I'm all for market research, but it's what you do with the data that counts. A recent survey of 100 bartenders in Washington, DC, found that "Democrats may be better tippers, but Republicans are the more hardcore drinkers." Democrats are also more likely to order a...
This post isn't about sports stars and their egos. (Clearly both Brett Favre and Manny Ramirez have ego to share.) Actually, Favre gets credit from me for acknowledging that he didn't handle things so well of late. Neither did his former team. Washington Post...
Business Week's Heather Green has a very interesting Blogspotting post on the strategy behind the "leaked" Steve Jobs memo about the underwhelming customer reaction to Apple's new MobileMe application. She writes: By doing this through an internal email he gets...
Fast Growth Focus columnist Doug Davidoff writes about the five rules for creating demand: Know your customers. Identify problems they may not know they have. Educate clients on their problems by focusing on results and creating value. Don't tell clients what...
Today's Stupidity Award goes to Jim Coleman Cadillac, which is trying to lure Toyota Prius owners into trading in their energy-efficient hybrids for new cars that average 15-20 mpg. The supposed hook? "$1,000 over Kelley Blue Book fair value." Anyone who thinks...
There's an interesting piece by Mike Madden on Salon.com about the Obama team's sophisticated data mining operation. In the age of cookies and dashboards, it's a smart bet that lots of people can recite a lot of data about you. But it's the smart organizations...
I just skimmed through several years of IABC's Communications World and CW Bulletin archives, and was struck by what communicators have found fundamental, relevant, or cutting-edge year from year. It was like rummaging through a time capsule. The fundamentals of good...
I have a recycling bin right next to my mailbox into which I drop almost all the catalogues, the direct mail pitches, and all the junk mail unopened. But once in a while something catches my eye. Score one for Chipotle. The Hopper-esque cover image and the...
Talk about smart public relations. Loews Hotels is offering a "Baggage Buy Back" incentive to reimburse guests the $15 checked bag fee the airlines are imposing. This costs the hotel chain very little while earning the company free publicity and a lot of good...
The airline industry could learn a lesson or two from People Express. For those of you who weren't traveling in the early-mid 1980s, People Express was a budget airline best known for cheap flights between Newark, NJ, and London's Gatwick Airport. It charged...