You Sleep When You Die

Estimates from the Boston Consulting Group suggest that women are currently the biggest emerging market ever seen…

These statistics shouldn’t be that surprising. We’ve been hearing for years about women’s growing buying power. It’s becoming increasingly obvious that women are becoming THE decision maker in more and more households. What is surprising is that more marketers aren’t taking more notice!

It’s no surprise that almost all of the trending topics right now have something to do with the World Cup. Even if you’re not a fan, you can’t help but hear, see or read frequent updates about the latest match or the biggest upset. It’s also nearly impossible to go more than a day without seeing an ad from one of the tournament sponsors.

None of these things have really grabbed my attention. What has managed to do that is a recent story in The New York Times about two Dutch women that were arrested for allegedly leading an ambush marketing stunt on behalf of Dutch beer brand, Bavaria.

Thanks to @casegilbreath for providing one of this week’s top questions. Remember, get your questions about advertising, business, the economy and more answered every Wednesday by posting comments to blog posts or on Twitter @JZspeaks via #askjz.

Jordan – what are your thoughts on performance marketing, affiliate marketing, CPA advertising?

Have you ever been standing in the freezer section of your local grocery store, trying to decide which brand of ice cream to buy, when someone walks up beside you and starts talking about how much she loves the Friendly’s brand?

Have you ever been sitting at your kid’s little league game and started talking to a nearby parent, only to find out he’s treating his son’s team to White Castle after the game?

Both of these are examples of cleverly placed ‘buzz agents:’ people whose job is to influence your opinion about a particular brand or product, all without your knowledge. If done correctly, buzz agents make potential customers stop and think, “If they’re doing it, maybe I should too.”

The U.S. House of Representatives’ passage of President Barack Obama’s healthcare reform legislation has been called a success by Democratic supporters and a parliamentary sham by Republicans.

As an advertising executive, I call it a failure.