The first step of course is to have a compelling product. In this case, Mint.com definitely delivers. The next step is to launch with a bang. Mint is obviously could be defined as a Web 2.0 company, though it does not say anything to that effect on their website. They launched during TechCrunch40 and won by being the best presenting company. Now they are on Lifehacker, Digg, and a host of other sites. This means they have a lot of traffic and their new users are going to have above average technology skills.

So what do we have

1. Great application
2. Great Launch Platform
3. Wide scale exposure for free
4. An initial class of users that will help improve your product
5. Oh and don’t forget the $50,000 they won by being the best presenter

See marketing is not hard and does not have to be costly. Just be good at a few things and use them to your advantage. In this case, the founders have great presentation skills and a compelling enough product to warrant entrance to the event. Now they have had a successful launch that should lead to profitability if their business model is sound.

Your marketing department should never be isolated. No matter the size of your company, the second your marketing strategy changes everyone should know about it. Unfortunately, most companies do not seem to realize how important this is. I am not talking about calling a meeting at telling your employees that from now on we need to tell our customers that the company mascot changed; instead, they should understand what the overall strategy is and how they fit into the grand strategy.

If you are trying to position your company as a price leader, then tell your salespeople to focus on cost savings for their customers. Are you trying to position yourself as a leader in quality after years of being a price leader? You had better be sure your salespeople know that quality is foremost. They should know it is okay to lose a sale because the customer wanted to save a few dollars by cutting some important corners, which would jeopardize quality.

If you are a restaurant that has decided that you want to become the number one spot for Fantasy Football, then talk to your staff and find out who participates in Fantasy Football, and ask them if they would like to work on the nights your are hosting drafts. For that matter host an employee only draft and post the results for your customers to see. Are you trying to entice local football fans? Get your employees into it, let them have fun by watching the game with their customers even if it just means spending five minutes cheering when the home team scores.

There is so much more to marketing then just fancy commercials, great stories, and sticky ideas. You need to get everyone involved in the act. I am always amazed when I call a company that has feel good billboards and TV spots and the person who answers the phone just does not care. If your employees do not buy your marketing strategy, why would your customers?

One company that I think exemplifies this kind of marketing mistake is Best Buy. If you watch Best Buy’s ads, the employees are always excited to help you and seem like the kind of people you want to invite over to check out your new big screen on Sunday. Is this the case when you walk into Best Buy? Rarely, typically their employees just go about their business without having much fun at all. Why not let your employees play video games with your customers, show off last nights game in HD, or turn up the volume on the car stereo a customer is interested in? Your marketing story is about having fun with electronics, so let your employees participate.

The point I am making is marketing starts with the customer already in the store. Marketing should have an impact on everything you do, and internal marketing is the cheapest kind of marketing. A company wide memo costs nothing compares to a single radio ad at 5:30 PM, and the memo can have a bigger effect on your customer base than even the most well designed radio spot.

Nineteen years is a good run, but Wal-Mart decided to ditch its successful “Always Low Prices” Slogan.  Read the article here They hired a new advertising firm, which appears to have convinced them to start saying “Save Money. Live Better.”  Not to point out the obvious, but isn’t this the same slogan as another successful retailer.  “Expect More, Pay Less” has been around for a while, and Target was the first thought that popped into my head when I read Wal-Mart’s new slogan.  I’m not the only one to point this out.

Even though I think the slogan is a terrible mockery of a great slogan by Target, I do like parts of the strategy.  The use of the study by Global Insight to highlight real savings to consumers is great and will probably make a positive impact.  But the whole strategy just makes me think that Wal-Mart wants to take the same place in the minds of consumers as Target, yet want to still be known as the least expensive.   I think it is going to be very difficult to shake the low-class and cheap feel most of us feel at Wal-Mart by stealing Target’s slogan yet claiming $2,500 in savings.

If Wal-Mart really wanted to use that study for it’s benefit, why not go out into the real world, find a family that was forced to switch to Wal-Mart for it’s shopping due to a layoff or an unexpected increase in expenses and ask them to recount how much they saved by shopping at Wal-Mart rather than their competitor.  A feel good story with hard numbers to back it up, that sure sounds like a winner to me.

You have to love this sign, which was posted in the window of what was previously Globe College. They recently changed their name to Globe University and built a new building. This was the map they posted at their old location to direct you to the new location.

It is difficult to see due to my camera phone’s poor resolution, but they misspelled one of the major roads in Woodbury, Radio Drive, as Rasio Drive. Click for a Google map of the area. Somehow I don’t see this inspiring confidence in students researching the college.