I’m very impressed with how Bank of America is using their spots on the History Channel’s new, “America, the Story of Us” series.

This is a case study in marketing integration with user experience. It’s a great example of how advertisers can  get through our filters and circumvent our aversion to be sold.

Far and away, the most effective marketing and advertising integrates itself into our experiences. Read this branding case study article here.

AdFreak, and AdWeek blog has listed their 25 Most Epic Ads That Aren’t 1984.  Not a reference to Orwell, they’re intentionally omitting Apple’s 1984 spot, designating it in a class by itself.  These are international, diverse and….eclectic.

Enjoy: http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/the-25-most-epic-ads-that-arent-1984.html

In a tight economy with a lot of competition comes welcome news to DC area creatives and businesses that need creative. According to DesignersCouch.com, one of my favorite creative communities, Washington D.C. is among the top five U.S. town for creative professionals. 

According to the article, ”DC is a town whose design industry is about to boom in a major way.” The salaries here are on par with New York City.

Read the entire article here: http://designerscouch.org/show_article/234/top-5-us-cities-for-creative-professionals-in-2010.html.

What’s the return on investment of email marketing? It’s easy to get a bit jaded when it comes to email marketing, as we’re cleaning out our inboxes. It seems like on a good day the proportion of solicited messages to unsolicited messages is 1:10. On a good day. . .

But, marketers, don’t allow your assumptions to cloud your judgments. Email marketing has a very real ROI.

According to the Direct Marketing Association, email marketing returned $43.62 for every dollar spent on it in 2009. Yes, the nice people at the DMA might have a dog in the fight. (I really hope people aren’t googling dog fighting and ending up on the TechnologyMarketingBlog.) But who else are you going to trust to measure it?

And while down a bit, they estimate email marketing is expected to return $42.08 for every dollar spent on it this year.

So, if you’re not consistently using email marketing, maybe you should be. And if you’re not getting a healthy ROI, it’s time to evaluate your methods.

The online ad marketing had it’s best quarter ever in Q4 09, according to a report from the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

This record $6.3 billion in revenues speaks to the worst of the ad slump behind us, according to PwC’s David Silverman.

Other highlights of the report:

• Search and display advertising is still the largest overall interactive advertising spend. Search revenues comprise 47% of the total spending.
• Digital video in particular is strong, with an almost 39% increase from 2008 to 2009.
• Based on data from PwC from 2005 to 2009 in tv, radio, newspapers, consumers magazines and Internet, the Internet’s share of combined ad revenue more than doubled from 8% to 17%.

Find out more at http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/press_release/pr-040710

Small business use of social media is steeply on the rise in the U.S.  The third wave of the Small Business Success Index™ (SBSI), sponsored by Network Solutions® and the Center for Excellence in Service at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, reports that social media is being used by twice as many small businesses since last year.

How does your business measure up?

Read more and see the breakdown at http://growsmartbusiness.com/small-business-success-index-highlights/.

There are myriad studies showing the importance of customer service. Companies have invested thousands of dollars to ensure their clients receive quality customer service. Reps are trained—throughout their careers—on how to deal with clients. The mantra “The Customer is Always Right” is known, even by our kids. So why is Google’s approach to customer service different?

If you have ever had the misfortune of “contacting” Google’s customer service department, you have my sympathy. The horror stories abound on Google’s lack of customer service and their draconian approach to clients. It is my view that they have ruled the market for so long and we, as their clients, can either work within the parameters they have established or go elsewhere. Their myopic approach is going to hurt them once they have a viable competitor and numerous clients defect.

Recently, I had an issue with an AdWords account and needed to contact Google’s customer service. After research turned up a phone number, not found on the Google support site, I called and was connected to their voice system, prompted to hit “2” for customer service; upon which, I was told it was incorrect entry and disconnected. That led me to chat. The chat function in AdWords support is hidden – at least during my searches. But if you persevere, you can find it. Chatting with Google is somewhat surreal. My question was routinely answered by a FAQ response and links to articles found in their customer support website. The problem? Well, the FAQ response and links had nothing to do with my question. After several tries and requests for bi-directional communication by phone, instead of email or chat, I was told that although I requested a call by a senior member; it could not be guaranteed. As the senior member’s schedule could only allow him/her to use email. And it might take 48 hours until I am contacted.

So this got me thinking….. Am I the only one who has experienced horrible customer service by Google? A quick search, courtesy of no other than Google, brought up hundreds of links. As misery loves company, I thought I would share a random sampling of other Google clients and their opinions on the service received—so in their own words:

· So Google provides no support whatsoever for their product, which doesn’t work.  Nice.  I thought Microsoft was bad, but this is the worst customer support…ever.

· And worse, there is no, “Does this answer your question?” Hell – GoDaddy.com is atrocious but their customer support is miles above Google’s

· Google is simply one of the greatest technology companies around, I don’t think anyone would disagree. HOWEVER, in my opinion they have a LOT to learn when it comes to service and customer relationships.

· Google has become so powerful that in literally every aspect of their business it is 100% their way or the highway. I know a lot of people that are choosing the highway.

· Customer service and Google currently don’t go hand in hand.

· Google’s approach to customer service is disgraceful.

· The short answer is there is no such thing as customer service at Google. I believe you get more customer service at the dice tables at any casino in Los Vegas.

· Anyway, I would like the number to call Google, which seems to be impossible to find anywhere… I don’t understand why one of the world’s biggest companies makes it so difficult for its clients…

· This is really screwed up. Google really don’t care about the little guy at all.

· I agree Google’s support is horrible.

· If you plan anything important with Google, don’t because you won’t get any help.

Will Google change its approach? Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem likely. At least, not until it impacts their bottom line. I am hoping that someone in charge will wake up and start to look closely at customer service. And then make the necessary improvements. Because there is only so much bad service a client will take. When will it be enough that you walk away?

BIA/Kelsey has released the results of its U.S. Local Media Annual Forecast (2009-2014). Though local advertising is anticipated to increase modestly over the next four years, online ad spending is predicted to double. Read more about the survey:

http://www.bia.com/pr220210.asp

Too many organizations forget that public relations can and should have a meaningful impact on the sales process. Are you using PR effectively to sell?

One important output of a PR campaign is to use press clippings in the sales process. PR should not be passive. You should use clippings from interviews and favorable mentions in the sales kits and other leave behind.

You should also be using recent clippings like trend pieces and case studies and sending them along to leads that have cooled.

When viewed this way, PR can be used strategically to sell. How are you using it?

To network or not to network? You may expect me to tell you, unequivocally, if you’re serious about your business, get out and network! Kind of in the same way that dentist you don’t go to anymore used to tell you how important it was for you to floss.

But honesty is a better policy. Not everyone should be out there networking. Some should be doing more. And some who are networking today may be doing it all wrong.

Where do you fall? To find out, take the quiz:

http://designerscouch.org/show_article/182/should-you-network.html