I know a lot of you marketing folks wouldn’t want to touch finance with a 10 foot pole, but it does pay to know exactly what goes on as the two work hand in hand to make business work.

This post written by Marc Andreessen is an excellent guide at how finance works using a very current example, Microsoft’s offer to acquire Yahoo!. He gives several scenarios and explains each of the cases in easy-to-understand detail.

One other interesting thing to address: what’s going to happen in the future?

If Microsoft is successful, bloggers everywhere will rejoice at being allowed to use the term “Microhoo” yet another time. Microsoft is going to have to deal with somehow keeping Yahoo’s employees (or at least the good ones). The Silicon Valley sees Microsoft as the Overlord up in Washington, and if many employees feel that they’re getting oppressed by Microsoft’s stern hand, there might be a mass exodus. This is going to take a lot of well-trained image management experts.

And if this takeover does not end up working, I’m almost certain Microsoft has some tactics for that situation too. Microsoft will probably be angry that its efforts failed and will look to somehow strike with much stronger force, either against Yahoo or in some other area.

So what does this have to do with marketing? The future of online advertising is going to be shaped out by this event. Will Google finally have a major competitor to contend with? Will advertisers see more options when choosing ad networks? What’ll happen to the little firms that are still fighting consolidation? We’ll only have to wait and see.

Sarah

“NYU Stern’s Marketing Society members are part of a generation that truly understands the meaning of ‘think global, act local,’” says John Cassillo, from an article in Fashion Bimonthlyweeklydaily, a.k.a. Fashion Week Daily. Or, borrowing the wise words of International Marketing Management Professor Susan Douglas, we know how to be “glocal.”

The Marketing Society has been in a crazed state with our yearlong, ongoing International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition project. On April 10, 2008, all of our hard work culminated in our Knowledge is Change event in Gould Plaza where fellow NYU students dropped by to get educated on the ills of buying counterfeit goods.

After exhaustive weekly meetings to create a campus-centered marketing campaign for the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC), we managed to agglomerate thousands of pins, vinyl banners, mountains of Subway sandwiches, traveling orders thanks to a clueless UPS man, delayed tableage and some hardcore Stern energy into the greatest party to ever grace the front of Tisch Hall.

We donned our awesome black Knowledge is Change tee shirts and handed out pins, brochures, and canvas bags to students to encourage them to stop buying fake goods on a perfect, sunny day. The Marketing Society was graced with reporters from Channel 9 News and NTDTV. It was also nice getting coverage from the World Journal, which is the largest Chinese newspaper in the U.S. Despite her snarky little comments about our volunteers and “lame” event, Ms. Lynn Yaeger was nice enough to mention us in her Village Voice article.

Afterwards, we congratulated each other on a well-executed effort, and collectively felt relieved that we had changed our campaign focus from the phrase ‘for realz’ to something signicantly more elegant. We were grateful for the support of our eager professors and deans who managed to stop by. More importantly, we got hundreds of our NYU comrades to stop by and get some REALLY REALLY useful knowlege on how to be better consumers. Who knew that campaign management could be so challenging, and yet…so fulfilling?

Much love,

Amy

Getting coffee, filing, and licking envelopes - three of the most despised tasks that seem perfect for an intern. My first ever job interview ended with me asking, “What sorts of tasks can I expect to accomplish at this internship?” and them answering, “Well, we’re going to need you to learn how to make coffee right away.” I spent the rest of the interview nodding politely and obviously did not end up taking the job.

But there are also those internships where I’ve been treated as an equal. I was brought along to a photoshoot, and it was my detail-oriented eyes that noticed a mistake that no one else did. I’ve been asked for my opinions during status meetings. I pretty much got to oversee my own project. And that’s an internship to share and remember. Well, now there’s a way to share your experiences and read about others’ experiences so you avoid being the corporate beaver.

Youintern.com gives you a better perspective about the jobs that are out there. It’s a fairly new site, which means there’s not that much information on it yet, but I think it has the potential to really grow. It’s also mostly advertising internships on there (I believe it was started by advertising folks), but hopefully they expand soon to cover all types of jobs. I know I certainly could have used a resource like that to find internships and to find experiences.

Sarah

I love interactive billboards. It’s a great way to connect with the consumer while using a method that traditionally doesn’t do so. I’ve read articles about the billboard in San Fransisco (I think) where a billboard for milk wafted the smell of freshly baked cookies at you. And there was a billboard in Union Square this summer by Adobe where passersby can run around in front of the billboard and watch it react.

One such company that creates these billboards is Monster Media. You should watch some of the videos on their site. It’s pretty amusing.

Video found via Billboardom

Sarah

It’s Superbowl Sunday, and I’m all set. I’ve ordered my wings, I have drinks chilling in the fridge, and the TV is set to Fox in anticipation of one of the biggest events of the year… Pepsi commercials. And all of the other commercials. Football? No, not me. I’m all about watching the Budweiser clydesdales, the Career Builder monkeys, and even the very controversial GoDaddy ads.

And now it’s time for some live blogging right from in front of the television.

[6:35]
The first Bud Light commercial of the night… I’m not feeling it. The ability to breathe fire? What? And then it ends with the the line “but still as refreshing.” First, how is breathing fire refreshing? And then how does it relate to Bud Light? Sorry, I’m not convinced this time, AB. The Audi commercial right after it, however, was fantastic! I love Audis, and Godfather jokes never get old.

[6:45]
Yes, I was giggling all throughout the Diet Pepsi Max commercial. I’m sensing that there’s going to be a lot of pop culture references this season.

[6:48]
This next Bud Light commercial was more amusing. I was drawn in right from the start because of the very large wheel of cheese. But I might be biased because if anyone knows me knows my love of cheese.
Interesting UnderArmour commercial. I guess it’s powerful? Or at least it’s meant to be?

[6:58]
Hmm.. screaming animals. That’s all I have to say.
I don’t understand the Doritos/iTunes commercial. The song was okay. A bit repetitive, but easy to listen to.
I like that Prudential commercial. The message about Prudential being the guiding path really resonated all throughout it. It’s a cliché, but it was a pretty commercial.

[7:03]
Where are my wings? Okay, so that’s not a commercial. I’m just hungry for wings right now.
Oh crap. Another GoDaddy commecial. I know they’re just doing it for the buzz, but it’s not very professional for a company to be associated with that image. I have no desire to continue to watch their racy commercials.
I like FedEx because I don’t like pigeons.
I really really like the Tide Pen commercial. Not only did I guess it was their commercial right from when it started playing (it’s a talking stain.. what else can it be?), it was cute and amusing to watch. A+ for Tide.

[7:13]
Yay! Clydesdale! I don’t particularly like the beer, but I can’t pull away from watching a Clydesdale.

[7:19]
I don’t feel compelled to comment on any of the ads during this break.

[7:24]
I see Career Builder is taking on a new idea. Ew. That woman’s heart exploded from her chest.
It’s too bad the Sobe lizard reminded me of the Geico gecko. I believe the lizard came first too.

[7:29]
That Yukon hybrid commercial was pretty.

[8:31]
I’m back from wings and the halftime show, and I was hit with the other Sales Genie ad of the night. Um… what was that with the pandas? That was actually pretty offensive. I’m not saying that because I’m Asian - I would’ve said it was offensive if that ad imitated any other culture that had nothing to do with its business. What was the point of using fake accents (no, the pandas were definitely not Asian)? Did they want to target the Asian population? I wonder what their goal was and if it worked? [edit] I missed Sales Genie’s earlier ad. All I got was the tail end of it, so I didn’t realize it was offensive to Indians. Poor choice, Sales Genie.

[8:35]
Bud Light commercial with the cavemen suck! What is it with the terrible Bud Light commercials? What’s the agency behind them?
At least the Bridgestone commercials are consistent.
Again, I want to comment on the improvement in Career Builder ads this year. I’m glad they finally moved away from monkeys. It was good the first year, but by the second year, it was already old.

[8:52]
Ew, E-Trade. I know you’re failing as a business, but did you have to use a baby? Babies and stocks… does not mix!
Bud Light.. you miss again. Red Bull already did the flying thing. Sorry.

[9:03]
Dunkin.. too much like Maxwell House. And your song wasn’t even as catchy.

[9:05]
I must admit that the Sunsilk ad reminded me of an ad for a radio station.
Yes to the Coca-Cola parade floats ad. This is so cute. I actually wanted to watch it because it was so much fun to watch. That’s more than I can say for 95% of the ads this year.

[9:12]
Aww, this Coke ad wasn’t as good. Famous people or not, I definitely liked the other one better
I was definitely amused by the trike racing, but then I was disappointed that it was just an ad for Toyota.

[9:21]
That E-Trade one was a little more amusing, but I still don’t really like the baby thing.
Gatorade.. um. I see you’re moving away from the multicolored sweat droplets, but the dog doesn’t really work for you.

[9:26]
Finally, a somewhat amusing Bud Light ad
Hmm, Hundai ad. I thought about it, and I’ve come to the conclusion that they may compare to BMW on some points, it’s still a Hundai. They’re going to have to do a lot more to convince me that they’re able to play with the big boys. No one’s cool driving around a Hundai. If you want to look luxury, don’t use central persuasion. It’s all about emotions.

[9:45]
Ow. That Amp ad looks painful. But nice show of power.

[10:04]
One second left. Hmm.. I wonder what the outcome will be. Oh right. Go Giants or something.
Goodnight. I’m off to go roll around on the floor some more after eating too many wings.

“Bluewashing” is defined as the use of relations to the United Nations or showcasing social responsibility initiatives by business as a marketing instrument. This all depends on your perspective, of course, on good deeds performed by companies. Executives are known for being more likely to engage their businesses in socially beneficial activities if they’re also financially beneficial.Despite the rationales behind such decisions, I was happy to discover that Publicis Groupe, the marketing giant hailing from France whose brethren of subsidiaries include Saatchi and Saatchi, Leo Burnett Worldwide, and Publicis Worldwide, has been actively supporting the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, a public-private partnership with the United Nations. Publicis has lent its services to the Fund by producing an international ad campaign, along with donations. For a recent mention in the Financial Times, click here >>> Has Publicis been bluewashed? Does it matter, as long as the Fund gets some moolah and some marketing expertise?To me, it’s nice to see action being taken by a marketing firm on such an influential and involved scale. A lot of companies in general get negative publicity for their social responsibility initiatives. For example, the Product Red campaign (whose brand has been licensed to firms like Gap, Inc.) which contributes to the Global Fund, has gotten plenty of criticism in the past for its advertising cost-to-earnings ratio and promotion of materialism as a way to solve social problems. And even though marketing costs for the campaign, like all marketing costs, was considered to be expensive, the benefits reaped by the Fund seem to be good enough for me…for now.

For a hearty chuckle, check out the last page of independent, non-profit product review magazine/bible Consumer Reports. The monthly feature is called Selling It, and details marketing and packaging blunders found by observant readers.

Numerous embraces,

Amy

For any of you who have recently been in the Union Square subway station, you have noticed that the walls have been plastered with cute animals and clever sayings that ask you to “pass the cheer.” Starbucks, the famously advertising-averse, coffee shop has rolled out its first ever multimedia advertising campaign. With sales falling flat, the coffee giant thought it was time to do what so many other companies do: advertise their core products. To be honest, I really like the ads. They emulate the “Starbucks” personality to me and some are quite clever. “Find a scarf partner” or “make a snow elephant” make me smile. My favorite, by far, is the tagline “Bring Back the Bear Hug.” Something about a bear standing in the snow with its arms stretched out just makes me want to burst out laughing. But the question is: will it make me want to buy more Starbucks?

That I’ll have to wait on. As it stands, I already have a love-hate relationship with the brand. I can’t count the number of times we’ve discussed the green mermaid in class. Whether it is marketing or business and its publics, I feel like I know Starbucks good and bad point like the back of my hand. Frankly I’m kind of sick of hearing about them. Plus I’ve always been fond of the small little nook-in-the-wall coffee shop and Starbucks sure isn’t that. Yes, I get my tall Pumpkin Spice Latte from time to time, but that is largely due to the fact that it’s on NYU’s declining dollars. I don’t like paying $5 for coffee, but it keeps more cash in my bank account. So, I remain conflicted.

My relationship with Starbucks started back in the seventh grade when my little town in Wisconsin got one. They moved into this building on the corner at the end of our main street. For years many had tired, and failed, to build a business there that would succeed. We saw a gas station and a comic book store among many others. It wasn’t until the Starbucks moved in, did everything change. All the locals (including myself) flocked to get a taste. I’m not going to lie, it was the “cool” place to hang out. It really did complete the town and I can’t think of my town without it. Now, it is the hangout for all of the skater-punks and I wouldn’t dare go in there. So I guess it is all cyclical.

We’ll have to wait to see the effect that the “Pass the Cheer” campaign has on Starbucks’ earnings, but for now enjoy the video. If only real bears didn’t have massive claws, I’d totally bring back the bear hug.

C-moc

Click here for the article on Starbucks from AdAge.

In my experience, NYU’s Copy Central has terrible service. I’ve been there many times, and there hasn’t been a single time when they didn’t mess up on my order. So why do I keep going back?

One thing Copy Central knows how to do better than anyone else is turn a frown upside-down. Every time they mess up on my order, I either get deep discounts, or I get my copies for free. Once I got my order on the wrong size paper, and not only did I get my order printed on the right size for free, I got to keep the other ones too. I was able to use both as flyers and plastered all of Stern with ads.

Does it make sense to use this business model? Not really. I still end up getting what I want at a slight inconvenience, but it’s something I would’ve paid in full for if it was done right the first time.  Copy Central is just knocking into its own revenues. Does this work as a marketing plan? Absolutely. Who else can retain customers even though everything they do is wrong? If a restaurant gets my order wrong, there’s a slim chance I’ll eat there again. I expect more from a restaurant, and there are a dozen other places that could use my patronage. But I continue to go back to Copy Central because I know it’ll probably get my order wrong, and I’ll probably get a discount on it.

This is probably not how you should market your company, but somehow this works for the local copy store.

Sarah

Raise your hand if you’re skeptical towards infomercials and yet still can’t draw your eyes away whenever one comes on tv. I just saw a commercial about a product that claims to cure smoking. The product was… two magnets. Of course, who am I to judge the legitimacy of this claim? I can only provide my view that if magnets on someone’s ear cures smoking, why aren’t more people walking around covered in iron?

Well, no matter how unbelievable these infomercials are, I just can’t turn away. I still strangely desire a laser straightener, a blender, tupperware, and instant acne remover.

Sarah