You Need to Help: Drake Morton

By Perry Allison Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2012

How Brands Can Grow Their Affluent Customer Base

By Partnering With Innovative Non-Profits

Affluent consumers are typically highly educated, involved in their community, and are avid shoppers. But, increasingly, they are also motivated to shop responsibly. We call these individuals Charitable Commerce Consumers.

In surveying this demographic, we found that this cohort has a median household income of $125,000 a year and a median net worth of $375,000. But what’s interesting is that 80% of them believe it is important for companies to give back and a staggering 90% say they are likely or very likely to shop with a company that supports charitable causes.
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Good Read: Drake Morton

It’s 2012. Should My Brand Build a Social App?

Every Brand Is Not Spotify and Most Social Apps Do Not Work

By: Michael Lazerow Published: January 06, 2012

I was sitting on a panel with my friend, Clickable CEO David Kidder, at the Business Insider Social Media Analytics conference this past November, and a conversation came up about custom social apps.

Do we recommend brands use them?

I would never recommend brands do something that I don’t think will work. Custom social applications generally don’t work. In fact, only a rare few do succeed.

It’s always important to remember that apps are not the silver bullet to cure all social media issues you may have. Apps must be incorporated within a larger social media strategy, instead of being the sole focus. (more…)

Good Read: Drake Morton

How To Create Brand Content That Stands Out

by Paul Kontonis , Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Today, brands are thinking differently about how to reach consumers: not by interrupting consumers’ experiences with advertising messaging, but by offering value through original and co-created content. This content allows a brand to tell its own story, bring to life its core sensibilities, and connect with consumers in a deeper, more meaningful way.

Now more than ever, brands face an array of choices for branded content — from cooking shows to healthy eating, fitness to balancing your life, reality shows to scripted comedy. It’s also a challenge to choose which entity will be your partner: cable networks, film studios, portals, online communities, video ad networks, online celebrities or independent producers?

Here are five things to consider to make your branded content stand out and succeed:
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Very Important Read: Drake Morton

Using Personality To Help Drive Engagement

by Loren McDonald , Thursday, October 22, 2009

My previous column, where I shared personal experiences about assumptions others have made about my wife and me without knowing us, turned out to be the second most popular column I’ve written for Email Insider, as measured by the number of readers’ comments.

I intended the column to caution against assuming too much about your subscribers and customers. However, reader reaction confirmed my view that showing a human, personal side in email, blogs and other communications content will lead to greater engagement with your customers and subscribers.

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So much good information: Drake Morton

Optimizing For Natural And Paid Search,

After The Click

by Rob Garner , Wednesday, May 27, 2009

At the Search Insider Summit in Captiva, Fla., Gord Hotchkiss hosted a panel and clinic on eye-tracking analysis of Web sites suggested by attendees, specifically addressing the topic of post-click optimization.  This session preceded several related breakout discussions, including the “Branding and Post-Click Strategies” roundtable session that I moderated.
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Take a moment to read: Drake Morton

Making Email The Apple Of The Consumer’s Eye

by Ryan Deutsch , Thursday, April 2, 2009

While skipping over commercials last night on the DVR, I found myself stopping at specific Apple commercials — specifically the iPhone Application ads. I couldn’t help but draw the parallel between the ads flying by me on the TV and the myriad of email subject lines I skim each day in my inbox.
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 Build It, and They Won’t Come!

It’s been a while! We have been working Full Speed on our newest project http://www.verbaleyes.com

We hope you will join our proactive marketing efforts and bring your clients to the front of the pack with  tactical marketing and advertising video eMail.

Excellent: Drake Morton

Deepening The Dialogue

by Phil Leggiere , Wednesday, February 4, 2009

IT TOOK BRANDS A LONG time to acknowledge the existence of consumers as autonomous entities with voices of their own, as opposed to focus group “subjects” filling in the lines of scripts.

Though most brands today have crossed that threshold intellectually, few have actually figured out what to do about it. Those who have are trying to learn how to better monitor what newly empowered consumers are saying about them in blogs and across the Web, and even seeking to get their brand involved in ongoing dialogues. A few in addition to that are attempting to open up new ways in which consumers can not only speak about but TO and WITH the brand, as collaborators.

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How to Build Brands in Digital Age

 Book Excerpt: As Marketers Deal With Fragmentation, the Idea Should Drive the Media, Not the Other Way Around

By Allen Adamson
Published: October 20, 2008

Allen Adamson

We are absolutely awash in news and information. Between the election and the economy, the weather and the price of fuel, it feels, to paraphrase a line from the movie “Body Heat,” like it comes down so heavy you need to wear a hat. This wash of messages is due, in good part, to the increase in channels of communication, mostly in digital communication. The internet and all manner of things digital have made it almost impossible to escape what’s going on in the world, for better or for worse. This has created a host of challenges and opportunities for CMOs and everyone else responsible for the care and feeding of brands. With all the new terms and jargon and the changing dynamics, questions abound. How do you cut through the clutter? How do you get someone’s attention without being perceived as disruptive? How do you get consumers engaged and wanting more? How do you take advantage of digital tools and tactics to learn more about consumers and deliver better, more-relevant brand experiences? (more…)