When it launched in late 2005, online broker TradeKing wanted a fresh voice that would attract investors and help it compete against larger brokers. It created an online community for likeminded traders seeking to share info and trading strategies; its members now make up about 5% of TradeKing users—but account ... more

Leading consumer-products companies are looking to rebrand, repackage and relaunch... often too frequently. Sometimes, the effort is merely putting a bandage on a deeper sore. It's far less painful to assess lagging sales in a superficial manner than it is to dig deeper into company practices, customer-service issues, and the ... more

In this MarketingProfs Classic, Jim Lenskold reminds us that, since the dreaded annual planning and budgeting process isn't going away, it's time to make the effort to get more value out of the process. Jim writes, "Here are four ways to use financial insight to create more profitable strategies and ... more

Kronos had an obvious identity problem that clearly impacted its sales performance, so getting support from the executive suite for a branding initiative should have been a slam-dunk. Except not quite. While everyone agreed there was a brand problem, the solution was costly and very long-term. Here's how Marketing won ... more

SIGG had been selling its aluminum water and fuel bottles to the US outdoor market for years at a price about twice as much as the closest competitor's. It counted on the Swiss reputation for quality to drive sales—but sales were flat. Then its newly formed US subsidiary made some ... more

Savvy companies like Dove, Ponds, and Nike know that women are empowered, and those companies have shown us how powerful the images and stories of real women are. What's next on the Marketing to Women horizon? more

Jerry Bader doesn't drink. But if he did, he'd start with Reyka Vodka—not because it's better or worse than any other vodka, but because the company has an extraordinary marketing campaign and an equally clever integrated Web site with an enchanting (if somewhat bizarre) Icelandic spokeswoman. The video commercials for the ... more

Does sex sell? You bet it does. But there's another essential element that goes hand-in-hand with sex. And that's controversy. more

If you're responsible for the direction of your online strategies for your company or organization, you've probably been asked by your colleagues to take a look at a social network. If you're new to the Facebook phenomenon, this will serve as a guide for you to get started, link to resources ... more

A few more traditionally male-oriented brands are connecting with the women's market in clever ways, and it is worth taking note of their approaches. Take, for instance, the Under Armour and Trojan brands, each of which has relatively new ad campaigns that bear this out. In both cases, the brands dialed ... more

Every company has a story to tell, but how do marketers figure out the best way to tell it, in a compelling way? Here are six questions that will help you develop your marketing story. more

By now you've all heard—Internet ad spending is up, spending on traditional media is down. With so much attention given to Web 2.0 and its technology-enabled marketing tactics, marketers using traditional approaches are under increased pressure to become more digital and technology driven. more

The nonprofit Oregon Sports Authority (OSA) was striving to bring new sporting events, teams, and tourist dollars to the state. It also wanted to become the official sports resource for state residents. An overhaul of its promotions and more compelling communication of its brand were the ambitious goals that the ... more

Market power used to be much like a big castle surrounded by high walls and a moat to control access. If the old-school world was the castle and the moat, the new model is more like an aerial view of San Francisco—lots of paths in and out. more

The Search Engine Optimization market is over $10 billion in North America alone. The biggest question isn't whether you should utilize Search, but rather who will manage your campaigns. What should your organization do? It depends. When you review your options for in-house or outsourced Search or pay-per-click bid management, consider ... more

Consumers are beginning to take environmental impact into consideration in purchase decisions. Businesses that demonstrate environmental responsibility have the opportunity to contribute favorably to their images while aligning themselves with the preferences of their customers. To get the full value out of green practices over time, companies need to let the ... more

As YouTube, Google and MySpace announce that video advertising will become a key driver in their future revenue strategies, the glitzy, anonymous ads we have been used to for years will have to change course. Ads need to be intriguing in some way; they need to urge us to watch them. more

If you want to be cutting edge, the way to do it is with audio and video. more

When the clients of SalesTrac, Inc., were looking for more in-depth consumer insight to determine the effectiveness of their promotional events, SalesTrac seized the opportunity to provide increased value through an all-in-one system that added survey management and real-time reporting of consumer feedback to its services. Check out the results. more

If you practice Internet marketing, you know the importance of a high-converting "landing page"—also called a promotional page, jump page, or squeeze page. Regardless of the specific purpose, one fact remains the same—you want the user to take some type of action. Here are seven landing-page best practices for increasing ... more

Housing booms, dot-coms, high-tech, bio-med, religious fervor, Republican or Democrat regimes, peace-war—all of it... all the best (and worst) bubbles have, or will, pop on their way back to the center. In terms of the "Greening of America," we are currently on the thesis end of the pendulum, with a fair ... more

Privately held Pavilion Technologies knows how important it is for businesses to track ROI. But two years ago, its marketing department realized it was having trouble tracking its own ROI. Pavilion ultimately found a solution through a software system that helps monitor all prospects who visit its Web site. more

Each year, we ask decision-makers at a group of 100 leading brands: "At pitch, what are the specific reasons for choosing one agency over another?" In the latest results, "good chemistry" ranked as the leading factor. Here's a full list of the top 20 factors. more

Landing pages have become the Omega-3s of Web marketing: if you're not using them and optimizing them ad infinitum, you're squandering your online ad dollars. Or so the landing page optimization crowd would have you believe. In the spirit of probing the pros and cons of this popular post-click marketing format—and, ... more

Everyone has heard the common complaint that America is becoming less literate, but the onus for this alleged circumstance is nearly always placed on the reader (or, rather, non-reader) instead of where it often belongs: the writer. Many professional writers seem to have lost the ability to write clear, comprehensible copy ... more