Oh, What a Camera Would Do!

NASCAR has them in the drivers’ cockpits. MLB has them dug into the ground in front of home plate. The NFL has had them in players’ helmets.
In sport, cameras give us a view we’d otherwise never see (unless on the field of play or going 200+ mph in the race car).
Here’s where the next camera [...]

Could Marketing Help Taxes?

April 15 is dreaded in America.
Even though we have taxes withheld from our paychecks year-round, the symbolic midnight tax deadline to “pay” Uncle Sam causes melancholy, dejection and resignation.
But there is a flip side.
Consider: Those expecting tax refunds file early — long before the grousing starts. April 15 means little them (unless they’ve yet to [...]

Twitter: Chaotic Addiction

So much has been written about Twitter, it’s a bit silly. Here’s a small private company with annual revenue surely south of $100 million, and headcount well below 100.
Many companies meet these criteria. Many companies are barely known.
Twitter is not one of those. It fits a perfect profile. It’s about talking, sharing and spreading ideas. [...]

You Gotta Believe

I’ve never made a putt I didn’t visualize. Never struck a ball I didn’t watch to the barrel of the bat. Never swished a 20-footer I didn’t see in my mind’s eye.
Each takes belief. 
With enough practice and repeated success, belief becomes instinct, overtaking fear of missing, fear of falling short, fear of failure.
In many ways, [...]

Don’t Try This at Home, at Work, or Anywhere

Dell, which could use buzz, should know better than to turn up a fake blog to help push a whisper marketing campaign for its new laptop computer. Who recommended it? The corporate marketing team or an outside agency?
If this post is true, it points out the dangers in a wildwest marketplace of online publishing where [...]

People Will Talk

If HP can revive fortunes by making the the Windows-based computer “Personal Again” through lush visuals and marketing campaigns featuring Gwen Stephani, so can Dell.
Or can the brand pull off the difficult job of making a laptop sexy?
We’ll have to wait and see. It’s managed to get people talking about a possible contender to the [...]

Online Marketing: What Works?

Two interesting reports supported by interesting data.
Not the same conclusions.
Fred Wilson, high-profile VC whose firm invested in Twitter, posted that online banners work, just differently from search, according to comScore.
Meanwhile, this story in the NYT looks at brand advertisers’ challenges to engage folks in social networks such as Facebook. The writer opened up an account [...]

On Sale Now!

There’s not a morning that goes by that I don’t get a killer offer in my Gmail. Apple. Golf Galaxy. Nordstrom. Gap. Field Notes. Amazon. 
And on it goes. My head’s swimming with numbers and percetage symbols. I haven’t known whether to shop or wait for discounts to go lower.
Until now. Enter ZingSale, a zippy, nice Web site that [...]

Citizen Journalism: The Experiment Continues

Much has been made about “citizen journalists” on the ground in Mumbai typing 140-character dispatches over Twitter and snapping images with their Nikons or cellphones.
Social media, no doubt, has changed how we receive information and watch stories unfold. Om Malik watched Twitter and yearned for context. 
The volume of words sent over a “Twitter #Mumbai” feed the [...]

Will You Join Us?

A barrel of crude may recently dipped below $60. And oil companies are wise to start talking about environment. The latest: Chevron and it’s www.willyoujoinus.com campaign.
A sampling of copy from print ads featuring earnest and environmentally serious faces:

“I will leave the car at home more.”
“I will at least consider a hybrid.”
“I will unplug stuff more.”

While [...]