MarketingSherpa Releases Annual Business Technology Marketing Guide

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MarketingSherpa has released its 5th Annual Business Technology Marketing Guide, a survey of 934 marketing professionals and data from 10,000 business technology buyers. The report promises a look inside the possible ill effects of the supposed current economic downturn, it's effect on marketing budgets and how public relations, SEM and telemarketing play a role in the segment.

by Steve Hall    May-29-08    
Topic: Research, Tools



Spend A Million on Social Media With Measurable ROI? Yes, Indeed

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Writing on his blog, PR Squared, SHIFT Communications Principal, Todd Defren, in reaction to a comment Rohit Bhargava made during a panel at NewComm Forum, explains what he'd do if he had a million dollars to spend on a campaign heavily focused on social media.

While Rohit expressed concern over the ability to affix ROI metrics to a social media campaign (in comments, Rohit clarifies the concern was for the ability to scale, not the ability to measure), Todd argues measurements can be made and outlined a few tactics he might employ were he to be handed a million to spend.

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by Steve Hall    May-21-08    
Topic: Social, Tools



Creative Manager Pro Gets All Whatchamacallit Whosiwhatsit Workamajig-y

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This has to be a joke. Seriously. Creative Manger Pro, the agency software package that helps manage the creative and billing process, has changed its name to - um yea...this makes a hell of a lot of sense - Workamajig. Why? Because...um...as VP Ron Ause says, "The old brand did not properly reflect the product and organization behind it. Our old brand was too straight laced and did not properly convey what we are all about."

So...it's a product to help creative professionals manage the creative process and Creative Manager Pro doesn't properly convey that?

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by Steve Hall    May- 9-08    
Topic: Agencies, Tools, Worst



CEO Uses Daughter's Ass on Billboard, Rossellini Has Sex With Bugs

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- It's got to be a creepy thing to use one's daughter's ass in one's corporate advertising but there it is: the ass of 36 year old Laurie Adams, daughter of Georgi vodka CEO.

- Following AdWeek, MediWeek has unveiled its new website which mirrors the look of the new AdWeek quite closely.

- Previously a no no, yesterday's change in Google's terms and conditions now allows brands to mention competing brand names in their ads.

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by Steve Hall    May- 6-08    
Topic: Celebrity, Online, Outdoor, Racy, Social, Strange, Tools



Social Media Measurement Tool Hypothesized

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Though, according to Alisa Leonard, there really isn't such a thing as social media since all internet media is, by definition, social, Alisa has crafted what cold be the ideal social media analysis tool to peer inside this oh-so-conversational segment of media.

Mashing together share of voice, sentiment (via Summize), tonality of conversation, weighted influence, tag aggregation, authority, page rank and much more, Alisa has put forth the building blocks for what would appear to be the holy grail of social media measurement. All she has to do s get it built.

by Steve Hall    May- 6-08    
Topic: Research, Social, Tools



'Hey Whipple, Squeeze This' Will Add Four Hours to Your Workday

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A few months ago, a senior copywriter recommended I read Hey Whipple, Squeeze This by Luke Sullivan. I was incredulous, mostly because I've been swinging off Ogilvy's left you-know-what since Confessions of an Advertising Man.

(Getting into Ogilvy is like reading Atlas Shrugged for the first time. It will fuck with your mind.)

Just to be nice, I bought Sullivan's book, and I'm really sorry I did. Because now my walls are COVERED in strategic doodling. I am developing ideas I wouldn't have allocated brainpower to six months ago.

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by Angela Natividad    May- 1-08    
Topic: Creative Commentary, Good, Opinion, Publishing, Tools



It's a Daisy Chain of Sensory Delights!

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Okay. We don't make music ourselves, but this iPhone synthesizer is too cool to stand. Wait for the piano sequence around 2:10. Oh, and the song is pretty kick-ass too.

Brought to our attention by Shilo.tv, a team of bicoastal filmmakers, music lovers and artists. We Make it Good serves as its blog and portfolio site, where you can get a taste of neat things Shilo's involved in, like Pretty Titty's We Make It Good mix series, which went out on Obey Giant Records -- another brand we love to the point of hyperventilation -- this year.

Obey Giant was founded by Shepard Fairey, who first caught our eye with his provocative visual mashups of familiar advertising, Communist propaganda and pop and political icons.

by Angela Natividad    Apr-23-08    
Topic: Good, Online, Tools, Trends and Culture, Video



Seth Godin Praises Twitter; Seth's Tweetiquette Critiqued

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Seth Godin recently wrote a warm laudy post about how Twitter is great for building trust, brand equity and ultimately sales. Practically two seconds later, marketing and social media blogger Ryan Kuder wrote Seth an open letter declaring shenanigans.

It's not that Seth is wrong. Twitter is a great relationship development tool. I maintain daily contact with more people on Twitter than I've met in real life over the past year. We pass on streams of thought, as well as links we find interesting or valuable.

Occasionally, that interesting or valuable link brings users to our website. But that isn't only or always the case ... and this is where Ryan raises his complaint.

"I've got a beef with the way you use Twitter," he writes, "Because you don't use it."

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by Angela Natividad    Apr-14-08    
Topic: Good, Online, Opinion, Tools, Trends and Culture



PubMatic Launches Online Ad Network Pricing Service

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Want to know what other advertisers are paying to advertise on websites? As a publisher, want to know how to competitively price your ads? Now you can with PubMatic's AdPrice Index, a new service that gathers eCPM data from 3,000 website on a monthly basis. The index is compiled by independent statisticians Dr. Albert Madansky and Dr. Michele Madansky who found:

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by Steve Hall    Apr- 8-08    
Topic: Online, Research, Tools



Around Here, We Call Him the Poetic Prophet.

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It's a dude rapping about design coding!

If my mom threw out my rap cassettes and replaced them with SEO rap (as opposed to rap about seeking out the Holy Spirit), she would have changed my life forever.

And I would have thanked her (as opposed to throwing things across the room and crying, because that E-40 cassette cost me three days of unspent lunch money, and also because I would never again have the opportunity to memorize all the lyrics to "Sprinkle Me").

More SEO rap here. Topics include conversion closing, paid search, link building and social media. Lyrics included.

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by Angela Natividad    Mar-31-08    
Topic: Good, Online, Tools, Video