Marketing Category



From case studies to critical analysis, we go behind the hype to show you what’s new, what’s noteworthy, and what’s nonsense. This section covers all aspects of marketing: advertising, branding, design, SEO, social media, overall business strategy, and more. Sometimes serious, occasionally satirical, frequently skeptical, never stale.

Outsource Marketing Makeover
by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Branding Junkie… I’m digging the rebranding of my friend Patrick Byers‘ agency, Outsource Marketing…Read More
Bobby Borg with Freddy Nager
by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Former Music Industry Guy… Many marketers get called “rock stars” — though most are more Milli Vanilli than Mick Jagger. Then there’s Bobby Borg, who is literally a rock star in the field…Read More
Hannah Jewell Washington Post
by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Influencer Marketing Instructor… Got a little more publicity this week: Hannah Jewell of the Washington Post quoted me for her video story on influencer marketing.Read More
Amazon Prime Day
by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + long-time Amazon customer and questioner… I’m reading Amazon’s press release about its Prime Day results (“Alexa, How Good Was Prime Day?”), and though it sounds impressive — “sales surpassed the previous Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined” — it left me wanting to know more.Read More
Adda Shoe Box
by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Packaging Aficionado… I must be part cat given my fixation with boxes. Shoe boxes, to be precise. While I like shoes, I don’t have a fetish for them. A few pairs will suffice. But the boxes?Read More
Arii of Instagram
by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Influencer Marketing Instructor… File this under “surprising… but not really”: According to this BuzzFeed story, fashion “influencer” Arii failed to sell 36 T-shirts from her own brand, despite having 2.6 million followers.Read More
campaign map
by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Planner of Marketing… A friend who runs an ad agency told me he just declined a prospective client. Even though that prospect was a great guy with a great business, he refused to pay for a campaign plan, and would only pay for the production work. I told my friend that I, too, would have passed. I see a marketing plan as the blueprint, the screenplay, the treasure map, so it’s undervalued at even $10,000 or $20,000. A plan also drawsRead More
Accenture-Droga5
by Jeffrey Hirsch, USC Adjunct Professor + President/Founder of The Right Brain Studio; featured image by Hirsch; this piece originally appeared on The Right Brain Studio blog… On April 3, 2019, Adweek reported that “Droga5, the creative agency known for its acclaimed campaigns for brands like Chase, Google, HBO, IHOP, The New York Times and Under Armour, has agreed to be acquired in full by Accenture Interactive, the marketing arm of international consulting firm Accenture.”Read More
In The Time It Takes To Get There
by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Influencer Marketing Professor… With the influencer business fraught with fraud — all while flaunting “authenticity” — what better way to reveal truth than pointed satire?Read More
nonprofit pricing
by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Consultant to Nonprofits, Dotcoms, and Dreamers; photo by Kat Yukawa on Unsplash… What do charity organizations and most Web 2.0 companies have in common? None make a profit. (Apparently, someone convinced dotcoms that .) But they all still have prices — just not in the traditional sense of numbers on a tag…Read More