Archive for January, 2007
Bitch Fight at the Wal-Mart Coral
by Jared on January 25th, 2007
Even though I am already on a high from officially mailing in my acceptance agreement and deposit to Vanderbilt/Owen this morning, leave it up to AdAge to make things yet more interesting….
They are reporting that ex-marketing executive Julie Roehm is filing a lawsuit against Wal-Mart for defamation and failing to uphold the terms of her compensation agreement.
You’ll recall that Roehm got the boot when her cavalier and forward-thinking style failed to impress the Bentonville-based illuminati. Tasked with making their marketing image more fashion forward to compete with Target, Roehm was deemed to be to radical for Wal-Mart’s tastes and was not-so-politely shown the door (along with the ad-agency she had brought with her).
Roehm is now fighting back citing that the mega-retailer made “false and malicious statements†about her to the press. This is the woman who tried to bring a fresh perspective to Wal-Mart and was written off for not conforming to their culture.
What the hell did they think was going to happen? That she would strap on a blue vest and come to work in a mini-van?
As far as I am concerned, Roehm may have not accomplished what Wal-Mart had wanted her to do but I can safely say that this is a hell of a sideshow and Roehm is working it like the master she is.
You go, girl!
Support the Special Olympics; Help me Freeze Wesley!
by Jared on January 23rd, 2007
This is my friend; Wesley…
Wesley wants to throw himself into the Chesapeake Bay to support the Maryland Special Olympics...I haven’t done one of my Bonus Vidcasts in quite some time….You do the math!
To egg him on, I say we all donate just 5 bucks to his cause and then we can sit back, relax and watch his body hair flee in horror of the frigid winter temperatures.
20SMF Episode #57 – I Just Got Into Business School and All That I Got Was This Podcast About The iPhone
by Jared on January 19th, 2007
The end result of my quest to get into business school as well as a chat with an Apple expert about the iPhone’s marketing strategy and how they hope to appeal to 20-somethings.
Show Notes:
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Podcast:
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MBA Spin: The Big Grad School Annoucement
by Jared on January 18th, 2007
For those of you who are following my neurotic quest to get into a great business school (A.K.A. MBA Spin) – the big annoucement is finally here.
To find out where I’m going, tune into tomorrow’s show …yeah, yeah yeah. If you want to know how it turned out, stop whining and just get ready to download the bloody show.
Muh ha ha ha ha!
Best,
Jared
20-Something Marketing
Big-Ass Direct Mail Pieces
by Jared on January 17th, 2007
Direct mail is still supposed to be one of the most effective ways of reaching your audience. In business-to-business settings, we also know that this reliance is also turning up the heat for marketers to attempt new and innovative ways of using this medium.For example, take a direct mail piece that was sent by our good friends over at an industry news site.
They thoughtfully sent us a 3’ x 2’ poster board mock-up of what our potential ads would look like if we took advantage of the ad space on their homepage. Unfortunately for them, their ad space is way to pricey but at least we now know why.
MBA Spin: The Decision
by Jared on January 15th, 2007
Just when you think the process is all down hill, I find myself with one last hurdle; deciding where to go.
Every MBA student, alumni and advisor I speak to tells me that when weighing your options, that the most important thing to consider is which program feels the most “right.†This means immersing yourself in the campus, meeting as many people as you can and doing some serious soul-searching.
I wish I could tell you that it is more scientific than that but apparently it is not. When the decision comes down to a tie on all academic program angles and there are negligible differences in national rankings (+/- 10 spots within a given tier), all that is left is how you feel about the specific program.
That being said, I am yet again on the road in search of one last experience, one last campus visit that will hopefully confirm my gut instincts regarding one particular institution.
It is exciting, knowing that I might be 5 hours from completing the application process.
It is also, honestly, a bit scary. You see, 85% of the time during the MBA application process you are dealing in theory and abstractions; photos, descriptions, testimonials, e-mails. Now that I actually have my feet on the ground and am having to deal with the reality of breaking off my life as I know it, I cannot help but feel a bit trepidations.
As long as it is here, I am going to take this fear as a good thing. After all, what experience worth having is completely without a little bit of fear.
For now, it’s game time!
Op Ed: Its official, I’ve reached the bottom of the 20-something, DC dating pool
by Jared on January 12th, 2007
Warning….random personal rant ahead:
Every once in a while, my boss and I hit a patch of conversation where all we do is talk about the lack of depth in the DC dating pool. This most often occurs when I am sick of looking for dates and need to vent and when my boss, well…let’s just say he’s been at this longer than I have so he’s perpetually jaded no matter how full his dance card.
That being said, here’s what we have decided on as the basics of the DC gay dating scene:
1) Gay males in DC come in three different maturity levels; twinkie, oldie, and jaded. (one guess as to which category my boss and I fall under)
2) The first evaluative question in sizing up any date is “what do you do?†It’s the equivalent of the “call†in poker; if you’re bluffing you better be damn good at it to get this right.
3) This city is so small, you know you’ve hit rock bottom when you can ID just about everyone at a random party you get invited to by their match.com/craigslist/myspace/friendster screen names.
Now for the fun part: More
Steve Jobs to Dithering Mac-Addicts: “Can You Hear Me Now?â€
by Jared on January 9th, 2007
So, we are now informed that Apple will most likely unveil a new phone today at their Macworld 2007 conference. See Story Here>>
Because this announcement has such broad implications for 20-somethings (c’mon, what 20-something doesn’t want a new cell phone every other month?), though I will not be drooling over my keyboard from 12 PM – 2 PM EST, I will be providing some analysis on the next show. Perhaps I’ll even dish out a second post towards the end of the day if the reactions are really that spectacular.
Before the unveiling, I do have one thing to say about putting such a “killer product†on the market; If Henry Ford taught us anything about quality, its that it is produced from those who seek to specialize their trade and dedicated themselves to the quality of that one specialty.
Jobs might be able to pack all the neat tricks he wants to into this new iPhone (or whatever its going to be called) but don’t be surprised if its quality as a phone is on par with or below that of other “smart phones†(e.g. the Treo).
It’s consumerism versus quality, folks. I love my iPod as much as the next yuppie urbanite but there is a line between buying a product for its functionality and buying a product just because everyone else has it.
Apple has built what can only be described as a brand that all other marketers seek to replicate. It’s so strong, that even the hint of a new product creates demand for it. We’ll just have to see if it performs half as well as we want it to.