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Questioning Assumptions

admin — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 05:21:00 +0000

One of the most important jobs of marketers is to question assumptions. In his book BrandSimple, Allen P. Adamson talks about Jerry Seinfield’s uncanny ability to point out things that don’t make sense but are never questioned. For instance he once said “It’s amazing that the amount of news that happens in the world every day always just exactly fits the newspaper”.

Whynot.net is a website where people can submit ideas that challenge conventional wisdom and the ideas are voted on by the community. Some interesting ideas are break lights that indicate the level of deceleration, a Netflix for books, or different horn sounds for different driving situations. Checking out this site can give marketers ideas to find hidden markets or better serve the needs of customers.

This Week in Marketing for Feb 16 2008

admin — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:56:00 +0000

Show Links:
Generation MySpace Is Getting Fed Up
Anytime Is Prime Time for Online Shows
Special Flavor: The Big Rhubarb

Cool Marketing Stuff Podcast for Feb 2, 2008

admin — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 02:06:00 +0000

Is This the End for Banner Ads?

admin — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 23:44:00 +0000

John Wall from the Ronin Marketeer blog and Marketing Over Coffee Podcast recently opened my eyes to a firefox plugin called AdBlock Plus that is internet equivalent to DVR. I just installed it and it claims to eliminate 99% of banner ads. It’s scary good.

Banners are often ignored anyways but if people start using effective ad-blocking software it will really make them into ineffective marketing tools. The benefit of using AdBlock is not only eliminating ads, but since these ads take time to load, your page will load faster. If enough people downloaded this free software it could have some serious effects on the business model of many sites that rely on ads for revenue.

Is Marketing Responsible for the Commercialization of Christmas?

admin — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 07:28:00 +0000

Like Dave Barry said in the below quote, the commercialization of Christmas has partly distracted people from the true meaning of Christmas. You can’t escape the constant advertisements of sales by every retailer trying to leverage Christmas to help their bottom line.

The other side of the argument would say that marketing is just facilitating consumers to consume what they were planning to anyways or quote John O’Toole who said “Yes, I sell people things they don’t need. I can’t, however, sell them something they don’t want. Even with advertising. Even if I were of a mind to.”

I like what Starbucks is doing with the Pass the Cheer campaign in which they encourage people to perform random acts of kindness and show generosity. If more firms focused on social responsibility rather than deep discounts, it could build good will and shift the focus back on the important things, like spirituality, family, and world peace. Now Click here to go to Amazon.

Awesome Psychology Lectures

admin — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 05:21:00 +0000

The study of Psychology can really help marketers understand customers. I recommend two tremendous courses available for free on iTunesU, which offers many free lectures. I have been listening to Psychology 156- Human Emotion and Psychology 160- Social Psychology at UC Berkeley, two very relevant courses to marketing. Both lectures are by Dacher Keltner , who is one of the best lecturers I have listened to. The lectures are also available at the course website. Psych 156. Psych 160.

Commericals as Content

admin — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 06:27:00 +0000

For those who miss the interruptions of commercials you can now get your fix at Firebrand.com. You can watch a constant stream of random commercials or select specific categories. Sound like fun?

Well it is. Everyone has at some point searched for a great commercial on You Tube. The buzz around Superbowl ads shows that if the content is entertaining enough people will watch. TV ads are a microcosm of our culture and viewing the top creative ads is surprisingly fun. A similar site is Veryfunnyads.com, where you can view the funniest ads.

Some really cool aspects of Firebrand is a host who presents the ads in a show format, sometimes with interesting trivia between spots. You can also click on credits for each ad to see the agency behind the spot. The international ads are also cool.

Imagine a World Without Marketing

admin — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 06:15:00 +0000

I recently spoke to a co-worker who asked the common rhetorical question about marketing: “Isn’t marketing just about selling people things they don’t need.” I happily engaged in the intellectual sparring match, as I enjoy enlightening those unaware of how marketing makes our lives better. Granted, marketing is not as noble a cause as teaching or hospice care, but I argue it plays an equally important role in our society.

Imagine a world without marketing. Our economy would collapse. Our standard of living would plummet as a result of consumers not having enough information about their options and due to the plunging stock market. Without branding, people would lack confidence in their decisions as they wouldn’t know what type of performance to expect from a given product or service. Television would not have enough funding to operate. Google would go out of business. Can you imagine a world without marketing?

Image from NOAA Photo Library

Philanthropic Marketing

admin — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 02:29:00 +0000

As it becomes more difficult to communicate to consumers on traditional media, branding has become more critical to marketing success. Companies can not survive with questionable reputations, on the other hand a strong reputation can differentiate you from the competition.

Bank of America recently bailed out Countrywide by purchasing 2 billion in stock which calmed fears of the county’s largest home loaner going out of business. They also allow employees to allocate two hours per week to provide service to their community and donates $500 to charity if an employee reaches 100 volunteer hours for the year. It are these philanthropic efforts that help strengthen the positive associations in the minds of consumers. It can also strengthen the brand internally by engaging employees to feel a sense of purpose in being a service to others. Furthermore, a strong community will have more income to buy your products.

Corporate Philanthropy Winners:

Honda

Bank of America

Starbucks

Marketing Book Picks of the Week

admin — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 03:40:00 +0000

Life After the 30 Second Spot: Energize Your Brand With a Bold Mix of Alternatives to Traditional Advertising by Joseph Jaffe

The Elements of Persuasion: Use Storytelling to Pitch Better, Sell Faster & Win More Business by Richard Maxwell and Robert Dickman

Trading Up: Why Consumers Want New Luxury Goods… And How Companies Create Them by Michael J. Silverstein, Neil Fiske, and John Butman

The Pursuit of Wow! by Tom Peters

see Marketing Reading List in Right Column for More Marketing Book Suggestions