Brand Central Station

It’s the holidays and we’re on vacation – so here’s a link to a great post on the history of punctuation.

Enjoy.

My buddy Chuck Meyst over at Agencyfinder.com tipped me off to this video on YouTube. What do you think Subway would have thought if Agency.com’s viral video was as honest as this one?

Warning: The language in this video may not be suitable for some work situations.

Technorati Tags: Advertising, Creative, Account Managment, Ad Agency, Advertising Agency, Agencyfinder.com

Kami Huyse, the blogger behind Communications Overtones, has come up with a series of helpful tips to find and pitch mainstream journalists who keep blogs. The most helpful (and, duh, obvious) tip isn’t even in the “official” list:

“As public relations professionals we would be crazy not to read the blogs of those that we want to pitch. Seems logical, doesn’t it?”

Okay, now remove the 2 x 4 from the side of your head and spend a little time with the post to get all six of Kami’s recommendations.

Technorati Tags: Journalism, PR, Tips, Media Relations, Public Relations, Communications Overtones

Blogger James Woods provides ten tips for building web site traffic. His Online Marketing for Dummies blog is filled with helpful articles for small and home-based businesses, but the general rules and guidelines presented in his “Top 10″ articles work for almost any-sized business.

Oh yeah, and those tips:

1. Write simple, “how to” articles.
2. Provide viral, desktop applications that build brand recognition.
3. Find and link to related web sites (remember to ask for reciprocal links).
4. Be sure to have a bookmark link on all of your pages.
5. Buid and distribute your own e-Zine.
6. Create and distribute “how to” ebooks from your web site.
7. Become a regular poster to online forums that will give your site greater visibility.
8. Be sure to include your site’s url in all of your off-line marketing materials.
9. Burn your best programs and information on CD/DVD and distribute to interested parties.
10. Syndicate your site’s content using RSS feeds and blogs.

Technorati Tags: Web Site Promotion, Online Marketing, Marketing For Dummies

Great summary article on MarketingVox about the future of newspaper and, more specifically, the fact that newspaper’s online ad revenues aren’t (and won’t) replace the losses in circulation and ad revenues from their print editions. The grim predictions for the future of traditional newspapers are spelled out in more detail in this report from media research firm, Outsell.

The implications for the newspaper industry are pretty obvious. Less clear are the ramifications on the advertising and PR professions. If newspapers face an ad revenue shortfall of $20B (billion) or more in less than five years, then advertisers are going to need to find alternatives that provide the day-to-day consistency and credibility mantles currently assumed by the delivery of the daily paper.

For PR professionals, the demise (or, at the very least, the extreme shrinkage) of the newspaper industry could present a significant threat. For the last ten years we’ve seen an explosive growth of the “news hole” that requires content to fill. But as ad revenues shrink, so will page counts and the size of that content hole.

Don’t expect online to provide a suitable replacement anytime soon. Even with in inexhaustible capacity for content, someone has to edit it, promote it and present it. As newspapers go away, so will a lot of the editorial capacity needed to ensure quality and maintain reader interest.

Thoughts?

Technorati Tags: Newspapers, Circulation, Advertising Revenues, Public Relations, PR, Advertising, News Hole

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The Eyes on Creativity blog provides an interesting insight into a new design trend. Black and white is big now. More specifically, monochromatic palettes are big right now – black and white being the most obvious example.

Talking about examples, check out these:

• Eightface
• Godly Creative People
• Subtraction
• Back to Help!
• Easybit

And there’s much more at Design Melt Down … check it out.

Technorati Tags: Creative, Graphic Design, Web Design, Color Palette, Black & White