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I Chat for a Good Cause

The Great Recession has certainly not spared nonprofit organizations.
With contributions down an average of nine percent, many charitable
organizations ...

http://www.marketingprofs.com/short-articles/1678/i-chat-for-a-good-cause

Living In a Post Advertising World

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Living In a Post Advertising World

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The Problem with Social Media in the Office - eMarketer

The Problem with Social Media in the Office - eMarketer

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Google Wants Citizen Journalists and Professional Media Organizations to Upload More & Better Videos to YouTube

Google Wants Citizen Journalists and Professional Media Organizations to Upload More & Better Videos to YouTube

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Top 10 Brands for 2009

Top 10 brands in the minds of consumers according to EquiTrend® and released by Harris Interactive for 2009:

1. M&Ms Plain Chocolate Candy
2. Hershey’s Kisses Chocolate Candy
3. Arm & Hammer Baking Soda
4. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup
5. Hershey’s Milk Chocolate Candy Bars
6. Kleenex Facial Tissue
7. Campbell’s Soup
8. Google
9. M&M’s Peanut Chocolate Candy
10. Crayola Crayons

Notable 2009 category winners among brands measured include:

Winner
Category

DreamWorks - Movie Production Companies
Marriott - Hotels
Subway - Fast Food
KitchenAid -Appliances
Grey Goose - Beer, Wine, Liquor
Coca-Cola - Beverages
Microsoft - Software
Sony - Consumer Electronics
Visa - Financial Services
M&M's - Foods
Kleenex - Household Products
Google - Online Organizations
Craftsman - Tools
Discovery Channel - Media Television
Hanes - Apparel
Johnson & Johnson - Health and Beauty
Neosporin - Pharma: Over-the-Counter
Speedway - Gasoline
Target - Retail Merchandisers
Valvoline - Motor Oil Oil
Southwest Airlines - Airlines
Honda - Automotive Manufacturers
Michelin - Automotive Tires
Enterprise Rent-A-Car Car - Rentals
Harley-Davidson - Motorcycles

Consistent with previous years, tobacco brands continue to fall to the bottom. Not surprisingly given the economic situation of the past year, financial service brands, particularly AIG, joined the ranks of these weaker brands on the bottom of the list.

Allstate TV Ad: Back to Basics.

The Leo Burnett Advertising Agency has really out done themselves with the Allstate campaign. There is a lot that can be learned from this campaign. The consistency of the copy, the delivery of the message, and the fact that they weaved in what they wanted to stay while not straying away from their key messages. Job well done Leo Burnett!!!!!

Interview with Mari Smith - Expert on Facebook for Business

This is an excellent interview about using Face Book for growing your business.

Great Twitter Application for Marketers

As a marketer, you always want to get inside of the minds of your target audience as much as possible. The idea is to understand the potential consumer so well that you are able to “predict” what will and will not encourage the buying decision in your favor.

Check out this great website…..www.tinker.com

Tinker.com is a site that refilters post from Twitter in a way that will allow you to follow a certain topic or brand. This will allow one to see not only what people in their current network are saying, but also people that are outside of the particular network. This could be an excellent tool for the small business owner.

Tinker has created an excellent niche for themselves!!

The Thirty Day Challenge

Are you at the beginning stages of starting your business? If so, take the Thirty Day Challenge. This challenge will bring you up to speed on everything from FaceBook to RSS feeds. The 2009 Thirty Day Challenge actually starts on August 1st, but now is the time to get in on the PreSeason lessons. It is completely free and very informative. Let me know if you decide to join. Maybe we can be on the same team.....

Sign up today for The Thirty Day Challenge!

How To Use Twitter For Business

As I look to become more informed about social media, I came across this excellent case study on Richard Inc. Take a few moments to view this video if you are looking at ways to incorporate social media into your marketing plan.

Are you a Facebook User????

If Facebook is not currently in your marketing mix, it should be. Right now, it is unclear how best to use this communication tool as a means for growth and value generating activities. But, with some thought, there are several ways that you can test the social network.

At no cost, you can send messages out to your current and previous customers. You can create a group or a fan page that will also allow you to develop a better relationship with your customers/clients.

For example, a hair stylist can create a group that discusses new styles, colors, products, etc. This is information that the customer base of a stylist may not mind receiving on an occasional basis. As a stylist, you may want to run specials for your current customers, create a referral program, or have a customer appreciation event. These are items that can all be promoted through Facebook for free. This methodology can be used for all types of businesses.

Here are the facts:

- 1 in 5 web users have a Facebook account
- Facebook lured 222 million unique visitors in December (twice as many as MySpace)
- Facebook has grown at a rate of more than 10% each month since September
- Facebook had an estimated 300 million dollars in ad revenue for 2008 (and this was not their focus)

Hope to see you on Facebook! Let me know how you plan to incorporate Facebook into your marketing mix...

Starbucks asks Are you in? Featuring MC Yogi.

Starbucks has created an excellent grass roots marketing campagin following Obama's lead for service. What do you think? Are they using 'the moment' to grow their sales or is this a technique that will be looked at as a classic?

Are you In?

This is another article about the Starbucks campaign....

Are you In?


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GoDaddy Will Strike Again During the Super Bowl

GoDaddy is an excellent company to watch as far as pushing the marketing envelope. They know how to get attention. The vote for the Super Bowl commercial to be used by GoDaddy is now taking place on their website, GoDaddy.com .

For those of you that are not familiar with GoDaddy.......

GoDaddy is a registrar of online domain names. The company's founder, Bob Parsons, says that they may buy two slots during the Super Bowl this year. The ads will feature Danica Patrick and they will be done in true GoDaddy form....just touching borderline inappropriate. But if anyone can pull off 'inappropriate' in a good way, it is GoDaddy.

To view the commercials and vote in their contest, go to GoDaddy.com .

Other ad buys for the Super Bowl include:

1. Anheuser-Busch
2. Audi
3. Bridgestone
4. CareerBuilder
5. Cars.com
6. Coca-Cola
7. Denny's
8. DreamWorks Animation /PepsiCo SoBe
9. E-Trade Financial
10. PepsiCo's Frito-Lay
11. General Electric
12. H & R Block
13. Hyundai
14. Monster
15. NFL
16. Pedigree
17. PepsiCo Beverage
18. Teleflora
19. NBC Universal's Universal Pictures

Let me know who you think had the best ad....

This Is A Personal Matter

When is the last time that you received a hand written note, invitation, or request from someone that you do business with on a regular basis. In this world of email and web based communications, the personal touch has been lost. Several studies have been done in recent years that have more than proven then benefit of a handwritten note.

Robert Cialdini wrote about his findings in a book titled Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to Be Persuasive. The book describes the perks to a handwritten note using a survey mailed out in three different formats. The formats included the following:

1) A printed letter.
2) A printed letter with a handwritten message.
3) A printed letter with a handwritten message on a Post-It note.

According to the article written on the MarketingProfs blog, the response rate was a mere 36% for the plain printed cover letter. Adding the handwritten note improved the response rate by one third to 48%. The Post-It more than doubled the response to 75%. A second test to examine the possibility that some magic in the Post-It note itself was responsible for the higher response rate included cover letters with a blank sticky note attached. That approach generated only a slightly higher response rate of 42%.

The author of the blog Neuroscience Marketing goes on to say, "It seems that what is causing the boost is a “reciprocity” effect. The recipient recognizes that the sender apparently put some personal effort into the mailing, and is more likely to reciprocate with some effort of his own. Indeed, the recipients who received the handwritten Post-It note were not only more likely to respond, but they also responded more promptly and answered the questions more thoroughly. And, as suggested by the 1989 Maheux study, adding a “Thank you!” and initials to the note further lifted the response rate in yet another Post-It test."

So, as you look at your marketing plans for 2009 make sure you are making an effort to get personal!


Reference:
Neuroscience Marketing

Do you have text appeal???

More than 80% of Americans have a cell phone and over 1 billion text are sent per day, but companies are not yet taking advantage of this means to reach their customers. This is an excellent opportunity to take the lead in 'text appeal.' As a small business owner, you have the ability to allow your customers to opt in to receiving messages from your company.

Gaining permission to communicate with your patrons creates a positive marketing environment. Your customers want to know what sales you have, what new products you may have, and what new locations you may have. The business that engages their customers on a permission basis is the company that will grow even in a recession.

Are you a follower Seth Godin???

Seth Godin is the author of several bestsellers, including Permission Marketing. If you are not currently following what he has to say about the state of marketing today, may I suggest that you do so. Take a listen to this video as you have time. This is a video of a seminar he was giving at Google in July of 2007.

Got Relationships?

How many friends do you have?? Well, not literally, but on your MySpace, FaceBook, or your social networking site of choice......


I posted this a while back, but I thought that it was worth revisiting. Consumers are making more and more purchases from people or business that they feel they know. If you are going to remain profitable as a small business in this turbulent economic environment, it is imperative that you increase your presence on the social networking scene.

To put the success into dollars and cents, consider the fact that MySpace will bring in 180 million in advertising revenue.

Is MySpace only for Kids??

The answer is a resounding NO. In an article written on Adage.com Travis Katz, managing director-international operations, said the following:



"There's this misperception in the market about MySpace being a youth site, a site for teens, but 85% of our audience in the U.S. is over 18, and 40% of all moms in U.S. are on MySpace." He claims that MySpace reaches more people making $100,000-plus than other social-network competitors, such as Facebook and Yahoo 360.



So, if you have not began to look at MySpace as a tool to reach your audience, think again. Cartier is one of the most recent additions to the MySpace family.

Are you crafting a well thought out message??

Do not take for granted the importance of thinking about your messaging. How you say what you want to convey is important to your brand. People will judge you and your business based off of your image and your speech. Regardless of your political preference, really take a close look at the communication strategy of Barack Obama's campaign. The strategy is consistent, targeted, specific, honest, and well crafted. If you have some time, google the text of Obama's speeches. Go to www.obamaspeeches.com .You will be amazed!!