A Great Name To Make a Great Brand

A good name and brand design can go a long way in selling a successful company. Some teams have developed winning products, but under less memorable names, which is why rebranding is sometimes a good idea.

#Bespoke Latest Buzzword-Best Practices?? Bore Me Some More!

Slick salespeople and marcom gurus seem to spend more time figuring out which of the  latest buzzwords to put into their narratives, and the phrase "bespoke", long-associated with up-scale haberdashers, has officially become ubiquitous for those trying to frame their brand message in a distinctive manner.

Not only can't I pronounce the phrase properly (and apparently, neither can half of those using it), and aside from the fact that whenever I see the term, I think of the Schwinn bicycle that I had when I was 12 years old, I respectfully suggest that any professional marketer who insists on repeatedly using the phrase "bespoke" is sending a counter-intuitive message. The more its used, the more the definition becomes diluted.

Unlike other terms that have been become disturbingly de rigueur e.g. "best practices", "headwind", "tailwind" "alignment of interests", "visibility", "transparency" within every other value proposition utterance, "bespoke" is not only commonplace in a broad assortment of service provider and consultant-industry jibber jabber, its now being used within the actual names of products!

Shira Ovide writes about this in today's WSJ; a nice read, even if I'll keep thinking of bicycles.

 

Investor Offer: Innovative Concept, Marked-to-Mystery, No Revenue; $100mil Valuation- JOB OFFER: Social Media Whiz For GoldmanSachs

Per prior posting re: JOBS Act--coupled with yesterday's NYT column from Nick Bilton,  "With No Revenue, An Illusion of Value"..headline to this post might become standard fare.

Gotta love the term 'mark-to-mystery' (technique for establishing an enterprise value for a company that has no enterprise value insofar as revenue)...sounds like a phrase that someone will align with GoldmanSachs...
Yes..I should have held off making this post until after Jake Siewert reviews my application to become GS's new head of social media...oh well..

#JOBS Act: Boon for MarCom Pros Serving HedgeFunds & Start-Ups

As noted in today's NY Times, professional marketers who service hedge funds, as well as start-up enterprises soliciting investors should be sharpening their pitch books; as currently written, new federal legislation will provide greater flexibility for the marketing and advertising to prospective institutional investors.

We've been following this story for several months, and [necessarily] have a full arsenal of branding, PR and marcom strategies specifically designed for compliance-centric financial industry clients seeking to extend their reach.

#MadMen Return Inspires Nostalgia-Style Ad campaigns

"..Nostalgic cues in advertising do indeed influence the type of thoughts consumers have during ad exposure, and that these thought processes appear to have an influence on attitudes toward the advertisement and advertised brand.."

The above excerpt is courtesy of a 2004 white paper appearing in the Journal of Advertising, and is presumably  one of many cues that the creators of the hit AMC show "Mad Men" sought to exploit when writing their first outlines for that show.  We know for a fact that the producers were particularly mindful when digesting the 1991 Miami University white paper "Use of Nostalgia in Television Advertising" with the abstract:  

Nostalgia was used by means of theme, copy, or music about 10% of the time according to a content analysis of more than a thousand commercials sampled from ABC, CBS, and NBC. Nostalgic references were to family activities or to the “olden days,” among other themes, and were most likely to be used with food and beverage commercials. The study suggests nostalgia may be especially important in a changing world because it connects us with our past.

This 'theme' in advertising is as ageless as the Coca-Cola logo, if not always used as propitiously as planned (e.g. Honda's 2012 SuperBowl ad featuring Matthew Broderick aka Ferris Bueller).

And, as TV watchers, advertising industry fans, and brand marketers are all aware, "They're baaackkk..", and the new season of Mad Men is accompanied by among other initiatives, a special edition of Newsweek Magazine populated with art-deco style ads and throw-back images and slogans, to an assortment of ad campaigns in a host of mediums courtesy of a broad spectrum of brands that seek to exploit/leverage/capitalize on an approach that touches the individual yearning for an idealized past.

The buzz words spewing from the mouths of your favorite ad strategists are flying faster than a buzz saw right now; "nostalgia", "vintage", "brand heritage" are just a few, but let's be as clear as the black and white films of yesteryear; this blogger LOVES leveraging nostalgia within brand marketing, advertising or any other tactic that captures mind share.

A good update on the state of old images and new ideas courtesy of the New York Times is right here.

"JOBS" Bill= Marcom Bonanza! #Crowd-Sourcing" + Kickstarter-Style "Crowd-Financing"=$$

Some snarly congressman must have been lobbied by the smart marketing guy who has a vision to create a combination of Kickstarter and SecondMarket; after all, the JOBS Act, passed by the House earlier this week, and now waiting for Senate approval, is going to be a bonanza for those who know how to package and promote funding for innovative start-ups. Crowd-sourcing, crowd-funding, micro-financing...all of these new-age concepts are going to benefit.

You're not familiar with the new legislation? This is the one that the current administration insists will stimulate innovation and jobs. Detractors decry the Bill as a roll-back to the days of bucket shops that telemarketed investment in shares of Nigerian gold mines and other such schemes. Suffice to say, its overwhelmingly supported by Democrats and hotly debated by the GOP.

But, I'm getting ahead of myself.  If you don't know what Kickstarter is...the short description is simple: a social network type portal that facilitates [presumably] cash-starved innovators (technology, film, food products, clothing, whatever!) to solicit "micro-funding" for their pending projects.In consideration for donations, the innovator provides a free sample of the soon-to-be-made product, a t-shirt, or some other quid pro quo.

If the [fixed amount] financing objective of the entrepreneur is met, Kickstarter kicks over all of the "donations" that were held in escrow, less a 3% fee. If the financing round falls short before the deadline date, the donations are re-credited to the donators' credit card. If the financing is oversubscribed, the entrepreneur seeking funding can buy himself/herself a Ferrari. That's right, those seeking funding have no obligations and those making the donations have no recourse. It's all done on a trust me basis, and its completely unregulated. (One recent deal from "Double Fine Adventure" soliciting $100k production funding for a new video game delivered $3.4 million to the founder)

Note: This blogger is directly familiar with (2) Kickstarter stories: Chocwasabi, a recently-funded and particularly delicious success story, and an 'in-the-works' "Apple-flavored" device called "JuiceTank", which, after it completes its $125,000 "round",  will be an absolute game changer for anyone that's been frustrated whenever their Apple runs out of juice.  

For those not aware of SecondMarket, this is a securities industry and SEC-regulated firm that's become famous for brokering shares held by employees of private company start-ups and selling those stakes to 'sophisticated investors'--ostensibly looking to own a stake in a company that will soon go public and make everyone a zillionaire. Think "Zuckerberg", and you'll appreciate that SecondMarket has been the vassal serving among others, Facebook insiders and early-stage investors in the course of their cashing out early.

Combine Kickstarter and SecondMarket..and the Occupy WallStreet movement will need to move--because Wall Street, at least as far being a source of venture-round financing, will be be much less occupied.  That's this blogger's opinion, anyway.

There's lots of pages to the pending JOBS legislation, and below is a bullet-point take-away for the operators of Kickstarter and SecondMarkets--or more likely, any smart disruptor who wants to capitalize on the burgeoning boondoggle that's leveraging the combination of social media, the ethos to democratize the capital raising process and the "I-don't-want-to-be-bothered" issues faced by the spectrum of up-and-coming entrepreneurs that don't want to be hamstrung by regulations relating to soliciting and securing funds in consideration for equity shares in their company..

What the final form of the JOBS bill will be remains to be seen, but in its current iteration, this is going to create lots and lots of jobs for smart marketing/communications and PR industry professionals.

First, the bill would allow “crowd-financing” under astonishingly flexible conditions. It would displace current Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure rules for public offerings, allowing a new venture to raise $1 million through widespread Internet solicitations as long as no single investor put in more than $10,000. According to some, the loosened regulations would also make it easier for future Bernie Madoffs to create, say, 50 fake firms, steal $50 million from unsuspecting investors and retire to a tropical island.

The bill would eliminate the existing ban on general advertising, which limits most private-securities offerings to the relatively small number of accredited investors who can be contacted through private channels. This is where the rubber will meet the road for marketing experts that will surely be needed to help package and promote new enterprises and innovative ideas. 

Yes, absent this ban, unscrupulous promoters will, without any SEC oversight, market stock via the Internet and launch mass mailings to millions of unsophisticated investors. [That's where/when the marketers and PR people will be benefiting.]

Third, the bill would raise the threshold requiring companies to issue public financial reports from 500 shareholders to 2,000. This legislative exemption would also exclude from this 2,000 threshold any shareholders employed by the company. These changes would dramatically reduce the number of public companies required to publish annual and quarterly reports for investors

The bill encourages initial public offerings by reducing regulatory requirements. For example, the bill would require only two years of audited financial reports, instead of three years, for offerings by small companies. Once public, these companies could avoid some burdens imposed on large companies, such as auditor attestation of internal controls and shareholder advisory votes on compensation.

Thanks#God for #GoldmanSachs

That's right. You don't need to read the title twice. Every PR crisis mgt. guru, brilliant brander, and marcom maven from here to Timbuktu (at least those with a following) would have nothing intelligent to say today, were it not for the soliloquy in the op-ed section of today's NYT written by a former [disgruntled?] GoldmanSachs veep.

If you don't subscribe to the NY Times, or if you don't watch CNBC non-stop throughout the day, you might have missed the story that was mentioned at least 200,000 times across the web, and tweeted about close to a trillion times.

The short version: a spawn of the notorious squid took the indelicate approach to sound off at the end of his tenure from the world's most talked-about investment bank/trading firm by somehow scoring op-ed real estate in the world's most read newspaper. One can only guess that his exit interview didn't go as well as hoped for, but his fare-well note was a barn burner..

(Note: Dodd-Frank has actually outlawed combining "investment bank" and "trading firm" within the same letterhead, but we take poetic liberties here). 

We could opine almost endlessly as to what GS should or could do to manage the backlash, from internal memo strategies (don't put anything in writing!) to CEO Blankfein having a fire-side chat with NYT's Dian Henriques--or for a better visual, CNBC's Maria Baritoromo.  We'd opt for GS sponsoring and producing a reality TV show with Maria exposing herself, but we haven't received any RFPs just yet.

But, as we noted here in an earlier blog, Goldman's got a new PR maestro that wouldn't march to my, or anyone else's band, other than Lloyd and the Chipmunks Muppets (Not my annotation! "Muppets" is a phrase that the former Goldman employee claims was commonly used to describe Goldman clients..).

If you've read this far..you might want to click on this link bringing you to an unrelated blog that does a solid job of striking at the heart* of the issue that former Goldman staffer Greg Smith made reference to while exposing himself to the world that we know.

*Actually, there were several issues that were alluded to, but since a squid has 8 tentacles, let's keep playing along with the play on words and suggest there are as many as 8 hearts that were struck in the parting soliloquy.

Building #Brand Equity: Re-Defined. With a Dividend Kicker:# Loyal3

Were it not for Holman Jenkins over at WSJ, this former securities markets brand marketer might have missed the evolving story of Silicon Vallyey start-up "Loyal3" until their ads started appearing during Superbowl XLVII (47). From this viewer's vantage point, Loyal3 is on track to blend the most important elements that drive brand loyalty for big companies by giving those corporates a marcom strategy that simply makes sense.

Loyal3 has found a nice blue ocean for itself, even if the WSJ article is portending high probability that its likely to become polluted by spills from Wall Street pools. Whatever. I really like what Loyal3 is developing, even if the primary reason is that the platform allows my child to buy a stake in a company that she loves with the limited money that she has.

But the real story is that Loyal3 strikes at the heart of brand marketing and its a fast-paced vehicle for enhancing customer loyalty. Its Disruptive ( particularly to Squids on The Street who have likely placed listening devices and inserted sniffers on this company's network), its [mostly] Innovative, and it could be the exact Elixir needed to drive retail investors back into the stock market. Its also got a solid slogan that they somehow managed to get trade marked. If only I could get the premium merchandise concession for the T's, totes and caps!
What's with the subliminal, coded message above? Loyal3's memo To The Competition: DIE
Their slogan is soft and sweet...appealing to everyone!

WSJ's opinion piece (entirety can be read by clicking on the title link) 

NBC Reflects on "What is the Internet??"

Courtesy of NBC Talking Head (not to mention Great Legs..) Jane Wells's blog..

6 Things That Social Media Can Predict

The new game of predicting what social media can predict is percolating. Neuroscientists, spies, pollsters, product promoters, news publishers, and stock market savants are all on the bandwagon. This week's "shocking" disclosure that the F.B.I. is recruiting talent from M.I.T. for its initiative to scrape social media and root out evil-doers is hardly a surprise will certainly open Pandora's Privacy Box, but most would argue that horse left the barn long ago.

In any case, the smarter of the new generation of PR pundits and advertorial alchemists who work hand-in-hand with CMOs are not far behind. One of the more interesting take-aways from this posting's title link story is predicting what people will read. The study referenced in the article found the most important predictor was who published the article, followed by its subject category. Credibility is King, and its easier every day to quickly figure out what's topical, and what's not.

Seeing (and) Hearing Is Believing-Print News Media Embraces Video: Attn:Corporate Communicators

"Boo Ya" to Brian Stelter over at the NYT for today's piece profiling a topic I've been pounding the tables about for as long as I've been writing this blog: leveraging video. Stelter's article focused on the burgeoning growth of live videocasting by the once traditional news outlets (you know, those people with print smudges on their finger tips, as well as the computer-pounding Carpel Tunnel crowd and card-carrying members of   "WOC", aka Writers that Occupy Cyberspace.

Live (and canned/programmed) video content is where its at. Why/How/Where?

1. The cost of programming can be peanuts (get yourself a few high end video cams, good backdrops and retain a video programmer/editor from your local high school),
2. The cost to deliver (bandwidth) is benefiting from the race to zero.
3. Mobile Devices continue to command increasing hours of mind share--that said--pushing ads through mobile remains challenging--an issue that Facebook is particularly familiar with..
4. The ocean of Content is virtually limitless.
Lets take it one step further--to the corporate cubicles. We're here to say that those businesses that embrace the bullets above will bet on board--by producing live segments populated with a broad range of infotaining content targeting customers, vendors, partners and the like.

You read it here first :)

Data Mining, Marcom and Overcoming Analysis Paralysis; The Last Mile

Narrative Science, the Chicago-based start-up that specializes in converting mines of data into understandable objective commentary and narrative is on to something big.

Data mining and extracting metrics for analysis is integral to just about every business; its fair to guess that most enterprises allocate increasing amounts to algorithms that sort and parse data so that decision makers can draw conclusions based on an ever broadening spectrum of inputs--much of it courtesy of the Internet.

Metric analysis is as mainstream as vanilla ice cream; its long been a practice area extending across among other sectors, manufacturing, procurement, sales forecasting, political campaigning, sports, and more recently, the world of advertising.

But..the other side to this coin is commonly known as "analysis paralysis"--too much of anything is no good..and more importantly, without being able to crisply articulate the conclusions drawn from factual findings, the entire exercise becomes, well, an entire exercise.
Below white paper courtesy of Narrative Science points to an important imperative; the science of casting data interpretation into easy-to-read and easy-to understand narrative. Kudos to this group, one that is arguably positioned to upend the traditional publishing industry by introducing automated editorial applications..

Data Mining, Marcomm & The Last Mile

PR 101: Bank Spokesman Should Refresh Message: #BofA Case Study

I don't know Bank of America spokesman Jerry Dubrowski, I don't have any position (long or short) in BofA stock (NYSE:BAC), and I certainly don't expect BofA to retain my services re: public relations advice. So, I'll offer it pro bono, even if Uncle Sam has plowed plenty of taxpayer money (mine included) into this company. The 2-rule advice is pretty simple:

1. PR people should take their Asperger meds before responding to the media.

2. If your PR person has not been tested/diagnosed with Asperger's, the rule of thumb would be to test them for this syndrome before giving them the keys to the "publish" button.

In today's NYT article profiling investment advisory Tangent Capital Partners' focus on small banks and eschewing the behemoth banks such as BofA, Times reporter Bill Alden quoted BofA spokesman Dubrowski with the following statement: [the bank is] “a stronger company today than it was during the height of the financial crisis..” 

Aside from the fact the phraseology used by Dubrowski is as ubiquitous as the phrase "toilet paper," it is the exact same, questionably-credible statement Dubrowski has used on prior occasions (most recently August 2011). Not coincidentally, but sort of funny anyway, these are the exact same words uttered last year by Angelo Mozilo when referencing BofA. For those not aware, Mr. Mozilo is the former Chairman of Countrywide Financial, the mortgage issuer acquired by BofA "during the height of the financial crisis."


While this blogger (who happens to include the financial services space within my firm's practice area) doesn't take exception to spokespeople sticking to certain types of corporate statements, one could argue that financial service companies in particular need to be topical and circumspect, and should certainly update their auto-reply messages to media.

Rule 1. Avoid the "duh!" factor. One would like to think hope that a company such as BofA would necessarily be a stronger company within no more than 3+ years after receiving $45 BILLION in government (taxpayer) bailout funds, especially after using much of that money to acquire, among others, one of the industry's biggest and profitable investment banks (i.e. Merrill Lynch). Further, one would think hope that the $4bil +/- BofA employees received as compensation courtesy of the bailout would have been a big incentive for those employees to help make BofA a better business.

Rule 2. Get the Facts Straight--Unless You're a Presidential Candidate.Alas, per the image below, BofA's stock price doesn't exactly support the contention that BofA is any stronger now than it was at the height of the crisis. If judging from the chart, it would appear this company is noticeably less strong than it was during the height of the financial market's fiasco. (Note: the handicap of acquiring Countrywide has undoubtedly hampered BofA's balance sheet, and, as Warren Buffet has proven more than twice, stock prices don't always reflect the internal strength or the potential break-up value of a company.)

For PR professionals catering to the financial services space, or any other PR professionals, two additional lessons to be learned are self-evident:

1. BEFORE PROVIDING THE MEDIA WITH A STATEMENT OF ANY KIND: Make it a practice of revisiting prior statements made and the context in which they were made.

2. Unless your slogan or tag line is truly "multi-tasking" (i.e. can be seamlessly incorporated into a PR statement to the media), keep your corporate comments to the media on point, in context, and appropriately topical.

To Jerry D at BofA--I necessarily apologize for spotlighting you in particular, and I am thankful that I don't have a mortgage, a line of credit or credit card issued by BofA-if I did, I'm sure it would be yanked as a result of this posting, leaving me in a lurch!

#Protecting Privacy: #Email Disclaimers Leveraging Levity

New rule: those cute disclaimers below your signature are often overlooked, rarely carry any real legal recourse, but can be used to insert a subliminal message that will endear you to recipients who appreciate a bit of refreshing levity

We noticed this one that reads:

Notice & Disclaimer: This e-mail is supposed to be a confidential communication and in theory, is intended solely for the recipient(s) named above. But people forward sh*t all of the time, and I can't really stop you from doing the same. This communication may contain information that is proprietary, privileged, trade secret (real or imagined), or might be protected by law in some country or a distant planet against unauthorized use or disclosure.  This message and any file(s) or attachment(s) transmitted with it, are transmitted on a reasonable expectation of privacy. Reasonable is subject to interpretation, and I've given up trusting people to conform to basic requests of privacy. If you have received this message in error and you are not the named recipient(s), please immediately notify the sender

Digital Dilemma Debate: #SOPA : IP, Privacy v. Productivity

Al Gore purportedly once claimed that he helped invent the Internet, and if he actually maintains intellectual ownership, if not parenthood (a DNA test might address the latter), given the spike in stories profiling the ease by which virtually any/every form of digital communication can be easily hijacked or hacked, I extend my personal thanks to Al for inspiring my latest idea; one that might resolve the entire debate surrounding SOPA, the ill-conceived legislation intended to mitigate online piracy.

Background: Last week the 24/7 news cycle was a flutter with the arrest of Megaupload senior execs  [for those of you that might have suffered from an electrical brownout and weren't able to access news stories on the net and have since stopped subscribing to cable TV and print publications because you're now a 100% Webbie] this is was one of several leading e-file sharing platforms that enable users to electronically ship (or simply store) content, whether it be copyrighted, patented or simply private/proprietary information. Despite denials from government officials, the arrest of these executives was precipitously part and parcel to proponents' efforts to push through SOPA legislation.

And, for those not aware, including US senators and Congresspeople who were lobbied with steak dinners to support the SOPA initiative, there's since been a whopper of a backlash; many of the leading internet-based companies that were caught off-guard as the legislation was being formulated, have since raised their swords to challenge government intervention of the Internet. They argue that the Internet is a public domain that should not be regulated, even if Al Gore influenced the US Government to underwrite and develop this now ubiquitous and most pervasive form of global communication/interaction.

Per today's prior posting here, we profiled the NYT story re: the easy-to-open back doors of  web-based video conferencing. Coincidentally, today's WSJ carried a separate story "Hackers-For-Hire", detailing the ease by which anyone (not just law enforcement agencies) can hijack email account passwords and capture insightful and potentially incriminating information embedded within just about any email correspondence.

OK, even if our latest idea might not be our own,  because our recent proposal to "shut down the internet for 6 hours a day" has been met with ridicule by those that have said "you can't put the genie back in the bottle", this idea is bound to be a winner, which is why we've acquired the licensing rights to, and will soon merchandise a device that will re-revolutionize the art of personal relationship marketing and business development.

This idea will not only reinvigorate the US manufacturing sector (until of course, the Chinese are outsourced to make the devices), but it will re-start the art of one-to-one, direct personal communication, which by default, will impact a broad spectrum of businesses that have found themselves disintermediated by the advent of communication applications that diminish the need to actually meet in person with the people that you do business with. This will be a boon to the travel, lodging and restaurant industries, to name just a few.

Here it is--and happy Monday!:

Online Video Corproate Conferencing 201: b4 Hackers hijack you, read the Instruction Manual

As a long-time proponent of leveraging video-technology apps for corporate conferencing, its no surprise that in the race to zero (i.e. low cost offerings), back doors for breaching are easily opened by uninvited viewers.

In today's NYT article by Nicole Perlroth, it seems that the actual problem is not necessarily with the respective 3rd party technologies that are popular, but network administrators /implementers are often forgetting to read instruction manuals that direct users on how to configure the applications, which are frequently set to the lowest security thresh holds to make it as easy as possible for viewers (and broadcasters).

The take-away for type A's that plug and play without first reading the instruction manual: Read the instruction manual. 

#ContentMarketing For Thought Leaders #SeekingAlpha

Excerpt from Propel Growth re financial industry marketing tactics for today's landscape-one that loves to exploit the hedge fund phrase "Alpha".

Caveat: remains to be seen whether many of those capital markets Alpha-types are prepared to put themselves out there with the suggested approaches (e.g. blogs); after all, financial industry regulators zero in on all that are outspoken in an effort to catch them saying/writing something that runs afoul of the regs.

That said, what was said by Propel Growth actually pertains to any company that aspires to be recognized as a leader among peers in a competitive space. This blogger would argue the rules below will help you swim in blue oceans (just make sure you take out cruise insurance!)

Content marketing is about creating educational content that helps your prospective customers understand their business problems, gain a vision of how to solve the problem, and build a business case to get internal buy-in. This content can take the form of whitepapers, blog posts, live events or video. As you provide the prospect with high quality content – information that they can rely on to steer their decisions, you’ll gain their trust and have a significant influence over the buying decision. To quote Ardath Albee, author of eMarketing Strategies for the Complex Sale, “Publishing compelling content builds credibility.” This credibility is what gives you competitive advantage.

High-quality content, strategically placed, that is found by prospects who are looking for it and as a result, are ready to engage with you. (talk about warm leads!). According to inbound marketing specialist HubSpot, “72% of companies who blog weekly have acquired customers through their blog.” As a new form of lead generation, inbound marketing is bringing in revenue for companies who have really dug in and focused on sharpening their marketing strategy.

#F-bombs and Other Ad Trends for 2012

After noticing today's WSJ article profiling ad trends for 2012, and then re-visiting observations made right here (in May 2010),  it seems that this blogger may be just ahead of the curve. But, I'd also acknowledge that when it comes to catching the curl of the wave in the blue ocean of advertising strategies, being too early is perhaps no different than being too late.

According to this morning's predictive piece by Suzanne Vranica, advertisers are expected to ramp up the use of racy narrative and tongue-in-cheek humor in an effort to leverage the increasing number of delivery channels and to rise above the ever-more crowded contest for eyeballs and mind share.

As much as I patted myself on the back for making similar predictions 18 months ago, trash-talk didn't get much traction in 2011.

CBS crapped out after purchasing the TV production rights to "Sh*t My Dad Says", Carol Bartz, the Queen of Potty, has yet to re-emerge in the ad world, Calvin Klein's half-hearted attempt to shock and awe even more than usual by using a subliminally-placed F-bomb within billboard ads in Manhattan was too subliminal to notice. Adding to the mix, Spirit Air's March 2011 email campaign: "F--ing Golden Fares" was a feeble attempt to exploit Oscar-winning actress Melissa Leo's February F-bombing at the Oscars, and clothing company Diesel took a dive into the murky waters last spring by exploiting the f-word in European fashion mag ads. [Given how f*cked up the EU's economic situation was at the time (and remains as of this writing), phrases like "F-ck This!" appear regularly on the front pages of newspapers, otherwise diluting the shock and awe of a clothing ad.

All of that said, if ever there was a time and place for F-bombing in ads, this year's Presidential election race provides the perfect opportunity. Stay tuned.

How much is a tweet worth? And how much does a Twitter follower cost?

NYT profiles first lawsuit re: ownership rights to tweets. Only surprise: this is the first suit of its kind that media is reporting..

"..In base economic terms, the value of individual Twitter updates seems to be negligible; after all, what is a Twitter post but a few bits of data sent caroming through the Internet? But in a world where social media’s influence can mean the difference between a lucrative sale and another fruitless cold call, social media accounts at companies have taken on added significance.
The question is: Can a company cash in on, and claim ownership of, an employee’s social media account, and if so, what does that mean for workers who are increasingly posting to Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus during work hours?
A lawsuit filed in July could provide some answers..."

Would be surprising if this were the first suit to be brought, but if so, ultimate court decision could prove to be a doozy..even it'll be appealed..No doubt there will be plenty of more suits to follow..with lawyers wearing them..

#DunderMifflin Morphs Into Real-Life Brand of Copy Paper-#Reverse Product Placement

 For decades, marketers have worked to embed their brands in the plots of TV shows and movies as a way to stand out in a crowded ad market. Nowadays, using 'reverse product placement'. they are seeing value in bringing to life fictional brands that are already part of pop culture. That can be far cheaper than building brands from scratch.

On the heels of a full clothing line based on the Madmen TV show, Staples' Quill.com has struck a licensing deal with NBC's parent company to launch a Dunder Mifflin brand. Priced largely above private-label copy paper, the Dunder Mifflin packages will be emblazoned with slogans such as "Our motto is, 'Quabity First' " and "Get Your Scrant on," well-known phrases from the comedy series.
Read the full story here courtesy of the WSJ

Does Trusting Transparency Work?: PR Crisis Management Case Study

Even if NYT columnist and CNBC commentator Andrew Sorkin might not consider himself a crisis mgt/PR guru, his column today profiling investment firm Jefferies Group efforts over the past several weeks to combat rampant [negative] rumors circulating throughout the investment industry provides good subtext not only for securities industry firms, but any firm whose reputation, and in particular, perceived financial viability is evaluated by its customers/clients on a daily basis.

For those familiar with the chain of events leading to the collapse of various financial firms back in 2008 & 2009 (sic Lehman, Bear Stearns, Refco, and more recently, multiple closings of once-esteemed 'major hedge funds', we're in a 24-hour news cycle world where a rumor-fueled "run-on-the-bank" can destroy a company and thousands of jobs within a matter of days, if not hours.

This is exactly why even  the most altruistic PR crisis management strategies need to be well thought out, and vetted by objective, experienced experts--and perhaps even "tested" on a control group before anyone lets the CEO take pen to paper and hit the 'send button'.
Click on the title link to read in between the lines.

Marketing Marijuana Goes Mainstream:Sex Sells

Courtesy of Bloomberg LP:

"..There are currently 16 states that allow some form of legalized medical marijuana, but so far, only Colorado allows marijuana businesses to operate as such. It’s the first, and for the moment, only, for-profit marijuana marketplace in the U.S.."..and per the Bloomberg article, these entrepreneurs are taking best-of-breed marcom and sponsorship strategies one would expect from cutting-edge consumer brands..

At least one interesting take-away: sex sells..click on the title link for the full article..

Marketers Embrace Last Laugh: Comedy Sells

When times are hard, a soft sell can often work better than a head-on approach.
Good article from today's NYT:
Comedians, stars of situation comedies and actors known for being funny have long been mainstays of advertising, on the theory that laughter can sweeten a sales spiel. Recently, their popularity as pitchmen and pitchwomen seems to be increasing — sometimes to the point that television viewers or magazine readers may feel that they are sitting through a set at a comedy club. 

During the Depression, advertisers turned to funny radio performers to peddle their wares, among them Fred Allen, for Bristol-Myers brands like Ipana toothpaste; Jack Benny, for Jell-O; Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy, for Chase & Sanborn coffee; and Fibber McGee and Molly, for Johnson’s Wax.

Another reason for the prevalence of laugh makers is their ability to woo consumers into paying attention to ads. That is important in an era when DVRs and remote controls make it easy to avoid commercials and marketers seek to attract visitors to Facebook fan pages and YouTube video channels.

#Borrowed-Interest: Betting on 11-11-11

Per today's NYT, Ads that hinge on a special date are an example of a marketing tactic called borrowed interest, in which advertisers try to involve themselves in big, topical events that the proverbial “everyone” is talking about. It is the hucksters’ equivalent of candidates far down on the ballot attempting to win by riding the coattails of those at the top of the ticket. The article profiles only a handful of the tens of dozens of major brand campaigns seeking to leverage 11-11-11

The take-away reminder for marcom guru's is merely a reminder that thought leadership strategies are driven by topical news events. Today's smart marketers are the ones that also peel off every major headline story and come up with an angle to use the latest events to subliminally promote their company products/services.  That's the beauty of Twitter; although I still don't understand their purported valuation on SecondMarket

Big Brands Low-Cost Facebook Strategy

WSJ Nov 3:

The centerpiece of Ford Motor Co.'s online campaign for the 2012 Focus was a free Facebook page hosted by an orange-colored puppet that in a few weeks won over a new, younger audience for the once-stodgy compact.

Ford spokespuppet "Doug" drew crowds to online conversations and videos that starred him clowning around the new Focus. Doug inspired more than 43,000 Facebook users to click "Like," the icon that broadcasts to friends a thumbs-up approval of a brand or product.

While Ford shelled out an estimated $95 million to advertise the new Focus across a broad range of media, it spent just pennies on the dollar for Facebook ads.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204294504576613232804554362.html#ixzz1cYU8picK

#HedgeFund Marketing: Its all about the #Brand

courtesy of HedgeCo.net –
Since the market correction of 2008, a vast majority of hedge fund net asset flows have gone to a small minority of hedge funds with the strongest brands, marking a change from the pre-2008 environment. A brand is an investor’s perception of the overall quality of a hedge fund based on multiple evaluation factors that evolve over time. A high-quality brand takes a long time to develop, but once achieved, it significantly enhances a firm’s ability to raise capital and retain assets during a drawdown in performance.

Branding is a critical issue for all hedge funds, because the marketplace has become increasingly competitive. Most agree that there are over 10,000 hedge funds in the market place. Hedge fund investors are inundated with requests for meetings, with some receiving hundreds of phone calls or e-mails per week from investment managers. To filter through the overload of information, investors are turning more and more to a firm’s brand when choosing which funds to meet and ultimately invest with.

#Jobs : The Icon

A genius marketer who epitomized the meaning of "blue ocean" was only one of many of Steve Job's attributes. He'll be remembered as a visionary unlike all but a handful of men throughout the past 200 years who have so noticeably, and so productively influenced modern civilization. He was the King Neptune of Blue Oceans.

Among the many phrases that will be used to describe him, the best might be human force majeure, a truly great force, and someone who was unique in his ability to influence, inspire and incite fireworks across the broadest spectrum of human intellect.

We can only hope that he left behind the blueprints and the user manuals to the many products and technology innovations that he left on the drawing board, or at very least, that he has left a legacy that will inspire those that aspire to be like him!

#Computer Fraud & Abuse Act: New Boon for Criminal Lawyers

GWU Law Professor Orin Kerr's op-ed in today's NYT  "Should Faking a Name on Facebook Be a Felony?", and his take on how far the US Department of Justice wants to take this 1986 legislation is a must-read.

Unknown to most, that legislation has been quietly broadened over the years, and unless anyone raises a voice, its about to become a felony to write/post anything that "exceeds authorized access" to any computer, including writing/posting anything that's not true.

Sounds crazy? Well, the DOJ is planning to exploit the definition of "exceeds authorized access", the ubiquitous 'terms and conditions' that are part and parcel to the very tiny fine print displayed in every software application, and a condition to virtually every third party website, including social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn.

Aggressively over-promoting the benefits of a soft drink?Are you doing the Alec-Bloviator-Baldwin thing, and stating on your Twitter account or FB page that "the barrista at Starbucks purposefully gave me bad service and didn't know what he was doing!"?  Boom: Potential 3 year jail sentence in a federal slammer.