Looking Good? I Hope So...

The Freakonomics blog posted the question: how much do looks effect your job success? People from various jobs wrote in with their thoughts and pictures on the question. A PR pro is at the top, he rated his looks higher than his intelligence, and said that they were critical to his performance in the PR world.

Everyone knows that being good-looking counts in the dating world, but is it important in PR/marketing as well? How much does looking professional, or just generally good, count when meeting prospective clients? Here's a hypothetical: you have a balancing scale, with 5 pounds on the attractive side and 5 pounds on the smart side. Would you leave these as is, or redistribute to favor one over the other?

Of course, this is totally irrelevant to the beautiful AND brilliant Axiom team(!) Be sure to check out Luc Wylder, who gave himself a 9 and a 9.5. How modest! I posted his pic above, decide for yourself. I like his highlights, lol.

Gross!

For a look at effective marketing, look at this article in the Washington Post. I wonder who collaborated with this journalist? Hmmm...

Despite the fact that I know it's marketing, it's still really, really effective. I'm definitely going to buy some Clorox disinfecting wipes at the grocery store tonight (yes, I do go grocery shopping on Friday night). The stat that did it for me is that a cutting board contains 200x the fecal bacteria found on a toilet seat. Eww! Though as Shelly pointed out, now I'm going to get sick from eating the remaining disinfectant on my cutting board. Oh well, I'd rather be sick from cleaning products than sick from fecal bacteria. Ew, ew, ew.

Desperate Times, Desperate Measures

"Even my own dog's gone commercial!"

A recent PR Week survey reveals that 19% of marketing professionals have made an agreement with a journalist to advertise in exchange for a story. 10% have made an implicit verbal agreement to the same effect, and 8% have provided gifts for a story.

Looks like more and more journalists are doing what they can to keep their newspapers alive.

JK Rowling Can't Let Go

I looove Harry Potter. I cried when Sirius died, in the book and the movie. Also, when Cedric Diggory died. And when Harry had to go back home at the end of the first book. Whoa, now that I'm reading this it's really pathetic.

Anyway, I can't get enough of him and apparently neither can JK. I just got news from Barnes & Noble and Borders that her new book, The Tales of Beedle the Bard, is now available for pre-order. It's the book that Dumbledore left Hermione at the end of the seventh book. "The Tale of the Three Brothers" is recounted in the Deathly Hallows, but everything else is new info.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go pre-order! Woohoo!

Pabst Blue Ribbon: The Hippest Beer

Rob Walker's new book "Buying In" is definitely on my short list of what to read next. The New York Times just ran an article on it, and in between sentences bemoaning capitalism there was some pretty great story.

Pabst Blue Ribbon, the beer of hipsters, is apparently hip thanks to some brilliant marketing. When PBR started failing, there was one market that continued to grow: the Pacific Northwest. Hipsters in Portland and Seattle liked the idea of PBR as the working-class beer, the one that doesn't care about reputation. Marketing directors took that idea and ran with it; they began sponsoring small art shows, book readings, etc. without any signage. Providing tons of free beer and footing the bill paid off; now the company is surging as an independent, small label that doesn't care about rep. This reputation is incidentally totally inaccurate, they're actually a division of Miller and obsessed with marketing, but whatever. It sells. The most ridiculous part is that some kid got a PBR logo tattooed on his back. Something tells me that's going to be a source of regret someday.

Viral Marketing Monster?

The Montauk Monster story was posted by Gawker a few days ago. The tipster, along with several witnesses, found a scary-looking creature washed up on the shore near a government animal testing facility. Gawker projects it's viral marketing, which begs the question, for what!? Is monster.com really hurting that badly for hits?

Also, I feel kind of bad for this little guy. Sure, he's ugly, but why are we calling him a monster? Maybe he has a great personality underneath it all.

Friday Distraction

The Onion makes me laugh.

Here is an article from this week about marketing:

World's Wost Person Decides To Go Into Marketing