Within 10 days of its opening, the movie Star Trek grossed over $147 million in the U.S. and $216 million worldwide according to The Numbers, a box office tracking site.  This latest movie has helped Viacom, which owns the movie franchise, gross approximately $1.3 billion while merchandise licensing, owned by CBS and others, has grossed billions more.  These numbers are a testament to the enduring power and advocacy of the franchise’s fans over 43 years — a level of evangelism few brands can claim — with the … Read more

Traditionally, non-profits look to the private sector for marketing and operational lessons.  It might be time for the private sector to learn from non-profits.  Jacqueline Novogratz, founder of The Acumen Fund, reminded me of some important lessons for marketers and branders at her talk at the Japan Society last week.

Speaking to the U.S-Japan Innovators Network, Jacqueline Novogratz read excerpts from her new book, The Blue Sweater, and touched on patient capital, a theme she has often articulated at TED. But, it was her story about malaria bednets and her strong opposition to the “gift economy” … Read more

Advertisers and publishers gathered at DPAC III Conference in New York this week all seemed to agree that data is the “scrap gold” of this recession.  They urged each other to become more sophisticated in their ability to mine, augment and leverage data in order to command higher CPMs and generate greater revenues.

In the quest to enhance their data, advertisers and publishers need to remember that they must provide value and relevance to overcome consumers’ privacy concerns — something that many social networking sites understand.  Despite their calls for privacy protection, millions of consumers each day willingly post their … Read more

Last week, David Martin, of Nielsen Online, posted data showing that despite Twitter’s meteoric rise, the micro-blogging site is failing to retain 60% or more of its users on a monthly basis.  Martin also noted that Twitter’s defection rate is greater than its social networking peers Facebook and MySpace.

The problem may stem from Twitter’s non-intuitive interface and user experience which expects new enrollees to figure out Twitter on their own.
Lessons From Loyalty Marketers
Twitter’s defection numbers are no surprise to brand managers or marketers in established businesses, particularly subscription … Read more