What if you placed a call to GM and the CEO answered the phone? You would think perhaps this company is too small to suit my needs. This is why the bigger a company gets the more faceless they become because they layer on infrastructure to foster a certain But ... more

Here was a great statement in a recent Reuters article, Food makers look to health as downturn "Industry giants such as Kraft, General Mills, Sara Lee, ConAgra, Unilever and Danone all told the Reuters Food Summit in Chicago that healthy products were on top of their menus in insulating themselves ... more

I've got a viral sickness. This is unrelated to my recent stays in the hospital; I'm talking Viral I love– no, L-O-V-E– viral marketing. A bunch. I don't pretend to be a total expert on it, or anything (ok, well maybe a little), but I know what I like and ... more

Seriously, we need to For the past few days, the site's been going through another of its infamous 's down again, isn't it?" spells. These problems always lead to grumpiness from many of those using Twitter, and the inevitable "where else could we go?" discussion pops up. This time, many ... more

As marketers become more tech-savvy, the demands they place on corporate information technology (IT) departments often increase. Unable and reluctant to meet the demands of marketing, IT sometimes turns a deaf ear to change and budget requests causing marketers to go it alone. However, going it alone–without IT–can create headaches, ... more

You've got something to say and you need a company to listen to your feedback. Would you use a suggestion box? You are a company in search of a fast way to help capture feedback and a structured approach to deal with it. Would you buy a suggestion One of ... more

If there was ever a time when the food industry needed to build the three big T's, the time is now. A terrific short on this topic appeared in a recent issue of Environmental News A Food Marketing Institute press release announcing the results of its survey, U.S. Grocery Shopper ... more

Right now, your customers are writing about your products on blogs and reediting your commercials on YouTube. They're defining you on Wikipedia and ganging up on you on social networking sites like Facebook. These are all elements of a social phenomenon – the groundswell – that has created a permanent, ... more

We've all been there. In fact, I just visited this place of client frustration and fear a few days ago. It usually happens when the solution provided to the client's (or boss's) problem will cost them time, money and stress. At that very moment, we stand at the We can ... more

For years, classic brand strategy has always been about the creation of a single message that can be used with all of your constituents; investors, employees, senior management and customers about who you are and what value your company provides. Brand managers tend to write it up and paste it ... more

A recent BusinessWeek , 'Hey, Starbucks, How About Coffee Cubes?' had me saying "Finally!" About a month ago, java giant Starbucks launched its new web site just so that its customers could make suggestions, discuss ideas, vote on ideas others submit, and otherwise, put their 2 cents in. The site ... more

No business that strategizes around making people happy by giving them a voice and a sense that they have a stake in your business will experience less wealth. In the simplest sense we are talking about building relationships and communities around our business and the products and services we Here's ... more

In this Marketing Over Coffee we discuss what the email blacklists are and how to deal with them, and the growth of sponsored email blasts..... all that and more in this Marketing Over Coffee, a weekly audio program sponsored by MarketingProfs that covers classic marketing tactics and what's new on ... more

Lifehacker editor Gina Trapani ignited a bit of a firestorm over the weekend when she that she was launching a wiki to blacklist PR firms that send her "irrelevant and unsolicited"' pitches. Some PR bloggers then fired back that maybe it was bloggers that should be Geoff Livingston blogged "I ... more

As marketers we often struggle with getting customers to pay attention to our marketing messages, much less remember them. A specialized learning technique–the spacing "–is helping people all across the world assimilate more languages, facts, and retain gobs of information. Is this learning technique applicable to improving the efficacy of ... more

Getting comments on a blog post is one of the most positive outcomes you can experience as a blogger. Comments are rewarding on so many levels. Think about it, your readers Moved to action by what you Giving you feedback, either to improve your idea or validate Interested and Reaching ... more

I once had a co-worker recount the tale of her junior account position at a 4A's agency. Her account was for a well known brand of– well–tampons. Evidently, the team brainstorming sessions (comprised largely of men), yielded many unfortunate and hysterical marketing and product development ideas .... most of which ... more

The cost savings of outsourcing low-level work overseas to countries like India, China, and the Philippines can look pretty attractive. But it's The lack of language skills among the outsourced employees can lead to misunderstandings, lost credibility, customer service complaints and missed I learned this first-hand. I tried outsourcing some ... more

I've been getting a lot of requests for friends on various social networks lately. You probably have been too - there seems to be an explosion of interest lately, particularly on I'm generally encouraged by this, as it means that the space is continuing to grow, rather than to wane ... more

Last week, my friend and colleague Susanne Sicilian sent an email highlighting the 5 Reasons Your Boss Needs to Send You to . Among the One-on-one time with our speakers, exclusive (and free) research, "Usability Labs" on your Web Site, Email campaigns, and Social Media efforts that essentially amounts to ... more

In this Marketing Over Coffee we discuss 3 things to make your News Releases more effective, what to consider when adding "new media", and sales vs. marketing..... all that and more in this Marketing Over Coffee, a weekly audio program sponsored by MarketingProfs that covers classic marketing tactics and what's ... more

Business is running a series of what you might call "self-help articles for businesses." Before you yawn and think it's the same old, same , you might want to check this out. In an April 28th article Finding Your Company's Great , I was pleasantly surprised by the content. I ... more

When marketers design a marketing campaign .... we typically design them for "rational" buyers. But do buyers act rational? And what about When we make decisions we think we're in control and making rational choices. But are Dan Ariely a faculty member at MIT's Sloan School of Management and member ... more

I am frustrated and I can't be the only one. I've written about this topic before and it isn't improving. Either companies should bring their call center staff back to North America or develop better protocols to handle North American I recently discovered that I must add a state tax ... more

My wife loves to travel, and spring break for my kids is always the perfect excuse to get away. But this time was different; for over a year my wife had been planning a trip to Turkey with a family we tend to travel well Of course April is always ... more