The Top 12 Marketing Partners Blog Posts of 2012

As the year comes to a close and with the threat of the Mayan Apocalypse safely behind us, I thought it would be interesting to collect the most popular blog posts produced by our awesome Marketing Partners team over the last year.

Looking back frames a picture that includes new marketing communication issues for values-based organizations, as well as several perennial concerns. Cranking out two blog posts a week, year after year, can be a challenge when you’re crazy busy with client work — and every Marketing Partners team member participates — so it’s rewarding to see the results. Without further ado, here’s the top 12 posts from our blog since this time last year– based on readership popularity, sharing and comments.

1. Good Causes Hurt by Bad Ads

This post is in the category of a perennial concern for values-based organizations, and it showcases some striking examples. The 2012 election rhetoric around rape no doubt helped to make this our top post as it drew additional attention to a misguided campaign blaming victims for rape. Find out the leading culprit behind bad ads for good causes.

 

2. The Top 6 Sustainability Infographics of 2012

The explosion of visuals on sharing networks stimulated a new issue for our blog — identifying quality infographics on the subject of sustainability and other issues social change leaders care about. We foresee this new issue becoming an ongoing one, so you’ll want to check out our criteria for selecting quality social change infographics.

 

 

3. Logo Design:Is Boring and Ugly the new awesome?

It’s important to note that this post does not just pick on the worst new logos, but it includes some really good ones too. While it’s a recurring observation that the world is full of bad, ugly and boring logos, it’s just as important to know what to do as what not to do.

 

 

 

4.  On Septic Tanks and Social Media

While social media is a perennial topic of interest, we never thought we’d be writing about septic tanks on our marketing blog! (And you’ll be surprised by how many marketing lessons there are in this story).

 

 

 

5.  Changing Minds: On Storytelling, Donations and Sales

Something we write about often is the communication challenge, shared by nonprofits and values-based businesses, of moving beyond creating awareness to motivating action. In this post, we looked at the current state of storytelling as a tool for positive change.

 

6.  Who else is speaking “for the trees?” (aka, Did “The Lorax” sell out?)

How is it that a story written by our beloved Dr. Seuss and adapted to the big screen could cause such a stir? You’ll be surprised by how many ‘Lorax Lessons’ there are for marketers.

7. Integration: Marketing’s hot new trend?

Despite recent hyperbole, most seasoned marketers know integration is not a new concept that has arisen because of social media. Here’s a look at marketing integration basics, the return on doing it well, and some classic resources for this fundamental marketing concept.

 

8. Collaboration versus Consultation: What’s the difference?

Compare and contrast collaboration and consultation to find out which marketing process is right for you.

 

9. Journalistic Integrity in the Age of Social Media

This is an insightful look at journalism codes of ethics and cases where journalists lost their focus in a race to compete with social media on a single news feature — speed. Can you identify with the challenge of maintaining quality in the face of intense competitive pressure — for example, realizing news customers expect fast and reliable?

 

10. Understanding the Creative Production Process

If you’ve ever worried about additional charges from a creative agency, you’ll want to check out this annotated diagram of the trade-offs in what’s known as the project management triangle, triple constraints, or the designer’s holy triangle: Fast, Good or Cheap. Pick two.

 

 

11.  Crisis Communication Priorities and Protocols

We all have at least one potential communication crisis lurking. (What if your manufactured product failed and caused a tragedy? If you are a nonprofit, what if an employee harmed a person in your care?)  Whether or not you have developed your crisis plan, you will find this 12-point crisis communication checklist useful.

 

12. Social Media in the B2B Marketplace

In 2012, any lingering questions about the appropriateness of social media for B2B disappeared. In this post you’ll find the real world numbers you want to know on how social media is being used in the B2B marketplace, how it varies by industry, and the contrasts with the B2C market.

 

 

 

Looking Ahead

What’s your favorite post from 2012? What would you like to see more of in 2013? Join the conversation in the comment section below, or drop us a note.

We have some really great things in store for 2013, so here’s to a year of fresh ideas for the modern social change marketer. We invite you to subscribe to the blog and hope it will become part of your marketing inspiration for the new year.

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