27 2006 March
Wirefly.com Masters the Art of Rebate Phishing
Rebate Phishing: The practice of luring customers online to make a purchase with the promise of receiving a nonexistent rebate check in return. Recently unleashed...
Read Now06 2006 March
GMC's New Viral Campaign Fails to Deliver
In times square this weekend, I spotted a long billboard with mathematical equations and schematic drawings along with the cryptic URL – www.beyondthedrawingboard.com. Unfortunately, a...
Read Now27 2006 February
Nike Survives Ill-fated JoinBode.com Effort
Using celebrity spokespeople can be a tricky thing – especially when it comes to athletes and sports sponsorships. Nike and Visa both learned this with...
Read Now06 2006 February
The Super Bowl Best and Worst Ads
Every year there are lists of the best and worst ads from the Super Bowl – and usually I look at them with frustration because...
Read Now03 2006 January
The New US Airways Missed WOM Opportunity
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...
Read Now11 2005 November
Sun Tries to Make Servers Sexy
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...
Read Now13 2005 October
Email Marketing Needs to Get Back to Basics
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...
Read Now28 2005 September
Fear Marketing
In the mail yesterday I came across a direct mail piece for www.basements.com with the warning "more hurricanes predicted" – aiming to convince me to...
Read Now19 2005 September
Chrysler's Firehouse: Corporate Blog Gone Wrong
Perhaps aiming to avoid the mistakes of Dell in ignoring Jeff Jarvis’ blog comments and experience, Chrysler PR chief Jason Vines has taken a wide...
Read Now18 2005 August
Lessons from Dumb Spokesperson Campaigns
In the PR world, I have witnessed no better way to throw hundreds of thousands of dollars down the drain than to pay some expensive...
Read Now08 2005 July
One DM Firm that should Stay Offline
I recently got an email from a service called "Where Christians Meet" promising to help me find my soulmate. Intrigued at how I made it...
Read Now