Category: Marketing

  • Bad Company: Royal Carribbean

    My wife and I are looking forward to a cruise this spring with two other couples on Royal Caribbean. We made our reservations  last fall, including a relatively sizable deposit. The remainder of the cost is due this month. When I went online to pay the remainder I found that Royal Caribbean had added a…

  • How big is your market

    If you’re going to start a business or launch a new product you should be able to answer in numerical terms how big your market is.

  • Four Ways to Get a Tax Write-Off

    As the year 2007 ends our minds turn to the inevitable – taxes. This year SMU wanted to offer it’s alumni some assistance in beating the December 31 deadline for tax write offs. Click here to view the show.

  • Creating a perception

    Ikea, the low cost furniture superstore, ensures that you have the right perception when you walk into their store. When visiting yesterday, the first products we encountered were glass tea candle holders for 29 cents a piece. That first impression of a great deal, lasted through out our visit, even as we passed more expensively…

  • Buy Ben an iPhone

    A friend of mine has begun his quest to procure an iPhone by using the only logically solution, an donation website and blog. Check out his quest at: http://buybenaniphone.com

  • Spam doesn’t pay

    The Associated Press is reporting that Robert Alan Soloway, described as one of the World’s most prolific spammers, has been arrested. Soloway was arrested Wednesday on charges of mail fraud, wire fraud, e-mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and money laundering. Prosecutors say Soloway has sent millions of junk e-mails since 2003 and continued even after…

  • Woot Off

    Woot.com, the site that sells one deeply discounted item per day, is having a Woot-Off today. A Woot-Off is when they sell one item until it sells out and then immediately post a new item. This can continue for a couple of days. This site is strangely compelling. I haven’t ever bought anything but I…

  • Coupons gone wrong

    Seth Godin chimed in today on how to handle internet coupons gone wrong. Here’s the story line. Starbucks asked employees to forward email based coupons to their friends and family. The promotion grew bigger than Starbucks intended and they pulled the plug just six days later. It was intended to last five weeks. Seth’s three…

  • What’s still working

    As much as things change, some things stay the same. As today’s New York Times points out, coupons are still an important marketing tool. And the number of coupons being distributed has increased over the past year. Well executed coupons can almost guarantee increased sales. In addition their ability to be easily tracked places them…