Archive for April, 2009
Zappos: Twittering to build brand and employee loyalty
Because of a weird shoe size - long and narrow - that isn’t generally carried in most stores, I’ve been buying shoes from catalogues and online for years. So I’m well familiar with Zappos, and have enjoyed their selection and customer service. No, the shoes aren’t discount-bin cheap, but I can usually find shoes that [...]
Recession-Proof your company with VoIP? Come now, marketers, there’s really no need to lie…
I’m all in favor of situational marketing, in which you take advantage (within reason) of whatever circumstances are floating around out there. Headline news, sporting events, seasonal doings, and ongoing situations like the current knock-down/drag-out recession.
in fact, marketers should be explaining how their goods and services can help their customers survive hard economic times. Contributions [...]
à bien·tôt - At least for a couple of days
I’m vacationing in Paris for the week. We’re taking my nieces - 11 and 12 - and have an apartment with a living room view of the Eiffel Tower. (What’s not to like, eh?)
Anyway, I’m sure that on my return I’ll have something to say about French marketing (at least what I’ll be able to [...]
Oh, Domino….
Well, there are citizen marketers, and then there are citizen anti-marketers. As Domino’s Pizza found out when a “humorous” video put together by two soon-to-be-ex-employees went viral.
Before it was taken down, even I’d seen the video, which recorded the antics of a couple of food preparers doing things like sticking cheese up their noses, hawking [...]
First Flavor of the Month
There’s flavor of the month, and then there’s flavor of the month….
The newest goodie in the marketing grab bag is giving consumers a literal taste of your product.
First Flavor’s Peel ‘n Taste system utilizes something akin to those dissolving breath-freshening strips (which I find completely weird) to help consumer goods companies taste-test products. Beverage [...]
Download annoyances
I suppose I’m being a bit of a crank here, but I’ve been doing a lot of market research work lately, which means I’ve been roaming around the web grabbing documents of interest here and there. Which means I’ve been filling out a lot of forms so that I can download white papers, data sheets, [...]
Peep, Peep, Peep…
What with Easter and spring upon us (okay, this is New England, spring is technically upon us), I thought I’d celebrate the season by taking an Opinionated Marketer holiday, and recycling a 2008 post on Peeps.
And if you want to have some fun, google “peeps diorama.” Newspapers all over the country sponsor annual contests in [...]
The Pro’s and Con’s of Sports Marketing
Well, yesterday was Opening Day for the Red Sox. I wasn’t at the game - too hard to get tickets, too cold and damp out to even try - but I caught the last couple of innings on TV - a very nice win. What I also caught was the number of folks in downtown [...]
Old fashioned, new-fangled: how different methods of getting your point across can both prove effective
There was an interesting article in The Wall Street Journal last week on how Monster Cable takes a ham-fisted approach to anyone who dares to use the word “Monster” in their company or product name. (Access to this content may require a subscription.)
Certainly, it would make sense for them to want to prevent confusion among [...]
TechSoup Stock - A good place for B2NP
I have a client that’s considering doing something with TechSoup.
I wasn’t familiar with this outfit, but they seem to be a very valuable resource for non-profits. Among other things, they provide - through TechSoup Stock - a forum for connecting non-profit organizations with free or discounted technology products and services. Obviously, this is not [...]
