Let’s just say it’s been a tough year for Target.
The retail juggernaut has been no stranger to bad press following its massive credit card breach. But there’s nothing like a good comeback. The company is launching a feel-good marketing campaign to kick off the school year and, of course, increase awareness for its Up & Up brand. Continue reading “Why Giving Back Pays Off: Target’s New Marketing Campaign to Benefit Students”
I guess I am still in the newlywed phase, as the romance Gods would call it: I am a bit shy of my one-year wedding anniversary with my hubby; we still gleefully cook dinner every night instead of reverting to takeout; we enjoy touching base all day long, even if it’s just to say “thinking of you”; and we genuinely enjoy being in each other’s company. We put our relationship first. We understand that a healthy, sustainable relationship takes work, patience, love and communication and that it’s something you have to actively work on each and every day.
So what does my newlywed bliss have to do with your marketing strategy, you may be asking? Well lots, if you think about it. Whether you just launched your blog platform yesterday, two years ago, or five years ago, my wish for you is that you are still in your newlywed period. I hope that you are not busy cursing your blogging platform and all that comes with it—editorial calendars, tagging, posting, categorizing, etc.—to the high heavens.
Anyone that knows me knows that I am a die-hard Phish fan. For those of you who don’t know the band, you’re probably wondering what genre of music the band plays. Rap? Rock? Alternative? The thing is you can’t really place Phish in a particular genre. With an arsenal of songs ranging from rock all the way to bluegrass—they even have barbershop quartet-style songs—Phish is a musical jack-of-all-trades. Continue reading “What Marketers Can Learn From Phish”
Let the red, white and blue festivities begin. Independence Day is just around the corner and you know what that means— a long weekend filled with fireworks, parades, barbeques, and the beach. But this Fourth of July weekend, instead of eating one too many hotdogs, take a page from our founding fathers and declare independence from your competitors with content marketing. Continue reading “Happy 4th of July! Gain Your Independence Back with Content Marketing”
For those of us who have the privilege (and curse) of getting to attend a sizeable amount of trade shows each year, we’ve learned some of the essential survival tricks:
Say goodbye to traditional advertising and hello to word-of-mouth marketing.
Today’s consumers no longer reach out to businesses for information. Instead, they consult their peers and networking circle when making a purchasing decision. In fact, 92 percent of all consumers report that a word-of-mouth recommendation is the “leading reason they buy a product or service,” according to Nielsen and Roper Reports.
So how can businesses join in on the chatter and engage consumers? Two words: social media.
Continue reading “Your Customers are Listening, Just Not to You”
When 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”
With the play-in-games behind us and all 68 bracket spots filled up, now the fun really begins.
Today, 16 teams take to the court to inch one step closer to the Sweet 16, and millions upon millions of fans from across the country figure out a way to squeeze in pressing work meetings with live streaming from their desks. (Did you know the groundswell of excitement surrounding college basketball and brackets costs $1.2 billion for every unproductive hour at work?)
March Madness is officially here and every company can actually learn a thing or two from the tournament about best practices and corporate mindset.
Continue reading “Tipoff is Here: Do You Have What it Takes to Play till the Buzzer Sounds?”
With a regular season record of 27-4—not to mention an undefeated streak of 25-0, despite a number of near upsets during that reign—there was no disputing what my husband and I (Syracuse alumni) would be doing at 6 pm this past Sunday night. Tuning into CBS to assess see how the Cuse’s recent spate of losses (don’t get me started on Friday night’s North Carolina State game) would affect Selection Sunday.
Sadly, our pitiful performance these past few games undoubtedly cost us a No. 1 seed. But since we will never stop bleeding Orange, bring it on Broncos.
Continue reading “Let the Madness Begin: Have You Put Together Your Marketing Bracket?”
Ironically enough, I have written about virtual events and conferences for years. Yet up until yesterday, I had never actually participated in such a gathering—a poorly cut corner by me as a marketer—because, let’s face it, demoing the products you will be writing about before putting pen to paper is critical. But, hey… the day slips away from all of us from time to time, right?
So you can imagine how incredibly excited I was to attend my very first virtual conference yesterday, ContentTECH, which was sponsored by the Content Marketing Institute. So excited in fact that I ran a test on my computer two hours in advance to make sure everything would run flawlessly, created a schedule of every session I wanted to attend, and had a little too much fun—OK a lot of fun—letting my coworkers know that I was “heading into a session” and “making my way to the keynote room.”
Continue reading “Why Discomfort in Marketing is a Good Thing”
