Frank Kern's State of The Internet Address

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So what did you think of it if you watched it? I personally thought it was great, as usual Frank combines his wit with knowledge and awesome advice. I loved the bits about the money fairy, McDonald's and Farmville, his comments about not putting all your business efforts on to just the internet, product launches and keeping your customers happy.

Your thoughts?
#address #frank kern #internet #state
  • Profile picture of the author Cass Tyson
    I liked what he said about going after the people who have money, rather than those who don't.

    Head slap! DOH!
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  • Profile picture of the author scrofford
    I won't give my opinion of this particular marketer here as it would be against the TOS and will get me in trouble.
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    • Profile picture of the author pheonixrises
      Originally Posted by scrofford View Post

      I won't give my opinion of this particular marketer here as it would be against the TOS and will get me in trouble.
      Does discussing the topics brought up in a particular marketer's video/product/etc go against the TOS too? I didn't understand it as being that way - I'll go double check to see if I can clarify my understanding, but maybe you could help clarify as well? Is it because his name is in the thread title, or more because he himself has been discussed and not just his content? Thanks
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      • Profile picture of the author scrofford
        Originally Posted by pheonixrises View Post

        Does discussing the topics brought up in a particular marketer's video/product/etc go against the TOS too? I didn't understand it as being that way - I'll go double check to see if I can clarify my understanding, but maybe you could help clarify as well? Is it because his name is in the thread title, or more because he himself has been discussed and not just his content? Thanks
        No, I just don't hold a very high opinion of his marketing tactics and the way he gets things done...nuff said...I don't want to go any further with my opinion. You are fine in discussing this though.
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        • Profile picture of the author Laurie Rogers
          Originally Posted by scrofford View Post

          No, I just don't hold a very high opinion of his marketing tactics and the way he gets things done...nuff said...I don't want to go any further with my opinion. You are fine in discussing this though.
          Hey, no worries, to each their own everybody has their fave's and their not so fave's, I like the guy, hence my discussion.
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        • Profile picture of the author pheonixrises
          Originally Posted by scrofford View Post

          No, I just don't hold a very high opinion of his marketing tactics and the way he gets things done...nuff said...I don't want to go any further with my opinion. You are fine in discussing this though.
          Thanks for clarifying, and I'm sorry that I missed what you actually meant and started a big discussion about it! There's no problem with not liking the way he does things
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    • Profile picture of the author jeffrey73
      Originally Posted by scrofford View Post

      I won't give my opinion of this particular marketer here as it would be against the TOS and will get me in trouble.
      Haha! I like this guy. In 100% agreement. Although Kern is FAR from the worst, as I can't mention the guy's name here publicly.
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  • Profile picture of the author pheonixrises
    I commented on the video in another thread, but I'll reiterate my general sentiment here.

    I definitely agree that there is huge opportunity offline and that it's a good idea to keep your business diversified. I usually find his stuff pretty inspiring, and I found this latest contribution no different.

    And yeah, the McDonald's/Farmville story was pretty amazing!
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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    Does discussing the topics brought up in a particular marketer's video/product/etc go against the TOS too?
    He was implying that he doesn't like Farnk Kern, you know, If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

    Discussion about Frank Kern, his internet address and topics covered are fine as long as it doesn't turn into a Frank Kern is the devil and eats kittens conversation.
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    I'm all about that bass.

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  • Profile picture of the author jasonmorgan
    Does discussing the topics brought up in a particular marketer's video/product/etc go against the TOS too?
    He was implying that he doesn't like Farnk Kern, you know, If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

    Discussion about Frank Kern, his internet address and topics covered are fine as long as it doesn't turn into a Frank Kern is the devil and eats kittens conversation.
    Signature

    I'm all about that bass.

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    • Profile picture of the author pheonixrises
      Originally Posted by jasonmorgan View Post

      He was implying that he doesn't like Farnk Kern, you know, If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.

      Discussion about Frank Kern, his internet address and topics covered are fine as long as it doesn't turn into a Frank Kern is the devil and eats kittens conversation.
      I completely missed that implication.. I'm sorry about that.

      Thanks for clarifying. I might look a little silly now, but I was confused since I hadn't understood the rules as being like that. Better safe than sorry!
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  • Profile picture of the author Bremaine
    I'll be honest, I've never heard of the guy, I'll certainly check the video out though. If it can help me get into more cash, I'm all for it.
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  • Profile picture of the author Texjd
    This is Frank's setup for whatever he's getting ready to pitch. As far as the Farmville example, he's out of his element. It's called branding and it really was never intended to create direct sales. The concept went right over his head.

    I do agree that some of the Web 2.0 stuff is certainly questionable for direct sales efforts and many are just wandering around throwing stuff against the wall to see if it works.

    And did he just wake up and figure out that offline marketing is lucrative? People have been hammering it for two years now. But it probably has some tie in with his next product.

    Don't get me wrong, I like Frank and he's a very good marketer. And he always does a good job on his videos. But make no mistake, this is a pre-launch video for a new product that will show up soon. I can't wait to see how he's going to tie in the love and hope part.
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    • Profile picture of the author BrandonLee
      He did one last year too and I don't recall him tying it into any launch.



      Originally Posted by Texjd View Post

      This is Frank's setup for whatever he's getting ready to pitch. As far as the Farmville example, he's out of his element. It's called branding and it really was never intended to create direct sales. The concept went right over his head.

      I do agree that some of the Web 2.0 stuff is certainly questionable for direct sales efforts and many are just wandering around throwing stuff against the wall to see if it works.

      And did he just wake up and figure out that offline marketing is lucrative? People have been hammering it for two years now. But it probably has some tie in with his next product.

      Don't get me wrong, I like Frank and he's a very good marketer. And he always does a good job on his videos. But make no mistake, this is a pre-launch video for a new product that will show up soon. I can't wait to see how he's going to tie in the love and hope part.
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    • Profile picture of the author Focused Action
      Originally Posted by Texjd View Post

      This is Frank's setup for whatever he's getting ready to pitch. As far as the Farmville example, he's out of his element. It's called branding and it really was never intended to create direct sales. The concept went right over his head.

      I do agree that some of the Web 2.0 stuff is certainly questionable for direct sales efforts and many are just wandering around throwing stuff against the wall to see if it works.

      And did he just wake up and figure out that offline marketing is lucrative? People have been hammering it for two years now. But it probably has some tie in with his next product.

      Don't get me wrong, I like Frank and he's a very good marketer. And he always does a good job on his videos. But make no mistake, this is a pre-launch video for a new product that will show up soon. I can't wait to see how he's going to tie in the love and hope part.
      I am quite sure the concept did not go over Frank's head He is a brilliant marketer and he studies other brilliant marketers like Dan Kennedy. And about branding...lets do a poll of the 18 million Farmesville players and see who has not heard of McDonalds?
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    • Profile picture of the author Zero
      Originally Posted by Texjd View Post

      This is Frank's setup for whatever he's getting ready to pitch. As far as the Farmville example, he's out of his element. It's called branding and it really was never intended to create direct sales. The concept went right over his head.

      I do agree that some of the Web 2.0 stuff is certainly questionable for direct sales efforts and many are just wandering around throwing stuff against the wall to see if it works.

      And did he just wake up and figure out that offline marketing is lucrative? People have been hammering it for two years now. But it probably has some tie in with his next product.

      Don't get me wrong, I like Frank and he's a very good marketer. And he always does a good job on his videos. But make no mistake, this is a pre-launch video for a new product that will show up soon. I can't wait to see how he's going to tie in the love and hope part.
      The only launch Frank will be involved with this month is the relaunch of Amish Shah's Magic Bullet System or w.e you call it, which he did the behind the scenes stuff for like the emails, video sales copy script etc
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      • Profile picture of the author Laurie Rogers
        I think with Frank, you either get him or you don't, nor do I believe the branding aspect went over his head. I also believe that the McDonalds/Farmville portion might have went over some people's heads, because what he stated is true, it was a stupid "promotion". Instead of giving out stickers, they could've been giving out happy meals, thus bringing in more customers and that was the point Frank was trying to make.

        McDonalds also have ads in the Family Feud/Price is Right games, if you click on the promo, you receive a free game. They're still not doing anything effective, yes they're branding, but it's not driving them anymore potential customers to take action. Branding is only effective, if it's doing it's job, which is to get more sales and in this case it wasn't.

        Zynga and 7eleven had a good branding/sales gig going with MafiaWars but this one was definitely a miss.
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        • Profile picture of the author jeffrey73
          Of course everyone in the world knows what McDonalds is. I don't think that was their point in doing what they did. By targeting 500,000,000 people ( or however many actually play Farmville ), they are putting McDonalds into people's head. Yet another place to get people to think about them and say "Hey, let's go to McDonalds". It obviously will get them sales over time and they know it. Otherwise, I doubt they would just throw TONS of money at something that doesn't work, just because they can.
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          • Profile picture of the author Zero
            Originally Posted by jeffrey73 View Post

            Of course everyone in the world knows what McDonalds is. I don't think that was their point in doing what they did. By targeting 500,000,000 people ( or however many actually play Farmville ), they are putting McDonalds into people's head. Yet another place to get people to think about them and say "Hey, let's go to McDonalds". It obviously will get them sales over time and they know it. Otherwise, I doubt they would just throw TONS of money at something that doesn't work, just because they can.
            Big companies piss away a ton of money all the time on things don't work. McDonalds aren't any exception to this rule.
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          • Profile picture of the author Laurie Rogers
            Originally Posted by jeffrey73 View Post

            Of course everyone in the world knows what McDonalds is. I don't think that was their point in doing what they did. By targeting 500,000,000 people ( or however many actually play Farmville ), they are putting McDonalds into people's head. Yet another place to get people to think about them and say "Hey, let's go to McDonalds". It obviously will get them sales over time and they know it. Otherwise, I doubt they would just throw TONS of money at something that doesn't work, just because they can.
            IF everyone went on the premise of the "brainwashing technique", and relied on it, because that's what it essentially is, we wouldn't be doing so well. Your main objective as business owner is to bring in sales by selling a quality product, then your second objective is to brand. McDonalds didn't get where they are because of their name, they got where they are because they offer cheap food (and I don't consider them "quality", but I don't eat fast food) for families that anyone can afford (this equals more sales, not because of their name, because it's affordable, that has nothing to do with branding). If you don't understand the difference, you won't get very far in this industry.

            And think about this, IF they were really doing so great (and I don't think they are as much as they used to), why do they continuously have FREE coffee deals? There's been 2 here in BC in less than 6 months.

            You also seem to be forgetting one KEY thing, they're targetting a gaming audience, not a very effective audience to begin with. Stupid campaign? I'd say so, now maybe if McDonald's delivered food, threw in some coupons, it would've been better, but since they don't, it was in fact stupid and a waste of money.
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    • Profile picture of the author Vikram73
      Originally Posted by Texjd View Post


      Don't get me wrong, I like Frank and he's a very good marketer. And he always does a good job on his videos. But make no mistake, this is a pre-launch video for a new product that will show up soon. I can't wait to see how he's going to tie in the love and hope part.
      I don't believe it is tied to a launch. If you listen to what Frank says you will see that he practices what he preaches.

      This is his subtle way of establishing authority within the IM field. After all the president of the free world gives a State of the Union. The State of the Union/Internet is a deeply held association with an authority figure.

      Frank may seem like a silly guy who is just goofing off in front of the camera but psychologically that video is really establishing him (reinforcing since his status is already cemented) his place in IM.

      Especially important for him to do since he doesn't launch many products.

      If you think I'm off target here - you just need to look at how much his product launches make. Or have him take apart his "silly" videos himself.
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      • Profile picture of the author hitesh93
        Originally Posted by Rhys Davies View Post

        About the Farmville thing...

        I may be wrong but I'm sure his point was that it was stupid advertising in economic times like this because you can't really track sales from brand advertising.

        It's just throwing money out there and hoping it brings/keeps customers.

        Yes branding works... but you can never really tell how much it's worked. Hence why corporations spend millions and sometimes billions on brand advertising.

        They spend so much but can't tell what place the branding is actually working. So just do mass branding to increase there chances.
        Ummm...the point of branding IS that it's 'everywhere' -- you cannot track which place the branding worked at by definition.
        Clearly they saw some reason to do this. The problem I have is with some little marketers (yes, millions from product launches and JVs is LITTLE compared to the companies we're talking about).
        And what's the other thing IMers say a lot? Oh yeah...TEST! McD has the money to test out these kinds of massive promotions and their aim was to brand themselves. They succeeded for the most part. So I don't really see why this was stupid at all.
        Think about it this way -- was Frank making this giant video a stupid decision? All he did was brand hiself right? There's no way for him to track how many new people were exposed to him (and/or liked him) from watching this video. Would you say this whole idea by him was a stupid decision?
        If not, let's leave McDs alone.



        Originally Posted by vikramd View Post

        I don't believe it is tied to a launch. If you listen to what Frank says you will see that he practices what he preaches.

        This is his subtle way of establishing authority within the IM field. After all the president of the free world gives a State of the Union. The State of the Union/Internet is a deeply held association with an authority figure.

        Frank may seem like a silly guy who is just goofing off in front of the camera but psychologically that video is really establishing him (reinforcing since his status is already cemented) his place in IM.

        Especially important for him to do since he doesn't launch many products.

        If you think I'm off target here - you just need to look at how much his product launches make. Or have him take apart his "silly" videos himself.
        I don't get why people fall for this psychology BS so much. If anyone believes Frank is an authority, it's because he (sometimes) has good content. Nothing more, nothing less. Nobody started thinking SNL actors were authority figures when they were goofing off parodying high level politicians.
        Frank is just trying to brand himself...funny that he would say McDonald's is stupid and 'wasted' money branding themselves...and then he'd waste that much time and money making this long video in such poor economic times, no?
        Think on that for a bit.
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        • Profile picture of the author Rhys Davies
          Originally Posted by hitesh93 View Post

          Ummm...the point of branding IS that it's 'everywhere' -- you cannot track which place the branding worked at by definition.
          Clearly they saw some reason to do this. The problem I have is with some little marketers (yes, millions from product launches and JVs is LITTLE compared to the companies we're talking about).
          And what's the other thing IMers say a lot? Oh yeah...TEST! McD has the money to test out these kinds of massive promotions and their aim was to brand themselves. They succeeded for the most part. So I don't really see why this was stupid at all.
          Think about it this way -- was Frank making this giant video a stupid decision? All he did was brand hiself right? There's no way for him to track how many new people were exposed to him (and/or liked him) from watching this video. Would you say this whole idea by him was a stupid decision?
          Yes the point of branding is to be everywhere... but that's why it actually is a bad thing to do in economic times like this.

          Millions of dollars spend on something they can't really tell the results of.

          Nearly all of branding advertising is wasted money. Work with a company raising brand awareness and you would know this.

          And the point of Frank doing what he did was to sell something. The video is a lead/view generation tool for a webinar. The branding was/is a bonus. Also he didn't spend millions to do the video.




          Sales of which you can't track.
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          • Profile picture of the author hitesh93
            Originally Posted by Rhys Davies View Post

            Yes the point of branding is to be everywhere... but that's why it actually is a bad thing to do in economic times like this.
            Says who? Recessions are best times for inferior good vendors to brand and advertise.
            McD's sales have been going up all the time -- that's BECAUSE of the poor economic times. Study some economics - inferior goods increase in demand during recessions and vice versa. McDonalds sells inferior goods - fast, cheap things to put in your stomach when you can't afford real food. Thus, it is better for them to brand themselves right now.


            Originally Posted by Rhys Davies View Post

            Millions of dollars spend on something they can't really tell the results of.
            2 problems with this - :

            1. Millions of dollars is not as big a deal to McD as it is to you. For them, this was like running a $300 PPC campaign to see if it was effective or not.

            2. Who says they can't tell the results? They saw a clear increase in their sales volume. As long as they make a net profit, worst case scenario they just branded themselves for future purposes - still a good thing.

            Originally Posted by Rhys Davies View Post

            Nearly all of branding advertising is wasted money. Work with a company raising brand awareness and you would know this.
            I'm guessing you don't really know what I do which is why you'd say this. I work with some of the bigger companies in the auto industry and I do work on both brand awareness as well as point-of-sale based advertising. Branding advertising is wasted money if you do it incorrectly. I agree that 95% of companies should stay away from branding, but ubiquitous companies like McD can't go wrong with even global campaigns during a recession.

            Originally Posted by Rhys Davies View Post

            And the point of Frank doing what he did was to sell something. The video is a lead/view generation tool for a webinar. The branding was/is a bonus. Also he didn't spend millions to do the video.
            I frankly don't see a big diff. between Frank's approach and McD's. In fact, McD's had a better idea of their demographics (easy to find out the age, gender, education level and so on of Farmville players) and the demand for their product in that demographics before they began. Frank has literally no clue as to who watches his video and what they think of it. Overall, you're relating better with Frank because his budgets and strategies and more on level, while McD's is on a different planet in terms of volume and budget.

            Originally Posted by Rhys Davies View Post

            Sales of which you can't track.
            Back to the original point - Frank can't track their sales. They can see the effects of their advertising reflected very well in sales volume. And you think they don't gather feedback on their advertising?? You or me (or Frank) don't have access to the data that McD's is collecting. This is why I find it so pretentious that some marketer in the IM niche would pass a judgement on McD's campaign without any access to their data.

            McD spent some money on advertising. They saw an increase in sales. They think it was money well spent.

            Along come us 'genius' marketers to pick apart the whole thing and claim that McD has no idea what they were doing and this is poor marketing. Quite pretentious in my opinion.
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            • Profile picture of the author yourreviewer
              Originally Posted by hitesh93 View Post

              Says who? Recessions are best times for inferior good vendors to brand and advertise.
              McD's sales have been going up all the time -- that's BECAUSE of the poor economic times. Study some economics - inferior goods increase in demand during recessions and vice versa. McDonalds sells inferior goods - fast, cheap things to put in your stomach when you can't afford real food. Thus, it is better for them to brand themselves right now.




              2 problems with this - :

              1. Millions of dollars is not as big a deal to McD as it is to you. For them, this was like running a $300 PPC campaign to see if it was effective or not.

              2. Who says they can't tell the results? They saw a clear increase in their sales volume. As long as they make a net profit, worst case scenario they just branded themselves for future purposes - still a good thing.



              I'm guessing you don't really know what I do which is why you'd say this. I work with some of the bigger companies in the auto industry and I do work on both brand awareness as well as point-of-sale based advertising. Branding advertising is wasted money if you do it incorrectly. I agree that 95% of companies should stay away from branding, but ubiquitous companies like McD can't go wrong with even global campaigns during a recession.



              I frankly don't see a big diff. between Frank's approach and McD's. In fact, McD's had a better idea of their demographics (easy to find out the age, gender, education level and so on of Farmville players) and the demand for their product in that demographics before they began. Frank has literally no clue as to who watches his video and what they think of it. Overall, you're relating better with Frank because his budgets and strategies and more on level, while McD's is on a different planet in terms of volume and budget.



              Back to the original point - Frank can't track their sales. They can see the effects of their advertising reflected very well in sales volume. And you think they don't gather feedback on their advertising?? You or me (or Frank) don't have access to the data that McD's is collecting. This is why I find it so pretentious that some marketer in the IM niche would pass a judgement on McD's campaign without any access to their data.

              McD spent some money on advertising. They saw an increase in sales. They think it was money well spent.

              Along come us 'genius' marketers to pick apart the whole thing and claim that McD has no idea what they were doing and this is poor marketing. Quite pretentious in my opinion.
              Very well said. A "genius marketer's" views on another "genius marketer" article on McDonalds having no clue over what they are doing.
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        • Profile picture of the author Rhys Davies
          Originally Posted by hitesh93 View Post

          I don't get why people fall for this psychology BS so much. If anyone believes Frank is an authority, it's because he (sometimes) has good content. Nothing more, nothing less.
          Come on, come up with something better than that.

          If you think good content is the only reason people like frank are authorities... you obviously don't understand the psychology of the human mind and the art selling.

          There are gurus in all sorts of markets making millions with kinda crap products.
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        • Profile picture of the author Vikram73
          Originally Posted by hitesh93 View Post

          I don't get why people fall for this psychology BS so much. If anyone believes Frank is an authority, it's because he (sometimes) has good content. Nothing more, nothing less. Nobody started thinking SNL actors were authority figures when they were goofing off parodying high level politicians.
          I don't think it's a matter of "falling for it" as much as this is how we're programmed - and yeah, it's stuff you can learn from.

          (Not an affiliate link):

          Amazon.com: Influence: The Psychology of...Amazon.com: Influence: The Psychology of...
          I mean the fact of the matter is - if you study influence, persuasion and authority - simple language, where you position yourself at a table of people, or even in a crowd of people establishes authority.

          The way you position yourself in front of someone else when shaking their hand establishes likability.

          Etc..etc..etc..

          Does that stuff have an effect on us? Sure.

          Is SNL a fair comparison? They do pure comedy. I'd say Frank does some comedy but his main thing is consulting/advising people on marketing strategy.

          Or maybe - he just says stupid *)$@! because he likes to see lengthy threads about himself on the Warrior Forum
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  • Profile picture of the author Texjd
    Hey, I didn't tell you not to drink the coolaid. But I also don't think he does much without some purpose. He is a master at persuation. I guess we'll find out soon enough.
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  • Profile picture of the author sysmarketer
    I liked the video and didn't spend much time analyzing a hidden agenda. I thought it was excellent at reviewing the basics of successful marketing principles.
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  • Profile picture of the author ~Davor Debrecin~
    Originally Posted by John Wanamaker

    Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half.
    I think that's what Frank was trying to say.

    Today more than ever it's easier to really MEASURE the effectiveness of one's advertising efforts.

    That's the whole point.

    Why spend a lot of money on something that might work and you have no way to measure whether or not it works.

    Why not take that money and spend it on something where success (in terms of number of new customers, or average value per customer and so on) is measurable?

    Maybe that campaign is going to bring LESS money to the company than the branding compaign.

    The point is that with the second campaign you will know - even if you don't make as much money as you planned, you'll have invaluable test results which will teach you about your market some important stuff you can use in your future campaigns.

    Oh and btw, I really like Frank Kern, but you always need to be aware of what he's doing. Everything he says or does is deliberate. So watch and learn.

    Take care guys,

    ~Davor
    Signature
    MY CV ❱❱❱ 12+ yrs exp, 7-fig revenues, 40 employees.. 39 actually, someone just left the company, f**k!
    I like to innovate stuff and babble IM stuff into a camera:
    I do this on the side, will try to sell you something, be sure of it!
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  • Profile picture of the author Texjd
    Well, everyone has an opinion, that's for sure. If you want to read about the promotion by McDonalds you can go here: McDonald's puts its own farm, virtual prizes on 'FarmVille' - USATODAY.com. It pretty much explains the promotion.

    You may like or dislike social networking but it obviously attracts a lot of people.

    And just because you don't agree with another company's promotions doesn't mean they're stupid and wasted money. It probably didn't cost much since it was all digital and they got a lot of response.

    Marketing involes many different methods and depending on your product and target audience there are lots of ways to get the messages out.
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  • Profile picture of the author Fraggler
    What irked me was the misrepresentation of the economic crisis. His opinion was that money hasn't just disappeared but rather different people now have it. This is ignorant and not what you would expect to hear from a businessman unless it is what they want you to believe.

    He also had no idea about the Maccas campaign other than that it sounded like a stupid idea. He assumes that Maccas have no idea of their return on investment but lacks any figures to backup his claim.

    Who knows what angle they were taking? Maybe it was a calculated test of social networking power. Did it get people who played Farmville talking about Mcdonald's? More than likely. Did it lead to a boost in sales? Only they know. If you see them running a similar campaign again then chances are it did.

    I gave up after that point.

    He has the gift of the gab but he is either ignorant/naive or thinks his viewers of that video are fools - and I don't appreciate that.
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  • Profile picture of the author Desmond Ong
    McDonald's is not targeting basic consumers.

    Basic consumers (like many of us) know McDonald's well and there's really no point for them to keep on selling us anymore.

    What McDonald's want is more franchisees (or people who buy franchise businesses) because that's the number one channel that McDonald's use to generate sure-fire income.

    Branding efforts look real good in front of potential franchisees and that's why they are doing it.

    For example, recently I took out $100,000 to invest in startups and there are a few similar trends in businesses that I invested in; branding, directions and "how different are you from other businesses".

    These are the core to successes of companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google.

    Well of course i can give you guys ONE full semester of business lesson here, but this is definitely a debatable topic. :-)

    Simple as that.

    I'm not pointing out that Frank and Dan are wrong but sometimes, you gotta think a little bit outside the box. ;-)

    -Desmond

    P.S. I'm talking from a macroeconomic standpoint since I'm an economic research student.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jetro2009
    Love him or hate him, he does get results. I do find his approach more straight forward than so many of the other marketers e-mails I get about the next best thing in IM.
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  • Profile picture of the author Texjd
    Well, just for fun lets look at McDonalds sales for last October when they ran this "stupid" promotion that can't be tracted and see if there was any spike in sales.

    McDonald's Corporation - McDonald's Financial Press Release

    Gee, up 6.5% for that month. Now I'm sure they ran other promotions but still, you can't ignore those kind of numbers.

    I know this will probably fall on deaf ears but there are marketing methods out there besides a landing page .
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  • Profile picture of the author Rhys Davies
    About the Farmville thing...

    I may be wrong but I'm sure his point was that it was stupid advertising in economic times like this because you can't really track sales from brand advertising.

    It's just throwing money out there and hoping it brings/keeps customers.

    Yes branding works... but you can never really tell how much it's worked. Hence why corporations spend millions and sometimes billions on brand advertising.

    They spend so much but can't tell what place the branding is actually working. So just do mass branding to increase there chances.
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  • Profile picture of the author gekko2.0
    I thought it was a interesting video and he was on point with most of it...I think his delivery may go over a few peoples head but thats almost always the case when your talking in depth about anything
    Signature

    Increasing Conversions Is Kinda My Thing.....PM Me If You Are Interested In Doubling Your Conversion Rate

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  • Profile picture of the author Jason Moffatt
    I love to watch people always speculating, guessing, or pretending to know what Frank is up to. It's really pretty funny and entertaining.
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    • Profile picture of the author Vikram73
      Originally Posted by Jason Moffatt View Post

      I love to watch people always speculating, guessing, or pretending to know what Frank is up to. It's really pretty funny and entertaining.
      It's like trying to figure out whether "Brangelina" will adopt another baby!
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  • Profile picture of the author Vincenzo Oliva
    Frank's on the money as usual. Listen to Frank Kern. Frank Kern knows the business better than anyone.

    Go after the 20% that are already spending good bucks on marketing not the 80% who are clueless.

    Offer them something of much greater value than the price they will pay

    You're in business.

    (I hope you enjoyed your retirement Frank, that's ok, the 10k was very much worth it) ;-)
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    • Profile picture of the author CDarklock
      Originally Posted by Vincenzo Oliva View Post

      Frank's on the money as usual. Listen to Frank Kern. Frank Kern knows the business better than anyone.
      If you look around here hard enough, you'll see me saying an awful lot of the things Frank is saying now... except I said them months ago.

      Frank is starting to see things from the other end. His approach was new and radical to me when I came to IM from brick and mortar... but now he's discovering the approach that I always found natural coming from that world.

      Makes me feel less like a 'tard, you know? Frank's a bright guy. That's why I listen to him. If he's turning around and repeating things I've said, now that he's looking in the places I've looked... well, it must mean I'm not an idiot after all.

      (No, I don't think Frank is "stealing" my ideas. I think if two people are reasonably smart, and paying attention, and looking in the same place... they'll usually have the same idea. It's why we say "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?")
      Signature
      "The Golden Town is the Golden Town no longer. They have sold their pillars for brass and their temples for money, they have made coins out of their golden doors. It is become a dark town full of trouble, there is no ease in its streets, beauty has left it and the old songs are gone." - Lord Dunsany, The Messengers
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      • Profile picture of the author David_Nilsson
        Great video, Frank was on point.
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      • Profile picture of the author James Schramko
        Originally Posted by CDarklock View Post

        If you look around here hard enough, you'll see me saying an awful lot of the things Frank is saying now... except I said them months ago.

        Frank is starting to see things from the other end. His approach was new and radical to me when I came to IM from brick and mortar... but now he's discovering the approach that I always found natural coming from that world.

        Makes me feel less like a 'tard, you know? Frank's a bright guy. That's why I listen to him. If he's turning around and repeating things I've said, now that he's looking in the places I've looked... well, it must mean I'm not an idiot after all.

        (No, I don't think Frank is "stealing" my ideas. I think if two people are reasonably smart, and paying attention, and looking in the same place... they'll usually have the same idea. It's why we say "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?")
        Most of what he said is common knowledge to
        experienced business people. Many of these
        early guys are getting all businessy now as
        the IM industry grows up and realizes theres
        way bigger fields out there than the IM space.

        Frank makes good quality videos.

        (didn't he retire last year?)

        Look at the size of other markets like the gaming space
        with Call Of Duty Black Ops pulling 360 Million dollars
        on a launch
        ( Activision: Black Ops sets new day one sales record - Video Games Blog Plugged In - Yahoo! Games )

        IM is small fry. To assume the presidential role
        is clever in the USA market but it does nothing for
        people who are outside the USA market.

        People like Jay Abraham are an alternative to learn
        real business from. You will get real business insight
        from a battle scarred legend.

        It really has always been about lifetime client value,
        dealing with buyers and product launches are
        not a business, they are a promotion.

        List fatigue is killing the big guns. They need to
        change fast.
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        • Profile picture of the author Dave Rodman
          Banned
          Originally Posted by James Schramko View Post

          Most of what he said is common knowledge to
          experienced business people. Many of these
          early guys are getting all businessy now as
          the IM industry grows up and realizes theres
          way bigger fields out there than the IM space.

          Frank makes good quality videos.

          (didn't he retire last year?)

          Look at the size of other markets like the gaming space
          with Call Of Duty Black Ops pulling 360 Million dollars
          on a launch
          ( Activision: Black Ops sets new day one sales record - Video Games Blog Plugged In - Yahoo! Games )

          IM is small fry. To assume the presidential role
          is clever in the USA market but it does nothing for
          people who are outside the USA market.

          People like Jay Abraham are an alternative to learn
          real business from. You will get real business insight
          from a battle scarred legend.

          It really has always been about lifetime client value,
          dealing with buyers and product launches are
          not a business, they are a promotion.

          List fatigue is killing the big guns. They need to
          change fast.
          I agree. Kern seems like a cool guy and a good marketing mind. I think his strength is his connection to people, I feel like he could probably kick a dog and people would say "Wow, that kern is CRAZY!!! LOVE HIM!!!" .

          But I agree 100% with James. A guy like Shoemoney is taking a lasting approach to IM, in my view. He has a high-quality blog, has services/subscription business, conference business, and runs his own sites. Most IM'ers that I followed back a few years are just slashing/burning their lists. Even a guy like John Reese is totally abandoning his list.

          I mentioned it in another thread, but I have gotten to the point where I only want to learn from people what have grown/built businesses. I could care less about how to make money on facebook.
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        • Profile picture of the author mike10
          Can't believe I wasted my time with this thread. I thought this section was for reviews. It's sickening when you people waste other members time BS'ing talking senseless garbage about nothing.

          If you have a review, spit it out. If all you want to do is trash someones reputation then go to another part of the forum. Lets keep these threads for reviews. Or buy the product and then trash the reputation if it's not what it said on the tin.
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  • Profile picture of the author Texjd
    I certainly agree about list fatigue. In the last few years they've re-invented and re-hashed the daylights out of some old IM/direct sales stuff.

    And I did forget that Frank retired .

    So I guess there is no new product, I stand corrected.
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