I have to admit,this is one of my favorite print ads out there.  But then again, I seem to have a soft spot for great liquor advertising.

In the world of Consumer Packaged Goods, Knob Creek is going through what we call “allocation.”  And allocation is usually a bad thing for a brand… a really bad thing.  But the marketers at Knob Creek have taken the high road and used the shortage to reinforce their equity of “uncompromising quality.”  It would have been easy for them to start using some product that hadn’t aged the “full 9 years”.  But they did what is right in the long run for both their fans and for the brand.  That type of commitment to a brand is admirable and should be a role model for all Brand Managers.

BTW - Special thanks to Jason Falls for helping me get a digital copy of the above ad.

There is one constant when it comes to Digital Marketing: people are always looking for the “next big thing” while announcing the “end” of the last one.  Lately, the digerati have been increasingly calling out “the end of MySpace” thanks to their latest restructuring and layoffs.  And many are pointing to the visitor growth of Twitter and Facebook as rationale as well.  But to paraphrase Mark Twain, I think:

“the reports of MySpace’s death are greatly exaggerated.”

This is a point I have been trying to make to many of my fellow marketers.  After all, it easy to try to compare MySpace to Facebook…or even to Twitter.  The media does it all the time.  But fewer people take the time to look beyond the headlines to see what makes MySpace a unique property.

First and foremost, we are talking about a site that still delivers over a 50 reach with 18 - 24 year olds in the US.  And there are still almost 3 times as many Teens on MySpace as there are on Facebook.   If your brand cares about reaching youth, there are still few places as strong as MySpace to do just that.

Second, MySpace has emerged as an Entertainment Portal.  While it started as a Social Networking site, that really isn’t what the site is about any longer.  Today MySpace is about music, movies and other forms of Digital Content / Entertainment.  I have a feeling that the new management is going to continue to play up this strength and we’ll see MySpace Music and MySpace Video play an even larger role in the digital entertainment landscape.

Finally, MySpace is a prime example of what Alan Wolk calls “NASCAR Blindness.”  It is a condition that marketers and the media suffer from all the time.  As the chart below from Mashable shows, MySpace might not be a dominant site on the coast, but it wins in the Heartland of America… just like NASCAR.

You can’t argue that growth on MySpace has stalled.  But MySpace is still a dominant force in the digital marketing landscape.   They are headed by a group of extremely talented managers.  And most importantly, MySpace is still a force that marketers would be smart to keep an eye on instead of reporting its death.

Over at AdAge, Abbey Klaasen just published a great story on “Your Best Marketing Tool Is the Humble Product Review.“  As the story states:

…for all the ink spilled on the importance of Twitter and Facebook as feedback and customer-service channels, there’s another social-media tool marketers are increasingly finding useful, not just as an online-shopping tool but as an internal, culturally changing consumer-criticism channel: the humble product review.

This is a great point that deserves reinforcement.  While it is easy to get distracted by the latest “shiny object” in Digital Marketing, the product review is one of the simplest and yet most impactful, tools for a marketer.

If your brand hasn’t yet embraced Product Reviews, Klaasen recommends 4 steps to get started.

The right way to use reviews

• Embrace the Feedback: Sure, it’s scary to let customers say what they will about your products on your home turf — your website. But both the positive and negative feedback provides hints to what you’re doing well and where improvement is needed. FIGURE OUT WHO NEEDS TO KNOW. Assign a team to read all the lowest reviews. Make sure it includes the right mix of people who can react quickly and fix the problem — before more customers can get riled.
• Tout Your Customers Favorites: While negative ones give insight into manufacturer or customer support problems, positive ones can make great ad copy. Use them in circulars, marketing material and on store shelves.
• Incorporate Customer Service: Negative reviews can tip off your customer service and support teams to issues that they’ll soon be dealing with. Use them as early warning signs.
• Don’t Stop There: Oriental Trading started with reviews but after seeing how people liked to share their opinions, it has turned its website into a more robust community. It asks users to help solve each others’ problems and share their stories, using Bazaarvoice’s other tools.

While summer is upon us, there is plenty of news happening in the world of Digital Marketing.  Here are some of the articles / pieces of news that jumped out to me in recent weeks:

Team Wins Netflix $1 Million Crowdsourcing Prize:  For several years, Netflix has had an open challenge that whoever improved their recommendation engine by 10% would win a prize of $1 million dollars.  This has always been one of my favorite examples of Crowdsourcing in business and it looks like someone is finally going to claim the prize.

Panera Adds Community Service:  I love the simplicity of MeetAtPanera.com.  It’s a easy way for Panera to deliver brand utility by allowing people to set up a meeting at Panera.

Online Advertising hits a rough patch, while Google and Digg release new ad units:  With the economy putting a pinch on advertising, digital marketers will need to turn to innovation to win new ad dollars.  Google and Digg are doing just that with the introduction of new ad units that give interesting options to Brand Marketers.

Dunkin Donuts Creates Innovative Facebook Campaign:  I love this campaign by Dunkin Donut to its fans into brand advocates.  Simple, straightforward…and effective promotional campaign.

Five Leaders in YouTube Marketing:  Lots of brands are trying to figure out how to best use YouTube for their marketing efforts.  While this post highlights 5 examples, Home Depot is far and away my favorite example.

Facebook Talks about Payments Across the Web:  Micropayments continue to gain traction and Facebook Connect is appearing on more and more sites.  Combine these two things and Facebook might be onto something very interesting as it explores ways to build revenue.

Every Brand Manager and Marketer should have a handful of go-to people who are guaranteed to stretch your thinking.  I am talking about people that live and breath a topic and will put your mind into overdrive with their words and writing.

For me, John Battelle is one of those guys, especially when it comes to the future of the Social Web and Online Marketing.  As Chairman of Federated Media and co-founder of the Web 2.0 Summit, John is someone whose opinion I definitely trust about this space.

At the most recent Federated CM Summit, John kicked off the event with a great opener where he gave an overview of the state of online marketing from his perspective.  Start about 6 minutes in on the below video to see his take on key themes that included: 1.) People Don’t Join Ad Networks, and 2.) Publishers Are Communities of Mind.

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