Marketing Category

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Influencer Marketing Instructor… She’s a money management wizard who’s pretty damn savvy about marketing. Of course, it helps when you team up with the greatest media mogul of our times. Last week on the Oprah Winfrey show — a.k.a. Nirvana for writers — author/financial consultant/TV show host Suze Orman announced that she would give away downloads of her new book, Women & Money, on Oprah’s website for 33 hours. The result: 1.1 million downloads! Wait, you might be thinking, is OrmanRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Competitive Strategist… During the 2008 South Carolina Democratic debate, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton spent the evening attacking each other instead of addressing the issues. I was completely irked by their misbehavior — then realized this was classic marketing strategy in action…Read More

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Semi-Pro Tree Hugger… From the industry that gave us the Kardashians comes another exquisite display of empty décor… Behold: a glossy oversized 12-page dead-wood booklet promoting the movie There Will Be Blood. This lustrous piece of eye-candy fell out of my L.A. Times, nearly crushing my toe. The heavyweight pages flaunted full-spread images from the lusciously shot film, along with quotes from critics, its Academy Award nominations and… nothing else. I don’t deny that this film deserves promotion. I’m thrilled toRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Longtime Blogger… I love checking my blog stats, not just the raw numbers of views, but also such info as where my traffic is coming from. That’s how I discovered that my article on Walmart had been cited by the Wall Street Journal. Woohoo — I’ve got Street cred! I’m most intrigued by the search-engine terms that lead to Atomic Tango. Who Googled “Freddy Nager blog”? Here’s the key factoid I learned from looking at these search-engine terms: name dropping works….Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Not A Walmart Shopper… “We live in a time when people are losing confidence in the ability of government to solve problems… Walmart does not wait for someone else to solve problems.” – Walmart Stores CEO H. Lee Scott Jr. I’m no fan of the big box behemoth. The list of Walmart misdeeds ranges from underpaying and underinsuring their employees, to driving mom-and-pop stores out of business, from ignoring the wishes of communities who don’t want the hideous boxes in theirRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Almost a Beer Snob… As a Samuel Adams drinker and stockholder, I don’t partake in Budweiser’s anemic brew, but I’ve always loved their brilliant, often hilarious marketing. Until now…Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Electronics Fiend… I recently attended the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas, and yes, you can’t spell “excess” without CES. After traversing an area the size of Rhode Island brimming with gadgetry, blissed-out geeks, and scantily clad spokesmodels, I have but two regrets…Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Former Banner Ad Creator… Frankenstein created a monster. And advertisers created the banner ad. Fortunately, advertisers can still fix their hideous beast before it gets totally toasted by us villagers…Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Beer Ad Snob… While thumbing through Wired magazine I come across an attractive painting of beer. What’s not to like? As a microbrew fan, I stop thumbing and say “talk to me!” But the only words in the ad are the name of the beer and the tagline “Artfully Crafted.” And the first thing that pops in my mind is not a desire to quaff the brew, but a distinct sense of disappointment. “What a waste!”Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Guy Who Remembers Search Engines Before Google; this article contains affiliate links, and purchasing through them supports the Atomic Tango martini fund… “I’m so full of action, my name should be a verb.” – Big Daddy Kane Too many dotcom execs and entrepreneurs claim marketing isn’t necessary. “Just look at Google,” they say with smug grins. True, Google never spent a dollar on advertising their world-dominating search engine, but they did perpetrate some wicked marketing…Read More