by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC + Early Banner Ad Creator
I’ve written a few articles about why banner ads don’t work:
The biggest reason why banner ads don’t work? It’s simple: people simply don’t see them. We marketers call it “banner blindness.” [Read more →]
→ 3 CommentsTags:advertising·banner ads·digital media·online marketing·Super Bowl
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Social Media Professional and Professor
“Twitter says you’re guilty…”
We need to stop treating social media like it’s some kind of miracle cure that will turn dictatorships into democracies, water into wine, and rats into kittens. (I know, I’ve tried.)
Social media is just another communications tool. Because of its vast, always-on, right-here-right-now digital network, social media can work very quickly … or not at all, since vast human networks tend to favor what’s sensational, not what’s rational.
In other words, social media is a rumor mill on steroids.
If your mill is limited to just a few like-minded friends and family, then maybe the little things you do will create a buzz. But if your rumor mill is massive and planet spanning, like Twitter, Facebook and the other popular social networking platforms, then generating a buzz requires something truly extraordinary.
Or truly awful… [Read more →]
→ No CommentsTags:buzz·gossip·Reddit·rumors·social media·Twitter·word of mouth
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC + No Fan of Monkeys
Bring in the consultants! (illustration by Shane Clester)
I recently bought a laptop running Windows 8, which was apparently designed by monkeys on acid. As operating systems evolve, they’re supposed to make computers easier to use. But these monkeys don’t believe in evolution. Devolution, yes, progress, no. With Windows 8, I actually had to Google how to turn the computer off! I never had that problem before in my 25 years of owning computers. And according to Google, that’s a fairly common search.
(Windows 8 suffers from other issues as well, but this was the biggest, well, turn off.)
How could this happen? [Read more →]
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC + E-Commerce Addict
I just had a shopping experience I can’t forget — and not because it was memorable in any way. I can’t forget it because the Internet won’t let me… [Read more →]
→ 9 CommentsTags:advertising·Augustine Fou·banner ads·big data·Claire McCaskill·digital media·eBags·Facebook·Harvard Business Review·remarketing·retargeting·Wired
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Happy to not be on the Job Market
“I don’t often apply for jobs, but when I do, I sure as hell wouldn’t apply for a job like this.”
I keep my eyes open for job openings that I can pass on to my students, but too often I encounter ads that get my eyes rolling. The job requirements are so excessive and irrational, not even a combo of Chuck Norris and the Dos Equis Man could fulfill them.
So I’ve started a new feature here on my blog called “Stupid Job Ad.” For now, I’ve decided to change the names of the companies to protect the poor HR drones who likely had to take dictation from a dipstick senior manager or a committee of dipstick senior managers.
Today’s Stupid Job Ad comes from a company that I’ve renamed Total Buffoonery Inc. My comments appear in bold italics.
Social Media Manager
Develop and manage social media campaigns on Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Pinterest, Instagram and other social platforms (as necessary) for Total Buffoonery Inc. in downtown Los Angeles.
Cool. Tell me more… [Read more →]
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC + Fan of Both the NFL and Andrew McGregor
So maybe you’ve seen these NFL commercials with the bearded guy in the suit (created by agency David & Goliath)…
And perhaps you said to yourself, “WTF? Who is that guy and why is he the spokesman for the NFL?” Or maybe you said, “Wow, what a great character, how did they come up with that idea?”
I had another take on the commercial: “Is that my friend Andrew McGregor?” [Read more →]
→ No CommentsTags:advertising·Andrew McGregor·chessboxing·commercials·NFL·TEDx·Tiziano Project
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC + Guaranteed for Life
iDon’tCare
I’m not much of a gambler, unless you count my dismal dabbling in the stock market. So naturally, I look at any betting offer with skepticism and a deep lack of enthusiasm — even when it comes from my favorite technolust pusher, Apple.
Apple recently sent me an offer to extend the warranty on my MacBook Pro for three years for $349. Like most Apple creations, the pitch was good, using terms like “peace of mind” (in bright red letters at the top) and “protect your investment.” The only things missing were the free drinks as I laid my bet…
→ 5 CommentsTags:Apple·extended warranties·gambling·insurance·investing·scams
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC + Hardcore Differentiation Advocate
Role Model for Today’s Leading Providers of Leadership
Thanks to the jury in the Apple-Samsung case, product differentiation is now mandated in the marketplace (at least in the smartphone industry). Unfortunately, differentiation — and creativity and boldness — are harder to come by, despite every company’s claim of “leadership.” That’s what inspired this sardonic rant. Here’s hoping it won’t take more jury decisions to spark more creativity in the world…
I’m always amazed by what I can learn about businesses on the Internet. For example, did you know that roughly 99.999% of all companies are “leaders” or “leading providers”? I discovered that by reading their press releases online. I admit, I’ve only read a few million, so my estimate may be off by plus or minus .001%, but I think it’s pretty close.
AND YET… [Read more →]
→ 1 CommentTags:Apple-Samsung·best practices·challenger brands·creativity·differentiation·leadership·management
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC + Hype Assailant
So simple… yet so wrong. (photo via Foodbeast.com)
My regular readers know that I LOVE to dispel the hype surrounding social media and marketing clichés like “engagement.” So when I see an article that attacks the hype, I devour it like it’s a ground-bacon bacon burger.
But sometimes, even my fellow hype-assailants go astray and perpetrate some nonsense of their own. And that’s like discovering your bacon burger is actually made of tofu… [Read more →]
→ 2 CommentsTags:Don't believe the hype·engagement·Forbes·Intuit·Marketing Leadership Council·Patrick Spenner·simplicity·social media
by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC + Avid Inc. Reader
What does it mean to be Betamaxed? Read on to find out…
If you’re an entrepreneur or run a small company, you should read Inc. magazine. One issue contains more insightful, practical advice than some of the semester-long classes I endured in business school. And a subscription to Inc. will put you back a whopping $13 – or less than the price of a movie ticket. (Should you invest in advice from business experts or Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter? You decide…)
But no one is infallible. Not even me. Really. And while Inc. is usually right, sometimes they get it wrong…
→ No CommentsTags:Betamax·branding·Geoffrey James·Inc. magazine·marketing·Marketing 101·sales·Segway·strategy
"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 Chandler
Let'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 of the L.A.-based creative strategy agency Atomic Tango LLC, and marketing instructor at UCLA Extension and Robert Kennedy College of Zurich, Switzerland.
