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ADMIN

Leadership Gone Wrong

May 5, 2008 | 1 Comment

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Humor, Management

Social Is The New Search

April 16, 2008 | 4 Comments

Popular Mechanics has an interesting article titled “How Social Networking Could Kill Web Search as We Know It.“

According to the venture capitalist friend of reporter Glenn Derene, “search, as we know it, is dead.”

In a nutshell: As we continue to populate our Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts, building bonds with like-minded users, people will turn to their networks rather than search algorithms for information. According to the article, “the people in your online social network should know you better than a mathematical equation, right?”

Check out the whole article, but here is one noteworthy paragraph:

But what may turn out to be the strongest signal of all is the footprint you make with your online identity. Consider how much information you voluntarily provide on your Facebook profile. Now imagine if you could combine that with your Netflix renting and Amazon buying habits. Then throw in the suggestions of your friends and the pages you visit the most often. All those various sources of information about you are currently stored in different locations—on your computer’s browser history, on your Facebook page, on the servers for Netflix and Amazon—but just imagine how accurate a search could be if every time you had a query, the mass of data about you that exists on the Internet could inform the results. (Google and Yahoo already do this to a limited extent by tracking your search history to refine results, and surely startups will try.)

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Advertising, Blogging, Educational, Management, Marketing, Media, Public Relations, Social Media, Strategies+Tactics, Technology

Ad Age Power 150 Roundtable

April 14, 2008 | 4 Comments

To kick off Blogger Social 2008 and take advantage of so many marketing bloggers being in NYC, Advertising Age Editor Jonah Bloom hosted a Power 150 roundtable discussion, which the magazine covered in this week’s issue with an article titled Separating Brilliance from Blabber. In addition to the edited transcript, Ad Age also ran a related story on corporate blogging and the chief blogger role.

As David Armano writes, Ad Age is engaging new voices and broadening its editorial net to include alternative sources of information.

Along with myself, list manager Charlie Moran and Jonah, the marketing bloggers (along with today’s Power 150 rank) who participated in the roundtable included:

1. David Armano (Logic+Emotion) – P: 26
2. Rohit Bhargava (Influential Marketing Blog) – P: 44
3. Matt Dickman (Techno//Marketer) – P: 123
4. Anna Farmery (The Engaging Brand) – P: 107
5. Mark Goren (Transmission Content + Creative) – P: 236
6. Lewis Green (bizsolutionsplus) – P: 148
7. Ann Handley (Marketing Profs) – P: 57
8. Gavin Heaton (Servant of Chaos) – P: 97
9. Sean Howard (CrapHammer) – P: 138
10. Geoff Livingston (The Buzz Bin) – P: 76
11. Paul McEnany (Hee-Haw Marketing) – P: 198
12. Darryl Ohrt (Brand Flakes For Breakfast) – P: 115

Blog coverage of the roundtable:
Advertising Age Proves that Bloggers Can Sit at Large Tables (Hee-Haw Marketing)
darryl: too sexy for online adage (Brand Flakes for Breakfast)
Power 150 roundtable (Techno//Marketer)
The Chief of Blogs (Servant of Chaos)
Understand. Act. in that order (Blog’M)
Ad Age Summons Bloggers To The Table (AdPulp)
Ad Age Engages Industry Bloggers (Logic+Emotion)

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Advertising, Blogging, Management, Marketing, Power Profiles, Public Relations, Social Media, Strategies+Tactics, Technology

Future Trends in Advertising

March 23, 2008 | 5 Comments

Nod: Neil Perkin

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Advertising, Blogging, Design, Educational, Management, Marketing, Media, Public Relations, Social Media, Strategies+Tactics, Technology, Video

New Todd And Feature for Authors and Their Books

March 23, 2008 | 1 Comment

UPDATE: Click here to access the new authors + books section.

Since launching this blog in July of 2006, dozens of authors and publishers have asked me to promote their books. While I am all about promoting a good book, I just don’t have the time to read that many books from cover to cover.

In an effort to support authors and give my readers a glimpse of new marketing and media books, I am launching an “authors + books” series. The series will feature guest-written posts by authors of new or recently-published marketing and media books. Starting today, authors wanting to participate in my promotional series can email me a short pitch.

The guest author submissions, preferably 300 to 700 words, can either be 1) an edited excerpt, so that it can stand alone, from the forthcoming or recently-published book, or 2) an original byline column not previously published anywhere else. When I say “not previously published,” I mean not verbatim. You can still use previously-published ideas, concepts and topics, but the content should be somewhat unique from any other previously-published version.

The only other requirement is that your book and post must relate to marketing, media or one of the other categories in the left sidebar of my blog. Not all author pitches will be accepted - they must fit appropriately with the theme and content of this blog.

If your pitch is approved, please submit your post with a short biographical byline (no more than three sentences) as well as front cover artwork and a head shot. Your guest posts will be archived in a new category on my blog called “authors+books.”

Lastly, I will ask that you send me a physical copy of your book, so that I can also read it when/if I have time and perhaps add some of my own commentary down the road (no guarantees). It will also become a part of my ever-growing library of marketing and media books that I keep at work for me and my colleagues to read and reference.

According to my server stats, my blog - toddand.com - currently gets 93,000 hits per month, of which almost half are unique visitors. My visitors include many of the world’s top marketing agencies, media companies, corporations and educational institutions.

Thanks for your interest in Todd And = Marketing + Media, and I look forward to your pitch.

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Advertising, Authors+Books, Blogging, Educational, Management, Marketing, Media, News, Personal Finance, Public Relations, Random, Social Media, Strategies+Tactics

Crystal Ball 2.0

March 17, 2008 | 3 Comments

Advertising Age asked a handful of the Power 150 bloggers “what technology marketers should be paying most attention to in 2008?” Click here for Crystal Ball 2.0.

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Advertising, Blogging, Educational, Management, Marketing, Media, Power Profiles, Public Relations, Social Media, Strategies+Tactics, Technology

Should “Off The Record” be Respected by Journalists?

March 8, 2008 | 15 Comments

Click here for the full video interview.

“She is a monster, too –- that is off the record –- she is stooping to anything,” said Obama campaign advisor Samantha Power during an interview with Britain’s Gerri Peev of The Scotsman. According to the full video interview above, it sounded like the comment was made as part of some light, introductory “small talk.” Still, Gerri Peev used that quick off-the-record comment as the crux of her article.

HILLARY Clinton has been branded a “monster” by one of Barack Obama’s top advisers, as the gloves come off in the race to win the Democrat nomination.

The article resulted in huge backlash from the Hillary Clinton campaign and ultimately resulted in Power’s resignation. And check out the 560 passionate comments already posted to Peev’s March 7 article.

Why would this journalist take it upon herself to print an off the record statement when the interview was meant to discuss Power’s new book? Was it merely a media culture clash? Was it just bad timing because Power said “off the record” after the statement instead of before? Was it the reporter’s selfish attempt to capture some attention? Was it because the journalist saw no value in maintaining a relationship with Power and, therefore, had no reason to respect the request? What do you think?

For non-PR professionals, “off the record” is a classic media relations tactic used to privately provide context and new story angles or leads to journalists. Think attorney-client privilege for journalists and their sources. Similar to other popular media relations tactics like the embargo and exclusive, “off the record” has the potential to backfire because the agreement is only as strong as the reporter’s word.

Having done a ton of media relations work on both the agency and client sides, I’ve heard a variety of opinions on using “off the record.” Some media trainers instruct clients that everything is on the record and to never use the tactic. Others swear by it as a way to build reporter relationships and source opportunities. I’ve managed dozens of interviews where the “off the record” request has come up - including instances where it was said before and after the “off” statement. I’ve also facilitated entire 40-minute conversations that were off the record. Fortunately, every reporter respected the requests and no crisis management was necessary.

In my opinion, journalists are smart to respect them as long as they value the source. I’ve heard a handful of off-the-record-gone-bad stories to know some journalists will still print everything you say. As always, proceed with caution. Probably the safest rule of thumb is to only use “off the record” with reporters you know and trust. Otherwise, maintain the “everything is on the record” approach to interviews.

What do you think? On this subject matter, I’d love to hear from some PR bloggers on both sides of the pond, such as Neville, Defren, Geoff, Scott, Kami, David, Stephen, Kevin, Gerry, Brendan, Ben, Brian, Lee, Richard, etc.

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Educational, Management, Media, Politics, Public Relations, Strategies+Tactics

67% View Traditional Journalism as “Out of Touch”

March 1, 2008 | 2 Comments

This isn’t news to most of us, but a We Media/Zogby Interactive poll recently found that most Americans view traditional journalism as “out of touch.” And while blogs aren’t the most trusted source of news, 60% of Americans see them as significant to the future of journalism. Here are some of the most interesting nuggets from the survey:

Internet is the top source of news for nearly half of Americans.

Two thirds of Americans (67%) believe traditional journalism is out of touch with what Americans want from their news.

Two thirds (64%) of Americans are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism in their communities.

Nearly half of respondents (48%) said their primary source of news and information is the Internet, an increase from 40% who said the same a year ago.

Overall, 29% said television is their main source of news, while fewer said they turn to radio (11%) and newspapers (10%) for most of their news and information.

Just 7% of those age 18 to 29 said they get most of their news from newspapers.

Very few Americans (1%) consider blogs their most trusted source of news, or their primary source of news (1%).

Three in four (75%) believe the Internet has had a positive impact on the overall quality of journalism.

Although the vast majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the quality of journalism (64%), overall satisfaction with journalism has increased to 35% in this survey from 27% who said the same in 2007.

Both traditional and new media are viewed as important for the future of journalism - 87% believe professional journalism has a vital role to play in journalism’s future, although citizen journalism (77%) and blogging (59%) are also seen as significant by most Americans.

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Blogging, Educational, Management, Marketing, Media, News, Social Media, Strategies+Tactics

My Nordstrom Creative Strategy

February 24, 2008 | 8 Comments

I worked at Nordstrom for three summers during college and I will forever be a Nordy. Not because I’m 6′ 5″ and it’s one of the only places with clothes and shoes that fit me, but because Nordstrom is where I first learned and used SWAT - sales with advanced techniques. Boy, did I know how to sell children’s shoes!

A year ago I wrote about the legends of Nordstrom’s unbelievable customer service. Around that time, I was extensively researching Nordstrom for my MBA creative strategy class. Throughout the whole semester, we worked on stepping-stone projects that culminated in one final presentation. The assignment was to determine a company problem and a strategic creative solution. Unfortunately, the professor also asked us to take a stab at some of the creative tactics, which you’ll notice aren’t so creative. Sorry.

So, here is my creative strategy for Nordstrom. It may be a bit dated already. Since I’m a PR guy by education and trade, I’d love to hear thoughts from some of the creative ad bloggers, including John Moore, Darryl Ohrt, CPJ, Leigh Householder, Mark Goren, Ed Cotton and David Armano. For the record, the class was very casual so I took a slightly humorous approach to presentation, which you’ll notice with some of the image choices.

| View | Upload your own

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Posted by toddand | Filed Under Advertising, Design, Educational, Management, Marketing, Presentations, Strategies+Tactics

FIVE HUNDRED POSTS!

February 21, 2008 | 22 Comments

Today is my 500-post birthday!

I originally planned to share a bunch of historical stats and write a lengthy post about why I blog and what I’ve learned. After several drafts, I decided against it. It just seemed to be too much. Too wordy. So here is my cliff notes version:

By now, most of you know this is a hobby blog for me, not a business. I post random personal thoughts and discoveries relating to the very serious but often comical crossroads of marketing and media.

This blog started out as an experimental archiving system for me to document cool marketing and media stuff I found online. Over the last two years, it evolved into much more.

Blogging has forced me to stay on top of marketing trends and new media tactics. It has been a school of social media and I’m very thankful to all my fellow marketing and media bloggers for being so generous with their knowledge and thought leadership. So much of what I’ve learned has been applied to my career or assisted my tactical decision making in one way or another.

Beyond what I’ve learned and taken away from the blogosphere, I’ve also attempted to give back. In addition to my own regular posts and a few tiny projects like my phone-phriendly website list and accreditation analysis, I’ve also made one major “legacy” contribution - the Power 150.

More important than any post or product, I’ve made several new blogger friends and acquaintances. As a hobby blogger with a nine-month-old daughter and full-time job, I don’t have as much time for blog conversations and extensive commenting. And frankly, the nature of my posts (mostly multimedia and short insights) doesn’t encourage comments. So, while I may not be the most conversational blogger at times, I greatly value the relationships I have made with such incredible authors like Drew McLellan, Kami Huyse, Chris Thilk, David Airey, Charlie Moran, Gavin Heaton, David Armano, David Meerman Scott, Chris Brown, C.B. Whittemore, Matt Dickman, Scott Baradell, Ann Handley, Daniel Honigman, Todd Defren and several others.