While Internet technology and social media such as Twitter and Facebook allow businesses to manage contacts and nurture important professional relationships, it’s the initial “handshake” that makes a lasting impression with retailers and consumers.

. . .

In fact, in-person interactions are the “single most powerful marketing medium,” says , marketing professor and executive director of 91ŃÇɫ’s Schulich Executive Education Centre (SEEC). “Research in the business-to-business world suggests the No. 1 reason for selection of a supplier is the personality of the sales team or seller. This is above the technical specs, marketing form, anything else,” Middleton says.

Deliver on your promises, or risk tarnishing a business relationship built on trust. Enter your new contacts into a customer relationship management system, such as Salesforce, suggests Middleton, and follow up with e-newsletters, blogs, updates or even webinars.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile– 91ŃÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin

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"It's a brilliant piece of up-to-date marketing," Marketing expert Alan Middleton said.

Middleton is with the Schulich School of Business and told 680News the company created a buzz online long before the old spice guy's chiselled chest appeared on TV.

"They Twittered, they Youtubed, they used all the contemporary connections to get the story out there."

Middleton doubts the Old Spice guy will ever start to stink.

"If they keep being cheekier in the underground networks - in the Youtubes and the Facebooks - then they can keep it going for a while," Middleton thinks.

Middleton told 680News the brand really didn't have anything to lose.

"They're not all of a sudden making Tide a figure of fun. They're doing it with a brand that wasn't going very far," he explained.

Sales are up 107 per cent and the Old Spice YouTube commercials have been viewed more than 58-million times.

The complete article's available on . You can also watch the original Mustafa ad for Old Spice.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer

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, a marketing professor with the Schulich School of Business at 91ŃÇÉ«, said communicating with consumers through options that appear to cost very little is an important part of BP’s strategy at this point. “If they are seen to be wasting their money on fighting back too hard that is going to trigger a whole new wave of opposition,” said Middleton.

BP has purchased space in newspapers to spread their message, but they are being selective, said Middleton.

“The trick is you can’t be seen as spending too much because it is going to result in the very obvious question,” which is why aren’t you using the funds to improve safety procedures or support fisherman about to lose their livelihoods, he said. At this point the best BP can do is to appear transparent and attempt to moderate what is being said about them online, he said.

BP must be seen as apologetic and responsible but remind consumers there were two other companies involved in the crisis, he said.

The complete article is available on .

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He stood stone still at the first tee of Augusta National, drew his club back in a wide arc and then promptly ripped the ball 75 yards left of the fairway. Yet there were no obscenities. There was no look of disgust or throwing of equipment. There was nothing, frankly, resembling Tiger Woods.

Yesterday, in his first news conference since revelations of his affairs surfaced last fall, Woods preached humility and contrition, and promised he was working hard to reinvent himself: not just at home, but on the course as well.

Woods is trying to win over audiences following a sex scandal that has destroyed his public image. And that means curbing the fiery outbursts is essential, says Alan Middleton, a marketing professor at 91ŃÇɫ’s Schulich School of Business. “He’s got to come across as a contrite, normal human being,” he said.

Other articles about Woods in which Middleton is cited are available and .

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile – 91ŃÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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McDonald's is giving away free coffee, while Tim Hortons' Roll Up The Rim To Win campaign is in full throttle. Which company is winning the coffee war? What does it bring to the bottom line? And, which brand tastes better?

The on BNN's Web site.

Robert Latham, associate professor of Political Science and director of 91ŃÇɫ’s Centre for International & Security Studies, and Qasim Farah, a 91ŃÇÉ« graduate student in the Faculty of Environmental Studies, spoke about the possible recruiting of young Canadian Somalis by Al Shahab, an organization that has been added to the government’s list of terrorist organizations, on CBC Radio’s “” March 10. The audio clip is available on .

Barbo Ciakudia, an international studies student at Glendon College and an organizer of 91ŃÇÉ«'s How Much Do You Know About the D. R. Congo? conference, was interviewed on Metro Morning about the relationship between coltan, a metallic ore used to manufacture electronics, such as cell phones and computers, and the Congo's decades-long conflict. Both the interview and the conference took place on March 11. The segment runs over seven minutes and is available on CBC's "" Web site.

Posted by Elizabeth Monier-Williams, research communications officer, with files courtesy of YFile – 91ŃÇɫ’s daily e-bulletin.

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