marketing

Crenshaw Communications, marketing, public relations • October 13, 2009

Overspending Is So Last Season

Conspicuous consumption is officially dead – or, at least, it’s so…last season. For the first time in memory, the Neiman Marcus holiday catalog has discounted its fantasy gift items. This year’s flurry of stories don’t focus on the fantasy, but the downsizing. The priciest item in the 2009 catalog is a mere $250,000 – far below the […]

advertising, branding, communications, Crenshaw Communications, marketing • October 9, 2009

The Merrill Lynch Bull Charges Back, More Softly This Time

One of many painful sidebars to last year’s Wall Street bloodbath was the swift death of seemingly invincible brands, including former financial powerhouses Lehmann, Bear Stearns, and Merrill Lynch. The human toll was so vast that no one gave much of a thought to the vanquished logos. But, as symbolism, their disappearance rubbed salt into […]

Crenshaw Communications, marketing, public relations • October 7, 2009

Expense-A-Steak: Brilliant PR, Or Blatant Fraud?

We in public relations sometimes start our creative sessions with the mantra, “Let’s think up some ideas that could get us fired.” Part of what clients pay us for, after all, is to push the limits of what’s conventional. But, some concepts come really close to crossing the line. That’s why I laughed at the recent […]

communications, Crenshaw Communications, marketing, public relations, social media, technology • October 2, 2009

Why Twitter Could Be Worth A Billion Dollars

The number sounds like pure froth. After all, you don’t have to go back as far as the dot-com era to come up with laughable valuations of Web-based companies (Skype, anyone?) And this is one that has yet to turn a profit, or even articulate a plan to do so, at least publicly. Like others, I’ve gone […]

advertising, communications, Crenshaw Communications, marketing, public relations, social media • September 29, 2009

Top Social Media Sins

I’ve been seriously under the weather after attending a meeting in Mexico City last week. (No, it’s not H1N1, though I did hear an excellent talk by the top docs in charge of public communication around the epidemic.) To make it easy on limited mental energy, I’m using a part of today’s MediaPost‘s Social Media Insider. It’s a […]

advertising, communications, Crenshaw Communications, marketing, public relations, reputation, social media • September 22, 2009

Marketing Isn’t Getting Any Easier

It’s tough being a Chief Marketing Officer nowadays. It’s always been a high-risk role. Management tends to find it hard to gauge the bottom-line contribution, yet easy to place blame. In a recession, many businesses view marketing as a cost center, and it’s often the first budget to be cut. Then, too, everyone (and his spouse) thinks […]

advertising, branding, communications, Crenshaw Communications, marketing, leadership, public relations • September 17, 2009

Will Healthcare Damage Brand Obama?

In “Mad Men”‘s season debut, fictional ad man Don Draper quietly advises a colleague, “Limit your exposure.” It’s actually an oblique reference to his associate’s indiscretion (and his own secret past), but I thought of Draper’s advice today in a different context. I’ve finally joined the ranks of those who fear that President Obama may be overexposed. Don’t […]

advertising, Crenshaw Communications, marketing, public relations, social media • August 11, 2009

Penny Pranks Pay Off For Office Max

Back-to-school campaigns make me anxious. They evoke that Sunday-night-and-I-haven’t-done-my-homework feeling in a sure sign that the summer’s waning. This year, despite some encouraging economic reports, it’s looking like a depressing September all around. Forecasts suggest that shoppers will keep their wallets zipped, and major retailers are responding with uninspired price promotions and coupon drops. There’s even evidence that the […]

branding, communications, Crenshaw Communications, marketing, public relations, technology • July 28, 2009

It’s No Contest, The Netflix Prize Is A Winner

Partly because I gave four stars to Woody Allen’s Manhattan, Netflix is recommending the dark and brooding East German indie The Lives of Others. Hmmm. I don’t know about you, but for me, recommendation engines that try to predict our likes and dislikes in books and movies usually miss the mark. I’m talking about the collaborative filtering […]