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Ok, maybe this is your fantasy (it's not mine) to ride on the back of a Harley all weekend long. Um, I'd rather go for a l-o-n-g spa treatment, but hey, it's a personal thing.
Anyway, here's an ingenious way to personalize your fantasy and your Harley. Nice site, if yer into it...
I’m asked this question quite a bit … should a small business create a blog or a Web site?
Every business needs a Web presence. It’s simply the cost of doing business. You need a way to have customers find out more about your organization and how to contact you. Ideally, you’ll have both a Web site and a blog. But if you want to commit to one or the other, here’s the low down.
Web Site – Web sites (or at least a url) are expected of most businesses. You really do need an easily-to-navigate site if you want to satisfy customers. The only problem with Web sites, however, is that they’re typically expensive to set up since our standards for design have been upgraded way past those early templates. And changing up the content is a chore. So, that leaves blog…
Blog – What if you just had a blog for your business? Is that crazy? Not really. After all, you can put all the basics in your “About Me” section and it's important to make the rest of the content easy to search and find (this is key). Therefore, you can leave the rest of your content to your daily (yes, daily) blogging. It’s cheaper, so much easier to set up and infinitely easier to update. So, if you’re willing to put in the daily (yes, daily) work of blogging, you can probably get by with just a blog.
To sum: Web site is more difficult to set up, but you don’t have to change every day and generally, they’re easier to use for the customer. Blogs are easier to set up, but you have to keep it current all the time.
Which suits your business? Ah ha, that’s for you to decide.
Take a look at this discussion from the marketing blog interestingly titled, “From the Head of Zeus Jones.” It argues that marketing may be going away because everyone in an organization should be involved in the all important goal of “improving the marketing experience.”
Back in the day, advertising was simpler. But it was amazingly effective. This gallery of advertising design is more than just a blast from the past. It shows how the basics still work. Doesn't this graphic for Fortunello Ice Cream make you want to have a scoop? Does for me!
Maven's Note: For anyone who reads this site for marketing information, please forgive me. I just felt compelled to write this today. Tomorrow, back to marcom, etc.
Politics are personal, right? So, please indulge me if I give two very personal, very selfish reasons for not wanting John McCain to become president of the United States.
Sam and Shira.
These are my kids. Sam is 15 and Shira is 10. Of course, they are both going on 40 because they know far more than anyone of my generation ever did at a tender age. But I digress. Sam and Shira are, unfortunately, headed for draft age within the next eight years. It scares me, well, shitless.
Sixty-five years ago, my paternal grandmother said good-bye to her only child when he enlisted in the Navy. He was part of a class that was rushed through Yale so they could all be part of that great patriotic effort called WWII. They were the cream of the crop, the bright young people of their generation and they were off to fight. Honestly, I don’t know how my grandmother did it.
I can’t do it.
Maybe World War II was different. Perhaps people knew that there were all kinds of moral issues to be resolved back then. Maybe it was the fact that our relatives were being annihilated in horrendous ways in Europe. I don’t know because my paternal grandmother died when I was about six months old. I don’t know how she did it, but I can’t.
I just can't encourage my children to fight for a war that was based on a falsehood. Ok, I'm too fierce in my need to protect my young. Maybe that makes me a bad mother. I’ll take the hits.
Mr. McCain, I can't agree with the America you envision. This war is bankrupting my country. Why must we "win" this war when all those dollars could have been used to improve America’s deficit-ridden education system and declning infrastructure? And let me not even mention the fact that we are the only industrialized nation not to have universal health care.
Frankly, I don’t care if it’s Clinton or Obama. It has to be either one that takes the oath on a crisp, hope-filled January morning in 2009. I’ve told my children to join me in campaigning this Fall. They have to do it. Their lives depend on it.
Well, bravo to Starbucks for coming up with “My Starbucks Idea.” It’s sort of a social media site where you can suggest your uber-cool concept for continuing Starbuck’s hypnosis on the American public. (Isn’t that what your marketing dept. should be doing??)
Say what you want about the Clinton campaign, but this is why I support it. As one of the few industrialized nations without universal health care, without ever having had a woman lead us ... it is time for change. It is time for hope.
This ad for the Girl Scouts says it all. Women old and young are an unstoppable force. It's about time.
Here is "Youth Market 101" for those of us no longer ... ahem ... all that young. It's a great slideshow fromw MTV Asia available on Slideshare (my new most favorite site).
Biggest insights: TV isn't relevant for the younger demographic. Sure, they watch it, but it's not a part of their lives like spending time on line, listening to music and communicating with others.
Also, youth don't troll the Internet. They spend their time on a few select sites. So, if you aren't "there," you aren't "there." The best sites are the youth-market's prime time. Hmm. Interesting, yes?
I was not one of the poor souls whose MD-80 was grounded by American Airlines, but I still got the following emailed apology. A couple of things strike me as weird…First of all, shouldn’t this have come from the CEO and not the marketing EVP? Also, while thanking me for my loyalty, it doesn’t exactly give me any benefits for my somewhat blind fealty in the future.
JetBlue’s apology last year was better. It told us what they were doing to make sure the situation didn’t ever happen again. Here, we’re told that the whole ordeal was “a learning experience.”
Here's the note:
As one of our most valued customers, please accept my apology on behalf of American Airlines® to you, your family and your fellow AAdvantage® customers for disrupting so many peoples' lives with the recent flight cancellations related to the inspection of our MD-80 aircraft fleet.
As you can imagine, American's decision to cancel thousands of flights this week was difficult, and it undoubtedly created concern among our best customers – even those who had no travel plans during the period.
If in your travels you were among the many who have been personally affected, I sincerely regret the inconvenience you have experienced. Our employees will continue to work around the clock to accommodate all who still need to reach their desired destinations. We anticipate returning to a full schedule by Monday.
While the media reports have documented the reasons why American took this action and the steps we're taking to re-accommodate and compensate affected customers, I've also attached an explanation of the events for your understanding. It's a bit complex, but at the end of it all, please know this:
First, your safety and the safety of our employees remains our number one priority.
Second, we will learn from this experience, and we will get better.
Finally, we wholeheartedly appreciate your loyalty to American Airlines, and we remain committed to earning your business each and every day.
Respectfully,
Dan Garton
Executive Vice President
Marketing
P.S. You may have already contacted us via AA.com® or by writing directly to Customer Relations. Let me reassure you that we will respond directly to your contact just as quickly as practical.
I'm kind of liking this site. Wow-O-Wow is chick-clicking. It's the creation of Lesley Stahl, Mary Wells and Liz Smith, to name a few.
I kind of like it. I like the articles. I'm not sure about the weather report in terms of "good or bad hair days." And all that posting of questions for the "Wow" community to jump in is a little overkill.
It's sort of like The View on the Web. Sometimes it's annoying. Sometimes it's dead-on. So, chick-click on over...
In some cultures, blatant knocking of the competition is considered bad taste. Bad, bad taste.
n the 90s. To certain readers, I’m a bit of a grande dame (without the “grande”). To me, I’ve got a little more pep in me before they farm me out to pasture.
Don't know about you, but my stomach gets just like this Pepto Bismol ad on a number of occasions...when it's Monday and I return to work, when my agent sends my manuscript out to editors, when my son takes a geometry test. It's a powerful image...and good guerilla marketing from Publicis. Now, about that washing mashine feeling...maybe I will take a Pepto. It sure convinced me!
Before you go “just to buy stuff” at that large discount store with the red circles (rhymes with Margaret), read the David Report’s newest issue, “I Shop Therefore I Am.” It’s a free download and very worthwhile.
I love this woman. Madonna is one damn good marketer. I loved her the moment I heard the ultra-slutty "Like a Virgin" performed in a wedding dress. I loved her when she did the cone-bra thing. And I love her now -- 49 and, come on folks, still hot.
Sure she's not the greatest singer and her songs aren't exactly art. But she is one amazing marketer with her finger on the pulse of our culture. She knows when to reinvent herself, change things up and, yes, surprise. That's what great marketers do. Bravo, Madonna. I'll download her latest song -- not for JT -- but for her. (Hope it's another "Ray of Light!")
Heard a great lecture from Angela Snickas today. She reminded us that measurement is FREE in so many cases. Are you using all the free tools availble?
For those of you who say, "Well, duh," well ta-ra for you. For the rest of us, use these resources before they get pricey. They're great and they're free.
We all know the tsoras (look it up, it's Yiddish) experienced by China over a big thing called Tibet a
nd a certain Olympic flame. Yeah, well, maybe the p.r. plan should have considered a bit (?) of backlash.
But consider Contenelle. You know, the "Be Kind to Your Behind" folks. Well, apparently, they've got a bit of eco-folk opposition on their hands (and other body parts). I dunno, but there are certain items I'm not going to trade for the good of the earth. What's the alternative to TP? Leaves? Newspaper? Recyclable paper? None of this sounds good. No thanks.
Dress for success. Have a firm handshake. Look people in the eyes. Blah. Blah. Blah. You can read all the guides to success you want, but it al boils down to these dead-on tips from Advergirl:
s a great little blog about advertising. The writer, a true account person, has a ton of fun posts ranging from working with various parts of the industry to neat campaigns.
One of her latest posts outlines four simple rules for success in the industry. To quote:
Don't just get through your day-to-day. Be a part of it.
Great adivce. If only I did that more often!
Yikes. Not all is going well for the folks at Coke. Take a gander at the red can introduced by Pepsi to celebrate the Beijing games. Hey, isn't Coke the red guy in this competition? And hey again, isn't Coke the official sponsor? So, how come Pepsi can horn in on the show? Guess all is fair in love and sports.
And consider the problems with sponsorship when all eyes are on Tibet and Darfur. It leaves all who rushed to get in on the Olympic action with a huge dilemma -- get the attention of the globe's most populous country or raise the ire of a world aware of human rights issues.
For more heartburn, consider this blog on Coke's global policies. Yikes. I think I'll have a V-8.
I don’t know about you, but I’m one of those “love it” or “hate it” types. If I don’t love doing something, I …well … hate it. No middle ground.
Hautlust, the best site on societal marketing is back! But now it's known as Osocio.
No matter. It's back with GREAT examples of social advertising and non-profit campaigns.
Here's an eye-popping campaign to create awareness around child labour.
Ogilvy pasted life size adhesives of children at automatic revolving doors in Amsterdam, The Hague and Enschede. The copy reads, "You can’t ignore child labour." Brilliant.
