March 2011 Blog Posts (13)

To say that March is my favorite month of the year would be an understatement. There’s spring training, St. Patrick’s Day and the almighty NCAA Tournament known as March Madness. Everyone has his or her own reasoning for why they pick a certain team over another. So while millions of people mulled over various outcomes before the tournament tipped off and tried to predict the big upsets, businesses spent months racking their brains trying to uncover creative marketing strategies for one of…

I found this article from Felix Salmon, a reporter who writes for both traditional and blog outlets quite insightful for two reasons. First, it showcases the benefits of blogs from actually engaging readers in discussions, making them a more participatory and, ultimately, more informed.

Second, Mr. Salmon correctly defined some of the blogosphere's current drawbacks in accuracy and fact-checking, which I don't deny. But as with the "muckraking-style" newspapers of the early…

I picked up the April issue of Fast Company Magazine and while casually flipping through, I noticed a full page ad for Pom juice and a naked Morgan Spurlock draped around a life-sized bottle. Upon further review, I realized it was part…

For those of you currently using TweetSwell to create polls for Twitter, I just received an email yesterday from the Founder informing me that the platform will shut down on April 30. While I didn’t use this as much as I should have for clients (and this is just another reminder that I need to start), I’m sure others are wondering what other sites offer similar services to engage with customers, ask questions and get feedback. Here are three sites…

An excellent read on the fine line marketers and organizations must walk when supporting a worthy cause.

Cause-Tied Marketing Requires Care

By…

After midnight Cinderella turns into a country wench, the Taco Bell drive-thru gets crushed and Late Night With Jimmy Fallon hits airwaves. I personally am really taken by the show.

I'm a Saturday Night Live loyalist. When…

This should be a question that every company should revisit from time to time. I recently wrote an article on a Poway restaurant that had a very, very basic website and in January, enlisted the help of a web developer who not only helped with the website and Facebook redesign, but with many other online aspects as well. I think it's important for companies to consistently work on their web presence and deliver fresh content. In addition, I applaud companies that incorporate video on their…

Like most college sports fans, I found myself glued to the Men's Basketball Tournament Selection Show to see where my favorite team was seeded and who they would play in the first…

A current college student might look at this picture like they would a Woolly Mammoth, pulled out from underneath the earth. Yes, that's the HARD COPY of my old public relations course packets from college. Anyone that knows me knows that I can be pretty nerdy, but I did one of the geekiest things ever on a recent…

When it comes to marketing, there are certain companies that not only do it well, but they do it best. They not only set the bar, but they put it at a level that’s difficult for others to touch let alone come close to. Take, for example, companies like Coca-Cola, Nike and Starbucks.

But let’s not forget Apple.…

Like most Americans, I can't help but witness the recent train wreck that is Charlie Sheen. There's no question that he's a full-on jerk with zero respect for himself or those around him. That being said, I was also…

This morning I read a thought provoking Mashable article quoting Eli Pariser, former executive director of MoveOn.org, at a TED talk yesterday in Long Beach. Pariser discussed the "invisible algorithmic editing of the Web"…

Last week, The New York Times published a blog post that caught the attention of public relations professionals from coast to coast. Bruce Buschel, owner of Southfork Kitchen, a new restaurant in the Hamptons, wrote "The Problem With Public Relations." Prior to and during his grand opening, Buschel had not one, but two sour experiences with the firms he employed. In his article,…