Now that long lines at retail stores are becoming a thing of the past, one would think that holiday shoppers would be a much happier bunch, but smart marketers know that is always something for customers to complain about. And to a smart marketer, an...

Facebook and Google handle about 80% of the advertising that exists online, and this duopoly certainly isn't good news for online advertisers. And Facebook became even more dominant this year with a 79% leap in third quarter profit. That's quite...

The Nielsen Ratings have been a fact of life in advertising for many decades. This periodic sampling of TV viewers across the U.S. is the primary factor in how prices are set in the advertising industry since it reflects how many people are watching a...

The U.S. soccer team recently suffered a remarkable defeat at the hands of a tiny island nation off the coast of Venezuela and consequently will miss its first World Cup since 1986. Fans of U.S. men's soccer, and there are many of these, will have...

My, how times have changed. An advertisement that was meant to show how Dove's body wash is for everyone and a celebration of diversity was slammed on social media, resulting in marketers discontinuing the ad entirely. The ad portrayed a woman morphing...

In our ongoing quest to transform what we learn through social media about attitudes towards our products into some form of actionable marketing strategy, we marketers have a tendency to overreact when we hear something negative. And when it comes to...

In advertising, the "what" and "how" of the message marketers wish to convey is known as "creative strategy". The NFL has launched many ad campaigns over the years, but this season the league is making efforts to repair an...

After a very disappointing summer and a year that has seen the movie industry continue along the lackluster path it has taken over the past decade or so, the adaptation of Stephen King's 1980's horror novel, "It", broke a number of box...

Twenty years ago Iceland, although a place with a great deal of natural beauty, was nothing more than an under-populated island backwater, prone to volcanic activity, and without much in the way of tourism. Ten years later the largely inhabitable island...

It is no secret that advertising dollars are migrating towards the Internet at a dramatic pace. It is also no secret that Facebook and Google (now a division of Alphabet, Inc.) are so far ahead of other on-line advertising mediums that there isn't...

The Internet has provided marketers with unprecedented opportunities to engage with consumers one-to-one, but an increasing level of advertising fraud is vexing the industry. For years, marketers have been paying for ads that consumers do not see, but...

"Tubi TV" is an internet upstart that has rapidly assumed a place as a provider of no-fee entertainment content. But what makes the company interesting is that investors are betting that more viewers will sit through traditional commercials...

In an industry rife with consumer unfriendly practices, Southwest usually emerges as one of the "good guys" in that the company at least listens to its customers and strives to improve. Marketers have opted to differentiate the brand from competitors...

The emergence of fast-casual rivals combined with an industry-wide over-reliance on sales promotions (like discounts and bundles) has put some serious pressure on fast food provider Subway. The brand has also lost some of its position as a healthier food...

What might be interpreted as good news for consumers might also be seen as bad news for the advertisers that wish to reach them. Ad blockers have been around for a while, and students of marketing know that there is no such thing as free content. The...

Television continues to migrate onto the Internet, but we must not forget that it's all still just video content, and that this content must be paid for, one way or another. It is likely that the future involves multiple connected devices, large and...

Colorado's cash-strapped Thompson School District is willing to entertain some rather creative solutions to funding issues. Many marketers would love to have more access to students in their captive school environments, but generally speaking educators...

Minor League Baseball doesn't offer much in the way of excitement on the field. Rather, consumers enjoy what is sometimes called the "peripheral product"--that is, everything else. Players are there for sometimes only weeks, the quality...

On the heels of yet more sexual harassment allegations at Fox News, some advertisers have decided to pull advertisements from the very popular "The O"Reilly Factor" program. A report from ideological rival, The New York Times, reported...

Buying advertising has become a complicated affair. With so many options these days, marketers have turned to technology to make better decisions on where to place ads. On the Internet, complex algorithms are able to match a brand's desired audience...

Niagara Falls. On the Canadian side of the river families enjoy restaurants, Ripley's Believe It Or Not! and other cheesy attractions, and a bunch of pretty cool waterfall related tourist attractions. In short, it's pretty crowded and is what...

Despite the decades of accumulated equity inherent in the brand, the resounding success the of the original Lego Movie several years ago and a much more recently-released follow-up Batman Lego movie, as well as the usual level of integrated marketing...

Mobile broadband is about to get faster. If that statement sounds like a good opening for a Verizon commercial to you, then you likely watch too much television. the generis intro notwithstanding, high-end provider Verizon Communications will test a faster...

The Golden State Warriors, the Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant-led darlings of the NBA, will move across the bay to San Francisco next year. That's a done deal. And the NFL's Raiders, like a bunch of bikers, are never content with staying anywhere...

Is Canada ready for "Louisiana (Loo-zee-anna) Fast"? The now ubiquitous TV advertising featuring a very likable, Southern-sounding, down homey spokesperson has increased brand awareness and shaped brand attitudes among a large segment of the...