The new season of Mad Men is here and I am ecstatic! I am really looking forward to all the ad campaigns and new clients. I can only imagine it will be great in season 4. Do you remember some of the ad campaigns that Don Draper and his creatives at Sterling Cooper worked on during the past three seasons?

So far, we’ve seen well-known actual brands such as Kodak, Utz, Playtex and a few others. What really happened to those brands and those campaigns back in the day?

I did a little digging and found a slide show on Fast Company that compares real-life campaigns and their very similar fictitious versions depicted in the show. Check it out and let me know your thoughts!

Growing up, my siblings and I often heard those words from our farm-raised father. For him, even easy days meant pouring blood, sweat and tears into his work, home improvement projects and various community organizations. I didn’t inherit his handiness with a hammer, but I believe the work ethic I developed makes me particularly adept at the business of marketing communications.

Why? Because marketing communications is hard work. To do it effectively requires constant focus, the ability to finesse a plan and the need to be flexible to change it all at a moment’s notice. There is no clear roadmap, no magic bullet and no crystal ball that can show you the right way. Hard work is really the only way to be successful in marketing communications.

Ever wonder why so many professionals blog, tweet and give away free marcom advice? Because they know that most organizations don’t have the resources or willingness to do the really hard work of pulling it all together. Today’s marketplace demands that you connect too many dots, align too many strategies and juggle the different needs of too many people.

Effective communications are entirely possible to pull off, but you need to roll up your sleeves and flex some marcom muscle. Tired of just thinking about it? Call a b2b marketing communications resource that’s ready to get to work and will be with you for the long haul.

With football season gearing up, I was drawn to an article titled, “Colts spurn conventional wisdom to win over fans.” The article discusses how the Indianapolis Colts continue to move the marker on their march to making themselves a model NFL franchise.

The team has grown its sponsor count to 240—up 20 from last year and well above the league average of 190—and has a season-ticket waiting list of 17,000—up from 11,000 last year. And, they did it all in an unconventional way.

So, how did they get there?

In 2000, the team abandoned its traditional television, print and radio marketing campaign and opted to invest in more personal community visits from team representatives. Turns out, this unconventional path has been a real success for the team over time.

This same theory or approach can be applied to B2B public relations and marketing. Sometimes, the best way to grow your customer base, increase sales, raise awareness or drive interest isn’t through traditional marketing tactics. Sometimes, the best way to reach your marketing goals is to ditch some of the traditional tactics and really figure out what motivates your customers and prospects. It’s time to start thinking outside of the box and put new marketing tactics in the game.

It’s that time of year again. Here at Canyon we’re in the throws of 2011 planning and beyond for many of our clients. As part of the planning process we’re constantly exploring opportunities in the B2B space.

Did you know that by 2013 cell phones will outnumber PCs for surfing the web? Is your company’s Web site ready? I found this great blog post by Jeffrey Cohen on the impending social mobile experience and some initial steps your company can take to prepare:

1. Check out your site on several mobile devices to see what users currently experience.
2. Plan for the future mobile experience by creating a hardworking mobile site.
3. Don’t forget your blog. Make sure your content is easy to access, read and share.

Remember as with all communications you need to approach it from the customer’s point of view. Consider what motivates them to purchase your product or service and speak to that.

Image courtesy of Marketplace Mobile.

What are you doing to mobilize your Web site? Need help? Call us.