Social Media is creating an environment where every company can be it's own media company. I've put together a post on my blog with ideas on how marketers can connect more effectively with their customers by thinking like media companies. And, of course, it references Bob's book!  Blog post is "How Smart Marketers Think Like Media Companies."

Would love to hear everyone's thoughts…

This is not a scratch-the-surface post from End Result Marketing--but still fun. It discusses the marketing implications of new brain research. It also highlight's Bob Gilbreath's new book, Marketing with Meaning.

http://bit.ly/newmarketingbrainresearch

What theories of human motivation do you base your marketing on?

Solving the bra color Facebook puzzle
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/story-lab/2010/01/solving_the_bra_color_facebook.html

Was anyone else just as stumped as I was about last week’s Facebook color updates? I for one was commenting on every girl’s status update left and right, asking what red, blue, beige, or black meant. What was so significant about these colors? Granted I was quite curiou…

A recent study corroborates that white papers are growing in importance, and most marketers aren't delivering. This post from the Nurture Marketshare Network Mindshare Blog discusses ways to make educational promotion more effective, why white papers work and reasons for the disconnection in what marketers are putting out.

How do you use white papers or how-to promotion?

Deloitte LLP’s Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) practice has recently released the results of the 2009 Tribalization of Business Study, which evaluates the perceived potential of online communities and identifies how enterprises believe they may better leverage them.

There is an emphasis on customer-centricity, relationship-building and actually redefining the boundaries of corporations to deepen their engagement with online communities. Companies are not getting what they want…

A nice new example of marketing with meaning...

http://adage.com/article?article_id=139524

Check out Pete Blackshaw's review of "The Next Evolution of Marketing" AdAge. http://su.pr/31AU9U

A few hospitals across the country are introducing Twitter updates during operations. Families/friends can receive up-to-the-minute details of the procedure from home, the office, or a laptop in the waiting room.

This type of service might tip the scales for folks deciding between hospitals for a major surgery (or a minor one for that matter). These hospitals are building relationships by increasing transparency.

http://tinyurl.com/me3fbq

As of April 2009, Nationwide allows drivers to document an accident and submit a claim via mobile. Once a driver starts the app and indicates that an accident has occurred, he or she can choose to contact local authorities and emergency services. A series of prompts allows drivers to take pictures of the damage at the accident scene, enter license plate numbers and insurance information, and record the exact scene of the accident using the iPhone’s built in GPS. There’s…

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1) Brief Summary of Article
2) How It Pertains to Marketing with Meaning
3) Link to News Article

Marketing expert, Seth Godin's free manifesto, "Brainwashed: Seven Ways to Reinvent Yourself" is an excellent, quick read that charges us to "Do Work that Matters." 

Brand/Company: Lexus RiverCenter / Findlay Market Vendors
Agency: Unspecified
Campaign/Event: Lexus RiverCenter’s Indoor Hybrid/Organic Farmers Market
Release Date: 2009

Objective
To promote Lexus Hybrid models to a unique customer base that shares the same vision of “Healthy-Green and Eco Living”.
Description
Lexus RiverCenter launched the all new 2010 Lexus HS250 Hybrid to a targeted group of consumers by hosting an indoor Organic Farmer…

Please include:
1) Brand
2) Agency
3) Campaign
4) Launch Date
5) Objective
6) Description
7) Why Meaningful
8) Results
9) Links

Brand/Company: Nike and iPod
Agency: Unspecified
Campaign/Event: Nike+
Release Date: 2006

Objective
To heighten brand interaction among the brand’s core customer base via a unique online application combined with an innovative new product.

Description
Nike, in conjunction with Apple, introduced Nike+, a shoe with technology that works in conjunction with a runner’s iPod to provide updates on pace and miles run, along with words of encouragement. Nike+ features iPod sync technolog…

Brand/Company: Burger King
Agency: Crispin Porter + Bogusky
Campaign/Event: Subservient Chicken
Release Date: April 8, 2004

Objective
To increase sales of its chicken sandwich while building on the hip, retro, tongue-in-cheek equity of the Creepy King campaign.

Description
subservientchicken.com featured a mock webcam feed of a man in a chicken suit responding to more than 300 commands typed in a text box, including “peck ground” and “walk like an Egyptian.”

Why It Was Meanin…

Brand/Company: Dove
Agency: Ogilvy Toronto
Campaign/Event: “Evolution”
Release Date: October 6, 2006

Objective
To provide women and girls with a positive message that would inspire consumers and build on the equity of the already-successful Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.

Description
Dove used viral marketing to leverage its Campaign for Real Beauty in a time-sped video called “Evolution.” The video dramatized the process beauty-product advertisers go t…