Everyone understands that social media has become a topic for most every company’s marketing mix discussion. And, sooner or later, the discussion usually surfaces the question: “How do you use it to increase revenue?” The following is an example of how a well know consumer brand has employed a social media contest to involve customer […]

Last week I had the pleasure of attending an American Marketing Association-Richmond lunch meeting where the guest speaker was social media expert and author, Shama Hyder Kabani. Shama Kabani recently published “The Zen of Social Media Marketing and discussed some of the key principals of social media and online marketing as described in her book. […]

Recently I attended the SOBCon conference in Chicago.  It was quite an experience.  I will be processing and thinking about the content and conversations for some time.  Here is an overview; I’ll post more in the future as I assimilate more of the experience.  I highly recommend the conference; it is quite a unique and […]

The notion of using social media in regulated industries like pharmaceuticals or consumer packaged healthcare goods can be intimidating.  There are plenty of challenges that will need to be addressed, like adverse events and off-label use (here is a larger list).  These are not new challenges, and there are already procedures in place to deal […]

It was about 3 ½ years ago when a Starbucks incident became a case study of inept online marketing. The coffee giant was forced to publicly renege on an email coupon for a free drink that was intended for family and friends of Starbucks employees in the Southeastern US, but unexpectedly went viral everywhere. So […]

By now many of you have probably heard about Google’s new product called Google Buzz. In some ways it’s like Facebook and Twitter, but yet it offers some additional things. Google Buzz is Gmails’s social network that promotes collaboration and idea sharing through conversation and the spreading of photos, videos and other content. And what […]

At age 23, Lady Gaga has rocketed to global fame in less than two years. Playing piano at age 4 and New York nightclubs at 14, she recently broke Billboard’s record as the first artist to have her first five singles reach number one. She’s won two Grammys, and has sold 8 million albums and […]

Babies-R-Us recently ran a Facebook campaign that had many positive aspects and a few limitations. In the one day promotion, new fans would receive a $5 gift card that worked both online and off. New fans were prompted for some basic info and their opt-in. Simplicity ruled and the campaign was successful. The urgency of […]

We don’t need to tell you that you need to be listening in social media, right? But perhaps you need a bit of help building out a listening program that’s sustainable, actionable, and actually helps you meet your business needs. Here’s a set of steps to take and questions to answer to round out your […]

After a considerable amount of hype and attention the FDA Social Media hearings are now history (http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ape8GYHoQ7q7dFZZdUFNUW5FVUY5YjBnMWNMSDZadkE&hl=en ).  Personally, I am not surprised that very little has emerged from the actual meetings.  There were plenty of tweets and even links broadcasting the actual event http://is.gd/5h0Vx  But what is next?  My experience tells me many pharma […]