Steadfast Finances

 Advertising         3 comments

Looks like Google is finally beginning to crackdown on the search engine optimization (SEO) experts hellbent on making their client’s content appear more valuable than it intrinsically is to Almighty Google. But, where SEO giveth… Google taketh away. This is big business, on the order of millions, perhaps billions, in lost revenues by not being [...]

 Advertising,Business Trends,Consumer Education         No comments

This has to be a brand advertiser’s worst nightmare… “Be afraid … be very afraid.” AMP Agency, a Boston-based branding firm, has just completed a study of consumers, “Inside the Buy,” that suggests that actually very few consumers between the ages of 25 and 49 are moved to purchase by habit, or sentimental considerations for [...]

 Advertising,Consumer Education,Economy         7 comments

I purposely saved this gem by Sut Jhally as a post-Christmas article fearing I might upset the herd during the apex of our consumer culture celebration(s) now that spending money is our patriotic duty. However, being something of an anticonsumer, I find articles such as these highly illuminating in the “big picture” geopolitical sense as [...]

 Advertising,Consumer Education,Economy,Infographics & Chartology,Politics         3 comments

I ran across a great Op-Ed article in the Washington post over the current food culture war: organically raised meats & veggies vs. industrially manufactured foods, the millions of dollars spent on lobbying Congress for continued food subsidies, as well as multimillion dollar marketing campaigns to retain as much of the current market share as [...]

 Advertising,Banking,Humor         1 comment

I’ve asked repeatedly during and after the financial crisis why small regional banks and community credit unions haven’t adapted their marketing campaigns in an effort to take market share away from the Too Big To Fail banks by tapping into America’s national animosity against them. Turns out, a few of the smart ones are doing [...]

 Real Estate         2 comments

If you own oceanfront real estate or have a business near the beach that is dependent upon seasonal tourist income, this might be one of the scariest things you’ll ever see… a sunbather wearing a gas mask to keep out the stench of oil. I’m not on the beach so I don’t know if using [...]

 Consumer Education,Investing 101         9 comments

Many do not agree with Dylan Ratigan’s politics, but you have to love his outspoken nature when it comes to exposing crooks, corrupt politicians and scam artists. Today, Goldline International, the maker of outrageously overpriced gold coins (e.g. an average of a 90% markup from melt value of gold in the actual gold coin) found [...]

 Advertising,Business Ethics,Consumer Education         2 comments

By now, everyone has seen the latest General Motors commercial of a straight faced Ed Whitacre strutting through a manufacturing plant stating “GM has paid back their loan in full, with interest”. Only one problem… it’s not true. It’s unethical. It’s an overwhelming breach of trust. And the Federal Trade Commission should require GM to issue [...]

 Advertising         5 comments

I consider myself fairly immune to the persuasioneering techniques of modern day advertising. The buy me, but wait there’s more, buy one get the second at half price hard sale SOPs are outdated and they work about as well (at least on me) as penicillin works as well on a superbug like MRSA. I’ve adapted, [...]

 Advertising,Consumer Education         4 comments

It’s not exactly mind blowing to find that people are less trusting post Great Recession when you consider that most everyone is poorer, the stench from the political cesspool that is Washington DC grows by the day, and few people (if any) actually know what happened with all the bailout money, but what I really [...]

 Advertising,Banking,Financial Crisis         14 comments

I’ve been asking for months now: why haven’t credit unions and small regional banks created a nationwide “Anti-Too Big To Fail Bank” advertising campaign for the sole purpose of taking market share? Why haven’t they capitalized on this incredible marketing opportunity to draw upon the public’s resentment for fat cat bankers to lure depositors (everyday [...]

 Advertising,Consumer Education         8 comments

Occasionally, there is that one ad agency that just seems to know what the people want to hear. The companies/organizations mentioned below, along with their ad agencies, combined forces to put together that perfect advertisement that sticks in the head of (potential) consumers or reinforces their brand dominance to the point that no other brand [...]