Walk This Way. Marketing Yourself Like Steven Tyler.

Enjoying a rare dinner out with my husband, we found ourselves sitting two tables away from Steven Tyler, lead singer of the rock super-group, Aerosmith.  He enjoyed a bit of privacy during dinner, and then mingled with guests as dessert menus were handed out.

Once I got over being star struck, I was struck by the thought of all the unique places I’ve seen Steven Tyler recently.  Just like the restaurant, all of them are places I never thought to look for him.  It occurred to me then that he’s doing a good job of harnessing new marketing channels to promote himself, his music and his band.

Taking a closer look at his successes, we might learn a thing or two to improve our own marketing programs.  Plus, it might be fun to act like a rock star somewhere other than while playing Guitar Hero. 

 Some examples of his marketing prowess in different venues include:

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Tags: Aerosmith, American Idol, Guitar Hero, Kennedy Center Honors, New marketing channels, Steven Tyler

Congratulations! You’re the most influential person in the world of food.

Last fall brought us the launch of The Daily Meal, an engaging “foodie” website.  It’s headed up by Colman Andrews, a noted connoisseur in his own right, who co-founded Saveur, served as Gourmet’s restaurant critic and has authored and/or edited myriad food and wine books.  The guy really knows his food and drink as well as the ins and outs of the publishing world, and believes that media’s future is a digital one, with content contributed by multiple sources, including consumers. 

The Daily Meal is easy to navigate and chock full of recipes, ratings and interesting stories about all things edible, often served up as “top 10 ways to …” in simple pictorial formats.    Last week, Mr. Andrews and his editors compiled a list that’s received tons of comments both good and bad … that is, “America’s 50 Most Powerful People in Food.”   

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2011 Year of the Smart Grid Consumer

Going in to this year’s Distributech, it was clear that there would be a strong consumer focus. With some high-profile consumer flops, utilities and smart grid companies knew that communications and consumer relevance would be key to easy adoption and active consumer participation in managing energy usage.

“We have to start thinking like Best Buy,” said one utility executive. Very true. And the market is starting to respond. From a noticeable presence at this year’s CES to product roll-outs at Distributech, consumers will have more ability to monitor and control their energy usage.

In short, consumers need to know what is plugged in where, how much power it is using—in lay terms, not kilowatt hours—and have an easy way to dial it down or turn it off. And yes, there should be an app for that.

SafePlug is the “smart outlet” that allows the individual connection to be read. If power becomes too expensive, it can automatically shut off the Xbox.

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Tags: CES, Distributech, Honeywell, Intel, OPower, Safeplug, utilities

Sarah Palin, The Brand

Last week, Sarah Palin and her daughter Bristol Palin had their application for a trademark on their names refused by the Patent and Trademark Office. (It seems they want to protect their “Brands” from future infringement, but there were a few errors and omissions on the application.) Don’t worry, everyone, the errors on the application will be fixed, and the trademarks will eventually be granted.

So it’s time to start planning for the Sarah Palin® and Bristol Palin® Brand Standards Manual.

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Tags: brand standards, Brand Strategy, bristol palin, celebrity, sarah palin, trademark