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10 of my favorite lists from 2008

By on January 1, 2009 in advertising, corporate responsibility, sex sells, social media, social networking, videos, viral marketing

Happy New Year! I know. I’ve ranted about lists before, but to start off 2009, one of my resolutions is to lighten up (a little) about lists. Here’s a list of 10 of my favorite lists from last year, in no particular order: The 10 most admired companies of 2008 Fortune Magazine 50 ideas on [...]

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Why you can’t trust anyone in marketing

By on December 26, 2008 in no trust, social media

In The Night After Christmas, Jonathan Salem Baskin waxes poetic about the excuses marketers will make when retailers realize their marketing efforts (especially their holiday sales) weren’t what they hoped for this year: The marketing had failed, the sales not triumphant, The guy sneaking away was the company’s consultant. More rapid than eagles his course [...]

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Motrin feels the pain of a social media mommy mob

By on November 18, 2008 in authenticity, boycott, message responsible, social media, social networking, videos, viral marketing, word of mouth

You might have heard about the recent uproar over a new Motrin ad targeting mothers. If you have already formed an opinion on the topic, skip the video below. Otherwise, take a look, and try to be as objective as possible. View this video on YouTube The response Paul Banas estimated that in 48 hours [...]

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Can you market as well as a state agency?

By on November 12, 2008 in cause marketing, execution responsible, PSA, social media, socially responsible, strategically responsible, videos, word of mouth

Some of the best marketing today is being done by groups typically considered boring and safe. You know—state agencies. Battling preconceptions to market employment office services to employers A few years back, Outsource Marketing helped a consortium of seven U.S. states whose charter was to find effective new ways to market state one-stop services to [...]

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Marketing lessons from Barack Obama

By on November 5, 2008 in branding, casting responsible, competition, innovation, multicultural marketing, positioning, social media, social networking, videos, viral marketing, word of mouth

Whether you are red or blue, you can’t deny Barack Obama’s marketing prowess. Here are a few lessons every organization should consider when they are seeking ‘votes’ from prospects: Develop strategies based on consumer insights. The Obama campaign clearly understood where America was hurting most, and developed strategies in response. Build an organization that can [...]

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Northwest Tweetup today in Seattle

By on October 24, 2008 in marketing education, social media, social networking

The Northwest Tweetup is shaping up nicely, with 38 confirmed guests and 50 maybes as of this moment. If you aren’t using Twitter, check out How I use Twitter, and you? by Jeremiah Owyang at Forrester, and Twitter me this: Is it time to tweet? by me. Also, here’s my growing list of Twitter links [...]

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To blog or not to blog?

By on October 10, 2008 in authenticity, social media

Blogs help humanize companies, improve authenticity, create valuable feedback loops and may help drive significant traffic to your company website. So it’s no wonder one of questions I’m most often asked is, “should my company consider blogging?” After asking a few questions, I’m able to give a definitive “yes” or “no” answer, but I’ve never [...]

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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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Two Seattle Tweetups in October

By on September 26, 2008 in social media, social networking

I’ve spoken about he benefits of Twitter countless times. I’ve met some of the smartest people I know there and found great inspiration for a number of my posts. If you aren’t using Twitter, you should give it a try. I was reluctant at first, but someone urged me to give it a few weeks [...]

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Are you looking for love in all the wrong places?

By on September 22, 2008 in authenticity, branding, digital marketing, social media, social networking, videos, viral marketing, word of mouth

I wish people didn’t call it “new media” anymore. It’s just media. But unlike television, radio and print, this media is created by you, me, your co-workers—maybe even your mom. It’s a conversation that brings you closer to the customer than ever before at a time when recent research has shown that 86% of consumers [...]

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How to use social media to create social good

By on September 18, 2008 in charitable giving, creativity, fun, social media, social networking, socially responsible, word of mouth

Social media can be an incredible force for doing good. I’ve spoken about it a bit lately, sharing some real world examples in the deck below: Examples don’t necessarily explain how to do it, so here’s a simple, grassroots way I used social media to raise $1,250 for the Muscular Dystrophy Association just yesterday. Here’s [...]

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Bite-sized Friday: The Network Effect

By on August 29, 2008 in social media, social networking

You’ve heard of the network effect before, haven’t you? It’s defined as “the phenomenon whereby a service becomes more valuable as more people use it, thereby encouraging ever-increasing numbers of adopters.” For example, the telephone wasn’t particularly valuable until several people you knew had one. Same thing with email. Here are a few topics relative [...]

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Let’s fight vanity scams together

By on August 21, 2008 in no trust, social media, social networking, word of mouth

I’ve been intrigued by the legs Awards for sale: Not a rewarding experience has had since I posted it on July 22nd, just under a month ago. The Ballard Agency received an award from the U.S. Local Business Association that was clearly a deceptive marketing tactic similar to the phony domain name and Yellow Pages [...]

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AMEX does good with the ’08 Members Project

By on August 14, 2008 in cause marketing, charitable giving, social media, social networking, socially responsible, videos

Have you heard about the Members Project from American Express? It’s a social good promotion built to encourage people to “come together to achieve something amazing.” Card members are invited to submit ideas for projects in the areas of arts and culture, community development, education, environment and wildlife, and health. Anyone, including non-cardmembers, can discuss, [...]

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Vote for the dumbest viral marketing campaign

By on August 13, 2008 in polls, social media, videos, viral marketing

A few weeks ago, I chatted with Dan Tynan regarding an article he was writing for PC World about the dumbest viral marketing campaigns of all time. I shared a few of my faves and it appears most landed on his list, with the Jawbone viral campaign landing at #3. Check out Lame and lamer: [...]

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Obama’s marketing prowess continues to impress

By on August 11, 2008 in social media, social networking, viral marketing

Whether you are ‘red’ or ‘blue,’ you have to be green with envy when watching Barack Obama’s marketing machine in action. The candidate’s web presence and social media savvy have set a new standard for political candidates, and in some ways, everyone else in marketing. This isn’t news. Obama’s marketing prowess has been covered again [...]

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If World Vision can do it, you can too

By on August 6, 2008 in execution responsible, social media, social networking, videos, viral marketing, word of mouth

In Big ideas, tiny budgets, I shared some of the good work World Vision is doing using viral video to draw attention to their initiatives in the US and Australia. Now, World Vision is back with a new video that builds upon their teenage affluenza theme: \ Watch this video on YouTube. Here’s the description: [...]

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Social media for social good interview on NetSquared

By on July 16, 2008 in greenwashing, interview, social media, social networking, socially responsible

Last week, I was interviewed by Jed Sundwall at NetSquared, a group of passionate social media advocates whose mission is to “spur responsible adoption of social web tools by social benefit organizations.” The focus of the conversation was on what social benefit organizations are missing if they neglect social media, and of course, Responsible Marketing. [...]

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Bite-sized Friday: Chickens to China

By on July 11, 2008 in corporate responsibility, digital marketing, message responsible, social media, socially responsible

Bennett Gordon from the always good Utne Reader shared the following interview with Lucas Conley, author of Obsessive Branding Disorder. Includes audio, video and a link to an excerpt from the book. Looking for social media case studies? Here are 27 of ‘em from Now is Gone, by Geoff Livingston. In Indecent exposures: Companies don’t [...]

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