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My Michael Jackson Memorial: His Greatest Performance

June 25, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Michael Jackson’s life should be celebrated — so many great songs, music videos and dance moves. If I had to pick one performance for a memorial, it would be this one from the 1995 MTV Video Music Awards. It’s my favorite and what I consider to be his greatest performance. If you’re short on time, concentrate on the segments starting at 4:20 and 6:05. RIP MJ.

Filed Under Music, News, Video

Historic Newspapers Network Launches

June 6, 2009 | Leave a Comment

The Historic Newspapers Network launched today as an educational and social community for all those interested in the world of rare and historic newspapers - authors, historians, collectors, dealers, institutions, history buffs, educators, etc. You’re encouraged to join, contribute and collaborate.

The term rag linen, as used in the web address raglinen.ning.com, has significant meaning in newspaper history. Prior to 1870, newspapers were printed on very durable rag linen paper, which was made from the linen in clothes and ship sails. So newspapers from the Revolutionary and Civil Wars are actually in better condition than last week’s New York Times, which is probably already yellow and brittle because it was printed on wood pulp.

The durability of rag linen newspapers from the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s makes them an excellent collectible and primary source of historic research. After all, these are history’s first drafts. Follow the Historic Newspapers Network on Twitter @raglinen

Filed Under Educational, History, Media, News, Newspaper Collecting, Social Media

Dramatic Changes in Marketing and Media

May 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment

YouTube Link

Filed Under Advertising, Educational, History, Marketing, Media, Public Relations, Social Media, Video

The Clock of Brands

May 20, 2009 | Leave a Comment

Tanner Woodford, a visual communication design student at Arizona State University, chronicled every brand, logo, identity and symbol that he interacted with throughout the day to develop his brand clock, titled Interaction. I bought a poster copy to hang in my office and emailed him with a question: “Why are some logos faded/washed out while others are bold/brilliant? Was that to reflect a different interaction or observation with that brand?”

His response: “You’re actually the first person to ask me about that. You are correct. The fully bright logos are the ones I interacted with directly. The faded logos are the ones I observed, but did not directly interact with. For example, a bright logo would be my shirt, hat, personal computer, etc. A faded logo would be my friend’s water bottle, an identity on a billboard I’m passing, etc.”

It’s pretty clear that Tanner used a Moleskine for keeping track of the brands.

Filed Under Advertising, Design, Marketing

Power 150 Adds PostRank, Measures Content Engagement

April 24, 2009 | 4 Comments

The Ad Age Power 150, a ranking of top marketing blogs, has become more dynamic with today’s introduction of the PostRank metric. The new metric, developed by the folks at AideRSS, is based on social engagement or how interesting/relevant people find content to be. To measure such a thing, PostRank uses an algorithm that combines numerous online activities such as Digg, Twitter, Facebook, del.icio.us, RSS subscriptions, post comments, etc. This is the first Power 150 metric that scrutinizes your blog on a post-by-post basis… and adds a lot more daily excitement to the list.

Please read Charlie Moran’s detailed Ad Age blog post about the Power 150 upgrade and feel free to comment. Because we crave your feedback, anyone who comments on this blog post, Charlie’s post, our Facebook group or sends me a related comment via Twitter @toddand before Sunday at noon (Chicago time) will be entered in a raffle to win Power 150 prizes (t-shirts and pens). I’ll update this post with the winners then.

Most of your questions about why PostRank was added and it’s impact on the list can likely be addressed by reading Charlie’s explanation. Questions about the new metric will probably best be answered by PostRank’s “How It Works” page, but I’ve highlighted a graphic below from the PostRank website that lists several examples of engagement data sources that are included in PostRank. Bottom line, we’re hoping this new metric helps keep the Power 150 relevant and useful. More new features are in the works so stay tuned.

UPDATE: I picked two winners for Power 150 t-shirts and pens. The two winners are David Mullen and Jim Murphy. Thanks to all those who commented.

Filed Under Advertising, Blogging, Marketing, Media, News, Public Relations, Social Media, Technology

The Most Impressive Business Card Ever

April 15, 2009 | 9 Comments

“It took me 25 years to design this.”
“It demonstrates incredible marketing capability.”

Link

Filed Under Design, Humor, Marketing, Strategies+Tactics, Video

Creativity in the Family

March 23, 2009 | 5 Comments

Dad was a graphic artist for Scott Foresman and Allstate. Mom worked as a secretary at Leo Burnett and tried some of the first Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts! Below are three photos from their days - 1) My dad’s graphic arts tools, 2) One of my dad’s advertising designs for Allstate - illustration by hand, and 3) A photo of my mom working in the print service department of Leo Burnett (early 1960s). Ah, the good ol’ days!

Filed Under Advertising, Design, History, Marketing, Random

Into the Twittersphere!

March 22, 2009 | 1 Comment

Filed Under Social Media, Video

300+ Online Reputation Management Resources

March 17, 2009 | 17 Comments

In a couple hours, at a PRSA Chicago luncheon, I will be discussing online reputation management on a panel that includes:

Sandra Guy, technology columnist, Chicago Sun-Times
David Pelzer, vice president, industry image and relations, Dairy Management, Inc.
Dr. Leslie Gaines-Ross, chief reputation strategist, Weber Shandwick

For the luncheon attendees, I compiled a list of resources that serves as a primer on how to manage corporate reputations online. In total, there are about 40 links below that point to more than 300 resources (many of the links contain laundry lists of additional resources themselves). Feel free to suggest additional resources in the comments.

I think Gary Vaynerchuk’s two-minute video below is the essential foreword to embracing social media and managing your reputation online.