Succeeding with social media is simple, right?  Anyone can create a Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn page and make instant strides in sales and marketing.  (Cue laugh track…laugh track, go!)  Yes, people actually believe this, and while it would be great if it was true, success with social media just isn’t that simple.  It takes a lot more strategy, creativity and old-fashioned marketing smarts to make it work.  Use it incorrectly, and you can do more damage than good.  Save yourself from creating your own social nightmare by avoiding these business-busting blunders.  You’ll be glad you did. (more…)

Filed under: Branding, Entrepreneur, Marketing, Social Media by Kathy Heasley
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Randy, Ellen, Kara, Simon.  Every week millions of TV viewers across America welcome them into their homes for the most popular music show on the tube: American Idol.  But is it really a music show, or is a branding show? Think about it.  Marketers and business owners can learn a lot from the music world, a place where great brands crank out products that make a bundle.  If you sing it they will come?  Not really, unless you’re a brand. (more…)

Filed under: Branding, Entrepreneur, Marketing, Moments, Pop Culture by Kathy Heasley
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Okay, so Kindle has a snazzy commercial series complete with stop-action video that makes you keep watching.  Watching, that is, if you happen to be paying attention to commercials, and who does that anymore?  The spots have music that forces you to glance up from playing Ragdoll Blaster on your iPhone just long enough, to see if The Gap or Target has a new commercial on the air.  But no…it’s Kindle.  The spots are a big step up from their earlier tries which were amateurish and lacked a cool factor, but that’s about it. (more…)

Filed under: Branding, Marketing, Technology by Kathy Heasley
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