Brand Experience

January 29th, 2010 / 5:00 am

How your FAQ page can further your conversation.

What is your FAQ page saying about you?

When I see FAQ pages, I read them - or at least scan them. Not only can they be the easiest way to find information, they can also be an interesting look into what web site owners believe about their site and what they offer, and what they think their visitors care about. The standard approach is the easy one - factual answers written in a plain vanilla style. But that wastes an opportunity to engage with readers as human beings rather than as robots.

The standard Q&A format is perfect for having a [More...]

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November 3rd, 2009 / 5:25 pm

Malt-O-Meal sets a high bar for social media and social responsibility

It’s pretty clear that social media is becoming an accepted method for raising money and support for cause-related organizations. Sara Lee is doing it today with their National Sandwich Day promotion that uses Facebook and Twitter to raise money for Share Our Strength.

Target did it for their Do Something 101 promotion that used Facebook to support an effort by dosomething.org to collect donations of school supplies.

Then yesterday [More...]

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October 9th, 2009 / 6:00 am

Going negative can be positive but results may vary

Back in the early 70s I was fascinated by the book Subliminal Seduction which made a big splash by purporting to expose the nefarious techniques that the advertising industry was using to get us to buy, buy, buy. Everything from airbrushing (how quaint) silhouettes of naked women onto ice cubes (maybe that’s where my teenage fascination came from) to imprinting the word “S-E-X-” in Ritz Crackers. Of course these claims have been roundly denied and James Vicary’s infamous “Drink Coca-Cola” movie theater study has been soundly debunked.

Now comes a study from [More...]

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October 6th, 2009 / 6:06 pm

Encourage Abuse, or Solve a Problem

There’s learning in disgusting chewing gum stuck to the sidewalk, really!

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October 2nd, 2009 / 2:19 pm

The Changing Language of Breast Cancer

Over the past four or five years some new players have been showing up in the breast cancer awareness universe. Where Susan G. Komen for the Cure had been the single, strongest voice for so long, now Save the Ta-Tas and Feel Your Boobies stickers and t-shirts are showing up more and more frequently. These newer organizations are using the ubiquitous pink ribbon but they are pairing it with calls to action that are distinctly different from the more traditional breast cancer awareness messages that we are used [More...]

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September 8th, 2009 / 12:08 pm

I scream, you scream, we all scream for FREE ice cream

Anyone who knows me, knows I am all about the sweets.  So imagine my surprise when I pass an ice cream truck painted up with my bank’s logo all over it. Weird. But it gets better. This ice cream truck also advertises FREE ice cream. The only thing I like better than sweets are FREE sweets. In this economy - free ice cream?  Really? Amazing.

I beg my husband to turn the car around and follow that ice cream truck. I must investigate further. But, we’re already running late, so I don’t get to find out just why my bank is [More...]

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