Consumer review site Rate It All explains the Long Tail is getting longer, making it increasingly important to deliver your Web service to consumers where they are. Enter widgets. Newsweek predicted 2007 would be the year of the widget, and they certainly garnered a lot of attention with over 87 million people using 239 million widgets during...
Supplier diversity is imperative in a global, multi-cultural business market, but it can be challenging to reconcile supplier diversity initiatives with cost-cutting initiatives. According to a 2006 study by The Hackett Group, companies can expand their supplier diversity programs without sacrificing savings. So who's doing it well, and how...
In his new book, "Meatball Sundae: Is Your Marketing Out of Sync?" -- available on December 27th -- Seth Godin dissects the 14 trends marketers need to embrace to avoid eating meatball sundaes, which Godin explains as such: A meatball is a worthwhile commodity. They are things we need and sold to everyone....
Want to learn how not to screw up a fantastic opportunity to manage a well-known and much-loved brand? Take a pointer or two from The Knicks' management. MSNBC broke it down nicely, explaining how the New York Knicks are becoming "the biggest punchline in American sports." Management deals...
The backlash over Facebook's Beacon initiative has a lot of people upset over online invasion of privacy -- and a lot of behavioral targeting enthusiasts livid that the social networking site set the BT industry back. However, as Marketing Guru Seth Godin points out, people don't truly care about privacy; they care...
Advertisers and entrepreneurs have long seen the human body as a potential bill board. The sandwich board and branded clothing are child's play in comparison with the Australian-based TelePAK ad vest, which boasts a TV that runs advertising spots. And let's not forget the man who received a $30,000 offer after posting his forehead...
Motorola's chief executive, Ed Zander, will hand over the reigns on January 1st, 2008. Zander's adamant it was his decision: "[It was] my date, my doing, my time frame." He even added that he'd told his wife he intended to be CEO for four years only. If you've followed Motorola's...
Every now and then, you have to put down the spreadsheets and overrated business books in favor of something a little lighter especially on Fridays. Since it's just a day shy of December, we're obviously way overdue for a Christmas-related post. Just in the Saint nick of time, here's a little link love for...
For a lot of consumers, it's going to be a lean holiday season. Which retailers will get the un-pinched pennies? Possibly the greenest. According to a Deloitte survey, one in five shoppers will be buying green this holiday season -- and they're willing to pay more to do so. ...
Some critics called Amazon's Kindle electronic book reader overpriced and poorly designed, while others hailed it "the book of the future." There may be truth on both sides of the debate, but nonetheless, consumers have spoken, and their response has been highly favorable. Now there's just one thing standing in the way of...
Last week, the Word of Mouth Marketing Association WOMMA held it's third annual summit in Las Vegas. Thanks to Mike Spataro of Visible Technologies for attending the three-day event, and recapping some of the highlights on his blog. If you're looking for some great word-of-mouth case studies, take...
The media's pretty hard on businessmen, and today's episode of CNN's "Morning America" was a perfect example. Kiran Chetry conducted an interview with Shell CEO John Hofmeister, attacking oil companies for reaping profits while Americans are struggling to fill their tanks. One would think Chetry may have been interested in hearing the details...
You can do a lot of things with a 12-ounce Jimmy Dean sausage -- make mini sausage chimichangas, adhere to a diet with the reduced fat variety, or really tick off a 30-year customer. After learning that Jimmy Dean did away with the 16-ounce pack and increased pricing for the...
You may be sick of hearing the words "toy recall" by now, but this one's a little too scary not to mention. Aqua Dots or Bindeez in Australia, a popular holiday toy distributed by Toronto-based Spin Master Toys, isn't living up to its "toy of the year" status. Unless you classify...
As the public grows more aware of the environmental impacts of purchasing decisions, it's becoming controversial to buy bottled water -- not to mention unnecessary if you choose the purified type as opposed to glacial or spring; anyone can make it with a filtration system. Coca-Cola's SmartWater is just that, but with added electrolytes. While celebrity...
Yesterday was the beta launch of Hulu.com (a joint venture between NBC Universal and News Corp. that will compete with iTunes by offering ad-supported TV and film downloads.) The timing was perfect for NBC U chief executive Jeff Zucker to explain why the company will not renew its deal with iTunes in December:...
Scott Adams isn't just the man behind Dilbert. He's also an MBA from UC Berkeley, a jack of all trades (see the long list of "humiliating and low paying jobs" in his bio) and a clever self-promoter. In his latest blog post, he invites us all to see him in Second...
Despite having established an ethical code three years ago amid a child labor scandal, Gap Inc's factories are still abusing children. The Observer's undercover reporters found children as young as 10 years old -- some sold by their families -- making clothes for Gap Kids in a New Delhi sweatshop. The children described long hours,...
It's not easy to go up against an established brand, but in emerging markets, consumers are looking for more than just a well-known name; they're looking for the best bang for their buck (or yen or peso...). Young & Rubicam's BrandAsset Valuator survey looked at 10 emerging markets and identified their most...
In an earlier post, we discussed how companies rely on online reputation management resources to stack the user review deck in their favor -- essentially hiding negative feedback. According to a new study, some of the most influential consumers believe companies are guilty of manipulating reviews through other means, as well....
