Branding with crayons

a collection of old crayons we found, c. 1970s?

My youngest son is an aspiring artist and a bit of a pack rat. (I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.) This convergence of traits, coupled with the every-fall-we-need-to-buy-a-new-box-of-crayons-‘cuz-they’re-only-29-cents syndrome, had led to a huge pile of Crayola crayons in the corner of his room, underneath his easel.

Giving thanks to the media

For me, this time of year is busy with organizing editorial calendars and planning opportunities for 2010. It is also the time when I like to reach out to various publications to thank them for their support over the past year for VantagePoint and our clients.

Does social media fit the B2B market?

A number of people I’ve talked to recently don’t understand all the fuss around social media. What is it? Why is it growing so fast? Can Twitter help or hurt us? Do we need to do anything? Psychologists say that people remember things presented to them in 3s so, briefly, here’s my take, in 3s:

The Difference Between Social Media and Your Website

I listened to a webinar today that focused on public relations planning considerations for 2010. During this webinar, which was presented by Vocus, the speaker reviewed results from a recent survey completed by Vocus subscribers.

For those who don’t know, Vocus is an online media research and tracking tool that is used by public relations professionals worldwide. It also happens to be the main service that we use here at VantagePoint. Vocus helps build media contact lists, distribute press releases, manage editorial calendar opportunities, and much more.

Keeping Up With The Joneses

It’s lunchtime, but I’m not eating now. So to fill the void, I’m posting about food. Well, to clarify, I’m not really writing about food, rather I’m writing about drinks that wish they were food.

“Look out for that Droid!” – product launch marketing that bombs?

You’ve probably heard that Motorola, Verizon and Google have introduced the Droid phone. By all accounts, it’s a very strong smartphone, with great integration with other Google products (e.g., Gmail, Google contacts, etc.). (Here’s a 16-minute podcast review by local technology expert Phil Yanov.) But the advertising? Well, it’s been all over the map.

Remember the Basics During 2010 Planning

It’s November, which means that we are gearing up for 2010 planning sessions for VantagePoint and our clients. This past year, many marketing budgets were adjusted by shifting dollars from traditional advertising to digital and online methods. Moving into 2010, we expect this trend to continue. And how could it not, with social media tools growing exponentially?

It is reported that Facebook has over 300 million active users. LinkedIn has over 50 million professionals worldwide. Twitter alone grew 1,382% year-over-year in February (according to Nielsen Online). We’ve also seen several publications transition from traditional print to online, “green” versions.

5 steps to Transformer-ing your brand

On Saturday, four Transformers came to my door. Of course, they were between the ages of 5 and 10, and it was Halloween, but still. They were there. My oldest son has watched the first movie so many times he knows the dialogue, and he rushed out to pick up the latest movie on DVD the day it came out. And has watched it half a dozen times since then. (I even caught my wife engrossed in the special features the other night.) This is a 25-year-old franchise – how in the world are they dragging 9 and 16 year olds into their web? Simple. Marketing.

Early Christmas lights: the recession’s impact on holiday marketing

As I was walking through Target last week before Halloween, I was struck with disbelief—shelves were alreadystocked full of Christmas merchandise. Really? It wasn’t even November yet! I went there to try and find a happy medium of Halloween and Thanksgiving merchandise, but instead of finding jack o’-lanterns and turkeys, I saw lots of trees and lights. Now I realize that in order to adequately prepare the house (or my dorm room) for the upcoming holidays, I should plan ahead, but two months ahead? Were retailers selling Christmas merchandise this early last year?

Take the market leaders’ challenge

I was reviewing the top 100 B2B advertisers list that was published in a “recent” issue of BtoB Magazine. (Yes, I’m a bit behind on my reading). The list reinforced for me what I have known for a long time: market leaders are also marketing leaders. While that may seem to be stating the obvious, I am not convinced a lot companies, especially in the b-to-b space, fully grasp the direct correlation. So here is a challenge for you: