Entries from October 2006 ↓

Some of the smartest marketers I have seen are farmers. Think about it. Orange growers convinced us that oranges are a great source of vitamin c even though guavas, papayas, strawberries and kiwis beat oranges to a pulp. Apples for fiber? Try raspberries, blackberries, prunes, figs and papayas first. Raspberries have more than double the fiber of an orange. But sometimes this is intentional. Raspberries are one of those fruits that has a premium and comes on fancy chocolate desserts. So why would they want to be attached to a substance that is good for your bowels? They wouldn’t. Like I said, farmers are smart marketers. So when I saw this display for pomegranates at a local grocery store I couldn’t help but think about how smart farmers are when it comes to selling their product. They turned the produce shelf into a point-of-sale display complete with directions on how to use this exotic fruit.

Despite politicians’ complaints about judges having too much power, two-thirds of Americans do not believe elected officials should have more control over federal judges, according to a new CNN poll released Saturday.

Sixty-seven percent of 1,013 people surveyed by Opinion Research Corp. on behalf of CNN said federal judges — and the decisions they make — should not be subject to more control.

Only 30 percent said they should.

via CNN

CNN is one of those interesting media beasts that digs (almost spelled it as diggs) up some crazy stuff when election time is near.

“1) Loyalty programs are based on discounts, which ‘train’ existing customers to expect low prices and wait out normal prices, 2) They attract loyal customers who would happily pay a premium, 3) they discourage new customers by making them feel punished or excluded, 4) they encourage competitors to retaliate with me-too programs, 5) they reduce profit margins, which 6) reduces the company’s ability to serve customers at formerly high levels.

The truth is, loyalty can’t be programmed. As soon as customers begin to feel ‘stalked,’ they choose ‘fight’ or ‘flight.’ They either figure out how to game the system, or else they run to another brand.”

via Zag (page 100)

I’ll be in touch incredibly soon. Until that time, please enjoy some tips for beefing up your PR strategy:

7 Secrets to Irresistible Media Coverage

You’ll need a password, but I’m willing to share it with you because you’ve shown interest in a better, more affordable and guaranteed public relations plan.

The password is: freepr

Remember what I said before? Give me 15 minutes, and I’ll not only show you how to get guaranteed PR coverage but how to get it for free.

I’ll be in touch.

Russell Page
Director of Public Relations
Decade Media.

1 - Bring a hat that represents both teams. Players like to give balls to hometown fans.
2 - Learn how to ask for a ball in 27 languages.
3 - Go to batting practice.
4 - Watch the video.

It sounds like Phil Burns and team are really moving along with their TagJungle project.

“Today was an exciting day! On Oct 15th, we applied to participate in Launch: Silicon Valley knowing it was a HUGE long shot. They are only selecting 30 companies from all submissions in Information Technology, Life Sciences and Consumer Technology. Ryan Hansen, Jeff Jordan (VP of Funding Universe, one of our partners) and I worked our tails off for a few days polishing our Executive Summary to submit to them.”

Congrats to Phil and the Tag Team. “Tag Team music comin’ straight atcha . . . whoomp there it is”

“President Bush said he is ‘astounded’ by the size of some executive pay packages and urged companies to tie salaries to performance, while stopping short of advocating government action.
“These compensation packages can get out of hand,” he said in an interview on CNBC. While incentives for performance are necessary, he said, companies should “make sure the incentive pay is rational.” via DesNews

Incentives for performance? Absolutely. Make sure it is rational? Sure. But define rational in relation to pay. Is it $1 million per year or $2 million per year? Maybe it’s $50,000 per year. The point is rational pay is a socialistic ideal because it suggests that one person is smarter than you or me and should decide what is rational pay. What is rational? Rational is letting the free market decide what executives should be paid and not some dude in the White House no matter who it is.

The ironic part of the story is that he also said “One way you become less competitive is through overregulation,” Bush said.

I have been thinking about something lately, and I hope for some participation.

If you had $10,000 what would you do with it?
If you had $100,000 what would you do with it?
If you had $1,000,000 what would you do with it?

Somebody asked me some questions similar to this the other day, and I’m curious to see what others will write. Please put answers for all three. It’s actually a very interesting exercise. Did any of the numbers make you uncomfortable?

photo credit: whatknot