Author Archive
Vacation (or, what would your mother Twitter?)
Summer is here. Up north in the land of my childhood, that means hot - sometimes really hot - days giving way to cool evening. Here in Houston it means that weather is over and we’re in a state of permanent liquid air. And thoughts turn, of course, to vacation.
I’ve been on vacation lately, but [...]
Social/broadcast media
Mack Collier at MarketingProfs questioned the habit of some - including social media pros - of using media like Twitter to announce new blog posts, and not much else:
Lately I’ve been seeing a troubling trend on some blogs, and especially on Twitter. What I’m noticing is that some well-known and established players in the social [...]
Social media and B2B marketing
I’ve heard lots of people say that they understand why B2C marketers would use social media, but don’t see the fit for B2B. If you think that, go read what Shel Holtz says on the subject:
Social media actually makes more sense in B-to-B companies than business-to-consumer firms.
…
The benefits of social media to B-to-B companies is [...]
TXU Energy: a dank, unpleasant pit of bad service
We’ve written about how customer service is part of your marketing, and how bad service can undo all the great marketing in the world. Yesterday I came across a prime example of this from TXU Energy, an electricity reseller here in Texas (and a pretty large one).
TXU does lots and lots of advertising. Before I [...]
Eurostar’s unwanted mascots
Eurostar, which runs the trains through the Channel Tunnel between London and Paris, is using some cute dogs in their marketing. Who doesn’t like cute dogs? I’m a sucker for them (though I’d take the bulldog over the poodle, thanks):
There’s just one problem with these cute mutt mascots, though. If you decide to arrange a [...]
Hold the ads, please
David Reich at My 2 Cents wrote about ads that play while you’re on hold:
Wednesday’s Wall Street Journal tells the story. Callers to customer service, while waiting for the next available representative, are seen as a huge captive audience. More than 320 million calls a month and growing, says one of the companies [...]
First, listen
How do you get started with social media? The first step, as Mack Collier writes on MarketingProfs, is by listening.
Before you can launch a successful social media strategy, you must begin monitoring existing conversations about your company.
The most obvious reason is that if conversations about your business are taking place, you want to know about [...]
What’s across the social media chasm?
A few days ago I had the privilege of being a guest speaker at my friend Thom Haller’s information architecture course at the USDA Graduate School in Washington. We discussed the future, and questions about who will own the social graph and how we’ll manage privacy and what types of media will enjoy widespread adoption, [...]
Off to BlogPotomac
I’m off to DC for BlogPotomac! Looking forward to some great networking, sessions, and the recharge that comes from what looks to be a great event. And, of course, a weekend visit to my former home (which still feels very much like home to me).
If you’ll be there, say hello!
The tortoise and the hare: in praise of consistency
Product launches. Grand openings. Big events. Most of us have done more than a few. If we had to account for the results of these activities, could we say that they were worth it? Seth Godin says, “Probably not.”
Make a list of successful products in your industry. Most of them didn’t start big. Not the [...]
