I could name hundreds of examples of companies whose marketing departments utterly squander their chance to move the discourse forward. But to have two in the same breakfast struck me as worth writing about.
Entries Tagged as 'Advertising'
Branding Lessons at Breakfast (What Not to Do) #blogboost
August 30th, 2010 · 5 Comments · Advertising
Tags: advertising·cheerios·general mills·lipton tea·marketing·packaging
How To Sue A Telemarketer In Small Claims Court
August 26th, 2010 · 1 Comment · Advertising, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies, People Helping People, privacy
Guest post by Steve Ostrow [Editor's note: I was sent a review copy of this book, and enjoyed its playful approach to an intimidating subject. So when I was asked if I'd give Steve a forum during his launch, I gladly agreed.] Congress has spoken! Anti-telemarketing legislation has been passed. Under reasonable restrictions, certain tactics [...]
Tags: disruptions·how to sue a telemarketer·interruptions·steve ostrow
A Brilliant Ad for CSR…A Puzzling Call to Action
August 1st, 2010 · 6 Comments · Advertising, Corporate Social Responsibility, Demographics/Psychographics, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies, People Helping People, poverty, Social and Economic Justice
I got the message that it’s my job to make a difference in the world, no matter what I happen to wear.
Now, I confess—As an entrepreneur motivated more by creating social and environmental change than by making a monetary fortune, I am exactly who this ad is directed at. And I was fascinated. I took the rare step of typing in the link that was displayed on the video to find out more
Tags: braddock pennsylvania·corporate social responsibility·csr·entrepreneurship·levi's go forth
Why Do I Think this WON’T Go Viral?
July 23rd, 2010 · 5 Comments · Advertising, Web 2.0/Social Media
Yankee Candle’s world headquarters is a few miles up the road from me. Today’s paper had a short article about recruiting people to dance in one of their commercials, to be filmed in the flagship store, in an attempt to go viral and be shared around thousands of times on YouTube. The company is modeling [...]
Tags: antwerp central station·do re mi·honda cog ad·tv commercial·viral ads·viral marketing·yankee candle
Good Marketing Is Good Business (Guest Post by Jim Kukral)
July 6th, 2010 · 3 Comments · Advertising, Copywriting, language, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies, propaganda
Note From Shel Horowitz, Owner of this Blog: I’m posting this not because I agree with everything Jim says, but because I don’t. I’m not going to tell you which parts I agree with and which I’d argue with, at least not yet. I’d like you to have your say first, and when I return [...]
Tags: Jim Kukral·marketing techniques·sales letters·scammy marketing
Great Ad…Missed Opportunity to Increase Effectiveness
February 28th, 2010 · 6 Comments · Advertising, Energy & Sustainability, language, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies
In the Great Advertising Debate, branding vs. direct response, I’ve always come down on the side of direct response. Every marketing message (not just ads) should have a call to action, a way of moving the reader/viewer/listener forward. With the Internet making it very easy to remove material from its original context and share it, [...]
Tags: branding·direct response advertising·oil extraction·oil shale tar sands·rainforest action network·royal bank of canada
If You Don’t Tell Them, How Will They Know You’re Doing the Right Thing?
February 3rd, 2010 · Comments Off · Advertising, Energy & Sustainability, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies
Tonight I was reviewing the PowerPoint for the talk on Green Marketing I’m giving next week in Davos, Switzerland. And I was struck yet again by the big case study in my talk: a company that has been producing products from recycled paper for 60 years, but only bothered to tell anyone within the last [...]
Tags: environmental commitment·green marketing·recycled paper
Shills and Specials: Running the Gauntlet on Ocean Drive
January 18th, 2010 · 2 Comments · Advertising, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies, Shel's Personal Life
Visiting my father in Florida, we treated him and his ladyfriend to lunch on fashionable Ocean Drive in Miami Beach’s South Beach deco district. Lots of lessons here on how to deal with a saturated market. First of all, almost every restaurant (and they are numerous), not only on Ocean Drive but on several of [...]
Tags: competition·deco district·marketing techniques·miami beach·shills·south beach
Earth to Marketers: Don’t Act Like We’re Stupid!
October 20th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Advertising, Business Ethics, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies
Respect your prospect’s intelligence! It’s one of the points I make repeatedly in Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First–and with good reason. To succeed in business, you need long-term relationships. And you don’t get them by insulting people. I could list bad-practice examples from now until the end of time. Every once in a [...]
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Do These People Even Read Their Own Copy?
August 20th, 2009 · Comments Off · Advertising, Marketing Techniques and Philosophies
Latest idiocy in my inbox: Avoid the PR Spam Blacklist Last week a well-regarded blogger published and blacklisted the names of individual PR firms and publicists who have sent ”unsolicited (and almost always irrelevant) product pitches.” While we know that you do not set out deliberately to “spam” journalists, it is clear that the practices that we [...]
Tags: clueless marketing·spam
