There’s no room for pork in your corporate gift bill this year, so chuck the honey-glazed ham idea and give a gift that provides returns to your bottom line. Which of your clients wouldn’t like more of what you provide for free?

Television ratings seem to have almost leveled off from their dive that began nearly a decade ago. It’s no big secret why anymore – Video games, cable television, the Internet, and more recently hulu.com, tv.com and various websites where you can watch your show on demand.

60% of the U.S. population plans to wait at least four years before replacing their vehicle (new or used) according to automotive researcher, AutoPacific. The numbers are dismal compared to previous years for purchase intentions in the next: 6 months, year, 2 years, etc.

I've been in too many conversations lately where people confuse value with price. Price is price. Value is what you get for the money.Consider what Microsoft is doing with their reality campaign that showsa consumer searching for the computer that has the exact features that they want.

Seen the new effort from Dawn dishwashing liquid soap?  The campaign is about how their product is used to clean wildlife that has been in an oil spill.  In one swoop they appear environmentally conscious, green, community minded, and obviously more than good enough to clean my dirty dishes.

If I ran Toyota, I'd be marketing more aggressively than ever right now. With GM and Chrysler on the ropes, Toyota has the opportunity to grab market share by the handful. 

A recent research study by Nielsen revealed that the decline in television viewing has leveled off while other media continues to rise in usage. This means a few things: 1) Television is not dying (it never was) 2) Overall media consumption is on the rise. Much of the average person's free time today is being spent consuming media.

One of my all-time favorite marketing tactics was executed by Arm & Hammer Baking Soda decades ago. Baking soda sold briskly when women were full-time homemakers and baked a lot. When society evolved,baking fell off and so did Arm & Hammer. Instead of quietly fading away, they marketed their product as an alternative to toothpaste.

Quick. Name a brand that you only know by word of mouth (WOM) recommendation. I didn't think you could. An organization that believes that it can open its doors and succeed without some sort of marketing is dreaming. And the resurgence of WOM as a marketing tool is greatly misunderstood.

We hate to continue to beat up Starbucks. But, they continue to be a case study in poor strategic marketing. The latest: A branding campaign that tolls the virtues of buying fair-trade coffee beans and providing health care for part-time employees (no mention of the employee benefit cuts from last year). 

According to the Marketing to Moms Coalition, e-mail is the #1 online activity by mothers with children under age 18 -- a full 85% do so. No surprise there, but some other media habits in the report include:

In addition to the paid online news content, last month we asked how many of you were listening to commercial radio these days. 72% still are, but many mentioned also spending time with satellite radio and their Ipods.