Institute of Communications
February 22nd, 2012
Anyone fill up their vehicle this week? Nothing like rising tensions in the Middle East to make you feel like telecommuting, but one group watching the pump prices even closer is the travel industry.
February 17th, 2012
In full disclosure, I’m typing among cookie crumbs right now. What is it about those Girl Scouts, stationed at storefronts like sugar-bearing Scylla and Charybdis, that makes you feel downright unpatriotic for not purchasing? From childhood obesity to a bad economy, these cookie-pushing pixies faced enough challenges recently to make any CMO cringe. Yet, like the savviest entrepreneurs, they engaged in smart business, side-stepping these marketing hurdles. Here are a few of the wily maneuvers that guaranteed our annual Thin Mint gorge.
No Need To Knock
We’ve watched way too many 20/20 reports to allow children meandering through neighborhoods. So, troops negotiated new partnerships with banks, hardware stores and sporting arenas to set up shop. Then came the ...
February 8th, 2012
So, if you’ve visited any marketing blogs in the past month, you’ve likely seen the coronation of the latest social media pin-up gal:
Pinterest — the visual content curation site.
January 27th, 2012
Kickstarter closed 2011 with some fairly impressive numbers. The site, which matches artists, musicians and creative projects with financial backers, tallied just shy of
$1 million in pledges with more than 27,000 launched projects. Ironically in 2010, combined projects raised only about $27,000.
While it seems unlikely that this funding avenue for L.A. waiter/actors and Brooklyn barista/songwriters keeps Goldman Sachs executives up at night, a few recent success stories demand a serious look at the crowd-sourced funding phenomenon. Startup marketing may no longer live exclusively in b-to-b, as consumers get in on backing the products and companies they desire.
In Austin, Texas, entrepreneurs sought to open the nation’s first package-free, zero-waste grocery store. When their idea fell short of ...
January 20th, 2012
Oh, if only it were as easy as switching out the baking soda in the refrigerator … and let’s be honest, few of us change that on time either. So while there’s no stamped “use by” date or calendar app to signal a marketing refresh, here are a few quick “sniff tests” to determine if you own a stale campaign.
January 13th, 2012
So, now that everyone’s back at work, what did you do over the holidays? Wait. If you’re a Foursquare user, don’t bother. We pretty much know the whole story from where you bought your wife’s presents to the steak you ate on New Year’s Eve. (And by the way, that’s not a very nice name for your in-laws’ house.)
Of all the social-media trends, we’ve curiously followed the location services most closely — specifically, Foursquare since its 2009 launch. Early on, it became apparent that Twitter could transform over-sharing of your favorite sandwich to a legitimate marketing communication. But how willing would people appear in transitioning cyber-stalking to a physical level with geo-location sites?
Apparently, we’re fairly willing. While it’s been a ...
December 30th, 2011
A Look at Big Stories of 2011 and How They Affect Your Business
December 28th, 2011
As you’re perusing the cookie tray at the office party this year, keep your eyes peeled for offerings that have the food industry screaming, “Fa-la-la!”
Gluten-free is now one of fastest-growing segments of the specialty-food market and the fastest-growing products in the global food-allergy and food-intolerance market. Its foods and beverage sales reached $2.6 billion last year, adding to the annual growth rate of 30 percent from 2006 to 2010. With sales predicted to exceed $5 billion by 2015, foods once only on the radar of those with Celiac Disease are now a major player. So what factors induced this brownie bonanza?
Growing Diagnosis of Need
The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy reports that Celiac Disease affects approximately 1 in 133 people — about ...
