From the category archives:

Branding

Crush It With Video

June 4, 2011

About 4 years ago, when I decided to sign-up my kids for piano lessons, of course the first thing I did was to start thinking about which keyboard to buy. I did extensive research online for keyboards: I did Google searches, visited an insane number of web sites, musician forums, read reviews on Amazon and [...]

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Burning Your Brand Into Their Eyes (literally!)

December 18, 2010

Awesome idea! Know that thing that happens after you stare into the sun and then close your eyes? Know how you see a bright ring that then gradually fades away? BMW came up with the same concept and created an ad that did that to viewers. Now the idea itself is nothing groundbreaking. But what’s [...]

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Where I Am At

November 16, 2010

“It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times”, wrote Charles Dickens. That’s exactly how it has felt for the last couple of years. On one hand, my wife’s father, and both my parents – all passed away in a span of 3 years, leaving our kids with no grandparents, and [...]

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Twitter: @Replies Rock, DMs Over-rated

February 2, 2010

What’s the the most powerful feature of Twitter? It’s definitely the ability to send an “@” reply to anyone on twitter – without their permission. Now “great tools come with great responsibility” (yup, just made it up Spam people on twitter, and you will get blocked, labeled a spammer, folks will hate on you, and [...]

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How To Destroy A Brand In 30 Seconds

November 8, 2009

I’ve been a fan of Guy Kawasaki for a while now. Not a fan-boi type, but still admired him enough to call myself a “fan”. I follow him on Twitter, read his blog occasionally, and love to watch his videos as he is a great presenter and speaker who adds a lot of humor and [...]

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What Would Microsoft Do?

September 24, 2009

Here’s something I completely forgot to add to my earlier post about “What Would – – – – Do?“… Yes, I do occasionally think “What Would Microsoft Do?“. And then of course, I do EXACTLY the OPPOSITE – especially when it comes to the quality of their products, their marketing, and their branding (or lack [...]

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The Power Of A Brand (Revisited)

September 9, 2009

Did you know that the incredibly famous Nike “Swoosh” logo was created by a graphic design student desperate to pay for a dress for an upcoming party, for a stunning total of $35 (at $2/hour)? I watched a Nike documentary recently, where they interviewed  Philip Knight (one of Nike’s Founders), “His Airness” Michael Jordan, and [...]

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“Simple” and “Easy”

June 4, 2009

The difference is pretty simple, actually Quit Smoking Simple: We all know the health benefits of not smoking. Quit smoking, live longer. But Not Easy: The actual act of quitting is really hard. Losing Weight Simple: Do it and you will look good, feel good, and have more energy But Not Easy: Working out frequently, [...]

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How To Quickly & Easily Publish Business Videos

April 2, 2009

I use Amazon S3 to host my business videos. S3 offers incredible performance, unlimited storage, and is extremely affordable. Another Purple Cow from Amazon. Plus it looks a lot more professional than hosting your business videos on a crowded social video site with user generated videos and ads surrounding it. Amazon S3 for video hosting. [...]

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My Date With Seth Godin

October 7, 2008

Ok, I was being dramatic. Plus I’m straight (and I think Seth is too). Last evening, I was fortunate to be a part of a private group that participated in Seth presentation for his new book, “Tribes” . The presentation was “remarkable!”, as Seth would’ve said himself. Filled with extraordinary images, and almost no text, [...]

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Do We Really Need Yet Another Search Engine?

September 2, 2008

We all know what turned out to be the answer to that question. So, here we go again: Do We Really Need Yet Another Browser? If it’s coming from Google, then it’s definitely worth checking out. It sends my brain tingling when I read this: Because we spend so much time online, we began seriously [...]

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Purple Shoe from Nike

January 9, 2008

It’s not really purple in color. But I did mean that it is Purple. Why? It’s because of the way it was successful in creating an entirely new industry of “athlete marketing” like never before. Because of how it created a frenzy among consumers. Because of the innovative ways Nike marketed it [for instance, they [...]

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Amazon Kindle: Not kindling my passion for, er, anything

December 12, 2007

The folks who buy a new product when it first comes out, are commonly known as the early adopters. These people – who are not the same as the “beta testers” – actually spend money to buy the product. They risk the annoyances, technical and usability issues of First-Generation products in exchange for the “Wow” [...]

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54 cent refills for Starbucks Coffee

December 9, 2007

If you drink coffee at Starbucks, you’ll surely appreciate this: 54 cents Refills For Starbucks Coffee .

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7 Steps To Remarkable Customer Service

October 8, 2007

Going by the PageRank (PR 6), you can guess how many sites are linking to this post on JoelOnSoftware. The content is that powerful. Here’s the summary: 1. Fix everything two ways 2. Suggest blowing out the dust 3. Make customers into fans 4. Take the blame 5. Memorize awkward phrases 6. Practice puppetry 7. [...]

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Woot Sells Out – In Style

September 12, 2007

“The _____ swept down from the hills like a dark and hungry wind. The first thing anyone would notice would be the _____, its long white hair flew wildly in the breeze generated by the two swinging katanas that had been enchanted to draw blood from anything, even lamp posts and cheese. Raised in a [...]

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What Happens When You Care About Your Customers

September 7, 2007

The iPhone launched at $599 (8GB) and $499 (4GB). About two months later, Apple deprecates the latter, and slashes $200 off the former. The early adopters get mad. Should Apple care? They didn’t have to. But they did (Steve Jobs letter). Great strategy (in-store credit). Great PR. Gotta love Apple.

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Something Strange, In The Neighborhood. Who You Gonna Call? Bond, Bourne or Bauer?

August 16, 2007

James Bond Jason Bourne Jack Bauer   Think it’s a coincidence that these three super crime-fighting-machines share the same initials? I think not. Bourne was bourne as America’s answer to the ultimate killing machine and British super spy who is the only one (other than God) who can save the Queen: James Bond. Last night, [...]

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