Tag Archives: Advertising and Marketing

September 2, 2020 · 3:03 pm

Don’t Believe Me

You can’t help but be aware that not everything you read on the internet or via social media is true. Shocking, I know. We are living in a time when there are people and organizations actively putting our false information. The cynics among you will say that marketers have been doing that for years and there is some truth in that. But this is different.

I think when we read product ads or other materials labeled as advertising or advertorial or paid sponsorship, a little “be wary” alarm goes off. I recognize, having been fooled myself on more than one occasion, that not all of those paid for materials are immediately obvious as ads, but most are. If you look closely enough, even the social media usual suspects make it fairly clear when content is actually advertising. Not so propaganda.

You might be familiar with the studies showing that a huge percentage of people don’t actually read the things they like or repost. There are problems with that, the biggest of which is that you’ve added social proof to something that might actually be a complete lie. I had a friend the other day who posted a story that had a headline that was different from what the article actually said (thanks, editor who wrote the headline). I asked her in a comment if she had actually read the article, which was taken down shortly thereafter since it didn’t exactly match her world view.

It’s going to get worse over the next 60 days as we get to an election. Just as in 2016, there are disinformation campaigns being waged. I don’t mean the obvious ones you see on TV which are paid for by special interest groups. The stories have been coming for months and today’s headline that “Russians Again Targeting Americans With Disinformation, Facebook and Twitter Say” is not going to stop anyone because these bad actors got caught.

What can you do? Check everything you read against multiple sources. Be skeptical. Don’t believe me or anyone else until you find proof of what you’re reading with your own eyes. Don’t even believe your eyes when it’s video since it’s way to easy to fake videos these days. Go to legitimate fact-checkers – Snopes, PolitiFact, and others.

I’m not being political here (we don’t do that in this space). I’m begging you to make up your own mind based on as much accurate information as you can find. Don’t repost stuff you haven’t read and checked out. Don’t believe what others post until you do. Not even from me, OK?

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Filed under Helpful Hints, Huh?, Reality checks

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June 24, 2020 · 2:41 pm

A Little More Privacy

Sometimes I feel that I use this space to relay only bad news. I rage about lousy customer service and vent about idiocy in marketing. Well, not today. Nope. I have some good news, at least from a consumer perspective. Frankly, from a marketer and application developer perspective, it sucks, but that’s life, I guess.

Apple released the details about the latest version of iOS yesterday. I’m not an Apple fanboy and I don’t own an iPhone. However, I think this announcement is a big step forward in many ways. You see, this new version of iOS will offer new privacy features, including one that could make it harder for ad-tech companies to track users.

When an app that’s installed on the phone wants to track them for ad purposes, the phone will let the user know and will ask people to either allow or prohibit tracking by that app. If you choose not to have an app track you, the system won’t let the app grab the identifier for advertising (IDFA) — an alphanumeric string that allows developers to track mobile users across different apps. My Android phone has something similar but it’s really a binary yes/no choice for all apps and not set at the app level. What Apple is doing is a step forward in improving our privacy.

Needless to say, the Network Advertising Initiative criticized Apple’s move. They say that it will make life harder for app developers since it will be harder to make money via ads. They say this could lead to developers having to charge for apps or for in-app content. I realize I might not be typical, but I do pay for apps that I find useful, especially if that removes the advertising. A few bucks a year for something I regularly use is, in my way of thinking, a fair exchange of value. Tracking me without my permission and selling the data is not.

Apple did something similar to this in their Safari browser a year ago. You would expect Apple to lead the change on privacy with respect to ads because unlike Google or Microsoft, their business isn’t based in the advertising world.  Their hardware isn’t a secondary line as it is with others. Is this going to have others doing the same? Maybe not, but since third-party cookies have disappeared and now tracking is more difficult on a significant portion of the installed mobile base, other changes in how privacy in the ad business works are sure to follow. Stay tuned!

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Filed under digital media, What's Going On

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May 29, 2020 · 3:29 pm

That Tonnato Sauce

This Foodie Friday, I want to write about one of my favorite summer dishes, vitello tonnato. When I first had it at some fancy lunch many years ago, I thought it was something thought up by a clever chef. As it turns out, it isn’t a new dish at all. One can find it in the 130-year-old Italian cookbook Science In The Kitchen and the Art Of Eating by Pellegrino Artusi (it’s on page 271 of my edition).

The dish is veal, generally a shoulder or rump portion, that’s been boiled and thinly sliced. It’s topped by a sauce that’s basically a tuna and caper-infused mayonnaise. Trust me – it tastes a lot better than it sounds. The veal is really just a canvas for the sauce in my book.

I was pleasantly surprised when one of my friends emailed my a recipe for a vegetable plate of crudites that was served with a sauce that wasn’t called tonnato sauce but absolutely was the same as what one would put on the veal down to the capers and anchovies in the sauce. The chef described it as a “garlicky aioli bolstered with oil-packed tuna.” Uh, yes, please.

It got me thinking about special sauces since the tonnato sauce is clearly special to me. Every business needs a special sauce if it’s not going to be a commodity. If you’ve not done a competitive set analysis, that’s a great place to start to see how you’re different. Then ask yourself why you exist. What’s the problem you’re solving and why is your solution unique/better? Check your assumptions against what your customers and employees think. 

Is your sauce really yours? Can it be duplicated or is it unique and defensible? Back in the day, we used to call something that you marketed around a USP – Unique Selling Proposition but I think your secret sauce is more than that. It gets to the heart of what your business is, including the culture. It’s what makes you you!

You can put tonnato on sliced pork tenderloin, vegetables, and of course veal. I suspect it’s great on grilled foods – veggies and proteins. As I’m thinking about it, it’s not far from a Caesar Salad dressing but with tuna. You see? Once you have a secret sauce, you can’t really tell how far it will take you!

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Filed under Consulting, food

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