Dr. Dannielle (Dossy) Blumenthal

Ever since I got a Droid I have been literally amazed by how much a smartphone can increase your productivity, keep you in touch with news as well as contacts, and introduce you to new ideas and products. (I have seen the iPad but not tried it and am sure its the same).
Marketers who want to build a relationship with their customers and keep it strong would do well to think about offering them access to this technology. Special populations to target I think are those who tend to lag in adopting technology due to cost or perceived difficulty.

Give people the tools to empower themselves, and they will reward you with continued loyalty - that is my hypothesis. You can do well by doing good.

Download now or preview on posterous McDonalds-GoVegan-Blumenthal.rtf(3 KB)
A couple of years ago I told Starbucks to kill itself off and start again before the market slayed it (slew it?) dead. If you know me, you know that I am a huge Starbucks fan as well as a branding and social media strategist, and I said as someone who believes that the soul of a brand can live albeit in different packaging.Today it looks like the ‘bux has made itself right and I’ thinking about another brand I like a lot, and how it might reinvent itself for a new era. And that brand is McDonald’s.Though the food at McDonald's is not generally for me - even if I weren't kosher I don't eat much meat and avoid processed food for health reasons - I am a great admirer of the brand. Here is a company that really understands the seeming paradox that great brands know how to navigate like an elephant who can dance on the head of a pin: on the one hand extreme consistency, and on the other total customizatio…

Download now or preview on posterous 10WaysSocialMediaHasEmpoweredWomen-Blumenthal.doc(66 KB)
1. Most employers consider it a requirement to know how to use social media—which is basically about chattering all the time about what you’re doing with your friends. 2. People with young children can still participate in the workplace thanks to wireless Internet connectivity and social media collaboration tools that make it possible to get an accredited degree, telecommute, work before the kids go to school and late into the night.3. Now that this technology is widely available it is becoming “normal” for everyone to balance their work and their personal lives, not just mothers, which means that the work associated with parenting and care of the home is being distributed more equally between women and men.4. The Internet lets you comparison shop easily and social media means that no vendor is safe from criticism. Thus consumers make decisions based on a variety of factors related to trust and…

Download now or preview on posterous SomeTrendsInSocialMediaUse-Blumenthal.pdf(62 KB)
1. Blogs are not a primary social media outreach tool for “regular people” * Only about 1 out of 5 Americans (22%) read blogs “several times a month or more” * More than half of Americans “never” read blogs that discuss “politics” and only 23% do so “several times a year” 2. When people want to buy something, they go to the website first and face-to-face second (official representative of company, or not) – so all channels of communication matter * 36% - website * 22% - face to face with company representative/salesperson * 21% - face to face with someone not representing the company * 19% - print advertising * 19% - independent website with reviews * 16% - phone call to company * 4% - social networking site 3. News is social * 72% of Americans follow the news as a source of conversation * 50% rely to some extent on “people around them” to tell them news “they need to know” * 37% of internet users have “contributed …

Download now or preview on posterous 25 New Ways To Be Innovative.pdf(57 KB)
Well, I started out with 25 different bullets...please add your own and let me know what you think of these.   1. Write down your thoughts while they are fresh because you will forget them later 2. Challenge “what everybody says” or “does” or “thinks” 3. Keep paper and pen available to you everywhere (also something electronic to type on) 4. Write a blog - you do have something to say even if you don't think so right now 5. Comment on other people’s blogs because their ideas can spark new ideas in you 6. Find a professional social network or two where you can discuss things. (Facebook is a friend network not a social network and doesn't count.) 7. Get support from your boss to do innovative things by solving a problem for them that requires an innovative approach 8. Find people at work who also want to be innovative and talk to them. They might not be in your immediate work group. That is irrelevant and probabl…