0
POPSIn a tough economy, you gotta go where the jobs are
I've been extremely lucky in my career. For the most part, I've been able to work at jobs that I love. I attribute a lot of this "luck" to the fact that I learned how to find jobs on my own early on. When I was in college, I thought a job at an advertising agency would just fall in my lap. Maybe if I had gone to a better school or if was at a different time (it was 1995) it would have. It didn't and I spend the summer looking for a gig while working at a department store. Later on, I thought I would move to Austin, TX and a job would fall in my lap. Maybe at a different time it would have, but this was 2000 and the internet bubble had just popped in the Silicon Hills in Texas. Again, I spent that Summer looking for a gig before finding some nice people at Pabst Brewing Company who were willing to take a chance on me. Through all of that, I learned the obvious. Unless you just got your MBA from Kellogg or Wharton, a job is not going to just fall in your lap. Finding a
0
POPSAdAge Names Snuggie as one of their Hot Brands Think the success of the Snuggie is 100% kitch? Nope, there's a smart marketer behind the whole thing who capitalized on an opportunity and ran with it. The luck of the Snuggie is that it caught on in social media and in viral networks. The strategy behind it is that they recognized the opportunity, embraced how the consumer took ownership of the brand/product and facilitated it to go much further. Now the game for Snuggie is to expand occasions and distribution while staying relevant, which in this day where brands, people, shows, bands or anything else can jump the shark in an instant is really hard.
0
POPSReject the mainstream and have passion for what you're selling I've been wondering if a store like this existed. It's pretty common in the world of wine or craft beer for bars and liquor stores to concentrate on only the niche brands, but this seems to be completely unique in the world of soft drinks. But this guy has rejected everything in the mainstream because he has a passion for his business and helping people find a truly unique product. But your selection isn't everything. His passion for sodas and soft drinks comes out in everything he does and says. And the fact that he had the balls to tell Pepsi that they can't take up any of his valued shelf space makes the experience of shopping there all the more memorable and worth talking about. (I originally found this on Seth Godin's blog)
0
POPSNHL Drives Buzz with Tweetups This is a pretty cool casy study on how the National Hockey League (who haven't always been the best marketers) stimulated buzz and interest around the playoffs last year by holding tweet-ups in NHL cities. They did this in both playoff and non-playoff cities - so it was really targeted toward the hard-core fan who just enjoys the sport. When I was with Flying Dog Brewery, we had good success creating tweetups to build stronger awareness and relationships with our consumers. But the cool thing is that loyal consumer who would come to the event would almost always bring someone who was less familiar with the brand, so we got to talk to a partially new audience. The great thing about tweetups is that you can really build the event around any theme because the objective is to come and meet like-minded people. Whether it's the love of hockey, beer or charity event if you get the word out to the right people and throw out an interesting offer for their attendance, people will come
0
POPSJumping in to Social Media? Take Time to Listen First If you're looking to take the plunge into social media and want to know what to do first, the answer is easy: listen. It seems like so many people think the first step is to create a Twitter page or try to produce a viral video, but that's all wrong. The most powerful part about social media is that it allows you to listen in on THOUSANDS, if not MILLIONS of conversations about your brand, company, service or industry. Once you have a read on what people are saying, you'll be a lot better equipped to start that Twitter or Facebook page.
0
POPSHave you seen this Microsoft House Party Video Whoa. This thing is dreadful. It's borderline uncomfortable. But I like a good train wreck, so I watched the whole thing. Microsoft is trying to build organic word-of-mouth by encouraging people to host their own Windows 7 parties in their own house. Consumers are encouraged to invite people over and show them how to use the new software in non-threatening environment. It's a good idea in theory, but as it usually is with anything else in marketing - it's all in the execution. Mistake #1: They're trying too damn hard. It's so painfully obvious that the actors were coached to present the information in a very informal, conversational way. Why not have REAL people learn the software and present it in a REAL way? If you don't want to do that - train the actors on the software and have them present it in their REAL voice. Mistake #2: What about some REAL party footage? Ok, if you want to communicate all of the key points via these actors, fine. But show me some real footag
0
POPSCMOs are Choosing to Activate Social Media via In-house Resources I'm surprised, but pleasantly surprised that over 65% of surveyed CMOs are choosing to go in-house for their social media work. It's the right choice for several reasons and there are a few money quotes below. Social Media should be managed in-house because: 1. It's cheaper. You can hire a "Community Manager" for half of what it would take for an agency to manage the business. 2. It's faster. If you have someone in-house who is intimately involved in the brand and the company, you will be able to react to opportunities and challenges faster. 3. It's all about the content. Agencies are probably more skilled on the technical side, but let's face it - pretty much anyone can figure out how to use Twitter, Facebook, Flickr or blogs these days. But not everyone can get the content right. And if you need some Tech help, outsource it for a couple days or learn it! (Found this piece via @daveknox )
Clips
Latest Pops
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Tags
Print
Save
Turn on live update