We noted here several times last fall that Barack Obama's rise to power is a new textbook for brand marketers worldwide. In it, they'll find chapters on crafting a winning vision, speaking from the heart, and how to motivate people on the ground. All good things to know. Matt Bai, who covers politics for the New York Times Magazine, explores another question from the campaign--virtual proximity. The 20th century was …
Mastering Any Discipline Is A Great Beginning
Writing in Ad Age, Reuben Steiger is CEO of Millions of Us reflects on why the traditional agencies failed to swoop in on the digital planet, making it their own, ten years ago. 1. Traditional agencies were in the process of distancing themselves from production work. 2. The web looked crummy. Ad agencies are about beautiful work that wins awards. Bad fit. 3. It kind of was rocket science: At least from the agencies' …
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Public Confessions To Arouse Interest In “Big Love”
One needn't encourage anonymous confessions on the Internet. There are hordes of people ready, willing and able to tell all sorts of things about themselves. HBO, in its latest promotion for "Big Love," is taking advantage of this interest in sharing prurient content. In fact, HBO has a Web of Secrets microsite packed with R-rated consumer generated content, and a Twitter account to boot. …
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Bring A Balanced Attack
Earlier this week a student in England asked if it is now more beneficial for companies to advertise on the internet rather than on television? Bob Hoffman, who owns an agency in San Francisco that makes TV spots for McDonald's and Toyota, says, "no." Beverly Thorne, senior VP-marketing, Century 21 is of another mind. According to Ad Age, Century 21 will stop running national TV and put that money into online …
Indie Design Collectives Way of the Future
Web developer, Brian Warren of Be Good Not Bad, has some seriously positive energy to share, particularly with people like him who freelance, consult or work in small agencies. Don't get me wrong. I'm under no illusions about the state of the world economy. But it's times like these I'm very glad I'm not working at a big company. Consistently I am finding that the smaller the company, the more stable and optimistic …
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A Pean To Incremental Profit
Adliterate's Richard Huntington sees a difference between accountability and effectiveness. I'm not sure I do, but let's go with his vision for a moment: ...the standard measure for return on investment would appear to be the difference between the cost of the campaign and the cost of reaching the same number of people in more conventional media. That is not a return on investment, that is the sort of haphazard …
Respect The Channel, Or Be Swept Out To Sea
"Social media." Those two words on a lot of lips today. Gavin Heaton, writing on Servant of Chaos riffs on Gary Vaynerchuck: NOT engaging with your customers via social media creates opportunities for your competitors. And while you may not lose your whole market, you may well lose the high yield, low churn folks who are your bedrock, or you may lose the low yield, high maintenance influencers who help attract a …
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Dear Small Business Owner, Get Up On This
Gene Marks is a guy with a web site; yet, he knows that not every small business needs one. Writing in BusinessWeek, Marks says, "millions of business owners may know something that we're not prepared to admit. Some people don't really need a Web site at all. Maybe a Web page. But not a Web site." Marks also has it out for "turtleneck-and-vest-wearing, greasy-haired propeller heads who drink Red Bull" and build and …
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