Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Charles L Martin's Blog


Gear




Charles L Martin has spent a lifetime experiencing hard won sales and marketing battles in the fashion (7th Avenue), film (Hollywood), food & beverage (Worldwide), and social marketing (SoCal) industries. He enjoyed working as an assistant to Liz Ortenberg (Claiborne), Tommy Hilfiger, and producer Scott Rudin, among others. He has worked for Esprit, D.F. Sanders & Co., more than 25 other A-List actors and producers, Rhino Chaser's Beer, EarthLink, United Tranz Actions, OpenTable and now LivingSocial, which is the coolest gig around.

The concept of Anticipation Marketing is his specialty. He loves marketers and sales hacks. He loves (or dislikes) your company. His rants on hotheadblog.com may inspire you. They may ignite you. Either way, it's all good. Follow Charles on Twitter @vendorcloud

Charles is a 4-time marathoner with a 3:58 PR. He also enjoys loads of time with his awesome family as well as advocating in modernist architecture, fine wine, craft beer, master Japanese gardens, xeriscape, politics, and music. email him at vendorcloud@gmail.com .

Search Hotheadblog


« | Home | »

That’s funny… I don’t need your opinion

By Charles Martin | February 7, 2009

As the HH is ready to delve into Feedback 3.0 soon, it’s funny to see that the old process of response/input marketing has really lost its luster.  I mean, do we, coffee drinkers of the New America, really think Eight O’Clock Coffee is the bomb?  Doubt it.  Peets was burnt?  These folks don’t agree.  There are other “love for Peet’s” sites around the web too.  Peet’s has a myspace page.  Does Eight O’Clock?  I doubt that Obama will keep a few pounds of Eight O’Clock in the cupboard at the WH.  I’m sure he has a stash of the finest Peonie Bragga Indonesian from his favorite roaster in Chicago.

The notion of the older, wiser, elder Consumer Report(er) telling me that his east coast, snowed in, old skool approach to coffee tasting is the deFacto is tired.  I remember when it was the deFacto. I knew people who wouldn’t enter a car dealership without the CR in hand.  They live in nursing homes now.

Today, your voice can be heard on every site in the land.  Sure, Starbucks is factory fresh and a little too McDonald’s-like but while I follow them on Twitter there seems to be a lot of scuttle about the smallest and tiniest of issues.  Their 43,000 some-odd followers don’t even know how to buy Eight O’Clock Coffee I’d bet.  Every single product will have a review and opinion trail from REAL users and REAL detractors.  There is no better “consumer report” than the one FROM consumers, not dictated TO.

And while we’re on “assumed” opinions, it dawned on me last night at one of my fave Mexican restaurants that if polled, 88% of the entire audience in that restaurant would have said NO! to the mariachis.  This loud intrusion that culminates into a guilted tipping is the result of someone from the top thinking that what worked in 1992 is still viable today.  How wrong they are.

Topics: Big biz, Greats in business | No Comments »

Comments