The front page of The New York Times today has pictures of smiling Iraqis, smiling Al Franken, a smiling German choreographer, a not so smiling uninsured couple and a big fat, juicy hamburger. 4 out of 5 ain’t bad. The first section of the Times is 34 pages thick with ads from Macy’s, Bloomingdales, Verizon, Liberty Travel, HSBC, New Balance, Chevrolet, Starbucks, Barnes & Noble, Sirius-XM radio and Cadillac.
The financial pages suggest hope and the bank ads are about saving, not spending. My friend Cory Teffiletti, who publishes a newsletter called “The Digital Influencials,” is once again filling his space with some exciting start-ups and Twitter is growing so fast, we marketers haven’t quite figured out what to do with it. In fact, it seems there is a Twitter Conference on every corner of every major city this summer.
Right or wrong, marketers of every stripe are embracing social media as a new way to improve sales and that has started up a cottage industry of consultants. Social media is also making traditional agencies fight harder for their breakfast – another good thing. Embrace the good people. I smell goodness in the market. Peace!
