Innovative Marketing Tactic or Ridiculous Attempt for Attention?
Monday, March 30th, 2009I recently came across an article describing Kentucky Fried Chicken’s latest buzz-marketing effort. The company has put a call out to five of the United States’ major cities asking them to allow the fast-food fried chicken chain to “re-fresh” their streets. What does this mean exactly? According to Kenneth Hein’s article in Brandweek, [...]
Ramp Up Business Through Relevant Affiliate Marketing Strategies
Monday, March 23rd, 2009With all the emerging media and new marketing trends developing, a lot of marketers seem to be forgetting about the good old fashioned ways of driving revenue and retaining customers. There tends to be a singular approach to advertising businesses – an ‘everyone fend for themselves’ way of thinking – at least, that’s what I’m [...]
In Business, It’s All About the ‘You and Me’
Monday, March 16th, 2009With SXSW going on in Austin, Texas this week and topics surrounding social media and networking in the forefront of many conversations, I thought it’d be fitting to stress a point that I’ve been hearing a lot of lately. It’s one that I think we all know and value; however, it seems to be taken [...]
Where Direct Marketing Online and Offline Meet
Monday, March 9th, 2009As we know, a well-rounded marketing mix utilizing multiple channels improves awareness and boosts response rates. This is proven to be true when talking about traditional marketing and digital media, specifically, when combining direct mail and email marketing. But does it work for merging social networking with traditional marketing methods? Can two marketing methods, on [...]
Valpak Not So Confident About Their Direct Mail Services?
Monday, March 2nd, 2009As I was watching a little television this past week, I saw a TV commercial from Valpak. Their message was directed toward both consumers and to small businesses. Basically, Valpak was encouraging consumers to look for great coupons and deals in Valpak mailers while trying to describe to small business owners how effective direct mail [...]
Do Not Obey: The Confusing Construct of Fair Use
Monday, February 23rd, 2009What makes it okay for artists like Andy Warhol, Marcel Duchamp and Sherrie Levine to appropriate images from pop culture to produce art under the protection of fair use while Shepard Fairey cannot? What makes it okay for the media to do the same? (Side note: When Sherrie Levine appropriated Walker Evans’ photographs, she didn’t [...]
Direct Mail and The Art of War
Tuesday, January 13th, 2009Inevitability. It’s a sensation that’s become all too familiar, especially in times like these. It’s inevitable that things are going to get worse before they get better, whether you’re talking about the current economic crisis, an impending hurricane or tooth decay. But sometimes things don’t get better and that’s when you’re forced to adopt, adapt, [...]
Direct Mail Postcards As Sales Support For Customer Retention
Monday, January 5th, 2009Like most of us, I get a lot of direct mail in my mailbox. Most of the time I’m not impressed or moved to action by the pieces. Some may have minimal personalization on them—like my name—but overall they’re still pretty generic. They don’t mean anything to me, except maybe a lesson on what not [...]
Santa Might Skip the Homes of These ‘Bad’ Direct Mail Marketers
Monday, December 22nd, 2008Nonprofit group ForestEthics recently published their third annual list of ‘Naughty and Nice’ direct marketers. The list focuses on sustainable practices in direct mail/catalog marketing and highlights who’s doing a great job at thinking green and who’s not.
The list ranks companies based on four categories:
Where the materials came from to make the paper
If the supply [...]
Anything You Can Do, I Can Do Better…Including Marketing
Monday, December 15th, 2008In a recent article titled, “Why Women Are the Superior Marketing Sex,” Mark Ritson explains why women, in his opinion, tend to be better marketers. He uses his own observations and actual physical attributes of the female vs. male brain as proof. Based on his ‘studies,’ he concludes the following:
Women’s brains are built for empathy
Women’s [...]
Smarter Marketing During a Recession
Monday, December 8th, 2008For the past year, I’ve been hearing businesses ask the same question over and over again: “How should we cut advertising and marketing budgets to help us through the recession?” The answer is – you shouldn’t.
During tough times like these, the immediate reaction for businesses is often to give the axe to marketing budgets. Apparently, [...]
Karate Chopping Through a Creative Brick Wall
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008It happens to all of us and it leaves behind nothing but frustration. I’m referring to the ol’ brain fart, mind freeze, blank canvas, writer’s block… How can one grease up the wheels of creativity and kick start the brain into producing brilliant ideas again?
First, it’s very important to realize that creativity isn’t something that [...]
Lost In Translation: Cross-cultural Marketing Mess Ups
Monday, November 24th, 2008Oh man, I recently came across a funny blog post on Gizmodo. It commented on a road sign from Swansea, Wales, where all official road signs feature both the English-language and Welsh-language version of the message. Apparently, the sign maker printed the Welsh-language translator’s auto-reply email message on the sign: “I am not in the [...]