Marketing Articles About Awards

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Carlos Slim Richest Man on Forbes Billionaire List.

Image: José Cruz/ABr The 2010 Forbes billionaire list awarded Carlos Slim Helu its richest man in the world honor. The Mexican tycoon is worth $53.5 billion, beating out Bill Gates ($53 billion) and Warren Buffett ($47 billion). Here are the... Read more

(03/11/10 09:00 PM)

OK Go Ditches Label Over YouTube Embedding Rights.

OK Go

How many times does a band have to take the music video world by storm before its record label gets that its members might know a little something about music videos? We may never find out, because OK Go, the band in question, has just ditched EMI, the record label in question, largely due to that very problem.

OK Go rocketed up through the indie rock world in large measure due to the band's brilliant, lo-fi music videos, which have spread like wildfire on YouTube. But EMI, in a misguided attempt to wring every penny out of the band's success, decided to block embedding on the YouTube videos--meaning the videos were unable to disseminate out through music and pop culture blogs, news sites, and personal blogs the way they did before the restriction. And that's not a minor detail: the band saw a 90% drop in views when that restriction went into effect. As in, 100,000 views one day, 10,000 views the next.

OK Go isn't a band with huge hit radio singles; they're a journeyman power pop act that puts out reliably excellent, not blockbuster, albums. Music videos are the band's way of making themselves buzzworthy, and it works: their homemade videos have achieved a level of popularity nobody could have predicted. So when the label makes their videos less popular, it means, in no uncertain terms, that less people out there know about OK Go, which means less people can buy albums and tickets for the hard-touring band's shows.

It's a ridiculous decision from the label, and the band was never shy about voicing discontent, even in the most public way possible. Singer Damian Kulash wrote an op-ed that appeared in The New York Times, a letter to his fans that appeared, among other places, in Gizmodo, and the issue came up in just about every interview the band gave. Now, the band has taken the final step: leaving EMI, and forming their own Paracadute Recordings label to release future (and a re-released version of the current Of the Blue Colour of the Sky) music.

[youtube qybUFnY7Y8w]

The very first change? The band's explosively popular (and completely mesmerizing) Rube Goldberg-gone-berserk "This Too Shall Pass" is now embeddable. And the band, which despite a Grammy award has never been a huge seller, is seeing results: since the videos have become embeddable, digital album sales tripled and digital tracks sales have jumped more than sevenfold.

In a press release from the band, Kulash makes it clear that the choice, if not the actual act, to split was an easy one:

"We'd like to thank the people who have worked so hard on our behalf," said OK Go singer Damian Kulash, who will discuss the band's departure from the label on NPR's "All Things Considered" today. "And we'd like to thank our fans for making this choice an easy one for us."

It's not totally clear if this means every OK Go video will be made embeddable--EMI may still own the rights to those videos, so the famous treadmill video for "Here It Goes Again" as well as the band's other videos are still blocked from embedding. But at the very least, this means the next huge OK Go smash video will be open for all to see.

[OK Go]

(03/11/10 09:00 AM)

Need a Plumber? Redbeacon Adds Facebook Support to Its Service Provider Finder.

Redbeacon

Redbeacon, a site that matches users up with service providers (like plumbers, painters, personal trainers, and housekeepers), announced a few new options, most notably Facebook, that'll encourage a more social use of the site--and hopefully gain some users in the process.

Redbeacon, which won the TechCrunch50 award last year, is less a reviews site than a straight utility. You type in your location and service needed, and Redbeacon finds a local provider that'll best address the job. It does snatch reviews from Yelp and Google to help you make your decision, but it's more specific than a search engine.

Even better, it retrieves an actual quote from the business it recommends: not an estimated quote, or a base quote, but an actual quote from the business, directly responding to your inquiry. Redbeacon says that in the few months since their October launch, they've been able to secure a 100% response rate for quotes, usually within hours. The service then lets you book an appointment right from the site, like OpenTable, and it's all free to the consumer (Redbeacon takes 10% off the top from the service provider).

Redbeacon's announcing a bunch of changes today. Users can now upload photos and more detailed descriptions of the service they need, which should help businesses deliver more exact quotes. But most importantly, they're now using Facebook to add a social element to the service. It only makes sense; when you're looking for an electrician, you'd typically ask a friend or relative before just calling someone in the yellow pages. Redbeacon now uses Facebook Connect to allow users to ask questions of friends and post about good experiences.

It's a bit similar to Aardvark, which we wrote about before--algorithms aren't necessarily the best way to find out what you want to know, and social networking is one way to get answers from people, rather than a search engine. Redbeacon's still expanding out from its San Francisco base, and its userbase is still pretty small, but it's a great idea--and seeing as how Redbeacon is more concerned with the service than with users visiting their Web site, we could start seeing embedded uses of the service in other platforms soon.

[Redbeacon]

(03/10/10 09:00 PM)

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Tweets Predict Oscar Upset. Twitter community conversations predict “The Hurt Locker” will upset the mega-blockbuster “Avatar” for Best Picture at this year’s Oscar awards, according to communications agency Waggener Edstrom... (03/04/10 09:00 PM)

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The Numbers Behind the Academy Awards.

ShareThe Academy Awards are one of the most celebrated awards shows in the world. From red carpets to the latest fashion, the Oscars are about so much more than movies. But what does it really mean to put on a show like the Academy Awards? What... Read more

(02/21/10 09:00 PM)

Third-party credibility ain't what it used to be.

It used to be that we'd get the Good Housekeeping seal of approval and we'd dine out on that for months, even years to come. There was a time when the JD Power reports on "initial quality" (whatever the hell that really is) would be something that we could build an entire ad campaign around. Many of us can remember that industry certification, award or something similar, like ISO certification, that somehow gave us credibility beyond our wildest dreams.

Those days are quickly showing up more in our corporate rear-view mirrors than in our forward-looking headlights. In fact, I predict that the day where we look on those awards with disdain, or at least indifference, is much closer than most companies would like to think. In fact, the shift from industrial and commercial third-party credibility, established back in the 40's & 50's, as the gold standard for credibility and validation to a much more personal, peer-based standard of validation is happing right under the noses of a majority of companies in all manner of industries.

It's also happening in the financial sector where you have a number of rating agencies that give AAA, AA and other ratings to financial institutions and commercial enterprises that are increasingly "bought and paid for" and "shopped around" rather than earned through objective review and stringent standards.

The currency of credibility in the marketplace has always been customer satisfaction, and customers have always voted with their dollars and their feet. However, the day is nearly here where those customers will completely usurp the power of the ratings firms, award givers and other long-held institutions of credibility.

In a world where customer trust in fleeting and costs real, tangible dollars (according to this excellent post by Ted Mininni), we all need to be on our toes when it comes to building, maintaining and growing the level of trust and credibility that we have with our customers. After all, it's their peer-to-peer third party rating of our company that will be the ultimate in credibility currency for the future.

(02/24/09 09:00 AM)

Top 10 Best and Worst Communicators of 2008 (by Bert Decker). Every year my father, Bert Decker (author, entrpereneur, 30-yr communications expert) posts his Top 10 Best and Worst Communicators of the year. This year you will see some twists and surprises. Read the entire blog post here.Ten BEST Communicators of 2008 Barack Obama Tim Russert Randy Pausch Colin Powell Mike Huckabee John Chambers Sarah Palin "New Communicators" -- Nancy Duarte, Garr Reynolds, Guy Kawasaki, Seth Godin Tina Fey Anderson Cooper Ten WORST Communicators of 2008 George W. Bush Richard Fuld Rod Blogojevich Elliot Spitzer Roger Clemens Sarah Palin (yes...best and worst! Read how that's possible) Dan Rather Al Davis Rosie O'Donnel John McCain How is Bert qualified to post this list? Here's his bio:Bert Decker is a national communications expert, best selling author and entrepreneur, founding the communications training company Decker Communications, Inc. He has been featured in the NY Times, Business Week, 20/20, as well as being the communications commentator for the NBC TODAY Show for the Presidential Debates. Coach to Charles Schwab, U.S. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, former Mattel CEO's John Ammerman and Jill Barrad, Olympians Bonnie Blair and Tom Dolan, SF 49er All-Pro Brent Jones, and dozens of other executives Founder, Chairman and CEO of Decker Communications, Inc., a leader in communications training and executive coaching. Consultant to Siemens, State Farm, Schwab, Met Life, and many others Professional Speaker and best selling author of "You've Got to Be Believed To Be Heard" and "Speaking With Bold Assurance" Co-producer of an Academy Award documentary Entrepreneur, founder of four companies,... (02/24/09 09:00 AM)

Random Business Books - Support Room to Read. Our friends at 800 CEO Read are doing their 2008 Mystery Box of books promotion again to help out my favorite cause, Room to Read. Room to Read, for those of you that haven't heard of them, develops "holistic, multi-pronged approach to help children in the developing world gain the lifelong gift of education."

Since 2000, Room to Read has impacted the lives of over 1.9 million children by:

Constructing 442 schools
Establishing over 5,630 libraries
Publishing 226 new local language children's titles representing over 2 million books
Donating over 2.2 million English language children's books
Funding 6,922 long-term girls' scholarships
Establishing 155 computer and language labs

So, if you're up to helping Room to Read, head over to 800 CEO Read to buy your box of random mystery business books from 2008.

From 800 CEO Read:

For $30.00 we are putting together a Mystery Box of three business books. In this box you are guaranteed one title that either won, or made the shortlist for the best book of 2008 in its category, along with 2 other titles from last year that were submitted for the awards. As an extra we'll throw in a copy of our annual In the Books year in review. 100% of the purchase will go directly to Room to Read, and we'll cover the shipping on all orders. Get on board and help us make a difference!

(02/24/09 09:00 AM)

Constructing 442 schools
Establishing over 5,630 libraries
Publishing 226 new local language children's titles representing over 2 million books
Donating over 2.2 million English language children's books
Funding 6,922 long-term girls' scholarships
Establishing 155 computer and language labs

So, if you're up to helping Room to Read, head over to 800 CEO Read to buy your box of random mystery business books from 2008.

From 800 CEO Read:

For $30.00 we are putting together a Mystery Box of three business books. In this box you are guaranteed one title that either won, or made the shortlist for the best book of 2008 in its category, along with 2 other titles from last year that were submitted for the awards. As an extra we'll throw in a copy of our annual In the Books year in review. 100% of the purchase will go directly to Room to Read, and we'll cover the shipping on all orders. Get on board and help us make a difference!

(01/23/09 09:00 AM)

Third-party credibility ain't what it used to be.

(11/20/08 09:00 PM)

Help Room to Read - Get mystery business books.

The team over at 800-CEO-READ have an awesome project in the works that benefits one of my favorite causes, Room to Read.

Here's the deal:

For $20.00 we are putting together a MYSTERY BOX of three business books. In this box you are guaranteed one title that either won, or made the shortlist for best book of 2007 in its category, and 2 other titles that were submitted for the awards. 100% of the purchase will go directly to Room to Read, and we'll cover the shipping on all orders. Get on board and help us make a difference!

To take part in this special offer, visit The 800-CEO-READ Mystery Box page: http://800ceoread.com/mysterybox

(06/09/08 09:00 AM)

Help Room to Read - Get mystery business books.

The team over at 800-CEO-READ have an awesome project in the works that benefits one of my favorite causes, Room to Read.

Here's the deal:

For $20.00 we are putting together a MYSTERY BOX of three business books. In this box you are guaranteed one title that either won, or made the shortlist for best book of 2007 in its category, and 2 other titles that were submitted for the awards. 100% of the purchase will go directly to Room to Read, and we'll cover the shipping on all orders. Get on board and help us make a difference!

To take part in this special offer, visit The 800-CEO-READ Mystery Box page: http://800ceoread.com/mysterybox

(04/04/08 09:00 PM)

How Long Does it Take....

for a relatively small government contract to be awarded? The answer is: it can take a verrry long time.

One of my clients sent me an e-mail yesterday. The client is a law firm that does some very specialized work for the government. I've assisted them with their proposals on a number of occasions. The last time I worked with them was last March and April, on a proposal that was due in April 2007. Hadn't heard a word from them since, which is not unusual. Clients don't always inform me about the outcomes of their bids.

Anyway, out of the blue comes the e-mail. It says that my client has finally been contacted by the government agency and that they were notified that all of the proposals submitted by bidders contained some kind of fatal error. So the government will now be giving all all bidders an opportunity to submit corrected or revised proposals.

I don't know what this fatal error is, but if all of the bidders made this same error, it would seem to me that the government screwed something up. And to allow a year to go by before leting everyone know -- well, that is pretty outrageous.

I've just finished with recompete #2. So I agreed to help my law firm client with their revised proposal. Somehow I'll have to fit it in between working on recompete #3. And oh joy, the manual has now landed back on my desk again for more changes, additions, etc. This will supposedly be the final, final version. We'll see.

Just when I thought I could take a little break.

(03/21/08 09:00 AM)

Sole Source Contracts.

Everyone likes a sole-source contract when their company gets one, but we don't like them too much when they are given to other companies. When other companies get them, it's unfair; when our company gets one, it's a good thing.

So what's a sole source contract, you ask? Well, according to the Federal Acquisition Regulations, sole-source contracting can occur "when the supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one responsible source." That means, basically, that an agency can contract with a company without any competition. There are a few in's and out's to this -- you can read about them here.

I bring this up because I just got finished doing a quick sole source proposal for one of my clients. In this case, the federal agency decided that it needed to have a particular task done, and that the task could only be performed by two people that used to work there. My client had marketed to this agency, and it was "decided" that their company could hire these two people as consultants to perform the work. So the agency issued an RFP to my client, which no other company received. My client then had to respond to this RFP so that the agency would have the proper paperwork to award them the contract.

Fair? Not really. But of course it happens all the time. Most of the time we only hear about it when there is some type of investigation into possible improper practices and the media gets hold of it. But in reality, lots of companies receive sole source contracts. In many cases, it's just a matter of marketing and knowing the right people in an agency. In other cases, there is really only one responsible source out there, or there is a particularly urgent need for a product or service (another way that agencies can justify a sole source contract).

That's the lesson (or rant) for today.

(03/01/08 09:01 AM)

Sole Source Contracts.

That's the lesson (or rant) for today.

(02/21/08 09:01 PM)

Top 10 Best and Worst Speakers of 2007. Every year Bert Decker (disclosure: my father), Chairman of Decker Communications, publishes his Top 10 Best and Worst speakers of the year. The top 3 speakers of 2007 are: Gov. Mike Huckabee Dr. Mehmet Oz Al Gore Click here to see all Top 10 Best Speakers The 2007 worst three speakers are: Attorney Alberto Gonzales Michael Vick Robert Eckert (Mattel Chairman) Click here to see all Top 10 Worst Speakers Bert Decker is a national communications expert, best selling author and entrepreneur, founding the communications training company Decker Communications, Inc. He has been featured in the NY Times, Business Week, 20/20, as well as being the communications commentator for the NBC TODAY Show for the Presidential Debates. Coach to Charles Schwab, U.S. Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, former Mattel CEO's John Ammerman and Jill Barrad, Olympians Bonnie Blair and Tom Dolan, SF 49er All-Pro Brent Jones, and dozens of other executives Founder, Chairman and CEO of Decker Communications, Inc., a leader in communications training and executive coaching. Consultant to Siemens, State Farm, Schwab, Met Life, and many others Professional Speaker and best selling author of "You've Got to Be Believed To Be Heard" and "Speaking With Bold Assurance" Co-producer of an Academy Award documentary Entrepreneur, founder of four companies, Chairman of Bold Assurance Ministries, NBC TODAY Communications Expert commentator, Advisory Board Salvation Army (01/05/08 09:00 PM)

A John with a View. Speaking of hotels, this one gets the best view from the john (toilet) award. It's in Baltimore, from the view of my bathroom at the Peabody Court Hotel. That's the George Washington monument and the Cathedral church. I am having... (06/14/07 09:01 AM)

Sole Source Contracts.

That's the lesson (or rant) for today.

(12/12/06 08:42 AM)

Mondays Contract Management News and Comment (28th August 2006). Abu Dhabi Ports Company announces the awarding of program management contract for Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone (Mena Report) The Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) announced today the appointment of International Bechtel Company Limited (IBCLTD) to act as Program Managers for the development of Khalifa Port & Industrial Zone (KPIZ). The ... (08/28/06 09:03 PM)

Sundays Contract Management News and Comment (27th August 2006). NuÃ±ez's wife got AQMD contract (Los Angeles Daily News) SACRAMENTO - The South Coast Air Quality Management District awarded a $125,000 consulting contract to the wife of Assembly Speaker Fabian NuÃ±ez at the same time the district was seeking legislation to cut train engine emissions. Contract Given To Assembly Speaker's Wife (CBS ... (08/27/06 09:03 AM)

Fridays Contract Management News and Comment (25th August 2006). Hansen wins big software contract (The Sacramento Bee) Buoyed by a resurgence in state and local government spending on technology projects, Hansen Information Technologies announced Thursday that it has won its largest deal ever -- a $21.1 million contract to provide a software management system to San Antonio's water utility. Raytheon Awarded ... (08/25/06 09:03 AM)

Wednesdays Contract Management News and Comment (23rd August 2006). HHS Awards BearingPoint $13.7 Million Contract For Program Management Services (SYS-CON Media) BearingPoint, Inc. , one of the world's largest management and technology consulting firms, today announced it has been awarded a contract, valued at up to $13.7 million over four years, to provide program management services to the Office of ... (08/23/06 09:01 AM)

Fridays Contract Management News and Comment (18th August 2006). HealthQuest Wins CenBen USA Medical Management Contract (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance) HealthQuest, the commercial healthcare management services division of the Keystone Peer Review Organization, Inc. , announced today that it was awarded a medical management contract by CenBen USA, the fifth-largest third-party administrator in the nation. Raytheon Gets $16 Million ... (08/18/06 09:00 AM)

Tuesdays Contract Management News and Comment (15th August 2006). PBS&J gets FEMA contract (BizJournals) The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency has awarded a contract that could be worth up to $250 million to PBS&J and an alliance of subcontractors. Enova Awarded Contract to Integrate Service Vans with Hybrid Power Drive Systems for Major Fleet Operator (The Auto Channel) TORRANCE, ... (08/15/06 09:03 AM)

Mondays Contract Management News and Comment (7th August 2006). (AFX UK Focus) 2006-08-07 07:34 GMT: Petrofac gets Dubai oil & gas facilities management contract (Interactive Investor) LONDON (AFX) - Petrofac Ltd said it has won the contract to provide turnkey facilities management services for Dubai's offshore oil and gas assets. Enova Awarded Major Contract for Sport Utility Trucks (Business Wire via ... (08/07/06 09:02 AM)

Wednesdays Contract Management News and Comment (2nd August 2006). Modis International Awarded Configuration Management Contract by the UK Ministry of Defense (PR Newswire via Yahoo! Finance) ModisÂ® International, the United Kingdom-based information technology services business unit of MPS Group, Inc. , today announced that it has been selected by the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense to provide Site Configuration ... (08/02/06 09:02 PM)

Tuesdays Contract Management News and Comment (1st August 2006). Energy Department Awards $2.5B Contract (AP via Yahoo! Finance) The Department of Energy on Monday announced that it has awarded a $2.5 billion contract for the management and operation of Argonne National Laboratory to UChicago Argonne LLC, an independent entity owned by the University of Chicago. 1.15 billion contract awarded to ... (08/01/06 09:04 AM)

Enter to Win the NFIB/Dell Small Business Excellence in Customer Experience Award!. Enter to Win the NFIB/Dell Small Business Excellence in Customer Experience Award!

"Does Your Small Business Put Customers First?

Sixty-two years ago, the National Federation of Independent Business started with a sole mission: to give small and independent businesses a voice in governmental decision making. Twenty years ago, Dell, then a small business, revolutionized the personal computing industry with the introduction of the direct-sales model - a model, which starts and ends with the customer.

And now NFIB and Dell have joined together to recognize all that small businesses do.

In February 2004 NFIB and Dell announced the first NFIB/Dell Small Business Excellence in Customer Experience Award. This program honors small businesses that represent a spirit of innovation in applying information technology in their business practices to improve the customer experience.

Enter your small business to win the 2005 NFIB/Dell Small Business Excellence in Customer Experience Award!"

- Thank you BB for this great link! I like contests like this and hopefully one of the readers of The Small Business Blog (TM) will win! The deadline for submission is March 31, 2005 with the winner announced in September 2005. Good luck everyone! -ed. (07/29/06 02:29 PM)

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