Book Review: Tuned In

I ran across a great book that I wanted to share with you. It is called Tuned In by Craig Stull, Phil Myers & David Meerman Scott.
It’s a must read for anyone who struggles to get their product or service to resonate with their market (or anyone who struggles with someone always offering their [...]

Violate the category, not your brand

We all know that you must differentiate your brand or it will blend in with the surrounding landscape of the crowded marketplace. A good way to do this is to violate a category worldview.
Take the category of rock bands in the 1960’s. Most felt like they knew how a rock band should [...]

We’re all middlemen

[I apologize for the lack of post - I was romping and having fun last week and now I'm trying to get back into the swing of things.]
We’re all middlemen (or middlewomen). It doesn’t matter if you sell your widget directly to the customer, you are still only a means to an end. [...]

Seinfeld on Marketing: The laws of B.O.

Hello one and all. Call your friends and neighbors because it’s time once again for Seinfeld on Marketing.
In this episode, Jerry and Elaine just picked up their car from the valet service at a restaurant and are heading home:

JERRY: Boy, do you smell something?
ELAINE: Do I smell something? What am I, hard of smelling? [...]

Flash Insight: Double talk

A customer can’t hear what you’re saying over the double talk.

Lame advice: We want holes!

Lame advice: People don’t go to the store and buy a ¾” drill bit. What they really want is a ¾” hole.
Not exactly. I cannot think of anyone that wakes up in the morning, stretches and while brushing their teeth thinks to themselves, “You know what I need? More holes!”
Sure, when you [...]

26 reasons why I love marketing

I must confess that I wasn’t always in love with marketing – in college, there was another. I started out as Architecture major in college (who didn’t?). After some time, I realized that it wasn’t for me. But I still wanted to find something that allowed me to be creative [...]

Seinfeld on Marketing: Man Hands

You know what? I just looked and this is officially the first anniversary of the Seinfeld on Marketing series. Woot! Now back to the show…
Since today is sort of a special day, I thought I’d do something a little different. I don’t know how/if this will work but here we go. [...]

Flash Insight: Whispering

Whispering to the one is louder than shouting to the masses.

My broken afternoon

Let me tell you about a couple of “broken” things I saw this afternoon on my way to do a couple of errands.
First, a visit to my friendly, neighborhood Wal-Mart. They had a 100+ word advertisement about survival kits on the sliding door as you walk in. Not only is it way [...]