In the New York Times today, a great example of how faith in your art can pay off, if you're smart, resourceful, and have something people want. Most first-time novelists only sell a few thousand copies, but Scott Sigler, a San Francisco-based sci-fi writer, has built a sizeable audience for his "steel-tipped boot on your throat, speed-metal fiction” by podcasting from a makeshift studio he set up in his walk-in …
Twitter De Twitter Dum
Web Host Industry Review offers a concise look at some possible uses for Twitter, a Web 2.0 darling du jour. You can use Twitter as a shorthand newsletter. The example that LifeHacker gave was a video store, whose employees can post new movies now available for rental, holiday business hours, limited-time sales promo, etc. Likewise, web hosting providers can keep customers posted on network status ("some DC2 circuits …
Can An Agency With A Name Like “Arnold” Be Anti-Male?
Adweek reports on a war of words between Arnold and Glenn Sacks, a blogger who thinks Arnold's commercials denigrate men. Glenn Sacks, on his Web site glennsacks.com, yesterday wrote, "We are asking Volvo not to award the contract to Arnold and instead award it to one of the other agencies, preferably Euro RSCG." He objects to several of the agency's recent commercials, notably an execution for Fidelity Investments, …
Continue Reading about Can An Agency With A Name Like “Arnold” Be Anti-Male? →
The Populists’ Primer
Christopher Carfi published a WWWWH guide to "business-driven Web 2.0 efforts" today. I like what he says about who Web 2.0 is for--the people! Web 2.0 is about people. Period. Who are the people involved? Who will be the primary contributors to the effort? What are their backgrounds? Who are they as people? In addition, who are the other people who will be interacting with the environment, even if they don't …
The Fine Art of Marketing Scotch
According to The Wall Street Journal, sales of super-premium liquors costing $150 or more a bottle were the fastest growing category in the U.S. last year, with revenue rising 18% to $2.19 billion. Johnnie Walker Blue Label--a $200 bottle--is working to capture a larger slice of that revenue. The brand sponsors about 100 gallery openings and events in New York, as well as private gallery parties in Chicago and Los …
Whole Foods Goes Big. Is It Going Bad?
Last week, it was Starbucks. Now, in in today's New York Times comes a look at how success and growth has put Whole Foods under greater scrutiny: “They are at such a level you expect the best from them, and if you don’t live up to it, people notice,” said Todd Hale, a senior vice president of consumer and shopper insights for Nielsen, the market research company. “Being first gives you a competitive advantage. But it …
Continue Reading about Whole Foods Goes Big. Is It Going Bad? →
The Human Processor
Seth Godin was recently afforded the privilege of seeing the uber geek in action. He noted it in his journal, like an ethologist in the field. I sat next to Cory at a conference today. It was like playing basketball next to Michael Jordan. Cory was looking at more than 30 screens a minute. He was bouncing from his mail to his calendar to a travel site and then back. His fingers were a blur as he processed inbound …
Is Your Agency a Mac or a PC?
Forrester Research produces research not news flashes, so their latest study won't come as a big surprise. Nevertheless, it's interesting to hear the details of what most of us already know. Courtesy MediaPost: The study illustrates a major rift between marketers and agencies with some harsh survey results: On aggregate, agencies scored a dismal Net Promoter rating of 21%, showing just how few marketers in the fourth …