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When do unsolicited messages become spam?

By on October 2, 2008 in ethics, message responsible

Yesterday, several members of my Outsource Marketing team received a solicitation via an email form that none of us wanted. I personally responded with a simple email: Don’t SPAM us with your … ‘opportunities’ anymore. Especially via our new business inquiries form. Thank you. This set off a nuclear reaction of emails: A curt message [...]

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10 marketing mistakes to avoid now

By on September 29, 2008 in broken marketing, creativity, deceptive marketing, ethics, execution responsible, research, social media, word of mouth

The financial crisis has everyone on edge, myself included. I lost my bank, and I’m not sure who’s next. Should I put my money in coffee cans and bury it in the backyard? When people are on edge, sometimes they do things they normally wouldn’t do. Same goes for businesses. Here are a 10 things [...]

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Responsible or not? Advertising adultery

By on September 19, 2008 in ethics, message responsible, morality, responsible or not?, social networking, videos

Ashley Madison is a social networking/dating service—for married people. Although the company isn’t breaking any laws by helping facilitate adultery (soon they’ll have a money back guarantee if you don’t successfully have an affair), they aren’t breaking any laws. Still, their billboard only lasted three days in Times Square, an ad they produced for ESPN [...]

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Bumvertising: Welcome to the Hall of Shame

By on September 16, 2008 in casting responsible, environmentally responsible, ethics, execution responsible, hall of shame, message responsible, roi responsible, signage, socially responsible, strategically responsible, videos, viral marketing

Bumvertising is exactly what it sounds like: Advertising on the homeless. It started in 2005 when 22-year-old University of Washington grad Ben Rogovy was looking for a cheap way to promote another company he started. Here’s a quick overview: View this video on YouTube The Bumvertising debate has attracted local, national and even international media [...]

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Responsible or not: Emotional manipulation

By on August 1, 2008 in ethics, research, responsible or not?, socially responsible

A vast sector of modern advertising… does not appeal to reason but to emotion; like any other kind of hypnoid suggestion, it tries to impress its objects emotionally and then make them submit intellectually. ~ Erich Fromm Would you rather make women feel better about themselves or about your brand? In a recent study inspired [...]

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