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Saying Goodbye to My All-Time Favorite Branding

This week, the best golfers in the world take aim at Pinehurst No. 2 in North Carolina for the 114th U.S. Open. The event features a lot of juicy storylines, from Tiger Woods’ absence to the recent redesign of the hallowed venue.

One storyline has fallen largely through the cracks, however, with the notable exception of my golf buddy Alex Myers at Golf Digest. With the tournament telecast switching from NBC to FOX next year, what I consider to be the greatest theme music ever written will no longer be part of the broadcast.

And that is a bummer.

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Unconventional Tradeshow Tips and Tricks for Increasing Leads

tradeshowI love a good tradeshow. Perhaps that is because I am by nature a people-person, but I also believe that there is something for everyone at such an event. That’s because conferences, when leveraged correctly, can serve as a powerful content marketing vehicle for garnering leads—something that every business leader, regardless of personality type, enjoys. I spent some time yesterday at The Small Business Expo 2014 in New York City where I was reminded of some simple, yet often forgotten, tips and tricks for maximizing leads and making the most out of every tradeshow experience: Continue reading “Unconventional Tradeshow Tips and Tricks for Increasing Leads”

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The Sad Plight of the New York Mets

On the mantle in my parents’ living room there is a picture of me at a Mets game, five years old eating ice cream out of a plastic helmet and loving life. Without giving away my exact age, that means I have been a Mets fan for about 25 years.

As any Mets fan knows, the team has its fair share of great moments that are inevitably followed by soul-crushing disappointments. But lately, the Mets have had greater problems than anything that’s happened on the field. Starting with the revelations that Mets ownership had invested with Bernie Madoff the franchise has suffered one embarrassment after another over the past five years.

mets

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Do’s and Don’ts for This Year’s Product Launch

shutterstock_161159720There’s no disputing the fact that you have a product launch on this year’s strategic roadmap. After all, the product market was predicted to reach nearly $221.3 billion by the end of 2013 and industry pundits expect it to surge to $284.6 billion by the end of 2018, according to the 2013 “Antiaging Products and Services: The Global Market” report. But just because your team meetings and budgets are centered upon expansion and great unveils does not mean your launch will be a walk in the park.

Just consider that fact that as many as 95 percent of new products that are introduced each year fail, according to Cincinnati research agency AcuPoll. So how do you break away from the majority and enjoy success this year? By keeping the following do’s and don’ts top of mind:

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No Such Thing as Bad Publicity? We Beg to Differ

When marketers say that there is no such thing as bad publicity, what they actually mean is that if nobody is talking about your brand, you are in serious trouble. While that is undoubtedly true, all you have to do is take a look at recent news to understand that negative exposure can seriously damage a brand’s image and have a major impact on its finances, customer satisfaction levels and public credibility:

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Mercedes-Benz Shakes Up Its Marketing Strategy to Target Youth

mercWhen you think of Mercedes-Benz what comes to mind? Luxury, success, sophistication, wealth… youthfulness? If you’re wondering if that’s a typo, it’s not. The renowned car brand recently revamped its marketing strategy to target a younger audience.

According to Mercedes-Benz’s Nathan Tan, a supervisor of advertising, bringing in younger consumers has been a company goal for some time. However, stereotypes of the cars have made it difficult to break into a younger demographic. Young customers tend to view the vehicles as “stuffy” and “more for their fathers than for themselves,” Tan said.

So what did Mercedes do? It took to social media using several platforms, including Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook, to get their new, more “youthful” messaging out. Continue reading “Mercedes-Benz Shakes Up Its Marketing Strategy to Target Youth”

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The ‘Spoiler Effect’ and How It Can Transform Your Content

I love “Game of Thrones,” “Breaking Bad” and “The Walking Dead.” At a glance these series seem to have absolutely nothing in common, but they do have one common denominator: they have the “spoiler effect.”

I’ve been seeing the “S” word everywhere lately, especially with the fourth season of “Game of Thrones” now at full speed. Every website you visit, radio station you tune into and tweet you see contains some sort of clause warning: “Spoilers ahead! Do not continue if you have not watched yet!” The fear that someone will stumble upon a juicy online review or overhear a spoiler-filled conversation has become a very real one. We’ve all probably seen irate fans share rants on social media about how people need to respect the fact that others haven’t caught up yet. This still happens even for “Breaking Bad”—whose series finale aired last September.

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Inconsistent Branding: A Recipe for Disaster

blog pic 2You know it’s happened to you. You’ve chomped down on a Big Mac (or, if you are like me and abhor fast food insert your favorite mass packaged good) only to wonder, “How come this burger tastes considerably different than the one I get near my home?” And it’s a terrible feeling. After all, maybe this was the day you decided to cheat and go for something wonderfully delectable—and horribly caloric—and the inconsistent taste left you feeling wildly unfulfilled.

Now of course some brand inconsistencies are prone to human error. For example, the French Vanilla Coffee Coolatta you get from Dunkin’ Donuts may taste different from one DD to the next simply because the barista added more French vanilla this time around. But even so, we expect a level of consistency, satisfaction and dependability from our favorite brands. And when we don’t get it, we are left feeling confused, dejected and quite possibly irritated.

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Give Your Content Marketing Strategy its ‘One Shining Moment’

Tonight’s the night—the NCAA championship game where either a No. 7 or 8 seed will walk away with the national title. This past Saturday night we watched a riveting game between UConn and Florida and witnessed Kentucky win yet another thriller, this time besting Wisconsin by a point. Now it all comes to a head tonight when UConn and Kentucky will go head to head for the title.

After the winner is declared, however, another March Madness tradition will take place: “One Shining Moment.” The song is annually played as the winning team’s players cut down the nets to a Montage of highlights and best plays from the tournament (watch last year’s “One Shining Moment” video below). There are some interesting gems that can be extracted from this video. Ready to take some post-March Madness inspiration and apply it to your company’s content marketing strategy?

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