December 2008
20 posts
3 tags
My Biggest Marketing Mistakes of 2008
It’s nice to talk about all the great things one has accomplished during the year and it’s easy to highlight the blunders of others, but I think it’s much more useful and tangible to look at your own marketing mistakes.
Here are the biggest mistakes I made in marketing this year:
* I neglected my best customers. Not completely, of course, but your best customers should...
The Hunt
In marketing, we’re all hunting for something. But it’s interesting to me how some people put so much time and effort into things that often yield so little.
Millions have been spent looking for Sasquatch, but we still have no solid evidence he exists.
Many more millions have gone to looking for extra-terrestrials, with still nothing to show for it.
The Discovery Channel is...
2 tags
Popquiz: Name that Millionaire
A few hints:
She was an orphan.
She was black.
She was a self-made millionaire.
She’s not Oprah.
Born on a plantation to former slaves, this remarkable woman from Louisiana became an orphan at seven and a widow at 22 years old with a 2 year old baby under her arm. And despite living in a very racist and very sexist United States, she started a business and became the country’s...
Will Innovative Marketing Die in 2009?
It’s going to be a tough year for many businesses next year. Sales will be down, clients will leave and budgets will come under scrutiny. Which begs the question: Is innovative marketing going to die next year?
That depends on what type of marketer you are. The Scrutinizers will cut marketing budgets. The Dreamers will keep dreaming. The Worry Warts will do the same old thing and develop...
What's Your Slug?
I have great respect for journalists. They break important news, keep government and companies in check, reveal scandals and organize what’s happening around the world so we can always know what’s going on. They also work in stressful flurries of phone calls, research and writing. Deadlines always loom. Accuracy is a must. The pay generally sucks.
In college, I was required to take...
2 tags
Truly Brilliant Viral Marketing Campaign
Everyone wants to be responsible for the next innovative viral marketing campaign. Many try, most fail. Only the truly creative, the truly entertaining and the truly captivating ones are able to rise above the incessant noise and clutter of the Internet and get noticed.
That’s why this campaign, created by Saatchi & Saatchi New York, is worth mentioning here. The theme is universal,...
Manizesto is Now Subscriber Only!
After much consideration and angst, I’ve decided to make this blog fully accessible only to subscribers. Why? Four main reasons:
1. Be a part of something. Godin describes it best here. Call it a tribe, a community, a group or what-have-you, but the goal is to increase mind share and the value of the information posted here.
2. Higher engagement. When you subscribed, you invested in me...
3 tags
How NOT to Announce Store Closures
From today’s Deseret News:
“After 22 years in the Salt Lake City market, Utah’s two Bally Total Fitness locations have closed.
With no warning, members visiting those locations Wednesday discovered the lights out and doors locked following the company’s decision to permanently pull out of the area due to declining business….”This location is now...
How a Dentist Should Market Their Practice
I found my dentist, Provo Dental Care, like most people do, from a referral (word of mouth still trumps any paid channel). But I’m continually impressed with their marketing campaigns. Here’s what they’re doing that keeps me engaged.
1. Referral gift. I was so impressed with the practice that I’ve referred a few people to their practice. Every time I do, they send me a...
This is why we don't trust politicians
From today’s Washington Post:
“The news that Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) has been taken into custody on charges of seeking bribes in exchange for an appointment to the Senate (among other allegations) fundamentally reshapes the Illinois political landscape.” (More here)
This is staggering, and it’s why politicians are some of the least trusted people out there,...