Marketing best practices

Killing two birds with one stone is great isn't it?

I'm writing an appendix about advertising channel marketing strategy right now for a report as part of my 601 project and I thought about posting the analysis up to the blog!

I love original content!!!

It's really abbreviated, but it's a quick comparison of old and new best practices of various online and offline advertising channels. I've tried to be comprehensive and unbiased here (although I personally think that untargeted advertising can go to Hell....) but it's a good synopsis of the different benefits and recommendations for effectiveness for each channel.

You'll see that throughout this chart I'm really in support of integrated campaigns. That means marketing communications that simultaneously leverage the other active channels. It's the newspaper ad that tells you to go online and try virtually test drive the new model car, it's the radio spot that tells you to look for Count Chocula sampling this Saturday at Metro stores in the GTA.

God, how I wish there was a product sampling of Count Chocula....but I digress.

Oh, and BBAs, plagiarize away! Just don't expect to develop unoriginal, uncited analysis and hand it to me to give to one of our clients.

Advertising channel	Channel description	Old best practices	New best practices
Website development	Includes website design, management, analysis, promotional microsite development. Important channel for speaking directly to tech-savvy, younger consumers.	Clear site navigation and shallow site structure with few deep levels. Integrate web metrics tracking for site optimization and online marketing. Promotion in offline marketing communications as a source of extra information about a brand.	Site users have the opportunity to create content and interact bilaterally with the site. Important to integrate websites with offline communications including print and television (often these drive consumers to the website). Provide relevant brand and product information in multiple formats, allowing consumers an opportunity to take content with them or send to their friends off the site. Promoted in offline communications as a destination in itself and a place to go as part of Web 2.0 consumer interactivity.
Email	Includes email design, deployment, analysis, and potential integration with database segmentation. Important channel for direct marketing and establishing brand relevance.	Use an attention grabbing subject line. Display the best content “above the fold” of the screen. Do not be too copy-heavy, leverage text and pictures. Communicate exclusive offers, promotions, and deals to “our best customers”.	Perform active segmentation and response analysis on house list to determine most optimal messages/content to be included in targeted email to consumers. Must be easy for consumers to unsubscribe or change their email settings. Position as nonintrusive consumer touchpoint that is relevant to you. Email is highly useful to create a curriculum or education campaign for new consumers or a multi-wave campaign.
Social media	Includes brand promotion through social media public relations, viral content development and distribution, network ‘seeding’, and identity development on social network profile sites. Important channel for brand identity building through online affiliations and new project promotion.	Note, because this is such a new channel, best practices are being developed as part of an ongoing mutation of the medium. Social media is too young to have any “old” best practices, because marketers are still trying to understand how to use it effectively.	Pay attention to emerging consumer memes and viral trends online. Ride these. Create a clear identity that allows users to comment, rate, or interact with the brand’s social media presence. Use social media PR sparingly and only to announce exciting brand developments or significant launches. “Feedback 3.0” is the act of brands actively responding to and commenting back to their commentators in online forums. (TrendWatching.com)
In-store retail promotion	Includes design of product packaging and printed promotional materials, development of coupons and offers. Also includes total management of promotional projects and events, including multiple-party promotions.	Eye-popping visuals and unique creative execution. Display in preferred locations in retail environments (end of aisle, eye level, front of store and produce area). Promotions are used to highlight exciting new product launches or as a boost to seasonally low sales.	Retail promotions are immediately relevant to the consumer (because they are physically interacting with the product and have opted-in). Therefore how are promotions used by brands to develop long-term positive relationships with their consumers? Promotions must be thought of like big impressions for brand building and used for activating new brand strategy. Strong integration of promotions with other non-tangible brand communications.
Experiential	Includes the planning, execution, and management of in-person demonstrations, sampling, physical product interactions, sensory advertising, and other impression-based advertising experiences.	Create innovative and original experiences – make the consumer say “wow, I’ve never seen this before”. High traffic locations are effective to reach as many people as possible. Eye-catching or permits prolonged or repeat impressions.	Demonstrate measurability and big impact on sales by using experiential techniques. Cannot simply generate a ‘big splash’. Use experiential advertising projects as opportunities to also establish customer listening posts and gain valuable primary research about brand perceptions and usage.
Direct mail	Includes the design, writing, segmentation, deployment, analysis, and management of print advertising, flyers, brochures, offers, product samples, and house-list magazines that are targeted to specific consumers (not mass mail).	‘Test and learn’ – perform frequent empirically controlled tests to different consumer segments to understand what is the optimal form of creative and offer to generate higher response. Personalize direct mail and provide a compelling reason to open it (similar to an email subject line)	Integrated use of direct mail with CRM database for clients. Understand customer behavior across response channels (direct mail, web, email, SMS). Like in-store retail promotion, direct mail establishes an intimate connection between the brand and consumer because it is highly interactive and tangible. Clear announcement of purpose and call to action so that customer understands role of direct mail in context of all other interactions they have with the brand.
Out-of-home	Includes the design, deployment, and management of all messaging that appears on outdoor ‘surfaces’ in high-traffic or visible areas. Note, limited effectiveness of this channel at driving response and engagement from consumers. Highly passive engagement by prospects in this channel.	Like experiential and in-store retail promotion, out-of-home should be immediately understandable and capture interest. Copy must be concise and non-informational. Strictly call-to-action.	A classic medium, the best practices have no changed significantly because of limited innovation potential of the platform. Obvious integration of out-of-home advertising with existing in-market campaigns in other channels.
Mobile	Includes copywriting, segmentation, deployment, management, and analysis of text or multimedia messages distributes to mobile phone subscribers over a network. Important channel for brand building and relationship development.	Note, because this is such a new channel, best practices are being developed as part of an ongoing mutation of the medium. Mobile technology is also rapidly evolving and permits unique applications like proximity sensitive out-of-home marketing (billboards that activate when a consumer walks by) and geo-targeted messages direct to the consumer.	Must be an opt-in house list and must permit easy unsubscribe for recipients. SMS marketing is highly invasive (it’s marketing that vibrates in your pocket). Therefore the message should be targeted, relevant, and actionable by the consumer. Therefore, SMS is not optimal for informational campaigns. Instead, use for direct response or experiential purposes (e.g. respond now).
Television	Includes the design, production, media buying, and management of television commercials or infomercials. Important channel for broad awareness of brand strategy to consumers. This sets the tone of an integrated campaign with multiple channel strategies.	A great ‘hook’ to immediately capture attention. Clear link between story and brand, story and message, and brand and message. Clear call to action for viewers, or an understanding of what they are being made to believe.	Best practices somewhat unchanged for mass media. Perhaps greater concern for how television commercials are able to change behavior among consumers. Is this really an advanced form of marketing that succeeds at building a relationship with consumers? Call-to-action that is integrated with other marketing communications in market. Useful capstone to large campaigns which rely on a broad mix of mediums (out-of-home, online, promotional, print, and radio).
Radio	Includes the design, production, media buying, and management of radio commercials.	Memorable messages that listeners can associate to a brand with unaided prompting. Local message optimization because of the ability to purchase large blocks of commercial time from radio station conglomerates that own stations in different markets.	Same as above. Positive associate to highlight existing in-market or upcoming promotional campaigns for integrated marketing campaigns.
Mass print media	Includes the design, production, media buying, and management of printed advertisements in newspapers, magazines, flyers, and other non-targeted print media.	Classic principles apply here for copywriting and call-to-action development.	Same as above. Considering existing volume of print media advertising that continues to be done, important to integrate this activity with marketing mix of online and offline channels. Can be used as a traffic-driving source of consumers to online channel where more information can be found about brand.

Best skits on Mad TV

I've got a pretty puerile sense of humour so it's no surprise that I'm a huge fan of Mad TV. After three hours last night watching clips on YouTube, I decided to make a list of my favourite Mad TV sketches from all seasons of the show. Honestly you shouldn't watch these if you're easily offended by sexual, scatological, or racial humour.

Alright, here are the best skits on Mad TV in descending order:

#25: Bush vs. Kerry 2004 Presidential Debate
All scripted improv but goes to show what quick-witted actors Michael McDonald and Frank Caliendo are. I love John Kerry's lines, such deadpan delivery! "Didn't I see you in Vietnam???"

#24: Estrella Viaje! - Mexican Star Trek
Pat Kilbane as Senor Spock is the best! "Donde es el Starbase Ocho?"

#23: Al-Jazeera "Death to America" News
Really really really offensive, but a perfect takeoff of a typical Amereican news program. I love at 3:00 when the anchor cuts a burkha-ed Nicole Parker off with a sharp "ha-lalala!"

#22: Oprah's fat cam
The first of many Oprah clips that made it to my favourites list. This sketch really elevates the whole body-suit concept to a whole, 'notha, level. Great at 0:45 when Stephnie Weir explains that the thinning camera takes off a whole 200 lbs from Oprah. "Great!, That means I can keep EATING!!!!"

#21: Oprah giving away money
Two in a row here, Oprah is seriously one of my favourite characters spoofed on the show. Debra Wilson does a perfect impression and it's so hard to put one of her sketches before another. Hilarious at 0:45 when she screams "sit DOWN!!" and 5:20 when she hides a gold Rolex watch somewhere in her body....gee, i wonder where!

#20: Tickle me emo
Great premise and done to perfection. Super editing too.

#19: Britney and K-Fed Thanksgiving
Mmmm gumball cornbread is "yummmaaayyy". One of Ike Barinholtz' best skits.

#18: Substitute teacher
I'm not sure which line I like better: "Don't be a slut, wash your butt" or "Kissing leads to humping like farting leads to pooping"

#17: The Apple iRack
I want the iMicrowave and iVacuum. The smoke and shaking from the iRack is so funny, but the joke is a little tired.

#16: Action Jackson
Lol, this skit is so wrong...Phil LaMarr has got the Michael Jackson mannerisms and dance moves down cold. "Children of the world, clap your hands for me!"

#15: Three Minute Meal: Tuna Melts
Another sketch where I really can't keep it together. It's like an updated version of the old Will Sasso Paul Timberman sketches.



#14: Oprah's Jackass
Not only does this clip has juvenile pratfall humour, but it's topped off with a an amazing Debra Wilson as a really over-the-top Oprah.



#13: QVC: Fat fashion
I pretty much lose it when Nicole Parker comes walking out as a giant circus tent at 3:20.



#12: Survivor: Cook Islands Race Wars
Don't watch if you're easily offended by racial stereotypes, but it's pretty bad! Bobby Lee is the best.



#11: Lorraine goes to the dentist
I'm not sure whether a lot of people like Mo Collins as Lorraine, but it's great when they just start improvising and she starts losing it at 4:10.



#10: Shakira Parody
Mo Collins is brilliant and this sketch is perfect if you've actually seen the Whenever, wherever video. I love the line "lucky that I have a smokin' body cause I only sing in gibberish"



#9: Sluts and the City
Michael McDonald as a massive, mannish Carrie Bradshaw - hahahaa! And don't forget that they're four smart, single women taking charge of their own lives.This is such a rude sketch.



#8: 1977 Sex Ed
As much as I dislike Avril Lavigne, she's actually really funny in this! Best is her groovy swinger parents Carla and Maurice and at 2:00 when she's explaining how the reproductive system works: "the penis explodes!"



#7: The Sopranos on PAX
"Fu--!!", "sh--!!", "motherfu----!!"



#6: True Hollywood Story: You are the love of my life
I always loved these two, particularly Alex Borstein. Will Sasso's extreme falsetto is great!



#5: Boca Grove Condo Report, Oscar Edition
Muriel's seizure episodes are hilarious, but it's Michael McDonald's Isador that puts it over the top for me. At 3:50, "speaking of dramatic, it's time for me to go and do something very dramatic!" - I love it.



#4. OJ Simpson Bloopers
This is a really early one, but it's got great staying power. Great editing and acting by Orlando Jones.



#3: Stuart Bloopers
It was so hard to actually name the best Stuart clip, so here's what I think is the best. I love watching Mo Collins crack up when Michael McDonald is keeping a totally straight face. "StuUUAAaart!!!"



#2: Spishak Easy Bake Oven
One of those clips where I'm laughing the whole way through. Spishak commercials were always funny, this is the best one. SOoo many great gags. It's great because "no more lightbulbs!" and "food cooked with natural gas doesn't hav that weird electric taste!"



BEST: The Vagina Monologues

This skit really does bring things together for me. You've got the four doyennes of the show: Mo Collins, Debra Wilson, Alex Borstein, and Nicole Sullivan; Oprah, and a hilarious premise. It can't get any better than this...here's the number one Mad TV sketch:

Loyalty? We don't need no stinkin' loyalty!

I've been doing a lot of on-site research with a particular marketing agency right now and have learned more about the industry than ever before. From all this work, there's one odd quirk which I'm starting to get a better handle on: turnover and employee retention.

Agency culture is very fluid. Employees typically last only 1 1/2 - 2 years in one place before moving on to the next big opportunity. It's like I'm Spiderman and I swing from building to building, each time getting enough momentum to grasp on to a higher floor on the structure.


My old agency was Wunderman and I look back on it fondly. Culturally it was a hoot with lots of Gen Y like me who had a lot to prove and wanted their chance to cut their teeth on big projects. Operationally, the work permitted lots of risk-taking, ownership, and collaboration with diverse teams.

But by the end of my 15 months that I worked with the company, I had more tenure than probably 40% of the employees there. This is not a function of growth. It's a function of immense mobility of employees among agencies, and among agencies like Wunderman and related data-based organizations (the big banks, Air Miles, research houses).

Initially I stacked this churn up to the fact that "it's a marketing agency and this is just what it's like", but as I learn more about the industry I'm realizing that it doesn't have to be this way.


One consequence of churn is that among middle and senior levels in big shops there's a palpable dearth of good talent. The kind of good talent that can't be codified or seen in the effectiveness of MarCom projects. It doesn't matter how skilled you may be as an analytics project manager, senior art director, or digital account director, you still lack valuable abilities as a manager and an employee.

A lot of my coworkers see high turnover and mobility as a cool way to quickly advance and get your name recognition up. You'll leapfrog between roles based on your networking prowess and ability to distinguish yourself as a non-supporter of the team. Your resume will read like a rolodex of advertising agencies because you spent only a few short years at each place.

And what have you gained?
Credentials, a client list, knowledge of different industries, accounts, and agency functions (e.g. digital, retail, CRM, print).

And what have you lost?
Interpersonal and leadership skills because no one worked with you long enough for you to truly help the develop themselves.

So I'm not suggesting that people should remain at shops they hate or in roles which give them no new challenges, opportunities, or satisfaction. I really support the inidividual in deciding what's right for them.

But just temper your optimism for looking elsewhere with a rational assessment of what you'll stand to gain (of lose) by leaving. Never leave for the sake of leaving. Turnover is high in the agency world and has resulted in selfish managers and a general feeling among all levels of gamesmanship. In that environment, culture really can't thrive. Warmth and inclusivity are really only superficial labels attached to the mission statement to form some perceptual distinction in the minds of presumptive new hires.


I'm sorry if any of my Wunderman friends felt evicerated by this rant!

The weekend links

It's exam time and we're wrapping up a bunch of projects now. I call these weeks Hell weeks because of the many loose ends that need to get tied up. Also I finally am celebrating my (belated) birthday this weekend and get to party with my friends for once.

On with the links:


I saw an ad in the newspaper this week from GM extolling their new direction and the fact that they really are making cars that people want (compacts and hybrids). Somehow I really just can't trust that company any more. Apparently a lot of consumers don't either and car analysts have said that even if GM's cash flow problems stabilize, it will be incredibly challenging for them to regain the trust of consumers who frankly won't buy from a company they don't think is solvent.


Mi-Fi looks really cool, but what's the purpose if all handheld devices are Wi-Fi capable? And what kind of data charges would one see from using this device? Also I am confused about how to pronounce it. Is it Mi-Fi like "My-Fi" or is it Mi-Fi like Miffy?



John Legend sang about nutmeg last night on Stephen Colbert's Christmas show. Hilarious when he sings "the only residue I want wiping of your face is my NUTMEG" (go to 1:45)

Speaking of nutmeg, here's a great recipe for eggnog.


Advertising was sexist in 2008 - yeah but it wouldn't have shown unless test audiences responded favourably to it. Who's really sexist, marketers or the public? HuffPost broke down the top five sexist trends in advertising in 2008.

You know, Wikipedia is great for fan related information in amazing detail. It's one of those weird quirks of the dominance of user-generated content in web 2.0 when the entry for warp drive has a bigger page than that for the Canadian Constitution. Warp drive is fascinating though - you know it works by creating a bubble in subspace around the ship that expands space behind the bubble and shrinks space in front of the bubble. The spaceship essentially stays in one place while space moves around it. Now as for transwarp conduits, I'm really not sure how those work. The Borg seem to have a good understanding of the physics though.

I wanted to thank Keanu reeves for taking the tme to sit with us earlier this week. Pajiba has a hilarious page on the many faces of Keanu Reeves. You can really get a sense of his dramatic versatility.

Test your brain. This stuff is always fun. I like the emotional intelligence test.


It's really too bad that the Andromeda Strain bra (top) is sold out. I'm still looking for Christmas presents for my mom. Creative weird bras here.

And finally, hilarious news reporter meltdowns. Bill O'Reilly (Hard Copy) is really the best one.

Admit it Gen Y, you love Atlas Shrugged

In between trips to the sensory deprivation tank and group meetings for 601 that I’ll have during the few short weeks this holiday season, I’d like to get back into regular reading.

During school semesters, I find myself mostly reading blogs, online news, the Economist, and a few random magazines like AdBusters, Vanity Fair, Wine Spectator, and Travel & Leisure. I love reading, but can’t really find time to devote to sitting down, turning off the laptop, and reading a book. But that’s one of the great things about the holidays – you finally have no excuse for procrastination.

I’m going to finish reading ‘Atlas Shrugged’, Ayn Rand’s seminal tome of objectivism and free-market capitalism. And it’s a bizarre time to be reading about laissez-faire economics given the economic crisis that somehow necessitates government nationalization of key industries, bailouts, and a general rejection of the idea that individuals acting in their own self-interest will create an optimal economic outcome.

I’m at page 593 of Atlas Shrugged. The book is 1063 pages and has a font size of 8. It’s ridiculous. But still I persevere. The story is interesting, if not a bit pithy and needlessly arcing.

But what really makes me keep flipping the page is the survivalist philosophy espoused by the protagonists. Ideas like fairness is irrelevant in an argument (because who is to say what’s really fair?) or that individuals have no obligation but to themselves. As a book it is a testament to self-interest and competition. It wholly defends rationality and discredits the concept of intrinsic value or subjective interpretation. This is known as objectivism.

For example, an apple is an apple. Reality is exactly what things are, not some perceptual cloak that society has elaborately created to shape our understanding of the world.

Things are what they are, therefore what grounds do we have to question reality? If all we know of reality is what we can see, sense, and experience, then there is no rational basis upon which we can claim that it's manufactured or false.

The plot of Atlas Shrugged is set in the context of a decaying industrialist society whose government and leaders believe that nothing is absolute and refuse to believe that labour productivity actually contributes to personal well-being. Citizens become pessimistic and willfully commit themselves to a collectivist mentality, believing that society’s best interests supercede their own.

In a utopia (or Marxist state) this philosophy might work, however with no one accepting individual responsibility, the world collapses. Trains stop running, electricity shuts off, people go hungry.

Now I’m hardly suggesting that this will happen with an Obama administration – but it’s interesting to study Atlas Shrugged as an analogy to what’s happening now. The same sense of free-market individualism that Ayn Rand supports can be thought to have catalyzed the overleverage that crashed our economy.

I think for Gen Ys, Atlas Shrugged really is the perfect literary guilty pleasure. We’re not willing to accept Rand’s hard-as-nails rationality about charity or welfare, but we’re salivating over the affirmation that individuals must have personal ownership and accountability to contribute to a healthy and functioning society.


The film adaptation is scheduled for a 2009 release, and if you needed another reason to hate Angelina Jolie (although I actually love her) she’s apparently going to be the lead.

Keanu Reeves gives great client presentations

The world is abuzz with excitement over Keanu Reeves’ upcoming performance as Klaatu in “The Day the Earth Stood Still”. Although he’s busy on the movie’s media circuit, Keanu agreed to sit down with me and talk about his reflections on how to do a good client presentation.

MAX: So Keanu, this Friday B!G will be going to our client for a final presentation of the results from our marketing analysis. It’s mostly industry stuff and some technical details, but the gist of the presentations insights are focused on how the recommending short, medium, and long term opportunities for a sustainable marketing solution. How do you think we should present this?

KEANU: Well, what’s the client like? I mean, Max, you invite me to sit down with you and then you ask a really vague question that’s full of a lot of bullshit marketing terminology.


MAX: Ok, Ok…no need to be defensive. Our client is friendly and we have a good rapport with them. This is our second engagement with them and they have been receptive to our objective analysis in the past. A positive relationship overall.

KEANU: So they’re not defensive themselves?

MAX: No way.

KEANU: So then ask yourselves what information they’d like to see and make sure that its communicated through words, pictures, graphs, and graphics that they’ll understand. You said they’re friendly, right?

MAX: Yep.

KEANU: Ok, so make it a conversation. This way everyone is comfortable and B!G won’t be stressing out about the need to convince the client of the insights validity. Like, lay your cards on the table to start, and enjoy the time together. It should be natural.

MAX: Natural? How so?

KEANU: Well, I always found doing screen tests and auditions that if you’re going into it assuming that your audience will not be receptive to what you have to say then you inevitably screw up. But instead if you go into the performance believing in the truth and integrity of your message, you deliver it honestly and compellingly, and you make sure to connect with your audience as real people, not an immovable object, then you’ll generally succeed and get the part.


MAX: That’s great advice! So then we’ve got our message, we know our audience, but how are we going to deliver it in a compelling way?

KEANU: Tell a story. What’s the project about?

MAX: Wind energy in Canada.

KEANU: Gnarly. Ok, so explain the market, the key insights, the potential business plays, and the potential business strategy. But remember to link it together with some unifying theme….something like ‘growth’, or ‘innovation’, or ‘threats’. A common thread is a good thing to have in a presentation so the audience can link things together in their minds.

MAX: Cue cards?

KEANU: No way. It shows that you’re unprepared. How many months have you been doing this project?

MAX: Three months.

KEANU: Yeah, so there’s no reason why you and your groups’ members can’t just walk up and speak to the points on the slides. Remember, it’s not an announcement of information, it’s a conversation of information. Oh, and you should bring any supporting evidence or analysis along with you, but try to only cover the major points in the presentation. People get bored pretty quickly in these things so keep it simple.


MAX: What presentation style is best?

KEANU: Well everyone differs, right? I’m a method actor and I take my craft very seriously. Have you seen my oeuvre of work?

MAX: Your oeuvre?

KEANU: Yeah, my films. The Lake House, Sweet November, Dracula, and Johnny Mnemonic.

MAX: I think I’ve seen Dracula or Johnny Mnemonic, but The Matrix or Speed were my favourite films of yours.

KEANU: I hated those films. There was no room for my character to blossom and self-actualize.

MAX: I see….so then what type of presentation style is best?

KEANU: Again, everyone is different, but the big qualities are honest, comfort, and knowledgeability. If you can also be animated that’s good too. When you’re enthusiastic about the material, sometimes it helps to engage your audience so they are more receptive to the messages you’re speaking. The one piece of advice I really have for your group on Friday is to never appear like you yourself are not in support of what you’re saying. Always remember that you’re the expert on the presentation – you developed it, you did the research. If you can’t convince yourself of what you’re saying, then you’ll never convince the client.

MAX: Tubular advice Keanu, thanks for shooting the breeze and giving such awesome tips. The Day the Earth Stood Still opens December 12 and looks pretty cool. Check out the trailer.

Birthday blog

One year older today, and so far the day's going great. I ate cake for breakfast and listened to a hilarious Howard Stern segment in the commute up to campus. Unfortunately I'm now sitting in a mind-numbing class and am probably going to read AdBusters while everyone presents their inane group projects. I can tell it's going to be the type of group project that students basically phone in. My own project is inane.


Oh, and birthday's are pretty good when you're on Facebook. It's fun to get a wall full of messages from friends. Haven't you noticed that your awareness of upcoming birthdays has really changed since Facebook came into our lives?

The weekend links

Crazy times, eh? I think we're all really swamped with work, hopefully this will divert your attention from studying (or while not paying attention in class). This is my last week in class and i'm really happy that this semester is over. It's probably been the most challenging few months so far in my MBA program because of my involvement with B!G, a full course load, and the 601 group project.

Over the holidays I'm going to book myself into a sensory deprivation tank for a session. Seriously I'm looking into it. If sealing yourself into a silent, dark, watery capsule for ninety minutes sounds restorative and fun, then hit me up, we'll make an afternoon out of it.

On with the links:


I love these pictures of media ownership in the North American tv market. It just reaffirms how valuable and precious the informational democracy of the internet is. Honestly, make sure to create content whenever/wherever you can online. It's important so that the medium doesn't simply become another outlet for messages to be screamed at consumers.

The BlackBerry Storm hasn't even launched and already it's causing huge problems for RIM. It's also supposed to be the most expensive product launch in the manufacturer's history. Um...maybe RIM should have focused on what BlackBeries are known for (quick typing), instead of bringing to market some flaccid offering that consumers are going to reject in favour of the superior iPhone.


I'd love to go to Socrota, an island off the coast of Yemen in the Arabian Sea, but I'm scared of Somali pirates taking me hostage. It's the most alien-looking place on Earth and reminds me of the Galapagos Islands.

You heard that sad story about the part-time worker killed by a stampede on Black Friday at a Long Island Wal-Mart? Apparently the crowd didn't kill him, advertising did.

Mobile phone retailers really run such a racket. Here are a few confessions of a Verizon Wireless customer service representative about the vicious truths cell phone companies don't want you to know.


Helmut Newton is one of my favourite portrait photographers. His work is exciting, really sexy, and unfailingly stylish. Although he's best known for nudes, you can see his other work here.


Cool watches from Nooka. No one will be able to tell what time it is (and neither will you!) but you'll get a lot of comments.

What American accent do you have? Your Result: North Central "North Central" is what professional linguists call the Minnesota accent. If you saw "Fargo" you probably didn't think the characters sounded very out of the ordinary. Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot.
The West
The Midland
Boston
The Inland North
The South
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Haha - oh gee! Doncha know I have an accent that sounds like I'm from Minnesohhhda. Where is your American accent from?


Cool shoes, but apparently it's the eco-friendly recycled cardboard packaging that's the subject of this link. Found them through this great French consumer trends site.

Shit, so my blog will never amount to anything. Alright, time to rationalize the substantial self-expressive and functionoal benefits I get from writing original content related to things I love.

I really wish that some members of my project groups had read this article before submitting their written report portions to me for editing. What crap. Learn how to write succinct copy. Become a better writer. Honestly, good communication and language skills are seriously undervalued - that's the consequence of a business school that values engineering and commerce degrees more than general arts degrees.


Photoshopped but fun truck designs from Germany. I'd freak out seeing the top one if it drove up beside me on the autobahn.



"My anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hon" - wow, I never considered what an empowering song Sir Mix a Lot's 'Baby Got Back' is. Funny link, check it out.


What were 2008's most powerful brands? Southwest, Mac and Cheese, Bounty, Blu-Ray, Jawbone, True Religion, and Vitamin Water (among others).

And finally, the stomping, thumping, bluesy new video for 'Detroit '67' by Sam Roberts. Great shots. It's the kind of song I imagine them playing between plays at Red Wings games.




Cheers everyone, have a great week.

Oh, and "Becky, look at her butt...it is SO big. She looks like one of those rap guy's girlfriends..."

It pays off...eventually

It's Friday night, the Friday night before my birthday next weekend.

I really should be going out and losing my sanity in various bars downtown but I'm at home finishing work: school work, B!G work.

It's hardly as if I've procrastinated my way into this situation - hardly. I really strive to finish a lot of small things within hours of receiving them to my email just so it doesn't pile up. The big stuff I save for days like today when there's no class and I can sit down and hammer it out.

But still it mounts up.

Anyway, what I'm saying is that the hard work that you'll do, the late hours that you'll put in to various things that matter to you really will pay off.

How? Why?

Forget about getting noticed and forget about getting credit. Hard work matters because you internalize it. It makes you a morally superior person and prepares you for future hard work. You'll be better equipped so that your future hard work isn't hard at all, it's smart work (good + fast = smart).

So just grin and bear it.

Consumer trends in 2009

Trendwatching just released it's report on important consumer trends for 2009. The abbreviated version is a great summary and highlight a number of key issues which, as savvy marketers, we should all be aware of.

What's weird is that I really don't disagree with any of them. Let's take a look:


ONE
Nichetributes - "attributes, features, additions to existing products, making them more practical for specific user groups...a clear signal that the brand gets it...and pays tribute to consumer lifestyles"

I like this one. It's representative of a greater attentiveness on the part of brands to the unique and differentiated needs of their consumers. An examples is a mobile phone that syncs up with your Facebook contacts to provide you with a social network integrated address book.

TWO
Luxyoury - Consumer luxury is not what's precious, but what's scarce. Scarce experiences or rare opportunities for consumers to feel a part of something without the traditional act of consuming a rare product will now be perceived as luxurious. "Luxury in 2009 will comprise much, much more than ostentatiously flaunting wealth."

There's greater individual ownership of products and experiences all around. Brands have evolved from selling products which consumers demand, to selling experience which consumers demand because their product is the one being used.

Think about that!

THREE
Feedback 3.0 - my favourite trend on the list because it speaks to the social democratization of content. Thinking about the internet's use to provide consumers with a forum for voicing their opinions, Feedback 1.0 ca be understood as the time when "outraged individuals posted scathing reviews" and "brands were unaware or chose not to listen, dismissing these outbursts the way they'd dismissed any kind of customer dissatisfaction for decades."

Feedback 2.0 (our current state), is when consumers share and interact with each other, providing usage suggestions, improvements, and product-related tips. Consumers are having a conversation among themselves, and companies are listening but still not doing anything about it.

Feedback 3.0 occurs when an open dialogue is created online between brands and their consumers. It's when product demonstrations and testing results are used to show proof of effectiveness or directly engage irate commenters with things they've said about the brand. "Expect smart companies to be increasingly able to post their apologies and solutions, preferably directly alongside reviews from unhappy consumers."

FOUR
Econcierge - refers to the increased use of services to give consumers a chance to assess the environmental impact of their consumption habits and lifestyle. Think of it like a more sophisticated version of an energy efficiency contractor who comes to your house and seals the cracks in your windows that cause drafts.

An awesome example of this is a USB stick that plugs into the dashboard of new Fiat cars. It loads a program into the car's operating system to actively monitor and review your driving skills to improve gas mileage. You drive and the car actually gives you a carbon friendliness score.

FIVE
Mapmania - maybe it's because I always knew how to read maps and can navigate my way around pretty much anywhere with relative ease that I'm not blown away by the novelty of this fifth trend in 2009. As GPS and 3G mapping applications become more pervasive and integrated into handheld consumer devices (thus enabling geotagging)...consumers are flocking to mapping software to help them immediately find anything they need when they're not sitting in front of a laptop.

SIX
Happy ending - no, not that happy ending, you pervs!

"The most important side effect of these austere times is probably that consumers start questioning what truly makes them happy, which more often than not steers them towards the realization that happiness ain't just about traditional consumption." Gen Y loves being. A poor world economic climate can foster optimism about what potential solutions we as consumers can come up with to change things. Innovation is spurred when creative minds who are empowered to be themselves are able to find ways to democratically collaborate. "2009 will be an excellent years for businesses who show consumers that they really care."