When I first heard of Chatroulette, I quickly dismissed it as nothing more than your average X-rated chat service. While the idea is novel, it’s hard to find the real business value in it on first “spin”, especially considering the amount of lewd content found through the service. However, it has managed to attract the attention of a few major brands — Burger King, Travelocity and French Connection — who are finding unique ways to take advantage of it.

Countdowns on websites can be really cool. They can help build excitement and get people to return on the big day. However, they can be just as annoying if they don’t actually mean anything. If you are going to use a countdown function for an announcement on your online property, then make sure it happens when it is supposed to…

What are your marketing dollars being used for? With budgets being tightened notch by notch over the past 12 to 18 months, many companies are continuing to look for creative ways to save money without the proverbial ‘shooting themselves in the foot’ by cutting their marketing budgets too much. Now I know there are a lot of lists out there telling you what to do, well I decided to take the opposite approach and tell you some of the things we think you shouldn’t do…

Building a good website is more important and in depth than what a lot of people seem to think. It’s about more than just having a presence online – it’s about having a site that provides value and does its job effectively. It’s no different than any other piece of the organization and should be reviewed carefully to make sure it is pulling its weight. After working with a variety of clients using all sorts of different marketing methods, one rule holds true across the board: your website can either …

I’m sure by now you’ve all heard about how Starbucks is testing out a company rebrand. Unlike what I consider to be a corporate rebrand, the company is actually rebranding each store individually to make them appear to be “hometown” coffee shops rather than the international corporate giant shops that they now are. Of course, the new shops will offer some differences other than new names: alcohol, live music, poetry readings, and maybe even a few new manual espresso machines. Already, one store has opened…