The Marketing of New Year’s

Last night I was witness to an amazing case study in marketing:

- The product has a shelf life of just one second.

- It has no value.

- Yet it has millions (billions?) of followers worldwide and generates hundreds of billions of dollars each year.

This miracle product? New Year’s Eve.

John Oliver described it in his typical crude and painfully genuine way: “New Year’s Eve is like the death of a pet. You know it’s going to happen, yet somehow you are never really prepared for how truly awful it is.”

Marketing has the power to influence. We can use this power pry on people’s weaknesses, or we can make the world a better place. The two ends of the spectrum were on primetime display as I was watching the New Year’s celebrations on TV.

Google's ad

Coke’s ad

I know Google is not all good and Coke is (maybe?) not all bad. But as marketers, we have choices to make in how we use our power to influence.

Something to think about in the new year… We only have 364 days 3 hours and 44 minutes until the next New Year!

B-to-B Branding Revisited

Pragmatic Marketing features an interesting and thought-provoking post by David Meerman Scott titled Branding is for Cattle. While I agree that the notion of branding in the context of technology marketing is often misunderstood, dismissing branding altogether is the easy way out. Branding is still important; the challenge is finding a way to make it relevant in the context of technology marketing.

Branding is not about glossy print ads. It’s not about logos and colors. It’s about creating a connection between companies and buyers. It’s about communicating value. It’s about the consistency of focusing on the customer through every interaction.

Here is the real question in my mind: can branding help sales? If done right, I think it can. Read this article to see how.

What is your take?