The Bonafide Marketing Genius Strikes Again

At the risk of getting on my soapbox again (at 8:05am on a Saturday, no less), I'll repeat what I keep repeating: people trust friends' recommendations at least 30% more than even the very funniest, coolest, best-produced TV ad; at least 40% more than the awesomest billboard; and at least 60% more than the most creative banner ad.

If you're not investing in word-of-mouth marketing efforts, you're either terribly aware that people hate your product, or you're an idiot. Or both.

That is all.

This is an apropos item to cross the Marketing Genius' desk today, of all days, when I'm hours away from having bourbon with the one, the only @don_draper. As expected, it's sexy. It's in-character. It's got just the right amount of mystery.

It's so very, very Mad.

Smart PR people, take note. The rest of you... take a hike.

I am seriously considering changing the name of this/my other blog to The Secret Diary of a F**king Bonafide Marketing Genius. Though I'm having trouble deciding the best location for the "f**king" part. Where to put the emphasis??? Hmm...

Anyway, the book from which this absurdly hilarious photo was pulled is a MUST-HAVE. I gave my dad a copy for Father's Day one year. He's still laughing about it, I'm pretty sure. The website is also worth a visit.

And the best part? In the truest sense of "social media," the author invites you to do some f**king of your own.

So much to love. So little time.

4 conclusions I drew from this bit of Genius from Craig Ferguson:

1 - We're obsessed with youth.
2 - Young people don't know better, so they buy lots of stuff.
3 - Attempting to stay young forever is not only futile, but very, very expensive.
4 - Having sex with the Jonas Brothers is a good idea.

It's enough to make a Marketing Genius' head spin.

Nielsen's latest Global Online Consumer Survey of over 25,000 Internet consumers from 50 countries does a splendid job of stating the obvious: we trust our friends more than we trust anything marketers tell us—by a whopping margin.

The one surprising find in this recent survey is that we seem to trust brand websites just as much as virtual strangers—or vice versa?

Is that a factor of brands being forced into more transparency (honesty?) as a result of social media and the proliferation of consumer-generated media? Or is it simply that CrazyConsumerJoe [who took 20 minutes to post a scathing review of Brand X's customer service/product... lunatic!] is as reliable (or not) as those devious marketing people, present company included.

Thoughts???

I'm often ranting about the need to create "experiences" not "ads," yet 99.9% of the time, said rant falls on deaf ears. (*sigh*. It really isn't easy being a Marketing Genius.) Apparently, Jill and Kevin got the memo. They created an experience—a REMARKABLE experience—and 10,000,000 watched their wedding video as a result.

Has any other wedding video in the history of time been watched 10,000,000 times?

I think not.

I am not "sure" how I "feel" about this. But most likely, it's "pure" marketing "genius".