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Decaf in the afternoon? Not at Starbucks

By on January 26, 2009 in responsible or not?, social media, social networking, word of mouth

I had a Twilight Zone moment this afternoon at my local Starbucks when I ordered my decaf drip coffee and was told the Seattle-based coffee chain no longer brews decaf in the afternoons. You read that right: A coffee shop that doesn’t offer decaf in the afternoon—the largest coffee shop chain in the world, mind [...]

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Is Belkin’s apology for astroturfing enough?

By on January 20, 2009 in authenticity, corporate responsibility, deceptive marketing, ethics, message responsible, social media, socially responsible, word of mouth

First, what’s “astroturfing?” Roughly, it’s when formal political, advertising, or public relations campaigns seek to create the impression of spontaneous “grassroots” behavior, hence the reference to the artificial grass, AstroTurf.* On Friday, The Daily Background Blog revealed that a Belkin employee was doing just that: Paying 65 cents for perfect reviews on Buy.com, NewEgg.com and [...]

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Facebook disables BK’s Whopper Sacrifice app

By on January 15, 2009 in creativity, love it or hate it?, privacy, viral marketing, word of mouth

Facebook “helps you connect and share with the people in your life.” But as anyone that has used the service knows, sometimes those connections can become, well, tenuous. Enter Burger King, who last week saw this as not a problem, but an opportunity to help Facebook users cull the unworthy using an un-friend app at [...]

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If you can’t beat ‘em, sponsor ‘em

By on January 13, 2009 in advertainment, authenticity, creativity, social media, videos, viral marketing, word of mouth

With nearly 109,650,000 views-to-date, Judson Laipply‘s Evolution of Dance is the most popular video in YouTube history. He’s back with the official sequel, Evolution of Dance 2—this time presented by Saveology.com and powered by PeopleJam.com. I’d never heard of PeopleJam or Saveology before today. My bet is you never have, either. Considering most viral videos [...]

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I’m lovin’ it? McDonald’s buys love; fesses up

By on January 8, 2009 in authenticity, deceptive marketing, launch, responsible or not?, videos, word of mouth

With some fanfare, on December 23rd McDonald’s launched a new concept store in Japan called Quarter Pounder, a restaurant selling—you guessed it—only Quarter Pounders. Here’s an amateur video of the opening taken by a customer that was there: 15,000 people attended the store’s record-setting opening, but not all of them were there for the artery-clogging [...]

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Lose your job? Return your car.

By on January 7, 2009 in creativity, innovation, positioning, strategically responsible, videos, word of mouth

As retailer desperation reaches a fever pitch and discount signs pop up everywhere, here’s something a little different: With Hyundai’s Assurance Program, if you lose your job, you can return your car to the dealership. Any automaker could have done this, but they haven’t—yet. And Hyundai did it first. Not only will this drive word [...]

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The evolution of church marketing

By on December 24, 2008 in advertising, strategically responsible, videos, word of mouth

Believe in evolution? That’s your business. Let’s talk marketing—the evolution of church marketing. For obvious reasons, a lot more people will go to church today and tomorrow than usual. But religious institutions aren’t just looking for members in December. More and more churches are realizing that a good location and word-of-mouth alone won’t always fill [...]

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Burger King Flame: Body spray of seduction

By on December 19, 2008 in branding, creativity, viral marketing, word of mouth

Burger King—fresh from a beating in the blogosphere for their Whopper Virgins campaign—has snapped back. They’re back on brand with the King and Burger King Flame, the “body spray of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat.” Yes, it’s real, but it’s sold out. Of course, it’s not about the body spray, it’s about creating [...]

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No bull: Marketing lessons from the ER

By on December 15, 2008 in customer delight, word of mouth

We had to take my four year-old daughter to the emergency room yesterday. No, there wasn’t an accident—but a really bad cough turned for the worse and we needed medical advice, pronto. We took her to Swedish Hospital’s Issaquah ER and got exactly what we were looking for, and more. Though we’d never been to [...]

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‘Talk to Frank’ talks frank to drug addicts

By on December 12, 2008 in socially responsible, videos, viral marketing, word of mouth

Talk to Frank is a drug addiction helpline and information site in the U.K. helping addicts, their families and friends. No, Frank is not a person. It’s “a way for you to get straight up advice and info about drugs. It’s the facts without the attitude” and the name certainly fits. The following three videos [...]

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Scheduled site improvements on Cyber Monday?

By on December 1, 2008 in truth, word of mouth

Cyber Monday is one of the busiest online shopping days of the year. The last thing any online retailer would want is have their website down for maintenance. Well, that’s what the Old Navy, Gap and Banana Republic brand family are all claiming on their respective website as of 9:15 a.m. Everyone knows this isn’t [...]

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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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Amazon begins initiative to reduce packaging

By on November 14, 2008 in branding, creativity, environmentally responsible, word of mouth

Great packaging can be the difference between success and failure for some products. As marketers, it’s our responsibility to make sure the products we are marketing are packaged in a way that merchandises well, is easy to display, and showcases its best features on the shelf—especially when stacked up against the competition. Creative packaging reinforces [...]

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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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Marketers get attention with Election Day freebies

By on November 3, 2008 in cause marketing, corporate responsibility, socially responsible, viral marketing, word of mouth

Regardless of how you plan to vote, chances are you are talking about the election. With estimates of turnout exceeding 130 million people, Election Day promotions make sense. Starbucks is giving away free coffee: View this video on YouTube Krispy Kreme is giving away free donuts: And Ben and Jerry’s is giving away free ice [...]

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Responsible or not? Shockvertising

By on October 30, 2008 in creativity, morality, responsible or not?, sex sells, videos, viral marketing, word of mouth

Trendhunter did my homework for me today and compiled a four minute collection of shocking ads that will leave you asking the question, “How far is too far?” You won’t want to view this in front of small children or your boss. It features fake lesbians, phony murder scenes, employees getting punched in the face [...]

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Responsible or not? FreeCreditReport.com

By on October 6, 2008 in creativity, ethics, false advertising, responsible or not?, truth, videos, viral marketing, word of mouth

FreeCreditReport.com has done a great job with their marketing—it’s hard to come up with a company that’s created more memorable ads recently. People are paying attention to their ads, sharing them on social sites and singing along. View this video on YouTube The problem is, the credit reports aren’t free at all. When you get [...]

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Bite-sized Friday: Smart, smarter, smartest

By on October 3, 2008 in branding, creativity, environmentally responsible, word of mouth

____________ SMART An embeddable collection of Fortune 500 logos, tagged with words like “logotype”, “symbol” and “acronym” to make it helpful to sort through different variations and approaches to design. A useful tool for creative inspiration and competitive intel: Via Todd Andrlik on Twitter ____________ SMARTER In Brainy Brand Names Where They’re Least Expected, Stuart [...]

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There’s always room for creativity

By on October 1, 2008 in creativity, word of mouth

Here’s a great example that proves, no matter how small, no matter how mundane—everything is better when you sprinkle in a little creativity: Click on the image above to enlarge. D-Barcode of Japan gets it. Why settle for a standard barcode when you can entertain and engage your customer? And when you reward customers and [...]

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