I’ve always been fascinated with how some ads try to present their products as part of a bigger lifestyle choice. Sure I’ve spent a good part of my adult life helping craft those very messages on behalf of clients. But even when I’m nesting in my den, playing the part of the American everyman watching Sunday football, with my marketing work a distant note on my Monday to-do list, I still find myself mulling over…
Brands are often an unwelcome presence on social media platforms. They tend to interrupt conversations with blatant sales pitches. They then often ask for information we don’t deem them entitled to receive. Our email addresses. Answers to incessantly dry, pedantic surveys. Urgent commands to pimp their promotions to our friends. You get the idea. When it comes to social media, many brands and the companies that run them could use an etiquette primer. But where…
As Facebook and Twitter have ascended to the top of the marketing lexicon, it is utterly amazing to me that brands still don’t understand the (well documented) fundamentals of social media. So many marketers are treating social media as an extension of their direct response efforts, or just another media outlet for press releases. Not to say that social platforms do not play a role in the transaction or dissimulating company news to a broad…
We just spent a few days at the Natural Product Expo West trade show in Anaheim. I’ve always been a fan of this show. It’s a chance to meet tons of people who do what they love- create products that are good for you, good for the environment and are often unique. Many of these products go on to grow into major brands- Amy’s Kitchen or Kashi are two that come to mind. This trade…
We’ve heard much over the last few years about the wisdom, power, intelligence of crowds. The ability to harness collective creativity, brainpower, willpower and vision in order to accomplish great things. The growth of social media inspired much of this discourse. And even if you have been a skeptic till now, recent events in the Middle East should convince you that crowds empowered by social media platforms are indeed a force of world-changing influence. We’ve…
I’ve been thinking about how dated traditional marketing worldviews have become — particularly the notions of brand building. Twentieth century economic growth provided a hothouse for the dogma of brand building. The increasing presence of one-way broadcast mediums, coupled with the industrial revolution and later on the spread of consumption-led economies provided the perfect storm for brand-think. Whether in the guise of ad-agency, consultant or marketing manager, brand shamans shouted their b-invectives to willing minions…
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