If you care deeply about my business, why am I stuck on endless hold alternating between an annoying, repeating music sound bite and a friendly recording expressing a commitment to me? I find myself wondering, does the boss ever call your help line? Would things be different if she or he did? As a human being, I want to do business with other humans, not a drive full of MP3s awaiting my selection of the appropriate key. We’re in the midst of a series of 15 critical marketing tips for … [Read more...]
TUNING OUR BRAINS BACK TO STEREO
February 19, 2013 by Leave a Comment
In college, I worked at the campus radio station. During my junior year, we blew out the FM stereo transponder of the transmitter, causing all of our music programming to come our sounding flat and monotone. Weeks later when the equipment was repaired, we celebrated the return to high quality stereo. Imagine the richness that can come with switching our brains back to stereo. This three post series is a little different than typical Daily Conversions content. Typically, we look at ways to … [Read more...]
3 Critical Marketing Lessons from Super Bowl XLVII
February 4, 2013 by Leave a Comment
From blowout to power out to red zone standout, the game offered plenty of excitement for fans. But it also provided some solid lessons for marketers: The work’s not over until the whistle blows – The kickoff return at the beginning of the second half was the difference between defeat and victory for the 49ers, and it was caused by the players assuming the deep kick would result in a Jones touchback. So they left their assigned protection lanes, stopped aggressively pursuing the ball, and … [Read more...]
Marketing lessons from Mitt and the $10,000 Bet
December 15, 2011 by 1 Comment
The big social media takeaway from last weekend’s Republican debate in Iowa was Mitt Romney offering Rick Perry a $10,000 bet on a policy position. But the moment also provides 3 great lessons for marketers. Context is critically important. One of the first lessons we learn is the importance of context – there is a time and place for every message. Anyone caught passing a note to the cute girl in the front row in first grade and facing the embarrassment of having the note read aloud … [Read more...]
A short film I produced to promote the 4-Hour Body book
December 21, 2010 by 4 Comments
I produced short film last week in an effort to create a remarkable marketing campaign for Tim Ferriss' new book launch, The 4-Hour Body. The film stars yours truly. It's a comedy. It's called The Book Signing. Click here to watch the short film. I'm liking this movie marketing thing so much I decided to start another blog, Moviepreneur.com entirely devoted to movie marketing. I'm hoping to carve out my own niche and continue to do really cool films that help promote stuff. … [Read more...]
I helped a homeless man and promoted a book at the same time
December 17, 2010 by 10 Comments
I wanted to help a homeless man get a meal and put some money in his pocket (and a copy of The 4-Hour Body) while helping me promote the book to a very busy Harvard Square bookstore in Cambridge, MA. I’m very proud of this and believe that if replicated all over the country, not only would it generate incredible, positive, buzz about the book; it would bring homeless people into a better light and help & inspire a lot of people. Homeless people in this country are treated unfairly, … [Read more...]
Celtics & Dunkin Donuts – The Rigged Fan Contest – Racism and Discrimination Inside
October 25, 2010 by 6 Comments
So the day started off nice, lots of work on my slate, calls to make, content to put together for my upcoming product launch. Everything is moving nicely and I'm checking items off. As I jot down some things that I want to get done today, I find out about this Celtics/Dunkin Donuts event at my local Dunkin Donuts with Ray Allen. I decide to take the show on the road and get some work done in a different environment. So, I arrive at Dunkin Donuts and I'm hanging out working on some … [Read more...]
Water is selling out, quick, everyone buy it!
October 5, 2010 by 5 Comments
Not too long ago here in Boston there was a "boil order" which meant that we were supposed to boil all our water before we drank it. Something was wrong with the water. This resulted in mass panick and ultimately all of the stores sold out of bottled water in the affected area in a matter of no time. Here's a bit more background information on the situation if you care to check it out. Ok Brian... but how does this apply to marketing and what's the lesson here? This is a very very … [Read more...]
Your content is distracting your users from the ads
October 4, 2010 by 4 Comments
Something interesting happened last night when a friend of mine tried to give away his furniture on Craigslist. Nobody believed him that it was good quality furniture with nothing wrong with it. They all wanted to know why he was giving it away and what was wrong with it. This is called perceived value. If you are giving away something for free people associate a value with it. They perceive it as not worth that much, since you don't even want it. The same thing is true with Internet … [Read more...]
6 Mistakes That Most Companies And Marketers Do, Over And Over Again, part 1
September 21, 2010 by 2 Comments
Sometimes when I consult with clients, I talk to their marketing and sales executives, and in many cases it always amazes me how incompetent people are when it comes to marketing, especially online marketing. Here are 3 (the other three will follow in my next post) of the most common mistakes marketers do, over and over again (sigh). 1. Not knowing your demographic. I could write a book about all the clients I’ve consulted who’ve just put up a website, put a ton of cash into … [Read more...]
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