Category Archives: Helpful Hints

What Are You Waiting For?

I’ve posted before about how tough times such as these provide terrific opportunity for those companies that have been managed well. Here is a good example:

Echoing comments by Procter & Gamble‘s top executive, the CEO of chocolate maker Hershey Co. said lower ad pricing offers an opportunity to get more for less–and his company intends to take advantage of it. The company also plans to boost spending by as much as 25% to further capitalize.

Online and other CPM‘s are down.  Why is an entirely different discussion, which I think my friend Ari handled well but the fact is that one can now get more media value for the same dollars.  Frankly, I’m thinking attention levels to any commercial that doesn’t feature the Sham-Wow or Snuggie or Billy Mays are way up too, providing an added benefit to spending now.  If your competition is sitting on the sidelines, your share of voice goes up as well.
Hunkering down to weather the economic storm is one thing – hiding in a bunker and becoming invisible is another.  People are still working and spending money and even getting new jobs.

Advertising now can be like getting on the freeway at 6AM. It’s not as crowded and you’re able to get where you want to go much more rapidly. Just be careful and make sure you don’t take any wrong turns.

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

1 Comment

Filed under digital media, Helpful Hints

The Great One

Ice hockey player Wayne Gretzky, Chicago, Illinois
Image via Wikipedia

I spoke today with someone who has a great love for and knowledge of hockey.   While I share his love I’m afraid I’m way behind in the knowledge department despite my having been immersed in the game for many years.  We were chatting about the uncertain times in which we live and how much time I spend working with companies trying to sort through where they are and how they’ll succeed despite the current circumstances.  His response was to recall one of hockey’s most famous quotes.
Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under Helpful Hints, Thinking Aloud

Top Chef

Last night was the finale of Top Chef. If you’re watching the show but didn’t catch last night’s program, quit reading because the rest of this post is about the business lessons we can learn from the winners and losers and you might not know who they are yet. But for those of you who do know (or don’t care), there are a few important takeaways from how the judging went down. The three finalists – Carla, Hosea, and Stefan – were dramatically different personalities and it was those personalities as much as their cooking skills that determined the outcome. Continue reading

Leave a comment

Filed under food, Helpful Hints, What's Going On