Promo Sourcebook

December 1, 2007

Urban Refuge

An unexpected oasis amid New York's hustle and bustle set up shop as The Spa Experience for four days last month at Grand Central Terminal. Weary commuters...

Digital Directive

Consumers love to get free music downloads. Starbucks, on Nov. 7, wrapped a month long promotion that gave away more than 50 million iTunes songs. ...

Good Deeds

Starbucks is back again with its Cheer Pass promotion, this time spreading good tidings across the globe. For the first time, the cards are being distributed...

Soft Soap

Quick, what's the longest story ever told? If you answered daytime drama The Guiding Light, then Procter & Gamble has done its job. The company originally...

Voice Lessons

At first glance, building a word-of-mouth marketing campaign around a low-cost-to-free phone service would seem about as complex as organizing a one-car parade. ...

Jordan's Monster Deal: Rebate or Lottery?

Boston Red Sox fans who bought sofas during Jordan Furniture's Monster Deal last spring were sitting pretty after their team swept the Colorado Rockies...

College Bowl Sprawl

The college bowl scene, once a few games dominating New Year's Day television, has evolved into a protracted branding bonanza kicking off before Christmas....

When is too Far?

Ok, this might be an unpopular thing to write on this page. But the reality is that there always has been an undercurrent of dread for commercial ploys...

A Bear Story

Patty Odell shares a curious tale of a wily bear and good customer service....

Fortuitous Mistakes

As Marketers, we make all kinds of mistakes. We may not care to admit it, but on average even the best measurable marketers are right only about a third...

Letters to the Editor

Robert Crumb is right on target! It's tough to swallow. The truth of it is, our society despises most of the techniques real advertising does. Much of it is invasive and done in poor taste. Advertising has changed much in the same way that science fiction and horror movies have changed from the 1950s and 1960s. Nowadays those types of films have...

Blue Christmas

Blame it on the mortgage crisis or on high fuel costs. But consumers are expected to limit their holiday gift-giving this year, and that's going to hurt...

Widgets? They're Easy

Staples has an button for you. In fact, it has several. There's the one that's been featured in its print and television ads since 2005. There's also...

Clutter Cutter

John Miller has been promoting TV programs since the 1970s when the Big Three broadcast networks constituted commercial television. But things have changed:...

Secret Weapon?

The marketing tactic that most directly changes consumer behavior sampling is frequently left at the bottom of the marketing budget. Study after study...

The Latest in Narrowcasting

Dogs can pick up soundwaves that humans can't hear. And some preoccupied creative individuals are often accused of following the beat of their own drum...

Straight Out of Harlem

Rapper 50 Cent's Latest album Curtis helped him win the World's Best Selling Artist Award (at the World Music Awards last month), which is determined...



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COMMUNITY Thoughts and opinions from PROMO editors & columnists.

Blog: Promotions