Tag Archives: advertising

Rope-A-Dope Marketing Won’t Work

I’m sure there are more than a few of you out there who remember the “Rumble In The Jungle” in which Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman.  It was one of the great matches and there’s a fantastic documentary about it you should watch if you want to see The Greatest in his last great bout (and at the peak of his promotional abilities!).

It was in this fight that Ali introduced the Rope-a-Dope –  strategy in which you hang on the ropes and let the opponent punch himself out so you can fight back to decreased resistance.  Of course, there’s a good chance you’ll make a defensive mistake and get knocked out yourself before that happens, so it’s highly risky.  Naturally, this was the first thing that came to mind the other day when I saw the results of a new marketing research study. Continue reading

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Filed under digital media, Helpful Hints

Shooting The Messenger

One of the things I discuss fairly often with clients is measurement.  We chat about things such as “What do we measure”, “why do we measure it”, and “what constitutes success.”  As you might imagine, with every marketing dollar being scrutinized (rightfully so), figuring out ROI is job one for folks like me who are gone with the wind if the results aren’t there.

Well, sometimes the results aren’t there, despite the best efforts of everyone involved.  I’ve always felt that marketing, and digital marketing in particular, is a process of continuous improvement rather than a series of one-time events.  However, that view isn’t always shared, especially in light of “fix it NOW” thinking on some senior management‘s part.  That’s short-sighted and misdirected in my book.  Let me explain. Continue reading

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Filed under Consulting, Helpful Hints

There’s No Free Lunch

Free Content Logo

Image via Wikipedia

One of the big discussions in which I find myself engaged with clients and others concerns monetization. More specifically, how the heck can any of us pay for all the cool content and technology we offer to our consumers. If you’re web-savvy enough to be reading this blog you’ve probably encountered this argument in one form or another even if indirectly. You know what I mean: free, ad-supported content vs. subscription content vs. “free-mium”, which seems more to be about services than content but is still a valid model for that space too.  So where do you stand? Continue reading

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Filed under digital media, Reality checks