Casual Fridays

In my absence next week, I’d like to refer people to John Moore’s Brand Autopsy blog. John has his own entertaining and insightful way of approaching brands and marketing.
One of his favorite “patients” (aka targets) lately has been GM and their employee discount for everyone. While I agree with him on the dangerous [...]

OK, by now this AP story is old news.
Here’s the gist:
RICHMOND, Virginia (AP) — A rush to purchase $50 used laptops turned into a violent stampede Tuesday, with people getting thrown to the pavement, beaten with a folding chair and nearly driven over. One woman went so far to wet herself rather than surrender her [...]

Thanks to Andrea Learned’s posts on Artistic Tile’s ads this week, was one of those weeks where I wish I didn’t restrict myself to only updating this blog on Fridays.
Concerning Artistic Tile’s provocative ads, Carole Fuller (Director of Strategic Marketing for Smith College) decided to contact the tile company’s VP of Marketing. In her [...]

Andrea Learned’s series of posts this week points to the dirty grout surrounding these tile ads.
The problem with ads like these is that they work… temporarily. They get attention and may even get a “decent” response (greater than 2% - wow). But, they’re short-sighted. They don’t create long-term conversations with the market [...]

OK, I’ll admit that I’m an Apple fan. Having a background in graphics, I have been hooked on Apple products since I was introduced to them in college. I’m used to hearing how the sky is falling and Apple is hanging on by a thread. That’s why I’m so happy to see [...]

Speaking of David and Goliath, A.M.D. is fighting a big battle with Intel who is dominating the PC processor market. The New York Times featured a story (free registration required) on the epic battle so far. A.M.D. placed full page ads in several national newspapers in order to get their story out. [...]

My wife called me the other day and, as I occasionally do, I answered her call as I would one from a customer. “Hello, this is Dustin.” I said. I have caller ID, so I usually know it is her before I answer and I will just greet her with “Hey.” [...]

In reading Creating Customer Evangelists by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba, I came across a statement with which I agreed and disagreed.
Marketers often refer to “increasing brand loyalty” as a factor in increasing sales. But does this terminology really make sense? A company and its logo are inanimate. The notion that people [...]

A lot of smaller companies like to position themselves as being in a David vs. Goliath conflict with their larger competitors. We like to think that people want to root for the little guy. We also like to imply that in the end, we will stand over the fallen giant as we relish [...]

Seth Godin has displayed four curves depicting typical product life cycles. He’s asked for names for each. Below, I’ve given my titles, descriptions, and names for each curve:
The Phenom
Unusually talented and charismatic with incredible exposure. But it’s not just hype. There’s substance that allows it to endure.
Names: Michael Jordan/Elvis Presley (I [...]