Category Archives: Communications

Hallelujah! Millennials Are Dead. Here Comes Generation Z

Just when I was about to open a vein over the incessant furor about how Millennials are different, unique and in need of such nonsense as influencer marketing, they’re dead. Here comes Gen Z (sheesh–will somebody brand the next round … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on Tuesday, 30 January 2018 7:01 am by | Tagged , , ,

Be The Solution

Posted on Monday, 29 January 2018 9:16 am by

We get the advertising we deserve. As marketers, we’ve put our skepticism on hold. And we’ve been taken. Programmatic buying, content marketing, influencer marketing, and native advertising are just a few of the fallacies the advertising ecosystem has foisted on … Continue reading →

Posted in Communications, digital marketing, Education, Marketing, Philosophy | Tagged , , ,

Mad Men Was Better

Posted on Wednesday, 10 January 2018 9:15 am by

You used to pay your ad agency a 15% commission back in the day. You groused about the high fees, the bad or non-existent data about campaign performance and wondered why you had to pay for those fancy Madison Ave … Continue reading →

Posted in Branding, Communications, digital marketing, Marketing, Media | Tagged , , , , ,

Peer-to-Peer Disinformation

Paywalled, but interesting article at New York Times today on Renee DiResta’s work on peer-to-peer disinformation and how social media can be gamed to lead one into an echo chamber where vaccines can cause autism, planes distribute chemicals via chemtrails, … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on Monday, 13 November 2017 1:30 pm by | Tagged , , , , ,

ANA Pwned by Programmatic

The ANA was running ads on the hate site Breitbart. The attributed it to “an unintentional result of a programmatic buy and it has been removed.” This happened just days after Bob Liodice said “We as leaders should not accept … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on Friday, 13 October 2017 7:52 am by | Tagged , , ,

Guitar Effects: Two Legends and a Sale

Posted on Friday, 1 September 2017 9:12 am by

My core beliefs include positivity and assuming goodwill. If you only knew me from my writing here, you might not think that. It’s hard to be positive sometimes when I seem to spend the whole day mired in “digital” marketing … Continue reading →

Posted in Branding, Communications, digital marketing, Guitar, Marketing, Media, Sales, Social Media Marketing | Tagged , , , , , ,

TIKI: You Could Have Been Firmer

Posted on Monday, 14 August 2017 10:08 am by

Imagine your brand being co-opted by an odd mix of right-wing frat boys with funny haircuts, toothless old men with grey beards and beer guts, and sniveling shifty-eyed wanna-be soldiers. In other words, the Master Race, same as they ever … Continue reading →

Posted in Communications, Diversity, Leadership | Tagged , , ,

“Digital” is Just Accelerated Direct Marketing

Says the great Drayton Bird in his email this morning: “On-line marketing is just accelerated direct marketing.” He’s right. It’s therefore more important than ever that your marketers are properly trained: it’s harder to keep the rubber on the road … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on Thursday, 27 July 2017 11:14 am by | Tagged , , ,

A Thought Experiment: Lobby Ads

Imagine this: A set of large screens in your corporate lobby running, in real time and randomly, the actual digital ads you are running on the pages the ads are being displayed on. A viewer would also be able to stop … Continue reading →

Aside | Posted on Wednesday, 31 May 2017 11:59 am by | Tagged , ,

A Loyalty Program Retort: British Airways

Posted on Wednesday, 31 May 2017 9:20 am by

“When you pass the football, three things can happen. Two of them are bad.” This quote has been attributed to Woody Hayes–probably incorrectly–Darrell Royal, Chuck Mills, and several other famous football coaches. It’s stuck with me over the years, particularly … Continue reading →

Posted in Communications, Customer Care | Tagged , , ,