James Bake

James Bake’s Simple & Delicious Peanut Butter Chicken

James Bake — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 05:30:14 +0000

Simple & Delicious Peanut Butter Chicken

By James Bake

Published: February 26, 2011

One fall evening a few years back, a good friend of mine introduced me to this simple and delicious chicken recipe. She cooked it on the grilled, but it can be made in the oven as well.

Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 1 hour
Total time: 1 hour 10 min
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:

boneless, skinless chicken breast:4-6 pieces
Peanut Butter:1/3 cup
Soy Sauce:1/3 cup
Water:1/3 cup
Dijon Mustard:1 table spoon
Love:A splash or two

Directions:

1. 3 -4 hours before dinner, call up a friend and invite them over for dinner. Once they accept, move on to step 2.

2. In a gallon sized zip lock bag, mix Peanut Butter, Soy Sauce, Water and Dijon Mustard.

3. Add boneless, skinless Chicken Breast.4. Marinate for 3 - 4 hours.

4. While chicken is marinating, enjoy a nice glass of wine and some slow jazz music.

5. Grill or bake in the oven until fully cooked.

6. Enjoy the simplicity and deliciousness of this tasty meal and the company of a friend.

Staying Steady During Change

James Bake — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 17:05:21 +0000

It seems like just about everyday, search engines are evolving their offerings. Google recently added the feature of Instant Previews, which provides users with a screen shot of the page list in the search results. Google has also strategically integrated local content within the actual listings themselves, whereas, previous to this update, local listings where presented along side a map with minimal information for the local listing. The integration of local content into the standard search result list provides users with an at a glance view almost all of the local information as it pertains to the listing; address, phone number, map marker, ratings, reviews, link to Places page, and even Google Tags (paid coupons attached to a specific listing). These are just a few of the recent enhancements Google has made to their search engine. Yahoo, Bing and others have made strives over the past year.

While these enhancements search engines are making will ultimately improve the way we all use the Internet and the way we find and access information, most of the enhancements requires high-speed internet access. According to PewInternet.org, only 66% of American adults have a broadband Internet connection at home. Adding the growing use of search on mobile devices, which only offers basic search functionality, fundamental SEO efforts are still critical for success. Changes to one search engine are not universal to all search engines - Yahoo, Bing and others still do their own thing. And these new features won’t change the world overnight. I’m still sticking with my philosophy, “Slow and steady, always wins.”

Like it or not, you are a publisher, and you need to start acting like one. Juicy, fresh content is and always will be the best strategy and investment any website can make.

Content comes in many shapes and sizes, from basic text to video to images. Content doesn’t only live on your website, it also lives on partner sites, social networks, blogs, industry, etc. Think about the last time the description on your Product Category page was updated? Or when was the last time you updated the About Us section of your website. These are examples of pages that may be minor in the grand scheme of things, but can have an impact on your ranking on search engines.

While we are self-reflecting, ask yourself “What is the site’s content strategy?” If you don’t have a content strategy in place, I suggest starting with a process for updating and refreshing content on a regular basis. The next step is to defining and sticking to an editorial calendar. Assuming your company is like most companies, you have a team of passionate experts who are more than likely eager and willing to contribute content.

Note: We are skipping all the fundamentals of developing a content strategy. The intent of this post is to stay high-level. Might be a topic for another day.

Just like a strawberry growing fuzz with age, websites get thrown out for their stale content. Fresh is always better.

Starbucks New Payment Option: Your iPhone

James Bake — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 00:54:26 +0000

What makes getting your favorite Starbucks coffee at Target even better? Why paying for it with your iPhone of course!

Starbucks is taking convenience to the next level. In this rather stunning email Starbucks outlines how consumers can pay for their next cup of coffee with their iPhone and their latest app.

What I like about this email is that it is clever, educational, and wittily promotes it’s relationship with Target.

I’m also a fan of the top and bottom navigation. Deep linking to provide consumers direct access to relevant information.

What are your thoughts? Does the smooth flowing layout peak your senses?

Starbucks Email Marketing Campaign - Promotion new iPhone Application

Identity Crisis Within A Brand or A Strategic Plan?

James Bake — Wed, 19 May 2010 03:31:14 +0000

Now a days, we have pills for people with Multiple Personality Disorders. In the past, we use to throw them in a padded room and let them entertain themselves.

Are you familiar with the Geico Insurance Commercials? How many spokes characters can you identify?

Despite contrary belief, there are multiple spokes characters; the Gecko, the Caveman, the Googly-eyed stack of Money, the Talking Pothole, the babbling Fire Hydrant, the Movie Announcer Guy and more.

I’ve asked a few colleagues which Geico Insurance spokes person they can identify. Naturally, most mentioned the Gecko, a few named the CEO and one or two recalled the Caveman. When I mentioned the Googly-eyed stack of Money or the Talking Pothole, everyone said something like, “Oh Yeah!”

How does having multiple spokes characters affect the brand? Does this cause the brand to appear to have Multiple Personality Disorder or is it simply targeting different audiences?

Over the past few months I’ve only seen the Gecko, Caveman, Stack of Money and the Talking Pothole. This could be because the insurance company has retired the commercials or because I’m not part of those target audiences.

I attempted to understand if the characters where being used to target different audiences or if something else was going on. Of the people in my office, most recall seeing three or more characters on TV. The office is comprised of people from all spectrums of life; Sports Junkies, Tech Nerds, Moms, Dads; you name it, we have it. Since most of the people in the office can name almost all of the different Geico characters, it makes sense to assume that the company’s strategy isn’t about targeting audiences with different characters. It’s much bigger.

Each character has it’s own style, personality and message:

Gecko - “15 minutes could save you 15% or more on your car insurance.”
Caveman - “So easy, a Caveman could do it.”
Googly-eyed stack of Money - “This is the money you could be saving on your car insurance.”
Talking Pothole - “Accidents are bad. But Geico’s good, with emergency road service”

While Geico may be confused with it’s multiple distinct identities, each with its own patterns of interactions with consumers, but it also creates connections with consumers on various levels. Each character creates a multi-teired connection with its audience, connecting at a deeper level compared to other marketing messages. The overall strategy works well for the brand. The ads are like having 5 people people tell you about a product or service. Think back to brands like Nike, who has many different spokespeople, all these people are telling you a different story about the brand. If you combine them together, consumers are getting a well-rounded impression of the brand.

Combined, the Gecko, the Caveman and the talking Pothole are telling consumers: “Save Money. Be Safe. It’s Easy.”

Who said having multiple personalities was a bad thing?

Excite and Direct

James Bake — Mon, 10 May 2010 19:14:38 +0000

Around the time of Earth Day, many companies broadcast their environmental support. The jump is a tricky step, however. You do not want to look like you’re only being “green” because it is the flavor of the week, for it is a year round effort. For some companies, such as Brita, being environmentally friendly comes naturally.

Events such as Earth Day are perfect times to use advertising to invoke the audience’s emotions and direct them into action. Whether that action is buying your product or reducing the number of plastic water bottled used, these types of advertisement provide a strong call to action.

Clever advertisers know in order to create change or to get the consumer to buy your product opposed to your competitor; you need to apply to both the emotional and rational sides of the human mind.

A hot air balloon excites emotions by providing something visually pleasing to look at, such as the colors, shapes and size. In order to get riders on the hot air balloon, you need to provide direction. Such as, where is the balloon going, what will they experience?

Imagine a large, brightly colored hot air balloon sitting in the middle of the park. The balloon is aesthetically appealing; the roaring sound provides a teaser for what’s to come. Standing aside the balloon is a tall sign that shows a map of the valley below and reads, “Hot Air Balloon Rides. Soar up 2,000 feet and take a 2 hour journey above the valley.” Now imagine the excitement you feel, the willingness to climb aboard and sore to new heights. This is because the owner of the balloon excited your emotions and provided you direction.

The hot air balloon experience applies to advertisement. The main point: excite and direct.