Michael Leis

As noticed by Amy Cueva as we walked around Austin, looking at this bunch of oddly adorned bicyclists, there seems to be a trend this year by brands to be as silly as possible, ultimately humiliating themselves before this audience in the hopes that (I guess) people take some pity on them and buy something? [...]

On the eve of yet another paralyzing snowstorm, I think back a few weeks ago to the last time we were snowed in for a day. We shoveled, hung around, and, like any good suburban family, spent a ton of time on the Internet. With this weekend promising the same, I wonder why I’ve not [...]

What a lot of brands are missing in their digital marketing strategy is common-engine thinking. As brands chase social media and leave a trail of long-forgotten campaigns in their wake, what’s needed is a solid, enterprise foundation that allows for any new computing trend to be added or subtracted while always making a tangible deposit [...]

Moving into its third or fourth year as a Web design / marketing mantra, it seems the people marching to the drumbeat of “Death to Microsites,” has had a confluence with Facebook surpassing 300 milion registered users. To a chorus of rousing applause, more and more large brands are discontinuing the practice of creating microsites [...]

It’s fairly prevalent now to find larger brands ready to jump headlong into a sweeping social media strategy.  “We get it!” or “We know our customers are there!” It feels a lot like when athletes in interviews (or reality TV contestants) say things like, “We gotta step it up.” or “Take it to the next [...]

So you’ve read all the articles, heard all the pundits, and devised a social media strategy that provides the brand cause, articulation, and the publics where you want to participate. But now you’re staring at a blank screen, wondering how to actually engage meaningfully. Where I start with clients is breaking down the communications into [...]

While there have been many professionals who have impacted my professional development over the last two decades, recently, Whitney Hess asked me to pick one. I picked William Donnelly, a professor at Temple University who taught Media Planning and Marketing Media Products. She was kind enough to publish my terse answers on her blog here [...]

Where do brands start in social media strategy? With a brand cause at the heart of their efforts. Here’s what I’ve developed working with brands to focus effective efforts.

You may think of your avatar as “the fun you,” or, “the serious you” or “what’s most important to me” because you’re considering this picture to be in the context of your life. But to anyone looking at it, the avatar is you. That’s it. During that visitor’s experience of looking at your avatar, you’re not standing next to them giving them context.

Adding to all the ways that people are using Twitter, Oprah’s episode today is certain to launch the Twitter brand and the service to a new level of shaping public discourse.