Experiments in Blogging: Building a Community Builds Sales for Steve Spangler
Integrating new forms of media like blogs into the marketing mix may feel like a grand experiment to many companies. But then, experiments are nothing out of the ordinary for Steve Spangler Science. ...
Follow the Money: Are Brands Getting the ROI They Need From Interactive Marketing?
(Promo) Whether it's pushing an e-mail to a targeted list or luring people to a special-interest Web site, online tactics have never been put to greater use by brands. Of the 263 marketers polled in Promo's 2007 interactive trends survey, 49% expect their online spending to grow in 2007. And where is the money going? To e-mail, e-mail newsletters, banner ads and online promo-letters, banner ads and online promotions ...
The "Voice of the Customer" Speaks
(Multichannel Merchant) Do you know what it’s like to be in your customer’s shoes? As vice president of customer experience and the “voice of the customer” at financial services firm Credit Suisse, David McQuillen does,...
The Shlog
Blogs haven’t been around all that long, but for the life of me I can’t put my finger on the precise date that everybody--especially brands--felt that he absolutely had to have a blog in order to feel complete in the marketing area. ...
Only Connect
(Multichannel Merchant) Few brands fully leverage their merchandising concept. Profits, products, services, experiences, and shareholder value are left on the table because companies are falling short...
Your Brand and Paid Search: What You Need to Know
Chief marketers using paid and natural search engine marketing often ask, “If we rank well in the natural search results for the brand name, should my search team also buy my brand terms in paid search?” ...
Brandus Interruptus: When Good Brands Go Bad
You wake up with a brilliant idea, a new concept no one has thought of before. You develop a flawless marketing plan over morning coffee, word gets out, and by noon the best teams of specialists call you. ...
Why a Killer Video Game Is the Army's Best Recruitment Tool
Since the last draftee reported for duty in December 1972, Uncle Sam has had to hustle to staff an all-volunteer armed force. That means the U.S. Army has to recruit 80,000 soldiers every year ...
Seven Deadly Sins of Branding
Every company, product, and service has an image--a public perception. The image isn't necessarily what the company, product, or service is, but how it is perceived....
BrandAnimation: We’re Not an Army; It’s Not a War
Marketers, as you all well know, are professionals who choose words very carefully for a living. So why do we continue to use military terminology when talking about what we do...
Why Federated Is Right and Wanamaker Was Wrong
Financial analysts will argue that a holding company such as Federated Department Stores doesn’t need a corporate brand, that the only thing that counts are the financial results. ...
The Fable of the Misinformed CMO
Once upon a time there was a colleague of ours who was working on a brand assignment for a big computer company. He was interested in knowing the current drivers for the computer category...
The New New Brand
A colleague had a great description of brand: The brand is the solution. ...
Loyalty Library: Developing a Basic Loyalty Strategy
Because customer loyalty tends to lead to retention and advocacy, it’s not surprising to find that loyalty programs are on more retailers’ roadmaps than any other marketing technology project...
The Brand Experience
(Multichannel Merchant) The American Institute of Graphic Design defines brand as “a person's perception of a product, service, or company.” That definition has nothing to do with a mission statement...
Sustainable Options As Part of the Brand
In light of a rapidly changing global situation, consumer values are changing, making social responsibility and sustainability pivotal influences. ...
Green Eggs and URLs: Some Children's Author Sites Have Character
Which children's book sites are the hit of the virtual playground, and which need a time out? A quick look at the sites featuring the works of three beloved children's characters – all magical in their own way – found interactivity, and a bit of monkey business. ...
Media Mash
(Promo) For years, promotions and branding were separate nations. Promotional campaigns were developed by agencies working separately from those responsible for branding, never daring to cross borders....
More Marketers Taking a First Look at Second Life
(Direct) To its 2.7 million registered users around the world, the virtual reality universe Second Life is a nice place to visit, play and shop for completely digital goods....
“Genius May Have Its Limitations, but Stupidity Is Not Thus Handicapped”
I’m not a Luddite when it comes to new ways of assessing brands, advertising, and marketing programs. ...
Five Steps to an Optimized Customer Experience—and a Stronger Brand
Customers experience your brand in numerous ways: products, packaging, price, marketing, sales personnel. Each of these contacts or touchpoints molds the customer’s impression of the brand. ...
Zero Switching Costs Are Here
(Multichannel Merchant) Why did Google pay $1.65 billion for YouTube? Why did Tom Freston lose the CEO job at MTV parent company Viacom? The same reason that Google outpaced Yahoo!, ...
What’s in a Name: Four Key Criteria
One reason naming a business or a product is so hard: Everyone thinks it’s easy. Saying everything you need to in a few letters or syllables is, in fact, not easy. ...
Review and Renew
Multichannel merchants today face two fundamental challenges: Customer loyalty is declining, and competition is increasing. While these are forces that all businesses grapple with...
BrandAnimation: The Experience Strategy
It seems like everyone’s thoughts on marketing are being copyrighted these days (is that because of the advent of customer-generated content and wanting to separate the pros from the nonpros?), ...
