This past week I attended the Cult Gathering marketing conference in Banff, a meeting of CEOs and marketing directors from global cult brand leaders. Cult brands don’t just have customers, they have fans and brand evangelists who do much of their marketing for them through word of mouth online and off, and through earned media and publicity. In fact, most spend very little on … [Read more...]
10 attributes of a social media influencer
Last week I shared some insights about influencer marketing, with examples on how it works in the travel industry, based on my experience at #TBEX in New York state recently. I’ve got part 2 of those thoughts for you this week. Influencers can range from celebrity status with huge broadcast reach of millions, to micro influencers, those with 20,000 – 100,000 followers on … [Read more...]
When mavericks and misfits make millions
I’ve always had an affinity for rule breakers. Call them mavericks or misfits, people who obey the rules selectively, push boundaries where they can get away with it, and have the self confidence to chart their own course, deserve credit for oftentimes shaking up an industry for the better. Among others playing it safe, they’re the disruptors. Regular readers will know I … [Read more...]
Targets and tribes
As many of you know, I advocate regular content creation as a way to boost SEO online, be seen as valuable to your target audience, and remain visible for when they seek solutions. I had an interesting question raised at a recent presentation about creating content for the masses and content for your tribe, and specifically what to use for each audience, and what to keep free … [Read more...]
How media amplifies a message: H&Ms Coolest Monkey PR fiasco
This week H&M learned that racism and marketing don’t go well together. Fueled by the ever-increasing views that only the combination of traditional and online media along with amplification of social media could provide, the brand has become mired in a slew of bad publicity. Earlier this week, H&M was forced to apologize and order a mass withdrawal of stock after … [Read more...]