Jun 252014
 
E39 M5 Summer Checkup

This past weekend I gave my 2002 E39 M5 a thorough inspection. I also changed the oil and swapped the tires side to side to even out the wear. All the fluids were changed last year, so I knew I was in good shape on that front. I’ve now owned the car for over three […]

Jun 232014
 
Niagara Falls Wines

My latest WashingtonExec column published today. I was in Canada earlier this month and had a chance to visit some vineyards on the Niagara peninsula. Vineyards reviewed are Peller Estates, Trius Vineyards and Inniskillin. None of these three offered a red that I found impressive, but there were some very enjoyable Rieslings and ice wines. […]

Jun 182014
 
Living in the Age of DDoS

The Internet has never been a more dangerous place to do business, and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks are the main reason why. That’s according to recent research published by two players in the online security space, Arbor Networks and VeriSign. Arbor Networks calls the past 18 months the “hockey stick era” for DDoS […]

Jun 072014
 
BMW Sales Continue to Rise in May

The numbers are in and BMW’s sales in the U.S. continued to climb in May. Sales were up 17.3 percent May to May, with 29,602 units sold. For the first five months of 2014, sales are up 12.2 percent. The overall trend is the same, but some things have changed since I wrote about BMW’s […]

May 312014
 
Meeker Charts the Internet, 2014 Edition

Mary Meeker is a name familiar to anyone who has charted the rise of the Internet from the 1990’s on. Back then she was an analyst at Morgan Stanley and made her reputation by seeing early the transformative potential of the Internet explosion, while avoiding the overly frothy (and occasionally illegal) boosterism of other analyts. […]

May 192014
 
Replacing BMW HID Headlight Bulbs

This weekend I replaced the High Intensity Discharge (HID, also known as Xenon) headlight bulbs in my 2002 M5. My old bulbs still worked, but my amazing wife had bought me replacement bulbs reputed to be the best on the market. She purchased them from TheRetroFitSource, a great resource for auto lighting needs. The bulbs […]

May 162014
 
2014 Federal Media and Marketing Study

For years clients of mine have leveraged reports from the research firm Market Connections. For the past six years the firm has hosted an event to announce their latest federal media and marketing study. My former agency Strategic Communications was a sponsor of the 2011 event, during which research was released highlighting increased social media […]

May 112014
 
Singing the Brand Journalism Song

I’ve written frequently about brand journalism for a few years now on this site. But I’ve never written a song about it. That’s what healthcare PR and marketing firm MediaSource did recently. Agency president Lisa Arledge Powell gave a presentation on content marketing in healthcare at a PRSA event that included the “Brand Journalizer” song. […]

May 052014
 
Remarkable Ripasso

It’s rare for me to do a story on a single wine. But recently my wife and I enjoyed the 2009 Accordini Ripasso Valpolicella and she pronounced it “the best Italian wine I’ve ever had.” So clearly a post was required! I’ve written previously about some Ripassos that were good wines and also good values. […]

Apr 272014
 
E36 M3 Checkup

This weekend I gave my 1999 M3 a thorough checkup. The car is running great but it also turned 15 years old this month. In performing the inspection I was greatly aided by these excellent videos from Bavarian Autosport. An important area I wanted to focus on was the suspension bushings. Bushings connect the suspension […]

Apr 152014
 
Understanding Your Content Marketing Mix

Recently I read an excellent piece on content marketing from Jeremiah Owyang. It talks about understanding the different types of content that make up a comprehensive content marketing effort. I’ve found this kind of segmentation increasingly useful as clients become more sophisticated in their content marketing programs. Firstly, it’s helpful because despite its increasing popularity […]

Apr 092014
 
New Report -- "Random Acts of Content Marketing" Won't Cut It

Forrester Research is out with a new report on content marketing. It’s titled “Build Your Content Brand By Delivering Customer Value” and its lead author is analyst Ryan Skinner. The report is $500 to download, and thanks to Michael Skinner’s excellent B2B Marketing Insider blog I can share some highlights. The report concludes that one […]