In marketing and advertising lingo…the term Branding carries a lot of weight! But when it comes to the very target Branding is suppose to make its impact on, well they don’t really care about that term because that is not how they refer to a company, product or service and it’s not what gets them to take an action.

Their touch point, frame of reference, what gets their interest…is the ‘human experience’. Period.

Today’s American consumers (whose ever changing life stages must be taken into consideration) start their relationship with your business by examining and experiencing your intent and motivation.…

Saw a post today on one of the blogs I read where the reader had this idea he was going to offer to manage social media for small to medium size businesses by outsourcing it in India or Malaysia.

He indicated a busy businessman would pay $20 month to have their Facebook, Twitter, Plaxo or Bebo account updated, messages replied and so on and this would be way cheaper than hiring a new employee in-house or contracting independent U.S workers.

Sounds reasonable right? Well I guess it is if you want a…

With so many things available through technology to market and reach your customer directly today…why don’t more business owners take on more of their own marketing efforts?

You would have to have been on another planet this past decade not to know we have entered into a new business era. This is so a direct-to-consumer market now. People want customization and personalization and a one-to-one experience.  The middle man and gatekeepers are dying off by the droves in every industry segment!

One thing I’ve discovered and relate to as a consumer over the past few years is people…

Fired up my Twitter this morning and checked what the hot topics of the day were and my goodness…#unfollowdiddy was really buzzing!

So I decided to check out what was going on and lo and behold, many fellow tweets were voicing their not so nice things about P Diddy (Sean “Diddy” Combs).

See for yourself…

#unfollowdiddy is trending so I read his tweets. He’s less of a jerk than I expected, but arrogant as he**. Twitters taking him down a peg.

#unfollowdiddy FOLLOW ME FOR A FREE #unfollowdiddy T SHIRT -ONE WINNER EVERY HOUR SM L XL

Good

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Twitter tweets were buzzing today about their frustration and anger with Old Navy’s $1 Flip Flop Day.

Apparently the marketing gurus in this company (and most other corporations for that matter) have not taken into consideration every move they make…we are watching them…and Twittering!

All over the country people were Twittering about their unhappy experience in “real-time“.  This is the power of the Social Network folks!

It’s for certain, many folks on were not happy campers. Just look at some of the comments I saw coming across Twitter…

one dollar flip flop

…

A recent research report which was aimed at determining the state of small business website and online advertising spending points out…

America’s 14.6 million small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) were responsible for more than $6.7 billion in locally generated, locally targeted interactive advertising in 2008 – more than half of the US total, according to a recently released report from Borrell Associates, which predicts these numbers will grow significantly as activities continue to shift online.

Here is the kicker, many Marketers don’t understand about small businesses though. The report also indicated more than two-thirds…

Lately I have been hearing all over the web ‘marketing is conversation‘ and you better be on board with social media or you are not marketing.

I say that’s hog wash (I get it! Like pigs wash!).

I am not going to be arrogant enough to say I have the total explanation of what marketing means or what it is because I believe it encompasses really everything you do in your business.

But I will say I know it is about a whole lot more than conversation. No doubt, conversation is one of the “tools’ or methods we can use…

Today I came across a tweet on Twitter providing a link to a YouTube video titled Bank of America Walkout. WOW! is all I can say.

This is consumer power using social media to the 10th power!!! I predict this video will spread like wildfire and I also believe many  B of A customers will join in on this move.

This is a perfect example of what I have been saying for awhile now…this is the Age of the Super Consumer. Businesses both large and small have nowhere to hide anymore when it comes to their…

Recently Burger King’s advertisement antics have been a marketing nightmare if not corporate suicide in my opinion. What the heck is going on over there at corporate BK anyway? It seems as though they are trying to impress us with your tasteless presentations using “shock” propaganda to get our attention.

Really now, business must be pretty bad for Burger King when you feel you have to resort to making fun of and disrespecting Latinos or try to convince parents the BKing singing about his love for…