We are all sick of hearing about the love-struck girl who posted a YouTube video in an attempt to find a bloke she'd met at a Sydney café that has been proved to be a less-than-inspiring viral marketing campaign. 'Heidi Clarke' was an actress hired for the campaign by Surry Hills-based marketing group Naked Communications ...
Yes, rules are made for a reason but they’re also there to be broken. If your customer help representative can’t help a customer because of a 'rule', then this rule needs to be challenged. In today's shifting online world some rules are outdated. Add technology advances and audience sophistication and you realise ...
Book review details: Martin Lindstrom Buyology: How Everything We Believe About Why We Buy Is Wrong Random House 2008 Sydney-based author Martin Lindstrom's Buyology might have made a brief appearance on the New York Times bestseller list in November but by my standards and those professional marketers, strategists ...
ABT CEO Antony Gowthorp says 'Brand Obama' shows how emotional intelligence can help organisations handle tough economic times. When Barack Obama's election campaign encountered potentially image-denting, bad news threats – in the shape of outbursts from Obama's former religious mentor the Rev. Jeremiah Wright – ...
The dawning of the digital age has created much hand-wringing among traditional media providers and the advertisers who feed them. A plethora of new options has seen rapid erosion of the once mighty traditional media power base. The press is under grave threat as consumers can quickly and freely access specialist ...
Generally in business, things that are 'free' have some alternate revenue stream or strategy driving them. On the internet, people have become accustomed to using 'free' products and services where the revenue stream is driven by advertising on the site and most do not think twice about taking them onboard. In ...
In this post I respond to a (very good) question that I was asked about researcher bias and subjectivity, specifically what to do about it. Interesting topic this one! Researcher bias and subjectivity in qualitative research It’s true, without doubt, that personal biases and subjectivity shape the way researchers ...
'Social networking is a just a phase' - the headline jumped out at me, the shock, the horror, surely not? I had just read this quickly on a newswire while my computer was supposed to be absolutely turned off/dead over Christmas and New Year. It got me thinking, is it a phase? Social networking is a long-known art, ...
The year is almost out and that means bloggers dust off their crystal balls and pretend like they know what's going to happen over the next year, when most of us couldn't tell you what next week holds. Still, think of it all as a law of averages - somewhere in amongst these 31 lists have got to be some accurate ...
In his latest vodcast, Ana Bosnjak interviews Geoffrey McDonald Bowll, MD of Starship and author of the monthly column Guerrilla Guide in Marketing magazine, about psychographics and why people wear many hats. Check it out below now! And stay tuned for his second post coming up in the new year on retail marketing ...
When you are writing an advertisement, the first impression – the first thing the reader sees or reads – can mean the difference between success and failure. If the first impression is boring or irrelevant, the ad will not attract your prospect. If it offers news or helpful information, or promises a reward for reading ...
It's that time of the year when a (not so) young man's thoughts turn to the things that really teed him off in the year just-a-passin'. UK broadsheet The Guardian just formalised its review list of the year's worst TV ads here. (Gillette takes bottom prize) - prompting me to wonder about the smells and swells of ...
He’s known the world over for his kindness and generosity, but marketing Santa is hard work according to his embattled marketing director, Arty Sipkus. When he’s not defending Santa’s integrity from UK tabloids, he’s dreaming up new ways to bring the old jolly fat man into the 21st century. It must be a pretty busy ...
Matt Granfield shares his top 10 predictions for the year ahead: 1. Marketing budgets will be slashed by 35% 2. Marketing expectations will be raised by 35% 3. Facebook will not be sold, Twitter will not be monetised and MySpace will grow at precisely the same rate as the American economy 4. A major Australian ...
In part one of our interview with David Thorne, we found out the workings of his now famous spider email, following its viral explosion. In the final part of the interview, Thorne reveals more of the strange existence he lives in brand land and why it is such an important world – despite some of the people that work ...
Lazy people of the world unite - Blogs for Breakfast is finding the thought-provoking, controversial, informative, hilarious or downright insane marketing blogging and delivering it to you in handy spoonfuls every week. This week, three questions to jump start your brains: Social media is great and all that, but ...
How do you get your campaign to go viral? Strategic planning? Purely by accident or good luck? David Thorne found out when he posted his exchange with a creditor over an unpaid bill. It all started when he offered to pay it with a spider… Who are you and why should people give a damn? The interest has been in the ...
This post is about getting the sample right in qualitative research. It’s an important issue because if you don’t get the sample right, then even the most brilliant research techniques in the world won’t get you anywhere. Sample. Funny word if you stare at it long enough. Which I have. This is my fifth attempt at ...
Anticipating and mitigating the dramatic impact of organisational inertia on transformational brand programs can help companies better cope with a constantly shifting economic environment. Just ask the US car makers. It’s a key finding from a recent study by Harvard Business School’s Mary Tripsas on the interplay ...
As we brace ourselves for a slowing economy, and marketing budgets are squeezed, it’s well worth asking; is qualitative research something you can do yourself? What can be done with a tight budget? DIY qualitative research In one sense, qualitative research is not only something you can do yourself, it’s something ...