By Mark on Jul 21, 2008 in Commentary, Featured | 1 Comment
Are the Beijing Olympics headed for an opening ceremony marketing problem? Today's Wall Street Journal raises the specter of athletes wearing masks to the opening ceremony and causing China to lose face. Other blogs and sources are starting to pick up on this.
What if 10 or 20% of the athletes in the opening ceremony [...]
By Mark on Jul 20, 2008 in Email marketing, customer service | 0 Comments
Apple's .mac service changeover to MobileMe was a complete debacle. The system was down for more or less the day before the iPhone 2.0 launch and for that entire day. If you rely on your .mac account for your email, like a lot of independent consultants and graphic design professionals, that downtime cost you real [...]
By Mark on Jul 16, 2008 in Analytics, Featured, Process, Strategy | 0 Comments
A recent study, carried out by Marketing Management Analytics, Financial Executive and Ed See, makes me think that more senior marketing executives should double-check the shine on their resume and perhaps consider a few more networking lunches in the near future.
A very brief summary of that report found in Ad Age frightens me and brings to mind a few courses of action that you can take today, if you find yourself in a similar situation.
By Mark on Jul 15, 2008 in Advertising, Analytics, Branding, Direct Marketing, Featured, Marketing, Offer, Process, Social Media, Strategy, Viral Marketing | 1 Comment
"Warning: Habits May Be Good for You" explores how an anthropologist turned to marketing experts from CPG companies like Procter & Gamble to help increase the incidence of hand-washing with soap after using the toilet in the nation of Ghana to improve the health of children. Obviously, this was an important effort and I was encouraged to see marketing practitioners as instrumental in helping achieve success in this endeavor.
As I was reading the article, it struck me that many of the techniques used are found in Robert B. Cialdini's classic Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. I'd lent out my copy a few years ago and, thankfully, had to buy a new version which includes an epilogue written by Dr. Cialdini in 2007. My re-re which triggered my thoughts on social media.
By Mark on Jul 10, 2008 in Advertising, Copy, Direct Marketing, Marketing | 0 Comments
Well, the classic Claude Hopkins book Scientific Advertising is still a must-read. It's a slim 56 pages, but blows just about every advertising book ever written out of the water.
No less than David Ogilvy said that everybody should read it seven times and that it changed his life.
By Mark on Jul 9, 2008 in Advertising, Commentary, Direct Marketing, Featured, Marketing, Mobile, Online, SEO/SEM, Social Media, Viral Marketing | 1 Comment
What's the value placed on a social media marketing campaign by the marketers that develop the campaign? It's hard to tell, because one typically can't get access to the key metrics associated with the campaign, particularly sales attributed to the effort and ROI.
I was intrigued by a new social push by Sony Ericsson for the Z750a flip phone, created by their agency, Iris. The campaign is titled "Bringing Purple Back."
