The Baghdad Blogger will be a guest at this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival.* Known by the pseudonym Salam Pax (“Hello Peace”), the young Iraqi started an online diary in September 2002. His English blog detailed everything from his daily life to criticisms of the Iraqi government — an act that could have led to […]
Interested in learning how a corporate blog can help your business grow? Check out Northern Voice, a Canadian blogging conference coming to Vancouver this February. Registration just opened and the first 25 people to sign up receive a free t-shirt. (c) 2004 by Andrea Coutu. Vancouver Marketing Consultant. All rights reserved.
In today’s 24-hour news network world, do Olympics viewers care if they’re watching live events? No, according to The San Francisco Chronicle.* NBC packaged broadcasts so that it seemed as though matches and races were unfolding live before the viewing audience. Although this technique bombed in Sydney four years ago, TV viewership was up 13 […]
CBS Marketwatch has some tips for ensuring the grandkids don’t blow their inheritance. According to the article, wealthy families can ensure the success of their offspring by taking steps to preserve both financial and social capital. If you’re wondering how you can build social capital (and maybe just all-round wealth), check out Entrepreneur’s tips. Far […]
As I’ve mentioned in my last two entries, many people confuse marketing with communications, advertising and public relations. Any decent marketing strategy will include those promotions programs — and address product, price, and place decisions. “Place” or “distribution” is often over-looked by small businesses. This marketing “P” deals with putting the product in the customer’s […]
In my last post, I noted that marketing means more than just communications. A friend sent me an InternetNews.com article on how blogs are set to destroy marketing as we know it. The article suggests that marketing departments will succumb to unfiltered blogging, since companies can syndicate communications to their customers, partners and employees. But […]
For many small businesses, their first contact with marketing comes when they need a brochure, website, or trade journal ad. After finding a graphic designer, web developer, copywriter or marketing communications guru, these companies focus their marketing efforts on branding and messaging. In some cases, these companies are unaware of other marketing programs — and […]
A business article I wrote for Realm Magazine will be featured in a Canadian university textbook. The article, which has been translated into French, outlines steps to writing a successful business plan, while telling the tale of a Calgary clothing manufacturer now known as Body Blocker Co. My 2-page article appears on pages 108-9, followed […]
I recently received an email from International Dairy Queen’s director of product and brand marketing. Dairy Queen wanted to address my blog on Moolatte. According to Dairy Queen’s representative, “We love the MooLatte’ name and are having excellent success with the product. The name is not a play on words. The confusion seems to be […]
Google’s right to call its online shopping service “Froogle” may be in jeopardy. Last Friday, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) rejected Google’s claim that a competiting website, Froogles.com, infringed on the Google trademark. Froogles.com, a search engine for free stuff, pre-dates Google’s registration of the Froogle.com domain. Froogles probably refers to […]