The Big Fat Marketing Blog

Thanks to Topps Chewing Gum, I became aware of the power of successful branding long before I made a career out of it. But instead of analyzing the “art” of advertising, I studied the science of lampooning advertising, which was way more fun, and instructional, too. more

Baked into the DNA of all promotions is the need to grab consumers and make them do something. The good promotions deliver a reward for that “do something.” But, as anyone who watches late night TV can attest, a lot of promotions exist just to empty somebody’s wallet. more

But again, Compendium Blogware founder Chris Baggott hitting the cutting room floor is again a good thing. Why? Because he’s got a story to tell you about Twitter.

And the timing of this is great. While social media gurus are screaming about the value of tweeting, Baggott puts it in perspective. It’s a growing piece of the social media puzzle, but it’s not quite the Holy Grail.

Twitter may not drive leads (qualified or random), but can be a pretty darn customer service tool. Here’s a story Baggott shared with MULTICHANNEL MERCHANT: more

Let my loss be your gain, readers!

Once in a while we close an issue of MULTICHANNEL MERCHANT, some content hits the cutting room floor. Really, it happens, it’s just just what some guy at a bar told you about being in a deleted scene in Star Trek (that’s just a pick-up line!).

One piece that hit the floor came from Steve Spangler of Steve Spangler Science. And it came from an ACCM session about social media. And if there was ever a reason why merchants should blog, it’s this figure right here: more

Apparently the “c” in OTC stands for “Cheerios.” A recent article said that on May 5, the Food and Drug Administration gave General Mills Inc. a warning letter saying that the heart benefit claims on its Cheerios are “serious violations” of federal law.

The Cheerios website says that its “soluble fiber heart health claim has been FDA-approved for 12 years” and that the “lower your cholesterol” message has been on the box for over two years. The site adds that “the science is not in question.” What is in question is how Cheerios presents this information on the package and website. The company says it’s in dialog with the FDA. This situation is one that all marketers should follow because the article says that the FDA is showing signs of taking a more “aggressive stance” toward the companies it regulates.

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It used to be that “free” was a dirty word in e-mail promotions, because it would get your message flagged as spam by ISP filters. Turns out that actually giving something away for free—or even for an extremely reduced price—is getting to be a very tricky proposition in the real world, too.

And when it’s food, the problems multiply exponentially.

Case in point: KFC’s Oprah-gate experience last week. more