Stuart Elliott is in Dana Point for the 4As Conference. He heard some top people at TBWA distance themselves from all the wallowing about change. “Stop whining,” Lee Clow told the estimated 380 attendees. The new realities “shouldn’t be scary,” he said, because they offer “a huge opportunity for us” to become far more useful to marketer clients as they seek more effective ways to sell products. “If you want to …
Rockafellas Take A Stand
I have not purchased gas from Exxon since the Valdez oil spill. Yes, I'm a grudge holder. According to the The Wall Street Journal, forces inside the oil giant are working to move the tanker in the right direction (not than anything Exxon does will ever win me back). A majority of 300 adult members of the wealthy Rockefeller family, influential shareholders of Exxon, voted to support four shareholder resolutions at …
MySpace—A Place for Profits
Facebook this, Facebook that. Blah, blah, blah...It's a story one can't escape from. And it's one that often overlooks a glaring fact—Facebook is nowhere near as popular, nor as profitable as MySpace. According to Fortune, "Rupe" bought MySpace in 2005 when it had $23 million in revenues; he recently told analysts that in the fiscal year beginning in July, it will take in $800 million, with a profit margin greater …
The Real Marlboro Man Could Use Some Support
Luis Sinco/LA Times The above image, taken on November 9, 2004 has since appeared in more than 150 publications worldwide. It's also earned the subject, Blake Miller, the moniker "Marlboro Man." According to Rolling Stone: Overnight, the photo made Miller an unwitting icon, a symbol of the indomitable spirit of U.S. troops, the heroism and virility of the American fighter. The New York Post ran the shot — later …
Continue Reading about The Real Marlboro Man Could Use Some Support →
Brains Build Community
I'm happy to see my friends at Brains On Fire get some positive press for their Fiskars work. Josh Bernoff, VP-principal analyst at Forrester Research and co-author of Groundswell, writing in Ad Age outlines the idea. Although Fiskars products are central to the scrapbooking experience, in 2006 the company found its own image was lackluster. In focus groups, respondents told the company that if Fiskars was a color, …
It’s Hard To Drive Purchase When People Aren’t Driving
When I filled up my Pathfinder yesterday, I realized that $3.54/gallon means a $70 tank--double what it cost me a short time ago. Naturally, this type of inflation has dire consequences for the economy. For the first time since 1980, consumers are driving less. Last year, the amount of miles driven declined 0.4%. The previous two years had been flat. Prior to that, the amount of miles had grown 3-5% each …
Continue Reading about It’s Hard To Drive Purchase When People Aren’t Driving →
Transparency Or Jail
According to Ad Age, Word-of-mouth marketing in the U.K. will face radical restrictions starting May 26, when it will become a criminal offense for brands to seed positive messages online without making the origin of the message clear. The rules make it an offense to blog, use brand ambassadors or seed viral ads while "falsely representing oneself as a consumer." They also apply to bloggers who fail to disclose they …
Brands Need To Think Before They Tweet
John Dodds speaking about Twitter Spam, alternatively known as Twam or Spitter, says companies need to be receptive to direct messaging on Twitter, but not use the service to blast their pitches shotgun style. When we market our company's products/services, we have to remember that part of the job is to to be the individual's advocate. It's all too easy to serve the company's needs and forget about the …
Continue Reading about Brands Need To Think Before They Tweet →
