Leave a Comment Posted in Advertising, Marketing January 7, 2008

Dumbing Down America. The Gladiators.

Who was a huge fan of the old school American Gladiators show on TV? THIS GUY! Yah that’s right, I used to love watching the matches between competitors and the unstoppable, iron fisted gladiators. You could imagine my intense pleasure when I read that a NEW American Gladiators was going to be released onto the American TV Screens. I can’t explain to you the excitement I had to be able to watch my beloved Gladiators again.

I sat down last night with some popcorn, friends, and a bottle of Upland Beer (BUY IT, it is from a brewery in Bloomington), I cant’ really explain to you the feeling I had after watching an hour of the new and “improved” American Gladiators. I thought to myself, “Is American really this stupid?” … Read more

Leave a Comment Posted in Advertising, Marketing, Seth Godin January 6, 2008

Is that a GAP in your knowledge?

Curiosity is monumental when it comes to marketing. In the fast paced world of today where marketing is being droned down to a dull roar and people are ignoring everything they come in contact with, curiosity always reigns supreme.

A good “marketing definition of curiosity would be: Curiosity happens when someone feels a gap in their knowledge (Made to Stick, pg 84). It can be detrimental to a psyche when you feel the gap of knowledge when hearing, conversing, or seeing something you don’t quite understand.

Learning in the pursuit of knowledge is a universal trait in most human beings. When you feel the knowledge gap you scramble around trying to find something to fill it.

So many times companies try to throw the facts at their consumers without telling … Read more

Leave a Comment Posted in Uncategorized January 3, 2008

It doesn’t matter who you know

Seth Godin has an interesting post titles, Who You Know the extent of the message is this:

” One of the mantras of networking (and the many social networking sites that people are flocking to) is that it matters who you know. The goal of having a thousand or more friends online is that you’re well known. Connected. A click away.

I wonder if there’s a more useful measure: who trusts you?”

This is starting to become the trend in socially networking after the myspace phenomenom of “friend bots” (basically bots that added friends for your myspace page) and add trains, where you picked friends at random and added them.

When I first joined the myspace crowd, about 4 years ago, this is what mattered. If you have 20 friends … Read more

1 Comment Posted in Uncategorized January 3, 2008

The warmth of Indianapolis. Even at 4 degrees.

From my post at I Choose Indy.

I ended up in Indianapolis after finishing up college in Anderson, IN. It was a pretty logical choice geographically at the beginning of the decision making process of where to go from here. We have all been in that situation.  After moving to Indianapolis, I found that it was the people that captured my love for this city not necessarily the economic environment. I have met mentors here that I will have for many years to come.

I have made it a priority to meet and surround myself with professional and successful business owners I can learn from and, let me tell you, there is no shortage of them here in Indianapolis.

Through Smaller Indiana, Rainmakers Marketing Group, IndyMojo, … Read more

1 Comment Posted in Uncategorized January 2, 2008

Start-Up Firm Brings New Level of Expertise to Business Branding

(INDIANAPOLIS, IN January 2, 2008) – Young entrepreneur Kyle Lacy, announced today the launch of his new business Brandswag, a firm focusing on design, branding and new media marketing. With offices in Indianapolis and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Brandswag helps business owners connect with their customers, creating and sustaining profitability, by presenting consistent images and messages in the marketplace.

Brandswag already has an impressive list of clients including Roundpeg, Rainmakers, Donate Life Indiana, Water Solutions Unlimited, Standard Die & Supply and Palm Beach Atlantic University.

“Brandswag, led by Kyle Lacy, is one of the most innovative, up and coming design and branding firms in the city,” said Rainmakers Founder, Tony Scelzo.

Brandswag services include traditional branding and marketing such as Web and graphic design, electronic and printed newsletters and marketing … Read more