10 Sources for Marketing Insight and Information

Even If Your Agency Is In the Middle of Nowhere You Can Tap This Virtual Salon

Posted by Tom Martin on 12.16.08 @ 11:30 AM

Tom Martin

Earlier this year I shared my Long Wide Antenna philosophy and the need to create some kind of Insight & Information department in every agency no matter how small. While I haven't quite made that dream a reality, like me you can get one step closer by following these 10 sites/peeps to help you look around the corner. I've tried to include a few you probably read and some that might be flying under your radar. Nonetheless, I have found that all of these resources provide a constant flow of smart thinking that makes me a better, more informed marketing resource for my clients.

I'd suggest adding the websites to your RSS reader. And you'll need to get on Twitter if you want to follow the people with an @ sign in front of a their name.

So here we go. In no particular order:

1. Go listen to Chris Brogan at either his blog, ChrisBrogan.com or follow him on Twitter @ChrisBrogan for a daily dose of smart writing and a wonderful resource for pointing you to other great content, especially social media.

2. There is a social media guru in Alabama? Sure is. Mack Collier's Viral Garden blog is top notch and he is always sharing interesting sites/data via Twitter @mackcollier.

3. Lisa Hoffman is a newcomer to the block, but nonetheless a very interesting read both on her blog New Media Lisa and her Tweets @LisaHoffmann.

4. Ever read the book, Creating Customer Evangelists? If not, you should. And to hear the authors' latest missives visit their blog at Church of the Customer. You can also follow them @BenMcConnell and @JackieHuba.

5. Looking for ideas, trends and inspiration? Then add PSFK to your reader and follow their Tweets @PSFK . Always great stuff that makes you go hmmmmm.

6. If you think you can handle the stream, Steve Rubel's lifestream is always full of interesting information and points you to tons of research, stats and such. But be prepared, Steve is a prolific poster. And of course @steverubel.

7. Another great resource for digital and social media insights is the Ogilvy 360 Digital Blog and I'm especially fond of one of their writers, @Virginia Miracle.

8. I have always loved the Pew Internet & American Life Project. Now I get new reports pushed to me as soon as they're released via Pew's Front Page feed. For broader coverage of social trends, follow the Pew Social Trends feed.

9. I was recently pointed to Jan Chipchase's (@janchip) future perfect blog . He's a researcher for Nokia that is currently stationed in Tokyo and often posts things that are just plain interesting, not to mention, always insightful to see what other cultures are doing – especially with mobile technology.

10. And last but not least, two companies that focus on new ideas and trends which they deliver via monthly emails which are always a great read and full of interesting ideas. Pop over to trendwatching.com and springwise.com to register for their emails or sign up for their feeds.

Now this is just the tip of the iceberg of information that I follow and if you want to follow me use @TomMartin on Twitter or subscribe to my personal blog Positive Disruption to find other great resources.

Lastly, it's the holidays and as they say, it is better to give than receive. So in that spirit use the comment field below to share your top 5 or 10 resources so we can all become a bit smarter.

~ ~ ~
Tom Martin is President of Zehnder Communications, with offices in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. He can be reached at Tom.Martin@z-comm.com.

13 Comments

By rmeyer52 | Simi Valley, CA December 16, 2008 03:13:07 pm:

Nice list also check out http://www.richsblog.com a nice mix of marketing and social media content as well as logicandemotion.com which has great social media stuff

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By ELIZABETH | NEW YORK, NY December 17, 2008 08:19:34 am:

Paul Isakson is one of the smartest planners I know and his blog is always insightful http://paulisakson.typepad.com/planning/

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By killerkev | DALLAS, TX December 17, 2008 09:00:02 am:

I would like to add my research agency, CultureLab's blog to the mix. If you want multicultural youth insights check it out!
http://www.culturelabcreative.blogspot.com

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By robertjsolomon | NEW YORK, NY December 17, 2008 09:02:36 am:

I'd visit www.artofclientservice.com, which has great resources for acount people, including tips on writing letters of proposal and PowerPoint presentations. RobertSolomon / New York, NY

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By stevenstark | Fairfield, CT December 17, 2008 09:43:28 am:

An awesome collection of smart thinking. Thanks Tom.

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By William | Newtown, PA December 17, 2008 11:10:00 am:

I would add the work we are doing at Brand Idiomatics, a strategic planning shop that offers consumer behavioral research,
marketing strategy and channel strategies. We regularly publish proprietary research and insights including a currently posted whitepaper. Our lastest whitepaper will be posted next week. We work with marketers directly and small agencies that do not have this capability but would like to tap into these kind of resources on an as needed basis. We can be visited at www.brandidiomatics.com.

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By miss_sociable | Charleston, WV December 17, 2008 02:57:46 pm:

Another great source for folks with real marketing talent is Maple Creative (www.maplecreative.com). They've received numerous awards, including some for their blog, http://marketinggenius.blogspot.com.

Thanks for this great list. Very helpful!

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By kevinss | Sausalito, CA December 17, 2008 03:34:56 pm:

Great Article!

My 2 cents in a Bubble video comment:

http://www.bubblecomment.com/id/k27h

Some free video services to check out that are great for marketing and social media :

1 - http://www.bubblecomment.com
2 - http://www.bubblejoy.com

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By KenjiSummers | Brooklyn, NY December 17, 2008 04:27:41 pm:

Since everyone is pluuging away

http://www.kenjisummers.com The Future is Bright | Ideas. Innovators. Inspiration.

From a 'Millennial' / 'Gen-Y' Perspective...

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By SJHatzi | Laguna Niguel, CA December 17, 2008 04:32:57 pm:

The most inspiring and insightful resource I subscribe to (ahem.. other than AdAge) is Before & After Magazine @ www.bamagazine.com. These guys absolututely dazzle: they somehow nail the balance of how-to creative info for the savvy design professional without talking over the head of mere mortals and offer inspiration on HOW TO THINK about a project, whether one is a designer or not (but aren't we all these days?)

When you register for free at www.Veer.com you get on their mailing list, which is a good thing because these guys' direct mail campaign are booklets full of design inspiration (typography, illustration, photography) that I would have gladly bought at Barnes & Noble.

Lastly, I subscribe to J.Crew.com, and not just to shop: their emails (often but not always) are case study masterpieces in color use, white space, brand consistency, substance of offer (one of the most visited sites this Thanksgiving) etc. I am shocked at the number of national brands who do not nail basics in their email campaigns, like Nike who certainly has the money to nail it but doesn't. J.Crew offers emails are free lessons.

Does anyone know of any resources for creating state-of-the-art Powerpoint presentations (beyond slideshare & sliderocket)?

Silia J. Hatzi, Jazel.com

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By jms1027 | DALLAS, TX December 17, 2008 05:59:38 pm:

The problem isn't finding information, it's finding too much information. Thanks for all the useful links, but none of us can keep up with all the mind-boggling array or new sources of information. Most of us don't slow down long enough, or reflect deeply enough, to realize which information is most important or what true marketing insight really looks like. We're addicted to information and urgency. Attention management is a huge issue today. My contribution to this list of information and resources is a book by David Allen called "Getting Things Done."

http://www.davidco.com/who_we_are.php

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By Tom Martin | NEW ORLEANS, LA December 19, 2008 12:31:19 am:

hey everyone, thanks for tossing out a few other resources, even if some were self serving ;>) Considering this post has been the most emailed for almost 2 days now, I think I'll follow up with a future post along the same lines. Any areas on particular you folks would like me to focus on?

Top 10 Research Resources, Top 10 New Idea sites, etc.? Let me know.

Thanks for the reads & comments.
Tom Martin

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By KenjiSummers | Brooklyn, NY December 21, 2008 01:31:56 pm:

Go with 'Top 10 New Idea sites' and 'Top 10 sites by Millennials/Gen Y'

Yup, those two would be good.

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