180s in USA TODAY! - Exciting News for Scott!

More companies tap location, location, location of inner cities
By Del Jones, USA TODAY

Think the inner city is riddled with crime and uneducated labor and is a ghost town for business?

Consider 180s, a company that seems properly named for going in the opposite direction to the herd. It set up headquarters in the inner harbor of Baltimore, which might be known as a touristy area but which also has a 20% poverty rate and a 50% high school dropout rate...

Read the Full Story

Payless Has Stores in Australia?

Airwalk Parent Inks Licensing Deal Down Under

Collective Licensing International, LLC, owner of the Airwalk® brand, recently announced that the company has entered into a Master Licensing Agreement with Brand Direct to license the Airwalk® brand. Brand Direct International Pty. Ltd. will be responsible for all Airwalk® branded product including footwear, apparel, accessories, and hard goods throughout Australia and New Zealand.

"Collective Licensing is pleased to embark on a long-term license agreement with Brand Direct," said Scott Cain, vice president of global licensing. "Brand Direct has a proven track record - they are the consummate brand building experts in Australia and New Zealand and will help further strengthen Airwalk's brand presence."

Known as brand builders that can identify fashion trends and develop footwear and clothing that is specific to customer's requirements, Brand Direct has an excellent long term retailer relationships in their markets. Their team travels the world frequently developing and building well founded business relationships to ensure its customers are receiving up-to-the-minute fashion intelligence, product styles and competitive pricing.

"We at Brand Direct are confident the Airwalk Brand will be accepted in all target retail categories in Australia and New Zealand", said Tony Pistikakis, chairman of Brand Direct. "We look forward to the opportunities ahead and are delighted to have the responsibility of positioning the Airwalk brand to our territory and delivering superior product, which is something we at Brand Direct and Trade Innovators pride ourselves on."

Source: SportsNewsSource, 8/23/2004

Airwalk's Yahoo! Profile

What is Marketing?

This is a very good question and answers on the web typically ends up being a lot of tactics, like advertising, brand management, sales, service, pricing, email marketing, etc. That's a good start, but far from complete. And that's one of the problems with the web. If you go to search engines like Google and type in "marketing expert", you'll come up with over 27,000 web pages! When you've got that many people claiming to be experts in marketing, it's difficult to even know what marketing means.

Want to find out what is really means? Go here...

Marketing Profs.com; Allen Weiss

A Letter To Garcia

The hypermediate blog would not be complete without this one...

Read A Letter to Garcia, by Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915), 22 Feburary, 1899

Including Blogs in the Marketing Mix

As a blog about marketing, it seemed appropriate to post an article about using blogs for marketing. Plus...a footwear and a candy company are both mentioned...two soft spots for me...

Companies That Don't Include Blogs in the Marketing Mix Are Leaving Money on the Table. What Blogging Opportunity Is Your Company Missing? Read More

- B.L. Ochman; whatsnextonline.com

Do You Have Marketing Myopia?

It's been 42 years since Theodore Levitt first introduced the term Marketing Myopia, and our marketing eyesight has not improved much. Even today, most companies don't market their product correctly. At the heart of the issue is focus: Marketing should focus not on product, but on the customer. Do you have Marketing Myopia as well?

MarketingProfs.com; Michael Fischler

And since we're talking about it...and since Woodman reminded me of the article...here is Levitt's "Marketing Myopia."

Every major industry was once a growth industry. But some that are now riding a
wave of growth enthusiasm are very much in the shadow of decline. Others, which
are thought of as seasoned growth industries, have actually stopped growing. In
every case the reason growth is threatened, slowed, or stopped is not because
the market is saturated. It is because there has been a failure of management.

Read Marketing Myopia

SOLE SURVIVORS

Chuck Taylors have endured for years as the anti-trendy sneaker, and now new owner Nike has launched an ad campaign to make them, well, trendy. Ad campaigns? When it comes to his trusty Chucks, Jeff Hess don't need no stinkin' ad campaigns. That's because Hess, of Jefferson County, has faithfully worn Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star sneakers for nearly two decades. Read More

From the American Marketing Association's website: www.marketingpower.com
Aug 22, 2004 - St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Author: Jeff Daniel

In Defense of Greed

Mother Teresa helped many people, but Michael Milken helped more.

Read this article from Forbes

Cool Quote - 8/23/04

"Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning."
- Bill Gates

Cool Quote - 8/23/04

"Morale is faith in the man at the top."
- Albert S. Johnstone

Cool Quote - 8/23/04

"If the primary aim of a captain were to preserve his ship, he would keep it in port forever."
- Thomas Aquinas

Airwalk is in Payless - The Party is Truly Over

Airwalk(R) Lifestyle Footwear Is the Latest Brand in Expanded Athletic Line From Payless ShoeSource

Back-To-School Collection Features Fleece, Contemporary Casual Looks and Classic Skate Styles. Payless is helping parents send kids back to school in style without breaking the bank by offering many new brandsthat deliver the hottest new footwear fashions at prices everyone can afford. The latest in the new Payless(R) branded athletic shoe collection isAirwalk(R) lifestyle footwear, available at Payless stores nationwide andPayless.com for men, women and children beginning at under $20 a pair. Read More

I saw the TV ad on national TV, I believe MTV to be exact. And check out the homepage at payless.com. OUCH...

www.payless.com