#WeeklyMarketingGems and #MyWeeklyRecap

I can’t wait until Halloween. It has always been my favorite holiday of the year. I’m not sure why thought. I typically don’t dress up or go to many parties. I think it has to do with the feeling in the air and the memories I have from my childhood.

In honor of Halloween, I decided to share 13 of my favorite posts that I ran into over the last week. To find past gems, please search for me on Twitter (@jwsokol) or look for these tags: #weeklymarketinggems and #weeklyreview.

If you have suggestions for posts that should be featured here, please let me know (@jwsokol). I am always looking for great ideas and people who are finding ways to rethink marketing.

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Weekly Marketing Gems

Zombie, Zombie, Burning Bright – I could not resist throwing in a post about Zombies (guilty pleasure – I love Zombie movies). Amy takes the zombie thing to a whole new level with several zombie haikus. Nice work Amy.

How One Car Manufacturer is Rebranding Itself Through Social Media – Marjolijn Kamphuis provides us with a look at how Toyota is using facebook, YouTube and other online media to help consumers better understand the recently troubled brand.

Please Put Down Your Pom Poms and Just Talk to Me – The title says it all and in the excellent post, Tom Martin makes a point about social media that every business should understand. Excellent post Tom!

Connecting with Customers: Nufloors Advice – C.B. Whittemore shares an example of how one company is using customer feedback to educate their team and empower them to make a difference for the customer.

How to Twitter – I don’t know if you knew this or not, but Marjorie Clayman recently moved… to a new site. You can find her excellent posts at her new site by following this link. In this post, Marjorie provides a step-by-step video tutorial of how to get started with Twitter and, more importantly, how to do it right.

How Leaders Create the Context for Strategy Execution – Ron Ashkenas talks about the importance of providing context with your team and how to build support for initiatives.

The 7 Deadly Fears of Blogging and How to Overcome Them – I can’t tell you how many times I have heard friends, family and coworkers balk when they hear I am a blogger or when I suggest they might benefit from blogging. Don’t worry, if you are a blogger or are interested in getting started, Nathan Hagen provides us with some great advice on how to overcome several common fears about blogging. Unfortunately, he doesn’t cover the “negative reputation” that bloggers sometimes get, but he does cover several key issues you will face.

Twitter Misadventure at H&R Block – I am a huge fan of David Meerman Scott. David gets social media better than anyone around. He has been writing about the topic for some time now and he has some of the best advice around. In this post, David talks about one company’s experience with a rogue employee and how they handled the situation. I will also be posting about a recent webcast that David presented on covering another excellent topic – real-time marketing and public relations.

Philosophical Reasoning for Open Source by Steven Johnson – Nicole with OnSIP shares some great info and reasoning why open source and crowd sourcing are so important.

New Facebook Groups Could Be Big for Business – John Jantsch takes a look at a new feature that could prove to be a big help to businesses that are trying to market on the world’s largest social network.

The Gap’s New Old Logo: A Beautiful Disaster – I thought I was over the whole “Gap New Logo” thing. Last week we saw post after post highlighting the company’s logo-launch failure, but then I read Susan Vera’s great post. She provides us with a fresh look and analysis of what went down.

How to Turn Social Taboos into Innovative Products – IDEO shares some helpful insights into how your awareness of social stigmas and patterns surrounding them can lead you down the path to riches. They also demonstrate why they are one of the most innovative companies in the world. It is amazing to see just how open they are about where they find their insights. What a treasure!

What Does Your Business Card Say About You? – Andy does it again with another amazing insight. This time, he takes a look at our business cards and helps us reflect on what they say about you and your business.

My Weekly Recap

Here’s a recap of this week’s Marketing Matters posts:

Monday: Blogging: 5 Things I Wish I Had Known (Blogging for Business)

Tuesday: Goals – Shhhhh! Keep them a secret.

Wednesday: Adding a “Game Layer” to the World and Your Business

Thursday: Game On: Five Ways to Make Your Shopping Experience Funner

Friday: Business Gaming: A Nice Resource

Zombie image credit: Christopher Lockett