Brand Central Station

News from the ProBlogger blog …

… b5media is looking for writers who are willing to contribute content on a variety of business issues. They’re looking for experts in the following areas:

• Giving Back & Community Involvement
• Entrepreneurship
• Recruiting/Interviewing
• Venture Capital
• Taxes
• Small Business Advertising/Marketing
• Word of Mouth Marketing
• Press Releases & Business Writing
• Law
• Office space (Leasing, Real Estate, Scouting Property, etc.)
• Web Hosting
• Home Businesses
• Freelancers (Business of, getting clients, etc.)
• Business of Blogging/Blog Marketing

You can get a summary of all the details from ProBlogger or you can go directly to the corresponding post on b5media’s blog.

Technorati Tags: Blogs, Blogging, Writing, Marketing, Business News

Thanks to the folks at MediaPost for the tip to BBH’s new viral rap video for Smirnoff. It’s funny and, well, it’s funny.

Technorati Tags: Advertising, Creative, Viral Video, Rap Music, BBH, Smirnoff

Well, how could we not post this? Turns out Google is all up in arms about becoming part of the human lexicon. Damn it. Don’t we all hate it when our brand name becomes so ingrained into behavior that it gets turned into a verb?

Well, in Google’s defense, I can understand why they don’t want to become the “escalator” of Internet search. (“Escalator” was the original product name for a moving stairway product).

Then again, Steve Rubel’s post examines how Google might be playing this all wrong.

It may be PR 101 – but it’s a lesson we could all stand to re-learn from time to time.

Technorati Tags: Journalism, PR, Search, Weblogs, Blogs, Google, Steve Rubel, Micropersuasion

All comments (c) 2006, Brand Central Station – all rights reserved. For more information about BCS, please visit our website.

Maybe it should be.

ROX, an energy drink sold in Germany, is being promoted with eye-masks for weary travellers. The masks help the passengers sleep – but on the outside, the artwork makes it look as if the person is wide awake. And we mean REALLY wide awake.

Freaky-cool.

From the Coloribus blog.

Technorati Tags: Advertising, Creative, Out-of-home Media, ROX, Energy Drink, European Advertising

I have to admit that although I read Steve Rubel’s Micropersuasion blog almost every day, most of the stuff on it is a little too blog-centric for me. This post, though, about reshaping the media interview is exactly why I read Steve’s blog regularly.

Why re-shape the media interview? If you know Steve, he’s a huge proponent of transparency and collaboration. Here’s a taste:

“There’s a lot of room to innovate here. So many of the good quotes, anecdotes and news nuggets never see the light of day because they’re left on the cutting room floor. Given that a lot of reporters have blogs, I am wondering if we can begin to open this entire process up.

“For instance, what if reporters posted their questions out in the ‘sphere and allowed prospective sources to respond either in comments or by linking to/trackbacking the post. This would give the reporter potentially infinite sound bites and anecdotes to choose from. Even better, they could let us vote for the best quotes as they come in. Some journalists are already using their blogs to find interview sources, but no one I am aware of is taking it to this next step.”

There’s lots of good stuff here. Steve’s suggestions would make the media interview more of an open conversation between journalist(s) and source(s). Such an interview technique might make an interesting spectator sport (somewhere between rugby and professional jousting) but, in reviewing the comments on Steve’s post so far, the quality of the resulting story might be compromised.

I disagree with the neighsayers, though. I get that journalists don’t neccessarily want to be a part of the story – and that’s what would happen with an open interview process like this. But isn’t it possible that this kind of interview process could motivate news consumers to get more involved in issues and stories?

There will always be a need for writers who can tell a good story based on their one-on-one conversations, observations and research. Not every news consumer will want to drink from this firehose. But the empowering aspect of an open conversation may help people realize we’re not all that different from one another and, as a result, lead to productive consensus-building rather than the alternative.

Thanks for the thought-provoking post, Steve.

Technorati Tags: PR, Public Relations, Media Relations, Media Interviews, Feature Stories, Steve Rubel, Micropersuasion

I was on the road Thursday through Sunday – family time, actually, out to San Diego and back for a quick vacation. But travelling Thursday morning was an interesting experience.

Even in our peaceful little hamlet located in America’s breadbasket, we were delayed by the terror threat emerging in the UK. I checked out the monitors in the airports at each leg of our journey and thought back to 9/11. I was supposed to be travelling that day, too.

There are lessons to be learned by stress on a system at times like this. And Kami Huyse has provided a few succinct travel tips and some customer service advice for our friends at TSA.

Technorati Tags: Crisis Communications, Customer Service, Public Relations, PR, Airline Travel

Here’s an intriguing article from Merlin Mann at 43 Folders on how your e-mail style reflects your personality. Merlin isn’t exactly behind this premise. In fact, the personal productivity blogger makes this observation to underscore his point:

“Some of the most articulate people I know sound like complete imbeciles in email. I’ve also known garden-variety dullards who, given adequate time and spell check functionality, can come off like Thomas Mann. And, frankly, some of the busiest and most seemingly productive people I know actually ignore all electronic communication until someone calls them on the phone. Does it track? Meh. Not in my experience.”

How does this relate to our business? I’d take it as a strong suggestion not to get too down on prospects or clients who, from time to time, may be a little unresponsive to e-mail. Your electronic missives just might not rank as highly on their radar as you’d like.

The secret, of course, is to form strong personal relationships with people if you want to see your e-mail response rate increase among colleagues, clients and key partners. That means taking the time out to call and personally visit (when logistically possible, of course).

Good stuff from the productivity folks at 43 Folders.

Technorati Tags: Personal Productivity, E-mail, Merlin Mann, 43 Folders, Organization

We all know about the “elevator pitch” – you’ve got to be able to succinctly explain what you’re selling in the time it takes to make a short elevator ride or you’re out of luck and left behind. I’ve always found the concept to be rude (in the very least).

Now, Startupnation has launched an elevator pitch contest. Thanks to the Business Pundit blog for the tip.

No word on what the contestants had to do to get someone to listen to their elevator pitch. Participate in a lengthy interview process, no doubt. (Ha!)

Technorati Tags: Business, Sales, Salesmanship, Entreprenuerism, Small Business, Business Pundit

All comments (c) 2006, Brand Central Station – all rights reserved. For more information about BCS, please visit our website.

Yaro Starak, who writes a smart blog called Small Business Branding, provided some insights into what makes a major league ball games worth more than the price of admission.

Yaro, who is from Australia, provides a fresh set of eyes at the ballpark (in this case, Yaro visited the home of the St. Louis Cardinals) – and with it, a fresh perspective on what makes a successful MLB “experience.”

And the point of the whole post? Check out how Yaro broke it all down:

“Why share my Sunday at the ballpark with you? So that you may consider the EXPERIENCE you want to create for your clients/customers/fans. What emotion do
you want to evoke? Which buttons are you trying to push? What emotional experience can you create that’ll send people reaching into their pocketbooks and whipping out their credit cards? Do you want to make them laugh? Or Cry? Do
you want to entice them? Or have them nostalgic for days gone by?

“Stir their excitement for the future, because your product or service is the ONLY one that will get them where they want to be? Do you want to instill hope? Inspire creativity? Nourish their spirit?

I challenge you to really consider the experience you are creating for your “fans”. “

Good stuff and well worth the read.

UPDATE: Please note that Yaro contacted me early on Saturday to make sure credit for this article was properly attributed to Kammie Kobyleski, one of the bloggers on the Small Business Brands blog.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Brand, Branding, Major League Baseball, MLB, St. Louis Cardinals, Experiential Marketing, Brand Building

Blogger Dana VanDen Heuvel needs everyone’s help in identifying the 50 Greatest Thinkers in Modern Marketing.

Not only am I interested in seeing who makes the list, I’m interested in reading the profiles Dana has promised to write about each.

Should be good.

Technorati Tags: Marketing, Philosophy, Professional Education, Marketing Thought Leaders, Thought Leaders

The YesbutNobutYes blog takes on the “heady” question of what’s really being said in that goofy “Head On” television spot (which, to me, looks like something created for Pee Wee’s Playhouse).

The results are hilarious, but come in a distant second to the rest of the post that lists the ten creepiest advertising icons.

Yes, the Burger King is on the list. He comes in at number two.

Hilarious.

Technorati Tags: Advertising, Creative, Television Creative, Advertising Icons, Badvertising

Scott Baradell at the Media Orchard blog pointed me to a new blog by Todd Andrlik. It’s got lots of new stuff worth perusing, including this post about Bluecasting.

Not familiar with it? Don’t be surprised. It’s edgy stuff with specialized applications in the field – so far – but there’s plenty of potential for growth. BlueCasting is actually a brand name for Filter UK’s proximity marketing system.

In short, proximity marketing allows advertisers to use wireless distribution to present their marketing message to you once you’re close to their location.

As Todd says, think “Minority Report” with Tom Cruise.

Todd inlcudes a number of links to blogs and web sites that delve into the nuances of proximity marketing.

A strong, educational read with plenty of legs. Highly recommended.

Technorati Tags: Proximity Marketing, Marketing, Bluecasting, Todd Andrlik, Todd And Blog