Category: marketing and advertising

Knott’s Berry Farm — For shame!

Okay, this is not a rant on junk food.  I think when people eat Cheez-wiz, they aren’t misguided enough to assume they’re eating healthful real cheese.  When people eat a double fudge brownie, I doubt they’re confusing this with an apple.  And when people eat Cap’n Crunch cereal, there’s no way they’d assume they’re consuming… Continue reading Knott’s Berry Farm — For shame!

BLADAM is a best-of-breed, scalable end-to-end Web 2.0 solution

That was a pretty obnoxious title, wasn’t it? String a few more sentences like that together, add a bogus (completely fabricated) self-congratulatory CEO quote or two and voila, you have a typical press release. Including something like this: “We’re proud that BLADAM is offered in a cutting-edge delivery system that reaches a diverse mix of… Continue reading BLADAM is a best-of-breed, scalable end-to-end Web 2.0 solution

Optimism from marketing execs: "People are living lives of desperation."

From CMO magazine comes this gem, talking about the opportunities and benefits of using “real people” (I presume this means non-professional actors?) in advertising. The Dove campaign for its firming cream, for example, has proved popular with consumers, but industry experts disagree on whether the ad is effective. “Using the average person won’t sell anything,”… Continue reading Optimism from marketing execs: "People are living lives of desperation."

Click-to-call is the next big thing in Web advertising… but with a twist

I just read on Darren’s Problogger.net site (via Threadwatch) that Google is testing out a pay-per-call feature in its AdWords program. The way it works (so far in testing) is that Google places a little phone icon next to specific trial text ads where text AdWords ads are normally placed on the righthand side of… Continue reading Click-to-call is the next big thing in Web advertising… but with a twist

Tips for corporate wannabe bloggers

Jeremy Zawodny recently posted that he’s going to be speaking about blogging at the Direct Marketing Association’s annual conference, and asked his readers what he should tell those folks. Many people, understandably, responded that he should basically tell them to drop dead. Given the DMA’s, ahem, relationship-challenged practices in the past (e.g., supporting opt-out, rather… Continue reading Tips for corporate wannabe bloggers

Fire these branding and advertising folks

Friend: “I checked out Blinx like you said but it’s this site in German!?”Me: “B-L-I-N-K-X. Interesting product, moronic name.” What were the folks behind Blinkx thinking? For what was undoubtedly slated to be a word-of-mouth product, why would any semi-intelligent marketing/branding person give their offering a name that could be so easily mistaken for something… Continue reading Fire these branding and advertising folks

Blue Bash: Babelicious but Beset by Bad Branding. Bummer :(

I just got back from the Blue Lithium party at the swanky Ruby Skye nightclub in San Francisco, which was the official closing shindig of the amazingly popular AdTech conference this week. Verdict: Largely lousy. Here’s why: – The music was so loud it was nearly impossible to carry on a conversation. Even from literally… Continue reading Blue Bash: Babelicious but Beset by Bad Branding. Bummer 🙁

Customer disservice

I’ve been seeing more and more companies bragging about their refund policy: “No Questions Asked.” Well, how dumb is that! Personally, I’d like to think that when I decide to cancel a service or return a product, the company actually gives a damn about what I think and is intent upon either addressing my concern… Continue reading Customer disservice

Forget marketing, just gimme the darn info, please!

After buying a cordless phone for my new apartment a while back, I learned — after the 30 day free-return period — that the stupid thing didn’t have the capability to turn the ringer off. Given that I receive junk faxes at all hours of the day and night, this is a pretty important feature… Continue reading Forget marketing, just gimme the darn info, please!