In the News archive
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What’s your Web video strategy?
Given the overwhelming viewership of online video, marketers have a new opportunity. As more and more businesses realize the value of video and its ability to increase brand awareness and drive sales, marketers are responding. Video is also proving an effective way to facilitate conversations that help to win new customers and solidify the relationship with… Continue reading
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Video veritas: Who’s watching?
If you were asked who watches more video on their mobile devices, you’d probably say teens. I know that would have been my answer. Surprisingly, that’s not the case. According to the latest Three Screen report from Nielsen, 55 percent of mobile video viewers are adults aged 25-49. And on average, these users are spending… Continue reading
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Does the Web make you smarter or dumber? Is that even the right question?
I was fascinated by a recent Wired article excerpting Nicholas Carr’s latest book, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains.” Perhaps my reaction was stronger since I’d just returned from a vacation during which I was able to read my first fiction book in years. I had picked up South of Broad
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Giving your customers a voice pays off
Word of mouth has always been a powerful marketing tool. I learned this firsthand when I and my fledgling cheesecake business moved to a rural agricultural community several years ago. Customer reviews are just as important and powerful in the digital realm, as well. I can’t remember the last time I made a purchase, whether… Continue reading
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Good information design can help your brand
Design geeks across the Web were buzzing last month in response to the announcement that Edward Tufte, a statistician and professor emeritus at Yale University, was appointed by President Obama to the Recovery Independent Advisory Panel. The move was seen by many as a much-needed boost to help restore trust—not just in the Obama administration… Continue reading
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2009’s 10 most embarrassing marketing & PR blunders
2009 was a rough year for marketers. Budgets were cut, heads rolled, and projects came under tighter scrutiny than ever before. The following awkward, bizarre, and embarrassing blunders show that even with the odds stacked against them, marketers will still dare to dream the impossible dream (and pay the price in the end). Continue reading
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Don’t just sniff the digital exhaust
While listening to Marketplace on my way home last night, I heard an interesting interview with Andreas Weigend, former chief scientist at Amazon.com. In describing what he does, Weigend says, “I study people and the data they create.” Sounds like a pretty modest description for a Ph.D. with his expertise. He didn’t say it, but… Continue reading
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Should online critics be more critical?
A recent Wall Street Journal article (subscription required) made me wonder about the long-term viability of the social Web. The article is about Internet product/service ratings, and how the average grade is about 4.3 stars out of 5.
Many companies have noticed serious grade inflation. Google Inc.’s YouTube says the videos on its site average 4.6 stars… Continue reading -
Visit Denmark for a one-night stand?
When your country is part of a continent that includes France, Italy, Greece, and Spain, you must face stiff competition for tourist dollars, especially in these challenging economic times. So it stands to reason that you would be under pressure to think of innovative ways to market yourself to travelers. But VisitDenmark, the country’s official tourism agency, got a little too innovative with a recent video campaign. Continue reading
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Shock marketing: rolling out the red asphalt carpet
What’s the point of these campaigns? If it’s to start a Facebook conversation on a topic, and your topic involves sex, drugs, or automotive gore, then the path to success arguably begins and ends with capitalizing on that innate human fascination with all things morbid and taboo. Rubbernecking by ad proxy, as it were. Continue reading
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Michelin abandons total secrecy
In our social media, share everything world, secrecy is out and transparency is in. No secret there, right? But even the marketers of the famously hush-hush Michelin guides are striving to find the right balance between communicating to their audience and maintaining their editorial integrity.
The company that doesn’t let its restaurant reviewers participate… Continue reading
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Fantasy football scores big through enthusiasm
Add it to the list of things you like, but don’t need to spend your hard-earned cash on: I’m thinking Kindles, satellite radio, and, of course, fantasy football.
But fantasy football—in which participants draft real players (and their stats) for a fantasy team and then compete against other fantasy teams—has become big business. Every… Continue reading
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The latest offline/online mashups get real
In the early days of the Internet, businesses with a physical location were referred to as “brick-and-mortar,” while those on the Internet had a “Web presence.” Obviously, that distinction doesn’t hold up anymore, but a recent Google campaign and a new iPhone app got me thinking about the convergence of the online and offline worlds… Continue reading
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