Marketers, it’s getting harder to pretend your audience isn’t using Facebook.

Facebook announced today that it has reached the 500 million user mark. That’s half a million users in six years. Put another way, that’s the population of the United States, Japan and Germany…combined.

The most visited site on the Internet has marked the occasion by showcasing Facebook stories, tales of how some of its users have been impacted by using the social network.

At brainwoo, we have a different way of marking the occasion. We’ve compiled Facebook case studies across five industries (Retail, Healthcare, Tourism, Financial and Non-Profit) to showcase what to do – and what not to do – when trying to connect to your piece of Facebook’s half billion users. ...read the rest of this post»

It has been 68 days since I first wrote about the BP oil leak.  At the time, I thought it would be a quick fix and BP would be tested in their crisis management for a few days.  As it turned out, this has redefined crisis management and corporate identity protection/destruction.  Never before has a company had to be on guard for so long, never before has an organization had to redefine the landscape and the message more times than BP has over the last three months....read the rest of this post»

Interesting article on the acronymization of established brands. Not a new trend necessarily (FedEx and others have been doing it for years), but there's definitely been an uptick lately. In fact, just the other day I got in trouble for saying "Chevrolet" instead of "Chevy." Read the whole thing as they say and let us know your POV.

In my last few blog posts, I’ve discussed the idea of city branding and why it’s important for all cities. Now that you have a good grasp on the concept of place branding, I’d like to share with you another series of blogs on the topic, which will feature a few of the cities that have gotten it all right. I’m sure it will come as no surprise to you that the first city I’d like to feature is the one and only, New York City (NYC).
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It used to be that the hardest thing about turkey hunting was locating the bird and bagging it. But these days the biggest challenge seems to be finding that perfect piece of hunting equipment. Whether it's Mossy Oak or Realtree, Remington or Browning, Rocky or LaCrosse; hunters across America have a deep affinity for “their” brands.
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Came upon the scene
As fresh as Listerine
Shoeless Joe From Hannibal Mo! 
--  From “Damn Yankees”

When it comes to blown opportunities, Major League Baseball’s marketing team continues to be the overwhelming leader in professional sports.  It’s not even close. The latest example of a colossal failure to take advantage of a much-needed opportunity comes Tuesday night when baseball presents its “Midsummer Classic,” the all-star game.
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Moms are having their day in the social media spotlight, and rightfully so. The number of moms using social media has increased from 11 percent in 2006 to 63 percent in June of 2010. Forty-four percent of moms use social media for recommendations on brands and products, and 73 percent trust online communities focused on their specific interests (such as parenting) to find information about products and services.

Of course, the word "mom" doesn’t describe just one consumer. Moms cross all demographic boxes, and can’t easily be generalized.

Babycenter.com, an online parenting community, recently released a study that broke social media moms into two categories, and five segments within those categories:

Influencers...read the rest of this post»