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Apr28
PayPal’s First Consumer Promotion
PayPal is helping US consumers join the rest of the world in using cell phones as paypal.jpgdigital wallets. And to make consumers aware of their new mobile payment service, PayPal is launching their first consumer promotion called The Mobile Mystery Instant-Win Game. You can register at PayPal.com/mobile. An onsite video explains how to active the service on your phone. The grand prize winner drives home a new BMW 325i sedan. Other winners win trips for two to a country western concert. With 100 million account holders worldwide, consider PayPal mobile payment serious business. Now you can call Marketing Blurb and order us a cup of coffee at the same time. Photo Credit: PayPal
Apr28
Dog Bites Man
Nobody invited Marketing Blurb, but apparently heavyweight entertainment industry executives recently gathered at the Milkin Institute Global Conference to discuss the future of the media business in the new world order of social networking and consumer-generated media. These executives were... Continue Reading
Bud and Bit to Co-exist for World Cup Soccer
Marketing Blurb is not a soccer fan. We have nothing against the game mind you—there is just a limit to the sports any one pundit can ingest. But we do know that Anheuser-Busch was delighted to score with Bud as... Continue Reading
Adidas Argues Four Inch Fault
Marketing Blurb loves tennis. We even used to play until our son could trounce us so savagely we decided to retire. So we watch the game instead, and we’re dazzled by today’s talented players. So we were amused to learn... Continue Reading
Apr27
Blackberry Movie Promotion
A few years ago, we made a conscious decision not to own a Blackberry. Yes, we knew our girlfriend would leave us, and the maitre d' of our favorite restaurant would shun us. But those keys are just too damned... Continue Reading
What Does Man Want?
Marketing Blurb likes to believe we are simple and humble. Yes we are a marketing pundit, and yes we blog with great authority regarding issues of which we know little. But at the end of the day, we hope we... Continue Reading
Popsicle, the Original Brand
Last summer, our wife surprised us with box of Popsicles. She hid them in the freezer, and then produced one on a particular beastly hot day when we had been working in the yard. And for a few blissful Twilight... Continue Reading
Bayer Bites the Aspirin
Now you might think that a health conscious pharmaceutical company like Bayer AG would avoid sponsorship of unhealthy events, and you would be wrong naturally. Much to the embarrassment of the German giant, their US arm signed a deal for... Continue Reading
McDonald’s Suddenly in Fashion
You’ve heard Marketing Blurb grouse about fast food burger chains from time-to-time. Their gut busting menus and dimwit advertising render them easy targets for blog pundits. But when it comes to branding, we must admit that McDonald’s is a very... Continue Reading
Apr26
Beneful Prepared Meals
Marketing Blurb loves dogs more than the next pundit. We have two golden retrievers, and we love all the dogs in the neighborhood, even if they bark at us. We feed our dogs premium food because it has superior ingredients... Continue Reading
The Papa John’s 10 Minute Pizza
Marketing Blurb loves good pizza. And we know just where to get the best damned pizza in the free and non-communist world (we make it ourselves.) And guess what? Good pizza takes time. The dough for the crust takes time.... Continue Reading
Son of British Invasion
Marketing Blurb loves beer more than the next pundit. We don’t drink Bass Pale Ale from Great Britain—but only because no one ever offered us a pint—we’re certainly game. So we were pleased to learn about a new Bass Pale... Continue Reading
HSBC Bank Banking on Jet Bridges
Marketing Blurb used to fly in and out of NY on a regular basis. We love Fun City, but getting in and out of town is always a colossal pain. If we had traveled with a pedometer and stop watch,... Continue Reading
NPD Group Rates Celebrity Endorsements
You already know that Marketing Blurb is not keen on celebrity endorsements. Celebrities are not like you and me—they are flakier! But research firm NPD Group decided to apply metrics to the proposition in an effort to find out which... Continue Reading
Apr25
Teens Buzzing for UPN Television
Let’s say that you are UPN television and your want to promote your broadcast of America’s Next Top Model. You would certainly not turn to Marketing Blurb for help. If you smart, you will turn to Alloy.com, a lifestyle and... Continue Reading
AOL Offering Advertisers Access to Mom and Toddlers
Marketing Blurb has old horror stories we could tell you about unmonitored chats rooms in child forums on AOL. We told them to clean-up their act years before they even acknowledged the problem in public. But that aside, the now... Continue Reading
Advertising on iTunes
Don’t get overly excited, but Apple Computer has decided to sell advertising on its iTunes music site. We’re not talking monster banners or towers, but rather discrete” tiny billboards on the lower-left corner of the iTunes library as users listen... Continue Reading
Head Needs Their Head Examined
Now that the grass is finally growing, we are delighted to have forgotten the Winter Olympic Games. For the most part, US Olympic athletes were disappointing at best and humiliating at worst. We were never impressed with the pre-game hype... Continue Reading
We Remember What we Loathe
The Detroit Free Press decided to grab our attention with this simple truism: “Everyone in marketing knows that advertisers are struggling to stand out in a crowded field of commercial messages. One way to get noticed that several marketers seem... Continue Reading
Apr24
Fast Food 24/7
Now you might think that a fast food dinner with enough calories to feed a family of four for a week would sustain your appetite for the evening, and you would be wrong, naturally. As it turns out, our society... Continue Reading
AOL and Nintendo Partner for Gamer Sweepstakes
Marketing Blurb is not a gamer, but we do know that gamers are serious about their boxes. And since we are somewhat of a geek, we are interested in game boxes as well. As such, we are waiting the generation... Continue Reading
New Old Navy?
Marketing Blurb is not a rag trade pundit. We love fashion, but our life is too busy for glamour. To us, Old Navy is the battleship Missouri. To others, Old Navy is “great fashion at great prices.” This positioning statement... Continue Reading
GoDaddy to go Public
By now you have surely forgotten the forgettable advertisement that Internet services company GoDaddy aired during the last Super Bowl. The hype surrounding the commercial was far superior to the final product, but the company achieved their objective of generating... Continue Reading
Healthy not Working for Kraft Foods
Marketing Blurb is a long-standing skeptic of marketing healthy foods. Even time fast food companies feel sufficiently squeezed by junk food critics, some executive adds a few healthy menu items which tank and then disappear within nine months. And the... Continue Reading
Apr23
Immortalize Your Loved One with Etch-a-Sketch
Now you might have a digital camera, and you might have your own Flickr page, but when it comes to that one of a kind portrait, FAO Schwartz has your trumped. But for $ 5000 you can be the envy... Continue Reading
Jolt Cola--Lightening Strikes Again
We never paid much attention to the fanfare surrounding Jolt Cola in late 1980s and early 1990s. The bad boy cola that boasted twice as much caffeine as Coke was the choice of computer programmers, all-night gamers, or virtual any... Continue Reading
Apr22
Prom Dresses and Such
You’ve heard Marketing Blurb complain about slovenly business attire. Well, tonight is prom night in our neighborhood, and we just enjoyed a fashion show without compare. We didn’t know it was prom night because our children are grown, but the... Continue Reading
Can Captain Planet Save Us?
Today is Earth Day, and we must have been living in a cave, because we didn’t even know until we stumbled across an article about Captain Planet in The New York Times. Captain Planet is a green do-gooder created in... Continue Reading
Folgers Steaming in New York
Like 83% of Americans, Marketing Blurb begins the day with a cup of steaming coffee. (We actually pass the entire day with steaming coffee.) We’re partial to our own brew or Starbucks, and try avoid the grocery store brands. But... Continue Reading
Apr21
The Irritating Astelins
Marketing Blurb doesn’t watch much television. But we do watch the evening news, which makes us a victim of aliment advertising. Between 6 pm and 7 pm we are exposed to treatments for conditions we never knew existed. But we... Continue Reading
Hey All You—Shape Up!
Six brands are coming together this weekend to host “Fresh Start for Spring” in 1000 Wal-Mart stores. The brands are Weight Watchers, Suave, Nature Made, Mott's, Sunkist and WD-40. (How many of these products will loosen that rusty screw?) This... Continue Reading
FIZZIT for Friday Afternoon
Let’s say that it’s Friday afternoon, and your stomach says no to yet another cup of coffee. (Yes, we know this is rare, but it can happen.) Well, if you need another a kinder, gentler jolt, why not mix up... Continue Reading
Haggar—a Vibrant Lifestyle Brand?
Marketing Blurb doesn’t shop for clothes much anymore. So few people care about their personal appearance these days, that we feel overdressed just retrieving the paper from the front porch every morning. And if you mention the brand name Haggar,... Continue Reading
Philips Scores TOC Ad Coup
Marketing Blurb has not yet seen this, but according to The Wall Street Journal (paid subscription required) Philips electronics has entered into a novel agreement with Time Warner to advertise on the Table of Content page for flagship magazines Time,... Continue Reading
Apr20
Save Us from the Airbus A380
Marketing Blurb is not a travel pundit. We leave that task in the capable hands of Road Gladiator, another fine blog from the Know More Media Network. But we feel compelled to comment on the news items we keep seeing... Continue Reading
Nicorette Pop-up Store
Pop-up stores are all the rage these days, at least if you live in a major metro. In case you’re puzzled, a pop-up store is a temporary retail location which pops up for just a short time to draw attention... Continue Reading
All Natural Ingredients for 7 Up
7 Up used to be fun. Even before the term positioning was coined, 7 Up created the ultimate position for their brand as 7 Up—the uncola. That campaign was finally retired, and no one has heard of the soda since.... Continue Reading
Win $ 250,000 (or a pack of gum)
We already explained that Wrigley’s was struggling to revive the Altoids and Lifesavers brands they acquired last summer. Marketing Blurb even gave the company free advice. But instead, Wrigley’s is running a poker-themed collect-and-win chewing gum promotion. The top prize,... Continue Reading
AT&T Livin’ Large with Pro Athletes
AT&T wants to sell you digital products and services—not telephony, but digital products and services. And to help convince you, there are producing webisodes which feature up close and personal vignettes with pro athletes. Jermaine O’Neal, Tony Parker, and Elton... Continue Reading
Apr19
Cruisin’ with Barbie
Your life could be worse; you could be in the toy business. It wasn’t that long ago that Mattel could count on Barbie and Hot Wheels to save the day. These days, it takes considerably more diversity, and Mattel has... Continue Reading
Mariah Carey Pepsi Ringtones
Marketing Blurb has this very simple relationship with our cell phone. We take calls and we make calls. We do not listen to music, take pictures, watch video, text message, or download anything. No, we are not techno phobic or... Continue Reading
Almost 1 Billion Vehicles on the Road
Monday, we encountered this provocative headline from The Wall Street Journal that sometime soon; there will be 1 billion active vehicles on world roadways. GM and Ford are going down the tubes mind you, but Toyota and friends are selling... Continue Reading
We’re Still Not Attending the Email Insider Summit
You’ll recall that our former friends at Media Post sent us an invitation to attend an email marketing seminar at a posh Arizona resort at their expense—airfare, conference fee, and hotel. They revoked the invitation within hours, saying it was a mistake,... Continue Reading
ShopWiki Online Comparison Shopping
Marketing Blurb is an advocate of online shopping. We could claim that online shopping saves gas and is good for the environment. But the truth is more self-serving. We don’t like the shoppers we encounter in the offline world. But... Continue Reading
Apr18
Steps Across America
Sportline Pedometers, Wal-Mart, and Tracefone Wireless are teaming together with a cast of familiar consumer products brands to sponsor Steps Across America, a fitness awareness program. The program will track the progress of 12 people who are walking across America... Continue Reading
Online Ads to Overtake Magazine Ads in 2006
Marketing Blurb loves print advertising more than the next pundit. We believe that magazines offer an outstanding opportunity to target advertising messages to a meaningful vertical audience. And we love online advertising too, because it is secretly just direct marketing... Continue Reading
Tea from a Bottle
Let me set the record straight from the beginning. Real men do not drink tea from a bottle. Real tea is brewed fresh and never bottled. Real tea has leaf flecks in it. But despite our characterization, beverage marketer Snapple... Continue Reading
Super Hero Product Placement
Marketing Blurb loves comic books. We only stopped reading them when we turned 21 because girls mad fun of us. But comic books are serious stuff, and we are not surprised that advertisers are now turning to super heros for... Continue Reading
Say Goodbye to Wal-Mart Smiley?
Same store sales are stalled at retail giant Wal-Mart, so the gargantuan has decided to modify its advertising campaign. (Whenever something is wrong at retail, companies usually mistakenly turn to their advertising approach.) The famed Wal-Mart smiley is taking a... Continue Reading
Apr17
American Idol Send-off
Our wife, (and our girl friend, for that matter) hates taking Marketing Blurb to cocktail parties. We always embarrass them by mentioning to someone that we have never seen an episode of American Idol. (And we learned very quickly how... Continue Reading
How’s this for Indecent?
Marketing Blurb is amused by all this television indecency nonsense. The vast majority of television programming is utterly tasteless and without any social merit. Sure thereis inappropriate content, but that's just what the audience wants to see. So when the FCC... Continue Reading
Promo Product Bonanza
Marketing Blurb has attended more trade shows that the next pundit. And since we learned the marketing trade in multiple industries, we have visited venues like the Housewares show, where exhibitors display kitchen sinks, and venues like Search Engine Strategies,... Continue Reading
Advertising in the NY Daily News—Big Time
Marketing Blurb used to live in New York. Not Manhattan, but Port Washington on Long Island, which was close enough. We were much younger then, but like all New Yorkers we thought we were damned special. And despite our inflated... Continue Reading
The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous
Marketing Blurb loves beer more than the next pundit. But we never touch any brew that advertises on television. We favor foreign beer, or the honest and distinctive brews of microbreweries. These smaller folks are more interested in taste than... Continue Reading
Apr16
Dolly Parton Cookbook
Marketing Blurb loves all kinds of music, but we confess we really don’t pay much attention to country and western. We have nothing against country and western music, and we think country stars do an especially fine job of pitching Ford... Continue Reading
Kinder Gentler Wal-Mart
The Associated Press is running a fascinating story that Wal-Mart is seeking to soften its intense corporate culture. To shake the image of Mom and Pop crusher, Wal-Mart is considering helping local establishments stay in business. Help is said to include... Continue Reading
Happy Birthday New Balance
Monday is the 110th running of the Boston Marathon. And 2006 is also the 100th anniversary of athletic shoe maker New Balance. Since Boston is home town for the NB folks, there are hosting a party. You can qualify for... Continue Reading
Apr15
Kids Love Bacardi Radio
Now you might think that Bacardi is a brand of spirits, and you would be right. But like all misguided alcoholic beverage companies, Bacardi believes they are a lifestyle, not a beverage. This is very wishful thinking. Alcoholism is a... Continue Reading
What’s in your Martini?
When Marketing Blurb was younger and trendier than we are now, we used to drink martinis. Not on a regular basis, mind you and our preferred venue was a quiet hotel dining room while dining alone. We always knew what... Continue Reading
Covering Ground with UPS
Marketing Blurb prefers simple advertising messages. In fact, we believe the most effective advertising is often accomplished by a single sentence. Our current favorite is a campaign by United Parcel Service. Their message is simple: UPS. Covering more ground faster... Continue Reading
Apr14
Burger King Goes Xbox
Marketing Blurb has nothing against Ronald McDonald. In fact, we love his smile and colorful threads. We would gladly invite Ronald to join us for a beer. But the Burger King is another matter. Maybe Gen Y thinks the King... Continue Reading
A Bunch of Crocs
Most days, we wear a 200 year old pair of Timberline deck shoes which suit us just fine. But if we were trendy like Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, or Faith Hill, we would wear Crocs. Crocs are made... Continue Reading
Hershey Kissables
Marketing Blurb loves to shop at the grocery, but we are often stuck with more mundane household tasks like vacuuming the stairs. So we often miss fun new products—the kind we fondle at the store, but never really purchase. Fortunately,... Continue Reading
State Farm Serious about Car-toons
Unless you’ve been hiding inside your garage too long, you already know that Disney/Pixar is about to release a new animated feature called Cars. The cartoon feature autos, which windshield eyes and grinning grills as the main characters. This will... Continue Reading
Cool Stuff Trumps Product Placement
Marketing Blurb is amazed by all this product placement nonsense, where advertisers pay to have their products woven into the editorial of television and movie scripts. This is now called branded entertainment—which doesn’t really make much sense, because all entertainment... Continue Reading
Apr13
Women of the World, Raise Your Right Hand
Whenever we teach marketing, our students always ask, what is your favorite advertisement? Well, if we had to pick just one, we are fond of the Right-hand ring campaign from A Diamond is Forever Trading Company. Originally, the campaign featured... Continue Reading
Help Wrigley’s Save Life Savers
Now you might think that it was a great idea for gum monster Wrigley’s to spend $ 1.5 billion to acquire Lifesavers and Altoids, and you would be wrong, naturally. Since Wrigley’s acquired the brands from Kraft last June, Altoids... Continue Reading
100-calorie Nonsense
Marketing Blurb believes in healthy eating. Yes, we drink enough coffee to choke a moose, but we snack on good stuff like raisins, and have not eaten any fast food garbage in almost ten years.  But if we wanted to... Continue Reading
Rabbit Redux
After a few years of sobering sales, Volkswagen is trying to regain its unique German charm. But their new commercials for the Jetta are a fine way to insult the intelligence of everyone from German engineers to mouth-breathing Gen Y... Continue Reading
Celebrity Fun with Kate Moss
Regular readers know that Marketing Blurb is not keen on celebrity endorsements. Just when you think your brand is riding high with celebrity buzz, your brand is indeed high—but on cocaine. But don’t feel sorry for Kate Moss, because despite... Continue Reading
Apr12
Revlon Gets with the Program
Our friends at ACNielsen shared a noteworthy statistic today, that female heads of households over age 45 account for about 69.3% of cosmetics purchases at mass retailers. These are the women that Marketing Blurb loves. They are amazing beautiful and... Continue Reading
McDonald’s in Flap over Childhood Obesity Book
Selling a burger these days is troublesome business. McDonald’s is often the target of various special-interest groups who hold the restaurant responsible for a nationwide childhood obesity epidemic. (These are poor orphans presumably, who lack parental guidance on what to... Continue Reading
Millennials Active after Work and School
Anne Sweeney, president of Disney Television Group, knows more about television programming and audiences that we do. But we are not surprised by her recent characterization of boomers versus millennials. You already know about Boomers, they have all the real... Continue Reading
Targeting Empty Successful People
Marketing Blurb loves magazines because they offer targeting superior to mass media. And we love to learn how publishers position their brand and qualify their audience for potential advertisers. As such, we were delighted to discover this readership profile for... Continue Reading
Apr11
Movie Promo Designed for Video iPod
We knew this had to happen. The promo trailer for Scary Movie 4 is the first trailer designed to be played on the video iPod. A download of the trailer is available from video site YouTube and scarymovie.com. We did... Continue Reading
Benzene: Another Reason to Skip Soft Drinks
If you think you’ve had a bad day, you are not Zone Brands of Austell, Georgia. The EPA and FDA cited the bottler for unsafe levels of benzene in their popular children’s soft drink Bellywashers and Polar Beverages Diet Orange... Continue Reading
Media Post Bungles Resort Invitation Email
Our former friends at Media Post seriously bungled an email invitation this morning. We were invited to attend their upcomng Email Insider Summit at a posh resort in Arizona, for free. Here is the lead to the email: "Dear Rich: I... Continue Reading
NY Times Catches up to Marketing Blurb
Since day one of 2006, Marketing Blurb has championed the fact that boomers, women in particular, control spending in our economy. Marketers may court whoever they choose, but boomer women have all the money. Well, that story is now mainstream... Continue Reading
Augusta National Golf Club
Marketing Blurb is not much of a golf fan. We have played the game, and we do appreciate the challenge. We like Tiger Woods because he seems humble, and we like Michelle Wie, because she is shaking up the game.... Continue Reading
Apr10
Macy’s to Offer Martha Stewart Line
Marketing Blurb is not especially keen on Martha Stewart. To be fair, we don’t really watch her show, read her magazine, or buy her merchandise. We just don’t like her press. (And since she was in fact convicted of securities... Continue Reading
Hogs in China
We leave foreign policy to the political pundits, but we do feel compelled to share the news from AFP that Harley Davidson has opened shop in China. This was no easy task, mind you, because the government bans motorcycles with... Continue Reading
Don’t Sneer at Direct Response TV
Advertising Age (free registration required) is running a noteworthy story called What P&G Learned from Veg-o-matic and Ginsu-Knife suggesting its readers not sneer a direct response television. The story contains valuable information that P&G is looking a direct response television... Continue Reading
America Runs on Dunkin’
Marketing Blurb already told you that Dunkin’ Donuts is testing a new store prototype. And while they’re working out the bugs, we learned of a new advertising campaign from AdRants. The campaign is called America Runs on Dunkin’. And the... Continue Reading
Marketing Homework Help
Junior’s homework from school is not what it used to be. That old set of encyclopedias is long-since boxed in the basement, or already sold at the garage sale five years ago. And trips to the library are rarely required... Continue Reading
Apr 9
Consumer-Generated Advertising Redux
Not everyone is enamored by big name brands experimenting with consumer-generated advertising. Yes, the idea is novel, and yes, the idea is worth investigating. But according to Charlotte Tucker of The York Daily Record, the technique is a public relations... Continue Reading
Dreyers Frozen Pop Flavor Contest
When Marketing Blurb and our friends were young, we delighted in Popsicles on a hot summer day. Yes, we usually ended up with lime green lips and tongues--but hey--we were kids. Too bad we didn’t have the chance to participate... Continue Reading
Claritin Soccer Clinic
You don’t need Marketing Blurb to tell you that sports marketing is huge. Sponsoring a NASCAR team is an ideal way to help brand products targeted to NASCAR Dads and Moms. And sponsoring kids sporting events is a fine idea... Continue Reading
Apr 8
Louisiana Forward Clean Sheet
Early last month, we told you about the Governor of Louisiana attempting to salvage the sagging tourist industry in a beautiful state much larger than its devastated coastline. And the state is also working on a new business-to-business pitch called... Continue Reading
Dunkin’ Donuts Goes Uptown
Marketing Blurb loves coffee more than the next pundit. And, we are not fussy about the source. Most mornings, we brew our own. Yes, we love Starbucks and go for French roast black, thanks. But we are just as happy... Continue Reading
We Remember Max and Gracie
Okay, Marketing Blurb wants to know what your favorite television commercials were over the last 30 days. No, we’re not keeping score, but IAG Research does, so companies can measure the effectiveness of their ad placements. And according to Ad... Continue Reading
I’m Calling Luxor
You already know that Marketing Blurb is not keen on mobile marketing. But as time goes on, we are forced to concede that cell phones technology is becoming more intriguing. This past week for example, 40,000 people attended the Cellular... Continue Reading
Celebrity Without Tattoo to Pitch Subway
What constitutes the ideal celebrity spokesperson? Is it a tall thin figure, blond hair, and a hit recording? No--strike three. According to Mike Ornstein, SportsLink agent, Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush of the Southern California Trojans is the ideal celebrity... Continue Reading
Apr 7
Maria Sharapova Aces Land Rover
Professional tennis is serious business. You can tell when advertisers beginning hanging around the blond Russian women. Ford’s Land Rover division, for example, just signed Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova to a three-year contract worth an estimated $ 2 million... Continue Reading
Get Outdoors (and advertise)
You already know that print advertising is suffering at the hands on online media these days. But there is one bright spot for traditional media you might not have realized. According to research from OAAA, the Outdoor Advertising Association of... Continue Reading
Taco Bell to Sponsor BCS Football
Marketing Blurb loves college football more than the next pundit. But we never realized that the game needs an official quick serve restaurant. Fortunately, Taco Bell has stepped up to the line of scrimmage as the "Official Quick Service Restaurant" of... Continue Reading
Pepsi Vitamin Water Packaging Dispute
Do you think the vitamin water drinks in this photo look similar? Well, Energy Brands, the company that bottles Vitaminwater thinks so, and they have decided to file a lawsuit against Pepsi Co. for the look-alike packaging. Our marketing students... Continue Reading
McDonald’s Going Mobile in Tulsa
McDonald’s just redesigned their restaurants in Tulsa. They want you to visit, naturally, so here’s the deal. You register at a website called ModileWhoa.com and enter this nifty cell phone scavenger hunt. The idea is to follow clues into the... Continue Reading
Apr 6
Media Harmful to Children
Marketing Blurb loves media more than the next pundit. Without online media, we would be not be able to publish this dandy blog. But not all media is created equal or benign. According to a series of studies cited by... Continue Reading
Keeping Track of Junior with Disney Mobile
Marketing Blurb is suspicious of Disney. Even though Eisner has stepped down, we still have this nagging feeling that the entertainment empire cares more about itself than its audience. So we prefer to keep Disney at arms length. We’ll call... Continue Reading
New Oreo Dunkers
Okay, maybe you have forgotten this, but before Nabisco recently reformulated the trans fats in Oreo cookies, eating one package would shorten your life span by a year. But like lab rats, most people offered an unlimited amount of Oreos... Continue Reading
Maxim and Samsung Advertisin’ Large
Marketing Blurb loves outdoor billboards and marquees more than the next pundit. We think Times Square is an advertising theme park, and we never tire of the larger than life images. But if you are serious about advertising large, think... Continue Reading
Keeping Camry on Top
Toyota is about to eat GM’s lunch. (This has been coming for years actually, and would have happened even if GM had a clean balance sheet.) But to keep Camry on top as America’s favorite sedan, Toyota is launching a... Continue Reading
Apr 5
Livin’ Complex Magazine Style
If you are an 18 to 34 year old male, you might think life is complex enough. You gotta worry about girls, booze, sneakers, and girls. Fortunately, there is a magazine to help you, called appropriately enough, Complex. We’re grateful... Continue Reading
Chill Your Bud for Super Bowl 2010
Marketing Blurb resisted the temptation to critique all those inane Super Bowl commercials in February. We watched the game and thoroughly enjoyed four quarters of serious offense and defense. For the most part, the commercials were lame. But we still... Continue Reading
There Goes the Neighborhood
According to The Wall Street Journal (paid subscription required,) some marketers new to the online game are learning the hard way about “run of site” online advertising campaigns. If you are not careful about your online insertion order, your ad... Continue Reading
The World’s Most Powerful Brands
You will probably not be surprised to learn that Microsoft is considered the most powerful brand in the world. The title is conferred by brand consultancy Millward Brown. Every year, Millward Brown conducts a study to calculate the potential market... Continue Reading
Courvoisier Upgrade Your Style
Marketing Blurb loves brandy as much as the next pundit. But we don’t drink it often, because brandy seems to demand some special occasion, and we just don’t feel special much anymore these days. But maybe our problem is that... Continue Reading
Apr 4
Coca Cola Gambles Again with Caffeine Drink
Back in early March, Marketing Blurb mentioned that Coca-Cola was introducing new drinks during the Oscars. One drink, called Blak, is a “coffee” cola containing about twice the caffeine of Coke Classic, but fewer than half the calories. Coke believes... Continue Reading
Tag Deodorant Body Shots
Young men have this misunderstanding about women and personal hygiene. Media images are constantly portraying hot glamorous women wrapped around grunge-bag males. (There is nothing wrong with a grunge-bag male who is also a well-heeled celebrity.) But average Joe grunge-bags... Continue Reading
College PR Students to Tackle GM Product Launch
Marketing Blurb does not want to second guess advertising and public relations for General Motors. We do know that advertising and PR is not their problem. GM has more serious problems which include uncompetitive labor costs and uncompetitive vehicles. Marketing... Continue Reading
Ordinary People to Promote McDonald's
Back in January, we told you about the Dove Real Beauty campaign, where Unilever decided to use ordinary women, not models to promote their product line. The technique has pros and cons, but even before the jury is in, McDonald’s... Continue Reading
Radio Advertising Struggling
You already know that online media is sucking advertising away from newspapers. This is especially true in certain product categories, like automotive, where local newspaper depend upon regular placements by local car dealers. But traditional radio advertising sales are in... Continue Reading
Apr 3
Stunning Verizon Stupidity
Every now and then, a creative director will conceive a concept so inane and inept it is definitely worth repeating—even when normal people understand the stunt is illegal. Microsoft wants you to forget they decided to launch the new version of... Continue Reading
Style versus Fashion
If you are lucky, you have already forgotten the flap over a line of clothing from a U.K. fashion retailer named French Connection. Their clothing was once distinguished by a bold FCUK logo, which seems really funny for almost five minutes. Well,... Continue Reading
Boomer Video Games
Any mother can tell you that video games rot your mind. Sooner or later, junior will tire of these games and want to steal real cars, kill real aliens, rape and pillage real neighborhoods. But what is mother is wrong?... Continue Reading
Spot Runner Affordable TV Advertising
Marketing Blurb is not especially keen on television advertising. Producing and placing a television commercial is too damned expensive, especially when the gopher to the assistant camera grip is unionized. Fortunately, there is a lower cost alternative, which makes television... Continue Reading
Working Your Way through College with Pixel Advertising
Marketing Blurb loves online advertising more than the next pundit. We were bemused last fall when British student Alex Tew created a website to sell online advertising for $1 per pixel. He wanted to create a million dollar website to... Continue Reading
Apr 2
Lance Armstrong Pedals across the Sky
Marketing Blurb thinks Lance Armstrong should hang up his wheels and take a rest . And in fact, Lance had taken a new assignment as the celebrity spokesperson for the fractional ownership Bombardier's Flexjet service. After all, if you ride around... Continue Reading
Wal-Mart in your Wallet
Now you might think that Wal-Mart already has a disproportionate share of the nation’s wallets, and you would be wrong, naturally. Wal-Mart wants more wallet real estate. So the retail monolith just applied to the FDIC for status as a... Continue Reading
Apr 1
Celebrities Endorse Marketing Blurb
Dateline Hollywood: At a private party last night at the home of King Kong producer Dino De Laurentiis, a host of celebrities joined Scarlett Johansson in endorsing Marketing Burb as their blogging pundit of choice for management of their careers.... Continue Reading
Marketing Blurb Delights in New Burger Promotion
Saturday marks the day Marketing Blurb will begin participating in a unique “eat till you drop” campaign sponsored by McDonald’s restaurant. The Blurb selected McDonald’s as his favorite restaurant for its outstanding cuisine. “We would just die for a suitcase... Continue Reading
Kellogg’s and Viacom Agree to Record Settlement
Attorneys for The Center of Science in the Public Interest expressed elation Saturday, over winning a judgment against cereal giant Kellogg’s and media monster Viacom. The companies were pronounced guilty as charged for directly harming kids' health by marketing food of... Continue Reading
Marketing Blurb Praises Clever Beer Advertising
At a press briefing in Milwaukee today, Marketing Blurb praised brewers, advertising agencies and the Beer Institute for their powerful and insightful advertising for the category. Using a digital projector to replay famous television commercials, Marketing Blurb praised those witty vignettes... Continue Reading
Royal Court Sides with Beatles Record Label
London: The British Royal Court of Justice issued a surprise 11th hour ruling in the case of Apple Records versus Apple Computer on Friday. Justice Edward Mann, rejected the claim by Apple Computer that their iPod music player and iTunes... Continue Reading

« March 2006 | Main | May 2006 »

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