Websites I Could Not Live Without....

Ah Seth Godin, how I adore thee. I have known about Godin for a few years now. One of my former bosses in NYC introduced me to Godin's blog post and I have been addicted on and off ever since. The funny thing with online resources is that I feel like there are some that I check very regularly (say, daily) and some which make it to my top of mind every month or two. While taking Brand Strategy last module I realized that Godin's blog had become one of those sites I would check every month or two...and how I really need to be checking it more often!

I enjoy his blog for a couple of key reasons: 1) I really like his writing style. I'm not going to go as far to say that I'm nearly as cool as Godin is, but in a utopian world I would like to think so. I find his sense of humor and sometimes stream-of-conscious writing style to be great and 2) even if you don't agree with his points of view, one must admit that he is a well-written marketing professional who has written some extraordinary books.

Just the other day he had a post that related creativity to a stretched out sweatshirt. He discussed how people perceive creativity in different ways (for example, creativity for a cop will seem different than creativity for someone who works at IDEO) and how creativity and our views of it change over time. With the visualization of a sweatshirt he explained how creativity needs to be stretched over time, just like a sweatshirt does. I love that. When thinking about myself and creativity I can absolutely look back and think about how my creativity was so clean and new in undergrad, how it absolutely stretched during my first job out of college and living overseas, and how even today while in business school I feel my creativity sweatshirt has gone through the wash multiple times- usually after various courses- and how the sweatshirt has become even more important to me because of it. Some people say Godin has a big ego and writes with a bias, but I personally enjoy his books and his blogpost. Even on days when it's simply a paragraph or two about what's going on in the world around us, I gain something from thinking about it through his lens.

A marketers paradise- thousands of new ideas continuously fed to you through a website. The answer- trendhunter.com. I came across trendhunter while working for a PR firm in NYC. We would go online to look for inspirational ideas, new ways to pitch our clients, general trends in the culture, etc. I feel like it's one of those sites that people "in the know" watch on a regular basis, but the general public doesn't know about it until the site is referenced in the mainstream media, which it is on a somewhat regular basis. It's a great resource to get you thinking about new topics and new ways of thinking about regular ole ho hum items, like how to innovatively market water....how cool is that?!





Surprise surprise, yet another online resource I found while living in NYC. Gothamist is a popular blog in the city and focuses mainly on stories about New York, with a writing style that is definitely edgy and some would say urban, I suppose. Even though I no longer live in NYC, I still like to take a gander at this blog every now and again because it gives an intersting insight into news stories you may see on the national news. And many of the stories have a very tongue-in-cheek slant, which I enjoy compared to reading straight ahead news every single day.

Happy Cows Come from Wisconsin...Not California

Alright. Without coming across as too proud of being from Wisconsin, I feel the urge to vent my frustration regarding the ongoing Real California Milk ad campaign. Yes, the TV commercials are cute, perhaps even slightly funny at times. But the main message- that only happy cows come from California- well that's just plain phooey! For full disclosure one of my former clients was the Wisconsin equivalent to the organization that puts out these "happy cow" ads. Even before I was involved directly with the dairy industry I would have had a strong opinion against these ads. Wisconsin IS America's Dairyland for a reason. Don't they think it's possible that some cows actually enjoy a white winter? I certainly do...

But in all honestly I do think the ads are creative and people seem to be drawn to them. Also, the California Board has done a very nice job of extending the campaign from just TV ads to an entire website full of TV clips, games for kids, and more. Quite the campaign extension, which they have been working with for a couple of years now. It's an interesting perspective to feel like you can actually see the competition gaining ground on you, though. It opens up some different channels that one must look at to gain competitive advantage. There is also the fact that now the competition has gained quite a bit of positive PR and how you should deal with that. I'm just waiting for the day when Wisconsin can properly showcase just how happy its cows are!

One of My Favorite Websites

For years, I have been addicted to checking my daily e-newsletter courtesy of Advertising Age. From working in public relations to advertising, this is one of the top resources I and my colleagues would have subscriptions with- no hesitation. From the columnists (I am particularly fond of Jonah Bloom and Bob Garfield!) to the almost daily 3 Minute Ad Age Video, it's a user-friendly way to keep up-to-date on what's going on in the world of marketing and advertising.

I feel that AdAge.com is one of the most insightful marketing Website resources not only because of its creative staff, but also because it is known in the industry as on of the "go to" places for information. It's also great because readers have the opportunity to post comments to articles, and being able to read the various opinions of marketers across the country (and sometimes globe) can be very eye-opening. The content also stretches the gamut from what Coca-Cola is doing in its next ad campaign to what small ad shops can do to increase revenues in the current economy.