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3 Ways to Keep Email Fresh in Fast-Changing Times

Jul 30, 2012

3 Ways to Keep Email Fresh in Fast-Changing Times

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

JCP Rebrand Disaster: Failure To Launch Could Have Been Avoided

Janice Cuban

Jun 14, 2012

JCP Rebrand Disaster: Failure To Launch Could Have Been Avoided

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,

Womens’ Cosmetics Claims Really Get Under My Skin

Janice Cuban

May 4, 2012

Womens’ Cosmetics Claims Really Get Under My Skin

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

Curation Nation: It’s Time for Some Free Thinking

Janice Cuban

Mar 27, 2012

Curation Nation: It’s Time for Some Free Thinking

It’s the golden age of “curation” and smart marketers are exploiting it to their full advantage —but consumers may be losing something in the process if we go too far with this trend. Our hyper-reliance on a computer or human to filter choices or “advise“ us what we should read, eat, buy, wear, or anything else has been thrust into the stratosphere by digital saturation of social media, pre-digested content, and curation tools. It seems that while our world has gotten bigger

BeTwixt by Twitter No More: Quick Start Guide For Small Businesses

Janice Cuban

Feb 29, 2012

BeTwixt by Twitter No More: Quick Start Guide For Small Businesses

1) Don’t forget your homework: This may seem obvious but it’s surprising how few bother to read what friends and colleagues tweet and who they follow. Also, go through your mind’s Rolodex, what businesses and columnists you “like” on media outlets, Facebook, LinkedIn contacts, what mags you receive via email. But be wary of following too many people initially and also remember that your Twitter page can be seen by anyone. If you are following @SPANX, everyone else can see it

Janice Cuban

Dec 29, 2011

2012 Marketing Wishes and Caviar Dreams

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

Graphic Cigarette Warnings May Actually Fire Up Smokers

Janice Cuban

Oct 4, 2011

Graphic Cigarette Warnings May Actually Fire Up Smokers

As a former smoker and occasional social smoker, I’ve always had a personal interest in the marketing of cigarettes and anti-cigarette campaigns. I consider myself to be both the focus group and the observer. I, and as anyone else who has quit smoking will swear to, getting off cigarettes is one of the hardest things you will ever do. There are a million ways to quit but the most important ingredient to quitting is this and only this: motivation. You can throw in lectures by

Milk To Relieve PMS Campaign Strikes A Nerve. Period.

Janice Cuban

Jul 30, 2011

Milk To Relieve PMS Campaign Strikes A Nerve. Period.

If you blinked, you may have missed the controversy this past month over a “Got Milk” campaign “Everything I do is Wrong” which featured men suffering from the misery of their wives and girlfriends’ PMS symptoms and offering milk as the panacea. Clearly the intention was what we’ve all joked about-women are bitchy around their period and take it out on their guys. And now the men–the victims here–can fight back by offering their partners a full serving of the Milk Elixir to

Janice Cuban

Jun 6, 2011

Cracking the QR Code for Marketers

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

Janice Cuban

Feb 22, 2011

Can Safeway Be Sued for Stupidity?

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

Free Social Media Sites Have Their Price

Janice Cuban

Jan 16, 2011

Free Social Media Sites Have Their Price

2010 was a great year for marketing folks to get back some of its mojo and play with some toys in the social media sandbox, but the people who really fueled all the excitement was the collective “me” who enjoyed the dim limelight telling the world what “we” are doing, where “we” are going, what “we” are thinking via Twitter, Facebook and other social media. In fact, any marketing would be impossible without their participation. But it seems like our oversharing culture also

Small Business Saturday = Shrewd Marketing for American Express

Janice Cuban

Dec 3, 2010

Small Business Saturday = Shrewd Marketing for American Express

When I heard about Small Business Saturday, held this past weekend, I thought – great – a sanctioned opportunity to acknowledge small businesses and support the local economy around the busiest shopping season of the year. I was so taken with the idea, being a sole proprietor and all, I wanted to find out more. Was it government-sanctioned day? A media-created event wedged in between Black Friday and Cyber Monday? With a little research, I found out that it’s neither: America

Mad Men Advertisers Would Make Don Draper Proud

Janice Cuban

Sep 28, 2010

Mad Men Advertisers Would Make Don Draper Proud

As most pop culture phenomenons, if you haven’t heard or watched “Mad Men” at least once, you are living in a cable-free cave. I could launch into an ecstatic rant about the nuances and complexities of the storylines, the utter amazement at the set details of the time, how handsome Jon Hamm is, but I won’t go there. I want to discuss the ads during the show – one of the bests TV commercial strategies I’ve seen in a long time — which both embraces and ramrods right over the gr

Janice Cuban

Jul 31, 2010

Traditional Marketing Does Not Exist

If I had a $1 for how many times I’ve heard the rhetorical question “Is traditional marketing dead?” or purporting that it is, my business office would be located at the top floor of a fancy San Francisco building instead of my small condo. I even heard this phrase as part of “common knowledge” last year on a phone interview for a job from someone squarely in the internet space. Makes sense given his world revolved around ecommerce. For fun, I made the case for other forms o

Janice Cuban

Jun 4, 2010

DIY Design: The Death of Creativity?

Perhaps you’ve done it already: design a product on a web site yourself using a configurator. And then pay for it. Then it’s shipped to you. And you hopefully enjoy it. This new level of customized product development and selling — no marketing required — has mushroomed to unseen levels with the growing capabilities and sophistication of online retailing. We’ve seen mass customization before in the offline and online worlds. For instance, when buying a custom home (get it? c

Online Event Technology Cannot Trump Human Connection

Janice Cuban

May 4, 2010

Online Event Technology Cannot Trump Human Connection

The beginnings of online events in the late-1990s consisted of webinars (also known as eSeminars) and web casts, straightforward attempts to port the live experience to the computer. They haven’t changed much over the years and are still used by many companies to launch products, educate consumers, soften PR problems and more. The significant changes in online events are the dazzling technologies such as telepresence meetings and virtual events – marketers now have even more

True Green or Greenwashing: Buyer Beware

Janice Cuban

Jan 27, 2010

True Green or Greenwashing: Buyer Beware

Something more powerful than the largest coupon, the behemoth billboard or the mega ad campaign…the marketing of green. Now you know we don’t mean as in the color, we mean “Ecological Marketing” (yes, it really used to be called this in the 1970s) or quite simply put, using the power of environmentally-friendly language to sell products or services. Now this isn’t all bad if the claims are true. Problem is, turns out much of the time advertisers are making claims that are ei

Janice Cuban

Jan 19, 2010

This Ole Apple Tree Has Turned Into A Corporate Orchard

More and more as I look at the Apple computer advertisements over the past few years, I’ve wondered…are Apple and Microsoft really THAT different? You know, the nerdy PC guy who tries to fend off a variety of PC system and aesthetics criticism from the chillaxin’ Apple guy? Sure, the companies have different roots, product offerings, technology, and most importantly perhaps, brand images, but recently I’ve pondered if the dweeby Microsoft guy and laid back, clever-than-thou

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