Philosophy

26 Jan

Newsflash: Sharing User Fertility Data is Unethical

Facebook Marketing, Marketing Planning, PhilosophyAngry Customers, Customers, Flo, FTC, Legal, Marketing Ethics0 Comments

Fertility App Flo Apparently Needed to Be Told Health Info Should Be Confidential In a jaw-dropping violation of user privacy, women’s fertility app Flo shared highly personal user information with Facebook, including ovulation dates and period start dates. Even worse,…

28 Jan

FOMO Follow-Up: It Was an Email Marketing Ploy

Advertising, Customer Experience, Email Marketing, Marketing Theory, PhilosophyEmail Marketing, Going Out of Business Sale, Marketing messages, Marketing tactics, Motivating Customers0 Comments

Before Christmas, a marketing email from Scentmatchers caught my eye. I posted about it in “Going Out of Business Sale: Email Marketing Edition.” In an attempt to inspire FOMO (fear of missing out) in customers, the email includes lines like, “Keep…

10 Dec

Going Out of Business Sale: Email Marketing Edition

Advertising, Customer Experience, Email Marketing, Marketing, Marketing Theory, PhilosophyEmail Marketing, Going Out of Business Sale, Marketing messages, Marketing tactics, Motivating Customers0 Comments

Will Fear of Missing Out Spur Sales for Fragrance Company? I received a curious marketing email from Scent Matchers, a company that re-creates discontinued fragrances. Last year, I purchased a replication of my dad’s favorite aftershave from years past. Here…

29 Oct

Bench Ads Don’t Work for Small Business Marketing

Advertising, Branding, Philosophy, Small BusinessAdvertising, Bench Ads, Budget, Campaigns, Outdoor Advertising, Small Business Marketing0 Comments

Why “See… You Looked!” Isn’t a Good Argument Advertising is ubiquitous in the American landscape, and most of us instinctively look past it. But occasionally, a small business owner will ask me, “Should we do bench ads?” The Answer is…

16 Jul

From Businesses to Users, Yelp is Losing its Appeal

Advertising, Branding, Competitors, Customer Experience, Marketing, Philosophy, Social Media Marketing, Web MarketingBranding, Competition, Customer Engagement, Customer Service, Reviews, Sales, Social Media, Yelp0 Comments

Poor Customer Service and Increased Competition Take a Toll on Yelp An active community of users and businesses makes Yelp valuable. Community members are individuals. As Yelp matures as a business, the temptation to de-humanize the community while developing cookie-cutter…

18 Jun

2 Medical Marketing Slogans that Miss the Mark

Advertising, Branding, Customer Experience, Marketing Science, Marketing Theory, Philosophy, TaglinesBranding, Communication, Medical Marketing, Motivating Customers, Taglines, Writing/Editing0 Comments

An organization’s brand is often summarized into a tagline, a rallying cry for what the organization promises to deliver to its customers. Marketing slogans should inspire and motivate customers. In these two instances of medical marketing slogans, the organizations haven’t…

18 Oct

Think Like a Minimalist to Get Your Marketing Message Across

Advertising, Customer Experience, Customers, Marketing, Marketing Theory, PhilosophyAdvertising, Communication, Customer Engagement, Delight Customers, Good marketing example, Marketing messages, Minimalist Marketing, Motivating Customers, Steve Yastrow0 Comments

I’m helping a client design a consumer rewards program, with the goal of increasing our competitive advantage and attracting new customers. Because the product mix has excellent margins, we can offer a program that provides high value to the customer. To…

12 Jul

Sadly, Interesting is More Important than Accurate

Branding, Customers, Individuals vs. Committees, Marketing, Marketing Theory, Philosophy, Taglines, WritingCommunication, Content, Creativity, Decision-making, Delight Customers, Marketing Copy, Marketing Jargon, Marketing Metaphors, Marketing Personality, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Tips, Writing/Editing0 Comments

Precise language is one of my joys. It’s exhilarating to find exactly the right word that communicates in the best way possible. Which is why it pains me to admit that accuracy isn’t all that important if it’s boring. For marketing communications,…

10 May

For Better Marketing, Get to Know Your Customers

Competitors, Customers, Marketing, Marketing Science, PhilosophyCustomers, Demographics, Market Research, Marketing messages, Motivating Customers0 Comments

Marketing can be simply defined as the ways you influence customers to buy from you. And to influence effectively, you should understand your customers. Knowing your customers will help you communicate with them in meaningful ways and choose media channels they…

03 May

Don’t Take Your Marketing Metaphors Too Far

Branding, Marketing, Marketing Theory, Philosophy, TaglinesAdvertising, Branding, Creativity, Marketing Copy, Marketing Metaphors, Marketing Tips, Taglines, Writing/Editing0 Comments

Since I named my small business marketing firm Zoo in a Jungle Marketing, it’s pretty clear that I approve of marketing metaphors. Taken from Peter DeVries’ quote “Life is a zoo in a jungle,” my company name promotes stepping outside…

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