Man of Steel hits 10 MILLION VIEWS!!!

When I was a kid, I absolutely LOVE getting to the theater early enough to catch all the previews!  Now, I just watch them all on YouTube.  The most recent one was the second trailer for Man of Steel, the Chris-Nolan-produced Superman reboot.

Nolan-branded entertainment is popular right now, thanks to his recently-completed Batman trilogy.  This latest Superman movie trailer got to 10 MILLION views in just three days, which points to an excellent opening next June.  I know I'll be going; will you?

Click "Read More" to view the trailer and continue reading!

Never say "No" to Panda!

I'll admit that I'm ignorant of different languages, so I have NO IDEA what language they're speaking in these videos; the subtitles help, but aren't necessary, really. The moral of these commercials: buy Panda brand foods because you never want to make a panda mad; they'll make you pay for it!

Click "Read More" to watch the video.

Dollar Shave Club's AWESOME video is marketing GOLD!

I saw this video the other day, and it made me laugh...maybe even OUT LOUD! I actually went to their site, just to see if it was real. It IS a real company, and they do what they say they'll do: ship you one razor each month to your door. Despite being pretty funny, the video also does a good job of laying out the company's purpose and promise. The promise is one of the funniest parts: "Our blades are F*CKING great!"

Click "Read more" below to see the video, then let me know what you think by posting a comment!

MORE cheap ways to help your "personal brand"

In my original post, "Cheap ways to help your 'personal brand'...," I mentioned two specific methods: improving your LinkedIn profile and setting up a professional blog.  I still recommend these two methods to everyone.  However, looking back, there was WAY more I could have said!

To keep with the theme from the first, however, I'll mention only two others:

Making money through "charitable contributions"

Seth Harwood's Latest
Print Release

Check out this link: http://kck.st/piYHWd.  It'll take you to a page where one of my favorite authors, Seth Harwood, is raising money to help fund an independent book release.  While it might not be ideal for all situations, it seems to be a viable new way to get some initial funding through, what is essentially, charitable giving.  It's actually a genius idea to offer people the chance to be listed as a contributor IN THE BOOK if you send some cash his way.

Google+ Gets Verified!

The Internet is a crazy place, and there are all types of even CRAZIER people using it! Verification on Google+ and other social networks for celebrities and other public figures ensures that when I try to follow my favorite movie star, I can. There's nothing worse than following someone, then finding out that it's actually a 17-year-old kid in Korea.

A Helpful Reminder

I like email lists, sometimes, and have been known to sign up for A LOT of them.  Most get forwarded directly into folders so that they don't clutter my inbox, but there are a few that stay in front of my eyes.  One of my favorites is the BrandAid from Killian Branding, a marketing firm in Chicago.

The Problem with Second Life

In response to another LinkedIn, question about the advantages to marketing in Second Life, I said:

"From an Internet marketing standpoint, the pros are minimal. I've dabbled in Second Life, and most of what I found was a lot of people trying to escape reality. That can be a viable target market, but most of the products for sale in Second Life are only useful IN Second Life itself. So, unless you have an entirely virtual product for use in the "game," there's no use looking into marketing opportunities in that arena. People I ran into in the game were looking to escape reality, not to go there and be bombarded with the 'same old stuff.'"

Comments on Chaotics - Part 2

The second half of the article takes a turn for the better as Kotler answers specific questions concerning how to achieve marketing success in these turbulent times. His answers can be categorized as follows:

1. In-depth market research
2. Database-focused analytics
3. Product research
4. Proper budgeting

All four are great ways to improve marketing in these tough times, but Kotler hasn’t re-invented the wheel here. He’s repeating what others, himself included, have been saying for years; marketing is changing more rapidly that ever, and savvy marketers need to change their outlook on the world, focusing more on customer needs than on their own.