Seth Godin's List of What Marketers Should Know

Since this is my last blog post before the summer cycle begins, I thought that I should end with a bit of knowledge from one of the best. Seth Godin is pretty much the undisputed king of marketing blogs and one of the greatest minds of the information era. Anyways, at Seth's Blog recently, Seth wrote out a list of things that every marketer should know. With his permission, I am reprinting it here.

What Every Good Marketer Knows:

• Anticipated, personal and relevant advertising always does better than unsolicited junk.
• Making promises and keeping them is a great way to build a brand.
• Your best customers are worth far more than your average customers.
• Share of wallet is easier, more profitable and ultimately more effective a measure than share of market.
• Marketing begins before the product is created.
• Advertising is just a symptom, a tactic. Marketing is about far more than that.
• Low price is a great way to sell a commodity. That’s not marketing, though, that’s efficiency.
• Conversations among the members of your marketplace happen whether you like it or not.
• Good marketing encourages the right sort of conversations.
• Products that are remarkable get talked about.
• Marketing is the way your people answer the phone, the typesetting on your bills and your returns policy.
• You can’t fool all the people, not even most of the time. And people, once unfooled, talk about the experience.
• If you are marketing from a fairly static annual budget, you’re viewing marketing as an expense. Good marketers realize that it is an investment.
• People don’t buy what they need. They buy what they want.
• You’re not in charge. And your prospects don’t care about you.
• What people want is the extra, the emotional bonus they get when they buy something they love.
• Business to business marketing is just marketing to consumers who happen to have a corporation to pay for what they buy.
• Traditional ways of interrupting consumers (TV ads, trade show booths, junk mail) are losing their cost-effectiveness. At the same time, new ways of spreading ideas (blogs, permission-based RSS information, consumer fan clubs) are quickly proving how well they work.
• People all over the world, and of every income level, respond to marketing that promises and delivers basic human wants.
• Good marketers tell a story.
• People are selfish, lazy, uninformed and impatient. Start with that and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you find.
• Marketing that works is marketing that people choose to notice.
• Effective stories match the worldview of the people you are telling the story to.
• Choose your customers. Fire the ones that hurt your ability to deliver the right story to the others.
• A product for everyone rarely reaches much of anyone.
• Living and breathing an authentic story is the best way to survive in an conversation-rich world.
• Marketers are responsible for the side effects their products cause.
• Reminding the consumer of a story they know and trust is a powerful shortcut.
• Good marketers measure.
• Marketing is not an emergency. It’s a planned, thoughtful exercise that started a long time ago and doesn’t end until you’re done.
• One disappointed customer is worth ten delighted ones.
• In the googleworld, the best in the world wins more often, and wins more.
• Most marketers create good enough and then quit. Greatest beats good enough every time.
• There are more rich people than ever before, and they demand to be treated differently.
• Organizations that manage to deal directly with their end users have an asset for the future.
• You can game the social media in the short run, but not for long.
• You market when you hire and when you fire. You market when you call tech support and you market every time you send a memo.
• Blogging makes you a better marketer because it teaches you humility in your writing.

Drama with the Dove "Real Women" Ads

Recently, there has been somewhat of a dust-up over statements concerning the popular and critically acclaimed "Real Beauty" campaign for Dove. In an interview with the New Yorker, Pascal Dangin, a photo re-toucher who worked with photographer Annie Liebovitz on Dove's Pro-Age campaign, seemed to imply that there was digital retouching done for the "Real Women" campaign. His direct quote was, "[referring to the 'Real Women' Ads] Do you know how much retouching was on that...it was great to do, a challenge, to keep everyone's skin and faces showing the mileage but not looking unattractive."



Now, Dove, Liebovitz, and Dangin have issued a statement saying the comments were taken out of context and that Dangin's only role with the campaign was to remove dust and color correct the images. It seems to me, after reading their statements and reexamining the original quote, that Dove's position is truthful and that the photographs were not retouched. However, it was interesting to see the quick backlash with which people responded to the claims of digital manipulation. If it were true, it certainly would have hurt Dove's brand credibility and made for a very awkward situation.

A Google Success Story

Google has long been deified for its incredibly successful ad platform.  Until recently, however, this platform has only been used to place Internet ads that are contextually linked to Google's search engine.  Now, however, with the expansion of Google's AdWords program to allow for the placement of television ads, Google has taken an even bigger step toward ad dominance.  Plus, this system allows for commercial production companies to connect more easily and more directly with their clients.

Early opinions of the TV ad platform have been positive.  To learn a little bit more about how the Google program works, you should check out this article.  It highlights the successful pairing of eHealth.com and the Pixel Bros.  production company from Chicago.

Luke Sullivan Podcast

I came across a pretty great podcast at the radicalcareering.com Hog Blog the other day. It was an interview between the author of the blog, Sally Hogshead, and advertising legend Luke Sullivan. Sullivan relates his perceptions on the direction that the industry is taking and the steps young professionals can take to do good work. Event though the podcast was recorded a year ago, the information is still really relevant. Here's the link.

The Man Himself

New Internship

I'm not usually in the habit of tooting my own horn when it comes to this blog, but I thought, since most of my readers are also looking for internships or jobs, I should take a moment to share my success. I figure that, if there is some kind of Karmic or Zen force working in the world, my good luck can somehow rub off on someone else.

Recently, I was hired to work for the summer as a copywriting intern for a mid-sized Chicago ad agency. It should be a really great experience for me, and I'm very eager to learn more about the creative process inside of an agency setting. While I'm unsure as to the actual amount of copy work I'll be doing, it'll be worthwhile no matter what to see firsthand how an ad campaign comes together from conception to rollout.

In keeping with the spreading of good vibes, if anyone else out there wants to share their achievements (getting a new job/internship, graduating, etc) send me an e-mail at robfrappier@gmail.com. I'm thinking that it might be cool to make one of my future posts a list of congrats for all of the marketing students out there.

The Best Movie Tie-Ins Ever

I read an interesting article at AdAge today about some of the product tie-ins for the upcoming movie "Speed Racer". These tie-ins can include anything from product placement to specially branded "Speed Racer" products. Mega brands such as Mattel, General Mills, McDonalds and Nintendo have entered into partnerships with the film which shows how big of a deal this type of marketing can be.

Reading the article got me thinking about some of my favorite movie tie-ins from the old days. Does anybody remember the collectors edition glasses McDonalds released for the movie Batman Forever?



I really wanted to collect all of those things, but I could never get my little 9 year old hands on the Two-Face cup. I think I might have drunk exclusively from the Riddler glass for a couple of weeks at one point. Anyways, what other movie tie-ins from our youth can you remember?

Here's my card

So I don't have a business card. I probably should now that I'm officially done with college and am actively seeking a job in the real world. Then again, I'm not exactly sure what to put on it. I mean, what do fresh out of college grads put on their business cards?

"Rob Frappier.....hire me."

The whole prospect is somewhat daunting to me. It's not that I'm scared to approach someone. On the contrary, I'm really great at social interaction. It's just that there's something about the exchange of business cards which seems weird to me. It's like your personality has to be reflected in the card. But how can you do that if you're only dealing with a 3 1/2 by 2 inch paper rectangle? Well, you could, quite literally, think outside of the box. The business card doesn't have to be boring. Just check out some of these examples from all over the world. Here's one of my personal favorites.

They've Invaded Our Brains!!!

Okay, okay, okay. I know my usual position on creative advertising is, "Awesome! Wow! Gosh, that's really neat-o!", but not today. Today, thanks to a startling post from MarketingProfs DailyFix Blog I am not awed by the innovation of marketers, but rather terrified of it. Why you might ask? Simple. They've invaded our brains.


That's right. Marketers have begun delivering content directly into the head of consumers via new technology known as hypersonic sound. As detailed in this article at Wired Magazine, the hypersonic messaging works by delivering audio in a narrowly focused beam. Unless you are directly in the path of the beam, you will not hear the message. In other words, the one precious part of our selves which only we have access to can be broken into and filled with strange voices urging us to buy something or eat something or watch something on TV.

Can this be real? I mean, doesn't it sound like something out of science fiction? Worse yet, there's no legal precedent for this kind of activity, and since I watch a ton of Law & Order I know that having a legal precedent is key when dealing with a violation of someone's rights. So this type of invasive marketing will probably continue to exist until someone files a lawsuit against the company doing it which could take years to happen.

Needless to say, it's a strange new world in which we live and sometimes I just can't help but get the heebie-jeebies. Anybody else out there with me on this?

Why I want to work in marketing

One of the best things about working in marketing is the people. Unlike a lot of office settings where everyone is buttoned down and repressed, my general impression of creative marketing firms is that they are much more easygoing and open. Because ad agencies need their workspaces to be creative and thought provoking places, the people who work them are generally a lot more loose and relaxed. I just can't imagine taking a job where the corporate culture is so severe that the feeling of leaving your job is actually more gratifying than doing it well.

Creative ad firms are the types of places where you might find a handful of copywriters playing Rock Band on the Wii during a brainstorming session in one room and the CEO expounding on his newest tattoo in the next. I mean, how could you get a better work environment than that?

And if you are skeptical of how much fun ad pros actually get to have, I'd like to submit exhibit A. Watch the video below. What's more fun than sitting around and making up dumb games to pass the day away without getting in trouble for it? Amazing. Thanks to Clay Parker Jones of Hoffman York Chicago for posting his shenanigans to his blog.

Want To Try Some Blow?

Remember that blog post I wrote a couple back about the positive societal benefits of marketing. Well, it's stuff like this that makes that whole philosophy fall to pieces. Through an absolutely ridiculous and painfully unethical marketing campaign, a new energy drink called "Blow" is being foisted upon the impressionable minds of America's youth.



Intended to look like a vial of cocaine, the powdered energy drink is supposed to be a fun tongue-in-cheek take on party drugs. You know, those hilarious party drugs that are responsible for arrhythmia, convulsions, and respiratory failure. It's reprehensible to me that something like this could find its way onto the market. Worse yet, the makers will probably cash in on it for millions of bucks.

From the press release: "Anyone offended by our product needs to lighten up and get a life". I'm the one that needs to get a life? Seriously? Sometimes I just don't know what this world's coming to. Would someone please comment on this and let me know that I'm not the last sane person left in the world?

Thanks to Darryl Ohrt at brandflakesforbreakfast for pointing this out.

Some Cool Ads

It's always nice to see a clever and well designed ad. To me, it's the same feeling as hearing a good song or seeing a good movie. I appreciate the work that went into making the product and I wish that I had somehow been involved with it.

Anyways, here's a handful of ads for AT&T Wireless which I thought were pretty cool. Hahaha...handful. I didn't even mean to make a pun, I'm just naturally funny.





Source: http://curiousphotos.blogspot.com/2008/04/creative-hand-ad.html

Ad:Tech San Francisco

Greetings all. I just got back to Chicago last night from my wonderfully lazy spring break in Aruba. Yes sir, six long luxurious days spent lounging in the Caribbean sipping on Long Island Ice Teas and Rum Runners. But alas, despite my girlfriend's insistence that we stay and start a new life in the tropics, I had to come home and resume my regular life.

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So, having said that, I do have a juicy bit of marketing business to share. The ever important Ad:Tech convention is coming to the city of San Francisco in just two short weeks. Ad:Tech is one of the biggest and most well respected marketing conferences in the world. The emphasis of the two day event is to explore the ways in which digital marketing is being changed by new technologies and innovations. Past keynote speakers have included CEOs and Presidents of major advertising agencies and technology companies.

Many of my favorite bloggers will be attending the event and recording their impressions and insights.  Keep your eye on the posts over at the Madison Avenue Journal where our old friend Paul McEnany, of Hee-Haw Marketing, will be a contributing writer.

What Will Newly Graduated Marketers Face in 2009?

Q: How will the job market look for college grads majoring in Management/Marketing in 2009? –Hussain from Chicago, IL

A: Employment of advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales managers is expected to increase by 12 percent through 2016—about as fast as the average for all occupations. Job growth will be spurred by intense domestic and global competition in products and services offered to consumers and increasing activity in television, radio, and outdoor advertising.

Projected employment growth varies by industry. For example, employment is projected to grow much faster than average in scientific, professional, and related services—such as computer systems design and related services, and advertising and related services—as businesses increasingly hire contractors for these services instead of additional full-time staff. By contrast, a decline in employment is expected in many manufacturing industries.

Advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales manager jobs are highly coveted and will be sought by other managers or highly experienced professionals, resulting in keen competition. College graduates with related experience, a high level of creativity, and strong communication skills should have the best job opportunities. In particular, employers will seek those who have the computer skills to conduct advertising, marketing, promotions, public relations, and sales activities on the Internet.
--Erdin Beshimov, Experience, Inc.

Source: http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos020.htm#outlook.

Vintage Ad Contest

Worth1000.com is sponsoring a pretty cool contest where people can submit old styled ads of new products. Judging by the current entries, I'd need to bone up my photoshop skills by quite a lot before I could submit one myself. Some of the people got pretty creative with their entries. You can check them all out here.

What's Next in Marketing+Advertising by Paul Isakson

We all know that marketing is changing. I've done nothing but talk about these changes since I first started writing for this blog one year ago. Never, however, have I been able to explain these changes, and the way which companies can most effectively implement them, as effectively as Paul Isakson has with his brilliant slide presentation. It's simple, clear, funny, and, most importantly, effective at delivering a strong message about the future of the industry. Check it out below.

| View | Upload your own

Thanks a ton to David Armano at Logic+Emotion for posting about this presentation.

Reverse Product Placement

Everyone by now knows about product placement. Sometimes it's done well, as in the case of Reese's Pieces and ET.



Other times...not so much.



By the way, I remembered this scene from Demoltion Man differently. I'm pretty sure the version I saw had Taco Bell. Thankfully, Wikipedia was able to verify my sometimes shaky memory. Apparently the European version of the film used Pizza Hut and the American version used Taco Bell. Completely irrelevant, but a neat little factoid for your friends.

Anyways, the reason I'm talking about product placement at all is because I read something at Brandweek about a relatively new concept called "reverse product placement". With RPP, fictional products taken from TV or movies are made into real products for actual purchase. 7-11 got involved with this somewhat during promotion for the Simpsons Movie and now it appears that "Slurm", the drink of choice for the animated series Futurama, may soon be made for real use. If this does eventually come through, I'll be sure to get a can.

"Safe is Unsafe" - A New Approach to Integrated Marketing

The term "integrated marketing communications" gets tossed around pretty frequently nowadays. In principle, it sounds brilliant: create a campaign for your client that delivers a consistent message over a diverse assortment of media. What company wouldn't want their print, radio, tv, and internet messages to be developed all together? But how genuinely practical is the IMC method? In order for a small ad firm to really commit to integrated marketing, they'd either need their staff to be experts on everything or hire more staff. Since these companies don't usually have the resources to do either one of these things, they can't really succeed at IMC.

The people at Hub Strategy in San Francisco have found a creative and, so far, extremely successful way around this. By establishing solid connections with an army of freelancers, Hub is able to quickly meet a client's needs in any number of specialized media. With over 100 on-call workers to choose from, Hub makes the concept of integrated marketing not only work, but also work fast and efficient. Also, since CEO DJ O'Neil is committed to the philosophy that "Safe is Unsafe", companies are guaranteed that their work is going to get noticed.

Even though the company is relatively small, it's gained some impressive clientele and may become a model for ad shops in the future. To see some of their work, check out their webpage. Oh, and if you do visit their site, be warned: you're going to watch a video about sweaters.

Google - Is it really the best place to work?

Taking a cue from a post Jenna put up at the 3gen blog, I wanted to talk about Google's recent recognition as the "Best Company to Work For" by Fortune Magazine. I've done a lot of research into Google's work environment, and it certainly sounds great on paper, but there are some catches. You see, Google tried really hard to make the integration of work and life seamless. They have childcare, free food, laundry on site. It's hard to argue that these are bad things.

However, if you think about it, they're actually only devising ways to get their employees to work earlier and to keep them there later.

"Come in and get free breakfast...but you have to come in at 8am to get it."

"Use our free laundry...but not during your scheduled work hours."

I guess it's hard to harp on Google since they offers these things at all, but the truth is they're hiring recent college grads and giving them a very college like atmosphere. Google, in effect, becomes their new college campus where they spend most of their time.

So what do you think, am I reading too much into this or have I uncovered Google's secret plot?

Have you got your ticket to the ODDY's?

So what if the Oscars have all the hot shot celebrities and fancy red carpet fashions? There are a number of high profile awards for excellence in the field of marketing too! You've got the ADDY, the Clio, the Silver Anvil, the Mobius; the list goes on and on.

You see, marketing professionals, like all other human beings, want to be celebrated for their achievements. These awards honor the creativity, passion, and inspiration needed to craft an effective and compelling marketing campaign and are taken very seriously in the marketing community. Having a major award on your company's resume is a big time reputation enhancer and can help bump a small business to national prominence.

Recognizing the importance of innovation and originality in new marketing efforts, Phoenix design firm Keane Creative has developed their own award for marketers in the state of Arizona called the ODDY. Even though it's not a national award, it still looks like it could end up being a pretty cool trophy to take home. I especially like how any business can apply for consideration.

I'll definitely be keeping my eye on these awards. There's a lot of talent out there, and seeing the best of the best can really help us newbies learn what type of work needs to be done to get noticed.

I Love the Onion

I read the Onion every week. So should you. Wanna know why? Because of articles like this.

I've never been so tickled by seeing my future career satirized. It's just plain brilliant.

Are You Ready To Make Some XLNT Ads?

Thanks to the power of the internet, many companies are realizing that they don't have to turn to the standard powerhouse agencies to produce quality advertising. Through the proliferation of video sharing sites such as metacafe, current, and youtube, it is possible for a budding advertiser to create their own hip and edgy ad which can be viewed by the world. I mean, what could be better than strolling into a job interview and being able to say that 110,000 people had viewed your fake commercial on Youtube? How about getting paid for it?



The website pictured above is called XLNTads.com. What they've done is created a platform to connect digital video producers with specific advertising projects from major companies. When a user submits a video to the site, the company reviews it and, if they like it, they award the creator anywhere between $5,000 and $20,000. Plus, since big time brands such as Bud Light, Slim Fast, and 100 Grand candy bars have been featured on the site, you know that it's not some kind of sham. If these companies are willing to invest their time and resources into partnering with this web site, it must be a pretty legit operation.

So, if you're into creative advertising and you've got access to a camera and some editing software, check out XLNTads.com. I'm willing to bet that websites like this, or at least the general idea of user produced advertising, will become a much more prevalent part of the ad industry in the next 5-10 years.

Leo Burnett's Hispanic Marketing Director Shares Her Career Path

Every so often, I find it useful to post a link to an article or story I find which details a successful marketing professional's rise to glory. They're not only interesting stories, but they help show us that the path to the top is never quite as linear as we want it to be. In the case of Dolores Kunda, Leo Burnett's director of Hispanic marketing, the break toward marketing came when she realized that finance wasn't as interesting as she'd hoped.

I'm encouraged when I read about career paths like Ms. Kunda's because it helps put the post collegiate job search in perspective. It's refreshing to hear that someone doesn't necessarily have to major in marketing and get the perfect internship to become a success. The most important thing to remember is to just enjoy what you do. If you're happy and you work hard, the promotions and bonuses will come in time.

Kimberly-Clark and Unilever See the Value of New Media

In yet another example of the importance new media has in strategic marketing plans, corporate giants Kimberly-Clark and Unilever are expected to shift ad spending from traditional media outlets to non-traditional media by significant amounts.  K-C will shift it's spending away from print and TV by 24% and Unilever is cutting its number of television commercials to only 30 this year.  For both companies, the idea seems to be to focus more on a few larger completely integrated campaigns than a number of smaller campaigns.  

As is probably apparent from my previous posts, I think that this shift is a good thing for the advertising industry.  By embracing the vast possibilities of digital media, companies are able to present a more complete and effective marketing campaign.  Plus, in my opinion, it allows for greater flexibility in terms of creativity.  The traditional 30-second TV spot (which is practically a piece of art when done right) just isn't as effective when it stands alone.  

But then again, who cares what I think?  Do you think that this shift is a good thing for the marketing industry or does it make you less enthusiastic about entering the working world?

The Wide World of Marketing

Anyone with an inkling of knowledge about the economy knows that America has been in a bit of a tight spot lately.  Since globalization decided to peek its ugly little head around the corner, the US of A has had a hard time adjusting to the new world economy.  But of course, as with most things in life, there is an upside.

With the emergence of Asian markets, China in particular, there has been an explosion of opportunity in the marketing industry.  With many Asian countries becoming more receptive to Western goods, the time to strike for marketing professionals is now.  However, as this article points out, marketing there ain't exactly as sure a science as marketing here.

The solution to this: research.  Obviously, the more knowledgeable a marketer is about their market, the more successful they will be.  So, if you're at all interested in a career overseas, start studying now.  It's likely that the first generation of marketers to really succeed internationally will be the ones who prepare the best.  

The Ugly Truth

You know, I was thinking lately, I've never really been the "cool kid". That's not to say that I'm not cool, though. What I mean is; I've never been a trend setter. I've always caught on to fads right in the middle of their life cycle. You know what I mean. It’s that span of time right before something becomes overhyped and lame and nobody would be caught dead with it in public. In other words, when your parents start thinking it’s pretty cool.

Anyways, it's this type of person who decides what’s going to be hot or not in popular culture. Whether it's the next great tv show, fashion designer, musician, or restaurant, the "cool kids" are the ones who seem to hear about it first. In many instances, the influence of this group can be so powerful that an entire brand can grow from practially nothing into a thriving business in only a few short years. One example of this was featured recently in a video segment at CNNMoney.com.

Uglydolls are little plush dolls which, aside from being just plain cute, are some of the hottest items in the toy industry. The video explains how the Uglydoll brand has grown considerably without any major marketing initiative. Through the power of mostly word-of-mouth marketing and selective distribution outlets, Uglydolls have been a big success and continue to gain momentum. Make sure you check out the CNN link if you're at all interested in buzz marketing. It's probably one of the only case studies which will make you feel all warm and fuzzy.

Is Advertising Inefficient?

Because I've been such a thrifty (i.e. cheap) person my entire life, I've never been particularly susceptible to advertising. No matter how cool I thought an ad was, I've never been the type to see a commercial and then immediately need to buy the product. When I do spend money, it's usually on one time extravagances like a nice dinner or a trip to the movies. In other words, advertising doesn't incite me to act.

But I'm in the minority, right? I mean, everyday I see people walking around with stuff that they probably don't need. They must have been influenced by advertising, right? But maybe not. Think about the last time you were compelled to buy something based on an ad. What was the product? Why was the ad effective? It's probably more difficult to recall than you thought it would be, right? That's because, according to some experts, advertising is quickly losing its effectiveness in the face of a tidal wave of new technologies and modes of communication.

In a post for the FASTforward blog, Paula Thornton explains that "The only reason advertising continues to survive is that it is ‘familiar’ and it is monetized." In other words, advertising continues to work because we haven't fully fleshed out the intricacies of new media. Once a more reliable system is established and embraced by the business world, it is almost a guarantee that traditional advertising will die out.

Needless to say, this is probably a bit scary for today's average advertising executive. Faced with rapid and unexpected changes to the traditional media model on a near daily basis, many long time pros are probably finding themselves up the proverbial creek without a paddle.

Well guess what!

We can be that paddle! We are the next generation of marketing professionals and it is our responsibility to understand how to navigate this new media landscape. We are the first generation in history to have come of age when computers were widely available and we can use that in our careers. We should not wait for the current marketers of the world to ask us for help, we should be offering it. Buzz marketing, guerilla marketing, social networking, viral videos; these things are part of our turf. It's time that we let the business world know that.

Marketing Jobs in the Public Sector

Often times, when marketing students are looking for their first grown-up job out of college, the places they usually steer towards are pr and advertising agencies.  But it's important to remember that you can still be a successful marketing professional without working in an agency.  One way to do this is my working in the public sector.

Now I know that government job advice isn't my gig (Sean and Christina handle that) but, as graduation looms closer and closer, I think it's important that I become more and more fully committed to seeking out jobs in every possible marketing field.  I mean, why not, right?  It'd be stupid to not explore all of your options.  

 
So, just what kind of jobs do marketers get in government?  Well, one of the most obvious types is in the tourism industry.  If you think about it, every city in the country has a tourism board.  Who do you suppose it is who works for that board?  If you guessed p.r. specialists, you're right!  After all, what is tourism if it's not promotion?  Typical job duties could include everything from event planning to writing press releases and traveler's guides.  To see some of that work in action, just go to any city's tourism website.  Chicago and San Francisco are both good examples.

Another job you can get in government is as a press secretary or a public affairs specialist.  Basically, both of these positions can be characterized as publicists.  In the prior case, you would be a publicist for an elected official, in the latter, you would work for a government department like the department of defense or treasury.  In both cases, your marketing skills would be put to use frequently.  People with strong communication skills are definitely needed in government, now it seems more than ever.

So, the moral of today's story is that your future marketing job may not come from the most likely place.  If you poke your nose around different industries just a little bit, you're bound to sniff out something worthwhile.  Even if you have your heart set on having your own little cubicle in a big shot agency, it's never a bad thing to keep your eyes open to other possibilities.  

Why Marketing Is Good For Society. Seriously.

Every so often, when I think about my choice of a future career, I have this kind of ethical panic attack. I start thinking about the end goals of marketing (i.e. profit) and I get discouraged. Should I really spend the rest of my life encouraging people to consume, consume, consume? Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a commie or anything, but the truth of the matter is, capitalism can be downright depressing. It seems like it brings out the worst kinds of habits in people: envy, greed, lust, materialism, etc. The list goes on and on.

So when I clicked on to AdAge this morning and was greeted by this lovely article from John A. Quelch and Katherine E. Jocz, I was uplifted. In a surprisingly logical way, the authors point out how the benefits of marketing and democracy are very similar. You see, marketing, like democracy, offers six societal benefits.

Exchange

Consumption

Choice

Inclusion

Information

Engagement

These qualities, when practiced by marketers are used to develop a fair and healthy relationship with consumers: one which is based on trust. As long as marketers remember to be socially conscious and keep their principles intact, there's no reason to feel bad. We are providing a service which is important to the functioning of a healthy society. Thanks AdAge for showing me the way.

Super Bowl Ad Review: Year 2

Would you believe it's been an entire year since I started blogging for Experience.com? Good Lordy, time does fly. Well, anyways, in case you hadn't heard, a little thing called the Super Bowl happened on Sunday. Unlike last year's relatively unexciting Chicago Bears whuppin', this year's Super Bowl featured, arguably, the most improbable upset of all time. Seriously, who would have said at the beginning of the season that the New York Giants would win it all?

But we're not here to talk about the game.  No, we're here to talk about the ads.  And let's just say, it's a good thing the game was exciting, because, for the most part, the ads stunk.  It seems like this year most of them fell into one of two categories.  It was either the, "Wait, what was that ad for again?" variety or the, "Wow, that really cost 2.7 million dollars?" type.  It seemed that there was, generally speaking, just a plain lack of creativity.  Here's my unscientific list of hits and misses from this year's festivities.  Mind you, this list doesn't include all the commercials, just the ones I thought were very good and very bad.  In other words, I'm showing the As and the Fs.  If you want to see the Bs, Cs, and Ds, you can see all the ads again on Youtube.

The Hits

E*Trade - Trading Baby

This ad was very enjoyable to me because of two things.  One, it has a cute baby talking like an adult, always a recipe for comedy, and, Two, it delivered a cogent message about the product.  Trading stocks can be an intimidating process for some people.  With E*Trade, trading is so easy a baby can do it.  Brilliant.

Budweiser - "Rocky" Clydesdale

While I think that this ad could do a better job at selling beer, the image of the Budweiser Clydesdale is fairly well implanted into the conscious of America.  What really makes this ad work is its clever and somewhat surprisingly heartfelt narrative.  Everyone loves a good comeback story, and the training montage set to the strains of the Rocky music was simply too good to ignore.

Fed-Ex - Carrier Pigeons

Animals are usually a sure hit in commercials.  So how about giant, destructive, man-eating animals?  Well, if this Fed-Ex spot is any indication, the bigger and more terrifying the better.  Kudos to Fed-Ex for pulling one of the more creative ads of the day.  

Tide to Go - Silence the Stain

This was my favorite ad of the night.  Besides delivering an incredibly strong brand message, the spot was brilliantly conceived.  What's more distracting than a big ugly stain right in the middle of someone's shirt?  I love how the guy giving the interview's eyes keep wandering toward the stain.  Very funny and subtle acting for such an absurdist style ad.  

The Misses 

Well, since Salesgenie.com occupied the top spot on my list last year, I must say I'm a little surprised they ended up here again.  Usually when something is so unbelievably terrible and stupid a company tries to change it for the better.  Instead, Salesgenie's spots are still lame and, now, are even mildly offensive.  I just don't get it.  How can one company invest so much money into such a lame commercial? Are they trying to use reverse psychology or something?  I just don't get it.  Anyways, here's the spots in questions.  I'm not even gonna bother commenting on each one separately. 

The Value of an MBA

As the end of my undergraduate career rapidly approaches, I find myself wondering, what next? I had thought about attending Northwestern University, but I didn't feel qualified enough yet to present myself as a suitable applicant. I've considered all manners of internships, from film production to advertising sales, and been unsure. I've also wondered whether I shouldn't just get an MBA. It seems safe enough. Just listen to it: Masters in Business Administration. Pretty impressive. But then again, just what exactly can an MBA do for you? At Seth Godin's blog, often touted as the best marketing blog on the internet, we learn a little bit from the master about why an MBA isn't all it's cracked up to be.

In examining the case of 119 rejected Harvard Business School applicants, Seth comes to the conclusion that, perhaps, Harvard has done these people a favor. As he says, "unless you want to be a consultant or an i-banker (where a top MBA is nothing but a screen for admission) it's hard for me to understand why this [business school] is a better use of time and money than actual experience combined with a dedicated reading of 30 or 40 books." In other words, it may sometimes be better for a student to get out there and actually work before he or she gets muddled up in too much outdated business theory. Sounds like pretty good advice from one of the best in the business. Now if only he could help me figure out just what it is I want to do after graduation?