the secrets of communication

Entries Tagged as 'Marketing'

Why are mass-mailers in love with PS?

April 15th, 2010 · No Comments · Faux Pas, Marketing

Ah, the post scriptum.  Best used at the end of love letters to reinforce the writer’s affection (PS – I love you), these two letters have found a new home.  They are used primarily by banks hawking high interest loans (PS – Act now to take advantage of this generous credit offer!) and by political [...]

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Print advertising can be dumb

September 28th, 2009 · No Comments · Marketing

Derek Sivers has a great story on his blog about a musician who booked an ad in a magazine in the hopes of converting 1% of the magazine’s readership into sales.  In this case, 1% would have translated into 10,000 CDs sold.  The result?  4 CDs sold. He ends with this line: “He forgot there [...]

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I can’t believe this isn’t an ad for Southwest

April 17th, 2009 · No Comments · Marketing

I can’t believe that this video was not an ad for Southwest Airlines. If it was, I think it’s brilliant (especially the last line: “you can not get that on United, lemme tell you that!”) If it wasn’t, it’s a lucky bit of exposure.

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Juicy Fruit and Jib Jab – a great opportunity

April 2nd, 2009 · No Comments · Marketing

I think that JibJab and Juicy Fruit should definitely team up: http://bit.ly/A8fuE If you haven’t visited the JibJab site, you should definitely go have a look.  A brilliant concept, well executed, with great revenue potential. This is what smart marketing should look like.  When Office Max teamed up with JibJab for the highly viral Christmas campaign “Go Elf Yourself” it [...]

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Why blogging is important for Real Estate agents

March 21st, 2009 · 2 Comments · Marketing, Real estate, Social Media

I’m not a real estate agent. I am, however, one of those “closet real estate addicts” – I pour over MLS listings in my spare time, watch HGTV, and get emailed pricing reports for the major Canadian markets. I am also one of the few Canadians who sold and bought a house within the past [...]

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Interesting post on value and advertising

March 16th, 2009 · No Comments · Marketing

Just read an interesting post by Ricky Irvine on Advertising, Value, and Meaning. I think he’s spot on, here’s an excerpt: There’s what we can call the Walmart Way, in which value means less expensive, affordable, cheap, or low quality. The driving force determining what we’re willing to trade real money for is a rarely [...]

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What’s the best ad you’ve seen this year?

February 8th, 2009 · 3 Comments · Marketing

Leave a response to this post and tell me: What is the best ad you’ve seen this year that actually lead you to buy something? I’m not looking for the “coolest,” or the “sexiest,” or the “funniest.”  I’m interested in conversion – which ad made you pick up your wallet, and dole out some dough [...]

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Clear and clever – but does it make you want to buy gum?

January 25th, 2009 · 10 Comments · Marketing

I pass this billboard on my way to the bus stop (here’s the actual sign).  When I first saw it I thought it was quite clever: each ad has a simple catch-phrase (“the original voicemail,” or “friend request accepted.”)  These Dentyne ads highlight the current social media phenomenon, and point out the superiority of  actual face-to-face [...]

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