Archive for the ‘Marketing’ Category
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 30, 2008
The cheap-chic store, Target, has whacked the proverbial bees’ nest by disrespecting a blogger who complained about one of the chain store’s ads, and that has the rest of the blogosphere (present company excepted) in a tizzy. The NYT, a traditional media outlet, was able to get Target’s spokesperson to comment in this article, “Target Tells a Blogger to Go Away.”
Early this month, the blog’s founder, Amy Jussel, called Target, complaining about a new advertising campaign that depicted a woman splayed across a big target pattern — the retailer’s emblem — with the bull’s-eye at her crotch.
OK, I’ve read Marshall McLuhan so I understand the impact that subconscious messages in images can have, so call me insensitive if you must, but I think this is a good example of hyper-sensitivity to complain about this.
Still, Target’s handling of the complaint is either clumsy or just plain clueless: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Blogs, Call Center Management, Marketing, Media, Web 2.0 | Tagged: Blogs, Marketing, Media, opinion | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 30, 2008
eMarketer (one of my favorite websites for all kinds of statistics related to marketing) cites various studies in this short article, “Search Marketing’s 800-Pound Gorilla.” In short, search marketing is taking off like a rocket, and for good reason:
“At least 155 million people in the US used search engines in 2007,” says Mr. Hallerman. “That number will rise by 25 million in 2011.”
Marketers have noticed:
eMarketer estimates that US search advertising spending grew almost 27% last year.
And clearly the service to place your bets on is Google: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Marketing, Statistics, Technology | Tagged: Marketing, Research | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 30, 2008
Interesting research cited in this MarketingProfs newsletter item, “How Saying the Least May Achieve the Most.” It’s short, so it will only take you a minute to check it out. Here’s the main point:
A study has revealed that ads containing considerable white space lead customers to perceive the advertised product as more prestigious, sophisticated, trustworthy, higher in product quality and leadership, and lower in risk than the same ad without white space.
Posted in Marketing, Research | Tagged: Marketing, Research | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 29, 2008
OK, this one was just too funny to pass up! Reuters’ headline sums it up: “Fly naked on nudist holiday flight“
German nudists will be able to start their holidays early by stripping off on the plane if they take up a new offer from an eastern German travel firm.
Well, in every market there are specialty niches: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Human Interest, Humor, Marketing, Travel | Tagged: Humor, Travel | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 21, 2008
Fast Company has an in-depth story, “Is the Tipping Point Toast?” about the work of Duncan Watts, a network-theory scientist who tests the actual influence of “Influencers” popularized by Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point and finds anyone is about as influential in starting trends as anyone else.
… Influentials have no such effect. Indeed, they have no special role in trends at all….”It just doesn’t work,” Watts says…. “A rare bunch of cool people just don’t have that power. And when you test the way marketers say the world works, it falls apart. There’s no there there.”
And this is not, he argues, mere academic whimsy. He has developed a new technique for propagating ads virally, which can double or even quadruple the reach of an ordinary online campaign by harnessing the pass-around power of everyday people–and ignoring Influentials altogether.
The marketing establishment doesn’t want to hear it, since “going viral” by reaching influencers is the latest big thing.
But as The Tipping Point climbed the charts, marketers fixated on Gladwell’s Law of the Few, his suggestion that rare, highly connected people shape the world. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Books, Marketing, Research, Web 2.0 | Tagged: Marketing, Research, Science, social networking, Trends | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 19, 2008
According to Mark Stevens, author of Your Marketing Sucks, it probably does. Stevens is not a shy guy, and he’s absolutely certain he knows what you should and should not do with your marketing.
I just finished the book, and I see it has highly mixed reviews on Amazon. I think he’s dead on when he says much of the marketing companies do is “Lazy Marketing.” Whether he has all the answers, I can’t say, but the book gave me some concepts that I want to try out.
Posted in Books, Marketing | Tagged: Books, Marketing | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 16, 2008
This article by Rich Brooks on Flyte.com presents the different scenarios when a blog or newsletter would be most appropriate for your business.
read more | digg story
Posted in Blogs, Marketing | Tagged: Blogs, Marketing, Media, Strategy, user-generated, Web 2.0 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 16, 2008
This article on Search Engine Guide by Mack Collier provides a good argument, with evidence, of the positive impact of using blogs on a company’s bottom line. He’s also got a good blog about — of course — using blogs in your marketing.
read more | digg story
Posted in Blogs, Marketing | Tagged: Blogs, Marketing, Media, SEO, Strategy, user-generated, Web 2.0 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 14, 2008
Marketing Sherpa is one of the best sites around for marketing ideas. This article is all about how to use Digg in your marketing efforts. I’ve been using Digg only very recently, even though I have known about it for a long time. Now I wonder what took me so long, as it’s a cool way to participate in the news aggregation process. I also really like that after I Digg something I can use Digg to automatically post the article to my blog — very slick, value-added feature!
Here’s the article summary:
For marketers on a tight budget, viral marketing can be a cost-effective alternative. But execution relies on referrals and word of mouth, so it’s difficult to measure the impact.There are places, though, where content can go to flourish. Like Digg.com — a social media website that can serve as a launch pad for a surge in your Web traffic. Learn how Digg.com works and how to craft content that “diggers” will love to discover and share.
Posted in Marketing, Web 2.0 | Tagged: Marketing, Media, Web 2.0 | Leave a Comment »
Posted by Ted Hopton on January 14, 2008
Great content doesn’t guarantee 100,000 hits at YouTube or the adoration of bloggers around the globe. So how do you promote your video, short of tearfully defending wayward pop stars or grossing people out with the unorthodox use of excrement?
This short piece from MarketingProfs has some valuable insights on making video work for your business. Well worth the few minutes to read it. Here are the highlights:
- Keep it short.
- Avoid overt advertising.
- Post everything at once.
- Optimize your thumbnail.
Posted in Marketing, Web 2.0 | Tagged: Ethics, Marketing, Media, Video, Web 2.0 | Leave a Comment »
The cheap-chic store, Target, has whacked the proverbial bees’ nest by disrespecting a blogger who complained about one of the chain store’s ads, and that has the rest of the blogosphere (present company excepted) in a tizzy. The NYT, a traditional media outlet, was able to get Target’s spokesperson to comment in this article, “Target Tells a Blogger to Go Away.”
