Tag: Sandra Fong Young
Carmax: Is it Really the Way Car Buying Should Be?
I’d heard the Carmax commercials and considered it a fantastic concept. I decided to check it out. As I walked in the door, I became anxious as a smiling man approached and asked, “Welcome to Carmax. How can I help you today?” I said I just wanted to look at cars, and he directed me to the lot – without following me.
Geotagging: Should You Do It? – The Pros and Cons of “Checking In” via Social Media
Columnist – Sandra Fong Young The Mom Market Some people go “check in” crazy. You see five posts in a row on their Facebook page with all the places they’ve visited in the last two hours. As soon as you sit down at a restaurant, they pull at their phone to check you [...]
Brandspeak – Commonly Used Words That Refer to Name Brand Products
Columnist – Sandra Fong Young The Mom Market Do you ask your spouse to Tivo shows for you? Did the secretary Xerox two copies of the contract? Can you hand me a Kleenex and a Band-Aid? Brand names often become so ingrained in our culture that we use them to refer to entire categories of [...]
TV Product Placement: The Hidden and the Obvious
Columnist – Sandra Fong Young The Mom Market “This … is American Idol!” is Ryan Seacrest’s decree. But maybe it should be: “This … is Coca-Cola, Ford, AT&T, iTunes American Idol!” “American Idol” is often cited as having one of the highest amounts of sponsored products and services. In fact, for the series’ 7th season, [...]
How Influenced Are You? Why Bloggers Help Influence Our Purchases
Columnist – Sandra Fong Young The Mom Market For U.S.-based blogs, an amazing 53 percent of female readers have bought a product because of a blog recommendation, according to a new study by BlogHer. In the marketing world, that’s a huge amount of influence. And in a form of media that is still often not [...]
New Marketing Tools for You
Columnist – Sandra Fong Young The Mom Market Explaining the Value of Facebook Places, QR Codes and Quora I love the ski/snowboard destination commercial that played on the radio this past winter talking about “MyFace” and “Spacebook.” It really is hard to keep track – there’s a new social media or mobile marketing tool coming [...]
What is PR and Why do I Care?
Columnist – Sandra Fong Young The Mom Market Defining Public Relations and Explaining its Benefits to Parents The public relations agency that I work for recently held an open house as part of South Park’s Walkabout (a wonderful family-friendly and free event, BTW), and the two most frequently questions were: So What is Public Relations? [...]
The Marketing of Valentine’s Day – Is it Really a “Hallmark Holiday”?
Columnist – Sandra Fong Young The Mom Market It’s a holiday that is both widely celebrated and widely disparaged. In fact, this Valentine’s Day, the PR firm I work has been helping local businesses come up with ways to promote V-Day with both bountiful gift suggestions for the one you love and “Singles Awareness Day”-type [...]
Smart Last-Minute Shopping – Tips from a Marketing Perspective to Get the Best Deals
Columnist – Sandra Fong Young The Mom Market If you’re like I am, you haven’t finished your holiday shopping yet. Every year, I think “This could be the year that I get all my shopping done before Thanksgiving.” Then Thanksgiving passes by, and I’ve only picked up two gifts. The majority are always purchased the [...]
S.M.O.L.B. Part II: Supporter of Mom-Owned Local Businesses
Columnist – Sandra Fong Young The Mom Market More San Diego Mothers with Notable Products and Services Based on the great response from last month’s S.M.O.L.B. post (Supporter Mom-Owned Local Businesses), below are three more San Diego mothers to support with some additional commentary on their companies: Aquabag – It’s a purse; it’s a water [...]
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