The Big Fat Marketing Blog

Very few things are as American as McDonald’s and its signature menu item, the Big Mac. Now, apparently, is the time to give the old standby a makeover. I have to go now, I’m hungry.

A new study shows that 43% of retailers will focus their advertising and marketing dollars on “green” products – which is up from 37% last year. That’s fantastic! But, wait. Citizens of the United States, we have a problem. more

Rumors of the demise of the Arena Football League may not be exaggerated. The original brand of indoor football, which of late had been driven by celebrity owners such as Jon Bon Jovi and John Elway, a lucrative (and past) television deal with NBC and sponsorship opportunities up the wazoo, is facing the same economic hard times as many companies.

Speculation is by week’s end, the league will announce it will cease operations for the 2009 season, though the league is telling fans to hold tight. History says that when a league has made that announcement, it’s been the prolonging of the actual obituary. And as a journalist who has covered both the on-field and business aspects of the game for several publications (including PROMO and Chief Marketer), I’m sad but not surprised. more

Back home, it’s 16 days until Christmas. In Kissimmee, at the NCDM show, it’s easy to forget we’re even in December. The temperature outside the Gaylord Palms (and the Westgate Villas, where I’m staying) is about 80, the palm tree leaves haven’t browned, and Santa’s not seen on every street corner.

But right next to our conference space, Gaylord Palms is hosting its annual Ice! at Gaylord Palms event. Richard Levey of Direct and I pass it every morning when we enter the conference, and again when we leave. It’s not overly extravagant from the outside (we haven’t paid to see Christmas), but I think it’s something that gives the resort and conference center a little bit of an advantage this time of year. more

Back home, it’s 16 days until Christmas. In Kissimmee, at the NCDM show, it’s easy to forget we’re even in December. The temperature outside the Gaylord Palms (and the Westgate Villas, where I’m staying) is about 80, the palm tree leaves haven’t browned, and Santa’s not seen on every street corner.

But right next to our conference space, Gaylord Palms is hosting its annual Ice! at Gaylord Palms event. Richard Levey of Direct and I pass it every morning when we enter the conference, and again when we leave. It’s not overly extravagant from the outside (we haven’t paid to see Christmas), but I think it’s something that gives the resort and conference center a little bit of an advantage this time of year. more

AOL, which purchased social media site BEBO for $850 million in March is set to relaunch the site in an effort to compete with MySpace and Facebook.

By combining, AOL and BEBO can reach 124 million unique visitors and ad revenue could grow accordingly. As social media gains more non-traditional users, it will be interesting to see what combination of features consumers gravitate toward and if indeed social network sites become the new entry point into the web.