Observations

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We publish a newsletter for marketers and other friends when we feel like it -- which is usually 3 or 4 times a year. Observations has been published for about 15 years now and we have recent issues in pdf format. We’d be happy to e-mail you one, or send a hard copy. Contact us if you have a particular interest or if you want to be added to the mailing list. Here are selected recent issues, with the main subjects.


April 2006:  Do-It-Yourself Online Marketing -- the cutting edge of what's going on... online.  Also notes about the value of brand loyalty.

October 2005: Art Posters as Advertising -- Notes on the great advertising posters from 1890 to 1940, and the boom in bicycling around 1900.   Latest from Tom’s Burned Down Bar.

June 2005: Rain, Cold and Price Tsunamis  --  Commentary on “The Great Wave: Price Revolutions and the Rhythm of History” by David Hackett-Fischer. Fun facts about gold, money, drinking and the black plague.

January 2005:  How to hire marketing people  --  Six things to look for if you want to take a marketing group from ordinary to excellent.  Also, some insights into "executive skills" and the "post-factual" society.

September 2004: What We Do When We Do Advertising  --  Definitions of "advertising;"  what the term really means.

May 2004:  What's New?  --  Comments from guest speakers in my creative strategy class about trends they see in current advertising.  Also, thoughts on measuring advertising effectiveness -- or not.

February 2004:  The Advantages of Outsourcing -- tales from the  front lines; unusual outsourcing projects.  Also, political imagery;  the U.S. Navy's first Jounalism school;  "Poet Laureate of Linden Hills"

December 2003:  The True Measure of an Ad  --  how do you measure advertising?  Why does so little advertising get measured?  What can we do about it?  Also, the most powerful statements in business, and a DM campaign with a 9500% ROI (!).

September 2003:  Managing Marketing, part 2 -- more insights into how marketing can drive business strategy.  Also comments on market research, and where "rule of thumb" came from.

July 2003:  Managing Marketing, part 1 -- insights from a graduate class in marketing management.  Also, nominations for the 5th marketing P and a very strange roadside park in Wisconsin.

May 2003:  A Changing Profession? -- comments from guest speakers in my graduate advertising strategy class about the long term effects of the current recession.  Also, the seven deadly sins of web sites.

March 2003:  By The Numbers -- two recent B2B campaigns provide real world data on the effectiveness of direct mail and email marketing.  Also, comments from the new head of the Kellogg School.

January 2003: You Talkin’ To Me? -- why is it that so many advertisers ignore older, richer consumers and target demographics where “the money is not?" Also, are cycles good for us?

November 2002: Nurturing Our Nature -- a report on the 2002 Nobel conference on the roles genetics and environment play on human development.

September 2002: The Death of Branding -- what branding really is about, and what it’s not. Also the latest pearls of wisdom from Tom’s Burned Out Cafe.

June 2002: After the Fall -- comments from marketers about the real effects of 9/11. Also a review of Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point.

April 2002: The Story of O -- an appreciation and commentary on advertising great David Ogilvy and a review of Paco Underhill’s Why We Buy: the Science of Shopping.

March 2002: Advertising in Recessions -- what to do in economic downturns, whether you’re an advertiser or an advertising professional.

May 2001: What’s New? Comments from Class -- selected comments from guest speakers in my graduate class on how new technologies are affecting the business.

February 2001: Waaazzzuupp with Writing? -- is writing getting worse? Or does it just seem that way?

June 2000: The Education Dilemma -- comments from a class on quality and innovation in business and educational organizations.

February 2000: The Play’s the Thing -- how marketing is like acting.

Got a question?  Want to see a copy of Observations? Contact us: wilhide@skypoint.com