13Jun 2023 by Bob Cargill
Teaching, PR, Inspirational Stories and More with Kim Ring

Teaching, PR, Inspirational Stories and More with Kim Ring

Boston, Business, Leadership, Marketing, Podcast
In this episode (Episode 173) of my podcast, Bob Cargill's Marketing Show, I talk to Kimberley Ring about her very inspirational career journey from founding her own PR agency, Ring Communications, over 15 years ago to her unbridled passion for teaching today as a faculty member at Suffolk University. About Kimberley Ring Allen Kimberley Ring is the founder of Ring Communications - one of the fastest growing integrated marketing firms in Boston. She is known as one of the leading public relations professionals and social media influencers in Boston and is known for her work with high profile brands in the lifestyle, hospitality, and sports industries. A self-made publicist and business owner that has built a successful career around joining “old school ethics” with “new school techniques,” she has been…
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15May 2023 by Bob Cargill
Ridiculously Awesome Branding by Northeastern University

Ridiculously Awesome Branding by Northeastern University

Boston, Branding, Marketing
Meandering around campus at Northeastern University in Boston recently, I noticed the paw prints of the school's mascot, Paws, painted along the walkway, which made perfect sense to me. After all, the Husky is the school's official mascot and nickname. But I have to admit, I was impressed by the lengths that the school went to in putting those prints on the ground. That is branding at its absolute finest, make-believe paw prints as if the school's mascot had come to life and was actually making its way around campus with students, faculty, administrators and others. How can your business, organization or institution leave tracks so that members of your audience can't help but be reminded of your presence wherever they go? Online or in the real world (IRL), what…
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13Apr 2023 by Bob Cargill
Using Social Media to Spread the Word

Using Social Media to Spread the Word

Marketing, Social Media
Wait! What? Yes, it's true. Believe it or not, I went to church recently. The Franklin United Methodist Church to be exact. The same church I went to as a kid growing up in the ridiculously awesome town of Franklin, Massachusetts. At the most, I go to church only a few times a year, on average. I always enjoy the experience when I'm there, though. Always. This was a particularly great day to be sitting in the pews with my wife, Barbara, and my mother - who's been going to this church for over 60 years. First of all, my sister, Cathy, was playing the organ, as she has done countless times there over the years going all the way back to when she was just a teenager. Watching her…
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25Mar 2023 by Bob Cargill
Getting Customers to Wear Your Brand

Getting Customers to Wear Your Brand

Boston, Branding, Marketing
Many professional hockey fans will wear their favorite team's jersey, especially when they attend a game, like the scene I saw the other night when I was walking around outside the TD Garden in Boston. All those Boston Bruins fans milling about wearing black and gold jerseys like the players themselves. Why? Well, as fans, they're proud to wear that jersey, to wear the black and gold. They want to feel that sense of belonging to a close-knit community, a community of loyal Bruins fans. And frankly, they know they look wicked cool wearing that jersey. Tough. Rugged. Again, like the players themselves. Okay. So you're not a professional hockey team, but you do have products and services to sell. How can you do what the Bruins do with their…
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13Jan 2023 by Bob Cargill
Social Media, Samuel Adams and More

Social Media, Samuel Adams and More

Advertising, Marketing, Podcast, Social Media
In this episode of my podcast, which celebrates its five-year anniversary next month, I talk about a number of topics. I start off by talking about how I'll be running the Boston Marathon again this year, the 15th time I have run this historic race for a charitable cause. I then share my feelings about how much I love teaching, something I've been doing a lot of at this new stage in my career, and being involved as a member of the leadership team - as president - of the American Marketing Association's Boston chapter. I talk about my new book, Twenty Jobs, Twenty Lessons - a Long, Strange Career in Marketing, from Junk Mail to Social Media. I go on about the importance of knowing how to use social…
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23Dec 2022 by Bob Cargill
Spotify Wrapped is Ingenious Marketing

Spotify Wrapped is Ingenious Marketing

Marketing
Spotify Wrapped from Spotify is ingenious marketing. Users receive a ridiculously awesome visual presentation of the songs and artists they listened to most during the year. Along with this information comes a great deal of additional data including total minutes of listening time (my number was 47,878 minutes), top artist listened to (mine was HarryStyles), how many songs played (I played 3,598 songs on Spotify), etc. It is all such impressive data, if you ask me, data that users are inclined to share with their own respective online networks, amplifying the reach - exponentially - of Spotify's brilliant campaign. I explain a lot more how how strongly I feel about the ingeniousness of Spotify Wrapped in the video accompanying this blog post.
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03Nov 2022 by Bob Cargill
Treating Your Customers to Something Free

Treating Your Customers to Something Free

Advertising, Boston, Business, Marketing, Public Relations, Restaurants
Boloco, a chain of restaurants founded in Boston, offered free small bowls to its customers in three of its locations in the area the other day. I saw the long line of people waiting to take advantage of this ridiculously awesome offer in front of its Longwood Avenue store. Good for those happy customers, getting such a great deal on such great food. And good for Boloco, too, for being so kind and generous to those folks. From a marketing perspective, why would Boloco do such a crazy thing? There are plenty of reasons, actually. Besides just being a nice thing to do for others, in doing so, the business may see a lot of those seeking freebies buying additional menu items at the same time. They may have the…
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24Sep 2022 by Bob Cargill
Carhartt: A Great Brand in More Ways Than One

Carhartt: A Great Brand in More Ways Than One

Branding, Marketing
Workwear. Work clothes. Work gear. All of the above is what Carhartt makes. All of it is very high quality and very popular. Popular because it is so good-looking and long-lasting, but also because the brand itself is just so damn cool. I mean, I feel like I'm always seeing the logo somewhere on what people are wearing, from complete strangers on the street to the college students I teach to my own two sons. And now I'm proudly displaying it on a new hat I recently bought. Now I'm one of the cool kids. My point is this. Carhartt may say what they have to offer is for the tough and hard working among us, but I'm sure they know that their stuff is being bought for its looks…
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