Excellent Read: Drake Morton

Seeking Conversions In A

Discovery-Oriented World

by Gerry Bavaro , Monday, May 5, 2008

BECAUSE DAVID Berkowitz has been probing the issue of search vs. discovery in recent Search Insider columns (See: http://blogs.mediapost.com/search_insider/?p=770), I’d like to point out some thorny challenges faced by the search community as we move to a world where information is shared more freely via social networks and discovered through ways that might be termed “less active” — because they depart from traditional search query behavior. How exactly are agencies and marketers supposed to think about the idea of discovery as a critical component of consumer influence toward action/conversion?
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Excellent Read: Drake Morton

Targeting Feeds

by Phil Leggiere , Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Advertising money has long been guided by the adage of going to where the eyeballs are. More recently, of course, that imperative has been refined to mean, target where the right eyeballs for your product or brand are. In pursuit of that premise, advertisers have directed substantial amounts of targeted messages to nearly every online venue available. Yet till now, as Bill Flitter, CEO of Pheedo, explains below, advertisers have under-utilized, if not entirely overlooked, a channel rich in both eyeballs and targeting potential.

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Interesting Information: Drake Morton

Print Newspaper Ads Drive Online

Traffic And Purchases

According to the Newspaper Association of America, new consumer research conducted by Clark, Martire & Bartolomeo and commissioned by Google, among people who research products and services after seeing them advertised in newspapers, 67 percent use the Internet to find more information, and nearly 70 percent of them actually make a purchase following their additional research.
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Very Good Read: Drake Morton

What’s The Big Idea Anyway?

by Chris Copeland , Friday, April 18, 2008

THERE ARE MORE THAN 14,000 books on Amazon when you do a search for “Big Idea.” Donny Deutsch turned himself from ad ,an to TV host by focusing on “The Big Idea.” But perhaps it was David Ogilvy who said it best when he described the importance of the big idea in advertising: “It takes a big idea to attract the attention of consumers…Unless your advertising contains a big idea, it will pass like a ship in the night.”
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Good Read: Drake Morton

Reaching Today’s Multimedia, Multitasking Consumers

by Jere Doyle , Thursday, April 18, 2008

THERE’S NO QUESTION THAT THE explosion of new media has disrupted media buying and left many consumer brand marketers scratching their heads as to how to best reach consumers. Many articles and white papers have been written, with many more to come, about the increasing complexity of the marketing mix brand managers must navigate in order to execute successful campaigns.
Interestingly, not a great deal has been written about how the consumer experience has changed. Think about what you do at home during your down time. Chances are you’re watching your favorite television programs and fast-forwarding through the commercials (you recorded the shows with your DVR), checking multiple email accounts on your laptop (your personal Yahoo account and your work email), sporadically surfing the Web, answering an IM or two, and fielding messages from friends and work associates on your mobile device.
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Good Read and a Must Understand: Drake Morton

Who Hijacked My Email Program?

by Aaron Smith , Wednesday, April 16, 2008

ONE OF THE MOST challenging aspects of managing an email program is the delicate balancing act required to satisfy multiple constituents with different (and often conflicting) priorities. The challenge is intensified when stakeholders take a more hands-on approach, claiming to be “helping” your program when in fact they are more interested in using your program to serve their needs.

While we like folks within the organization to be interested in our efforts, and we hope the C-suite is aware of our work, too much interest can end up hindering rather than helping a program. Messaging is diluted and performance is diminished when email program managers are whipsawed in opposing directions. I like to refer to this phenomenon as “email program hijacking.” (more…)

Understanding the Basics: Drake Morton

Email Production: Keeping the Wheels

On Your Program

by Aaron Smith , Thursday, April 10, 2008

MOST ANYONE WHO’S DRIVEN an email program would agree: it’s a volatile, high-speed, NASCAR-style ride. As you zoom along the racetrack — avoiding the potholes of ever-changing business goals, competing stakeholders, deliverability issues and rendering errors — keeping the wheels on requires precision, a tough hide, plain old elbow grease and dumb luck.
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Making It Personal

by Aaron Smith

Understanding simple ways to layer segmented content into batch and blast email programs. Personalization is another advanced but easy-to-implement tactic proven to produce more relevant campaigns, inspiring recipient engagement and stimulating program performance.

When we employ segmentation strategies, we address our subscriber base in blocks based on common criteria such as geography or gender. Personalization takes segmentation to the next level. When we personalize, we speak directly to each of our subscribers as individuals based on distinct attributes, preferences and behaviors, such as name or purchase history. Personalization is one of the greatest ways to leverage the email channel, which is unique in its ability to address individual recipients.
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  Great Interesting Read: Drake Morton

By Thom Forbes , March 24, 2008

Recessions Are Great Times To Be In Marketing

Ad Age
Previous recessions have spawned the brand-management system, soap operas, modern cable networks, airline loyalty programs, the IBM personal computer, the iPod, Crest Whitestrips, Axe body spray and–for better or worse–fast-food value menus.

Recessions also have been fertile ground for some retail chains. Home Depot opened its first two stores near Atlanta just before a recession in 1979. But today’s marketers don’t know much about marketing through recessions–or how good they have it when things feel so bad.

Marketers should draw lessons from such examples of charging ahead despite recession, says Ed Rensi, former CEO of McDonald’s USA through the early 1990s recession. Unfortunately, he says, companies usually do just the opposite. They cut staff, which he says leaves those left behind overworked and risk-averse. And they cut marketing, which props up profits short term but erodes market share down the road. (more…)

Hulu is the new iTunes, but for TV!

Posted March 20th, 2008 by KellyI’m excited…I’ve talked about in the past how I really like watching my favorite television shows online. I think it’s very convenient (especially for those of us who do not have a DVR) and the commercials are far from obnoxious.

I had a friend of mine tell me about hulu.com and I thought it was really interesting, but it wasn’t until I read an article on the website that reminded me to check it out. Well, needless to say, I love it!

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