Marketers Studio - David Berkowitz's Marketing Blog

The Frosting on Frost

In today's MediaPost piece, I fleshed out a few thoughts started on the blog. If you've been kind enough to enjoy the musings from the Frost & Sullivan event, here's a more deliberate, more coherent roundup (I hope):

"WE'LL EVEN TAKE QUESTIONS ABOUT search engine marketing." That was Jim Waltz, CEO of Conducive Corporation, giving in to the audience mood at Frost & Sullivan's Internet Marketing Strategies Symposium. For no matter what the workshop topic was, presenters and audience members in Phoenix, Ariz. last week for the conference couldn't stop talking about search.

The speakers at the event were unusually open. Whether it was a marketer sharing aggregate customer data or a search engine optimization expert revealing successful tactics while on stage with competitors, Frost & Sullivan presented the most open and honest environment I've encountered anywhere this side of an episode of Dr. Phil.

As always, more at MediaPost.

Frostblog VI: The Podcast is Here, Sort of

I'm trying to podcast the event. Turns out it's not quite as easy as I'd have hoped. Here's a file. It's 57MB. Any help in turning this into a podcast would be most appreciated.

Download 20060127_111110.wav

Update: Checking some info on Yahoo, I realized I had to convert this to MP3. That file's here: Download 1_27_2006_11_11_am.mp3

Frostblog V: Podcast Coming

About to enter a session on analytics, but a quick note of excitement: just recorded my first podcast, which was of the session I moderated. No clue the sound quality yet, but no matter what I'll try to post it this weekend once I figure that out. Thanks to Andy Beal (Fortune Interactive), Scott Delea (Digital Grit), Aaron Shear (SEO Inc), Katherine Craig (Starwood), and Jeff Hollowell (iCrossing) for participating in the session. They made moderating it a cinch; you can't go wrong hosting a conversation with such experienced, quick-thinking folks.

Cache and Carry

A quick break from the Frost & Sullivan coverage: I haven't been as up on the news as I normally like to be, but that didn't stop me from sharing a few thoughts in MediaPost on a new Google ruling. It's all about the cache, baby. And how's this repurposed artwork for a double entendre?

There's also a great series in Wired this month on the feature of Google that I'd link to, but I want to get to F&S early since I'm moderating the first panel this morning. 

Lastly, dinner with the Frost & Sullivan gang was a blast. We were even joined by Lou Seal, the San Francisco Giants mascot. History check: Did Lou come before or after all the gags in Arrested Development?

Meanwhile, I still never blogged about the riveting session on blogging yesterday. More on that later.

Frostblog IV: The 100 Questions of Personalization

One of my favorite sessions was Brian Price from Verizon discussing "Marketing's Balancing Act: Personalization vs. Privacy."

There were 30 or so people in the room, and everyone shared their own questions and issues they're grappling with surrounding personalization. At some point, I'd love to come up with 100 questions/issues/angles on personalization. I can't imagine the list would be too hard to formulate with a bit of time brainstorming. This is more under "angles" - but worth musing on nonetheless:

• Language-based personalization
• Marketers' experiences with various vendors
• Site-side personalization: anonymous vs. registered users
• Shared consumer experiences
• Bridging the offline and online experience
• IP Targeting
• Dayparting
• Privacy issues
• Adhering to best practices
• Cookies
• Government intervention (one audience member envisioned a "Do Not Cookie Me" list)
• Adware/spyware concerns

Plenty more coming.

Frostblog III: Top Ways You kKnow Personalization Has Gone Too Far

During conferences, to keep myself entertained I tend to write a few notes unrelated to the topics at hand. I started to write a Top 10 list about personalization but never wrote a full 10. I've been too wrapped up in this. That never happens.

Anyway, here's the list. Feel free to add your own in comments.

• Nigerian spammers actually know how much is in your bank account.
• Trying click-to-chat for customer support, the rep tells you to zip your fly.
• Your Alpha Bits spell out your PIN # and e-mail password.
• You check a profile on a dating site and a message pops up saying, "Out of your league, compadre!"
• You stumble on a site in a foreign language, run it through an online translator, and discover the site's making fun of you.
• Soon as your goldfish dies, you get an e-mail asking if you want to reorder.
• Websites address you by nicknames your friends called you in sleepaway camp.

Frostblog II: SEM - "The Lazy Man's Option"

This morning, Intuit Inc's Avinash Kaushik lashed out against paid search. It created a bit of a stir in the room, with most of the questions after his talk on measuring online strategies directed at his SEM jabs. Most biting from Kaushik was him calling SEM "the lazy man's option" for marketing.

While I disagree with the extent of his criticism, I see where it's coming from. Here's my take on what's eating him (Avinash, given that you now have the link to my blog, feel free to respond with your own take and continue the conversation):

• Most marketers do not properly measure SEM. It's dangerously easy for the "lazy man," but if you're lazy with paid search, as with any kind of marketing, you won't do it well.
• SEM is a tremendous acquisition tool, but focusing on retention and improving the experience for returning experience to your site can be far more profitable. (SEM can still play a role in retention; more on that another time.)
• Landing pages are hot, but general web design is often neglected, when the latter can be more valuable and cost-effective. I have been a proponent of web design; my first MediaPost column on SEM focused on it. Granted, I tackled the landing page angle. Cut a little slack; it was my first baby.
• More exciting in that conversation on landing pages is the issue of overuse of personalization. I came out swinging against hyper-personalization last April. It's worth revisiting in a future piece.

Much more to write.

Frostblog I: Fidelity, The Media Company

I'm sitting in a session on blogging right now. Fitting that I'm blogging from it - though maybe not best practices.

I'll backtrack a little with the posts to crank these out.

This morning, Ross Ozer from Fidelity Investments discussed podcasting, especially as a way to keep internal parties and clients informed. For instance, before a Fidelity event, he conducted brief interviews with the speakers and then podcasted those in an hour-long chunk to distill the heart of the event for employees who couldn't be there. Other podcasts have been more elaborate, using voice talent and fancy editing.

Here's the big question: when does Fidelity become a media company? A Fidelity podcast is among the top downloads on iTunes. Where does the line between Fidelity end and Kiplinger begin?

Warm Reception at Frost

Soon as I have a few minutes, I'll throw up some blog posts from the Frost & Sullivan event. This morning, someone from Fidelity spoke about podcasting and Intuit lashed out against SEM. I've already come away with 50 column ideas and hundreds of potential blog posts. And it's not even noon of the first day of the symposium.

Bush, Channel Your Inner Geena

I've been meaning to post a couple links from The Madison Avenue Journal, the baby of Tim McHale. In a major coup, he landed Christina Kerley as one of the publication's godmothers.

Want to read an angle totally different than anything else you'll see on the Google vs. Feds flare-up? MAJ contemplates how this would go down if the Commander in Chief had two X chromosomes (ideally just an XX, not an XXY). 

"Google believes its position is living up to its public persona, while the Bush Administration believes they should not take 'no' for an answer," Mr. Berkowitz said. "Right now, it's an intense match on each side and in the media. [If the president was a woman], the public debate and legal positions on each side would be much more diplomatic," he said.

My term for the type of match was a little more vulgar; it's good to know some people in this business have class.

The piece you really need to read is Christina Kerley's interview with Al Ries on divergence. But if I keep blogging about it, I'll miss my flight to Phoenix.