Microsite.com

The next time anyone asks why build a Microsite, how does a Microsite work, how can you create content that attracts visitors and generates word of mouth, or why not just put it on the corporate website, point to www.willitblend.com.

This is Microsite perfection.

For those who attended my seminar on “Creating WOM-Worthy Online Destinations,” you can download the presentation here.

Conference kicks off today with a keynote address by Chip Heath, co-author of “Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die.” Terrific content – wish Chip would have had a little more coffee prior to speech (but I digress). His rules to make things stick: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, Stories (SUCCESS).

OK. Repeat after me: “I, state your name, will never, ever, ever, ever, ever try to hide, camouflage, cloak, disguise, shield, shroud, or in any way lie about my identity or purpose in an online marketing campaign.”

If you do, you will be outed, exposed, and humiliated. Your company’s reputation and its brand will be tarnished. And you may be fired.

Client: Paterno Wines International
Paterno Wines International is the leading marketer of luxury wines in the United States, marketing more than one out of eight bottles of wine over $14 sold in America.

Business Goal:
Increase sales of its relatively new, Greek white wine, called Boutari Moschofilero, among women 24-35.

The Challenge:
How can a wine without a well-known reputation or a significant marketing budget breakthrough in a very cluttered spirits market?

The Solution:
Instead of print ads in expected trade and consumer publications, we

Yesterday’s BusinessWeek.com featured a section titled “Taking the Pulse of Marketing: A survey of leading thinkers, gathered to judge the advertising world’s Effie Awards, offers a valuable snapshot of an industry in flux.”

I initially found the premise curious.

BusinessWeek wanted to find out about the marketing industry’s state of flux. Specifically, how emerging media and Web 2.0 technologies are revolutionizing the world of marketing. (I assume that’s what “industry in flux” meant.)