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Don’t trust any marketing firm or person that’s not great at marketing themselves.

I hear it all the friggin’ time: “Yeah, I know my (FILL IN WORD) sucks, but I guess it’s like the cobbler’s children with no shoes. Heh, heh.”

If a marketing “expert” has a lame web site, or a lame business card, or doesn’t carry a business card, or has @aol, @gmail, or @optonline as their email domain, or has no blog, or doesn’t really know what a blog is, or what “Web 2.0″ means, and isn’t on Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn, and has no G-Cred, then he or she should not be calling themselves a marketing expert and have no right to be advising you on your business.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/technology/personaltech/12pogue.html?_r=1&em

In an attempt to create some viral online buzz for the launch of its 2009 1-Series coupe, BMW did something different. They also did something fake.

Via BMW films, they created a fake documentary, with a fake director, around a fake German town filled with fake German people (who even had fake teeth) who were blathering on about a fake celebration (“Rampenfest”) for a giant fake ramp that was supposed to launch (literally) the car to the US. After about 20-minutes of the 35 min video I’d seen enough. And, in that 20 minutes, I don’t recall a word about the car.

If this attempt at viral marketing was targeting ad bloggers like me and ad award show judges, then they hit their mark. (Apparently, it was the darling of the award shows) But I’m not sure how many serious car buyers, over 30, it impressed. I’d be happy to be proven wrong so, if anyone knows, please tell me. Because with a storied heritage of German mechanical perfection, it escapes me as to why BMW would opt for silly gimmickry and fakery to try to sell their newest model.

So, what are your thoughts on this? Leave your comment on the “comment” link below.

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How they helped a Black man with an Arab name win the US presidency.

Last month, a panel of top marketing experts, organized by Ad Age, gathered to select the ‘Marketer of the Year.’ Beating out the likes of Apple Computer, Burger King and Nike, the winner was “Team Obama.” Working with an unknown African-American candidate with an Arab name, they used a highly-organized, integrated, guerrilla marketing strategy utilizing many non-traditional social-media tactics.

Jon Fine, marketing and media columnist for BusinessWeek, pointed to Mr. Obama’s facility with engaging voters in social-media online channels. “It’s the fuckin’ Web 2.0 thing,” he said. Clearly Obama and his team understood the Internet better than McCain — and took advantage of that. From a broader perspective, however, Obama trusted the guidance of his top marketing advisor, David Axelrod.

Also, Obama invested almost twice what McCain spent on marketing — a fact suggesting that those who invest in marketing, and do it with the best help, have the best shot at winning.

Whether it’s selling a presidential candidate, or furniture, a successful effort depends on finding, and listening to, the best marketing help.

Learn more about effective marketing and social media

John discusses the media trends that are changing the marketing landscape and how you can take advantage of them.

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Listen to the podcast that lets you hear how other buisness owners solve their tough marketing problems.

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting Alan Levy, the founder and CEO of a very cool new media called BlogTalkRadio. Check it out: