Seinfeld on Marketing: Precedents

It’s that time again. In this week’s Seinfeld episode, Jerry is lamenting to George about Kramer’s girlfriend who heckled him during one of his stand up comedy routines:

JERRY: I should have let her have it! I held back because of Kramer.
GEORGE: You know what you ought do. You should go to her office and [...]

Two great ideas

Andy Sernovitz turns the theory of the well known Express Lane at grocery stores upside down. He wonders why no grocery store has a “SuperLane” for those buying a cart full of groceries complete with “2 cashiers, 2 baggers, and a fresh cup of coffee waiting to get you on your way.” Why not [...]

Signs of responsibility

I took this picture just outside of the office. It has been up for two months and let me tell you, this busy road is really damaged. Here’s the thing:
Just because you put up a sign doesn’t mean you get to postpone action or shift responsibility.

Where your treasure is…

If you want to find out about your co-worker’s life outside of work you can browse the many pictures on her desk, the collectables taking over her shelf or the artwork from her three-year old hung proudly in her cube.
But how can you find out about her work life while visiting her home? Does she [...]

Seinfeld on Marketing: The opposite

Good Friday to ya’ll. Things have been a little busy as of late, so I going green and recycling a post from last year. But don’t worry; it’s very timely. In this episode of Seinfeld on Marketing, George is lamenting to Jerry about how his life has turned out thus far:

GEORGE: Why did [...]

What you’ll get (and not get) from customer feedback

Starbucks just announced the launch of it’s website MyStarbucksIdea.com, designed to generate “revolutionary and simple” ideas. Customers can submit ideas and then they can vote on the ones that they think are the best. Here’s the deal with asking your customers for innovative ideas:
What you’ll get: A lot of incremental ideas that make [...]

Time out for a good cause

Take some time and watch this moving video:

If you’d like to make a difference, click here

2 reasons why people recommend stuff

I put together this grid to help me to see two common but opposing reasons why people go out of their way to recommend stuff to other people:

In your business you will more then likely encounter both types of recommendations so the distinctions are important. In reality, most recommendations are a combination of the [...]

Retakes, editing and business blunders

I really like the old 1959 movie, North By Northwest. One of the final scenes takes place in the crowded cafeteria at Mount Rushmore. Just before Carey Grant’s character gets shot, a little boy in the background of the scene plugs his ears (presumably because they have shot this scene a few times [...]

Seinfeld on Marketing: Kramer, Mavericks and Trailblazers

No, this episode of Seinfeld on Marketing is not about two NBA teams (but great guess). In this setup, Jerry and Kramer are walking down the street at dusk:

KRAMER: Look how dark it’s gettin’ already.
JERRY: Well, it’s not Daylight Saving time yet.
KRAMER: When does it start?
JERRY: I don’t know, they just tell you the [...]