Archive for May 27th, 2008

If you’ve got something to market, there’s nothing like finding a group of consumers already interested in what you’re selling. The search marketing industry is built on what writer John Battelle has called “the database of intentions”: Figure out what people are looking for, then serve up ads they’re likely to find relevant to those desires. Google made $5.2 billion doing just that last quarter. more

There’s a point where technology and marketing converge, where making something easier to do also makes it easier to persuade people to do it often. And among the nation’s retail food chains, the pizza category seems to be the hotbed of innovation.

That makes a certain sense. Pizza is much more likely to be home-delivered than either chicken or burgers, so the easier its players can make the ordering process, the more convenience-minded customers can be led to opt for pizza over those other choices—or over rivals’ pies. more

TV viewers who grew up in the mid-Atlantic region—I count myself among them—may cherish fond memories of the commercials featuring Tom Carvelas, founder of the Carvel retail soft-serve chain.

Actually, I don’t recall Carvel showing up often in the ads, which usually featured real workers and franchisees self-consciously making ice cream specialties for the camera. Carvel’s contribution to the spots was primarily as voiceover. But what a voice. It’s been described as “gravelly”; in fact, it sounded like he’d been gargling lugnuts. more