Before branding was a discipline and the world of marketing was inchoate, Philadelphia retailer John Wanamaker famously said: “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half” That was certainly true when he said it in 1919, for most of...
I wish that political marketing was more like marketing products and services. How long would it take any brand to change course quickly if it knew that two-thirds of its user base thought there were better products out there and were seeking alternatives? The Democratic...
I mourn the passing of one of my pop culture heroes, the great Kinky Friedman, who passed on June 27. Nicknamed by a good friend in college for his curly hair, Kinky lived a productive and fulfilling life by his own rules. He's best known for…well…being...
I always enjoy when internal or agency creatives are involved in my projects and wish I saw more of them, more often. They’re usually present for qualitative concept testing – a challenge I’ll talk about later – but seldom around for the critical first step...
Many years ago, I settled into the comfy salon chair for my haircut with my regular stylist, Amy who I’d been seeing once a month for several years. Like many clients and hairdressers/barbers, we had developed an easy rapport, talking about everything from our kids,...
This is story about marketing that starts with a night at the L.A. Opera. But allow me to digress for a moment. I saw an ignorant rant on LinkedIn the other day disguised as an intellectual thesis. The writer opined that creating personas for brands is “fairly...
I started my career as an ad agency account executive before being hired away by my client as a brand manager. We did a lot of focus groups back then, and I was able to observe several moderators conduct many dozens of focus groups. To...
I don't follow sports as seriously or passionately the way I did from the time I was able to read the backs of baseball cards through my late 20’s. A LinkedIn post from on the "Sports Equinox," offers part of the explanation. This piece pointed out...
It’s a shame that society has forced women into uncomfortable garments that squeeze and suffocate for the benefit of the male gaze. It’s been going on for centuries. Spanx, and now Skims have become the latest expression of this phenomenon, helping women appear to be slimmer...
As part of my wife’s birthday weekend, I took her to see the Taylor Swift film. What a spectacle! Over 70,000 screaming fans jammed into SoFi Stadium having the time of their lives. Music, dancers, lasers, holograms, amazing computer graphics! It all added up to sheer...