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Familiar with the tiny house, declutter, and downsizing trends? Then you may have heard of the “Minimalist” movement too. The concept has taken off, with more than four million followers of its books, podcasts, a documentary, and tons of media attention. But what the heck is this minimalist thing and why does it matter to marketing? First some backstory: the Minimalists idea emerged from two 30’s, corporate worker bees who walked away six-figures jobs in the throes of typical

And make no mistake: it’s been difficult to find positive aspects of this grueling election season, but marketers take heed: we’ve been given the gift that keeps on giving. Witness all the branding, advertising and other dos and so-do-not-dos we’ve seen this election cycle. Here are five stand outs. They also speak directly to the candidates’ values and vulnerabilities. Hillary Clinton’s unpopular logo Remember that less-than-stellar debut? Everyone was suddenly a graphic des

Think fast: what social networks do you expect girls in bikinis, political statements, and religious rants? Facebook…Instagram…LinkedIn. Wait what?? Insert screeching brakes sound here. These types of posts are becoming more and more common on LinkedIn. In fact, a war is being waged in the LinkedIn community upon itself. Newsfeeds are filling up fast with complaints of personal, off-color or racy images, mixed with those defending it. And it’s gotten downright nasty, taking u

#1 Get off the training wheels articles Dear content experts: We know that images are processed 60x more than text. We also know that tweets with images get tons more shares than those without. We get it. There are hundreds of articles on these basics. If you want more SEO, be less of a sheep and more of a leader. Got an interesting take on why Twitter sucks for certain businesses? Or an argument to do long-form blogging instead of 500 words? Bring it. Make us think, provoke

Sponsored Content, aka Native Ads This kind of promotion has been around for ages in other forms (corporate advertorial in trade magazine, anyone?) But online sponsored content is a bit more dangerous in such prolific quantities. Why? It’s more than a hoodwink; it confuses consumers expecting unbiased articles, whether they care or not. Sponsored content has seen explosive growth in the past few years due to the expansion of digital publishers, coupled with news outlets despe

Buying from brands we hate: For me (and millions of others), Comcast is No. 1 when it comes to brand loathing. Unsurprisingly it’s honored on the 10 most hated companies in America list. The majority of the top 10 are popular and profitable, including McDonald’s and Wal-Mart. Ironic or par for the course? For me, I’m a hater of Comcast’s horrible customer service, erratic connection, and dominance on an industry, yet I still pay that hefty “Triple Play” bill each month. Admit

Let’s start with the content marketing trend for companies. We know thousands of companies are doing it, but who actually gets it right, and why? I’m happy to say a lot of brands are doing it right. General Electric, Whole Foods, Home Depot, to name a few. They are going beyond Facebook and social across multiple channels. People are turned off by seeing the same content on all platforms. Take Home Depot, for instance: With 160K followers, they are continually updating and ma

The Advertising Industry is Stronger Than Ever (But Still Inefficient) To begin with, the number of exhibitors at ad:techSF nearly doubled this year from 2013, a clear sign of growth in the digital ad space (worrisome though on how many companies had the words “spy” or “facial recognition” staring back at me from booth graphics). eMarketer kicked off the event with some industry stats: Advertising is anticipated to be a $50B business in 2014—that’s a whole lotta media buys. A

“Marketing should be an effortless act of informing, conversing, and engaging with your customers, not selling to them.” Do you agree with this statement? Judging by the presentations at New Media Expo (NMX) earlier this month, the answer should be a collective “yes”. Here’s why non-marketing is the new black, and the time to adopt is now. Real. Human. Interaction.: The rise of consumer democracy born on social media is now being raised on all the tent poles of marketing. Whe

Times have changed a lot since that day at Sun, but April Fools’ Day pranks are still a staple in many cultures. The difference now is that a worldwide online audience expects über-enterainment with a daily diet of  funny cat videos, humor web sites, and mini-mockumentaries. That’s why it was only a matter of time before brands took notice and started serving up funny on April Fools’ Day too. In fact, the past few years has seen an Olympic-size competition to see which brand

I have been wanting to write about BlackBerry for a long time and figured the only way it would happen is when Research In Motion, otherwise known as RIM, went out of business—a “remember when”, R.I.P., or marketing case study type of thing. And even though the name RIM is gone as of earlier this year (hoping to erase the sins of the past?), BlackBerry is still standing, at least for now. In fact, it just released the BlackBerry Z10, their version of “catching up to the rest”

Consumers Now Own Company Brands: Social media has forever disrupted business-as-usual for companies that want to shape market perception of their brand. Consumer is king not only because collectively they will share their opinions about you on social media—be it positive or negative—but also through their own blogs and forums. The playing field has been democratized like never before, which cuts both ways for companies: Brand advocates will do your work for you with zero mar

Since the world didn’t end on December 21, it is appropriate to bow down to our gods and beg forgiveness for some of the most egregious marketing sins of 2012. We’ve been given a second chance so now we need to follow some rules: Thou Shalt Not Degrade Thine Own Brand Listen up Netflix, aka the former Quikster (for a nanosecond); and Instagram, aka Facebook: Brand equity is the richest gold you can have—and yours has been on a downward trajectory. When people love and believe

“No pink for my child!” said my sister Sondra before her baby shower. “OK OK” I said. And this was just the beginning of motherhood consumerism angst for her beautiful daughter and my niece. Sondra, fulfilling her lifetime dream of having a  child, was knee-deep into the new world of “Mommy Marketing” a whole universe to her and Auntie Janice too. Before Barbaraciela—or BC as we fondly call her—was born, I had also heard the term “Mommy Blogger” once or twice, but just as my

1) Mobilize for mobility The biggest change in email behavior is how people view their in box:  since January of this year, opening email on mobile devices has increased 80 percent, according to a Litmus Study. These numbers are only expected to rise. Ways to get to your readers wherever they are: Keep text short, punchy and focused on the CTA: Channel your best inner editor to get points across in a concise, engaging way and make the CTA prominent. And remember, only the sub

When I first saw the wave of witty and snarky TV ads rebranding JCP from J.C. Penney, I was fascinated that an old-fashioned company could remake themselves and even use Ellen DeGeneres as their pitchperson. What a far cry from their stodgy reputation of yore. The ads, in heavy network rotation, made fun of complicated and gimmicky sales used by other major retailers (JCP itself used to have 600 offers a year). They were funny and well done. The takeaway was that J.C. Penny,

I have become fascinated in particular with cosmetics claims that have gone over-the-top in the age of faux fillers, collagen, the rise of cosmeseuticals and pseudo-science. Admittedly, my own vanity can fall prey, even with the best of intentions to be a smart consumer — but who can resist the words “erase” or “wrinkle-free” without dropping some bucks on it. As part consumer and part observer of these outrageous promises, I too have been a victim of wasted creams, potions a

QR Codes Should Be Banned Until They are Easy (and Worth It):  Everyone and their marketing mother was talking about QR (Quick Response) codes in 2011 as if they were going to reach Facebook proportions, but it’s clear now that their stickiness factor is weak (by the way if you don’t know what a QR code is my point is made). Several reasons they haven’t taken off: (1) Many people still do not know what they are (2) When they do, motivation is not high enough to scan the code

I recently got into a debate with a marketing colleague about whether people know what QR codes are and what to do with them. She works for a company that uses them a lot so assumes QR Codes and usage are commonplace. Me? I’m a bit more skeptical but see their value too. (And if you are in marketing and haven’t heard of QR codes, you should know they are even hotter than saying “Facebook” three times fast.) QR code, which stands for “Quick Response” code, is the latest trend

That’s why I was surprised and intrigued by the class-action lawsuit this month by two women joining forces with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit health advocacy group, after they were NOT notified by Safeway of a recall involving eggs they purchased. The basis of the lawsuit: “When Safeway learns that recalled products have been sold in its stores, it has a duty to disclose to customers that they face serious health risks or even d