Archive for March 2010

Sexist? or Smart Advertising?

March 30, 2010 0 comments
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This ad has been creating controversy in the media this past week and for good reason.  Originated on the CBC Canada website, the article talked about the condo developer taking the ad down and offering a formal apology as well as the agency that created them offered an apology but the comments on the article are much more interesting than the article itself, I have quoted a few below.

“They are sexist, tasteless and old-fashioned. They will attract the wrong sort of people who think this sort of thing is okay.”

“has anyone ever heard of this popular slogan: SEX SELLS”

“I don’t know about the rest of you… but I’m not wasting any of my 25 year old scotch on a 25 year old Blonde.”

“The ads don’t appeal to me. But you have to be pretty uptight to let these harmless ads bother you.  Wil Knoll says he wouldn’t want to be in a room with people who thought it was a great ad. I don’t think I’d want to be in a room with Wil Knoll.”

From Twitter:

@Jaynauta: I bet the goal of that condo ad was to cause I huge uproar. I’m a


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38 books you need to read

March 28, 2010 1 comment
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38 books you need to read on the topics of entrepreneurship, creativity, advertising, strategy, motivational, psychology, sociology & economics, new media, general business, presentations, and measurement. Let me know what you think and add one in the comments if I missed one.

Entrepreneurship:

Creativity:

Psychology of Advertising:

Strategy:

Blue Ocean Strategy

 

 

 

 

 

 

Amazing read on strategy The best book on business strategy ever.

Motivational:

Psychology, Sociology & Economics:

New Media:

Wikinomics

Your new business strategy

General Business:

Presentations:

Resonate

Make presentations that people remember

Measurement:

Web Analytics 2.0

Everything you need to know about advanced SEO

Again, if there are any you think should be on the list please comment below and leave the link.

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Fire the Marketing Department

March 25, 2010 0 comments
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We’re about to hit a tipping point in Canada.  Yes in Saskatchewan as well but I presume it will be a short time after Canada tips.  Stories like this one, about how Canadians for the first time are on the internet more than television should mean a lot to marketers.  The minds behind the marketing industry should be doing more to accommodate the shift.  They’re not.

I think it’s a generational issue as well as somewhat of an egotistical issue.  If you’ve been doing something for a long time and it has worked, no HBR blog post, University of Massachusetts study, or book is going to convince you to change.  More examples of closer to home success stories will be the TSN turning point in this battle.  But if you’re waiting till your competitor gets on Twitter to make the shift from advertising in the Sunday Sun to online, think again.  The companies that get in early to understand the media will be the ultimate winners in the end.

Large ad agency’s aren’t nimble enough to change their strategy and it seems as if they may be left behind with the billboards and newspapers of the old World.  The
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Information is Not What We’re Worried About

March 24, 2010 0 comments
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For the new up and coming generation (my generation) we don’t need to worry about information.  Within a few clicks you can find pretty much anything on the internet today and it’s only going to get more cluttered with, non-other than, more information.  When I was in high school we struggled to find information in the text books we were forced to read, that were outdated.  If we had a question that wasn’t in the textbook we struggled to find answers because we didn’t have tools like Google, Wikipedia, and blogs filled with hyperlinked sources.

Today I’m not worried about lack of information, I’m worried about how we filter the information that make up our opinions and views. Many trusted news sources have been known to be wrong, more and more so-called news outlets have sprung-up online, and propaganda is thrown at us almost daily.  How do you cut through the clutter?  And who do you trust?

Doubt what you read, hear and watch.

Orville Wright once said; “If we all worked on the assumption that what is accepted as true were really true, there would be little hope of advance.“  The next time you read a stat that seems
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An Honest Car Shop?

March 22, 2010 1 comment
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Alas! My car troubles are solved, well for now.  Yes, I have found a car shop that is (or seems to be) honest.  Rochdale Autopro is the place and this is what happened.

My car needed the front wheel bearings changed so I took it in.  Four hours later the wheel bearings were in but they informed me they had installed the wrong model number and that they’d have to wait till after the weekend to get the right ones in.  I returned on Monday with my car, which had developed a very annoying noise from the front breaks.

Four hours later the proper wheel bearing were installed but the annoying squealing grew louder.  I was told they would find the noise and fix it at their cost if the noise didn’t go away.  It didn’t.

Now the third time in two weeks my car goes back to the garage.  They couldn’t find the squealing sound so the breaks were replaced, and to my delight they graciously covered the cost and installation.

Finally I have found a car repair shop that I can trust, though it was a few visits out of my way, covering the break pads made
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@Fraserstrategy: #Followme

March 11, 2010 0 comments
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If you’re on Twitter just to promote your business like a traditional advertising campaign you missed the boat.  It’s not about telling everyone your latest deal or special, we’re human, we want interaction, we want to know someone is on the other end of the conversation.

I don’t claim be be a Twitter expert but Scott is and so is Michael.  Read what they have to say about it, there are so many more things local companies can be doing on Twitter besides telling me how great YOUR company is.  Get creative! Yes it may take a little time but I bet if you sat down and actually made a plan for Twitter you’d be surprised with the results you could attain.

So please stop the constant self-promotion and engage a follower or two.

Picture credit: Blog Bloke