(Opinion) 
With a single glance at Antipoleez, a breath freshener blurbed on several different newscasts, I could see the possibilities. The marketing message promises you can “eliminate alcohol and tobacco breath.” Imagine the implications for a guy like Joe Bob. He can hang out with the boys, slip through the back door at home a few hours late and swear to Mrs. Joe Bob, “Honest! I didn’t have a single drink.” Problem is if Joe Bob’s really been drinking like the missus suspects, he may not be able to find the door, or worse, he might end up down at the…
Former child star Gary Coleman and his wife headed to reality TV show Divorce Court in a bid to save their seven-month marriage, says SFGate.com.
It appears, in spite of their short tenure, the couple is already on the brink and are hoping advice from Divorce Court’s Judge Lynn Toler will turn the tide.
The issue being reported is that Coleman’s 22 year-old wife, Shannon, claims the actor acts like a five year-old, throwing temper tantrums when he doesn’t get his way.
Coleman, on the other hand, insists his wife doesn’t listen to him: “If I have to throw something or break something, that’s what’s going to…
Xoddo claims to be the first “the first online ‘design it, build it, buy it’ stuffed toy in history. I don’t really like these weird little toys. You can customize the toy however you want, as long as it’s bright stupid looking. I’m not a kid and maybe I’m biased against bad design, but there are some good things about Xoddo. The name is not one of them. They have a specific target. Kids! They create an online experience, although they could have spent a little more time making it come to life. They have two starting prices. The toys start…
I did a bit of research this semester on the whole concept of digital for my master’s thesis and I’d like to share some insights with you. I am prepared to be 100% wrong here, but I’d like to give my honest opinion. There are countless experts and bloggers with opinions on the digital future and what it means for you. Even industry publications such as Adage or BusinessWeek are talking about the digital change that will come in the not so distant future. The Advertising industry in particular has a sour tone in its messaging, maybe in part to Google…
I ran into this nice little Oxfam ad from the UK. Oxfam is known for their work to curve poverty and injustice in over 100 countries. I followed the call to action on the video to learn more about the Humankind campaign and I was pleasantly surprised by their flash banner. Banners are usually nothing to fuss about but there are some good things to note about this one. It was placed in a good position, right below the main menu, near the top of the page. These banners were bright and to the point,…
I ask this question because all businesses can learn from the last few months of political theater. A Presidential candidate must create a ‘brand’ and then manage that brand effectively. Not being able to control your brand image results in your opponent defining your brand, like what happened to John Kerry and the “flip-flopper” image.
Obama has had to deal with Jeremiah Wright, his pastor (or former pastor as it may now seem) and all brands at some time face tough challenges. A brand must always focus on it’s core customers and make sure that this target market feels a specific…
Guess what the German edition of Vanity Fair is calling Disney’s teen darling Miley Cyrus (aka, Hannah Montana) following her controversial photo shoot and feature for the magazine - the new Britney Spears. Not a moniker I’d want my 15 old daughter saddled with, but one that seems befitting considering the nature of some of those photos. (And it’s not the first time such controversy has brewed either.)
The 15-year-old actress was featured in a two-page spread for Vanity Fair and was photographed by acclaimed photographer Annie Leibovitz wearing nothing more than a blanket wrapped around her bare chest. What makes this even worse is that her father Billy Ray was not…
My daughter is about to finish graduate school, and we often enjoy socializing with her friends. Some of them are looking for employment, and it’s always interesting to me how many people beginning a career overlook a simple strategy—that of personal branding. This is important no matter what sort of job you’re after. I recall a friend of hers who was looking for a part-time job here in Jacksonville where he was going to college. Despite being talented and having a solid work history, he wasn’t getting positive results. So what do you do when the door won’t open no matter how…
I spent this past weekend in Nashville visiting my son who turned 26 on Saturday. (I know, I don’t look old enough to have a 26 year-old. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself!) As part of our roaming around Music City we paid a visit to Opry Mills, a huge mall located next door to the Grand Old Opry.
While there I noticed a number of what I’d refer to as “almost” truthful ads. In other words, they didn’t cross the line into untruthfulness or outright lies, but each masked what was the real story.
For example, we stopped at a…
Brand strategists for Olay products know they’re doing something exactly right when Advertising Age magazine calls a marketing tool a “killer online app.” Those same strategists know a method has hit the ball out of the marketing stadium if it works well enough to draw a million visitors since January, persuading 80% of those visitors to take part in an involved question-and-answer process, and to spend an average of 8 minutes on the site. No wonder those strategists are taking that process to stores, putting kiosks in the aisles so consumers can experience ‘Olay for You.’ In the article, Advertising Age…
I feel like a complete slacker…
I grew up wanting to be like Mike. I watched him play ball in Chicago as he built the dynasty. He was basketball. Probably the greatest of all time.
I really like this spot and the fact that it challenges us to not make excuses. The brand that Michael Jordan has build it incredible. Not just his personal brand but that of the Air Jordan line as well as what he’s done for Nike. This video sells that fact that it’s in the work we put into it. Becoming a monumental brand is an opportunity for…
Some brands speak distinctly for themselves, through the quality a customer knows she can expect, by the attractive packaging and through the customer’s order fulfillment experience. I’ve become a regular customer of a coffee roaster located in Jacksonville, Florida, and I drive to buy that roaster’s beans because I know I can expect amazing Ethiopian and Kenyan beans and they’ll be roasted to perfection. I also drive to this particular outlet—aptly named Coffee Roasters—because when I order a cup to go, Chris the barista will make a cup for me in the French press if I don’t want the particular brew…
Are you a user of the latest social networking fad, Twitter? I am and love it. In fact, involvement in Twitter has caused me to leave a number of other social networks in the dust, including Facebook, LinkedIn and Plaxo.
As with anything, over time a set of guidelines has evolved for appropriate Twitter use. (”Twittiquette” it might be called.) These include things like:
1. Don’t bore people with too much mundane minutiae. I remember early on somone tweeting, “I’m going to get pizza.” Well, uh, OK. And you’re telling me this why? This type of banal conversation may have been acceptable at one point, but use of the application has reached a point…
SixApart, the company that brought you the Movable Type and Typepad blog platforms recently expanded its suite of services to include design, development and advertising.
SixApart just purchased NYC-based social media design agency Apperceptive to handle custom design and development for major brands and the most influential bloggers. They have also created an advertising network to serve bloggers who use their platform. “On April 21, we launched an innovative advertising program that gives bloggers another way to optimize their blog efforts and make more money,” said SixApart in a email sent yesterday.
SixApart’s reason for expanding its services are based on the needs of its user-community… “As your needs…
More than 50 Greenpeace activists staged protests at two Unilever sites in the UK yesterday. Some were dressed as Orang-utans holding a sign that read “Dove Destroyed My Rain Forrest.” The palm oil in many Dove skin care products is linked to deforestation and the destruction of Orang-utan habitats in Indonesia. Greenpeace blames the suppliers of the palm oil, but Unilever is the largest corporate consumer of palm oil in the world. The demonstrators are also urging Dove’s advertising and PR companies to put pressure on the Unilever in the hopes that they can find a sustainable way to extract…
Earlier this month, Johnson & Johnson invited 56 influential mommy bloggers to a 3-day all expense paid camp conference called Camp Baby. The conference covered a range of topics including everything from “wine tasting to infant eye exams,” according to Brandweek.
This is not J&J’s only foray into the social web. They also have a social network for moms called Baby Center in which their presence is so benign it’s hard to know that J&J owns it. In fact, you have to dig down into the About Us page where you find this: BabyCenter LLC is a member of the Johnson &…
PayPal is strategizing to protect its brand, aiming at preventing fraudulent email and password theft. The online service is even considering blocking some browsers. Here’s the bombshell statement written about by security expert Robert Vamosi at D3F3NS3 1N D3PTH for c/net news—there will be a focus on “brand and consumer recovery.” So what’s at stake for the online leviathan?
New social sites come and go like fads in the early 90’s. It can be confusing to keep up. Some people jump right into a new site, eager to be one of the first members. Private invite-only launches create a nice buzz in beta. Many people however, wait until a site has passed the test of time, or at least until they understand it. Fortunately, sites like mashable exist to guide people through the social media landscape. Business 2.0 magazine, by Time Warner was a good source of information, but they have closed the publication due to slow ad sales. If…
Pope Benedict XVI brought some much needed positive PR to the Roman Catholic Church last week with his first U.S. visit.
Nearly 60,000 faithful followers listened at Yankee Stadium as he gave the final sermon of his six-day visit.
The patronage of Catholic Church has steadily declined in part by the seemingly rampant sexual abuse of altar boys at the hands of church leaders.
Pope Benedict briefly referenced this saying that praying for the kingdom of God “means not losing heart in the face of adversity, resistance and scandal. It means overcoming every separation between faith and life, and countering false gospels of…
My company’s business is focused around helping brands tell their story, as such my title is CSO or in non business speak - Chief Storytelling Officer. I recently came across a great website that turns the traditional process of storytelling on its ear. The brainchild of digital storyteller Jonathan Harris, thewhalehunt.org/ documents the Inupiat Eskimos in Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost settlement in the United States.
Harris has developed a fascinating interface that allows you to follow the story from variety of perspectives. No two people are likely to look at the story in the same way. The ability to tell a story or…
