Archive for the ‘Technology’ Category

What Lies Ahead for Marketers in 2023

Tuesday, January 10th, 2023

As we enter 2023, I can’t help but notice lots of commentary about what we can expect on a variety of fronts, including marketing. As I think about marketing in 2023, a few things spring to mind, maybe because I was doing a lot of reading about them during the last week or so of the year while I was enjoying some downtime. But, I see three key trends for 2023: a continued focus on local marketing, disruption from ChatGPT, and increasingly sophisticated use of data and analytics.

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Could Holographic Tech Change the Way We Communicate?

Friday, August 30th, 2019

by Justin Grensing, Esq., MBA

Communication is key to any business, whether it’s a meeting with potential clients on a sales opportunity or coordinating and staying in touch with staff. Distance is becoming less and less of a hindrance to effective and meaningful communication. New technologies introduced over the last two centuries have greatly enhanced our ability to stay connected; from the telegraph to the telephone to internet and video conferencing we can now see and hear people from anywhere in the world in real time. And a recent strategy by a 2020 presidential hopeful is demonstrating the increasing development of the latest iteration of long-distance communication. (more…)

De-teching From Time to Time Can Fuel Innovation

Thursday, July 17th, 2014

A few weekends ago, for one glorious afternoon, I turned off all of my tech devices, pulled out a pile of Harvard Business Review magazines (the hard copy kind) and, with nothing but a legal pad and pen in hand, set out to engage in some thinking time. I sat on  my deck, without even my Bose SoundLink, and just lost myself in learning. I literally  (more…)

No, Paper Isn’t Dead and Isn’t Likely to be for a long, long, long time…

Tuesday, December 10th, 2013

The demise of paper has been predicted for a century, but the end is nowhere in sight according to a recent article in “The Week.”

I heartily agree with this sentiment and I’ve seen interesting examples of just why this is likely to be the case in classes I teach at a local university. While most people today claim that “the millennials prefer electronic communication,” that’s not necessarily true–just ask the millennials! (more…)

Want to Excel at Generating Response From Your Market? Focus!

Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013

Client question: “What’s the best way to communicate with the under-35 market?”

It’s a legitimate question and certainly marketers need to think carefully about how they will communicate with their market, recognizing that markets are different. The only problem with this question (and it’s one that most marketers ask in one form or another) is that it doesn’t go far enough to identify a specific market focus. The group of individuals who are under 35 is a very, very broad group, after all. What is the likelihood that there would be a single, “best” communication strategy for them?

When it comes to targeting marketing messages, the advice I offer, regardless of what you are attempting to sell or what response you are attempting to attain, is to (more…)

DVORAK, QWERTY, AC/DC, CD, MP3 — AND QR CODES

Tuesday, April 2nd, 2013

A writer with Ragan Communications contacted me recently for my response to an article suggesting that QR codes were “dead.” He was writing an article in response to this claim and seeking input from those with opinions to share. My response: (more…)

Iconic Brands Revisited With a Boost From Technology

Tuesday, March 26th, 2013

Last night I showed students in my Advertising Copy & Design class a video that I’ve seen a number of times, now, but that continues to both delight and amaze me. It’s Google’s “Project Re: Brief” which tells the story of four classic advertisements and how their original creators teamed up with today’s new breed of advertising professionals–and some technical experts–to create some truly amazing advertisements. The iconic spots they recreated were: (more…)

Introduction to FourSquare

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013

In the generation of the iPhone, Apple users are always looking for new, interesting, and most importantly, free apps to explore. Joining the popular Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram is Foursquare, a check-in app and website that makes the most of where you go. FourSquare, like many social media options is “fun,” but it’s also a practical option for businesses hoping to connect with various audiences. (more…)

Are You Listening to — and Learning From — Your Web and Social Media Analytics?

Wednesday, October 31st, 2012

I spent my first 10 years in the field of direct marketing which, at that time, was very measurable compared to other forms of advertising. Today, online marketing allows marketers to gather even better and more immediate results on how they’re doing. Surprisingly, though, (at least to me) there are still a number of organizations–large and small–that are not using analytics to evaluate how they are doing in terms of connecting with, engaging and influencing their target audiences. And, in some cases, they are not acting on the information they attain.

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Are You Prepared to Become Obsolete?

Thursday, September 27th, 2012

While watching the local news my husband made a comment about the weatherman: “You know – who really needs him anymore? You can just look at the radar yourself any time you want to online.”

True. You can. Wonder if people going to school to be “weather people” have thought about that. Wonder if the schools that teach them have thought about that. And, most pertinent for this blog, wonder if all of us have given (more…)