Google Uses Print Advertising to Promote Adwords

In September of 2009 I wrote a post about Google using direct mail to solicit customers for its online advertising program, AdWords. I did a follow up post last February when I received another direct mail solicitation from Google. This week, I ran across a magazine ad also promoting Google's online advertising program. It appeared in Target Marketing Magazine and also in Fortune. Clearly, Google, the undisputed leader in online advertising, still recognizes the value of print media. It is interesting that the magazines they chose to run the ad in are popular with marketing executives and CEOs.

The ad is very well done. It uses the tag line "Make your business top of mind," and includes a $75 offer to promote Adwords. No one is in a better position to use online self promotion than Google, yet they choose to add printed communications to their list of marketing tools.  The marketing folks at Google understand the impact of print advertising. Online advertising has a value, but it is not a "replacement" for print. If you really want your business to be "Top of mind," don't abandon print, but integrate it into your total marketing strategy. That's what Google has done.

Disaster Unfolds in Japan in Real Time

Communications technology has brought us to a point in human history where the world has very nearly become a single village. As the devastating earthquake and tsunami occurred in Japan, people all over the world were able to watch the horrifying events on television and mobile devices in real time. Within the last few months the same technology gave the world a very personalized window into the events on the streets of the Middle East. What this new level of connection means for the future relationships among nations and diverse peoples is open to question. But one cannot help but feel that we are on the cusp of profound changes.

Here is what spiritual author, Deepak Chopra, has to say as quoted in today's Los Angeles Times: "We are living in a very interesting time. What is emerging is that you cannot separate yourself emotionally or in any other way from what is happening anywhere in the world. We are a global community. We need to feel this pain. We need to act upon it. We need to realize that we are now entangled with everything that happens - everywhere."

Should our $1 Bill be a $1 Coin?

The GAO, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, says that replacing the $1.00 bill with a $1.00 coin will save the government approximately $5.5 billion over the next 30 years. See: U.S. Coins. The catch is that the government would experience a net loss in the first four years because of the cost of increasing coin production at the mints. Experts also say that the use of a $1 coin will not catch on unless the $1 bill is eliminated at the same time. Canada and the UK have been successful at implementing coin usage by eliminating their lower denomination currency. The European monetary system does not have a 1Euro note but does have 1Euro and 2Euro coins.

The change from bills to coins will require some cash intensive businesses to re-tool or make adjustments. Vending machine and toll booths would have to be modified and armored car drivers would have to heft more weight. LasVegas, however, already has $1 slot machines that use coins, and $1.00 bills aren't taken very seriously there anyway. I am no expert in this, but I think a $1 coin will provide a big boost to the economy. The reason is simple: It is much easier to spend a coin than it is to spend a bill. You don't have to pull out a wallet or bill fold to spend a coin. Coins are generally considered "spare change," but bills are never thought of that way. (Maybe that's why casinos use chips instead of bills at the tables?) Coins just rattle around in your pocket. Some people even casually throw them into a jar at home at the end of the day.

Coins just don't get the same respect as bills! That makes them easier to spend. That $3.00 cup of coffee at Starbucks may not seem so expensive if you are paying for it with pocket change. Take our poll at the top left and tell us what you think.

Print in the Mix: Fast Fact - Nine Out Of 10 Unsubscribe to Permission-Based Emails

Print in the Mix: Fast Fact - Nine Out Of 10 Unsubscribe to Permission-Based Emails