Old fashioned bumper stickers are the medium of choice in this war of ideology taking place in laid-back Ocean Beach (OB), in San Diego County. OB has long been known as a liberal, safe and friendly haven for the homeless.

Compare the two bumper stickers. Both welcome people to friendly OB. The brown one says "Don't feed our bums" and was made by a local smoke shop to deal not the homeless they say, but the more aggressive panhandlers: 

"It isn't about the homeless...it's about the bums, the trolls that we deal with day in and day out, they get angry at you if you don't have spare change, they urinate in your doorways, graffiti on the buildings, it's terrible." said Denise Prigmore, an employee at The Black.

Many OB residents were angered and felt that the message portrays them as intolerant. Look what was created in response, by San Diego's Regional Task Force to End Homelessness.

Ideology and personal beliefs about homelessness aside, I see all forms of separatism, prejudice, and racism as a market segmentation issue. It involves dividing based on differences and uniting into subgroups based on similarities. Even good ideas like segmentation can be put to bad use. The positive segmentation challenge here is to distinguish between the "good" homeless and those that cause unnecessary harm and damage.

Food marketers have known this for years. One powerful way to appeal to customers is to emphasize what is missing.  Misleading? Sure can be. Depends on how you look at it. I see it as more honest than not, when it comes to health.

I remember when "cholesterol-free" was all the rage, seeing orange juice touting its no cholesterol advantage. Which of course it always had, given that only animal products contain cholesterol.

When avoiding an ingredient or preparation method or chemical becomes a hot topic, be prepared to see all kinds of food products using it to grab your attention. Like Ocean Mist Romaine Hearts, which is...lettuce. Their bag calls out that their lettuce is gluten free, lactose free, and vegan. And that it supports a healthy heart. All good things. Hey, what about fat free?

I believe this British Petroleum ad ran in The Economist in 1999:

And they are. Tragically ironic, isn't it? Careful of what you promise. More than your brand is at stake.

A small but significant example of a successful company that says they care and shows it. SWA has always favored "plain language" messaging and connecting person-to-person. The recorded jokes when on phone hold, the goofy singing by flight attendants, and now this "We miss you" e-mail message. Southwest Airlines knows how to connect. Which is one reason why they've been the only airline to be profitable many years running. Another example of customer intimacy paying off!

At ResearchWorks, we talk a lot about customer intimacy. We do our best not just to help clients be customer-intimate, but to practice customer intimacy ourselves. One sign of customer intimacy is when you say you care and show you care, and customers feel it. There is a match between how you intend to treat customers and how customers feel treated.

The sign above pronounces how much this family camp in Northern California cares for its guests. Even though the camp is not much more than a giant patch of dirt, people feel the love. The sign conveys the promise, the camp delivers on it. And guests come back year after year. That's how customer intimacy becomes customer loyalty.

Oral Roberts, the television preacher whose faith healing ministry had millions of followers, died last week. Here's a short video of him faith healing little Billy Ray, a boy with polio, so Billy can suddenly walk without crutches.

I remember as a kid watching Oral Roberts, and Jimmy Swaggart, the 700 Club, and other TV ministries with utter fascination. Even then I questioned what they said, but loved how they said it. They were experts at the art of persuasion! Their effectiveness had very little to do with facts, and everything to do with faith, and feeling. Which is, I believe, why the religious right is as powerful as they are. In public dialogue, they "own" feelings and emotion. As entertainers, they tap into our uniquely human ability to suspend disbelief and go along with the story. Those left of center are driven by logic and reason.

The promise of hope and despair of fear almost always trump rationale thinking, especially when it comes to the abstract values that guide our lives. What would happen if the pendulum shifted? Let's try it!

(P.S. When I start typing "Oral" into the Google search box, the first suggestion is "Oral Roberts" -- immediately followed by... "oral herpes." Be careful of the company you keep!).

We're just wrapping up a marketing study with primary care doctors across the country to test the appeal of potential new medical equipment and services. I am constantly hearing doctors lamenting the condition of healthcare in America, and very clearly saying what they do everyday - how they treat patients - is directly affected by what is r eimbursable by insurance and what kind of coverage a patient has. It is both understandable and frightening. 

In the midst of healthcare reform, are you and I willing to sacrifice our benefits for the greater good?  As the cartoon suggests, many lawmakers have a double standard and would not. Wouldn't that be like a marketer representing a product they don't believe in? Not a good thing. And it always shows. Integrity: Don't leave home without it!

When I first saw this Audi license with the license plate frame Jack Daniels, I did a double-take.

I thought why would this renowned purveyor of Tennessee Whiskey be advertising on car license plates! After all, we all know drinking and driving don't mix, right? Then I realized, um, that Jack Daniels is also a name, as in maybe a car dealer's name. And so it is, in New Jersey - selling Porsches, Audis, and VWs. 

As a foreigner to New Jersey, I suppose I can be forgiven associating Jack with liquor instead of cars. But in an odd way, what I took to be an oxymoron actually is quite memorable. Next time I want to buy an Audi in Jersey, I know where to go! And maybe they'll throw in a quart... of gas of course.

I mean matches, literally. For some reason I looked closely at our box of diamond kitchen matches today. It illustrates a fine lesson in marketing what I consider an inherently "low involvement" product (though these rave video reviews suggest otherwise).

What struck me is how many marketers emphasize "new" with products that have demonstrated limited innovation. As you can in the upper right corner of the matchbox photo, these matches sport a "NEW LOOK!" followed by reassurance that it is the "Same Great Product." Phew. (And would it be bad taste to say the new look (??) for these fine matches is very hot?).

Which reminds me - how many times has P&G's Tide detergent touted that it's "new and improved"? (click for funny spoof on Tide's marketing). And why do we equate "new" with better?

Back to marketing matches. By reading the box that I managed to never read until now, I also learned the many benefits of my diamond brand kitchen matches. They are fueled by the diamond ignition system. They are made from the highest quality Aspen wood. And diamond is the perfect match for all my fire-starting needs. Sorry, no testimonials from pyromaniacs.    

Las Vegas marketers know its all about the money, as you can see from the La$ Vega$, NV spelling on the San Diego airport departure board.

It's a subtle thing, making an S into a $. But effective branding often is. These little messages add up to create a strong, distinctive and lasting brand. What other city could add $ into its name and have it make sense?

Cape Canaveral has 3-2-1 as their phone area code, Hope Depot owns the color orange, as Nissan (formerly Datsun) does the letter Z. What do you think -- any other letters, numbers, or symbols that a company has effectively branded?