http://rubenswork.tumblr.com/

This week’s #3 viral video, in terms of cummulative reach. Enjoy.

(Glee got there first.)

Nike’s brand managers are some kind of amazing. Imagine the solid work and customer understanding behind this ad. This ad spurred a whole new generation of golfers. I want to meet the team behind that creative brief. And every other Tiger ad for that matter:  NEVER and SWING PORTRAIT

Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.

Dale Carnegie

only 140k on Gemvara.com

Test everything. That’s the advice Dan Marques gave to Babson MBAs last night. Dan is the online marketing director for Gemvara.

Here’s an example. Before launching their B2C website, Paragon Lake decided to rebrand themselves. They generated a long list of potential names, and registered over 600 domains before making their final decision. They had some favorites, and then they started a simple test.

Using Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, they asked people to vote on names. The name ‘Gemvara’ rose to the top. That’s a big decision to leave up to the crowd, very ballsy. That’s why I like this company.

It doesn’t stop at their brand name.

Gemvara’s search keywords come from many, many different sources. The results are tabulated and the most frequently generated terms are the ones they bid on.

Their site undergoes constant usability testing using services like Feedback Army. They isolate and alter the smallest elements of their site. These changes go live, and data is collected. Who knew that red buttons could lower your website’s bounce rate?

“So what?” you ask. Basic stuff. Everyone’s doing that. No big deal.

It’s a big deal. They were not doing any of this stuff when they raised 5.8 million from Highland Capital Partners. Analytics, however, is what’s getting them to their next round of funding.

It’s inspiring that a company can be disciplined enough to look at data and make systematic change based on real evidence. A well run organization has a huge competitive advantage that will keep it in business longer than a competitor that simply has some prettier jewelry.

But they don’t know your industry like you do. If you’re a chef/owner of a restaurant then generic tips about what makes a webpage “optimized” might increase time spent on your site, but it won’t necessarily put butts in seats.

I’m interested in finding out what kind of internet traffic wants to see pictures of a charbroiled steak versus pictures of the antique bar imported from Europe.

Are the last 5 reviews on Yelp more important than the 5-star rating?

Are my potential customers the type that need to see a virtual tour before deciding to make a reservation?

I’m looking for the answers to some of these questions through market research surveys, so look forward to my conclusions in a few months.

People living deeply have no fear of death.

Anaïs Nin

Great opinion from AdvertisingAge.

Amazon.com is the marketer's pillar of hope in a down economy

Would you be surprised if I told you that investors value Amazon over Google? Bear with me while I go through the numbers.

Google is the monster of tech stocks with a market capitalization of over $170 billion.  Today, Google’s stock price is $545 (4.36 times higher than Amazon’s $125 price).

A major factor for determining the stock price is EPS, or earnings per share, or the amount of profit allocated to each outstanding share.  Google’s EPS is about $20 and Amazon’s EPS is about $2.

Let’s now look at how these stock prices relate to actual earnings. In other words, let’s consider the price that investors have been willing to pay for one dollar of company earnings.

Over the last 12 months, Google’s price to earnings ratio was 26.71, a large number indicating that Google is a high growth company. Amazon blows Google away with a P/E ratio of almost 62. It’s an incredible number.

Today, investors are willing to pay $62 dollars for $1 dollar of Amazon earnings.

Why is Amazon’s P/E ratio so much higher?

The answer might be in marketing.

Google is essentially a marketing company. They help large clients and ad agencies spend their marketing dollars online. When the economy takes a hit companies and agencies cut marketing budgets. The assumption being that 1.) marketing dollars have a low return on investment and 2.) that consumer demand for goods and services will soon drop.

Amazon is an online retailer. They sell directly to consumers. So why are Amazon earnings still up and why are investors so confident that they will remain high in the future?

Well, consumers are not as rational as marketing departments and ad agencies. Sometimes when people are uncertain about their economic futures they buy things like books, televisions, or patio furniture. The lesson for marketers:  fight for you budget, use numbers to make a strong case for marketing’s contribution to sales, and keep looking for customers even in a down economy.

[Special thanks to James Keeratisakdawong for talking stocks and pop psychology with me.]

Evian’s online video campaign has the greatest cumulative reach on the interwebs.

That’s according to Visible Measures.

Dancing babies continue to thrill consumers in general and Ally McBeal fans in particular.