blognetnews.com
» Richmond
edited by: paul_h, Richmond Editor

Dan Durazo's Blog

  • Living Stories To the Rescue?

    I guess that Google feels bad about the way that it has helped to injure, maim and in some cases, kill newspapers.  Why else would it spend its time and energy to roll out a new product that it hopes will revive them? I’m talking about Living Stories, a Google experiment to [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 09, 2009, 2:39pm EST
    by Daniel Durazo

  • MASSIVEGOOD is massively good

      MASSIVEGOOD is an innovative fundraising movement that combines micro-philanthropy with social media. MASSIVEGOOD will let travelers make a small donation ($2/€2/£2) through a simple click each time they buy a ticket, whether online or through a travel agent. MASSIVEGOOD relies on the network effect of its members to spread the [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 15, 2009, 9:59pm EST
    by Daniel Durazo

  • Twitter for Travel

    I’ve recently begun tweeting for my employer, which is a supplier in the vast global travel industry. Despite the fact that the travel industry is struggling along with the rest of the worldwide economy, there is no shortage of twitter fans among travel suppliers.  I feel safe saying there are thousands [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: August 30, 2009, 8:45pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • Vacation Deficit Hurts America

    Access America has released its first ever Vacation Confidence Index (shameless plug: my idea) and has found that a significant number of Americans are suffering from a Vacation Deficit.  The “deficit” is caused by those Americans who strongly value a vacation, but for economic reasons have not taken a vacation [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: August 06, 2009, 5:02pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • Embrace Rejection

      I just started reading Entrepreneur Magazine again after a long hiatus.   Three articles in the July 2009 issue caught my eye. The first article talks about learning how to alter customers buying habits in order to get your sales going again.  In this economy, customers must be jolted into buying again, not [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: July 27, 2009, 11:13pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • Layoff City

      Like a lot of others, I’ve tried to maintain my optimism about an economic turnaround. That was especially tough today when two friends and colleagues informed me they had lost their jobs.  One is a recruiter in Richmond, the other is a producer for an internet radio network in Portland, [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: July 13, 2009, 10:34pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • The Face of Climate Protection

      Since Greenpeace went to all the trouble to hang this banner, the least I can do is post the photo here.  The publicity stunt was timed to coincide with the G8 Summit in Italy. Posted in Climate Change, Green Marketing Tagged: G8 Summit, Greenpeace, Mount Rushmore [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: July 09, 2009, 4:02pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • Climate Change Kills 300,000 People Each Year

    Number of comments: 1
    In a report issued on May 29th, the Global Humanitarian Forum estimates that 300,000 people die each year from disasters related to Climate Change.  The Forum, a think-tank led by former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, also believes that Climate Change seriously affects 325 million people and causes $125 billion [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: May 31, 2009, 9:55pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • The Top 7 Ways to Write a Winning Scholarship Application

    I was judging scholarship applications over the weekend for the Hispanic College Fund and I thought it might be useful to pass along these observations and tips. 1.  Write for your audience.  This is basic advice for most business writers, but for some reason it is lost on many applicants.  Think [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: May 26, 2009, 9:56pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • S&K’s End Game

    Number of comments: 2
    S&K Menswear took another step toward extinction this week when it inked a deal with liquidation firm Hilco Merchant Resources to sell the firm for at least $7.9 million.  Hilco has the option to keep S&K running, but I think that is unlikely.  If you’re going to keep the company going, [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: May 12, 2009, 5:06pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • Newspapers Fight for Survival

    I was lunching today with Dave Saunders, the mastermind behind the new Richmond.com ad campaign. While wolfing down Fish and Chips at Penny Lane, the topic of conversation turned in a familiar direction.  The discussion of the future viability of newspapers raised its hand, asking to be recognized yet again.  This [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: May 06, 2009, 11:18pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • J-Schools Plan for the Future

    There is a great article in the New York Times about the future of journalism. I was excited to read about how the journalism school at Arizona State University and other top j-school meccas have been leading the charge into a brave new world of the unknown.  It’s a poorly kept secret [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: April 20, 2009, 3:47pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • Dominos: Crisis Communications (S)not So Hot

    Number of comments: 1
      Dominos Pizza faced a dough tossers nightmare last week when a YouTube video surfaced, showing two moronic Dominos employees putting more than pepperoni in those pies.  Yuk!  I didn’t see the video on YouTube, it was shown on one of the local news shows here in Richmond.  Now that’s the [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: April 19, 2009, 10:07pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • J-Schools Booming

    A recent article in Forbes found that despite massive job losses in journalism, journalism school admissions are booming.  College students are seldom accused of being practical, but this boom borders on lunacy. Consider these ugly facts about the status of journalism: The Pew Research Center estimates that 5,000 newspaper jobs were [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: April 12, 2009, 10:22pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • S&K Menswear Against the Ropes

    Number of comments: 2
        Just two months after S&K Menswear filed for bankruptcy, and a month and a half after it announced it would close an additional 30 stores, CEO Joe Oliver was fired today in a surprise move.  I’m sure Joe was surprised, since he issued a press release just ten days ago [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: April 09, 2009, 6:45pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • Blogging for Glory

    Here’s a great story about the power of social media.  Last week I was headed to a meeting with Ron Carey, VP of the Targeted Solutions Group at the Richmond Times-Dispatch.  Ron greeted me in the lobby and as we made our way to the first floor conference room, he mentioned [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: March 29, 2009, 10:39pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • The Top 7 Things Newspapers Need to Do to Survive

    Number of comments: 9
      I was having coffee the other day with my friend Tim Loughran, general manager of Centro de Richmond, a Spanish-language weekly produced by the Richmond Times-Dispatch.  The topic was how newspapers will survive and thrive during a time which does not seem to favor them.  That same day I noticed [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: March 02, 2009, 12:41am EST
    by Daniel Durazo

  • Micro-casting catches on

    My friend and colleague Doug Zanger of Xhang Creative has launched Small Plate Radio, a new media platform that allows communicators to use the broadest of mediums (radio broadcasting) to reach the narrowest of niche audiences.  Huh? Leave it to Zanger to realize that what attracts the masses to radio (entertainment, [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: February 12, 2009, 11:09pm EST
    by Daniel Durazo

  • Public Relations Trends for 2009

    Number of comments: 5
      Some of my fellow bloggers have been banging out PR trends for 2009, so I figured I’d jump on the bandwagon.  And since I now have two weeks of insight into this New Year, my predictions will no doubt be far more accurate than theirs.   Here’s my list: The Gatekeepers Look Scared One [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: January 14, 2009, 4:07pm EST
    by Daniel Durazo

  • Walmart’s Top Ten iPhone Apps

    Number of comments: 2
        As you may have heard, Walmart started selling the iPhone this week.  That development has spawned a whole new category of iPhone applications (apps) targeting the Walmart customer.     Here’s my list of the Top Ten Favorite Walmart iPhone Apps: 10.  iDeduction:  This handy application helps you keep track of all of your [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 29, 2008, 3:54pm EST
    by Daniel Durazo

  • Short codes may save traditional media

      Thanks to Jim Washok at OTAir for sending along Nielsen’s “The Short Code Marketing Opportunity.”   This is a great primer on how marketers are using Common Short Codes or “short codes” for text (SMS) and multimedia (MMS) messaging to build awareness, drive relationships and even sell products using mobile devices. If you’re [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 22, 2008, 4:45pm EST
    by Daniel Durazo

  • BlogCatalog

    Posted in Uncategorized [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: December 18, 2008, 5:34pm EST
    by Daniel Durazo

  • I love my iPhone more than I love you

    Number of comments: 2
      Today I was multi-tasking, downloading Apple’s new version 2.2 software for my iPhone (google maps street view looks great) on my iMac, while reading my friend and colleague Tony Scida’s blog on my MacBook.    Tony’s got a great new post about the opportunities that marketers have to create branded iPhone apps [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 21, 2008, 9:49pm EST
    by Daniel Durazo

  • Top Ten Reasons Circuit City Will Go Out of Business

    Number of comments: 5
      You can file this one under the “kick ‘em while they’re down” category.  Sorry.   10.  If it ain’t broke, fix it anyway.  During the ’90s, Circuit City was doing great.  The problem was, competition was coming and it was coming hard and nobody took Best Buy seriously.  If you don’t crush [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 15, 2008, 11:31pm EST
    by Daniel Durazo

  • The Cheapskate’s Guide to PR

    Natalie Myers at the Marketing Sherpa recently interviewed me for a piece she was writing on my article “The Cheapskate’s Guide to PR.” I like Natalie’s article better than the one I wrote.  I guess that’s why she’s a professional journalist and I’m just a hack. Sigh… Posted in Daniel Durazo, Public Relations [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: November 03, 2008, 5:44pm EST
    by Daniel Durazo

  • PR Pros Beware: Newswire “feeds” ain’t “results”

    Number of comments: 7
      In his blog The Flack, Peter Himler broaches a topic that I’m sure the press release distribution companies had hoped would never be mentioned.  That is the issue of “feeds” into media outlet websites that are often passed off to the unsuspecting as legitimate public relations results.  These feeds serve [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: October 22, 2008, 8:31pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • Can you get gray and “less white” at the same time?

    Number of comments: 1
    As a diversion to our current economic upheaval, I’ve been meaning to post this article about America growing older and more diverse by 2050. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, minorities, now at about one third of the population, will become the majority population in 2042 and will make up 54 [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: October 10, 2008, 3:31pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • Radio Drives Mobile

    Number of comments: 2
      Recently, my work in the radio industry and my interest in mobile marketing have crossed paths.     Thanks to my colleague Doug Zanger at Small Plate Radio, I’ve found myself in several radio industry posts. I’m on the radio jury for the London International Awards, I’m the moderator for the Radio [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: September 24, 2008, 3:45pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • Don’t mess with my blue crabs!

    Here in Virginia, we have a state Commission on Climate Change that includes 43 members who were appointed by Gov. Tim Kaine about nine months ago. Recently the Commission met and reached consensus that: A rising sea level caused by global warming poses a major concern for much of coastal Virginia, especially [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: September 22, 2008, 11:46am EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • An Answer to Global Warming?

    Last week at California’s annual Climate Change Research Conference in Sacramento, two physicists associated with the Heat Island Group presented a paper which claims that if roofs in 100 major urban areas were switched to reflective material, they would offset 44 metric gigatons of greenhouse gasses.  It’s hard for me [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: September 19, 2008, 11:35am EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • [nt]

    [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Fetched: September 17, 2008, 5:03am EDT

  • The Birth of “Drive to Mobile”

    You may be familiar with the term “drive to web.”  It refers to any activity that drives someone to log onto a website.  In marketing, this is done through a variety of media vehicles.  A television ad, a radio spot, a newspaper ad, a billboard or even an airplane dragging [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: September 09, 2008, 2:09pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • Business Blogs Blow

    Number of comments: 1
      Just kidding!  Not all business blogs blow, just most of them.     According to an article in Monday’s Washington Post, Technorati says that of 112.5 million blogs on the web, 5,000 are corporate.  I’d wager that the number of small business blogs is much larger.  A Forrester report from June finds [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: August 27, 2008, 1:31pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • My Bottled Water Conflict

    Number of comments: 1
      I recently came across this article about the launch of Nestlé Waters first ever marketing campaign targeting Hispanics.  The campaign includes an endorsement deal with Cristina, TV spots on Univision, spot radio in major Hispanic markets, print advertising (print lives!) a consumer contest and in-store hoopla. The best thing about all [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: August 19, 2008, 4:35pm EDT
    by Daniel Durazo

  • GCI Group is Dead

    Number of comments: 1
    I recently read with interest in the Holmes Report that GCI Group, a member of WPP Group’s stable of public relations agencies, has been merged with WPP sib Cohn & Wolfe.  While no one will actually come out and say it (surprising for the usually forthcoming PR crowd), the inference [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: August 13, 2008, 2:47pm EDT
    by Dan Durazo

  • A PR Person with a Sense of Humor?!

    Almost every organization on the planet does something boneheaded and ill advised from time to time. The bigger the organization, the more likely it is to happen.  When the perpetrators of these errors in judgment are committing these crimes of idiocy, they seldom check with the organization’s PR person to [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: August 10, 2008, 11:31pm EDT
    by Dan Durazo

  • Email Marketing Can Be Fun

      I’m not sure if email marketing can be fun, but it is interesting. I became interested in the subject after I downloaded a white paper on 2008 email marketing trends from Exact Target while I was developing a speaker proposal for an email marketing conference.   A great b2b email marketing [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: August 06, 2008, 3:41pm EDT
    by Dan Durazo

  • Hispanic Voters May Hold the Key

      My friend Robert Powell, editor of Virginia Business magazine, asked me to write a column about the importance of multicultural voters in the 2008 presidential election.  I really didn’t know what I would learn when I started writing (that’s what’s fun about pretending to be a journalist), but in the end [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: August 03, 2008, 12:00am EDT
    by dandurazo

  • Hispanic Kids Go Green

      According to Kids and and Tweens in the U.S., a new study from Packaged Facts, kids and their parents have become increasingly interested in protecting the environment. As a result, eco-friendly products are beginning to make headway among children ages 3 to 11. And companies that produce and market products to these kids [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: July 27, 2008, 10:54pm EDT
    by dandurazo

  • Are Newspapers Blogger Friendly?

    Number of comments: 1
      I recently came across this story in the unfortunately named Buttermilk & Molasses blog about the relationship (or lack thereof) between local newspapers and the blogging community. Newspapers are in a tough spot. While their content is still valued, the value of their portability as a news aggregating device has been [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: July 20, 2008, 11:27pm EDT
    by dandurazo

  • No one will call you a quitter…

    Okay, here’s the situation:  You have a colleague that you really respect and value and that you’d love to send a message that says how sorry you are that his/her totally inappropriate office romance didn’t work out.  Or you want to tell someone else how proud you are of their [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: July 15, 2008, 12:03pm EDT
    by dandurazo

  • London International Awards

    Number of comments: 1
      Recently my colleague Doug Zanger was selected as the first ever Radio Jury President for the prestigious London International Awards.  Shortly thereafter I was appointed to the Jury with 22 other folks, tasked with judging radio creative from around the world.  Last years’ winning radio entries were produced in Johannesburg [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: July 11, 2008, 3:14pm EDT
    by dandurazo

  • Sustainable Giving

    In her blog The Philanthropic Family, Sharon Schneider discusses the merits of Product (RED) and its new music service, as well as the controversy over embedded giving.  You can make your own judgments, but I like embedded giving because it is sustainable and provides a predictable stream of revenue for [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: July 01, 2008, 10:59pm EDT
    by dandurazo

  • National Museum of the American Latino

      I recently saw an item that mentioned legislation passed in May that will create a federal commission to explore the possibility of creating the National Museum of the American Latino.   The museum is the brainchild and pet project of Congressman Xavier Becerra (D-CA). Becerra issued a press release way back in September [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: July 01, 2008, 10:22am EDT
    by dandurazo

  • Redefining the Gold Standard

    Number of comments: 1
      In his new book The New Gold Standard: 5 Leadership Principles for Creating a Legendary Customer Experience Courtesy of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, Dr. Joseph A. Michelli, Ph.D. discusses the “service value” that sets Ritz-Carlton apart from its competition.   In a tanking economy (sorry for being glass half-empty), the near future [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: June 27, 2008, 11:14am EDT
    by dandurazo

  • Hispanic Marketing For Credit Unions

    Financial institutions have always had fun with marketing to Hispanics.  Targeting the right customer, dealing with documentation issues and figuring out the ROI on Hispanic initiatives have always been challenging. Suzanne Boniface tackles the topic in the latest issue of Credit Union Management Magazine.   Her statistics point to a good fit between [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: June 23, 2008, 2:25pm EDT
    by dandurazo

  • Virginia Hispanic Youth Symposium

    I received an email this morning from Rosa Castillo at the Hispanic College Fund about the need for volunteers for the upcoming Virginia Hispanic Youth Symposium. The symposium has been designed for local High School students and will be held from July 16-19, 2008 at the University of Richmond.  The participants of [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: June 23, 2008, 1:42pm EDT
    by dandurazo

  • Multicultural Outreach Strategies for Green Groups

    I recently completed a consulting assignment for a major national environmental organization.  It was a great experience and I learned a lot. This is an article I wrote for the May 2008 edition of Virginia Business Magazine that describes the lessons learned. Since I wrote the article, I’m hoping that Virginia [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: June 17, 2008, 3:26pm EDT
    by dandurazo

  • Project Plant It!

    One of the most interesting and complex CSR/Green Marketing efforts I’ve been involved in has beenDominion’s Project Plant It! This award winning program is a partnership between Dominion, the Arbor Day Foundation and elementary schools in regions served by the company. Project Plant It! was successfully piloted in 2007, when nearly 8,000 elementary school students in [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: June 16, 2008, 2:36pm EDT
    by dandurazo

  • The Other Double D

    Recently, the crack web team at the ad agency where I work created a cool viral campaign for Father’s Day for S&K Menswear.  You can check it out at DancingDaddy.com You can read the press release that I wrote and distributed here.  Clever, ain’t it? You can read the story that resulted in [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: June 16, 2008, 2:14pm EDT
    by dandurazo
← Jane Austen's World Church Hill Photography →

Blog Info:
Dan Durazo's Blog

» http://dandurazo.wordpress.com

Categories

Business

BNN Traffic Index

Alexa: No data
0

Compete: No data
0

Quantcast: No data
0

BNN Traffic Index: No data

BNN Authority Index

Technorati: 0

Google: 0

BNN Authority Index: No data

Author(s)

Daniel Durazo

» Subscribe to the Dan Durazo's Blog feed