American sugar farmers and refiners have filed a suit to stop big corn processors from marketing high-fructose corn syrup as a “natural” product equivalent to real sugar. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by Western Sugar Cooperative, Michigan Sugar Company and C & H Sugar Company, Inc., charges that the “corn sugar” branding campaign financed by the corn refining industry’s giant companies …
Just Do It Differently
I like what Phil Johnson, CEO of PJA Advertising & Marketing, is saying about taking the ad game to the next level. Having spent most of my career running an agency, I'm often mystified at how hard it is to move from one level to the next, whether that means adding more staff or winning bigger accounts. Most agencies stay pretty much the same because they can't quite believe they could win that national …
Stop Walking On Eggshells
In a case of bad timing, Backcountry.com sent this email solicitation yesterday--a day when tornadoes ravaged communities in Alabama: Today, the online retailer is sorry and busy backpedaling. Dear (insert customer's name), We messed up. Yesterday, as the people of Alabama dealt with the devastating aftermath of an intensely damaging and life-taking tornado, we neglected to put a stop to the …
More Blathering About The Beauty Of Free
James L. McQuivey, Ph.D. is a Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research. His recent op-ed on Mashable about the end of scarcity is interesting, if somewhat unintelligible. What happens if the economics of scarcity are exchanged for the economics of plenty? For those industries that provide information or experience as a primary good, scarcity is rapidly evaporating. The media business is …
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For Print Media, The Bottom Is Falling Out And There’s Very Little High Ground
I hesitate to post an article about the suffering newspaper business, because it is a story we already know. Yet, given that our own fates are tied to their demise, let's look at some numbers... According to Media Daily News, The New York Times Company's operating profit fell from $52.7 million in the first quarter of 2010 to $31.1 million in the first quarter of 2011 -- a 41% drop. Focusing on specific …
Compensation Models Morph To Fit The Times
George Tannenbaum knows what's wrong with advertising today: "There is no longer any incentive to produce anything." Dave Trott agrees. "Under a commission system, the incentive is to make advertising and run it. Under a fee system, the incentive is to string out the process to justify the fee." Of course, these ad industry vets are revisiting the days when agencies made money by marking up a client's media …
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Melted Tillamook On Bread, It’s Gooey Goodness
Tillamook, with the help of Hello Design in Culver City, CA, is showcasing how its product is put to good use by three buzz-worthy West Coast restaurants. All told the brand's refreshed website features a total of 30 mouth-watering recipes with videos shot inside the kitchens of top chefs Tommy Habetz of Bunk Bar in Portland, Dave Danhi of the Grilled Cheese Truck in Los Angeles and Heidi Gibson of the …
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Dropbox Is Textbook: Great Product, Spot On Brand Identity And An Awesome Rewards Program
Dropbox is growing like crazy--they went from 4 million to 25 million members in just over one year--because the cloud-based storage company provides exactly what people need, and they do it in a no-nonsense manner that people relate to and appreciate. According to Fast Company, Dropbox isn't interested in demonstrating the brilliant and endless potential of the cloud, unlike most of its competitors, which are …
