By Emily Kanter

A lot of women, like me, watch the Super Bowl for three main things: The national anthem (sung by Kelly Clarkson this year), the halftime show (Madonna featuring many other pop icons), and of course, the commercials.   Each year, advertisers battle and bid millions of dollars for a 30-second spot to debut their commercials during the football game.

Super Bowl XLVI had a lot of entertaining bits while others fell flat or tried too hard.  The thing that stood out most for me was Chevy’s aggressive digs at Ford. In a commercial portraying the Mayan apocalypse, Chevy drivers survived, leaving the rubble unscathed, while the narrator told us that Ford owners couldn’t survive the destruction.  Read more...

By Josh Cline

When you think about the strategy behind your current or future online presence, you likely think about beating your competitors (perhaps in search-engine rankings or in direct sales on your website) or becoming a recognized thought-leader in your specific industry.

Today, however, such a strategy is becoming increasingly difficult – if not impossible – in a world of millions of websites in which a select few have usually dominated their online markets for years (and will most likely continue to do so). If your company sells books, you will likely never beat Amazon. If your firm wants to create the next Facebook (and you are not Google) and replace the popular social-media network, it will take years even to come close to Mark Zuckerberg’s behemoth. The “first-mover advantage” exists for a reason.  Read more...

By Daniel Goldstein

In search-engine marketing (SEM) – the goal of which is to rank highly in Google search-results for chosen keywords – there are two general strategies: search-engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Each has its advantages and disadvantages, so it is important to know when to use each one (or even both).

Before you make this marketing decision, you first need to determine and understand your overall business goals. As we at The Cline Group have always maintained, one’s marketing goal needs to be in line with one’s business goal before it can be integrated and executed successfully.  Read more...

By Daniel Goldstein

Soon, your picture could be all over Google. But, do not worry: we mean that in a good way.

Hubspot recently reported that the profile pictures of people using Google’s new social-networking website – Google+ (or Google Plus) – now have the ability to appear in search-result listings for the websites, articles, and blog posts that are associated with them. It just requires a bit of new HTML coding. According to the company’s intrepid reporting, here is how to have an author’s image appear as in the image at the top of this post:  Read more...

By Samuel J. Scott

People may like your brand – but do they love it? The difference is crucial to understand.

If someone likes your soft drink, tennis shoe, or website, he will continue to buy the product or visit the site. However, someone who loves a brand will often attempt to sell it to his friends, family, and acquaintances – usually without even realizing it.

As Harvard Business Review notes in a recent blog post, a love of a brand will turn someone into a “brand ambassador” who:  Read more...

For philanthropic and non-profit organizations, they are struggling. Funding is down and changing communication channels have made them increasingly irrelevant. However, in a recent op/ed in the Jewish Exponent, The Cline Group’s Josh Cline lays out several tips and suggestions for how to remain relevant.

Read the whole article here, but below are some highlights:

There is a crisis in the nonprofit world today as technological change and social media have become mainstream, and the financial crisis has wiped out the wealth of many organizations’ traditional donors.  Read more...