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As part of the merger between US Airways and America West airlines announced in November last year (2005), they had an intriguing new decision to make about the beverage brands that they served on their flights. America West had Pepsi and Budweiser, US Airways had Coke and Miller. Over the past decade, both brands in … Read more
One of the biggest hurdles that online publishers have faced in trying to make money from content has been the lack of a single standard for micropayments. While services like Paypal have made strides in popularizing a form of digital cash, micropayments of less than 1 cent still remain impossible online. As a result, sites … Read more
I remember about five or six years ago going through Coke’s brand guidelines for agencies in preparation for a project we were about to design for them. It was a nearly 50 page document with details about everything from pantone colors, to reverse out instructions to where to place the trademark symbol in relation to … Read more
With all of the attention devoted to the many new ways that consumers are finding to avoid advertising, from Tivos to popup blockers, one interesting result of the explosive growth of personal media is the phenomenon of the consumer as advertiser. One popular example is when Joe Jaffe created a Nike spot with the hanging … Read more
About a month ago, I read about VW releasing a new microsite as part of their marketing for the new Passat where they would include 120 short videos produced by 5 different production companies to highlight the 120 "not-so-standard" new features on the car. Over the last few months, there have been lots of other … Read more
In a lively discussion of all the judges as part of the Caples Awards that I was in New York last week to help judge – one of the topics of conversation turned to the composition of today’s multidiscipline agency teams. With the trends towards integrated marketing and agency consolidation in the industry, what many … Read more
Imagine if online media outlets only ran advertising that they agreed with? Of course, this level of censorship would never be tolerated (or legal), however blogs hold a special distinction when it comes to running advertising. As a blog owner, you have complete control over what ads you display. Unfortunately, the most prevalent form of … Read more
We have been living in an interruption culture. Many authors, including Seth Godin, have rightly pointed out the pitfalls of interruption marketing in this environment. Grabbing the consumers attention with interruption and hoping for engagement is a dying model. Consumer respond to messages that are relevant, and are presented at a relevant time. Timing is … Read more
A recent print ad from Sun about the Fire X4100 server is modeled on a Playboy centerfold spread and features images of the server and quotes on the data sheet such as "I’m petite and powerful with plenty of room for cables." The ad drives users online to www.sun.com/sweetdreams as a landing page to learn … Read more
Yesterday I came across this box banner ad for the Room Store on the Washington Post homepage. As a consumer, I went to the Room Store 2 weeks ago, and fell in love with a two piece brown leather sofa set. Since the list price is more than $2000, I figured I would wait for … Read more
Non-Obvious Thinking is my latest book about the 4 secrets of becoming a non-obvious thinker - released 10/01/2024.
Rohit Bhargava is a trend curator, founder of the Non-Obvious Company and the 3-time Wall Street Journal bestselling author of ten books.
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In addition to Non-Obvious Thinking, Rohit is the author of 10 books on trends, the future of business, building a more human brand with storytelling and how to create a more diverse and inclusive world.
