In a global and Internet-based economy, they [brands] build trust and reinforce value.

- Strategy: A View from the Top

Are brands dead? Have we killed traditional marketing? Are newspapers dead? Will television ads die?

In a simple answer: No. I wish I could say that this topic has been beaten to death (it has, really) but people keep bringing it up. With the influx of buzz around new media (read: social media and online marketing) there is always talk of how it’s ending everything. It’s not.

Instead, new media is bringing us back to our roots, marketing roots that is. We are leaving a world where we pushed out messages to consumers trying to catch the ones that were interested in our products, and maybe converting a few more. Consumers had little say in what messages they received. New media is giving that power back to the consumer.

The new marketing world is one in which consumers have a say, and marketers get to talk to those that want to hear from them. Word of mouth is more powerful than ever before. As marketers, we get to participate and help our brand advocates in their mission. This new world is one in which the best products win. You have to stand out to win. To get people talking about you, the “box” cannot exist.

So brands are not dead, in fact in this “new world,” they are more powerful than ever. Build your brand, talk to your customers, foster relationships – it’s these things that build trust. Your brand is what carries trust from one customer to another potential customer. Take the right amount of time to build that up.

Brands=Trust is a post from: Kate Morris

There has been a lot of buzz about the new search engine Cuil, including my own review, and many others. But now we have reached terminal velocity, people are tired of hearing about it. There was so much buzz before and so many scathing reviews after that the saturation point has been reached.

So why do we keep talking about it? It’s a clear example of what not to do. If I do get to teaching at the university level someday, I am sure Cuil will be an example I use over and over again. They did everything right before the release, but missed the boat on their release. Like Vista, it’s pretty, but the functionality just isn’t there. Things should have been tested over and over, then checked again by beta testers. Once that was done, and they had the sign off from a few top minds, then they should have released.

So hopefully this will be the last time I speak of the abomination until I end up teaching, or writing a thesis. As writers and educators (which all SEOs are), we love to have a “what not to do” and that’s what Cuil gave us.

Beating a Dead Horse is a post from: Kate Morris

A friend of mine recently had plastic surgery and elected to participate in a 10 year study (yeah, I talked her into it). Well she sent me a link to the company running it (Natrelle) and I signed up to get more information about their product.

Skip to a few weeks later, and I get a notice about a package waiting at my complex office. Okay, I am an impulsive buyer (can we say $10 something?), but I haven’t ordered anything! I get to the office and get a nice chocolate brown box with the words “It’s time to rejuvenate.” Interested.

Open it and this is what I see:

Okay, even further interested. I open it to find a myriad of products for relaxation:

A Journal, Loofah, Exfoliator pad, Massage bar, brush, fine tooth brush, pumice stone, and two candles. Plus a sample of one of their facial product sets and a coupon (have to get it from doctor). With all of that was a description of their other products that I might be interested in.

I’ve got to say, this was NICE. The bag even kicks booty. These are things I will use and remember them with. I am not ready for the products they offer just yet, but I will most definitely remember them when I am ready. Nice Job guys!

Natrelle Marketing is a post from: Kate Morris

At my last company, our customer support came out of Pakistan. Yep, one of those annoying companies you call and get someone that doesn’t speak English very well. Don’t get me wrong, I loved all our people in Pakistan, but the customer service was horrible.

Every once in a while, we’d have 2-3 days where there were riots, bombings (happy to live in America!), or phone lines were down. Those were the days when the product people had to answer the phone. While it was detrimental to our own workload, the customers were so happy to hear it was us! We got things taken care of the right way the first time and things got fixed.

But every company still spends less on customer service than they do on other forms of marketing. I mean there are lots of people to employ, but the cost of adding a training with the product person once a month would cost very minimal money and bring back so much in return.

It’s like walking into a retail store and lucking out by getting someone that knows the store products, the person that can really help you. Remember it only takes one bad experience to create a lifetime of bad word of mouth.

Where do you spend your marketing moolah? is a post from: Kate Morris

They [company's efforts] fail because the Web and the New Marketing work only when applied to the right organization. New Media makes a promise to the consumer. If the organization is unable to keep that promise, then it fails.

I see that a lot in organizations today. They think that all they have to do is market in the right way and the sales will come. Guess what? Web 2.0 and SMM are all about the end user taking back the power. You will soon no longer be able to have all the money in the world and a bad product, and expect to do well.

As a speaker I once heard said, we have circled back to the origins of communication. We started as people just telling stories to each other, making recommendations. Then marketing came into play and people lost that power, it was the media that told us everything. Now we are back to informing each other by stories. The power is back in the hands of consumers, and they will not buy if you don’t appease them with a good product.

To Get New Marketing, Gotta have the Right Stuff is a post from: Kate Morris

Love is being stupid together,
originally uploaded by nattu.

I found this photo through my iGoogle, and while it’s sucha beautiful picture, I also love something else about it. Get ready for the geek in me.

I love that I know she is holding a product made by Coca-Cola.

Branding is a beautiful thing.

Love is being stupid together is a post from: Kate Morris

It’s a corporate shoot off really, but it has some great content (I haven’t checked if its taken from Web MD or anything, but it doesn’t look like it). This site and its creator (if you ever read this, let me know who you are) just get it!

1. It’s a nice, easy-to-comprehend layout. There are no tricks, no content stuffing. It flows very well.

2. It is very text/content rich (aka search engine friendly). I haven’t busted out my big SEO guns. But so far Google has indexed 4,360 pages. That’s a lot of content. And it’s all good content too.

3. They only have 9 Google links, but 17,350 Yahoo (that’s more like it, but mainly due to cross linking from Seton’s other websites). Good job on that, but they can do so much better. My guess is this site was redesigned recently and just now picking up steam.

I just wish everyone “got it” like they did. Please the consumer first, worry about the engine second.

A Great Site is a post from: Kate Morris