Never a Lack of Ideas

2026 Super Bowl Ads: Match the Celebrity Endorsers

2026-02-08T21:43:00.005-06:00

For the 14th year in a row, I created a quiz immediately after the Super Bowl about the Big Game’s ads. As is the case every year, many brands invested in celebrity endorsements. But the definition of “celebrity” is certainly evolving. We saw Hollywood stars and Internet celebrities featured in ads. Can you match these celebrities with the brands they endorsed during Super Bowl LX?

Take the quiz and leave your score in the comments, below.

testmoz.com/15182652

2025 Super Bowl Ads: Match the Celebrity Endorsers

2025-02-09T21:50:00.005-06:00

For the 13th year in a row, I created a quiz immediately after the Super Bowl about the Big Game’s ads. As is the case every year, many brands invested in celebrity endorsements. Can you match these celebrities with the brands they endorsed during Super Bowl LIX?

Take the quiz and leave your score in the comments, below.

testmoz.com/14290672

2024 Super Bowl Ads: Match the Celebrity Endorsers

2024-02-11T21:56:00.004-06:00

For the 12th year in a row, I created a quiz immediately after the Super Bowl about the Big Game’s ads. As is the case every year, many brands invested in celebrity endorsements. Can you match these celebrities with the brands they endorsed during Super Bowl LVIII?

Take the quiz and leave your score in the comments, below.

testmoz.com/13452824

2023 Super Bowl Ads: Match the Celebrity Endorsers

2023-02-12T22:41:00.004-06:00

For the eleventh year in a row, I created a quiz immediately after the Super Bowl about the Big Game’s ads. As is the case every year, many brands invested in celebrity endorsements. Can you match these celebrities with the brands they endorsed during Super Bowl LVII?

Take the quiz and leave your score in the comments, below.

testmoz.com/12539316

2022 Super Bowl Ads: Match the Celebrity Endorsers

2022-02-13T23:33:00.003-06:00

For the tenth year in a row, I created a quiz immediately after the Super Bowl about the Big Game’s ads. As is the case every year, many brands invested in celebrity endorsements. Can you match these celebrities with the brands they endorsed during Super Bowl LVI?

Take the quiz and leave your score in the comments, below.

testmoz.com/11578376

2021 Super Bowl Ads: Match the Celebrity Endorsers

2021-02-07T22:52:00.003-06:00

Another Super Bowl, another year in which a ton of celebrities appeared in big game ads. In what has become a Scarpino family tradition (the kids even get involved now!), I made a Super Bowl ad quiz. Can you match these celebrities with the brands they endorsed during the Super Bowl?

Take the quiz and leave your score in the comments, below.

testmoz.com/8048988

Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving?

2020-07-26T22:12:00.003-05:00

I’m thrilled to announce that I have written a children’s book called Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving? And my grandmother, Marlene Turner, did the fabulous illustrations for it!

Back Story

Many years ago, Marlene Turner (my Grandmother) painted “Hurkey the Turkey" to serve as a Thanksgiving decoration. Little did she know how much her family would love the painting. In fact, I love it so much that I said I would write a book about Thanksgiving if Gram would illustrate it with drawings of Hurkey. At the age of 86, Turner drew the illustrations you see in the book to go along with my story.

No Kid Hungry

Grandma and I decided to donate all profits from sales of the book — every cent! — to No Kid Hungry. This organization’s mission is to ensure that no child in America goes hungry. Since our book is about Thanksgiving, we thought supporting No Kid Hungry was more than appropriate.

Now Available

We invite you to consider leaving a review of the book wherever you acquired it.

Independent Reviews

If you're looking to give a review of the book on your own media channel, here are the basics; use any of these resources as you'd like:

Title: Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving?
Written by: Nicholas Scarpino
Illustrated by: Marlene Turner
Self-Published by: Little Shoe Publishing
List Prices: $19.99 (hardcover), $12.99 (paperback), and $2.99 eBook
Categories:

Juvenile Nonfiction > Holidays & Celebrations > Thanksgiving
Juvenile Nonfiction > Social Science > Customs, Traditions, Anthropology

Paperback ISBN: 978-0-9891334-2-5
Hardcover ISBN: 978-0-9891334-3-2
Ebook ISBN: 978-0-9891334-4-9

Book Description

Have you ever wondered why we eat turkey on Thanksgiving? The answer is not so simple! Ben Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens, and many others helped make turkey the star of Thanksgiving dinner. Let Hurkey the Turkey be your guide as you explore the history behind one of our country's first holidays. This book is fun for the whole family and features illustrations by 86-year-old Marlene Turner, creator of Hurkey the Turkey.

About the Author and Illustrator

Marlene Turner has been an artist her entire life. She has painted portraits of each of her 15 grandchildren, crocheted blankets for each of her 22 great grandchildren, baked and created numerous wedding cakes, and illustrated a family cookbook. When she painted Hurkey the Turkey to serve as a Thanksgiving decoration, little did she know how much her family would love the painting. In fact, one of her grandchildren, Nick Scarpino, said he would write a book about Thanksgiving if his grandmother would illustrate it with drawings of Hurkey. At the age of 86, Turner drew the illustrations you see here to go along with Scarpino's story.

This grandmother and grandson team hope you learned something from this book, and that Hurkey brings your family as much joy as he has brought theirs.

Photos

If you are writing a story about our book and would like to include pictures, you may use the below photos with a photo credit to Nichole Scarpino.

2020 Super Bowl Ads: Match the Celebrity Endorsers

2020-02-02T22:08:00.000-06:00

Once again, several brands spent a lot of money hiring celebrities to appear in their Super Bowl ads. Can you match these celebrities with the brands they endorsed during the Super Bowl?

Take the quiz and leave your score in the comments, below.

TAKE THE QUIZ

The Super Bowl Was Last Week, Do You Remember Any Ads? Take This Quiz

2019-02-10T22:12:00.000-06:00

The Big Game was last week. A lot of advertisers spent a lot of money to sell their products. Do you remember any of their ads? I kept track of each ad that ran and recorded any celebrity product endorsers.

Can you match the celebrity with the ad in which he or she appeared? Take the quiz and leave your score in the comments. 51 weeks until the next Super Bowl!

TAKE THE QUIZ

There’s never a lack of ideas.

The Super Bowl of Marketing Isn’t this Weekend, It’s in a Year

2019-01-27T21:59:00.001-06:00

When it comes to Super Bowl ads, I’m like a kid on Christmas morning — I look forward to them every year. I’ve blogged about them five years in a row. But the real Super Bowl of Marketing isn’t until 2020, and I’m even more excited about it than the Big Game.

The US Census is the single most important event in the field of Marketing, but it only happens every ten years. Luckily for us, it happens again in 2020.

History
The Census is required by Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution. The data collected determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House of Representatives. For Marketers, the Census is our chance to look at demographic trends without needing to use a sample of data. In other words, census data are the single source of truth — no sample set required!

As Secretary of State in 1790, Thomas Jefferson oversaw the first Census. James Madison wrote five of the six questions it asked. That’s when the population of the US hadn’t reached 4 million people yet. In 2020, the US population will exceed 328 million people.

Today, the Census continues to take place every ten years. Every year in between, the Census Bureau produces projections on how the data has changed. Of course, we can check their accuracy every ten years.

Trends I’m Following
The US Census website is full of fantastic data visualizations that are worth exploring. Here are the three trends that I’m following most closely for 2020:

Will the population of Illinois continue to decrease?
Only three states have lost permanent residents since 2010: Connecticut, Illinois, and West Virginia. Texas and Utah have seen the highest growth rates since 2010.

I’ll be watching to see the change in state population numbers between 2010 and 2020.
Have poverty rates changed?
Nearly 15% of the US population lives below the poverty line. An estimated 20% of children under the age of 18 live in poverty.

Think about that — one in five kids in this country lives below the poverty line.

This year, a four-member household is considered poor if their combined income is lower than $25,750. For a single-person household, it’s $12,490.

In Todd County, South Dakota, 52% of its 10,000 people are poor. Compare that to Kings county, New York, in which 22% of its 2.6 million residents are poor.

Have the rich gotten richer and the poor gotten poorer? The 2020 Census will tell us definitively.
Will the gap close between home broadband connections and individuals with cellular data plans?
An estimated 78% of households have a broadband Internet subscription. I don’t think that number can go much higher. But only 49% of households have a cellular data plan.

Will the gap between these numbers close? Will households drop their home subscriptions in favor of cell plans? We’ll find out next year.

Add This to Your To-Do List
What are you hoping to learn from next year’s census? Head over to the US Census Bureau’s website for an awesome look into the residents of our great nation.

There’s never a lack of ideas.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

2018 Super Bowl Ads: Match the Celebrity Endorsers

2018-02-04T21:56:00.000-06:00

Five years ago, in an attempt to demonstrate the ridiculousness of including hashtags in Super Bowl commercials, I started creating annual quizzes to test which hasthags were memorable.

Not many were.

Because most hashtags are silly.

The only acceptable hashtags in advertising are a brand’s name.

Five years later, advertisers have gotten the message. I only counted eight total hashtags shown in Super Bowl ads this year. I couldn’t even make a good quiz.

This year, it seemed like more ads included well-known celebrities than in previous years. So here’s an all-new quiz for you:

Can you match the celebrity with the endorsed brand from its 2018 Super Bowl commercial?

Add This To Your To-Do List
Take the quiz! Add your score to the comments, below.

There’s never a lack of ideas.

Photo courtesy of Gage Skidmore via WikiCommons.

Ten Steps to Take When Your Brand is the Victim of Fake News

2017-04-29T23:11:00.001-05:00

Fake news can strike any brand at any time. It hit ours recently. Consider this a playbook for what to do when fake news hits your brand.

For clarity, I’m not talking about how to respond to a story in which facts were misinterpreted or taken out of context. I’m not talking about editorials, either. I’m talking about a completely fabricated story that has no basis in fact and is damaging to your brand.

When fake news hits, it will almost certainly spread via Facebook first. Follow the steps below and you’ll make it through as unscathed as possible.

Make sure the fake news story is actually fake. Don’t proceed with the next steps unless it’s truly fake news and has no basis in fact.
Draft a brief statement (3-4 sentences) to communicate four things:

You are aware of the fake news story
It’s truly fake news
You are working to take down the story
You are contacting each person who has shared the story online and asking them to remove their post

Communicate to your employees and internal stakeholders, using the statement drafted in #2. Ask them to use the statement to respond to customer questions they receive.
Contact the website on which the fake news is hosted, explain the situation, and ask them to take the article down as quickly as possible.
Search Facebook for the fake news article and flag every post as fake news. For step-by-step instructions, see this link. Ask as many of your co-workers as possible to do the same. You may need to do this for several hours as the article spreads.
Contact every person on Facebook who has shared the fake news link. You may have to comment on the posts with your personal Facebook account if the poster hasn’t tagged your brand in his or her post. If you have to use your personal account, simply comment, “I work for [Brand] and I wanted you to know that this is a fake news article. Would you mind deleting this post so that it doesn’t spread any further?” Facebook will only allow you to post on a limited number of pages within a certain amount of time. Once you are blocked from commenting, start messaging people privately with the same message. This is why you need as many helpers as possible.
If the fake news is spreading via Twitter, reach out to people who have posted the article on Twitter in the same way as described in #6, but you should be able to do it from your brand account.
You may want to put out a public statement to the media, on your website, and/or social media pages about the fake news story, depending on the severity of the situation. Or you may just want to wait to be contacted before saying anything publicly. That’s up to you. If you post a statement on your website, consider running a short-term Google ad targeting your brand terms so that when someone searches your brand name on Google, your article is the first that appears at the top of the search results page.
You may want to contact relevant members of your email list with the statement you wrote in step #2, if the situation calls for it.
Review your response procedures once the fake news has been squashed. What went well? What could have gone better? How can you prepare now to handle things even better next time?

There’s never a lack of ideas.

On the Fence: The First Priority of Marketing Communication

2017-03-13T21:52:00.000-05:00

Four years ago, I wrote the definitive list of marketing communication priorities. First on that list:

Utilize your physical location (if you have one).

The piano teacher who owns the fence pictured here is doing this perfectly. Well done.

There’s never a lack of ideas.

#SuperBowl #Hashtags 2017

2017-02-05T21:47:00.002-06:00

For the fourth year in a row, I tracked all ads shown during the Big Game and kept track if an ad showed a hashtag. I do this as a way to convince marketers to stop using silly hashtags — and I think it’s working. Only 25% of ads contained a hashtag this year — the lowest percentage I’ve seen in the last four years. You're welcome, America.

Remember: the best hashtag to use (if you must use one) is simply a brand name.

Let’s see if you can identify these 7 hashtags from Super Bowl LI: Take the quiz now. And leave your score in the comments, below.

Take the quiz

Five TV Restaurants in Which I Want to Eat in Real Life

2016-09-28T22:18:00.000-05:00

In case you missed it, there’s a real-life pop-up restaurant modeled after “The Max” — the fictional restaurant featured in 90s sitcom Saved by the Bell. What a cool idea, and a great example of a concept playing on both of the most powerful forces in marketing.

Taking inspiration from Saved by the Max, I brainstormed five TV restaurants in which I’d pay to dine in real life:

1. Monk’s Diner — Seinfeld

The outside of Monk’s Diner from Seinfeld is real-life Tom’s Restaurant in New York. However, the inside of the restaurant was shot on a sound stage. While Hulu built a real-life version of Jerry Seinfeld’s apartment to promote its deal with the show, nobody has built a replica of the inside of Monk’s Diner. I’d do just about anything for a chance to talk about nothing while eating chicken salad, on rye, untoasted, and drinking a cup of tea.

2. Café Nervosa — Frasier

Frasier is one of my favorite shows of all time. While Niles and Frasier spent most of their time at Café Nervosa on the show, fans have never been able to enjoy a cup of coffee and the ambiance provided by the Crane brothers’ favorite shop. The coffee shop was inspired by Elliott Bay Café, but there’s never been a true replica of Café Nervosa.

3. Central Perk — Friends

For one glorious month in 2014, Friends fans were able to visit a pop-up Central Perk café in New York City. But then the café closed up shop and hasn’t been seen since. I think a long-standing, real-life Central Perk might be more popular than The Max.

4. Cheers — Cheers

When my parents first took our family to Boston in the 90s, we made a stop at The Bull & Finch Pub, which was used for exterior shots of Cheers. Bull & Finch renamed itself “Cheers Beacon Hill” and it still stands today. However, the interior of the bar does not look like the set of Cheers. Wouldn’t it be fun to sit inside a replica Cheers and shout “Norm!” to everyone who walks in the door? The bar used for filming Cheers will reportedly be housed in the yet-to-be-built Museum of Television.

5. Freddy’s BBQ Joint — House of Cards

Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) spent several mornings of the early seasons of House of Cards at Freddy’s BBQ Joint, a fictional restaurant in Washington, DC. While this pop-up shop would be pretty small, I’d love to sample Freddy’s barbecue while thinking up ways to ruin people’s lives while I ascend to the highest levels of power.

There’s never a lack of ideas.

The Two Most Powerful Forces in Marketing

2016-08-10T22:04:00.000-05:00

Newness and nostalgia.

Could there be more powerful forces in marketing?* And yet they’re polar opposites.

One says, “I’m undefined, different, and exciting. Check me out.”

The other says, “Remember how great I used to make you feel?”

Both are incredibly powerful. It’s quite the accomplishment to go from new to nostalgic. That doesn’t happen by accident. It takes years and years of excellence to get there.

The best brands consistently use both newness and nostalgia to excel. It may seem like an oxymoron, but I think of these forces every time I hear, “the all new Chevrolet” or “new at Disney World.”

It’s a slippery slope, though. Nobody asks, “what’s new at Marshall Fields?” any more.

For established brands, successfully tapping into newness and nostalgia is perhaps our biggest challenge and opportunity as marketers. How will you take advantage of both?

There’s never a lack of ideas.

*”Free” is, of course, even more powerful than both. But free is easy. Free doesn’t last. Any brand can do “free.”

Image source: Wikimedia Commons.

Loyalty Program? You Don’t Need No Stinking Loyalty Program

2016-03-11T23:00:00.002-06:00

Loyalty is a hot topic in many industries, especially the restaurant industry. Starbucks recently overhauled its loyalty program. McDonald's is reportedly about to roll one out. But if your company is considering launching a loyalty program, allow me to make the case that your time and effort are almost certainly better spent elsewhere.

What Is a Loyalty Program?
I'm defining "loyalty program" as a program that rewards customers with freebies for making purchases at a business. 20 years ago, this was often handled with a punch card: "Buy nine scoops of ice cream and get the tenth one free." Today, this is very often handled digitally.

The rise of digital loyalty programs has muddled the definition of a loyalty program. Free rewards are often mixed with other features like online ordering or mobile payment. If you take away only one thing from this post, let it be this:

When it comes to "digital loyalty programs," do not confuse the benefits of added convenience measures like online ordering with the unproven tactics of rewarding customers with freebies for frequenting a business.

The Wrong Reasons for Wanting a Loyalty Program
Let's look at the most popular reasons businesses probably want a loyalty program. I'll poke holes in every one of them:

"A loyalty program increases sales."
In the ground-breaking book How Brands Grow, author Byron Sharp scientifically proves that across nearly every industry, loyalty programs do not increase sales by a meaningful amount. You can read the book for yourself, I highly recommend it. Here are two more anecdotes: Chili's restaurants launched a loyalty program in 2015. The program rewarded customers with freebies for frequenting the restaurant. While the loyalty program figured into 16% of transactions, the company revealed that it did not lead to sales increases (source).

I recently sat in an executive round table discussion with some of the biggest restaurants brands in the country. Every one of them talked about how they had recently made big bets on rolling out a loyalty program. When I asked them if the loyalty programs had led to increased sales, each one either said no or that they couldn't prove that they did. Add these anecdotes to Byron Sharp's empirical evidence and you have a pretty compelling case that by and large, loyalty programs do not materially increase sales. There are exceptions, but the odds are definitely against your loyalty program.
"A loyalty program will give us valuable customer data."
This is true. But you do not need a loyalty program to gain customer data. There are plenty of other ways to do so. Offering a small incentive to customers for signing up to receive emails is a great way to gain data. So is offering a mobile payment solution. You don't need a loyalty program to do either of these.
"Everyone else has a loyalty program."
There are some industries in which loyalty programs are so ubiquitous that they are essentially required in order to compete. The airline and hotel industries fall into this category. But for most industries, this is not the case. Even the travel industry would agree that the biggest flaw in their loyalty programs is that past purchase behavior doesn't always indicate future behavior and frequency.
"A loyalty program will reward my best customers and keep them coming back."
Of all the reasons your customers are loyal, earning free stuff is not at the top of the list. Byron Sharp has proven that. Instead, your customers will be loyal if you focus your attention on offering incredible products and services. Exceeding your customers' expectations over and over again is what drives loyalty, not giving away freebies.

Focus on Convenience Instead of Freebies
There are better ways to drive sales than offering freebies to your best customers. One of those ways is giving customers more convenience. I define convenience as "eliminating friction in the buying process." Let's look at two reasons why added convenience measures lead to sales growth:

People will pay for convenience.
This has been proven time and time again. Look no further than the early days of Amazon Prime. Amazon charged customers a premium to receive "free" faster shipping. See this post for three more examples.
Removing friction in the buying process leads to increased sales.Again, there are plenty of examples, but my favorite comes from Disney. Disney has a mountain of resources at its disposal, but they have chosen to invest them heavily in offering customer convenience through their MyMagic+ technology platform and the MagicBand. The MagicBand makes it extremely convenient to buy things within Walt Disney World. You pay for everything with your magic bracelet — no need to carry cash or a credit card around. After it launched, Disney Executives specifically cited the platform as a key reason for increased sales.

Add This To Your To-Do List
It's time to re-think loyalty programs. If you already have one, focus on adding measures of convenience to truly increase sales. If you don't have one, consider adding measures of convenience before offering freebies to your best customers.

There's never a lack of ideas.

#Super Bowl #Hashtags 2016

2016-02-07T22:08:00.000-06:00

In what has become an annual tradition here at the Never a Lack of Ideas blog, I monitored all of the Super Bowl commercials and kept track of all of their hashtags. For the first time, I noticed a sharp decline in the number of ads that had hashtags tied to them.

And, Super Bowl advertisers have obviously been reading my blog because we saw far fewer random hashtags this year than in any year past. After all, the best hashtag (if you really must have one), includes your brand name.

Take this year’s quiz — it’s just 10 hashtags — and leave your score in the comments below. Good luck!

Add This To Your To-Do List
Take last year’s quiz and bring back fond memories of hashtags you couldn’t even remember immediately after last year’s game.

I've posted the answers to this year's quiz in the comments below.

There’s never a lack of ideas.

Friendly Reminder: Consumers Aren’t Rational

2016-01-14T21:37:00.002-06:00

Well, it's over.

Powerball madness has ended.

Three winning tickets will split the $1.6 billion and we can all go back to our daily lives.

This was a good reminder, though, that people aren't rational. If we were, we wouldn't buy Powerball tickets. With the odds of winning at 1 in 292 million, even with 100 tickets, your chances are still basically zero.

As I was irrationally standing in line to buy my Powerball ticket, the cashier told me that earlier someone had bought 500 tickets (for $1,000) after selling his car and using all the money to buy lottery tickets. We now know that he didn't win the jackpot or $1 million. If that's not irrational, I don't know what is.

Life can get back to normal now. Until we get swept up with the next irrational thing. I can't wait.

There's never a lack of ideas.

PS. My Powerball ticket is pictured here. We won $4! By spending $10....

Four Rules for Winning in the Convenience Economy

2015-11-02T21:53:00.001-06:00

There are several names for the shifts we're seeing in many industries today: some call it the rise of the Sharing Economy. They point to businesses like AirBNB and Uber as pioneers. The Harvard Business Review calls it the rise of the Access Economy and points to Zipcar as a trailblazer.

I call it the rise of the "Convenience Economy" and I've included three examples below. Here's my definition of the Convenience Economy:

Businesses winning in the convenience economy are adding convenience by eliminating friction in the buying process.

Four Rules
I see four rules for winning in the convenience economy. The most important one is the last:

Convenience is more important than price.
Customers have thus far demonstrated they are willing to pay extra for convenience. The cost of convenience hasn't been driven to zero... yet. Unlike many other industries in which costs have been driven to zero (free email providers, free news via websites, free shipping, etc.), people have demonstrated they are willing to pay for convenience.
Convenience does not appeal to everyone.
The convenience economy is not being brought to the masses. Approximately 16% of Americans live below the poverty line — defined as a household income of $24,250 for a family of four in the year 2015. And according to the US Census Bureau, the median household income in the US in 2014 was $53,657.

In my very unscientific opinion, this means at least 16% and perhaps even more than 50% (the median) of Americans cannot afford the price of convenience, in general terms. The convenience economy appeals to the middle class and up. There are some people who simply can't afford to take an Uber ride or have their groceries delivered by Peapod.
Mobile devices are powering the convenience economy.
Smart phones are enabling new methods of consumer convenience. Businesses winning in the convenience economy are taking full advantage of mobile technology: voice, text, photos, videos, geo-location, etc. This isn't to say that the only way to add convenience is via a mobile device, but it's certainly a good way.
The strongest brands will win.
The Paradox of Choice tells us consumers cannot deal with an overwhelming number of choices — they need to pick from just a few options. So, while there has been a proliferation of businesses tapping into the convenience economy, only the strongest brands will survive. "Strongest" means many things, including most trustworthy, most unique, most consistent, and of course, most convenient.

Three Examples
Here are three of my favorite recent examples of companies that have added levels of convenience in order to make their customers' lives easier and increase sales:

Artkive Concierge. Artkive is a cool app that enables parents to take pictures of their children's artwork, organize it, and then print picture books of the artwork. It's a great app if you have the time to take a picture of all of your little one's artwork. But if you don't have the time, you can take advantage of their Concierge service. Just pile all of little Johnny's artwork in a box of your choice — in any order — ship it to Artkive, and they'll take pictures of every piece, lay it out nicely in a book, allow you to give feedback, and then print and send you a book. They'll even return the artwork to you when it's all said and done. I've used the service and it was fantastic.
Angie's List SnapFix. Sometimes you need some work done on your home and you don't have time to research the best company for the job. Enter Angie's List SnapFix. Members simply describe their problem with text, photos, and videos (most easily done via their app), add a date and time in which they're available for service, and Angie's List goes out and finds the best company to handle the job. I recently used the service for a hodgepodge of home repairs I needed done and it was great.
Dominos. Many restaurants offer online ordering, but Dominos leads the way in convenience via their digital channels. Their mobile app is fantastic. And for their most tech-savvy customers, ordering via emoji is the most convenient way to order a pizza. While at first glance this seems like a gimmick, it truly is a very convenient way to order a pizza. It certainly reduces all friction in the purchasing process.

According to their website, more than 50% of all Dominos orders come through their digital channels. Customers clearly like how convenient they make ordering a pizza.

Add This To Your To-Do List
How is your business taking advantage of the convenience economy? It's not too late to eliminate friction in the buying process and boost profits.

There's never a lack of ideas.

I'm not the first to call this the Convenience economy. In 2014, Box CEO Aaron Leevie Tweeted the first explanation that I've seen: "Convenience economy" formula: take a service that was previously cost prohibitive for most (due to friction) and bring to the masses." I love his use of the word "friction."

To Whose Wagon Will You Hitch Your Star?

2015-09-05T13:18:00.001-05:00

I've heard my fair share of sales pitches over the last nine months.

I've explained our marketing strategy to reps from all types of companies.

I've weighed the pros and cons of their proposed solutions.

And I've selected the best ones.

In making those decisions, it always came down to one question: to whose wagon will I hitch my star?

In other words: On what solution do I have enough faith to stake my reputation and my company's reputation?

If you're a marketing solutions provider, I hope you're trying to answer that last question.

There's never a lack of ideas.

All Roads Lead to Vertical Integration

2015-06-24T22:21:00.001-05:00

As companies mature and look for new ways to increase revenue, they inevitably look toward vertical integration.

Companies with great customer relationships move up and/or down the purchase path to increase revenue. Let's look at three examples of vertical integration in the travel sector: one historic, one current, and one I predict will happen soon.

Historic: Why Airlines Sell Vacation Packages
The majority of people planning to take a trip that includes a flight will start planning their trip by researching flights first. Before most people look into booking accommodations, a rental car, and/or activities, they look into flights.

Many years ago, airlines figured this out and started selling vacation packages. Since customers started planning their trip on an airline's website, the airlines realized they could sell other services while they had customers' attention. (They also make a lot of money by selling hotel rooms.)

That's vertical integration.

Current: Why Google Created Hotel Finder
15 years ago, Google started teaching Internet users that to find what they were looking for online, they should start by searching Google. Plenty of people still use Google, but when it comes to booking travel, some people turn first to sites like Expedia, Orbitz, or Hotels.com.

As a result, Google has started providing more than just links as results from hotel-related searches. Google created google.com/hotels to keep users coming back to Google to find hotel rooms. Google continues to improve this service and I think it's great (but I'm a little biased).

That's vertical integration.

Next Up: Airbnb
Airbnb is reportedly worth billions of dollars. While Airbnb has plenty of room for growth in its core business of connecting those looking for accommodations with those looking to rent out their accommodations, I think Airbnb will inevitably turn to vertical integration for growth. I see a future in which after booking accommodations on airbnb.com, customers are then offered deals on activities and tours near their rented room.

Want a private chef to come cook you dinner while you're on vacation? Add it to your Airbnb reservation.
Need an in-room massage? Add it to your Airbnb reservation.
Need a pet sitter for the afternoon? Let Airbnb recommend a few for you.

In a home away from home, Airbnb has an opportunity to connect people with the services they're used to or services they never receive at home.

That's vertical integration.

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Is your business looking to vertical integration for growth? If not, maybe it's time to start.

There's never a lack of ideas.

Thick Skin

2015-05-10T20:45:00.001-05:00

So you want to be a marketer? Then you better develop thick skin because critics are everywhere.

Recently, a restaurant chain with which I'm quite familiar started a new Birthday Club. The premise is very simple: register online with your birthdate and email address and you will receive a voucher for a free piece of chocolate cake on your birthday. Here were two of my favorite responses on Facebook about the Birthday Club:

"Pass. If I wanted to donate to the GOP, I'll do it directly. I'm not interested in funding the GOP via your restaurant's deep campaign pockets. Or at all. You keep your cake and I'll keep my conscience."
"Takes such little imagination to please people nowadays! Cake will bring me to your restaurant? Please I have integrity."

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You can't please everyone, so don't even try. Critics are everywhere and let's be honest — some people are just crazy. Develop thick skin and ignore the haters. Stay positive and keep moving forward.

There's never a lack of ideas.

You Can’t Say No To Everyone

2015-04-26T15:46:00.000-05:00

Two years ago, when I wrote the book on setting marketing priorities, inherent in the book, but not specifically discussed in detail, was the need to ignore a lot of marketing opportunities.

In theory, it's easy to do this. But in practice, it's more complicated — at least, for me.

When I was in college, applying for marketing internships in extremely creative ways but never hearing anything back, I vowed that when I was a marketing professional, I would always reply to everyone who contacted me, even if only to say no. "Saying no is better than saying nothing at all," I thought.

But then I became a professional marketer and realized that's just not possible. There just isn't enough time in the day to respond to every opportunity. From marketing vendor inquiries, donation requests, and people looking to network or land a job, I could easily spend my entire day just saying no.

This is Hard for Me
I struggle with this. I'm a nice guy and I want to pay things forward.

My instinct is to reply to everyone about every opportunity. Some people are good at ignoring opportunities and requests. I am not. It has taken practice.

Sometimes I break down and call or write someone back who is really persistent — just to tell them no. Almost every time, I regret that decision.

"I just want to meet you for coffee for 30 minutes. You can spare 30 minutes for a fellow alum, right?"
"Our cancer foundation really needs your help. A donation of any size makes a difference."

Nearly every time I respond to say no, I end up spending even more time explaining why. Nobody wants to hear no.

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As a marketer, you need to feel comfortable in ignoring opportunities that aren't critical to your business or your professional development. (Struggling to know what marketing opportunities are the most important? Read my book.)

On the flip side, if you're a person whose job it is to get marketers to say yes (like my job at Google was for four years), you need to make your pitch relevant and impactful.

There's never a lack of ideas.

Porta Potties: Hilarious Product Names

2015-03-31T22:26:00.000-05:00

I think the most entertaining product names in any one industry belong to the portable toilet industry. Porta potty names are hilarious! Here are eleven real portable toilet companies I found:

The Honey Bucket
Johnny on the Spot
A Royal Flush
Honey Do's
Gotta Go
Don John's
Super Loo
Pit Stop
Pot-O-Gold
Oui Oui (my favorite name)
Floaters (slogan: "You Float 'm, We Tote 'm")

See how much I love my readers? I researched porta potties for a long time to find these companies. You're welcome!

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Am I right? Are porta potty names the most entertaining? Or is there another industry with even better names? It just goes to show you — sometimes the stinkier the industry, the better you'll stand out with a clever name.

There's never a lack of ideas.

PS If you're in the mood to see some hilarious slogans from septic tank businesses, check out this Reddit.