Rohit Bhargava's Blog, page 100
February 18, 2013
The Alignment Gap, Concierge Marketing And The Future Of Agencies
Summary: The story of why I decided to start the world’s first true “Concierge Marketing” service for large and mid-size brands.
It all started because I knew the one thing I didn’t want to do.
About three months ago I left my role at one of the biggest marketing agencies in the world and the only thing I knew for sure was that I had no desire to start my own agency. I hated billing by the hour. I didn’t want to build a team of my own. But most of all I knew that there was something missing in...
February 14, 2013
Why Your Brand Should Sit Out Valentine’s Day (And Shut Up)
I’m not a Valentine’s Day hater. In fact, I love celebrating the fact that I’m married to an amazing woman. Reading all the happy posts from friends and family is a great feeling. I even don’t mind the usual marketing for flowers and jewelry or exotic vacations all day. But just because today happens to be a holiday (kind of), doesn’t mean it has to be YOUR brand’s holiday. Buying new tires isn’t romantic – and neither is your super sale. No, Valentine’s Day isn’t a great day to sell anything...
February 13, 2013
Inside the Greatest Online Product Launch Since Gmail
Looking back, it’s fair to say the launch strategy Google used back in 2004 has become legendary. When the new platform first came out offering an unheard of 1 GB of free storage space, it was only available to an extremely limited group of people. As a result, having a Gmail account became an early adopter badge of honor – and limiting new registrations to those who were invited by an existing user also created a unique buzz that drove millions to lust after Gmail accounts. Today Gmail is th...
February 12, 2013
7 Magical Marketing Lessons From Disney World
Disney World isn’t just a magical place for families or kids. It’s also pretty magical for marketers too. The Disney Institute has been around for more than two decades teaching business people from any industry how to apply techniques that have been honed at Disney Parks over years and years. Last week as I took a theme park adventure with my family through two of those Disney Parks (Magical Kingdom and Animal Adventure), the marketing was all around. And, of course, I was taking photos of i...
February 3, 2013
Best and Worst of Super Bowl Marketing Strategy: 2013 Edition
Every year there seems to be another Admeter/Adbowl/Adrank type of contest that lets anyone register and vote for their favourite ads. Sure it’s nice when everyone has an opinion, but as any designer will tell you – opinions are like butts … everyone has one, but usually they stink. If you’re reading this, though, you probably care more about marketing strategy than entertainment value. And so, for you my fellow marketer, here’s a roundup of the best and worst from this year’s Super Bowl Adve...
January 31, 2013
David Hasselhoff, Pinterest and the Upside of One Hit Wonders
Marian Gold probably never met David Hasselhoff.
Back in the 1980s, Gold was the lead singer for a band called Alphaville that produced one of the best known songs of the era. The single “Big in Japan” was a chart topping hit, and has been featured in many films and compiliation CDs since it’s first release in 1984.
Hasselhoff, on the other hand, managed to take his early career as the star of the television show Knight Rider and propel himself to rock star status in Germany and across much of...
January 29, 2013
How Great Brands Rethink Their Expiration Dates
There is a very good reason that milk has an expiration date. No one wants to have crusty lumpy milk in their fridge. A lot of food in general is required by law to have these expiration dates. It is the most familiar of all deadlines that all of us experience in some way almost every day. Not surprisingly, this idea of expiration dates is baked into all kinds of other industries as well … especially those that may not need it.
Most software products, for example, offer a limited time free tri...
January 25, 2013
How Likeability Gets People (And Hollywood Stars) To Show Up
Anyone who has ever run an event knows that getting people to show up to anything is just about the most difficult challenge that any marketer can face. Selling a product, asking for a donation, and even getting someone to share a piece of content are all easier than the relatively higher time investment involved in physically showing up for something.
Last night, Jimmy Kimmel created a “Jimmy Kimmel Sucks” theme show where he invited Matt Damon as a guest host and pretended to be tied up in t...
January 22, 2013
How Samsung Wins By Channeling Its Inner Seinfeld
Samsung’s first hit ad for the new Galaxy phone was a parody of mindless Apple-istas waiting in line outside an Apple store. It introduced a tag line as well – “the next big thing is already here.” Now the brand is back with another series of ads focused on promoting the Galaxy in a business setting as a secure, useful and fun new mobile device for forward thinking companies. The new ad is featured below:
Like the earlier version, Samsung’s latest effort features real life situations, jabs at...
January 15, 2013
The Best Birthday Promotional Email Ever …
Today is my birthday, and in between taking some time off – I can’t help noticing which brands happen to send me emails today (of the many who have my birthdate on file). The one from California Tortilla was easily the best of the group, so I thought I’d share it here (see below) – along with five reasons it was so good …
Brand personality was great, quirky, and on brand for “CalTort.”
Tempting product image makes you crave that free burrito right away.
Limited offer that expires, so I need to a...
