Allen Adamson, Managing Director of Landor's New York office, has some thoughts to share on what brands need to succeed in 2012 and beyond. Companies that once thought in terms of "built to last" must now think in terms of "built to change." Creative thinking and an entrepreneurial spirit are the price of entry, and any company that doesn't recognize change as the new normal will not have a fighting …
Sir Charles Is Counting Calories with Weight Watchers
Here's your chance to compete with Charles Barkley. The NBA legend has gained 100 pounds since his playing days, but he's reversing that trend with the help of Weight Watchers. I like this B-roll, as well: According to Marketing Daily, men’s weight-loss efforts account for roughly 15% of the overall market, or $9.3 billion. In related news, Nutrisystem has hired Terry Bradshaw as its …
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Happiness Interventions c/o Coca-Cola
Public service advertising no longer belongs to the world of pro-bono work and free late-night media placements. With the opportunity presented by content marketing, brands are beginning to wear their values on their YouTube sleeve. Take Coca-Cola, the soft drink empire found another way to spread happiness, and tie it to the emotion of Christmas. They achieved this by selecting three Overseas Filipino Workers, …
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Paul Supporters Say He’s Been Right For Years
Six days to the Iowa Caucus and anti-establishment Republican Ron Paul is polling well, a fact which frightens mainstream Republicans like Newt Gingrich, who would rather vote for Obama than Paul next November. According to ClickZ, Endorse Liberty, an independent expenditure group established just days ago, is targeting pro-Paul ads to Iowa Republicans on Facebook. The ad links to a lengthy 12 minute video …
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Check-In Specials from Foursquare: Deal Me In
I've been checking in periodically with Gowalla for a year or more, but I recently made the switch to Foursquare. One benefit I see right out of the shoot is Foursquare has an active Deals Dept. According to San Francisco Chronicle, more than 600,000 merchants are using Foursquare to offer deals to people who check in. As you can see from the screen capture, I visited one such merchant in Oregon City on …
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Liquid Therapy Fuels Retail Therapy
Here's a fascinating article from the New York Times that suggests online retailers benefit from drunk consumers: “Post-bar, inhibitions can be impacted, and that can cause shopping, and hopefully healthy impulse buying,” said Andy Page, the president of Gilt Groupe, an online retailer that is adding more sales starting at 9 p.m. to respond to high traffic then — perhaps some of it by shoppers under the …
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Rainmakers Gear Up With Mirren’s Paid Content
RFPs are no fun. But a Request for Proposal may be a necessary evil for agencies in need of new business--and every agency is in need of new business. As you can see from the attached graphic, Mirren Business Development in New York City dangles RFPs like candy in front of agency rainmakers. Mirren offers subscription rates to their exclusive content. Rates begin at $96/month for agencies with fewer …
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Shifting Sands Form New Media and Marcom Layers
David Carr of The New York Times offers some food for thought in a year-end piece on changes in the media business. Here are three of his more cogent points: 1) Every cable channel with two nickels and more than a few digital enterprises is financing the kind of narrative television that used to be available only at a certain time on a certain network. 2) Our media identity is becoming ubiquitous, and …
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Google+ Debuts New TV Campaign
TV spots for a social network... That's a plus. I have a Google+ account, but like so many services that I sign up for, it's goes mostly unused. Because I am already committed to updating Facebook, Twitter, my blogs, Flickr, Instagram and Tumblr. So Google needs to get my attention. They're using celebrities to do so, then they back that up with a classic feature/benefit approach. For …
Get Your Instant Fix Of “View From The Cheap Seats”
I'm happy to announce the Kindle version of my book is now available for just $2.99! That's about 3 cents a column. If you have an iPad with the Kindle App, it's an instant download for you, too. Thanks for your support, and have a Merry Christmas. …
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