Monthly Archives: August 2009

There’s a big difference between being anonymous and being anonymous online

There’s a big difference between being anonymous and being anonymous online.  A huge difference. CNN posted a story about the outing of anonymous bloggers. They cited stories about bloggers forced to reveal their true identities when they had preferred to … Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under Social Marketing

Suprise Marketing: Hasbro Celebrates the Candyland 60th Anniversary

Hasbro uses the most crooked street in America, Lombard Street in San Francisco, as a life-sized Candyland board. Of course, a few cranky onlookers may turn their nose up at this blatant act of consumerism and capitalism, but most people … Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under Advertising, Consumers, Marketing, Social Marketing, Surprise Marketing

One small step for print media, one giant leap for marketing?

CBS and Pepsi have, to my knowledge, embedded the first video player in a print ad in the latest Entertainment Weekly. This experiment is surely to spur several different reactions: How cool! How annoying! How do you recycle this thing? … Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under Advertising, Consumers, Design, innovation, Marketing

What is free speech online?

A New York Supreme Court judge very recently ruled in favor of a former model who wants to discover the identity of an anonymous blogger who posted pictures and disparaging comments about her online using Google’s Blogger.com service.  The ruling … Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under Social Marketing

Everyone’s worried about measurement

It’s not just digital marketing that’s worried about measurement.  Nielsen is directly in the cross hairs of the major TV companies, big advertisers and some of the biggest ad companies.  Top TV companies are banding together to form a new … Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under Advertising, agency, Consumers, Marketing

Charging fees for free stuff

Rupert Murdoch of News Corporation stated that the company would begin charging for content across all online properties by year end.  The new approach to news delivery was precipitated by a steep decline in operating profits.  Murdoch also called out … Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under Consumers, Marketing

How to handle the rush to complain on Twitter?

I hear more and more stories of seemingly minor customer service issues being trumpeted on Twitter to cause damage to a brand.  These posts are also meant to gain the attention of others on Twitter and the brand itself. Twitter … Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under Consumers, Social Marketing

How Can We Stop the Slow Death of Newspapers?

Newspapers across the country are dying.  Subscriptions are down.  Newspapers are struggling with revenue streams for their online presence.  Advertising is down.  Some newspapers are limiting themselves to one edition per day, or a few editions per week instead of … Continue reading

1 Comment

Filed under Consumers, innovation

Getting to the game a little late

The Wall Street Journal is working internally on a WSJ Connect, a “LinkedIn Killer” to compete with the biggest name in business-focused social networking.  The Wall Street Journal is owned by News Corporation.  News Corporation also owns MySpace, which it … Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under Consumers, innovation, Social Marketing

Easy Access Doesn’t Make Copyright Infringement OK

In June, a Minneapolis jury awarded $1.92 million in a case of willful copyright infringement for 24 songs.  The defendant in the case was 32 years old. Late last week a jury decided that a 25 year old Boston University … Continue reading

Leave a Comment

Filed under Consumers