Most recent blog entries
Redbird Heist? Or Good Guerilla Marketing?
Cuong Dang By Cuong Dang on 2/22/2006 3:10 PM

Who is to say that one of the giants in sport business does not need more brand attention? A local advertising agency, Schupp Co in St. Louis has helped Cardinals with a great caper kicking off the 2006 Season – Redbird heist.

A person calling himself the Bird Napper stole two Birds on the Bat from a local billboard in downtown St. Louis and carried the large Cardinals cutouts Redbird across St. Louis downtown.  He finally showed up at St. Louis Post-Dispatch at 4:30 on Wednesday. The local TV media and St. Louis Post Dispatch all picked up the story.  Here is a quote from the stltoday.com:

Then, a break in the case. Bird Napper had the birds, and he would prove it on Tucker Boulevard downtown in front of the ...

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Backing up....
Henry Kenuam By hkenuam on 2/15/2006 2:33 PM
So what is the Engage Framework?
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Email read and click rates drop considerably in fourth quarter
Marketing Blog Marketing By Brian Schwartz on 1/30/2006

According to BtoBOnline.com, email read and click rates have dropped considerably (22% and 21% respectively) during the 4th Quarter of 2005 compared to 2004, while volume has risen 50%. 

If you're a marketer and your numbers are going down what does this tell you?  Change your approach. 

One consistent theme in the presentations Dan Klein and I give on email marketing is email can be very effective if done properly.  How do you do it effectively?  In my humble opinion, here are the keys:

  • Use compelling creative.  You need a look and content that stands out in the in ...
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Podcasting for B-to-B Newsletters
Marketing Blog Marketing By Brian Schwartz on 1/13/2006

Add another item to the list of things you should try in your email newsletter.  B-to-B Online says you should deliver podcasts to your email newsletter audience. David A. Fish explains in this article why this technology is useful and relevant from your newsletters. If you don't know what podcasting is: Catch up at wikipedia.

Enjoy
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Happy Holidays!!!!
Marketing Blog By Brian Schwartz on 12/30/2005 6:00:00 AM
Happy Holidays from Engage Software
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Dave Chappelle - Viral Marketing or Bad Paranoia
Marketing Blog Marketing By Brian Schwartz on 12/20/2005
The Chappelle Theory is a website that claims that "The Dark Crusaders" a group of powerful african americans who were upset with the content of The Chappelle Show, conspired together to bring this show to an end by using mafia-like scare tactics towards Dave Chappelle.

Interesting how this comes out right before The Chappelle Show 3rd Season finally makes it's debut on Comedy Central.  Is this a 'true' story or is this site just a really well-made, weird, viral marketing piece? 

Todd Jackson at Dead Frog did some easy research and found that the site registrant is weblinc, a web development company with offices in New York and Philadelphia. Weblinc employee Jason Hill has posted the site < ...
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Email Marketing - Best Practices
Marketing Blog Marketing By Brian Schwartz on 12/20/2005
The Email Sender & Provider Coalition has updated their best practice guide.  This guide is in PDF format and provides good information that reputable email providers should strive to uphold. 

Especially helpful is the section that discusses and defines the different opt-in options and provides tips for use of emails from "prior business relationships".

Enjoy!
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Viral Marketing parody at The Onion
Marketing Blog By Brian Schwartz on 12/14/2005 6:00:00 AM
Funny article at The Onion about stealth viral marketing. 

Here's the link. Quoted below

Honestly, this awesome beverage packs such a punch, you'd practically have to pay me not to pretend to talk about it on my cell phone when I'm in earshot of consumers in the coveted 17-34 demographic.

Even if I weren't required by my employer to pull a six-pack off the shelf at my local grocery store while emitting a quiet but distinct "All right!" under my breath just loud enough for the other customers to hear, I'd do it anyway—just for the pleasure of furtively turning people on to this amazing thirst quencher.

In stealth-marketing parlance, this is what is known as "roach baiting," but I prefer to call it "the least I can do."
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Engage Software Name Change
Marketing Blog By Brian Schwartz on 12/14/2005 6:00:00 AM
As you may have noticed, we changed our name from Emerging Technologies Group to Engage Software.  Click here to view the email announcement. 
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Email Marketing Metrics 101
Marketing Blog By Brian Schwartz on 11/29/2005 6:00:00 AM
The only way to judge the success of a marketing tactic is to measure the results. The goal of this article is to give a high-level overview of email marketing metrics and then explain the importance of these statistics.
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