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As you’ll see, some of the strategies I am recommending are tried and true—they have been working since day one and will probably continue to for the considerable future. However, there may be a few here that you’ve never considered—or may even be surprised by.

Stories – the good, the bad and the inconceivably stupid – are the imperfections in our brands and our actions that make us believable, lovable and human.

I once worked for a great guy who I was lucky enough to follow up the ranks as he became Chief Marketing Officer of a large company. He made everyone write a business plan.

It can be difficult not to either get lost in the mayhem or choose a one-dimensional approach, but a directed Internet marketing strategy is crucial for avoiding both and effectively connecting.

At a time when Google is moving into new services in which users have more options and are used to more experienced design, it might want to try to pick up a trick or two about human product experience design from the best in class on this subject.

The litmus test may well be whether this viral campaign actually spawns a spurt in sales. However, if marketing is supposed to be about generating interest and boosting brand awareness, this has certainly been a success.

Brand extensions may not only generate incremental revenue, they may actually enhance the value of the original brand. But willy-nilly extensions can also muddle a brand’s image.

Grab a nearby Oreo (a virtual one will do). Each side represents a distinct path and sphere of influence for media companies, agencies, technology providers and individual careers. Now, divide the cookie into halves the way you did when you were six. You’ve now got a separate chocolate wafer in each hand, and all or most of the cream went on one side or the other. At this point you might be thinking that these cookies represent, say, “search and display” or “branding and direct response.” And you’d be wrong.

What if ads were backed by verifiable standards and somehow rated? Find out why some experts say the ethics argument is making a comeback and that the advertising industry is on the verge of rediscovering its purpose and original claims to legitimacy.

Following are some of the marketing takeaways your company can learn from the social media buzz surrounding the 2010 World Cup.

As we can see from the examples of companies such as Toyota and Ford, many organizations are increasingly concerned about how social media can influence their image. Read on for best practices on how your company can use social media as a tool for listening and customer service.

Does your company take creative capital for granted? According to Dan Robles, director of think tank the Igenesist Project, the more your team understands and supports creativity, the more likely you can tap into social and intellectual capital.

What are adults doing with social media that enhances their individual growth? Here are a few general categorizations of the factors enhancing personal growth for adults participating in social media forums, according Jay Deragon of the Relationship Economy.

Instead of traditional white papers, B2B companies should consider expanding their thought leadership content to blogs, discussion forums, surveys and news aggregation features. Here are a few reasons why these companies should keep yet expand the idea of a white papers.

Different brands will want to engage with the conversations they discover online in different ways. The following are three great ways for any brand to engage with these conversations.

How you do you turn a team marred by dysfunction into one that excels together? One expert offers several suggestions on how to rally your team around its purpose first and foremost before focusing on goals and measurement.

Insights from the SAP conference go back to the basics: customer relationships. Find out the two mistakes companies most commonly make when it comes to using social media to improve their customer experience.

Twenty percent of a B2B company's existing customers might account for as much as 80 percent of its revenue. But that critical fact is often overlooked when marketing is focused on getting new customers.

Can you be the best in your industry without first inspiring your employees? Companies like Motorola, GE and Xerox don't think so. While customer engagement is critical, employee engagement must come first. Read more about this and other takeaways from the recent Business Marketing Association conference in Chicago.

By embracing and taking advantage of the new media landscape, media companies can not only survive, but actually thrive. Here are a few ways media companies must improve user experience by making content more personal.

The effect of real-time search on current marketing programs isn't anywhere as near as substantial as search marketing or even social media marketing, however it's an area that smart marketers would do well to monitor and experiment with. Find out which social sites hold the majority of data sharing for real-time search.

I know a fair amount about the business of selling online advertising and I am very unclear about where everything is going and not afraid to confess that. However, I am sure where I am not going -- to any more online ad sales conferences, until one of them figures out how to deliver an experience worth my time and attention versus selling it.

Media and communications have changed, so a big TV spot or newspaper campaign probably isn’t the right approach for transformational marketing. But lately it seems the pursuit of breakthrough marketing creativity has taken a backseat to work on more predictable and achievable efforts.

Many client technology organizations are ill-equipped to deal with the technical and organizational challenges posed by the marketing domain, and these new conversations create a significant change in the expectations for all parties.