What if you don’t have $4 million for a Super Bowl Ad?

With all the bone chilling cold from the Polar Vortex in the US , most folks are not thinking about the Superbowl party coming up in less than a month on Superbowl Sunday i.e. February 2,2014. Except off course the big ad budget companies who will pay the $4 Million for a 30 second spot.Continue reading “What if you don’t have $4 million for a Super Bowl Ad?”

Five 2014 Website Resolutions for Non-Profits and Businesses

As we get into the 2014 New Year, here are five website resolutions for  non-profits and businesses. But why do we need a list of website  resolutions for 2014? Because coming out of the great recession, people check out your website before and after they visit your physical organization. If you see some great productsContinue reading “Five 2014 Website Resolutions for Non-Profits and Businesses”

Black Friday is in the Red as Cyber Monday posts 21% growth

Black Friday is the day that traditional retailers turn a profit (i.e. numbers turn black from red) after being in the red throughout the year. For the last few years with the growth of Internet and online buying Monday has been named Cyber Monday.This year seems to be a decisive turning point. According to ShopperContinue reading “Black Friday is in the Red as Cyber Monday posts 21% growth”

Michigan to start online lottery sales: what effect on consumers and retailers?

Ever since Detroit, Michigan declared bankruptcy – one tends to feel concerned about Michigan and its finances. The recent announcement that Michigan will start selling lottery tickets online by 2014,seems like a good move from a state revenue point of view. In fact, states like Illinois and New York also want to move lotteries onlineContinue reading “Michigan to start online lottery sales: what effect on consumers and retailers?”

Digital Expectations: being Government,non-profit or a small business is no excuse

http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/.element/apps/cvp/3.0/swf/cnn_embed_2x_container.swf?site=cnn&profile=desktop&context=embedwww&videoId=politics/2013/10/22/ac-gupta-sebelius-obama-didnt-know-about-problems.cnn&contentId=politics/2013/10/22/ac-gupta-sebelius-obama-didnt-know-about-problems.cnn The problems with the Obamacare website forced the President himself to address the issues yesterday  of… a website? Just a few years ago- organizations including Government, non-profit and small businesses used to wonder if they should have a website. In teaching and learning, students would complain loudly about the problems of online learning platformsContinue reading “Digital Expectations: being Government,non-profit or a small business is no excuse”

Not all Government websites down: is it the Federal Procurement System?

The US Federal Government is the world's largest B2B buyer and given that (a)  not all Federal websites are down and (b) the healthcare.gov (Obamacare) website is having problems suggests that there is a supply chain and specifically a Federal procurement system problem at work. As the unbelievable drama in Washington DC plays out andContinue reading “Not all Government websites down: is it the Federal Procurement System?”

Best Global Brands 2013: Coca Cola replaced by Apple but should Google be no. 1?

As a Coca Cola  fan this blog feels bad that the Coca Cola brand has slipped to the no. 3 spot in the 2013 Interbrand rankings after reigning for 13 years as the top brand in the world. If you think about it , it is in these 13 years that the Internet has takenContinue reading “Best Global Brands 2013: Coca Cola replaced by Apple but should Google be no. 1?”

Why did Grand Theft Auto V Video Game sell over $1Billion in 3 days?

The runaway success of Grand Theft Auto  V (GTA-V) as the biggest ever entertainment product begs the question why ? An earlier post on Entertainment:video game industry three times music and double movie industry, had proved popular, but the potential role of video games in promoting violence had reduced the enthusiasm of this blog fromContinue reading “Why did Grand Theft Auto V Video Game sell over $1Billion in 3 days?”

Evoked Brand Set: The easy way of surrogate branding through better search ranking

The “evoked set” is the set of brands you think of when you have a buying need. If you are in the market for a car it’s very likely that you have 3-4 car brands (Ford,GM,Toyota etc.) in mind as you start checking them out. In the old days, well let’s say till 1990’s, only big brands could afford to spend those millions on TV and traditional media advertising to build up a particular brand. So if you were Ford Motor Company , your goal was to get into the evoked set and have the customer visit the dealer showroom. To achieve this goal all kinds of advertising including sports sponsorships, community events, newspaper and magazine advertising, radio and billboards was supposed to help.

Best Buy matches online prices: invents new brick retail model?

It was just this weekend that a friend was happily recounting how a Best Buy store in Chicago matched the  price of an iPad on the Apple website that they found on their smart phone – in the store!. And today's news is all about how Best Buy is turning around under CEO Hubert JolyContinue reading “Best Buy matches online prices: invents new brick retail model?”