Coming of age

The book Age of Conversation 2: Why Don’t They Get It? will officially be out tomorrow, Oct. 29th!
If you have not heard, over the last several months I have participated in a global experiment to see if 237 marketing bloggers could write a book (As it turns out, we can and I think [...]

Flash of Insight: Communication

Communication is a two way street. Don’t be a road hog.

Fatigue is a much better teacher than the autopilot

Using the autopilot on a long plane ride will get you to your destination with less pilot fatigue (that’s a good thing). However, I think fatigue in business is not only needed, it’s mandatory.
If you have never worked so long on finding a solution to a problem that you have forgotten what [...]

If only…

The scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz sang about it. Pablo Picasso has a great quote about it. The group Hason wrote a song about it (did I really just link to Hanson??).
“If only”…two words that are full of regret, wishful thinking, Monday morning quarterbacking and other heavy anchors only there to prevent [...]

Seinfeld on Marketing: Limitations and working backwards

It’s time for another weekly installment of Seinfeld on Marketing. In this episode, Kramer is talking to Jerry:

KRAMER: [Reading the newspaper] Look at this. They are redoing the Cloud Club.
JERRY: Oh, that restaurant on top of the Chrysler building? Yeah, that’s a good idea.
KRAMER: Of course it’s a good idea – it’s my idea. [...]

Marketing is a privilege, not a right

During tough economic times I often see companies that seem to think that marketing is more of a right than it is a privilege. Just because things may be tough right now doesn’t mean that you have the right to:

Sneak in extra charges hoping consumers won’t notice.
“Upgrade” your monthly email newsletter subscribers to a [...]

Make ads that match your story

We’ve all seen ads that try to stretch the reality of the product (infomercials anyone?)
This, in my opinion, is because not enough has gone into the story of the product and the ad is left trying do all the heaving lifting (and we all know that ads do a terrible job persuading consumer loyalty to [...]

Keeping it complicated

I think many have mastered the complicated – a double-talking political candidate, a call center telephone menu system that has you pushing more buttons than a spirited game of Guitar Hero, companies trying to be all things to all people (and doing none of them well), and tax laws that befuddle and confuse.
I think complicated [...]