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By Guest Blogger Dr. Bob Deutsch
Brain Sells, Boston
www.Brain-Sells.com

The ubiquitous Lady Gaga is the newest "It Girl" with mega hits, a creative directorship for Polaroid and endorsements for brands like Estee Lauder’s Viva Glam products. But through an anthropologist’s lens, 23 year-old Stefanie Germanotta represents something completely primal, a shamanistic high priestess.

Beyond the torrent of press coverage and her 5.2 million Facebook fans, or "little monsters" as she lovingly calls them, lurks a fascinating back-story. It's not just how Lady Gaga sings and dances to her own beat, like Mic and Astaire, who danced to the melody. Each shaman whether from New Guinea or the Amazon, has an atypical gait and tempo, a reflection of their other-worldliness.

Continue reading "Lady Gaga’s Alchemy: Ageless and Age-Old" »

Posted by John at 4:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hollywood loves remakes, but when it comes to the marketing campaign for Paramount Pictures' "Paranormal Activity," there'll never be an identical do-over, says Amy Powell, executive vice president of interactive marketing strategy and film production. But she expects social media will continue to play a crucial role in creating fervent fans for Hollywood releases. The way she sees it, Twitter and Facebook are already as important to movie marketing as TV spots and trailers. The success of "Paranormal" proves it.

Continue reading "How 'Paranormal Activity' Has Changed Online Movie Marketing" »

Posted by Piet at 3:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This past week saw two brands go head-to-head, and one emerged as a definitive winner and illustrated some real marketing truths to boot. Without further ado:

Winner

Akio Toyoda is the clear marketing winner this week. The third-generation head of the family company reminded anyone who was listening what responsibility to one’s brand means.

First, Toyoda expressed how deeply hurt he was by his defective vehicles:

"As you well know, I am the grandson of the founder, and all the Toyota vehicles bear my name. For me, when the cars are damaged, it is as though I am as well. I, more than anyone, wish for Toyota's cars to be safe, and for our customers to feel safe when they use our vehicles."

Then Toyoda did something that must have made his lawyers crazy (something I don’t think you’d ever see an American CEO do —and that’s not a compliment): he admitted that too-fast growth had distracted the company from its long-time focus on safety and likely resulted in the tragic problems:

Continue reading "John Tantillo’s Winner and Loser of The Week: Akio Toyoda & Congress" »

Posted by John at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What are you supposed to do when Forbes ranks your city as the most miserable in America? Rally city supporters and create a tongue-in-cheek marketing campaign.

Continue reading "Cleveland's Tourism Board Makes the Most of a Miserable Situation" »

Posted by Piet at 9:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I want to take a look at two performance brands this week. Without further ado:

Winner

The pundits can dissect every line and pause of Tiger Woods’ statement Friday, but they’re wrong.

The media didn’t like it because they were cut out of the picture… but this wasn’t a press conference; it was a marketing conference. This wasn’t about the media; it was about Tiger’s fans, his clients and his customers.

Tiger went directly to his Target Market, and from everything I’ve heard, people accepted what he said.

Continue reading "John Tantillo's Brand Winner... And Loser: Tiger Woods and Johnny Weir " »

Posted by John at 9:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)