Life, The Year 2008 and More..

by dash on December 29th, 2007

Glad to be back at 20- Something Marketing after a not so short break.What an amazing year this has been, so much has happened for me, marketers, web-strategists and the online industry at a collective level. Jared has gotten into B-School and is supposedly doing a cool job. He’s doing loads of stuff at the Owen University and the recent post he did on OwenBloggers.com has got traction in media on newsweek” Great to hear that as I have myself featured in a couple of news-items.

So yeah, the going has been good.The expectations are high from the year ahead. While experts are speculating that ‘web’ would keep making inroads into an average marketer’s life.The so called smart marketers will capitalize on the growing appeal of social networks.

Whether you call it as 3.0 or something else, one would witness rise in popularity as well as growth of new social networks.The whole philosophy of relationships via social networks would diversify into three key categories. So one would see an average users shuffling between their friendly relationships, family relationships and business relationships.While Facebook would be there for Friends, Linkedin for Business users there’s a possibilty of third alternative whether it is Ancestory or Kindo occupying a major role in 2008.Interestingly Kindo has been a bit of revelation since its emergence and is currently available in 12 regional languages including Arabic.

Whew !!With amazing features like Celebrity family trees the feature is promising for Kindo. Okay on this note, I bid you bye-bye for now. Enjoy the festive season, network with your friends, colleagues and family on networks like Kindo.

We lost, but at least we got free booze - an M Awards Re-Cap

by Jared on May 18th, 2007

Sadly, the M Awards have come and gone and we have come up empty-handed…

Although Amanda and I had a great time overall, my company’s B2B Integrated Marketing Campaign was passed over in favor of a company whose name I have never heard of. In all fairness though, with the level of local marketing star-power that showed up last night, I would have been shocked if anyone knew of my company, either.

The evening was not a total loss, though. It appears we have found a few patterns that, like real awards shows, are too good not to do a post-game on.

1) At Marketing Awards Shows, No One Cares Who You Are…It’s Who You Work For

One of the more interesting phenomenon Amanda and I witnessed was the fact that, at the reception, no one looked at your face - only your nametag. If they didn’t recognize the company, or realized they couldn’t sell you anything, you really didn’t exist.

2) Like The Movies, Independent Marketers Have an Uphill Battle

Only one independent company had a stand-out campaign last night. The rest were large marketing and communications firms with budgets big enough to drown an elephant. The moral of the story, unless you have a campaign with a completely out-there concept, it’s a bit of a one-sided competition.

3) Just Because We’re Marketers, It Doesn’t Mean We’re Organized

Lastly, the glitz and the glamour of these awards apparently succumb to the fact that not everyone can be an awards-show host. In fact, the evening went about as smoothly as the Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at Disney World with the awards having to be given out actually during the dinner. This proves once again that there is a fine line between marketing and operations.

In the end, re didn’t win but at least it was an honor to be a finalist. That and you can usually appeal for the winner’s free drink tickets, which can help you drown the shame of your looserdom.

We’re Going To The AMA-DC M Awards!

by Jared on May 15th, 2007

This just in: an integrated marketing campaign my department took on in 2006 has just been declared a finalist in the annual AMA-DC M Awards.

The campaign, dubbed RIGHT SIZE SOLUTIONS, was designed to leverage multiple medium (yes, including podcasts) in order to shift perceptions about our companies’ products and services. Apparently, the results were enough to get us into the top 3 of the Best B2B Integrated Marketing Campaign of 2006 category.

This means that this Thursday, I will be taking the show on the road to podcast from the M Awards.

Now…all that’s left to do is figure out what to wear!

20SMF Episode #65 - Marketing a Different Type of Hip Hop

by Jared on May 4th, 2007

Business, service and urban, hip hop culture collide in an amazing program called the Hip Hop Project.

Robin “Kheperah” Kearse, sits down to talk about how she and her partner, Chris “Kazi” Rolle are changing the lives of New York City youth and charting a new course for hip hop culture, away from the destructive and towards the expressive.

Also, another OwenBloggers report from Vanderbilt-Owen Welcome Weekend.

The Hip Hop Project opens in selected theatres, May 11th - Get some friends, go see it and be amazed at the experience!

Referenced Links:

• Hip Hop Project: The Movie
• iTunes: Music from the Hip Hop Project

Listen To Episode:

Download Episode:

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Of Buffets & Case Studies

by Jared on May 1st, 2007

I have to admit that even though I virtually eat, sleep and breathe marketing at this point; the allure of business school has taken hold of me like a buffet from which you want to take a bite out of everything. Lucky for me, these kinds of sentiments are apparently really common for incoming students but I wanted to share a really interesting experience from Vanderbilt-Owen’s welcome weekend a couple of weeks ago.

In a breakout session about the Marketing & Brand Management Track, the professor took out a case study to give us an idea of what a normal marketing class feels like. Suffice to say that my creativity was shot at that moment and I had a difficult time getting out of the B2B “silo” that I have been in for the last four years.

As you can imagine, this kind of took me by surprise because as a marketer, my initial response was to dig for more information. In a case however, you really can’t dig, you have to take what the story gives you and find a solution based solely off of that information.

I doubt this will be enough to throw me off a marketing track but it has given me a new perspective on reading business cases and applying what I know, internally in a B2B setting, externally to a B2C scenario. Next time you are reading the Wall Street Journal, or any other business publication, try to examine an article from a different perspective and see how it changes your approach to problems in your own “silo.”

Take Our 20-Something Bar & Club Survey!

by Jared on February 15th, 2007

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20-Something Marketing is proud to host a survey from a team of budding 20-something marketers from Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, PA.

Blog Tag: Because Bloggers Said So

by Jared on February 5th, 2007

Remember those “get-to-know-you” e-mail chains that you hated in high school? Well, apparently bloggers have now found a way to re-invent the game affirming our status as the uber-geeks of the professional world.

I have Ms. Maynard to thank for this one so if you have sec, go over to the Maven’s site and tell her how much you apreciate the tips on manscaping.

Here we go (and in case you aren’t at the “special table” like us, here’s how it works.

1. What is a secret that you’ve never told anyone about?

In an attempt to get a really high-profile job, I once stalked the interviewer. We’re talking to the point where I staked out a cocktail party I wasn’t invited to just so I could say “hello” and ask her if she had made a decision. It wasn’t pretty.

2. You have a budget with absolutely no limit. Now put on your most creative and wild idea hat. What would you do to market yourself?

I would probably have to say something to do with a multi-city Disney-style parade where performers did song and dance numbers about my accomplishments. Note, this blog entry probably wouldn’t be mentioned.

3. What is the most unusual term that people regularly use to find your blog?

Weird Cat….yeah, I know - bugs the hell out of me that I can’t understand why….I think is has something to do with this photo….

4. If you could interview one fictional character on your blog, who would it be and why?

Foamy the squirrel. Why? Because he’s a bitchy squirrel who likes bagels and coffee, c’mon!

5. What is your favorite website to visit?

I hate to say this but my favorite site is actually a slew of web-comics, most notably Least I Could Do. They’re a great escape from, you know, working.

And because blog-tag wouldn’t be geeky without passing on the fun…

• Daksh, over at his blog
• Brian, over at Copyblogger
• The good people at Metroblogging-DC
• Nillo from Nillo’s Night
• and John at Duct Tape Marketing

…Tag, You’re all it…now I am going to go frollic in the snow like a giddy school-kid. Oh wait, it hasn’t snowed yet. Damn it!

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.