marketing Tag

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Marketing Professor Who Likes Giving Multiple-Choice Quizzes (so much easier to grade)… Despite all the research and analysis showing that most social media marketing is a waste of time, the hope persists among well-meaning business folk that somehow, someday, a well-timed Tweet or an unstoppable hashtag will obviate the need for (gasp!) advertising. Nowhere is this optimism more persistent than on Facebook, where I’m still receiving invitations to like someone’s brand new Facebook Page, even though Facebook marketing (not counting theRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Partner To Some Awesome People; photo by Albert Kok via Wikimedia Commons… In the animal kingdom, a fish called the remora attaches itself to larger creatures like sharks to eat scraps of their food while enjoying their protection. In the human kingdom, a creature called the freeloader attaches itself to more established professionals to eat scraps of their business while enjoying their brand equity. Today, these freeloaders frequently describe themselves as “partners” — a word that once referred to someone whoRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Marketing Professor; photo by Beatriz Pérez Moya on Unsplash… Q: Dear Freddy: What’s a good length for my copywriting portfolio? Right now it’s 20 pages, which feels long, but it’s 6 writing samples, and most are multiple pages. Is that too long? – K in L.A.Read More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Guy Who’s Been There, Survived That; note that this article contains affiliate links, and buying through them helps support the Atomic Tango martini fund… So you just emerged from your academic shell, armed with a degree and a wealth of textbook knowledge. And now you want to enter marketing or a related field, like advertising, design, or feral-cat herding. To help you progress — and avoid my missteps as a fledgling marketer — I compiled these tips based on my discussionsRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Guy Who Loves Millennials… And Many Other Segments; photo by Maru Lombardo on Unsplash… My Strategic Marketing students last year had a running joke. For every business challenge in the universe, they would say, “We plan to target millennials using social media.” That got a laugh every time. After all, everyone knows that social media marketing is a joke for most brands. As for marketing to millennials, a recent article in Ad Age claims that many marketers are finally realizing thereRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Marketing Professor; photo by Manuel Cacciatore via Wikimedia Commons… So you’d like to learn more about business but can’t take a class right now. Or maybe the idea of school gives you nightmares about forgetting class until the final exam. (Been there, dreamed that.) No problem. While I teach university courses, I understand the need to learn on your own. So I compiled this business reading list to enlighten, inspire, even entertain. Academic vs Commercial Most of these books are lightRead More

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Fairy Tale Weaver; image by DonkeyHotey / CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)… Once upon a time there lived an evil princeling named Zuckerella. Although he had more wealth than he could possibly ever spend, he craved much, much more. Specifically, Princeling Zuckerella wanted to be legendary – the brightest star of his very own fairy tale. So the young princeling started writing out his fantastical story. He called it the Book O’ Faces, since it contained everyone he knew, plus lots and lotsRead More

By Freddy J. Nager, Founder Of Atomic Tango + Man Who Has Cursed At Furniture; featured photo by Dionysage… Two words that might strike fear into your heart: “ASSEMBLY REQUIRED” Or how about the four-letter word that will make you utter other four-letter words: “IKEA”Read More

Q: Dear Freddy: How do I come up with creative ideas for this leather products company I’m freelancing for?Read More

by Freddy J. Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Diehard Wired Reader… Back in the indie days of Wired magazine — when it was psychedelically colored, chopping-block thick, and as rebellious as James Dean on a Harley crying “MORE MORE MORE” — they wouldn’t have done this. Yes, they ran ads — early Wired was capitalist to a fault, with a libertarian streak wider than Rand Paul’s ego. They started up to make money and they loved to feature others making money. But they would never have been fake aboutRead More