JCPenny’s new “everyday low pricing” policy, similar to Walmart’s, has gotten off to a terrible start. The new marketing campaign, that ditches the hundreds of sales offered throughout the year and instead goes with what is touted as a simpler approach, offering low predictable pricing,...
Despite the increasing doubts about the social media sector in the wake of Facebook’s shaky IPO, more companies are turning towards using Twitter’s hashtag in their marketing campaigns to make advertisements more “personal” to viewers. For example, one short NASCAR ad showed driver Brad Keselowski...
Color has played an important part in U.S. history. Often the popular colors that emerge during certain time periods are keys to understanding the complex moods of a generation. Just thinking back to a high school U.S. History class,...
Shakespeare said it best when he penned Juliet’s famed line, “What’s in a name?” But could it be possible that calling a rose by another name does make it lose its sweetness? What if instead that which we call...
Pinterest. The utterly addicting, high enjoyable online 'collage' that has taken the social media world by storm. For those of you unaware of the wonder that is Pinterest, I quote from their website: "Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that lets you organize and share all...
I’m sitting on my lunch break, catching up on a few neglected Words With Friends games on my iPhone. After entering in my amazing 71-point word (love those triple letters on a triple words), I’m forced to spend a few seconds on an...
Google announced last week that they are designing an alternative to their AdWords program, called Dynamic Search Ads. The concept is quite simple: instead of using a keyword and matching it to a relevant page, Google is taking a page and matching it to a...
While I was writing this blog, we received the sad news that Steve Jobs had passed away. What a wonderfully creative legacy he leaves behind, and I can't help but wonder what amazing "inventions" we'll miss.Vrginia Business magazine had a great article in its September...
Way back when, my late father, who was managing partner in a large accounting firm, complained that many of the young people coming on board didn't know how to write properly. While these college graduates displayed sufficient talent for performing accounting tasks, the reports they...
In a society where it's commonplace to see a "tweet" on the nightly news, it should come as no surprise that social media is quickly becoming a legitimate and mainstream tool for news and media. Most recently, with the conclusion of the U.S. debt-ceiling crisis, we...
Recently, I stumbled across an article in the Wall Street Journal that described a start-up company in San Francisco with a busier social calendar than Kim Kardashian. “Moustache” Mondays? “Yoga” Tuesdays? I was intrigued. The company, Airbnb Inc., decided to pump up company perks to...
So you’ve got gum stuck on your shoe. Or perhaps it was a leaf, paper, or just mud you can’t wait to get off.All of us at some point have run into this situation and our instant reaction is to get rid of whatever it...
The universal coverage of The Royal Wedding is truly incredible. Images are continuing to emerge weeks after the once in a lifetime event. One particular image was brought to my attention via Facebook earlier today and, without a doubt, the playful image was followed by...
Surfing channels this weekend, I ran into the Seth Meyers White House Correspondents' Associate dinner speech and was drawn in to the event. What an example of the basic communication lesson that body language can "trump" words anytime!Most folks nervously giggled at the mini-roasting of...
Branding, as described in the dictionary, is “a type of product manufactured by a particular company under a particular name.” This very loose definition leaves out all of the intricacies that “brand” can include (i.e. an environment, service, corporate mantra, etc.). Maintaining this brand across...