From the monthly archives:

January 2009

The Daily Anchor has Been Given a Facelift

Over the weekend The Daily Anchor underwent a major redesign in order to add new features, enhance user experience, and scale the site to meet our growing needs. The bulk of the transformation is complete, but many more enhancements will be made in the coming days.

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What Makes a Video Viral? The Consumer, not the Company

JustLuxe.com says: Diesel has launched a new viral ad campaign. The Daily Anchor says: No, no it didn’t. You can launch a campaign and it can go viral, but you cannot “launch a viral campaign.”

You can launch a campaign and it can go viral, but you cannot “launch a viral campaign.” A campaign doesn’t go viral until, well, until it goes viral.

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Ad of the Day: Our Life at the Cost Of Theirs? For WWF by Ogilvy

Ogilvy & Mather have launched another great enviro ad campaign for the World Wildlife Federation (WWF). The whole drawing-a-human-world-on-the-skin-of-an-animal thing may be relatively original (though I swear I’ve seen it somewhere… help me out,) the rhino sketch is dead-ringer of Albrecht Durer’s drawing of a rhino from 1515…

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Advertisers Ride the Coattails of the Obama Brand

I am not talking about t-shirts, mugs or bobble-head dolls. I am referring to some recent not-so-subliminal advertising from the likes of Pepsi, Ikea and Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream. President Barack Obama’s marketing efforts have been the most influential since JKF used television to…

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Revisit Yourself: Insight from Career Coach Suzannah Scully

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The following dose of reflective positivity comes from Suzannah Scully. Suzannah is a life coach and image consultant in San Francisco, and while the concept and execution of The Daily Anchor may be mine, but the inspiration I owe to Suzannah.

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FAIL: How Knot to Use Photoshop

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As the site makes very clear, it’s amazing how dangerous Photoshop can be in the wrong hands… the hands of the inept, the perspectively impaired, and the blind…

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The Benefits of a Recession are the Same as Those of a Forest Fire

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This is a stressful, painful, and trying time for many of us, particularly those who have found themselves unemployed following a round of “strategic workforce reductions.” To be sure, before this ends we will suffer the loss of more jobs, homes, savings, and investments, but I dare say that at the end of this recession we will be a better nation for…

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How to Improve Your Alexa Ranking

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If you’re a website owner, ad sales rep, advertiser or SEO then it behooves you to understand what Alexa is and to take steps to improve your site’s Alexa ranking. Here’s a quick guide to understanding Alexa and some tips on how to improve your ranking.

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The Professional Confessional: Talk to Your Team BEFORE Launching Email Campaigns

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It all began, as most things do, with good intentions. I was browsing one of our channel partners’ websites where our applications are listed, and stumbled upon a page announcing “The Best Apps of 2008.” This was perfect! Not only would this engage our base, it would increase our viability and outreach to prospects as well. So I drafted my mass email, polite and humble, thanking our customers for

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VIDEO: Humans With Cat Heads Make Me Want to Buy a Toyota Corolla… Wait, What?

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I find the following Toyota TV ad unbelievably amusing, but I have absolutely no idea what it has to do with cars or why Toyota thinks it will help sell any. To summarize it the best I can: a rogue cat-headed human enters a drug lab of sorts (well, an anchovy / sardine lab), fights with other cat-headed humans, steals their fish, and speeds away in a Corolla. Right.

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Daily Fail: JPEG Images

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Here’s a little graphic design humor to brighten your Tuesday…

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How to Market Unpopular Products

My heart bleeds for those marketers trying to promote Hummers, high-rise condominiums, real estate in general, traditional music stores, shopping malls, or home design. In this economy, consumers are cutting back on luxury desires and going green as much as possible.

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Should Small Businesses Use a Payroll Service? Thoughts for Minimizing Your Risks

There are many “vectors” pulling on the owner of a small business. You have to market the company, get the business, do the work, and get paid. The sales to payment cycle can be months long, during which you have to manage the cash flow to cover your costs and pay your employees or sub-contractors, before you can take money for yourself. One of the many non-billable tasks that you might de-prioritize are employment taxes…

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VIDEO: Monster.com TV Ads Miss the Mark Completely

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Monster.com recently launched a very funny and entertaining TV ad campaign in tandem with the launch of their new website. The only problem, though, is despite being hilarious the ads lack relevancy and completely miss the mark. Its as if the concept behind the TV spots was conceived 12+ months ago and that nobody has considered the sustained relevancy of such ads in this economy.

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Ad of the Day: The Air that Cools your Home, Heats up the World

Here’s a brilliant ad from Santiago Chile by Prolam Y&R. To bring awareness to the affect in-home air conditioners have on global warming, Prolam installed a huge banner on the facade of an apartment building. The banner shows a father holding his son and wading through a flooded street, as 22 air conditioner units poke through. Brilliant.

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Pfizer to Merge with Wyeth and Layoff 10% of Workforce / 50% of Sales Reps

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On Friday we reported that Pfizer was in talks to takeover Wyeth, and over the weekend the $68 Billion deal was finalized. The AP reports that Pfizer is cutting 10% of its workforce, slashing its dividend, and reducing the number of manufacturing sites. Inside sources exclusive to The Daily Anchor are saying that the layoffs will focus on Pfizer’s sales team, and that 50% of its pharmaceutical sales positions will be eliminated to make room for Wyeth.

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I Only Watch the Superbowl for the Ads

Ok, no not really, but sort of. I like football and I love advertising. But here we are in the midst of a recession and Superbowl XLIII is just around the corner. Thousands of layoffs have been announced in the past 2 weeks alone and major corporations are cutting costs. So how are this years’ commercials going to pan out compared to years past?

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Pfizer to Takeover Wyeth? $60B Merger Discussions Underway

Pfizer is in talks to takeover rival drug maker Wyeth in a deal valued at $60 billion. The companies have reportedly been in talks for months but the deal is said not to be imminent. Here’s a rundown of the facts and numbers…

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A Survival Guide for How to Keep Your Job in a Recession

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It doesn’t matter where you work or what your position is or how secure you think your job is; in this recession nobody is inherently safe from “strategic workforce reductions.” You need to earn your pay every day and continually reaffirm your worth in your employer’s eyes, and even then there are no guarantees. If you don’t believe me, ask some of the employees who…

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