Recent Posts

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC American Apparel CEO Dov Charney acts like he’s missing his calling. The controversial and flamboyant entrepreneur could parlay his promotional genius and predilection for the prurient to become one hell of a porn producer. (The San Fernando Valley, the porn capital of the world, is just over the hill from American Apparel’s headquarters.) It would certainly suit his notorious lifestyle…Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Marketing Forensics Expert… The epic saga continues… I’ve received a few messages and comments from upset college women about my Monica Rockle article. They think that I’m harassing one of their own. Please let me assure you that, as a professor, I would never ever pick on a legitimate student doing a legitimate project. In this case, I didn’t believe the premise or the project from the beginning, and subsequent research supports my skepticism. My wife and female friends would alsoRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Marketing Forensics Expert… Dear Monica Rockle: I got an invite to your “Psychology Marketing Project” on Facebook. (Note: Facebook has since removed this “Project.” Too bad.) And as someone who professionally conducts and teaches marketing I have to hand it to you: pretty damn clever. First of all, it’s written just like a college student would write it — no whiff of advertising copywriter here: I’m doing a paper in my Human Behaviors – The Psychology of Marketing class. The paperRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager + Guy Who’s Always Seeking A Competitive Advantage… One company’s tumble is another’s primo opportunity — if that opportunity is approached creatively…Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango, Sportswriter + Steelers Bar Aficionado… So I’m hanging out at this bar, but no one is around — no bartender, no waitress, no other patrons, no one. Everything behind me looks fuzzy, but I have the power to change the way I look at the touch of a button… A bizarre burrito-induced dream? No, that’s the scenario at SportsBLOX, a new virtual world run by one of my former MBA classmates.Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Survivor of Multiple Recessions; photo by Ed Yourdon via Wikimedia Commons… When the economy starts singing the hardcore blues — kind of like now — many businesses feel tempted to lower their prices. But lowering prices creates three problems: It tells customers you’ve been overcharging them all this time. It means you’ll have difficulty increasing your prices to “normal” when the economy starts jamming again. It kills your profit margins, so you won’t have the cash to do what might reallyRead More

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango LLC Who ever imagined that naming a company would become a game of speed and chance? As soon as the Eliot Spitzer-prostitute story broke, I looked up the name Client9.com. Then New York Governor Spitzer was busted for hiring prostitutes: he was the mysterious “Client 9” in investigative reports. Given my penchant for anything that sounds like it came from a James Bond film, I immediately looked to reserve “Client 9” as the site of a satirical series, but someone beat meRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Guy Who Wants His Fantasies to be Realistic… The first season of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles wrapped up last week. T-tv did fulfill its mission of entertaining young males and, ahem, some middle-aged ones during Monday Night Football’s cruel hiatus. But my interest likely won’t survive the break… unless Fox keeps tweaking my interest by, say, releasing web-only shorts during the off-season. (Hint, hint.) For all its special effects, visually appealing stars, and sci-fi adventure, T-tv is, frankly, dull. GreatRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Critical Analyst… Time for a little viral study. A friend sent me this image that supposedly tests how right-brained or left-brained you are (if she’s not moving, click on her to make her spin). One neurologist blogger, Dr. Steven Novella, has already disputed that it’s a test of anything, asserting that it’s just a fun illusion. I trust the brain doc, but here’s the text that came with this illusion… The Right Brain vs Left Brain test … do you seeRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Webmaster Since 1994… A Flash-based website is like a supermodel date: awesome to look at, but after a while, you’ll just want someone who can carry on a conversation…*Read More