by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC
A job so cool, you even get a bitchin' hat.
Talk about truth in advertising: this really is a dream job.
Murphy-Goode Winery in Sonoma County, California, is offering one lucky applicant a six-month gig to be their “social media whiz.” The job involves blogging/posting/tweeting/videotaping the winery, its products, the lifestyle and the surrounding community… (more…)
Categories: Case Studies
Tagged: branding, buzz marketing, careers, contests, jobs, Murphy-Goode, social media, viral marketing, Web 2.0, wine
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC
How do you say "potentially addictive" in Korean?
I just waited an hour-and-a-half in line for a taco.
Make that 97 minutes for four tacos and two burritos, to be exact. I had started out wanting only a bite from the legendary Kogi Korean BBQ taco truck, but by the time I made it to the front of the line, I was hungry for more and had to justify my adventure.
There’s great marketing at work for ya… (more…)
Categories: Case Studies
Tagged: buzz marketing, food, Kogi, L.A., Los Angeles, marketing, nouveau food, Poquito Mas, restaurant review, social media, taco trucks, Twitter, word of mouth
Why? Why? Why?
Raise your hand if you’ve heard of Versus… Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
Apparently, not too many people know about the small sports network, which I personally appreciate for bringing me football games from the PAC-10 and the Ivy League. Where else would I be able to catch the Harvard-Cornell game in L.A.?
Obviously, Versus wants more than us middle-aged marketing geeks. So in an effort to generate awareness, Versus is asking for more than a show of hands. They’re literally asking people to “Show Me Your V.”
Really. (more…)
Categories: Case Studies
Tagged: advertising, branding, buzz marketing, controversy, marketing, sports, television, TV, UGC, user generated content, Versus
Here’s how to exploit the Super Bowl without spending the $3,000,000 for a 30-second commercial… (more…)
Categories: Media News
Tagged: marketing, viral marketing, media, buzz marketing, Super Bowl Single Girl, Amy Borkowsky, publicity stunt, press, Super Bowl, single women
Where's that buzz coming from?
I recently had lunch with an entrepreneur to discuss her marketing problems. She had launched her company with a PR campaign, and the initial results were spectacular, with major media coverage and a torrent of traffic to her site… But that torrent dried to a trickle as the press and consumers lost interest. In just a couple of years her company had become “old news.” Since her operations were now sucking up all of her available cash, she wanted a low-cost marketing option, and she called me to discuss this viral marketing thing… (more…)
Categories: Case Studies · How To Tips
Tagged: advertising, business, buzz marketing, John Cornwell, lonelygirl15, marketing, Metacafe, Miller Lite, public relations, publicity, Robotic Beer Launching Refrigerator, strategy, viral marketing, viral video, word of mouth, YouTube
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder & Fusion Director, Atomic Tango LLC
“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.” — Abraham Lincoln
“There’s an old saying in Tennessee — I know it’s in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can’t get fooled again.” — George W. Bush
“Beware of geeks bearing grifts.” — Cool Rules Pronto
Phineas Taylor Barnum was the consummate 19th Century showman and one deceptive bastard… (more…)
Categories: Case Studies
Tagged: advertising, branding, buzz marketing, Cliff Freeman, con artists, Crispin Porter Bogusky, Cyberian Outpost, Facebook, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, GoDaddy, Hollywood, integrated marketing, marketing, Monica Rockle, online advertising, Outpost.com, PT Barnum, strategy
American Apparel CEO Dov Charney acts like he’s missing his calling. The controversial and flamboyant entrepreneur could parlay his promotional genius and predilection for the prurient to become one hell of a porn producer. (The San Fernando Valley, the porn capital of the world, is just over the hill from American Apparel’s headquarters.) It would certainly suit his notorious lifestyle…
Categories: Case Studies
Tagged: advertising, American Apparel, bad publicity, branding, business, buzz marketing, Dov Charney, fashion, Hollywood, image, Los Angeles, marketing, Penelope Cruz, sex, sex sells, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, viral marketing, Woody Allen
Dear Monica Rockle:
I got an invite to your “Psychology Marketing Project” on Facebook. (Note: Facebook has since removed this “Project.” Too bad.) And as someone who professionally conducts and teaches marketing I have to hand it to you: pretty damn clever…
Categories: Case Studies
Tagged: advertising, buzz marketing, Facebook, marketing, Monica Cook, Monica Rockle, networking, online marketing, social networks, viral marketing, Web 2.0
Time for a little viral study.
A friend sent me this image that supposedly tests how right-brained or left-brained you are (click on her to make her spin)…
Categories: Case Studies
Tagged: buzz marketing, optical illusion, viral marketing, viral video
A Flash-based website is like a supermodel date: awesome to look at, but after a while, you’ll just want someone who can carry on a conversation…*
Categories: How To Tips
Tagged: Adobe, blogging, buzz marketing, design, Flash, Google, HEMA, Marketing 2.0, search engine optimization, SEO, web design
"Common sense is the little man in a gray suit who never makes a mistake at addition, but it's always someone else's money he's adding up."
- Raymond ChandlerLet's hear it for uncommon sense: that inner itch that inspires you to stray from the herd, ditch the training wheels and leap into the fast lane. As we all know, it's the risk takers who get their faces on the cover of Wired magazine and their words on National Public Radio. No one ever remembers who won "honorable mention"...
Cool Rules Pronto celebrates uncommon sense in marketing and media. It's written by Freddy J. Nager, the Founder & Fusion Director of the L.A.-based marketing agency and production company Atomic Tango. For Cool Rules Pronto, he draws on two decades of experience in advertising and entertainment, including 15 years in new media. He has created campaigns and projects for agencies Saatchi & Saatchi and Magnet Interactive, and for such clients as Toyota, MCA Records, National Lampoon, Nissan & Infiniti, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, the NFL on Fox and numerous startups.
Freddy also serves on the Board of Directors of City Garage Theatre in Santa Monica, California. He holds a BA from Harvard University and an MBA from USC (go Trojans!), and currently teaches marketing through Antioch University L.A. and the University of Wales/Robert Kennedy College. He also wrote the satirical book, Claw Your Way To The Top: Ten Things I Learned About Business From My Cat, which he'll get around to marketing someday.
