Confessions of a Marketing Addict - Tery Spataro

DEATH the Digital Plan

2010-02-19T11:24:00.000-08:00

We’ve accomplished so much on digitally. Almost every business model has transcended to a digital model. But over the past year or so I’ve been thinking about one business model that has yet to really transcend digitally...though it’s almost here and that model is…

DEATH

…it’s already a big business in the dirt world. Funeral services, memorials, obituaries, tombstones, even the catering business is attached to the business of DEATH.

I know you’re gasping at my focus on such a touchy subject.

My essay is an exploration of my thoughts about DEATH and potential for business plan about transcending DEATH in the digital world and what I think the future of DEATH will be. My reasoning around the subject of DEATH probably stems from my mid life, questioning who I am, my purpose and if anyone really knew me at all – sometimes this type of self absorption is a good opportunity to see if anyone is thinking in the same way if so what’s the opportunity?

Here I go: not to belabor the details of my request from my Will, I don’t want to be put into the ground & buried. I believe my human vessel should be cremated to save the planet from further waste and pollution. I believe the body is merely a vessel my personality, thoughts, dreams, feelings, hopes, desires, memories is really what makes me me and therefore the most important information worth saving. Here is where I see the opportunity in DEATH.

A slight digression, we do a great job of digitally preserving and archiving our arts, music, TV programs, movies, even our financial statements that go on in years in time, but why not the human personality?

Here lies the business I want to be in…

I want to be in the business of the preservation of personality – the thoughts and memories of the individual. Think about this instead of visiting the cemetery, you visit the digital version of your loved one. The memories, personality, all the digital bits and bytes about this person are archived so that you can relive those moments of your loved one. Therefore, in DEATH there is the opportunity for ever lasting life in the digital world.

Yes, there are several businesses that cater the digital business of DEATH already:

Death Switch
Dead Man’s Switch
Sympathy Tree
Virtual Memorials
Asset Lock

There are even folks talking about how to manage your digital bits after you die.
And Facebook will preserve your FB page for as long as long can be, but really how long is long; how about of your life is really there, what will it be used for in the future?

The list goes on…
Even searching the business of digital death [without quotes] led me to about 74 million possibilities about the subject.

I believe a lot of us are thinking about it, but I want to be the one to do something about it.

The future of DEATH could be something extraordinary. As our scientists continue to explore the possibilities of artificial intelligence [AI], the idea of utilizing existing data and information to give AI personality could be drawn from the profile of Human Archive. By utilizing your digital personality could provide you with ever lasting life.

What do you think…

My first step into this world is through a history project I’m working on with Aliza Sherman and Jen Myrunok, Women’s Internet History project. This project will help with the structure of story telling, preserve the stories of women who helped shape, provide a purpose for, and develop the internet. Join us in the preservation process @womensinternet on Twitter.

Women's Internet History Project is dedicated to preserving the stories and contributions from women who were the pioneers of the early internet days 1980-1999. This project provides the biographies, contributions, experiences and connections shared by women who were involved with internet and digital.

Mission:
The premise of this project is to provide a platform to tell our stories, connect with one another, and celebrate the accomplishments of women in every aspect of the Internet evolution.We're building a historical record of women in the Internet history over a 20 year span.The project is co-founded by Aliza Sherman, Jen Myronuk, and Tery Spataro

Are you Over or Under?

2010-02-02T12:56:00.000-08:00

Toilet paper is a necessary comfort for all households. But the big debate has always been whether the toilet paper should roll over or under. This age old debate may be the cause plenty of divorces, separations, firings, and social uprisings. Cottonelle took up the cause of whether TP should be dispensed over or under by having a public vote on which way to roll.

The Cottonelle campaign rolled out a couple in celebration of Thomas Crapper Day according to Blessing Abound Mommy. I first noticed the outdoor advertising on a bus shelter. I chuckled thinking why bother…but then I took a closer look. I discovered Cottenelle made it very easy for consumers to participate in the debate by voting and voicing their option on which way to roll via the Roll Poll Throwdown.

The message that the debate is on is integrated in a number of ways creating several stragetic touchpoints:

Outdoors
Website to cast your vote and see the voting results via a US map which has comments and videos
Facebook, Twitter and YouTube
Search engine marketing (SEM)
PR, blogger, and twitter chatter
TV ads
Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott got into the act with Cottonelle puppies, who doesn’t love those adorable puppies?

What I really enjoyed about this campaign was the fun way to engage consumers. There was a similar campaign over the Coke/Pepsi debate but TP isn’t something consumers usually discuss in mass. This was a clever way to give consumers an opportunity to talk about the over or under dilemma gets the conversation started.

Kimberly Clark got consumers to talk about TP and engage in the over or under debate. Budget minded consumers may be hunting for cheaper TP brands or offers to offsite strapped budgets. Was the Cottonelle campaign enough to provide brand affinity for Cottonelle? Was there any thought to customer acquisition an easy way to provide coupon offering?

Social Measure the Holy Grail - SMBChicago

2009-10-25T13:29:00.000-07:00

The other morning I had the pleasure of being asked to moderate a session; the honor to discuss an important subject – Digital Measurement precisely Social Media Measurement. We’re all trying to figure out how to measure social media, the Social Media Breakfast was perfect place to discuss theories and successes in measuring social media. I wasn’t sure of the level of experience my audience would have so I de-geeked my formulas so that we could have a pleasant conversation.

And a pleasant conversation we had. The Social Media Breakfast of Chicago founded by Craig Bagdon, Scott Bishop and Mike Pilarz who brought together people from all types of backgrounds who are excited by social media and it’s various forms, usages, and users. The group I had sparked enthusiastic conversations around calculating success through measurement and a genuine desire for participates to get something out of the session. If you’re going to show up for an early morning breakfast this is the place that will fuel you physically and intellectually.

I presented rationale on measuring Social Media. Most importantly what’s necessary to do before your begin to measure. It’s always good to have a baseline. We all acknowledged there are so many different behaviors to measure. I spent the past years working out the behavior and intent which I described through a schema I created.

Rick Sack made a great comment about social media he said it’s not media it’s marketing.
The take away from our lively session on Social Media Measurement:

Identify the communication objectives
Define the communication objectives and in terms of social media usage
Identify the social media tactics along with key performance indicators
Indicate outcomes – these are end results of the communications, such as reaching the audience with message. inspiring dialogue, and learning.
Set the return on investment as well as baseline for future analysis – the formula for this is cost of acquisition.

Cost of program/metrics = CoA

Danial Prager, Ocean Agency, nicely summed up Social Media Measurement session in his blog post, On Social Media Measurement.

My recommended reading:

Aliza Sherman, The Everything Blogging Book
Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody
Bob Garfield, The Chaos Scenarios

Highly recommend attending the Social Media Breakfast Chicago - #SMBChicago follow: SMBChicago

You can find me on Twitterhttp://www.twitter.com/tery or Facebook.com/teryspataro

Request for Senior-Friendly Computer

2009-07-04T11:08:00.000-07:00

Joyce and Elaine, two seniors citizens have an open request to Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mike Dell for a senior friendly computer.

Social Media Graffiti

2009-04-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

Means of self expression and communication have change through out the ages. At one time cave paintings were the means of communication and in some cases self expression. Cave paintings turned into fine art turned into well you get the picture. Over the past 2 decades we've seen a new form of self expression in terms of social media.

Social media is the term used to explain self expression online whether through blogging, video, networks. It could be executed through popular programs like:

Twitter
Facebook
YouTube

Often the community will part take in these forms of expressions by commenting and rating, whether it approves or disapproves there is an audience which propels the author.

Self expression and opinion has taken on a more grotesque form. Recently employees are assaulting the companies they work for. As in the case of Dominos we saw the YouTube video in which employees violate the integrity of the food made and served at Dominos and the brand.

This form of self expression is social graffiti. Like graffiti seen in real public spaces this form of graffiti is seen online in social networks like YouTube. Whether we like it or not social graffiti is here to stay as part of the freedom of self expression that digital media provides.

What's UP with CBS and Online Full Episodes?

2008-12-27T14:31:00.000-08:00

CBS provides the best network online viewing experience EXCEPT they stopped providing full episodes. Why CBS stopped, the fans of Eleventh Hour and Mentalist will never know. Over the past couple of months fans have complained to CBS. But CBS has not responded to fans' postings on the CBS community message board. Which make the situation even more disappointing! How could CBS ignore us? What are the advertisers thinking? They should support online full episodes!

http://www.cbs.com/forum/forums/show/95.page

http://www.cbs.com/forum/forums/show/101.page

Almost 4,000 views on just the subject of "Where did the full episodes go?" but not one response from CBS.

Eleventh Hour is great and a lot of fans have opted to watch online. I did because of my busy travel schedule and the fact is I don't own a TV.

Well, perhaps CBS will surprise anxious fans by striking up a deal with Hulu, which offers the best online viewing experience. Hopefully in the process CBS will not loose Eleventh Hour fans and the show will remain.

I have one question for CBS "What's UP with online full episodes?"

No Cable TV or TV since January 2007 it's all about Hulu

2008-10-05T17:47:00.000-07:00

It started as an experiment ended up as a lifestyle change. I was curious can I enjoy the same television entertainment online that I enjoy through cable TV? Can I get everything that I love to watch on cable TV through online?

Keep in mind my computer is a HP Pavilion laptop originally I was using wireless then opted for cable modem to receive internet access.

My tastes in online entertainment are science fiction, drama, girl tv, science, and cooking shows.

I began the experiment in January 2007. I watch programming on ABC, CBS, NBC online, Hulu, Joost and will buy programming I like through ITunes.

At first it was struggle:

ABC provides the Full Episode Player. ABC recently made enhancements but did nothing to help with jerkiness and shaky access. I was watching Pushing Daisies yesterday the video was not syncing up to the sound. It would grind to a halt making the experience frustrating. HD is nice when it works but all unless you have a lot more bandwidth than the average person it’s difficult to see a complete program.

I don’t like having to click on the advertisement when it’s finished to get back to the program. What I do like about the ads is that they can be interactive.

I watch on ABC online: Pushing Daisies, Dirty Sexy Money, Ugly Betty, The Practice, Eli Stone, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, and Desperate Housewives.

I would not have the time to watch any of these programs if I had cable TV even if I saved the programming to DVR I would not have the time or patience to program it.

CBS originally had InnerTube recently changed format. The resolution and speed are an improvement. The HD version works nicely.

I watch CSI, CSI Miami and CSI NY; just saw The Mentalist and waiting to see The Eleventh Hour. On occasion I’ll watch Numb3rs.

The ads play for about 30 seconds and bring you right back to the program. There are only about 5-6 ads per 45 minute program.

NBC provides video of most of its programming but also makes it available on Hulu. I watch several NBC programs including Chuck, The Bionic Woman, Heros, Medium, and Lipstick Jungle.

The ads stream the similarly to CBS and again is 5-6 ad per 45 minute program.

Hulu provides the best experience for online entertainment as well technology. I watch my favorites like Fringe, (new) Battlestar Galactica, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Lipstick Jungle, Heros...and watch older shows like ReGenesis. So far I'm not compelled to buy a TV.

When I can’t find anything I will use Joost and IStore. Joost has some the older programs like Twin Peaks, Crusade, Moonlight and some interesting British programs including HEX. One feature I like about Joost is you can chat with your friends while you’re watching. It reminds of the very early days when Charlene Smith created Orb for Mystery Theatre 2000 for SciFi Channel. If you were a member of ECHO at the time you can chat and your posts would show up on the bottom of the TV screen.

I’ve gone the same with my mobile phone and not having a land line. TV feels constricted and I want to see programs on my time served up when I want it.

Sarah Palin and Good Bye to Education

2008-09-14T19:28:00.000-07:00

In my observations of Sarah Palin, she is smart and attractive but something has been nagging me. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it until I started to think from psychology perspective. This is of course is the year 2008, where sex education isn’t a crime. But there are two different types of sex education being taught: total abstinence or total explicit sex education1. The psychology behind abstinence makes it even more tempting to experiment. There is no ignorance to total explicit sex education. At least there is a chance that this knowledge will be used to decide on a method to preventing pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

In the case of Sarah Palin’s daughter, Bristol, abstinence was taught. Why would Bristol choose to disregard what she learned? Of we could journey down the path of rebellious teen or perhaps a look at this case from a different perspective: Not only was Bristol robbed of the education that could have saved her from unplanned pregnancy but she may have been robbed of self esteem. If abstinence is the preferred education than self esteem must be the first lesson. Self esteem builds strong confidence to either say no or we need to use a form of birth control and sexually transmitted disease prevention.

My observations make me question whether Sarah Palin robbed her daughter of self esteem by neglecting to give her the proper education, knowledge and tools. Keep her ignorant and hope she’ll do the right thing. This is frightfully irresponsible and borders on neglect. To use her daughter as an example is abusive.

Is this what we can look forward to if McCain is elected? Will women be robbed of choice? Will our self esteem as a country be stripped so that things can be done because of our ignorance?

1 Zimmerman, Jonathan. September 4, 2008. Poverty, not sex ed, key factor in teen pregnancy. SF Gate

A Second Life – To Live to Not to Live?

2007-08-05T19:18:00.000-07:00

I find the challenges of living the dirt world life are very satisfying, but I find virtual worlds to be fascinating. I’m no novice to “Second Lives”. In 1989 I embarked on discovering what the world of BBS’ would bring me and found the WELL. I loved the CONNECTING to folks in the Bay area until my boss discovered my dialing-up from the office was costing the small marketing company I was working for a few hundred a month for me to connect online. After I sadly said good bye to friends on the WELL I discovered ECHO, the East Coast Hang Out founded by Stacy Horn. I learned so much about the virtual world! ECHO was my life savor when I briefly left New York to go to a very remote part of the country – Chandler, AZ back in 1993. For me Chandler was the end of world, dusty, disconnected, not one conversation about politics, lots of conversations about Christian religion none of which I was interested, and of course no flame wars, everyone in Chandler was the same. What was this New Yorker suppose to do? I took ECHO with me and was able to feel fulfilled while living so far away from the rest of the world that being New York.

Virtual connections for me were a way of life. What of these virtual worlds? Of course in 1995 I was fascinated with 3D Worlds of Worlds-Away and 2D World of ThePalace. I lead a life on ThePalace for 2 years. I enjoyed ThePalace because it was easy to use. I could create any kind of avatar I wanted. My avatar was having more fun in the virtual world than I was in real life. I had a family, friends, played chess day and night, among other things. There were very few rules inhibiting this world. We were all turned on by Stephenson’s “Snow Crash” and “Diamond Age”. As with any open society the “freedom” in ThePalace led to a decline in community.

Its 2007, we’re on the third generation of virtual worlds. There’s Second Life, Cyworld, World of Warcraft, and for kids there’s Club Penguin and Webkinz. There are changes to these virtual civilizations economic systems and laws have been added. Second Life has a complex economic system based on Linden Dollars. Commerce is taking place there. Second Lifers are buying property building homes and living there. What else is there to do? Like any society there’s shopping in SL you can shop for latest style in skins for your avatar. Earn Linden Dollars by answering questionnaires. Perhaps attend virtual conference. What else is there to do? Gambling is no longer acceptable and is banned. Perhaps make friends. In the case of Aliza Sherman, who is living in Alaska, Second Life is a great way to keep in touch with the main land and explore. In the case of my avatar I took to flying and really enjoy flying. Right now my avatar is stuck somewhere and I’m having a hard time teleporting back to main areas.

All is fascinating but what about the waste that is found in Second Life? According to TreeHugger blogger, Celine Ruben-Salama, second life avatars consume as much electricity as Brazilians. That’s a lot of power being wasted? There are several corporations who have built on second life and are confronted with little or no community support. I haven’t visited American Apparel, IBM or other corporations who have built on Second Life. I question if corporations are building what they have in dirt world or are creating innovation in Second Life. For instance can I buy American Apparel clothes for my avatar? Is IBM supplying some kind of cool innovation such as enhanced teleporting capabilities in SL? Can I zoom around in a 1964 Mustang by Ford? Corporations always are so caution probably won’t risk being innovated and adding something new to SL civilization this is why dirt world corporations will fail in the virtual world.

I give SL credit for pushing the virtual envelope and moving virtual world into virtual civilization. As this third generation of virtual worlds begins, to take shape, it will go through its own life, dead and rebirth cycles.

Sources:
Author Unknown, (2007). “Second Life”, Wikipedia,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Life

A glimpse inside the Metaverse

TerraNova

Everything Your Brand Wants to Know About the Social Media, but Was Afraid to Ask

2007-07-19T18:34:00.000-07:00

Social media has made the millennium what it is today. It's not just about the tools is about the connection the Human Connection. Please indulge me and read my paper on Social Media you’ll find it Siegel+Gale.

eHarmony why bother?

2007-05-02T14:33:00.000-07:00

I've been trying out eHarmony. Sold on the idea of their special matching system works I decided what the heck I'll give it a try.

Based on their information on their site which convinced me a year membership would be the best and most economical choice. I signed up for the year membership. Hope the gratification would come sooner than a year. I would find that special someone.

First task fill out long laborious form which asks similar questions like Myers Briggs. Got through that after an hour or so only to be told after I paid it would be difficult to find a match for.

Thinking back on that day I wonder if this was the legal way of getting out of the special matching system to work? Perhaps it’s all smoke and mirrors.

Match after match just did seem to fit. Most matches though seemingly nice men on paper were geographically undesirable.

All the while eHarmony kept asking for feedback I kept giving feedback about the matching system not working.

The engagement process between the potential matches and I was long a lengthy process. There were very matches that reached the 4th point which is open communication. The behavior of most candidates was to drop off before they reach the final phase. When we finally were engaged by open communication there was no mystery. There was not one face to face meeting. I’m a very disappointed customer in regard to the service. Additionally when I called to speak to customer service they told me because I agree to use eHarmony for the year regardless of how poor their service was I had to pay.

By the way this is my second attempt with eHarmony. The first time I tried eHarmony there were so many bugs with the system I became very frustrated and left the system. This time I was sold on good advertising because I believed eHarmony could find my match, but I think they are very good at selling vapor.

Customer service offered no service. They did not want to hear about my complaints about the system nor was I allowed to talk to a supervisor. They told me they are going to continue to charge me even through their service hasn’t done fulfilled their brand promise.

Incidentally, I did a quick search and found there are people who are equally disappointed with their membership. There are 39,000 keyword using eHarmony sucks.

Here are some quick links:
eHarmony_Consumer_Complaints
Reviews for eHarmony
Beware: eHarmony sucks...
Why does eHarmony think I am destined for a life of loneliness?

This YouTube eHarmony spoof is not so far from what you really get on eHarmony:

tags: eharmony sucks

To Twitter or Not To Twitter

2007-04-14T17:53:00.000-07:00

Ev did it again. Congratulations! Why Twitter. It took me awhile to figure out why would I want to Twitter:

I discovered I like the community aspect to it
I found friends I have't seen or heard from in a long time
I found folks twittering about food, I love food too
I could develop community twittering about food on Daily Eats...could I, hey Ev could I do that? Twitter tagging and ability to filter those tags for specific content? like dark chocolate twitters?

Should a brand twitter?

Will twittering cross the line between community short posts and promotion? btw I also love TinyURL

You can follow me at http://www.twitter.com/tery

Can’t We Do Better than a Bread-Crumb Trail?

2007-03-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

A great post from Irene Etzkorn on the hassles of moving and changing your address. "Yesterday, two of my colleagues mentioned that changing their addresses when they moved was a tremendous hassle..."

We could only hope the US Post Office would provide an easier system for updating a new home address.

Successful Blogging Study

2006-11-11T22:33:00.000-08:00

Daily Eats, Mind Arrays, and of course Tery Spataro, is included in a study of successful blogs conducted by the Northeastern University and Backbone Media.

I'm in good company with Aliza Sherman Risdahl , Jeremy Pepper , and one of my favorite consumer blogs and brands: Stonyfield Farms . I love the little cows and I love Stonyfield yogurt!

A Review of Business Planning Software

2006-08-18T18:48:00.000-07:00

Off-the-shelf-software for marketing planning is good if you are educated on the fundamentals of marketing. The average person using these products may believe the software is the end to the means. Experienced marketers may cut down on time by using one of these tools keeping in mind the type of business, product, industry the plan is being created for and limitations to the software.

I asked a handful of marketers if they used marketing plan software reviewed in this paper. All replied no. Jill Toole, pointed out, "At IDC we don't use any of the planning software mentioned. Managing and keeping track of information and actions that relate marketing is a big task." (Toole. 2006).

Marketing PlanPro:
Marketing PlanPro software development by PaloAltoSoftware touts itself as being "the best way to create marketing plans". (PaloAltoSoftware, 2006). Marketing PlanPro may be useful for up-start company business plan, but may not be strong enough for the marketing professional working directly for a large corporation or marketing consulting firm.

Strengths/Weakness:
In assessing the strengths of Marketing PlanPro, it appears to be easy to use and a time saver. The application is effortless to install with many tutorials and reference materials. With Marketing PlanPro you can create a professional looking document. The software provides marketing analysis and forecasting and automatic charting tools. Reference materials and technical support are available. The structure for Marketing PlanPro provides a good outline.

Using Marketing PlanPro becomes problematic when there is more reliance on the product’s performance and not on research. Marketing PlanPro is not appropriate for the average person who is trying to develop a business. There needs to be some knowledge of marketing or business. Marketing PlanPro may be too weak for the experienced marketer. The analytical and forecasting tools will require the user to have some knowledge of math. Marketing PlanPro provides templates from similar businesses. Sole reliance on using these templates for content may cause misunderstanding of the market place. The template structure may be too limiting for the experienced marketer.

brs Planrite
brs Plan Write for Marketing Software is used by mangers, entrepreneurs and consultants. (brs Marketing Plan Software, 2006) brs PlanWrite for Marketing Software is developed to help to define the actions necessary for effective marketing strategy. This tool is great for expert marketers.

Strengths/Weakness:
brs PlanWrite for Marketing Software provides organization of strategy in linear style and outline the components of marketing planning process. The built-in algorithms will help to determine competition. Pre supplied data and analytical rules based on business and economic research. The 60-question process allows the software to analyze long term business success. It provides concise charts and graphing tools for decision making.

brs PlanWrite for Marketing Software is not for everyone. There needs to be an understanding of the marketing process. The data resources provided for determining market competition may be outdated or not beneficial to the industry, product or service. The business and economic research supplied may be out of date. There was no indication this research is updated on a regular basis. Reliance using out dated research could lead to poor marketing decisions.

PlanMagic
PlanMagic makes the claim on the website to be the "leading edge marketing plan software". Immediately I am skeptical because PlanMagic does not provide any demonstrations to substantiate the company's claims.

Strengths/Weakness:
PlanMagic is designed "to be used by entrepreneurs, startups, home business, small businesses, college students..." (PlanMagic Corporation. 1995-2006). Indicated software has easy to follow guides and instructions. Provides an analytical tool for internal and external factors. PlanMagic has easy integration with MS Excel.

The planMagic website is confusing. It does not provide a good demonstration of the product. PlanMagic made claims having various charting and analytical tools but there was no demonstrated evidence of these tools or an indication of how well they work.

EXMAR®
EXMAR® strategic marketing, developed by the Marketing Process Company in conjunction with Malcolm McDonald Professor Emeritus. (The Marketing Process Company. 2006). EXMAR® software provides tools to manage marketing more effectively as well as the ability to analyze growth and profit. (The Marketing Process Company. 2006). EXMAR® is sold as part of marketing planning consulting package.

Strengths/Weakness:
EXMAR® is very comprehensive software with the capability of charts, matrices, graphs and reports. Taking the time to develop Gap Analysis, Perceptual maps, SWOT analysis, Porter Matrix, Market segmentation & mapping, Objective and strategy setting by using MS Excel or some data mapping software is consuming. Making these tools available will cut down on time. Has the flexibility to produce the final document in MS Word or PowerPoint.

The organization of the materials was disappointing and difficult which subtracts from the product's credibility. The Marketing Process Company provides EXMAR® and consulting as the product. A small business or entrepreneurial company may not want the added expense of using EXMAR®.

Which of the four business planning software did I like best?
I have never used off-the-shelf marketing plan software. Most of my clients are entrepreneurial companies and small businesses, I prefer doing my own research, with a process that works best for their needs. In the interest of producing timely reports so that marketing efforts can be tracked, analyzed, and retooled I would probably opt for brs PlanWrite. I originally liked EXMAR® for the robust analytical tools but my clients would not buy additional consulting services. brs PlanWrite provides the flexibility with some analytical tools for my clients' needs.

Going to Work for SUBWAY: Part 1 - By Agency.com

2006-08-05T11:28:00.000-07:00

At first look of the Agency.com video pitch to Subway, it made me feel uncomfortable. I thought bold move and how does Subway really feel about this?

Steve Rubel thinks it lame and accues Agency.com of holding Subway's brand hostage.

Coudal Partners' responds with their own pitch. Woa it's rude.

Karl Long gives a good overview of everyone's opinions.

Who says guerilla marketing doesn’t work now look at all of us talking about Subway. Finally an agency that Brings Big Balls back to the agency world!

Btw my favorite Subway sandwich is tuna salad with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and olives with mustard on honey oat bread.

Going to Work for SUBWAY: Part 1 - By Agency.com you can be popped or flopped at PopCurrent.

Tags: subway agency.com viral marketing

Interview: Aliza Sherman-Risdahl

2006-05-29T12:42:00.000-07:00

Originally appearing on Daily Eats:

Today we have a special interview with Aliza Sherman-Risdahl. Aliza is a Web pioneer, online marketing expert, published author, and regular contributor to national magazines and Web sites. She was named by Newsweek as one of the "Top 50 People Who Matter Most on the Internet." She has spoken around the world about the Internet, entrepreneurship, and women's empowerment. Aliza is also a contributor to Daily Eats. Aliza joins us from Alaska.

She discusses her new book “The Everything Blogging Book” which will be available this summer, new film projects, and tells us how her favorite food connects to her childhood.

Preorder: "The Everything Blogging Book" via Amazon.
Links:
Media Egg - http://www.mediaegg.com/
Moonbow Productions, Inc. - http://www.moonbowproductions.com/
The Everything Blogging Book Blog - http://everythingblogbook.typepad.com/

Tags: Aliza Sherman-Risdahl, The Everything Blogging Book, blogging, Alaska, Spanish Omelets, NPR, Market Place, Native Americans, Gabcast! Daily Eats Food Lover's Podcast #30 - Daily Eats Interview: Aliza Sherman-Risdahl

Doing Business with Africa – DBWA

2006-05-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

Sue Standfield is a new client and friend. I was introduced to Sue via Sarah Jane Redmond, my dear friend, who recommended my marketing services. Sue is developing her business vision in Kenya. She’s very passionate about what she wants to accomplish for the children of Kenya and setting up a sustainable business. Her vision is trade not aid with Africa.

Sue is finding out that setting up business in Kenya is a difficult endeavor. As we know this is a very poor country. In her blog, Doing Business with Africa, Sue wrestles with developing relationships with the people of Kenya. They are a creative, hardworking and want the same quality of life we are all trying to seek but their economic situation prevents most Kenyans from the quality of life we enjoy. Sue is very daring; she describes herself as “a skinny white girl from Canada.” I admire her tenacity to leave the comfort zone of Canada and go to the harsh climate of Kenya to setup an ambitious business alone. She has the true spirit of an entrepreneur.

In mid May I received a distressing email from Sue saying she was mugged, dragged down to the ground, her equipment stolen. People passing by just stopped, frozen and only after the attackers were finished one person helped her. Sue was understandably confused and angry by what had happened. For most of us this violent incident would be enough to make us want to run back to our confront zone, but Sue is courageous for not giving up. She put this horrible and terrifying experience into to humanistic and spiritual context. She should be appreciated for continuing on with the business set setout to build.

Additional information on Sue Standfield and Children’s Photographic Gallery of Kenya:
http://www.cpgkenya.com/

Seth Godin - my personal Jesus

2006-05-18T22:43:00.000-07:00

Lately, Seth Godin has become a household name. Just yesterday, I heard his name mentioned 3 times during the day by different people from different parts of the world. Seth has over 6 million mentions on Google. He's the most quoted marketer by those who want something more from marketing. His philosophy I have always truly admired and hunger for more.

Web.com Debuts Commercial on Cable, Satellite TV Screens

2006-03-21T15:24:00.000-08:00

Did you happen to catch the TV commercial for web.com? I did today. At first I thought edgy I’ll never forget their name BUT then I became outraged by insensitivity to homeless. Is Web.com so out of touch they have no concern or clue as to sad fact how many homeless there are in our country? It’s simply not funny to poke fun at those less fortunate. This is a true sign of the decaying values in corporate America and lack of social consciousness.

So outraged I had to call web.com and voice my concerns of the lack of brand understanding and insensitivity. I spoke to Peter Delgrosso, Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, and I was not surprised to hear to him say he had several calls regarding the commercial both good and bad ones. Using the tactic of humor is a good call to changing the name from Interland to Web.com but subject matter like homeless people is should not be made fun of and this is a huge mistake public relations error. Think about it for a second would you want your company remembered for laughing at the homeless? Corporations forgot there are ethics and social responsibilities to building business.

This all brings to back memories of being in an undergraduate at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven. It was the early 80’s, Reagan years, there were many homeless people living on the streets because it was decided that state hospitals did not have to support them. I remember one young naïve classmate saying, “Homeless people want to live on the streets it's their choice.” It saddens me to see this ignorant sentiment prevails in today's adulthood .

To quote a close journalist friend, “There’s a growing divide between the rich and poor that I find deeply troubling.”

I am curious how many new customers will subscribe to do business with a company that blatantly laughs at homeless people.

Additional resources:
Why Are People Homeless?

A Dream Denied: Criminalization of the Homeless in U.S. Cities

Bush Budget Leave No Millionaire Behind as He Propose Massive Cuts to Programs for Homeless and Low-Income People

Stevedoring, Security, Secrecy - Opinion About Dubai Ports World

2006-03-21T09:43:00.000-08:00

My opinion paper, “Stevedoring, Security, and Secrecy” will dispel myths regarding United Arab Emirates. Address the issue of selling British owned P&O to Dubai Ports World the impact that decision will have on foreign direct investment for the United States. A brief history of U.S. port outsourcing is addressed. It will discuss feelings of xenophobia among U.S. citizens toward people of Arab nationality. It will provide U.S. lawmaker’s framework for requesting the 45 day review from the Committee for Foreign Investment.

This discussion will address questions regarding the Bush administration’s leadership abilities and reasons for wanting the arrangement with DP World. “Stevedoring, Security and Secrecy” will also cover ethical issues with the sale to DP World and communication issues that arose from the transaction. And provide insight to a possible resolution to the problem faced by DP World.

I wrote this paper for Regis University International Business presented to Dr. Bernie Kelleher.

click here for access to "Stevedoring,, Security, and Secrecy" 16 pages.

Digital Love Finds Grand Voice!

2006-02-13T13:37:00.000-08:00

NEW YORK, Feb. 10, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- In this age of digitally-enhanced relationships, millions of e-cards will be sent on Valentine's Day. Despite the leaps in technology, it has remained a strictly visual sentiment. "But imagine the look of surprise on the face of that someone special if they could hear your profession of love," said Manos Megagiannis, founder of ONtheEDGE, corporation.

ONtheEDGE announces a revolutionary way to use any phone to embed an audio file in an everyday e-card. By visiting their website My VoiceGreeting.com you can combine your voice greeting with a fun selection of images!

Just in time for Valentine's Day ONtheEDGE, has included a number of original Grand Canyon images to the collection-courtesy of GrandCanyonPrints.com and world-class landscape photographer Mike Buchheit. Now you can send your loved one a photograph of the only place on Earth that may be as wide and deep as your love!

The technology developed by ONtheEDGE to bring you My VoiceGreeting is called PhoneCast. Like a tape recorder, PhoneCast records with optimized voice compression. This audio file can then be posted to a website. It's easy and fun. "Everyone knows how to use a phone," said Tery Spataro, ONtheEDGE co-founder. "ONtheEDGE applications give everyone voice."

It takes 3 easy steps to send a voice greeting! At http://www.myvoicegreeting.com select My VoiceGreeting e-card or upload your own e-card:
1. Enter email address of the recipient
2. Dial the phone number displayed and record your message.
3. After you finished recording your e-card is sent to the
recipient.

You can try out My VoiceGreeting and send two voice greetings for free. The introductory price is $9.95 for one year of unlimited usage. In addition to Valentine's Day greetings, My VoiceGreeting can be used to send birthday wishes, birth announcements, invitations, and business promotion alerts. Anything you can say can be attached to My VoiceGreeting.

To try My VoiceGreeting, visit http://www.myvoicegreeting.com. When enrolling, please enter this promotional code: kb5678

About ONtheEDGE, Corporation, http://www.ote.net:
ONtheEDGE is a creative marketing technology company, whose team of well-known communication and technology experts is dedicated to providing fresh and unique applications to enhance the marketing and customer experience. ONtheEDGE founded by Manos Megagiannis and Tery Spataro, who recognized the need to offer internet applications that everyone can easily use and enjoy.
My VoiceGreeting: http://www.myvoicegreeting.com

About Mike Buchheit and GrandCanyonPrints.com, http://www.grandcanyonprints.com

Photographer Mike Buchheit has been capturing the many moods and melodies of the Grand Canyon for over a decade. As an eleven-year park resident and outdoor educator, he has enjoyed unparalleled access to the world's most famous chasm - access that has allowed him to forge a deep connection to the grandest of canyons. This intimacy is reflected in his portfolio of over one thousand unique images.
Mike Buchheitt's bio -
http://www.grandcanyonprints.com/pages/artistbio.htm

Aliza Sherman's Benefits of Blogging

2005-11-17T14:08:00.000-08:00

I was searching, VB Cosmetics on Techorati today when I found a link to VB Cosmetics blog by Aliza Sherman from her post: Benefits of Blogging. Aliza gives great advice on the benefits a business would reap from blogging.

As Aliza asserts in her post, "The VB Cosmetics blog is clearly being creatively used as a marketing tool for their products site." I would like to add VB Cosmetics blog also services to shape the customer relationship voice. The familiar relaxed writing style used by Lorre Boyd, helps to create a more approachable company, one a customer can get to know, feel comfortable with, and/ or talk to. Abrione, VB Cosmetics' skin care line, is not a familiar brand; VB Cosmetics must work hard to foster customer relationships. One way is to respond to comments on VB Cosmetics blog either through posts or by adding to comments.

Of course blogging is not a strategy that works for every busy, or should I dear say every business person. It is a reach tactic like any public communication strategy that a business must seriously consider.

Dr. Vivian Valenty, Abrione: Launching new skin care line

2005-11-17T11:13:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Vivian Valenty to help her launch her new skin care line, Abrione. Dr. Valenty built the successful cosmetics company, VB Cosmetics. Her new line, Abrione is a testimony to the science, nature and art she puts into formulating and creating her new skin care line.

The relationship between scientist and marketer is often one that needs communication, definition, and explanation. Opposite personalities and disciplines easily clash is I experienced in the past when I worked with BP, who are engineers like scientists, don't often appreciate creativity nor understand the importance of the creative process. It takes patience and whole lot of discussions to gain understanding and trust.

Dr. Valenty had many apprehensions and negativity towards marketing. In the past she hired professionals claiming to be marketers but often they were inexperienced and had little or no knowledge of marketing. Marketing is more then just making sales, though we know sales are very important to the life of any business, marketing is the getting the answers to product, promotion, placement and pricing to make informed business decisions. Also to create a great brand a dedication must be made to understanding your customers and their needs. Dr. Valenty's dedication to integrity of her product line is most refreshing and knew we could work together to successfully bring her products to market.

Working with Dr. Valenty, her team, Lorre, Teresa and Chris, we put together the marketing plan to launch Abrione. The plan contents included the usual market research, objectives and strategies; we added a section on brand strategies and guidelines. One of the most useful word of mouth strategies we implemented is a blog to discuss skin care issues. Lorre does a great job of writing and maintaining Cosmetics Blog. Her more recent topics are natural vs synthetic, disgusting compounds put in cosmetics and anti-aging. To further our market planning we know we need attention from trade publications. With care and consideration we recently choose Trent, to implement PR strategies.

To further help Dr. Valenty understand the art and science of marketing I suggested she read these two very helpful books: Lovemarks by Kevin Roberts, to spark creativity; and Marketing Management: A Strategic Decision-Making Approach, by John Mullins, Orville C Walker, Jr., Harper W Boyd, Jean-Claude Larreche to understand science behind the art.

We launched VB Cosmetics as a direct marketing business, because Abrione's sales channel is through online sales, phone and walk-in. This strategy helps Abrioné establish credibility in the market place before going to retail stores. Revenue from sales can be put back into an advertising fund for later use. Building any business from the ground up there are hurdles to get over. To help get over those hurdles sound market planning is advised. Dr. Valenty makes it her mission to understand marketing so Abrione will survive an already over saturated category and rise above the noise.

Blog a Business Meme

2005-08-30T15:19:00.000-07:00

From Aliza Sherman for World Wit:

Here's a business meme to blog. A meme is an idea - in this case in the form of a questionnaire on a blog - that is carried to other blogs, usually while linking back to the originator of the meme or the blog where they found the meme. In this case, I'm the originator. Let's see how far it spreads...

The Business Meme
1. What is your business, when did you start it, and why?
2. What is the best thing about running your business?

Trackback:
http://blogs.worldwit.org/prgirl/wp-trackback.php?p=25