Marketing 2.0

Brands We Love

Want to inspire passionate loyalty for your brand? Take some advice from marketers at Guinness, ESPN and Harley-Davidson in this article from Fast Company.

Fast Company | Fast Talk: Brands We Love

Mixing Ads with Bloggers

Well, you knew this one was coming. Traditional advertising may be appearing on your favorite blog if a service called "Blogversations" (who came up with that brand name?) has a say in it. The service is designed to allow marketers to pay for sponsorship of weblogs. Opinion is divided whether this will compromise the objectivity and independent thinking that blogs are known for. What do you think? Via Wired magazine.

Wired News: Service Mixes Ads in Blog Chatter

Goals vs. Mission

Fast Company offers an excellent article from Marshall Goldsmith on the differences between goals and the larger mission. The message? Don't get so focused on goals that you lose sight of the larger mission. Here's my favorite excerpt from this article.

The canyons of Wall Street are littered with victims of goal obsession. I asked one hard-driving deal maker, "Mike, why do you work all of the time?" He replied, "Why do you think? Do you think I love this place? I am working so hard because I want to make a lot of money!" I continued my inquiry, "Do you really need this much money?" "I do now," Mike grimaced. "I just got divorced for the third time. With three alimony checks every month, I am almost broke." "Why do you keep getting divorced?" I asked. The answer came out as a sad sigh. "All three wives kept complaining that I worked all the time. They have no idea how hard it is to make this much money!"

Fast Company | Goal 1, Mission 0

elise.com: On the Job: An Overview of the Weblog Tools Market

Elise Bauer has prepared a good overview of the tools available for creating and managing a weblog. She's also done some market research to determine popularity and usage levels. This is a good guide for anyone thinking about starting a blog but unsure where to go.

elise.com: On the Job: An Overview of the Weblog Tools Market

The ZenithOptimedia Marketer's Portal

The Marketer's Portal is a good research tool, a clearing house or hub for online marketing resources. They claim links to over 5,000 sites along with live news feeds. It's a good starting point for building your personal collection of marketing resources.

The ZenithOptimedia Marketer's Portal

The Lost Boys

Good article from Wired Magazine on the decline of traditional television advertising. Although this is hardly a revelation to most marketers, there are some good examples of alternative marketing strategies used to reach younger customers, especially the critical 18-34 male demographic.

"Online gaming all night: Cool. Hour after hour downloading MP3s and porn: No problem. Thirty seconds so you can try to sell me something? Outta here. How the 18-34 male is reinventing advertising."

Wired 12.08: The Lost Boys

Divergence, Convergence, and Other Marketing Strategies

The latest Wharton newsletter has a good article on branding. The article summarizes many of the key points raised in the book "The Origin of Brands: Discover the Natural Laws of Product Innovation and Business Survival", by Al and Laura Ries.

"The Rieses contend that Darwin’s concept of divergence can be applied to the process of introducing new brands and to maintaining the continued profitability of existing companies. McDonald’s and Starbucks are classic examples of new brand divergence. Diners and coffee shops were a fixture of the American scene, but McDonald’s, with its limited menu based on the hamburger, and Starbucks, with its emphasis on European-style gourmet coffees, separated their brands from the competition and created a category for themselves which they could dominate."

Divergence, Convergence, and Other Marketing Strategies - Knowledge@Wharton