Author: Dan Morris

John Morgan’s book “Brand Against the Machine” is really a full length definition of branding itself. Sure, there are examples of small business branding mistakes and a whole lot of what you should be doing. But as a whole, it’s what the dictionary should reference when you look up “branding”.

Blockbuster is an example of a company that didn’t see it coming. Coincidentally in Chapter 13, titled Extra Ordinary (not Bankruptcy Court), Morgan talks about the rise of Netflix and Redbox in the wake of Blockbuster’s meltdown. He makes the point that it wasn’t Blockbuster’s failures that made Netflix great. In fact, Netflix became great because they did something “extra ordinary”. They took something mundane like renting a video and added a spin no one had ever tried before. Redbox is now doing the same thing. (more…)

No matter how big you are, you aren’t immune to making mistakes automating social media.

Fox Television has joined the Social Media game in a serious way. In fact each show has its own Twitter account, Facebook page and overall social media presence. If you’re a fan, Fox makes sure that you can show your love everywhere.

But. . .

But the problem is Fox Television automates their social media profiles. And that problem became glaring and apparent during the 2011 World Series when their top rated show Terra Nova was bumped for Game 5.

Since they failed to take the World Series into account when they were automating the system, several tweets that day and the day before announced the upcoming show. In fact, just two hours before the show would have begun, @terranovaonfox reported that the next new episode was only 2 hours away. (more…)

Coupon Strategy is one of the most common small business mistakes to avoid. Your coupon strategy should be more than just a way to get new people in the door. And it doesn’t have to cheapen the place.

Take a look at this coupon we received from Laser Quest Nashville after attending a birthday party recently. You can probably argue that the copy isn’t good and the 4″ x 6″ size isn’t perfect. And if this were a marketing piece we received in the mail – I’d listen to your argument. But that’s not what we’re looking at today. (more…)

Hank Williams, Jr. recently turned what seemed like a marketing mistake into a marketing success story. And in true Hank Williams, Jr. fashion he did it by recording and giving away, what I call, his “Fox/ESPN” song (aka Keep the Change).  In the end, you can decide whether the unfortunate incident was a mistake or not.

After using the word Hitler on a Fox morning TV program, ESPN pulled Hank’s Monday Night Football theme song from their broadcast. In what started as a typical morning for the super country star, a little politically incorrect remark turned his world upside down in a matter of hours. Fortunately, today’s technology gave Hank an opportunity to capitalize on the moment. (more…)

I just completed Dodge’s grand marketing event the Dodge Journey Challenge (#journeychallenge on Twitter). It was a ton of fun following clues online to try and find a Dodge Journey in Oklahoma one week, then the next week driving to Albany, NY to start their east coast challenge.

Being the marketing guy I am, I was very excited to see Dodge put together an online/offline marketing expedition to help sell their Dodge Journey truck. While I had a great time searching the “world wide world” for the truck, I thought Dodge made a few marketing mistakes that will surely result in far fewer sales. (more…)