Chris Miller on Marketing.com

What Happens in Vegas... Gets Recorded and Analyzed at Aria

Despite the Big Brother side effect of meshing a tremendous amount of technology with a brand-new, ultra-secure Vegas casino, my next trip to Vegas will certainly include a stay at the Aria hotel; currently touted as the most sophisticated and high-tech hotel ever built.

For starters, the rooms remember your preferences upon check-in: When you step into your room your preferred temperature setting, lighting mood, and music selection are set automatically complete with a drawing of the curtains to reveal your view of the strip below. Couple that with geo-cell phone tracking and text messages with special offers, if you happen to be standing next to the buffet or craps tables you frequent, and you have a marketing powerhouse.

Real-time analysis and response to consumer behavior represents the next era in marketing automation. Some of us might recall the eyeball-recognition technology from the movie Minority Report, only this opt-in system might be something consumers enjoy as it pairs your historical wants and preferences with relevant products.

Even the touch-screen games/slots on the casino floor can be changed on-the-fly based on current usage patterns on the property, everyone in the casino can literally be pulling slots or playing video poker if that's what they demand. C'est la vie to waiting for that next blackjack seat to open, I'll see you in Vegas. Learn more »

The Marketing of Earthquakes in China (or lack thereof)

While most of us are well aware of the recent earthquakes in Chile and Haiti and the volcanic eruption in Iceland few of us are aware of a recent 6.9 magnitude quake in China.

In a recent spade of natural disasters, the quake last week in the Qinghai province responsible for 2,000 deaths so far has gone relatively unreported; perhaps hindered by a government-controlled media and a lack of access to the region. It took a few days of difficult travel for the media to access the area and assess the damage.

Luckily our friends at Google posted some satellite images to make surveying the devastation a whole lot easier by comparing before and after photos: Take a look »

The Chinese government notorious for censorship and downplaying conflict and disasters in the past has taken a decidedly different approach this time around by quickly sending aid to the region and allowing transparent reporting. Read on »

Google has set up a crisis response page, apparently not blocked by the Chinese government, to aid in relief efforts.

Advertising nuclear power's ability to create jobs: A lesson in piggybacking your marketing message

The nuclear industry, building upon and following a shout-out by Barack Obama during his State of the Union Address last week, has announced a new advertising campaign emphasizing the promise of new job creation.

As the economy shows little signs of a fast recovery and as the east coast is hit by some of the coldest temperatures since the 70's, intuitively (albeit wrongly), concerns about global warming and environmental pollution will no doubt take a backseat this year as policymakers in Washington make decisions about America's future sources of energy. Currently ~19% of our energy comes from nuclear power but I wouldn't be surprised if we see that number increase to ~30% or more in the next couple decades.

Without speaking to the environmental impact of these decisions, the marketing lesson to be learned is in the extreme power of piggybacking your own agenda on top of current events to sidestep resistance that might have been present just 18 months ago or even a couple months ago ahead of Copenhagen's conference on global warming. Suddenly job creation is paramount and certainly the world can wait another couple years before we address global warming, after all look how cold it is outside.

Furthermore, the campaign is being specifically targeted toward policymakers so most of us in the U.S. will never see a single advertisement toward which we might revolt, tweet about, post to Facebook, or otherwise voice our agreement or dismay. Another smart marketing lesson: know your audience, target them precisely, and avoid the naysayers.