Month: June 2008

Nau’s Remarkable Second Life

Nau’s Remarkable Second Life

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Horny Toad & NauAt the end of last week, Nau announced that they’re back. They’ve been acquired by another remarkable company – Horny Toad – who has agreed to handle their financing issues and has wisely supported Nau keeping its distinct and remarkable brand personality in tact.

One of the reasons they decided to hunker cited in their “comeback” blog post is the outpouring of both emotion and ideas in their Thought Kitchen blog upon the announcement of the brand and its stores shuttering. I can imagine the mixed emotions with which I would greet the prospect of being saved/consumed by another brand. I think its a testament to the team’s dedication to Nau’s mission and to its customers that they are giving Nau 2.0 a go.

For the flip side of this unique relationship, check out Horny Toad’s “We have a sister!” post which discusses the business deal not as an acquisition, but the adoption of a new family member. Funny how the choice of a few simple words can make such a difference in demonstrating what a brand stands for.

Target’s Newsweek Innovation

Target’s Newsweek Innovation

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Whilst perusing Inc. Magazine‘s nest of blogs, I came across a great example of innovative marketing environmentalism. Tom Szaky, CEO of Terra Cycle and author of the Eco-Capitalist blog, sold Newsweek magazine and Target on a unique promotion for their April Earth Day cover. The idea is something he calls “upcycling” – using waste materials to provide useful products. Target ran a fold out inside cover ad:Fold out cover

The ad invited you to fold the cover inside out, tape it into an envelope and fill it with your used Target plastic bags. Per the creative above, the used bags were then upcycled into reusable shopping bags. You are probably thinking what I am: who would go to this much trouble?

Target

Evidently, the answer is “the Newsweek Earth Day issue reader” because 35,000 people sent in their bags to Target.

While I understand the hard core environmentalist concerns about Target and their offerings so affordable as to almost be disposable, this is undeniably a great example of marketing environmentalism. They invited an audience who wanted to be engaged to co-create a useful product at a time (earth day) when they would have such things top of mind. Beats a shotgun FSI any day of the week.

p.s. If you haven’t picked up Inc. Magazine’s June print version focuses on Innovation, do. In addition to a great cover story on Threadless, there are lots of great tips on making creativity and innovation part of the fabric of your workplace.

Teddy Bears Have Ears

Teddy Bears Have Ears

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Vermont Teddy Bear picked up my rant in their Google alerts and reached out to me through Facebook to explain the situation (it was an affiliate, not them) and shared their desire to investigate.

I just posted the full scoop on the Ogilvy 360 Digital Influence blog here.

DM 2.0: Comment Spam

DM 2.0: Comment Spam

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When I began this blog, I thought that Direct Mail was the height of marketing clutter. It was the tail end of the holiday season, and even though I did end up purchasing a few items from the Hammacher Schlemmer catalog, I felt deeply annoyed by the sheer volume, poundage, and paper waste in the barrage of glossies that clogged our mailbox.

Almost 6 months later, I have a better sense of just how many electronic forms marketing clutter can come. For whatever reason, the comment spam on this blog has taken off at a hyperbolic rate in the last few weeks and I’m going to need to go to a new verification method.

My real question is, does this actually WORK for anyone? Is this an effective method of generating inbound links to their Viag*ra, p*rn, mortgages, insurance sites, and even Vermont Teddy Bears? I have included some of the worst below for your enjoyment sorted by apparent strategy. Please leave a real comment if you have insight into any sort of effective use of this type of spam.

Flattery

  • Dear web-master ! I looked your site and I want to say that yor very well’
  • I have seen many sites before and most of them do not look this good. I cannot wait to let my friends know about this site. Thanks for the excellent content….

The Confusion Offense

  • fictitious verdigris unexplaining somesthesia dacoity outvictor unvented reducer

The I’m-Not-Even-Going-To-Read-Your-Post

  • I can find the prayer I want. I thank God for this website. (all prayer comment spam links to via*ra sites, funnily enough)
  • Many times, you’ll get stunned by the massive amount of video games material obtainable…

Motivational!

  • Plant the seeds of expectation in your mind; cultivate thoughts that anticipate achievement. Believe in yourself as being capable of overcoming all obstacles and weaknesses…