2008 August

I was browsing Amazon for good additions to our team's resource lending library when I found a title that really grabbed me:  "Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide," authored by Amy Shuen.  Honestly, I'm not sure yet if the sustenance is there (I started reading it tonight, and saw mixed reviews from those who purchased) but a snippet from the foreward drew me in (hmm, now that I think of it, a foreward is really like a prelude, isn't it? An hor's d vours to whet the appetite):  "Web 2.0 is ultimately...

We've all been in "first" meetings before.  I venture that right away your mental scanner turns on, and you start to peg those you meet.  There's "The Hardass" who might have a slight frown and the vacuum-sealed suit.  There's "The Pretty Boy" with all the teeth who hasn't yet realized you can smell false charm from last week.  You can bet there's "Bird Lady," a short, stick-thin woman with last decade's hair who just won't ever get it.  And there's likely to be a "Yesteryear Jock," a man whose...

Business Development can be a four letter word.  My sincere recognition to those truly effective salespersons out there - you may not know any, they're rare - those intelligent, articulate, knowledgeable, approachable, genuinely interested experts who know how to put a group at ease, speaks wth confidence, and projects an authentic "I'm likeable!" image. Right now I'm mentally struggling with preparing for a new business presentation - deemed an "interview" by the prospect.  They provided us with...

I'm multi-tasking in a fascinating client discovery meeting right now.  This client has an existing Web site, actually the client is a healthcare system with multiple and diverse business operations and disparate Web properties (mini sites).  A year ago, we met their immediate need by helping them migrate from their old site vendor before their contract expired and their site went "poof!" Since the launch, the system has slowly undergone a fundamental shift of monumental proportions.  Starting...

Subtitled:  Are You Buckled In? Have you read the book “Buying In:  The Secret Dialogue Between What We Buy and Who We Are?” The book extends the notion about how closely intertwined brands have come with our personal identities.  Author Rob Walker suggests that “. . .consumers interact with brands, defining and controlling them as companies struggle to keep up.” By contrast, a recent ClickZ article by Pete Blackshaw, “We Marketers Still Have Control!” asserts that today marketers...

Last night I read an interesting BusinessWeek article titled “Are We consumers – or Consumed?”  The article discussed opposed positions from two books, one which purports consumers and brands complicity interact, and the other which argues marketing (or “murketing,” suggests the author) and the consumer have a more ambiguous relationship. I found this article particularly compelling because I’m a long-time marketer; it’s been my job to exploit consumer needs (real or perceived) and perpetuate...

What's that old saw?  "Charity begins at home."  I'm beginning to fully understand that the same could be said for stewardship, or championing, goals and ideals. For instance, let's say one of your goals, as marketing manager, is to identify short and long term strategies for developing consumer affinity and ultimately loyalty.  Now that is a one-sentence goal, but it sure does have heavy implications.  Consumers are inhereintly fickle and the economic and political climate is so unstable...

The SEO Rapper Charles Lewis, aka "Poetic Prophet," aka "The SEO Rapper" is a marketing genius.  Chuck is an employee at Pop Labs, a digital media company specializing in SEO, SEM, and Social Media consulting.   Seemily a Jack-of-all-trades, his skills range from designing, coding, social technologies, crafting precise and informative lyrics, an artist, and an entrepreneur. Since its posting on March 2008, his video "Design Coding," has been watched 319,400 times on YouTube. Talk about viral. ...

“Branding is what people say about you when you’ve left the room” – Jeff Bezos Have truer words ever been spoken? Branding is about delivering on a promise. What your consumers say (or don’t say) about your products/services when they’re facing their friends, relatives, coworkers is likely to be about how well (or how poorly) you delivered on that promise. You made an implied commitment to them to fulfill upon their needs by making claims to specific benefits you could provide, advantages...

Do you ever give pause to the big picture? I ask with absolute sincerity, not a rhetorical question. I can become so embroiled in my daily task list (those items I categorize as “red” in Outlook) and the inevitable minor catastrophes that transpire during the day that it’s often a challenge to give real attention to my “need to do” items. The things that will make bigger impact, and invariably require a lot of energy. I keep a list of short-term and longer-term tasks or initiatives of more...