Writings from Force 5 Basecamp

05/12/11

First some background: I am a father to an amazing 2 year old son named Neilan who is in the midst of innocently testing as many boundaries as possible with his mother and I, but still has me belly laughing daily at his antics. He’s a true showman. While I believe raising your children to be entrepreneurs is a great

05/09/11

Happy Birthday Coca- Cola.  You’re 125 years old and according to companies like Interbrand, and other brand valuation entities, you remain in the top 10 of all  brands, having built brand equity to over $70 B (yep, that’s Billion)  You’ve dwarfed your closest competitor, Pepsi, by 500%.  You have again highlighted the importance of marketing, advertising, and customer experience as a crucial component for any business. 

05/04/11

Have you made restaurant reservations online? Come on, using a landline phone to make restaurant reservations is so 20th Century! These days, more and more consumers expect to engage with restaurants online and through mobile devices. Are you one of them? Restaurant operators who don’t build up their online presence and brand loyalty are missing an opportunity to generate higher

04/25/11

I recently read an article in MediaPost which had some incredible stats on the mobile users consumption of health information through apps and browsers. 38% of cell phone owners access the Internet using mobile phone — up 52% year over year 55% of cell phone Internet users go online daily from their mobile phones 30% of mobile subscribers use search,

04/20/11

In the business world, preparation is key to many forms of success. Enter DECA (formerly known as Distributive Education Clubs of America). DECA aims to give high school students the skills needed to enter the workforce prepared and ready for that success. What is DECA? DECA is a global high school business organization whose main goal is to prepare emerging

04/19/11

Going Mobile? Listen to this projection…. A recent study by Morgan Stanley projects mobile internet users to exceed desktop internet users within the next few years. (2015) Yikes! – – Powerful stat. Believe it or not, the question isn’t “Should you go mobile?” but rather “Can you afford not to…?” Here are some more mobile stats for our Force 5

04/19/11

I recently read an article in Marketing Daily, about the growth in private-label products. No surprise there, right? The figures were pretty compelling with consumers saving 33% off their grocery bills by purchasing all private-label products. I have followed the trend, trying more private-label products than I have in the past. While I haven’t gone all private-label, I have more

04/15/11

 I found this video to be a  really helpful explanation of social marketing business strategy.   Scott Stratten, you rock! Force 5 would be happy to answer any questions you have about Social Media marketing, just drop us a line.

04/14/11

The latest data from Experian Hitwise shows that the number of keywords typed into search engines is declining.  Longer searches, those of 5-8 words, were down last month 3%.  As the data table shows,  1 word searches comprise a full 24% of all searches. 2 word searches are a close second.  When it comes to people finding your business or organization organically on the web,

04/12/11

The use of smart phones to scan barcodes (1D, 2D, QR) is happening now with growth rates hitting over 800% from a year ago according to the latest report from ScanLife.  Some highlights I found interesting: The most popular 2D bar code campaign was for Film.  Codes were placed primarily outdoor and online. Beverages are amongs the items most scanned.  Books are

03/29/11

I remember walking into Joe’s office pretty frustrated.  I’d had one of those days – the bad kind.  Actually, I’d had about 10 of those days in a row, placing me exactly halfway to a pretty lousy month.  I had recently accepted a new role leading a new team and things were just not happening the way I had envisioned. 

03/15/11

In the dreary days of January and February, many of us find a boat show on the weekend—letting us dream of warmer days, sand and sun filled holidays, and hours on the nearest lake. Sitting on a boat inside a convention center doesn’t quite fill the bill—does it? This year, Starcraft Marine decided to help boating enthusiast get to that