I have been a Netflix subscriber for some time now and I tend to notice the promotions that are printed on the inside flap of my envelopes whenever I receive my movies.
The most recent promotion to catch my eye was for emusic.com, a music subscription service that sells music in the unprotected MP3 format. The campaign certainly caught my attention - big, bold words stating 35 Free Downloads are hard to miss.
I believe that this is a smart campaign because people using Netflix are web-savvy by default and so the audience that they reach is relevant. More importantly, it has a…
With 957,000 units moved in the first six days of sales, KANYE WEST is the undisputed winner of the West v. Cent, Soundscan clash.
West’s Graduation, his third solo project, ranks 15thamong greatest sale weeks, since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking in 1991.
50 Cent’s Curtis moved 691,000 units, no small feat, and is also to be commended. “I am very excited to have participated in one of the biggest album release weeks in the last two years. This marks a great moment for hip-hop music, one that will go down in history,” said Cent.
Total sales for West, Cent, and Kenny Chesney, the third runner-up…
I was seriously trying to refrain from writing about OJ Simpson, but the media circus surrounding his newest fiasco is bordering on disturbing. Has the publicity stunt replaced good old fashion public relations?
With Paris in and out of jail, Lindsey on and off of coke, and Britney in and out of her mind, the marketing of celebrities seems to be approaching a new low. Have we nothing more constructive to do than to watch and be intrigued by these ordinary people doing extra ordinarily stupid things? There’s a war going on people!!! Diversionary tactic anyone?!? But, I digress.
Seems to me…
In lieu of the weekly post I was to write, I invite you all to read this Public Relations piece about my former agency.
What is interesting about the article, aside from a real dearth of reporting (Zimmerman spends millions on ads purchased in the Miami Herald every year,) is the comments section at the end of the article.
If you’re looking for summary judgement regarding my feelings regarding Zimmerman Advertising, that’s not the place of this blog. Like everything else, Zimmerman has its strengths and weaknesses. It is all in what you make of it, no?
What I find fascinating is that the…
AdAge recently wrote an article about the Fox network’s plans to use short promos to spread word about new shows such as Kitchen Nightmares.
This will be an interesting test of the theory that short ads are better at reaching audiences that are more immune to 30-second spots. Some people point to the fact that my generation grew up on MTV and want everything shorter but I think that we are have grown up with so much advertising thrown at us that we want to avoid it whenever possible.
Your brand could benefit from these micro-spots (if you do TV advertising) but I…
Ever wondered what exactly telemarketing is or how is could help your company’s strategy? Here are a few basics to get you started.
Telemarketing is broken out into two main segments, Outbound and Inbound. Outbound: These are outgoing calls where the telephone representative calls out to customers. These can be cold, warm or hot calls. You can call new prospects and current customers to offer them your products of services. This can be anything from a book or a DVD, to a magazine subscription, credit card or club membership… the possibilities are endless.
Inbound: These are incoming calls, where the customer calls the telephone representative. These…
“Branded Entertainment” has become such a buzzword today because of the rise of ad-skipping technologies and the fragmentation of viewers.It seems that many ad agencies and companies want to own a property that both promotes their brand AND draws viewers.
It really is true that everything is cyclical - correct me if I am wrong, but isn’t that how soap operas got started? Sponsorship from companies targeting women? What’s old is new again - as always.
Ownership of the content that is created could be at question, and who makes the final call on product placement?Shows like Sex in the City were great vehicles…
Today, on the sixth anniversary of the worst act of “terror” on American soil, I find myself preoccupied with the record sales of two of Hip-Hop’s most 
notable artists. With both Curtis - Cent and Graduation – West, released on the same day, once again the record executes have pitted two Hip-Hop brands against one another in an attempt to boost sales. Ingenious!
What better way to tap into the tightly clenched wallets of the masses use to illegal downloads and bootlegged CD’s. Play up the David versus Goliath saga and watch the dollars roll in. This strategy has proven true in the past,…
Now, for anybody who hasn’t seen the Britney Spears trainwreck of a performance at this year’s MTV Video Music Awards, I highly recommend you venture to YouTube immediately, so that you can witness something truly horrid.
Yes, she’s not singing (what a surprise,) and worse, she’s lip-syncing her own song badly.
Yes, she’s not really dancing either, and the bikini is a little too tight for her two-kids-and-counting body.
Yes, it’s a disaster…but unforgivably…it’s boring.
And that’s a failure of the new Britney brand, eh?
College is back in high gear but are you using that to your advantage?
I am a fan of case studies (got hooked during my MBA, sorry). The perfect case study for reaching this market is Credit Card Companies. They figured out the formula years ago - get permission to setup a table on-campus in a busy area, most likely near the student union, and offer free stuff in exchange for filling out applications. Fees for the space can be as low as $50 - then you just offer a free t-shirt or some other free item in exchange for filling…
Recently, I read yet another article on how advertising/ branding contributes to the obesity problem in the U.S., particularly in children. A call for government restrictions on ads targeted at children was issued.
Apparently, when a child (ages 3- 5) has a choice between a burger, fries, carrots, or milk wrapped in plain white paper or the identical food wrapped in a McDonald’s branded wrapper, most often they preferred the branded food. This preference increased with the number of television sets in the child’s home.
My theory is that there is a direct correlation between the number of television sets in the home…
OK, so I’ve been dying to get into the pharmaceutical copywriting business for a couple of reasons. In the first place, I’ve been freelancing for a vitamin/natural/herbal company, so my feet are already wet. Next, much like doctors, medical marketers make more money than their more plebian counterparts. There’s also the issue of free samples and how they’ll react with a well-timed glass of wine. And finally, I’d like to get in the game because most, if not all, medical marketing ads utterly suck in their badness, and I think I could do a much better job.
Does anyone really buy an item just because a celebrity reps it?
For example:
Catherine Zeta Jones - T-Mobile
Jenny McCarthy - Weight Watchers
Most of these celebs aren’t experts in the field or product they’re hyping. Yet consumers are still hooked, if their favorite movie star or singer likes something. It must be good, right? So they should try it.
Consumers purchase things based on a celebrity recommendation all the time. Otherwise, why would the industry continue selling things this way?
A beautiful actress representing a beauty product makes sense. A slightly chubby one selling a weight loss…
While building alliances and networking is an essential part of event marketing and promotion, product insight, a well thought out strategy, and solid marketing experience will always be the deciding factory in the success or failure of a project. The Carnival Center for Performing Arts in historic downtown Miami is the second largest performing arts facility in the U.S. after the Lincoln Center in New York.
Designed by the distinguished architect Cesar Pelli, the center officially opened in October of 2006. The center ended its first season with a disappointing 43 percent average capacity attendance for programmed events. So far this…
