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With more than three years of history in The Marketing Spot Blog archives, it’s fun to look back and see what was on the radar screen. As we get set for September 2010, let’s step into the time machine and see what was on our minds the past three Septembers.
September 2007 on The Marketing Spot
In September 2007, I asked Is Radio Advertising Dying? My opinion was that it was a slow death, but that radio advertising was still a viable option. How do I feel three years later?
About the same, there is still a place for radio advertising in your advertising budget if you are trying to reach active, mobile consumers. In fact, radio advertising revenue will climb 5.1% this year, it’s first growth in three years.
I remember a radio friend telling me a couple of years back that he thought satellite radio would kill broadcast radio. That turned out to be a wrong prediction (I’m not listening to him any more) but I think there is something on the horizon that will seriously hurt broadcast radio: the internet. Specifically internet access in your car.
You can sort of do it now with your iPhone; sync your iPhone to your car’s sound system and you can stream Pandora radio into your car. It’s just a matter of time before cars come equipped with standard internet access. When that happens, I think you will see broadcast radio advertising revenue dip significantly.
September 2008 on The Marketing Spot
In September 2008 I wrote a series of articles on Fearless Marketing including my most popular feature for that month: Fearless Marketing Tactic: Wear A Black Cocktail Dress. It’s hard to believe that was two years ago! I remember the night that inspired that post like it just happened. Where does the time go?
But of course, in September 2008, we were in the heat of the U.S. presidential race. Both political parties had recently finished their national conventions and chosen their Vice Presidential Candidates. While I stay out of politics on this blog, I decided to weigh in on the branding aspects of the campaign.
My immediate reaction after the Republican convention of 2008 was that McCain Clarified his Brand as that of a maverick by choosing Sarah Palin as his running mate. The week before I suggested that President Obama had Muddled his brand of change by choosing Washington insider Joe Biden as his running mate. If you will remember, after the conventions, McCain had pulled almost even with Obama in the polls. I had always intended to run a follow-up post after the election, so I guess this is it. What happened in that election? Did branding not play a part?
I think it did. Ultimately, Obama’s brand of change won out because the historic change of electing America’s first African-American President far outweighed the choice of Biden to be vice president. Then there’s the issue of McCain not living up to his brand of being a Maverick. In fact, he sat at the same table with Barack Obama and President Bush to push the so-called “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008.” He and Obama both signed the same bill, obliterating any notion that McCain was a Maverick.
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Maverick? McCain and Obama at the same table. |
September 2009 on The Marketing Spot
2009 was a pretty good September on The Marketing Spot Blog. I produced my very first Marketers Roundtable podcast, still the most listened-to episode of the series. The most popular article of the month was my list of the Best Small Business Marketing Ebooks. And I was very excited about my speaking schedule preview because of an impending international gig in Seoul, Korea, which turned out to be an awesome experience.
But what jumps out at me from last September was a guest post written by Bill Schley called Micro-Scripts: A Big Marketing Lesson for Small Business in the Health Care Debate. Bill has since written a book called The Micro-Script Rules: It’s not what people hear, it’s what they repeat, scheduled to be published in October. I have read an advance copy of the book and it is excellent. You’ll soon see an article about it here on the blog. Bill Schley has also agreed to be a guest on my upcoming free word-of-mouth webinar, Creating Conversation: Taming the Three-Headed Messenger, which will be officially announced on this blog in a few days.
What’s in Store for September 2010?
Of course, I never know until I actually write the articles, but I’m planning some stuff on Transformational Branding; a preview of my presentation at Optimization Summit in a few weeks. Plus, I’ll publish an updated list of the Best Marketing Ebooks. If you have a free marketing ebook available online, send me a note.
Finally, if all goes according to plan, I will announce my new online learning course for entrepreneurs. I’ve been working diligently on it this past month and hope to release the branding module in September.
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