Posted on May 1st, 2008 by Kay B. Day
With print media chanting a fairly dismal liturgy, the website Townhall.com is reversing a trend by expanding the online brand to print. The new magazine just released its 5th issue wrapped in a perfect bound cover and packed with color photos. The paper stock is heavier than that of other political magazines both left and [...]
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Filed under: Advertising, Branding, Industry News, Miscellaneous, New Discoveries, Personal Opinions, Political Marketing
Posted on April 30th, 2008 by Kay B. Day
(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 [...]
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Filed under: Advertising, Branding, Campaign Critiques, Personal Opinions, Strategy
Posted on April 28th, 2008 by Kay B. Day
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 [...]
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Filed under: Advertising, Branding, Personal Opinions, Social Media Marketing
Posted on April 25th, 2008 by Kay B. Day
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 [...]
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Filed under: Advertising, Branding, Industry News, Marketing Trends, Personal Opinions, Product Placement
Posted on April 23rd, 2008 by Kay B. Day
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 [...]
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Filed under: Advertising, Branding, Strategy
Posted on April 22nd, 2008 by Kay B. Day
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 [...]
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Filed under: Branding, Industry News, Miscellaneous, Personal Opinions, Strategy, Technology
Posted on April 18th, 2008 by Kay B. Day
If the Old Gray Lady is reporting one of the worst financial seasons in its own history, what does that say about the rest of the newspaper industry? It may not say a whole lot that’s new. There was a time when the New York Times was queen of red, white and black, the definitive [...]
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Filed under: Advertising, Industry News, Marketing Trends, Miscellaneous, Personal Opinions
Posted on April 17th, 2008 by Kay B. Day
I’ve been working on a plan to publicize my new book due out this fall and I have to say any campaign is all about the nitty gritty. Whether it’s my own project or projects I’ve done for others, I always pick the whole thing apart. That used to drive one of my clients crazy. [...]
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Filed under: Advertising, Branding, Marketing Resources, Personal Opinions, Strategy
Posted on April 15th, 2008 by Kay B. Day
What if you could buy a Mac, or most of a Mac, from a startup for $399 instead of the roughly $2,000 you have to fork out to buy the real thing? Discussions on the Web are hissing and spitting like a backyard grill about that issue. Tom Spring has the scoop at the PC [...]
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Filed under: Branding, Emerging Tech, Industry News, Miscellaneous, Product Placement
Posted on April 11th, 2008 by Kay B. Day
Celebrity brands are interesting if for no other reason than people age. With the release of ‘Smart People,’ Dennis Quaid and Sarah Jessica Parker seem to be searching for roles with more depth as both outgrow the youthful characters portrayed in silly films like ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ and ‘Failure to Launch.’ How the risk will [...]
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Filed under: Branding, Miscellaneous, Movie Review
Posted on April 9th, 2008 by Kay B. Day
Most new businesses begin in reponse to a need and a vision. Hiptotz includes both, focusing messaging towards the MTV generation tired of teddy bears, flowers, and trains on typical baby t-shirts. Billy Mak, vice-president for marketing and advertising, told me this morning on the phone the company aims at everyday moms and dads. “But [...]
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Filed under: Advertising, Branding, Miscellaneous, Strategy
Posted on April 7th, 2008 by Kay B. Day
Absolut “In an Absolut world” advertisements are based on the company’s ‘Visionaries’ campaign, but a recent ad doesn’t quite fit my definition of ‘visionary,’ at least if you’re looking forward rather than backward. A description on the Absolut website says the campaign embodies “Bold ideas that can only happen ‘In An ABSOLUT World’.” Advertisements were [...]
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Filed under: Advertising, Branding, Campaign Critiques, Industry News, Miscellaneous, Personal Opinions, Strategy
Posted on April 4th, 2008 by Kay B. Day
Because I freelance for a number of different print and Web publications, I’m a green pasture for publicists who want to get the word out about their clients’ new products. There is at the moment a neat stack of books and presentation folders with glossy product inserts in a corner of my office. Most of [...]
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Filed under: Advertising, Branding, Education, Marketing Resources, Miscellaneous, Personal Opinions, Product Placement
Posted on April 2nd, 2008 by Kay B. Day
Amazon recently gave notice about a new policy for publishers who use print on demand services to fulfill orders. Print-on-demand books must now be printed inside Amazon’s own fulfillment centers. The only other option is for the publisher to enroll in the Amazon Advantage program and provide 5 copies of each title for on-hand inventory. [...]
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Filed under: Branding, Industry News, Miscellaneous, Personal Opinions
Posted on March 31st, 2008 by Kay B. Day
Everybody wants us females, courtesy of our tendency to plunk down bucks for whatever grabs us. Now Yahoo enters the select market fray with ‘Shine,’ a new website devoted to the usual suspect temptations—beauty, celebs, entertainment, and among other topics, the always reliable ‘Love + Sex’ and the predictable ‘Work + Money.’ There’s an upfront [...]
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Filed under: Miscellaneous
Posted on March 28th, 2008 by Kay B. Day
I really didn’t need to read it to know it. I’ve counted various newspapers among my clients since becoming self-employed. When my freelance assignments slow down, I know ad money is down. But the picture painted by an article in Editor & Publisher is murkier than I thought. E&P says, according to new data released [...]
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Filed under: Advertising, Industry News, Marketing Trends, Miscellaneous
Posted on March 27th, 2008 by Kay B. Day
I’m easy to please about most matters, but there are some matters I won’t compromise. Among those are the detergent we use (I despise doing laundry), the wines we drink (expensive does not always mean pleasing), and perfume (to avoid that funeral parlor scent). With the perfume, I see I’m in great company because Nicole [...]
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Filed under: Advertising, Branding, Miscellaneous, Personal Opinions, Strategy
Posted on March 24th, 2008 by Kay B. Day
Are you a bit let down now that the writers’ strike is over? I am. I figured when the Writers Guild of America West announced approval of the proposed contract in February, things would go back to normal. I might actually find 1 or 2 hours on TV. You’d think studios and sitcoms and everybody [...]
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Filed under: Industry News, Miscellaneous, Personal Opinions, Social Media Marketing
Posted on March 21st, 2008 by Kay B. Day
There’s something about Easter that brings Peeps to mind. Spend a little time looking for Peeps videos at YouTube and it’s evident people like to do way more than eat the sticky marshmallows. Peeps are shaped for every holiday, but Easter is the time many thoughts turn to those multi-colored chicks and rabbits casting a [...]
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Filed under: Advertising, Branding, Miscellaneous, Personal Opinions
Posted on March 19th, 2008 by Kay B. Day
Not long ago I received a call from a publicist who wanted me to write about a product, luring me with the promise, “It’d pay you lots of money.” I explained that if I wrote an article for pay about the product, I’d have to (1) tell the truth about the product once I tried [...]
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Filed under: Advertising, Branding, Marketing Resources, Personal Opinions, Social Media Marketing
