Category Archives: Marketing

The danger of low variance

Low variance is crucial in fields like medicine, rocket launches, and pension fund management. However, seeking deviations from the norm is essential for breakthrough results. Instead of resumes or current figures, reverse order test results may reveal team performance. Cultivating variance fosters growth, while a low variance culture hampers progress. Embrace variance for innovation and growth. Continue reading

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Robert De Niro, talking ad weirdness

“Whenever there is any doubt, there is no doubt.” Continue reading

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Fools rush in with AI: Brand safety edition

You’re a damn fool if you rely on the AI in Integral Ad Science or DoubleVerify to protect your ads from running on websites featuring racism, sexism, and far, far worse. See the recent Adalytics report linked below. Caution: There … Continue reading

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“They Changed Their Control, Right?”

In the early 90s, the author meticulously managed direct mail campaigns, relying on personal expertise and detailed record-keeping. Identifying a sudden drop in performance, the author’s comprehensive knowledge of mailing lists enabled them to pinpoint the issue: a change in mailing format. This story highlights the value of hands-on campaign organization and insight, without relying on advanced technology. Find out more at the provided link. Continue reading

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Your Target Audience Just Got Bigger

So you’re increasing your advertising investment this year, right? Right? In many companies the bean counters are pushing back on marketing investment decisions, seeing it as wasteful spend by characters who struggle with basic arithmetic. While that’s sadly far too … Continue reading

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Who Pulled the Names?

Every time I get a wacky, mis-targeted email, in-stream ad, or direct mail, one thought goes through my mind… Continue reading

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Know and Value Your Customer: A Forgotten Rule

One of the hardest things to teach marketers is that our customers are everything and that our brands are–in the minds and lives of our customers–tiny, inconsequential things. That level of humility can be hard to achieve, but it’s necessary … Continue reading

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Chumbox Your Users While Taboolaing Your Brand Equity

Avinash Kaushik created a (new to me) term the other day. In his email on Friday, he coined the term Taboolaing to refer to the use of the chumboxes offered by dreadful companies like Taboola to destroy one’s brand equity. … Continue reading

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Killing the Paywall

Tom Goodwin’s recent article, “Why making content on the internet free was our biggest mistake… and how to fix it” is required reading for all marketers in publishing. I’ve felt this way for a long time. Mr. Goodwin only wrote … Continue reading

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USPS 3685 and the State of Marketing

Sometimes reading the USPS-required Statement of Ownership, Management, and Circulation (form 3685) can reveal a lot about the state of one’s industry. As a direct marketing and postal junkie, I find USPS forms fascinating. (I don’t get out much.) I … Continue reading

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