I have never written a blog before because where I live I am very busy making toys year round. This has been a difficult year for me and all my elves. We have watched the world experience much sadness and destruction, from Hurricane Sandy and senseless shootings of innocent children. It is my chance to spread happiness to lighten heavy hearts.
The right tagline or commercial jingle stays with consumers long after they hear it on the radio or see it on television. The most enduring slogans become a part of pop culture and are remembered for years.
Can you match the companies to the following jingles?
While I personally do not remember many slogans or jingles, the ones I do remember, with total clarity are related to insurance advertising and branding. Continue reading
As a young girl, I had visited New York City many times with my grandparents, and was in too much awe of the sights to notice anything but the hustle and bustle of the city. When I first moved to the city on my own and actually saw the number of homeless, I was shocked. Whenever the weather would turn bitter cold, I thought of these nameless, faceless souls and their struggle to keep warm. Many years after I first moved to the city, I noticed a man in a wheelchair who was on the same corner every day. I would see him each morning on my way to work, and eventually we began to exchange hellos. Over time, I would buy him a cup of coffee or cigarettes. He would share with me stories about his troubled youth. He was in a wheelchair because as a teen, he broke both of his legs while running away from the police. Even though he had done his time, he was still paying for his troubled youth as an adult. When I moved out of that neighborhood, I lost contact with the man on the corner. Continue reading
Each year, it seems as if the holiday shopping season starts earlier and earlier. While I do not want to rush into the holidays, I must admit I am ready to start taking advantage of all the great sales. As I finish off my slice of pumpkin pie, I am getting myself mentally ready to shop with the masses. I have not yet finalized my holiday gift giving list, but I know that I will find the perfect gift as I wander in and out of the stores on Fifth Avenue and other smaller boutiques. I know I am not alone with my eager anticipation to start shopping. Some retail stores have decided kick off Black Friday on Thanksgiving night, giving the most eager shoppers a chance to start early. This year, shoppers will be able to purchase more than holiday decorations, sweaters and electronics from the big box stores. Continue reading
In the wake of the storms that have hit the New York tri-state area, my hometown, it is heartwarming to see how many people are providing relief to those in need.
I typically use this blog to talk about marketing. As a firm that specializes in marketing for financial services organizations, I am glad that many of the companies I have worked with are lending a helping hand. This week, I want to commend the corporations and businesses who have provided donations to the relief efforts.
The fall is always a busy travel season for me. I returned from my trip to Greece and Turkey exhilarated. I was looking forward to attending the DMA Annual Conference in Las Vegas the next week. At the conference, the firm unveiled a new booth and announced new products and services. In addition, I spoke on what makes the Adrea Rubin brand unique.
I have recently returned from vacation in Greece and Istanbul, Turkey. Traveling to Europe and Asia, where the local time is 8 hours ahead of New York, I had a chance to take a break from the business demands of direct marketing and lead generation. In addition to taking a break from work, I wanted to soak up one of the most vibrant cultures in the world. As much as I wanted to switch out of work mode completely, I quickly realized that business issues are the same all over the world. I know that competition for business in the United States is intense, but it is nothing compared to what I witnessed first-hand in the Grand Bazaar.
My childhood was spent in a town where Main Street was the place where my girlfriends and I would spend our weekends. We would walk up and down the streets browsing and shopping in the local stores. The shopkeepers knew us by name, as well as our parents and grandparents. My grandparents set up store charge accounts so that I could shop, when the money in my own savings account was not enough.
As an adult, I still prefer shopping in stores where the proprietors know my name. As I grew up, I had to establish my own lines of credit. Being financially responsible was new for me, and the freedom credit cards gave me was life changing. The little card with my name embossed on the front was a passport to stores that were in other places than my hometown’s Main Street. Hello Fifth Avenue, New York City!
There is a time when each of us begins our relationship with money. For some, the relationship begins with the tooth fairy when she leaves us a dollar under our pillows. For me, it was when my grandfather would fill his pockets with change before he came home each night. I would eagerly await his arrival and immediately search his pockets for money. I never knew how much would be there for my piggy bank, and sometimes he would even surprise me with dollar bills. Eventually the piggy bank began to overflow, so he took me to his bank. I proudly opened my first savings account, and established my own banking history.
We are a data-driven industry which is defined by numbers. As direct marketers, every test, campaign and product is measurable. My interest used to be solely focused on the number of unique, new data files that were available to create potential new customers for clients and prospects. Today my numbers include open rates, click-through rates, lead conversion, number of impressions, cost per acquisition, and cost per lead. Metrics to acquire a new customer have traditionally been measured by a positive ROI. Lifetime value and customer reactivation are harder to predict, but integral to any customer acquisition campaign. Continue reading
