Social Media in Plain English

May 30, 2008

We’re reaching a point in our industry where social media is starting to become more and more accepted by those Seth Godin classifies as the early majority - the people who are catching onto the trend because they’ve heard enough about it to put a little bit of trust into it. The value is at its highest. Everyone is scrambling to catch up.

But do newcomers really understand what the benefits of social media are?

If you find yourself needing to explain social media to the uninformed (or if you are still hazy on it yourself) CommonCraft has created an easy way to do it: Social Media in Plain English.


There. That was easy.

CommonCraft also has great videos explaining the relevance of blogs, social networking and, of course, my new favorite social networking tool, Twitter.

By Corey

Filed Under Technology, The Process

Gnarled Parsley

May 28, 2008

We’ve tilled the dirt and pulled the weeds and prepared every tool we can scrape together. We’re ready to drop our plants into our gardens. The only problem is that we don’t have any plants yet.

Of course, when we finally DO get some plants in, there’s a huge chance that we’ll

The thing about planting your own gardens is that you get to see behind the scenes, like a Behind the Music for the produce section. You see the twisted stumps of carrots, the bulbous tomatoes with goiter-like lumps, the cucumbers that curl up like horseshoes – in other words, the stuff that’s not fit to sell on an aesthetically-pleasing grocery store level.

Which is why I love this ad series for Tramontina. The headline reads: “The Perfect Knife for an Imperfect World.”

(Click on an image to see full-size.)
Tramotina Tomato

Tramotina Cucumber

Tramotina Carrot

In fact, I think those carrots might actually be from my garden.

(Via Ads of the World.)

By Corey

Filed Under Advertising

Wendy Wills Wins aWard.

May 28, 2008

We do a lot of great stuff here at HenkinSchultz.

Most of us do a lot of great stuff away from work as well.

For example, our very own Wendy Wills was honored at last week’s Sales and Marketing Executives, Inc. (SME) Past Presidents Banquet. She was named Outstanding Committee Member for her work on the annual Women In Business program.

The Outstanding Committee Member award was presented by President Dave Stadheim and Women in Business Committee Chair Lisa Schultz.

Wendy received a trophy and everything!

The Past Presidents Banquet recognizes all of the programs put on by SME throughout the year. Women In Business is an educational, networking conference that provides fresh perspectives and positive outlooks in regards to women in the workplace. This year’s speaker was Mary Lou Retton.

Congratulations, Wendy!

By Corey

Filed Under HenkinSchultz

In Defense of Corporate Media’s Marketing…just this once

May 21, 2008

Is web 2.0 actually dividing us?

The Internet has provided us with an open market of ideas, contacts and experiences from around the globe. Or at least the opportunity to find them. But what was that saying about a horse to water?

Now, I love the idea of a global village. But there is a roadblock. It’s called “the constitutive other.”

Here’s one fine example of that being exploited. According to polls on voting habits and approval/disapproval ratings of incumbent representatives, Americas political rift has been splitting exponentially within the past few years.

Many scholars, media minds, politicos and culture watchers speculate that this fissure’s break really hit its speed with the establishment of the Fox News Channel. My argument to that would be perhaps NPR, or to a lesser degree, CNN were there first. The differences are political leanings and the tenacity at which they lean. But, before any of that there were AM radio pundits.

TV. Radio. That’s the old media. The new media is a wild stomping ground of opinions from the left, right and center (and some seemingly from outer space.) But how many people peruse the spectrum? Apparently, very few. As a Stanford study points out, the vast majority of people who follow old and new media get their news from few sources. Those sources being of one political bent or another. Furthermore, it seems that the bigger the issue, the more the source adherence.

So, who is to blame for people only wanting to hear one side of the story? Is it the corporations that own the media peddlers? I suppose one could say that, and many do.

But looking a little deeper points out why media venues go political. It makes marketing sense. So let’s string up the marketers!

Wait, one step deeper - if people weren’t buying, no one would sell. So, who do we direct our ire towards?

Ourselves, I guess. Dammit.

People like to hear what is within their view of the world.

Web 2.0, 3.0, etc, has a lot of promise ahead. It could be a road to a digital shangri-la. Now we just have to master our own nature.

If nothing else, we at least we have factcheck.org to help us sort things out.

By Mike

Filed Under Technology, Criticism, The Process

We think.

May 15, 2008

Blogs, wikis, etc. They all allow us to participate in the sharing of ideas, a constant conversation that has proven to produce some pretty big results.

So what’s this century all about? Mass innovation. And this movie - promoting Charles Leadbeater’s new book We Think - sums it all up pretty nicely.


Via: brandflakesforbreakfast

By Corey

Filed Under Technology, Marketing, The Process

For those with their head in the clouds

May 7, 2008

FlogosAdvertising is everywhere.

We see it on television and we hear it on radio. We page past it in our magazines and newspapers and we drive past it on our way to and from work.

But that’s just the typical. It’s in our video games. Our novels. Sprinkled throughout the Internet. On our mobile phone.

It’s on the conveyor belt at the grocery store. It’s in front of us as we’re relieving ourselves in the bathroom. It’s installed in public places, stenciled onto the sidewalk, hidden in images and piped into our elevators and bus stations.

It’s in the water. On the grass. In and around every natural landscaping element known to the human race.

And thanks to Flogos – branded logo clouds - it’s in the sky.

I wish I was making this up. But there it is – Flogos. Cloud advertising. (Check out the demo video.)

What’s left? Our own children?

(Oops.)

By Corey

Filed Under Advertising, Technology

Fear the underdog

May 6, 2008

“You got no time for the messenger,
got no regard for the thing that you don’t understand,
you got no fear of the underdog,
that’s why you will not survive!”

– “The Underdog,” Spoon

Being the best is an honor and privilege.

It’s something you’ve gained through years of hard work and smart thinking. Being the best takes a keen marketing mind and a little bit of luck. It takes a different look at the industry – an expertise that no one else can offer.

But don’t forget. The best didn’t start that way. The best built themselves up from the bottom. The best overcame another “bests.” The best was once #2. And #3. And #10.

Now that you’ve made it, now that you’re at the top, the worst thing you can do is think you’re untouchable.

You’re not.

Because just like you were once a eager startup, or an unproven talent, or a free-thinking self-employed vendor, there are hundreds out there trying to outthink you. And they’ll surely outthink you, my friends.

If you let them.

Never stop asking for the business. Never stop thinking. Keep improving. Think five years ahead. Anticipate trends and create marketing with the future in mind. Solidify your brand and wipe out weaknesses.

Stay relevant. Embrace change. Take risks. Be willing to accept that the industry – whatever industry that may be – is always moving ahead.

If you stay stagnant, you can bet the gap will start narrowing. And once your competitors have momentum on their side, they’re difficult to stop.

Always fear the underdog. It’s the only way to survive.

By Corey

Filed Under Marketing, The Process