While once doing work for a startup in the music space, I came across a terrific example of artistically impactful user-generated content (UGC): a visually reinterpreted Enimem music video of the hit “Lose Yourself” by a young Swedish Youtuber that goes by the moniker of Tulkas88.

For me, this song is a classic in the “motivational” genre of music (think Rocky’s theme and the like). But I would have never come to this emotional conclusion without watching the Tulkas88 version, as it...
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It occurred to me while driving yesterday that there have been many offline forms of user-generated content (UGC), besides the traditional letter-to-the-editor prototype. For example, a favorite commuter game of mine is to decipher cryptic vanity license plates while traversing heavy traffic in southern California. A visually striking plate that caught my eye was on the car of an Ohio State football fan with the following UGC “message”:



Though UGC is often imperfect, vanity plates are a re...
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I finally gave McDonald’s gourmet coffee a try today and my expectations were met. The flavor of my double latte was on par with Starbucks, while the cost was moderately priced. The reason I post this is that I find McDonald’s strategy to reinvent a portion of its brand offerings to be an important case study. It was a recent Wall Street Journal article on the high pricing of Starbucks that was the final impetus for me to give McDonald’s a try.

(On a side note: The Starbucks exec quoted...
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It would be interesting to poll a large set of marketers regarding their take on the great stimulus package of 2009. Regardless of one’s political and economic leanings, how will any of these programs be effectively measured for real costs and tangible results? Just from a marketing perspective alone, it is a frightening thought to ponder how untrackable these expenditures will be. It would be refreshing and somewhat reassuring, however, if any and all proposed programs would be tested firs...
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I tend to judge the ritually over-hyped Super Bowl ads by two simple aspects: 1) Do they present the advertiser’s value proposition in a clear and positive light?; and 2) Do they intrigue me enough to try or recommend the product or service being advertised?

Conversely, my least favorites are those ads that denigrate their brand image for the sake of laughs and transparently play to members of the advertising industry. I have not watched all of Super Bowl XLIII’s commercials (due to SBAFS ...
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