It all started with a first blog post called Joining the conversation on March 3rd 2006 and we havnt looked back since. (first post here)

Our initial message is still true today and hopefully we have fulfilled our promise to cover the latest and greatest in marketing and advertising.

As the curtain in front of Marketing.fm is pulled away you will see a different approach that allows novices and experts alike to participate in the conversation and learn together. One of the biggest problems I have seen to date for a “late adopters” (i.e. most large agencies) is that there is no starting point for vocabluary, knowledge, or comprehending new and innovative ideas. This blog will cover learning about new media, learning about emerging media, and explain all aspects of interactive marketing for beginners.

Many of you (our readers) joined us along the way and most likely missed the posts from the beginning and may have missed some others too. Below is a brief collection of posts that stood out above the rest and a few of my favorites. You can checkout more in our interactive archive.

How to make a brand evangelist for life
Apple gives 1 billionth song downloader a ton of cool apple products.

The end of the big advertising agency
The big advertising agency days are numbered…

Which agency size is best?
Our first interactive reader poll.

The future of advertising My interpretation of where advertising is heading.

Advertise Different
(First AD post: Johny Walker ad)
After seeing campaigns, ads, and other interesting marketing around the web and in real life we wanted a way to share with others and give some thoughts and opinions around them. This category features some interesting commercials, advertisements, and marketing memes that were around in 2006 or before. Some of them were very popular – others were simply campaigns that caught my eye.
Advertising Different: ING Direct
Advertise Different: ABC Network
Advertise Different: RFID Advertising
Advertise Different: Audi – Streets of Tomorrow
Advertise Different: US Open 2006

Although we criticize often – we also give praise where it is due. These great articles outline some initiatives and strides that were worth noting.
Wake up call to traditional Ad Agencies
Ad Agencies thinking differently
Saatchi & Saatchi Reacts to New Media

Oh and we do have a sense of humor too!
iPod parody video from Microsoft
Lego & Eggo Team Up! (what could be better?)
Web 3.0
Marketing Cliche’s
EggVertising (possibly coined here first?)
The Apple halo affect

Dont forget about SEMSEO:
Enterprise Search
Search articles on marketing.fm

One meme we continue to cover and probably contribute to speculation on: Internet TV & Google TV
The Future of TV Sponsored by Google AdSense and Search
Coming Soon: Google Television
Google gets into video advertising

Upfront Coverage:
Some advertisers opt out of the Upfront (Coke + Johnson & Johnson)

iPhone Coverage back in May 2006
The iPhone and Apple Marketing

We also try to introduce new technologies and insight into how to use them to our readers. Understanding that everyone is at a different level articles like What is RSS went over well with the newbie and expert crowds.
What is RSS? What is Really Simple Syndication?

Sometime back in June 2006 we began running our Marketing Links section which featured a roundup of links from blogs and the internet. These articles have small digestible links with only the info you need.
Marketing links 1
Marketing Links 2
Marketing Links 3

One of our biggest accomplishments has been the successful introduction of our Marketing and Advertising Blog Network which was highlighted first here in the marketing network launch post. We have been lucky to have such amazing members and have even grown into a major force combining our efforts into the Marketing and Advertising Network on Feedburner.

We even have a new contributor Adam Perlis who wrote a great article called State of the TV Industry: Part I look out for part II coming soon. Welcome Adam!

Marketing Podcast

On September 3rd 2006 we began our Marketing Podcast, had our first episode and never looked back! We have had an amazing 5 shows and interviewed some amazing people.
Marketing Podcast 2
Marketing Podcast 3
Marketing Podcast 4
Marketing Podcast 5

We have many interviews, topics, and shows schedule and invite anyone interested in coming on the program to contact us or send in some feedback.

Some recent amazing milestones:
We were invited to cover the Youth Marketing Conference and THE Conference on Marketing.

We were invited to join the 9Rules blog network on 12/18/06. We are a part of the round 5 9rules members and could not be happier with being included! I have met some amazing people and even connected with some great service providers helping us improve the site.

Blogging has taught me some amazing things in 2006 and 2007 and I have met some amazing people through marketing.fm. Sometimes it is hard to keep blogging with a full time job and everything else that comes with life, but looking back I am glad I did. We have kept up a momentum that has truly paid off.

I would like to give a special thanks to my blogging partner and co-editor Lee Jones. Lee has written some amazing articles over the past year and is directly responsible for keeping me motivated and working on this blog. It is always great to have a good partner in business as you can push one another to achieve greatness. I think we have both accomplished quite a lot over the past 365 days of blogging and we have even more planned for year 2.

If you have made it this far….thanks! We have some exciting news for 2007, and although I cant give everything away now – stay tuned for some MAJOR site improvements, contributors, amazing interviews.

I cannot complete this post without thanking the most important part of our blog – the audience. I want to personally thank each and every person who takes the time to put marketing.fm into your feed reader, browse here daily, or subscribed via email. Without our readers we would not have a blog. As of today – 03/03/07 we have an amazing 414 loyal readers. To me this is quite an accomplishment.

Looking forward I hope to meet the following goals over the next year:

1. Reach 1000 feed subscribers!
2. Post our 50th Podcast episode!
3. Grow our consulting practice
4. Grow the Marketing and Advertising network to 150,000 readers (currently at 100,000)
5. Cross over to a traditional marketing and advertising medium with our work

Last but not least is a special thanks to some of the people who have influenced this blog and kept me motivated:
Seth Godin
Guy Kawasaki
Fred Wilson
Lee Odden
SearchViews
and many more…

Like I said in the first post ever made on this domain – “Welcome to the Future:)”

[tags] anniversary, apple, upfront, itunes, iphone, johnson & johnson, coke, coca-cola, marketing.fm, marketing, advertising, polls, blog birthday, joining the conversation, 9rules, RSS, what is rss, marketing links, advertise different, eggvertising, feedburner, marketing network, advertising network, marketing podcast, marketing.fm podcast, podcast, marketing bloggers, seth godin, guy kawasaki, fred wilson, lee odden, searchviews [/tags]

Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.
-John Wanamaker, US department store merchant (1838 – 1922)

This famous Wanamaker observation essentially defined Advertising and the business of media buying over the last 50 years. While traditional media measurement has improved significantly since the time of Wanamaker, Nielsen ratings still represent only a small portion of the population (a sample size of approximately 10,000 people).

The advent of interactive media and online measurement has allowed marketers to target advertising messages much more precisely. Morover, it is possible to access comprehensive data on the viewers of your campagin: page views, geographic location, clicks, links, etc.

Is it time that we revised the 50/50 Wanamaker quote? Should it be more like 70/30 now? Please let us know what you think:

[tags] advertising, john wanamaker, marketing, interactive media, media measurement, nielsen, online advertising, marketing.fm, marketing blogs [/tags]

There is no doubt that we are moving from a world of passive receptivity to active engagement.
- David Cohen, CEO Universal McCann

A publicly released study from Universal McCann dissects the phenomenonal changes in contemporary media consumption. McCann points to a rapidly increasing divide between those who consume traditional media and those who receive their information only through digital means: instant messenger, social networking, and everything on demand.

Perhaps the most important emphasis in this report comes from CEO David Cohen. While Cohen recognizes the potential for creativity and greatness brought forth by this “exciting time of change,” he also concludes that agencies “need to be more dilligent and proactive today than ever before.”

Perhaps agencies should go back to the days when advertising account executives required MBA’s from the best business schools and paid competitive salaries rather than relying on left-over, unmotivated, C-Student recruits who are underpaid and severely overworked. (No resentment there

[tags] universal mccann, digital divide, marketing.fm, marketing blogs, advertising, agencies, David Cohen, marketing 2.0 [/tags]

snip:

Chief executive Eric Schmidt told The Business: “At the most people currently have access to only around 500 television channels,â€? said Schmidt. “They should have access to everything – that is where we are heading.â€?

[tags] Google, Google TV, marketing, television [/tags]

After what seems like an eternity of being stuck in a 70′s design, McDonalds is finally getting a makeover. It looks as though the “less is more” and sleek design will be the new focus of interior and exterior architecture plans for McDonalds. According to Business Week’s article:

McDonalds has not gotten a full makeover in 30 years.
New designs will be sleek and subtle reflections of earlier sharp corners and the iconic red roof.
WiFi and “comfort” seating areas will be common throughout (think starbucks)
Even Ronald himself is getting another makeover.

Snip from the article:

The traditional McDonald’s yellow and red colors will remain, but the red will be muted to terra cotta and olive and sage green will be added to the mix. To warm up their look, the restaurants will have less plastic and more brick and wood, with modern hanging lights to produce a softer glow. Contemporary art or framed photographs will hang on the walls. Bob Dixon, a private school fund-raiser in Chicago, says of an Oak Brook (Ill.) restaurant that sports the new design: “It’s bright, it’s lively, it’s clean. It stunned me how beautiful it was.”

Although this is a much needed change, I wonder how people who have come to love McDonalds will feel? As Seth Godin points out: Will you still want to bring the baseball team in for a post game meal?

[tags] mcdonalds, ronald mcdonald, fast food [/tags]

Nareos does not collect the IP Addresses of individual users, and we will never do so. Internet is a global village, and we respect the privacy of our fellow netizens.

2. Need US state data?
Checkout State Master for compilation of data from the US Census Bureau, the FBI, and the National Center for Educational Statistics.

Who has the largest number of bookmobiles per capita in the US?
Kentucky of course!

3. Want to know how to hack and customize your myspace profile?
Checkout Mike Industries for a complete deep dive into the design and coding behind a kickass myspace profile.

How good is he? checkout his profile: MikeIndustries

[tags] us state data, p2p, filesharing, myspace, myspace profile, marketing.fm, peermind.com, statemaster.com, mikeindustries.com [/tags]

Chris Anderson’s book The Long Tail finally has a cover!

This is a book I plan on reading, and would like to share with you here. I have been an avid follower of The Long Tail Blog for some time, and would recommend it to any marketer or entrepreneur.

[tags] Chris Anderson, The Long tail, marketing.fm, marketing books [/tags]