THINKing

Brands Need A Home

Photo credit: clarita from morguefile.com

Many brands are investing a lot of time and money into social networks, almost to the point of ceding control to another entity. It’s time to rethink this.

Netflix’s Corporate Seppuku

It’s good that Netflix has a red background on its logo. That way the blood doesn’t show from its self-inflicted wounds.

A Time For Print

Photo credit: mconnors from morguefile.com

Marketers have a tendency – like pendulums – to swing too far in one direction and then reverse course. In my estimation, most marketers are too far on their swing toward digital delivery of marketing information. There are some marketers who understand there needs to be a balance and that printed material can be used very effectively to make that tangible connection with customers.

All Branding, All The Time

We write a lot here about brands and branding, so I thought I’d pull together a compendium of some of our better pieces on the subject to make it easier for you to find.

Brands Still Matter

I just ran across this piece, Why Brands Don’t Matter Anymore, by John Jantsch, who knows his marketing. But I have to disagree with his headline, which was probably written to create a hint of controversy. (If you read the piece, you’ll see that he and I don’t truly disagree on this topic.)

Fortune 500 Friday – 7/8/2011

Since My Creative Team works with Fortune 500 firms, we often like to share the marketing techniques of these big boys with you. Many of these techniques can be replicated by marketers in any size business. So, let’s see what the big boys have been doing.

Brands Out Of Control

Are you taking charge of your brand or placing its control in the hands of others? In light of recent crowdsourced ads at the Superbowl, that’s the question Beau Fraser contemplates in a MarketingDaily article.

Lowe’s Gift List Builder

UPDATE: With Christmas behind us, this Lowe’s tool is offline.

We’re proud to be launching today the Lowe’s Gift List Builder that we just completed.  It’s an online holiday tool catalog that allows you to build a gift list, save it online and then share it with friends via email and your Facebook account.

Branding The Fortune 500 Way

Today’s Fortune 500 Friday is about Nucor, #206 on this year’s Fortune 500 list, & one of my clients. I have been in marketing since 1983, and in my experience, Nucor does a better job of branding than any other company I’ve ever been around. It doesn’t waste time or money on promoting itself outside its niche. The people who need to know about them, know who they are.

America’s Worst Ads

It’s time to vote on the worst ads in America. The Consumerist has launched its first contest to find America’s most annoying ads. And, sadly, there are a lot from which to choose this year.

There does seem to be a theme in 2010. From Progressive’s annoying Flo to State Farm’s pocket agent, insurance companies are dominating the list.