Chrysler Eminem Super Bowl Commercial - Imported From Detroit

I am not a huge fan of Chrysler or Eminem but this commercial brings chills down my spine!





This is a win for Chrysler because they were able to successfully tie in a credible celebrity ambassador with a very relevant vehicle launch. The product in the commercial was secondary to the emotion that it conveyed.

The car looks great, the city looks even better! One of the best commercials I've ever seen, lets go Detroit! I'm rooting for you:)

Valentine's Day Gift Alert: Groupon has $20 for $40 worth of Flowers

Just in time for one of my fav holidays, Groupon has a deal today where you pay $20 for $40 worth of flowers at FTD flowers! One day left to buy and the deal doesn't expire until 6/16/11!

Happy Valentine's Day ladies, click link below:-)

http://www.groupon.com/r/uu3076460

Are You Getting the Verizon iPhone?

After years of anticipation the Verizon iPhone finally hits shelves today! My fellow tweeters, bloggers and FBs have been buzzing all  month about switching from their current service provider to Verizon to join the iPhone clan.

Yahoo! posted a interesting article today entitled "Upgrade Your Life: Reasons to hold off on the Verizon iPhone." The articles raises some challenges that Verizon will face with the iPhone; the strength of their network, lack of international coverage, speed of their 3G data, inability to chat and surf the web simultaneously and the upcoming iPhone 5!

Even with the expected issues and high switching cost of cell phone service there will always be early adopters willing to try the latest hot thing at all costs. I am definitely not in that group when it comes to electronic devices!

Are you picking up your Verizon iPhone today?

XOXO
#TeamEVO

H&M to Launch Online Shopping!!

Gear up Fashionista's!!!  H&M USA (@hmusa) tweeted today that the company will be launching Online Shopping in the US at the end of 2011 or early 2012!! See tweet below:)

"Good morning is an understatement! H&M has decided to have online shopping in the US at the turn of the year 2011/2012! Stay tuned for more."

This is exciting news for people like me who love online shopping and H&M! Their current USA website is a shopping disaster, with only a fews choices of selections to browse.  Thankfully there are H&M's all over Chicago so I don't have to go far to shop til' I drop!

XOXO

*Side note: It's interesting that H&M made the announcement via Twitter without a Press Release! Digital Media is truly changing our communication techniques*

Five Mobile Sites Doing it Well

As the world continues to move away from traditional in-store shopping and into the world of online shopping, fully functional mobile websites are becoming increasingly popular. Ad Age posted a list of retailers who are making huge strides in the mobile shopping arena. (See List Below)

I can remember back in 2008 while working for Chevy, I was so adamant about encouraging our leaders to invest time and money into the mobile platform. Its a smart move and smart marketers are already dominating the space!

Of course my fav retailer Target made the list and online giant Amazon also dominates the mobile shopping space! This season about 11% of online shoppers purchased an item using their mobile device, clearly this is a growth industry!

Five Up and Coming Mobile Sites:

Amazon:
It probably won't come as a surprise that the online giant has a pretty stellar mobile site. It consistently shows up on the list of best-performing mobile sites, with fast response times and consistent availability. Category sections Bestsellers and Deals makes it easy to find products.However, there is some room for improvement. Zappos.com and Diapers.com, both owned by Amazon, have not yet been optimized for a variety of mobile devices.

Crate & Barrel:
Not only does this site look good, but gift buying is made easy with a section dedicated to gift ideas. Within the section, shoppers can sort by price, occasion and recipient. Product detail pages include multiple, clear images, price and reviews. And options include buying the item, emailing the details or adding it to a favorites list. Crate & Barrel is also a perennial favorite for bridal registries, and the mobile site doesn't disappoint on that front. Brides can add items to their registry or manage a registry, while guests can easily locate registries and make purchases.

REI:

Sure, you can shop the latest and greatest in gear and apparel at REI. It's easy to navigate, well organized and pretty to look at. Product detail pages include the option to purchase, add to a wish list or find in store. And, like the e-commerce site, there's a handy section that tells you what people purchasing that item also bought. But what really makes this site special is a expert advice section. It's chock-full of informative, well-written articles on everything from kayaking and triathlons to snowshoeing and travel.

JCPenny:
This department-store retailer's site stands out for its simple design and navigation, as well as easy access to current sales. Shoppers can also find a store, sign up for mobile alerts, track orders and view weekly deals from the site. Select videos, including commercial spots, are also easily accessible. Within categories, shoppers can further filter results.At-a-glance results are packed with information, including an image, original price and sale price, number of reviews and stars indicating the product's customer rating. Oddly, the actual reviews aren't readily available. 

Target:
Not only does Target consistently turns up on Gomez's list of top performing mobile sites, it also makes it easy to save a buck, with Daily Deals and Weekly Ads both featured prominently. Product detail pages are simple but pack a punch, with multiple images, detailed descriptions and customer reviews. And if you're not looking to snag an item right away, there's the option to email or text product details. Target also makes it easy to create and manage lists for future shopping trips. If you add a Target store location to your profile settings, it automatically tells you the aisle where items on your list are located

Do you have any other fav's not listed?

XOXO

Starbucks Celebrates 40 Years!!

For all you coffee lovers, 2011 marks the 40 year Anniversary of Starbucks! As part of their efforts to continuously move forward and transform they have launched a new logo (see their logo progression below.) I personally like the old one much better!

In addition to the new logo Starbucks is also launching a larger 31 ounce drink called the "Trenta" (which means 30 in Italian.) The Trenta will be rolled out in California Feb 1st and Nationally May 3rd. After being successfully tested in a few markets in 2010 the company is confident that consumers will like the new cup size. The "Trenta" will be priced approx. $.50 more than the "Venti."

To learn more about the future of Starbucks, watch the video below!

Drink Up!

XOXO

Happy Dr. Martin Luther King Day!

Happy MLK Day!! I hope everyone does something today to remember and celebrate the legacy of the wonderful, God-fearing, fearless man that we all know as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr!

I know that as an African American woman, Dr. King opened many doors and crossed paths so that I could be able to live out my dreams! I am forever thankful for MLK and our many Civil Rights Activists. My hope is that in the future all business will be closed and take time out to commemorate this special day!

My fav MLK quotes:

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

"Faith is taking the first step, even when you don't see the whole staircase."

"Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted."

"Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

XOXO

Happy New Year!!

BONJOUR!!!! Happy January and New Year to All!!

Yes, I am super late but I rang in the New Year in Paris, France followed by a trip to London, UK! My 2011 started out awesome!

Fortunately (or unfortunately!) I am back to my daily grind; God, family, school and my career! I wish everyone health, wealth, blessings and prosperity in the 2011!

XOXO

Recession What?!?--Top 100 US Advertisers

Ad Age recently posted their top 100 Advertisers for 2010. The CPG companies are dominating the top 5 spots; P&G, Unilever and L'Oreal are one, two and three respectively. My former company General Motors comes in a #4 and my current company Sears Holdings comes in at 43.

Although I work in the Marketing world, it is crazy to see companies spending $8B on Advertising!!! Adding insult to injury GM, who filed for bankruptcy and laid off 200,000 employees, spent 3.27B globally on Advertising.

With all the money spent on Advertising yearly, it is strange that women and minorities are still underrepresented in overall marketing campaigns.

Anywhoo see the full list of companies here!

XOXO

Is Google buying Groupon?

In "Deal of the Day" news...Google is rumored to be buying Groupon for $5-6 Billion!! WOWZA!!

I'm sure Google is interested in the increased advertising reach and the large customer base they would have with the acquisition of Groupon. If Google does buy Groupon how will they change the business model, or will they? Is Groupon being paid what they are truly worth or is $6 Billion too much?

One main  weakness of Groupon is their inability to scale. Since the consumer switching costs for Groupon are so incredibility low, customers can go to whatever deal website they please with no consequence. If Google comes up with a strategy to address this problem, then I think Groupon is a great buy!

Story developing!

Happy Monday!

AOL Has a Brand New Homepage!!

Today AOL launched a super cute new Homepage that is very modern, sleek and clean. The new layout helps the company re-brand their online presence. Although AOL says the Homepage launch is a test and only certain users can see, I hope they go with this layout permanently!

Thoughts on the new Homepage?

7 Companies Effectively Marketing to African American Consumers

This week I stumbled across an article on the Atlanta Post's website discussing Companies who are effectively marketing to African American consumers.  The companies mentioned all have very relevant products/campaign that appeal to Black consumers. (See below.)


McDonalds, MillerCoors and HP are companies who are also doing a great job at diversity marketing and potentially should have been on the list.


Seeing as though the buying power of the African American market is close to $1 Trillion this year, it is a shame that all companies don't make a conscious effort to include "us" in their marketing/communication plans. In my opinion, the lack of African Americans in Marketing Leadership positions contributes to the disparity in consumer marketing plans. Why do you think companies are ignoring opportunities to grow and expand their business?

Ford Motor Company: Throughout the company’s history, Ford has been a mainstay in the Black community. They are present at a number of events, such as the Essence Music Festival and BET Awards. Earlier this year, the company launched two advertising campaigns: the 2011 Ford Fiesta urban market initiative included a program called “Inspired by Color.” This called for people to show how their personal style embodied the colors and features of the new Fiesta. The second initiative is ALL IN, which features videos with key Black executives who played a pivotal role in the company’s revival. See more of Ford’s events and initiatives here.

American Airlines: American Airlines formed an agreement with “The Steve Harvey Morning Show” three years ago to advertise on the radio show and Harvey’s official web site. Recently, airlines launched a social media site dedicated to the ‘Black Traveler’ at blackatlas.com. They’ve also launched a virtual museum that explores the history of African-Americans in aviation from pre-civil rights to the present.

Proctor & Gamble: Realizing that Black woman spend three times more of their disposable income on beauty products, P&G jumped in and launched “My Black is Beautiful” three years ago. The MBIB marketing campaigned has evolved into a national discussion on how Black women define their beauty. Now, it includes a cable television show, a website, a Facebook page with more than 55,000 members, endorsements by African American celebrities and special events held in cities nationwide.

Home Depot: To appeal to African American female homeowners, Home Depot put a twist on ‘Girls’ Night Out’ this past summer. Instead of heading to the mall or the club, women could head to Home Depot to get how-to tips on home projects such as painting and applying tile. Earlier this year, the home improvement company offered a $150,000 grant program for on-campus improvement projects at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Verizon Communications: This history should work in Verizon’s favor since Blacks talk and text more than any other race. According to data from Nielsen, Blacks average more than 1,300 minutes a month texting and talking. Verizon is praised for its commitment to employee diversity, as proven by the many diversity lists they’ve landed on. According to the company, African Americans make up 20 percent of their workforce and nearly 24 percent of new hires. They’ve awarded more than $28 million in grants supporting programs and nonprofits that benefited Black communities through their philanthropic division, the Verizon Foundation.

Wells Fargo & Company: Though they’ve acquired Wachovia, which was deeply rooted in the Black community in the southeast, Wells Fargo has been determined to continue that relationship with African-Americans. A few months ago, Wells, known as the nation’s largest lender to small businesses, collaborated with the National Black MBA Association for the fourth year in a row to honor African American entrepreneurs.

Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.: Home to news network CNN and entertainment networks such as TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, Turner Broadcasting has been providing a block of programming that’s attracted African American viewers over the last few years. This includes, of course, Tyler Perry of “House of Payne” and “Meet the Browns;” Ice Cube of “Are We There Yet?” and Aaron McGruder of “The Boondocks.”

Thoughts?

5 Tips for using Facebook to Enhance your Brand

Today Mashable (via Buddy Media) posted 5 great tips for brands looking to better position themselves online. A few of the features listed I'd already heard about while others are new. Hopefully you can find value in the tips too!
 
1. Facebook Photos
Facebook Photos are likely a much overlooked brand utility. In recent weeks, the social network has added a slew of photo enhancements that Page owners should become keen on.

Especially of note is the ability to upload hi-res photos up to 2048 pixels wide or high. In combination with the lightbox interface and the removal of pagination (all album photos appear on a single page), photos now really pop on the world’s largest social network.

For marketers and brands, these upgrades offer huge opportunity; you can now use Facebook’s magnified photo product to better engage brand fans. Take a look at Travelocity’s Facebook photos for a prime example of this strategy done right. The brand employs its iconic Roaming Gnome in photo spreads — that are then posted straight-away to Facebook — every chance it gets.

2. Online Focus Groups
Facebook recently introduced a New Groups feature for private, even secret, one-to-many communication channels. New Groups are like mini Facebooks — but with group chat and document uploading — which make them ripe for intelligent brands and marketers to employ to their advantage.

We’re not suggesting you run out and invite random Facebookers to join your group — that’s a terrible idea. But, we do see potential for several practical use cases, especially given that most social networkers call Facebook their online home.
Here’s a few that come to mind:

1. Consumer Review Groups: Instead of hosting customer or product feedback sessions via your own tools, invite members to participate in private group sessions via the New Groups. It’s a win-win for both parties because participants will feel more at home in a familiar environment, which may make them more likely to participate and provide higher quality feedback. These groups won’t replace market research efforts (for bigger brands anyway), but they could help you glean insight in a much faster and more intimate fashion. 
2. Event Groups: If you host networking events, conferences or seminars, consider letting participants know prior to, or following, the event that you’ve created a group for further discussion. 
3. Live Chats: As noted above, New Groups feature group chat. Brands and marketers that maintain groups should consider inviting company figureheads to participate with customers and fans in live group chats. You could either schedule live chats or have a recognizable personality drop in unannounced.

Any marketers or brands employing these strategies need to remember to respect the online boundaries of Facebook members. As such, we’d recommend not inviting customers to join a group without their express permission.

3. Facebook Poll Options
Facebook Questions is another new product from the social network that can be molded into the perfect tool for brands and marketers.

The Q&A product lends itself to Page owners, who can respond to questions as their business (versus responding as an individual). Page administrators can also post questions directly to their Pages, with the activity also showing up in the News Feeds of your Facebook fans. Clearly, Questions can be a marketing tool for soliciting organized feedback in a way that also exposes the business to larger audiences, should fans post and share their answers.


4. Facebook Places
If your place of business has a physical store, then your job as a marketer is to improve foot traffic. Facebook Places is a potential digital tool for creating a tangible connection between your online profile and your offline venue.

Your goal, by and large, should be to inspire in-store customers to share the “I was here” message with a place checkin that gets distributed to their Facebook friends and posted to your Place Page. You’ll want to start by claiming your Place Page — one is automatically created once a Facebook member checks in to a venue. You can then encourage checkins via in-store signage or special checkin-themed events.
Loopt and SCVNGR also offer deep Facebook integration with the potential to loop location activity on those services back to your Place Page, as well as bring Facebook checkins to their apps’ audiences. You’ll certainly want to explore what these apps can do for your venue, but distribution and visibility are key here.

Right now, there is a clear disconnect between Facebook Pages and Place Pages, but we suspect that the two entities will eventually merge into one single page. Once this happens, you’ll have even greater potential to turn fans into venue advocates and vice versa.

5. Just "Like" It!

“Likes” aren’t exactly new to Facebook, but they are becoming increasingly more important buttons to brands and marketers. The more you can encourage fans and would-be fans to “Like” your Page and updates, the more distribution you’ll get. Distribution is nothing to scoff at either, especially given a recent partnership between Bing and Facebook that surfaces Facebook “Likes” in search results.

There are a number of creative ways to solicit “Likes,” one of them being the more passive approach of posting stellar content that inspires action. You can also integrate “Like” buttons into your website, should you wish to complete the circle between Facebook and your business site. This might be a wise move considering “Likes” are proving great at generating referral traffic.
More aggressive “Like” tactics mixed with a little old school marketer know-how have been known to work as well.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month!!!

OMG I can't believe I forgot to write a post about Breast Cancer Awareness Month!

In case you didn't already know, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  During this month I encourage you participate in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in your area, donate money to the organization or purchase "pink" products as a way to give back to the cause!

Brands like Dannon, Sun Chips, Yoplait and Betty Crocker all have products in stores that support breast cancer research. No matter who you are; what race, nationality, culture or religion cancer does not discriminate!

Ladies please make sure to visit your OBGYN for yearly breast exams and you can do  monthly self checks on your own! (Especially if you are over the age of 40) Early detection is the key to beating the disease.

Breast Cancer Facts:

• In 2009, an estimated 192,370 women in the United States were diagnosed with invasive breast cancer and about 40,600 
• An estimated 19,540 new cases of breast cancer are expected to occur among African American women in 2009 
• African American women have a five year survival rate of 77% after diagnosis as compared to 90% for white women 
• Breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death among African American women, surpassed only by lung cancer

XOXO

Jay-Z and Microsoft Bing Partner for Social Media Campaign

Everyone that knows me knows I AM HUGE Jay-Z FAN!!

He is seriously one of the best rappers, performers, business men and entertainers EVER. In lieu of his new book launch "Decoded" which will be in stores December 16th, Bing has decided to partner with him to promote their "Bing Maps" platform. Bing created a contest where fans can find/view pages from Jay Z's new book by logging onto www.bing.com/jayz. Each page is placed somewhere in 15 cities around the world and fans can find clues to where the pages are.

Bing is using Facebook Connect to promote the contest on both Bing's and Jay-Z's Facebook page. With this program their objective is to obviously encourage the young urban demographic to use Bing Maps. I'm not sure if it will work but Jay-Z is a great person to be associated with.

Bonus: Below is a Video (taken by me) from Jay-Z's concert last year at Eastern Michigan University.

Enjoy!

Does anyone like GAP's new Logo?

This week Gap launched a brand new logo (see image above) that sparked public outrage via Blogs, Twitter and other social networks. The new logo is supposed to give a more cutting edge, modern look and feel.

Launching new logo's is nothing new to large American brands; Pepsi, Coca-Cola and GM, just to name a few have all launched redesigned logo's in the past decade. Anytime a company tries to re-brand itself by updating a logo it seems to always raise the question as to why?

When you look at the comparison of new logo vs old logo, I actually think it looks pretty good. Clearly I am the only person who thinks so! (See Twitter reaction below) Since the old Gag logo is so recognizable, classic and sheek I don't understand what would make the executives think it was a good decision to it. Publicity stunt eh?

Your thoughts?

XOXO

End of An Era: Blockbuster to File for Bankruptcy

According to the WSJ; and other credible news sources, Blockbuster is currently preparing to enter a Chapter 11 bankruptcy process. This comes after months of speculation about their inability to compete with rival substitute products such as Netflix and Redbox.

Instead of changing their business model and looking for ways to innovate, Blockbuster finds themselves behind in an industry that has passed them by. Innovation is such a key to winning in a competitive marketplace. Companies should give employees the power to come up with ideas for continuous improvement; Google and Toyota are both examples of amazing companies who use employees to foster innovation.

It is also important to constantly assess your industry using tools like Porters Five Force analysis. If Blockbuster had assessed their industry semi-annually or yearly maybe they would have came up with the Redbox model first; as opposed to copying the model once they recognized the threat.

Although Chapter 11 is not the end-all for some companies, MOST never recover! I'll be watching to see how this situation turns out!

XOXO

I'm competing in a MBA Case Competition!

Yes! I'm still here...

I know my blog posts have been scarce lately, the main reason being that school has now started; I have two classes this semester and I am competing in the first ever Case Study Competition for the National Black MBA Association, Chicago Chapter!!

The competition is Oct. 1st at UIC and the prize is a $9,000 scholarship for the winning team! Below are some tips that have helped my team and I along our pursuit...

   1. Know the case backwards and forwards before you begin your case study analysis.

   2. Give yourself enough time to write the case study analysis. You don't want to rush through it.

   3. Be honest in your evaluations. Don't let personal issues and opinions cloud your judgement.

   4. Be analytical, not descriptive.

   5. Proofread your work!

XOXO

Twitter Launches Redesigned Website

Evan Williams, CEO of Twitter announced via Twitter (how cool) that the company will re-launch their website to be a "faster, easier, richer way to discover what's new in the world."

The new interface adds multi-media into the online Twitter feed-an enhanced sidebar that displays images, video and user profile information without leaving your news stream, as well as updating the look and feel to be more in line with Twitter apps. (See image above)

I have mixed feelings on an updated Twitter website. Part of me agrees with a redesign because the existing website is terrible-everything from layout, to design and user friendliness currently sucks! In fact mobile Twitter apps are far easier to use than the current website.

But I think Twitter should keep site updates/versions to a minimum. They should take note from their competitor Facebook, that new is not always better. Every since the last Facebook redesign (maybe 6-8 months ago) I hardly ever visit the site!

If you're one of the people who've tested the new Twitter site let me know what you think!

XOXO

Redbox Celebrates its Billionth DVD Rental with Free Movies!

This past weekend Redbox, DVD rental kiosk, rented its 1 billionth movie. To celebrate this accomplishment, Redbox is giving away free rentals for the rest of the month! Visit www.redbox.com/thanks to obtain a promotional code for one free rental per customer.

“One billion rentals is an incredible milestone as Redbox has quickly become the local video store for millions of consumers nationwide,” said Redbox president Mitch Lowe. “Our popularity is a testament to our consumers’ loyalty and our steadfast commitment to making movie rentals affordable and convenient for our consumers.”

I LOVE Redbox!!! And if you haven't heard, they are launching Blu-ray rentals for $1.50 to 23,000 kiosks this fall! Their business model is truly innovation at its finest. Cheers to Redbox!

XOXO