Merriam Webster has named “blog” the word of the year, based on requests for definitions at its online dictionary. Other words in the top 10 reflect top news stories, such as the US election, Florida hurricanes, and Iraq War. The bizarre entry, “defenestration”, seemingly stems from political hara kiri or Unix manuals. (c) 2004 by […]
The NHL hockey drought has advertisers scrambling, says the New York Times. Advertisters are at a loss when it comes to finding ways to connect with men, who tend not to tune to other shows in big numbers. They may want to take a hint from advertisers of products for teens and twentysomethings, who’ve learned […]
Marketers have lost credibility in recent years, says a story in The London Telegraph. And that’s because most marketers lack commercial skills, such as “tough-minded numeracy”, profit responsibility, financial analysis, and international business. But how many marketers have those skills? As an open career field, marketing has multiple entry points. Marketers do not complete a […]
A Canadian gaming company handed over $28,000 today for a 10-year-old grilled cheese sandwich purported to bear the Virgin Mary’s image. The company purchased the sandwich through an eBay auction that made headlines around the world. And it’s those headlines that likely prompted the company (which I’ll avoid naming) to make the bid. Google News […]
Ars Technica claims Best Buy — which owns Future Shop — wants to fire 20 percent of its customers. Some of those customers buy products, cash in on rebates, return the products for refund, then buy them later, at discounted prices. Still others buy discounted loss leaders to resell on eBay. I’m surprised this hasn’t […]
Wondering about your return on investment for marketing? Check out this Business Week article on marketing metrics. The article notes that many marketers casually toss around terms like lifetime value and ROI without any real understanding of their meaning or application. Often touted as creative types, many marketers resist using metrics for their marketing programs […]
The Vancouver Olympic Committee has moved strategically to secure advertising space for its official sponsors, reports The Vancouver Sun. Organizers hope to counter ambush marketing by competitors of sponsors. During the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Pepsi scooped Coke, an official sponsor and home town company, by locking up all available advertising. Likewise, Nike handed out banners […]
The Bachelor in BC? I stumbled across this news release while reviewing some market research studies on the BC Tourism website. Vancouver and Whistler will appear in next week’s episode of The Bachelor. Byron, the bachelor, will bring a date to Vancouver for a rooftop dinner at the Hotel Vancouver and a stop at the […]
Everett M. Rogers, a pioneer in research into how and why people adopt new technologies, has died at age 73. Best known for developing his Diffusion of Innovations theory, Rogers published 30 books and more than 500 articles. He applied his research to health communication projects around the world, often inspiring people interested in marketing […]
Do you know Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod from those Bodybreak commercials? For years, I’ve heard rumours about their relationship — apparent fodder for bored Canadians, even this Vancouver marketing consultant. In the past few months, I’d heard the fitness pundits had divorced, since neither seemed to appear in the same scene in recent commercials. […]