On Friday 2/27, Skittles surrendered itself to the Zeitgeist. Visits to Skittles.com led users directly to Wikipedia (later changed to a Twitter search for "skittles," then to the official Facebook fan page), and attempts to explore the site navigation—little more than a pop-up—guided users elsewhere still: flickr, YouTube, Summize. The ... more

In a post at the MarketingProfs Daily Fix blog, Mack Collier tells the story of Alison Heath, the director of marketing for a small company that received favorable coverage from the Washington Post. "That's good," he says. "Unfortunately, [though], commenters were attacking the business, based on the information contained in ... more

In search, you have a very short window of opportunity for engaging your prospect. The key to ensure you get seen through that tiny window: give searchers exactly what they're looking for. One way of doing this, says Medium Blue's CEO Scott Buresh in a MarketingProfs article, is to use ... more

Lingerie label Agent Provocateur is characterized by its risqué unmentionables and the naughty ladies that grace its adverts. So when it announced plans to explore social media earlier this year, we thought we knew what to expect: simpering femmes fatales that appeal more to men than women. We scoped out ... more

As companies tighten their ad spending, inexpensive social media is clearly the next marketing frontier. As with any new craze, there are enormous opportunities. And with them come giant pitfalls that must be avoided. more

There's a school of thought that asserts going "viral" is a random occurrence. There is no formula, algorithm or logic that dictates what does and doesn't become a mainstream hit on the Internet. Those people are correct. But there are ways to hedge the bets in your favor—without selling 3/4 ... more

While attending MarketingProfs' Digital Marketing Mixer in Scottsdale, Karen Talavera finally understood the importance of mixing various sorts of online marketing together. Take email and social media: Each is a significant force in and of itself, but combined they become even more powerful. Talavera's tips for creating marketing gold through ... more

When US Airways flight 1549 landed in the Hudson River, Twitter users broke the news, 15 minutes ahead of mainstream media. The same channel and its immediacy also helped Ford Motor Company's head of social media quell a different kind of disaster--of the PR variety. more

If you read blogs on a regular basis, you've seen comment spam. There are the obvious offenders (those people, for instance, who work their way around the blogosphere leaving generic cut-and-paste lines like, "I love your blog, check mine out"). Then there are those who rub other readers the wrong ... more

Inspired by the viral success of Office Max's "Elf Yourself," QuickBooks-maker Intuit set out to creatively engage small businesses with its "Jingle Generator." The effort exceeded targeted metrics, earning viral a spot in the marketing mix. more

In a post at his Damn, I Wish I'd Thought of That! blog, Andy Sernovitz recounts discovering something unusual when he opened the advance proof of a book written by Jack Covert and Todd Satterson; at the top of the package sat a pair of postcards designed for word-of-mouth promotion. ... more

In a post at his Be the Brand blog, Dave Saunders links to a YouTube video by Perry Belcher that takes some Twitter users to task for their seeming lack of interest in the people who follow them. (NB: The video contains some four-letter words.) Belcher illustrates his point with ... more

Office supply chain OfficeMax also sells digital cameras and other products popular as holiday gifts—but its customers didn't think of it as a holiday-shopping destination. What's more, it was often confused with its chief rival. A wildly popularly web-based viral marketing campaign helped OfficeMax distinguish itself and encourage shoppers. more

Let's say you've gotten into a culinary rut—always going to the same few restaurants—and want to try something new. You visit a site like Yelp.com to see what customers think about various eateries in your neighborhood, and discover that some have uniformly positive feedback. One glowing review after the next ... more

You want to explore uncharted territory, but you're also worried about sowing cash on unproven social media ground. Well, here's a way to play it safe: ease, ever so slowly, into Facebook. The facts: It's the largest social networking site in the world. In August '08, users spent an average ... more

Van Jones beat the odds when The Green Collar Economy landed at number 12 on the New York Times best-seller list. "What he didn't have, as a first time author with an almost non-existent marketing budget, was the kind of money and name-recognition that typically helps place a book on ... more

Marketers don't always agree on the best way to achieve results, and Michael Antman takes the contrarian view of a strategy popular with many of his colleagues. "[S]ome businesses, especially on the B2B side, rely far too heavily on organic word-of-mouth strategies and, specifically, on acquiring new customers primarily through ... more

When we say "viral marketing" you know exactly what we mean. The question isn't whether to integrate viral elements into your marketing mix, but rather how—and to what degree. But when a profession-specific concept becomes so commonplace so quickly, it's easy to forget that your colleagues and clients might not ... more

Founded in 1897, the Blue Cross is one of the UK's oldest animal welfare charities. It built an online community of pet owners - then launched a viral campaign, including rich media, that had people flocking to the social network. more

When the current POTUS is the villain of your book, it doesn't matter that you're a best-selling author... because the mainstream media will find it too hot to touch. So what do you do? You go to the Web. more

GotVMail set out to raise brand awareness, promoting itself in a way that would both amuse its audience and set the company apart. What resulted was a viral video campaign starring Gary Busey. more

Michael Antman's recent article, "Six Reasons Word-of-Mouth Doesn't Work," struck a chord. He raises reasonable points about the limitations of WOM; after all, it can't completely replace other forms of marketing communications. However, we can't ignore the impact of WOM. What's more, here's what companies should be doing to leverage it. more

How could a software developer call attention to its new product? Serena Software developed a video Facebook application that garnered big results and, along the way, challenged the channel's reputation for negligible return. more

Following its 2005 debut, Yelp became the Zagat for a new school of tastemakers. "Yelpers" review everything—bars, boutiques, dot-coms, universities—with humor, anecdotes and flair. Yelp boasted 3.3 million users in March. For marketers targeting young adults, it's got major sex appeal: Yelp reviews are trusted by spendy twenty-somethings, and many ... more

When CBS Sports announced that it would once again live-stream the NCAA March Madness tournament during regular business hours, eTelemetry jumped at the chance to use the event as a prime backdrop for its own campaign. more