Beyond Marketing

Another one for the Walmart Files.... An article in Forbes reports that Walmart is embarking on a new program. The retail giant is undertaking a new plan for staffing stores so shoppers will actually pay for their goods instead of abandoning their filled carts. The purpose, of course, is to meet heavy shopping hours with more store help, while scaling down during slower … [Read more...] about A revolutionary idea…. keeping customers happy

For everyone who's ever listed an item on an ebay auction then sat back and waited for the bids to roll in needs to take a lesson from Scott Bealle. Scott was the recipient of a Acer Ferrari 1000 laptop so he could review Windows new operating system, Vista.  So, in a gesture of generosity, Scott is now auctioning off the laptop and donating the proceeds to one of his … [Read more...] about Great Example of Generating Buzz….

Michele Miller writes about the P & G attempt at "viral" marketing with their Men with Cramps campaign. The danger comes when marketers and advertising agencies glom onto said techniques, transforming themselves into "Advertisers Gone Wild" without much thought about actually persuading a customer to buy a product or service. Later, she hits the jack pot: The subject matter … [Read more...] about Advertisers gone wild

According to USA Today, the "safe happens" VW ad campaign has had a positive effect on Jetta sales. While marketing analysts express doubt as to the effectiveness of the ads, the numbers speak volumes on the effectiveness of the ad. According to Volkswagen, requests for brochures were up 37% at call centers and 56% on the Web after the campaign began, compared with the first … [Read more...] about Advertising that works: The VW Jetta Ads

In my post about the CAIR billboard and it's attempts to promote the Muslim faith, I referenced the Sun Sentinel. The Sun Sentinel displays Google Ads on their web site. In case you aren't familiar with the Google model, Google has two programs. Google Ad Words is where advertisers sign up to have their ads shown on other web sites, and Google Adsense where web site owners … [Read more...] about Funny thing about advertising with Google Adwords…