How Data Reveals Discrimination: A Case Study
“We’re no worse than the other guys” isn’t a winning brand.
Read moreTag Archives: marketing
The Marketing All-Hands Drinking Game
It’s hhossum!
Read moreWhat is Thought Leadership, Really?
Hint: It’s not entry-level.
Read moreBob Garfield takes Jane Seymour and Kay Jewelers to the woodshed
I rarely post recommendations encouraging you to go check out a business writer. And by rarely I mean never. Today I’m making an exception, though, because it turns out that one of my favorites, MediaPost’s Bob Garfield, hates those motherfucking Jane Seymour Kay Jewelers ads as bad as I do. Awww. Every kitsch begins with Kay. But wait. Open your heart?
Read moreInfographic best practices: learn how math works
What would happen if you put Yogi Berra in charge of making infographics? We’ve written about the problems with infographics before, but this one takes the cake. There’s a fun one from Ethos3 up at SlideShare.net addressing the importance of nonverbal communication when making presentations. It’s generally pretty helpful, but it also provides us with a lesson in the value of not overreaching. See
Read morePowerPoint is making us dumber and damaging our businesses
Yes, PowerPoint sucks. Here’s why, plus some suggestions about how to fix the problem. Imagine a widely used and expensive prescription drug that promised to make us beautiful but didn’t. Instead the drug had frequent, serious side effects: It induced stupidity, turned everyone into bores, wasted time, and degraded the quality and credibility of communication. These side effects would rightly
Read moreInfographic: why infographics can’t be trusted
This is hysterical.
Read moreMaker’s Mark illustrates the importance of thinking BEFORE you act
In case you haven’t been tracking along, the folks at Maker’s Mark (which is owned by Beam, Inc.), faced with more demand than they could meet, recently announced that they’d be lowering their alcohol by volume (ABV) from 90 proof to 84 proof. You won’t even notice, they assured us. The backlash was swift and loud. Makers Mark customers pitched
Read moreKomen/Planned Parenthood controversy: why haven’t we heard from Komen’s corporate sponsors?
Corporate sponsorship is important for a great many of America’s non-profits, and that’s certainly true of the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Of course, any time you strike an alliance with another entity, you can’t help assuming some of their risk. Your partner jumps the tracks, all of a sudden people are looking at you even though you didn’t do anything
Read moreSociopathic PR Firms and the Clients They Serve
Part one of two… I work in the world of marketing and corporate communications, and my track record of business-related posts (here and at my biz site, Black Dog Strategic) probably demonstrates how seriously I take ethical concerns. For instance, not long ago I made clear that I think understanding the truth of a bad news story aimed at a
Read moreEXCLUSIVE: S&R obtains copy of Rupert Murdoch’s original, unedited apology
News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch has issued a public apology for the News of the World scandal, which appears in several British national newspapers this weekend. The final text is available here. For those unfamiliar with the exciting world of public relations, these kinds of official statements often go through a rigorous process of draft, revision, review, more revision, show
Read moreReverse graffiti? Emerging art medium raises all kinds of interesting questions…
Okay, this is brilliant. I never heard of it until this morning and now I learn that there’s apparently a whole movement afoot, with a project and everything.
Read moreSpoken word performance: “Old Ethan, Up Against a Deadline”
This one is actually fun. And pretty damned cynical about the world of business and advertising, to boot.
Read moreYou call this swill chile verde? (Why consumer review services like Yelp are useless)
Whom do we trust when we’re looking for information? Increasingly, research shows that Americans are more likely trust friends, peers and word-of-mouth over “experts.” For instance: A 2007 eMarketer survey of the most trusted sources of information for US consumers was topped by “friends, family and acquaintances” and “strangers with experience.” These sources outranked “teachers” and “newspapers and magazines.” A
Read moreAnalysis: Dillard’s and an unsatisfying response on the Heroic Media controversy
Earlier today I offered some comments on the trending controversy surrounding Dillard’s and its involvement in an upcoming Houston event staged by anti-abortion advocate Heroic Media. That article noted some parallels with last year’s dust-up involving Target and Tom Emmer, a social reactionary running for Minnesota governor. My friend and colleague, Sara Robinson, turns out to be a devoted Dillard’s
Read more
lullaby pit 