Blog - Marketing Strategy

In today’s Plain Talk newsletter, we’re talking about corporate social responsibility initiatives. According to a recent Gallup poll, Americans’ trust in the federal government to handle both international and domestic matters is at the lowest point it has been in more than twenty years. Only 35 percent of Americans have “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of trust in the U.S. government’s ability to handle domestic issues. Meanwhile, trust in the government to handle international issues ranks only six points higher at a mere 41 percent.

Last month, this meme juxtaposing Tom Cruise and Wilford Brimley’s ages made the internet rounds, leaving innumerable blown minds in its wake. For those who followed up with Wikipedia, it proved true: When he filmed Cocoon in 1984, Brimley was 50 years old; Tom Cruise filmed Mission: Impossible-Fallout at 55. The age comparison between the two men has been circulating for the past few years, updating essentially with every new Mission: Impossible release, but this time it rocketed around social media faster, perhaps because Cruise is now in his mid-50s yet still pulling off his own stunts.

Lately, our society has engaged in much more discussion about the need to recognize bias in ourselves and our culture, in how we interact with and represent others. As a primary means of mass communication, advertising has a special role to play in this concern.

Economic recession has been influencing decisions whether and where to attend college in recent years. A new survey bears out that this trend continues among teenagers despite news that consumer confidence is on the rise.

Unless you’ve been in hiding, without a smartphone, you’ve heard a lot about virtual reality. For some, VR is touted as the “it” technology that will save marketing (or make it cool again). From the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas to gamer and entertainment blogs, it’s been hot water-cooler talk for some time. If you’ve experienced virtual reality yourself, you have to admit, it’s pretty cool tech. But is it really the next big thing, or will it just be another arrow in the marketing quiver?