You can count on Seth Godin to be thought-provoking. The post below appeared on Seth’s blog on July 23.

Defenders of the status quo at newspapers, book publishers and the magazine industry are in a panic. Some are even misguidedly asking for government regulation or a bailout.

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Good blogging is more than good content. Presentation matters. The food might taste good, but if I can’t cut it, lift it, chew it, swallow it, and digest it…that’s a problem.

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Four51 and Abbott Label, Inc. – “See For Yourself and Make More Money”

Make more money…wouldn’t that be nice? There is a great new opportunity to do so through the team of experts at Abbott Label. We challenge you to ‘see for yourself’ how Abbott Label can get you in a better position with your label business. In turn, we will help you make-more-money!

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I stumbled across some new research on taglines and slogans on Brandchannel.  Tagline Guru, an agency dedicated to taglines and slogans, has released its analysis of more than 150 corporate taglines debuting in 2009, aiming to “discover the most frequently used words in this year`s taglines, and whether they reveal how companies are strategically recasting their brand message to forge a closer connection with their customers.”

Do you think you can name some of the top ten words used in new taglines? I got five of 10.

The most commonly used words or concepts (alphabetically):

1. believe
2. far/further
3. future
4. imagine/see
5. innovate/innovation
6. more
7. new
8. save/savings
9. together
10. you

This info would be more interesting with some historical perspective. For example, I would like to know if numbers eight and 10 have recently cracked the top 10, or are they perennial favorites.

Paola Norambuena, Interbrand’s head of Verbal Identity (ed. yes, that’s really his title), says that keeping on top of commonly used taglines is important for two reasons:

• First, it can highlight how companies are responding to shifts in the market
• Second, it highlights what to avoid. Using only popular words creates lack of distinctiveness

Norambuena notes that different words aren’t enough to create distinctiveness. The same idea can be expressed in dozens of ways. Take, for example, Target’s “Expect More. Pay Less.” It feels very similar to Wal-Mart’s “Save Money. Live Better” and even similar to Home Depot’s “More Saving. More Doing.” In the current economy, we know consumers are looking for ways to save, but what in the taglines truly drives differentiation?

Keep in mind that brand identity and equity consists of much more than a tagline. That’s why I wonder if these monster brands worry much about overlapping taglines/messages. They are simply tweaking and reinforcing what they’ve already come to stand for in the mind of the consumer. And what they’ve come to stand for is the sum total of many types of inputs.

When choosing taglines, most companies explore options along a continuum of “descriptive” to “timeless.”  There are arguments for both, especially if taglines and slogans are to be applied at the corporate, divisional, and product levels. (The only universal rule is to never invite lawyers or accountants to these meetings.) Four51′s current tagline is On-Demand Smart Catalog Technology. This is mostly descriptive. A tagline like “Think Ahead. Stay Ahead” is timeless. In other words, it’s hard to imagine a time when this tagline would clash with the company’s strategy and goals.

Parting thought: remember that the burden of telling your company’s story doesn’t rest solely on the tagline. Don’t try to make it do too much. It can’t. It needs help from the compelling content on your website, the skill and friendliness of your customer-facing employees, and the professionalism of your reps.

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Social Media and Marketing Management from Four51

Okay, here we go again….

Just like 10 years ago when Four51 paved the way in e-commerce, we’re now leading the way into the rapidly growing social economy by introducing Four51 FanTools for Facebook. We’ve been working on social media for the better part of a year.  And now we’re excited to unveil Four51 FanTools for Facebook.  Our ultimate vision is total social media and marketing management via support for the most popular social tools.

Here’s what we’re doing…we think these tools will help your business thrive in today’s 24-hour marketing cycle. We’ve reached an age in which instant marketing on Facebook, Twitter, and in the Blogosphere can work seamlessly with more traditional printed and branded communications tools (direct mail, brochures, promo items, etc.).

You now have the ability with the push of a button to post, tweet, update, blog. And with Four51’s widely embraced e-commerce platform you can now synchronize these real-time social media channels with the traditional marketing mix. Online and offline: fast, synchronized, cohesive.

Simply put, Four51 FanTools for Facebook allows brands, their agencies, and their sellers in segments like retail, franchising, distribution, and manufacturing to quickly and simply implement a Facebook Fan page strategy. And in doing so, get a head-start on competitors in building your (or your client’s) dynamic, vital social communities, comprising customers, prospects, partners and other important participants.

Four51 focused its initial launch in the social economy on Facebook for one simple reason: it’s huge. This is a market of 200 million-plus members, growing rapidly week-in and week-out. Facebook is becoming the standard for the social economy. As it strengthens its hold, more and more of your customers and their customers are going to be doing business – buying and selling – in this environment.

Four51 FanTools for Facebook is an excellent fit if you’re a brand, agency or seller wanting to nurture your community online. With it, you can configure your own, and/or your customers’ Facebook fan pages quickly, making offers to targeted prospects based on gender, geography, age, and lifestyle.  Further, now you have excellent ways to create reports showing those accessing offers, accepting them, rating and sharing them.

Central to Four51 FanTools is the DealStream, a configurable, dynamic portal platform consisting of four distinct yet integrated programs:

• The Offer Portal, supporting unlimited offers via coupons, gift cards, mobile SMS messaging
• The Dealer & Location Portal, allowing fans to quickly find nearby locations
• The Brand Central Portal, an online source of branded video communications
• The Brand Store Portal, featuring immediate “buy-now” e-commerce integration via Four51 ecommerce technology

There are a number of benefits. For example, Four51 FanTools for Facebook lets you:

• Implement a social commerce strategy with minimal investment risk
• Manage the presentation of more dynamic brand content as a Facebook “Application”
• Control your social interactions
• Measure your campaign and communications effectiveness

Best of all, you now can seamlessly coordinate the emerging social media environment with traditional offline activities, ensuring that messaging and materials in both environments are in synch and delivering ROI.

As you know, we’re in an age where people and communities are exerting more and more influence over the brands they prefer. I learned this from my four kids who are in their teens and early 20s. Maybe you have too.

Say “so-long” to the brand manager, the agency, the distributor, the manufacturer mired in long planning cycles, extended production runs, dead-on-arrival messaging and repetitive static campaigns. That approach is so 24 hours ago!  Today’s the day to plan how you need to message and market and sell tomorrow, based on what the world is tweeting or posting about you right now.  And tomorrow’s the day to start planning for the day after.

Welcome to the 24-hour marketing cycle.  Welcome to Four51 FanTools for Facebook.

Drop me a line if you want to learn more and see a demo.

Thanks
–tim
tmorin@four51.com

PS Look for Four51 FanTools updates on Four51’s Facebook Fan Page.

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