By: Abe Kasbo

So what do Queen Latifa, Diane Keeton, and Katie Holmes have in common? First they are A-list entertainers, second they are women, and now all three are staring in a movie - Mad Money - check out www.madmoneymovie.com. For years Hollywood has “batched” stars to increase boxoffice interest (Ocean’s Eleven and so on). In this case Mad Money is a classic example of market segmentation on the big screen, which I believe will continuing trend to try to regain cross-generational interest in the movies.

Diane Keeton appeals to 50 and over crowd, Queen Latifa to the Hip Hop / Gen X Gen, and Katie Holmes appeals to the much younger crowd. The producers and casting folks are counting on each star to appeal to their respective generation. From their perspective, this is the ulitimate product placement.

And while this film won’t be movie equivalent to “We Are the World,” it is one in a long line of Hollywood marketing tactics to increase booty at the box office.

Audiences everywhere will sure to appreciate another marketing ploy. Make good films.

By Abe Kasbo

This is the tale of 2 stores, or so it seems. The first has a first class integrated advertising campaign, both visually stunning and memorable campaigns across all media. The other isn’t quite that prolific with their advertising, it’s a bit more expensive and we get some direct mail from the place every once in a while. So when my wife and I needed some items last weekend, we decided to go to the former rather than the latter because of Cesar. Yes Cesar.

You see, brand recognition is no match for Cesar. And while Cesar laughs in the face of frequency and reach, because he can only help one customer at a time, Cesar prevails. Hail Cesar!!!

Cesar delivers excellent customer service, and time and again, he has delivered my business to his employer, Lord & Taylor in the Willowbrook Mall in Wayne, NJ. Yes, he’s a real person with a genuine approach to customer service that accompanies a winning smile.

At this store, Cesar is everywhere and in every department. While Cesar works in the men’s department, there’s a clone in every department. No matter when I go, day or night, sale or no sale, my experience with the people of this store has consistently been nothing short of excellent. And that’s what keeps me coming back. Talk about social marketing!

It is in the ability to replicate a great experience, through their people, that Lord & Taylor broke through my advertising obsessed biased. Consistent, excellent experiences at the store trumped any Madison Avenue cool, chic ad campaign…in my mind anyway.

By Abe Kasbo

What gives? While some outlets routinely provide make good for failing to reach guaranteed audience levels, The Tiffany Network is dolling out cash to the tune of $500,000 for each advertiser. This unprecedented move seems puzzling yet impressive.

While I’m still trying to make sense of this move, it makes me think about what newspapers have to say. Afterall, newspaper circulation is down significantly across the board. So why do their rates keep climbing?

It’s time for newspapers to adjust their ad prices to reflect dwindling circulation.

By Abe Kasbo

So I went to a magazine launch party tonight. I needed to eat…we arrived late and I went in search of shrimp. By the way, the food was great, the event was wonderful and it seems like these guys just might cut through the clutter in their space and produce a good product. I am rooting for them. While the food satisfied my hunger, there was something à gauche and I couldn’t put my finger on it.

I finally figured out that either something is strange in the world of networking or I missed something. I know all about the 30 second elevator speech deal, but I have never seen put into practice with more precision and speed like I had earlier this evening. I felt like I was in an episode of “business speed dating on steroids.” So after 5 or so of these business come-ons (roughly less than satifying 150 seconds), I headed for the bar, glass of wine, and a sanity check…and thought to myself “why are these guys telling me about themselves, how many clients they have, or how much business they have instead of telling me how relevant their business is to their clients?” After all everyone is in business because the market needs their service(s).

The success of any business relies on several elements, one of which is relevancy to the market and consumer. If you’re a small business ($5 Million to $250 Million in revenues), you must continuously strive to stay ahead of your clients. This can certainly be done through marketing, but it can also be done through other avenues such as innovation or new product role out and so on.

So how do we stay relevant? Here are some ideas. From a marketing point of view, craft programs that deliver the value of your business from the client’s point of view. Engage the clients through meaningful interactions, be it on or offline. And if you have not embraced the internet (Note: if you have a website, it does’t mean you’ve embraced the internet, it means you have a website) you may want to consider what strategies are available to either increase sales, brand awareness etc. How well do you utilize search engine optimization? What do you with social networking / online communities? Online directories? What about blogging? And there’s more…Offline, how are you competing and on what? Price? Service? Both? Are any of these relevant?

What other ways can you make your business more relevant? Well, if you can answer that, then you’re off to a great start!