Avid Locals is one of the best new places to add a listing if you are a local business or professional in the United States. Even though the site is new, there are already over 10,000 listings. Professionals include real estate agents, insurance agents, and attorneys. Since each listing is designated to a local city or metro, small businesses have the same opportunity to compete with larger busi...

Smart marketing makes us excited! Some of the most famous brands are readily recognizable because of the money spent on impression branding. However, many of them include messages designed into lettering or other elements. A smart logo can be memorable and very effective. Simple colors, clear messaging, and an easy-to-read design help tremendously. Take a look at these logos and the explanations...

Finally! Burger King is going to drop the creepy King mascot. We hated that campaign character. He was so creepy that we would change the TV channel when he came on. We suspect that Burger King lost ground while the campaigns ran. Supposedly the marketing company won awards with the campaigns. We can't understand how they connected with any audience. Supposedly, McDonalds and other chains pe...

Love him or hate him, President Obama is a marketing genius. I saw my first 2012 Barack Obama campaign banner ad today - it was a simple ad from the First Lady asking you to sign his birthday card. Nothing big, no commitment, just fill out a simple form. Branding genius. Why? Because it's a subtle reminder that he's back on the campaign trail and when he starts asking for donations and m...

We're not sure about this one...The "Got Milk" campaigns dropped images, billboards, and a website themed around men dealing with PMS and how milk can reduce the symptoms. If the goal was to cause controversy, it worked. If it was to draw attention (negative if it may be) it did. If the objective was really to help alleviate the symptoms of PMS, we're not so sure... Supposedly...

It's been a busy weekend for Harry Potter fans, with the final installment of the Harry Potter franchise opening this past Friday. So far, Harry has broken the overseas opening weekend record at $314M, more than $50M more than Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, who is now #2. This, of course, helped the movie break the worldwide opening weekend record at $483M. #2 is now Half Blood...

The award-winning "Book of Mormon" Broadway musical hits New York. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints takes advantage of the increased interest and issues their own campaign. The campaign has run in a number of cities with significant success. However, the national acclaim brought by the musical provides significant free marketing opportunity. The church was quick to capit...

LOL. The MasterChef crew wanted a larger turnout at an event. They opted to Photoshop in duplicate crowd members to enhance crowd size. A number of viewers caught the faux paus. Nothing like making an ego-driven Gordon Ramsay looks smaller than he portrays. Check it out here. "Fox admitted the photo was changed and says they won't use that shot anymore. It doesn't really affect anyt...

Turns out the piece in Angelina's photo shoot is not new but a past favorite (likely to come back). While that may be true, we love the photo piece. Striking. Intriguing. Engaging. She opted for a natural look. Something extra was done to the photo because of some of her features. However, it is effective marketing. "People are not used to seeing Angelina in this situation," Beccar...

People are buying Tony Horton's products like crazy. As the pitchman, he has pushed in-home fitness to new levels. P90X is a huge success. The 52 year-old gets his audience jazzed and motivates them to great results. What's interesting, when they first started out, they couldn't get the programs to sell. Then, they decided to start adding home-made testimonials illustrating their 90...