Archive for February, 2008
Anti-social (media, that is)
How about a big shout out to Mary Schmidt for her wise counsel about how to reach people. (Big hint: Noises off!) Here’s what she has to say - and you’ll do well to listen to her…
Turning up the volume doesn’t work. We just turn down our volume control…or leave the room (mentally or physically). [...]
Note on Pragmatic Marketing Rules - Feb 11
While I usually post my Pragmatic Rules on Monday, this week I’ll have Rule #17 on Wednesday. (I wrote it on another computer and thought I had the file with me. I didn’t. I will be able to retrieve it by Wednesday - and about another half dozen posts that have gone missing. I better [...]
Is the Writers’ Strike Accelerating a Trend?
Some interesting statistics on the impact of the Hollywood writers’ strike on television viewership:
Television networks in the United States have lost almost a quarter of their audiences due of the Hollywood writers’ strike, and executives fear that viewers may never return.
The Nielsen ratings organization found that U.S. viewership for the opening of the 2008 TV [...]
Primera Vista at Vista
When I took Spanish lessons in junior high, we used a textbook entitled Primera Vista. If I’m not mistaken, that translated into "First Look." And, although it’s been around for a little while, I have recently got my first look at Microsoft Vista.
Given all the grousing about it, I was not expecting to like it, [...]
Houston’s CVB’s Missed Social Media Opportunity
The Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau has a new site up that aims to tell the story of Houston - and why it’s such a great place to live or to visit - by letting Houstonians talk about why they love their city.
A great concept, right? Especially in Houston, a city that gets little [...]
Pragmatic Marketing Rule #16
This is the sixteenth in a series of posts on Practical Product Management Rules from Pragmatic Marketing.
Pragmatic Marketing Rule #16: Positioning should be complete before you start developing.
Anyone who’s spent more than a few days in product management, product marketing, or development in a technology company is familiar with that scary creature: The Continuously Morphing [...]
Social Media Isn’t Lead Generation… But It Can Help
How do you use social media as a marketing tactic? That’s what lots of people are trying to sort out, and there’s no established best practices or simple answers. Marketers are still experimenting and learning what works and what doesn’t. A big part of the challenge, of course, is that social media are fundamentally about [...]
Super Bowl XLII - Do the ads add up?
Hope I got the Roman numerals right - I’ve seen enough of them over the last week. As I did last year, I’m blogging on the SB ads (other than those for TV shows or movies), noting my impressions in real time.
But before I begin, as a marketer, I have to ask has there ever [...]
1984 and the Perils of Focus Groups
What do you learn from focus groups? This video was produced for the 2007 HATCH awards in New England:
It’s funny, of course, to hear people talking about what’s wrong with an ad that’s considered one a classic. It also illustrates a problem with asking people what they want to see. Nobody would have said they [...]
Sis-boom-bah! Rah-rah-rah! Go University of Phoenix
Those of you (mis)fortunate enough to live in a part of the country that is not - as Boston currently is - in SUPER BOWL, ALL THE TIME, EVERYTIME mode. Or who don’t give a rap about the where-what-how of this blessed event, may not know that the game - excuse me - THE GAME [...]
