First of all: What are testimonials and what is the aim of using them? The article ‘Using Testimonials to Boost Your Marketing Credibility’ gives us the answer on this question.

“Testimonials are quotes from satisfied customers that you share with the public. They can change opinions and garner trust from people that don’t know you. Testimonials add credibility to your business and product, and they can be included in all of your marketing materials, from newsletter printing pieces to flyers to business brochures.”

Testimonial blindness

But does this really work? Or is there something like ‘testimonial blindness’, described by Hunter Boyle in his article ‘Using testimonials effectively’. Are consumers to often faced with testimonials so that they are becoming indifferent to them?

Hunter Boyle himself gives an answer how to differentiate from the mass of other testimonials: yours should be specific, relevant and include strong arguments.

Avoid taking consumers for fools

This author also points out that consumers are more and more claiming transparency in marketing and are fed up with exaggerated an unsubstantiated pronouncements.

But this does not necessarily mean that companies should not use testimonials at all. In my opinion, in her article ‘Why Testimonials Do (and Don’t) Work’, Holly Buchanan demonstrates a way to respect consumer’s needs by using testimonials. Finally, the most important message of the article is that companies have to avoid taking consumers for fools. Companies damage themselves when people realize that the testimonials aren’t real.

Let’s start with the question: “What is Direct Marketing?” I found the following definition in the Business Dictionary : “Contacting and influencing carefully chose prospects with means such as telemarketing and direct mail advertising.”

How to do Direct Marketing
But what I really wanted to know was how to do it and in which fields to use it. After some research I finally found a great article of Chris Walter called ‘Secrets Of Why Direct Mail Works’.

This article outlines some important details which can make one direct mail work better than another. He names astonishing aspects you normally wouldn’t have thought of. Or did you know that in your mails you should prefer a blue signature to a black one? Or card-shaped envelopes to envelops with windows? If you didn’t know read this article and you will probably learn some other things you didn’t know until now.

Direct Marketing for supermarkets
As I also wanted to know in which fields of business this kind of marketing can be used I researched the article ‘Supermarkets discover direct marketing … works!’ from Raphel Murray. I want to recommend this article because I didn’t know that Direct Mail is an adequate mean of marketing for a supermarket. And I am convinced that many other people will also be surprised to learn that several supermarkets are already successfully using this marketing tool.

The article describes a couple of concrete cases in which Direct Mailing has worked very well. By doing so the author seems to prove that direct mail is an interesting marketing tool which also supermarkets should consider.

I looked for an answer on the internet and I found an analysis of the Apple I Phone marketing campaign written by Tom Krazit named ‘Appel iPhone marketing: a work of genius?’.

How to sell it
What I like about this article is the fact that the author treats this subject objectively. But he lines out the cleverness of Apple’s proceeding. The company reached an incredible awareness of the product launch without having an enormous marketing budget.

But how was this possible? The article is able to answer this question in a smart and profound way. Mr. Krazit supports his analysis by interesting citations of several experts in this field. At the end, the explanation is very astonishingly easy:

“When people like want what you’re selling, it’s easier to sell it to them.”

But in order to understand why this is what it’s all about you will have to read the article…

Do you remind the TV commercial “hello” with stars like Marilyn Monroe? Watch it and enjoy the simplicity of the spot.

The Importance of Loyalty Marketing

This article is just great because it lines out the importance of Loyalty Marketing within the whole field of marketing. It gives impressive basic information on marketing as well as profound explanations on the functioning of Loyalty Marketing. I just want to announce some of the interesting ideas on marketing you can learn from Mr. Tehrani:

- “Great marketing makes great products look even better. [...] Great marketing can’t save bad products.”
-  “68 percent of customers who stop doing business with you change vendors because of indifference or hostility expressed by an employee of your company.”
- “75 percent of the purchasing decision is based on emotion.”

Aren’t these interesting facts? If you want to know more of that just read this article.

What Loyalty Marketing consists in

Furthermore, he writes very smart things about the beginnings of Loyalty Marketing. In addition to this, he describes in a convincing manner why we need this kind of marketing. Finally, I want to recommend you to read his comprehensive explanations on what Loyalty Marketing consists in. What makes his explanation even clearer is the fact that the author uses plenty of practical examples in order to illustrate his information.

After having read this article you will probably share Mr. Tehranis’s opinion that having a great product and a deep understanding of the consumer are the most important factors of a successful Loyalty Marketing strategy and that “loyalty marketing will separate the winners from the losers in today’s marketplace”.

You all know which shoes I’m gonna talking about, don’t you? Probably you do.

What we would have expected

I wanted to know how these shoes could have become such a success? This must have been a great marketing strategy, one could suppose. In order to find out in what it consists I researched it on the internet. And I found a surprising article titled ‘Air Jordan: The Best Sports Marketing Campaign Ever’ by Ben Weixlmann. This title seems to promise the discription of a clever, expensive and very well organized marketing strategy.

How it really was

But in fact, this is exactly what you don’t learn from this article. Nevertheless, it is worth reading it because what you WILL learn is:
- In marketing you can’t plan everything.
- Sometimes, bad publicity can turn out to be good publicity.
- In sports marketing a good feeling for future stars will certainly pay off.

At the example of the ‘Air Jordan’ basketball shoes Ben Weixlmann explains you why. It’s just a pleasure to find out that probably only a couple of unforeseen coincidences lead to the great success of this basketball shoes.

And if you’re interested in how the story was continued up to the year 2008, click here. This is the presentation of the new brand Campaign ‘Become Legend’ in celebration of Air Jordan Legacy.

What is Product Placement?
At the top of this post you can see the placement of an Omega watch in a James Bond film. This kind of advertising is probably familiar to you. The Business Dictionary defines the Product Placement as “an advertising technique used by companies to subtly promote their products through a non-traditional advertising technique, usually through appearances in film, television, or other media”.

Product Placement in lyrics
Talking about Product Placement people often think of product shown in films. But we tend to forget that this kind of advertisement can also exist in music. Not only in the videos but also directly in the lyrics.

This is why I like the article from Eliot Van Buskirk. It treats this kind of Product Placement and it points out how lucrative this advertising technique must be for the music business.

Pussycat Dolls for Double Happiness Jeans
This article is different from the rest of the articles I read on this subject. It is based on a concrete example: an offer to include a brand in a lyric. This offer was meant to be kept secret but it has fallen into the wrong hands. It is a pleasure to get some information on how things proceed in the background. You learn things which you normally ought not know and you get a critical view on the technique of Product Placement.

Product Placement criticism

Although for many companies Product Placement provides a lot of benefits there is strong criticism towards this kind of marketing. For example, you can think of ethical-charged products like alcohol or cigarettes. Does Product Placement take advantage of unsuspecting viewers because it affects people below their level of conscious awareness? Is Product Placement ethically condemnable because it blurs the line between commercial messages and entertainment? Read the great article ‘Product Placement in movies – and handling criticism towards it’ by William Jakoby and Jimmy Huuva and decide yourselves.

Examples for Product Placement
I also have researched some examples illustrating this marketing tool. The first example is fitting to the subject of my post because it shows examples for Product Placement in music videos. The second link shows you the Product Placement in the Spider Man movie. And finally you can watch the first Product Placement.

• Product Placement in music videos
• Product Placement in Spider Man
• First Product Placement

What is Guerilla Marketing?
According to Tom Richard in his article ‘Guerilla Marketing: 4 Ways To Generate More Traffic Next Week’ , Guerilla Marketing is an “unconventional marketing designed for low budgets and maximum impact”. The spectrum of different ideas in this field is nearly unlimited. If you want to have a more detailed definition of this marketing tool just click on http://tinyurl.com/7wtqcm.

What seemed really interesting to me concerning Tom Richard’s article is the fact that he describes in detail some important and widespread techniques in the domain of Guerrilla Marketing. This helps to get a concrete idea of this tool.

Thank-You Take-A-Way Packets
The first technique he describes is the ‘Thank-You Take-A-Way Packet’. This means offering a service to your customers and thanking them for being your customers at the same time. The definition includes some ideas for this packets and how you can adapt them to your own business.

Website Co-Branding
Tom Richards commends the ‘Website Co-Branding’ in case you have a strong guerilla partner network. Therefore, two partners link their websites in order to offer the consumers an additional value. By reading the article you will find a suitable example for this form of Guerrilla Marketing.

Lunch and Learns
The ‘Lunch and Learns’ technique is based on the idea of offering profound and relevant information to people without expecting anything in return for it. Because it is exactly in this situation when people will give something in return. If this idea has awoken your interest read this article and you will understand how it works.

Be A Guest Columnist In A Newsletter
Being a guest columnist in a newsletter can also represent a form of Guerrilla Marketing. By doing so you will communicate your name to the public which may incite potential customers to get in contact with you.

Examples for Guerilla Marketing
It is really incredible how many different ideas people had in order to market their products. In the following I have reassembled some links to websites and an video showing creative ides in the filed of guerrilla marketing. Perhaps this inspires you for your future marketing activities…

• Some examples for Guerilla Marketing
• More example for Guerilla Marketing
• Video: Deadline
  

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What is viral marketing?

As I want to work in marketing after having received my diploma I want to collect some information about different marketing tools. For the beginning I did some research on viral marketing. By doing so, I finally found this website http://tinyurl.com/5wojzt, including a post from Matt Peters.

Word-of-mouth marketing

Viral marketing is a kind of word-of-mouth marketing, whose effect is multiplied by the fact that it is diffused via the internet. The effect is illustrated by the image above. What it makes so effective is that it often doesn’t become evident at first sight that the received document is an advertisement. In addition to this, people are often more open towards advice and recommendations of friends than towards conventional ads.

“Super-participants make viral marketing work”

What I learned from Matt Peter’s blog is the concept of a person he calls super-participant. This is the person illustrated in the middle of the diagram above. He outlines the high importance of this person for the success of this kind of marketing campaign. If you also want to learn something about the role of super-participants in marketing, check out this website. It is really interesting. Another thing I liked about this post is that the author includes some diagrams clarifying his theoretic description of the viral marketing conception.

Examples for viral marketing

If you want to watch a well-known, typical and funny example of viral marketing, just click on the following link: Viral Marketing at Death Star Germany.

But unfortunately, viral marketing can also have a negative impact on the brand if the spot is not admired by the public. Watch this: Funny advertising – Fort SportKa and form your own view on it…

Another interesting movement in the field of arts and design is the Bauhaus. The concept of combining fine arts and design is amazing and continues influencing contemporary artists and designers. Several studies on materials, color theory, and formal relationships are still used and taught today. When the Bauhaus school has been founded the idea of combining all arts was revolutionary.

Alexandra Griffith Winton has written an interesting article on this subject on http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bauh/hd_bauh.htm.

She describes very well the basic conception of the school, the most important aspects of its history and the progress of education. In order to illustrate the combination of architecture, sculpture, and painting at that school she gives examples of the different branches and the corresponding artists.

Having read this article, the reader possesses of all important basic information on the Bauhaus. For readers who are then interested in further information she offers links to other articles giving detailed information on related subjects. In addition to this, she has already integrated photos of well known workings of different Bauhaus artists.

Last week I talked about dancing. Today, I want to talk about another interest of mine: Painting. In doing so, I want to concentrate on the impressionist Claude Monet. This has two reasons:

First, he is an important personage in the art history. It is one of his paintings, called ‘Impression: Sunrise’, which gave the name to a whole group of painters, the impressionists.

Second, he is one of my favorite painters. It is just impressing how he creates paintings full of atmosphere just by adding one dot to another. The following citation of him represents exactly what I feel by watching his paintings:

“For me, a landscape does not exist in its own right, since its appearance changes at every moment; but the surrounding atmosphere brings it to life – the light and the air which vary continually.”

By doing some research on Claude Monet on the internet I found an interesting website on him (http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/france/giverny.htm). Rick Stevens describes the relation between Monet’s garden in Giverny and his paintings. This is of a particular interest for me as I already have visited this garden myself as you can see on the photo on the top.

But it is also a very interesting article for everybody else because Mr. Stevens describes in a short and clear manner the impact and the singularity of Monet’s paintings in his days. Of course he also describes the garden itself, its importance for Monet as well as its influence on Monet’s oeuvre. What makes the site particularly interesting is the fact, that Rick Stevens opposes one photo of the garden to a painting of Claude Monet.