Tak Tik Boom

Marketing's Oldest Old Wives' Tale

There a few themes that keep popping up in this blog. They are:

1. Misconceptions about "branding" and how brands are built
2. The folly of listening to "marketing experts"
3. The over-promise of online advertising
4. The over-promise of social media
5. The "death of advertising," "death of TV," and "death of marketing" nonsense
6. The chronic, silly belief in "the thing that will change

TIPE Zürich

Congratulations to Jill and Libby of Nuance Words for their success in The Independent Publishing Event in Zürich last weekend.
Read all about it in this Takeway kindly provided by Nuance Words.

Apple, Jobs, and Creativity

A week after Steve Jobs stepped down as CEO of Apple, but before his sad death, I wrote the following about the media reaction to his leaving...

"The
consensus seemed to be that Jobs built a strong culture, hired smart
people, and taught a way of thinking that will serve Apple well in the
future. The story line went like this-- while Jobs will be missed, he is
no longer essential to the

Marketing The Marketing: The Social Media Backfire

The Super Bowl is a made-for-tv event.

Last year, over 110 million people watched it on television. The only reason it is such a big deal in other media is that it is so big on television.

In their infinite greed, marketers are trying to wring every last penny out of their almost-$4-million investment in a Super Bowl spot.

To do so, they have employed a questionable tactic -- marketing the

Pimping For Dollars

Once a quarter I have to face my responsibility as an ad hack and try to sell you something. It's the law.

It has come to my attention that there are people out there who read
this blog on a regular basis and have not contributed a damn thing to the Old-And-In-The-Way Copywriters Benevolent Society.

So today we're having a pledge drive. Your job is to buy my book 101 Contrarian Ideas About

Thank you to Ananda of Books To Remember for a wonderful review of Spirit of Lost Angels.

The Stupidity Epidemic

Earlier this week I wrote about teaser ads and why I hate them. As an example, I used a new Mercedes-Benz teaser campaign.

But there's a lot more wrong with Mercedes' strategy than just tossing money away on teasers. According to an article appearing this week in Marketing Daily, their new campaign...

"...is clearly intended for a younger, if daring driver -- one who wants entrance to the