap and doesn’t require a lot of energy. If you’re not familiar with viral marketing, then listen to this short audio. The main problem however is, that viral marketing isn’t as easy as it looks at first sight. In fact, to get some of your marketing to go viral can seem like nearly impossible at first. Hence these 6 awesome viral marketing tips to help you succeed. Make Your Viral Marketing Campaign Unique You absolutely want to avoid others copying…

• Marketing Humor on Saturday

  Case Stevens

  14 Nov 2009 | 3:37 am

  Always nice to have a little marketing humor on Saturday night, isn’t it? I found this first one on Clara’s blog, so that’s where I’m sending you. But come back for the second one: it’s hilarious!   1. I sincerely think this product should be promoted by every affiliate marketer around the world to make women and man more happy. The Latest In Scarves   2. And here’s an older Dutch commercial, based on Holland’s national sport: soccer (called football in Europe). I think this one will make you really laugh! This is a post from Affordable…

• 10 Great Tips To Improve Your Internet Marketing Business

  Case Stevens

  13 Nov 2009 | 5:27 am

  Whether you’re a seasoned online marketer or just starting out in the Internet Marketing field, there’s always room for improvement of your marketing strategies and techniques. You see, we’re always quite busy with what we intent to achieve. So much, that we don’t have time to lean back and think about WHAT exactly we’re doing right now. It doesn’t matter if you’re successfully or still waiting to make your first dollar, there is always room for improvement. Here are 10 great tips to improve your Internet Marketing business. Use A Plan Always! In…

• Marketing Humor on Saturday Night

  Case Stevens

  31 Oct 2009 | 8:41 am

  Here’s a commercial of one of the (two) Internet providers in Belgium. Their slogan can be loosely translated as: “Life is good when you know that you are the fastest”. While the clip is funny and delivers the message, it also radiates a bit of the typical monopolist’s arrogance. This is a post from Affordable Internet Marketing, http://www.affordable-internet-marketing.com by Case Stevens.Marketing Humor on Saturday Night

• 
  davefleet.com

• Welcoming A New Colleague

  Dave Fleet

  17 Nov 2009 | 6:30 am

  I’m pleased thrilled to welcome Andrea Pietkiewicz to the Thornley Fallis team. Andrea joins our social media team this week, bringing with her over 12 years of agency experience with companies such as BBDO and Cossette. I’m a firm believer that the lines between the communications disciplines are blurring. Public relations agencies no longer compete against each other, and they no longer only need to execute pure PR campaigns – they go up against other types of agencies and are required to plan and sometimes execute cross-functional strategies. While Andrea shares our…

• 15 Ways PR Agencies Can Help Companies With Social Media

  Dave Fleet

  16 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  As social media has grown in acceptance within companies over the past few years, one debate never seems to go away – whether agencies should be involved in social media communications, or whether the only way to maintain an “authentic voice” is for companies to undertake it all themselves. Agencies can help Not surprisingly (given that I work for a PR agency), I sit in the camp that says that agencies have a significant role to play for many companies. For sure, companies can do some or all of these things themselves, but there’s no reason agencies can’t help…

• Foursquare’s Potential For Hyper-Local Marketing

  Dave Fleet

  13 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  In recent weeks, I’ve become fascinated with the location-based social network Foursquare. While I’ve been using location-based apps on my Blackberry and iPod Touch for a while (Google Maps is a good example), Foursquare is the first service that has made me stop and think about the potential of hyper-local marketing on mobile devices, not just down the line but right now. I’ve had a couple of interesting conversations with April Dunford (wannabe Mayor of Thornley Fallis) recently, which have really spurred that thinking. Foursquare? If you haven’t tried Foursquare yet…

• The Huge Potential Of Location-Based Apps

  Dave Fleet

  10 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  The growth of smart phones – from a consumer perspective, the iPhone in particular but also Blackberries – has really driven mobile apps into the limelight at a faster rate than almost any technology out there recently. Over the last couple of years, and especially the last few months, we’ve seen mobile applications vault more and more into the mainstream. We’re at the point now where many people don’t think twice about downloading the latest Facebook, Google Maps or gaming application to use on their mobile device – any more than they would about…

• Putting A Face On The Faceless Organization

  Dave Fleet

  9 Nov 2009 | 4:00 am

  Companies with faceless brands have some of the greatest opportunities in social media. I’ve written on this topic before – there are several reasons why the opportunities are so great, but one stands out: the bar is set low for them. No-one expects to see them reaching out and engaging with people; when they do, it’s both noteworthy and newsworthy for many people. Let me give you an example. Putting a face on the Toronto Maple Leafs A couple of weeks ago, I posted a quick note on Twitter: “Just picked up two Leafs tickets for next week. I’m a glutton for…

• 
  Shotgun Marketing Blog

• want to write a business book blurb?

  Chris Houchens

  12 Nov 2009 | 6:58 am

  UPDATE: manuscript has been sent to all who requested it for blurbs. If you requested and didn’t get an email from me, contact me. For the past year, I’ve been writing a book. (a blog post will eventually be written about the joys and struggles of doing so) It’s due to the publisher the week of Thanksgiving. (thankfully) This new business book will hit the streets (as well as bookstores and Amazon) in early 2010. It looks at how groups and the overall society relates to brands and how brands can relate back to their markets’ culture. The book is geared toward brand…

• drinking new coke at disney

  Chris Houchens

  5 Nov 2009 | 8:30 pm

  The great thing about established brands is that they all have a deep core element that they can always refer back to. This core attribute defines the brand in the public’s mind. McDonalds has the arches and the clown. Playboy has Heff. And Mickey Mouse is the square one that Disney can always go back to But after building 81 years of brand equity with Mickey, Disney is rebranding the mouse. They hope to “re-imagineer” Mickey to show his darker side. They want him to be cantakerous and cunning. What a horrendously bad idea. For years, marketers have had the example of the…

• electing the best spammers

  Chris Houchens

  23 Oct 2009 | 12:17 pm

  The people who seem to be the most clueless about communication are incumbent politicians. And the area that they seems to be the most clueless about is opt-in/opt-out communication of any kind. Initiate any contact with them and you’re added to their snail and email mailing lists — whether you want to be added or not. Today’s example: Take a look at the end of this e-survey form from a member of my state’s congressional delegation: Do or die. Opt in is not an option.The cynic in me says that constiuent input is not really wanted here and it’s just an underhanded…

• stupid tweets

  Chris Houchens

  30 Sep 2009 | 7:44 pm

  I’m sure you find value in your Twitter stream. But among the constant golden nuggets of twitter-dom, there are ocasssionally some stinker tweets. Most of these come from wannabe gurus who feel they have to constantly “provide value to the community” so they wind up tweeting their idiocy. The ones that get me the most are when something big has been happening for several hours and is already firmly entrenched as a trending topic.  Someone logs on and feels they need to be an “innovator” and help their poor “laggard” followers. For example: if gmail…

• sadly, this is not a parody

  Chris Houchens

  24 Sep 2009 | 7:56 am

  One of the best indicators that you have a horrible idea is that people think its a joke. Microsoft wants you to have Windows 7 launch party. This is not a joke. PLEASE do not invite me to any such “party”. If I find out that you’re having such a party, I will call the cops to break it up. I would assume the police would find the idea of the party so disturbing that they would not hesitate to break out the tasers and clubs. You’ve been warned. If you decide to ignore these warnings, do make sure your guest list includes an obvious forced diversity as Microsoft has done…

• 
  The Accidental Product Manager

• Why ROI Is The WRONG Way To Measure Your Product’s Marketing Program

  Dr. Jim Anderson

  17 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pm

  Image Credit Marketing Programs Require More Important Things Than Just Money To Be Measured Ah the world of product marketing – it’s where artists dream up brightly colored logos and put together viral YouTube videos that nobody really understands but everyone has to watch and send to their friends. Well, as a product manager you may think that that is what goes on in the world of marketing, but in the end you really don’t care. What you want is results, in other words more sales of your product. Let’s reign in the magic unicorns that live in marketing and try to come up with a way…

• How To Market Your Product In 2010

  Dr. Jim Anderson

  15 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pm

  2010 Is Almost Here -- Do You Know What Your Customers Are Thinking? 2009 is dead, long live 2009. Ok, so it’s not quite dead yet; however, even as your sales teams are running around trying to close the year out on a high note you as a product manager need to start to set your sights on what you’re going to do to get ready for next year. Got a plan? Uncertainty Rules No matter what happens with the global economy, things aren’t going to get better overnight. This means that your customers are going to be living in a land of uncertainty next year also. As a product manager…

• AccPM Poll Results: Who gets more respect where you work Product Managers or Project Managers?

  Dr. Jim Anderson

  15 Nov 2009 | 9:27 am

  Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll. The question this past week was “Who gets more respect where you work Product Managers or Project Managers?“ It was a light week and in the end, it ended up being a dead heat. However, there’s something to be learned here: this clearly is not a hot topic. I must confess to being just a little surprised by this. As a working product manager,  I can confess to always having been just a bit jealous of my project management brothers and sisters. They seem to have their act…

• Is Your Marketing Message Missing The Point?

  Dr. Jim Anderson

  10 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pm

  Image Credit Your Marketing Message Has To Be Aligned With Your Customer's Needs If you were going fishing, how much luck catching fish do you think that you would have if you didn’t use any bait on your hook? Sure, there are probably some either dumb or near-sighted fish that might still bite, but you’re going to be doing a lot of sitting around waiting. Is it possible that as a product manger you are fishing for customers for your product without bait? The Problem With Market Assumptions As a product manager you work hard to create a product that meets what you think the…

• Learn To Read Your Customer’s Mind In 3 Simple Steps

  Dr. Jim Anderson

  8 Nov 2009 | 8:01 pm

  Image Credit Teach Your Sales Teams How To Get In Their Customer's Heads... Just shut-up and buy my product! In fact, while you are at it, buy a lot of my product. If only we could really tell our potential customers this then life would be so much simpler. However, try this little verbal outburst just once and then you’ll have a chance to sit back and spend some time polishing your resume as you look for your next product manager job. If you really want people to buy more of your product, then do what I’ve done – learn how to read minds… How Most Product Mangers…

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  Take me to your Leader!

• Some People Should Not Have Facebook

  Freddie Laker

  16 Nov 2009 | 8:31 pm

  I’ve been really struggling to keep up with my blogging and professional writing lately. Hopefully I’ll get some more time in December when I take some time off. In the meantime I’ll share a very simple funny email my friend Jill Schoen shared at the office.  I’m assuming these are real, either way they’re absolutely classic. As the title says… “Some People Should Not Have Facebook”… ENJOY! a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a

• Mobile is Holy Territory. Watch Out For Social Media’s Convergence.

  Freddie Laker

  8 Oct 2009 | 4:33 pm

  Simply put, I’m excited about the potential of mobile marketing and particularly the convergence of social networking and mobile. New capabilities on phones are opening doors to limitless new marketing innovations and, simultaneously, developing countries are having entirely new segments of their population enter the digital world. I spend a lot of time in the day dreaming about how to bring entirely new digital experiences to people, but I think we need to proceed with caution. Marketers, the frequently reckless group of individuals we are, are in danger of screwing it up (again).

• MMS For iPhone Is Finally Available

  Rob Gonda

  25 Sep 2009 | 10:59 am

  Finally, AT&T’s long-awaited MMS update for the iPhone is finally ready. Just plug your iPhone into iTunes and hit the “Check for Update” button. You should get the dialog message above, saying: “An update to your carrier settings for your iPhone is available. Would you like to download it now?” Hit “Download and Update” and wait a few seconds, then go to your iPhone and launch the Messages app. There should be a little camera icon to the left of the text input box at the bottom. Hit it, and you’ll be able to send pictures or video with your text messages. Some users are…

• Thank God For The Recession: 5 Trends That Will Reshape Marketing

  Freddie Laker

  26 Aug 2009 | 10:33 am

  I’m sure I’m not the first one to tell you: We’re in a recession. The doom has advertisers hanging signs along the lines of “Will Work For Food” on their agency walls, and marketers continue to face facts and figures like these, from Forrester’s 2009 Global CMO Recession Survey: 71% of marketing budgets have been reduced this year, and more than half reported reductions greater than 20%. Now here comes the curveball: I think this might be the best thing that has happened to our industry in decades. Yes, I said that. While I have empathy for those that have…

• Creating Sustainable Conversations Is the Key To Social Media Success

  Freddie Laker

  22 Jul 2009 | 1:57 pm

  Every once and a while I will engage in a conversation with someone — whether in the office, on the road, at Cannes, at the local eatery, you name it — and they will say something that inspires a barrage of new thoughts. In each instance the statement’s effect on me frequently goes unnoticed by the giver, while in my mind it sparks a very intense and enduring stream of thoughts which for weeks change the way I approach life or in this case marketing. This is one of those instances, and I can’t believe I was not able to verbalize this before. For most of modern…