February 2007 Archives
Harry Hoover and the folks at My Creative Team have published an excellent, concise article on 11 ways to promote your website.
The bottom line:  to receive you must give.  Share ideas, thoughts, words, articles, anything you've got that's germane to what you do and you'll receive legitimate attention.
Apparently, a deal from Geico fell through in which the lizard would have become exclusive corporate sponsor for the George Washington Bridge to the tune of $3.2M in exchange for some "guerilla advertising" opportunities at the toll booth.
The Port Authority balked at the offer, but left the door open for another bridge sponsor to step up.
I thought the whole point of guerilla marketing is that it's a superior, low-cost alternative to paid media?
The Brains on Fire Blog relays news of JC Penney's new tagline, "Every Day Matters."
Apparently, this is another example of how bringing on a new agency often yields a new tagline. Oh, yes, there's the quote from agency representative about "resonating with consumers."
Is it a new day at JC Penney? I don't think so. Spike Jones at Brains on Fire testifies:
"A rallying cry is great. But a remarkable experience is even better. It transcends tag lines and advertising. (And when you have a great name, you might not even need a tagline because your name says it all.)
"Creating a new tagline won’t change anything. Try starting with the culture. The experience. The people inside your company."
As in many cases, the few are impacting the many when it comes to social bookmarking sites such as Digg and del.ic.ious.
The Brand Autopsy blog notes that 30 of Digg's 300,000 users are responsible for 33 percent of the posting submissions.  These 30 people are on a mission, obviously.  The question is, what exactly is it?
In quick and visual fashion, David Armano shows how to use Widgetbox to link your static website to your related blog.
That done, the challange becomes remaining true to your blog's mission all the while knowing your entries are now filling your homepage. An interesting system of checks and balances for your overall online strategy.
Master landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, designer of New York's Central Park as well as the grounds of George W. Vanderbilt's Biltmore House and the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, liked to talk to strangers while crisscrossing the country by train to check on work in progress.
In June 1893, on a trip to Asheville, NC, from Chicago, Olmstead quizzed fellow passengers about their intentions to attend the recently opened World's Fair.
Most everyone said they planned to attend the Fair, but gave a variety of excuses regarding why they hadn't gone just yet. People feared a looming economic crisis and the coming summer heat, he learned. Probing further, he uncovered a common fear of being "fleeced unmercifully" in the wild western streets of Chicago by hoteliers, restaurateurs, and even the Fair itself.
Writing back to other Fair directors, Olmstead pled for urgency in making early improvements that would be fodder for the stories people took back home:
"This is the advertising now most important to be developed; that of high-strung, contagious enthusiasm, growing from actual excellence: the question being not whether people shall be satisfied, but how much they shall be carried away with admiration, and infect others by their unexpected enjoyment of what they have found."
