This is the post that’s probably going to get me in a lot of trouble. I’m writing this post on tobacco brands now because 2009 is going to be a watershed year for regulated brands on the social web (alcohol, tobacco, firearms, adult brands). This post is written for all… More»
There is no doubt that Facebook is college students’ primary go-to site for social networking, yet it seems that many brands still haven’t been able to figure out how to market effectively in this space, let alone the entire social web. Here are four brands that royally failed in… More»
When I work with larger brands, one of the key concerns by CMOs or Marketing Directors is how the results of their social media strategy will be pipelined into their current ERP system. I know what you’re thinking; a lot of people in these companies have a lot of trouble… More»
“Should we create a social network application?” This is a question many lifestyle brand CMOs and Marketing Directors ask, in our very first meeting. My usual answer is “Why? What business objective are you trying to achive?” The client then usually rattles off recent figures about the number of active users… More»
There are two kinds of tech startups: the ones that ship dirty and fix the mistakes later, and the ones who don’t. I’ve had pretty good experiences giving feedback to TripIt, who have made most of the changes that I’ve suggested. Now, I’m beginning to wonder about Avego ,… More»
People often ask me what I listen to while I’m cranking out strategies, so here’s my list of albums that I typically listen to while cranking out client documents. These are truly the records that inspire big, passionate thinking, and ambitious, measurable strategies. Enjoy the linkage, and I hope that… More»
HotelsCombined, a hotel price comparison engine, has taken a radically different tack to generate buzz on the social web. They’re making charitable donations in users names in exchange for a mention of the brand on the blog. Alternately, if a user becomes a Facebook fan, the brand is willing… More»
Today, in one of my classes at UC Berkeley, I counted at least 15 of my peers using social media during the lecture. And that’s just what I could noticeably see on the many laptop screens that were up. I’m sure the other students were just much more adept at minimizing… More»
Even a lot of marketers outside of the travel industry think of drug companies or health insurance when they hear the phrase DMO. Don’t be confused: DMO is just an acronym for destination marketing organization, and in the last few months, they’ve been steadily emerging onto the social web, en… More»
As I’ve been doing a lot more work in the travel space lately, I’ve been doing more interviews with cool travel publications like Meetings Focus , one of the bigger publications in the meetings and event-planning industry. In this piece, Savvy Intelligence Gathering , I discuss how meeting planners can… More»
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