How to Handle Bad News
by Josh Levine
I had a tough call the other day.
We’ve been handling trade show activation for one of our clients. It’s a pretty sizable account for us. Last week, the client called to say that although she and her bosses are very happy with the work we’ve done for them, they have decided to change strategic directions and forego any trade shows for the immediate future. That last sentence cost us multiple six figures.
She explained the rationale and it made perfect sense. If it was my money, I would have made the same decision.
I let her know that I agree with the decision. To be clear, she didn’t need me to agree, and it wasn’t even her decision. But I saw the opportunity to continue to be on the client’s side and at the same time demonstrate that we think like they think. My intention was to give my client more confidence that she has the right partner when the next opportunity presents itself.
Rebel’s core values include being Of Service. I saw this moment of adversity a perfect opportunity to put that to work.
Terrible Twos
by Josh Levine
My son is "two half" as he puts it. Silly boy doesn't realize he's actually closer to three. Not too long ago, we found ourselves deep ...
Make Coffee With Your iPhone
by Josh Levine
This may be the coolest thing I've seen in a while. Now I'm a bit of a coffee nut and also a serious fan of ...
Wasting Time
by Josh Levine
Found this on the Touchstone site. The average person wastes 150 hours a year. Don't be one of those people! Think about where you are wasting time that ...
Dutch Masters
by Josh Levine
Photo by: WanderingtheWorld (www.LostManProject.com) In contrast to Van Gogh, Rembrandt was a bad motherfucker. Van Gogh slept on his brother’s couch; Rembrandt lived in a 5 ...
What’s the ROI of Van Gogh?
by Josh Levine
How’s your art history? True or false: During his time, Vincent Van Gogh was one of the most important painters in the world. False: He died broke, ...
Can Anyone Really Own Social Media?
by Josh Levine
There’s a lot of debate within companies about which department should own social media. Should it be marketing? PR? Customer Service? Here’s your easy answer: It depends. It depends on ...
Arnold’s Calves
by Josh Levine
Image Source: IronMagazine.com Writing that piece on Old Spice’s social media campaign reminded me of an article I read in Muscle and Fitness in the 1980s* ...
The Bad News About Old Spice
by Josh Levine
Old Spice’s man on the horse has set the bar for corporate social media. And why not? Seems like the whole world saw it and ...
QR Codes and Other Marketing Myths
by Josh Levine
Does anyone think QR codes are the answer to our marketing problems? Of course not. Anyway, let's hope not. But they are symptomatic of a ...
Why Isn’t Your Video Viral?
by Josh Levine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vo0Cazxj_yc&feature=player_embedded Does it have people in it doing superhuman shit like this one? Does it have anything that anyone who doesn't work for your company would ...
Twitter How-To
by Josh Levine
As Mashable explains in "How Twitter's New Media Blog Aims To Teach By Example," Twitter is taking a pro-active role in teaching users how to ...
An Open Letter to Marketers: Buy This Company
by Josh Levine
This TED Talk is from Eric Giler, CEO of a company called WiTricity, which has developed a technology that will power and charge our ...
GURU R.I.P.
by Josh Levine
Gang Starr frontman GURU died this week. If you don't know who GURU was, or want the details of his life and death, there's an ...
Coke is a Grassroots Marketer // Random Thoughts
by Josh Levine
In a recent Advertising Age article, "Coca-Cola Lays Out Its Vision for the Future," Coke CEO Muhtar Kent talked about how his company has ...
Toyota Apology
by Josh Levine
A smart man once told me "Don't apologize. Just fix it." At the time, Scion was my biggest client, and the man talking to me ...
Super Bowl Ads
by Josh Levine
Will.I.Am My Generation Super Bowl Flo TV Rebel client Flo TV had an ad in the Super Bowl. Three actually. The one you see here has ...
iPad: Maybe So, Maybe No
by Josh Levine
If you're like me, you're among the many who were disappointed with yesterday's reveal of the Apple iPad, and possibly even more disappointed by the ...
Cause Marketing: Make it Hurt
by Josh Levine
All of our clients are thinking and talking about cause marketing. Some of them are taking action. We saw a bit of research recently confirming ...
What We Can Learn From Twitter // Random Thoughts
by Josh Levine
A common marketing tool is to offer free trials. The thinking goes that if I give you 30 days to start using my product, you'll ...
Technology is not the Problem // Random Thoughts
by Josh Levine
You may have seen this New York Times article making the controversial statement that the DVR may be helping, rather than hurting TV ratings. They ...
Help Wanted // Random Thoughts
by Josh Levine
Rebel has the inside track on a new gig. Our client, Mazda is hiring and we're trying to help them find the right person. The ...
5 Lessons I Learned While Having A Baby // Random Thoughts
by Josh Levine
We (and by we I mainly mean my wife) went through 37 hours of labor, which gave me a lot of time to think about ...
Makin’ Babies // Random Thoughts
by Josh Levine
You may have noticed I haven't written much lately. If not, hey, thanks for nothing! I've been a little busy. My son Justin was born on ...
