During my investigation of novelists and their personal biographies, I stumbled across a clever use of owned media by Team Grisham. Every publisher sends out copies of a new novel to various media in hopes of garnering positive reviews. The marketing team behind John Grisham’s latest novel, “The Litigators,” went one step further. They created …more
Google is getting serious about advertising in traditional media. It seems like whenever I watch TV or pick up a magazine, I come across a Google ad. At first, the ads focused on Google+, which makes sense. With so much at stake in social networking and Facebook’s head start, Google wants to accelerate its position. But it …more
When it comes to reviewing egg roll cookies, Janice Leung at the South China Morning Post plays rough. Here’s a breakdown of her narrative on the Wing Wah product: Don’t get too excited about the retro red and violet tin. Always good to set expectations from the outset. Known for its classic Chinese pastries such …more
Dear Artie, It is OK to call you Artie? Anyway, I’ll get to the point. Your rush to join the talk-show circuit after the debut of “Money Ball” generated some good news and bad news. Let’s start with the good news. You didn’t send your wife to do your bidding and talk to the media. Thank goodness you’re a student of …more
Anyone can create a video and gain access to millions of viewers. The barriers to entry consist of nothing more than a video recorder and an Internet connection. But the rise of anyone-can-make-a-video has generated a fair amount of dreadful stuff. It’s especially challenging for a B2B company to create a video that stands apart …more
As shared time and time again, I’m a fan of visual communications and particularly infographics. So it should come as no surprise that I like the infographic created by the Horn Group called “What CMOs Want in an Agency” which you can see below. One piece of data caught my attention. When asked what is the most important factor …more
Naturally, this New York Times headline from last week caught my attention: “Funny or Die: Groupon’s Fate Hinges on Words” The piece goes on to explain that Groupon differentiates through words, depending on storytelling techniques as its version of Google’s search algorithm. Here’s what the NYT article doesn’t say. You don’t need the narrative gifts of a Hemingway …more
I’m pleased that two of our account professionals in our Tokyo office, Sayaka Kitamura and Haruna Kawamoto, have contributed today’s guest post on a topic dear to my heart, the importance of tailoring stories to a given market. I give Sayaka and Haruna credit for making the intellectual argument for investing in local content. Here’s …more
The concept of advertorials is not new. I’m sure if the early publishers of the Bible accepted advertising, we would have seen pitches for flint stones packaged as psalms. Fast-forwarding to today, it stands to reason that the never-ending economic pressures on publishers causes them to wade further into the gray area in exchange for revenue. Still, the …more
