The phenomenal success of Toms shoes and its revolutionary model, in which for every pair sold the company donates one to an impoverished community, was a dramatic illustration that nice guys can finish first. In an interview with Oprah magazine, Toms founder Tom Mycoskie said: “Giving feels good, but it’s also good for the bottom line. Charity is a viable growth strategy for a lot of companies. Our customers get excited to be a part of what we’re doing. If you ask anyone wearing Toms how they first heard… read the rest of the article »

In a new spot created by Crispin Porter & Bogusky and directed by Roman Coppola, Microsoft takes an innovative and super-sly approach to negative advertising by attacking the negative advertising of, or at least the ongoing feud between, Apple’s iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy. By dramatizing Apple and Samsung loyalists as bickering guests at a wedding, Microsoft accomplishes multiple things at once. First, they sidestep the unfavorable perceptions of running a negative campaign by dramatizing Microsoft Lumia 920 users as peaceful bystanders to the fight. So, while Microsoft is really the… read the rest of the article »

Red Bull’s Stratos space jump, in which Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner successfully jumped from a helium balloon 24 miles over the earth last October, was a justifiable media sensation, however it is Red Bull’s Music Academy that seems their most adventurous campaign to date. Started in 1998, the Red Bull Music Academy is “a world-travelling series of music workshops and festivals: a platform for those who make a difference in today’s musical landscape.” Recently, they aggressively advertised a two-week New York event, featuring 31 DJs, producers, vocalists, and “all-around music mavericks”, including… read the rest of the article »

Generally speaking when you create your marketing plan and conduct your SWOT analysis, you look at your direct and indirect competitors and forge ways to outshine them.  This is how it’s always been done, right?   Well, according to sales consulting firm, The Sales Benchmark Index, there is one other “competitor” brands usually forget to consider, and that is apathy….or the situation in which consumers make no decision at all.  Gasp!   According to Forrester Research, consumers find themselves reining in purchase behavior when there is a lack of information or… read the rest of the article »

…by Adam Farwell In modern marketing it seems that QR codes and NFC tags are synonymous with ‘cheap and cutting edge.’ Both QR codes and NFC have their shortcomings, however, and misuse of either one could mean a lot of trouble for your brand. This article aims at giving a brief summary of QR codes and NFC, the limitations that both technologies carry with them, the possibilities they offer and some guidelines to consider when implementing them into your brand. NFC NFC stands for Near Field Communication. If a smartphone… read the rest of the article »