Marketing Category

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Board Member of City Garage Theatre Whenever I get hungry in a strange city, I hunt out brewery restaurants. My belief: anyone who cares about the taste of beer is going to make pretty good food — or at least a decent burger. And so far, my belief has not failed me. Throughout Oregon, I dug on the McMenamin’s chain. In Austin, I enjoyed Opal Divine’s. And close to home, my favorite joint is the Library Alehouse in Santa Monica. AlthoughRead More

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango & Hardcore Caffeinated Beverage Addict So Pepsi is skipping the Super Bowl, ending a 23-year run of entertaining ads. Contrary to what the social media cultists would like to believe, Pepsi is not doing so because it prefers social media. (As much as I use social media — including this here blog — I find its cheerleaders to be about as endearing as televangelists on crack.) Indeed, Pepsi will be heavily plugging another of its products, Doritos, so it’s hardly abandoning theRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Italian Cuisine Junkie; photo from the movie “The Big Night” (see below)… The way social media-philes talk, you’d think that businesses had been ignoring customers for thousands of years. The socmeds ascend their virtual mounts and issue pronouncements like “2010 will be the year of listening to the customers needs” and “customer service is the new marketing.” [Update 3/10/2019: I had to update that link to a more recent article, since the original disappeared. Nearly ten years later, I had noRead More

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC + Occasional Chiseler Warning: The following blog post contains full frontal liberal snarking and might not be appropriate for all audiences. If you’re a Republican with a thin skin, please escape now to somewhere you might feel more at home. The way I see it, ridiculing Sarah Palin is not only fun, it’s our patriotic duty. Many of us laugh at her now, viewing Palin as a living Saturday Night Live sketch. But the scary part is that many others takeRead More

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC, and Veteran Marketer Trying to Get Jiggy with It In my quest to find value on Twitter, I began by following a lot of marketing people, including several ad agency heads and veteran PR people. I wound up unfollowing most of them — except for the young marketers still in college or graduated within the past five years. I’ve found the young marketers refreshing for several reasons…Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Marketing Demonologist… It was brilliant. Not the film, but the marketing campaign that turned a $15,000 amateur horror flick into a $100 million box office smash. The problem? Serious anticipointment…Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Advertising Admirer… You see them in every fashion magazine: Preternaturally gorgeous young models squeezed into sadistically form-clinging outfits that require three assistants, an elf, and a can of WD-40 just to get into. And after the shoot, the model needs four hours in a hypobaric chamber just to decompress. This 2007 ad from fashion brand Wallis is like that. Only different… While other ads have their models splayed in contortionist poses with brooding expressions that would make a “Twilight” actor envious,Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango & B2B Rabble Rouser… He’s violent. He’s funny. He’s different from anything you’ve ever seen in business insurance advertising — or imagined you’d ever see. He’s Arnie the Armadillo, the new mascot of Britain’s Kingsbridge Professional Solutions (KPSol). And it’s creating quite a stir among business-to-business marketers…. But, first, watch for yourself: Sure, it’s taking some creative risks. But you know what’s even riskier in business? Being boring and having no one remember you. KPSol is not the first B2B marketer toRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Social Media Instructor… The belief that Twitter is more than just another communication platform continues to spread, kind of like swine flu for media geeks. And like the flu, it’s plunging victims into feverish hallucinations: “Twitter saved the Iranian protestors!” they cry, neglecting the fact that it, uh, didn’t. “Twitter made the a sensation!” Yay, a fast-food truck makes money. “Twitter kept us updated about Balloon Boy in real time!” Oh, waiter, next media fad, please!Read More

by Freddy J. Nager, the guy at Atomic Tango LLC who calls himself a “Fusion Director” Not since Sarah Palin claimed “executive experience” has anything this silly been uttered about top management…Read More