Sari Stein's Profile | TypePad

This is Sari Stein's TypePad Profile.

Join TypePad and start following Sari Stein's activity

Join Now!

Already a member? Sign In

Sari Stein

Montreal, Canada

Digital marketing strategist, Habs fan, and chocoholic extraordinaire

Interests: Digital marketing, social media, engagement, analytics, strategic planning, measurement, advertising, marketing, project management, travel, hockey

Recent Activity

7 useless facts about your personas

Aaahh, personas. Those imaginary people that all planners invent to help inspire our marketing. At their best, personas are like our childhood imaginary friends - so real that we can almost hear their voices in our heads. At their worst, they're cardboard-cutouts, boring "average" people designed to appease everybody and... Continue reading

Posted Dec 12, 2012 at Forest Full of Trees

0

5 ways to piss off your web visitors

Companies spend big bucks to bring traffic to their websites and digital campaigns. But what are they doing when they get there? A poorly thought-out website, ill-advised choices about ads or features, or lack of consideration to user experience can lose your visitors before they even get through the door.... Continue reading

Posted Aug 21, 2012 at Forest Full of Trees

0

On being a strategist

I've nearly always had a very tough time explaining my job to anyone outside the world of advertising. When I first started out in account services, it was difficult enough to explain my job. "Account (coordinator/manager/supervisor/director), what does that mean?" I'd get asked by everyone from my mother to my... Continue reading

Posted May 3, 2012 at Forest Full of Trees

0

How I learned to stop worrying and love Being The Product

You've probably heard everyone from bloggers to writers to watchdog groups decrying the fact that, when it comes to Facebook, Google or Twitter, you're not the customer, you're the product. It's true, after all. These companies make their money by selling advertising space and by collecting and selling your personal... Continue reading

Posted Jan 2, 2012 at Forest Full of Trees

0

The trouble with estimates

By its very nature, estimation is a game of unknowns. When we make projections for budgets, revenue or returns, we base them on a series of wobbly assumptions. Each assumption in itself might be somewhat reasonable, but the more of them we put together, the shakier the foundation is on... Continue reading

Posted Dec 2, 2011 at Forest Full of Trees

0

A portfolio approach to digital planning

How much money should you be allocating to each channel in your marketing mix? One simple answer is that you should calculate the ROI of each channel and then shift your budget from the less profitable channels into the more profitable ones. But, even leaving aside various challenges with measuring... Continue reading

Posted Oct 31, 2011 at Forest Full of Trees

0

The Shanahan videos: Lessons from the NHL on social media crisis management

Hockey season is back. And you know what that means, right? Yep, time for more what-hockey-can-teach-us-about-marketing posts. (Come on, you know you love them.) This week, the social webs are abuzz with the series of videos being released by new NHL disciplinarian Brendan Shanahan, explaining each disciplinary decision being made.... Continue reading

Posted Oct 6, 2011 at Forest Full of Trees

0

Finding new lands

The year was 1497. An Italian explorer, Giovanni Caboto, better known John Cabot, set off from Bristol, England in a ship called the Matthew, with a charter from King Henry VII giving him and his sons authority to "sail to all parts, countries and seas of the East, the West... Continue reading

Posted Sep 18, 2011 at Forest Full of Trees

1

The Destructiveness of Anger

Can anger, criticism and negative feedback generate more creative and better ideas than encouragement and positive feedback? That's the hypothesis explored in a provocatively-titled article in Wired Magazine by Jonah Lehrer entitled The Creativity of Anger. Why does anger have this effect on the imagination? I think the answer is... Continue reading

Posted Aug 29, 2011 at Forest Full of Trees

0

5 tips for community managers

The list of job descriptions today that didn't exist back when you were in school keeps getting longer. The job of Social Media Community Manager is one of them. Companies started up Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, YouTube channels, blogs and web forums because they were cheap and easy... only it... Continue reading

Posted Jul 20, 2011 at Forest Full of Trees

1

Is it time to redefine 'fair use'?

A number of years ago, I signed up to a free travel website to blog my travels. The site provided the opportunity to upload text and photos from the road, and to share links to the blogs. It was a fun way to involve my friends and family in my... Continue reading

Posted May 24, 2011 at Forest Full of Trees

0

Is mobile "the new Prague"?

Th ere's a cliché in the travel community that refers to any potentially up-and-coming destination as "the new Prague". Backpackers love to one-up each other with tales of visiting random destinations nobody has ever heard of, before they get discovered by the mainstream travelers, while they’re still cheap and cool... Continue reading

Posted Mar 23, 2011 at Forest Full of Trees

0

Can fun and marketing coexist?

Jeff Bullas just published a provocatively-titled blog post that's making the rounds: 5 Reasons why Social Media is Not Fun Anymore. He notes that the roots of Facebook and YouTube were in silly, mindless entertainment and personal time-wasting.Now that companies take these spaces seriously and are spending billions of dollars... Continue reading

Posted Mar 17, 2011 at Forest Full of Trees

0

Sex, Drugs and Monkeys: Lessons from the Cannes Lions

Last Monday, I went with a group of colleagues to Cinéma du Parc to watch the screening of the 57th annual Cannes Lions Film Festival. I’ve been spending my hard-earned cash on the privilege of watching advertisements for a number of years now. Invariably, there are some brilliant ads, some... Continue reading

Posted Mar 15, 2011 at Forest Full of Trees

0

The wisdom of hockey crowds?

The decision by the Montreal Canadiens this season to allow the fans to pick the three stars of each game, by voting online or via a mobile application, is causing a stir - and significant debate - among hockey fans. On the one hand, many are lauding the move for... Continue reading

Posted Oct 14, 2010 at Forest Full of Trees

0

Calling all chocoholics

Just when you thought there weren't enough niche social platforms out there - the Swiss have launched a social network for chocolate lovers: Modeled on successful precursors like Facebook and MySpace, myswisschocolate.ch, based in the small town of Pfaeffikon near Zurich, provides a virtual platform for people who share a... Continue reading

Posted Sep 22, 2010 at Forest Full of Trees

0

The things we don't say

Social media is about honesty and authenticity. Now, where have I heard that before? Oh, that's right, everywhere. People are more honest when they share their instant thoughts in real conversations. Posting a comment on a blog. Posting a review on a hotel ratings site. Posting photos of their cats... Continue reading

Posted Sep 21, 2010 at Forest Full of Trees

0

Great achievement has no road map?

The title of this post is a quote from The West Wing. It comes from a third-season episode in which a highly respected physicist is trying to get approval for billions in funding to test theories about the origin of the universe. When asked by a senator about its potential... Continue reading

Posted Sep 10, 2010 at Forest Full of Trees

0

What, us marketers, make things up as we go along? *Gasp!* Never! (And, Phil, are you suggesting that I'm not badass?)

Commented Aug 31, 2010 on Strategy versus tactics at Forest Full of Trees

Strategy versus tactics

There must be thousands of blog posts out there about the difference between strategy and tactics. You can find 'em in a Google search, but don't bother. I'll save you the trouble. See, they all pretty much follow the same formula. They start off by bemoaning the fact that nobody... Continue reading

Posted Aug 30, 2010 at Forest Full of Trees

2

Conversations are still happening (just not where you think)

There's been lots of conversation lately about whether conversations are dead. Ironic? Yes, but not in the Alanis Morissette sense of the word. Mitch Joel's blog post, The End Of Conversation In Social Media asks the question: "Are we seeing a new shift in Social Media? Are the conversations dead?... Continue reading

Posted Aug 25, 2010 at Forest Full of Trees

0

Why does digital measurement lag behind traditional?

In digital marketing, we like to claim that we have a huge measurement advantage over traditional marketing. After all, we can measure everything, right? Every click, every interaction, every tracking parameter, every bounce, every goal conversion. The technology that we have takes the guesswork out of measurement and allows us... Continue reading

Posted Aug 17, 2010 at Forest Full of Trees

0

Are brands really listening?

If there's a marketing buzzword in 2010, it's probably "listening". Companies are trying to engage with their customers. They're being told that they have to monitor, track, and join the conversations that are taking place across social media channels every single day. They're setting up alerts, monitoring keywords, and even... Continue reading

Posted Aug 14, 2010 at Forest Full of Trees

0

10 indispensable tools for frequent travelers

One of the great things about traveling is having the opportunity to disconnect from real life, even if only for a short while. It's hard to do. A new study shows that many of us find it challenging to get away from work and really enjoy our vacations - in... Continue reading

Posted Aug 12, 2010 at Forest Full of Trees

0

Sari Stein has shared their blog Forest Full of Trees

Aug 10, 2010

More...

Subscribe to Sari Stein’s Recent Activity