A while back I wrote on a Budweiser campaign for their Bud Light Brand and questioned the promotion of the 'drinkability' of the beer. Apparently I wasn’t alone in this query, as it has been one of the top-read posts on The Hot Iron! The other day I saw a commercial for Bud Light, which appears to have been created in response to queries like my own. You can view it here, or by clicking the screen shot of the video from the Bud Light Web site. Note you will have to enter a birth date to prove you are over 21.

According to the percentages they present, nearly two-thirds of people who responded to the ad said drinkability described the physical capability to drink the beer. The ad concludes by saying the brewer’s definition is about taste.

In other words, this is a commercial about commercials. The word drinkability already has a definition to most people and this fact was missed in the development of this ad campaign. I am sure Budweiser will continue to try to drive this point home, and good luck to them. In the meantime, my preferred brand will continue to be Harpoon, where the question of taste or drinkability has never come into question.

And the guy from Boston they refer to in the video, I am sure I know him.

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Recently I responded to a question about email newsletters through LinkedIn from Kathryn Neal Odell, the CEO and Founder of Sales-Onsite, LLC, a Chicago-area business development, sales lead and sales nurturing consulting firm. I was pleased to find out I was included with others in a white paper published on the topic. You can find and read the PDF white paper here.

You can find my thoughts at the top of the second page under the heading Content. For those who know me or read The Hot Iron, you would not be surprised I pulled the answer up to the 50,000 foot mark, ensuring to address the needs of your target audience, then execute appropriately. My statement reads:

It really depends on your target audience. Many people are just learning about blogs and RSS. Some have issues with Web 2.0 usability, especially those who are visually impaired. A happy medium is to have your newsletter be an aggregation of content posted on your Web site, blog, other Web sites, etc. Content is not "locked" in the newsletter, and is searchable on the Internet.

It is with this in mind I am planning on launching my own email newsletter in 2009 for Dunkirk Systems, LLC – watch for it!

Thanks to Kathryn and her team at Sales-Onsite for including me with this great group of thought-leaders.

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Today in the US we celebrate Thanksgiving, in honor of the first feast after the first harvest in what would be the US back in the 1600’s. It is commonly a time when people look back on the year and reflect on what they’re thankful for.

For myself, the top of the list can only be occupied by my lovely wife and newborn daughter. Anyone who knows me and my better half don’t need this explained! She is an amazingly powerful and compassionate woman, and my best friend and confidant. Though she has only been with us for 4 months, my daughter has also proven to be not only the most beautiful person in the world, but an inspiration to all I do. Maybe I am biased as she is on my lap as I am writing this!

Happy Thanksgiving to all, whether you’re in the US or not, as we all need to recognize what we are thankful for. The accompanying photo is of a Thanksgiving card I received from Sales-Onsite, LLC – maybe I should send them next year too?

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Diversions • (2) Comments • Permalink

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The next likemind will be Friday, December 5, 2008 in dozens of cities around the world.

In Chicago, it will be at Spa Cafe, 112 W. Monroe, between Clark and LaSalle Streets in the Loop at 8:00 am. Check out the Spa Cafe Web site for more information, and you can find your way with a Google Map to Spa Cafe here.

I call likemind a gathering of creative-minded people, from various disciplines including Internet, advertising, art, social media, et. al.

No RSVP is required. You are also welcome to join the likemind Chicago Facebook group.

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Announcements • Business • (0) Comments • Permalink