Olde Tyme Illnesses
Fibromy-what? Ventricular tachy-who?
Bored with medical terms steeped in science and Latin roots? For those who prefer more intuitive monikers for what ails them, here are some of history’s more colorful disease names:
King's Evil: Tuberculosis (it was believed that the royal touch- could cure the disease)
Bad Blood: Syphilis
Canine Madness: Rabies
Camp Fever: Typhus
Falling Sickness: EpilepsyRead more
Branding Social Responsibility
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On the way to work one morning I saw a large white van parked on the side of the highway assisting a stalled, sad car. As I drove by I read on the side of the van in big red letters, “CVS/Samaritan.” Having never heard of this I was eager to investigate what kind of service this was? Is there a fee or a helpline?
CVS/Samaritan has been around since 1978 but it is limited to a few cities: Chicago, Charlotte, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Boston, Detroit, Indianapolis, Providence, and Washington DC. CVS hired Samaritania, Inc., a private company in Massachusetts, to design, build, and run the CVS/Samaritan bus program. The CVS/Samaritan vans are staffed by drivers who are certified in many areas, including auto mechanics, medicine, and animal control. CVS/Samaritans cannot be summoned butRead more
Tips for Effective Brainstorming
Have you ever set up a brainstorming session for your office and felt like you were at a dead end at the very beginning? This happens to many people but there are effective ways to get you and your colleagues brainstorming like there’s no tomorrow!
It’s best to schedule brainstorming in the morning when everyone is more alert. After lunch is when people begin to get tired and think more about how much longer they have until they can leave. It’s not exactly the best time to focus.
Come to the brainstorming session prepared! Make sure you have all the information at hand in case anyone has any questions or needs more information to come up with ideas.
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Facebook Face-Offs
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Facebook is moving into the global market with much success, but according to BusinessWeek, the competition overseas has the traffic, and the brands, to put up a decent fight. Here are the social networking sites defending their turf:
Hyves: The Netherlands: 5.7 million users
Hyves is based on the English word “beehive”. It has extended its brand beyond the title, naming the bulletin board feature (equivalent to Facebook’s ‘wall’) "krabbel." This created word has become so popular, it may find its way into the Dutch dictionary.
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More Than Words
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It’s that time of year again. Time to tell that special someone how you truly feel…through candy hearts of course! Who needs love letters and flowers? Pass your significant other a real piece of sugar and call it a day.
Sweethearts have a history that dates back to the time of Abraham Lincoln, so it’s understandable that NECCO, the company responsible for its popularity, has managed to perfect the art of candy messaging. Check out the fascinating story here.
Year after year, the company melts consumer’s hearts with simple phrases including “be mine,” “kiss me,” and “my man.”
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Welcome the Ox
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January 26th marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year. 2009 is the Year of the Ox, which predicts prosperity through fortitude and hard work. The Ox provides a much-welcomed turn of fortune.
As we bid farewell to the Year of the Rat, we look back and can recognize uncanny truths in the 2008 horoscope (but isn’t that always the case?). “Behind the smiles and charm, a strong sense of entitlement lurks deep within…Rats can be arrogant, deceptive and selfish…insisting on having things
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My Phone is Smarter Than Me
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Cue the hallelujah chorus--I finally got a new cell phone. I’ve been happy with the LG Fusic for two years. It doubles as an MP3 player, but I have never once utilized that particular function. Like some sort of Christmas miracle, Sprint® gave me credits to upgrade my phone. I am somewhat of a risk taker. So at the news of my upgrade opportunity, I jumped off of a cliff and onto the smart phone bandwagon.
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The Mojave Experiment
I recently saw a commercial where “real people, not actors” were giving testimonials about software they had just used. The reviews were glowing, particularly regarding a functionality that allowed people to form continuous panoramic images with individual pics. The commercial then cut to a screen that said: “Learn more about Windows Live PhotoGallery at MojaveExperiment.com. And then to another that simply displayed the Windows Vista logo.
Curious, I checked out the site.
“What do people think of Windows Vista when they don't know it's Windows Vista?” it asks, offering you videos upon videos of an experiment that ‘tricked’ users into taking the operating system for a test drive. The goal: potential customers see the positive reactions Vista received in the experiment,
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Challenge: Off-Label Usage
Working with pharmaceutical companies, we hear the phrase “off-label use” used more and more. What exactly does this refer to?
Off-label use refers to the prescribing of drugs for treatment outside of the regulatory-approved label or indication. While this practice certainly has its pros and cons, it’s interesting to note how off-label use works in our own personal lives, outside of the pharmaceutical space. With the economic crisis, the push to go green, and a “simpler lifestyle” mentality emerging, off-label consumer product usage makes sense on several levels.
