August 9, 2012
Target Gets an “A” on Back-to-College Direct Mail
How Target scored an “A” on back-to-college direct mail marketing with a dynamite catalog -- and some lessons from their approach for your smart marketing strategy....
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Creative Tag
May 30, 2012
Why There’s a QR Code on Your Banana
QR codes – those funny-looking, square-shaped symbols with pixelated, black-and-white patterns – are showing up everywhere in advertising, signage, and product packaging. I even found a QR code on my Dole banana this morning, advertising the movie Madagascar 3. Our Cleveland, Ohio marketing agency is now using QR codes in nearly all marketing campaigns we create for our clients. Here’s why QR codes are becoming ubiquitous in marketing and 7 tips for using QR codes in your smart marketing strategy....
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April 16, 2012
4 Simple Lessons in Branding from Blackie, the Stray Cat
There was a stray black cat in my neighborhood near Cleveland, Ohio. The three little girls who live next door fell in love with him, so they convinced their parents to adopt him and make him their pet. And of course, they gave him a name: Blackie. As a marketing consultant, I think Blackie the cat offers some helpful reminders about the principles of effective branding. Here are some branding insights for your smart marketing strategy, as demonstrated by the future marketers in the house next to mine....
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March 21, 2012
7 Ways to Make Social Media a Top Marketing Priority
Whether you’re marketing to businesses or consumers, social media marketing should play a prominent role in your marketing plan. Here are seven ways to make social media marketing a top priority in your smart marketing strategy. ...
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March 12, 2012
Advertising: Still the Most Fun You Can Have with Clothes On
Famed ad man Jerry Della Femina, the creative genius behind many brilliant ad campaigns (remember the singing cats of Meow Mix?) and the author of From Those Wonderful Folks Who Gave You Pearl Harbor, once said that “advertising is the most fun you can have with your clothes on.” I’ve spent my entire career in advertising and marketing and have owned a marketing consulting firm in Cleveland, Ohio for 20 years. Here’s why I believe Della Femina is right about advertising and marketing and my advice for anyone considering a marketing...
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February 14, 2012
Who Owns Your Marketing Campaigns? You May Be Surprised
Many companies hire marketing agencies or freelancers to develop marketing campaigns and materials. But marketers often overlook a critical step in the process: Ensuring that they own the intellectual property they’ve paid a marketing team to develop. And marketing agencies often fail to protect their legal rights to materials they’ve produced. What are the most common intellectual property mistakes marketers and agencies make and how can you avoid them? Here are some tips for your smart marketing strategy from Sharon Toerek, an expert on legal issues in marketing. ...
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February 7, 2012
Super Bowl XLVI: Which Ads Were a Smart Marketing Strategy?
Another year, another Super Bowl, and another advertising extravaganza by America’s brand marketers. Many ads were creative and funny. But when you look more closely at Super Bowl spots, a smart marketer has to wonder about their strategic marketing value. Even if the ads were clever, at $3.5 million per 30 seconds, were they a smart marketing strategy? Here are seven criteria for evaluating the strategic effectiveness of advertising and my assessment of this year’s ads. ...
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December 29, 2011
How to Create Great Advertising with Storytelling
Top 10 lists are everywhere this time of year. One of the most interesting lists for marketers is the Top 10 Most Viewed Ads on YouTube, as reported on Mashable.com. These are TV spots people chose to watch online, by the millions. That’s an advertiser’s dream. But what makes these ads so popular? It’s not crazy gimmicks or over-the-top production techniques, though some of the ads have spectacular visual effects. I think it’s about storytelling. The most watched ads of 2011 engage viewers in a compelling story. Here’s why storytelling...
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November 28, 2011
4 Things My Idea File Taught Me about Great Direct Mail
Most marketing agencies keep an idea file of creative, interesting promotions by other marketers that serve as inspiration for new marketing campaigns. Since we’re moving soon to new offices (a new suite in the same building in Cleveland, Ohio), I decided to take the opportunity to weed out our idea file, especially our massive collection of direct mail. I tossed a lot of old stuff, but I was surprised at how many direct marketing campaigns created five, ten, or even 20 years ago still pack a powerful marketing punch. I wondered: Why do...
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October 13, 2011
Branding at Birth: How Young is Too Young for Marketing?
Did you see the recent article in Adweek about efforts by major consumer marketers like Disney to establish brand preferences in children ages 0-3? The Next Great American Consumer by Brian Braiker provides a fascinating look at this development. Braiker says branding at birth is “a trend—fueled in part by the growth of digital devices—toward aggressively targeting a demographic that didn’t exist, in marketers’ eyes, until recently: infants to 3-year-olds. By getting their logos and iconic characters in front of babies—even those with still-blurry eyesight—they hope to establish brand-name preference...
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