Your Daily Dose of Drama

Madeline Bok

Europeans allow for a lot: dessert and coffee after lunch, 3-hour midday siestas, shoes through airport security, and commercial-less TV programming. Shows across the pond generally run from beginning to end without commercials, with a 7-minute break for advertising in between. As a result, TV spots aren’t the best way to reach European audiences because viewers often occupy themselves with something else between programs.

That’s why TNT’s latest European advertising tactic, “Your Daily Dose Of Drama”, was so impressive. In the middle of a quiet square in Belgium, a red button was placed next to a sign inviting passerby to “push to add drama.” When it was activated, an array of dramatic events unfolded in the square, including a mishandled cadaver, a shirtless fight, and a scantily-clad woman on a motorcycle. TNT found a way to take the commercial out of the television. The drama went viral and was named Creativity Pick of the Day by AdAge. The innovative idea attracted attention across Europe and added a dose of drama to the calmest of siestas.

Connecting the Dots

Austin Figueroa

According to a survey on SocialMediaToday.com, businesses asked about why they leverage social media sites overwhelmingly respond, “to connect with customers,” “to enhance visibility,” and “to self-promote.” Most realize the importance of an online presence: It allows for constant, and direct feedback, which makes a difference when it comes to sales. Just the other day I tweeted at Red Robin to ask if they had a veggie burger – It only took a minute for them to respond that they did. And it was delicious!

As a marketing student, the Four P’s are beaten into your head constantly – Product, Place, Price, Promotion. Product, Place, Price, Promotion. They’re all important for any brand. But when it comes to advertising – what I’m interested in specifically – Promotion is where my interests lie. But it seems like a lot of people forget to connect the dots: Promotion exists to explain the other three – differentiate the product, and explain the price, in the right place. And social media makes it easier than ever.

Personal Branding via Pinterest

Jessica Paro

Branded correctly, products can evoke certain feelings, and make us envision particular colors or styles. And people aim for the same thing every day: We brand ourselves through the clothes we wear and the way we carry ourselves. In the past, brands have had traditional advertising to broadcast their identities, but most people couldn’t do the same. Social networking has made “personal branding” a widely-realized concept, however, allowing us to share ourselves with the entire world.

Pinterest probably has the greatest potential for personal branding. With 11.7 million users, mostly 18-35 year old women, creating “boards” based on events, hobbies, and interests that are filled with self-uploaded photos, or “repinned” content from other users, it’s a visual means of self-expression that text-based sites like Facebook or Twitter can’t achieve. Pinterest caters to each user’s personal brand, enriching our generic information with the many facets of our personalities that make us unique.

Say Hi to the MU Ad Club!

Nick Woods

Greetings from Herenthout, Belgium! Since I’m busy eating fries and mayonnaise, and marveling at the 50 pound turkeys kept in the yard across the street from the house I’m staying at, this week we’ll be featuring a series of guest posts courtesy of Marquette University’s advertising students. They’ll be sharing their thoughts on the industry, as well as their own opinions on social media, and new trends that they’ve noticed. We hope you enjoy!”

Understanding the Need to Belong

BJ Bueno

“America is a vast conspiracy to make you happy,” John Updike once said, and it was with this in mind that I took in a debate between Johnathan Kay, author of Among the Truthers: A Journey Through America’s Growing Conspiracist Underground and Webster Tarpley, author of 9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA.

I’m not particularly interested in the substance of the conspiracy theory, really, beyond a rock-solid conviction that Han shot first. However, this conversation went in a particularly interesting direction, examining in some depth why people are drawn to and choose to believe in conspiracy theories. Read More

When automating, ask ‘what’ – not ‘how’

Nick Woods

“Customers demand a personal experience” seems to be the prevailing mantra for retailers in 2012. Of course, the trouble is that growth often relies on automation. Automation doesn’t exactly lend itself well to humanity. And even if that automation appears human, once the audience figures out a computer knows more about them than they thought, they tend to get creeped out. So how does a brand automate the right way?

It’s not really a question of how, but what. Few customers complain about using a menu system to check a bank balance. And Netflix’s recommendation engine is one of the service’s major selling points. When a customer knows what they want, and the stakes are low, they appreciate a digital channel that can provide a clear path to that outcome. But when it comes to feelings, uncertain outcomes, or a high-involvement product, a friendly face in a store, or a knowledgable voice over the phone is still the only way. Talk to the folks who buy what you sell, and ask them when they’d like to talk to you, and when they’d rather be left alone.

C&A Fashion Likes

Nick Woods

Brazilian retailer C&A is bringing their Facebook presence into the real world with a new initiative that shows how many Likes an item has online, right on its hanger. It’s an awesome promotion for a number of reasons. First and foremost, C&A is enabling its digital community with a tool that can provide them with higher status – They are the ones determining what items are trendy, not a corporate entity. That engagement puts more C&A digital content higher in more user feeds, meaning more people outside the existing shopper community will see those items – Not only online, but in the store itself. And furthermore, it gives C&A administrators a concrete way to tie social media to the bottom line, simply by charting how well items with a lot of Likes sell in the store itself. It’s a human social media campaign, with measurable ROI. Where can we sign up?

Can You Listen to Your Customer?

BJ Bueno

If you were to conduct an immediate survey right now, this very instant, of all of the leadership of all of the companies you interact with, in one form or another, over the course of any given 24 hour period, I can say, with a pretty high degree of confidence, that they’ll all tell you they listen to their customers.

Some of these companies are telling you the truth. READ MORE

Why UBS/Guggenheim Makes Good Sense

BJ Bueno

The contemporary art world is buzzing about a newly announced collaboration between UBS Wealth Management and the Guggenheim Museum. It’s easy to see what the excitement is about, especially from a creative perspective.  The five year initiative is going to chart creative activity and contemporary art from all around the world.

Many of the stories you’ll see about this collaboration will focus, with good cause, on the fact that the project is a substantial investment in moving the current conversation about contemporary art from a very Western point of view to a more global perspective. READ MORE

“Marketing is dead”

Nick Woods

At IoD’s Annual Convention in London yesterday, Saatchi & Saatchi CEO Kevin Roberts declared the death of strategy, the big idea, management, and marketing, in that order. Which means he and I can both quit our jobs together, and move to the Maldives and drink tropical cocktails out of split coconuts until we die, right? Please?

Despite the hyperbole, most of the points Roberts made during the talk are good ones. In a world where everyone is constantly connected, and success in advertising is as much a function of word of mouth as it is media budgeting, it’s relatively useless to expect a specific outcome anymore when you’re operating on a massive scale like many of Saatchi’s clients. But that doesn’t mean strategic thinking goes out the window. As Roberts himself said, “To win today you need a culture and an environment where the unreasonable power of creativity thrives.” Fostering that environment is a strategy in and of itself, don’t you think? So despite the platitudes from the gurus and the sherpas, not much has changed – Just environment we operate in.

Is social media really social?

Nick Woods

If a recent article in the New York Times is to be believed, the myriad ways we connect with each other through 1s and 0s are actually killing our social skills. As MIT’s Sherry Turkle says, “E-mail, Twitter, Facebook, all of these have their places… But no matter how valuable, they do not substitute for conversation.”  It’s the same argument executives often make when pushing back against investment in a social media program: Who cares how many Likes our page has? That’s no substitute for a face-to-face meeting in the real world.

Your boss, the reporters, and the researchers are all correct – It’s tough to form a real, fruitful relationship with someone exclusively in a digital space. I agree: That relationship is ultimately more important than any hasty transaction. But as Mathew Ingram points out this morning, it’s easy to see that those who are social online tend to be social offline too. Which means online connections often spark offline connections. It all goes back to a point we’ve made before: Marketers need to resist the temptation to sell in the social space. Focus on bringing your online network into the real world instead.

5 Things better than 2 Pac’s Hologram

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

Everyone’s talking about 2-Pac’s hologram appearance at Coachella. And while I’d bet it was a bit more impressive live, like I’ve read, the fact remains 2-Pac is DEAD. Also, while it was a cool collective moment to reflect on his contribution to music and wonder “what if” taking this act on tour wouldn’t be THE REAL THING and to me wouldn’t mean as much to witness. Here are five things that are better:

1. Advanced hologram technology in Japan that lets completely fabricated artists sell out arenas.
2. Photoshop is a pretty complex and handy tool. This guy decided to throw a Holiday Party and “invite” all of his celebrity friends.
3. Alejandro Chaskielberg has taken some absolutely gorgeous images of a community in the Turkana region of northwest Kenya at night.
4. A great web based studio lightning simulator to help save you some time.
5. World-class synths in your pocket.

The Power of Predictability

BJ Bueno

Starbucks, it turns out, is not synonymous with seamless, stress-free success. Embracing a global strategy is an integral part of the coffee retailer’s much-talked about turnaround strategy, but after ten years of effort, things still aren’t great in Europe.  Particularly not in France, according to this New York Times story.

Starbucks has embarked on a multimillion dollar campaign to win over the European marketplace. Their efforts are pretty straightforward, and from our perspective, logical: everything from the the coffee recipe to the physical plant is being examined and altered to bring it more in alignment with the tastes and preferences of the local customer. READ MORE

Trust Building Is Essential

BJ Bueno

Almost two years ago, Jose Lopez, executive VP of Operations for Nestle, was explaining to the Business Standard why the global foods, health, and nutrition brand, which claims to have a billion customers a day, is so successful. A particular focus of the interview was how Nestle decided to enter a marketplace, as well as their decision to source raw materials and labor in local markets. READ MORE

The Power of Groups

Nick Woods

A new study from computer scientists at Cornell University, covered this morning in Science Magazine, lends some credence to the idea that decisions are influenced more by groups than they are by individuals. Researchers conducted a study that showed a person invited to join Facebook by four different friends is no more likely to do so than if only one friend did. That is, unless those four contacts had no other mutual friends between them – In that case, the invitee’s likelihood of joining Facebook more than doubled.

That’s all a wordy way of saying that people aren’t convinced to act when only one social circle gets into a product or service. We want to see that everyone can enjoy a new soft drink, movie or Web site – Not just a small niche of people. Proving to your customers that it’s not just about them and their friends, but everyone, is often the most effective mentality. Because in that case, they belong to something bigger.

Ace Hardware

BJ Bueno

Normally, when we talk about watching paint dry, we’re referring to something tedious or boring. But for the leadership at Ace Hardware, paint is pretty exciting.  According to this New York Times article, a new product line (coupled with an insightful marketing approach) may be what it takes to allow the 4,300+ hardware and home improvement store chain to double their share of the domestic paint market. READ MORE

Your Site Is Great (But Nobody’s Happy)

Nick Woods

Heir apparent to Jerry Seinfeld, comedian Louis C.K. centers a big chunk of his last HBO special talking about how we whine too much about technology. Referring to people who complain that texting takes too long, he says, “if it ever gets there, it’s a miracle. It’s amazing the kind of stuff we can do today!”

But it’s not like he’s convincing anyone when it comes to digital experience. At least not according to a new infographic posted yesterday on Mashable that shows on the Web, speed is still preferred over style. Some of the more eye-popping statistics:

• Google has found that by slowing search times by just 4/10 of a second, the number of total searches on the site dropped by more than 8,000,000 per day.
• Almost half of all mobile users will abandon an e-commerce site if it doesn’t load within 3 seconds.
• Load times delayed by only a second can cost Amazon up to $1.6 billion a year

Social Media Policy’s New Poster Child

Nick Woods

There are a lot of different terms and expressions that come to mind when crafting a company-wide social media policy. “Herding cats” is one. Something rhyming with “bluster” and “stuck” is another. No one wants their brand accidentally tarnished by careless employees. But in 2012, when word of mouth counts as much as a big budget, you don’t want them keeping silent either.

Gap leaked the major bullets of its new policy yesterday, and it should be taken as the model case study for how large, global organizations can manage employee communication without being intrusive. It’s written for humans, not lawyers. More importantly, it offers a lot of advice and guidelines, but very few rules. Employees like knowing what they can do, not what they can’t. And when your best marketing and advertising in the digital space often comes for free from the community that supports you, it’s best to keep it happy.

The Gap, Geo-Fencing, and Outdoor

Nick Woods

In one of my first journalism courses, a professor told our class about the rule of seven: Often, for a person to recognize a message and commit it to memory, they need to see it in seven different formats before they’ll pay attention. That’s a rule of thumb, obviously – The point is that when it comes to making a message stick, it’s as much about variety and creativity as it is repetition. It’s about making your brand ubiquitous.

The Gap obviously took that lesson to heart when they launched a new campaign last week in Chicago, New York, and San Francisco, tagging its outdoor ads with new geofencing technology. Its new “Be Bright” ads positioned at bus stops alert nearby smartphones that the ad is nearby, so when a consumer pulls up, say, Words With Friends, it knows to display related advertising in those apps. Gap is hoping that customers will see the ad walking up to the stop, and then again when they look down at their phone, before climbing on a bus that has it on the side. Creepy? Maybe. But three down, and only four to go.

YouTube going traditional?

Nick Woods

At All Things Digital’s “Dive Into Media” conference in February, YouTube CEO Salar Kamangar talked about turning YouTube into a channel just like regular TV. As he explains it, content is worth more when it’s delivered more efficiently – For example, a “dog on a skateboard video” can command $2 per thousand impressions when it’s simply floating around on YouTube.com. But when it’s packaged as part of a dog lover’s channel, or a skateboarder’s channel, that same video is worth nearly 10 times the price. The trouble, of course, is finding those who are interested – And for that, Kamangar needs to rely on content that’s already available, with a known audience.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise, given that strategy, that YouTube added over 70 videos from the Disney Channel to the site today. Disney, of course, knows exactly who watches its content. Which means it’s a lot easier to efficiently package advertising along with it. So don’t be surprised if kid-friendly suggestions from unknown sources start popping up in the right-hand column next to your Dora The Explorer stream. It’s gonna start happening a lot more.

Gilt’s Influence Coupon

Nick Woods

Sucking up to the cool kid is a time-honored tradition that starts in pre-school, and really doesn’t end until you die. Gilt’s proving that behavior extends all the way to the corporate world today, by giving customers a discount based on their Klout score – A 60, for example, will give you 60% off your order, up to $100 in savings. A friend of mine works at the company’s headquarters and said this morning, quote, “RT’s are out the a**.” I think it’s a pretty clever way of getting more influential customers talking about the brand, but don’t expect any kind of long-term relationship. It’s always more fun to root for the underdogs, not the popular kids. And what kind of message does the promotion send to those who don’t spend the majority of their day staring their phone or laptop?

Success by the Slice

BJ Bueno

Perfection isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Just ask the folks at Domino’s Pizza.  In 2009, the company’s pizza came in last in a national taste test—tying with Chuck E. Cheese, an eatery known more for the presence of video games and children’s amusements than anything on the menu.  At that point, (and after bringing on a new CEO, Patrick Doyle) Domino’s launched a new marketing campaign, admitting that they weren’t perfect.
READ MORE

Another case for creativity

Nick Woods

Roger Martin, a dean at the University of Toronto, writes today in the Harvard Business Review that continuing unemployment issues in the U.S. might be alleviated by encouraging a more creative workforce. He cites long-term statistics that show the proportion of creatives in the economy has gone from 10 percent to over 30 percent since 1900, while routine-physical labor has fallen from 60 percent to less than 25 percent. Of course, defining “creative” is the more difficult task. Martin’s article addresses that issue, writing that any job can be creative – It simply becomes routine when a person doesn’t make decisions, or exercise judgment. He says, “Give workers the encouragement and space to innovate… That would be the grassroots way out of America’s doldrums.”

Facebook’s Premium Ads

Nick Woods

The world’s most popular social network has what I think is a pretty exciting new vision for online advertising, leaked this morning by Fast Company. Text ads like those you see on the site now, and on other spots like Google, aren’t exactly renowned for their click-through rates, or their reliability – A banner on Facebook is most effective only when a user seeing it also notices his or her friends have Liked it. It’s looks like a lesson the company has taken to heart though: The new scheme brings more content from a brand’s page into the ad, letting users see not only if their friends have liked it, but what’s being discussed on the page’s Wall. Furthermore, users will be able to interact with the page from the ad itself – The extra steps of having to click the ad, find what you were looking at, and engage again are all eliminated.

We’ll see how this plays out, but the company is claiming an 80% boost in recall, and a 40% increase in engagement.

Where’s the line between custom and creepy?

Nick Woods

Target’s new marketing program for pregnant women has gotten a lot of looks from around the Web since it was published a few days ago. Neuromarketing has one the best responses, posting today on how to tell when a brand has crossed the line between highly relevant, and outright weird. Their tips?

1. Customers want you to know what they want, not who they are
2. Custom experiences get creepy when you haven’t been given permission to grant them
3. Focus on the positive, not the negative

A comeback for analog TV?

Nick Woods

Today, Christopher Stewart of the Wall Street Journal covers an interesting case in St. Louis – TV antennae salesman Richard Schneider sold 50 percent more of his product in 2011 than he did in 2010. And he’s expecting to double that in 2012. He attributes the rise to two factors: The typical consumer saves $96 a month by cutting cable, and enhancements made by Netflix and Hulu mean consumers sacrifice less each time new content is added. It also helps that networks are broadcasting in HD, meaning consumers don’t have to put up with inferior picture quality. When you compare that growth to the fact that cable revenues have stagnated, it’s easy to think that analog TV, with the help of the internet, is poised for a comeback. Right now, only about 10 percent of viewers aren’t watching cable – But maybe it’s time we start keeping a closer watch.

 

Mining Big Data (The Creepy Way)

Nick Woods

Last week, NYT’s Charles Duhigg published a piece discussing a new data mining project carried out by Target. The company wanted to figure out a way to discover which of its customers were pregnant – even if those customers hadn’t explicitly divulged that information – and tailor its marketing programs to their needs.

Whether or not you’re outraged by Target’s tactics, this article is a fascinating read for those interested in Big Data’s impact on targeted advertising. More than ever, our lifestyles are reflected in what we buy. And like it or not, what we buy is being recorded. But is it better to dig through piles and piles of junk mail to find the one coupon we’ll actually use? (Or maybe it’s better if we just get rid of junk mail altogether.)

Does brainstorming work?

Nick Woods

A few weeks back, The New Yorker published an article discussing how brainstorming – sitting in a room, throwing out ideas, and seeing what sticks – isn’t very effective in its ability to produce good solutions. Citing a number of studies, the piece outlines how in a discussion, debate trumps encouragement when it comes to figuring out the best answer to a question.

That argument can be a pretty tough pill to swallow. As the feature says, “it’s always nice to be saturated in positive feedback.” But in a great response to the magazine, Lifehacker might’ve made an even more important point: “You need bad ideas to bring out the good ones… [but] Idea generation is just one step in the brainstorming process. The next step is to separate yourself from those ideas and review them later with a critical eye to determine which ones can take flight.”

We’ve talked before about how to best select good ideas – Maybe it’s time we start sleeping on them a bit more.

Apple’s Alignment Problem

BJ Bueno

Work hard on the job today or work hard to find a job tomorrow.

That isn’t the message most of Apple’s Brand Lovers would expect to find hanging on the wall of their favorite tech company’s manufacturing facility. It seems a little too Dickensian in sentiment, a world removed from the sleek gadgets tailor made to empower and encourage the creative spirit.

But there it is, right in the middle of a NY Times investigative report: In China, Human Costs are Built into an iPad.  Reading this, we learn how Apple’s supply chain is fraught with difficulties. Safety and environmental concerns top the list. READ MORE

Mobile data is a big deal (duh)

Nick Woods

Turns out that a lot of people are using their phones on the internet. Who’d-a thunk?

Cisco released a report yesterday that it’s calling the “Visual Networking Index (VNI) Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update” (?) discussing some of the company’s projections for growth trends relating to data transferred over cell phones, tablets, and other devices like them. A few of the more insane stats:

• 2011′s mobile data traffic was 8x the size of the entire global internet’s in 2000
• Average smart phone usage nearly tripled in 2011, and over 1 million smart phone users will be transferring more than a gigabyte of data apiece each month within the next five years
• By 2016, there will be 1.4 mobile devices per capita, and 2/3 of the world’s mobile data traffic will be video

Driving into the Future

BJ Bueno

The Rolls Royce Special Edition Year of the Dragon Phantom comes in a distinct maroon color. There are ornate golden dragon details. You can, if you can foot the bill, have your Phantom fully customized, with special embroidery on the upholstery, drinks cabinet, and on an optional picnic basket.

The price for the Year of the Dragon Phantom? $1.2 million.

Don’t bother saving your pennies, though. You can’t get one of these beautiful cars to park in your driveway. They’ve all been sold—Rolls Royce’s entire production run—in less than 2 months. READ MORE

The Sound of One Hand Clapping

BJ Bueno

During the Florida Republican Primary Debate, moderator Brian Williams asked the audience to refrain from applauding or booing anything they hear the candidates say. While this is the norm for presidential debates, the request drew mixed reaction in this instance.

There are those who praised the silent format, claiming that it reduces the theatrical aspect of the debate, forcing the focus onto the actual content of the discussion. There are those who criticized the move, claiming that the audience’s free speech was being stifled.  Additionally, these critics asked, isn’t the theatrical aspect of the debate part of the point? READ MORE

What does $5 billion do?

Nick Woods

Late yesterday, Facebook finally filed an initial public offering seeking to raise $5 billion. Over the next few weeks, we’re going to learn a lot of interesting stuff about the world’s largest social network as they open their books, and address speculation that the organization is worth almost $100 billion – right behind McDonald’s, which sits at $101.5 billion. What does that $5 billion mean for users on the site though? Not much, at least in the short term. A big chunk of the money will pay off investors that have kept the network afloat, while another portion will go toward low-risk investments to make the company more financially secure. Also, Mark Zuckerberg will soon be classified as “insanely rich,” an upgrade from “ridiculously rich.”

There’s an interesting sentence in the Use of Proceeds section in Facebook’s filing, however: “We may use a portion of the proceeds to us for acquisitions of complementary businesses.” It’ll be interesting to see what the network’s newfound wealth will allow it to buy. While we aren’t going to see much of a difference in how we use the site tomorrow, who knows how this IPO will alter it 10 years from now.

The biggest tech IPO in history

Nick Woods

Rumors flying around the internet say that Facebook will announce its initial public offering any day now, the prospect of which has brokers salivating, but not necessarily the rest of us. Not yet at least – But I think it’s interesting to think about what $10 billion in investment can mean for the  network’s customers (and Mark Zuckerberg).

There’s a great infographic, “Everything You Need To Know About Facebook’s IPO,” that’s been making the rounds over the past few weeks – You can check out here. Some highlights:

• Experts predict Facebook’s IPO will be worth more than three times Google’s, Groupon’s, LinkedIn’s, and Bankrate’s combined
• The company as a whole is predicted to be worth $100 billion – more than McDonald’s, Amazon, and Disney
• Despite all of that, Facebook’s projected revenues for the end of 2011 are $4.2 billion, which Apple makes in only 3 weeks

Football as Life Support

Nick Woods

In a post yesterday on Media Daily News, Wayne Friedman discusses how advertisers are paying anywhere from 13% to 29% more for a TV ad during the Superbowl this year, over the ~$3.1 million it cost in 2011. “By way of comparison,” he says, “the average price for a 30-second prime-time commercials [sic] in the first quarter of 2011 was $96,800 — down from $101,500 in 2010.”

I’m not a media guy, so I’m just spitballing here, but it seems to me that the trend might have something to do with the number of people who DVR the Superbowl compared to prime time programming. Everyone hesitant to ditch cable for Netflix/Hulu seems to say the same thing: If they could get live sports anywhere besides good ol’ fashioned TV, they’d make the switch in a second. But no one wants to miss out on the conversation occurring both during and immediately after the Big Game. Until a suitable, legal substitute is found, football, basketball, baseball and our favorite events are going to keep TV revenues humming along.

Things Your Brand Should Never Ask?

BJ Bueno

Arthur Brisbane has been having a rough week. On January 12th, the NY Times‘ public editor (a position created, you may remember, in the wake of the Jayson Blair scandal) used his high-profile soap box to ask the most amazing question: Should the Times be a truth vigilante? Was it incumbent on reporters, he went on to ask, to challenge public figures when their statements were less than accurate? READ MORE

How do we identify good ideas?

Nick Woods

A new study from the Netherlands’ Radbound University asks an interesting question: How does one select the best idea? Or more specifically, how does one excel at rejection and self-criticism? Subjects were asked to write down a list of ideas for making a wait in line at a grocery store easier to bear. Once finished, one group was told to select their most creative ideas from the list, while the other group was tasked with playing a videogame for two minutes before doing the same. Those in the former group selected their most innovative concept about 20 percent of the time. The latter? 55 percent – A significant difference.

The lesson here is kind of a no-brainer – It’s easier to separate the wheat from the chaff when you haven’t been staring at both for a long period of time. Allow your customers to do the same: Your product is the best fit, and pushing an “impulse buy” isn’t always necessary.

SOPA & PIPA

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

On January 24th the Senate will begin voting on two bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) & the Protect IP Act (PIPA), which if passed would change the internet as we currently know it. It would also stifle business development, job creation and innovation. I agree piracy needs to end but not like this. All that’s needed is a little good ol’ fashion creativity, not unwarranted censorship…because all that will lead to is more piracy.

Today is SOPA Blackout Day & Day of action where various sites on the web have blocked or blackened their sites in protest. The most popular is WikiPedia. Google has also created an End Piracy, Not Liberty splash page with more information and an online petition…and have also gotten into the spirit.

Searching for Status

BJ Bueno

If we stand here now and look back into the mists of time to the very first days of human commerce we’ll discover that, for all of known history, business owners have wanted the answer to a single question: What makes consumers act the way they do?

One of the factors that drives consumer behavior, consciously or otherwise, is the need to meet individual needs. You’re familiar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the model that tells us that we are all in possession of certain undeniable needs that must be met in order for us to enjoy optimal physical and psychological health. READ MORE

The Business of Art

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

It’s not enough today to just be a great artist. You can produce the best art in the world but if you don’t know how to market it you’ll never be able to make it a profession. Enter Damien Hirst who has mastered the marketing of his art. From “For the Love of God” which is a platinum cast skull encrusted with 8,601 flawless diamonds, to “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living” which is a tiger shark preserved in formaldehyde in a vitrine, to his latest exhibition “The Complete Spot Paintings 1986-2011″ showing  simultaneously at all of the Gagosian Galleries world wide. Hirst always seems to create a platform for his work that is equal parts the fine detail, back story, execution, and presentation.

The Origins of the PBS Logo

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

It’s always interesting to hear how a logo came to be. The story of the PBS logo created by Herb Lubalin is especially interesting. View Here.

Hostess To File

Billy Cannestra

I’ve been eating HoHos and Twinkies for close to 40 years – The longest I’ve ever been devoted to… well, anything. I can still remember watching the Bozo Breakfast Club when I was little, psyched out of my mind at all of the lucky kids who got dessert tossed to them at 9AM. It’s a bit weird to think that a memory tied to a product has stuck with me for that long: squeezing Twinkies out of their cellophane, and tossing what was left on the floor. All of you health nuts would’ve had that show tossed off the air, but I’ve had my share of Twinkies for breakfast, and I turned out just fine.

So with all of those memories, it’s hard to believe Hostess is preparing to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, owing more than $50 million to vendors after rising the rising cost of labor, sugar, flour, and other ingredients began to squeeze margins. Maybe it’s time for a new agency? Anything to make sure I can pound more sugar tomorrow morning.

Ringing in the New

BJ Bueno

There’s never a bad time to be a winemaker—or so we have been assured by vineyard owners—but some years are better than others. Champagne, in particular, has been enjoying a great year, with sales up a reported 5.2% over the first half of 2011.

That’s an awful lot of bubbly! Champagne is the beverage of choice for festive events, essential for wedding toasts and, of course, New Year’s Eve celebrations.  Now that the ball has officially dropped, and we’ve embarked, for better or worse, into 2012. It’s a good time to look at this CNN Fortune story about legacy Champagne brand Piper-Heidsieck and their efforts to remain relevant in a crowded, confusing marketplace. READ MORE

Wendy’s Winning or Burger King Losing?

BJ Bueno

All of a sudden, everyone is talking about the Burger Wars again.  Nothing’s actually changed yet—McDonald’s is still the undisputed leader of the pack, with Burger King in the number two spot.  But things are about to change. The Wall Street Journal revealed that Wendy’s is poised to knock the King off his throne. This is big news, and lots of people have theories about how it happened. A lot has been said about menu revamps: Wendy’s was both timely and well-executed, while Burger King’s lacks both cohesion and relevance, especially in terms of healthier offerings. READ MORE.

Movable Ink

Nick Woods

Junk mail sucks. But it’s not like it sucks for no reason – Notes from Groupon and LivingSocial get at least a look because I know they have something to do with the area I live in. That’s sort of the key when it comes to good advertising, isn’t it? Making sure you’re providing a potential customer with something that means something to them, ringing a bell that reminds them of what they’re already looking for. That’s why tools provided by companies like Movable Ink are the wave of the future: Widgets that plug live, local, and personal content into emails. Customers in 2012 are going to want that tailored information more than ever before, so it might be worth thinking about as we head into the year.

What if Santa didn’t show up?

Nick Woods

Imagine, for a second, that you’re five years old again. You’ve been good all year, your list was in on time, and you’d set cookies and milk next to the fire place before heading off to bed. How would you feel if you woke up the next morning, and Santa had come down your chimney and eaten your cookies, but left a typed-out apology letter instead of presents under the tree?

You’d likely feel the same as many Best Buy customers did last week when they were notified the company had over-promised on Black Friday deals, and would be canceling hundreds of orders. This story ruffles my feathers for a number of reasons – Chiefly, why did the retailer wait until less than a week before Christmas to let their customers know of the error? The story illustrates a flagrant breach of trust between company and customer. And while Best Buy’s official statement says “loyalty does earn special consideration when unfortunate circumstances such as these arise,” it makes you wonder how much they truly value it.

Seriously, Mind-Reading Computers

Nick Woods

A few days ago, IBM released its annual “5 in 5″ report, a list of product advancements it’s planning for the next five years. The most interesting? (Ahem, frightening/interesting?) The company wants to develop technology that would enable a person to connect their brain directly to a laptop or mobile device. They don’t seem to be joking – A spokesman commented, saying: “From Houdini to Skywalker to X-Men, mind-reading has merely been wishful thinking for science fiction fans for decades, but their wish may soon come true… You would just need to think about calling someone, and it would happen.”

While the idea of uploading my consciousness to the internet like The Lawnmower Man holds a certain amount of appeal, it pales in comparison to how psyched I am for the “Damn You Autocorrect Mind-Reading Computer For Texting Someone Something I Only Thought About And Didn’t Want Them To Know” Tumblr. The future is now!

Giving as a matter of status?

Nick Woods

To ask or not to ask – A new study from UC San Diego examined the question in a paper published last week that covered Salvation Army bell-ringers outside grocery stores. Their findings? More people look the other way when asked for a donation, but those who don’t give up to 75 percent more than those who do when not engaged verbally. That makes sense: Customers will engage with a business more often when they’re given credit for finding it, not the other way around. But those who feel the need to donate after being asked don’t want to appear stingy. Seems to me that it’s all a matter of status.

Pandora jumps in Top 10 U.S. radio markets

Nick Woods

Earlier this week, Pandora posted its November listening stats with users streaming over 2.1 billion total hours with the service in Q3 2011. That’s big news for a company that has seen its competition stiffen considerably over the last year with Spotify’s introduction, in addition to services like Last.fm. And while Pandora claims 66 percent of the internet radio market with 40 million active users, making it the clear leader in that space, the real story here is that among adults 18-34 in the top ten U.S. radio markets, Pandora’s weekly cumulative audience surpassed 19.9 percent in each of those survey areas over the past few months. It’s just another example of how people will continue to consume media in 2012 – Through their phones and tablets over the Web, rather than analog radio and antennae through traditional broadcast.

Trouble At The Top

BJ Bueno

Brand Modeling teaches us that the force most responsible for a dominant organization’s success is the enthusiastic support of its best customers. So what force is most responsible for an organization’s failure? A not-insignificant portion of the time, the answer resides at the top. The Daily Beast recently ran a feature entitled 10 Worst Corporate Boards of the Decade that highlighted some monumental leadership challenges. READ MORE

Mythbusters Mayhem

BJ Bueno

For most organizations, the news that the company inadvertently sent a cannonball careening out of the safe confines of the firing range and through a private home would be a nightmare. Most organizations aren’t Mythbusters. For this wildly popular Discovery Channel show, a ballistic blunder could prove to be a priceless branding opportunity. READ MORE

SVPPLY

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

I’ve been a fan and an active member of SVPPLY since the first day it went live. I’d used a bunch of other sites to try and keep digital lists of things, but SVPPLY has done a better job of keeping the site’s design understated and simple, and the social aspects useful. The best part is that SVPPLY lets you see what your friends are adding to their lists, which makes it easy to add new stuff to your own with one click. If you end up creating a profile, or already have one, don’t be shy - add me.

YouTube and Brand Recall

Jim Palmer

When a prospect sees a message through a different medium after noticing it on TV, the likelihood of their recalling that message goes up by around 50 percent, at least according to the tenet that most media folks use. So you can see why I was caught a bit off guard yesterday by a new report that says consumers who see an ad first on TV, and then again before watching a YouTube video, exhibit a 200 percent increase in recall. What gives?

I’d guess that the captivity of the audience may have something to do with it. When you’re watching TV, it’s easy to run to the kitchen for a beer and make it back before a commercial break ends after 2.5 minutes. But it’s tougher to make it to the kitchen and back to your screen before the end of a standard YouTube spot. So rather than spending the money to build recall with broadcast media, consider the less expensive option of placing your advertising into online channels – The reach might be smaller, but an incremental improvement is good if the cost makes sense.

What did you just say?

Nick Woods

Dan Pallotta is the president of Advertising for Humanity, and an expert in nonprofit sector innovation. Yesterday, he posted an article on Harvard Business Review that had me all but jumping out of my chair: “I Don’t Understand What Anyone Is Saying Anymore.” Pallotta discusses at length the acronyms, abstractions, and meaningless expressions businesspeople use to talk with one another, and as a writer, I couldn’t agree with him more. If our peers, partners and colleagues can’t understand what the hell we’re talking about, how can we expect customers to jump right in? The language he talks about undermines integrity, and credibility. So why don’t we all spend just a bit more time today thinking about what we say before we say it?

Hype MKE

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

HYPE MKE  is a new online publication based here in Milwaukee that’s flipped local blogging it on its head. The company’s approach creates what it calls “image based articles” that use expanded and unique presentation styles to tell richer, and more visual stories. For now, HYPE only posts on Mondays and Thursdays, but I’ve already gone ahead and marked both on my Google Cal.

Starbucks: The Public Bathroom Question

BJ Bueno

Talk about a tidal wave of change!

Starbucks recently made headlines with its decision to close the public restrooms in many of their New York locations.  Too many people are using the Starbucks’ bathrooms, not all of whom are paying customers, and this makes it difficult for Starbucks’ employees to take bathroom breaks in a timely fashion. Add in the not-insignificant expense of keeping public restrooms clean and operational in New York City, factor in the fact that the chain is not by law required to provide restrooms in shops that seat less than 20 people, and it seems that switching to employees-only facilities is a sensible, straightforward business decision.
READ MORE

Content + Price = Kindle > iPad

Nick Woods

While it’s going to be a while before we can declare a new ‘winning’ side in the U.S. Tablet Wars, BestBuy turned heads yesterday when it reported that the Kindle Fire is flying off its shelves faster than the iPad. This, despite early reviews that called the Fire buggy, uncool, and slow. Why are we seeing a possible shift?

The most obvious catalyst is the price – The Fire  is much cheaper than a 16gb iPad 2. But perhaps more importantly, Kindle has put content over style and speed, and users are responding. Many say its easier to download songs, stream video, and read comics, books and magazines on the new tablet. And even iPad users would agree: Without cool stuff to pull up, what good is prestige, processing power, screen resolution, and a 3G connection? Remember – Dogs love meat.

Boost Recall – Just Block Doorways

Nick Woods

Think about the last time you got up from the couch, walked into the kitchen, and realized you’d forgotten what you got up for in the first place. Your brain cramp might’ve been because of the door you walked through, according to new research published by Notre Dame psychology professor Gabriel Radvansky. His new paper explores the idea of ‘event boundaries’ – Activities that cue the brain to file an experience away as memory when that experience has reached its conclusion. According to Radvansky, “Recalling the decision or activity that was made in a different room is difficult because it has been compartmentalized.” So the next time you find yourself scratching your head over the counter, it might be best to retrace your footsteps. And if you’re wondering how to aid recall for your brand, you might want to think about how to provide that trail for your customers.

Target, Turkey, and Giving Thanks

BJ Bueno

Happy Thanksgiving to one and all! It is our hopes that everyone reading these words has enjoyed many blessings this year. We’re certainly grateful for those of you who have made this an interesting, thought-provoking, and productive year: you have made a difference in our lives, and we thank you for it.

Thanksgiving occupies a special place in the American pantheon of holidays.  We’ve developed a complex routine. There’s the menu: the largest turkey anyone ever saw, surrounded by all the trimmings.  After, there’s pumpkin pie and football … and that’s when the real activity starts. READ MORE

Arrested Development x Netflix

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

Few TV and movie fans doubt that streaming content sites like Hulu, Prescreen, and others represent the future of television. It’s an opinion Fox and Imagine seem to share – The studios have licensed a brand new season of the critically acclaimed, ratings-challenged show Arrested Development to air exclusively on Netflix in 2013. More and more it seems the only key ingredient keeping audiences hooked to cable and satellite is the availability of live events, which admittedly makes ditching those services a tough pill to swallow. $17 a month for a virtually unlimited variety of content on-demand? Or $200 a month for the same content plus live TV? Moves like this make the switch more attractive every day.

Prescreen

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

Movie tickets and paid television seem to get more expensive every year. So kudos to Prescreen, a new Web site that streams 60-day “prescreeners” to users at prices as low as $4 a movie. Not every film available on Prescreen is destined to end up in theaters, but for directors and crew, the service’s incentives – like offering loyalty points to the first 5 percent of customers watching each movie – helps put more eyes on their work. The service’s business model has been toyed with by cable and satellite providers in the past, but it’s exciting to think about the possibilities sites in the same arena might offer to filmmakers and movies fans alike in the future. Try it out for yourself HERE.

Drinking From The (ahem) “Fire Hose”

Nick Woods

New research covered in The New Zealand Herald last week claims the amount of digital information we produce has grown by a factor of nine over the last five years. That’s a crazy amount of growth. Consider, for example, a typical low-volume fire hose ejecting 90 gallons of water per minute. Grown by a factor of nine, that same fire hose would spit out 400,000 trillion gallons of water per minute – nearly 9 billion times the amount of water that flows over Niagra Falls in the same period.

So maybe it’s time we reconsider our phrasing. Trying to drink from social media’s proverbial fire hose in 2006 was difficult enough when the comparison was apt – Today, trying to pull meaningful insight from the stream shouldn’t be considered a challenge, but a death wish. How do we as marketers begin to deal with that onslaught of data, much less help customers?

Organizational Change, and Google

BJ Bueno

Becoming the dominant player in any industry is tough. Holding onto that premier position is even harder. Brand Modeling teaches us that it is the leaders of any organization who must have a clear, fully articulated vision of what success means for their company—as well as the resolve and resources to make that vision reality.

That’s why we read this NY Times article about Google CEO Larry Page with great interest. To quote:

Despite the many external pressures on Google, it is dominant in its business and highly profitable. But, when asked at a recent conference about the biggest threat to his company, Mr. Page answered in one word, “Google.” READ MORE

A Little Costs Alot

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

If there’s one person I can’t stand, it’s the guy who can’t laugh at himself. And in the end, the same goes for agencies. So it shouldn’t be any big surprise that Agency Spy called one of them out yesterday, not for posting a potentially (albeit accidentally) hilarious music video from one of their creatives, but for deleting the comments folks on Facebook made about it. That’s Social Media 101: most are unforgiving and unfiltered from behind a computer screen. So you had better be ready to respond to the good, the bad, and the vulgar – with a smile on your face – if YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are channels you’re considering.

The New Breed of TV

Nick Woods

Sony threw its hat in the ring over the weekend to join a crowd that gets bigger every day – Brands attempting to breed a smarter screen, one that will organize, access, and broadcast every channel we surf. That’s a tougher task than it seems… Watching TV isn’t just a cable-or-antennae option anymore. Next to the hundreds of channels our digital cable providers toss our way, streaming video services send us our favorite movies and shows over the net. Our DVD collections grow every day. Collecting content seems to be the new pastime, and the biggest challenge isn’t finding it anymore – It’s digesting it. Seems like life just won’t let up on the world’s couch potatoes. READ MORE

Toronto: New Street Car Design

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

I was lucky enough to spend most of my childhood living in Toronto, ON Canada with my grandparents. Some of my fondest memories of adolescence are associated with the Street Car. The TTC (Toronto Transit Commission) has just released the new streetcar design scheduled to begin hitting streets in 2013. They even put together an informative site that gives you the history of the street car as well as a look into the timeline, research and process of it’s creation. I’m going to scheduled a trip back to check them out but you can check them out HERE.

Apple To Go. . . . .

Billy Cannestra

What a concept. Apple is now telling me that I can order a iPad, iMac and a printer online and then pick it up at my local Apple Store in 12 minutes. My local fast food restaurant can’t offer that guarantee in their drive-thru. You can also install an Apple Store app on your iPhone, scan accessories yourself in the store, click purchase and just walk right out, without ever talking to a sales person. I didn’t believe it either, so I read the full story. Just think: if this concept takes off, you’ll shop at Target or Aeropostale and not have to wait in lines. Goodbye online shopping – hello mall!

Nest

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

By now I’m sure you’ve all heard about Nest, the stylish learning thermostat founded by a couple of former Apple employees. It’s interesting to see a new product aimed toward making something familiar better and more efficient. They have done a great job with the function of the Nest…it works like any older thermostat and requires no programing at all. It remembers when and at what temperature you set it at and locks it in. If your patterns change so does the programing of the thermostat. Any product that helps conserve energy and save money is just fine by me.  Check it out for yourself.

Take Two For Netflix?

BJ Bueno

“There is a difference between moving too quickly—which Netflix has done very well for years—and moving too fast, which is what we did in this case.” With those words, Netflix has backed away from its controversial plan to split the company into two parts. The DVD rental-by-mail business, which was going to be called Qwikster, will remain part of the Netflix business. It’s a reversal that makes sense. READ MORE 

Light Light Levitating Lamps

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

These lamps are amazing. I would love to outfit my whole home with them but I don’t have $1,300 dollars lying around to spend on a lamp no matter how amazing! Interesting technology though. Light Light is a collection of lamps that Angela Jansen, a graduate of Design Academy Eindhoven, designed. They were then developed by mechanical and electrical engineer Ger Jansen. READ MORE

Steve Jobs

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

Steve Jobs will live on because of the way he chose to live, passionately and freely giving so much of himself to the advancement of technology and the revolution of our profession. His 2005 Stanford commencement speech speaks to the core of who he was and is something so inspiring that I can’t help but watch it several times a year to remind myself to “Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.”

Airbnb

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

In short, Airbnb let’s guests and hosts choose the experience they want to have. Want to get away for a weekend, week or even a month without breaking the bank? Airbnb allows people to list their homes so that people who are looking for lodging can rent a room, use of the entire home or even have the place all to themselves. There is a feedback feature on the site that allows you to read the experiences others have had with any home. You can check it out here.

Historic Letters

Jon Grider

I recently walked back in design-time at The Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum in Two Rivers, WI. Founded in 1880, Hamilton was the largest wood type producer in the country, when just about everything was letterpress printed. They now showcase their 1.5 million pieces of hand-carved, finely polished maple wood type at the museum, along with displays and working presses from back in the day. They also have hands-on workshops, so students and artists can use their collection. Three presses were lathered in ink the day I was there, one being rolled by a student from England. Historically hip again, Hamilton was just commissioned by Fossil watches to build a wall of type for them, and Target recently had a fashion shoot at the museum. The other premier working letterpress studio/museum that practices preservation through production is Hatch Show Print in Nashville. Famous for their country music posters, Hatch continues to create old-school, organic poster art that still strikes a chord today.

Limited Edition Diet Coke Packaging

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

Turner Duckworth, the man responsible for the multi-award-winning repackaging of Coca-Cola, has done it again with his “limited edition” Diet Coke repackaging. As a lover of typography I love the cropped logo. He is obviously cashing in on some of the brand equity Diet Coke has. I would have loved to see how he sold this solution. READ MORE

Manage Your Money

Billy Cannestra

Good advice. For FREE. Mint brings all your financial accounts together online or on your mobile device, automatically categorizes your transactions, lets you set budgets and helps you achieve your savings goals. ABC News said “Two great features: It’s free & it’s easy to use”, the New York Times offered “Your financial situation, in the palm of your hand” and Money called Mint “Our top pick. 4 Stars”.

Does Netflix Know What It Is Doing?

BJ Bueno

At first, we thought it was a joke—and not a particularly funny one at that.  Surely Netflix, one of the most successful and dominant brands in the world, wouldn’t make a bunch of boneheaded moves seemingly tailor made to alienate their customers. Not Netflix. We’re talking about the company that broke Blockbuster, the savvy, smart, forward looking firm that changed the way we consume media. READ MORE

Back 4 the Future

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

Sneaker junkies rejoice! The day we’ve all been waiting for has finally arrived…if you’re willing to pay a pretty penny. But hey, it’s for a great cause. Nike has teamed up with the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research to auction off 150 pair of the 2011 Nike Mag a day starting on September 8th for 10 days. That’s 1,500, an ultra limited supply. Fox wore the futuristic shoe in the year 2015 as Marty McFly in the classic Back to the Future film. If my calculations are correct you have three days left to make your dream a reality. Good Luck!  All proceeds go the the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

Long Live The Clown

BJ Bueno

Earlier last month, Burger King retired the latest incarnation of their mascot.  The King had had a central role in BK’s messaging, starring in several ad campaigns. He is being replaced by what are being termed “food centric” spots, where fresh ingredients take center stage.

It must be hard to be upstaged by lettuce, beef, and a handful of avocados. Yet we imagine what really galls the king is the fact that Ronald McDonald, the curly haired clown icon of Burger King’s arch rival, continues strong in his role. What can that clown do that the king could not? READ MORE

Apple After Jobs

BJ Bueno

To the Apple Board of Directors and the Apple Community: I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come.

So began Steve Jobs’ resignation letter. It is a short, simple document that has made headlines around the world. Will Apple be as successful, countless pundits have wondered, without Jobs at the helm? READ MORE

The Evolution Of The Music Industry

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

While visiting the Fast Company website I stumbled upon an animated pie chart that, let them tell it, “illustrates the music industry’s death.” While I don’t believe it illustrates that as much as it does it’s evolution, I do feel it illustrates the death of “big record label thinking.” It’s time for artists and musicians to get creative with promoting, marketing, distributing and selling their music. With the advent of sites like Bandcamp and Soundcloud it’s easier than ever. I can’t wait to see how big labels adapt to the constantly changing landscape. These are exciting times.

Successful Brand Extensions

BJ Bueno

The drive to shed pounds and enjoy a healthier, fitter, slimmer body is almost universal. Special K is successful because they understand more than the fact that their customers want to lose weight. Special K understands WHY their customers want to lose weight. They understand HOW their customers wanted to lose weight. And therein lies much of the secret of Special K’s success. Brand Modeling tells us that a company wins when they put their best customer’s needs front and center, focusing all of the energy and resources of the organization on the single goal of giving customers what they want, in exactly the way they want it. READ MORE

Our Nations Debt

DeChazier Stokes–Johnson

A good friend of mine shared this via his Facebook profile this morning and I was astounded. We always hear about “Our National Debt” as being a number so large and unfathomable that most of us just dismiss it. Seeing it visualized puts it in to perspective.

Are Great People Overrated?

BJ Bueno

Is it a better decision to hire one super talented person or to spend your time, energy, and resources creating a strong team of moderately talented people? Facebook’s recent hire of George Holz, reputed to be one of the computer programming’s world’s super talented people, has sparked a lot of conversation on this very question.

We thought it might be interesting to consider the issue from the Brand Modeling perspective.  Our goal is to understand and meet the needs of our Brand Lovers better than any other organization. With that in mind, there’s no aspect of our business that’s more critical to our organizational success than the quality of the people who work with us. READ MORE

Why Rational People Behave Irrationally

Bill Eisner

In their book, Sway, authors Ori and Rom Brafman point out three forces that make us all susceptible to the irresistible pull of irrational behavior. This first is loss aversion or our tendency to to go to great lengths to avoid possible losses. The second is value attribution or our inclination to imbue a person or thing with certain qualities based on initial perceived value. And the third is the diagnosis bias or our blindness to all evidence that contradicts our initial assessment of a person or situation. As we gain insight  about irrational motives that affect our work and personal lives, fascinating patterns emerge, connecting seemingly unrelated events.

Get On Most Valuable Brands List

BJ Bueno

Recently, BrandZ released their annual report listing the world’s most valuable brands. This year, the list was topped by Apple, followed by Google. Google had held the top ranking for four years. You’ll recognize the other  names on the list. In order, they’re IBM, McDonald’s, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, AT&T, Marlboro, China Mobile, and GE. READ MORE

5 Ways To Boost Marketing

Mark Evertz

Quick social marketing junkies, switch on your iPads, bust out your styli and jot down the name of  the next great marketing panacea. For lack of a better term, we call it – Bro-cial Media. But you can call it whatever you want when you present it as your own in your next big client presentation. READ MORE

Nonbox Adds Experiential Marketer

Ken Westfall

NONBOX is pleased to announce that Jeff Guettler has joined the marketing and communications services firm as Vice President, BrandExperience. Jeff has an extensive background in integrated experiential marketing which allows consumers actual experiences with the brand/product/service that drive sales and increase brand image and awareness. Guettler, formerly president at TAOWMarketing, has managed integrated experiential marketing strategies for such clients asFORD, Red Bull Air Races, Invista, Applegate Farms, and others. READ MORE

What’s The Benefit Of The Benefit?

Bill Eisner

Here’s a great tidbit from Chip and Dan Heath, authors of Made To Stick, Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die. Companies often emphasize features when they should be emphasizing benefits. John Caples who wrote the famous headline, ‘They Laughed When I Sat Down At The Piano….”, has said the most frequent reason for unsuccessful advertising is advertisers who are so full of their own accomplishments (the world’s best seed!) that they forget to tell us why we should buy (the world’s best lawn!).’ And old advertising maxim says you’ve got to spell out the benefit of the benefits. In other words, people don’t buy quarter-inch drill bits, They buy quarter-inch holes so they can hang their children’s pictures.

Inspiring Word Of Mouth – Integrity

Bill Eisner

A couple years ago, I was asked by nonbox partner BJ Bueno who is also the co-author of The Power of Cult Branding, to help contribute to the writing of , Why We Talk, The Truth Behind Word-of-Mouth. We came up with seven governing principles for inspiring WOM. The first is INTEGRITY. Essentially, people know you have an intention, and that you’ve figured out they known you have an intention. What this means from an advertising standpoint is that they know you’re trying to sell them a product, and you are aware they know they’re trying to be persuaded. Unless you get very adept at meeting their needs, you’re going to encounter a nearly-impenetrable barrier. READ MORE @beliefbrandman blog.