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9-11 Courrier International ad

Hall of Shame: Courrier International exploits 9/11

By on September 7, 2010 in advertising, ethics, hall of shame, socially responsible

We’ve been pretty quiet on the blog lately, taking some of our own advice and trying to stay focused on some great client projects and our upcoming office move. But we simply couldn’t let this pass without saying something. French newspaper Courrier International‘s tagline is “learn to anticipate.” Really, this is a decent tagline that [...]

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Who begins too much accomplishes little.

By on July 30, 2010 in simplicity

I love this German proverb. This is the board next to my workspace, and I carry a copy of it in my wallet, too. I’m not sure why, but it’s seems to always be true: Marketing departments aren’t doing enough or they are trying to do WAY too much. The former is easy to tackle [...]

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Who owns social media? PR or Marketing?

By on July 15, 2010 in social media, social networking

There have been some good discussions on the Social Media Club Seattle LinkedIn Group recently. My response to a “who owns social media” question was a bit longish and self-contained, so I thought I’d share it here: Social Media should be treated as just another marketing channel. Each channel has it’s rules, it’s purpose, it’s [...]

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Check out the Advanced Interactive Marketing Certificate at UW

By on July 14, 2010 in digital marketing, education

Since 1996, I’ve served on the advisory board for a number of the marketing-related programs for the University of Washington’s Professional and Continuing Education division. If you live the Seattle area, you should know about the Advanced Interactive Marketing Certificate. Here’s a short video overview: Check it out, and share this post with anyone you [...]

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The Responsible Marketing Blues

By on July 8, 2010 in fun, movies

We think every organization should market responsibly, but Responsible Marketing isn’t for everyone. Some of us take that fact a little harder than others. View on YouTube This is the lost episode from our seven part series of Responsible Marketing web shorts. Click here to check ‘em out. Subscribe to this feed.

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Outsource Marketing receives recycling award for fourth consecutive year

By on June 24, 2010 in announcement, corporate responsibility, environmentally responsible, socially responsible

Each year, King County recognizes organizations that have made recycling and waste reduction a priority, so we’re honored to make the “Best Workplace for Recycling and Waste Reduction” list once again this year. Instead of us telling you how, here’s an excerpt from the webpage listing this year’s recipients: Outsource Marketing is a fourth-year Best [...]

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Can Responsible Marketing help fix BP?

By on June 18, 2010 in boycott, corporate responsibility, socially responsible, videos

The live streaming video of the oil spill turns my stomach, so I’ve been struggling with this question for weeks: “Can Responsible Marketing help restore BP?” My gut says “never!” but my brain says “maybe.” The fact is, trust requires both competence and character—two things BP lacks. I know it’s early to ask, but if BP [...]

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BP combating bad press with paid search

By on June 7, 2010 in advertising, corporate responsibility, digital marketing, no trust, responsible or not?, search

Search for “oil spill” on Google and you’ll get this: Click here to enlarge On Bing you’ll get: British Petroleum · www.BP.com/GulfOfMexicoResponse Get Info about the Gulf of Mexico Response Today Yahoo: BP – Info about the Gulf of Mexico Spill Learn More about How BP is Helping. www.bp.com/gulfofmexicoresponse Normally, I’d say this is Responsible [...]

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Can Responsible Marketing help fight childhood obesity?

By on May 19, 2010 in advertising, ethics, marketing to kids, socially responsible

From the The Wall Street Journal: The White House is calling on food makers to curb marketing of unhealthy foods to children, part of a broad assault against childhood obesity. The recommendation is part of a 120-page report released Tuesday that outlines steps to fight the national epidemic. One in every three children ages 2-19 [...]

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Motivation? Try purpose instead of money

By on May 17, 2010 in corporate responsibility, creativity, socially responsible, videos

The carrot or the stick? Neither. Research has shown that for knowledge workers, using money as an incentive actually hurts performance. You read that right. If you want your team to really shine, give them a purpose: View on YouTube We’ve been talking about the marketing benefits of adding purpose to an organization since the [...]

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How to get a job for $6

By on May 13, 2010 in creativity, videos

View on YouTube You don’t need the biggest budget to succeed at marketing. The biggest budget doesn’t guarantee success. No, you need the best ideas. The best ideas win. What do you think? Subscribe to this feed.

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B2C or B2B, spam is spam

By on April 17, 2010 in digital marketing, message responsible, videos

View on YouTube A surprising perspective regarding B2B email marketing was published recently in the Harvard Business Review blog that got one of our client’s hackles up, and I think it will yours too. In B2B’s: Your Email Marketing Policy Could Hurt You, the author essentially argues that spam is okay as long as you [...]

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Responsible or not? Nike resurrects Earl Woods

By on April 8, 2010 in advertising, authenticity, ethics, message responsible, responsible or not?, videos

Just in time for Tiger Woods’ return to golf at The Masters, Nike has released the following ad featuring the voice of Tiger’s deceased father, Earl: Here’s what Earl is saying: Tiger, I am more prone to be inquisitive, to promote discussion. I want to find out what your thinking was. I want to find [...]

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Easter Egg revealed on OutsourceMarketing.com

By on April 5, 2010 in announcement, fun, outsource marketing news

We’ve had quite a response to our first ever Easter Egg Hunt on OutsourceMarketing.com. Over a dozen people discovered the Easter Egg and lots more contacted us using the blog, Facebook, Twitter and email looking for hints and to find out if they won. Here’s one comment from Mark Jordan over at the Invicta Law [...]

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Don’t ignore “Ignore Everybody”

By on April 2, 2010 in books, creativity

In Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity, Hugh MacLeod shares his 40 keys to creativity with straight talk and no apologies. There are no silver bullets, and instead he talks about refreshingly honest things like the fact that selling is harder than it looks, you have to put in the hours and you [...]

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Find the Easter Egg first and get FREE Mariners tickets

By on March 31, 2010 in announcement, fun, outsource marketing news

Here’s a challenge for you: The first person that finds the Easter Egg on OutsourceMarketing.com gets two FREE tickets to see the Seattle Mariners in our awesome box seats at Safeco Field on Wednesday, April 14th at 7:10. We’ll announce the winner on Monday, April 5th. Thanks everyone, and Happy Easter! Oh, and even if [...]

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Publishing is dead. Long live publishing.

By on March 24, 2010 in creativity, social media, videos, word of mouth

Here’s a nifty little video regarding the state of the publishing industry. Hang tight—there’s a twist about half way through. View on YouTube I know. This execution has been done before, but it’s still pretty clever and the message is the right one. There’s been plenty of talk about the eminent death of the publishing [...]

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Apple puts social responsibility up front

By on March 17, 2010 in corporate responsibility, message responsible, socially responsible

Anyone interested in the Apple iPad has no doubt been to the Apple homepage lately and discovered this nice surprise bottom-center: That’s right. At a time when Apple could be cross-selling any number of their new offerings, they are using one of the four sandboxes on their homepage to share their supplier responsibility practices. You [...]

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Is it time to rethink your mission statement?

By on March 11, 2010 in strategically responsible

We’ve reviewed a lot of Mission Statements over the years—it’s one of the ingredients we consider when we’re developing a Positioning Statement. Most Mission Statements I’ve seen have been filled with big words but left me asking “where’s the mission?” Dan Heath, co-author of Made to Stick, offers up why bad Mission Statements happen to [...]

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The Pepsi vs. Coke social good smackdown

By on March 4, 2010 in branding, cause marketing, socially responsible

When Coke and Pepsi start being judged by their social responsibility as much as their taste (and their ads), you’ll know Responsible Marketing has arrived, right? Well, that time has come. The Huffington Post recently ran an online poll pitting Pepsi’s Refresh Project Vs. Coke’s Live Positively campaigns. The associated article does a great job [...]

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