10-5-07mill

Greetings!

I was driving along a couple of weeks back and listening to a radio broadcast which featured Patrick Monahan, formerly of the group Train. I have always liked their music (Meet Virginia and Drops of Jupiter) and was really intrigued when I heard Patrick doing a few live songs in the studio. What a voice!

Anyway, as soon as I got back to the office, I created a “Train Radio Station.” Huh? There is a website called Pandora. This is their description right off their website:

Once you set up your pe

rsonal profile on the site, you can begin to create your own stations according to your tastes. When I set up my new Train site, all I had to do was hit “Create a New Station” and it asks me what artist or song I would like to emulate on this station. I just typed “Train.”

The next thing you know, it starts playing a sequence of songs that include Train originals, Train covers, and other artists that have the same “genes” as Train. It’s an excellent way to hear new music from artists I didn’t know anything about, but should like, because they have the same DNA as Train! Sweet, eh?

As each song plays, you can rate it (or not) and the software will refine your station accordingly. According to your positive or negative ratings, Pandora will strengthen or decrease the qualities found in those songs’ genes for the next selections it plays for you.

And there’s more...in the browser window, every song has a graphic of the artist, name of the song and the album it came from (including the album cover art). You can click on any of that information and go to a page on the site that gives you loads of background information.

Commercial-free, customizable, digital quality and you learn about new artists. Rock me.

Tim Padgett
tim@peppergroup.com

“The whole problem can be stated quite simply by asking, ’Is there a meaning to music?’ My answer would be, ’Yes.’ And “Can you state in so many words what the meaning is?” My answer to that would be, “No.’”
—Aaron Copland

“Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music—the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself.”
—Henry Miller

Larry Schwartz (right) discusses mold prevention on Fox News.

Client Spotlight: Safestart Environmental

At Pepper Group, we're always expanding our services and creating new ways to support our clients. Over the past few months we've been utilizing our PR expertise to gain exposure for Larry Schwartz, the founder and CEO of Safestart Building Consulting, Inc. Larry is a Certified Indoor Environmental Consultant who has become Chicago’s go-to guy for information relating to indoor air quality and mold in the home.

Most recently, Larry has been featured in: “5 Things to Know about Mold” in the Chicago Tribune; “Mold Breeds Danger” in the Northwest Herald; live interviews on Health Radio with Michael Dresser and Deborah Watson concerning “Health Risks of Mold” and “Mold in the home”; and a live on-site interview for Fox News Chicago demonstrating proper actions to take for flooding in the home. Larry’s extensive knowledge and accomplishments continue to amaze us and if this is the first you’ve heard of him, check out www.safestartmold.com to see what all the buzz is about!

Coming in November—Details about our nine American Graphic Design Awards,
presented by Graphic Design USA magazine! Yes, nine!

George's Going to Market: Greatest Hits

Ever search the Internet for an answer to a marketing question? Wish there was one easy spot to go to for answers and tips? There is! Check out our own Pepper Group website's News & Knowledge section.

In the last few weeks, I've had numerous occasions to forward to prospects, clients and even applicants for positions here at the Pepper Group, links to these articles. We now have a library of more than 50 Peppercorn Learning white papers on the fine art of marketing. They’re short, informative and free for you to download.

As you’re putting together your plans for 2008, feel free to leverage the concepts and tactics we've highlighted in order to create the most prosperous year for your company yet.

Looking to improve marketing’s status within your organization? Check out What is Strategic Marketing?

Need an outline for your marketing plan? Take a look at The Marketing Plan: An Introduction.

Want some quick budgeting tips? Read The Budget Question.

Maybe you have some trade shows coming up. Don’t plan them until you read 10 Tips for Trade Show Success.

You’ll also find spicier writing tips, direct marketing must-haves, buzz marketing ideas and information on many other related topics.

Feel free to bookmark this page as a handy reference the next time you need tips and ideas to enhance your marketing efforts. You never know when a little Peppercorn Learning might just lead to a widely successful idea!

George Couris
george@peppergroup.com

Mindbender

Copy Corner: The Ampersand

The word "ampersand" (&) comes from the phrase & per se, which means (the character) & by itself is the word "and." The symbol is a stylized version of the Latin word et, which means, "and."

However, though an ampersand is the symbol form of the word "and," it is not a substitute for the written-out word except in these very specific cases:

Where it is part of a company name (Abercrombie & Fitch)
If space is very limited (such as in a small advertisement or headline)
For artistic reasons (such as in a logo)
In some computer languages (such as in JavaScript)
In some academic references (Burke & Edison, 2002)

Other than for the reasons above, always write out the word "and."

Note: Think about it this way: you wouldn't use the equal sign (=) instead of the word "equal" or the plus sign (+) in lieu of the word "plus," so nor should you use an ampersand instead of the perfectly good word "and."

Vanessa Medina
vanessa@peppergroup.com

	Spicy Marketing by Seasoned Professionals