The complaints against advertising are seemingly endless, limited only by the creativity of its critics. But advertising is fundamentally benevolent, the author says. Advertising is a communication technique that attempts to influence the behavior of others—no more nor less so than the techniques used by parents, journalists, teachers, and politicians. more

Should your organization get into mobile marketing? The evidence shows that mobile marketing skews toward the business-to-consumer segment, and (slowly but surely) it is starting to gain momentum. Read on to find out whether the vehicle might be right for you. more

Reflecting on past green products that were moving toward mainstream but failed, illustrates some of the challenges of legitimacy that innovation can face. On the other hand, monitoring those who have been notoriously self-serving and successful reveals marketing efforts to exemplify emotion, evade rationalization and drive profits. more

How do you sell a niche product with a limited potential audience? Try an in depth-television infomercial. Professional Tool Manufacturing's infomercial for Drill Doctor, a drill-bit sharpening machine, is one of the longest-running infomercials in TV history. It has consistently driven retail sales—more than two million Drill Doctors have been ... more

Mother's Day is almost here, a day filled with fresh flowers, delicious dark chocolates, fancy fragrances, and gem-filled jewelry. But is that really the way to a woman's heart? What'll really make her swoon is sleek, metal, shiny, and fast. more

Now that YouTube is more popular than all the sites of the TV networks combined, some wonder whether broadcast TV's days are numbered. It may well become more important for your brand or company to be on YouTube than to be advertised on TV. Undoubtedly for some, that day has ... more

Maybe you own your own business, or perhaps you're a critical cog in the corporate machinery responsible for marketing your company, brand, product, or service. If that describes you, here are 18 things you need to know about Web marketing but might be afraid to believe. more

Many business owners or CEOs have not taken the time to educate themselves about what marketing is, and what it should be doing for them. Sometimes, even those who have lack a good grasp on a good and accurate definition of marketing. Why does this happen? And what can we ... more

When Dutch Internet company Rhinofly needed new designers, project managers, and programmers, the company didn't want to use traditional job boards because in the past they hadn't been effective in attracting qualified candidates. To target the best tech-savvy job candidates, Rhinofly created a video capturing the essence of the company ... more

When an online electronics retailer runs a holiday-season Google paid search campaign, and the resulting cost per acquisition is far higher than the average cost per order, something is not right. Yet that's what happened with the 2005 holiday campaign of The Source By Circuit City. The following year, Source flipped ... more

Warren Buffett is regarded by his peers as one of the brightest and most savvy minds in investment, business strategy, and CEO leadership. Buffett is known for the autonomy he gives to his managers, the ability to think "long term," and unparalleled skill in evaluating talent. He's also a CEO ... more

A competing online marketing company's unorthodox approach to self-promotion got consultant Karl Long thinking about ways he could use his personal blog as a public relations tool to help his company, Local Zing. As a tiny Florida player in the field of advertising for small businesses, Long knew he should consider ... more

Women love fashion. But fashion doesn't love them. Not real women, at least. Most women aren't supermodels—in fact, the average American woman is 5'4", weighs 140 lbs., and wears a size 14. So most American women find the fashion industry a bit out of touch. Who is in touch with the ... more

Google's search engine is a widely used tool for locating information or items on the Internet. On any given search, in mere seconds it offers up a vast set of relevant links for the user to sift through. A new environment termed "Virtual Worlds" has created a similar challenge—finding a ... more

ITtoolbox was looking for a way to increase ROI on lead-generation campaigns for its 700 advertisers, among them such big guns as IBM, Microsoft, and Accenture. So ITtoolbox built its own contextual keyword engine, which provided a greater than 50% boost in lead volume and dramatically increased relevancy, boosting conversion ... more

Contrary to popular opinion, Boomer women aren't in denial about aging. Advertisers are. And the women they're supposed to be trying to connect with are getting annoyed. more

Luke runs MySpace marketing campaigns on a daily basis. Here, he shares his real-world experiences and tips, including the best way to leverage MySpace to zero in on your target market. more

When you've schlepped your staff and booth to numerous tradeshows throughout the year, with no concrete results to point to, it's time for a change in your marketing approach. Euchner-USA, Inc. all but jettisoned its traditional print advertising efforts and embraced a comprehensive B2B online marketing model. more

With 2007 in full swing, here are our online marketing predictions for the rest of the year to come. We busted out our omniscient crystal ball, and this is what it told us... . more

Let's review: Women make 80 percent of all purchases. They buy more electronic equipment, vehicles, and home-improvement products than men do. Women hold nearly 50 percent of all jobs. In dual-income families, more than 30 percent out-earn their husbands. They control considerable sums of money and spend it for a ... more

The Points of Light Foundation's annual event had grown moribund, and the house list stagnant, says Chief Creative Director Todd Potochnik. But he and his team were able to boost attendance from the previous year's conference by more than 25% and garner an 85% "satisfactory or above" approval rating from ... more

Most adopters of search engine optimization have been B2C companies operating in an e-commerce environment. However, as business-to-business marketers recognize the potential of search, many are seeking ways to implement an effective B2B search engine optimization strategy. To be successful, however, you need to understand the critical differences between B2C ... more

Here's a popular way to generate online leads: Buy a keyword ad on a search engine site. In your ad, offer free content -- such as a white paper -- to respondents who complete a short form. In theory, this type of campaign works well: The people who respond get something ... more

Today's leading companies don't rely on chance for market success. They take a scientific approach -- just as they do for product development -- to align company resources and activities for maximum launch impact. As margins grow razor thin and competition comes from anywhere, scientific product launches can help your company ... more

Walk through any bookstore and you'll find dozens of books about the marketing and branding efforts of corporate America. The process of corporate communication has been thinly sliced and diced over and over, but what you won't find is a book about the one truly essential characteristic in our 21st ... more