Word of Mouth tips

Buzz may create awareness about a brand, but it will be evangelists and advocates that will keep the buzz alive.  As marketers we see this maxim in action often. Just a few months ago Skittles received a lot of buzz for their online antics. (You remember this, right?) It was a blip, nothing more … nothing [...]

Socializing beats shopping online

According to the Ruder Finn Intent Index, more than 4 in 5 people (80%) go online to socialize, which is twice as many as those who go online to shop or do business.  Online business isn’t dead but marketers who can’t connect with their consumers’ intent do so at their own peril.
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When Cheap Is No Bargain

Ellen Ruppel Shell, a journalism professor at Boston University, once enjoyed a bargain as much as the rest of us, maybe more. “Low price is an end and a victory in itself, a way to wrestle control from the baffling mystery that is retail,” she writes in her introduction to “Cheap: The High Cost of [...]

Nielsen: Back to School Sales Expected to Be Modest

The middle of summer marks the beginning of the Back to School (BTS) season, as parents and kids across the country start to prepare to return to class rooms in late August and early September.  The excitement of school starting isn’t just felt by the kids – retailers also look forward to the season, as it’s an incredibly [...]

Consumers Still Buying Consumer Electronics

Consumers continue to buy technology products to improve their lives, although the consumer electronics (CE) industry will see overall shipment revenues decline in 2009, according to data recently released by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). The semi-annual U.S. Consumer Electronics Sales and Forecast shows that industry revenues will contract to $165 billion in 2009, but grow [...]

Creativity Weekly Top 5: July 27

In this week’s episode of Creativity’s Top 5, McCann Erickson, Paris, and Durex see the condom as an aphrodisiac; David O’Reilly expertly animates U2’s latest single; Shynola directs a lo-fi fantasy land of chalk for Coldplay; RKCR/Y&R and Virgin Media go walking on a TV backlot at night; and Ghostly International releases a mood-inspired app [...]

Your Message: From a Whisper to a Scream

You’ve got a great idea and a plan to turn it into a business. Now all you need are customers–and to get them, you need to spread the word about what you’re doing. One problem: Your marketing budget makes your grade school allowance look like a princely sum.
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Harris: Advertisers Migrate From Print To Net

Confirming what many already suspected, a recent poll from LinkedIn’s Research Network and Harris Interactive found that advertisers are spending less ad dollars on print newspapers in favor of online. The poll results are a dagger in the heart of America’s beleaguered newspaper publishers.
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Marketers in the Downturn: Mix It Up

Sometimes it seems the state of the economy is the only news being reported on these days, and maybe that’s no surprise… considering the fundamental challenges that businesses have been facing.
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Pop Up Retailing

“NOW you see it, now you don’t” could be the slogan for American retailing these days. Even some of the most mainstream brands, like Circuit City and Linens ’n Things, have shut their doors. But a trend called pop-up stores makes sudden disappearance part of the appeal. Pop-ups arrive unannounced in empty storefronts or public [...]