SPEED READ: This Week in Marketing

Marketing evolves at the speed of digital.  That's why we've put together a list of links that every marketer will need to stay up to date and fresh in the industry.  In this issue:   Let the countdown begin with 25 blogs, 20 monitoring tools and 5 research tools that should keep you sharp as tacks.  Plus, one happy video on how Agile Marketing can keep you - and your marketing campaigns - limber.  Happy Reading!  -Robert

Marketing Mad Lib: 7 Human Needs ____ Fulfills

Years ago, a wise teacher shared her version of the 7 human needs all theater fulfills.  Back then, her list sounded like pure genius. Two decades and many marketing hours later, it still does. Here is what she shared:

The 7 Human Needs all Theater Fulfills

• Need to empathize 
• Need for spectacle (something larger than us) 
• Need for entertainment 
• Need for ritual (communal ritual) 
• Need to participate 
• Need to learn/ expand 
• Need for magic 

Today, i have come to realize how this list seven human needs all theater fulfills is a remarkable (although incomplete) adaptation of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, a well held theory in psychology proposed by  Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Human Motivation" in which he describes developmental personality markers as stages of human growth.   

Why Communications Coding Matters

THE VALUE OF CODE IN COMMUNICATIONS

As a child I was fascinated by the PBS television show Joy of Painting with Bob Ross.   
Over the course of an hour he would paint elaborate landscapes, each an ode to a scenic far away place that most likely existed only in his mind.  Cadmium yellows mixed with Prussian blues, elegant mountain  skylines were created with feather brushes  loaded with ever loving evergreens capped with snow colored whites.

Now I'm not a painter.  Never have been.  The best I've painted is my bathroom, and frankly that was always a drippy mess.  

Yet somehow, whenever I watched Bob Ross, his soothing voice and seamless painting styles made everything seem possible.  Here he was...just one crazy looking man with an easel set against a backdrop.  And there I was, a kid hopped up on sesame street and reading rainbow.  When he said, "maybe there's a tree here, why not", I thought to myself "yeah, why not".

MUST-READS IN MARKETING [10/14/12]

MARKETING LINKS YOU'LL LOVE.

QUICK LINKS

• Money, Social Status Similar in Brain   neurosciencemarketing.com
• Brand Blink: Understanding the Mind to get to the Heart of Buying Decisions   marketingtoday.com
• Healthcare Marketing Insights: Brand Purpose and the Bottom Line  trajectory4brands.com 
• Top 10 Commercials Week October 5-12   AdWeek.com

VIDEOS

Dynamic Decisions: Buying as a Journey

DYNAMIC DECISIONS: THE CONSUMER JOURNEY

 

Much of the reason we feel a decision is  simple to make is our familiarity with the act itself. What we often consider a single, momentary switch decision (up for on, down for off, green means buy, red means decline) is in fact a process stretched in parts over time and shaped by a large number of of intrinsic and extrinsic forces.

[VIDEO] Treadmill Music-Video from OK GO

SOURCE:  OK GO - YouTube Channel 

MUST-READS IN MARKETING [9/22/12]

• Robber Uses Smartphone as Robbery Note   UPI
• Travel & Texting: How to Avoid The SmartPhones's Bite   NY Times
• Want your blog to be read? Remember to make it readable.   BlindFiveYearOld
• 3 Social Media Sites That are changing E-Commerce   JeffBullasBlog
• 6 Ways to Use Reddit to Grow Your Business  SocialMediaExaminer
• Impact of Social, Tablets and Mobile on Effective E-Mail Campaigns Marketingsherpa

Social Media Tips From Grandma

Grandma knows best.  We just think we do.  

Think you know social media?  Think again. 

Think your slick campaigns are "super smart". (Not compared to the "Grandma Campaign"...) 

Through a few simple social media tips "offered by Abuela", you can witness what is perhaps one of the most brilliant campaigns to educate and entertain consumers about social media.  And it's all thanks to Spain's Chacho Puebla that we are reminded of how young and inexperienced we really are.  

For me, this is one of the most humbling reminders of how we don't know squat when it comes to getting our message out. 

See the full campaign: 
SOCIAL GRANNY

The Branding Mistake That Could Cost You Everything

 >>>  MOTHER ALWAYS SAID YOU HAD PROMISE.

"You have so much PROMISE.  
If only you applied yourself."
- Love Mom

Like you, every new start-up has promise too.  Yet, so few  actually deliver on their promise.

In business, a simple misstep can dictate the health - and long life of your company.  While branding boffs may not kill your mother, it certainly could be the death of another loved one - your brand.

Whether or not the problem ends with brand integrity, it likely begins with not shouting clearly enough (or authentically enough) so that others hear you. 

Sadly,  only a handful of brands have the branding skill-set to clearly tell the world what that promise is from day one.

If you either lack the skills to share what you intend OR if you lack the follow through....you'll need the following guidelines to help you unravel the branding question.  

...But first...

Stupid Uses for Your Smartphone (A Story)

Social isn't for everyone.

  

"Give me ur $$$...LMAO"

In this recent story about a bank robbery ringer, we are reminded of how some should stay firmly on the other side of the digital divide.

Reports of the incident  describe a Florida man robbing the second Florida bank in less than 24 hours using his phone as a mouthpiece.

That's right - instead of the handwritten note from the first felony earlier, he  choose to spell out his demands digit by digit.  Officers arriving at the bank to intercept the suspect immediately began wondering why he used his phone:   "Maybe there was an issue with his handwriting," Pembroke Pines Sgt. Chris Stacio said.

Read More Odd News : UPI ODD NEWS