Rohit Bhargava's Blog, page 89

Everything You Need To Know (But Forgot) About Email Marketing

The most famous crystal bowl in the world takes five years to make. Glass cutters in the five year apprentice program at the renowned Waterford Crystal factory in Ireland learn how to make many different types of cuts for everything from sculptures to wine glasses. At the end of their training, the final step to graduate from apprentice to qualified Waterford cutter is to make a Crystal “Apprentice Bowl” that incorporates every cut they have learned into a single creation.

While making that on...

Best And Worst Of Super Bowl Marketing Strategy 2014

The Super Bowl just ended and now we’re in the moment when all sorts of media outlets will start asking people to vote on their favorites. Choosing the “best” ads based on entertainment value is a fun thing anyone can do – but for several years now, I’ve been taking studying Super Bowl ads from the lens of marketing strategy.

(See my previous recaps and analysis of the 2013 Super Bowl Ads or the 2012 Super Bowl Ads or the 2011 Super Bowl Adsor the 2010 Super Bowl Ads)

My analysis isn’t based on...

What Walgreen’s Gets Right (And Wrong) About New Year’s Resolution Marketing

This is the week to start saving money. Or losing weight. Or spending more time with family. In other words, it is the week for starting on a new year’s resolution. But there is a force outside your control that may help you either keep that resolution or break it … and that force is marketing. This is the season where marketers in many industries start spending money trying to introduce new products and services designed to help you realize that happier and healthier self you have resolved t...

Carehacking And 14 Other Predictions For The Future Of Health Care

Empowerment. Technology. Innovation. ePatients.

These are just some of the buzzwords being frequently used in global discussions about healthcare. Every day there are new media reports about the failures and successes of those leading and shaping healthcare industry. Meanwhile, people battling illness are having deeply personal and unique experiences — far removed from the public eye — that are filled with hope, confusion, worry and fear.

Healthcare is a real time topic for all of us. As a resu...

4 Lessons From The Year’s Best Marketing Campaign

Every year,Advertising Agemagazine publishes a report that looks at the collective results from nine of the most globally respected industry award shows in the advertising industry—from the Cannes International Festival of Creativity to the Clios. The number-one award recipient this year wasn’t a tear-jerking celebrity sports ad or a preview of a hot new holiday gadget. Instead, the top honor went to Metro Trains from Melbourne Australia—a public utility with a simple public service message a...

Remembering Nelson Mandela

I didn’t expect to be this sad over the death of a man I never met.

A few years ago when I traveled to South Africa, I first realized the awesome power that Mandela held over his country and wrote about it in a post about the challenges of “leaderless revolutions” and why the world needs leaders like Mandela. Since then, his story and work have been a continual source of inspiration for me. Whenever I get that tired interview question of the famous person I’d most like to meet, he’s usually at...

16 Ways To Make Social Media More Effective

If I said I never used anything I learned in algebra class, I’d be lying. In my career as a marketer and communicator, I’ve never had much use for sophisticated math. But I have had plenty of use for the life lesson that algebra offered – of being forced to do something uninteresting simply because someone in authority told me I had to do it. Moderating an event this week in London on corporate social media, it struck me that many organizations have started with this same uninspired approach...

The HSBC Story: How To Squander Great Advertising And Lose A Customer For Life

In case you hadn’t noticed, your bank wants to upsell you more services – and sometimes that’s not a bad thing. Unless your bank happens to be HSBC.

There is a well known model in the financial industry for customer evolution that is based on lifetime customer value. If you deliver a great service and experience for your lower end customers, they come back and work with you once they become more “desirable” and higher paying customers. Almost every financial institution operates with this same...

How To Be Kinder To Retail Workers This Holiday Season

I could tell you that it’s a misconception that marketers spend a lot of time trying to figure out how to sell more stuff to more people every holiday season. Of course, I’d be lying.

Every holiday season, brands scramble to find new ways for people to excitedly part with their money is in full swing – with mall Santas and all. The day before Black Friday, the TV ads for early deals, discount finding websites, and price locator apps are tough to avoid these days. Even for those who don’t make...

10 Social Media Marketing Ideas From Big Brands

There is an under appreciated difference between a story and an idea.

A story is captivating and memorable. It entertains and often stays with you for longer than you thought it would. An idea, in contrast, is a spark. It happens in a moment and then it’s gone. And if you missed it or if you never acted on it … then you lose it.

Recently I’ve been to several storytelling events. One gathered together a dozen innovators to share their stories on human behavior. Another curated every form of stor...