Karen Swim's Blog (6)

I read an interesting article on BrandChannel, "People Buy Brands Like They Make Friends." The article written by Nichiketa Choudhary explored the various relationships brands have with their customers. You can read the full article here.

Choudhary writes:

"Consumer-brand relationships are less about love and more about friendship.
Just like our friends, bran

… Continue

The 2008 Brandjunkie Survey Results are in and some of the results may surprise you. You can read the survey results here but below are a few excerpts.

When asked to describe themselves as a brand and identify what brand they would be, the top five answers were Apple, Nike, Coca-Cola, Virgin and BMW. Top five brands that respondents would most like to sit next to at a dinner party were Apple, Virgin, Google, Coca-Cola and Nike. When… Continue

I found today's Online Spin blog post of interest. Trying to recap would not do it justice so I have included the full post below. While many online marketers are enthusiastically telling others to join SL, this post offers a contrary opinion (often my favorite kind of opinion!). I have also heard from some professionals who tried SL and did not find it to be a great business driver. I believe the message here as with all marketing tool… Continue

If you say it enough, does it make it true? We tried hard not to use the "R" word. But as we watched the housing market tank, our neighbors losing their homes and jobs and teary eyed stories on Good Morning America there was just no denying it - the US is in a recession.

While we understand what that means on a personal level, what does it mean for your business? How will it impact your branding efforts?

Well some marketers simply make lemonade out of lemons. We're in a recessi… Continue

Social media is hot and businesses are using it to engage customers and ignite viral marketing. The trend makes managing your online identity an essential component to your overall branding strategy. Comments posted to forums, blog posts, profile pages on FaceBook, LinkedIn and even your social bookmarks contribute to how your brand is viewed.

It is worthwhile to give consideration to what you write, text, type, endorse, rate and photograph before hitting the enter key on your keyboard… Continue

Many business owners have lots of questions about hiring a writer. How do you select the right writer? What quality can you expect? What price should you pay? For those who brave the quest for a writer they are often rewarded with wide swings in pricing and experience. In my practice I've been the writer and the person tasked with hiring writing talent so intimately understand the issue from all sides. I've put together a few tips that will help the business owner in need of writing talent. The… Continue