IS IT OKAY TO STRETCH THE TRUTH IN SALES?

POSITION: SOMETIMES, YES

There’s a major difference between stretching the truth and outright lying, and anyone who tells you that salespeople can be successful without stretching the truth a bit is, well, outright lying.
There are times when a little manipulation of the truth is unavoidable. In a perfect world – one with no competition – it’d [...]

IS SOCIAL NETWORKING MORE ABOUT NETWORKING OR MARKETING?

POSITION: NETWORKING

In the November 9, 2009 issues of DM News, there’s an announcement that Email Data Source is launching a new tool that will enable marketers to measure Twitter’s impact on the traditional brand marketing perspectives of reach, frequency and effectiveness.  According to the article, the new tool will grab the brass ring, the coveted [...]

DOES “PERSONAL BRANDING” DESERVE ALL ITS HYPE? (ROUND 2)

POSITION: ABSOLUTELY!

I’d say an unequivocal yes to that question with the proviso that it’s an authentic representation of you. Having a personal brand is very important, particularly in these challenging times, when we all need to be able to distinguish ourselves from the crowd.
 
Whether you know it or not, you have a personal brand, [...]

TO BE SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERTS, MUST AGENCIES PRACTICE WHAT THEY PREACH?

POSITION: NOT NECESSARILY

Chances are you’ve never seen a TV commercial for an advertising agency, because ad agencies don’t use that medium to promote themselves. It’s not the most effective way for them to reach their target market. But that hasn’t prevented millions of brands from trusting agencies to develop effective TV spots.
Same is [...]

DOES “PERSONAL BRANDING” DESERVE ALL ITS HYPE? (ROUND #1)

POSITION: DEFINITELY NOT!

Personal branding is getting a ton of hype these days, and I can’t quite figure out why.  Personal branding has been around since the dawn of time, but we used to just call it reputation.  (I’d like to take this opportunity to point out that I’m not that old.)  Everything you do, [...]

IS THE PRINT INDUSTRY DEAD?

POSITION: NO, IT’S NOT

Print has been a dying medium for most of my adult life. Now more than ever, people seem to want to kill it off once and for all.
Yes newspapers have been on the decline. Numbers don’t lie, and there’s no denying that as a marketing medium, print has serious challenges ahead of [...]

KEEP WALKING

Every so often you see a commercial or a video that is produced for a brand and you are left almost speechless.  A spot or a video that truly captures the essence of what the brand stands for and illustrates a human connection to the product.  Unfortunately, for every one of these great videos you [...]

MAKING MONEY BY NOT MAKING DECISIONS

I must admit, it has been painful for me to watch the Brett Favre story play out every August for the past few years.  The “will he retire or will he play” conversations dominated sports talk radio across the country and were covered across all sorts of national and local news programming for weeks.  As a passionate [...]

WHO NEEDS A BIG GIRAFFE?

I will be the first to admit that when I saw Whoopi Goldberg’s name connected to a Toys R’ Us program in a recent Brandweek article, I cringed a little bit.  Trust me, with three small kids, I spend my fair share of time walking their aisles looking at Bakugan toys, Polly Pocket dress up [...]

COMMERCIAL MAKES GLARING MISTAKE

I like the Broadview TV commercials – I think they find a good balance between striking a note of fear, and terrorizing their potential audience.
In the latest addition to their collection, a woman is brought home after what is clearly a first date. While she and her date stand at her door in the pouring [...]

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