World 

Is Nike’s Colin Kaepernick ‘Just Do It’ deal really stupid — or incredibly shrewd?

The apparel giant might have intentionally embraced controversy for longer-term gains with key audiences. Many marketing pundits and talking heads are now asking whether Nike’s “Just Do It” anniversary deal with NFL quarterback-turned-activist Colin Kaepernick is one of the stupidest marketing decisions ever. Is Nike crazy — or crazy like a fox? Given the protests and counter-protests that have surrounded other brands taking political or value-based stands since the 2016 election, Nike had to have known that it would bring controversy if not outright boycotts from some quarters. But that may…

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SEM 

Two Top SEM Firms Featured As Offering Poor SEM Results By WSJ

It is not every day you see SEM companies featured in Wall Street Journal articles but a few weeks ago, they ran a story named Small Businesses Search in Vain for Web-Ad Help. It isn’t good. It calls out two very large SEM companies named ReachLocal and Yodle as not delivering on their promises to their customers. Here is a quote: The Federal Trade Commission has received about 60 complaints involving ReachLocal since 2009 – roughly half of them filed within the past two years – and more than 180…

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