Danny Brown

The 4 Challenges of Cause Marketing

Downtown Chicago

Want to be my guest at the Cause Marketing Forum this May 30-31 in Chicago? The best comment wins a free registration worth $1,045.00 for a business or $795 for a nonprofit, compliments of Razoo (also cross-posted on Inspiring Generosity). A decision will be made tomorrow morning based on comments on both blogs.

Customers want brands to invest in marketing, that much is clear. There’s enough data out there that shows that people love brands that invest in their community’s general well being (skip ahead if you want to see the stats). Yet brands struggle weaving cause marketing and corporate social responsibility programs into the fabric of their marketing communications.

Some of the cause marketing problems facing corporate brands include:
Read More »The 4 Challenges of Cause Marketing

The Return of the Blog Roll

keep it rolling
Image by Rod Senna

Surely you have seen the many studies, articles and posts (see Gini’s take) — including a couple on this blog — over the past few months about corporate blogging’s decline. In thinking about the matter, I decided to reverse my personal decision to exclude a blog roll here.

The best way to support blogging is to highlight your favorite reads as often as possible. While I do this every hour during the business day on Twitter, these blogs seem to get shared the most on my feed. Of course, there are many great blogs out there, so feel free to add them in the comments. And you can always visit my blog roll on the first column to the right.

Here are the blogs:

Read More »The Return of the Blog Roll

Lost Your Social Edge? Try JugnooMe


I made the above video at the suggestion of JugnooMe

Normally I am skeptical of web-based solutions like Klout and PostRank that claim to make better social media voices. When my friend and colleague Danny Brown announced JugnooMe, a web based solution that “levels the playing field for the benefit of all,” I opened my mind. JugnooMe promises that small business and nonprofits can use the solution to optimize and further their social presence.

When I started using the application, I was impressed. The list of JugnooMe tasks were strong suggestions that based on my experiences would strengthen a brand’s presence with real community.

It was also a bit disconcerting. See, it made me realize how sloppy and indifferent I have become about my social presence. The tasks were a bit of cold water in the face, and I could see that I had been coasting for a long time. So I started responding more frequently on social networks, and in blogs.
Read More »Lost Your Social Edge? Try JugnooMe