Marketing

What makes Colorado Colorado? New state branding effort wants to know

Endless vistas of the mountains and plains? Endless pours of craft beers? Endless protests about gun-control laws? What makes Colorado Colorado? That's what the state plans to find out with Making Colorado, an ambitious branding effort being announced today by Governor John Hickenlooper and Aaron Ke ... More >>

DJ Chris Liebing makes a rare U.S. appearance at NORAD on Friday

Steve Ells first brought Chipotle to Denver, now the Cultivate Festival

Chipotle Mexican Grill got its start in Denver, in an old Dolly Madison by the University of Denver, where Steve Ells opened his first store in 1993. Originally, the culinary grad thought that store would be the way he financed a fine-dining restaurant. Instead, Ells says, "I guess I found my callin ... More >>

Metro State name change official after six years, thousands of surveys, $95,000

What's in a name? For the newly minted Metropolitan State University of Denver, about six years of research and discussion, thousands of surveys, numerous focus groups and $95,000. That's a portion of what went into a name change from Metropolitan State College of Denver that was made official yeste ... More >>

New Belgium gets it wrong: Stop complaining about beer labels

New Belgium Brewing's social media specialist created a small controversy yesterday when he complained in his blog on the brewery's website that the federal government was "leaking upcoming beer labels" and that bloggers were following suit. But the points he made ring hollow.

Al White, Colorado tourism chief, pens new slogan for New Mexico: Just south of paradise!

Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal ran a story about New Mexico's $2.5 million effort to rebrand the state "as a place of charm and character, adventure, excitement -- and really good green chili cheeseburgers." It seems that the Land of Enchantment isn't perceived as very enchanting; focus ... More >>

7-Eleven teams up with Mall Jamz and Thump Records to sell music alongside taquitos

​You probably don't generally equate going CD shopping with 7-Eleven, but with record stores disappearing everyday, a direct-seller called Mall Jamz is trying to change the way we think of buying music by selling it at the same place where we buy Slurpees. Some 7-Eleven stores across the metro ... More >>

Help feed Illegal Pete's Starving Artist on their way to South By Southwest this week

​We're big fans of Illegal Pete's Starving Artist series. It's a great service for hungry bands in town or on tour, and it happens to be one of the more innovative marketing ideas we've seen in a while. That said, it's not always easy to dig up the ambition to head downtown to catch the series ... More >>

Poker Junkies: Cease and desist order for movie producers/Gene Hackman name-droppers

​Poker Junkies may eventually come to a theater near you -- but it could take longer than hoped thanks to action by the Division of Securities at Colorado's Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA). Officials there have issued a cease and desist order against producers for failing to register ... More >>

Dixie Elixirs: Colorado medical marijuana soda company gets fizzy facelift

​Denver-based Dixie Elixirs & Medibles has been producing medical marijuana-infused sodas since 2009, but recently the company decided it was time for a facelift. Last month, the company unveiled seven new flavors of its THC bubbly: Sparkling Pomegranate, Sparkling Mandarin, Sparkling Grapefru ... More >>

The OED quaeritates us to help save our labascating language

OEDWords are fun!​It's a sad but true fact: Neglected words are continually falling off the back of this montivagant English of ours, making room for such gems as verbs like, 'tweet' and 'google,' and such kexy nouns as, 'staycation' and 'frenemy,' as we march boldly into the unknown territory ... More >>

Taco Bell rolls out street food-inspired menu

Taco Bell's Cantina Tacos​You know you've got an exploding trend when the lowest-common-denominator, late-night guilty pleasure, drive-thru chain decides to jump on board.

Chipotle menu changes: What's taken - and what hasn't - a year into the chain's "Low Roller" menu revamp

​When hometown hero Chipotle unveiled a new "Low Roller" menu last spring in Denver, featuring novel options like single tacos, small salads, pozole and kids items, some people heralded it as a disaster of biblical proportions - fire and brimstone coming down from the skies, human sacrifice, d ... More >>

Reefer Mania might go up in smoke before its time

Reyna Von Vett as Cora Vette in Reefer Mania.​At the beginning of May, Reyna Von Vett's burlesque company (which won a Best Of award for Best Burlesque Comeback this year under the umbrella Black Box Burlesque before changing its name to BurlyCute) took up residency at the Crossroads Theatre, ... More >>

Rockies home opener with Sarah Neumann and Allen Klosowski: Kenny Be's Friday Afternoon Club

Kenny Be​ "Create Denver Week is an event where professionals teach artists that to be financially successful today, it is important to spend more time creating cross-platform marketing plans and to spend less time actually making art."

MediaNews Group: Former Comcast veep Mark Winkler exiting in major marketing shakeup

Dean Singleton ordered some alterations.​Last week, Denver-based MediaNews Group, owner of the Denver Post and dozens of other newspapers around the country, officially emerged from bankruptcy -- and it didn't take long for boss Dean Singleton to make significant changes in the organization. ... More >>

The next big pot biz: medical marijuana marketing?

Talk about a logo with global recognition.​I was talking last night with a friend in public relations who told me that many PR firms around town are still reluctant to work with medical-marijuana clients. If that's the case, it's a shame -- since Colorado's dispensary scene is a marketer's dre ... More >>

Ask the Critic: The perils of blind e-mails

​I get a lot of e-mails from marketing people. A lot. Amid all the tales of bad service offered by people who demand that I tell their stories to the world and ads for discount Vicodin through the mail are pitches from boutique marketers blindly pimping their clients -- many of which are ba ... More >>

Beer and Cheer: Coors Winterfest is back!

​It's not often that a powerless little blogger can claim to have influenced a billion-dollar conglomerate like MillerCoors. After all, the big boys of beer spend ungodly sums of money on marketing teams and focus groups and executive vice presidents who are supposed to make the decisions that ... More >>

Illegal downloading is a good thing -- at least when it comes to pushing INK

​This weekend, INK, a movie shot locally for $250,000 and self-distributed by Double Edge Films, was uploaded to various torrent servers such as the Pirate Bay. In just a few days, the movie has been downloaded nearly half a million times. By Hollywood's calculations, this is a massive loss o ... More >>

Advertising that doesn't suck? That's Loyal2.me's idea

​It would take some sort of rocket scientist to create a model of advertising that doesn't suck. No coincidence, then, that Roger Toennis used to work on projects such as the autonomous lunar rover, Titan 4 rockets and air-to-air missiles before creating Loyal2.me, a product that promises to a ... More >>

Cheba Hut is a hit with Greeley judge

​Cheba Hut raised a toasty toast this week when a Weld County District Court judge overturned a ruling that had denied a liquor license to the sub shop's Greeley location. In April, Robert Frick, who rules on Greeley liquor licenses, turned down the company's request, citing Cheba Hut's pot-r ... More >>

From Cañon City to Maui: Ex-con Weldon Long's strange trip

​It sounds like a tidy piece of inspirational fiction: A coke-snorting, booze-guzzling dropout squanders every opportunity in life, turns to armed robbery, burglary and sleazy telemarketing scams, spends much of his adult life behind bars as a self-proclaimed "worthless piece of shit" -- then ... More >>

Mysteries of Sheehan's Desk: Day 13

Yeah, it says what you think it says​ Worst. Product. Idea. Ever. I get a lot of dumb and worthless shit sent to me -- worthless shit being essentially any sample product that doesn't come in a nice glass bottle with "Product of Ireland" written somewhere on it. But in the history of du ... More >>

Quiznos is the sandwich of choice for half-naked playmates

While Denver-born restaurant chain Chipotle is getting flak for its new ad campaign's distinct lack of cojones, the marketing for Quiznos Sub Shop, another local restaurant chain done (sorta) good, still shows a lot of balls. Or, to be more accurate in this particular case, a lot of boobs. The Pl ... More >>

Cheapotle.com: Chipotle lovers want their big-ass burritos back

The Great Burrito War of 2009 has begun and, like the foil-wrapped monstrosities on which it is based, it's big, messy and is giving more than few people heartburn. The trouble started when Chipotle Mexican Grill, the burrito restaurant chain born and bred in Denver, unveiled a new "Low Roller" men ... More >>

Kenny Be's Hip Tip: U.S. Army resorts to new Pinon Canyon plan

The U.S. Army wanted to purchase the entire southeastern corner of Colorado to expand the Pinon Canyon military maneuvers site. However, now that America is broke, the Army needs a new business model. Instead of costing money, it is time to start making money. The Army could start by rebranding Pino ... More >>

Q&A with Kevin Preblud, an entrepreneur backing In Denver Times

Kevin Preblud as he appeared at a news conference announcing the proposed launch of In Denver Times. On Monday, one week after a press conference about In Denver Times, a new web venture peopled by former members of the Rocky Mountain News, Kevin Preblud, one of three entrepreneurs behind the proje ... More >>

Prime (rib) time at Dazzle

Today, Dazzle is introducing a new reason to eat at Denver's great jazz club: prime rib. Not content with offering one of the town's best happy hours, owner Donald Rossa reports that his chef will be slow-roasting prime rib throughout the day -- which means "serious eating" tonight.Dazzle is located ... More >>

The ten worst fast-food ad campaigns

Quiznos' rats aren't nearly as creepy as the old guy from the Today Show as Ronald McDonald. Some fast-food ad campaigns work because they're funny -- like the Taco Bell Chihuahua ads from the early '90s, or the more current examples from Jack-in-the-Box, which invite us to send our respects to the ... More >>

Does Denver Water’s Naked Man Inspire Car Accidents Along with Conservation?

Spam a Lot, Pay a Lot

Blog-Searching Umbria Gets Power-ful

What is the Sound of Color?

The Blogtrotters

What's the next big trend? Follow the bouncing ball.

Hard to Swallow

I have tasted the future…and it's green apple.

Drink of the Week

Twisted Mojito

Off Limits

Better late than never

Drunk of the Week

Chopper's Sports Grill

Pop Quiz

July 10, 2003
Disasters in the Pastures

The Light Stuff

Coors loves the young male demographic -- and twins!

A Hard Cell

There are a million Qwest stories in the naked city. This is just one of them.

Best Stand-in by a Non-Colorado Town

Portland, Oregon

Takin' It in the Pants

In Jefferson County, vasectomies are quick, cheap and cool.

A Photo Finish

John Fielder gets the big picture! That’s why his photographs are everywhere!

Where the Buffalo Moan

They’ve been worshiped, they’ve been slaughtered. Now bison are back—so why won’t you buy some burger?

This Is Only a Test

The programming secrets toies er's old-time formats radio.

Off Limits

Running Out of Patients

Denver General gets ready to launch a downscale marketing campaign.

PHONE "PALS"

SCAMSTERS RUN SOME NEW TRICKERY PAST THE ELDERLY.