Home Depot's total rehab

First the customers revolted. Then housing went into a free fall. Time to slash and burn - unless you're CEO Frank Blake, who thinks an army of orange aprons will save the day.

FORTUNE, September 29, 2008 — The Home Depot's Francis S. (Frank) Blake has one of the biggest jobs in corporate America but one of its least famous faces. Which is what the CEO is counting on one weekday morning when he goes on an undercover mission in Riverside, N.J.: a secret walkthrough at one of his company's 1,970 U.S. stores.

The Five Biggest Digital Marketing Cliches†

Why Marketers Use Them, Why They Often Don't Work and What to Do Instead

Advertising Age, September 29, 2008 — Once upon a time — say, 2002 — digital spending was a negligible portion of total marketing budgets and we lived in a world where few marketers would dare go "beyond the banner." Fast-forward to 2008, and in some cases we have the opposite problem. Digital spending is still too low, but in the spirit of wanting to appear current, some marketers have rushed to embrace any and every new digital tactic.

This has resulted in a scenario where some digital tactics are dangerously close to "jumping the shark." Everyone is doing them, so they're not original anymore. They generally are not done well (i.e., in a way that builds brand equity, awareness or sales), and they may be so commonplace that rather than making a brand seem current or hip, they have the... continue reading

Everyone hates ComScore

As the de facto measuring authority of online audiences, tiny ComScore punches above its weight - and earns some serious coin

FORTUNE, September 26, 2008 — Last winter, when Google lost a third of its market value, analysts blamed a small web-research company based in Reston, Va., called ComScore. The firm had issued a report that said Google's domestic paid clicks - the number of times people click on an ad - had flattened. Analysts initially went berserk. Oh, my God! they gasped (we're paraphrasing here). Google's ad business is tanking!

Sorcerers' apprentices concoct new adventures

Disney interns peek behind the magic and help brainstorm

Los Angeles Times, September 26, 2008 — Every childhood visit to Disneyland provoked the same argument between Patricia L. Caplette and her brother over which ride to hit first. He wanted to head straight for the Haunted Mansion; she insisted on Pirates of the Caribbean. So they bargained: If she could start the day with her favorite scurvy crew, he could end it getting spooked.

Extending the Social Network

MySpace and Facebook connect users to other users. Is that enough?

eMarketer, September 25, 2008 — Facebook talks a lot about the "social graph." It is basically the network of connections between people, which changes and is amplified based on contributions that various people make to the network. The social graph matters to marketers because knowing how social graphs work can makes ads and campaigns more effective, according to Debra Aho Williamson, senior analyst at eMarketer.

For Mobile Users, Texting Tops Talking†

Nielsen: Number of Messages Eclipses Calls for Second Straight Quarter

Advertising Age, September 23, 2008 — NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — The typical U.S. mobile subscriber sends and receives more text messages than phone calls. The trend toward texting has several roots, not the least of which is an inundation of new devices with integrated keyboards, like Nokia's N810.

Rewards that Reward†

Most customer-loyalty programs don't boost market share. Here's how to improve the odds.

Wall Street Journal, September 22, 2008 — Used by businesses for more than 25 years, loyalty programs aim to entice consumers to make repeat purchases by offering them rewards — things like discounts on future purchases or points toward free airline tickets.

Since companies continue to expand them, one would think loyalty programs are powerful tools for boosting market share. Our research indicates many aren't, at least not as designed.

Staring You in the Face†

The path to new products might start with the customer data you've already collected. You just don't realize it.

Wall Street Journal, September 22, 2008 — In the quest for innovation, companies continuously collect and analyze ever-increasing amounts of customer data. But what if a company has already collected the most valuable information and doesn't realize it?

Sometimes the answer to the innovation challenge lies not in collecting new customer data but rather in finding creative ways to share and repurpose customer information that's already in-house.

The Tell-All Campus Tour

New York Times, September 21, 2008 — Broke young college graduates with ideas for awesome new Web sites are about as thick on the ground as pigeons in New York City, but Jordan Goldman has a talent for getting noticed. Born and raised in Staten Island, he graduated from Wesleyan in 2004, spent two post-grad years in England and, upon his return to his native city, lived in 16 different sublets in the next two years. His own parents referred to him as the Wandering Jew. “I was ordering Chinese lunch specials and dividing them into three,” he remembered recently, “and that was my food for days. My mom thought I was nuts. She kept saying, ‘Get a job,’ and I’d say, ‘No, Ma, I have this idea.’ ”

Turns Out, We're Not Such Big Multitaskers†

MRI Study Finds Most Media Usage Confined to One at a Time

Advertising Age, September 17, 2008 — Marketers have begun to believe that the average consumer is able to surf the web, answer a cellphone, read a newspaper or magazine, listen to an iPod and watch TV all at the same time. Yet a report released by MRI this week found that multitasking is less frequent than might be expected.

Best Buy Taps 'Prediction Market'†

Imaginary Stocks Let Workers Forecast Whether Retailer's Plans Will Meet Goals

Wall Street Journal, September 16, 2008 — When executives at electronics retailer Best Buy Co. want to know if a new product or idea is likely to succeed, they can seek the opinion of rank-and-file employees by turning to the company's "prediction market."

The market, called TagTrade, allows Best Buy's workers to trade imaginary stocks based on answers to managers' questions. The market's judgment has often proved to be more accurate than the company's official forecasts.

'Call to Action' Advertising

KenRadio, September 15, 2008 — The combination of mobile TV and the inherently cellular back channel are creating a new category of advertising known as "Call to Action" advertising. Call to Action advertising was virtually non-existent in 2007, but the specialty advertising market will grow to $419 million in worldwide advertising revenue by 2012, according to research by MultiMedia Intelligence.

Take Command of Service†

CMOs, You Must Have Responsibility for Training Service Personnel

Advertising Age, September 15, 2008 — There are businesses that provide adequate customer service and have many satisfied customers. This column is not about them. It is about the businesses that cannot or will not get it right.

Every year prominent research organizations such as J. D. Power & Associates survey millions of customers and businesses to gather customer-satisfaction rankings. A June 2008 industry-satisfaction study by that organization shows that Alaska Airlines, Continental Airlines and JetBlue Airways rank highest in customer satisfaction even amid declining overall satisfaction with the airline industry. Pella ranks highest for a second consecutive year in the 2008 Windows and Patio Doors Satisfaction Study. Microtel Inns & Suites is ranked highest in the... continue reading

Will All-in-One Products End Their Reign?†

With Nothing Left to Add on, and 'Total' Items That Are Not All That, Marketers May Go Back to Single-Benefit Claims

Advertising Age, September 15, 2008 — When Procter & Gamble co. launched Tide Total Care and Downy Total Care in July, it sure sounded like laundry products had reached the end of their evolution, as it were. If these products did it all, what more could possibly be accomplished?

Twittering From the Cradle

A host of new sites, including Totspot, Odadeo, Lil’Grams and Kidmondo, offer parents a chance to invite friends and family to join and contribute to a network geared to connecting them to the baby in

New York Times, September 11, 2008 — IT would be easy to assume that the first month of Cameron Chase’s life followed the monotonous cycle of eat-sleep-poop familiar to any new parent. But anyone who has read his oft-updated profile on Totspot, a site billed as Facebook for children, knows better. Cameron, of Winter Garden, Fla., has lounged poolside in a bouncy seat with his grandparents, noted that Tropical Storm Fay passed by his hometown, and proclaimed that he finds the abstract Kandinsky print above his parents’ bed “very stimulating!”

Boomers: The Greenest Generation

Mediaweek, September 9, 2008 — While conventional marketing wisdom holds that it's the idealistic Gen Y shoppers who are most committed to buying products that are less harmful to the environment, a new study finds that baby boomers are the greenest generation.

McDonald's Reports 4.5% Sales Bump for August†

Olympic Sponsorship Appears to Pay Off, at Least in Short Term

Advertising Age, September 9, 2008 — McDonald's Corp. today reported same-store sales for August were up 4.5% in the U.S. — a result one analyst estimates will be nearly double the industry average. But industry-watchers are doubtful the company can keep up that pace, especially now that the Olympics are over.

UBS analyst David Palmer predicts the Golden Arches' August performance, which also saw global sales jump 8.5% compared to August of last year, will come in "nearly double" that of the fast-food industry as a whole.

McDonald's Steps Aside In Reaching Out To Teens

MediaPost Publications, September 9, 2008 — Marketing to millennials in the wild and woolly world of social media means getting out of the way. That was a major theme of Kim Lloyd's address at the PMA Digital Marketing Summit in New York on Monday.

Catering to Multichannel Consumers

Are retailers providing what buyers want?

eMarketer, September 8, 2008 — Consumers in the US surveyed by Opinion Research Corporation for Sterling Commerce want to get more value from retailers through multiple shopping channels.

Over one-half of respondents (56%) wanted the option of having merchandise delivered to their home or available for in-store pick-up after purchasing online.

Consumers Become Kindle Ambassadors†

Amazon Enlists Volunteer Army of Enthusiasts to Demonstrate Device

Advertising Age, September 8, 2008 — On a recent sunny New York afternoon, Stephen Beck, a retired lawyer and voracious reader, spent an hour at a Chelsea Starbucks showing off his Amazon Kindle reader. He patiently demonstrated how to wake the device, adjust font size, download sample books and even look up the definitions of words.

Creativity Has to Be a CMO's Core Competency†

Harley-Davidson's Top Marketer on How Not to Strangle Ideas and, in Turn, Business Resu

Advertising Age, September 8, 2008 — So, I shot my mouth off at a Spencer Stuart CMO conference recently, wondering aloud why CMOs did not select "creativity" as a core competency for the successful CMO ("As If You Didn't Know By Now, It's About the Bottom Line for CMOs,". And as sometimes happens when spouting, Ad Age called me on it and asked me to back up my view. What I will do here is explain, but also expand on my view that creativity (without quotations needed) is as much a core skill set for a successful CMO as a results orientation. In fact, it may be the key differentiator between business success and failure.

Manny Ramirez: Baseball's Most Innovative Player

Why the Dodgers' dreadlocked bad-boy is the best thing to happen to L.A. since skateboarding and margaritas

BusinessWeek, September 8, 2008 — Manny Ramirez and his dreadlocks have a lock on L.A. Dodgers' fans' hearts and minds, and are a shoo-in for the Baseball Hall of Fame. But I'd like to nominate him for one more honor: Baseball's MIP—Most Innovative Player.

No joke. I take quite seriously the meaning of innovation in its truest form—something that fundamentally changes the way people live, work, and play. For example, adding a button to a cell phone isn't innovation. But if that button turns the cell phone into a camera and that camera changes the way people record their lives and communicate with each other, then that extra button becomes innovation.

So I'm not talking about Manny's batting average or home run tally when I say he's an innovator. It's much deeper than that.

Survey Records Shift in Blue Chip

New Epsilon CMO Survey Highlights Shift to Digital Marketing

Epsilon, September 8, 2008 — Chief Marketing Officers at many of the biggest brands in the nation are seeing a major shift in the marketing landscape. Almost two-thirds (63%) of the 175 marketing executives surveyed see an increase in their spending on interactive/digital marketing while 59% report a decrease in traditional marketing spend.

According to Mike Iaccarino, CEO of Epsilon, a leading marketing services firm, "Epsilon's first survey of the nation's Chief Marketing Officers presents a unique look at the changing dynamics of the marketing landscape. In this economic climate, marketing executives are seeking accountability and measurable results. Data driven marketing is an increasingly important component of corporate marketing campaigns as senior marketers employ... continue reading

The kids are taking over virtual worlds

Although digital realms haven't caught on among adults, future is paved with child-centric fare

Statesman, September 8, 2008 — Remember how we were all supposed to do our real-world shopping in virtual malls and hold our business meetings in virtual offices by now?

Despite the ups and downs of highly detailed 3-D virtual worlds such as Second Life, There.com and Kaneva, that never really happened.

To Reach Mobile Users, Make Your Marketing Useful†

Roundtable of Experts Says Smart Advertisers Will Use the Medium to Provide Consumers Something Valuable

Advertising Age, September 8, 2008 — When it comes to mobile marketing, advertisers have not only a challenge but a mandate to create something useful for consumers, according to a panel of experts Advertising Age gathered to talk about the opportunities — and potential pitfalls — of reaching consumers on their phones. Good mobile marketing, the consensus said, takes advantage of the channel's inherent traits and ties into other media.

Brave New World of Digital Intimacy

New York Times, September 5, 2008 — On Sept. 5, 2006, Mark Zuckerberg changed the way that Facebook worked, and in the process he inspired a revolt. Zuckerberg, a doe-eyed 24-year-old C.E.O., founded Facebook in his dorm room at Harvard two years earlier, and the site quickly amassed nine million users. By 2006, students were posting heaps of personal details onto their Facebook pages, including lists of their favorite TV shows, whether they were dating (and whom), what music they had in rotation and the various ad hoc “groups” they had joined (like “Sex and the City” Lovers).

Gap Widens in Online Advertising†

Rivals Struggle to Catch Up to Google As Buyers Favor Search Ads Over Display

Wall Street Journal, September 4, 2008 — Spending on Internet advertising is climbing at a healthy clip — rising 20% in the U.S. in the second quarter — and growth forecasts are strong despite the weak economy. But that growth isn't being enjoyed by everyone.

Kellogg: Digital ROI Surpasses That of TV†

After Success With Special K, Marketer to Shift More Spending Online

Advertising Age, September 4, 2008 — The digital divide is narrowing for Kellogg Co., which today said its return on online investment for the Special K brand has surpassed that of broadcast TV over the past 18 months.

"It's still relatively early in our learning," Mark Baynes, chief marketing officer at the Battle Creek, Mich., company told the Lehman Bros. Back to School Consumer Conference during a discussion on how Kellogg is trying to increase advertising and marketing efficacy. "But analysis of the Special K initiative of the last 18 months showed digital media exceeding that of broadcast ROI."

Michael Dell 'Friends' his customers

How Mr. PC is using Facebook and other Web 2.0 sites to help turn his company around.

Money, September 4, 2008 — Write something about Dell online, and chances are the company will know about it in an hour or so. Dis the company in a blog or a Facebook group, and someone from a crack response team may even chime in, if only to let everyone know that Dell cares. Spooky? Well, this is a new Dell (DELL, Fortune 500): a little more attentive online, and a little more paranoid. When Michael Dell took back the reins of his company in early 2007, one of his first acts as CEO was to give its web strategy a kick in the pants.

Jamie Dimon's swat team

How J.P. Morgan's CEO and his crew are helping the big bank beat the credit crunch

FORTUNE, September 2, 2008 — It was the second week of October 2006. William King, then J.P. Morgan's chief of securitized products, was vacationing in Rwanda, visiting remote coffee plantations he was helping to finance. One evening CEO Jamie Dimon tracked him down to fire a red alert. "Billy, I really want you to watch out for subprime!" Dimon's voice crackled over King's hotel phone. "We need to sell a lot of our positions. I've seen it before. This stuff could go up in smoke!"

A classic Dimon manic moment, the call is significant for two reasons. First, it marked the beginning of a remarkable strategic shift that helped J.P. Morgan, virtually alone among the big diversified banks, sidestep the worst of a historic credit crisis. Second, it sheds light on Dimon's distinctive... continue reading

Zappos Shows How Employees Can Be Brand-Builders†

Is This 'Overlooked Resource' as Important as Paid Ads?

Advertising Age, September 2, 2008 — Every year Zappos.com, one of the fastest-growing e-commerce sites, publishes a "culture book." Three hundred pages in length, the book includes written — and often gushy — testimonials from employees about what it means to work at Zappos.com.

"Our Zappos culture is truly the best work experience I have ever encountered," writes Chris V. "As a new employee of the company, I was blown away by how amazing the company really was. When I started I felt so unreal," notes David J. And on and on and on — you get the idea.

"Cart Before the Horse" Marketing? Neigh!

Prophet, September 1, 2008 — For all the great marketers and marketing in the world, we still see too many instances of those who put the cart (or tactics) before the horse (or the need to meet critical customer needs) — and, as a result, strategies and initiatives that fail to make the finish line.

"The Marketing Mix"

Novel ideas for generating new business

Prophet, September 1, 2008 — Focuses on lessons learned from from the resurging bank branch network

Creative designs, ideas get chance to stand out at CrowdSpring

Open, online competition a new version of help-wanted site

Chicago Tribune, September 1, 2008 — Trying to begin a career as a graphic designer and build a portfolio, Evan Stremke joined CrowdSpring, a Chicago-based online marketplace for creative services.

No conventional help-wanted Web site, CrowdSpring is part of a trend sweeping the Web, sometimes called crowd sourcing. The idea is to set up an open, online competition among talent who bid for jobs doing everything from creating a corporate logo to writing blog entries.

David Aaker presents Spanning Silos: The New CMO Imperative [Webcast] - marketing strategy

By David Aaker

Prophet, September 1, 2008 — In September, 2008, Prophet proudly sponsored the first-of-its-kind European CMO Summit, themed “The Future of Marketing.” In this video, David Aaker discusses his upcoming book, Spanning Silos: The New CMO Imperative.

Marketing in a Silo World: The Challenge for Chief Marketing Officers

By David Aaker

Prophet, September 1, 2008 — In this article, David Aaker examines how silo barriers within organizations can be reduced or eliminated, leading to stronger offerings and brands and effective synergistic marketing strategies and programs. *Please note, there is a fee to obtain a copy of this article. (California Management Review)

OfficeMax Magic

Bob Thacker says his plans to make us love OfficeMax are right on target. An exclusive Q&A interview by Tim Manners.

Hub, September 1, 2008 — Twenty years ago, when he was a marketing chief at Target Stores, Bob Thacker says he used to hear the same thing all the time: “Target? Are you kidding me? It’s a discount store in Minnesota. It’s kinda dumpy.”

Well, it took 20 years to turn around Target, and Bob was right in the thick of that transformation from “kinda dumpy” to “pretty darn cool.” Today, as chief marketing officer of OfficeMax, Bob is once again relishing a Target-sized challenge. “We’re the third-place brand in a category that has no differentiation whatsoever,” says Bob. “Office supply stores have long been dubbed as dull and uninspiring. But if you do things that are totally unexpected and surprising, it suddenly begins to breathe humanity into a category... continue reading

Tough Times Increase Pressure To Meet the Marketing Effectiveness Imperative

Prophet, September 1, 2008 — Businesses today are hunkering down. With consumers clutching their wallets more tightly, companies are scrutinizing every budget item to maintain profitability even as revenues are flat and costs rise. And with marketing commonly viewed as a discretionary spend, it is one of the likeliest victims of the ax.