Marc Sirkin's Mindnumbing Thoughts

I ran across this little blurb in the 10/27/08 issue of BusinessWeek that I found endlessly interesting. People, apparently differ radically on what makes things similar (from a study in Cognition ). As a marketer, this really is fascinating. The study showed that about 50% of ~200 subjects defined similarly in a "categorical way," lumping does with cats because both are animals. The other half though more thematically, meaning that they paired dogs with bones instead for example. The blurb points out a lesson for marketers: if you sell cake online, include "milk' in the search terms you buy! The human mind continues to fascinate.

Here are some of the details of my upcoming seminar/speaking thing. The basic gist is trying to outline the core differences b/w traditional and engagement marketing and then giving some good examples and strategies around both. About Social Media What exactly is Social Media? Social Media is media that users can easily participate in and contribute to, like blogs, message boards, forums, wikis and social networks. It’s dynamic and flexible, thrives on the notion of making connections and brings with it the power of every user on the planet. As marketers, we are used to carefully crafting and honing our key messages and measuring results. Social media turns that scenario upside down. Control is shared by all users, and feedback is immediate. There’s a lot of buzz surrounding social networks these days and companies have been quick to get in on the action by establishing profiles on these web sites to promote their products and services. Online social networks attract millions of users ...