What would happen if you translated this page from english to spanish and then back to english? A lesson in miscommunicaton. (Use your “back” key to return here.)

Addendum: This reminds me of the way companies often communicate with their customers.

Help: How to do this yourself.

Perhaps because I was in PR myself at the time, I used to marvel at Reagan image-meister Michael Deaver’s amazing gift of knowing the precise spot to position his boss in public appearances for just that right photo. I don’t know what, but something about this picture of John Ashcroft in the Great Hall of the Justice Department building made me think of Michael Deaver’s attention to detail.

Universally panned by marketing pundits at the time, the change of name from Anderson Consulting to Accenture a year ago seems brilliant today. Rance Crain (who in real life is not nearly as cranky as his writing suggests), explains why.

Quote:

But I’m not here to malign Accenture ads. My point is that Andersen Consulting’s name change, though panned, was a colossal stroke of good luck. My vote for the real Marketer of the Year? It’s the arbitrator who forced Andersen Consulting to change its name.

With state legislatures convening across the country, we’re going to be hearing lots about budget blues in the coming days. As many states have constitutions that require balanced budgets, the pressure to raise taxes, especially on small businesses, will be intense. Here in Tennessee, the issue is difficult due to our total dependence on a sales tax rather than any personal income taxes. Here, the Tennessean looks at the pressure to expand the sales tax to services not currently taxed. Several folks at Hammock Publishing work with state directors of NFIB to keep their members up-to-date with what’s going on in their state capitols regarding taxes and other important issues.

Bill Hudgins and his Road King readers are always quick to notify marketers when their advertising casts truckers in a negative, cliched light. Latest blunder is by Radio Shack, a marketer who otherwise courts truckers for all sorts of merchandise. The offending ad is at left with offending headline enlarged.