March 26th 2010
My friend Steve Singer just emailed that Marketing Sherpa is quoting me on one of my favorite contrarian email tactics. Act like a person, not a marketer. Most people don’t send html emails full of images to their friends; it’s just not necessary. They already have a relationship with the recipient and something of value […]
March 25th 2010
New Haven law firm Stratton Faxon sued Google for selling competitor ads triggered by searches on their name. Specifically, they alleged that these ads interfered with the firm’s business relations with clients, were an unfair business practice under Connecticut state law, and resulted in unjust enrichment. Read the details on Lawyers and Settlements. Note the […]
March 24th 2010
Everyone likes samples. To advertise, the Mint should offer money. James Gardner of Adverlicious kindly shared this bad airport advertising from Boston’s Logan Airport. It stands outside the gate for the commuter flights to New York at Boston’s Logan Airport. James doesn’t recall ever seeing a child on the commuter flights he frequents. Further, the […]
March 22nd 2010
Today, Prime Minister Gordon Brown will announce a massive IT project to move in-person transactions with citizens online. (See coverage in the Telegraph.) This will change a wide range of interactions, including tax disputes and payments, vehicle licensing, applying for school, public housing issues, and passport applications. No less than Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the World […]
March 20th 2010
This week, Greenpeace posted a gruesome anti-Nestlé commercial on YouTube complaining that Nestlé SA buys palm oil from companies that destroy the Indonesian rainforest to plant oil palms. The 60-second video depicts a bored office worker enjoying a Kit Kat, which, rather than being the popular chocolate-hazelnut ladyfinger-style confection, appears to be a chocolate-covered ape […]
March 19th 2010
World traveler Jay Ratcliffe sent this one in from the Las Vegas airport. Imagine seeing this ad just after TSA screeners have taken your nail clippers and liquids in containers of >3oz. Who at the airport hasn’t felt a the need for a machine gun, at least for a brief rental? Where else could you imagine this […]
March 12th 2010
The Internet is much more than a network of computers. It is an endless web of people. Men and women from every corner of the globe are connecting to one another, thanks to the biggest social interface ever known to humanity. Digital culture has laid the foundations for a new kind of society. And this […]
March 11th 2010
According to the New York Post, actress Lindsay Lohan is suing E-Trade for $100 million for pain and suffering caused by their Super Bowl ad. The semi-funny (and non-compelling) ad shows a milkaholic baby named Lindsay (or Lindsey) with a guilty looking baby-husband. Yes, the ad is pretty terrible; so is the legal claim. However, […]
March 10th 2010
Remember my 2010 prediction that brand holders should beware of clowns? I called it the Coulrophobia Epidemic of 2010. Logorama did it with trademarks, and won an Oscar. Girl Talk did it with music, gaining top rankings from Rolling Stone, Blender and Time magazine. And now Eric Faden uses the most copyrighted video anywhere, Disney® […]
March 8th 2010
Last night, a 16-minute animated film, entirely populated by trademarks as both characters and props, won an upset Academy Award. Its producer, Nicolas Schmerkin, explains: It’s about the way we live and the way we react to these logos. The brain can register 14 logos in less than one second. Making the logos characters with […]
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