McDonald’s recently announced that it will be serving specialty coffees like vanilla lattes and caramel cappuccinos at outlets across the U.S., at a fraction of the cost of the same types of drinks at Starbucks.
Wow! As this plays out it will be a great economics case study. Can you compete on price? What value is there in a brand? Will consumers continue to pay more for something that they can get for less someplace else?
Continue reading “McDonald’s vs. Starbucks – the Coffee Wars”
On the way home from teaching a class the other day I heard what I thought was a classicly created radio commercial from OnStar.
The attention-getting premise: “Are you counting on your cell phone to be your lifeline in a crash?” Well, yeah. That’s why I don’t need OnStar, right? Continue reading “In The Minds of Consumers – Brilliant!”
I don’t think so.
I’ve long been a stalwart supporter of paper and very much aligned with the philosophy that technology represents another option, not necessarily a replacement option for many communication tactics and tools. (Somewhat akin to the old “TV will replace radio” sentiment.) The advent of TV obviously changed the radio industry as the advent of technology will change the publishing industry – I don’t, however, think Continue reading “Will Kindle Replace “Real” Books?”
A few weeks ago I talked to a woman who started a blog in 2004 and, last fall, sold a minority share of that blog for $1.3 million! A minority share. The site generates about $500 thousand/year in revenue.
While results this high may be on the right-hand side of that old bell-shaped curve, in talking with others who have been generated revenue through their web sites, I’ve learned that success is not out of reach of “just plain folks.”
The keys to success, as in all marketing: Continue reading ““Monetizing” Your Website Content”
Should you be using social media? Gee, I don’t know. While the media is new, the question is old – “should you be using TV? radio? newspaper? direct mail? billboards? or any number of communication tactics that might help you connect with your audience?”
Again, I’ll admit my strategic bias. The question, I think, shouldn’t so much be framed from the standpoint of *what* tool you should be using, but *why* you would want to, in the first place.
Yes, you should definitely should Continue reading “Should You Be Using Social Media? Everybody Else Is, Right?”
Okay – this headline is not intended to be an expletive. But, after recent experiences with a group of students in a senior-level, project-based, PR campaign class, I’m thinking that maybe the old copywriter’s acronym of WIIFM (“What’s in it for me”?) may be somewhat misleading and result in a lack of focus on the end user – THEM! The better acronym may be WIIFT- “What’s in it for *them*!”) I have been so indoctrinated into “selling” to people since my early childhood that I think I may take certain things for granted – one of which is that, if I want to “sell” or “persuade” somebody about anything – whether it’s buying a product, giving me a job, going to eat where *I* want to go eat, etc., I need to think about WIIFT – “What’s in it for *them*?” And, I need to…
Continue reading “Writing Ad Copy – WIIF*T*!!”
Whether you’re writing a brochure, copy for a newspaper ad, a script for a radio announcement or a page or blog for your web site, there are some tried and true techniques that can help you make sure that your copy gets the results you’re looking for.
Think about writing copy as making a sales pitch to a customer. Your goal is to persuade that customer to do something – most likely to purchase your product or service. Here’s how: Continue reading “10 Copywriting Tips for Guaranteed Results!”
Supporting the local community can be expensive. Even large organizations have to be careful about how and where they lend their time – and money. Is there value – beyond personal satisfaction – in supporting local events and activities? Which ones? How can you say “no” graciously to the many requests that come your way? Continue reading “Difficult Choices Require Strategic Approach”
At least once a week – maybe more often – I’ll have a prospect or client say to me: “I can’t understand why the media won’t run a story on my…” Well, there may be a number of reasons. Here are 5: Continue reading “When You’re Pitching To “The Media””
