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If you have a television, you've seen the snarky Apple ads that personify Microsoft as a hapless dork in a bad suit. That "loser" characterization went more or less unchallenged until a recent Microsoft campaign kicked off with some surreal spots featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. One vignette—set in a ... more
"[Your subscribers] are reading e-mail on mobile devices more frequently than ever," says Winston Bowden in an article at MarketingProfs. "[And] there are some specific issues to consider." At a minimum, he suggests you keep PDAs in mind as you design: Optimize image ... more
Do you have a live Internet video channel in your future? You may scratch your head wondering how such a Web presence might improve your business. But, even though it's not a mainstream marketing vehicle today, real-time streaming is a trend to watch. What started as live sports and concerts on ... more
Of course we want customers to like our brand. But recent research suggests that an even more important driver of brand equity is brand attachment. Brand attachment represents the emotional bond that consumers have between a brand and themselves. (Ahhhh! That's the cologne he wore on our wedding day!) Consumers ... more
In a provocative post at the Online Marketer Blog, DJ Francis argues that the days of email marketing—as we know it—are numbered. "Marketers are no longer interrupting customers' lives with sales pitches," he says. "Instead, they (or the good ones, at least) are concerned with providing value so that the customer ... more
Some advertisements stand the test of time, and a classic television spot for Volkswagen is currently making the online rounds. It opens with a shot of two neighbors emerging from a pair of identical houses. "Mr. Jones and Mr. Krempler each had $3,000," intones the narrator as each man walks ... more
It would be terrific if email marketers had universal standards for the creation of all their html messages. In the absence of such comprehensive guidelines, Winston Bowden offers some fundamental design rules as a jumping-off point: Aim for a width of 600 to 620 pixels. Use CSS inlinks ... more
According to Drew McLellan, there exist only a few rules for outdoor advertising—for instance, use provocative visuals and less than seven words. But in a blog post, he recalls a 1989 campaign devised by Crowley Webb for Garcia's Irish Pub in Buffalo, New York, that ignored this conventional wisdom. "[This] ... more
We live in an age of euphemism. A used car isn't "used," it's "pre-owned"; we're sold "bathroom tissue," not "toilet paper"; and no marketer in her right mind would dream of calling wrinkle cream anything but "rejuvenating moisturizer." This is why the decidedly un-euphemistic name of a Beverly Hills clothier—Jimmy ... more
Over 50 percent of music downloaders consider iTunes the best fee-based digital music service. And a growing legion of iTunes users are implementing Coverflow, which lets you scroll through a music collection by album art, for aesthetic purposes. Millennials may be a generation obsessed with instant gratification, but music remains ... more
"It is a sociological fact that when times are tough, people turn to the past—to what they know—for comfort," writes Patrick Byers in a post at the Responsible Marketing blog. "So, it should come as no surprise that recent advertising is taking us away from the present and into our ... more
In post at the Neuromarketing blog, Roger Dooley says, "U.S. consumers have been conditioned to believe that proper wine comes in a 750ml glass bottle with a natural cork. Artificial corks and screw cap closures are suspect, to say the least. And box wines are traditionally suited only for penniless ... more
New Media Monetization Series, Part I: Web Advertising Online advertising spend continues to increase, but the process remains fraught with doubt. This year, NBC paid $894M for the programming rights to the 2008 Beijing Olympics. This "most ambitious single media project in history" will deliver 3,600 hours of coverage over ... more
"So I'm flipping through Entertainment Weekly and I come to an ad for some kind of beverage that waylays me with the headline 'SUCK ON THIS,'" writes Julia Rubiner in the Editorial Emergency newsletter. "The copy was so arresting that I was compelled to read on. Imagine my surprise when ... more
As video continues its great migration from the television set to the Web and smartphones, advertisers face a new challenge: how to reach customers in three places at once. The so-called "three screens" (TV, PC, and wireless devices) require different ad strategies to engage audiences. The 'lean back' TV viewer's focus ... more
Marketers may try to distinguish their products from those of their competitors by engaging in comparative advertising. (X Detergent cleans 25% more loads than the leading brand!) But be careful when you pull out those comparisons: make sure you don't denigrate your competitor. Research is showing that consumers become quite sensitive ... more
Anyone who has witnessed a Wii bowling tournament at a senior center knows it: video games are not just for kids anymore. They are big business. And they are early indicators of tomorrow's interactive media products and services. When the first big video game success, Pong, was invented 35 years ... more
"At first glance, the CAN-SPAM Act establishes fairly basic rules for an organization to follow," says a whitepaper produced by ExactTarget. "However, given that this law is constantly evolving … new details and judicial interpretations will surely follow." This means you can't take anything for granted, but instead must proactively respond ... more
In a post at the Servant of Chaos blog, Gavin Heaton says those who aren't sure how to get "viral" could learn a thing or two from Stride Gum, which took notice of the following Matt Harding had gained with his "Dancing Matt" videos. If you recall, they showed him ... more
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