CharlieMoger.com

Marketing and advertising advice for owner-operated businesses

God only made him male

Picture_9 It is our choice to a be man. Randy Pausch, a man in every sense of the word, whose inspirational "last lecture" about living life to the fullest even while battling pancreatic cancer, died today today. He was 47.

ABC News first reported the story this morning. ABC’s Diane Sawyer anchored an hour-long special with Pausch in April, seven months after Pausch delivered that "last lecture" at Carnegie Mellon. The lecture has been viewed more than three million times on YouTube.

ABC is preparing a one-hour special to run this Tuesday. Clear time on your schedule to watch his last lecture. It will change how you live your life.

His courage and character are an example to every man blessed to be a father.

BMW’s risk nets viral success

Viral marketing is a chancy game. The best madeMkaq247_advert_20080619175556 plans have blown up on companies like Wal-Mart and
TBS . When the public discovers what seems real is just a marketing ploy, it’s not just ineffective, it’s damaging to the brand.

BMW rolled the dice with a mocumentary film about a Bavarian town attempting to launch a car off a ramp and have it land in the the United States. The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) Even though its corporate roots became known, the film was still a success. It has been copied and distributed widely> Merchandise for the fictitious ramp jump is even being sold online.

So, why did BMW succeed where others didn’t? Wal-Mart posed as RV’ers crossing the country; it was fake and drew RV’ers in one dimension. TBS stunted timers all over Boston only to have them mistaken as terrorist devices. BMW, in comparison, made good-hearted fun WITH the Bavarian lifestyle and sought to promote something as innately Bavarian as beer.

Viral works when it affirms something the viewer can easily believe and embrace. Authenticity again is the draws the line in viral marketing between success and powder burns.

Continue reading to see an excerpt of the film.

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A father’s day

Tim Russert’s sudden passing has been chronicled, his memory feted, his legacy honored. It is a story of a man who’s life honored God’s greatest gift. The love he gave was evident in stories from every quarter.

This ground of shocking loss stirs memories of an earlier crossing for me. In the six years since, I’ve learned it’s all choice: wallow in the sadness, mourn what seems a history truncated, or accept that endings are beginnings. When confounded by unfolding events, experience has taught me there will come a day when purpose is revealed for the incomprehensible. Instead of wallowing or mourning, what if we choose to live for that moment–a future worth living into.

I  bought a TiVO because of Tim Russert; he had the audacity to broadcast during Mass. My DVR now holds that final program of remembrance, a sort of digital memorial. The last few minutes sum up a life well-lived. He was a good and faithful servant, an example to all who are blessed to be fathers too.

UPDATE: Be sure to click the continued link to see The Boss’ surprise farewell.

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