Why? Social media simply extends conversations that should be happening “off the grid.”  If nobody talks about you with their mouth, don’t expect Google to love you.

Old-mentality marketers wanting to jump on the bandwagon focus too much on the “media” and not enough on the “social.”

Now I can talk again :)

Promotions work when they’re seen as generous or unique or tied into our needs and dreams. They also work as brand builders when they’re so ubiquitous we associate the brand with the event itself. But if I had written “Allstate” instead of “State Farm,” would you have realized the error? Doubtful.

Last week, Jeffry wrote a related post on Citi’s naming rights purchase for the Mets’ ballpark.

On the other side of the debate, one could side closer with Ben Rogers, who left this comment with JP:

In the SportsCenter age, you’ll get a couple of mentions per night on the most rabidly watched show for professional 18- to 49-year-old males. Owning the things that get talked about can make more sense than advertising on the channels where people talk.

I’m ad-immune from TV commercials (thanks, TiVo), radio (thanks, XM), newspaper ads (thanks, Yahoo! News) and phone (don’t even have a home phone, suckas).

Sometimes the only way to get your brand in front of me is by pounding your name in my head. That doesn’t mean I’ll choose you.

Here’s the $400-million dilemma: I shop on value (not on price – there’s a big difference).

If I’ve never heard of your brand before, I have Yelp or Wesabe or fillintheblankwithanytoolyouwant to help.

There, I said it.

What if they’d have kept the car wash and gave a free scrubbin’ to members?

If I’m a golf club member, I get green fees covered. A Costco member, gas discounts. An Admiral’s Club member, a lounge away from the madness. An HOA member, pool access.

Do we give our members meaningful perks — benefits beyond what they could get at BigA Bank down the street?

We should.

Otherwise, we make member = customer.

Brad and his family searched for a new car last weekend.

Brad went to a car dealership in Humble, Texas and walked the lot with a salesperson.

Brad found a car he wanted to test drive.

Brad did some research on his BlackBerry during the test drive.

Brad decided not to buy the car.

Car salesperson to Brad as he was informed of Brad’s decision not to buy: “Thanks for wasting two hours of my time.”

If you’re in sales, a final walk-away “no” doesn’t mean a prospect won’t come back.  Sometimes it pays to let them go.

I encountered a pushy salesperson last week from a company I had wanted to do business with – the timing just wasn’t right for us to buy. He wouldn’t take no for an answer, tried unsuccessfully to go over my head and ruined our relationship before we could build it.

My biggest grumble: “Sure, we have a Target. But it’s not a Super Target.”

Advantis Credit Union might not yet realize this, but this single post made yesterday may well prove the most effective marketing tool for the CU in the new year.

Why?

Less than 24 hours after being posted, a Google search for “Portland checking” put J.D.’s post at number 8. (Note that I didn’t specify Oregon or Maine.)

For “Portland checking account” it’s number 1.

For “Portland bank checking” it’s number 4.

Touchdown, Advantis. You can’t buy that kind of exposure.

Thousands, including me (and apparently Google), trust J.D.

A new BofA commercial comes on (no, we don’t have TiVo yet. I know, I know…). Voiceover talks about mobile banking meaning you can bank from anywhere. Then they point out online banking = you never have to go to the bank. I seem to remember other recent spots of theirs boasting a massive ATM network.

Bank is a verb, not a place.

By the way, how smart of a media buy is that: buying a spot on the Travel Channel about banking anywhere. Smart thinkin’, says me.